YOURSAY | Nation starving for 'wise' leadership

 

COMMENT | When an 'unwise' PM throws good leader under the bus

Apanama is back: I agree that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was unwise in handling Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh’s issue (over her visiting houses of worship programme). Anwar does not seem to sufficiently use the power that comes with the Prime Minister’s Office.

For the last seven months, he tried to play safe. Of course, his supporters will say, give him time. What time? He is now soft, playing safe, and not focusing on one reform at a time.

The PM should go against the right-wing Perikatan Nasional and explain his side of the narrative. But it seems his advisers are clueless. Thus, he just keeps quiet and plays safe.

As you mentioned and I too also commented before, the coming state elections should be a wake-up call and teach him a lesson.

The Pakatan Harapan-BN coalition needs to get “punished” in the upcoming six state elections next month.

Moreover, there could be more protest votes. It is not a show of support for PN but voters may vote for them to express their dissatisfaction against the Harapan-BN coalition.

In seven months, there should be something to show rather than nothing, and keep on saying, "Give more time." It is no more "give more time" but "buying time.".

He is out of focus. It does not matter how much time we provide when one is out of focus. His PKR ministers are underperforming. Look at the ‘backdoor’ Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.

The prime minister is also not communicating frequently. Nowadays, Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil, the appointed government spokesperson is communicating less. It seems the communication minister is becoming ‘uncommunicative’.

If after seven months the government is behaving like this, I do not know how it will behave in the coming four years.

IndigoSwan6963: The unity government is seen to be weak and deemed to be weak. Being unable to take challenges, and contemplating actions, does not augur well at all. The cabinet is extremely weak and directionless.

Our education system continues to rot. Racial and religious slurs continue to dominate the media and there is nothing our police can do about this because both ministers, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and the Home Ministry will not act on high-profile figures like former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad and PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang.

When they start to lose the respect and support in the coming six state elections, to wake up then will be too late. Worse still, when the house is on fire, you sit back and wait and when the house is finally razed, who do you blame?

Every Harapan supporter places high hopes on Anwar and its cabinet members but sadly many cabinet members are just sitting ducks and lack the capacity and zeal to perform.

The very fact Malaysia is multiracial, and multiethnic, where we all respect our Constitution, does not mean that calibre non-Malay parliamentarians cannot be appointed over underperforming ones.

Corruption is at its peak, and it will take generations to rid of. The unity government cannot just allow the prime minister to fight this battle alone.

All Malaysians and government leaders must act in unison to show that we are deadly serious about a better and new Malaysia. Wake up now and not tomorrow.

Steven Ong: ''But no one plans to do anything to resolve the issues and truth be told, the right-wing forces have no clue on how to resolve such matters.''

When one wants to solve a problem, one will find or ask for solutions. But the glaring fact is that the spoiled racists and bigots had been hardened by years of training and have no intention to make Malaysia among the top countries as they will lose their imposed selfish privileges.

After some time, nobody bothers to advise or help these people who find it hard to realise the facts and truths that are beneficial to all.

That is why we are seeing the sad stories and sufferings around the world, all because either they are under bad oppressive dictators fighting each other for power (this is what is happening now in Malaysia) or they are all the same hardened and so are deaf to the facts.

Believing and supporting leaders who are self-serving, can't see or care about what would happen to the country if they believe they are superior, right, and good. Mahathir, Anwar, and the likes are some of them.

BrownCheetah9736: In my opinion, the programme of visiting churches, temples, and mosques by different races was unnecessarily inviting trouble. It is superficial, to say the least.

Yeoh was always going to be attacked for her piousness, so she should have been more politically savvy, given this is her second outing as a minister.

Besides, a mere visit to religious houses isn’t going to enlighten or moderate the extremists or conservatives. It is going to take more than that and will take a generation or two to cleanse the toxicity in our already poisoned society.

So, I agree with Anwar to cancel the programme but not necessarily with his airy-fairy reasoning.

Alap88: Do you think dismantling the 60 years of communalism can happen in just seven months? Non-Malays should appreciate that through the compromise between Harapan and BN, Anwar is now helming the unity government.

Otherwise, it would have been Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin or Hadi helming a PN government. Do you think that is a better alternative? So don't expect Anwar to antagonise the Malays by following the whims and fancies of the likes of you.

Instead, give him more time to consolidate the unity government and convince the Malays that it is imperative for them to support the unity government if they want to save Malaysia from the brink of disintegration. It helps the cause to recognise the constraints and persevere. - Mkini