Malaysia will lose its competitive economic edge if its politics continue to cater to racial and religious extremes, a former senior diplomat warned today.
Razali Ismail, who was a diplomat for 35 years before retiring in 1998, warned that although polemics - the practise of one-sided political arguments - was inescapable in multi-racial, multi-religious Malaysia, it must not translate into a welfare state.
"If you just want to be a backwater country somewhere, that's a different story.
"But we are in a strategic position (for economic growth) ...all the differences between us have to be worked out," Razali said at the Prime Lecture on Culture 2013, where he was invited to speak on "polemical politics" by the Tourism and Culture Ministry.
During his years as a diplomat, almost all countries considered Malaysia a stable country, Razali said, adding that lately, however, his international friends have started to question the divisive going-ons in the country.
In his speech, the former president of the UN General Assembly said that he sensed a high degree of sensitivity and resistance to change, especially among young bumiputeras.
"Any suggested changes by the prime minister in line with the New Economic Model (NEM) apparently has been met by some bumiputera with a inertia...
"We should not let populist polemics lead us to squander possibilities by attaching our fates to a debilitating culture of welfare dependency," he said.
Gov't must also tackle corruption
Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak introduced the race-free NEM in 2010 and ended the pro-bumiputera New Economic Policy (NEP), which was initiated by his father Tun Abdul Razak after the racial riots of May 13, 1969.
Recently, Najib appeared to be skewing the economy back towards bumiputeras-enriching policies with his Bumiputera Economic Enhancement (BEE) measures.
Meanwhile, Razali further urged the government to tackle corruption in all forms.
Razali, who is also chairperson of the Global Movement of Moderates, said he recently met with young activists and came out feeling concerned.
"The younger generation are beginning to lose faith in public institutions," he said.
He cited that while political masters had sound ideas and good policies, the implementation part of the process was often poor.
Mkini
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