Welcome to the Ministry of Small Matters

Welcome to the Ministry of Small Matters. This ministry has everything - ministers and officers who are well-paid and well-fed, posh hallways and grand offices that impress every guest, the aura of power that runs through every feudalistic vein. But the ministry has no research department.

The ministers agreed that a research department was not necessary since only small decisions would be made - the ones that are easy to understand, easy to execute. They understand the foremost mission is to not upset the electorate or push through a vision that could radically alter the system.

Make only small decisions so you can show the people that you have done something, even though no substantive improvements to the people’s lives are felt. Tell the people that change is generally hard and change is specifically hard because the ministry was left with a big mess of the past.

Remember, only make small decisions.

The most highly-anticipated area of change was in education. Most people who have gone through the public education system know that there is an entrenched problem that requires urgent attention.

The people expect the government to articulate a new vision on what education should be so that our children’s lives will be better than ours.

Should education train our skills to match the requirements of the market? Should education serve as a tool to correct long-standing inequality?

Should education be used to hone a sense of patriotism so that citizens are ready to participate in the development of the country? Should education make our children critical and creative citizens ready to chart a path of their own? Should education be designed specifically and individually, rather than generally and collectively?

But the people were left disappointed. The common man frowns at the “black shoe, black socks” policy that seems to have been the only policy that stayed in everyone’s mind. There was a short-lived reading campaign launched by the ministry that was as forgettable as the last book we read.

Then we swim at hotels and tussle for the IIUM presidency. To imply the inclusion of 1MDB into the history books seems to be like the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Everyone knows that the problem of education is systemic and cannot be solved within one year, or even five. Everyone also knows that the education portfolio is heavy, not only in its scope but also in the political cost that follows from every decision.

But everyone also knows that education is the single most important issue if we want to give this country a fighting chance.

We simply cannot afford to delay education policy improvement with a series of disjointed and unthoughtful small matters because our children cannot wait. This sense of urgency is why people are often most furious at the ministry for only caring about small matters; not because of any personal vendetta that could incite teenage angst.

Clock strikes at 1am

Just when we have controlled our fury, the Ministry of Small Matters strikes again. This time, it introduced a prohibition against the operation of all entertainment outlets after 1am. The instant reaction of the common man was utter perplexity.

Why, of all things, is the ministry particularly interested in small matters like that?

How could such a prohibition lead to an improvement in family life and was there prior experience in other countries that proved such a policy effective and necessary?

Is this policy connected to a larger vision that most Malaysians believe in, and if so, what is that vision? If this policy is just another disjointed policy unconnected to a larger, sensible vision and motive, then it seems like another small matter.

This is not to suggest all prohibitions of this nature are bad. In Finland and Iceland, keeping 13- to 16-year-olds off the streets after 10pm was part of a larger effort of diverting youths from drugs and alcohol.

Even when there was public dissatisfaction at the initial stage, these countries pushed through and supplemented it with other schemes of alternative activities, tighter enforcement and clear education and communication. In other words, there was a larger vision behind and this was articulated to the people.

But the prohibition by our ministry was not like that. There was no research into the dire problems surrounding alcoholism or vices, nor was there research that such policies - arbitrary, by the way - could yield the results people hoped for.

Without these, it looks like a small matter. The 1am policy was a half-past-six one.

A third national car, a few censored words, a moratorium (now lifted) on archaic laws, sackings here and there and prosecutions that could not be properly credited to the government…

These have been typical of the new Pakatan Harapan administration. If there was a way to avoid a big issue, they would. If there was a way to retract a policy to avoid unpopularity, they would. If there was a way of lying low to survive one term, they would.

Six months is a long time in politics. It is enough to create an impression of the administration, give credence to the opposition and enrage a crowd into chaos.

It is understandable that the baggage of the past may drag the feet of change; it is also understandable that new power and an enormous salary may have insulated ministers in a bubble too comfortable to break out of.

From one meeting to the next, one exhibition after another, our ministers have rolled over for six months without much idea or vision. I hope they abolish the Ministry of Small Matters.

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JAMES CHAI works at a law firm. His voyage in life is made less lonely with a family of deep love, friends of good humour and teachers of selfless giving. This affirms his conviction in the common good of people: the better angels of our nature. E-mail him at jameschai.mpuk@gmail.com - Mkini