How will we remember Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin? Some think that he has brought Malaysia to its knees, when we moved from an era of hope, in 2018, to despair in 2020.
Others claim that Muhyiddin's behaviour makes the crimes of two former prime ministers - Dr Mahathir Mohamad and disgraced Najib Abdul Razak - look like child's play.
Mahathir, the Father of Modernisation, appeared eager to get back into the driving seat, and then could not wait, to leave. His legacy is defined by the seeds of racism, religious domination and cronyism, which he sowed in the 80s, during his first tenure as prime minister.
Invited to form the new Pakatan Harapan government in May 2018, Mahathir started with gusto. However, after four months, his mask slipped. He could still have got himself back on track to rebuild Malaysia, but he dashed the hopes of the rakyat with his hasty resignation. A person can be tricked once, perhaps twice, but not three times. Despite what Mahathir thinks, the rakyat do not easily forget.
Najib refused to leave and had to be kicked out of office. Incredibly, he is still trying to stage a comeback, albeit to save himself from prosecution. If only the former judicial system under Harapan had not dragged its feet and played along with Najib's excuses to delay the trial.
The damage to young Malaysians will be felt for generations. Many feel that the road to immense wealth is to become a politician, as no skill, qualification or education is required. One only needs to be a smooth-talking Lothario.
Najib created many meaningless slogans, milked the system dry and was lucky to have a good teacher in his former mentor, Mahathir (above).
So, what of Muhyiddin? Ironically, Mahathir's Wawasan 2020 has morphed into Muhyiddin's Nightmare 2020, In two months, Muhyiddin managed to undo the first steps that Harapan had taken to try to heal the nation and rebuild Malaysia.
Muhyiddin will continue the Umno-Baru tradition, under which cronies and family members are able to build personal fortunes and property empires with ease, while the rakyat are told to tighten their belts.
He appears to suffer from middle child syndrome. Most first-borns are showered with attention, the youngest is spoilt silly, while the middle child is often neglected. Having served under Mahathir, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and later Najib, Muhyiddin was often overlooked in the prime ministerial succession list, and this must have had a part in explaining Muhyiddin's subsequent bitterness. Is it any wonder that Muhyiddin grabbed the chance to become prime minister, to prove that he is "somebody"?
Muhyiddin's tenure as education minister
If one wants to mess up a country, one need only tinker with the children's education. Muhyiddin's tenure as education minister was a disaster. He declared that the Malaysian education system was among the best in the world, despite many Sarawak schools being in a terrible condition, the prevarication over the use of English and his refusal to listen to parents' groups.
His close ties with PAS may have affected Muhyiddin's opinion of women. Perhaps, he is a closet misogynist. In yet another swipe at the previous administration, it is rumoured that another woman chairperson of a leading government organisation will, on May 1, be replaced with an Umno-Baru politician.
The coronavirus lockdown will come to an end, one day, and the nation will emerge from hibernation. But what stimulus package will Muhyiddin and his finance minister offer to the stakeholders who are the backbone of the economy - the small- and medium-sized enterprises?
Without a plan, more people will die from starvation, from poverty and from mental health issues. The damage from the coronavirus pandemic will pale in comparison.
With oil revenue reduced, and beer industries being forced to shut, how will Muhyiddin reward the people whose loyalty he must return? He could get rid of Jakim, at the very least trim its budget. He could reduce the size of the civil service because they must be costing us billions of ringgits.
He could get rid of his foreign minister, instead of creating Special Envoys to do the work of the foreign minister. He could trim the cabinet, instead of having 70 ministers and deputies who do little work.
He could reward his loyal followers with a Datukship. It's cheaper and does less damage than wrecking an already poorly managed government-linked company by appointing a politician to head it.
The problem with Muhyiddin is his pre-occupation with Malay pride. Like the true politician, he does not arm the Malays with the real tools and the mental capacity to survive and compete with others. Instead, he permits conservative Malays to cultivate the Malay fear of the three Cs: Chinese, Christianity and Communism.
For a lasting legacy, Muhyiddin should have the courage to do things differently. Whip the Malays out of their self-imposed reverie, reassure them that thinking like a Malaysian is best for the country, and that the non-Malays are not their enemy and should have equal status. Malaysians need new blood, not the old, tired faces in the present government.
Reversing over 60 years of brainwashing is no mean feat, just as the cleaning-up of more than 40 years of institutionalised corruption cannot be achieved in a few terms. The time to start is now, but will Muhyiddin take up the challenge to redefine his legacy?
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.