What are taxpayers really paying for?

 

Malaysia has been in a state of “emergency” since January, ostensibly as a result of this ongoing pandemic.

Until the nationwide full movement control order was instituted on May 12, aside from a flailing economy and no inter-state travel permitted, pretty much everything was as per normal for ordinary folks, like it has been for the past 15-months.

Of late, there have been numerous calls for parliament to reconvene as soon as possible.

But by the look of things, the term – as soon as possible – is causing some confusion, with a multitude of opinions being expressed as to what this actually means.

Out of sheer curiosity, I asked my lawyer of over 20 years, how she would interpret this term – as soon as possible.

She told me that it is pretty much as it sounds, except in legalese it also means left to discretion, in any given circumstance.

When I probed further because of the potential vagueness of this interpretation, she added that it is deliberately done to give room for manoeuvrings, as the law is a “living and breathing” entity that reflects the circumstances of life.

I left that conversation with a better understanding of the term, from a legal standpoint.

But it didn’t help me understand the state of the nation any better.

At that time, I also realised that when parliament was suspended earlier this year, we were already a good nine months into the pandemic. And every time I followed the proceedings in the chamber, on television, important discussions often descended into pandemonium, with people raising their voices over each other.

Regardless of whether parliament, which is the ultimate foundation of all the democratic pillars of our nation, “begins immediately”, or “within a reasonable timeframe”, or “when the time is right”, I know that one thing is for certain.

Malaysians need our leaders to take ownership, and finally provide solid stewardship.

What we don’t need is partisan politics, polemics, grandstanding and the like.

What is ownership? It is having the mindset and approach of a person who wants to see their career or company thrive, and who is vested in ensuring it’s stability, profitability and sustained growth.

In this case it is our nation.

What is solid stewardship? It means we need our leaders to actually grasp that the well-being of the country is entrusted to their care, and we need accountability from them. It is an ethic that is expressed by responsible planning and management of available resources.

Of course, in this crisis, any responsible leader will have to confront problems around every corner.

For example, should the economy continue to be shut down to curtail the spread of this virus, or should the economy be opened up to save it?

Should jobs be cut to manage costs during this crisis or should costs be cut to save jobs? These are critical problems any leader will have to deal with right now.

When managing an emergency, naturally, there’ll be crucial decisions to be made. And these decisions are so much graver now, then they have ever been before, because they involve all Malaysians.

Anyone providing stewardship of the nation has to deal with extremely complex issues. Often the choices available are not clear. It is never going to be about an obviously good choice over a bad one.

Therefore, decision-making gets highly complicated. And so, it follows that we need leaders who are highly capable of balancing all these conflicting interests, while keeping the common good of all the citizens in mind.

It really doesn’t matter when our leaders meet and debate the prevailing issues.

What really matters is that we have people who can exercise responsible leadership when confronted with these problems, and who can make properly considered decisions and take pragmatic action.

In my experience as a management consultant and leadership coach, the most successful enterprises cultivate a mentality of ownership. These owners, managers and employees take responsibility, and have a sense of pride in being part of that business.

With this attitude, they can all be proactive and come up with sustainable solutions for complex problems. People who see their company as an extension of themselves, always act passionately for its well-being.

Similarly, when leaders see the well-being of the country as an extension of their own selves, they will act with the collective interest of the “rakyat” in mind.

In this pandemic, we already see so many ordinary people taking ownership.

Medical professionals who give their all at the frontlines, small businesses struggling to keep afloat while retaining employees, people who lose their job but take ownership of their family and do whatever work that is available, to put food on the table.

These are people who exemplify the spirit of ownership. Now we need our leaders to step up and take ownership too.

As the calls for our parliament to be reconvened grow louder, I suggest that we also raise our voices and demand that our leaders provide us proper stewardship, in the form of considerate planning and meticulous management of the resources we have at hand, to guide us out of these trying times.

And when parliament reconvenes, as it no doubt will, the people must demand that our leaders take ownership, show proactiveness, and put their partisanship aside to provide us real direction.

Ultimately, isn’t this what the taxpayer is paying them for? - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.