Unworkable Ideas

 Musa Hitam has said somethings here. More unworkable ideas. 

• Musa: Form Agong-approved ‘reps’ group to reform Malaysia over 2 years
• Musa proposed group to reform governance and tackle many issues
• be given power by Agong and special Act passed in Parliament
• less than 2 years, not include politicians, “truly representative” 

OSTB:  The country is in the situation it is in now because of the accumulated baggage and constipation of the past 50 years.  Everyone in government, politics, academia, Civil Service for the past 50 years should board a 'Cruise to nowhere' and just do not come back. And they should just stop talking - including Musa Hitam.

Now he wants to usurp the Federal Constitution which has clearly laid out our system of elections every five years, our system of elected reps making laws in Parliament. 

The flaw is NOT in our Parliamentary system. The flaw is in the legions of foolish people who hold office, power and influence in the country.

You want to appoint a special group, selected from the same set of failed know nothings and possibly selected by the same set of know nothing failures and give this group some authority / leeway to circumvent Parliament? 

What is the guarantee that this special group will know anything about anything? If they have failed for the past 50 years, where is the guarantee that they will succeed in 24 months?

• Musa said Malaysia’s issues deeply interconnected
• would all need to be addressed in one go.

OSTB : I beg to differ. I have said this before. Its a Malay problem. The Malays need to catch up. Thats what the NEP has been about for the past 50 years isnt it? There was even this fly in the ointment :

Too many issues and problems in this country happen to inflict the Malays (which do not inflict the non-Malays to the same degree. Economic issues are certainly top of the list but also just about everything else - religious issues, racial bravado, social issues. The list is quite long. And new ones keep getting added. 

And it is not just about tilting the economic field. As I said, it is beyond economic issues. The non Malays (including non-Malay bumiputras in Sabah, Sarawak, the Orang Asli) seem to have much less issues and problems with moving along in life. The main problem for the non-Malays is the tilted playing field - which is often grossly tilted against them.

Musa Hitam has to ponder this - how do you rectify a country where everything is tilted? Where the playing field is not level?  I am posing this question not from a racial point of view. May I repeat : I am posing this question not from a racial point of view.

I am posing this question from the perspective of the laws of economics, the laws of how things work in the real world, the laws of the costs-of-doing-business, the laws of generating new wealth, creating jobs and opportunities, the laws of economic fairness and efficiency which is absolutely critical to make any economy function. 

Over the past 50 years didnt anyone with any sort of job in Government read any books on economics, management or finance?  

How did a group, made up almost entirely of politicians and their Civil Service shock troops, who were so far behind in economic achievement suddenly design economic policies which they convinced themselves were so far advanced over ALL other existing economic theories known to mankind? 

In short where did you get your crazy ideas?  Your honest answer to that question will tell you why the country is in the predicament it is in today.   Because certainly the country is in a predicament today.

But the problem is not universal - we thank Allah swt. The problem is indeed  "localised".  The solution is not to bring everyone else down. The solution is to bring up the problematic folks. 

This is where you have all failed. So please board that 'Cruise to nowhere' and be gone'.

• proposed group should “cover whole span”, free of interference by politicians
• careful study should be done to select members of group
• not National Operation Council-type 
• or give group any powers as if in Emergency

OSTB : How long will it take to carefully study who to select? Three months? Six months? You have given yourself only two years.  How do you select the people who will select the members of this group? Dont you also need time to study carefully this select group of people who will then select the members of the new group? 

Will it be the same Club of the Constipated who have got us in this mess in the first place?

I will take my chances with the people. After 62 years the people threw out the Barisan Nasional.  They will again throw out those who do not deliver. Just wait two years. 

If there are no jobs they will kick out the government. When their pockets are dry - because they pay three times the world market for motorcars or they pay road tolls with no end in sight - the people will kick out whoever keeps them in poverty. That is the beauty of democracy and the system of the polling booth. The people will kick you out - until you get the formula right.

2 years to give ample time for issues to be covered and dealt with

OSTB : A two year crystal ball.  You are going to create SEVEN million new jobs in two years? You must be joking. This is the number that I read about just a few days ago. The unemployed, under-employed, the unemployable, graduate unemployed, the SPM kids in the kampongs. They have no jobs.  Two days ago there was a parcel delivery at our home at 10.30 PM at nite !!  The delivery guy was a middle aged man, obviously working two jobs or working a late nite job. At his late age? And at this age - the 21st century? He was a Malay.  Believe me something is going to crack. The people will not take this for too long. 

end of 2 years collective work could be presented to Malaysians 

OSTB :  Will it be another 'Power Point' presentation? Do you think they will have jobs by then? 

excitement over reform has waned since asset declaration mandatory for all MPs 

OSTB : Huh?  Not really.  Excitement has died in Parliament ever since the DAP and PKR signed the MoU with Ismail Sabri to support him in Parliament. Ismail Sabri now has 114 + 42 (DAP) + 35 (? PKR)  =  191 MPs which is more than 2/3 majority support in Parliament.

This is why no more Ministers and government MPs turn up for Parliamentary sessions anymore. When you have 191 MPs on your side - why answer questions? Screw the people. The Dewan Rakyat looks empty again. Parliament has become a rubber stamp again. 

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