Is Malaysia becoming a ‘has-been’, like our once-feared football teams?

 

From Walter Sandosam

Malaysia’s soccer team has recently been humbled by minnows Laos. One can distinctly recall in the not-too-distant past that our national footballers, with legendary greats, were able to take the likes of South Korea and win. Now, we bemoan those great moments.

It is not a sudden decline but a gradual deterioration due to players, coaches, policies, incentives, poor management and a host of other factors acting singularly or in unison.

On the economic front, we were a robust economy and once a “tiger” in the region. Is our economy now going the way of soccer … downhill, leading to possibly being tagged “sick”?

Already some of our key exports are withheld at foreign ports for months on end on alleged foreign labour abuses akin to modern slavery.

We are at the brunt of condescending words from envoys on how we have “improved”. This is ironic given their oft-forgotten history of institutionalised slavery, the use of “sweat shops” in poorer countries and current treatment of economic migrants.

Muhyiddin Yassin, the chairman of the National Recovery Council, a thoroughbred politician, has sounded alarm bells that all may not be as rosy as painted about the finances of the country, going forward after the pandemic.

To say it is alarmist may be an understatement. Such time-based releases appear to coincide with any upcoming state elections.

Finance minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz has given his assurance that the economy is on the right track to recovery, with the right initiatives in place.

Who is to be believed? Is it solely political grandstanding or, alternatively, does it have merit, pointing to days of gloom for the future generations of what is and what can be?

Pertinent questions include how long we can keep it up – will we be able to pay the salaries of our civil servants and pensions, service the debt and support the oversized government machinery?

Given the current racial mix in the civil service, the inability to pay salaries and pensions in the not-too-distant future will negatively affect a specific racial group. This is worrisome.

These are pressing concerns no doubt but this scenario has existed for some time. Oil revenues introduced a sense of nonchalant leadership, including splurging on some projects deemed egotist, not to mention leakages in government revenues and expenditures through corruption.

Windfall gains from seasonal astronomical global oil prices should have been locked up as a treasure trove for subsequent generations or as national reserves, earmarked for specific non-anticipated scenarios like pandemics.

Given such events, instead of drawing down on retirement funds for current survival needs, these reserves could have been tapped.

We have fallen short on making hay when the sun shines. The slowdown in growth could thwart material expectations as more look to things in life that gross domestic product (GDP) does not measure.

Notwithstanding which narrative one wants to believe, at the core is not financial management. It is but the complete disembowelment of strong political leadership. This is now fragmented, with multiple parties and unstable coalitions, and accusations of ineptness.

Governance infrastructure and financial systems, which were on an upward trajectory some years ago, now seem stuck in neutral, supported by economic inefficiencies.

Quality has been compromised in the name of readjusting economic disparities, the process of which has been abused.

Dual judicial systems have led to distress. Federal Court decisions have given rise to calls for amendments to the Federal Constitution, the effect of which may have unforeseen effects on a multi-plural populace.

History repeats itself. As a corollary, the Ming dynasty thrived in the 15th century. The Great Wall was fortified to keep marauders and barbarians out, only for the dynasty to be destroyed from within due to internal strife, power struggles and corruption.

The elite rich got greedy and sidelined the masses. We ignore this at our peril.

Given the current flux in the political landscape and lack of authoritative leadership, unlike our neighbours, which have been improving leaps and bounds, Malaysia appears to be standing at the precipice of becoming a possible “has-been”, like our once feared soccer teams.

What is feared most is the enemies from within, of which there is no shortage! - FMT

Walter Sandosam served as a senior research fellow at a leading local private university.

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