As tortoises overtake hare, right leaders needed for boost

As we are nearing the time for the general election as in every democratic nation, there will be the inevitable scramble for seats, search for constituencies, and the formation of alliances.

The objective is to win enough seats, either by one group or by alliances among groups, to be the majority.

The objective is only to form a government among themselves, to even decide before the elections itself the allocation of cushy government and cabinet posts. These serve as "baits" and "potential rewards".

Of course, there will be the de rigueur (mandatory) manifestos, full of sweet promises to do anything and everything to fish for votes.

After it is all over, however, the people and their collective interests are hardly the main agendas of the government.

All that is clear, is that those voted in have, in assuming their promised positions all paid for by public monies, placed politics before principles, have put self before the national interest, failed to deliver as expected, and have continuously shown below-par performance.

Some, through their actions, continue to bring shame and disrespect to the people and country.

Lack of leadership

The nation has been sliding backwards and downwards due to incoherence in governance, a lack of leadership, the inability to grasp the need to have an important global vision, and being unable to understand the many imperatives within the ever-changing regional and global economic and socio-economic environment.

Malaysia, the once agile and fast-moving hare, has been overtaken by a long stretch by the slow but steady moving tortoises like in the story we read in primary school.

In these very challenging times and being in equally challenging operating environments, the people and nation urgently need the right individuals and leadership to correct whatever has not worked well.

They need to bring about the necessary policy changes and galvanise the diverse peoples into that Malaysian national identity so that we are true to what we profess to be and that is warganegara Malaysia (Malaysian citizens) regardless of keturunan (lineage), bangsa (race), asal usul (origin), and agama (religion).

They need to take Malaysia forward and enable the people to successfully compete in whatever sphere – business, education, or research - and in whatever endeavours undertaken to make Malaysia proud for the right reasons, not for corruption and kleptocracy.

What the people need are leaders at any level who serve, and are not "being served", who function and work, not just make promises and often out-of-sync statements, and who do not waste public funds by doing almost nothing to show for it.

In short, many have been proven to be such disappointments and a bane to the people and nation.

It must be reminded, again and again, that "politicians only think of the next election but statesmen think of the next generation" and that "excuses are the tools of the incompetent." - Mkini

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RAFIDAH AZIZ is a former international trade and industry minister.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.