SHOULD WE CHANGE THE GOVERNMENT ?

HANTU LAUT

Should we change the government? According to our democratic system and our Constitution we can change the government, anytime, through the electoral process.

This country have only seen the same political parties running the government since independence, the same dominant overlord, UMNO and with other smaller components in orchestral harmony in so-called sharing of power, a show of Malay magnanimity towards the other races. It certainly has worked well.

Have we weathered the storms to reach nationhood?

Malaysia, is probably one of the most fortunate country in the world not to have suffered any natural or man-made calamities. Except for the May 13th tragedy we have not had tumultuous time.We have no civil disobedience, no ethnic clashes, no famine, no natural calamities and no epidemics. Will we continue to be blessed by the good fortune or will we sink into the abyss, like so many, that have gone into insolvency, abject poverty and lawlessness brought by the sins of their leaders ? Even in this modern days we still witnessed atrocities and genocides committed by human on their poor and defenceless brethren. These are failed states.These are states plundered by every successive government and governed by morally rotten and corrupt leaders.

Corruption poses a danger and obstacle to the development and advancement of a nation.Corruption in public administration erodes the institutional capacity of government, corruption in the judiciary compromises the rule of law, corruption in the police brings breakdown of law and order and corruption as a whole will eventually break down the moral fabric of society and destroy whole nation. The demise of many civilisations have been due to corruption and bad governance. Many African and South American countries have gone to the dogs due to wholesale corruption and abuse of power by tyrannical leaders.The genocides and atrocities in Rwanda and now in Sudan,Chad and Central African Republic are testimonies of what corruption can do to a nation. Somalia, another country fleeced by every government that came along is now a complete wreck, lawless and ungovernable.

Are we moving in that direction? Inevitably, we would be if we don't arrest the problems now.

Of late we hear of many unpleasant and worrying news about corruption in high places. Allegations of corruption against the IGP, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Director of ACA(Anti Corruption Agency) exposed in a very popular blog in great details should not be taken lightly. All have been cleared by the Attorney General. Another very senior police officer formerly based in Sabah is reportedly to be worth RM25 million.These are people who are responsible to protect the law and fight corruption. These are people we expect not to be on the fiddle. If they are corrupted as alleged than this country is in serious trouble.Even the integrity of the judiciary have been questioned.

Half a century ago Argentina was the seventh wealthiest country in the world. The country once had the largest middle class compared to other Latin American countries. Due to succession of economic crisis this segment of the population has been decimated.The government piled up huge public debt and created runaway inflation.The economy crumbled and finally collapsed in 2001.By 2002 it had defaulted on its debt, GDP shrunk,unemployment rose more than 25% and the peso depreciated by 75%. The economy has improved the last few years but has not recovered back to its former glory.

In the sixties Philippines was a model of economic success.It was more developed and way ahead of Malaysia. Today, Malaysia has overtaken it economically by leaps and bounds.In 2006 the Philippines with a population of 91 million has GDP of US$449 billion while Malaysia with a population of about 25 million has GDP of US$313 billion. After two decades of plundering by Marcos and his cronies and successive corrupt regimes the country has not been able to recover. In the eighties it was called the 'sick man of Asean'. Corruption and bad governance had plunged some part of the country in the south into restive provinces due to neglect by the central government to bring development to the poverty stricken areas. Armed insurgencies are getting stronger by each passing day and instead of bringing more development to appease the people the government responded with firepower.

It can take less than half a generation to destroy a country. It takes just one bad leader to destroy everything the forefathers built over their lifetime.Malaysia, has grown from a tropical backwater to an economic success story due to the ethnic composition of its population. The hard working and enterprising Chinese, the benevolent Malay and basically a disciplined society. Good leadership and good administration has also been the recipe of its success.At the same time it has also built up greater degree of corruption, abused of fiduciary duties and a society becoming less religiously and racially tolerance of each other.

What I am going to say here may not go down well with some of our leaders and some may even be angry and refute the reality of my statement. Some may even pull the keris and show his displeasure by shouting childish and churlish diatribe and I really don't give a damn as I am sick of the charade of some of our leaders and their rhetoric's.Talked about honesty and morality when they have none. Stealing from the nation's coffer has become their privilege and preserve.

It's high time the government tone down the NEP and educate the Malays to be more competitive and not to be too dependent on government handouts. The award of contract to cronies, relatives, families and party supporters are the reasons why so many contracts failed. Corruption,dishonesty and greed have resulted in massive loss of public funds and expensive bail-outs of failed government companies.

The Port Klang project is probably the biggest daylight robbery this country have seen so far.It is a case of corruption, dishonesty and greed.How would the government explain the rationale of paying 150% higher than the market price and 100 times more than the original purchase price of the land in spite of advice from government valuer to acquire the land using the Land Acquisition Act.

"We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to office" A quote from Aesop.

Malaysia is never short of wolves in sheep clothing. How many time have the government bailed out sick companies plundered by the trustees and none have been prosecuted and thrown in jail.Haven't we had enough of bail-outs? Is it fair to use the people's money to pay for the follies of corrupt and dishonest civil servants,politicians and businessmen?Is anyone going to jail for this? The government must get to the bottom of this and make sure those involved are severely punished.

I know of a big corruption case that is still in court and the person concerned shamelessly throw a big wedding party for her daughter in a leading hotel and even more shameful, the wedding was well attended by friends, senior civil servants and political dignitaries. Has corruption become a way of life in this country? Are there no sense of shame for those who indulged in it?

In this country if you don't know how to make money through politicians they called you stupid. This is what a friend of mine who is a crony to a politician told me. He follows politicians where ever they go and I can see he is handsomely rewarded with government contracts. The 'machais' culture is well and alive in this country.

Do you still want to change the government? By right we should, but do we have a better choice? The next one could be worse.

Many of you may not agree but changing the whole government may not be the right thing to do. What we need is a stronger opposition to keep the check and balance, to ensure the government do not abuse their fiduciary duties.This can only be achieved if the government is denied of two thirths majority.

The government should not rest on its laurels and think things are not going to change.Unless they stop the excesses, change may come in the most unexpected ways.