Formidable First Year, PMX’s Forte & Fault-lines

Congratulations are in order for our PMX for completing a full year in office.

He was sworn in on Thursday November 24, 2022. Some will say it is just a date. But a year is a year. That year is of watershed significance because his four predecessors turned out to be below par eventually.

In the past year both the political and economic situation has stabilised. PMX has taken Malaysia out of the roller coaster ride it was on since 2020. We can now anticipate what can happen more calmly and breathe more easily.

Of course we have to examine how PMX has used his time, the combination of assets and talents available to him and the terrain he has had to operate on. An alarming initial impression but not necessarily a scientific one is that he has travelled a bit too much, he has talked or lectured from too many lecterns and has given unprecedented attention to relations with his friend in Turkey, to the extent of even receiving that friend’s son. In announcing a 30-day visa-free entry for travellers from China and India he also announced that facility for nationals of Turkey when they were already enjoying such a facility. This tilt to Turkey has to be explained.

Malaysia needs discipline and has to observe some austerity and make dedicated sacrifices to move forward or go cold turkey. Reform is unavoidable to graduate from decades of splurging on stately buildings, subsidies, substandard education at the expense of competency, efficiency and transparency.

Congratulations For Commendable Acts

Yet, I would be remiss, if I don’t congratulate PMX because his assumption of the post signalled somewhat an end of the phase of his four predecessors' mediocrity and audacious mendacity as they did not earn, qualify or get a good or grand send-off. They allowed the financial and political situation in the country to dither, deteriorate and drift. Their apparent uppermost concern, it would seem was to stay in power and deny Anwar Ibrahim a passage to prime ministership. They failed famously in that misguided venture but do not seem to have abandoned their sinister schemes.

Anwar, it would seem, achieved the impossible.

To his credit also, although his wife and daughter are involved in politics, there is not that much controversy about them. We are accustomed to seeing five prime ministers in a row promoting their sons-in-law and sons. It is a relief to see PMX not making the same mistake.

A hung parliament combined with the perception that prime ministerial retreads, like retreaded tyres have sharply reduced reliability and political mileage worked in favour of Anwar. The Rulers had gently coaxed, carefully created and guided this unity government behind the scenes in a smooth and sophisticated manner. Awang Hadi and Muhyiddin fell by the wayside.

ASEAN Endorsement

Three days after the swearing-in of PMX the Sultan of Brunei came for an unscheduled visit to meet and congratulate the new prime minister. His Majesty Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah’s visit was of special symbolic significance as it signalled a full endorsement of the Malaysian verdict on Anwar. Anwar, one can reasonably surmise had come to power legitimately after a period of political uncertainty, crass chicanery and three short-lived lacklustre prime ministers who were actually usurpers in his post. Instead of acting as an interim leader Dr Mahathir, for instance. attempted to retain the prime minister's post and failed.

Brunei, like all of Malaysia’s neighbours welcomed this stability, promise and success that Anwar’s unity government represented.

Innovative, Inclusive but Imperfect Government

What was anxiously awaited initially was an indication of his cabinet choices. Admittedly he made some poor choices by selecting appointees seemingly for loyalty than outstanding ability or learned luminosity. Education, health and home affairs have not performed to high expectations.. All these three areas are important challenges because of the legacy left behind by previous governments. A revamp is badly needed because of the huge number of foreign nationals, declining education standards and the overworked health sector.

It was sad to lose the distinguished Salahuddin Ayob, a down to earth and dedicated soul.

Two Cabinet Ministers, double F & double R

Of the cabinet ministers it may not be out of place to comment somewhat cheekily on two of them. They seem to have fallen into the trapdoor of their initials- double F and double R. The cabinet’s most valuable asset- RR-Rafizi Ramli - was the Recessed Rainmaker. He was not being projected, positioned and well utilised to assist the prime minister meaningfully .

The other-double F- Fahmi Fadzil- functioned more like a Finicky Functionary. Fahmi must cool down, sit back and accept fair comment on his boss. It is not necessary to tighten existing regulations just to elicit praise and plaudits for the government. Fahmi must have faith that the government is the best available. Double F must also consciously comprehend that Anwar is made of such stern mettle to withstand every kind of denigration, as he has done so admirably in the past. Please don’t block, bully or banish bloggers. They are the spice of life in our interconnected WhatsApps savvy society.

Interesting Innovations

The most important innovation that Anwar brought to the cabinet was the naming of two deputy prime ministers, one of whom was from Sarawak. Anwar broke with tradition with that move. It was his first tangible gesture to demonstrate his outlook of inclusiveness. He did not create controversy or comply with the tradition that the deputy prime minister’s post was the exclusive province of peninsular Malays. He just did it and shut up his minders and the mainly peninsular Malay opposition.

To his credit also he is the first prime minister since Tun Hussein Onn to reaffirm the guaranteed position of all the minorities in the nation. This was not a new concession. It was the reaffirmation of a constitutional provision which also guarantees the special position of the Malays and the indigenous people.

This was a courageous step and he has had a lot of flak for that from at least two of his predecessors who unashamedly flaunted their meanest Malay-first identity. The rumblings are still there and are unlikely to disappear. Of course they could not single out the Sarawak appointee.

Anwar is certainly the most inclusive prime minister of the nation in the past four decades. That in itself is a big step forward for the vast majority of moderate Malays and all the minorities after the phase of the rather small minded predecessors he has had.

In his first year in office PMX has also recognised the services of two well regarded veterans of opposition politics -Lim Kit Siang and Tok Guru Nik Abdul Aziz. They were recommended for and became Tan Sris.These were undoubtedly the most richly deserved decorations for exceptional courage, conduct and contributions to the vibrant democratic culture of the nation.

The other impressive feature of this year-old government is the noted absence, so far, of hushed corridor talk or suspicion of larceny or looting or lawless activity by any of his ministers. Previous prime ministers had their well known preference for dubious deals and dalliance with nefarious nominees and shady deal makers.

Serving Opposition Interest

Yet PMX is also the uniquely unusual uncharacteristic prime minister who has piously pandered most to the agenda of his peninsular Malay-first political opponents.

There is much irony there. It is that irony that taints his administration and taunts and troubles many.

It has to remembered that unlike the first six prime ministers of the nation Anwar did not inherit or enter an ecosystem with an astounding asymmetrical advantage over the other component parties of his unity government. Three of his predecessors enormously damaged the power and prestige of that office. They overplayed their hand and went overboard by dispensing favours to their cronies, being populist, running up a huge debt burden and overextending the functions of the bureaucracy to delve into religious issues that fall under the jurisdiction of the Malay Rulers.They also raided the nation’s treasury for esoteric and experimental projects. Consequently the prime minister’s position has become a diminished one which has limited authority and flexibility for acute crisis management and good governance .A routine gaffe today can and will be played up in parliament and in the social media to ridicule and belittle the prime minister or his ministers. He has had to share power with some odd and odious characters who faced charges for serious offences.

It would follow that even after a year he has not progressed much beyond rhetoric and repeated repartee to emerge as an impressive, innovative or transformational leader. He shows no dogged determination or the confidence to govern with clout, compass and content. The country urgently needs reform, rebuilding and it is widely recognised that the task of reenergising a burgeoning bureaucracy is a mammoth one. There is also the issue of a befuddled identity arising from a halfhearted attempt at imitating some West Asian norms.

ASEAN-First Policy

Anwar needs to come out in the open clearly and say categorically that Malaysia is an integral part of a rich Southeast Asian heritage. Malaysia is located in the heart of a very vibrant ASEAN region and is not an appendage of the Middle East.

Malaysia has the best, brightest and most broad based and diverse population of Asia- China, India, Indonesia, sometimes combined - and some West Asian elements in addition to a varied and vibrant indigenous heritage of the peninsula, Sabah and Sarawak. This diversity is a strength not a snag or a drag.

Forty two years have been squandered in trying to emulate a homogenous and strikingly secular and stellar Japan and Korea. Those two countries became extremely important economic, educational and exemplary powerhouses and have retained their strong cultural identity. They failed however to retain their innate independence in security and foreign policy by tying themselves too closely to the priorities of the United States.

Today the Philippines and Thailand which were linked to SEATO during the Cold War show a lot more imagination and independence in handling their relations with both the US and China.

Malaysia has to demonstrate today that it is looking neither East nor West but for the best alternative. Getting embroiled in the brawls of Big Power politics, whether direct or by proxy is not an option for Malaysia. The country does not have to suffer from that constraint.

We were never a part of SEATO and have carefully followed a course of not becoming embroiled in Big Power rivalry.

The fashionable and fastidious Arabisation of pockets of the country has not helped us either. It is creating more silos and divisions in the country. It is perhaps not prudent for PMX to state that but his clear descent into fractious Hamas- Palestine issues clouds further this difficult agenda of strictly striving to principally further Malaysia’s interests.

The last time the word Palestine assumed such a significance in our local political parlance was when Ustaz Sulaiman bin Ahmad, also known as Sulaiman Palestine challenged the then UMNO president, Hussein Onn in 1978 for his position. The ustaz was obviously a proxy, some say of the most devious politician in our country’s political history.

Passion for the Palestine cause is legitimate, laudable and logical but it should not become a plank for political capital. Anwar has for valid reasons handled issues related to Islam extremely cautiously as he cannot possibly go against the strong general tone and grain of the tide on the ground. But he could have brought greater management skills and moderation to the nation by manifesting a moderating, modernising and positive programme for the entrenched and expanded bureaucracy in the Islamic Development Department.

Instead he strengthened that role by conferring on JAKIM additional powers.

That bureaucracy cannot be divorced from the Public Services Department’s burgeoning establishment which is claiming about half the country’s operating budget for salaries, pensions and upkeep. A careful reappraisal of both the PSD and JAKIM is long overdue and PMX has not given sufficient attention to the matter. The nation cannot allow a further expansion and enhancement of both these agencies’ establishments as the most threatening issues of the day were the handiwork of these two department.

PMX must admit that an entrenched and much expanded bureaucracy is not sustainable. PMX has been linstrumental in emphasising adherence to Islamic values in Malaysia but surely the growth of illegal Tahfiz schools, the empowerment of a bureaucracy for Islamic development , the adoption of Arab culture and the secondary role ascribed to Muslim women would retard, regress than than regenerate the nation. It is a retrogressive step if an organisation like the Sisters In Islam is considered incendiary or inferior.

Muslim Women

There is no doubt that Muslim women in Malaysia are as advanced, educated and accomplished as women anywhere and it does seem superfluous that some states controlled by extremist elements have introduced and imposed segregation and other discrimination that denigrate, perhaps unintentionally the dignity of women. Countries that practise such policies invariably lose an important source of talent, temperance trust- vital ingredients in nation building efforts. Malaysians don’t need to emulate other countries or societies in establishing a solid foundation for the reconstruction and consolidation of our society. We have that wherewithal to evolve towards a more satisfactory equilibrium that will give greater equality, accountability and transparency in our Malaysian society. The diversity or delicate fusion of cultures that allow the harmony that exists in Sarawak for instance had once existed in the whole country.

Open Up To ASEAN

Perhaps a simple way to counter and dilute the development of extremism and the adoption of Arab-Iranian orthodoxy is to foster closer social and cultural relations with our ASEAN neighbours. Our people must know our neighbours, especially the highly successful ones, better.

Regrettably ASEAN, in spite of existing for more than half a century remains a top-down protocolar heads-of- government summit driven organisation.

PMX can initiate a process to realise more ASEAN people- first and people driven activities within ASEAN.

A start can be made to expose our institutions of higher learning and think tanks to interact and exchange postgraduate scholars from other ASEAN countries. The objective is purely to dilute this coconut shell-imposed tunnel vision approach to the Arab world which tends towards orthodox religious content. Our farmers, fruit growers, fish rearers and rice growers and teachers must be exposed to the better and best techniques practised in the ASEAN region.

Look For The Best

Japan and Korea, given their extremely cold climates, hardy environments and the advanced use of considerably higher levels of technology cannot be models for Malaysia.

Let us face these realities and slowly downplay this Look East policy in which our mediocre senior bureaucrats have been so keen for the creation of their little Napoleon administrative empires , tourism and travel benefits.

We must trust PMX will get better at focusing on his task of putting Malaysia- First.

He has had a yearlong torrid tryst, it would seem, with much talk, travel, tribalistic troublemakers and an unfathomed and little appreciated tilt or turn to Turkey.

He must understand that the reason most people including some components of the bureaucracy, back him is that, at the moment , he is seen as the least odious and least offensive. The other possible contenders for the prime minister’s post are seen as far worse alternatives.

To reciprocate the goodwill and generosity that he gets from most segments of the population PMX must deliver and perform , not to his opposition’s constituents but for the entire nation.

M Santhananaban

November 29, 2023