To-do list for Anwar if he forms gov't
Malaysiakini.com
Aug 29, 2008
Malaysian For The Future

Now that Anwar has won by a convincing majority in the recent by-election, it is imperative to examine a few critical issues for the future of Malaysia:
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1. Circulation of seditious pamphlets in the recent by-election to instill hatred in the minds of Malays toward the Chinese in particular. This is a very worrying sign, and is certainly not conducive to racial harmony at all. The Barisan Nasional coalition parties should investigate fully who condoned the circulation of such pamphlets.

All Malaysians wish to live peacefully in a multi-racial Malaysia where all races are treated equally. If the US’ Democratic Party could elect Barrack Obama to be their presidential nominee, I see no reason why Malaysians cannot accept a leader from the majority Malay race who is advocating justice and equality for all races.

Is this something that can never happen in Malaysia? Aren’t people of other races other than Malays also Malaysians who could also qualify to be ministers in an alternative government?

Why instill such fear in the minds of the non-Malays? The non-Malays in Malaysia have lived through almost four decades of New Economic Policy and not being given the opportunities accorded to the Malays.

Non-Malays should not be blamed as they did not enjoy such opportunities other than being given the opportunities of being schooled in primary and secondary schools in Malaysia. After that, the non-Malays have to excel by themselves with no extra help from the government.

2. The endless ceramah by BN leaders that Anwar is selling out Malay interests (to who?) How could these leaders say such things are beyond belief. These same leaders are always talking about racial harmony in other instances. What is wrong with Anwar advocating a Malaysia where all Malaysians are equal?

Malays already form almost 60% of the population. How can policies geared toward eliminating poverty be disadvantageous to the Malays? Malays will benefit the most if that is the case. Anwar has given the vision that his new Malaysian Economic Agenda will benefit a wider spectrum of Malays.

Of course, I believe he will achieve that if he comes to power with good economic management. Presently, we all know that income is not evenly distributed in Malaysia and there are still many poor Malays, Chinese and Indians. I support wholeheartedly policies that would help anyone regardless of race.

3. Anwar keeps on saying he can form the next federal government. If that is true, he must ensure that he is able to muster enough support from the people so that the police will declare that they will not tolerate any disturbance, however minor, in Malaysia. It would be great if he could also win the support of the armed forces too.

The police should declare that those who create disturbances will be swiftly arrested. Malaysians do not want gangs to rule Malaysia. I read in disbelief news that gangs went around distributing racially-charged pamphlets in Permatang Pauh recently.

Anwar has to use his charm and whatever means to ensure that the defecting MPs are able to help in ensuring that the members of all political parties will never resort to creating disturbances, however minor, in Malaysia. If any disturbance happens, however minor, Malaysia will take years to recover. Everyone will lose out.

The future generations of the gangs who create disturbances will also lose out if Malaysia is to go down. I hope that the current leaders of the government will also accept this situation if indeed the crossover happens.

Crossovers are permitted by the current constitution. If the present-day leaders do not want crossovers, they should quickly get the constitution amended or a bill passed on that. As an ordinary Malaysian not privy to what Anwar and the ruling government knows, I hope that all the leaders will think for the long-term benefits of Malaysians and their future generations.

This is all for their future generations too. Nothing should rock the peace that we now have in Malaysia. If no one rocks it, the peace will always be there.

4. DAP, PKR and PAS have advocated a Malaysian administration based on open tenders, equality, justice, transparency and good governance. Malaysians want that because they know that this will help create a better Malaysia. I hope Anwar is able to convince all Malaysians that better days are ahead and we can all work together if we remove racial barriers from our everyday lives.

The US struggled with this for some time in the past when whites discriminated against the blacks but they have transformed for the better in the past few decades.

5. The Malaysian economy which is now 50% reliant on oil and oil-related industries for its government revenues poses tremendous challenge for the future prime minister, cabinet and state leaders. The Malaysian economy is not well diversified. This is echoed by the Petronas CEO.

Many predict that Malaysia will be unable to export oil, in say, 15 years from now. This is worrying. As a layman, I do not have the exact figures on oil reserves. Malaysia really needs to reinvent for the future when oil runs out.

The current or a future government should immediately convene top experts on how to diversify our economy to avoid a future economic disaster for Malaysia. We need long-term planning now.

We need all the talents we can get from all over the world to develop and diversify Malaysia. If Malaysia still keeps on talking about racially-based politics, I am afraid these experts will not come to contribute to Malaysia. We need a new direction, a new thinking from political leaders to talk about advancing the Malaysian economy. We do not need political leaders talking about racially-based politics almost every day.

The world is changing rapidly and we need all the talents we can get. We need to attract top global talents to Malaysia to advance Malaysia. Singapore is doing this very well and we all know Malaysia is not doing well in this area.

6. Malaysians should not dupe themselves into thinking they could get good political leaders if they are not paying top ringgit for their leaders. Singapore and Hong Kong are doing the right thing by paying their leaders reasonably well and you see almost zero corruption in these places.

The globally mobile top minds certainly prefer to earn money from businesses or to remain as successful bankers and other professionals earning millions (in US dollars) (rather than becoming politicians in Malaysia).

I hope the prime minister of any administration (current and future) will be able to convince the Malaysian people that he/she needs to pay his cabinet ministers and experts well to propel Malaysia forward.

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