Vote for a brighter future

Vote for a brighter future Neil Khor Aug 19, 2008 - Malaysiakini Letters There is a popular saying: “If it ain't broken, don't fix it". This, some ex-politicians would have us believe, best describes Malaysia's current situation. The formula has ‘worked’ for fifty years. It must be allowed to continue. To quote a former leader: “I believe not being able to discuss certain things is a small price to pay for having stability and peace in the country”. There is only one problem with this kind of reasoning. It also works in another direction. It hinders change and, as history has shown, it yields up leaders who are not able to make dynamic decisions. If they do make decisions, they often change their minds soon after. To quote the same leader: “This government is a flip-flop government”. Of course, that is only the government and not the country. Malaysians have been discussing what is deemed sensitive in blogs, books, newspapers, and even on TV. As far as I know, no riots have broken out. Yes, there was that BAR Council forum with very loud protesters. But no blood in the streets as our eminent former leader warned. So, what is the cost of not ‘talking’ about sensitive issues? Of doing everything behind closed doors? Of the famed BN consensus-style? Well, for starters, it has kept the ruling elite in power. It has enriched some people. It has made us a middle-income economy with little ability to move into the post-industrial knowledge economy because our education system is so badly managed. It has created generations of Malaysians who are ignorant of the law and hence their rights. Yes, all this is ‘peace and stability’. The reality is that ‘peace and stability’ has left Malaysia broken in so many areas. How can one say the system ‘ain't broken’ when the deputy chief minister of Penang said that 80 percent of the hardcore poor in Penang are bumiputera? This is a state, which according to BN-produced reports, is one of the most equitable states in Malaysia? Isn't it time, we institute a new way of disbursing subsidies and assistance that will actually reach the hardcore poor? How come, after 50 years of the ‘system’, we have one of the worst wealth disparities in Asia? We have CEOs earning RM7 million a year whilst the office boy takes home RM700 a month! So reports Aliran: “According to the latest internationally comparable data from the World Bank, individual inequality in Malaysia (as measured by the common Gini coefficient) is the second worst in all of the Asian countries for which data is available. Only Papua New Guinea ranks worse.” The disparity is even more obscene when measured intra-ethnically, particularly so amongst the bumiputera. This means that the divide between the wealthy bumiputera and the poor bumiputera is a chasm. Is it any wonder why Mat Rempits have little respect for property? They are riding what is probably their only possession in the world. If the system ‘ain't broken’ how come it created a flip-flop government? Is it all due to the incompetence of one man? How did this incompetent person rise up the ranks if not by rote learning. He simply followed the rules of the ‘system’ and got up there. No, this is not the fault of any one individual. The problem is systemic. But we are not allowed to ‘talk’ about it. There is no use pretending that the current situation has nothing to do with race-based parties, the tunnel vision of race politics and the inability to let go of primordial fears. There is also no point in denying that there are compensatory rewards that come with upholding such a system. Kick-backs can sometimes lead to changed ‘wills’. Of course, the former leader has a very long memory. That is why he never ever fails to remind Malaysians of the ‘sacrifices’ of previous generations (i.e. him). The only problem is that each generation has its own special memory. For octogenarians, World War II and a brutal Japanese occupation, are yardsticks from which everything should be measured. For younger Malaysians, it might be the country in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, etc. Some of us feel grateful, some less so. But do we expect a brighter future? Yes, we can all agree that every generation does expect it to be better for the sake of their children. Otherwise, why reproduce? If that is the case, let us get one thing straight. No Malaysian wants to leave behind a broken world. Although some leaders have inadvertently left behind a broken country. Now once again... what is that famous saying? "If it ain't broken don't fix it?" Malaysia is broken and we need to fix it. Lets start by giving our children a chance to think out of the racial box. It is time, the hardcore poor, whomever they are, receive proper help. It is time, companies, where ever they are, become self-sufficient and economically viable. It is time, old systems that have served us well at independence, be re-tooled. It is time we put the outdated in the past. Those Malaysians with the right to vote have a simple choice: the past or the future? For our broken present needs fixing! ...source http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/88104