An attentive Anwar attempts an astute administration

By M Santhananaban

These are not the best of times for Malaysia.

These are not the exuberant or exhilarating times when the World Bank placed the country in the second category of promising “newly industrialised countries”, just below the “tiger economies” of East Asia.

Certainly, these are not times of the past when an obviously overconfident prime minister proclaimed that the Vision 2020 goal would be reached before the target date.

These are also not exactly exasperating times, but there is an acutely greater awareness that the Malaysian economy has slipped at least three rungs behind neighbouring Asean countries.

Disturbing situation

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim inherited a malignant and mournful mess from all his five living predecessors, who were, in hindsight, effectively usurpers of prime ministerial office and did not have the decency or courage to gut the policies of the country’s longest serving prime minister.

Most of the nation’s more serious problems can be traced directly to that longest serving Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad. His latest canard is that under Anwar, the Malays are losing political power and control of the country.

While Anwar is astutely managing a precarious situation and trying to clamp down on corruption, it is ironic that his predecessors are obsessing over delusional fears and working overtime to undermine him.,

Anwar, as head of a rather tenuous “unity government”, has had to be extremely careful and cautious in attempting to introduce the kind of radical reforms and readjustments he has consistently stood for. The imperative to survive politically and stay stoically in the prime minister’s position is paramount. He has been acutely attentive to his support base while being equally aware of the noxiousness of the overly parochial, ultra-nationalistic opposition.

Anwar’s recent first Budget was designed to achieve some balance between popularity for his government and prudence in expenditure. The current account deficit, for instance, will be trimmed. Wastage, “leakages” and other kinds of inefficiencies will be eliminated, but he has not been able to make much-needed modifications to slowly reduce the expenditure on the civil service establishment and the pension category, who carry humongous health maintenance costs.

Malaysia had been long preoccupied with supernormal stories spun by its former prime ministers and had “looked East” earnestly when two of the largest Asian economies were erratically and earnestly powering ahead. China, with 1.8% of the world’s gross development product (GDP) in 1980, today constitutes 18% of global GDP while India, a modest $186.3bn economy in 1980, is a $3.5tn juggernaut today.

Diaspora, diversity not a deficiency

The two stellar economies of South Korea and Japan of the 1980s and 1990s are stymied by low birth rates and ageing populations. In Korea, the latest annual statistics available for marriages show that they have declined from nearly half a million to less than 200,000.

It is clear that new Asian powerhouses are being diligently developed in China, India and, lately, in Indonesia. ‘Chindia’ is a behemoth with the world’s largest population concentration and the world’s largest diaspora. A third country in Asia that is moving up the GDP ladder is Indonesia (its GDP was $1.2tn in 2021 from just $72.4bn in 1980), which also has its own identifiable diaspora.

The diaspora of these three countries have contributed immensely to their new countries of residence, including Malaysia and Singapore, and have blended well with the region’s multi-hued ethnography.

“Malaysia, Truly Asia” was not a meaningless slogan. But recent Malaysian prime ministers failed to turn the strength of the nation’s distinct diversity into a credible advantage.

The fourth and fifth prime ministers, Mahathir and Abdullah Badawi, were particularly and unabashedly more peninsular Malay in outlook than pan-Malaysian. Abdullah was obsessed with creating “towering Malays” rather than towering Malaysians, and we had in Mahiaddin Yasin an inelegant Malay-first diehard.

Any pragmatic programme to unify Malaysia and take it to greater heights has to recognise and respect all segments of society. There is absolutely no need to downplay the significance of the contributions of any segment or to revile and vilify them to create division and resentment. The country also needs to be well equipped with properly trained officials to handle undocumented migrants and refugees more diplomatically.

Malaysia, with a quisling of the population of China, India and Indonesia, has its own diaspora. Excellent professional and entrepreneurial talent and an impressive workforce of Malaysian birth can be found in Singapore, Australia, West Asia, Hong Kong, North America and elsewhere. Malaysia’s diaspora seems to be treasured and thrives on foreign soil but seems to be offered relatively less pay and recognition at home.

Officially, there will be protestations to the contrary. But the reality of an estimated 1.5 million Malaysians domiciled or working abroad cannot be overlooked. In a globalised talent-valuing world, more Malaysians will settle for well-paying jobs in other countries.

It is not a defect to have a diaspora in a globalised world with supply food chains, labour mobility and greater interconnectivity. One has to be a dinosaur to denounce and stigmatise this diaspora. Robert Kuok, Jimmy Choo, Michelle Yeoh, Wang Gungwu, Penny Wong, JYM Pillay, Kamahl, Herbert Morais and many others have made a name and niche for themselves outside of Malaysia.

Malaysia has to stand back, reflect, reassess, realign itself and look more positively at this whole issue of diversity. It can be marshalled into a strength rather than a shortcoming, because insular homogeneous societies are by no means perfect.

Looking ahead

Malaysia has to set its sights more firmly on China, India and Indonesia and all its regional neighbours or it risks failing and falling further behind.

In this regard, Anwar has given the right signals. He is the country’s most enlightened leader in wanting to treat both the old and new elements of its diaspora well.

Migrant workers from Indonesia and elsewhere have played a key role in enabling Malaysia’s impressive boom in the commodity and construction sectors. This has not been sufficiently acknowledged by any of Anwar’s five predecessors.

Instead, foreign workers have been treated shabbily, subject to extortion with token compensation. Anwar has attempted to correct this failing and improve the lot of foreign workers.

On the basis of several indicators, including political stability, elite corruption, educational achievements, proficiency in English, competence in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) and environmental standards, Malaysia became seriously disadvantaged in recent decades.

The much-vaunted “Vision 2020” – the year the country was supposed to achieve “developed nation” status – passed unnoticed. Its principal promoter, Mahathir, has also fallen by the wayside, a virtual festering anachronism in present day Malaysia.

Anwar assumed office in late November 2022 – the fifth prime minister in as many years. Since then, Malaysia has settled into a somewhat sober and sombre mood.

Unlike his famous predecessors, Anwar has not been bitten by the travel bug. The proforma visits to Asean neighbours are being made in a carefully calibrated manner. The new PM travelled out of the region to Turkey after the recent devastating earthquake to show much-needed sympathy and solidarity. An official visit to Saudi Arabia is now on the cards.

Otherwise, Anwar has been much rooted in Malaysia, bogged down by debates, discussions and discourses on the country’s many ills. The ultra-nationalists are also attempting to foment dissension.

Some of his priorities include serious floods, a demanding debt management exercise, deplorable systemic corruption, environmental degradation and pockets of hardcore poverty.

Evergreen political dinosaurs had designed policies that have been dragging down the country with expensive prestige projects.

Anwar has to grapple with an annual Budget, from which almost half the operating expenditure has to be apportioned to salaries and pension payments and health upkeep costs for civil servants and pensioners.

Some of the challenges were created in recent years on account of the misapplication of the state’s resources.

The Ukraine situation has amplified some of Malaysia’s problems with rising inflation hitting the lower economic strata.

Anwar’s elected political opposition is solid, but it is confined largely to the peninsula and seems prickly about good governance and corruption investigations.

These investigations, including the preferment of charges, are being executed by a bureaucracy inherited from that same elected opposition that was in power till last November. In fact, the attorney general, the anti-corruption chief and the police chief are specially selected appointees of a previous prime minister who has now been charged with corruption and money laundering.

The stories from the testimonies of witnesses from the first convicted former prime minister, Najib Razak, and his spouse have not yet been fully told and digested. Now, just this month, another former prime minister has been charged.

The corruption stories are not just disturbing but riveting, if not revolting. Items featuring sensationally are limited edition Birkin handbags, multi-million dollar watches, exquisite jewellery. Then there are the mountains of cash and contributions to political parties to provide the suspects a disproportionate and reassuring financial advantage for political campaigns.

What about the unreported premium brand clothes, shoes, perfumes and other prized items such as bespoke clothing. These items would be worth millions as well.

Innocent 99%

The amounts specified in some of these corruption charges are totally alien and shocking to 99% of the people. These 99% include some high net worth individuals and families.

The more talked about group are those in dire poverty. Though they can be found in some urban areas, they are concentrated in the natural resource-rich territories of Sabah, Sarawak and the politically extreme strongholds of Kelantan and Terengganu.

Many people fear religious extremism of the type espoused in Kelantan and Trengganu and increasingly in Kedah, a state that has produced two past prime ministers who between them administered the country for half of its independent existence.

Poor work and business opportunities and the vast gap between a small group of high net worth individuals and the vast number of lower-middle and low-income families are cause for deep concern.

Like most people, I feel somewhat liberated and vindicated by all that is going on in the investigations of suspected corrupt leaders. The PM and some of his colleagues are also talking about corruption, and it would appear walking the talk.

After over a hundred days in office, it is clear Malaysia’s current prime minister has set a pattern of persuading his people to accept certain inescapable realities. Unlike his immediate predecessors, Anwar is facing the reality methodically and is repeatedly stating what really matters for the country.

If not for the responsible, sure and steadying presence of our sultans, the traditional rulers and some upright politicians, entrepreneurs and civil servants, it would seem we would have had the equivalent of Emperor Bokassa, Sani Abacha, Ferdinand Marcos and Nursultan Nazarbayev in our midst.

We must be thankful that for the time being, we have a sane, sober prime minister who is sensitive to the aspirations of the majority community as well as the minorities. He is also the best recognised leader of the country in not only the developing world but in the world’s most important capitals.

M Santhananaban is a retired ambassador with 45 years of public sector experience. He has no political affiliations

The views expressed in Aliran's media statements and the NGO statements we have endorsed reflect Aliran's official stand. Views and opinions expressed in other pieces published here do not necessarily reflect Aliran's official position.

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