Charles Santiago
It’s Malaysia Day, and our political class is once again consumed by the most important question of all: who gets power?
Pas and Umno are talking about a one-million-person march to seize power. Anwar, meanwhile, wants to stay in power at any cost.
Everyone has a plan for Putrajaya. Everyone has a speech. Everyone has an enemy. What seems to be in short supply is a plan for the country.
Outside the political bubble, ordinary people are dealing with something less glamorous. The cost of living is rising. Incomes are stagnant. Housing is unaffordable. The healthcare system is overstretched. Educational opportunities are unequal. Many jobs are insecure.
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There is a widening sense that ordinary people are being asked to survive on less, while those in power argue over who gets more of it.
The recent revelation about stunted and malnourished children is one shocking example. It shows how badly some of our most basic problems are being neglected.
And yet, listen to our politicians. They can speak passionately for hours about race, religion, betrayal, enemies and conspiracies. They can debate who is sufficiently Malay, sufficiently Muslim or sufficiently Malaysian. They can mobilise crowds with frightening efficiency.
But ask them for lasting solutions to poverty, inequality, food insecurity, wages, housing or public services, and suddenly the microphones develop a technical problem.
I drove around on the eve of Malaysia Day. There were few flags on homes, and hardly any cars or motorcycles flying the Jalur Gemilang, the national flag. There was very little enthusiasm on the streets.
Perhaps ordinary people have simply become cynical. Perhaps, after decades of being told that the next government, coalition, election or political bargain will finally transform the country, people have simply stopped expecting much.
The irony is almost too perfect. Our politicians are fighting to save Malaysia from one another, while the people are struggling to save themselves.
The politicians tell us they are fighting for the future of the nation. Yet many families are worrying about today’s dinner, rent, school expenses, medical bills and whether their pay will stretch to the end of the month.
Maybe that is what we should reflect on this Malaysia Day – not who can put a million people on the streets, or who can shout the loudest, who can win the next political game.
Instead, we should reflect on whether we are building a country where people can live with dignity, where children have a fair start, where hard work actually provides security, and where citizenship means more than being useful at election time.
Charles Santiago is a prominent Malaysian politician, economist and human rights advocate who served three terms as the MP for Klang and has twice chaired the National Water Services Commission.
AGENDA RAKYAT - Lima perkara utama
- Tegakkan maruah serta kualiti kehidupan rakyat
- Galakkan pembangunan saksama, lestari serta tangani krisis alam sekitar
- Raikan kerencaman dan keterangkuman
- Selamatkan demokrasi dan angkatkan keluhuran undang-undang
- Lawan rasuah dan kronisme
