Home Web Specials Smoking, comic book bans plus political preachers: The New Malaysia dilemma

Smoking, comic book bans plus political preachers: The New Malaysia dilemma

Graphic: csj-ng.org

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Policymaking is short-sighted; decision-making is knee-jerk and political patronage has gone skywards. JD Lovrenciear looks at what has gone wrong.

Indeed, the Pakatan Harapan government is drawing more and more flak from everywhere, day by day.

Corporate corridors, social media and kopitiam corners are rife with shaking heads as people start asking serious questions of the dashed hopes and unfulfilled promises of the new government.

In essence, there are three yardsticks that can be the measure of why citizens are becoming increasingly weary of the Dr Mahathir Mohamad “miracle”.

The nationwide smoking ban in eateries, the ban on a comic book and the use of Friday sermons to forward politically vested interests – these three best explain why the new leadership is not performing as well as it could be with the headstart given by the voters in the 2018 general election.

Policymaking is short-sighted. Decision-making is knee-jerk. Political patronage has gone skywards.

There is a video making its round lately. Kishore Mahbubani, Chunqiu Senior Fellow at the China Institute and former dean at the Lee Kuan Yew Public Policy School, shares why and how Singapore managed to join the ranks of developed nations using the “MPH formula”.

Perhaps it will help to show us why we are failing to achieve that, given the re-minted Umno-Barisan Nasional political framework of the emerging new government of the day.

The nationwide smoking ban, the ban on a comic book and the use of Friday sermons to forward politically vested interests – all these indicate we are bankrupt of the “MPH” that made Singapore so successful.

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We lack the M for meritocracy; we abandoned the P for pragmatism, and we certainly continue to be lacking the H for honesty.

The question is how long more will our nation be able to weather the fast-changing global arena with our symptoms as reflected in the nationwide smoking ban, the ban on a comic book and the use of Friday sermons to forward politically vested interests.

Source: themalaysianinsight.com

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.

AGENDA RAKYAT - Lima perkara utama
  1. Tegakkan maruah serta kualiti kehidupan rakyat
  2. Galakkan pembangunan saksama, lestari serta tangani krisis alam sekitar
  3. Raikan kerencaman dan keterangkuman
  4. Selamatkan demokrasi dan angkatkan keluhuran undang-undang
  5. Lawan rasuah dan kronisme
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Nair
Nair
7 Nov 2019 4.10pm

All the 9 Rings in the chart above is applicable to politicians to train themselves on how to lie, cheat,beg, borrow & steal form the nation. In Malaysia as long as Racial Politics exist nothing is going to change. Unfortunately Malaysia is actually not for all Malaysians.

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