In my humble opinion.....

In my humble opinion, the “history” on 8^th of March, 2008 was created because most Malaysians were frustrated with the way the previous government was managing the country that they vented their frustrations by voting the ones who they believed could bring a change and hopefully, “a new dawn for Malaysia”-adapted from PKR’s tagline. According to Chok Suat Ling of the New Straits Times on Sunday, 9^th March 2008 (pg. 6), the Chinese were unhappy about the rising cost of living, crime rate, racial and ethnic inequality, and other economic problem.

Malaysia is blessed with bountiful of natural resources including petroleum and a relatively peaceful nation. We should be one of the top destinations for foreign investment around the world, and we should be registering a higher economic growth rate, right? Unfortunately, our growth rate of 5.6% per annum is falling behind many countries including Philippines who registered an economic growth of 7% per annum. -Does this explain why some people think that Malaysia has economic problems???

Our government must sincerely work for the benefit of the people, regardless of race, religion and whether the people voted for it. If the government wants the people to give them a big mandate, they must firstly prove to us why they deserve it in the first place. A government that works ONLY for those who support them is a government that (I am sure) all of us cannot accept. If you want people to vote for you, do not use the “fear appeal” by threatening those who did not vote for you. Remember, you need to win their hearts, so don’t be mean to them. We want a competent government. In terms of competency, we want a government who not only has a vision for the country, but also concrete and practical plans for making this vision a reality. Remember STRATEGY, the plan of action that prescribes resource allocation and other activities for helping the organization achieve its goals???

I admitted in my previous post that all the political manifestos were compelling. However, the difference is that DAP; PAS; and PKR were quite concrete in identifying how they were going to address the problems confronting our nation. Both the DAP and PKR have proposed measures to reform the judiciary, promote whistle blowing, and create a business-friendly environment. (Eg: DAP proposed to set up a Research and Development International Action Team, an executive council of internationally renown academics from the scientific community to steer the R&D direction, innovation and entrepreneurship focus for Malaysia.) On the other hand, Barisan Nasional’s manifesto stressed on national unity, economic growth, fighting corruption and keeping the peace but it was a pity that they did not include HOW they were going to achieve their goals or implement their promises.

Some people said that the Oppositions would not be capable to run the country. I know some Opposition leaders do not have a track record but remember, they did not have a chance to prove their capabilities before. Anyway, education is one of the best proxies, as is success in the field these candidates have chosen. DAP's newly elected Member of Parliament for P106 Petaling Jaya Utara, YB Tony Pua, for instance, was a Raffles and Shaw Foundation scholarship holder and he has a Philosophy, Politics and Economics degree from Oxford University. He was a former CEO of a public-listed IT company and retired young because of his business prowess. PKR's MP for P107 Subang parliamentary constituency, YB Sivarasa Rasiah, was a Rhodes Scholar and PKR also fielded Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, a promising young leader with a King's College London degree, in the N32 Seri Setia state seat (YB Nik Nazmi, I mean since he's now the DUN member for Seri Setia). On the basis of these records alone, I think it is wrong to say that the Opposition is incompetent to govern. DAP and PKR have certainly fielded a new breed of well-educated and successful professionals as candidates. I am sure their erudition will help them administer the country well.

Personally speaking, I do not see the DAP, PKR and PAS coalition as a marriage of convenience. No doubt there were some misunderstandings at first...but like what Maverick SM said, "which international company set up within 2 weeks can be expected to form a team which could cooperate immediately without any hitch?". It requires the 4-stage processes of Forming, Norming, Storming and Performing to form a team and this is the same process that DAP-PAS-PKR is going through (wow, I still remember what what I learned during Managing Organizations last semester... My M.O lecturer is sure going to be proud of me if he ever reads this!!!).

Yeah, some people still stereotype PAS to be a radical party but in actual fact, PAS has adopted a more moderate leadership. They dropped their concept of an Islamic state from their agenda. Pork is sold freely in Kelantan, and non-Muslim houses of worship are tolerated, rather than being demolished (Remember the demolition of the Sri Maha Maraniam Temple in Shah Alam and Siva Bala Muniswarar Temple in Setapak which lead to the public protest by Hindraf??) .. Anyway, it was not PAS, but the BN government that declared that Malaysia is an Islamic state and it was the UMNO Youth Chief in 1987 who threatened to bathe the keris in Chinese blood.

Well, no matter what, BN still secured a majority in Parliament to be the next Federal government and they managed to reign supreme in 8 states (including Sarawak, earlier on in 2006). Congratulations for that…..Unfortunately, they saw the defeat of some of its “big guns”. Some of its margins shaved from the 11^th General Election in 2004. They failed to wrestle Kelantan back from PAS and loss Selangor, Penang, Kedah and Perak to the Barisan Rakyat coalition of DAP, PKR and PAS.

Though DAP, PKR and PAS had a better manifesto as compared to BN, will they “walk the talk” or are they just making empty promises??? From the way I see it, they are starting to “walk the talk” NOW but I know that it is still too early to comment. So to anyone who cannot accept the election results, just give them a chance and let them prove their worthiness. In a democratic country like Malaysia, if anyone of you is dissatisfied with their performance at the end of their 5-years tenure, you can always vote them out on the 13^th General Election.

Meanwhile, TOWARDS A BETTER TOMORROW…… MALAYSIA BOLEH….