Malaysia has achieved 22% equity for Bumiputras with New Economic Policy but they are heavily in the hand of institutions not individual Bumiputras yet. The Chinese on the other hands have increased their shares quite substantially. Nevertheless, they still harbour a sense of threat, perceived threat that they are being discriminated. Obviously, the Chinese are doing very well but the opposition still talks about them being discriminated.
Obviously, there is no clear harmony between the actual advocate of ideas and practices and the propaganda that are being spread by the opposition. PAS today does not talk very much about people in UMNO being Kafir, the propaganda that it used in the 60s and 70s. Sometimes, people in PAS appear to be more liberal than those in UMNO, at least according to their words of mouth. What they profess and what they say in the propaganda are very different. Obviously, local politicians must go to basic to find out the realities and foundation of their politics. Basically, they should try to read the aspirations of the people and identify practical measures that can be used to develop the economy, which must be given a priority in development as it dictates the people’s way of life today much more powerful than those in the old days.
The government is still implementing the rural development program though it is increasingly being discredited by the opposition on the pretext that there are poor people in urban areas too. However, if the government were to abandon the rural development program, the country will have a lot more problems. The only way is to find out how to deal with urban poverty, which is not easy to deal with. The mechanism to deal with urban poverty is not well established as that to redress rural poverty.
The process of urbanization sets into motion something that will skew the economic structure a bit lopsided. The moment efforts are successful in building cities and towns, the real property prices will spiral up unrealistically. The people in Singapore are facing the problem to such an extent that native Singaporeans whether they are Chinese, Malay or Indians are finding it hard to buy new properties; they can only watch the prices of real property spiralling up high. Now a lot of people are being tempted to sell their flats built by the government at very cheap prices, with very high prices. However, if a person takes that offer, he will not be able to get the same accommodation with new prices within one or three years. That is only real property. Many other things change in urban life like food, clothes and manufactured things and others.
Thanks God, the people in Sarawak, Malaysia as a whole can still supply their own food and manufacture goods mainly for export. But it is not the same in Singapore. With the prices of food coming up more and more, people are experiencing a high cost of living. Even in Kuala Lumpur the prices of food are coming up; generally the cost of living is very high. But at the same time there are more and more poor people looking for jobs in Kuala Lumpur. They find it very hard to live with the new costs of living. For example, a driver in Kuala Lumpur has to be paid double the rate as compared to that in Kuching.
Understandably, the State government has to study the urban economic pattern, which is working slightly different from that in the rural area, to tackle urban poverty. The State machinery is not fully geared to face that kind of problems. Even an Island state like Singapore, known for its efficiency, cannot tackle the urban problem effectively. The government lost about 5% of the popular votes in the last Elections. Obviously, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Johore and even Negeri Sembilan have to study the problems too. Arguably, the problem of urban poverty is more difficult to solve than the general one. For example, the New Economic Policy states that the Indians are included in the target poverty groups as being landless, estate workers, farmers, fishermen and others.
Yet the Indians are very angry, their children do not want to stay in estates. They escape the network of economic reform that has been geared to tackle their problems in estates. A lot of Malays have migrated to urban areas too. It is still alright for them if they stay in a town like Kuching where the cost of living is still not very high. They can afford to own motorcars even when prices of petrol get higher and higher.
But in Kuala Lumpur, a lot of people cannot even afford to own motorcycles. With traffic congestion, they have to spend more money on petrol. If parents take four of their children to go by LRT, they will also have problems paying for their fares. Those are problems that the urban society has to face today. They have got social impact and require social solution.
The debate is how to help these people, how to correct the imbalances? For example, if the government decides to give subsidy, how long can it give? Besides, giving subsidy is not a viable solution. For example, Greece has found it not viable, Portugal has found it not viable, Spain has found it not viable and Ireland has found it not viable. Basically, a government cannot subsidize everything that causes hardship to people.
The opposition offers to pay everything under its 100- day program if it becomes the government. Even non economists consider the opposition’s 100- day program a completely Aladdin’s program. The economists believe that the program will make Malaysia to become bankrupt within five years if the opposition comes to power today. Obviously, the opposition, if it becomes the government, will be ill-equipped to do anything to solve problems being faced by the people in urban areas.
It is the common view of the economists that the program is not realistic. The economic system must be designed within the limit of the local situation. No government can spend as it likes. Even USA and developed countries in Europe have found this to be true.
Obviously, Government Ministers and backbenchers must engage the opposition in healthy debates to convince them that their ideas have been proven to be successful in bringing the country to become more progressive and advance now. Only the government has the capacity and capability to push the country forward to become a developed nation by the year 2020 and beyond.
The State, the country is moving forward to become a developed nation, which requires more than just economic development. The movement entails an interaction within the community in order to make discussion on public policies more realistic. This requires elected representatives of the people or parliamentarians to link whatever ideas and thoughts that they have and contribute them towards building a working democracy in an efficient manner.
Most countries have failed in democracy because their social development is not in harmony with political development. Demand for change sometimes surfaces but only to highlight what the opposition want and not those of the Rakyat. Those of the rakyat cannot come out as a segment of the debate in democracy. The rakyat wants the mixture of thoughts that must be designed in such a way to meet their aspirations. In other words, the mixture of thoughts must be formulated to become practical actions to meet their aspirations
Undoubtedly, the State government, under the leadership of Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud as the Chief Minister since March 26,1981 has been working for change as the transformation from a traditional to a modern society requires leadership that is strong and comprehensive in its perception of change. It should not talk only spotted or selective change to suit political purposes. It should be an overall holistic attempt to change the society for the better. The State government has been making conscientious efforts to bring about change within the familiarity of the old concept. The idea of Change for the better is being encroached through leadership and political system. The Opposition may talk about change to be modern without knowing what they are talking about. They do not have holistic ideas and the paraphernalia of the working democracy of a developed nation.
benuasains
*Photos Source:
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salcra.gov.my
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