Malaysians enter the new year of 2010 with Datuk Seri Najib Razak completing three-quarters of his first year as the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia.
After nine months, “1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now” has proved to be mere publicity and propaganda puff of the Najib premiership with no meaningful change or consequence to the lives of Malaysians.
Are Malaysians of diverse races, religions and regions more united as one Malaysian people or even more divided than ever?
Do Malaysians feel safer from the endemic tide of crime which had deprived them of the two fundamental freedoms of any citizen in any civilized society – to be free from crime and the fear of crime?
Is Malaysia becoming a country where accountability, transparency and integrity are not just slogans but taken seriously by the government with the political will to take action against the “sharks” and not just “ikan bilis”?
Have Malaysians started to regain confidence in the credibility, professionalism and integrity of the key national institutions in the country, in particular the judiciary, police, Attorney-General’s Chambers, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and the Election Commission?
Have the government started to check the brain-drain and migration of the best and brightest Malaysians?
Has Malaysia regained her international competitiveness to ensure economic growth and development to become a high-income country with justice for all Malaysians?
The answers to these questions are a clear and categorical negative.
These are among the issues Malaysians should ponder and confront with the ushering in the new year for they comprise the challenges to be surmounted if Malaysia is to regain her rightful place not only to in the international comity of nations but to fulfill the founding aspirations of our forefathers on national independence in 1957 and the formation of Malaysia in 1963.