by Bakri Musa
Malaysia’s Wasted Decade 2004-2014. The Toxic Triad of Abdullah, Najib, and UMNO Leadership. #2
April 12th, 2015
Abdullah and Najib squandered Malaysia’s precious first decade into the new millennium. It was a wasted if not lost decade. It would be academic to judge who is worse, Abdullah or Najib. When both scored “Fs”, it matters less whether one is F minus and the other simply an F.
There is little prospect for change, at least until the next election due no later than mid 2018. Even if there were to be divine intervention, Najib’s deputy, Muhyiddin, is no better. Malaysia is doomed; it cannot escape its present sorry trajectory.
If nations do not progress, then ipso facto they regress. Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable, noted Martin Luther King.
Corruption in Malaysia is now approaching the “tipping point” where it would be irreversible and permanently cripple the nation a la Nigeria. Meanwhile religious fanaticism continues unabated, abetted by Najib and his deputy. That too may soon reach the point of no return when Malaysia would be another Pakistan. Then Malaysia would be a Nigeria and Pakistan combined, wrecked with crippling corruption and haunted by religious fanaticism.
Those two challenges are crippling enough but there are others, as with the deteriorating institutions. In the judiciary, even senior judges think that their job is to protect their paymaster, the government. Likewise, the Election Commission sees itself as an agency of ruling Barisan coalition.
All these are obvious to ordinary citizens; they do not need reminders from august bodies like the UN. Its Human Development Index showed that Malaysia improved by 1.05 percent in the decade of 1980-90; and 1.12 from 1990-2000. During the decade 2000-13, it grew only half as much (0.58), justifying my calling it the wasted decade.
The UNHDP Index is buried amongst the tons of all-too-frequent glowing reports by foreign consultants and international bodies, all paid for handsomely by the government of Malaysia. It took a catastrophic tragedy as with the disappearance of Malaysian Airline Flight 370 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014 to expose on the world stage the nation’s inattentive military radar operators and bumbling ministers. Malaysian leaders could not answer even simple questions from the families of the victims.
In fairness to Abdullah and Najib, the rot did not develop overnight. The Malaysia of today is still burdened by Mahathir’s legacy, quite apart from his role in anointing Abdullah and Najib.
This is Malaysia, so the race factor is never far from the surface. Already Muhyiddin, Najib’s deputy and presumptive successor, is threatening the nation with another “May 13,” the horrific race riot of 1969. That is Muhyiddin, always looking back, never forward. His is the collective mindset and caliber of UMNO leadership, consumed with fighting the last battle.
The issues they should be confronting are far different. Rampant corruption, deteriorating institutions, vicious religious extremism, and an entrenched rentier economy, among others, are what would doom Malaysia.
Although the racism and ethnic viruses can easily be reactivated (look at Northern Ireland and the Balkans), Malaysia has a low probability for another interracial conflagration of the 1969 variety despite attempts by the likes of Muhyiddin to scare citizens, especially non-Malays.
Next week: #3: Intra Racial (Specifically Intra-Malay) Conflict The Greater Threat
