The speech by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak to the Malay Contractors Association on Saturday night that blame should not be placed entirely on the government for what is happening in the country right now, especially with the weakening ringgit, is symptomatic of the seriousness of the denial syndrome afflicting the government of the country.

Instead of uniting the national energies and creative talents of the country’s plural people to find solutions to the prolonged crisis of confidence bedevilling the nation, threatening to reduce Malaysia from a first-world “hopeful” to a mediocre third-world nation, Najib is more obsessed with denying or underplaying the seriousness and magnitude of the crisis of confidence in the country or inventing excuses for the nation’s woes by blaming them on everybody else except his leadership in the country.

Despite his earlier signature policy of 1Malaysia and his promise to be an open, moderate and liberal Prime Minister, Najib is turning out to be a very polarising Prime Minister who have allowed his followers to play the race and religious cards to perpetuate his political position in party and government.

It is sad and tragic if Najib’s premiership is remembered and identified by the M2.6 billion “donation” and RM50 billion 1MDB twin mega scandals, instead of by his political initiatives like 1Malaysia policy, the National Transformation Programme or the Global Movement of Moderates which have been effectively abandoned in deed if not in words, gathering dust in the archives of Najib’s administration.

In the sixth decade of our nationhood since the achievement of Merdeka in 1957 and the formation of Malaysia in 1963, Malaysia has lost its way.

I still remember the heady days of Merdeka in 1957, when I was in secondary school, when the people in the country had high hopes and ambitions. Read the rest of this entry »