One must give
due credit to Prime Minister Najib Razak for his attempt at developing an inclusive Malaysia through
the One Malaysia concept which was launched 5 years ago. 1Malaysia was to unite
all Malaysians under a common set of values transcending ethnicity and religion evolving around a culture of excellence, perseverance, humility, acceptance, loyalty,
meritocracy, education and integrity (www.1Malaysia.com.my). The 27 products under
the concept ranged from the noble such as free medical treatment for senior
citizens, low risk maternity centers, mobile clinics and student discount cards
to the rather exotic including a people’s menu, people’s fish shop and people’s
shop. 1MDB was however not part of the original 1Malaysia program.
After 5 years of 1Malaysia, it does not take a genius to figure out that
Malaysia is worse off and even more divided than before. Although I must admit
that PM Najib has quite an inclusive outlook looking at his impressive 1MDB friends ranging from
rich Arab sheikhs to international bankers and a playboy Malaysian Chinese millionaire.
Under the circumstances, one cannot really fault him for sacrificing
meritocracy for loyalty in the appointment of his Deputy PM and the new Attorney
General while he is persevering to hang on to power by all means. Integrity was a foregone conclusion in any case
given the decadent state of UMNO and BN that he inherited and which he has now
taken to new depths of ignominy. Culture of excellence, humility, acceptance
and education are nice words to include in speeches but most Malaysians would
like to see some evidence of actions matching words (or in Malay cakap tak
serupa bikin).
Unfortunately for Najib, the 1MDB fiasco involving dodgy financial
transactions overshadows whatever benefits were brought about by the 1Malaysia
concept and programs. There was and continues to be absolutely no socio-economic
rationale for 1MDB given that Khazanah Malaysia, TNB or a myriad of other GLCs
and private investors were better placed to carry out the intended real estate
and energy investments. If these more established corporate players were unable
or unwilling to take on these new investments or were denied these
opportunities, it makes the 1MDB proposition even more dubious.
If anything, 1MDB has provided a glimpse into the workings of the murky
depths of the UMNO-led BN government where the nation’s interests are
sacrificed for the wealth of politicians and their cronies. This is probably
the most significant unintended outcome of 1Malaysia: to unite all thinking
Malaysians against the greed, corruption and incompetence of the UMNO/BN leadership.
The UMNO leadership is too compromised for any hope in cleaning house through
internal reforms. The rest of the BN parties depending on UMNO’s gravy train
have no real incentives to reform. The only hope for Malaysia and Malaysians is
to throw out UMNO/BN at the next general elections.
