T AN Sri Johan Jaaffar highlighted two points in his column “Nation-building is never easy” (NST, Oct 18), which sums up the challenges that we face as a nation.
One, the government is not perfect. Despite the same rules being applicable to any government of the day, many politicians and civil servants still demonstrate ignorance of this fact, judging from their actions and decisions. Ultimately, the people will bear the consequences and their knee-jerk reaction is to blame the government of the day.
Critics are not perfect either as they tend to promote idealism more than pragmatism, which in most cases, will not generate any constructive solutions. The current opposition groups are critics who do not add value but, instead, destroy it.
That said, the prime minister’s effort in executing the Government Transformation Plan (GTP) as a key road map action plan towards Vision 2020 is probably the most difficult to accomplish. Obstacles in progress will not be overcome by perpetually thinking that it is impossible to do so and, in that sense, the prime minister’s focus is right on target.
However, there are still many politicians and civil servants who do not share this mindset. They continue to be ignorant or stubborn because of the empowerment given to them by virtue of their positions.
To be fair, many facets of the complex government machinery are showing positive indications that changes are taking place since the GTP kick-started, but still, there is much more that needs to be improved. Perhaps, from that perspective, the government needs to be bolder in its efforts.
The people will acknowledge a transformation as a success only if they experience and witness positive changes in matters that concern the important facets of their livelihood in the short- and longer terms.
Whether the results are tangible or otherwise, people need to feel the change. It will not make much sense if there is a wide gap between the government’s persistence to carry out the GTP and the reality of how the people are experiencing their encounter with the government machinery.
If such scenarios persist, no matter how significant the actions taken, they will only result in frustration for the people. This can lead to vulnerability to all sorts of skewed and narrow notions, which amplifies the frustrations.
The failure of Barisan Nasional to secure solid results during the 2008 General Election, only four years after gaining an overwhelmingly solid support in the previous election, is a good lesson in history to demonstrate how efforts that do not translate into tangible results for the people can backfire, and open risks and uncertainties on the future of this country.
Leadership is the business of providing hope and it will serve the government well to take note of this important factor as it pursues the agenda of building this country. The government would be wise to always take seriously the need to balance between the pursuit of changes that must be sustainable.
Secondly, Johan was right when he pondered on the fact that we must think about the fate of this country’s future generation. I would like to add that the necessity applies to the younger generation as well.
It is unfortunate that there are significant numbers of our young who are so caught up in the pace of technological advances, to the point that they only consider their emotions for the here and now.
Facts and lessons of history and the future outcome of their present actions are deemed irrelevant or a hindrance to progress. Many have chosen to give up hope because of the overwhelming speed that the world around them is moving, to the point that it effectively renders them irrelevant. Without any desire to catch up with the demands of an ever-changing world, they will not be able to galvanise much contribution to nation-building efforts.
As much as earlier generations must leave behind a sustainable future, the role of the younger generation in preparing to carry on the baton is as important as how the baton will be passed.
The call for a “People first, performance now” vision of governance sums it aptly with regards to the path to pursue. The challenge now is for the prime minister and his team to prove that they will remain true and steadfast in their efforts to achieve that vision.
Sugiman Sabri, Alor Star, Kedah