IN the May 9 general election last year, Pakatan Harapan, or Coalition of Hope, won 113 of 222 seats to form a government that Malaysia never had. Euphoria was almost another country.
Befittingly, we got a new name: Malaysia Baru or New Malaysia. Are we right to think of a born-again Malaysia? Yes and no. Let’s begin with the haze.
The air of acridity has been hanging over 34 million heads like the sword of Damocles for so long and we have yet to hear anything concrete from the Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Ministry except words in defence of Malaysian companies alleged to be involved in the slash-and-burn practices in Indonesia that are blamed for the haze.
Shouldn’t the ministry let the alleged companies defend themselves in Indonesian courts? What good is it to sit in faraway Putrajaya extolling the sustainable practices of the alleged companies? Come Tuesday, thunderstorms and heavy showers are expected nationwide, marking the end of the southwest monsoon. Let’s hope this transition brings much-needed respite for the ministry.
The Tourism, Art and Culture Ministry isn’t faring any better. Visit Malaysia 2020 is just months away and there is little in the name of visible promotion.
Not to mention the confusion caused by the truly unEnglish tagline, “Visit Truly Asia Malaysia”! Is it our country that is being promoted? There is a whole galaxy of Malaysian digital and e-papers out there to sell Malaysia to the world, yet not many are being used to the promoter’s advantage. Some hard evidence, please.
Press conferences in New Malaysia need some repair. Such media events, at times, end in truncated journalism. One-word answers by those who summon the conferences and wayward questions from journalists sometimes fail to define burning questions of the day. Result: bloopers and blunders by less-than-media-savvy politicians. The New Straits Times interview forum is our panacea offering: space where our writers think deep and hard around 40-minute long questions.
NST is interested in igniting debate and discussions around some serious national questions. We do not mind an opinionated politician, but not one who is after his political advancement.
There is yet another oddity in our New Malaysia. Collective responsibility of the cabinet seems to have been lost in the newfound euphoria of May 9. Those new to the government — and there are plenty — may not know this, but collective responsibility is the only way to govern. It is a convention.
Of late, some ministers are turning the cabinet into a boisterous think tank issuing statements diametrically opposed to what are announced as cabinet decisions. Collective responsibility means ministers should neither talk about such decisions nor issue disclaimers. Our fragmented media must take much of the blame.
But not all is lost in this art and science of governing. An example will do. Black shoes aside, Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik has at least got his deliverables right: mastery of English in schools, bringing science and technology into classrooms and building character in students. Some in PH have let 16½ months pass by, but there are 43½ months more for them to prove that our euphoria wasn’t wasted. There’s hope yet for the coalition.