Politics has had its day. A field day, at that. Now it is time for economics to have its say. If politics tried to tear us apart in the last couple of weeks, economics must now seek to bring us together.
The latter must summon the magnanimity the former lacks or chooses not to nurture. For sure, the Malaysian economy isn't doing too badly, given the dismal state of the global economy. But Malaysia can do better, says economist Professor Datuk Dr John Antony Xavier, who is also Asian Institute of Medicine, Science and Technology (AIMST) University vice-chancellor.
He tells this Leader how Malaysia can pull three economic levers to be among the 30 wealthiest nations in the world — a Madani vision of Putrajaya.
Call the levers economic strategies, if you will, but they must be there for the nation's economic vision.
Firstly, Malaysia must focus on innovation. There is a simple reason for this: innovation and wealth have a strong positive correlation. Not that our past leaders and policymakers missed the link between the two.
No, they didn't. But what they missed was turning innovation into actionable programmes on the ground.
Consider Germany. It is the 18th richest economy in the world for a reason. According to Xavier, Germany spends between three and four per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on research and development (R&D).
What is more, it is a robust promoter of R&D collaboration between the public and private sectors. Where is Malaysia?
In the table of global innovators, Malaysia is ranked 36th. Not a bad performance, given the 198 countries in the world, the innovation-averse will say.
Let's not forget, 36th in the global innovation table means a rank of 37 in the GDP table. Our innovation targets must match those among the top 30 largest economies in the world.
Secondly, Malaysia needs to give its digital connectivity a boost. True, we are No. 46 when it comes to mobile speed and ranked 39th for broadband speed. But just look south to our neighbour, Singapore. With fewer natural resources and human capital than Malaysia, it is the second richest country in the world.
The reason? Among other things, Xavier hints at digital connectivity. The island-state is ranked first in the world for fixed broadband speed and 26th for mobile speed.
Education, our final lever, needs some reformative work. The AIMST vice-chancellor says Malaysia isn't producing enough skilled workers.
If Malaysia wants to be an economic powerhouse like Germany, the United Kingdom or China, it must promote science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education.
Unlike the powerhouses, Malaysia is a "touch-and-go" nation, experimenting with an idea every five years, the length of the election mandate. Good economic ideas need some permanence. Otherwise, it will become attached to the ills of politics.
But economic expansion such as this will mean little to nothing, says Xavier, if it doesn't translate to "food on the table" for the common man, a category most Malaysians belong to.
Yes, divisive politics can be tamed, but first, the expanded economic pie must be equitably distributed. Politics in the last few weeks gave equity a miss by some distance. Putrajaya must ensure economics doesn't fall into the trap.