A RESPECTABLE statesman once said if a country surrenders its sovereignty, it may become a half-past-six country.
A “half-past-six” country is not a Western terminology. Just what is a half-past-six country?
The terminology of a “half-past-six” country is highlighted by the meaning of the expression “half-past-six” itself. One dictionary defines half-past-six as “bad, shoddy, slipshod”.
Half-past-six is an adjective mainly used in Malaysia and Singapore, and is a local slang for “inferior” or “of poor quality”. The term is often used to denote someone who does things in a half-hearted manner.
Its origin is not known, but it was widely used in the 1950s and 1960s. Perhaps, it came from the fact that when it is half-past six, both hands of the clock point downwards — a “thumbs–down” to denote unacceptability.
Situations in a country, therefore, can develop to become “half-past-six” if there are factors that hinder good governance, such as corruption, abuse of power, poor financial and public administration, lack of transparency, lack of rule of law, exploitation of issues related to race and religion for personal or group gains, and extremism in all forms.
We have seen over time that countries that have the best economic growth are those that have good governance.
A country that is not “half-past-six” keeps corruption to a bare minimum. A half-past-six country does not promote open societies and the sharing of information.
On the contrary, when there is free flow of information, there are discussions that can lead to solutions. Lack of sharing of power, poor adherence to rule of law, poor accountability and poor financial controls could lead to abuse, corruption, subjugation and indignation, and the country will be in danger of moving into a “half-past-six” state of affairs.
“A man is but the product of his thought, what he thinks he becomes”, to quote Gandhi. Likewise, we can expand the discussions on the concept of “half-past-six” into many other state of affairs. We can talk about half-past-six attitude, mentality or character to describe persons or individuals. We can talk about “half-past-six” products and quality and after-sales services. There are also “half-past-six” marriages, relationships and quality of life.
I would like to touch on “half-past-six” quality of life since the quality of life in a country, to a large extent, indicates the wellbeing of the population.
Quality of life is measured in terms of purchasing power, cost of living, property prices, affordable healthcare, safety, infrastructure, climate and pollution.
The unfavourable effects on all these determinants will make life unpleasant and lead to a “half-past-six” state.
Since all these are financially related, it is important that we manage our money well.
If money does not bring you happiness, it will, at least, help you to be miserable in comfort and prevent your life from becoming “half-past-six”.
DATUK ABU BAKAR ABDUL HAMID
Kuala Lumpur