Commentary: Malaysia Goes In Search Of A More Inclusive Growth Formula

Commentary: Malaysia Goes In Search Of A More Inclusive Growth Formula


Predictably, the fall of UMNO and BN from power quickly precipitated their post-election disintegration. Without a moral compass, the ship spiralled into a whirlpool; and Malaysian politics has been proven to be more about patronage than most people, even critics, had wanted to assume.

A NEW MORAL COMPASS NEEDED

It is clear that the badly diminished UMNO must now find a new moral compass or risk obliteration.

What should also be clear is that the armada of four parties that sank the BN on May 9 is seriously in need of a framework that can unite them in policymaking and governing the way fighting the BN had united them in electoral campaigning.

Such a new framework cannot ignore the special needs of the Malay community in their effort to be competitive in the world, just as it cannot ignore the fact that Malaysia cannot develop if it continues to treat inter-ethnic relations like a zero-sum game.

Nor can it ignore the fact that whatever the direction chosen, the journey will be a painful one. National institutions have suffered far too long from malaise, and too much suspicion and distrust have been propagated among the Malaysian population to the benefit of politicians.

In short, too much race baiting and racial prejudices had been encouraged in the past decades for a new and inspiring Malaysia to arise without the need for a lot of soul searching and bold policy shifts.

THE ROAD AHEAD

With the range of political parties now available to the Malay community, one should expect an effervescent period in Malay politics, hopefully marked by a confidence that will make a wholehearted acceptance of the multicultural nature of Malaysia more likely. It is only with that acceptance that the country can move forward without distractive and destructive internal squabbles.

The big challenge for leaders of Pakatan in the coming months is to dare to think long term, to banish bad habits of political sophistry, and propagate a new narrative for Malaysians in the next phase of the country’s development.

Sadly, this is also a time of easy populism, and resorting to short-term populist methods to get by can be a temptation members of the new government find hard to resist.

This article first appeared in Channel New Asia on 5 January 2019.