How reforms, like Rome, must be built incrementally

THE history of Malaya, and ultimately Malaysia, is replete with examples of constant calls for reforms. Whether the spear of reforms is aimed at education, the mindset of Malays or Malaysians, the calls for change are endless.

This tradition comports not with Harold Lasswell's conception of politics as a process of “who gets what, when and why” but David Easton's idea of “politics as the authoritative allocation of values”.

What is the difference, fine as it may be, when it comes to using the handy definition by Easton to understand the Malaysia Madani government? That is, as opposed to using Lasswell's approach as an explanatory framework.

First and foremost, as and when Malaysians, for that matter Malays, have been unhappy with the status quo or the current order, civil society has never been short of critics.

In the case of Muslim reform, for example, granted that most Muslims are Malays and vice versa, the likes of the Malay Youth or “kaum muda” spoke out against the conservatives or “kaum tua” in the early part of the 1900s.

Any rejoinder against the powers that be has been tolerated and accepted. The authorities, including colonial ones, tried their best to listen to the grouses of the public, irrespective of class, race and creed, except the far left, which are the Communists.

There was even an effort to engage the leading stalwarts of Communists, especially Chin Peng, by the late Tunku Abdul Rahman, in 1950, in Baling, Kedah, years before Malaya was given its independence on Aug 31, 1957.

The degree the Communist members insisted on joining the political process was where Tunku Abdul Rahman and his government drew the red line clearly.

Then there are efforts to listen to the view of the 20 points of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), which is what Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is systematically doing to make sure Sarawak and Sabah are as important as Peninsular Malaysia in the Federation.

Such efforts from the government imply that regardless of how the government is named, whether it is a Madani government, a civil government, or otherwise, the administration of Anwar is not averse to listening to the grouses of the people.

That is because the Madani government is “Eastonian” in thrust. Instead of hammering away all dissent or responding to the people only after they have raised the proverbial white flag, as was the case during the 17-month lockdown during the pandemic that began on March 18, 2020, the government of Prime Minister Anwar has been doing nothing but lead and listen.

That the prices of food, fuel, fertiliser and animal feed continue to spiral upward, is because of events external to Malaysia such as the war in Ukraine and, consequently, the embargo imposed on the export of rice by India.

This is despite the moderating inflation in Malaysia.

Indeed, if more factors need to be stated, one should look no further than Malaysia and the world's exposure to the tightening of oil supply as set by member states of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) time and again, not excluding Russia.

The critics of the Madani government who say Anwar is not doing anything tangible – and who are merely an echo chamber for Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman labelling the administration "Nato" (no action, talk only) – surely cannot be oblivious to the foreign direct investments (FDI) that have begun to stream into Malaysia.

Be it Tesla, Amazon or Geely, all three combined are contributing more than a total of U$50bil (RM234bil) combined. All three surely must be aware of the review of the New Industrial Master Plan (NIMP) 2030 and National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR) 2050.

Reforms are at work when Anwar is clearly aware of the importance of reducing the fiscal deficit of Malaysia from 5.6% last year to 5% this year, if not by next year; and then down to 3.2% by 2025.

Malaysia’s inflation rate too moderated to 2% in August 2023, unchanged from the previous month.

Notwithstanding that, more effort is needed to reduce living costs, specifically food prices, by executing a holistic food security strategic plan that is also in the works.

It was announced in previous Parliament meetings that a specific agency, the Malaysian Food Security Agency, is being considered to focus on this agenda to reduce the nation's over-reliance on imports.

Such efforts show that Anwar, who is also Finance Minister, understands how to identify and allocate the most important resources – all of which are scarce – to the key actors and sectors in the country.

Such authoritative allocation of values can keep Malaysia afloat amidst the necessity of drastic changes, such as the crisis brought about by excessive rainfall causing natural disasters.

To those who argue that the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 and the Sedition Act 1948 have not been reformed, they should keep in mind that this government is less than a year old.

There may or may not be elements from within the unity government not in favour of amending this legislation, and as such Anwar has placed economic reforms as the wisest first step forward.

Authoritative allocation of values suggests a government that tries to work on the basis of evidence-based results. Entities such as EMIR Research and Ilham Centre are not averse to letting the government know if it has been performing or not.

This is the feedback mechanism that Anwar's government has adopted, aside from listening to input from the government machinery.

To say that the government does nothing but talk is not only unfair but reeks of self-interest to pressure it into doing what the individual saying it would like to see. But that is not necessarily what the unity government can agree to do.

It must stress that the present administration inherited RM1.5 trillion in debts, not forgetting the loss of RM4.5 trillion to the economy over the past 26 years through corruption and leakages (for details refer to the earlier article by EMIR Research “Malaysian Monetary Loss to Corruption and Leakages – RM4.5 Trillion over 26 years”).

Taking stock of what has been inherited, understanding realities on the ground and navigating tactfully is how the Anwar administration stays the course of reforms in a pragmatic way to achieve the intended outcomes.

Drastic and swift changes made in an initial euphoria will only invite negative reactions and pushback from the majority Malays, aided and fuelled by Opposition politicians who thrive on identity politics of race and religion to survive.

Such politics are monumentally detrimental to the rebuilding of the nation, given the geo-economic and geopolitical challenges.

After all, Rome was not built in a day, what more a “Rome” with decades of decadence.

Dr Rais Hussin is the president and chief executive officer of EMIR Research, a think tank focused on strategic policy recommendations based on rigorous research.