JULY 28 — The days of hard-sell politics are over. Talk is cheap, and rhetoric, even cheaper. Empty slogans and clever but meaningless sound bites don’t matter much these days. In other words, pure spin is no longer accepted nor tolerated.
This is not to say that leaders shouldn’t communicate or explain their ideas to get buy-in and support. That is still critical. But more and more, substance must trump over style.
Malaysians have had an overdose of politics recently. We see, hear and read about countless political games taking place, about the occasional scandal and the many conspiracies that plague the country. Who is doing what, and even, who is meeting whom! Such matters are dissected and discussed ad nauseam.
Add to that, we see the behaviour of certain leaders that only continue to inspire ridicule and contempt, on both sides of the divide. There is also no shortage of personalities who are ever-ready to politicise any current issue for their own gains — going so far as to intrude on a family still grieving over the loss of their son.
Meanwhile, the country is faced with an economic slowdown, not of our own making, but nonetheless one that gravely impacts the lives of ordinary Malaysians. Crime, social ills, inter-racial misunderstandings as well as inter-religious complications continue to raise alarm and concern. The political dust has not settled, even after more than 15 months since last year’s general elections.
The people want to see not only good governance (which is a pre-requisite anyway); they want to see results and performance too. Some politicians, who have only ever been in the opposition until recently, are discovering that having to make hard-nosed decisions is not so easy – it was much easier, after all, to simply sit on the other side of the fence, looking in, and criticise the other side.
For others, whose political experience is rather limited, governing is a brand new ball game, with a very steep learning curve. Still for the majority of leaders, the absence of a competent delivery mechanism handicaps them and constrains their best ideas to the drawing board, forever waiting to be implemented.
We need to see movement on many issues in the country. Moving the economy up the value chain necessitates enhancing innovation, creating new sources of growth such as creative industries, nurturing high tech companies, and dealing with long-standing problems such as subsidies and foreign workers.
Developing first-class human capital requires actual implementation of concrete steps to overhaul higher and lower education, and not just the introduction of elaborate plans.
On the other hand, enhancing national unity requires the resolution of many contentious inter-religious disputes, whether concerning religious belief, family life, or even death. Our inter-racial relationships need to be strengthened not only by rejoicing in each other’s celebrations, but by taking the time and effort to understand some long-standing and perhaps highly contentious, often emotional matters related to culture and education (such as vernacular schools and scholarships), as well as the much-argued social contract.
The latter especially should continue to evolve and grow, within the confines of the Federal Constitution and accepted social norms, in order to properly reflect the aspirations of today’s society.
Although difficult, these problems must be dealt with squarely, just as we work hard to build competitive businesses, fight crime and ensure social justice. It’s a difficult balancing act that requires wisdom, experience and expertise. More so, it requires our leaders to have courage, character and competence, in order to be able to address these issues and to deliver performance.
Even us grassroots politicians need to make a shift. There is no space for pomp and fanfare. We should try a softer approach — to gently persuade people about our values and ideas. More importantly, we need to win people over via our actions. Pet programmes that serve the people — even social projects that reach out to small groups — are infinitely better than bare speeches. Every leader, at every level, must get down to work to make Malaysia a better place to live in.
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