BN may be superior but Pakatan holds the future
By Muaz Omar (The Malaysian Insider)
Some 16 months after the landmark political tsunami of the 12th general election, Malaysians are beginning to consider who to choose at the next polls.
Even though Barisan Nasional (BN) has a track record of 50-odd years in managing the country, it is a bit of mismatch if we are to compare it to the fledgling Pakatan Rakyat that managed to take control of five (now four) states after the 2008 polls.
If it is a track record that we are considering as a criterion, we cannot dismiss the endless mismanagement cases, wastages and abuse of power that go on in the country. And that goes for both BN and Pakatan.
If we were to consider apple for apple, BN edges Pakatan on paper and age.
BN can harp on the notion that the country has managed to be transformed from a largely agricultural state to one now on the brink of developed country status, even though it may take another 50 years or so for us to be bestowed that honour.
However, the country would have been in a much better state economically and socially had there been a more transparent and effective system of management.
The public service delivery system has always been blamed for the laggard upward movement of the country.
The bloated but still overwhelmed civil service is an indication that manpower and resources are not being utilised efficiently, hence resulting in wastage of energy, time and money.
After the mini-economic revolution engineered by former PM Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in the early ‘80s until the ‘90s, the face of the country changed drastically.
Mahathir was more concerned with ensuring the country including his families and cronies got enough of the economic pie.
What was of less concern to Mahathir was the social development of the people, where democracy and civil liberties took a back seat.
Out went dilapidated buildings to be replaced by the dizzying heights of towers, smart buildings and the like. Rubber and palm oil estates were bulldozed to be replaced by factories and industries.
While the country's GDP per capita rose, it was still unable to catch up with our closest neighbour and rival Singapore. In the ‘70s Malaysia was on par with Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan; now the country is sliding down the rung and is currently about five times poorer than Singapore.
Under Mahathir, material development brought with it massive corruption and abuse of power centred on one individual.
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