RESPONSIBLE LEADERSHIP: Other leaders can take the cue from prime minister
It takes a great man to apologise in public for mistakes that are not of his own doing as he was not the prime minister then.
by Dr Rokiah Talib, featured in NST
I refer to the report “Najib: We will make amends” (NST, Feb 4). It is something that has never happened before; Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak apologising to the people in Kedah for whatever mistakes done by the government that led to the loss of the state to the opposition in 2008.
It takes a great man to apologise in public for mistakes that are not of his own doing as he was not the prime minister then.
The second aspect of the apology that strikes me as a sign of humility on his part is when he said: “I believe we should not be arrogant in a parliamentary democracy.”
Such an open apology from a prime minister to the people will go down in the annals of history as something refreshing.
It is common knowledge that one of the reasons why the Barisan Nasional government lost some states was due to the arrogance of some politicians in power. Some of them forgot that the people voted them in so that they could serve our needs, not to flaunt their wealth or treat the people like dirt.
Politicians should emulate the early genre of politicians who cared for the people, not in words, but through action.
Malaysians are a peace-loving people. We respect our politicians as most of them work very hard. The new millennium sees Malaysia enjoying the fruits of the hard work put in by the people, irrespective of their station in life.
Malaysia also has a much younger set of voters who are educated, urbanised and information and communication technology-savvy.
Thus we get a case of spiralling expectations. The young are more demanding and will not settle for the same tune as before.
Let us also hope other politicians, irrespective of colour or creed, take the cue from Najib and have respect for our intelligence.
Do not sell us the same old story. The irony is that the government provided good education system, but failed to take that into account and continued to treat the people as if they living in the 1960s.
