Malaysia must get back its bearings
The country needs to be transformed and this can be done without Najib and his substandard Cabinet.
Aspan Alias
Malaysians yearn for the nation to get back to the state it was in some three decades ago. We were then on the verge of greatness. But we have since gone wayward and lost our bearings. We are now led by shameless leaders lost in their state of barefaced immorality. Worse, they do not have the conscience that might stir them out of their debauchery.
It is certain enough that the public has lost confidence in Najib and his Cabinet. Najib is responsible for the unmanageable problems that his administration is saddled with, while the Cabinet members are accountable for not shooting down his morally questionable decisions.
If they were responsible leaders, the Cabinet members would, for instance, have railed against the PM’s decision to acquire an elaborately luxurious and expensive executive jet, mainly for his use. They would have demanded that he cancel the decision. We won’t accuse them of giving him permission in the first place. They apparently did not. Najib asked for approval only from the Finance Ministry, which is of course under his charge. He asked himself for approval and he gave the approval to himself without the “official” knowledge of the Cabinet.
Najib is encumbered by issues of weak leadership and ineptness in managing what used to be a nation poised for glory. We were at one time ahead of South Korea and many other developing nations across the globe. We are now miles and miles behind.
Malaysia is now well known for all the wrong things. We are Number One in the purchase of defence equipment at inflated prices to allow for enormous kickbacks to the country’s leaders and we are certainly unmatched among importers of unskilled labour.
We are already in a state of devastation and Malaysians should not have to wait for the leadership to be rehabilitated. Efforts to discontinue Najib’s premiership is not an option any longer. He must resign and give the people a break. Malaysians need the country to be transformed and this can be done without Najib and his substandard Cabinet. He has mislaid all clues that point to how a prime minister should be managing a multi-ethnic and multi-religious nation.
Najib should not have been the Prime Minister in the first place. I blame the politicking of the warlords in Umno for his ascent to the post. This was a serious political misadventure. It has resulted in Malaysians being saddled with the weakest prime minister since we achieved our independence. The time has come for the warlords and for ordinary Malaysians to search their souls and to forget past differences. Just set in motion the engine that will lead us to a genuine leader who will initiate the transformations that we are in dire need of.
