More Goodies But FounbdationalProblems Remain

 More Goodies But Foundational Problems Remain 

M. Bakri Musa

January 11, 2025

Excerpt from my Quran, Hadith , and Hikayat will resume next week.

In his over 50-minute speech to his ministers and senior government officials on Monday, January 5, 2026, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced a number of bold initiatives. Among them, limiting the tenure of the Prime Minister to two terms, Freedom of Information Act, creating an ombudsman, and separating the position of Public Prosecutor from Attorney-General. All laudable!    

      Then ever the politician, Anwar descended into typical election rally mode by dispensing goodies to almost everyone. Generous salary hikes for judges and other civil servants, large grants to schools (religious as well as vernacular), and cash to schoolchildren before droning on accountant-like with a long list of tax credits and deductions.

      Anwar was not his usual oratorical prowess that day. No soaring rhetoric or fist thrusts into the air. What soared instead would be the federal deficit. 

There was enthusiastic response to his announcing term limits for the Prime Minister, prompting him to wonder out loud whether the audience was trying to send him a message. He teased his sidekick to get the names of those who had vigorously applauded. 

      When the live broadcast began ten minutes before the starting time of 11:30 AM, the cavernous hall was already packed. Those senior civil servants must have left their offices long before that. Imagine the whole government machinery being shut down that morning with busy public counters unmanned! 

Anwar appeared at 11:35 AM in his modified white bush jacket accompanied by his usual large entourage. His top civil servant beside him had tucked-in white shirt, dark suit, and tieless, Obama-style, de rigueur in today’s Malaysia. Obama was tall and trim, thus looking presidential despite being tieless.

There were no kompang drums and bunga mawar. Instead, prolonged supplications, throaty rendition of the national anthem, vigorous mass ikrar, and the ever-effusive drawn-out welcoming remarks. Anwar did not begin to speak until over ten minutes later. Afterwards with the inevitable post-session socializing, the audience did not beginto disperse when the live broadcast ended at 12:37 PM. 

Mass monthly ministry staff meetings, now the norm, are a complete waste of time, what with the drawn-out protocols and ministers giving their usual mundane speeches. Those sessions are but excuses for civil servants to ponteng. What Anwar conveyed that morning would have been more appropriately and effectively delivered at a press conference after office hours. His message after all was for all Malaysians.

Meanwhile Malaysia’s foundational weaknesses remain and are fast deteriorating:  endemic corruption, weak institutions (most glaringly educational), and regressive Islamism. Those critical issues were unaddressed.

What good would it be to separate the Attorney-General’s position from that of the Public Prosecutor if both were to be helmed by the Apandi Ali types? As for corruption, why not emulate America by having the top 100 public officials including the sultans declare their assets annually and publicly. Again like America, make Malaysians declare their foreign assets and income.

Grants to religious schools would not enhance Malay (or Malaysia’s) competitiveness. For every Malay pursuing religious studies, one fewer for STEM. We should be incentivizing Malays to pursue STEM. Air-conditioning the classrooms, having broadband access, and providing pupils with computers would be far more productive than simply doling out cash. 

When proposing major public spending and policy initiatives, it would be wise to first undertake a few pilot programs. Analyze and improve on them. As for being efficient, ending those wasteful monthly ala school assembly ministry meetings would be a good start.