Malaysia: Wish List 2010

"What do Malaysians want next year?" The Deputy News Editor of THE STAR, B.K. Sidhu reflects. Read her piece here.

"NEXT Friday, we herald in a new decade, which is the second decade of the 21st century.

Time Magazine described the first as “The Decade from Hell” mainly for those living in the United States as they had to deal with 9-11, Hurricane Katrina, anthrax letter scares, snipers on the loose, and the many Wall Street scandals.

The near collapse of the global financial markets left many in desperation and numerous businesses busted.

Will things get better in the next decade?

I do not have a crystal ball but experts believe we have yet to see the last of the financial meltdown amidst a tepid and fragile global recovery.

That aside, the spotlight is on Malaysia again as 2009 nears its close.

We have come under intense global scrutiny for the two jet-fighter engines, missing from a military base where security is supposed to be tight. To some people, this is a clear case of worsening corruption in the country.

We as a nation seem to have lost our way in the spurts of development over the years and those interviewed for the purpose of this column seemed to think that we have to go back to basics.

We need to undo some of the things before they get worse as we need to keep Malaysia safe and economically vibrant for the next generation.

Topping the list of things that need to be addressed urgently in 2010 are crime and corruption but equally important are other issues that affect the rakyat. Here is what they have to say:

1. Crime-busting: Malaysians need to feel safe in their homes and on the streets. Nip the menace of snatch thieves, burglaries and kidnapping in the bud.

Get the backyards cleaned up before going after the engine thieves or those involved in immoral activities. Safety is king for the rakyat.

2. Corruption: Malaysia now ranks 56th out of 180 countries in the world for the worst-corrupted nations, according to Transparency International. The engine fiasco may set us back by a few notches.

To stand tall again, the journey has to be mean and thorough, just get going to fight corruption.

3. Education: Human capital development starts from the foundation years and not when a child is in Form 4, 5 or university. Political will is needed to reform the education system, and get it right once and for all.

4. Green Malaysia: It is a nice thought but can we start by separating the garbage on a daily basis before doing bigger things?

5. GST: The Government needs to articulate better on policies regarding the goods and services tax (GST) or else there will be more debates than dialogues.

With GST and real property gains tax, taxes on goods and services should come down and personal income tax reduced. If Singapore’s income tax is at 20%, we should bring ours down to the same level.

Reducing taxes will put more money in the wallets of the rakyat and the people will then have a choice to either spend or save. Both ways will work well for the Government as there will be increased domestic consumption or savings.

6. Healthcare: The cost of healthcare is spiralling. While it is good to push for medical tourism, the Gini coefficient (as a measure of inequality of income or wealth) is widening.

That means healthcare and education may not be attainable to the ordinary wage earner in the foreseeable future, given our spiralling living costs.

Serious dialogues are necessary and perhaps a safety medical net is needed to make healthcare more affordable.

7. Childcare: We aspire to be a high-growth, high-income country and that means we cannot continue to have cheap labour. Parents need to work and they need to have someone to care for their children and the wages paid to do this are often low.

We need to devise a system whereby day-care centres for children can sprout and businesses chip in to fund the centres. In that way, the parents can work near the centres and, with businesses helping to fund the centres, the burden will not be so much on the Government.

The care givers should be certified professionals and, if done properly, this can create a new sub-sector in the services sector.

8. Too young to retire at 55 or even 58: Make it mandatory for people, both in the civil service and private sector, to retire at 60. Retiring people at 55 when they can still contribute is a sheer waste of talent. Re-look this policy and make a speedy decision.

To undo something will take time but, if no effort is made at all, things will only get worse."

But then, don't they sound almost like making new year resolutions on the individual level which oftentimes fail? To do all these is one lofty task. The powers to be seems powerless even to clean the backyard of their political parties, much less than to go after crimes,shoddy workmanship for civil work collapse and the multifaceted corruption that has mutated here in the country. Also much need to be done towards rebuilding the image of such institutions as the police,the MACC and the judiciary.

Back-pedaling on policy measures should also stop in 2009. Think before you act. The sad imbroglio involving the reversal of Science and Maths to be taught once more in Bahasa Malaysia, the controversial 10 to 12 subjects for the SPM, RPGT, 15 Years old mandatory check by PUSPAKOM and the silly credit card tax are making toes laugh!