TWO years ago, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim told Aljazeera the country will go to the dogs if changes are not effected immediately. Is this being done?
Parkaran Kutty
IN an interview with Aljazeera English two years ago, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said that the country will go to the dogs if they did not take measures to effect change immediately. The prime minister said this when asked whether his partnership with Barisan Nasional and other parties meant he had to compromise on policy pledges made at the general election in November, 2022.
“There are diverse political parties, yes. But what is essential – do all of them agree that this country would go to the dogs if you do not take measures to effect change now? They agree. “Do they agree the central problem is the issue of good governance? Yes. Do they agree that corruption has been endemic in this country? Yes. And then of course, we adjust policies,” he told the Doha-based satellite broadcaster.
Fast forward to what’s happening in the country today, many are left wondering if Anwar’s prophecy is beginning to take shape now. Many Malaysians are now in daze after being hit by the near-daily arrests of bigwigs by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). Although some have been charged, most cases are still pending.
In the midst of this mind-boggling arrests, the MACC itself was hurled into the limelight with some serious allegations against its chief Azam Baki. Yes, they were mere allegations but Bloomberg’s report was enough to shake the very foundation of the Madani government.
The whole country is split as to whether the powers that be are handling the issue correctly. This is highly debatable, to be honest. Because the premise in which Anwar came into power was his strong anti-corruption push. But there have been obvious lapses in these direction. Many big wigs were indeed netted by the MACC over the last few years.
Malaysians were generally pleased with this. That was until the damning Bloomberg report which is now not under police probe. Just when we thought that this madness that has shocked the entire nation, out come the police saying several prominent individuals had colluded with a foreign media and a UK publicist firm to overthrow the government.
These allegations are absolutely serious, and tantamount to national sabotage which is treason, a criminal offence that can put you away for life. Many are hoping this is not an act of political vendetta because using these serious allegations without proper basis can have serious repercussions on the government.
In this day and age, the government cannot get away with it if the report had no basis. With all these issues chipping away the pillars of the Madani government, a group of Malay NGOs launched a movement to dismantle the so-called illegal temples.
That movement, empowered by Anwar’s directive to the local authorities to bring down illegal structures even if they were houses of worship, gained momentum with some turning into vigilante groups to dismantle the temples. Some social media clips showed groups breaking down walls with subtitles that thanked Anwar for allowing them to do this.
This was an obvious attempt by bankrupt politicians to discredit the Madani government so that it will lose Indian votes. I must admit the problem of unlicensed temples was brought upon itself by the Indian community, with poor discretion when building temples. But this does not give any individual the right to take the law into their own hands.
To an extent, this is playing with fire as it involves deep religious sentiments. This should be resolved in a way that no sensitivities are hurt, especially those of the minorities. We have lived together and tolerated this for nearly seven decades as Malaysians, surely we should not allow this harmony to be destroyed by a few individuals who seem to have forgotten that all races came together to build this plural nation.
In a recent viral clip, MIC deputy president M Saravanan advised Hindus in Malaysia to be calm and let the government resolve the issue. He said dismantling a few temples here and there is not going to see the end of the people’s faith in their religion. The former minister said this was not about religion, but there was something more to it.
But what he said next was telling. In not so many words, Saravanan said the community should know where to show their disappointment, like they did in the past. In other words, he was referring to the ballot box. I am not sure how effective this is going to be, but if a large number of Indian voters withdraw their support for DAP and PKR on this account, Pakatan Harapan is likely to lose a substantial number of seats in the next general election.
Whether this will benefit Perikatan Nasional is hard to say. Add these proliferating issues to how former PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli has been lashing out at Anwar and his party unabashedly, the Madani government is currently facing a very rough ride. Rafizi says he can make his own plans after Parliament dissolves
The DAP, which is a senior unity government partner, is also showing signs of impatience over Anwar’s pussyfooting in certain corruption allegations. Obviously, the party knows that it has lost substantial support from the Chinese community and is trying to put up a brave front by giving Anwar some ultimatums regarding the allegations against Azam.
With all these in play, can we conclude that Malaysia is indeed going to the dogs?
A failed state is defined as a government that has become incapable of providing the basic functions and responsibilities of a sovereign nation, such as military defence, law enforcement, justice, education, or economic stability.
Common characteristics of failed states include civil disobedience, massive corruption, poverty and crumbling education and healthcare standards. Even if a nation is functioning properly like in the case of Malaysia, it can fail if it loses credibility and the trust of the people, which then can lead to civil disobedience.
This is when a nation can go to the dogs.
Fortunately, Malaysia may not be there yet with sanity prevailing in most cases. However, many of the actions by the government and others in power need to be checked or Malaysia is indeed headed for the dogs.
Parkaran Kutty (parkarank@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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