Pak Lah comes out fighting

:: THE STAR 7 May 2005 :: By Wong Sulong
I AM glad that, finally, the Prime Minister has come out publicly and forcefully to defend his record of 18 months in office.

In recent months, there have been, first murmurings, then coffeeshop gossip and, recently, serious talk that things are not going too well for Pak Lah’s administration; that the economy is slowing down; the fight against corruption is being wound back; and, to quote one lawyer, “the conductor is excellent but the orchestra is not playing according to his directions.”

Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi chose the Harvard Club of Malaysia annual dinner at the Sunway Lagoon Resort Hotel on Thursday night to answer his detractors. It was the same venue two years ago at a breakfast session with the Oxbridge Society that Abdullah, then Deputy Prime Minister, made his famous “First class infrastructure, Third class mentality” speech.

The two speeches are inter-linked, reflecting what Abdullah sees are the ills and challenges confronting the country; his political philosophy and outlook on life, and how he intends to build on the successes of the four prime ministers before him.

Pak Lah did not try to skirt the issue that some sectors of society are disappointed that things are not moving as fast as before.

“I am aware that there are parts of (our) society as well as foreign commentators who are growing impatient, (and want) to see various things happen. I would like to say here that I genuinely acknowledge these feelings and that I do not dismiss them. I am very much aware of some of the things being said and I treat them as important,” he told his audience.

But the fact is, said Abdullah – and here I must say I agree with him – that Malaysia had shown “good and steady” progress in many areas over the past 18 months, although there is “uneven performance” on certain policy decisions.

It’s very important to understand Pak Lah’s personal make-up and political philosophy, to assess his record and, more importantly, what he’s trying to do.

He is a man of principles, not a populist. That might not be good for a practising politician, but that’s Pak Lah. Mind you, he won the biggest mandate ever of any Malaysian leader during the 2004 general election not by out-foxing the opposition or through wild promises and dirty tricks, but through his sincerity, humility and vision for Malaysia.

But as I said in my previous commentaries – don’t think the man is soft because he is humble and kind. He can be very tough when the occasion demands it.

Take his stewardship of the economy.

Now, he would be the first to acknowledge he is not very much into finance and economics. But he has excellent support in these critical areas, led by Second Finance Minister Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yackop, Minister in charge of the Economic Planning Unit Datuk Mustapa Mohamed, and Governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Aziz at the Central Bank.

When Pak Lah became Prime Minister in October 2003, most of the development funds under the 8th Malaysia Plan (2000-2005) had already been spent or committed to pump-prime the economy.

Another leader under the circumstances might well be tempted to print more money and spend it to make himself popular.

But Abdullah kept to the straight and narrow. He maintained fiscal discipline knowing full well that it would hurt his image among many powerful constituents.

There are 40,000 Class F bumiputra contractors and they are complaining loudly because there are few contracts to go by. The same goes for the big engineering and construction companies.

The Prime Minister has kept to his promise to reduce the budget deficit over the next few years. International bankers and economists might complain about the ringgit peg, but they acknowledge the Government had done a good job managing the economy.

Abdullah regards his commitment to rein in the budget deficit as “the most difficult thing” he had to do.

Last year, the Malaysian economy grew by 7.2%; this year, because of high oil prices, and rising world interest rates, economic expansion is expected to moderate to between 5% and 6%. This is not bad given a less favourable global environment and the continuation of fiscal restraint.

The Prime Minister disagrees with detractors who say the anti-corruption campaign is being rolled back because of political pressure. Pressure there will always be, but the war on graft is very much alive.

Abdullah says the Government will not go after the big fish just to win popularity. Action will be taken after the Anti-Corruption Agency had done its work and when there is sufficient evidence to get a conviction.

Another side of the war on corruption is to evolve a value system that abhors graft. This is the hard part – the software for national development. Changing the mindset takes a long time to nurture and is quite intangible and not quantifiable. The results of what’s being done today may only show up in 10, 20 or even 30 years.

In the insurance business, this is known as “long tail” risks.

For example, the ills that we see today in our society and our education system had their roots in decisions taken 20 or 30 years ago, decisions which were then probably popular or convenient.

Abdullah believes for Malaysia to be a fully developed country (first class infrastructure, first class mentality) Malaysians have to rid themselves of what he called “bad habits” or “addictions.”

For the purpose of his Harvard speech, he cited three addictions:

(i) Addiction to cheap foreign labour. Instead of finding ways to be more labour-efficient, employers prefer to form strong lobby groups and pressure for more cheap labour. Over-dependence on this labour source and its attendant social ills are seen as an acceptable price.

(ii) Addiction to subsidies. The Government will spend more than RM16bil on oil subsidies and foregone revenue this year, which means less money for hospitals, schools and other facilities for people in need. Why should households with five or six cars – luxury cars at that – enjoy the oil subsidies?

(iii) Addiction to rent-seeking. This is an insidious culture where success and rewards, particularly financial, are dependent on the “know who” rather than the “know how.”

From what I could ascertain, the Harvard audience liked what Pak Lah said and was encouraged by his commitment and his pledge that he would not hesitate to “bite the bullet” if it’s good for Malaysia.

Away from the political arena, there is enormous goodwill for what Pak Lah stands for and what he is doing – the wish is he can accelerate a bit more.

On my part I know he will – if he can.