PM Najib & Reforms

Barisan may have won the recent Hulu Selangor by-election but the victory is not a real measurement of Najib's reform success. Precisely what has he done to strengthen democracy, public institutions' independence and the rule of law in the country?

He may have announced millions worth of projects for the people of Hulu Selangor but he cannot reverse decades of neglect of the constituency. Handing out some delayed payments to the Felda settlers cannot be translated to a caring and people's first government. Barisan needs to do more for the people. Not only in Hulu Selangor but also for the people in Sabah, Sarawak, Pahang, and other places.

Please do not wait till a by-election to do it.

There are too many things in the laundry list which are waiting to be addressed, I would like to remind the PM again. on the list:

1) There should be some finality for the New Economic Model. So far, we have only got some frameworks which lacked details and implementation mechanics. The government is still interfering too much in the economy and not allowing the private sector to dictate the pace. PM Najib is still unsure about the controversial quota system and affirmative action. Without details and supporting policies, the NEM is as good as any piece of paper.

2) The government needs to address serious economic bottlenecks in the country e.g. skills deficit, urban renewal, infrastructure and amenities development, jobs creation, new industrial development and others. It is a fact that investment is not coming in as willingly as before. Our local investors are foot loose. Many have ran away to neighbouring countries and more liberal and dynamic regional economies. Those who lost their job in the recent economic crisis are still not able to find good employment opportunities. Is the government focused on these issues??

3) PM Najib cannot continue to sit mum and try to defend organisations such as Perkasa and others around him continue to sing his praises as a moderate and liberal. Perkasa is able to capture national attention because national media controlled by the government are giving them enough coverage. Funny, the same media organisations are denying the rights of their producers to highlight significant community centric issues. The way this government continues to meddle with media freedom to feed their own political appetite is going to bring down this country with them.

4) The government needs to probe allegations of political interference by two producers, Joshua Wong (ex-NTV 7) and Chou Z Lam (RTM). One of the producers alleged the involvement of PM's wife Rosmah which is really unnecessary and unethical because she should not be meddling with the administration. If these allegations are unfounded, the government/Rosmah should take necessary actions against the producers. Meanwhile, it is better for the prime minister to keep his family and kins out of administration.

5) PM Najib still has to respond to the reform pledges made by the previous administration e.g. the implementation of IPCMC (the shooting case of a 15 years old youth makes this call even more critical), judicial reforms, the PKFZ financial scandal, French submarines scandal and a host of other issues, scandals and controversies.

I asked this many times, are Malaysians so gullible? Are we so easily bought by mere rhetoric and (taxpayers') money?

Political affiliation aside, we need this government to perform and to be held responsible. Power corrupts and perpetual power is worse.