OUR EDUCATION AND OUR LEADERSHIP...ARE WE THE ENVY OR THE RIDICULE OF OTHERS?

The problems that beset our nation today are many. It would do us all much good if we could address these problems with candour. I have no doubt that given the right circumstances and opportunities, we will see through these difficult times.

Our problems do not concern material things. Our most valuable mineral resources are our reserves of petroleum and natural gas and our exports include semiconductor & electronic products, palm oil, liquefied natural gas, petroleum, chemicals, machinery, vehicles, optical & scientific equipment, manufactures of metal, rubber, wood and wood products. All this and more, we have plenty of.

The dark realities of the moment, concern two main areas.

• Education.

• Leadership.

It is to these two areas that the ills of this nation can be attributed to. These are not insurmountable ills that burden us all. These are matters and issues we can resolve and overcome.

EDUCATION: The following video articulates the problem adequately.

LEADERSHIP:

Leadership, or the lack of it, has been a perennial problem from decades ago. Without question, I believe, that of all the leaders that we have had in Malaysia, none has been in the mould of DSAI - our PMX.

Anwar, more so than any other leader that we have had, had lived his life in the glare of social media. His personal, private and public life is a matter of record and any of us can claim that we know Anwar as good as, if not better, than we even know ourself. And therein lies DSAI's conundrum. At the click of the mouse I can go back to every Press Conference, every TV interview, speeches and utterance that Anwar has made during his time before and during public office. No one in Malaysian politics has been as closely scrutinized as Anwar has been. And so Anwar, more than any other Malaysian leaders, have always been held accountable for the things he has said and done in the past.

Fast forward to today.

DSAI is eminently qualified to be prime minister of Malaysia....even down to the questionable necessity for leaders to have at least spent some time in jail. His Islamic credentials are impeachable. Past political experience better than most. Internationally acknowledge by nations to be a statesman of the highest order and, in all quarters, a liberal to boot. He comes to the job of prime minister riding a white charger ready to do battle against corruption and the champion for racial and religious inclusivity that will bring in a new era of open and good governance. And yet last week, the Merdeka Polls tells us that DSAI has slipped in the popularity ratings. The chatter on the Net reflects same. And this Unity Madani government is scrambling to come up with a narrative to explain the fall in ratings of DSAI.

Is leadership still a problem?

I would like to remind you guys that today our doubts, our questions and our disagreement in the manner PMX is doing government are far more relevant and far more substantive than the doubts, questions and disagreements that we had with the other leaders in the recent past. We are not quibbling about Hadi being appointed our envoy to the Middle East with Ministerial status, and yet unable to travel to the Middle East because he has been designated a Terrorist. We are not laughing at a Health minister who tells us that a glass of warm water will cure Covid. We are not wondering how a cerit berit prime minister going ka sini dan ka sana, is going to spend the billions he has under his control to combat Covid and we are not left flabbergasted that our prime minister thinks it is alright to go up North in a convoy of fifty cars.

Our quibble with our PMX is a matter of priorities and focus. It is a matter of what we consider are important - domestic problems like cost of living and education, and what PMX considers are important - Gaza, bringing in FDIs and trips abroad. These are of course all important issues and need careful thought and assessment, to resolve - but they are a far cry from the issues of Hadi as the Middle-East envoy with ministerial status and warm water as a Covid cure.

I think these are meaningful issues and PMX should take note of our worries and our druthers. Not to do so will be his political death. Enough said.