We need leaders, not politicians

I was happy that we were able to have a relatively “decent” by-election in Hulu Selangor. The folks in there have had money, land, projects and promises rained on them by both sides and they are no doubt the greatest beneficiaries.

I know that we are not a perfect country but the fact that 65 per cent of the Malays there voted for an Indian candidate and more than 75 per cent of the Chinese voted for a Malay gave me pause and hope. Regardless of how the candidates or parties campaigned, I believe that the results must be respected. To expect perfection is naive beyond comprehension.

Nevertheless, I expect in the very least those who have campaigned far beyond the call of duty and decency to shut up and not harp on issues that may jeopardise us as a nation.

Yes, politics is war, and all is fair in love and war as Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has said. It is absolutely fine that the Barisan Nasional has won and that Datuk Seri Najib Razak was the architect of the victory. Now it is time to lead and not pander to the fringe groups of extremists.

Having just returned from Singapore, I would like to digress and look back at history. I saw some old footage of Lee Kuan Yew campaigning in Malay when Singapore was going to join Malaysia. The rationale at the time was to avert any communist influence on the island state.

Therefore an alliance of the British, our Tunku Abdul Rahman and Lee Kuan Yew agreed to the formation of Malaysia with Singapore in it. Nevertheless, two years later in August 1965, fearing that the Malays would lose their dominance in the country, the Tunku decided to kick Singapore out of Malaysia.

Lee Kuan Yew can be seen crying on film when Singapore was ejected from Malaysia. It is sad to see that just because of some misconceptions of Malay dominance, we have given up what would today be our most valuable piece of real estate were Singapore still to be in Malaysia.

We have groups like Perkasa who still drone on about the same old Malay rights issues of the past. What are we going to give up next, I wonder? It is clear to me that the world has moved on while many of our politicians and civil servants are still caught in a time warp. At the same time the conservatives and religious right are having a massive say in what goes on in the nation.

In Singapore, the ruling PAP, very much like Umno, feel that they are destined to rule in perpetuity. They too are rather intolerant of political challenges. The difference is that they are realistic and allow individuals to partake in all manner of delicious vices from table top dancing, to pubs and clubs that open to the wee hours of the morning, to the recently opened casinos and prostitutes masquerading as escorts.

The only thing Singapore wants is that these activities are constrained to certain areas or done behind closed doors. So long as you don’t disturb the peace, commit a crime or become an opposition politician, you can pretty much have a carefree existence regardless of race, creed or religion.

In Malaysia we have most of what Singapore has but it tends to be illegal to all, if not the majority, of our population. In fact, it is even worse in Malaysia because we cannot seem to control the drug menace as well as Singapore has done. Of course, these activities in Malaysia are dependent on ours being a corrupt society whereas in Singapore they are squeaky clean and, except drugs, most things are permitted.

In Malaysia we often can’t see the wood from the trees. Singapore’s GDP per capita is five times ours and they have no natural resources. They have built their GDP per capita from about US$400 (RM1,280 current rates) at independence to almost US$40,000 today. I would even hazard a bet that the GDP per capita of the Malays in Singapore are much higher than for those Malays in Malaysia.

We can and must do much better. We need to be free of corruption. We need to plan and execute better. We need to give our people freedom and open up their minds. We need meritocracy. Most of all, we need leadership to make it happen.

* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.
## Writer - Datuk Jema Khan is a former Sabah Umno Youth leader. He is now a businessman pushing the Agenda Liberal Melayu.