P.212 Sibu By-Election - Part 11

Waves of the by-election heat blew all over me as I strolled along Jalan Central this afternoon. By-election talks float around the town and it doesn't make any sense for you not to talk about it.

I spotted this good article in Malaysiainsider which is worth a read at this crucial run-up to the by-election.

Will Sibu make history? — Kim Quek
May 12, 2010
MAY 12 — Amidst the intense election campaigns of the Sibu parliamentary by-election, there is one way to help the beseeched electorate making a sound decision. And that is by asking the following question:
Which political coalition — Barisan Nasional (BN) or Pakatan Rakyat (PR) — is more likely to fulfil the wishes of the Sibu people, if given the chance to run the Federal government and the Sarawak state government?
The simple reason for asking the question is that only the Federal government has the power and resources, and to a lesser extent, the Sarawak state government, to solve their problems and fulfil their aspirations. And Sibu is now placed in the unique position to tip the political balance that may result in either one coalition assuming federal power come next general election, as will be explained later.
To begin, let us look at the problems Sibuans are facing. These are:
Perennial flooding, lack of basic infrastructures for the rural areas, deprivation of Customary Land Right, problems of land lease renewal, abject poverty and prolonged economic malaise that have caused the mass exodus of youth from their homeland.
Can a member of parliament, whoever he is, solve these problems? No way, not even the state government, as much of these can only be overcome through changes of national policies and utilisation of large sums of money that only the central government can provide.
Economy in bad shape
Take the sluggish economy. This is a national phenomenon. Sibu or even Sarawak cannot boom in a stagnant Malaysian economy, which has been in the doldrums for more than a decade.
The World Bank, in its recent economic report on Malaysia (dubbed “The Malaysian Economic Monitor”), described this phenomenon as “the middle-income trap” — unable to remain competitive as a low-cost producer, and yet incapable of moving up the economic ladder to a high-value economy, which is knowledge and innovation based.
As rightly pointed out by the World Bank, this is due to the collapse of private investment (foreign and local) which has been hovering around 10 per cent of GDP since the 1997/98 Asian financial crisis — a far cry from its pre-crisis height of 37 per cent. This stands in contrast to our regional neighbours which have rebounded healthily in private investment rate, leaving Malaysia as the laggard.
Malaysia’s loss of competitiveness is rooted in politics — the inevitable consequence of an increasingly corrupt and authoritarian government. The name of Malaysia has virtually disappeared from the radar screen of foreign investors, as none would be interested to invest in a country where rule of law is openly and unabashedly flouted, law-enforcing institutions reduced to political stooges, and the economy semi-paralysed by racist protectionism and cronyism.
Malaysia’s loss of grace with investors is most vividly illustrated in its massive capital flight — its 2008 FDI outflow of US$14.1 billion (RM45 million) exceeds its FDI inflow of US$8.1 billion by a whopping 70 per cent. Which other developing country in the world has such dubious distinction!?
Irresponsible squandering
Compounding this economic morass is the Barisan Nasional government’s atrocious financial management. Despite the country’s fabulous petroleum income — which now finances more than 40 per cent of the government’s annual recurring expenditure — the country has been running heavy budget deficits every year for the past 13 years.
Such recurring expenditure virtually exploded during Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s reign when it doubled within four years. And there is every indication that this trend will continue unabated despite promises to the contrary by Prime Minister cum Finance Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
These hefty budget deficits are mainly caused by massive leakages through corrupt procurement practices and reckless spending for political expediency and personal gratifications, in addition to poor revenue collection from a lacklustre economy.
This huge income-expenditure gap is expected to widen in the days ahead as Petronas’ ability to foot the bill will decline in tandem with shrinking reserves and escalating costs.
With the federal treasury in such dire straits, the people of Sibu must take it with a bit of salt when BN leaders promise voluminous funds for infrastructure projects, including the flood-prevention scheme for Sibu, which will cost RM1 billion, according to Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
Sarawak impoverished by corruption
In fact, the masses of Sarawak should not be suffering in its present state of poverty and neglect if not for the gross mismanagement by one of the most corrupt state governments in the country.
Blessed with abundant gas and oil, and owners of one of the richest rainforests of the world, Sarawakians should have been enjoying a standard of living second to none. But instead, the state now ranks among the poorest in Malaysia, thanks to the seemingly never-ending rule of Chief Minister Tan Sri Taib Mahmud.
Disparagingly known as “Pek Moh” (white hair), this autocrat has during his 29 year-rule massively misappropriated the state’s timber wealth to himself, his family, political associates and business cronies, to the point that the once richest natural asset of the state is now near depletion.
In addition, his family’s financial empire under flagship CMS, which extends its interests to every aspect of the state’s economy, has virtually monopolized business opportunities offered by public spending through sweet-heart deals.
The cruellest cut of Taib’s corrupt rule is perhaps the marginalisation of the indigenous population spread over the far flung interior of this vast territory. In addition to suffering the destruction of the natural habitat upon which they depend for their livelihood (due to reckless logging), they have been forcibly removed from their ancestral land without proper compensation so as to make way for the big logging and plantation corporations favoured by the Taib-led government.
There is not the slightest doubt that Sarawakians would have been wealthier and the interior population living in more civilized conditions, if the state had not been subjected to such corrupt authoritarian rule, under which only the ruling elite and their cronies prosper.
Pakatan’s new politics
In sharp contrast to the aged and decadent rule of BN was the refreshingly new politics of Pakatan Rakyat which was swept into power over five key states in the Peninsula in the last general election. Pakatan’s administration was marked by transparency and accountability as exemplified by its no-nonsense public procurement policy through open tenders.
This new style of administration is attested to by none other than the Auditor General who in his last annual report has exceptionally commended the PR-controlled states for their prudent financial management.
This again stands in contrast with the BN-controlled federal and state governments which have been ritualistically chided in every annual AG report for umpteen years for widespread squandering, negligence and corruption over the spending of public funds.
That Pakatan Rakyat’s electoral success in the 2008 election was no fluke and its popularity has been growing is verified by the series of by-election victories won by Pakatan against overwhelming handicap of strongly pro-BN public institutions and completely one-sided mass media favouring BN.
The political tsunami swept in by the 2008 election has demonstrated beyond doubt that the people in Peninsula have woken up to the folly and deceit of the BN regime.
In fact, if not for BN’s monopolistic hold on Sabah and Sarawak, Pakatan would have captured Putrajaya, considering the fact that many BN members of parliament would have supported the new politics of Pakatan in a delicately balanced parliament.
Sibu accepting the challenge?
This is where Sibu can come in to play its historical role. A Pakatan win in a traditional BN fortress like Sibu would embolden the indigenous population to vote for change, as these impoverished people have been casting votes for BN in the past more out of fear than out of love.
Sibu could then trigger off a domino effect that would enable Pakatan to score significant electoral success in the imminent state elections — enough to cause the tsunami to also hit Sabah, thereby precipitating a change of regime and the ushering of a new era for the country come next general election.
Will Sibuans rise to the occasion to be the maker of history for a new Malaysia?
* Kim Quek is a frequent commentator of Malaysian politics.

Photo: Steve Ling