Who Should We Vote For Then

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The biggest requirement for anyone leading a plural country like Malaysia is to establish trust between, and with the people. But the trust deficiency is palpable in our nation.
Malaysians of different cultural backgrounds and race simply mistrust each other. Many of us don’t trust the institutions of the country, either. And, of course no one really trusts our politicians. The dearth of trust is the single biggest impediment Malaysia faces at the moment.
Every time the politicos get together, they seem to only be interested in their own political survival or advancement. Good ideas on paper, like the memorandum of understanding between the government and opposition, the anti-hopping bill, and so on, start off brightly only to end up getting hijacked by political self-interest.
For a few years now, we have been waiting for the opposition to present its “…strong and formidable numbers” to change the government, but to date, zilch.
Leaders spew all manner of edicts and proclamations of doing the best for the nation and the people, yet every single one of them has serious skeletons in their own closets.
The last two pandemic-stricken years have been an unmitigated disaster for Malaysia. Through a combination of wobbly leadership, ill-advised plans, indiscipline and of course, unbridled self-interest, Malaysians face continued tough times.
Industries are still trying to recover from the onslaught of the lockdowns and quite frankly, bad management of government policies. Now, the forecast is that there will be more economic woes, before things turn around.
And like being in a crisis-ridden rudderless ship, Malaysians have to deal with constant ambiguity, and pretty much everything is left to the ‘little Napoleons’ who are tasked with the execution of any recovery or growth plans. And we all know what this is like.
We still can’t seem to put aside our polarising differences and work as a team to lift us out.
So, who can we trust?
The Dalai Lama once said that you cannot buy trust in the supermarket. Similarly, politicians repeatedly telling the nation to just trust them, does not solve our trust issues with them.
Quite simply, Malaysians of varying cultures and religious beliefs stick together because we have historical belief and trust from 65 years of living and thriving together in our melting-pot nation.
We used to trust our leaders, and our respective communities flourished. Today though, there is a serious lack of trust in our leaders, and I suspect we don’t really trust each other too.
History shows that nations without trust, end up with communal fragmentation, and conflict. In some parts of the world, the inability to have faith in each other has driven nations down the path of civil wars.
In Malaysia we need to rebuild trust. We must firmly believe in the reliability, truth, and ability of our leaders, and ourselves to get the country out of this rut. This is the only way for us to ultimately survive as a nation.
So, what our leaders need to show us is that we can actually trust them.
Those who lead us must be reliable and dependable. They need to be true to their word and fulfil their commitments. When they can do this, we will begin to trust them.
But for this to happen, we need them to think their plans through and get input from the real experts, not just their sycophants. They need to be clear about how their plans are going to be executed, and they must tell us. And, when there are rules to be followed, these rules must be for everyone, and the elites must not be able to escape them.
Our leaders have to learn to be transparent.
Competent people are needed to execute our nation’s recovery. If citizens believe that a leader or the officials appointed by our leaders are incompetent or just not capable of doing what they are supposed to do, trust disintegrates instantly.
Malaysia seems to have bred so many so-called leaders who cannot speak or act with the requisite conviction and sincerity to show that their biggest commitment is to the wellbeing of the nation. We can all smell disingenuity and insincerity.
So, it becomes incumbent on leaders to be authentic and consistent, if they want people to rally together and get the nation out of this predicament.
Leaders must be capable of admitting their mistakes instead of pretending that they are perfect.
If a leader does not have the courage to acknowledge that they have got something wrong, it simply does not show integrity or strength. It just shows weakness and an inability to lead.
When leaders who do wrong in the eyes of the public rant about being wronged themselves, and threaten all manner of repercussions, they will never build trust. A timely admission of getting something wrong is a powerful tool in rebuilding lost trust.
Trust is the most crucial need for Malaysia and Malaysians right now.
There is a delicate balance between the communities in our country that has to be carefully curated. It has become more important than ever before. If we lose trust in each other, and in our leaders, this blessed nation of ours will fall.
So please, can we insist and only vote for leaders who will act in ways that will build trust? And can we only elect people who can steer our country back on the right path, and not fall for the very same people who put us in this mess in the first place? - FMT
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.

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