Striking a balance

Written by Rockettan

It is said that monotonous and repetitive event in everyday lives can sometimes be a source of inspiration ; if we bother to pay close attention to details and things around us. Surprisingly, my source of inspiration comes from my predicament from taking my shower . In Australia- at least in my house- there are two control knob for adjusting the temperature of the water. It takes delicate skills and patience to adjust the two knob together for the right temperature of the water to get warm shower, something I still could not fully grasp even in my second year in this foreign country. Turning either one of the knob more than the other one will surely get you jumping out from boiling hot water or shiver from the cold .

In this sense, against the backdrop of the initiation of Government Transformation Program spearheaded by PEMANDU, I believe it is imperative to get the right blend of policy planned and implemented to achieve the objective of transforming Malaysia into a high income country. Taking too extreme a policy is analogical to too much a turning to the hot shower knob and vice versa.

In the political context, with the emergence of strong opposition coalition under Pakatan Rakyat, the government needs to be able to allow space for dissent. I believe democracy work best when there are checks and balances among various government institutions as well as strong monitoring and criticism from the opposition. People must be given the basic freedom of expression through various channels. Stifling and clamping down opposition and people’s voice with full force will only backfire whereby anger and dissatisfaction among the public will risk boiling over. In a similar fashion as the boiling hot shower , the government risk hurting its credibility and legitimacy from taking too extreme a measure .

On the other hand, allowing too much dissent and unmonitored freedom of expression might risk inciting racial and sectional dispute. It is instructive to bear in mind the racial and religious sensitivities when expressing one’s view as Malaysia has a complicated social demography made up of different races with diverse cultural and religious practices. Hence, The right balance has to be struck whereby people must be given the rights to express their view regard to various issues without touching on religion and cultural sensitive areas.


In the economical context, the economic transformation program ( ETP) has been instrumental in striking a balance between government and private investment to boost the economy of the country. Through extensive collaboration with the private sector, the 12 NKEAs were determined and receive prioritized public investment and policy support. In this regard, the ETP is designed to be led by the private sector while the Government will primarily play the role of facilitator. This is perhaps a good way of rectifying the weaknesses of Keynesian economy theory – which encourage government intervention in the economy – which is seen to be crowding out private investment while at the same time also prevent free market system advocated by classical economy from jeopardizing consumer and ordinary folks’ interests

In addition, in the midst of encouraging private investment, there is a need to control the level of inflation rate that are at risk from spiking due to ‘ overheating ‘ the economy , by controlling and setting appropriate interest rate. In this regard, it is commendable that one of the NKRA’s aims is to address the cost of living. However, the government should not be too overzealous in cutting cost of living by providing higher subsidy or giving money to the poor. This measure will only fuel more demand in the economy and lead to higher inflation rates. The best way is to control the price level at appropriate level by curbing speculation among business and investors. In addition, the 1 Malaysia grocery shop is a right measure to help to tackle the rising cost of living, provided that the quality and safety of the groceries and food sold are monitored.

Besides, the New Economic Model ( NEM) had been unveiled by the prime minister which aims to replace the new economy policy and shift affirmative action from being ethnically-based to being need-based hence becoming more competitive, market and investor friendly. Even though this shift in policy should be applauded, there is a need to be cautious that in the attempt to create a level playing field, the Bumiputera economical rights and interest are not phased out altogether. In this regard, I believe the NEM has taken this issue into account in its formulation by attempting to encourage proactive participation by bumiputera business and provide real incentive for them to improve their business performance instead of the old way of handing out cash and business contracts with no string attached.

From social perspective, with the advent of globalization and modernization, there is a need to preserve traditional values from being eroded. Good values such as ‘gotong royong’ kind of community spirit, traditional courtesy need to be preserved from being subsumed by the culture of individualism, materialism and hedonism and uncontrolled sexual freedom propounded by western culture.

Moreover, in the aspect of education, another National key results area is in improving student outcome. Even though there is a need to improve academic excellence and literacy rate among students, students should not be bogged down by excessive workload and pressure to perform well. In addition, students who perform well academically should not be pressured to involve themselves in the science stream. A balance can be struck by encouraging student to think creatively and allow them to explore their interest and innate potentials. In this regard, bright student should be encouraged to take a combination of science and humanity subject in secondary school and university level to allow them to develop into holistic individuals. . Society can only flourish in long run when science and humanity both has an equal place. Moreover, school ranking and reward for top performing school should be done in a moderate manner so that no schools and students are sidelined or suffer from inferiority complex. Society can only flourish in long run when science and humanity both has an equal place.

Besides, the area of social welfare and equality is also one of the National Key result area identified by PEMANDU. Government aims to create a long term system that helps create opportunities for the underprivileged. This will be done through creating job opportunities, increasing basic wage, finding business opportunities and providing welfare assistance. While these initiatives should be applauded, it should be borne in mind that provision of welfare payment should not be too excessive to the extent of burdening the government and fuel the lackadaisical attitude among the underprivileged. We should take heed from the economic turmoil suffered by Greece and Spain from too large social welfare payment and benefits without improving the economic productivity. The underemployed and underprivileged people should be encouraged to improve their skills through various government funded courses and education opportunities. Technical education should be provided for them to allow them to improve their prospect of obtaining better paid jobs.

In conclusion , the ‘ voice of moderation ‘ propounded by the prime minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak need to be taken seriously and be the pivotal concern to be taken into account in any policy formulation and implementation. I believe that when a right balance has been struck and moderation and objectivity precede extremism and subjectivity , the government transformation program will be able to achieve great success and propel Malaysia to become a high income nation .