Suddenly, Malaysia's future is up for discussion, at home and abroad. It has been a big ask since Oct 10 when Parliament was dissolved to make way for the 15th General Election (GE15) on Nov 19.
The overwhelming question for Malaysians is: will all our tomorrows be better than all our yesterdays? The right answer is "que sera, sera". Whatever will be, will be. But our near right answer must be: it depends.
Here is why. Of late — at least since 2018 — something in Malaysia has grown up. For the sake of simplicity, let's call the growth the maturing of our political consciousness.
From time immemorial that began in 1959, Malaysians stood many times removed from political cognisance. In some sense, Malaysians were akin to the American-turned-British poet T.S. Eliot's "patient etherised upon a table" in "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock", a modernist take on alienation.
Yes, politically we were alienated. Not by politicians, but by our own self-isolation. For 13 general elections, we were benumbed into voting the same politicians into power every five years. We just didn't dare disturb the political universe. The politicians, over-elected beyond their use-by dates, grew numb to people's wishes and wants.
Instead of the little Napoleons they really were, they harboured a dream to be like Napoleon Bonaparte, who infamously said: "L'etat c'est moi". The state is me. As they say, pride comes before the fall.
And it did in 2018. And what a fall it was. Not since 1959. We could have fixed all that needed fixing, but we squandered it for a pocketful of power. Not long after, fissures appeared, as fissures do in politics, the new Malaysia grew old again. Every Napoleon deserves his Elba.
Will Malaysia be reimagined again? There is a chance but the voters must take it. Change doesn't happen. It must be caused. There is a promise, though. GE15 is adding 5.6 million voters who are 18 years old and above. Generation Z, or zoomers as they are lovingly called, may not vote like their fathers did.
Being creatures of social media, they are politically engaged. Growing up against the backdrop of the 1Malaysia Development Bhd corruption scandal, zoomers may shape a different future for Malaysia.
We hope politicians have learned their lesson, because the people have. Malaysia deserves better. We need a good education system. We can't afford to have a Cikgu Fadli come up every now and then to point out the cracks and crevices in the system.
How could Malaysia that nurses the ambition of being a high-income country have students climbing up trees to get better Internet connections? Our healthcare system needs help badly, too. Just look at the queues at emergency units in our public hospitals. Left like this, death will come before the doctor does.
Malaysia, like many other countries, celebrates capital at the expense of labour. Wages are far behind the profits it helps create. Just mentioning minimum wages, makes this nation of entrepreneurs in a rush to make their bottom line robust, go into a national spasm. Productivity first, wages next, they scream. But productivity has been first for some time now. Just look at Bank Negara Malaysia's numbers.
Capital before labour is bad economics. Look at the state of Britain where politics is being greased with capitalists' cash. Malaysia must opt for politics of people, not politics of cash.
