HOW CAN A NEW POLITICAL PARTY SUCCEED?

 In order to bring about change or reform and to build a new and better country, a new political party outlined earlier must succeed in following areas:-

1.  Marketing.  It must give Malaysians a chance to know their manifesto and formula for a new deal.  One of the best ways to do this is via publication of a book to refute the formula found in  the book The Malay Dilemma.  Malaysians and voters across the country must be aware this new deal so that they can vote for it.  The party must have a face and a voice of its leader who represents the spirit of the party and its new deal.

2.  Delivery or execution.  Once Malaysians get to know and accept the new party, they must execute and perform on their promises.  If they have not attained power they need to have something like a shadow Cabinet with proposals by competent professionals on what must be done and how to run the country well, so that voters can get a glimpse of their country's future when it is run by that new party.

3.  Financing.  Without the proper financial support, marketing and execution will be impossible.  The plan on paper will fall flat and the project will be stillborn.  We must invite people and insitutions of means to join in chip in their support for a better country.  Financiers must feel that the new party will stand a realistic chance to succeed before they throw their weight behind that party.

The party will need a sales kit to convince financiers.  The sales kit will comprise the book for the new deal, tentatively titled NegaraKu.  They will need election campaign plans and execution details, and a list of FAQs for voters and financiers alike.

4.  Leadership and personnel.  The new party should welcome people from all races to participate in its leadership and execution team.  As mentioned earlier, if they are honest and capable they are qualified to join and lead the party, which is governed by its Constitution whereby leader and follower alike must abide.  The Constitution will include criteria that members must meet in order to assume any position of responsibility.

THE NEW DEAL FOR MALAYSIANS

Malaysia has been run based on the principle expounded by Dr Mahathir in his book The Malay Dilemma, published in 1970.  The main theme of Mahathir's theory is that the Malays who are the majority race in Malaysia, are inferior to the Chinese who have 4,000 years of history surviving wars, plagues, famine, natural disasters and corrupt officials.  They are able to survive under the most adverse conditions.  On the contrary, the Malays do not have this ability.  Therefore, his conclusion is that the Malays must be helped and given a handicap, just like in a game of golf.  Otherwise, they will not be able to compete and this will result in the majority race being sidelined.  And this will eventually result in an unstable country with violence as a possible outcome.

Mahathir's theory and social experiment as mentioned above is deeply flawed.  After running the country based on this prognosis, the country is widely perceived as lagging behind our neighbours who were once considered backward.  They have progressed and overtaken Malaysia.  In fact, Mahathir himself admited that he has failed because his New Economic Policy or NEP has failed to bring progress for the Malays as he expected, depite repeated encouragement and scoldings by him from time to time, while at the same time admitting that the Chinese still hold the upperhand despite the handicap given.

However, the country up till now is still running on the fuel of affirmative action.  This is partly because nobody or no political party has proposed a new deal for all Malaysians - deal that is cohesive and comprehensive.  A deal that revokes that premises of Mahathir's The Malay Dilemma.

Therefore, a new political party must outline the terms of the new deal for all Malaysians.  This deal must include the following:-

1.  The assurance and guarantee of political power and privileges of the Malays who are the majority race in the country - including religious freedom, economic privileges for all classes of Malays, and guaranteed education quota for the willing and deserving.

2.  The guarantee of various forms of assistance to other races in Malaysia such as economic, business and educational opportunities for the deserving, regardless of race.

3.  The removal of shackles of race and religion in politics.  (We can follow the good example of our neighbour Indonesia who bans politicians from using or abusing race and religion in their political ceramahs.  Former US President Barack Obama who visited our country also said that any country that divides itself along racial lines will not succeed.  We need to bring back the good old days of muhibbah for all Malaysians.)

The politics of race and religion is powerful because it is self-reinforcing.  Malay politicians portray themselves as heroes and saviours of the Malays and their religion in order to garner votes.  After securing power they will give some handouts to the majority race in order to obtain their continual support.  However, it is also destructive because the elite Malay politicians and their cronies will pocket a lot of the country's wealth and leave the Malays still struggling for indefinite periods of time.  A new deal must break this powerful force misusing race and religion for personal benefit, under the pretext of helping the Malays.  But first they need to win the trust of the Malays which is probably at its easiest level right now under the scourge of Covid.  All races are frustrated with the incompetent way the government that is run by Malays right now, including the Malays themselves.  They are all desperate to have a "third force" or new political power that can change their situation for the better.

The opposition led by DAP will never be able to reverse the situation because they have failed in their ideals of creating a Malaysian Malaysia.  It is all along perceived as a Chinese party.  One of the reasons is that they are unable to solve their racial composition within their own party.  The Malays are suspicious because they are not properly represented according to the ratio of their population in the country.  How would they be able to solve this problem on a national basis if they can't even solve it internally?  This has resulted in very clumsy partnerships with PAS, PKR and even Mahathir's Bersatu, which all ended badly.

HOW DO WE SECURE POLITICAL POWER?

First, we need to first form a new political party.  All the existing political parties are deeply flawed beyond redemption.  If we are to bring about a better country it is not possible to work with any of these parties.  They are all either mired in corruption and abuse of power, or they do not have the right formula for an excellent country.

This new party would need the following:-

1.  A strong leader who is both honest and capable.  Only a strong leader would be able to resist the attempts to continue corruption and bad practices in the country.  If there is any honest and capable politician from any existing political party we can invite him to lead this new party.  If there isn't there is no point trying to take a short cut by simply plugging someone (some today say it's Anwar or Saddiq).  Building a great country is not a joking matter.  The leader must be suitably qualified, otherwise it won't work.  And all the existing political parties in Malaysia do not meet the criteria, otherwise there is no need to form a new party.

2.  A new manifesto and modus operandi.  A leader must be equipped and able to give the Rakyat a new deal which would be far more attractive than the old one as expounded by UMNO leader and former prime minister, Dr Mahathir, in his book The Malay Dilemma.

HOW DO WE CREATE A BETTER COUNTRY

Our country is in tatters.  There is corruption and abuse of power, croynism and nepotism everywhere.  All these have resulted in untold suffering of the Rakyat, especially the B40 and M40 groups, and probably to a lesser extent the T20 group as well.

We want a country that is safe and comfortable.  Where people can leave their homes open without fear of stealing or robbery.  We want a comfortable environment where there is love, tolerance and mutual respect among all citizens regardless of race, religion, culture and beliefs.  Where people who deserve a chance at life will actually get it.  A country where we can be proud of and display all the natural beauty for ourselves as well as visitors from other countries.

In order to build a new and better country and to reduce or eradicate the problems mentioned above we need the following ingredients:-

1.  Political power.  There are lots of NGOs and capable people who dream about a better country everyday.  They even give plenty of suggestions on how to run the country better.  But all these good people will not be able to achieve anything because their expertise and professionalism will not be put to good use, due to the problems mentioned earlier.  Capable people do not get the chance to show their strengths.  We must first achieve and attain political power in order to put all our strengths to good use for the benefit of the Rakyat.

The method to obtain political power will be discussed later.

2.  Cooperation of the army, police, judiciary and the media.  These are extremely powerful institutions that can prosper or ruin a country.  Positive efforts to build a better country will not succeed without the cooperation and joint efforts of these institutions.

3.  Honest leader and executive personnel.  If a leader is corrupted it would not be surprising if his subordinates are equally corrupted and dishonest.  Having crooks to run a country will only result in disaster and hardship for the Rakyat.

4.  Capable leader and executive personnel.  A leader must not only be honest person with integrity that is beyond question.  He must also be capable and not a clueless guy.  The same goes for people running every ministry and department of the country.

THE DANGER OF SHORT CUTS

A common mistake made by Malaysians is to expect change overnight or in the next election.  They feel that the only way is to choose the best political party or best politician available.  This always means compromising on their criteria of selecting someone who is not a crook, and someone who is capable.  A lot of our country's problems today are because DAP chose short cut, and MCA's strategy of just folding their hands and following the Malay majority.  Both these parties have given up hope right from the first day.  They never believed they can have a significant influence on the country's destiny because the Chinese are a minority.

Pakistan is a country that has seen a successful transition in politics where a former criketer and captain of the national criket team took fifteen years for his new political party to win the elections and for him to become prime minister.  He initiated reforms and reduced corruption in Pakistan.

China is able to bring about change to their country because of the political power of the Communist Party there.  It is rumored that Xi Jinping is able to fight corruption because he is fully backed by the military, unlike his earlier counterparts who didn't have this privilege.  Democratic countries with weak majority face a lot of opposition in implementing government policies.  The Covid situation lately highlighted this problem where Western countries find it difficult to get some of their citizens to wear masks or go for vaccination.  This is a striking difference between them and China who is undoubtedly one of the best performers in controlling Covid deaths.

The two criteria of having honest and capable people to run the country were first expounded by Robert Kuok, richest man in Malaysia and southeast Asia.  Sadly, he was not able to bring about this change when he was younger.  I believe his formula is still relevant today as well as for the future.  Without this formula a country cannot progress and excel.

IF THERE IS A WILL THERE IS A WAY

Before we ask how, we need to ask why.  Why do we want to do this project of building a better country?

We want to create a new country that we can all be proud of.  However, most people have simply written off this idea because they cannot see how it can be done.

Before we think about the how, let us take a look at ourselves and ask, "Are we willing to do what it takes to create a better Malaysia for ourselves and our children?  Are we willing to make the necessary sacrifices?"

They say it takes years to build and only minutes to destroy.  Building a better country involves great effort, time and sacrifices.  Are we ready to do it?

And what does it involve when we want to build a new country?  We want a country we can be proud of for our children.  Where all Malaysians can live in peace and harmony, free from the bondage of race, religion, culture and creed; where there is love, tolerance and mutual respect.  Free from corruption, abuse of power and cronyism.  Where Malaysians can be free to pursue their dreams.

We must not expect such an achievement to be easy.  In fact, we should expect it to be as difficult as winning a gold medal in the Olympics.  Or conquering Mount Everest which is about 30,000 feet, roughly one foot for each Malaysian population.  Are we willing to take on this task?  Or are we going to look for short cuts and not finding any for another sixty years?

Renowned Malaysian motivator Datuk Lawrence Chan says that success involves a few critical steps.  First, we must have the desire.  The dream to achieve something great; with specific goals and targets and not just hazy dreams.  

Next, we must take stock of our current situation and a plan to reach our destination.  Just having a desire is not enough.  We need to be desperate to achieve our goals.  Are we happy to remain in our miserable situation?  Can we stand the shame when we travel abroad and be identified as someone from a lousy, corrupted country with famous stories like 1MDB?  Can we bear the thought of our children growing up and continue struggling in a hopeless country?  Do we really want to do something for our loved ones if we can?

With the desire and being desperate about it, we will then have the discipline and dedication to really go all out to achieve our goals in building a new country for all Malaysians.

IS THERE ANYTHING WE CAN DO?

Most people will agree - Malaysia is in dire straits today.  We are having Covid-19 woes like many other countries in the world.  And this has seriously affected the economy and livelihood of all Malaysians.

Most people think that our government led by Tan Sri Mahiaddin has not done well to improve the situation and a lot of people are suffering, especially the B40 group.  About 10,000 Malaysians have died from Covid so far.  Hundreds have committed suicide.  Hundreds of thousands of businesses have closed down, with more to follow suit.  The only time we had it worse was probably during the Japanese occupation in World War Two, before independence.

The question now is whether there is anything we can do to make our country better.  Many people have already given up and are only thinking about migration.  To them our country's problems seem insurmountable and the best solution is to just run away to another country.

I believe that even though our problems seem great, it is not beyond saving.  We can take inspiration from countries that have gone through tough times and have become better.  A good example would be China.  That country has been having serious problems especially in the area of corruption for thousands of years.  Nobody would have thought China would be able to solve its corruption problems and become a shining example today.  They have executed many high-level corruptors from their Communist party, the army and from their business community.

Yes, Malaysia's problems are only sixty years old; it can be solved.  If a big country with thousands of years of history in corruption can overhaul their system and become a world superpower today, Malaysia too, can become a progressive country and succeed like never before.

We may not be able to make things better overnight.  But we can set a system in motion to ensure that the problems we are having today can be arrested and solved in the shortest time possible.  It would also involve taking a hard look at how things became how they are today.

COVID AND THE GOLDEN RULE

Covid-19 struck the world in late 2019 where the virus was first discovered in Wuhan, China.  The virus has since wreaked havoc around the globe, causing trillions of dollars in damages and millions of lives lost.

Amidst all this upheaval in our money world, the poor and middle-class are the worst affected.  Many have lost their jobs, used up their life savings and are on the verge of mental breakdown due to all the stress. Some have actually committed suicide due to the unbearable pain resulting from money woes.  In Malaysia, an average of 4 suicides a day were reported for the first three months of 2021.

https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2021/06/29/a-shocking-statistic-four-suicide-cases-a-day-in-2021/

Now why are the poor and the middle-class so badly affected?  Could they have done something to prevent all their money problems from coming to a boil and resulting in unbearable stress?  The answer is yes, although it many have come too late for many of those suffering right now.

The answer is found in the golden rule of personal finance, that is, pay yourself first.

An accountant friend of mine recently made a rather harsh remark for those who are suffering, especially entrepreneurs who have to continue paying rent and workers' salaries when they are not allowed to operate their business due to frequent lockdowns across the country.  He said, "Why didn't they save up some money earlier after operating all these years?  Can't they just tide over for a few months?"  What he said, though harsh, kinda make sense.  There are some new startups and we can't blame them for getting into trouble because their business is not stable yet.  But there are some businesses which have been operating profitably for decades and they are closing shop due to lack of funds to tide over difficult times.  Now why is that so?  Why didn't they "save for the rainy day?"

Financial success and survival really boils down to financial intelligence which covers ten elements.  Saving money and financial discipline are two critical elements.  I will tell you about all the other elements of financial intelligence at the end of this story.  Let me now digress and tell you about a viral story that most of us have read earlier.  It is the story of the smoker and it is usually told half-jokingly.

A wife asked her smoker husband, "How much does a pack of cigarettes cost?"  "Ten bucks," the husband answered.  "Do you know that if you quit smoking thirty years ago you would have saved enough money to buy yourself a Ferrari?" said the wife.  The husband then asked her, "Do you smoke, dear?"  "Of course no!" the wife answered.  "Then, where is your Ferarri?"

Although the story is often told as a joke, there is a very serious lesson behind it.  It is about the critical topic of saving money.

Most people don't smoke.  But where is the money that they have saved?  Yes, they have saved (did not spend) a lot of money.  But they also did not save (put aside) that money.  You see, there are a hundred good ways of spending our money.  All of them can somehow be justified.  People reward themselves after a hard day or a hard month's work by buying themselves a nice dinner.  Or getting themselves a new set of clothes.  Or a smart phone or some fun gadget.  Or a round of golf with buddies.  Or changing their old car.  Or renovating their house which really needed a facelift.  Or going for that long-overdue vacation overseas.  We can't wait until we can't walk before we go for a holiday, you know.  Months and years pass by quickly.  We did not save any money, because we always have a very good reason to spend it.

In Malaysia, a government survey in 2017 showed that 94% of Malaysians cannot last six months without income.

https://www.imoney.my/articles/malaysians-have-no-savings

And, 75% of Malaysians have less than RM1,000 ($240) in their account.

https://www.everydayonsales.com/news/bank-negara-75-malaysian-are-actually-doesnt-have-saving-more-than-rm1000/

Based on these official figures it is now clear why both bosses and employees alike get into big trouble during this Covid pandemic.  They simply have no savings.  And the reason for this is just mentioned.

On the other hand, rich people are financially intelligent.  That is how they become rich in the first place.  They don't underestimate the power of saving money as one of the elements of financial intelligence.

Why is it that people are not able to save money?  The reason is simply because they have either not heard of the golden rule of personal finance, or, they don't practice it.

The golden rule of personal finance says, "Pay Yourself First."  Although this sounds simple most of the poor and middle-class folks actually don't understand what it means.  It means that "a part of what you earn is yours to keep" as expounded in the classic book, The Richest Man in Babylon.  If you have not read that book you really should get a copy. Google says it is one of the best books about wealth ever written.  It was written about a hundred years ago and the copyright has expired.  You can get it on the public domain like here, https://www.pdfdrive.com/the-richest-man-in-babylon-e17589151.html.

Most people cannot save money because they pay themselves LAST.  They settle their bills.  They pay their daily expenses like food, gas and groceries.  With the high cost of living especially in the cities they soon find themselves out of cash before the month is over. Whatever they earned is paid to everyone else but themselves.

They should reverse this habit.  Each time when they receive their salary or profits from business they should set aside at least ten percent of that money and lock it away safely.  They can then spend the rest of their income.  At first, like the hero character in the Richest Man book, we will find it extremely difficult.  After a few months it becomes easier.  Meanwhile, we should learn how to invest the money we saved in order to make more money instead of letting it lie idle in the bank for a long time, because inflation will erode the value of the money we save.

Using that money we saved to either start a small business or to do investment requires skill.  The more skillful we are in handling business or investment the faster we can double our money.  It may take a couple of failures but once we improve our skills we will be on our way to financial success.

I have no doubt that no matter how tough it is we will somehow weather this storm and survive.  If you have not practiced the Golden Rule with your money, let this be a time to learn a valuable lesson in financial intelligence.  Once the storm is over you can put it into practice and find financial success.  Or at least save you on that rainy day like right now.

Good luck!  And, before I forget, the ten elements of financial intelligence as highlighted by CENFIS, the Centre for Financial Intelligence Studies, are:-

1.  Motivation

2.  Debunking money myths

3.  Residual income

4.  Making money

5.  Saving money

6.  Spending money

7.  Financial discipline

8.  Investing

9.  Emotional control

10. Protecting and distributing wealth