AUGUST 18 — The local currency is plunging drastically at worrying rates, while there seems to be no end in sight for the current economic stalemate.
The pathetic situation has forced many to urge our political leaders to stop politicking and start focusing on the economy again.
While this appears to be an economic issue, down inside it is actually a consequence of political turmoil.
There are a host of domestic and external factors for the current sharp depreciation of ringgit. External factors are way beyond what we can control or avert, including fluctuating commodity prices and the exchange rate of the Chinese yuan.
If we do not even put in sufficient effort to control the domestic factors, building up a solid economic foundation, how do we expect ourselves to deal with the unforeseen external developments?
There are actually a lot that we could do but unfortunately we have done so little. The question lies with politics.
The country has nearly six decades since independence to shape up its global competitiveness but often due to certain political reasons, we have been unable to fully exploit the advantages of our cultural diversity. In its stead, we have lost more and more our talented young people to our regional and global competitors, and this has a severe effect on our competitiveness.
Even to this day we still have narrow-minded cabinet minister who would propose a Malays-only Low Yat 2 in an attempt to manipulate economic issues as political ones.
The 1MDB scandal has spread from the country far beyond our shores and this deals a severe beating on the country's international image and reputation while brewing a massive political storm inside the country.
Our political instability has eroded the confidence of foreign investors, and this is one of the reasons that has sent the ringgit tumbling.
If we have put in place a healthy and matured political system and adequately checked the power of senior government officials while instituting more stringent controls over the flow of political donations, perhaps the whole thing would not have taken place at all.
But it is also not fair to put all the blame on the ruling coalition, as there are indeed external factors that the government could not avert. That said, if the government has done its job dutifully, erected a sound political culture, harnessed our resources and strategically planned our economic policy, at least the damage inflicted upon us by global slowdown or other developments could have been buffered.
Unfortunately the ruling coalition has been busy with consolidating its own position and support base that it has failed to see the importance of building up a formidable economic base.
Our economic problems are not wholly economic in nature. If we fail to rectify our political shortcomings, the prosperity we are now enjoying may not last long, for it is established upon a very frail foundation. — Sin Chew Daily
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.
