FEBRUARY 23 — The government has effected a dramatic turnaround on the issue of bringing in an additional 1.5 million workers from Bangladesh. While foreigners are stunned by the dramatic twist, Malaysians who are well familiar with such reversions are not at all surprised.
The government said such policy reversion was done in response to the call by the rakyat, but many believe this could be attributed to the gross negligence and inefficiency on the part of the administration.
While some cheer the government’s temporary freeze on foreign worker intake, others begin to grumble. Whatever the public reactions are, what should warrant more concern is not the decision that has been made, but the integrity of the government’s decision-making mechanism.
The government has to make many key decisions n a variety of national issues. An effective decision-making mechanism will make sure that the government makes the best ever decisions for the country and her people.
The world we are living in is a highly complicated body, and the success or failure of a government decision, along with the benefits and complications they might bring, are often influenced by various factors. Even a leadership team with all the top brains and most exceptional decision-makers in the world will not completely free from making mistakes.
Missteps are possible in every decision that is made. And because of that, we need more urgently than anything else a truly efficient decision-making mechanism that will minimize the rate of mistakes. Simply put, this involves data collection, comprehensive and indepth studies.
When a decision has been made by the government by way of such effective decision-making mechanism, the decisions must never be reversed easily because the decision has been made after some thoughtful consideration and indepth study by the leaders of this government.
The questions is, many of our policies or government measures are shortlived and are often killed prematurely out of powerful backlash from the public, the latest instance being the issue on 1.5 million Bangladeshi workers. Another instance was the teaching of science and mathematics in English forced through by the government before it was brushed aside several years later.
Indeed not a single policy or measure can please everyone and triggering public frustration is well within anticipation. However, if the government is really confident of its decisions, it should never reverse the decisions this easily unless there are sufficient arguments that warrant reconsideration.
If only one or two decisions are reversed, then we can still say the government has done so in response to public feedback. But if such turnarounds happen way too often, then it is recklessness, reflecting the government’s lack of confidence and ineffectiveness of the decision-making mechanism.
I have to make it clear here that whether the reversed decision would benefit the people is one thing, the efficiency and rationality of the decision-making process is another question.
With global competition heating up, it is imperative that the government respond and make a decision smartly. We will find ourselves left far behind if such rash turnarounds continue to take place.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.
