A car being assembled at the Proton plant in Shah Alam last year. Malaysia needs enhance its product complexity and leverage modern technology such as robotics and automation. -NSTP file pic
A car being assembled at the Proton plant in Shah Alam last year. Malaysia needs enhance its product complexity and leverage modern technology such as robotics and automation. -NSTP file pic

For a country that has known rock-solid political stability for the better part of 60 years, these past couple of weeks of political drama has incited widescale anxiety among Malaysians.

Issues on the constitution, democracy, monarchy and confidence in the government have been elevated in public discourse. Unfortunately, all this is happening at a time when the number of Covid-19 cases and deaths is pushing all-time highs.

I am of one mind with Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, who wrote in a recent article (Aug 4) that "closing ranks does not mean we have to agree with all the policies presented by the government of the day" and that we must "not let our (political) differences douse the Malaysian spirit to nurse our nation back on its feet again".

Politicians of all stripes have to realise that we are Malaysians first before we are party members and that we must unite during these trying times. We have to deal with these political, health and economic crises head on.

There is a Chinese curse which says "May he live in interesting times", and whether we like it or not, this era of political, health and economic instability has undoubtedly been "interesting".

The question is: will we take advantage of so interesting a time?

I was listening intently in Parliament during Nurul Izzah's speech, and agreed with her description of the pandemic as a "once in a lifetime (opportunity). Bila lagi nak dapat pandemik, kita lihat kerapuhan, kelemahan sistem dan kita ada peluang untuk perbaiki".

Amid the political brinksmanship, the government has been saying all along that this pandemic has provided us a window to address some of the structural issues in the Malaysian economy.

Indeed, at the Economic Planning Unit, the government has completed the five-year 12th Malaysia Plan, which will be tabled in Parliament on Sept 20. The plan provides us an opportunity to put in place long-term reforms to restore resilience and stability to our economy.

We have long been accustomed to strong economic growth, with real gross domestic product growing at 6.1 per cent per annum between 1970 and 2019. However, the economy was severely battered in 2020 and we are almost certain of missing the 2021 growth forecast.

There are at least three areas we must tackle to ensure our nation is back on a stronger economic footing: resiliency, sustainability and political maturity.

In the face of the Covid-19 crisis, we must prove that Malaysia is a resilient economy that can maintain its premium position as an attractive investment destination. Of late, we have been facing stiff competition from lower-cost countries in Asean and beyond.

We have to work hard to maximise Malaysia's comparative advantage as an upper middle-income country, attract higher quality investments and create new jobs for young people.

Another way to enhance our resilience is to diversify and deepen the electrical and electronics industry and the services sector.

We must enhance our product complexity and leverage modern technology, such as robotics and automation, across the board. This will help us reduce foreign labour dependency.

The second issue we must take up for reform is sustainability, particularly environmental and fiscal sustainability. Environmental sustainability must be enshrined as an important aspect of our economic agenda.

In the 12th Malaysia Plan, green technology and environmental standards will be further promoted as part and parcel of our development agenda in a global concerted effort to reduce greenhouse gases. This is in line with Malaysia's efforts to achieve the UN's Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

Our fiscal sustainability, meanwhile, has been threatened by economic contraction, a steep decline in revenues, increased expenditure and the burden of legacy and new debts. In particular, we need to revise unsustainable business models in the delivery of some services to ensure they are self-financing in the long term.

The third area that Malaysia must tackle in order to ensure our long-term economic growth is political stability.

We need to return to the time when Malaysia enjoyed political maturity and a constructive opposition. Malaysians long for the days when honourable men like Tan Chee Khoon and Lee Lam Thye challenged the government's policies through constructive criticism.

We must again cultivate a spirit of bipartisanship and parliamentary decorum to restore stability to our increasingly divided nation. Let us unite behind our national consensus, the Rukun Negara, and talk to each other more often on the same table, as fellow Malaysians, who want only the best for our country.

As it stands today, Malaysia can do a lot more to provide a better quality of life to its citizens.

We should gather the best brains in politics, the public and private sectors, and civil society to chart a course that will place Malaysia on the road to prosperity and stability.

Only if we come together for the country will the future of our children and grandchildren in this blessed land be secured.


The writer is minister in the Prime Minister's Department for economic affairs