By Tay Tian Yan

Don’t tell me what a crappy country Malaysia is, how our economy is going bust, or that the society is on the verge of collapse and future prospects are murky.

There seems to be many naysayers around, probably because they have their own untold agendas or are just being pessimistic. They could also be the passive patriotists who can’t help but slam others for love of the country.

Whatever their motives are, the reality is not like this.

To be very honest, Malaysia is still a country running normally with a not-too-bad economic growth record and relatively peaceful and stable society. Most people in this country still have their jobs and roofs over their heads.

But, that doesn’t mean the country is devoid of problems. Indeed, the country is still functioning normally but its government lacks a convincing leadership and the policies are wavering, not leading the country anywhere.

The Opposition, meanwhile, are in disarray, the philosophies of its components are worlds apart and they simply lack the preparedness and ability to take over the reins of this country.

While we still can afford about 4 per cent of economic growth, we painfully lack the growth-lifting productivity and areas with high growth potential. The market is gradually losing its vibrancy and is stuck in the middle-income trap.

Malaysian society is still relatively stable and peaceful, but religionisation is becoming increasingly visible, and the secular spirit we have been inheriting since the dawn of nationhood is being eroded bit by bit.

In the meantime, radicalisation is gaining strength, entrenching social polarisation between people of different religions and races.

Most Malaysians are still keeping their jobs and homes, but are living under tremendous pressure from skyrocketing house and goods prices far outpacing salary growth. As if that is not enough, political and social conflicts continue to drain the confidence of Malaysians towards their country.

In short, what the country is now facing is a matter of confidence and direction, but do we have anyone who would throw in sufficient effort to steer the country out of the current doldrums and bottleneck?

Sadly the answer is “no”.

The ruling coalition is only concerned about consolidating its grip on power, prioritising its own future at the expense of the people’s interests. The opposition is more focused on how to unseat the government and take the helm itself. As for the religious party, forcing through the Islamic law is all that’s in its mind.

All these rival parties are busily preparing themselves to put down their opponents when the next general elections finally come.

Unfortunately, GE14 is not going to resolve our problems nor restore public faith.

Similarly, taking to the streets will not change anything. The objectives of some people’s rally fail to impress some other people, triggering them to launch another aggressive counter-rally, tearing our society further apart in so doing.

We cannot count on the elections or demonstrations to bring on the magic, but in no way should we allow the current situation to go from bad to worse.

This country needs a moderation force to drive the rival camps into consultation in tackling our common problems and identifying constructive solutions.

More importantly we need a national consensus that transcends all partisan, communal and religious boundaries to pool together the resources of Malaysians to strive towards the common goal of a better country.

Following the proposal for a National Consultative Council 2 (NCC2) by Nazir Razak, several Malaysians with a keen sense of the crisis, the likes of AirAsia’s Tony Fernandes and former minister Rafidah Aziz, have begun to stamp their endorsement.

Only such a high-profile and extra-partisan grouping will come up with truly constructive solutions to fix our problems today while catalyzing cooperation between the government and the opposition in putting into effective implementation new policies and laws to restore public confidence.

Tay Tian Yan writes for Sin Chew Daily.

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