Create a Vision of Hope for the Malaysian Political Culture

The Mines Resort, which is under the Puchong Parliamentary Constituency, is an important place to me and has given me so much. Who will be the candidate for this parliament seat is a big concern to me, and l really hope that Puchong will be good examples for others to follow.

The parties’ internal politics and political coalitions before the GE are very unhealthy for Malaysia. In GE14, we have witnessed that the party comes first and people come second. All the party interests lead to a very unstable government with 3 Prime Ministers. Looking at this, I believe after GE15, the instability of Malaysia will continue. The only way to change is that we must ensure that the political culture of Malaysia, especially all the parties, must change by adopting a new and healthy culture.

Many people ask “What do you think about GE15?”. My answer is that nobody is going to win. If the current system has no changes or modifications, it can prevent quality candidates from joining. You will agree with me, that from now on until tomorrow’s nomination, candidacy is a precious commodity. Some of the party heads are used to taking care of their loyalists without concern for quality. Some candidates even have to buy their way into their candidacy.

A lot of good candidates and people have been rejected, dropped or suspended by parties. So, the hope to improve the political culture depends on the independent candidates. Therefore, a two-day discussion with Uncle Kentang, an independent candidate for Puchong, was fruitful.

Malaysian Political Culture

Instead of keep fighting, we agreed to adopt the 3C strategy, which is to compete with ideas and policies on education, economy, and culture. At the same time, to cooperate and complement for the good of the people of Puchong with a good manifesto by practicing “Kesopanan dan Kesusilaan”.

The first C is to compete with new ideas for better education. Improve the quality of education, the teachers and the character building of our children, such as by promoting the importance of pre-school education. Additionally, we agreed that language and knowledge are important, but the content of the language and good character-building are far more critical in our education system.

The second C is to compete with new ideas for the economy. Candidates must ensure fair competition in the economy. The idea is to bring more tax revenues to the government based on fairer tax-methods, especially on local government taxes by adopting new ideas and by promoting digitalization in businesses and the digital economy in all sectors through using “ABCDE”: AI, Blockchain, Crypto, Data Science, and E-Commerce. This should be the path of growth for Malaysia’s new economy.

The third C is culture. To promote cultural development. Besides religious beliefs, the promotion and protection of our cultural heritage are of utmost importance. We must complement each other by providing sound ideas and organizing events and funding for all races alike, to build a true multicultural society in Malaysia.

Vision of Hope

A single colour can’t paint a beautiful painting, but only with multiple colours; this is the only way for Malaysia to move forward. All Religion teaches love, morals, and ethics, but unfortunately, there are ugly politicians who use religion as a tool to politicize and divide the people. Fortunately, culture, especially multi-culture exchange, can repair the rift. A Chinese wearing Baju Melayu does not mean that he or she is any less Chinese. Using culture exchange for better and healthier living can lead to a better lifestyle for all Malaysians, and it is the way forward.

I hope that the 3Cs plus 5Ps of the Rukun Negara can be the new political culture of Malaysia, and l see new hope in the independent candidates. As they have no baggage on the party control, remember the Rukun Negara principles by heart, we believe that the Rukun Negara is the best medicine and vitamin for all Malaysian.

I wish Uncle Kentang all the best. l believe that while others do good, he will definitely do better for the people of Puchong as the record shows.

People come first, parties come second.

Tan Sri Lee Kim Yew