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After days of fervid anticipation, Malaysia now has a brand-new Prime Minister at the reins of
government.

Now, it is time for the hard work to begin.

Of late, he has been inundated with requests and demands from all segments of society. While some
may argue that it is not what he needs at the current moment, any newly elected PM who enjoys
tremendous public support and goodwill should be welcoming of good ideas.

After all, Anwar Ibrahim, who waited 24 years to secure this role, faces a mammoth task ahead.

Top of the national agenda is tackling the cost-of-living crisis as many are feeling the heat of
skyrocketing interest rates amid sluggish global supply chains. Malaysia’s consumer price index (CPI)
soared by 4% compared to a year earlier in October forcing many to further tighten their belts just to
make ends meet.

Undoubtedly, we would be forced to dip into our nation’s financial reserves as a short-term stopgap
before wider fiscal reforms can be introduced. In the longer term, we can only improve our
preparedness for such crises as cost-of-living issues are inextricably linked to the dynamics of the
global economy.

For that, the nation’s coffers must be adequately filled.

Failure to do so could worsen the crisis and plunge the nation into further instability. Take for
example the brief yet disastrous tenure of Liz Truss. She opted to slash taxes of the rich to fend of
the energy crisis in the UK instead of increasing taxes to beef up the UK’s financial reserves and
subsidise energy for the most disenfranchised in society. This decimated the UK economy and sent it
spiralling into a recession which ultimately led to her disgraced exit from office.

One way to ensure reserves continue to grow is to first plug leakages which occur primarily through
the government’s procurement process.

In his maiden press conference as PM, Anwar highlighted three focus areas of his administration –
cultivating good governance, fighting corruption, and building a Malaysia for all Malaysians.

These are not lofty goals. They are underpinned by an acute diagnosis of the rut facing our
institutions today.

Weak governance engenders weak institutions that are susceptible to corruption and rent-seeking.
These behaviours, when institutionalised, create administrative systems prone to bureaucratic
corruption which then unfairly discriminate against different segments of Malaysia.

The cure to this is simple enough – good, effective governance.

Credit where it is due – Anwar is already leading by example with his refusal to spend excessively for
renovations to the Prime Minister’s Office and opting for a more cost-effective official vehicle. These
are all steps in the right direction, but structural reforms would be more impactful.

The first step is to follow through on the administration’s promise to ensure all government
contracts are openly tendered and none awarded on the basis of political favours or patronage. To
avoid any conflict of interest, family members of ministers and top civil servants should be banned
from bidding on government contracts where they are related to the Minister in question.
As a form of regulatory compliance, the government should institute an independent central
procurement authority outside of the Ministry of Finance and ministerial departments that reports
directly to Parliament. This body should be empowered to provide oversight on matters pertaining
to tender pre-qualification, awards, evaluation, monitoring and payments as well as to coordinate
with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to improve transparency of due processes.

To further discourage people from exploiting loopholes in the tendering process, all racial criteria
should be removed. The use of Alibaba companies – where a business uses a Malay individual as a
front to apply for bumiputera only contracts – is an all-too-common occurrence in the public sector.
It has allowed ministers and officials to skirt around regulations through the use of business proxies
and line their own pockets. This must stop.

It should be made absolutely clear to all levels of the civil service that corruption in any way or form
will no longer be tolerated.

Government procurements aside, the current crop of leaders should begin the wave of reform on a
transparent footing.

While it is currently a voluntary norm in the country, asset declaration should be codified into law.
Every Member of Parliament, Minister and senior civil servant should be compelled to declare their
assets and sources of income as well as that of their spouses and family members. While some have
done so prior to the elections, many remain reluctant which casts a veil suspicion over them – what
are they hiding?

It should also be incumbent on the current administration – which is keen on reform – to halt the
practice of hiring family members as key political appointees such as ministerial special officers.
Family should be excluded from government machinery as it could not only lead to nepotism, but
removes professionalism from of work, thus fostering an environment where corrupt practices
thrive.

A just, clean administrative system is what we all want as Malaysians. It requires political capital to
moot.

Now that we have it, the opportunity must be taken.

A new report published by GIFT entitled – Now Everyone Prospers (NEP): The Best of Both Worlds
dives into this root causes of this mismanagement, which has to date been a major barrier to the
nation’s development.

You may also find the link to the full report and the executive summary of solutions (Reform Agenda)
below.

Full Report: https://lnkd.in/gi93QDsK
  
Reform Agenda/Executive summary: https://lnkd.in/g85QxYTZ