FAILURES certainly exist in our country. The term “failed state”, however, is a technical one, and by its criteria Malaysia is not a failed state — although to be fair, Daniel Moss’ Bloomberg Opinion column argued we were on the road to failed statehood.
The spectrum of reactions to the accusation is revealing.
The most irrational responses come from opposing sources who nonetheless share a similar mindset. One side are those in government who cannot take criticism of any sort. Following the playbook of dictators who believe in their own infallibility, they say that criticism of the country stems from evil conspiracies to undermine our sovereignty, beginning with the overthrow of the government. This is mirrored by those in opposition who believe their own side has all the magic solutions. In this mode of thinking, all criticism (and praise) is motivated only by a desire for power: actual facts are of secondary importance.
The more rational responses are able to make the distinction between the failures of individuals, ministries, or institutions, and assess whether these collectively constitute state failure. “Our Constitution is working,” I wrote last month after the Conference of Rulers and Yang di-Pertuan Agong made clear that the Emergency will end and Parliament must sit soonest. The operation of a civilian government with demarcated powers and restoration of parliamentary democracy (even if flawed) indicate that Malaysia is still functioning according to its basic structure.
Even more fundamentally than that, our territorial integrity is secure and various federal and state government agencies and departments are (with modifications due to Covid-19) still providing education, transport, housing, water, land administration, and other services funded through taxation and other forms of revenue (again, even if corruption and inefficiencies are commonplace). Our police and armed forces still have clear chains of command, and a military coup is out of the question (helped by the fact that the Supreme Commander is the Yang di-Pertuan Agong rather than a politician).
All of these things can be true while accepting things can and should be much better. A huge part of improving a country is to acknowledging the failures that exist. When the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas) was launched in 2010, critics denounced us as having a partisan agenda, but over time I hope we have demonstrated our loyalty to the country, to the Federal Constitution and to the Rukun Negara. We have built relationships with politicians on all sides and the civil service in the hope of identifying weaknesses and formulating solutions. This is how it should be in a parliamentary democracy, as I argued in the inaugural Dewan Rakyat Speaker’s Lecture Series in December 2018: civil society should work together with parliamentarians and bureaucrats to improve the country based on evidence, the people’s expressed wishes and the capacity of the civil service.
Unfortunately, in the midst of a public health crisis, the impact of bad or slow decision-making can literally result in death. As I pointed out in my previous article, the pandemic has brought out the very best in Malaysians who want to help: citizens, NGOs, and businesses are cooperating to help vulnerable communities. The white flag campaign has triggered many new collaborative efforts to reduce costs and increase efficiency in getting basic necessities to families in need.
One such campaign is the Hospital Emergency Fund by Ideas’ sister organisation, Ideas Community Projects (which oversees the Ideas Autism Centre) collaborating with Projek Bangsa Malaysia to buy equipment for hospitals treating Covid-19 patients. This began in response to information from doctors that equipment such as ventilators, personal protective equipment (PPE), and even beds was urgently needed. Recently, a viral video featuring the frustrated voices of heroic front-liners went around: without names because they are public servants. However, the individuals are real and their accounts are consistent with earlier viral photos and videos of conditions in wards.
Malaysians have been generous in contributing to the fund, but understandably donors want to know how their money is being spent. As chairman of Ideas, I promise that it will be spent according to need in consultation with doctors, and everything will be properly audited.
An ugly side has also surfaced, unfortunately. Some of the doctors we are working with have been identified and have received anonymous threats: to stop passing information to outsiders, because it makes the government look bad.
So the very doctors and nurses who are working to exhaustion to save Malaysian lives now have to contend with being labelled as enemies of the state.
If this despicable attitude prevails, one day we might look back at today and conclude: this is when Malaysia really did became a failed state.
Tunku Zain Al-‘Abidin is founding president of Ideas.