Live values, not wage war, to build nation’s future

The year-end sitting of Parliament, which opens on Monday, promises to be an especially heated one mainly because of the pressure on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to quit over various allegations surrounding the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) state investment fund.

Among the questions that have occupied the public space is whether he could face a vote of no confidence, although there is more than one obstacle standing in the way of such a motion.

Before considering that issue, however, it is necessary to dwell on a key challenge – what must be done to erase the culture of impunity that has undermined justice, honesty and accountability in public life?

Put differently, it is important to recognise that merely replacing the head of government, or even creating a new ruling coalition, for that matter, will not be sufficient to ensure that the integrity of Malaysia’s key democratic institutions will be restored.

The risk we run today is in confusing the outward form of democratic actions with its essence, which is to promote the dignity and wellbeing of the people.

While it is crucial to ensure that people in power are accountable, it is equally vital to empower the common person with fundamental liberties, so that the individual can use them to pursue his or her dream of happiness free from want, in a safe environment and free from persecution. This, of course, forms the basis for nurturing a broader range of rights such as those that are spelt out in covenants like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The difficulty in promoting these conditions stems partly from the amorphous nature of qualities like happiness and liberty. However, it is a grave error to neglect them just because of this, as their absence makes life not worth living.

So, along with the efforts to restore our democracy to a state of health, we must find ways to realign the focus of our society towards the human values that bring beauty, grace and harmony into our lives.

If qualities like justice and fair play can be made to permeate public life, a major element in the marginalisation of indigenous peoples, for example, would surely be eliminated. How could the people of Sabah and Sarawak have been deprived of basic infrastructure for decades despite the rich resources of these states if a sense of equitability had prevailed in the administration?

Today, we find this crisis of values at the heart of systemic failures in virtually every sphere of human activity. Taking the disappointing state of the education system as another example, a significant factor in the loss of confidence in government schools is surely the prolonged interference of special interest groups in the direction of education policy. In a value-based system, these pressures would not have been allowed to influence education policy to the detriment of millions of young people.

To cite yet another example, the prospects of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia, Suhakam, being downgraded to the ‘B’ grade in an international review process this month stands to be a loss of stature both for the commission and Malaysia.

Suhakam chairman Tan Sri Hasmy Agam has been reported as saying that a downgrade to “B” means that Suhakam would be relegated to being a mere observer in international meets and would also not be able to join an international peer review on human rights – the Universal Periodic Review.

Expressing his concern at the prospective downgrade, Hasmy had told the Malay Mail Online that he hoped that the international accreditation body would take note of Suhakam’s efforts despite its “inability or lack of authority”.

Clearly, a major shift in values will need to occur in the government before Suhakam can develop the clout that will earn it the stature of an internationally-accredited national human rights institution of the first grade.

It is noteworthy that both the Barisan Nasional government and the previous Pakatan Rakyat coalition, which has now been transformed into the Pakatan Harapan, have strongly promoted transformation agendas of their own.

Yet the sense of crisis that is simmering in the political arena suggests that much homework remains to be done in both coalitions before the public can expect the new visions espoused by the political groupings to be translated into the DNA of their political organisations and civil administrations.

In the meantime, issues concerning the status of parliamentary rule, the system of checks and balances, the integrity of national institutions and the state of national unity continue to be the subject of deep concern.

A crucial challenge is whether Malaysia can redefine itself as a nation that is truly committed to promote the common welfare of its citizens irrespective of race, religion or other differences.

Unfortunately, no real change is likely until the nation commits itself anew to fundamental values that underpin the rule of law, justice and integrity – that is the real struggle that Malaysia must engage with in order to achieve the beautiful vision of a prosperous, well-governed nation.

How that journey unfolds depends on our actions today. – October 17, 2015.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.