Acting Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's cataloguing of the ills of our society is no revelation; the genius is in solving them. There is no prize for lamenting the flood, o­nly in building the ark.

Alas, Abduallah's solution is to form yet another cabinet committee, this time o­n competitiveness. Like all previous committees, this o­ne too would be long o­n recommendations. The true test however, is in the execution; this is where such committees fail miserably.

The danger is that Abdullah in a burst of enthusiasm will try to bite too much and end up choking. He would be better off husbanding his resources and political capital by focusing o­n a few major issues, and executing them well. Success would then spill over to other areas, making them that much easier to solve.

Lack of experience

No o­ne should underestimate the enormity of the tasks ahead. A generation hooked o­n special privileges would not be easily weaned off, nor would the legends of Pernas "entrepreneurs" glutton o­n juicy non-competitive public contracts be kindly disposed to any curtailing of their munificence.

Even a decisive and commanding leader as Mahathir has admitted failure. For a far lesser personality to boldly proclaim that taking over the nation's leadership would be a "piece of cake" reflects either unbelievable naivety or the height of presumptuousness.

The pressing problems are corruption and influence peddling; the bloated bureaucracy; and the increasing polarisation of the citizenry.

Abdullah's 'Mr Clean' image will help him confront corruption, and his impeccable Islamic credentials, creatively managed, will uniquely position him to bridge the deepening divisions among Malaysians. His lack of significant private sector experience however, severely handicaps him in dealing with the creaky public service.

Role of government

Corruption and the bloated civil service are inter-related; they are inevitable whenever the state is heavily involved in the economy. Solving them requires us to answer the more fundamental question o­n the proper role of government.

Should it be concerned with such symbolisms as creating Bumiputera billionaires or with the more basic problem of eradicating poverty, especially among Bumiputeras?

A government that tries to do too much is a government that doesn't govern well. The collapse of communism is proof of this wisdom.

I fail to see the desirability of having the government run an airline or a bank. There is no empirical evidence showing that publicly owned banks would have greater impact o­n the economy than private o­nes. Had the billions squandered o­n Bank Bumiputra and the perpetually ailing Malaysia Airlines been used to improve rural schools, Bumiputeras would be much further ahead.

I see no merit in having a ministry for sports and another for tourism. America successfully hosted many Olympic Games and made a tidy profit to boot without there being a federal department for sports.

Similarly, Club Med and Hilton Hotels do a much better job in enticing tourists than Tourism Malaysia. When Northwest Airlines was flying into Kuala Lumpur, the number of American tourists jumped up significantly.

No entrepreneurial flair

A Ministry for Entrepreneur Development is patently laughable. Nobody would seriously think that those hidebound civil servants, used to regular paychecks, could successfully nurture budding entrepreneurs. If those public servants had any entrepreneurial flair, they would have left the civil service a long time ago!

In my book The Malay Dilemma Revisited , I have likened corruption to a termite infestation. By the time o­ne sees the critters running around or their telltale droppings, the building's structural integrity is already compromised. It is too late. Similarly if o­ne waits for the 'strong' evidence of corruption, the battle is already lost. That is where Nigeria is today beyond redemption.

As in a building, o­ne has to aggressively seek out these pests, lay traps at likely locations, and arrange for regular fumigation. o­ne can also design buildings to be pest resistant by using cement instead of wood. Or if using wood, to use o­nly chemically pre-treated supplies.

Making administration work

Streamlining the administrative machinery, making procedures less convoluted and more transparent, and ensuring that personnel are properly accountable would greatly reduce the temptations for corruption. That would be the equivalent of termite proofing.

Take the example of taxi licences. There will always be many more applicants than licences, thus inviting influence peddling and corruption. But if we draw up explicit rules and guidelines, we would not o­nly reduce the chance of corruption but also get a better taxi service.

Thus we could award points for owner operators, former servicemen, and those fluent in English. By making the criteria explicit, we would be able to rank the candidates and award the licence to top scorers.

Or we could simply auction off the licences to the highest bidders. At least then the government would rake in the profits. Such open bidding would also ensure that o­nly the most efficient would compete. Malaysia's many sensational privatisation fiascos could have been avoided and the attendant influence peddling and corruption reduced had there been competitive bidding.

Once established, termite infestation is tenacious and difficult to eradicate; likewise with corruption. It is better to be vigilant and persistent in prevention. Just as in a building there are areas prone to infestation, so also in the government that are agencies more prone to corruption.

The Customs and other departments that issue valuable permits are ready examples. Personnel assigned there must be specially trained to resist corruption, and be subjected to frequent scrutiny. If they start driving luxury cars and giving lavish weddings, then that would be the equivalent of termite droppings. Promptly and vigorously investigate, and if the evidence is inadequate for prosecution, then simply transfer those personnel out.

There must be zero tolerance for corruption, especially for senior officers and ministers. There must not even be a hint of impropriety. Snare the big fish first; make examples out of them. Conduct sting operations ('termite traps'); this is the o­nly way to apprehend the highly placed crooks.

'Reform self'

The increasing polarisation of Malays is a ticking time bomb. I do not fear Malaysia becoming a fundamentalist state a la Taliban Afghanistan (the sizable non-Muslim voters would prevent this), rather that Malays would be distracted into ever consuming puerile religious debates.

The more Malays are distracted, the further behind we would be economically. Malaysia cannot be a stable nation if its largest ethnic entity remains backward.

Abdullah is squandering his religious reputation by aping Mahathir in demonising PAS. He should be building bridges; goodwill begets more goodwill. There is no need to further poison the atmosphere; it would o­nly harm everyone.

If Abdullah wants to transform Malaysia, he must begin with himself. Quit his sermonising and buckle down to some serious work.