The word is out that the new cabinet under Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak will undertake reforms to heed the call for changes that the rakyat has made.

One of these reforms is the loud proclamation that the government often does not know what is best for good for the country and therefore amongst other measures, an advisory council of economic experts will be formed to advise the government of Najib.

Does it sound to you something very familiar ? The lyrics have been heard before, haven’t they?

Our ex-prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had been singing and sloganeering on reforms and change with a number of committees formed throughout his premiership.

But what happened to him? He was booted out of office. At least, to me, history has shown that he found out that talk is cheap and that he was unable to pay the price for reforms and change.

It is a simple guess to say that Najib will face the same fate, this time not booted out by Umno but by the rakyat unless he deals head-on with these publicly-articulated and expounded problems of the country:

1. The money politics culture in Umno is driving good people away from the party. As a result, Umno attracts candidates who want easy money through political positions.

Worse still, it kicks out good people like Zaid Ibrahim who see the real picture and try honestly and courageously to serve the country.

A country rises or falls with the calibre of the government. There are no two ways about it. Najib just did not have enough good people to fill his cabinet to form a government that knows best how to serve the country.

Money politics must go while pro-actively talent searching for good people to join the government!

2. The MACC must be made independent and only accountable to Parliament. Otherwise, all the talk to wipe out corruption and money politics is mere talk.

I, as a rakyat , am utterly fed up with this type of cosmetic mechanism that catches only the small fry and opposition members.

3. The open tender system of awarding public projects must be carried out independently and objectively. Let us not kid ourselves when getting the best person or company to get the job done.

We have ‘merit system’ for pubic university entry. It is supposedly not based on race but you and I know what goes behind the system. Likewise some government departments practice an ‘open tender’ system but the whole process is not transparent.

We need transparency and accountability from the Government.

4. Finally the judiciary must be seen to be clean and independent. As a non-legal person, sometimes I find the judgements from our courts intriguing if not laughable!