So, the open day for the grand revealing of the Subsidy Lab recommendation has come and gone.

I was at KLCC when Idris Jala made his presentation on the May 27. As with the thousands of people who were uplifted by his charismatic and brutally honest presentation about the country’s state of economic affairs, there were also those who were less than impressed.

Much has been said about the subject matter. The blogs have gone into overdrive but I must say many have opined with very little understanding. I cannot for the life of me accept how my fellow Malaysians can focus on the negatives instead of driving the need to change.

Malaysians are highly opinionated when it comes to criticizing the government. Even with the roll-out of the Government Transformation Programme in January this year which has shown evident progress and results, we seek to focus on where things could go wrong as opposed to giving them a chance to transform. After all, isn’t that what the programme is all about?

Similarly, when there was a presentation on the country’s economic stature and the various recommendation to alleviate the country’s reliance on subsidies, borrowing and over-expenditure, we as Malaysians again chose to focus on other matters bordering between politics and the wrongdoings of the personalities of the past, instead of providing insightful and factual feedback.

I love the Open Days and I would sincerely dread the day when the government decides to cancel them solely because we Malaysians don’t see these as opportunities to interact and advise but instead to hurl abuse. Mind you before everyone cast the judgment that I am a rah-rah pro-BN supporter etc, I am not.

I am just an average hardworking Malaysian who feels that the ideals of the average man are unspoken and unrealized, but that does not mean I will give in, roll up and die. Unlike a certain minister, I am first and foremost a Malaysian. I take with me a certain degree of pride in being a Malaysian. This is the sole reason why I believe the time to act is now.

Every change or transformation in this country needs to be done holistically, be it fighting corruption, kerbing over expenditure, plugging up leakages and building better infrastructure in terms of roads and public transportation system. If one sits and analyse all of the suggestions meted out by the critics, you will realise that is a mammoth task requiring mammoth resources that has to be undertaken by the current federal government.

Like him or loathe him, the present Prime Minister knows he has to make a hard call in order for the country to progress, no matter how unpopular it may be to him and his party. He does not have a choice. He realizes it but do many of us as Malaysians? I do not think we do. Many Malaysians live in rose-tinted glasses and glass houses as well.

We sometimes choose to bask in the good times but when the going gets tough, when we need to make a difference, we shrivel up and criticize the past, because that’s what we do. At some points of our lives, we are all guilty of it.

We want all the good things in life. However, nothing comes for free. For every public infrastructure built, for every improvement in the public delivery realm, there is a cost. Money doesn’t fall from the sky into the government’s coffers. That’s why there’s such a thing called budget.

There’s a need to balance. At this moment and given the current trend of the last 10 years, as illustrated in the many newspapers recently, the country will go under in the next 10 years if we don’t do anything about our GDP growth, expenditure and borrowings.

In all fairness, if I use my life as an analogy, I grew up on subsidies all through my life. I recognise the fact that what my parents had to painfully fork out was a form of subsidy to put me through school. I had to live on a shoestring budget abroad because the situation demanded it. However, when I graduated, the ‘subsidy’ gradually reduced and was completely cut once I got my first job.

Similarly, I think it’s only right that the government continues to subsidise and aid the poor or lower income but minimize leakages and wastages. In accordance to the lab recommendations, they would do just that IF they adopted the approach.

Malaysia (and the government) needs a massive transformation to achieve a cultured and well-balanced society. Some of the reforms Idris Jala recommended are unpopular but necessary. It’s time to kick ourselves out of the nest and fly, my fellow Malaysians.

We should not get hung up about the term ‘bankrupt’ because we have nine whole years to ensure we implement the right corrective measures and get things right.