The on-going protracted aircraft crisis truly exposes the actual state of the over five decades of rule by the Umno-BN government of Malaysia. A word that would perhaps best describe the state of affairs is lethargy.
The long years of the oppressive Official Secrets Act and the Internal Security Act, coupled with the curtailing Printing Presses and Publications Act, is revealing the price Malaysians are paying today.
The oppressive laws have given a government unopposed access to the blessings of this land. All the oil and crop wealth has been used under the cover of bringing development to a young and independent nation.
While handfuls of select individuals are becoming celebrated billionaires, including politicians, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has to motivate the largely suffering population, with media news of him being able to buy whole chickens for less than US$0.32.
What is now glaring to both local and global citizens is here is a country that has proven to be most ill-prepared to deal, manage and lead in the face of a mega-scale crisis.
Talent, leadership, competency and capability have not grown commensurate with the opulent structures that we have paraded to the global community in the name of well-managed governance.
The iconic Twin Towers and the ‘world-class’ airport have failed to protect the reputation of a fast-developing nation as we witness the many let-downs by individuals at the helm of this nation.
In any crisis that which is measured is leadership. Not technology. Certainly not the trappings of wealth. It is leadership as in character, capability, personality and humility. And going by the numerous media reports pouring in, we can all see how torrid the Umno-BN leadership appears to be.
Even one leader crying out that media is not fair and that it is “bullying” is a clear attestation that the leadership’s competency, capability and prowess has remained stunted owing to the power and control legacy that Umno-BN has cocooned around itself over the decades.
Going by the local mainstream media coverage on the tragic fate of the aircraft, one would conclude that the Umno-BN leadership is indeed world class in its response and redress exercise. But the international media and the many echoes on social media seem to paint a different picture that leaves much to be desired.
The protests and frustrations from neighboring nations’ leadership and people only further indicates how miserably our leaders are rated by peers and citizens.
Right-minded Malaysians remain paralysed
Indeed as the world weeps for the fate and agony of passengers on board the ill fated aircraft, Malaysians are also traumatised by the reputation their nation scores.
In a nutshell, without fear or favour, without prejudice or colour, right-minded Malaysians remain paralysed as they witness the bungling failure of a bandwagon of leaders within the world’s longest-serving political party in power.
Will the nation be able to rise above the ashes or will it continue to remain buried by threats and warnings of appointed leaders and the blind patronage of sworn followers of the Umno-BN reign?
Or shall we all lambast the global audience that disagrees with us and instead wrap ourselves in the cocoon of make believe of see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil - or as in our local context, just ‘ tutup satu mata ’?
