It is the best of times. It is the worst of times. I believe these words of Charles Dickens aptly describe the present scenario in our country.

Economically, Malaysia is under stress, to put it mildly. Our reserves are down. The ringgit is falling. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth rates are not what we want them to be. Prices are rising as every housewife will tell you. The ordinary Malaysian is suffering, finding it difficult to make ends meet. Many are in debt, unable to meet their financial obligations to creditors.

Many are also losing their jobs, retrenched by their employers due to restructuring, downsizing, or business closures. The Goods and Services Tax (GST) has not helped the situation.

The economic downturn is not entirely the fault of the government. Global economic factors have had their impact on the Malaysian economy, which is open to external forces. The slump in global commodity and oil prices and the economic woes faced by China have all impacted the country.

However, the government is not free of blame. We have been told all these years that we have diversified our economy from dependence on oil and commodities and were moving in the direction of a developed status. We have been constantly reminded that our fundamentals are strong.

Now we see this is not the case. Our economy is fragile and does not have the broad base to sustain global economic cycles and bubbles. This does not reflect sound economic planning and policies on the part of the government. What is worst is that currently the government does not appear to be taking any concrete steps to deal with the economic crisis, apart from setting up committees and launching transformation programmes.

The indications are the country is moving into greater economic problems and possibly to becoming a failed state. Economic confidence in the country is dropping, both internally and externally. Investors are pulling out or cautious to invest. The falling value of our currency is seen as indicative of a weak economy.

The political scandals surrounding the government do not help to improve confidence in the country. Perceptions and confidence are crucially important to the health and wellbeing of a modern economy. At the moment, we have a serious deficit in economic confidence.

On the political front, the picture is worse. The government is fast losing credibility because of several scandals associated with it. The attempts of the government to explain the scandals have not been successful. The general feeling is that the government is hiding a lot of things. It is not forthright, truthful, and open in its explanations. In general, people don’t seem to trust the government and what it says.

This is serious. No government in a democracy can govern too long when it loses credibility with its own people. Political leaders can try to cling to power through various means, but such attempts will only buy time. The end is inevitable. The only way out is a change in government or a change in political leadership. But politicians, in general, find it difficult to do this. They have too much to lose, especially if they have enjoyed the fruits of power for long.

One of the things that makes it difficult this time around for the ruling elites to handle the present political crisis is the fact that the credibility deficit is spread across races and economic groups. Except for the rich, powerful, and famous, the ordinary Malaysian shares the same sentiments about the government. Even among the elites, there is a growing number that is questioning the government.

Discontent is more widespread

A good example would be the Group of Eminent Malays (G25). This time, the discontent with the government is more widespread, cutting across race and economic status. Bersih 4 is an indication of the general discontent. Enough Malays participated in it to dispute the government claim that it was a Chinese and DAP show.

It is this general discontent that is making it so difficult for the government to handle the opposition against it because it finds it difficult to play its traditional race card. This does not mean it is not trying . The Sept 16 red-shirt protest is a case of falling back on race and ‘Hidup Melayu’ to deal with the growing opposition to the government. This is a dangerous strategy, for it has serious implications for the country.

The strategy may work to keep the ruling elite in power, but it will be at the expense of the country and its future. Taking the economic and political scenario prevailing at present, this may well be the worst of times for Malaysia.

Where, then, is the best of times? The present economic, social, and political turmoil presents the country a unique opportunity to review all that we have been doing since 1957. The strength and weakness of all our institutions and policies - economic, political, social - need to be revisited.

Policies that are clearly not working, like the New Economic Policy (NEP), have to be abandoned and new affirmative programmes found to assist the economically disadvantaged across race and ethnic identities. Social networks for the poor have to be formulated and greater economic equality targeted.

To stimulate the economy, wages have to be increased and not kept depressed through importing migrant labour. The economy has to be diversified, with improvements to the tax structure to attract foreign investors. Leakages have to be stopped to increase government revenue, with zero tolerance for corruption.

Diversity has to be recognised as an asset, not a liability. The educational system has to be redesigned to create globally competitive Malaysians. The problems with Sabah and Sarawak have to be sorted out.

Enforcement institutions, like the police, the judiciary, and the elections commission, have to be freed from executive control. Democracy must be practised, not just preached. Government administration must be accountable and transparent, based on the principle of separation of powers. We also need to move in the direction of grater local government.

Moving in new directions politically

In other words, we have the opportunity to move in new directions politically. Since 1957, we have concentrated on economic development. We have neglected political and social development, largely because it suited the ruling elites. Democracy existed in form, not substance. The objective was to use democracy to remain in power.

The power- sharing formula designed was essentially to ensure the same group remained in power. Opposition was allowed, provided there was no danger of it taking over the government. True democracy provides opportunity to people to choose the government they want in a fair and transparent manner.

Now, Malaysians may have the opportunity to practise true democracy. Before, it was not possible because the governing elites cleverly manipulated the political process on the basis of race and religion. Political parties functioned on race and religion. This made it difficult to build support across race and religion to challenge the ruling government. The government used race and religion to win elections.

A good thing that is emerging out of the present political and economic turmoil is the realisation that democracy is about good government, about looking after the interests of the people. Any government can be good or bad. There is no guarantee that an Umno government will look after Malay interests. Nor can we say that a DAP government will only look after Chinese interests.

I don’t mean to say that every Malay, Chinese, Indian, Kadazan or Iban is thinking along these lines, as shown by the red-shirt protest of Sept 16. But this protest was a manufactured protest, manufactured by the ruling elites to protect their interests through using the traditional race card.

I do not consider the red-shirts as a reflection of the new emerging political sentiments, which are more inclusive of race, religion and diversity. Bersih 4 is a truer reflection of the new politics and social cohesion that is emerging.

This is why Umno and the government were quick to condemn Bersih 4 as a Chinese and DAP strategy to weaker Malay political supremacy. They saw danger when they found so many Malays participating in it. This coming together of the races to make demands on the government was seen as a danger signal to the established Malaysian structure of politics that has been in place since 1957.

The emergence of this unity among the races as reflected in Bersih 4 represents the best of times in Malaysian political development. Of course, a lot more work remains to be done to kindle this spirit among Malaysians.

Playing a creative role

This is where the opposition politicians in DAP, PKR, PAS, Parti Amanah Negara, and those in Sabah and Sarawak need to play a creative role. If they play it right, a new politics and a new kind of government may emerge that is different from what we have seen since 1957.

Political leaders have a unique opportunity now to craft a true democratic government that is accountable, transparent and inclusive. This will lead to a new Malaysian nation. If the politicians don’t play it right, the old politics will continue.

This calls for more than politics. It calls for statesmanship. Those in Umno and Barisan National too have the same opportunity to create the new politics and new Malaysia. But it may be more difficult for them because it would involve a major paradigm shift in their political thinking.

The present is indeed the best of times to create a new Malaysia, if politicians can rise to the occasion. In any event, trying to retain the old politics will not work any longer. The fact that the majority of Malays did not support the red-shirt protest, as evidenced by the Merdeka Centre survey, is a clear writing on the wall for the old guards.

Winds of change are blowing. The told guards may not be able to hold them back for long. To the pessimist, I say there is still hope, my friend.