This year 2015 was an unhappy year for the nation and therefore for most of us. Too many issues went sour and remain heavy burdens to bear. We may therefore say farewell to 2015 with considerable relief that we have survived the stormy weather.

We all now hope and pray that 2016 will be a calmer and brighter and much better year. We rightly expect that we can all feel less depressed and more relaxed, positive, confident and enjoy ourselves with a better sense of well-being.

Let’s look forward to reading hopeful and happy news every morning, rather than get more frustrated and disheartened by, especially, the poor pronouncements and practices of many of our leaders and extremists.

But we cannot just wish away the bad and expect the favourable developments will just come our way. We have all to work hard to ensure that we are progressive, in order to reap progress.

For our future national and individual successes, we need to adopt and fulfil, inter alia some of the following -

Proposed New Year 2015 resolutions and actions.

A. On the economic front, we need to -

1. Reduce inflation by recognising that it is brought about by both external as well as internal factors.

The rising interest rates in the US and elsewhere will have an impact on our import prices. The loss in our ringgit exchange rate by about 20 percent in recent times has also caused the cost of imported goods and services to rise.

Additionally, the very deep concerns regarding the outstanding unsettled issues like the 1MDB and the RM2.6 billion donation, unfortunately continue to undermine confidence and widens the trust deficit in our governance, at home and abroad, too.

The new European Parliament resolution against Malaysia’s record on human rights and governance has weakened international and domestic confidence in our ringgit and in our ability to reduce inflation and to strengthen our national economic management capability.

These critical concerns must therefore be settled with greater priority to strengthen our national confidence in the future growth and

development and progress. We cannot afford to play these issues down and just hope that these problems will just blow over.

2. Improve employment and employment opportunities. At present there are many thousands of unemployed graduates, for whom jobs have to be found. Hence it is necessary to introduce more liberal economic policies and phase out protective policies and practices that inhibit both domestic and foreign investment. More investment means more jobs.

3. Strengthen good governance by going hard on budget expenditure wastage and widespread corruption.

B. In politics, we should resolve to -

1. Condemn and fight extremists and extremism much more effectively.

2. Monitor the statements made by political parties and politicians that make racial and religious statements that are divisive, sensitive and hurtful We must persuade and even pressurise the authorities against practising ‘selective justice’. The enforcement of the rule of law must be undertaken, without fear or favour.

3. Record derogatory statements and policies and practices that undermine our human rights and resolve to vote against politicians and political parties that erode national unity.

C. Regarding social stability, we should resolve to -

1. Reject and take quick and tough punitive action against those who preach and practice hate, religious and racial bigotry. Slow and weak action against these purveyors of racial and religious discrimination and discord should be severely dealt with speedily by the secular and religious authorities themselves.

2. Actively promote national unity, in all our policies and practices, rather than just being rhetorical. When the authorities adopt essentially mono-racial policies and practices, the government will lose its trust and credibility. The public perception will then grow that the government will say one thing and do something else, that could even be the exact opposite.

Then government statements would therefore be seen as counterproductive and ironically, even anti-national. That is how the trust deficit widens.

D. On protecting the environment, we should resolve to -

1. Enforce forcefully the environmental laws, especially in the rape of the forests not only in Sarawak and Sabah but in many parts of peninsular Malaysia, too. Rewards could be given to the public for reporting on illegal burning and dumping of waste into streams and rivers and causing miserable floods.

2. Review and revise all environmental laws, to be make them more effective by tightening them and closing loopholes in the laws, that vested interests exploit so easily.

E. Regarding safety and security, we should resolve to -

1. Further reduce crime and especially house-breaking and street crimes. These frequent crimes mainly cause the continuation of a great sense of public insecurity that is worsened by the debilitating fear of crime. Thus the public perception of rising crime continues to persist.

The public want to cooperate with the police to combat crime but they are often not adequately participatory, because the police have not sufficiently introduced modern policing, in the high crime prone residential areas. All resident associations must be enabled and supported in their strong desire for safety and their keenness to fight crime, with better police backing.

2. Counter more strongly the security threats and security breeches to our nation, especially in Sabah and on the Thai border. Incursions into our territory, kidnapping and beheadings, cannot be allowed to happen.

But the newly-introduced National Security Council Act raises sensitive issues of its necessity, its draconian measures and possible political abuses? These worrisome public concerns have to be addressed in order not to cause insecurity among the rakyat themselves?

F. Conclusion

The above proposed resolutions could form a basis for our public and hopefully political preoccupations throughout 2016, to ensure adherence and fulfillment, to our national aspirations. More ideas and resolutions can be made, but they need to be followed through in our policies and implementation, with effectiveness and efficiency, which is often found lacking.

Unless we seriously study these and other resolutions and determine to promote and adopt and indeed implement, them faithfully, we will widen the present trust deficit and lose our individual and national faith, in our national future? Already many Malaysians keep asking - what is our future, with so much uncertainty in our economy, our religious and racial relations and fragile national unity.

So let’s resolve to march forward with all round stronger leadership, a more united and progressive Malaysia in a fast-changing and complex and competitive world.

Let’s all as true Malaysians be able to confidently say - Malaysia Boleh! We shall overcome!

RAMON NAVARATNAM is chairperson of Asli/Centre of Public Policy Studies.