Tag: Malaysian elections

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Politics & government Pop culture Society

[2666] From race and religion to Psy

For better or worse, quantity is important in a democratic contest. It is about gaining the majority. It is about popularity.

With that as the context, we have to remember we live in a young society. The Department of Statistics estimates that the median Malaysia age in 2010 was slightly above 26 years. In simpler terms, the age of one half of the population today is younger than the median just three years ago. The profile of the Malaysian electorate pretty much reflects the demographics of our society.

Thanks to their sheer size, those in their 20s and 30s are clearly the biggest and thus the most important group. If they had one mind, they collectively could decisively determine the path which the country would take.

But what makes these young people stand out further politically is that most of them will be voting in a national election for the first time in their lives. Their minds more flexible than those belonging to the older generation who more often than not are hung up on legacy issues. Ibrahim Ali, for instance, still has the May 13 incident as his talking point.

So, young adults are the cool kids on the block and the two nationally-relevant political factions are competing to be the friend of these cool kids. The Barisan Nasional-led federal government has launched several policies for that purpose and chief among them are affordable housing and other cash transfers. The federal opposition Pakatan Rakyat promises the same young adults free tertiary education, among others. Both sides are pulling out all stops to be the one special friend.

While I find many of those policies too populist, at least those policies are serious in the sense that they affect a person’s welfare. The existence of a real policy competition between two credible sides is heartening since previously, it was really all about the old, stale, suffocating issues of race and religion. That is not to say that race and religion are no longer factors but at the very least, we have something substantive to base our election on.

But I do have a feeling that the courting is starting to go a bit too far and starting to appear regressive. It is starting to go into the realm of the trivial that debases the very serious nature of our elections. In an effort to become ever more popular, political parties are starting to make entertainment the focal point of their political events, instead of what the parties stand for.

This happened in Penang recently. Barisan Nasional organized its Chinese New Year celebration with Psy, the Korean sensation — and not the Malaysian prime minister — as the star of the event. The hosts of That Effing Show — a sarcastic online talk show focusing on Malaysian affairs — were right on the money when they joked that in the United States, a singer would introduce the president to the crowd but in Malaysia, the prime minister introduced a singer. Such is the office of the prime minister which is obviously too engrossed in crass populism.

While I despise the debasement of the highest political office of the land, I think I understand the reasoning behind it. Young adults are seen wedded together with pop culture. They are the pop culture.

Maybe, just maybe, the politicians think, if they could harness the power of pop culture, if they could show that they have their finger on pop culture, then they could connect with these young adults. We could win their votes, so the politicians thought. At the end, these politicians hoped what happened in Penang stayed in Penang (Tourism Minister Ng Yen Yen had a different idea in Malacca, some weeks after).

But this line of thinking — of entertainment, young adults and politics — is potentially insulting to young adults. Is entertainment the thing that matters the most in attracting them to participate in a political process? Are young adults fluffy-headed, uncritical, naïve voters to be wooed with inconsequential gimmicks? Is the future worth a trivial song in an age where one-hit wonders happen almost every week, if not every day? I pray to the god in the mirror for the answer to be no.

I know it did not work in Penang but I do not know if it will never work. I hope that it will never work so that our elections have less possibility of becoming an exercise of triviality. The truth is Barisan Nasional is not the only one guilty of putting entertainment at the center stage or a big part of a political event or rally.

The danger is that if it works and pulls in the votes. When that happens, there goes the future as votes of substantial value are traded for a trivial piece of song popular with the cool kids.

If it does happen, that will be no progress from the days of race and religion. It is just as bad as the days of old.

Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved
First published in The Malaysian Insider on February 28 2013.

Categories
Economics Poetry Politics & government

[2628] 5.2% in the third quarter, 5.6% in the second and 5.1% in the first

It’s above consensus,
so says the missus,
so shall we pop the champagne,
and start with the campaign?

Categories
Economics

[2602] 2013 Malaysian federal governmet budget is smaller!

The tabling of the federal government budget is still ongoing but the Economic Report for 2013 by the Ministry of Finance is already out. Here is where the projected GDP figures and government finance are available for the first time.

I think the biggest point about this year’s budget is government spending. In most years, the fiscal deficit ratio (fiscal deficit to nominal GDP) dropped because the nominal GDP grew and not because actual deficit was down. This year, government spending is projected to come down.

Operationing expenditure is projected to fall by 0.3% and development expenditure is projected to fall by 4.2%. Overall expenditure is expected to decline by 1.1%.

The drop in operating expenditure is projected to come mostly from a drop in emolument (the civil service, really) and subsidies. For most people, this suggests that there will be a large subsidy cut in 2013. Pensions and gratuities are also projected to come down. This is a signal that something right is happening in the overly fat civil service. But then again, money to the civil service grew massively in 2012 that the cut in 2013 is pale.

Having a declining total government spending is rare. Between 1975 and 2012, there were only four times when total government spending decreased: 1983, 1985, 1987 and 2010.

Being a libertarian, I might be happy with this particular budget. But as I have been warned, I should wait until it happens.

This also means one thing. With the projected drop in government spending, politically, election must be held early in 2013 or even in 2012. It will be hard to achieve the reduction if election is held very late up to the constitutional limit. The later the election, the more electioneering will there be.

Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved
errata — the peril of rushing. I made a number of mistakes in the earlier version of this entry, ranging from grammar to the numbers themselves. First, I had asserted that if the government stuck with the budget, it would have been the first time in ages that total government spending would decrese. While such year is rare, the last time that happened was in 2010. Second, I incorrectly calculated the overall expenditure growth rate.  I apologize for that and I have corrected those mistakes. 

Categories
Economics Politics & government

[2559] Election now leads to less populism

We live in a time of widespread economic crisis.

Europe is in recession. For some European countries like Greece, it is effectively the Great Depression all over again. Economic recovery in the US is slow, with the labor market in May registering horrible statistics to suggest that the US recovery may be flagging.

On the other side of the Pacific Ocean, the Chinese economy is slowing down. Meanwhile, Asian production and trade are growing very slowly as well, if not contracting altogether like in Taiwan and South Korea.

The latest export statistics reveal that Malaysian April exports contracted for the second consecutive months as Europe and others demanded less goods and services. Europe will likely continue to demand less in the near future as its governments, firms and households rebalance their finance towards more saving and less spending on average. The rebalancing is needed and overdue. As always, there is cost to the exercise. The cost will be significant even to those halfway around the world.

These external developments are important to Malaysia because the country has one of the highest trade exposure in the world. The openness and generally liberal trade attitude has allowed Malaysia to enjoy significant secular economic progress so far. But the same factor also makes Malaysia sensitive to the global business cycle.

The awful trade data has not been translated fully into the domestic economy. The domestic labor market, for instance, is holding up pretty well and close to full employment. The resilience of the domestic economy is encouraging but if trade growth continues to be dismal, sooner or later things will change for the worse.

So, there is crisis abroad and Malaysia may very well feel the heat soon enough.

The country needs to be ready for the possible headwind. Politically, it is hard to see how Malaysia is ready given that the general election is just over the horizon, somewhere.

That means policymakers and politicians are politicking.

While this behavior is only to be expected, there is a fear that the government’s collective eyes are off the economic ball. Both sides of the divide — more importantly, the government of the day — are making populist promises and policies to outdo each other and win votes. That may hurt the country’s ability to address possible economic troubles when the time arrives.

While the election is a must to preserve and to enhance our democracy, there is a cost to it. That cost is populism. We have to bear the cost but we do not need to exacerbate it.

How does populism exacerbate cost?

The cost will be higher the longer the politicking opportunity persists. That is so because the longer the politicking period, the higher the likelihood of populist policy will emerge.

That in turn may cause us as a society to meet potential economic trouble with a rifle loaded insufficiently. The point is especially relevant because the federal Budget is expected to be tabled in September. A ”people’s budget” will not be ideal if Malaysia wants to weather the gloomy days successfully.

So, this is a case to hold the general election as soon as possible. A resolution is needed as soon as possible. It is only by having an election as soon as possible that there can be less opportunity for politicking to lessen the probability of economic populism winning the day and ruining the future.

Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved
First published in The Malaysian Insider on June 11 2012.

Categories
Activism Politics & government Society

[2537] Contemplating Bersih sit-in

I am currently at home, contemplating whether I should be going to the biggest event of the year so far or stay at home in my bed, reading books or simply enjoy the Saturday. The biggest event of the year yet is the Bersih’s sit-in in Kuala Lumpur.

I participated in both the previous incarnations of Bersih and I thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere. In the 2011 protest, I learned how it felt to be exposed to tear gas and it was not an easy experience. I joked around immediately after I recovered from the tear gas exposure that, “I am now a protest veteran.”

I have been to multiple protests. Three of them involved loitering around the police stations in Brickfields, Dang Wangi and Bukit Aman. Despite that, I do not really enjoy protesting in such manner. It is almost always tiring and running around in the city being chased by the police is not really as fun as that “police and thieves” kid game. It is stressful. In a large protest like Bersih, there are just too many variables to think about: escape route, police location, road blocks, water source, faces of people. And I do not have the stamina to run around like dogs. I just do not.

I remember how painful it was to my lungs, how the muscles were crying stop please, how the heart begged a relief before it exploded. Only the selfish mind said, go on and don’t stop. That was in the heat of the moment.

But like any rational human being, I learn and I know the experience is not pleasant. I am just not an activist who is persistent in participating in very physical and demanding exercise. I really do not have the appetite for protests day in and day out. There is a cost to participation.

Even right now, if there was no protest, I would have gone to the office to analyze monetary data for publication on Monday. I will not do that today because I know if I do go to the office to work, I will not do anything because I will be checking my Twitter account and visiting various news portals constantly, curious about a party downtown. No work will be done, that too I know.

I am still contemplating my participation and it is still several more hours before the appointed time. But whatever the decision, you can bet that I support Bersih.