MENANG JADI ARANG KALAH JADI ABU

MENANG JADI ARANG KALAH JADI ABU

Literally what it means is if you lose you will become a charcoal and if you win you become ashes. It is a Malay proverb to indicate a clash between two parties where neither side will gain and benefits from the outcome. In modern equations it is a lose-lose situation.

This Malay proverb is relevant to describe what is happening to the Malays as a whole represented by UMNO that forms the government and its relationship with the opposition. Although the opposition now is made up of various races, but the dominant voice seems to come from the non-Malays. On the ground by and large the people interpret it that way. It is certainly not a very healthy development.

The country is now facing serious political and economic problems with root causes from external and internal factors. The high price of oil has cause havoc to the world and Malaysia is not an exception. It has upset not only the life of the people but more importantly the private sector which is the engine of growth that contributes to the economic growth to the country. The manufacturing sector is hard hit by this increase.

Internally the political instability has not shown an early solution. The government has adopted various strategies trying to diffuse the problem. The problem here is no amount of gesture can appease the minds of the people, even though it is a good move. It is just that the people at large had no confidence in the leadership. In this situation whatever good moves will not change the minds of the people.

The problems both political and economic which the country is facing are very complex and certainly we need a strong and firm leader to address the problem. This is what is lacking in the country now. The country needs a leader who can give the right direction to overcome the present economic crisis; we need also a strong hand to overcome the present political crisis which is slowly eroding the confidence not only among the local population but also among the foreigners.

The new developments which appear everyday is not healthy and positive. It is becoming a mockery and a joke. If the leaders continue to show their weakness to address it firmly and with authority, a time will come, that all the wealth the country has achieved will turn into ashes. What make things worse is that there a minority few who will take advantage of the weak leadership and probe all the loopholes undercover of whatever law they can interpret. If this remains uncheck and let to go freely under the guise of democracy and freedom of speech, soon the situation of lose-lose will prevail. The rich and wealthy can afford to pack their bags and families and go abroad, but the unfortunate ones will remain behind and face the hardship.

Let everybody think hard and think of the consequences. Politicians, be it from the ruling party or the opposition must be equally responsible and rational in their move, The leadership must realize that if he is not able to command the confidence and worse if too weak to shoulder the challenges just be brave enough to give way.

The wisest thing to do now is to unite the human resources available. We have to admit the fact that the idea of Tun Dr. Mahathir our beloved former Prime Minister is relevant. If we don’t agree totally with what he had contributed, just consider the positive ones which have brought good and proud to the country. Let new and younger leaders be given the opportunity to lead the country and give Tun Dr Mahathir the room to advise the leaders in this trying time. We do not have the luxury of time on our side. For the good of the nation and the people let us give a taught to this in order to avoid us to “menang jadi arang, kalah jadi abu”.