The Malaysian Insight

PAKATAN Harapan would love to bottle up that spirit of patriotism and nationalism that ‎delivered the biggest upset in Malaysian history.

Who wouldn’t, right?

Patriotism and that overflowing love of country can bind even the most disparate group of individuals together and make them achieve great things. We witnessed it at the 14^th general election when nearly 50% of the voting public ended Barisan Nasional’s 60-year grip on power.

We still get goose bumps thinking about that day.

The decision by the Mahathir administration to go down the populist route and agree to the Tabung Harapan must be seen through the lens of a government that wants to harness the reservoir of patriotism and goodwill palpable in Malaysia.

The final amount donated to this fund may not even reach 5% of the RM1 trillion debt incurred by the Najib government. 

Collecting a hefty sum was never the goal of the Harapan fund.

Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Lim Guan Eng or Azmin Ali doesn’t expect Malaysians to empty their bank accounts or melt their gold jewellery like the South Koreans did at the height of the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s.

They just want Malaysians to feel that they have a stake in this country, good or bad times. They want Malaysians to feel that May 9 created a bond with the team they sent to Putrajaya – a bond which they hope will be strengthened over time.

The short-term prognosis for Malaysia is not great.

The road ahead is going to be rough for the next 12 or 24 months with cost-cutting, austerity and a messy political scene pretty much the order of the day.

There will be days when Malaysians will wonder whether they did the right thing by giving the mandate to PH.

Heck, seeing some of the cronies of Dr Mahathir’s first tour of duty emerge from deserved exile and talk about billion-ringgit projects is depressing, as is misguided swagger of political operatives and hangers-on bent on unleashing their own retribution.

But those days of looking back with regret will be fewer if Malaysians feel that they are part of this new project to undo the damage of the Najib Razak years and make Malaysia a cleaner and more hospitable land.

Those hard days ahead will be more palatable for the new government with Malaysians firmly in their corner.

Just a word of caution.

As Mark Twain puts it: patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.

Keep your election promises, cut down sniping and make sure that the characters who ‎destroyed Malaysia during the Dr Mahathir years of 1981-2003 do not occupy centre stage again and all should be well for the PH government.

‎As a bonus, they may even foster a strong Malaysian ethos of individuals sacrificing personal gain for the common good. – June 1, 2018.