Is Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak serious about his "New Deal", as shamelessly described by major Chinese-language dailies especially MCPXSin Chew Daily? Or, has he been lying through his teeth about '1Malaysia'?

The arrest of Bersih spokesperson and a promising political scientist Wong Chin Huat three days ago practically broke the myth about Najib's reform agenda. It shows that the government is not hesitant to create a climate of fear when forced into a corner despite its repeated rhetoric of change to stay relevant (read: in power).

Knowing that he was burdened by allegations of corrupt practices as Defence Minister, and unable to change the public perception of his alleged involvement in the shocking death of a Mongolian national, Altantunya Shaariibu, Najib moved quickly to consolidate the media establishment in the country and endeared himself to the press in order to shift the public attention from the scandals so that more people may focus on his "reform initiatives".

Compared to ex-premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's "work with me, not for me" sound bite and his other slogans that have largely turned into jokes, Najib's swift manner in tackling some of the most delicate issues indeed looks efficient and has won praise from the mainstream media circle.


Show the real deal

But the avalanche of the propagandistic news over the last few weeks was meant to create a "feel-good" factor among the populace, and to take the wind out of the opposition's sail. The prime minister's sweeping economic liberalisation parade, as expected, delighted the business community greatly.

The cabinet's ruling against unilateral conversion of minors into Islam has managed to drive a wedge between Pas and DAP to some extent.

But what is so new about Najib's initiatives?

The opening up of the 27 sub-sectors in the services industry will only benefit the private sector, and its implementation may be plagued by bureaucratic resistance. Economy aside, Malaysia is still confronted with a host of divisive issues in ethnic relations, education, language and culture.

Whether or not Najib has a clear and definite blueprint to introduce a sea of change or paradigm shift is everyone's guess. If he does not, his '1Malaysia' concept has failed miserably to articulate it.

For instance, will the prime minister go as far as to declare the idea of ketuanan Melayu is outdated, so that the nation's ethnic relations can be restored on a healthy basis? To his credit, Anwar Ibrahim has came up with ketuanan Rakyat that continues to capture the public's imagination.

To really win the hearts and minds of the people, Najib must do better than just sloganeering.

A double handicap

Decades of discontent and dispute over the New Economy Policy (NEP) have resulted in the elusion that social equality will ensue once the race-based socio-economic engineering is phased out. This is far from the truth.

Looking back at the late 1980s, the neo-liberal economic measures taken by ex-premier Dr. Mahathir Mohamad did boost foreign investments and put Malaysia on the path of unprecedented economic prosperity.

However, the booming stock market and the vastly increased purchasing power of the average rakyat did not obscure the intra- and inter-ethnic income disparity that is widening at an even faster rate. Such inequality has contributed significantly to the breakdown of ethnic relations in the subsequent years.

Today, we only see a shrinking band of true believers in Mahathirism, who struggle to rescue their icon's name from being associated with a legacy of unbridled greed, entrenched inequality, unfettered corruption, institutional dysfunction and economic failure.

As Vidhu Verma rightly points out in her book 'Malaysia: State and Civil Society in Transition', "...Mahathir has promoted a strategy for creating a bumiputera capitalist class through the privatisation of state-owned industries ... the government bureaucracy shielded close ties between business and politics during this period and protected corporate activity from public scrutiny."

That Mahathir had no appetite for public scrutiny is beyond doubt; he even muzzled the press and enslaved the judges to ensure minimal interference. The subsequent Vision 2020 and the now virtually defunct ‘Bangsa Malaysia', which he jealously advocated, were nothing but a public exercise to re-package Umno's racist ideology, for they were not founded on the universal values of democracy, human rights and multiculturalism.

This "vision" of Mahathir, parroted by the political and media establishment at the time, lasted for several years mostly because of the breakneck economic development and the positive sentiments that it produced, which prompted the public to rally behind the "visionary" leader.

A false sense

Too bad, that the 1997 economic crisis brought all the false sense of economic prosperity and social equality to an abrupt end. As Mahathir showed his racist and authoritarian nature, the country entered a new phase in which the reawakened civil society began to challenge the encroaching state.

More and more people now recognise that economic development without distributive justice and institutional scrutiny is not sustainable.

I am not here to demonise the prime minister but his reformist credentials are conspicuously absent. As far as his "New Deal" is concerned, it remains abstract at best.

Worse, his commitment to institutional enhancement and reform is clearly lacking, as evidenced by the recent arrests of Wong and other opposition leaders and the crackdowns on dissent in Perak yesterday.

Hence, it is incumbent on each and every one of us to put pressure on the new administration and test the limits of its executive powers. Any reform must eventually hurt the interests of the ruling elite to be meaningful and substantive.

Mikhail Gorbachev was instrumental in the disintegration of the Soviet Union and remains a persona-non-grata in Russia. Kim Young-sam, South Korea's former president, had to bear the pain of seeing his son sent to jail over corrupt practices, and the Kuomintang party in Taiwan was made to transfer power to its rival in a peaceful manner.

How far will Najib go in changing the country?

He may see a possible end to the NEP as an ultimate act of his greatness, but that would merely be the beginning of a long and torturous process of reform in Malaysia.

The challenge for the civil society, the media and politicians is to present a comprehensive agenda that encompasses reform in the police, the judiciary and the bureaucracy. The reforms should be based on equal opportunity and multiculturalism while promoting free speech and thought.

Can the prime minister rise to the challenge? If he can ill-tolerate people wearing black shirts, things are not looking good indeed. Malaysiakini