I have been asked to share my thoughts on key structural issues facing the country, and what we can do about it. I am most reluctant to put my thoughts into words or share them with the public. Since my retirement, I have stayed away from public discussions as I prefer to spend my time travelling. But times have changed and we are facing a very serious crisis.

Clearly, there are important long-standing structural issues that may affect our march towards developed country status. These are related to education, the labour market, the government’s fiscal policy, inclusive growth and sustainability, among others.

However, what this country needs at this moment is much simpler but seems harder to solve. What we need to address now, which I have repeated so many times, is the chronic trust deficit. In order to overcome this deficit, we must first understand its origins. There are a few reasons why we are facing this trust deficit.

First, it is the lack of integrity, honesty and moral courage. The lack of good moral character seems pervasive among the elites in this country, especially among those in power. Corruption and bribery remain rampant, to the extent that cases of public money being siphoned off for private use or government servants stashing away obscene amounts of hard cash do not amaze us anymore. It is as though systemic corruption has taken a hold of us and our nation, and we have accepted it. The culprits must be punished. We should have no sympathy for them.

But in some instances, politically connected culprits were not brought to the courts fast enough. In the case of the Sabah Water Department, it has been nearly two months since the main officers were released on bail. This has given room for further speculation and abuse of the system. The same goes for the Ministry of Youth and Sports’ case. And, of course, who can deny the existence of the biggest elephant in the room pertaining to corruption and abuse of power?

It is worth being reminded that lack of integrity has disastrous consequences, and it extends beyond the damage to the current generation. Studies have shown how countries that are perceived to be corrupt tend to grow at a much slower rate than those that are corrupt-free and this has a negative impact on long-term growth. No one would want to invest in a country that does not respect the rule of law.

Lest we forget, the root cause of why a community or a nation succeeds or fails, why great civilisations or empires collapsed, always comes back to one reason — integrity or the lack of it.

Thus, solving all those structural issues will depend on ensuring the highest level of integrity among those in power. In fact, a nation’s survival and its success depend on the integrity of everyone, most crucially, its leadership.

The leaders must always uphold the highest level of integrity and not betray the trust assigned to them or take advantage of their position. Those with positions must remember that there is no honour in abusing their power.

Second, the lack of empathy and common sense among those in power plays a role in widening the trust deficit in the country. When the people are feeling the pinch of slower wage growth, higher cost of living with the removal of subsidies and weakening of the ringgit, we are pouring more than half a billion ringgit of the rakyat’s money into a public park. This is outright insensitive and mind-boggling when allocations for essential services, such as health and education, have been reduced. Yet, if the government is sincere about its concern about parks, why hasn’t it gazetted Bukit Kiara?

Third, expertise in oversight of the nation’s economy is seriously lacking. We proudly proclaim that our “fundamentals are strong”. But the economic growth is fuelled by debt. This is not sustainable. Government debt with its contingent liability has easily exceeded the debt limit. In fact, for next year’s budget, we have to borrow about 90% to finance our development expenditure. For every RM1 we expect to collect next year,

98 sen will be spent on operational expenses, such as paying salaries, interest and subsidies, among others. This is not sustainable.

Household debt is already at an all-time high; in fact, it is one of the highest in the region. With lack of savings, our households are vulnerable to poverty. Our outstanding non-financial corporate sector debt is also high, about 105% of GDP as at end-2015, which is higher than the debt of emerging economies.

Yet, we are still proud to state that the economy is growing, and we are proud when the incoming president of US reportedly is impressed by our high economic growth. But the US is approaching full capacity as evidenced by falling unemployment and rising wages.

But growth alone is not enough. It needs to benefit the country and the rakyat. Despite registering positive growth, the number of unemployed in Malaysia keeps growing. Since early last year, the number of unemployed grew nearly 16%. Our graduates do not have jobs; a graduate engineer has to sell nasi lemak and the government seems proud of that!

Firms also are not hiring as before; the number of vacancies reported this year is the lowest in about a decade. In fact, the number of jobs created are mostly low to mid-skilled, and not high-skilled. Not surprisingly, the share of low-skilled workers in the labour force has increased while that of high-skilled workers has declined. This does not augur well for the country becoming a high-income nation. It is pointless for a country to achieve high income when the rakyat remains low income.

These are among the factors that lead to people losing trust in the government. What do we do then?

Two things need to be undertaken, one easier than the other. First, a new economic team must be assembled and empowered to fix the economy.

The rakyat and investors, both local and foreign, must have faith and confidence in those managing the economy. The members of this team must be professionals who are technically competent, with the highest level of integrity and dare to speak the truth. Lack of intelligence and incompetence cannot be compensated for by loyalty to the leader.

Indeed, the special economic team that was set up in August last year is a complete failure. It should be dissolved. Concurrently, the prime minister must let go of the finance minister’s post; this is bad governance.

Second, which is equally important, is to get rid of the feudalism mindset, especially among those who are the trustees of this nation. If the leader is wrong or has committed a crime, it is the fiduciary duty of the subordinates, particularly the civil servants, to take corrective actions, instead of being in cahoots to cover up the wrongdoings.

Bear in mind that political leaders who are elected by the rakyat to lead the government are basically the rakyat’s servants. They are merely given the mandate and power by the rakyat to lead the government and to rule on their behalf. Thus, the ability to be respectful and accountable towards the people that voted them in is paramount.

The leaders are not gods that must be obeyed. This clarion call is not new; nearly half a century ago, our great philosopher and sociologist, Syed Hussein Alatas, warned us of the danger: “...man in authority … expects the subordinate to be loyal and faithful in a manner that sometimes comes into conflict with the norms or ethics … he is supposed to be loyal under almost all circumstances, even if the circumstances violate the present values and philosophy of Malaysian society” (Feudalism in Malaysian society: A study in historical continuity. Source: Civilisations, Vol. 18, No. 4 [1968], pp. 579-592).

This requires, again, integrity and honesty, even if that means one is in the minority. Our first prime minister said it best: “If you think you are rich, there are many who are richer than you. If you think you are clever, there are more people cleverer than you. But if you think you are honest, then you are among the few and in this instance, it is best to be among the few.”

In dealing with the rakyat, whether on economic, social or political issues, honesty is really the best policy. Lies can only lead to more lies, and once the rakyat has lost faith in you, even when you are stating the truth, they will not believe you. You cannot fix the problems of the nation when there is a trust deficit.

In my experience during the 1986 and 1998 crises, I was upfront about the problems we faced but the people had the confidence to give us time and space to solve the problems. Without the people’s trust and support, it will be difficult to solve the economic problems, especially when it affects them. It is a partnership between government and the governed.

Reforms in institutions are also required. We must take all necessary actions, including amending laws, to ensure the independence of judiciary and security institutions. Tolerance for dissent and differences in opinion and ideologies must be welcomed, and not prosecuted. These are the ingredients for a truly open and functioning democracy.

Failure to undertake these paramount reforms means we are moving away from prosperity. Otherwise, we all should be seriously worried about the future that we are leaving for our children and grandchildren.

Daim Zainuddin is former finance minister of Malaysia

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