TRANSPORT Minister Anthony Loke has precisely pointed out how Malaysians, despite having all the trappings of infrastructure, are suffering under a third world maintenance culture.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has hammered out his message calling for professionalism and honesty among the country’s single largest workforce, the civil service.
What is stunting and crippling our nation is the lack of the big “A” factor – attitude.
It is our attitude that has made us less competitive in so many ways compared with other nations in the region and in the global marketplace.
All the tax payers’ money and oil wealth has gone towards giving the nation first world features, from skyscrapers, transport infrastructures to administrative capital.
Leaving aside the siphoned wealth due to the widespread culture of corrupt practices, it is our attitude that actually prevents us from making leaps and bounds towards becoming the most attractive financial, transport, economic and cultural hub in the region.
Even tourism has suffered despite all the great destinations with good infrastructures that we have.
Malaysians have been long known to lack a maintenance culture. We have a record for corrupt conduct in everything we do, from rent-seeking inclinations to wanting to make a quick buck.
The social architecture of the nation needs to be redrawn fast if we want to see the “A” factor rise among us. We need to stop making excuses for our failures, and absolving the weaknesses by finding scapegoats.
The problem is in the failed national policies for public and private sector initiatives that includes our collapsed education system and narrow religious agendas expedited for political reasons.
In fact, redrawing our future may prove to be a gargantuan task, given the biggest blockade in our path – the battered “attitude” factor that has sadly become a norm in the nation.
It will take a reform-driven revolution of mindsets to change our bearings for good. I am not saying it cannot be done, but there may be a huge price to pay, and we must be prepared to pay that price now or fade into oblivion.
J. D. Lovrenciear
