- 11 hours ago
Civil society is getting louder, independent voices are growing and Malaysians are no longer relying on political parties or traditional media for information.
The 1MDB crisis became a major wake-up call, pushing demand for alternative sources and creating more space for public debate.
But there’s still work to do. Political funding needs more transparency, MPs should get fair and equal resources, GLC appointments need stronger oversight and states should have more room to shape their own economic policies.
With better voter education, stronger local governance and the monarchy’s constitutional role as a stabilising force during political uncertainty, the real question is: are we finally ready to move beyond the old political playbook and build a better, fairer one for the future?
The 1MDB crisis became a major wake-up call, pushing demand for alternative sources and creating more space for public debate.
But there’s still work to do. Political funding needs more transparency, MPs should get fair and equal resources, GLC appointments need stronger oversight and states should have more room to shape their own economic policies.
With better voter education, stronger local governance and the monarchy’s constitutional role as a stabilising force during political uncertainty, the real question is: are we finally ready to move beyond the old political playbook and build a better, fairer one for the future?
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NewsTranscript
00:00So looking back, what was the precise turning point when the public realised that bad economics is a direct symptom
00:06of weak democracy?
00:07That's impossible to answer. I think the evolution of civil society in any country, in any democratic society,
00:14is one of a constant tug-of-war, a push and pull between the forces that were there already
00:21and the desire from the public and from civil society to grow.
00:26I think it's safe to say now that Malaysian civil society has really grown and has become a very strong
00:37part of Malaysian democracy.
00:40But it's very hard to say when exactly that became true.
00:45I think we saw it during the 1MDB crisis.
00:48I think there was a lot of demand from the public for alternative sources.
00:54And there was a lot of different organisations putting different ideas forward.
00:59And of course, by that time, ideas had been around since 2010.
01:04And at the beginning, you're right, I think a lot of members of the public didn't understand what is the
01:09point of an independent think tank.
01:10You know, I remember there were a lot of attacks, you know, oh, Yang Ni, Mesti, Agenda, Imperialists and all
01:17this kind of stuff.
01:18But I think as we've moved on after, you know, a few episodes of crises in affecting Malaysian public life,
01:26I think the public do realise that it's important that political parties don't own a monopoly.
01:34And of course, the traditional media also aren't the only source of information.
01:41So I think the growth of civil society is something that's very good,
01:44something that is now, I think, evolved to a point where civil society cooperates very well with political parties and
01:54the media
01:54to provide a different arena of discussion and debate.
02:02If we do strictly regulate and restrict how political parties raise funds in terms of,
02:09we see political parties with more money get more coverage and exposures and things like that, right?
02:16How should political parties raise funds without providing, how do we restrict them and regulate them in terms of raising
02:23funds
02:23and having proper transparent transactions and things like that?
02:28Yeah. So one of the things that ideas are doing right now, which I'm really proud of,
02:31is that we are the secretariat for the parliamentary group on political financing.
02:37So this is, you know, the objective here is to, as you say, you know, answer this question.
02:42How do we make the financing of politics more transparent and fair?
02:49Now, one of the things that we can do, of course, is to require donors to declare who and how
02:56much they give to.
02:57We can require recipients, whether that's candidates or political parties as organisations,
03:02to declare when they receive and how much they receive and from who.
03:06But you're right, you know, is that the be it all and end all?
03:10You know, what more can be done?
03:12So there are mechanisms, if you look at other democracies, for example, which limit coverage on media, you know,
03:20right down to how many seconds you are allowed to appear based on your previous election results.
03:27There are mechanisms even of state funding of political parties.
03:32You know, based on the vote share in the last election, we will allocate, the state will allocate a certain
03:39number of,
03:39a certain amount of funds to that party or to that party's candidates.
03:43So I think these are things that are under active discussion.
03:47Ideas is very much part of this conversation.
03:50But what's really interesting is the buy-in from the politicians themselves.
03:56What's really interesting is that we see from the younger generation of politicians who see the corruption that happened before
04:02them.
04:02The old guard, they're used to doing things the old way.
04:05You know, they want the brown bags of money.
04:06They want the dodgy deals.
04:07But the next generation of politicians, I think there's a sizable number of them who see that, the old way.
04:14They say, look, it's very vindictive, right?
04:18When we win, we will use all the power of the state to, you know, song up everything, right?
04:22And then when we lose, the other side gets everything.
04:25So I think there's a movement in the next generation of politicians who say that's not sustainable.
04:30That's not good for democracy because it makes politics very vengeful.
04:34And it gives a lot of power to the incumbent instead of a system that's fair and that respects the
04:40fact that one day you may lose.
04:42But if you lose, you still have a role to play and you still have resources to do that.
04:48When you talk about this, right, do you see, because there's a lot of legacy parties, right?
04:53Like First and National.
04:55And there are young people in it.
04:57But do you see them, like, changing?
04:58Because you're talking about the young ones.
04:59I think even within the legacy parties, there are the next generation who know that they cannot succeed using the
05:07old methods.
05:08Like, I think if you are a, you know, if you're a member of BN now, you know what defeat
05:13looks like.
05:14You know, if you were in BN in the previous generation, you were in power for forever, right?
05:17So I think there's that realization that in politics, in democracy, you can lose.
05:25And if you lose, you know, should you then be subject to the entire weight of state apparatus against you?
05:32No, it shouldn't be that way.
05:34And I have to say, you see that now as well in the allocations given to MPs.
05:39You've seen a number of cases where MPs who do not toe the government line suddenly find their resources removed.
05:46So, you know, I used to work at the British House of Commons when I was in the UK.
05:53And so it's very clear.
05:54Parliament has its own funding.
05:55And whether you are opposition MP or government MP, you have the same access to the equal point of money.
06:02And I think that's something we should be moving to here as well.
06:04Unfortunately, we're not, right?
06:06And we see some politicians going the extra mile entering the entertainment world or the ambassadorship world such as the
06:15MOA MP.
06:16So things like that.
06:17Like, personally, I know this is a bit out of the question, but meaning to say when parliamentarians go out
06:24of their way to find funding because they're not getting the allocations, right?
06:29Is it a good move for them?
06:31I think this is where we get into the area of having really need to have regulations that apply to
06:37everyone.
06:38I think, you know, I think a lot of people will sympathize with the argument that since, you know, an
06:43MP doesn't have the resources, the funding, they have to do other things.
06:47But then another argument can be made that some MPs might get unfairly rewarded for that, right?
06:52And they might have so much charisma or, indeed, inherited wealth that they're able to, you know, muscle their way
07:00above the normal allocation.
07:02So I think the lowest hanging fruit in all of this is transparency, right?
07:09So to have better laws that require all MPs or even all candidates before they become MPs to declare assets,
07:16which in a way that is meaningful,
07:18and also to declare, you know, the sources of income that they have while they are serving as MPs.
07:27But it's not declaring, right?
07:29Like, just declare and they're still working and they're still doing it.
07:32No, but I think declaration, as I say, is the lowest hanging fruit.
07:35I think everyone can agree that transparency is a good thing and declaration is the minimum threshold, which we don't
07:41really have that even, right?
07:44But I think beyond that, it's, you know, I think you have to, there are people, for example, who become,
07:50who are very successful and wealthy businessmen who then go into politics.
07:54Are you saying, oh, they cannot, you know, bring some of that benefit with them?
08:00I think that's a trickier question, and I can't answer that.
08:04And I think that there needs to be consensus at the end of the day as to what that looks
08:07like.
08:08The economy is actually intertwined with that as well, right?
08:11Of course, yeah.
08:11Yeah, we see things happening internally and externally.
08:15What is the ultimate goal, actually?
08:17Should politicians not be allowed to be on the boards, or is there a middle ground where we can meet
08:22in terms of, like, policy?
08:23Again, well, again, I think that's not something for me to answer.
08:26I think that's something which the political class has to answer amongst itself with input from civil society, because, you
08:32know, even looking at GLC appointments, right?
08:35I think, okay, I think in general, it is a bit, you can say there is a lot of patronage
08:41involved, right?
08:42Political leaders like to reward their friends and cronies with appointments to GLCs because that's, you know, income and also
08:52a source of, you know, loyalty.
08:55You're putting someone there who you can trust to, you know, do the right thing.
08:59So that's bad.
09:01On the other hand, would you say that if there is an MP who really is very qualified in a
09:06particular field, that they shouldn't be appointed to?
09:11So I think, again, it's about transparency.
09:13It's about having each GLC or each organisation should have a list of criteria, a terms of reference, and say,
09:22you know, if the person is qualified, then they can be appointed to it.
09:25I think the important thing is that, you know, this comes back to the role of parliament, right?
09:30And having this appointments committee, and we had that, right?
09:35The Select Committee for Public Appointments.
09:37I think that's something which can have an expanded role to look at, you know, GLC appointments, for example.
09:46But there will be also a need for better communication with the people, I would say, because, like, the narrative
09:51and the perception is still very...
09:53Yes.
09:53Yeah, I mean, look, there's a whole other argument, which is to say we need to eliminate most of the
09:57GLCs in the first place, right?
10:00I think so.
10:00I think that's the first step, you know, an audit of many of these organisations, you know, and what the
10:07objectives are.
10:09Have they ever, you know, fulfilled these objectives?
10:12And then assuming...
10:14Look, I think it's important to say not all GLCs are equal.
10:16A lot of people talk of GLCs pejoratively, but, you know, I think, you know, Petronas and Kazanah,
10:23are not the same as some of the state-level ones which people have never heard of, right?
10:27How does a government dismantle a decades-old welfare state framework without triggering an economic shock in the middle class?
10:35Well, two very important ingredients.
10:38I think one is never to do any policy change drastically.
10:41I think a lot of people think that ideas is very...
10:43Well, and to be fair, I mean, at the beginning, maybe there was this stronger ideological strain,
10:50which people then thought was, you know, quite radical.
10:53But I think that's...
10:55I think, you know, my colleagues at Ideas recognise that we live in, you know, a real society
11:02and people's lives and the way that people think about the economy cannot shift overnight.
11:07So I think one is sort of public education.
11:14And I think especially when there have been crises where we've seen, you know, 1MDB
11:18and the loss of huge wealth from the country
11:25to show that this is very detrimental to how infrastructure gets developed
11:30as to how institutions operate.
11:33So I think one is that side, you know, the public education side.
11:36And of course, the other one is to empower Malaysians through reform of the economy itself, right?
11:45So strengthening opportunities for entrepreneurs, strengthening the role of SMEs
11:54and ultimately even reforming the tax system so that people feel that their effort is rewarded
12:02and can enrich them and their families, right?
12:05I mean, all these are very nice to hear.
12:08And all of them are very nice to be implemented, if then.
12:12But there's still a problem in Malaysia where execution is very, very difficult.
12:16And also the constant politicking and the constant current economy that is not helping.
12:22So how will... when will we ever see this?
12:26I mean, I've been hearing this for the past, like, 20 years.
12:30That's true.
12:30But there has been... I mean, look, take tax, for example.
12:34I mean, this whole thing about SST versus GST.
12:38Yes.
12:38Right?
12:39The fact that actually there's...
12:42Well, there was a move to GST.
12:44And then, as you say, the politics...
12:46The easy, lazy politics overturned it.
12:48But now there's a discussion again, right?
12:50So I think it's going to be like that, right?
12:52Two steps forward, one step back.
12:53In terms of sort of implementing some of these reforms.
12:57I think another really important part of this discussion is the decentralization, right?
13:02And we see, for example, of course, everyone talks about Strawa and how Strawa has been able to do many
13:06unique things because it has successfully acquired more autonomy, right?
13:11And, of course, a lot of that is economic.
13:13And I think the more we see sort of competition between states and the desire of states to want to
13:21vary how they implement policy and how they formulate policy, I think that's something that will also show that, well,
13:30that, A, that decentralization can be a good thing.
13:34And, B, it can show how different policies lead to different economic results.
13:39And I think that's something that will lead to greater participation from businesses and SMEs in choosing where to do
13:46business.
13:46I mean, you see this in other federations, right, where different states have different economic policies.
13:51And that actually influences growth.
13:54Okay.
13:55This might be controversial.
13:56Does that lead to disunity?
14:00That's a huge debate.
14:01I mean, I would say no.
14:03I think that, especially in a country as diverse as Malaysia, it's good to have a bit more competition between
14:10the states, a bit of different competition in policy.
14:12I mean, you see it now.
14:13Look, you can say that the fight between Petronas and Petras is, you know, ugly and has an element of
14:22friction between, you know, not just the political side, but the workers as well.
14:27A lot of people who were working at Petronas want to work at Petras, this causes friction even at the,
14:32you know, level of the staff of those entities.
14:36But on the other hand, I think the example from many other federations shows that you can have, you know,
14:44different policies that lead to not only greater prosperity for the people in the state, but for the country in
14:52general.
14:52And in fact, that leads to greater unity, not disunity.
14:56Okay.
14:56So diversity is actually very, should be well accepted.
15:00Should be well accepted.
15:01I think we have to recognize that, you know, the state of the economy in Penang is not the same
15:08as it is in Sabah.
15:10And therefore, it's reasonable to have different policies, different incentives, right?
15:15Do you think that really is the people who is governing it plays a big role?
15:18I mean, obviously, the people governing it plays a big role, but Sabah has so much potential, but we don't
15:23see it the same as what Sarawak and Penang has, right?
15:26Yeah.
15:28Well, that's why I think competition is a good thing.
15:30I think, no, but I think that proves my point, right?
15:33So people in Sabah, for example, might look with envy at what Sarawak is doing and demand more from their
15:38own leadership.
15:41But we saw in Sabah's state election, there was a more state-centric voting system, right?
15:47They rejected federal, more federal politicians as opposed to, they focused on party, the local parties, right?
15:54So do you think that's like a move for the rakyat to own their own power?
15:58Would that reflect that?
16:00I think there's a strong strand of that.
16:02And I think that's a good thing.
16:04I think power which is closer to the people is better than power which is far away.
16:09Right?
16:09As long as it, look, within the constitutional framework, right?
16:13I think coming back to your point about disunity, right?
16:15And that, you know, that phrase that was applied to Sarawak before, you know, Sarawak for Sarawakans,
16:21I think that that can mean many different things, right?
16:24It can, to some, that might mean secession, which I don't think we are going to talk about.
16:29But I think what that can mean is that that's not to the detriment of Malaysia, right, as well.
16:38Yeah.
16:39How do we champion fiscal discipline at the federal level without inadvertent use, starving position-led,
16:47or economically disadvantaged states?
16:49How do development resources we desperately need?
16:52Yeah.
16:52So I think that comes back to, I think, Schedule 9 of the Constitution, which is trying to determine
16:58what areas of public policy should reside at the federal level and which should apply at the state level.
17:05I think, okay, I think no one would say that, you know, all the states have to pay for their
17:11own defense, right?
17:12We're not going to make Perlis, you know, pay for the submarines as much as, you know, KL or Penang,
17:20for example.
17:21So I think that's a very clear example.
17:22I think it gets tricky when it comes to certain other areas of policy, right?
17:25So how much responsibility and therefore, when we say responsibility, you know, over policy,
17:32but fiscal responsibility as well over things like housing or transport or education.
17:38And I think it is a conversation that needs to be had for each area of public policy.
17:49But let's take transport, for example.
17:54I think one of the examples that was used, that was often, you know, raised is even bus stop, you
17:59know, where to place a bus stop, right?
18:01And I think in the past it was, if you are in any, you have your council up in a
18:09town, you know, somewhere,
18:11Putrajaya still needs to approve, you know, Lulus, you know, where you want to move the bus stop to.
18:16So I think decisions like that are best left to the people who are there, the local council there.
18:23So I think that's one example of, you know, trying to move the responsibility of certain...
18:30Decentralizing.
18:30Yeah, to decentralize certain decision-making powers within certain sectors.
18:36You spoke about local council, right?
18:38Yeah.
18:38I'm going to ask you, do you think there is a need for a local council election?
18:42I think I've advocated for that before.
18:43But I think people rightfully worry about cost of having another layer of elections.
18:53And also people worry about...
18:55I think there's such a move that needs to be commensurate with voter education as well.
19:00Because right now, for example, I think there are many people who don't really understand the difference between the MP
19:05and the Adun.
19:06I think when there's a pothole or when there's, you know, a tree has fallen, you know, a lot of
19:13people will still talk to the MP instead of the Adun, right, to try and fix that.
19:16And I think in Malaysia there's also this, some of these practices which are ingrained, like, you know, Majelis Kikunuri,
19:24for example, you know, for your wedding, you know, you invite your MP and your Adun.
19:29So I think there's a need for professionalisation of the roles.
19:34And I think if we can do that so that, you know, the Rakyat understand what the responsibilities of the
19:41MP are versus the Adun, then we can move forward to the next level.
19:46Given ideas focused on fiscal responsibility, do you believe Malaysia can chip long-term fiscal health without biting the blood
19:52on a comprehensive consumption tax?
19:54Or is the political fear of consumer backlash permanently handicapping our economic position?
20:01I think it handicaps it when we are in a position of economic difficulty, right?
20:06I think all governments are worried to do anything radical or significant when things are precarious.
20:12And I think, so, I think that's something we just have to accept, right, that governments are bolder when it
20:21comes to institutional reforms, when they feel safe, and when the economy is healthier.
20:27So I think that's the position that we're in.
20:32Look, but we're not in a, this is not a unique position, right?
20:34I think all over the world, right?
20:36I mean, everyone is suffering from geopolitical instability.
20:40Everyone is suffering from the war in Iran.
20:42Everyone is suffering from, you know, even the legacy of COVID.
20:46So I think that there's a lot that, there's a lot of work that civil society needs to do to
20:56continue to argue and convince the political actors,
21:04as well as the people at large, that, yes, some reforms can be very painful, but sometimes you need to
21:15do it to guarantee your long-term sustainability.
21:18But do you think that, with that, right, the decision might not be as popular to the right yet, right?
21:23Yeah, and therefore there's an electoral cost, which is why, which is why politicians are not brave when things look
21:29precarious.
21:31So it is, yeah, it's a chicken and egg, but this is how it is.
21:35This is how it is.
21:36So do you think because of that, like, do you see, okay, can we talk about the current Prime Minister?
21:40He's doing some policies that are not favourable to the people, but I would say it's benefiting the overall, for
21:47the betterment of the rakyat in long term.
21:49So, I assume, I assume, I assume. So, like, but now he's at risk of losing a second term, right?
21:59But in general, do you think the politicians themselves have to be more selfless in terms of gain?
22:07Yeah, I think so, but I also think that there's, there is a significant portion of the electorate who does
22:14see it in a different way as well.
22:15I think a lot of people do see that, you know, certain legacy issues, things have been ingrained for so
22:22long that it will require a bit of pain to move away from that, and people do vote according to
22:30that.
22:31But I think, you know, younger generation especially, right, there's, even though it might not be so well articulated, there's
22:43some understanding that the way things were for 70 years, 60, 70 years, is not sustainable,
22:50and therefore there needs to be some change, and that causes disruption.
22:54But do you think Muda would, this, this is not, just like, just for your own, I was, do you
23:00think Muda does well if they are in more urban seats, like NKL, would they do fair better?
23:05I think they would. I think they would. But as I say, I think the other parties…
23:13They're stronger. They're stronger, and they also, like, I respond, look, I think, I think the best thing that can
23:17be said about Muda is that their existence has galvanised the other parties to strengthen their own youth engagement.
23:23Right? So that's also an important phenomenon to acknowledge.
23:29Apakah pendekatan yang sesuai bagi memastikan usaha memperkukuh institusi raja dan adat dapat dipahami masyarakat tanpa dipengaruhi oleh perbezaan pandangan
23:40politik?
23:40The role of the monarchy does not stem from politics. It stems from the constitution.
23:47And I hope what people understand is, when sometimes rulers of the Agong make difficult decisions that have a political
23:58impact,
23:59it is not because they are doing so with a political calculation, but rather with the interests of the nation.
24:06And I think we saw that after the last general election, right?
24:10When you're trying to appoint a prime minister after there is a hung parliament, it's not easy.
24:16There will be political winners and political losers.
24:21But the goal of the monarchy is to deliver stability to the country.
24:33And that's why it's important that there is a different system of appointing a monarch, right?
24:42Which is not tied to politics.
24:45Which is about ancestry, which is about heredity, which some people will say, you know, that's not very democratic.
24:56But I think, coming back to what I said earlier, to what the diplomats told me,
25:03if we did not have a king, we would have been in chaos.
25:07Because there would be no authority to appoint a prime minister.
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