NO movie or drama has sought to depict the intricacies of governance at the highest level in Malaysia, West Wing-style.

Chances are if a writer who has been in the centre of things conceives a script, or a groundbreaking documentary is enacted, voters may even possibly warm up to the Government more. Segments of the population who are open to logical explanations and whose judgments are not jaundiced, are most probably looking to be convinced that exhaustive thought, debate, disagreements, brow-beating and even the Blackberry-ing or the lessexpensive table thumping have been expended, before a decision is finally reached. This would demonstrate the rigorous process of decision making. Indeed, the 78 sen-hike in petrol price has brought into sharp focus the inner workings of governance with the rakyat yet to be properly acquainted with – the processes and the policy wonks pushing for one decision against the other, the arguments put forth and, definitely, the convictions of the personalities driving the country’s course. It is generally accepted that subsidy moderates immediate economic exertions but clearing the deck of such aid would limit distortions in the economy over the longer term. Subsidy would drain Government resources that could be better utilised in productive segments such as food output, putting more buses on the road, build nice parks and schools. The refrain has always been the fear of chain-reaction on the workings of the economy, from household debt to inflated cost of living and the cost of doing business. What makes the fuel hike bolder is it comes at a time of political aftershocks of the March 8 general election. One would expect that a government which has been newly jolted would favour a politically safer path. One likely reason for this is that the Cabinet is peopled by a healthy number of policy activists whose main preoccupation is not politics. Oddly enough come to think of it, it was the setbacks the Barisan Nasional suffered at the March 8 general election that has yielded a different sort of Cabinet. As an example, it has strengthened the economics department of the Cabinet that primarily functions as a brainstorming outlet. All the political arguments would not work on the non-political Ministers – Can’t we wait for all these talks about defections to go away first? Let us see through the Umno electoral process before deciding? Don’t you think this will ‘embolden’ Pakatan Rakyat? Also, the Cabinet which works on a collective mode must have recognised the global nature of this crisis hence there was no need to be apologetic. The country is certainly not shielded from the global oil and food crises, thus the urgent need to tweak and adjust. For starters, domestic tourism lovers may be reconsidering some of their upcoming plans. This could be potentially biting on the morale of the crowd who sees the nation as increasingly compact, that driving out of KL for the weekend is a must. That enjoying lunch at the brilliant Malay stalls outside the Leaning Tower of Teluk Intan should be a monthly feast as it is tucking into the elaborately prepared Mee Bandung at the Muara in Muar. These are unlikely to encroach into funds for education, food, transport and housing. Segments with abilities and resources to earn extra will seek to raise personal productivity and efficiency. In order to savour the weekend travels, they may start looking at public transport as a means of getting to work. Incidentally, do we have a Minister who is in charge of public transport in KL? If the turfs are hazy, the Government should settle on one personality so that the person charged could talk to us regularly as the point-person. He or she should first of all be trying out the buses, taxis, KTM Komuter and LRT to get to work and must be able to inform the population: “Our public transport is excellent. I use it all the time”. The best ministers are those with a penchant for policy discussions and are able to draw a line between politics and economic realities, communicate their ideas and reasoning eloquently and live the life of the rakyat as often as possible. What does the immediate future hold? Will things simply return to normalcy? What would the levels of consumer spending, intensity of travel, household debt, efficiency of public transport be, say, by the end of the year? March 8 told us that Umno and Barisan Nasional no longer dominate political life. The fuel price hike is bound to alter travel patterns in Greater Kuala Lumpur given its sizeable population and the cost of living. The Government that provides them with a comfortable and reliable public transport system will definitely endear itself to a huge constituency eternally. Rashid Yusof, on sabbatical from 24-hour journalism, is looking to dredge up a range of arguments and a smattering of ideas for the public domain. He already braves the city’s public transport system regularly.

Source: Malay Mail – June 9, 2008