Reimagining Malaysia 10: Leaders Who Wear Skirts

“The world will never realise 100 percent of its goals if 50 percent of its people cannot realise their full potential.” 

-Ban Ki Moon, former Secretary General of the United Nations- 

I’ll focus the next 3 articles on issues related to women. When we talk about women and gender equality, the first question we need to ask is why do we need gender equality?

I never thought I would champion gender equality issues until I stumbled across a number of charts in the Global Gender Gap Report published by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in 2012. The charts indicated that countries with better gender equality are usually richer and more competitive, and are better countries to live in. The trend is consistent with increasing evidence that empowering women leads to a more efficient use of a country's human capital. Therefore, reducing the gender gap enhances economic growth and development. In short, when we empower women, the whole country benefits.

Aren’t we already equal?

When we talk about gender equality, women’s rights and women empowerment, many people, both men and women, often ask, “Aren’t we already equal now?” After all, boys and girls can go to schools and men and women can contest and vote in elections in Malaysia.

Let’s now have a look on how statistics say our gender equality in Malaysia.

Reimagining Malaysia Part 9: Thriving in the Age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution

“In the new world, it is not the big fish which eats the small fish, it’s the fast fish which eats the slow fish.”  

- Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum-

The world that we are living in is changing so fast. General Electric’s Discussion Paper in 2014, “The Future of Work”, estimated that 65 percent of children entering primary education today will end up in new job types that don’t exist today[1]. McLeod, Scott and Karl Fisch estimated that with the current rate of technological change, nearly 50 percent of subject knowledge acquired during the first year of a four-year technical degree could become outdated by the third year of study[2].

Reimagining Malaysia Part 8: Five Ways to Create an Economy that Works for the Youths

In Part 7 of this series, I discussed how Malaysia’s economy structure is failing our youths, resulting in the double whammy of youth unemployment and underemployment. We need to rethink and restructure the economy so to create more jobs for the youths, not only jobs, but good jobs – jobs that give them decent incomes, meet their aspirations and develop them to their full potentials.

Here are the five things the government should do to create an economy that works better for Malaysian youths.

Reimagining Malaysia Part 7: Young Graduates Sell Nasi Lemak and Drive Uber

Recently Tun Mahathir's comments on young graduates selling nasi lemak and driving Uber have invited negative criticims. Of course, young graduates can choose to sell nasi lemak and driver Uber. But the question that we need to ask is, are selling nasi lemak and driving Uber indeed their interests and dreams or were they forced to do it because they could not get other decent-salaried jobs in the fields they were trained in? Below the surface of nasi-lemak selling dan Uber-driving young graduates, lies two big structural problems faced by Malaysian youths today.

Reimagining Malaysia Part 6: Improving Public Schools

I’ve discussed in Part 5 of the series on how while public education is free, good education is no longer free. We urgently need to reform our public education system. In this article, I’ll discuss two aspects of educational reform that I believe are important, firstly, to maximise student outcome for every taxpayer ringgit; and secondly, to reinvent human resources development in education.

I shall elaborate further.

Maximising Student Outcome For Every Ringgit Spent

Both education blueprints - Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025 (Preschool to Post-secondary Educations)[1] and Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025 (Higher Education)[2] - pointed out that there is a low return on investment in education in Malaysia in term of student outcome compared to other countries.

According to World Bank data, Malaysia’s government expenditure on basic education – from preschool to secondary school – as a percentage of GDP is one of the highest among ASEAN countries and Asian Tiger countries, the latter being South Korea, Hong Kong, Japan and China. See figure below.

Basic Education Spending as a Percentage of GDP

Source: World Bank

Reimagining Malaysia Part 5: Education Will Change Your Life

"Education is the most power weapon you can use to change the world."

-Nelson Mandela- 

When I was young, I asked my dad on many occasions why we didn’t have the good life as other children had. My father’s reply was always this, “Study hard, Bee Yin, education will change your life.”

Indeed, it has. It not only changed my life but the lives of my siblings and childhood friends. Education opened up possibilities we would never have imagined as children from a small town. Although we may not be rich, many of us are better off than our parents’ generation. Education changes and improves lives, sometimes above and beyond what we could imagine.

Education is not only important at the individual level – it is also a factor that leads to the success of a country. Education prepares the next generation who will drive the country’s wheel of economy and development. A free, democratic, developed and prosperous country needs an educated workforce as well as equally educated and dynamic leaders.

PUBLIC EDUCATION AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES

The world is not fair. By accident of birth, some people enjoy better starting points than others. The sons of traditional fishermen in Tanjung Karang do not get the same family upbringing as the sons of engineers and lawyers in Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya. The daughters of blue-collared workers, who stay in low-cost flats in the cities, do not get the same learning environment as the daughters of white-collared professionals, who stay in condominiums, terrace houses and big bungalows in the cities.

A good public education is a great equaliser as it provides an equal opportunity for children of the haves and the have-nots. Public education makes the unfair world fairer.

Reimagining Malaysia Part 4: Government-Linked-Companies (GLCs) Governance

When it comes to the topic of governance and management of public funds, many people think only about government agencies and departments. However in Malaysia, government-linked companies (GLCs) (and some statutory bodies*) as well as government-linked investment companies (GLICs) also handle significant amounts of public wealth. Therefore, attention must also be focussed on their governance and performance to protect and maximise the people’s interest. 

GLCs as Political Vehicles

According to studies conducted by Universiti Malaya’s Prof Edmund Terence Gomez, seven federal GLICs – Minister of Finance Inc (MoF Inc), Khazanah Nasional Bhd, Permodalan Nasional Bhd, the Employees Provident Fund, Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera, Lembaga Tabung Haji and Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (KWAP) – control 35 of the top 100 listed companies in Malaysia, and have a combined market capitalisation of 42 percent of the total market capitalisation of the companies listed on Bursa Malaysia.

Ten levels down, these GLICs have exposure to 6,342 companies by way of shareholding of their listed companies, subsidiaries and associates. The figure below shows the web of control of the GLICs with respect to the government agencies[1].

From this chart, it isn’t difficult to see that the prime minister, who’s also the finance minister, now has large control not only in the political world but also in the corporate world. There is a dangerous concentration of power in just one person – the Prime Minister. 

The concentration of political and corporate power combined with the weak institutions has made the ground fertile for the birth of the biggest scandal in the history of Malaysia.

Reimagining Malaysia Part 3: Legislative Reform in Selangor the Future of Parliament

Many people may not aware, since the change of state government in 2008, the Selangor Legislative Assembly has undergone a series of legislative reforms. I will share some of the important checks and balances mechanisms that have been put in place in Selangor to strengthen the legislature and how Parliament can be reformed in the future for national-level legislative oversights.

Formation of Select Committees in Selangor

Since 2008, the Selangor Legislative Assembly has formed six select committees and and four special select committees. These committees meet when the state assembly is not in session and help to provide legislative scrutiny on executive administration.

Select Committee i. Public Account Committee (PAC) or Jawantankuasa Kira-Kira Wang Kerajaan ii. Select Committee of District and Land Office or Jawatankuasa Pilihan Pejabat Daerah dan Tanah (JP-PADAT) iii. Select Committee of Local Authority or Jawatankuasa Pilihan Pihak Berkuasa Tempatan (JP-PBT) iv. Select Committee of Agency, Statutory Body and Subsidiary Company or Jawatankuasa Pilihan Agensi, Badan Berkanun dan Anak Syarikat (JP-ABAS) v. Standing Orders Committee or Jawatankuasa Peraturan Tetap vi. Rights and Privileges Committee or Jawatankuasa Hak dan Kebebasan

Special Select Committee i. Selangor Competency, Accountability and Transparency Committee (SELCAT) or Jawatankuasa Pilihan Khas Mengenai Keupayaan, Kebertanggungjawaban dan Ketelusan Selangor ii. Special Select Committee on Poverty Eradication or Jawatankuasa Pilihan Khas Pembasmian Kemiskinan iii. Special Select Committee of Management of the Assembly or Jawatankuasa Pilihan Khas Pengurusan Dewan iv. Special Select Committee of Water Resources Management of the State of Selangor (JPK-SAS) or Jawatankuasa Pilihan Khas Pengurusan Sumber Air Negeri Selangor