Muhyiddin catches the Najib disease

With his statements on education, the DPM is showing he may be as delusional as his boss.

COMMENT

Muhyiddin Yassin says no one can deny the government’s efforts in providing the best education infrastructure possible. He claims that international bodies have acknowledged the size and scale of the allocations made for education. He has touted the fact that we have the highest per capita allocation for education amongst developing countries. As the Education Minister, it’s only expected that he would play up his accomplishments in that area, but I can already hear the snort of contempt from readers who have been patient enough to get this far.

If we truly have the best education infrastructure possible, why are there thousands of graduates desperately seeking employment out there? Why are we below our neighbours in Thailand and Vietnam when it comes to education rankings? Why are our graduates and workers constantly criticised for their poor command of English and their lack of critical thinking skills? If we have one of the highest budget allocations among the developing world, why are there schools in Sabah and Sarawak that are so run down that the worst of the schools on the peninsula look like palaces in comparison?

You can throw all the money you want at a dead horse, but it won’t magically come back to life and go on to win races. We need a complete overhaul of our education system, and Muyhiddin has to know deep down inside that there is a lot more that needs to be done to create a competitive educational culture that can nurture the very best, lest we repeat the sad tale of Malaysia’s forgotten prodigy, Adi Putra.

You can tout all the pretty, flowery figures, the imaginary awards, and your own propaganda, but the stone cold truth is that we are losing our competitive edge in education, and Malaysia will suffer if we keep sliding down the scale. In fact, Muyhiddin, you seem to have come down with a bad case of Najibitis.

Najibitis can be quite fatal to the career of a politician. Symptoms include being out of touch with the electorate and grand speeches that are not backed by measurable accomplishments.

But fear not. There is a cure, and it is simple, fast, and effective – just cut the bullshit.

Muyhiddin is a smart man, and he has ambitions. Surely he knows by now that the old days of the people being force fed information from government news sources is over and that we Malaysians are much more sceptical than we used to be. Making statements that show he is out of touch with the concerns of the people and apparently oblivious of our dismal rankings in the international arena does not make for a positive case for Muyhiddin as Prime Minister hopeful. If he ousts Najib, will we still have to suffer through the kind of delusional speeches that Najib is associated with?

We expect much more from you, Muyhiddin. Tackle the topics seriously and honestly with us, because we are tired of being talked down to by Najib and his cohort of sycophants. Acknowledge the problem, and tell us how you’re going to solve it, and you will have our support, because it’s far better to know how bad things have become and what we need to do than to be fed utopian dreams.

As a Prime Minister hopeful, you cannot make the same mistakes that Najib has. It is statements like these that make people feel that Najib is out of touch with our concerns and worries, and you are not restoring our confidence in his administration, let alone making the case to us that you would do far better in his position.

Muyhiddin, as a front runner for the Prime Minister’s position, your every word is being scrutinised and your every action analysed. We, the people, want to see if we can finally expect things to get better. As someone who has seen first hand how Najib has bungled time and time, you should know what you need to do to win back the public. Until then, we advise bed rest and a strong dose of reality to cure you of Najibitis.