Tuesday May 6, 2008
CERITALAH
By KARIM RASLAN
Many have looked to Pakatan Rakyat to revive Perak’s fortunes, but the challenges are formidable.
PERAK was once a proud and prosperous state whose tin mines and rubber plantations made it Peninsula Malaysia’s commercial engine.
Its people were so wealthy (some would say profligate) that a thankful Mercedes-Benz car dealer fixed a large five-pointed logo on a limestone hill above the main road into Ipoh to show his undying appreciation.
But those days have passed, and Malaysia’s Silver State has become little more than a place between Kuala Lumpur and Penang, somewhere you drive through with your foot firmly on the accelerator.
Perak is in a state of near terminal decline as towns shrink in size, young people leave in search of jobs and the population continues to age.
One cannot help but feel that decades of lacklustre, if well-intentioned, Barisan Nasional leadership have failed the state. In KL we joke about our “Ipoh mari” friends without understanding the socio-economic and human impact of this diaspora.
The state has never quite overcome the failure to diversify its natural resource dependant economy.
On the political front, the weakness of the state’s Umno leaders has meant that they’ve never been able to compete against the strong Johor and Pahang axis within the party, which has in turn led to a relative neglect of Perak’s economic interests.
As one local businessman explained: “Umno reigned in Perak, it never really governed. There was just too much petty politicking: economic issues were neglected.”
Given all these problems, it is perhaps unsurprising that the state didn’t fall any earlier to the Opposition.
Indeed, the state’s non-Barisan, opposition tradition is proud and deep, with solid PAS vote-banks in Parit Buntar and DAP enclaves in the Kinta Valley building on the anti-establishment sentiment fostered by the charismatic Seenivasagam brothers in the 50s and 60s.
Many have looked to the new Pakatan Rakyat government to revive Perak’s fortunes, but the challenges are formidable. The alliance is fragile, having a slim two-seat majority in the State Assembly, not to mention a supremely confident and vigilant palace.
All eyes, therefore will be on new PAS Mentri Besar engineer Nizar Jamaluddin and the two DAP strongmen/lawyers in the Exco, Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham (reputedly the first ever Datuk in the DAP) and Nga Kor Ming, also the head of the party’s youth wing Dapsy.
The men have started with a bang, shaking up the state’s moribund administration. Of course, too bold an agenda can have its detractors.
Nonetheless, in one dramatic move and taking a leaf out of Hernando de Soto’s poverty alleviating agenda, they announced a plan to issue permanent land titles to the residents of Perak’s many Emergency-era new villages, thereby reinforcing the new administration’s pro-rakyat focus.
I had the chance to speak to Nizar on Friday just hours after he had been summoned by the palace – presumably over treatment of the state’s religious department director Datuk Jamry Sury.
Despite the gathering storm, Nizar remained cool if forceful, being careful to steer the discussion away from contentious issues like the “Islamic State” debate to more manageable, common ground.
Still Nizar’s diplomatic manner belies his delicate political position. With only six state assemblymen (DAP has 18) PAS is the smallest party in the ruling coalition.
Nizar affirms the strength of the bonds he has with his DAP partners, saying: “We’ve been working with each other for the past 10 to 15 years. Now, we meet regularly both in formal state meetings as well as informally.
“Besides that, we SMS and talk on the phone a lot. I’ve also hosted badminton games at the residence and we all get a very good workout.”
When I met Ngeh later, he similarly reinforces the bonds. “We have no problems working together. We’re focused on the rakyat. Ours is a government for all.”
This ability to cooperate in Perak has national ramifications. With two atypical leaders – a DAP Datuk with a keen business sense and a PAS engineer (the UK-educated Nizar is not an ullama) sensitive to non-Malay feelings – there is a distinct possibility of progress.
Could this be a possible way forward, by-passing the tension PAS and DAP are experiencing at Federal level as Karpal Singh, Nik Aziz and Abdul Hadi Awang trade barbed comments?
Both Nizar and Ngeh stress their shared professional ethos.
Nizar adds: “I am an engineer, while they (Ngeh and Nga) are lawyers. Besides we’ve often worked in similar non-governmental organisations and spoken alongside one another at various forums.”
When asked whether it would be correct to categorise him as a technocrat (along with Husam Musa and Nasaruddin Mat Isa), he pauses before answering: “I suppose so but there is a difference. They are dealing with a state that’s over 95% Malay. Perak is a very mixed environment. We can’t approach governance in the same way.”
Despite his reassurances, the fragility of the links between PAS and DAP is clear for all to see.
The following months will see whether or not Pakatan can maintain its unity in the face of controversies like the never-ending debate over the Islamic State.
Pakatan leaders like Anwar Ibrahim will do their utmost to hold the coalition together at the national level, but what happens “on the ground”, especially in places like Perak, may well end up being more important, as the reality of the two quite separate socio-political visions comes crashing together.
On the other hand, Perak needs a shock to the system in terms of administration, and someone with Ngeh’s level of energy is bound to produce results. His prior experience with the business world will serve the state administration well as they seek, in his words, to “enrich, empower and liberate Perakeans”.
Surely, the new team can’t do worse than their predecessors.
And Umno? Well a sustained period in opposition will give the party a chance to reinvent itself.
It needs to focus on the “rakyat” instead of itself. This will free up the talent that does exist at the state level with men like Datuk Dr Zambry Kadir.
Let’s hope that in doing so it’ll present the voters with a genuine alternative, and Perak with a real chance for the future.
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