Information and Communications Minister Salleh Said Keruak, like most politicians, loves to come up with a simple answer to a complex issue. I am referring to his observation that the malaise confronting Malaysia today is due to sabotage .

To sabotage is to destroy, damage or obstruct something for political or military advantage. He was saying Malaysians of different political leaning are deliberately sabotaging the economy to undermine the credibility of the government. He cited Western media and blogs publishing stories on corruption, falling ringgit and the country on the verge of bankruptcy and a ‘failed state’ as examples of sabotage.   

In reality, economic sabotage is never easy to execute. It requires congruence of motivation and concerted actions by many people and by many parties. On the other hand, for those unable to extricate themselves from allegations and problems, it is easy and convenient for them to blame everything on sabotage.

But how do we get so many people to agree that there was indeed rampant corruption (real or perceived) in Malaysia? Seriously, are foreign media the stooges ever ready to run errands for saboteurs from Malaysia? If it is so easy, I am sure the Malaysian government, too, could engage them to run stories favourable to the government.

To me it is simply mind-boggling to believe that accusations and allegations against Malaysian leaders could be easily orchestrated. I may be wrong, I want to believe that Malaysia is too big to sabotage.

Let’s take falling ringgit as another example. How do we sabotage the value of the ringgit if there are no compelling reasons already present to cause it to fall? Speculators and saboteurs may cause it, but there must also be sufficient number of Malaysians willing to go along with the belief that the value of ringgit may not sustain going forward given the situation we are in.

We should ask ourselves a simple question: why would the majority of Malaysians want the value of ringgit to fall even if they disagree with the government?   

Salleh Said Keruak should remind the government to manage the ringgit prudently instead of coming up with his sabotage theory.

As Malaysians, why do we want to sabotage this country so that Malaysia becomes a failed state?  What advantages can Malaysians get from living in a failed state?  If we truly know what a failed state is, we are effectively saying we want our livelihood and good life destroyed, our fundamental rights denied and rule of law violated.

Put simply, Malaysians cannot suddenly wake up one morning to agree that Malaysians leaders have too many unanswered allegations unless there are reasons for them to believe so. Similarly no one can cause the ringgit to fall unless there are compelling reasons for it. Finally, Salleh Said Keruak should get it right. No one wants to live in a failed state. Failed state is a concern expressed by concerned citizens; it is not a desired state wanted by the majority of Malaysians.