Steven Gan of malaysiakini says that the prime minister, who intervened to allow University Malaya academic Dr Edmund Terrence Gomez to take on a two-year secondment at the United Nations, had 'little political cost to bear' by so doing. Researcher and political observer Ong Kian Ming, concurs with Steven's opinion

It would seem that we all want changes from the government but when the PM does act he is not given due credit. If he had kept mum over the Gomez affair, he would have been labeled as one who just talks but doesn't act..

Now that he has resolved Gomez's predicament, people downplay it by saying the PM had done it 'at little political cost'.

When the higher officials or ministers mess up, Malaysians feel the PM should step in but when he does so, some wonder why he stepped in at all. Either way, our PM is blamed.

There are some basic points that all should know.

  • The PM alone cannot change the country for the better even though he is completely dedicated to making our country 'Cemerlang, Gemilang dan Terbilang'.

  • We do not know the extent of the political fallout in Umno if he proceeds aggressively with his ideas to rid the country of graft, mediocricity, etc.

  • Why should he risk not finishing the job he has started (to clean out the government) just because some citizens are impatient and do not know what he has in mind for Malaysia besides a lack of faith in him.

We have seen the country slide in the areas of human values (honesty, integrity, freedom of expression, transparency etc) over the past years and we should be more realistic in expecting changes over a set period of time.

Would Malaysians prefer to take the risk of the PM going aggressively for changes and in the process lose his position in Umno and thus the government? We all know the characters that exist in Umno and the fact is clear that Pak Lah's position would be in jeopardy if he tries to make drastic changes for the better.

Damage that has been done over the decades and habits formed over generations are not going to be rooted out in a couple of years. If he were to get rid of mediocre government staff or ministers overnight, he would be handicapped administratively as a significant number are mediocre.

I would rather Pak Lah continue to make the changes that he can whether they are apparent to the armchair politicians or not and keep doing so over the years. It is about striking a balance between continuos leadership (both of Umno and Malaysia) and continued changes.

The stakes are too high for if he loses his position we would all be back to square one though there are some people who feel there are alternative leaders in Anwar Ibrahim, Najib Abdul Razak, etc.

One thing is for sure Pak Lah is a sincere man and I am glad that Gomez had been able to meet him and been told to keep voicing out. Time only will tell but I am sure it will be proven that the PM is a man of his words.

I would place all my bets on Pak Lah making Malaysia a better place in the future.