Unlike Dickens' immortal lines, 'These are the worst of times and the best of times', most Malaysians agreed we are not in the best of times and there is no shining silver linings beyond the political horizon. In reality, there are no blessings to rejoice in, no victories to celebrate and only turbulent times ahead of us.

Perhaps, the only celebration has been the gratifying thought that in the main, ordinary Malaysians have shown a remarkable degree of sanity and sobriety compared to our political leaders in high public and political offices.

This despite the fact that Malaysians are facing difficult times with people worried about joblessness (particularly our young graduates), lesser incomes for a large majority of Malaysian householders as costs-of-living escalate due to higher petrol prices, higher electricity bills, rising health care costs and banking interest rates.

Today's current scenario is reminiscent of a letter written in 1998 to a local newspaper, which stated: 'Do you notice what most people talk about when they meet these days? They bear bad news, then proceed to reaffirm, each other's story that, yes, life is bad. Afterwards, they go home feeling depressed.

'Why do people die in the woods? Asked the character played by Stephen Hopkins in the Edge. They die of shame. They die not because that they had become lost in the woods, but because of negative thoughts and feelings, frustration, anger and fear. It does seem that some of us are wrapped up in depressing news - that of the economy, traffic jams, water shortage, air quality, among others'.

More than the deteriorating quality of living Malaysians face daily, there is vast disappointment in bad governance, unwise policies and inefficient enforcement in crucial areas of maintaining public safety and delivery of essential services by local authorities.

There is continued wastage of taxpayers' money on badly managed government infrastructure projects. In short, Malaysians are losing faith as a nation. Our environment has scarred hills and polluted rivers with water resources threatened by illegal logging and excessive residential cum commercial developments.

Bad governance

Flipflop government policies on foreign workers and the entry of illegal foreign workers without proper medical certification have been contributing factors to the re-emergence of tuberculosis in our country and probably other diseases as well. These are only some prime examples of the host of challenges facing our nation.

It has been one disappointment after another. The age-old Asian maxim, 'When the horse dies, the rider has to get down and go on foot'. It is an apt reminder to Malaysian voters that giving more than two-thirds majority electoral support to the ruling government does not guarantee a strong and good governance.

American journalist with satirist PJ O'Rourke once said that 'giving money and power to a government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys'. Malaysian voters should get wiser by not falling head over heels for electoral promises and a beautifully decorated rhetorical manifesto. It has been a bitter lesson and pill to swallow.

Smart schools do not guarantee churning out smart students. Think critically and wisely before you cast your vote in future. It is time to listen to our hearts. It is the elected government that must respond to the vox populi of its people carrying distinct tones of dissent from the majority who want change for the better.

For instance, there has been no substantial collective or political will on the part of the government or its governing elected representatives to seriously tackle rising statistics on drug addiction and abuse particularly among school children. It was way back in 1998 that the authorities were striving for a solution, one that would bring about a 'dadah-free generation' but looks like we are heading towards a 'dadah generation' instead. Saving an economy but losing the battle against social ills is bad governance in public administration.

No one and no organisation can claim to be without fault, mistake or wrong doing. To be fair, in some instances there are Malaysian culprits contributing to the deteriorating state of national affairs and the government is not entirely at fault.

However, well-founded criticisms within the bounds of the law and done in good faith should be accepted by those in authority with an open mind and objectively. Public confidence can never be built when those in authority retreat behind safeguards built upon self-proclaimed righteousness.

Foolish remarks

When Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin remarked that Malaysian viewers were not up to the mark or ready for live parliamentary proceedings compared to their British counterparts, it reminded me of former information minister Mohamad Rahmat's foolish remark made in 1991 that Malaysians should not enjoy the 24-hour television.

He said: 'If we have 24-hour air time, then Malaysia would not be able to attain its developed nation status in 2020 as its people are too busy watching television instead of contributing to development'. He added that he did not approve TV3's bid to go 24 hours for fear of turning 'Malaysians into couch potatoes'.

Now that there is 24-hour TV broadcasting (including Astro) and going by the former information minister's logic, perhaps we should name ourselves as a nation of 'couch potatoes' incapable of contributing to our Vision 2020 objectives. Hence, I wonder aloud why our government is bothered to implement the 9th Malaysia Plan as we are doomed to fail because we Malaysians are presently enjoying 24-hour pay-cable TV transmission now.

This parallel example also truly reflects the similar 'third class mentality' of our current information minister in saying that Malaysians are not ready to watch live parliamentary proceedings due to their racist outlook. Nonetheless, we should forgive our minister for cherishing such myopic views for as Edward W Howe says, 'A thief believes everybody steals'. Perhaps, it also holds the truth that a racist also believes that everyone else is racists too.

Malaysians have probably learnt by now that the two most common elements in the world are hydrogen and stupidity. But not in that order. We are reminded by former American President Ronald Reagan's quip that 'The best minds are not in government. If any were, businesses would steal them anyway'.

STANLEY KOH is a Buddhist Monk and works for a local think-tank.