- In many countries, we have Boomer leaders unwilling to cede the limelight – arguably Malaysia is in even more straitened circumstances, with a 96-year old patriarch still unwilling to give up hopes of another turn at the top job. We just need to move on as a country, and we need the next generation of leaders to prepare themselves to take over and steer the country in a different direction, free from the outdated baggage of the past.
- One of my favourite literary devices is the book review: using the conceit of having to review a book as a means to launch into fascinating and intriguing explorations. The book review essay as intellectual freestyling. This one, which is a fascinating hypothesis on human prehistory as a “high school”-like environment, and the idea of a “gossip trap” as a low-value equilibrium that detracts from the construction of civilisation, masquerades as a review of The Dawn of Everything. A bit of a long read, but worth the while!
- Every now and then I am reminded of the cruelty and vileness of Humanity. This one is especially sad to read.
Today’s Reads VIII – Wordle, Reification, and Climate Change
- Sometimes, all it takes is a shared passion to reconnect with the ones we love…
- This is a profound opinion piece that I think every Malaysian policymaker needs to read. The words “reification” and “medicalisation” are what I wish I had in my vocabulary when I was assigned to monitor the Anti-Corruption initiatives under the Government Transformation Programme. I was butting my head against the wall for weeks, constantly feeling frustrated by the lack of progress, and it took deep reflection over the experience in a Leadership course at graduate school, many years later, for me to finally realise that my team and I were essentially collateral damage for a technical approach of ostentatious initiatives (“let’s have anti corruption pledges!” “let’s appoint Chief Integrity Officers!”) aimed at simulating “seriousness” in tackling corruption, when in the other room, billions of public money were being siphoned off thanks to Najib and Jho Low. There needs to be more conversations in Malaysia about how we skirt around our dysfunctional politics, spinning our wheels around make-busy work while Rome continues to burn.
- The UN secretary-general just called for a windfall tax on fossil fuel companies. Can we afford to ignore climate change any longer? And what would this mean for Petronas, which has long been the white knight of last resort for Malaysia (cf. Bank Bumiputra, Proton, KLCC, MISC, GST refunds)?
Today’s Reads VII – Student Loan Financing, the Papaya, and Bad Writing
- This is an interesting model for student loan financing. Are there more institutions / countries out there that employ this model? The moral hazard risk looks real enough; I’d be keen to see implementations in which the risks are mitigated… #education #financing
- The power of the humble papaya! It is gratifying to see the endless ways in which our natural environs can be repurposed for good 🙂 #papaya #beauty #FT
- I knew it!!! All this time, lawyers make you think that their contracts are incomprehensible because we lack “legal expertise”… turns out they are just bad writers LOL #law #contracts
Today’s Reads VI – David Beckham and CREDs, the Bamboo Curtain, and Historical Preservation
- Credibility-enhancing displays (“CREDs”), and why David Beckham queueing up to pay his respect to the Queen is not all that different from Muslims fasting in Ramadan. A fascinating and intriguing read.
- I grew up in the age of the Cold War and the Iron Curtain. Will the Bamboo Curtain now fall in our lifetimes?
- An interesting, and counterfactual, argument against laws mandating historical preservation of buildings and landmarks. Not a problem in Malaysia, though. We just bulldoze through everything…
Today’s Reads V – The Benefits of Monarchies, the Responsiveness of Democracies, and the So-called Price of Success
- “Constitutional monarchies, like established churches, tend to be theoretically conservative but progressive in practice.” – an interesting, and (to me) surprisingly cogent argument for why monarchies (especially constitutional monarchies) are actually helpful in staving off extremist tendencies in polities.
- On the other hand, recent developments such as US gun control reform demonstrate that Democracy (yes, with a capital D) is still the most robust and responsive of all political systems out there. Anyone (be it religious mullahs, or fascist white nationalists) who tells you that “the common people cannot be trusted to govern themselves” are clearly self-interested wannabe-tyrants that ought to be kept away from polite company.
- Those of us who are less successful in life tend to imagine – as a means for palliative self-soothing – that those at the top are paying a price in terms of psychological stress, broken relationships, etc. “Wrecked by success” is a popular trope, but it seems that it might just simply not be true!
Today’s Reads IV – Communist Fashion, M40 Voters, GLC CEOs
- In turbulent times, some resort to…. fashion. #commiestyle
- I guess that in the coming Malaysian general elections, the M40 voter will be an important battlefield.
- Is it “soak the rich” season in Malaysian politics now?
Commentary I – Education and Economic Growth
As someone who grew up and is currently living and working in a developing country, one takes it for granted that investments in education is one of the most important and pound-for-pound valuable ways to spend public money. Indeed, Malaysia consistently spends a significant amount of its public expenditure on education.Â
So it astounds me to find that President Biden’s recent decision to announce student debt forgiveness has been seen as controversial. It’s one thing to have Republicans oppose the measure – the mid-term elections are around the corner, anyways – but to witness even steely-eyed economists cast doubt on the effectiveness of the policy measure has been surprising.
Amongst Malaysians, it is an article of faith that education is the primary key to upwards social mobility. Perhaps it is a reflection of the long-term rapid growth of the Malaysian economy, that as the economic pie grows rapidly, a larger share of the pie is captured by those with the right skills and competencies. The skills and capabilities gained through education enables workers to undertake higher value-added activities, making them more valuable in the job market, and unlocking greater opportunities for employment and income generation.
A large part of the criticism around student loan forgiveness in the US comes from the perceived moral hazard of potentially encouraging for-profit education institutions to raise the tuition fees even higher, in an environment where tuition fees are already rising much faster than inflation. (Let’s not get into the entire morass of how the US Congress has been captured by corporate lobby interests, resulting in weakened industry oversight and regulatory logjams.)
And as tuition fees continue to rise in runaway fashion, the return on investment for higher education continues to be eroded, so that many young Americans are increasingly dissuaded from taking the extra time, money and effort to undertake higher education.Â
This doom spiral in American higher education is one of the many reasons why the USA is becoming increasingly less competitive in the global economy. Conversely, multiple research has shown that economic development is, at its most fundamental level, driven by the accumulation of skills and know-how. Every country that has undergone periods of rapid economic development in their history, from postwar Japan to Malaysia in the 1980s and 1990s and China in the 2000s, can point to large investments in education as a key driver for rapid growth.Â
Despite the crisis in American higher education, it has still been able to maintain its competitiveness, especially in key sectors such as technology and healthcare, but the weakness in American higher education has been masked thus far, I believe, through America’s continued ability to recruit highly-skilled immigrants, especially in industry hubs such as Silicon Valley. (Although one wonders whether the US can still maintain this edge in coming decades, especially if Trumpism becomes a permanent fixture in American politics.)Â
As Malaysia’s competitiveness continues to be eroded by lower-cost competitors such as Vietnam and Indonesia, it is alarming to note that our rate of public investment into education is on a declining trend. If we are truly to escape the middle-income trap, we will need to reverse this recent decline, and continue to ensure that investments in skills and education continue to be the number one priority for Malaysia.Â
Poem II – Putera Puteri
T’was once a shining, splendoured thing Such hopes that Life itself daren’t cage Eyes that once gleamed with love ablaze Now dulled by slow, relentless age. And for its passing do I pray That you do find amidst your Rome a Life that shines, with splendour still And may Peace find its harboured home.
Puisi I – Mata Hati
Cerah mata memandang kamu
Cerah hati menumpas ragu
Dua jiwa berkongsi hidup
Takhta kasih berhias sanggup
Redup mata menatap kamu
Redup hati nyaman beradu
Naung jiwa di taman syahdu
Sanggul nyawa dirangkul baldu
Sungguh berkat hidup berdua!
Penuh rahmat hidup bersama!
Kasih mata memandang kamu
Kasih hati nyaman bertemu
Tiada berpisah walau terpisah
Di taman abadi bertemu wajah.
Poem I – Perplexed
I hold myself in state perplexed,
Wherefore these so-called friends have flexed
their blind obeisance to a thief
Who gladly lends this nation grief.
Affrightened, shocked, we then did gasp
at tales of nation’s riches grasp’d,
In revelations of ill gain
and debts of billions now retained
at cost of our own public purse
And echoes of our children’s curse.
And herein lies my ill content
My queried mind in bafflement
What makes these fools of certain grief
to take up cudgels for a thief,
To make false claims of justice bent
When Justice was what God had sent?
Perhaps our own minds were athwart
Too bubbled up to see the art?
Or mayhaps those who know facts well
were flummoxed at the blatant spell
T’was cast by Power’s heavy wand
That Great and Good would dumbly stand
aside as thieves ruled in their prime
with robes of gold to hide their grime,
and riches piled for those with might
to plunder all in broad daylight.
And in minority we stand
The few and frazzled of the land
Accused of being “out of touch”
We’re told that politics is such:
That “Bossku”’s cause is of the right,
That white is black and black is white!
Then destined are we for the fall
a nation that would not stand tall
to judge a thief a criminal,
but rather praise a convict’s gall.