If Reform Is So Easy, Why Didn’t Anyone Do It Earlier?
If Reform Is So Easy, Why Didn’t Anyone Do It Earlier?
By Amarjeet Singh @ AJ
If governing Malaysia were easy, it would have been fixed long ago.
If solving the cost of living were simply a matter of slogans, fuel prices would have stayed low forever.
If fighting corruption only required speeches, institutions would not have weakened.
If empowering Sabah and Sarawak were straightforward, the Malaysia Agreement 1963 would not still be debated six decades later.
So here is the uncomfortable question we rarely ask ourselves:
Do we actually want reform — or do we only want relief without responsibility?
The Illusion of Instant Solutions
Many Malaysians are impatient. Some are angry. Others are tired.
That is understandable.
But impatience often hides a deeper contradiction: we demand long-term change while rejecting the short-term pain that real reform requires.
So let us ask honestly:
- Do we want blanket subsidies that leak billions — or targeted aid that actually reaches the vulnerable?
- Do we want cheap applause — or sustainable systems?
- Do we want leaders who tell us comforting lies — or those who explain uncomfortable truths?
Because history is clear:
Countries fail not because leaders are slow, but because citizens refuse to accept reality.
Governing Is Not Performance — It Is Repair Work
The current government under PMX, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, did not inherit a clean slate.
It inherited:
- Distorted subsidies
- Fragile public finances
- Weakened institutions
- A fractured political culture
- Distrust from investors and citizens alike
So ask yourself:
Would you renovate a collapsing house by repainting the walls — or by fixing the foundation first?
Repainting looks good.
Foundation work is noisy, slow, and unpopular.
But only one of them prevents collapse.
Why Some Reforms Hurt Before They Help
Fuel subsidy rationalisation is not cruelty — it is correction.
Targeted assistance such as MySARA is not stinginess — it is precision.
Lower SST for MSMEs is not a headline move — it is economic oxygen.
These policies do not trend because they are not emotional.
They are technical.
And technical solutions rarely excite crowds — but they save nations.
So the question is not:
“Why isn’t everything cheaper now?”
The real question is:
“Are leakages being closed so future generations don’t pay for today’s comfort?”
Unfinished Work Is Not Failure — It Is Honesty
Yes, some issues remain unresolved.
Gender inequality persists — because mindsets do not change by decree.
Education gaps exist — because lost generations cannot be recovered overnight.
The contract doctors issue is complex — because healthcare systems are fragile.
Sabah and Sarawak empowerment is ongoing — because MA63 is structural, not symbolic.
Environmental preservation demands restraint — because development without discipline destroys tomorrow.
Now ask yourself:
Would you trust a government that claims all this can be fixed in one term?
Or one that admits the work is hard — and continues anyway?
Results That Speak When Noise Fades
While arguments rage online, measurable outcomes quietly accumulate:
- Unemployment reaching its lowest level in a decade
- Labour force participation rising
- More women entering the workforce
- TVET graduates finding jobs
- Social protection expanded to the self-employed and homemakers
- Median/benchmark wages improving, crossing meaningful thresholds
These are not opinions.
They are indicators.
So another question arises:
If nothing is working, why is more of the country working?
Dignity Matters — Not Just Growth
Economic numbers alone do not define progress.
A nation is judged by how it treats its workers, its vulnerable, and its conscience.
When Malaysians stand for humanitarian causes beyond borders, it reflects something deeper: a belief that prosperity without principle is hollow.
Ask yourself:
Do we want to be rich without dignity — or respected with values?
Leadership Is Endurance, Not Popularity
Over the past three years, Anwar Ibrahim has faced relentless political attacks, racial provocations, institutional resistance, and global economic headwinds.
Yet anti-corruption efforts continued.
Institutions began to regain confidence.
Macro-stability improved.
Investor interest returned.
Now ask honestly:
How many leaders would survive this pressure without collapsing into populism?
The Real Risk Malaysia Faces
The real danger is not reform.
The real danger is fatigue.
Fatigue that leads us to say:
- “It’s too slow.”
- “Nothing will change.”
- “Let’s try someone else again.”
Malaysia has tried resets.
Malaysia has tried shortcuts.
Malaysia has tried noise.
And every time, we paid more later.
So consider this carefully:
What happens if reform is abandoned halfway — not because it failed, but because patience ran out?
Support Is Not Blind Loyalty
Supporting the government does not mean suspending criticism.
It means:
- Judging by outcomes, not outrage
- Giving institutions time to recover
- Rejecting racial manipulation
- Refusing to reward sabotage disguised as “concern”
Reform needs continuity.
Stability needs maturity.
Progress needs restraint.
A Final Question — And a Choice
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has spent decades preparing for this moment — not to be popular, but to be consequential.
So the final question is not about him.
It is about us:
Do we want a better Malaysia badly enough to endure the process — or only enough to complain when it is uncomfortable?
Because nations do not rise when leaders act alone.
They rise when citizens choose patience over panic, principle over populism, and future over fear.
The path forward is not perfect.
But it is real.
And real progress has never been comfortable.
Amarjeet Singh @ AJ
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