Banana Money in South East Asia

RINGGIT NOW 'BANANA MONEY': Najib's sloppy governance pushing Malaysia into crisis mode

Written by Christopher Fernandez

This was an accident waiting to happen as the BN (Barisan Nasional) government has led the nation into a state of crisis with its sloppy governance. From the loss of value to the ringgit to rising prices of goods and services, Malaysia is in a state of disarray.

The Malaysian ringgit is about as good as the “banana money” that was issued by the Japanese during their occupation of Malaya. Malaysians lament that the ringgit has lost so much of value and is unaccepted in many places abroad.

This is not the only bad news. The political climate has changed tremendously with the BN government veering out of control and tottering dangerously on the brink of collapse. Will Malaysians go down and be dragged along in the impending collapse?

These are troubled times and there are a growing list of worrying questions on the minds of right-thinking Malaysians as to the stability of the nation. While the finance ministry and Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) are busy assuring everyone that the fundamentals are still strong, the reverse is more likely.

Investor confidence in the Malaysian economy is not bullish but turning into scared, worried and suspicious. More investors are worried about putting their money in a highly-inflammable and volatile economy like Malaysia.

What went wrong?

The writing had been on the wall for some time now and it does not take a genius to figure out that the BN government is mired in deep trouble. Runaway corruption among government leaders, cheating, collusion and nepotism are among the reasons for the current state of flux.

Added to this are haphazard development, illegal logging and land clearing by rogue developers that have led to environmental degradation leading to climate change, climate warming and flash floods that have wrecked massive damage all over the country.

Billions of precious ringgit from BNM’s reserves is being pumped to undo the damage that was caused in the first place by ruthless greed, poor planning and a wanton disregard for the environment. The Malaysian environment is in a state of gross devastation.

There are limits that have not been adhered to by government leaders of Malaysia in the past and present and this has caused the Quality-of-Life in the country to deteriorate. Not only have this created problems but tensions among the various races.

The spate of ills continue with government leaders playing the racial card to divide-and-rule, a favored ploy of BN leaders to ensure that they will be able to cling on to power although the majority of the rakyat no longer endorse BN as the government of Malaysia.

BN on the way out

Malaysia’s problems are not just getting complicated and convoluted but there is an increasing dossier of evidence that the nation’s parliamentary democracy have been severely compromised. No longer are civil liberties present and the tenets and obligations of democracy forsaken.

This is why the angst and anger of ordinary Malaysians are on the rise against the BN government that has exclusively governed Malaysia since Merdeka in 1957. Where are the improvements and the well-being of the nation as expected?

Instead what has evolved out of so many decades of BN’s governance is a breakdown of law and order and the belief by more and more Malaysians that there is no longer in theory and practice fair play, justice and meritocracy present in this country.

More Malaysians want very badly to throw out the BN government as they are just paying lip service to the problems brewing in the nation and have failed to address the worries and concerns of the rakyat although it has been brought so many times to the attention of BN leaders.

The fact that BN leaders are self-seeking and self-serving adds to the anger and resentment of Malaysians who feel badly let down by the general election promises of BN to lead Malaysia into greener pastures.

The actual scenario

PM Najib

What is actually happening in this country is that BN has painted itself into a corner and have been ostracized and isolated by the vast majority of Malaysians, but how on earth are they still in power is a result more of tinkering and rigging the general elections.

This is the reasons for the rising anger and dissent of Malaysians whereby the wealth of the nation is not equitably distributed among the people but siphoned by government leaders for their personal consumption and that of their cronies, sycophants and supporters.

But the major portion of the population are struggling with bread-and-butter issues and are unable to stay afloat because of the sheer greed of the governing elite in this country. The burden placed on the poor rakyat is heavy and government leaders have shown no concern or interest in their plight.

This is why there are emerging flashes of dissent and the dissatisfaction and the disgruntled nature of Malaysians who are up in arms with the BN government who have no feelings of empathy for their increasing woes.

Malaysians are now very unhappy and it will not take long in the near future to see that the state of the nation gets from bad to worse. But for how long before things come to a boil and spills over into chaos and confusion erupting is really anyone’s guess. - MAILBAG