Cakap cakap : Can Malaysia be a Failed State?

Question:

As you feel that UMNO & other political parties have failed Malaysia,
I want to ask you this question : 
I know you do not have a crystal ball but on 
DEDUCTION OF EVENTS can MALAYSIA BE A FAILED STATE? 
A FAILED STATE LIKE IN THE MIDDLE EAST & EVEN CHINA IN  THE
EARLY PART OF THE 2OTH CENTURY? 
THEY TOOK A LONG LONG TIME TO
RECOVER. WE ARE TALKING OF 60 OR 70 YEARS OF TROUBLES & 
MAYBE EVEN BLOODSHED. 
Can these unfortunate events be stopped.?

The above question was asked of me by Henry Ong in response to my article "cakap cakap...the Malays, Umno and Najib". 

I wrote that Umno and Najib has failed the Malays and by inference, if they have failed the majority of Malaysian  (who are Malays) then they have failed Malaysia too.

Just this morning I was thinking if Malaysia is a failed state.

failed state

noun

noun: failed state; plural noun: failed states

a state whose political or economic system has become so weak that the government is no longer in control.

It certainly is not....at least not yet. 

If I were to look at all the other neighboring countries (with the exception of Singapore), Malaysia is by far a better place to live in. 

Indonesia has its periodic upheavals where Chinese or Christians are slaughtered at will. Thailand has its Army taking government with a regularity that must trouble those who believe in democratic principles. Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia are still recovering from years of war and questionable leaders. The Philippines is where American ideals have been allowed to corrupt Asian values and Filipinos are the worse of for it happening. Compared to these nations, Malaysia is a veritable paradise of peace, stability and, dare I say it, of racial and religious tolerance?

Now having said that I must qualify that all these countries are moving forward towards greater growth and hold much promise for their people of a better future than the one they have now.      

Malaysia on the other hand has regress. 

Malaysia has got more corrupt even as Indonesia boldly takes action against corruption.

Malaysia now have leaders who think that political power, race and religion allows them to govern in perpetuity while Thailand have a robust political duality with an Army that does not hesitate to keep its politicians honest.

Even as the Philippines government battles against insurgency, corruption and poverty, it has a robust political arena in which the majority will decide who will govern. 

Malaysians today are facing an uncertain economic future burdened by corruption and a government more intent on its political survival than government even as its neighbors grows from strength to strength economically. 

So again I say that by any criteria you care to measure Malaysia against it's neighbors, Malaysia is ahead...but only just!

The BN government under Najib Razak has taken Malaysia to the edge of the abyss where failed nations are consigned. 

Just Google "Najib Razak scandals" and within 0.40 seconds you have 298,000 results and right at the very top "1MDB scandal : Najib bites off more than he can chew". 

So far, 1MDB has debts of more than RM42 billion (US$11.6 billion, £7.5 billion) and an annual debt servicing of RM2.31 billion, not to mention negative cash flow of RM2.25 billion in its financial year ended March 31, 2014.

For over a decade we have been seeing countries in Asia who were once not even on the radar when Malaysia's economic achievements were being addressed globally, emerging to take their place alongside Malaysia. With each passing year they better their position while Malaysia languish and stagnate as the evil of corruption saps the ability of its people to compete with others in Asia and money politics sucked the very life out of a nation that was once the envy of many on the world stage.

And that my friend is where we are now. Heading towards a failed state.

A failing state led by a leader who is himself the byword for failure - whether in his private or public life. And over all this is the mother of all failures fifty years in the making : that once all powerful, all conquering political entity we know as Umno. 

In closing I say this. Malaysia is not a failed state. Not yet.

Will we be a failed state? If Najib Razak and Umno are still bosom buddies by the time of the 14th general elections then "all bets are off!".