The Principles of Governance and a New Philosophy of Economic Management
By Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim
Becoming Menteri Besar of the State of Selangor was a surprising development that took place exactly one year ago, of which I am now simultaneously both humbled by and very proud. I had always been involved in the corporate world for most of my life, and these years of experience have thankfully contributed greatly to the manner in which I now run the State of Selangor. Of course, governing a corporation is a completely different exercise from running a State - the two have vastly different objectives, but nevertheless there are principles that one can extract to be adapted from the former and thereafter adopted for the latter.
Selangor has for decades been the heartbeat of Malaysia. The richest state in the country, Selangor has contributed a large percentage of economic wealth to national output. Without a doubt, tremendous economic activity is recorded in Selangor, a trend which will likely continue as urbanisation escalates. Many industries have found a home in Selangor, and the State Government will always seek new ways to stimulate economic activity. That the economy is of central significance to any Government is standard practice and goes without saying. For example, we have announced an Economic Stimulus Package to boost the State's economy, and great efforts will continue to be made to ensure a concerted plan is charted out for the future.
Nevertheless, upon making an entrance into Selangor, the Pakatan Rakyat Government has emphasised strongly that economic development is not all there is to managing a state. Indeed, we have in the past year attempted to completely alter the conceptual framework of economic governance in Selangor. The State, along with much of Malaysia, has suffered the consequences of overdevelopment. By replacing the original concept of "build, build, build" or how past efforts were focused entirely on reaping profits blindly for the state at the cost of its people, the State Government has instead emerged with a new philosophy of economic governance which has then been successfully translated into specific programmes.
This philosophy of economic governance is centred on the concept of "The People's Economy", where all Selangor citizens are the true owners of the state's resources. The State Government merely acts as the guardian of these resources on behalf of the people. The honour to be steward of the State's resources was bestowed upon us when we were elected into power - but we also acknowledge with humility that this stewardship demands of us the highest of standards, ideally set by and constantly reviewed by the very people who placed us in this position. We take this role and responsibility very seriously, and hence, the necessity of development holds true only where and when people benefit from it. It begins with the people.
Along with this is the idea of a 'home for every person'. We have introduced the concept of 'Kediaman untuk Semua', where all Selangor citizens must be made to feel - both philosophically and practically - that they truly have a home within Selangor, a roof of protection over their heads, to feel a sense of belonging and therefore ownership of this land. Returning the economy to the people is the most logical, as they are the true ones working at it, contributing to it, serving it.
Second, the concept of good governance needs to be imbued into all possible areas of policy. This includes competent leadership, ensuring public accountability and transparency at all levels of Government. These two basic concepts have formed the basis upon which all other values are practiced, which I shall elaborate upon below.
This framework has been used to build up principles for action. For example, resources of the state are scarce, and these need to be efficiently managed. To do so, we have to treat businesses in their right manner by not granting special advantages to them over and beyond what is legally sound. Hence, there is no free lunch, even for developers and businessmen who seek it. The State Government has reduced the amount of State land it gives away with low premiums, compared with the past Government that did so as standard practice. In doing so, the State reaps legitimate profits. The revenues collected are then channelled back to the people of Selangor by providing education and other welfare needs which are really the responsibility of the State to handle.
The State is therefore both business-friendly as well as welfare-oriented. This, I feel, is an extraordinary concept - we have moved beyond the petty arguments of capitalism vs. socialism and into a new arena where the amalgamation of the benefits of these ideologies work best. By opening up markets to investors both local and foreign, stimulating the economy, thereafter collecting revenues, and providing social safety nets to those in society who need them, the State Government fulfills its objective of holistic and sustainable socioeconomic development.
There are therefore seven concrete programmes that have been developed and implemented under the "Merakyatkan Ekonomi Selangor" philosophy, which I shall not delve into here but the main ones that are best reflections of the theory elaborated upon above are: Free Water for the first 20m3, Fund for Selangor's Children, and a Fund for Plantation Workers' Children, all of which are needed to ensure belonging and ownership of every Selangor citizen. Information on all of these are available on our official website and I encourage all Selangor citizens to maximise their use of these people-oriented programmes.
Pakatan Rakyat has also been revolutionary in calling for a reframing of race-based economic policies. This is no different in the State of Selangor, where good governance would hold for the principle of non-discrimination on the basis of race or religion. In this light, the concept of a needs-based economy is the way forward.
There are quarters who may, for the purposes of political mileage, accuse us of not caring for the Malay community. This is the furthest from the truth, since it is precisely the Malay poor whose community the Selangor Government will help as they are the most in need presently. On principle, we must move beyond the trappings of viewing people based on their skin colour. History has taught us that the new world order requires us to adopt a weltanschaung or "worldview" that looks beyond ethnic groupings and that sound policy is based on whichever community whose socioeconomic position requires help.
Take, for example, our decision to revise the Poverty Line Income (PLI) determined by the Federal Government as RM750 per household in defining hardcore poverty. Because a large percentage of Selangor is urban, we felt that such a low rate was grossly underestimating the amount of poor in the State. It was thoroughly ridiculous to assume that any household earning perhaps RM800 would be able to survive especially in such times of economic distress. In revising the PLI to RM1500, it was found that nearly 40% of Selangor citizens live below this new poverty line. The situation is hence more serious than was originally thought, and hence policies and programmes will address this.
This is another example of good governance - of being honest about the current situation and not attempting, for political expediency, to lure the public into believing something that is not true. The only possible way of addressing a problem through sound and feasible solutions is to speak the truth - present the facts of reality as they are and then deal with them honestly and confidently, without fear or favour.
Admittedly, there are times during which one is torn between decisions needed to be made for the best outcomes. Malaysian society, as has been made known before, is not the simplest to govern, given its vast complexities and varieties of peoples. Nevertheless, it is this colour that lends beauty to our landscape. Despite a myriad of opinions, it is my firm belief that reasonable solutions can be sought. My preferred practice is to ensure that all parties are brought together to seek peaceable resolutions no matter how controversial the issue is.
This we have implemented through a number of instances, including having multistakeholder public consultation sessions during the Bukit Antarabangsa landslide tragedy, the Klang Bus Station incident and having first-of-its-kind dialogues with a range of groups like the Orang Asli in Selangor, Bloggers, collaboration with civil society through the Coalition of Good Governance, and so on. Whilst it is true that the Selangor State Government has its shortfalls, we are truly attempting to reach out to as large a cross-section of society as possible. We have been told that our communications strategy has not been effective enough, and I take note of this. Efforts to communicate the State's policies and programmes will be increased.
The weakness of a new Government is that it inherits the baggage of its predecessor. This, of course, needs to be gotten rid of immediately, but still one year after, our Government is still expending valuable time and resources on bad and corrupt deals. A cleaning up exercise is being conducted as I write this, to ensure we are returned to good corporate practices, especially at the state GLC (government-linked companies) level. The most unreasonable excesses of the past Government would otherwise continue to haunt us. Needless to say, the extreme politicking is unhealthy. If I had it my way, we would move past petty bickering and launch directly into efficient implementation of State policy.
The most recent and relevant example is that of the water restructuring process in Selangor. Although it was agreed explicitly that the State Government would lead negotiations with concession companies, which we believe would be in the best public interest, this plan has been interrupted. Privatisation has failed us and by paying high prices to the concession companies, this would not profit the people but a small number of individuals alone. Good governance would mean that the entire transaction is made transparently. Instead, we have reason to believe that it would instead rob the poor (through higher taxes on water) to pay the rich corporations.
The second most recent example is the announcement to publicly declare the assets of all State Exco members obtained during their period of office, a decision which in fact our State Government made last year. The objective of asset declaration is to ensure that those holding highest positions of Office in the State Government are not abusing their powers to illegally or unethically profit themselves. This I believe is a move that enhances the credibility of those of us in policymaking and executive positions, another positive marker on our journey in promoting transparency and cut no corners and obstinately stick to the very highest standards of integrity and good governance all across our administration, from top to bottom.
I look forward to continue working with and for the people of Selangor. I am, after all, at the end of the day a servant of those who elected me into position; our Government and its policies should be a mirror accurately reflecting all Selangorians' aspirations and needs. May this journey bring us collectively closer to a more mature and well-governed society.
Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim is the Menteri Besar (Chief Minister) of Selangor.