Wan Saiful Wan Jan

By Wan Saiful Wan Jan

16/08/09: This week (16 – 22 August 2009) is World Water Week. To mark this global event, the Malaysia Think Tank is publishing the report “Water Provision in Malaysia: Privatise or Nationalise?”. The report looks at what we can learn from the global successes and failures of water management. The aim of this report is to make clear that the priority for any public policy, including the management and provision of water, must be the general public good. Policymakers need to put in place the policy that is best for the public, not the one that best suits their personal, political or ideological agenda.

By Wan Saiful Wan Jan

1 July 2009: The Erdogans in PAS must come up with a coherent reform agenda, or they will eventually be portrayed as having quietly admitted mistake and defeat. This will make it very difficult for others in the party to speak up for decades to come. The Erdogans will eventually become the latest evidence why speaking up in public is bad and does not work for PAS.

By Wan Saiful Wan Jan

16 June 09: It is only when these ‘jamaah dalam jamaah’ flourishes that PAS can benefit from a healthy competition of ideas. Let the internal groups compete in the open so that the party can then make an informed decision on what is the best way to proceed. This will push the party forward and make it a more credible political force.

by Wan Saiful Wan Jan

1 June 2009: I think the British royal family is far more transparent that the British parliamentarians. Their accounts are published annually and can be easily accessed on their official website. Perhaps one of the many Malaysian royal families can show leadership in this area, and publish their royal accounts first like what their British counterparts are doing.

Wan Saiful Wan Jan

19 March 2009: Poverty eradication can only happen in Malaysia if measures to strengthen property rights protection, both physical property as well as intellectual property, are incorporated as an important pillar of the nation’s poverty alleviation strategy. Policy-makers, including those in the Ministry for Rural and Regional Development, and political leaders should take heed. IPRI 2009 provides clear evidence of this.

by Wan Fadzrul Wan Bahrum and Wan Saiful Wan Jan

2 March 09: The 14th ASEAN summit in Thailand concluded on 1 March. In facing the global economic crisis, ASEAN leaders issued a statement reaffirming their determination to ensure the free flow of goods, services and investment, and facilitate movement of business persons, professionals, talents and labour, and freer flow of capital. They also agreed to stand firm against protectionism and to refrain from introducing and raising new barriers.

by Wan Saiful Wan Jan

7 February 2009: Since mid-2008, former Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim popularised the notion that it was acceptable to lure government MPs to defect across party lines, to allow the Opposition to form a new government. This has now taken place, but not quite the way Anwar planned.

As a Muslim, I am reminded of how earlier Muslims prospered without much state intervention. Although they had laws which everyone had to abide to, these were very much limited to defence and maintaining peace. Each individual Muslim is responsible for their own actions. They were global traders operating in relatively free world markets. The Prophet Muhammad himself was a successful trader who married another successful trader. Many of his closest companions were also traders. These successful free-marketeers even allowed the market to deliver many of their public services. Government at that time did not run schools or hospitals. They had waqf (private charitable foundations) to support the provision of education, healthcare and even to run mosques. In other words, schools, hospitals, and even mosques, to name just a few, were private institutions, free from government interference.

Fifty years after independence, is our nation moving in the right direction? Are we becoming truly ‘one nation’, or are we living increasingly separate lives, oblivious of the existence of ‘the other? I think the answer is obvious.

The 2008 elections left us with the opportunity to strengthen liberal democratic institutions in our country. In particular, we now have a golden opportunity to reinforce the institution of parliament, to strengthen the practise of federalism, and to allow internal democracy to flourish within political parties, particularly in UMNO. Despite all the criticisms towards him, the "side-effect" of his premiership style is good for liberal democracy in our country. The irony is, it may have been done unintentionally.