A Tale of Two Countries

A Tale of Two Countries

Singapore and Malaysia are two countries I quite know like the palm of my hands simply because of my 9 years residing in Singapore which brings me to the next point.  Once you're a Singapore resident, it's as good as you live in Malaysia too, at least that side of Johor Bahru [where I recall I'll cross the Causeway [that short bridge linking the two countries] just to go for grocery at GIANT before I go for that UNLI sumptuous lunch for half the price had I taken my lunch in Singapore].

Other than their distinct flags and respective government structures, everything else between Singapore and Malaysia is kinda 'mix and match', just one too many commonalities.  Their cross-cultural environments, the way they manage their infrastructure with a long-view [unlike in other third world countries where the government's infra projects are more catch-up and reactive rather than proactive & forward-looking.

Without becoming an interventionist in the domestic affairs of either countries, as someone looking in from the outside, the past months, it may not be apparent unless you are a darn political student of international affairs because what shaped up in their political landscapes are the real real real colors of their key leaders, namely Malaysia PM Muhyiddin Yassin and Singapore Deputy PM Heng Swee Keat.

Few days back, Singapore DPM Heng dropped a bombshell by advising PM Lee that he was shying away from where he stands now, a breath away from taking over the PM's reins once PM Lee walks off.  Reason ?  He admitted that he's got a short runway ahead, not enough to prepare him for the rigors of a PM's job.

 As the pandemic exacerbated, here comes PM Yassin who eked out the approval from Agong, the Malaysia King to suspend the Dekan Rakyat [Parliament] sessions. all because of this pandemic.  With the rising tide of opposition, the UMNO-controlled Barisan Nasional Coalition has declared their withdrawal of support in the upcoming GE 15 [15th General Elections]. Which means, PM Yassin is now clutching on straws.

Here's the apples-to-apples:  While Singapore DPM Heng requested PM Lee to remove him from Singapore's succession plan, over in Malaysia, the government of PM Yassin, who's parliament majority is now seriously questioned and doubted, by invoking the emergency laws, he suspended Parliament Sessions to avert a no-confidence vote.  

Going back to our lives, it is imperative that, day-in day-out, we are accepted and embraced by our families and our workmates, which includes your bosses.  If there a dissenting view across them, it behooves that you work hard and earn their trust and confidence in you.  It cannot be demanded.  It has to be earned.  But there's a challenge in life.  Sometimes, it is damn hard to understand once we rejected unless we re-examine and soul-search ourselves.  That is on the assumption that we, you, are willing to re-examine ourselves in good faith and if and where it is needed, to reboot and reset your life.  When we loose our foothold, let us recoup our losses in life.  Not all is lost.

What lessons we learnt from this tale of 2 countries ?  Whilst in Singapore we witnessed selflessness by its leader, in Malaysia, what we're witnessing is the utter greed for power.  Let us pray that eventually that our human greed will dissipate, insyaallah.