Crony Capitalism, do we ever learn?

Crony capitalism exists where the success of a business is dependant on close relationships between businessman and government officials. This arises when political cronyism spills over into the world of business and self-serving friendships and family ties between businessmen and the government influence the economy and society to the extent that it corrupts public-serving economic and political ideals.

Crony capitalism will inevitably lead to corrupt practices, where bribery given to government officials are a necessity to sustain the business developments and ties and tax evasion is common. This is known as plutocracy(rule by wealth), where the wealthy have a disproportionate influence on political process in contemporary society.

Does this description remind us of the phrase 'Malaysia,Truly Asia'?

We know that this system has been practices for more than 20 years here, and has been increasingly rampant over that period of time. In my perception, most high-profile wealthy men in Malaysia are somehow or other linked with high-ranking government officials on the pretext of being 'friends'. This therefore truly depicts the rampant culture of crony capitalism in this country.

The question is how will this affect us? Well, let me put it this way. An empty pocket hurts the most. The Asian Economic Crisis in July 1997 according to IMF officials Michel Camdessus and Stanley Fischer; were quick to explain that the afflicted economies had only themselves to blame. Crony capitalism, lack of transparency, accounting procedures not up to international standards, and weak-kneed politicians too quick to spend and too afraid to tax were the problems according to IMF and US Treasury Department officials.

That was in 1997, today 11 years later, we are still afflicted with the same problems. With the world economy taking a nose-dive and inflation-rates at an all-time high, who will be able to bail us out? We need good governance desperately! We need to discard age-old bureaucracy and ancient leaders. Look at the upcoming party elections of the ruling government. They have not changed. The same old people are there, from 20 years ago! Where are the fresh faces?

The methods of choosing a leader are still the same, therefore even if there were potential young people, they would not be able to emerge because of the high level of bureaucracy in the system. Again, this is caused my cronyism. Have we not learned our lessons from the course of history? We must remember that "History repeats itself." "There's nothing new under the sun." "Those who will not learn from history, are bound to repeat it."

Are we going to learn the lessons caused by failed governance and better ourselves for the future?

3 comments:

  1. It's also mainly because of racism- this hinders the equal opportunity to develop this country. BN is damn useless- racist, corrupted, and so on. I hope all of them end up in hell.

    This bloody Pak Lah is a disgrace to the country, getting screwed by Condoleezza in such a manner.

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  2. If you look at Japan, Korea and Taiwan, you will know that these regional economic giants had (and still have) the same problem as M'sia has. For M'sia to be rid of these problems is next to impossible, unfortunately. The entire system needs a major overhaul, and may be then, we can lessen the problems.

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  3. Yes, these countries have some similar problems too, but they do not have systematic racism like Malaysia, which prevents full participation from all races in nation building.

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