LETTER | Efficacy of the survey doubtful

LETTER | I am doubtful when I read news like this one: 'Malays lukewarm to institutional reforms, cares more about economy – survey'.

What exactly is being conveyed here? There is no need for institutional reforms? Institutional reforms have nothing to do with economic performance? Institutional reforms have no bearings on the livelihood of the people?

We form conclusions from the survey's questions and answers. But do we know how the questions were asked, to begin with?

If we ask which is more important – price of bread or corruption – of course, people will say the price of bread. But do we know corruption will eventually affect the price of bread and more?

Do we know that if parliamentary procedures are compromised, if the judiciary is tainted, if corruption is allowed to fester and grow, if opaque deals and transactions are allowed to aggravate, they will eventually affect the livelihood of the people and more?

The performance of our economy is not independent of other factors. When political stability is in shambles, investors will hold back investment.

When political leadership and civil service lack competence, they will affect our health management and recovery processes which, in turn, will affect the livelihood of the people.

Cost of living

So, which part do we not understand that everything is related?

Cost of living is, of course, important. Who would not say so when being asked? But did the survey explore this further?

Do we know how the high cost of living comes about? Do we know what ought to be done to reduce or contain the cost of living?

The moment we look into the causes and remedies, we will begin to see the complexity and institutional impairments that affect the cost of living.

So, for goodness' sake, please don’t conduct a survey like this one.

If the concerns of the Malays as manifested in the survey are examined closely, many of those are clearly related to the need for institutional reforms.

I may be wrong, but somehow I feel that the researchers of this study may have some preconceived ideas with regard to Malays’ attitude toward institutional reforms. They are just seeking the conclusions from the survey to confirm their preconceived ideas.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.