LETTER | List of things for Anwar to do as prime minister

LETTER | Dear Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim,

We, the Malaysian public, wish you all the best in your appointment as prime minister. There are so many wrongs that need to the addressed.

Following is a list of changes that you could implement:

1. Drop your Yang Amat Berhormat honorific title. As prime minister of the people, you should be one of us. You should be able to meet us the rakyat who put you on the pedestal. Perhaps, meet the rakyat once a week at our places. Not at your “palace”.

Do not use so many bodyguards. No one wants to harm you. Let people be close to you. Do you want to be a VVIP? Be early! Please be early! Then you will not need outriders to rush you to any of your events or to work. What is wrong if you come early to your event? Do we need to wait for you? Think about our difficulties waiting for you.

Make sure all your fellow ministers and MPs also reach their events early. Don’t make us wait for you guys! Make sure your fellows also don’t use outriders and sirens to reach their events.

2. Stay in the country. To solve the people’s woes, you should stay in the country and address the people’s plight. Do not travel overseas. Your deputies can do that. Even that needs to be reduced. The reason you should stay in the country is to always be close to the rakyat so that you can solve our problems. The global problems can be handled from your office. This will help reduce the expenses of the Prime Minister's Office.

3. Eradicate poverty. The only goal for you is the eradication of poverty. If you and all your ministers and members of the government are up to the challenge, put more effort into addressing the needs of the poor. It is my personal opinion that almost 50 percent of Malaysians are poor.

Number one priority

It is easy to have a wage category to statistically say that poverty is low in the country, but if you can really take a microscopic look at the rakyat, you will be able to see the actual levels of poverty.

This is a very rich country, we don’t need any poor Malaysians. Please make this your number one priority.

4. Eradicate corruption. It is the people’s belief that this will be one of your main focuses. You will need to change the head of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), to begin with. The MACC should be helmed by an individual who is bipartisan and apolitical and someone who wants to walk the talk. Do not appoint anyone who may have a vested interest.

5. Abolish the following laws immediately: the Universities and University Colleges Act (UUCA), Printing Presses and Publications Act, 1984, Sedition Act 1948, Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma), Prevention of Terrorism Act 2015 (Pota), and the Official Secrets Act 1972 (OSA).

This is important to all Malaysians. This gives us transparency and freedom to really express ourselves in a democratic way. This will help all of us to work together to rid the nation of corruption.

If possible, set up the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC). The public has no safety from police atrocities. If you don’t believe us, go ask any Joe public who has been to a police station to report a crime. Almost all will have some terrible story to tell. This is because lots of crimes go unreported. You yourself have had such a rough time with the police. Shouldn’t you be the one who needs to establish the oversight body?

6. Pay civil servants and police good salaries (if we could double or triple their salaries). This will keep them away from corruption. We need to keep doctors and other civil servants in the public service. The biggest lure for most of them to leave for the private sector is money.

7. Why do prisoners need to go with police escorts with the sirens on? Why cannot the police and the Prisons Department send the prisoners early without disturbing the hard-working public who are already struggling to drive to their workplaces?

We will stop here for the moment. There are so many more things that need to be changed and implemented.

We wait with bated breath and hope and pray for changes to happen.

God bless Malaysia!

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