As Christians celebrate one of their holiest religious celebrations, we are reminded during this Easter weekend that leaders are servants of the people. As servants of the people, leaders are tasked to ensure a better life and standard of living by being honest, hardworking and performance-oriented.
One of the criteria is job creation, where employment not only provides for the family’s livelihood, but work also gives a person dignity and respect. The government must invest in creating jobs with an income, not at minimum wage, but approaching the level paid to government civil servants. Jobs must be created for the unemployed graduates as well as non-graduates.
As the prophet Joseph said in the Bible, 7 years of plenty will followed by 7 years of famine, and the surplus during the years of plenty must be stored to prepare for the hard years of famine. Unfortunately in Malaysia, we are paying for the corruption of the previous government whether in the form of the RM50 billion 1MDB scandal, RM17.8 billion Tabung Haji scandal or Felda RM6.23 billion scandal. Fortunately we do not need 7 years but 3 years to recover, rescue and restore institutions whose money were stolen as well as to put Malaysia back on track economically.
However, this does not mean that the government will do nothing during these 3 years. One initiative being considered seriously is monthly income supplements paid by the government to employers to encourage them to employ graduates and non-graduates. This may be costly but nothing can be more rewarding than to give a person work where he can afford to feed his family.
The Federal government will not be corrupt like the previous government that made Malaysia famous as a global kleptocracy. Neither will the Federal government see Malaysians become poor like certain states without job opportunities and not even able to afford to pay the salaries of their civil servants. We must create jobs for those without work under the previous government. Only then can Malaysians be infused with optimism that life will be better for their children and that the hopes of the future will be brighter.
DAP wishes all Malaysians a HAPPY EASTER!