Not 10 seconds into my interview with Datuk Devamany S. Krishnasamy, I get chided for being cynical about politicians. “I have been involved with community work since I was 17,” said the Perak State Assembly speaker who on September 10 will mark a birthday that matches the time Malaysia has been independent from British rule. A self-described Merdeka baby, Devamany is a founding member of the Sri Muguran centre, a well-known spiritual and education organisation that has provided tuition and motivational courses to thousands of Tamil children since 1982. “I went into politics to bring about structural change and reform. In a football game only a player can score goals. The spectator can shout and shout but he cannot score goals. “A player gets hurt, injured but that is the risk that he takes in order to make a difference in the game. A spectator does not. A spectator cannot influence the score.” “So I took that risk in order to be a part of change. You can scream outside, but I can decide inside.” In a way, becoming an “insider” was a natural extension of his 30 years of service as an educator and motivator for poor Tamil students. It springs from a love of “his beautiful country”. It’s this love that makes him say - even as he admits that Malaysia has trenchant problems to overcome - he would want to be “reincarnated as a Malaysian Indian if given the choice.” By the sweat of their brows For many of his generation, Devamany’s rise into a national leader represents that promise Malaysia offered to its sons and daughters at the cusp of Independence. He was one of many Tamil youths born to parents who were labourers in the vast rubber and oil palm plantations that fuelled the country’s nascent economy. “My parents could not even afford the RM12 to send me to Form Six,” says the father of three daughters. But he eventually managed to get into Universiti Malaya where he graduated in Malay Studies. “I was born in an estate. I have been a deputy minister, a parliamentarian and now Speaker of the Perak Assembly. I came from nowhere. “Is that not a testament of how much I love this nation? This is a nation that gave someone like me the opportunity to make that journey.” Yet he admits that the way up the social ladder for many youths since then has been blocked, either by bureaucracy, corruption or racism. “We have to ensure that justice and fairness prevails, that there’s equitable distribution. At the policy level there is justice. “But in terms of implementation we are a long way off. The racial harmony is not there. There is more (a feeling of) ‘my race, this race’ which is not good for the country.” But as an insider, he believes that the current Barisan Nasional administration is serious about rectifying that gap between policy and implementation that has caused much heartache amongst Malaysians. “Everything must be merit-based. Everyone has to embrace that. Meritocracy is what the Prime Minister wants to achieve. We can’t become a developed nation by giving out subsidies forever.” Between patience and political will Yet this faith is tempered with the realisation that the problems are enormous and that they will take more than just the next few years to be tackled. “Bureaucracy, corruption, this has all to be eradicated. When ‘mengkhaotimkan’ (reaching an arrangement through corrupt means) has become an accepted term in our daily vocabulary, it shows how serious the problem is.” As he has pointed out, the solutions are there: policies to weed out corruption, to check abuse of power among bureaucrats and to ensure that opportunities and aid are fairly distributed. So why are the problems still here? “You need political will. Bold, daring moves that can be bad for political survival. In order to bring about change you may have to hurt someone”. What Devamany wants Malaysians to understand, particularly the younger urbanised, Western-educated generation, is that this administration has the political will and is really hard at work transforming the country. And this is where as a spectator-turned-insider, he asks Malaysian “spectators” to look at the results of the BN administration. “Look at all the executive reform... phasing out Internal Security Act, setting up PEMANDU, Talent Corp, moving away from government-driven growth to private sector growth,” says the former deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department. During his time in the Cabinet, between 2008 and 2013, he was involved in crafting and implementing policy with the Economic Planning Unit. “How else do you think we managed 5-6% growth in the last few years? When Europe and the US were going through recessions? “But no one see this and all they do is whacking, whacking, whacking,” he says, slicing his fist sideways. He also asks for patience. “People want change too fast but policies and development cannot be too fast. You are putting a highway beside a bullet train track and you are caught in between… (it) is difficult to manage.” - September 5, 2013. Other Malaysia Day Package stories: For this Malaysian, “puisi is a lost art” In an older Malaysia, a Chinese healer says Malaysians must mix more As Malaysia turns 50, Nurul Izzah fights for inclusive politics Can Malaysia’s third generation reinvent this country? Malaysia at 50, my story and yours Share with Others 6 Google +1 0 0 Related Article Previous Next After all these years, Malaysia still held hostageAfter all these years, Malaysia still held hostage In an older Malaysia, a Chinese healer says Malaysians must mix moreIn an older Malaysia, a Chinese healer says Malaysians must mix more As Malaysia turns 50, Nurul Izzah fights for inclusive politicsAs Malaysia turns 50, Nurul Izzah
Posted on: Thu, 05 Sep 2013 01:43:07 +0000
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