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The year 2020 has been unprecedented in many ways. We faced a concurrent triple crises – politics, economy and healthcare. The crises exposed our weaknesses. We may be angry with the Sheraton move. The economic and Covid-19 crises may cause us to despair. Yet, behind every challenge lies an opportunity to come out stronger.

Growth and distribution are like two propellers on an aircraft. Growth without distribution would spell trouble for the aircraft because demand would not be broad-based and may not be sufficient to sustain long-term growth, and failure to distribute adequately may also spell non-economic troubles that may threaten the prospect of growth.

No other economic concern is more important than the question of jobs. We should place the agenda of job creation front and centre. And the Government should be the catalyst to drive this agenda.

We must keep in mind that political differences shouldn’t divide us as a society. Government and opposition lawmakers may differ in opinion, but that shouldn’t hinder bipartisanship. The Parliament is the best avenue to build consensus and reach to a compromise that will benefit the many people.

Growth should not be for its own sake. The economy is not just about growth. It has to achieve a certain objective, a common good.

One of the unintended consequences of Malaysia’s export-led economy in the past 40 years is that we are still stuck with the idea of keeping wages low.

I call on the Prime Minister now to take a personal interest in the matter. In the immediate term, we must find a solution to the overcrowding in prison, so as to curb the spread of Covid19 among inmates.

“The real issue here is that Malaysian prisons are overcrowded. This was an issue that I had discussed with Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin before, in December 2019, when he was Home Minister.”

“Most of the prison officers I met agreed that we need to rethink the issue of drug offences. They knew for a fact that prisons often function as a “university” (to use the word of one of the officers) for people who had committed petty crimes, especially drug offences, to pick up new and more sophisticated criminal skills, and to be recruited into larger crime networks.”

“As the Covid-19 situation grows worse, Indonesia and Turkey, for example, have released tens of thousands of prisoners to reduce overcrowding and to limit its spread. The US is also taking steps to reduce its prison population.”

“Reportedly, there are currently 73,000 inmates housed in facilities designed to take only 52,000 inmates. If strict social distancing is mandated in these prisons to prevent the spread of Covid-19, the system probably would only be able to house an even smaller number.”

Sabah voters are not only deciding which party to lead Sabah for the next term. This state election will decide whether or not Muhyiddin would still remain as Prime Minister in the near term.