Counterpoint: PM’s Genovasi drive just doesn’t jive
- The Genovasi Challenge urges young Malaysians to prevent complaining and do something
- Yet while humans do, they are punished – now not a terribly right manner to inspire modern wondering
MALAYSIA’S Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak launched the Genovasi initiative in August to plenty mainstream media fanfare and with all of the proper messaging: To broaden five,000 youths as ‘innovation ambassadors’ who would spur progress, a higher satisfactory of life and solutions for the state.
Genovasi – a portmanteau of generasi (technology) and inovasi (innovation) – will work with ‘global innovation leaders’ to impart innovation, capabilities, know-how and methodologies to those innovation ambassadors.
More these days, the PM also released the Genovasi Challenge, with its first focus on ‘Connected Communities,’ urging Malaysians elderly 14 and above to submit ideas on how “to improve or increase your neighborhood that complements the high-quality of life within the network.” There might be RM100,000 given out to fund the implementation of some of the exceptional thoughts.
Noble intentions, and honestly the first brainstorming session changed into enthusiastically attended via “adolescents leaders, bloggers, university college students, opinion leaders and media and corporate personalities,” in step with a report in The Star. Among the media personalities turned into Digital News Asia founder and CEO Karamjit Singh.
But Najib misplaced me with the messaging that came out of this recent consultation, including his declaration that this will make Malaysia “a nation 2d to none.”
It’s obvious that the Prime Minister wants to be related to young people and specifically ‘innovation’. Certainly, he has the speeches and public family members (PR) gambits that go with this: He declared 2010 the ‘Year of Innovation’ and 2012 ‘The Year of Innovation Movement,’ over two national budget proposals. Along the way, a few actual actions have been made, which include the formation of the Malaysia Innovation Agency or Agensi Inovasi Malaysia (AIM).
But there does not seem to be a concerted, cohesive and coherent effort to inculcate progressive questioning in Malaysians, younger or old. All we get are disparate or discrete packages (with a whole lot of PR and speeches), however no over-arching imaginative and prescient.
There are bits within the training blueprint, some portions inside the various transformation applications, big parts inside the Digital Malaysia initiative – but you don’t get the sense that there is a power for innovation that underlies his questioning and policies. Indeed, all we've are projects and applications, now not rules.
As I write this, about two months after the program was released, the Genovasi Facebook page (percent) has a hundred and eighty ‘Likes,’ the backdrop image proposing fits and all – hardly a photo that could convince Gen-Y to have a look.
The disconnect here is pretty reflective of the disparity between lots of Najib’s proclamations and that of his Administration’s actual moves.
You can’t inculcate innovation, as a minimum now not widely, in a society which is afraid to talk its mind or discouraged from wondering seriously about what’s taking place round them. A teens has been charged for insulting the Sultan of Johor over some thing he posted on Facebook – horrific sufficient, however the approach of his arrest and incarceration and the manner his entire family have been dealt with seemed to have come out of a Gestapo manual.
And simply as horrific, independent information portals that mentioned the event are actually underneath research too. Indeed, across the same time, the police visited the workplace of Malaysiakini after that information portal had posted a letter from an Australia-primarily based Malaysian over a distinct issue.
Three police automobiles have been despatched to arrest Ahmad Abd Jalil, 27, over the case of royal insult. Fifteen policemen had been sent to try to get the email deal with of the letter-creator within the Malaysiakini incident.
Oh, here’s an idea on the way to make our neighborhoods safer: Get the police to channel their assets from going after letter-writers and Facebook customers and alternatively in the direction of patrolling our neighborhoods and chasing down real criminals. Hold the Home Minister accountable for this.
But specially galling became the Genovasi Challenge call to Malaysians to “stop whining and do something positive about it.” In April, in place of simply whining about it, loads of heaps of everyday Malaysians, consisting of this author, did simply that: We took to the streets in a non violent march to call for free and fair elections.
We had been met via teargas, and a number of the demonstrators had been assaulted. Journalists recording the Najib Administration’s retaliation have been additionally manhandled by policemen and had their device seized. The Home Minister stated this was standard running procedure, but this was speedy denied by the Inspector-General of Police.
So you may see why Najib’s declaration of making Malaysia “a nation 2d to none” rings as hollow as his purported aspiration of making Malaysia the “global’s first-class democracy.”
Okay, I am sounding like a naysayer right here. I understand a number of the humans at the back of Genovasi, and I haven't any doubt they have got the exceptional of intentions and the intense minds to see this thru. Also, getting young humans involved in trying to enhance their communities is an attempt to be lauded.
In fact, I would really like to make a contribution to the purpose no matter my age. One way to improve our neighborhoods and communities would be to make nearby councils more accountable and transparent. Despite the trendy flap with Indonesia, it is doubtful our neighbour goes to invade us, adore it threatened to do in 1964.
So let’s deliver neighborhood council elections lower back. It also can help as an awesome step in the direction of making Malaysia ‘the arena’s pleasant democracy’ and a ‘nation 2d to none.’
Can I actually have my RM100,000 now?
Point: ‘Make Malaysia a state 2d to none’