A stable empty of fine racehorses – Mooreyameen Mohamad

WHAT a state our nation has ended up in!

Rumours abound that the gormless, unelected prime minister will be resigning today. On its own, this news should be celebrated! Finally, after months of hand-wringing and fatuous bleating of the opposition – as well as countless armchair – politicians, the collective wish of the entire nation, save very few individuals I can probably safely say, is coming true.

But even before the ignominious self-appointed prime minister self-dismisses, the clamour of presumptuous substitutes has reached a sweltering fever pitch, which for some reason conjures up the phrase “unwashed masses” in my mind as I picture all the individuals who think themselves as the right one to lead (or, push along?) this ramshackle country of ours, ravaged by Covid-19, mismanagement and outright thievery. My skin is crawling as I try to scratch the images from my mind.

I dare not look. I avert my eyes in shame and disgust as if I’d encountered roadkill, a messy smattering of dried blood and splintering of bones and innards. Our nation is a stable empty of any fine racehorses.

Surely, by the grace of Allah and all the different gods we believe in, we deserve better?

We need enlightened leadership. We need super-competent technocrats. We need experienced and clever administrators. Where are all the competent, intelligent people in this nation of 32 million souls?

We need multitasking working mothers to run this country. Before you hit your head as you recoil in horror and fall off your chair, ask yourself: “And why not?”

A mother – in most households – is the cook, the shopper, the cleaner, the washer, the gardener, the housekeeper, the ‘handyman’ but also the treasurer, the educator, the planner, the designer, the diplomat, the negotiator, the judge, the jury and the executioner, the spokesman, the decision-maker and the advisor. The mother also is the visionary, the uncredited leader and the one who usually puts herself last when it comes to making sure the family is fed well.

Whatever our debilitated country needs, a mother has all the skills to heal it. An experienced mother who knows how to run a large household is the sort of government we now desperately need. Forget masculine bravado. Forget political artifice.

Malaysia, go to mama.

Mooreyameen Mohamad is PETRA Group chief of staff and chief sustainability officer