Truth and lies don’t matter anymore?

ERCEPTION is reality” is perhaps a cardinal rule in both political science and economics. An outstanding matter in reality, if perceived unfavorably, could actually bring about undesired outcomes. That is perhaps the case with what has been going on in the Malaysian markets over the past two weeks or so.

There is no denying that Malaysia underwent what could perhaps be described as an epic regime change earlier this month, with the ruling coalition that has been in the country’s driver seat since independence, ousted from power in a watershed election. With the long period of rule came along of course a long series of scandals and abuses of power.

new Malaysian government has been to “clean house,” especially with thorough and fair investigations into long domestically suppressed but internationally infamous scandals such as the 1MDB series of “transactions,” as well as a realistic upward adjustment

The moves are in line with popular expectations of ordinary Malaysians, who have long lived under the oppression of the previous autocratic regime,

enormous propaganda machine.

But the stock markets, which perhaps prize short-term “stability” (read: continuation of a corrupt but “business friendly” – in a twisted sense – regime) more than long-term sustainability of the Malaysian economy, appeared to want to cling on very much to these outdated but romantic notions of

could be easily bought for monopolistic concessions which then are supposed to hold up an otherwise rickety national economy. Zooming in the microscope to painstakingly investigate the minutiae of almost universally alleged wrongdoing, or taking a scalpel to wasteful (to

to many interests-that-be) projects, is perhaps too painful to contemplate for many of the shortsighted “investors” in the markets. For after an initial upswing after the election, the Malaysian markets have been wallowing in the doldrums.

Sometimes I wonder if the investor education programs proffered by some supposedly reputable institutions, perhaps with the best intentions, have any effect on the minds of both the average as well as the supposedly “professional” investors. Thorough (no holds barred) and fair (the whole world is watching, and the initial impetus came from foreign revelations and not from domestic sources – so how can it not be fair?) investigations into past economic and other types of misdeeds are not exercises in ven-

attempts to punish the wrongdoers and to hopefully recoup the swindled sums – if any is left to be discovered. More importantly, these investigations will yield important lessons in governmental checks and balances to be gleaned, revised and implemented for the betterment of a robust democracy.

- sion of a country’s heightened debt burden should be sound practice to be encouraged among all nations, for it provides investors with a truthful picture of a government’s liabilities. Solutions can then be professionally devised to overcome these burdens. The markets, and the business community in general, must learn to appreciate and to value long-term sustainability of national economy over short-term, often amoral gains at the expense of a country’s population at large.

And information, in all its colors and forms, was indeed one key ingredient in the recipe that resulted in the toppling of Malaysia’s previous autocratic regime. In the months leading up to the election, and after, the Malaysian social media has been inundated with many messages in text, pictures and videos, mostly politically related and many critical of the alleged wrongdoings of the previous regime.

That was perhaps why in the waning days of Malaysia’s last parliamentary session, a so-called “anti-fake news bill” was ramrodded through parliament, and passed on the last day of the session and a day before parliament was dissolved to make way for the elections. It was a blatant attempt to hold up popular political discussions, doling

and jail terms for those convicted. The more enlightened sections of Malaysian society were outraged, but everyone was caught up in the election heat, and the few convictions in that intervening last month did not elicit the popular backlash that they should have.

But in retrospect, the anti-fake news law could also be the last straw which broke the camel’s back in terms of convincing fence-sitting voters to ditch the then ruling coalition in favor of the then opposition. Freedom of speech is protected by the Malaysian constitution, similar to the case in many other countries. And in most truly democratic countries, this includes the freedom to “lie” for the “truth” should

self-serving information provided by

is regime preservation. Instead, if anybody feels his or her reputation sullied by “untruthful” information, defamation law suits can be instituted, with civil compensations and not criminal liability. Such is the delicate balance between the always vigilant need to protect civic freedoms and the necessary protection of people’s reputations.

That was perhaps why, when asked about the abolition of the anti-fake news act as promised in the election manifesto of the ruling coalition, the new prime minister’s waffling answer that the law could be kept with

met swiftly by Malaysian civil society clamor for its outright abolition. It is fortunate that the new government is a much more democratic coalition than the last, and the matter was recti-

much hated act in the new parliament sitting was announced.