Federalism going down the toilet – Ooi Kee Beng (The Malaysian Insider)
Outside a public toilet recently constructed off the main road at Hillside Tanjong Bunga in Penang stands a sign that is as posh as the building it fronts is pretentious.
It says “Projek ini adalah sumbangan kerajaan persekutuan” (This project is funded by the Federal Government). .....Your toilet or mine? Be thankful to Putrajaya for this right to ease yourself.
FEB 28 – Something that Malaysians have had to realise in recent months is that political power in the country has over the years become so centralised that local governance is in real danger of disappearing altogether.
Even the collection of solid waste – something one would think is best managed at the local level – is now under the control of the federal government.
Centralism, by its very nature, distances power from the people. In the process, it increasingly brings benefits to those with ties to the central government.
One could in fact argue that the voter revolt against the Barisan Nasional in 2008 was a collective rejection of the ills of political centralism, and that it intuitively sought to force that unhealthy situation to the surface.
That, it has succeeded in doing.
.....more at Federalism going down the toilet
