I am going to bed early tonight. I have one day of Parliament tomorrow!
I have been posting less and less over the last two weeks. I believe I have a case of “political” fatigue. Every time I get a political message or comment, I read and then just shut off.
Instead of worrying endlessly on political developments, I have been using my time better talking to researchers and academics. I must say that I am amused but not really interested in the latest political intrigues. The truth is, those currently in power can basically do whatever they want because we did not reform the system.
I am still diligently looking at economic numbers, and I do talk regularly to economists and bankers. I did an hour of teleconference, answering questions from finance people last Friday, organised by a bank.
I am trying to decipher the direction of the domestic and global economy, but I find myself fluctuating between confidently hopeful, to doom and gloom. As a secondary policy focus, I am looking at migrant issues in the ASEAN context, working with ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights.
Recently, I am also revisiting some of my older policy papers; anti-corruption reforms and Parliamentary reforms. This is a good time to re-check and rewrite these policies. So in rewriting the policies this time, I will factor in political realism that irrespective of whoever in power; the leader has no incentive to reform! Who will want to give up absolute power? So moving forward, the incentives must be built into the reform itself.
When I joined politics in 2009, the fight was about anti corruption, better accountability and full transparency. Time to get back to basics. I have just reminded my officers to reject those who are corrupt and anti-reform. It does not matter one bit, which party that corrupt person is from.
But first and foremost, we need to fix the economy. Political games can wait, but the hungry stomach of the poor cannot.