大馬的政令、文獻可說是繁多之極,從每年例常的財政預算案、稽查報告書,每五年的大馬計劃,到時效性的政策文件,例如過去幾年來的「大藍圖」,或是皇家調查委員會報告書,加上不少法案常是「突如其來」地提呈國會,多得讓人昏頭轉向,來不及消化,就可以堆成一座山了。
3月杪政府推出的「新經濟模式」,只有首階段的報告書出爐,下半部在今年下半年才曝光。而與「新經濟模式」有關連的「政府轉型計劃」已在較早前出台,也是沉甸甸的巨塊報告書。
這些報告書如此地洋洋灑灑,你不得不欽佩編制的政府機關可以如此高超地行文流水,出口成章。
當你問什麼「新經濟模式」時,官方先告訴你:我們要有「S.R.I」,但需先有「ENABLER」。而S.R.I是相當奇絕的新創組詞,原來是英文版的「策略性改革方案」的字首縮寫,還有「Enabler」,將本是動詞的「Enable」名詞化,直譯是「啟動器」,當然涵義是催化作用的「前提」。
簡扼地用俗語來解釋,這新經濟模式就是先有前提(去催化),加上8個方法(去實行),就能達到3種目標──高收入、包容性、永續。當你再鑽研下去時,其實發覺這些目標,已是我們老生常談的課題。
而這些新目標,將成為流行的新聞用語。如果你不善忘,在10年前敦馬哈迪擔任首相期間,也有不少紅極一時的用詞與紛陳的論述,至今仍是歷久不衰。他提呈第三經濟展望綱領(OPP3),求的是讓大馬從2001年至2010年能達到各種愿景。他當時的用詞是「競爭力」、「有韌力的經濟成長」,就是如今的新經濟模式所說的「永續」。
還有「包容性」(Inclusiveness),當年的說法是「平等」(Equitable)。只有2010年版本的「高收入」,是較為新穎的目標,至少當年說的只會說「繁榮」。
現在使用「競爭力」似是沒有什麼威力了,早前大家用的是「藍海策略」。而10年前大盛的「知識經濟」(K-Economy)也過時了,在新經濟模式是使用「知識奠基」(Knowledge-based)。
其實你再對照早在20年前,1991年版本的「2020年宏愿」、國家發展政策,這些字眼所表達的都是大同小異意味,只是整體包裝成另一番風格的描述、更具時尚感的論述。
你可以說,英文的辭藻永遠都是豐富,所以善用行文起來時,肯定會唬人。但不論什麼語文,若是文章言之無物,行之不遠,徒然是一堆虛浮言文。為什麼要將大概念說得如此婉轉、晦澀,而你偏偏要升斗市民去消化、參與諮詢?為什麼明明就是陳腔濫調,卻寧可扮高深而不求真?
我先是以好奇的心態去讀完整份新經濟模式,到最後還是問號──那到底要怎樣實行呢?
而在上週,當全球管理大師拉姆.查蘭受邀到吉隆坡演講時,有一位嘉賓現場提問:到底如何將策略性目標化成有效的實踐?
提問者正是有份參與撰寫「新經濟模式」的經濟專家沈聯濤。
我想,連局內人也有如此的疑問,原來新經濟模式的真正答案就是還沒有答案。
(刊于2010年4月7日,東方日報)
3 把回音:
Would you rather that the country's development is rudderless? How many of our people understand anything anyway? Have you seen the amount of analytical reports and white papers in the UK parliament website?
Nobody said that governing a country reaching 30 million will be easy. We don't want street politicians and an inconsequential civil service, but we also don't appreciate attempts towards an objective presentation of facts. It is always good to be a skeptic, but we must be able to spar on a rational plane, not running everything down based on our emotions.
Words remain what they are - an abstraction of ideas. Broken window crime theory, for example, attempts to sum up succinctly the impact of the collective psyche / conciousness on human behavior. Common sense prevailed on a higher plane, I suppose, but putting more cops on the beat to walk the streets is a legitimate attempt to stamp out crime. Ideas like the tipping point are now being peddled in the mainstream, and conformity studies like the Stanley Milgram experiment are now widely known. So many economists have written readable tomes which convey a simple point - people respond to incentives. So the trick, I suppose, is to dangle the carrots and sticks in the right direction, also common sense, no?
If the people develop a better understanding of issues, the concepts behind the slogans, the structure behind the facade, then they are better off for it. If answers are that easily found, you will wonder if it is human nature to wallow in mediocrity, hence, thriving in a mediocracy like ours.
當然沒有人愿意見到我們的國家失去方向。我們不是在1991年推出了2020年宏愿嗎?那已是一個很大很大的方向。
只是我想帶出一個重點,在新經濟模式中,當政府要我們積極參與諮詢時,卻大拋書包,將淺白的東西重新包裝到如此精美似精品,是否能引起一般人民的共鳴?這形同紙上談兵,更有新瓶舊酒之嫌。與其大談,不如行動,而不需要只是循環式花字面功夫、引經據典地舊事重提,到最後只是陳腔濫調。
我覺得整份報告都分析得很好,只是並沒有讓人覺得掉了下巴大喊「WOW」。到最後我們只是問:政治意愿呢?那天在一個與有關當局的匯報會上,每名傳媒聽到最後,就是問這個問題而已。若要持平而言,只能說就拭目以待吧,看下半年有什麼實踐方案。
你最後一段話讓我想起有人這樣說過:「A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer」。
Naturally, the deal is always about whether there is political will to see the GTP (or any initiatives for that matter) through.
When Mahathir came up with vision 2020, there were more snickers than serious appraisal of the ideal. The same is true till this very day. Politicians live on with their various transmutations of highfaluting sloganeering. And like many others, we wait for something to happen, we wait for something to be done, we wait for a miracle so that the wishes of the people will be actualized.
It is not for the lack of political will that Malaysia wallows in mediocrity. We have a nation of peoples drugged to expect handouts, subsidies and special treatment. The argument by the minority is not about equality, it is about not getting the same preferential treatment. Compared to many other countris, we are a nation of underachievers.
I hope whoever from NEM who asked the obvious question to the management guru have gotten something resembling a coherent answer, but yes, at least he asked, and he is all the better for it. Unfortunately, the coterie of people analyzing the NEM seems to forget that a national economic model is only important when the government directs the innovation of her people. Politicians will always package their policies with a nice sounding name, but eventually, it will be up to the people to actually make things happen.
As such, would it be more critical to get the masses to embrace the NEM, or would it be more important to let the rakyat know that they will sink if they don't start to learn how to swim soon?
Yes, let us all wait for the details.
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