COMMENT | Malaysia’s year of yearning: Reflecting on 2022

COMMENT | When one looks back on 2022, most will put their attention on the 15th general election (GE15) in November. Indeed, there have been and will be many analyses of these polls. In this reflection on the year, the focus is better placed on the processes of change rather than their outcomes.

Malaysia is undergoing profound transformations - an uneven economic recovery, widening social divisions, devastating implications of climate change, rapid use (and misuse) of new technology, and yet another government with “frenemies” political alliances. 

Arguably, over the past year, there has been a bombardment of “new” while the “old” continues to constrain parameters to resolve challenges.

2022 was a difficult year for many, with rising cost of living, persistent manmade (and ignored) climate change disasters and tragedies, social divides exacerbated by Covid-19 and political ambitions, and consistent calls for better governance in both the Johor polls and GE15 that remain largely (as yet) unanswered.

At the year’s end, there is...