As each nation approaches the new millennium, they continue to face many
uncertainties - what is in the future of globalisation, economics progress,
world peace, world order?...to name a few.
These are
the corcerns and challenges that every nation's governments have to handle,
for the good of the people and the country. Thus, good governance play a
vital role in civilised society.
The presence
of a goverment fulfills two roles - as a source of authority and as a representative
of the populace. And the two functions need to maintain a dynamic balance
or they would easily end up at odds with one another.
A chronic
misunderstanding by leaders on what constitute a strong government by the
reliance of force and disregard of popular public participation can actually
weaken government as can be seen with the fallen regimes of President Sukarno
and Suharto.
Fundamentally,
the strength of a government is derived from the trust and popular support
of the people and all those who reside within the national boundries.
Based on
that trust and support, the government is legitimate and strong. It can
act as society's protector - to filter and embrace changes which will benefit
all, resists those that work only to the advantage of the few world's richest
and the most powerful.
In this
sense, the government becomes the guardian and advocate of the people, and
the concept of trust between the two is reciprocal.
According
to Professor Michael Leigh, Director- Institute of East Asian Studies, UNIMAS,
during a recent seminar on Sarawak's Economy in the New Millennium, the
role of government in the new age is determined by it source of legitimacy
and the centrality of trust.
Therefore,
the challenge for government in the new age is to rebuild social trust in
a self-centred era.
In the
aspect of Sarawak's Government in the new age, the state government can
be futher strengthened through several factors such as:
Trust
- building trust and support between the people and the government.
Inclusion
- a sense of belonging as everybody needs to have a stake in society.
Community
- small, medium or large group identity to act between people and
government,
Security
- certainly for the people, e.g., for employment, health care, education
and so on.
Facing
the cocerns and meeting all challenges of the new millennium is not easy
task, but with the people and goverment working together towards a common
goal, the road to the future is much brighter and smoother.
