It is early days yet to judge if the new Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition will rule Malaysia better than Barisan Nasional, with much of the three-month-old government’s efforts focused on blaming the former administration that governed for more than six decades.

“I have not seen much by way of clear, succinct policy discussion apart from GST (goods and services tax). Right now, all the energy is on scapegoating… At some point, the Pakatan government has to actually govern,” said Professor Joseph Liow, dean of Nanyang Technological University’s (NTU) College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences and S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

He said the new administration’s efforts to recover assets allegedly purchased with funds stolen from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) – including a US$250 million (S$344 million) superyacht and a Bombardier jet grounded at Singapore’s Seletar airport – “makes for good entertainment”, but there needs to be more governing.