Lesson from Zimbabwe...

A short article from the World News section of The Star about Zimbabwe caught my eye yesterday morning. What was it about? Runaway inflation! And why? Cos that's something many of us can identify with now. This is a land where all her people are either millionaires, billionaires or trillionaires. But that is where the joy of being ‘so rich’ ends. A loaf of bread now costs Z$1 billion! That is roughly around USD$5 for now. If that is not crazy, I don't know what is! Bread is the barometer of inflation there! Nobody really knows how much that is worth in USD because it fluctuates everyday. Big time! And it's a rare commodity there!

An illustration of the worth of these millions. The lowest paid civil servant earns about Z$1.5 million monthly. That can only buy you 2kg of beef. A junior doctor, as of October 2007 earned about Z$6 million per month. But salaries are raised so often because the workers keep falling below the poverty line. I don't know what the salary scale is now cos salaries are so fluid there. And the government of Zimbabwe solves this problem by printing more money….sounds very much like the Japanese occupiers of Malaya back in the early 1940s, huh? Zimbabwe has their very own ‘banana money’.I am fascinated by what I have read about Zimbabwe. Together with Zambia, they were once known as Rhodesia, it was one of the lands explored by Cecil Rhodes, the founder of the famed De Beers and also the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship.

This is the famed Victoria Falls.....as a kid I used to read stories related to its discovery by David Livingstone. Used to be enthralled and even inspired by it. It is in Zimbabwe.
Gained independence in 1980, Zimbabwe has transformed from a breadbasket to a basket case. Robert Mugabe has been the only President Zimbabweans have known. He came to power after gaining independence from the Brits. He is 84 years old this year and is still clinging on to power. In March this year he lost the general election but he refused to let go. Instead he forced another election on Friday in which he was the sole presidential candidate. Voter turnout was low. The people doomed! And he is in power not because his people adore him but because he feels he is their hope.

But from a beacon of hope, he has brought Zimbabwe to ruins. And he did it in just 20 years. By the year 2000, Zimbabwe was an ailing country, marked by hyperinflation. At last count it was 2 million percent! Despite the hardship suffered by his people, he has recently built himself a 25-room mansion. Today, it is a pariah state shun by the world, her people going through economic sufferings untold.

Wealth can be exhausted. In the hands of good and capable leaders, it will grow. In leaders such as Robert Mugabe, we can see for ourselves how destructive it can be and also how helpless people can be. Malaysia is a blessed country. We have so many natural resources…but resources are only as good as those who are entrusted with it. We have wasted so much and lost so much. Whole generations of Malaysians have been brought up on this wealth, yet not able to compete globally. Zimbabwe has proven that any country can go to the dogs, all you need are just lousy leaders.... My two sen for this morning…