by BRIAN GOMEZ
Poor discipline can be a factor in the development agenda

EVER since this column was initiated a few years ago the most common theme has been the issue of social and economic development and Bottom Line has tackled this subject from many angles.
We have canvassed the importance of much faster economic growth if widely prevailing poverty levels have to be reduced.
We have looked at the subject of infrastructure development and possible causes for long-term stagnancy in agriculture.
Many articles have canvassed the success stories of various Asian economies, as examples of what has been possible and as indicators for likely development paths in this country.
One of the important issues has been the subject of investment generally and the importance of attracting foreign direct investment as a path to a more prosperous future.
Obviously, corruption is also a major issue and one that has not been canvassed much in these columns partly because it is a symptom of various ailments that have cultural and other roots, including widespread levels of poverty, that are contributory factors.
There are some countries with high levels of corruption, such as Indonesia, Vietnam and more recently India for example, that have managed to progress well regardless.
I am certainly not trying to condone this sickness or ailment and its role in weakening the body politic and the social basis for advancement.
Among the antidotes to corruption — the ill-effects of ‘wantokism’ will probably take a generation or more to tackle — is a need for greater self discipline and what maybe broadly categorised as a strong work ethic.
One of the great believers in self-discipline has been Singapore’s founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, who managed over three decades, to turn his small island republic from a poor Third World nation to among the richest countries (in per capita income) in the world.
He practised what he preached.
Even now in his 80s he is a relatively fit and healthy man.
One of his earliest actions was to implement a national service policy for every male who turned 18, as part of Singapore’s “rugged society”.
Some years after the downfall of the late Philippine president Ferdinald Marcos in 1986, Lee was invited to share his thoughts on democracy and development with a chamber of business group in Manila.
His message created somewhat of a furor.
Lee has never believed in mincing his words at the time the Philippine economy had remained somewhat sickly despite its newly inspired democratic ideals following the downfall of Marcos.
But Lee bluntly told Filipino business leaders their country needed discipline much more than democracy, causing some of them to think he was recommending more dictatorial-style policies.
That is the way Singapore has been run ever since it became independent in 1965 with its political leaders showing the way by example.
These thoughts come to mind because of recent developments in Papua New Guinea that mirror an affliction of ill-discipline, which leads to a poor work ethic, and acts a dampener on social and economic development.
Probably the best example of this comes from the vast majority of people, who represent the leadership of the nation through their roles as the 109 members of Parliament. This is indeed a sad reflection.
As we will find in the coming national election, there will be thousands of aspiring candidates, most of them motivated by a belief that Parliament represented a ticket to new-found wealth.
Even a parliamentary backbencher will earn an income that will place him among the top one percent of people in this society, not counting the array of available allowances and development funds each of them will control.
What would be one of the single most important duties of an MP, whether a Government backbencher or one belonging to the opposition?
Bottom Line would suggest that regular attendance in Parliament would fit into that category – with the purpose of keeping the Government of the day on its toes, ensuring proper debate of any legislation going through and in remaining well-informed on national and regional issues of the day.
Nevertheless, absenteeism is the order of the day among parliamentarians and, if they are leading by example, why should we expect any better from the nation’s bureaucrats or teachers or policemen?
Last year, Parliament unanimously passed the State of Emergency (SoE) legislation for Southern Highlands, the only province to have come under a SoE in the current term of Parliament.
The Government has failed twice in the past week to get the numbers in Parliament to extend the term of the SoE, which remains temporarily in place via a cabinet edict.
The MPs have every right to veto this extension but one would expect that the Government-of-the-day, under our Westminster system, should be able to carry the vote.
But this has not happened because not enough of them have been willing to do the job they are paid for.
On two occasions just recently — and this has happened umpteen times in the past — Parliament could not even muster a quorum.
These are the same leaders, who managed to push through legislation last year, giving themselves a variety of increased allowances, including a 100% increasing in their housing allowance.
When this was queried at a budget briefing last November, in the light of miniscule housing allowances for most public servants, a high-ranking Treasury official said the decision was “most unfortunate” because an increase of that order for all public servants would bankrupt the Government.
There was no problem in getting the numbers to pass this vote.
Subsequently, the MPs threatened to block the budget unless their district support grants were released regardless of whether or not previous acquittals had been made.
The Government was forced to accede to these demands, but timely action by the Ombudsman put a stop to this.
It is an unpalatable truth that much of the country’s problems and part of the reason why per capita incomes have fallen over the past three decades is because parliamentarians have not performed as well as they should.
In a broad sense, greed has contributed to the toppling of successive governments until the Somare Government gained office in 2002 and, even though there are many campaigns underway to encourage people to vote for good candidates, not much change is likely in the next Parliament.