These priorities are not something achievable overnight. They necessitate long-term planning and painstaking execution.

On Wednesday, Pakatan Harapan took the lead by announcing its Harapan Action Plan that comes in 39 chapters and 94 pages, with ten priorities.

It is believed that Barisan Nasional and Perikatan Nasional will also unveil their manifestos over the next few days.

We always hear people say during the campaign period that they only want real meat and not empty promises. Instead of badmouthing rival candidates, we prefer that our candidates candidly put forward their own political views, although such impressive propositions may not necessarily be fulfilled before they actually get elected and start serving their electorate.

So, it is up to the political parties to make their manifestos sound as grand as they can make up.

You might therefore think that election manifestos are all untrustworthy. Not necessarily, but since the pledges have been put down in black and white, there’s no harm for us voters to take a good look at them.

Recognizing the unified examination certificate (UEC) only forms a minor part in the 21st chapter of PH’s Harapan Action Plan, but the issue has already made prominent headlines across local Chinese newspapers.

The reason is simple: firstly, Chinese Malaysians are very concerned about their children’s education, especially with Chinese language being the “root” of the Chinese.

Secondly, while independent Chinese school students may not be well versed in ancient Chinese literary classics, in a subconscious manner their textbooks are instilling in them the traditional values of moderation, morality and courtesy. As such, many Chinese Malaysians have faith in the education their children receive at independent Chinese high schools.

Thirdly, for decades Chinese Malaysians have been insistently fighting for their deserved rights in education. Non-recognition of UEC certificate will invariably deprive independent school graduates of their opportunities to get into local universities.

PH says it will continue to work hard to fight for the recognition of UEC, but has attached a condition of a credit in SPM Bahasa Malaysia, which we believe is totally acceptable.

That said, “recognition of UEC” is such a simple phrase, but in PH’s manifesto, words like “will continue to work hard to fight for” have been used, showing that getting UEC recognized is much easier said than done.

In the action plan’s first chapter on addressing the cost of living issues, PH pledges to continue to reduce PLUS tolls gradually with the ultimate goal of eliminating tolls and returning PLUS highway to public ownership.

To people in the street, reducing and eventually eliminating tolls is exactly what they have dreamed of, but the thing is, the maintenance of this highway which is over 800 kilometers long entails an annual sum of around RM1 billion, and if the highway is to be nationalized, the government will have to fork out additional RM30 billion for this purpose.

We have to admit that the national coffers are fast drying up while the annual budget set aside for development expenditure is but RM80 billion. If a big chunk of this development expenditure is to be spent on buying back the highway, development projects in other areas will have to be axed.

To avoid disappointing the rakyat one more time, perhaps the leaders in PH should think twice before issuing this check!

We must admit that PH is very serious about this Harapan Action Plan. Anwar Ibrahim says the election manifesto has taken into account economic costs and needs, as well as the people’s appeals.

The ten priorities encompass the people’s livelihood, providing economic and job opportunities for the youth, saving the lost generation in education, enhancing women status and national competitiveness, preserving the environment, combating corruption, strengthening democracy, and so on and on.

The thing is, these priorities are not something achievable overnight. They necessitate long-term planning and painstaking execution.

Today, or maybe the next one or two years, what Malaysians need most urgently is a government that will effectively tame the “palpable inflation,” support the ringgit exchange rate, boost the people’s incomes, weed out corruption and tackle religious extremism, among a host of other things.

Whoever among the three major political camps that makes it to Putrajaya in the end must treat these as their most pressing tasks.

A nationwide survey jointly run by Sin Chew Daily and four other local media organizations along with three research institutions in the country has discovered that Malaysians are most concerned about the bread and butter issue, as well as political stability, intercommunity harmony, stable exchange rate and the elimination of corruption culture in government.

Sure enough these are all mentioned in PH’s Harapan Action Plan, and we believe the same will also be incorporated into the election manifestos of other political camps. Hopefully they will all do their utmost to fight for the well-being of Malaysians!