Is ‘Change For Change’s Sake’ Worth The Risk?

As nomination day has finally arrived, we can now review of how Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat relate to the idea of change.
BN reminds us that change equals risk. A nation with a booming economy could be set back if it opts for an unknown quantity.
Pakatan Rakyat tells us change is an end in itself. The problem that must be "solved" by GE13 is the tiredness of a Government that has ruled in various forms for 55 years. Pakatan, by virtue of not being BN, is that solution.
Surprisingly, both of these notions are at least partly correct. Pakatan indeed had grounds to attack BN's incumbency but that ended in the past week when Datuk Seri Najib Razak unveiled his candidate list. It includes a third new faces federally and excludes four former federal ministers, the deputy leader of MCA, and one current cabinet member.
"Stale" BN has just proven itself capable of radical renewal, while for Pakatan Rakyat the nomination process has been a macho game of "grab all you can". Don't crow about your 60 seats DAP; PAS is fielding candidates in around 90! Let's see who is laughing after GE13.
Najib's reformist play on nominations has robbed Pakatan of their number one argument in relation to change. As a result PKR-DAP-PAS could change tack and redefine change in terms of the contents of its own manifesto. But it won't do that because, unlike the glib notion of change for change's sake, that would raise difficult questions.
Will a Pakatan Government continue the present prudent economic policies or does it have its own formula? The document doesn't say. In fact, the eight pages under "People's Economy" don't actually mention economic policy but instead, veer off into education, transport and non means-tested welfare.
The head of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS), Wan Saiful Wan Jan warned that Pakatan's "change" would mean us being catapulted "firmly to the left" into the land of higher taxes aimed at the urban middle classes. Undecided Chinese voters... this means you.
BN's manifesto prefers transformation to change. The difference between the two concepts is the breadth of ideas and commitment needed to transform Government and the economy. Transformation is a more powerful idea than mere change.
The BN manifesto issues a dire warning against the idea of change for change's sake on page four. "Now is not the time for risks. Do not experiment with our future". Add to that the certainty that Pakatan's cabinet team would be a compromise solution to interparty tensions, rather than the best talent, and you have an experiment certain to go wrong.
Make no mistake, if Malaysia's economy was going backwards we would not be discussing this idea. Pakatan Rakyat could urge change on the basis that things can only get better. But that's not where we are in 2013. If we change now, things could very definitely get worse.
This is something that first time voters in particular need to think about. It might be tempting to shake things up by voting against the status quo. But to do so would harm our future and the prospect of a fully-developed nation by 2020.