Prime Minister Najib Razak says he needs several days to decide what actions to take against The Wall Street Journal.

In the Internet age, even one hour is considered too long, let alone several days! Sluggish actions will only result in greater damage done.

This is the first time a government leader has come under such a serious allegation from the foreign media. This has not only inflicted irreparable damage on the PM personally, but will also have serious impact on the government and country. Hence, the PM must take immediate action to stop the negative effects lest they erode investment and market confidence.

To be honest, the Barisan Nasional government's reputation has been on the slide ever since the 13th general election. One issue after another has popped up and the government has been so clueless about how to handle them.

Poor efficiency and competency on the part of government officials have made it hard for Datuk Seri Najib's good policies to be carried out seamlessly, his 1Malaysia concept and economic transformation programme crashing. To make things worse, international oil prices have been plummeting, while the implementation of GST and subsidy rationalisation programme have further burdened the public.

When public confidence level is low, not even a piece of good news or two will ignite the public's excitement, including a positive revision of the country's sovereign debt ratings by Fitch.

ASIA NEWS NETWORK

• The View from Asia is a weekly compilation of articles from The Straits Times' media partner Asia News Network, a grouping of 22 newspapers. For more, see www.asianewsnet.net