In Memoriam
MALAYSIA (1963-2011)
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Why don't you stay home... home minister?
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| The Keris-Kissing Laughing Jackass of UMNO |
Save us the bother of booting you out....
We thought Syed Hamid Albar was stupid and incompetent as home minister but Hishammuddin Hussein is several notches worse.
We thought Syed Hamid Albar was stupid and incompetent as home minister but Hishammuddin Hussein is several notches worse.
Dedicated to all Malaysians, especially MCMC
Whoever made this video deserves a big round of applause. My advice to those unfortunate enough to be working at MCMC under that huge pile of fossilized excrement... QUIT BEFORE YOU LOSE YOUR SOUL!
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
The Wayseer ~ Garret John LoPorto
Special thanks to L'aura Ann Giguere for alerting me to the existence of Garret John LoPorto - a hunkier and more marketing savvy version of myself! :-)
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
"Now you see it now you don't!"
Don't you just love it when something is "deleted" because "they" don't want you to see it... but you can still see it because of the what the Internet is???!
Well, earlier, The Star did an online survey to find out what its readers thought about the Bersih Rally planned for July 9.
They obviously felt that respondents would give it the thumbs-down lah.
NOT!!!!
When they found the results didn't pan out to what they thought it would be, they took the survey/poll offline. That is, they deleted the page! So, if you went to the poll page, you'd find this:
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| Click to enlarge! |
Idiots! It was too late, someone had already captured the page onscreen. And here it is, the screenshot (and do note HOW MANY people voted!!!) :
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| Click to enlarge! |
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Trapped by their own greed and stupidity!
Umno/BN, after 22 years of Mahathirism, has degenerated into a robber baron regime paralyzed by a complete failure of imagination and rendered powerless to adapt to changes in the political terrain by the sheer inertia of its own overweening arrogance and greed.
Najib Razak and his grotesque wife Rosmah Mansor were pushed into power by 191 corrupt and inept Umno division chiefs - just as George W. Bush was muscled into the White House in 2000 - to take the flak and serve as a target of public ridicule, so that the nouveau riche Umnoputra elite could continue to rob the nation with impunity and hide the loot in numbered accounts and property investments abroad.
With their control of the law enforcement agencies, the judiciary, civil service, the armed forces and the tribal monarchies, Umno believes it can continue to misrule - by brute force if necessary - through deliberate aggravation of artificially engendered racial and religious differences.
The majority of urbanites have long woken up to Umno/BN's dirty strategies and will never again be fooled. In the rural areas where the only source of news are the mainstream media, the awakening is slightly more sluggish but inevitable.
Mahathir and Daim Zainuddin created a financial buffer against political defeat by nurturing an ultra-rich entrepreneurial class to feed the Umno/BN electoral juggernaut (hence the lopsided contracts signed with Independent Power Producers and utility corporations privatized to political cronies). This unwholesome conspiracy between centralized government and capitalist self-interest to bamboozle the public will grind to an abrupt end when Umno/BN is booted out - and that's why we see panic breaking out in the hysterical headlines and perverse spins of crony media like Utusan Malaysia and TV3.
It's time to draw a clear line in the sand, people. It's time to open your windows, stand on a street corner, and shout...
"We're as mad as hell and we're not going to take this anymore!"
Saturday, June 18, 2011
BERSIH 2.0 RALLY TO BE CANCELLED...
IF THE ELECTION COMMISSION ACCEDES TO OUR EIGHT DEMANDS!
These are our eight demands as voiced through BERSIH 2.0:
- Clean the electoral roll
- Reform postal vote
- Use indelible ink
- Free and fair access to media
- Minimum 21 days campaign period
- Strengthen public institutions
- Stop corruption
- Stop dirty politics
It's up to you, Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof. As chairman of the Malaysian Election Commission, you have the authority to accede immediately and unconditionally to these eight demands. We know you are answerable to your political masters in UMNO.
However, if you are indeed a man of honor and believe in universal virtues like fairness, integrity and the importance of clean and fair elections, then there is absolutely no reason why you cannot call a media conference within a week and declare your wholehearted support of BERSIH 2.0's demands - which are entirely reasonable and can only bring the nation one step closer to political maturity. If your masters in UMNO disagree, the least you can do is resign in protest. This way you will be lauded for your courage and nobility - instead of reviled as another corrupt functionary of a morally decadent and increasingly unpopular regime.
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| Election Commission chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof |
Press statement from Dr Wan Azizah
BERSIH 2.0: CATALYST FOR A NEW AND PROGRESSIVE MALAYSIA
KEADILAN is alarmed at the blatant antagonism shown by authorities towards the peaceful BERSIH rally planned on 9 July 2011. Strong statements bordering threats made by the highest echelon of the Home Ministry speak volume of Barisan Nasional’s zero tolerance policy towards freedom of speech and the right to assemble.
There is a much bigger and fundamental issue relating to BERSIH rally beyond the question of constitutional right for freedom of speech and the right to assemble. At the heart of BERSIH is the most pertinent issue that will determine whether or not we can progress as a society in tandem with rakyat’s expectation. BERSIH is about the integrity of our electoral system; the absence of which will continue to hamper any efforts to uplift our society economically and socially.
Barisan Nasional’s attitude that promises economic growth without the accompanying accountability and political integrity will continue to erode rakyat’s confidence in our national system. The ability and right of a citizen to elect a party of his choice independently and without manipulation is central to the political integrity that the rakyat now demands loudly of any political parties in Malaysia.
Therefore, KEADILAN considers BERSIH rally as a necessity to provide the early catalyst to our society to embrace progressiveness. BERSIH rally will be a test to its proponents and detractors – a test of resolve to gauge how important is electoral integrity for the former; and a test of tolerance and openness for the latter.
Therefore, it is incumbent upon the organiser and participants of the rally to avoid any confrontation and not to be tricked by any provocation attempts to create chaos. I ask that the planning for the rally must take into account measures to quickly reduce tensions if there is a provocation. The onus is also on the participants to equip themselves with adequate knowledge on crowd control and safety precautions before joining the rally.
On the part of the authorities, we continue to hope that they will reciprocate the organiser’s offer to work together to ensure a smooth and peaceful rally. PDRM must ensure the safety of the participants first and take action professionally on any attempts to provoke or create chaos by any parties.
The BERSIH rally can be a new milestone in our country’s march towards a fully functioning democracy. The yearning for greater accountability in our electoral system is a permanent feature of our society; so it is best to manage it with reasons and level-headedness. In this context, our society does not need further provocative statements and threats issued at BERSIH rally organisers and participants. It is more matured for the groups opposed to the rally to respect the right of a sizeable voice in our society to gather and express their views, just as the same right has been exercised over and over again by these few Umno-linked groups previously.
KEADILAN has committed fully to the cause of improving our electoral system since its inception. BERSIH rally is the paragon of the cause and as such, KEADILAN will ensure our members to come in large numbers and join the expected hundreds of thousands of Malaysians in Kuala Lumpur on 9 July 2011.
For a start, KEADILAN has started to test our own mobilisation capacity this weekend in conjunction with our National Election Convention, throughout which the instruction for big mobilisation to our members will feature prominently.
I ask a similar openness and a little compassion from the authorities. By providing the proverbial safety valve in allowing BERSIH rally to proceed peacefully, this will hasten our society’s maturity to manage differing views and opinions. Such maturity is key to unlocking our society’s potential in future years.
DR WAN AZIZAH ISMAIL
President
KEADILAN
18 June 2011
KEADILAN is alarmed at the blatant antagonism shown by authorities towards the peaceful BERSIH rally planned on 9 July 2011. Strong statements bordering threats made by the highest echelon of the Home Ministry speak volume of Barisan Nasional’s zero tolerance policy towards freedom of speech and the right to assemble.
There is a much bigger and fundamental issue relating to BERSIH rally beyond the question of constitutional right for freedom of speech and the right to assemble. At the heart of BERSIH is the most pertinent issue that will determine whether or not we can progress as a society in tandem with rakyat’s expectation. BERSIH is about the integrity of our electoral system; the absence of which will continue to hamper any efforts to uplift our society economically and socially.
Barisan Nasional’s attitude that promises economic growth without the accompanying accountability and political integrity will continue to erode rakyat’s confidence in our national system. The ability and right of a citizen to elect a party of his choice independently and without manipulation is central to the political integrity that the rakyat now demands loudly of any political parties in Malaysia.
Therefore, KEADILAN considers BERSIH rally as a necessity to provide the early catalyst to our society to embrace progressiveness. BERSIH rally will be a test to its proponents and detractors – a test of resolve to gauge how important is electoral integrity for the former; and a test of tolerance and openness for the latter.
Therefore, it is incumbent upon the organiser and participants of the rally to avoid any confrontation and not to be tricked by any provocation attempts to create chaos. I ask that the planning for the rally must take into account measures to quickly reduce tensions if there is a provocation. The onus is also on the participants to equip themselves with adequate knowledge on crowd control and safety precautions before joining the rally.
On the part of the authorities, we continue to hope that they will reciprocate the organiser’s offer to work together to ensure a smooth and peaceful rally. PDRM must ensure the safety of the participants first and take action professionally on any attempts to provoke or create chaos by any parties.
The BERSIH rally can be a new milestone in our country’s march towards a fully functioning democracy. The yearning for greater accountability in our electoral system is a permanent feature of our society; so it is best to manage it with reasons and level-headedness. In this context, our society does not need further provocative statements and threats issued at BERSIH rally organisers and participants. It is more matured for the groups opposed to the rally to respect the right of a sizeable voice in our society to gather and express their views, just as the same right has been exercised over and over again by these few Umno-linked groups previously.
KEADILAN has committed fully to the cause of improving our electoral system since its inception. BERSIH rally is the paragon of the cause and as such, KEADILAN will ensure our members to come in large numbers and join the expected hundreds of thousands of Malaysians in Kuala Lumpur on 9 July 2011.
For a start, KEADILAN has started to test our own mobilisation capacity this weekend in conjunction with our National Election Convention, throughout which the instruction for big mobilisation to our members will feature prominently.
I ask a similar openness and a little compassion from the authorities. By providing the proverbial safety valve in allowing BERSIH rally to proceed peacefully, this will hasten our society’s maturity to manage differing views and opinions. Such maturity is key to unlocking our society’s potential in future years.
DR WAN AZIZAH ISMAIL
President
KEADILAN
18 June 2011
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Razakstan? Don't wanna go there!
Lies rule in RazakstanDean Johns | Malaysiakini
15 June 2011 | 12:44pm
As long as Dr Mahathir Mohamad is still breathing, Najib Abdul Razak can't be accused of being the world's most pathological liar. But that doesn't stop him striving for the number one spot.
Posing as an enlightened leader of a progressive Malaysia and preaching reform, inclusiveness, integrity and good governance around the world Najib (right) presides over a corrupt, repressive and outright criminal Razakstan of his own.
He was at it again last week, jetting off to Kazakhstan with 250 of his closest relatives and cronies to treat the World Islamic Economic Forum to a dose of his sanctimonious, hypocritical drivel.
"Good governance should come naturally for Muslim nations," he declared, going on to claim that Muslim nations have long known that "justice, equity, probity and prosperity for all, including women," as advocated by the fourth caliph, son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad, "are not merely the preserve of Western democracies."
"Governing as Ali ordered with justice, equity and probity," he continued, was "not about falling in line with Western attitudes, but acting in line with Quranic teachings."
Unfortunately, however, Quranic teachings appear to have little to no effect on the government of any Muslim-majority nation on the planet, very much including Najib's own.
In fact, for all the imperfections of the Western democracies, they are the only source of hope, inspiration and protection for people denied justice, equity and probity by Quran-defying governments from the Middle East to Africa and Asia. Russia couldn't care less, and China is always on the side of its fellow suppressors of the people.
Razakstan-style regimes wreak havoc
In his speech to the gathering in Kazakhstan, Najib tried to excuse the appalling state of Muslim governments, with the disclaimer that "in a world characterised by unbridled political influence, unequal competition and opportunities, strong family ties, unlimited greed, inadequate rules and regulations and poor enforcement, good governance is easier said than done."
Then, ignoring the fact that the aforesaid "unbridled political influence, unequal competition and opportunities, strong family ties, unlimited greed, inadequate rules and regulations and poor enforcement" all-too-accurately describes his own Umno/BN regime, he went on to present Malaysia as a paragon of progress.
Najib then added insult to perjury by claiming that "in order to provide a healthy mechanism of checks and balances, the government also welcomed comments and views from within its own institutions as well as from religious organisations, minority groups, the media and business."
This glowing portrait of Malaysia as an oasis of reform in a desert of Muslim-government turpitude is simply too preposterous for words, considering that Najib has absolutely no intention to reform what it actually his own Razakstan.
Reality far from expectations
Far from combating corruption, the Najib regime employs the police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) as its shock-troops, security guards and assassins.
Far from welcoming sundry comments and views from all, it employs the nation's media as its paid propagandists and suppresses free speech by means of its appalling Printing, Presses and Publications Act.
And far from promoting religious and racial unity, as Najib's fake "1Malaysia" slogan pretends to proclaim, the government does its damndest to foment discord through the regime-owned gutter 'newspaper' Utusan Malaysia and through race-hate pressure groups like Perkasa (or, as I prefer to think of it, Pukeasa).
Despite the dire reality of his Razakstan regime, however, Najib had the gall to issue a rallying call to his partners-in-crime at the Kazakhstan conference to join him on "a journey that does not end until good governance truly becomes the mainstream value of all Muslim nations."
"Why is it that corruption, maladministration, mismanagement and inefficiency are often associated with the administration of an Islamic state when we know that Islamic teachings, as contained in the Quran and the sunnah of the Prophet, can serve as guidance?" he asked.
Precisely the question I've been asking myself, and in fact the entire civilised world has been asking of rulers of Razakstan-style regimes for what seems like forever.
Cruel intentions made clear
Not that Muslim nations are by any means on their own in the gruesome-government department. Buddhist Burma, the Catholic Philippines and Kim-worshipping North Korea, to name just a few, are all as bad if not worse than their Islamic counterparts.
In fact religion or the lack thereof has nothing to do with government criminality - a point Najib is demonstrating by his willingness to extend an ecumenical welcome to two of the world's arch-criminals for the Langkawi International Dialogue on June 19 to 21.
The Muslim president of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir, has the dubious distinction of being the first serving head of state to be indicted by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity, and is now a fugitive from justice.
Consorting with such scum provides the ultimate example of Najib's fraudulent attempts to be perceived as a reformer, let alone a 'religious' one, and once and for all demonstrates the reality of his intention to keep running - and ruining - Malaysia like some kind of Umno/BN Razakstan.
[Cloned from Malaysiakini with thanks. Dean Johns has done it again by coming up with Razakstan to describe the pitiable state of affairs in Malaysia under bandit and pirate misrule!]
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
ANWAR: WE ARE READY!
My friend and colleague Hussein Hamid (better known as SteadyAku47) has uploaded a few video recordings of Anwar Ibrahim's recent speeches as the Opposition Leader tirelessly crisscrosses the nation getting voters into shape for the biggest battle in Malaysian history: GE13!
No point reinventing the wheel. Just view them at Hussein's blog - thanks!
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| AP photo |
Monday, June 13, 2011
Our heartfelt thanks to the People's Green Coalition
I salute the members of PGC who did a fantastic job presenting the wishes of the people to the IAEA panel commissioned by the Najib regime. Thank you for sticking your necks out on behalf of all decent Malaysians!
Part 2 Part 3
Memorandum To The IAEA Panel Investigation on
The Public Nuisance of the LAMP Project
in Gebeng Industrial Estate Pahang Malaysia
31 May 2011
Submitted by The People’s Green Coalition Malaysia.
Introduction
The People’s Green Coalition was invited by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) to submit its views on the LAMP project to the IAEA Panel at 4.30pm on the 31st, May 2011.
The Coalition was represented by:
1. Mr. Ahmad Bongsu Bin Abdul Hamid Tuah, Nuclear Physicist.
2. Dr. Jayabalan, Physician in Occupational Medicine and Toxicologist at National Toxicology Centre University of Science Malaysia.
3. Prof. Tan Kah Kheng, Professor of Chemical Engineering HELP University, Visiting Fellow University of Cambridge.
The Position of the People’s Green Coalition
The Coalition supports resolutely the demand of the people of Pahang and Malaysia to stop LAMP from operating in Malaysia based on the following reasons:
1. The project will cause grave ecology disaster to the environment of Pahang and the whole of Malaysia resulting in irreversible damage to the flora, fauna and human settlements.
2. The toxic chemicals emitted during the manufacturing process and the radioactive waste products will severely damage the health and well-being of the population of Pahang and Malaysia.
3. A severely damage ecology will affect fishing, agricultural and animal husbandry industries whose products will be contaminated and hence will be rejected by both the local and international markets.
4. Once contaminated, the palm oil exports will not be accepted by the international communities with the dire consequences of causing a possible collapse of the palm oil industries in Malaysia resulting in irrevocable damage to the national economy.
5. The property prices in and around Kuantan have already seen a sharp decline due to the fear of chemical and radioactive contamination of the environment. The tourism industries will similarly experience a decline as tourists avoid visiting a contaminated environment.
6. The radioactive waste will last for an infinite period of time thus further endangering the health and life of generations to come.
The risks to the community far outweigh the benefits which will largely be gained by Lynas since it will enjoy a period of 12 years of tax exemption. The employment opportunities purported is facile if the risks to the workers were taken into account.
Malaysia has endured a tragic experience when Mitsubishi Corporation established the Asian Rare Earth Plant in Bukit Merah Perak about 30 years ago. It is an undeniable fact that the people of Bukit Merah suffered grievous bodily harm till today as Mitsubishi is still attempting to clean up the radioactive waste in the region.
Conclusion
The People’s Green Coalition resolutely rejects the LAMP project in Gebeng Industrial Estate, Pahang.
Submitted by The People’s Green Coalition Malaysia
Dated 31st May 2011
NB: A detailed study of the EIA and RIA reports will be submitted in due course in view of the short notice of invitation by MITI to this consultation as well as the late release of EIA and RIA reports by MITI on the 30th May 2011.
Part 2 Part 3
Memorandum To The IAEA Panel Investigation on
The Public Nuisance of the LAMP Project
in Gebeng Industrial Estate Pahang Malaysia
31 May 2011
Submitted by The People’s Green Coalition Malaysia.
Introduction
The People’s Green Coalition was invited by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) to submit its views on the LAMP project to the IAEA Panel at 4.30pm on the 31st, May 2011.
The Coalition was represented by:
1. Mr. Ahmad Bongsu Bin Abdul Hamid Tuah, Nuclear Physicist.
2. Dr. Jayabalan, Physician in Occupational Medicine and Toxicologist at National Toxicology Centre University of Science Malaysia.
3. Prof. Tan Kah Kheng, Professor of Chemical Engineering HELP University, Visiting Fellow University of Cambridge.
The Position of the People’s Green Coalition
The Coalition supports resolutely the demand of the people of Pahang and Malaysia to stop LAMP from operating in Malaysia based on the following reasons:
1. The project will cause grave ecology disaster to the environment of Pahang and the whole of Malaysia resulting in irreversible damage to the flora, fauna and human settlements.
2. The toxic chemicals emitted during the manufacturing process and the radioactive waste products will severely damage the health and well-being of the population of Pahang and Malaysia.
3. A severely damage ecology will affect fishing, agricultural and animal husbandry industries whose products will be contaminated and hence will be rejected by both the local and international markets.
4. Once contaminated, the palm oil exports will not be accepted by the international communities with the dire consequences of causing a possible collapse of the palm oil industries in Malaysia resulting in irrevocable damage to the national economy.
5. The property prices in and around Kuantan have already seen a sharp decline due to the fear of chemical and radioactive contamination of the environment. The tourism industries will similarly experience a decline as tourists avoid visiting a contaminated environment.
6. The radioactive waste will last for an infinite period of time thus further endangering the health and life of generations to come.
The risks to the community far outweigh the benefits which will largely be gained by Lynas since it will enjoy a period of 12 years of tax exemption. The employment opportunities purported is facile if the risks to the workers were taken into account.
Malaysia has endured a tragic experience when Mitsubishi Corporation established the Asian Rare Earth Plant in Bukit Merah Perak about 30 years ago. It is an undeniable fact that the people of Bukit Merah suffered grievous bodily harm till today as Mitsubishi is still attempting to clean up the radioactive waste in the region.
Conclusion
The People’s Green Coalition resolutely rejects the LAMP project in Gebeng Industrial Estate, Pahang.
Submitted by The People’s Green Coalition Malaysia
Dated 31st May 2011
NB: A detailed study of the EIA and RIA reports will be submitted in due course in view of the short notice of invitation by MITI to this consultation as well as the late release of EIA and RIA reports by MITI on the 30th May 2011.
Barisan Nazi-onal on the rampage!
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| Conference of Frogs |
Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali said they are ready to "fight to the end" (lawan habis-habisan) to stop the rally if the organisers insist on taking to the streets of Kuala Lumpur on July 9.
"(If they proceed) there will be a clash (pertembungan). If that happens, it is for the better," he told a press conference in the Parliament lobby.
Ibrahim, the Independent MP for Pasir Mas, said Perkasa will march against the Bersih 2.0 demonstrators to show that not all Malaysians agree with the latter's claims about 'dirty' elections.
He also stressed that his NGO is acting in the interests of democracy. [Source: Malaysiakini]
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| The Evil Empire strikes back! |
ISA all Opposition & Civil Liberties Leaders?
Declare Martial Law?
Do another May 13 just like daddy?
WHEN IT'S TIME TO GO.... IT'S TIME TO GO!
Lynas: Piling abuse on top of abuse
LET'S STOP THIS BLOODY NONSENSE
ONCE AND FOR ALL!
GET RID OF BN!
Friday, June 10, 2011
A false tale of racial strife and resentment
Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah gave a talk last month at the Malaysian Students Union in the U.K. It was a level-headed, eloquent and emininently sensible speech. It is indeed unfortunate that Ku Li persists in his unreasonable belief that BN can reform itself. If BN had 50 more leaders of Ku Li's caliber, perhaps....
Thank you for inviting me to speak with you. I am truly honoured. I have played some small role in the life of this nation, but having been on the wrong side of one or two political fights with the powers that be, I am not as close to the young people of this country as I would hope to be.
History, and the 8 o’clock news, are written by the victors. In recent years the government’s monopoly of the media has been destroyed by the technology revolution.
You could say I was also a member of the UKEC. Well I was, except that belonged to the predecessor of the UKEC by more than fifty years, The Malayan Students Union of the UK and Eire. I led this organisation in 1958/59. I was then a student of Queen’s University at Belfast, in a rather cooler climate than Kota Bharu’s.
Your invitation to participate in the MSLS was prefaced by an essay which calls for an intellectually informed activism. I congratulate you on this. The Youth of today, you note, “will chart the future of Malaysia.” You say you “no longer want to be ignored and leave the future of our Malaysia at the hands of the current generation.” You “want to grab the bull by the horns... and have a say in where we go as a society and as a nation.”I feel the same, actually. A lot of Malaysians feel the same. They are tired of being ignored and talked down to by swaggering mediocrities.
You are right. The present generation in power has let Malaysia down.
But also you cite two things as testimony of the importance of youth and of student activism to this country, the election results of 2008 and “the Prime Minister’s acknowledgement of the role of youth in the development of the country.”
So perhaps you are a little way yet from thinking for yourselves. The first step in “grabbing the bull by the horns” is not to required the endorsement of the Prime Minister, or any Minister, for your activism.
Politicians are not your parents. They are your servants. You don’t need a government slogan coined by a foreign PR agency to wrap your project in. You just go ahead and do it.
When I was a student our newly formed country was already a leader in the postcolonial world. We were sought out as a leader in the Afro-Asian Conference which inaugurated the Non-Aligned Movement and the G-77. The Afro-Asian movement was led by such luminaries as Zhou En-lai, Nehru, Kwame Nkrumah, Soekarno. Malaysians were seen as moderate leaders capable of mediating between these more radical leaders and the West. We were known for our moderation, good sense and reliability.
We were a leader in the Islamic world as ourselves and as we were, without our leaders having to put up false displays of piety. His memory has been scrubbed out quite systematically from our national consciousness, so you might not know this or much else about him, but it was Tengku Abdul Rahman who established our leadership in the Islamic world by coming up with the idea of the OIC and making it happen.
Under his leadership Malaysia led the way in taking up the anti-apartheid cause in the Commonwealth and in the United Nations, resulting in South Africa’s expulsion from these bodies.
Here was a man at ease with himself, made it a policy goal that Malaysia be “a happy country”. He loved sport and encouraged sporting achievement among Malaysians. He was owner of many a fine race horse.
He called a press conference and had a beer with his stewards when his horse won at the Melbourne Cup. He had nothing to hide because his great integrity in service was clear to all. Now we have religious and moral hypocrites who cheat, lie and steal in office but never have a drink, who propagate an ideologically shackled education system for all Malaysians while they send their own kids to elite academies in the West.
Speaking of football. You’re too young to have experienced the Merdeka Cup, which Tunku started. We had a respectable side in the sixties and seventies. Teams from across Asia would come to play in Kuala Lumpur. Teams such as South Korea and Japan, whom we defeated routinely. We were one of the better sides in Asia. We won the Bronze medal at the Asian games in 1974 and qualified for the Moscow Olympics in 1980. Today our FIFA ranking is 157 out of 203 countries. That puts us in the lowest quartile, below Maldives (149), the smallest country in Asia, with just 400,000 people living about 1.5 metres above sea level who have to worry that their country may soon be swallowed up by climate change. Here in ASEAN we are behind Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, whom we used to dominate, and our one spot above basketball-playing Philippines.
The captain of our illustrious 1970’s side was Soh Chin Aun. Arumugam, Isa Bakar, Santokh Singh, James Wong and Mokhtar Dahari were heroes whose names rolled off the tongues of our schoolchildren as they copied them on the school field. It wasn’t about being the best in the world, but about being passionate and united and devoted to the game.
It was the same in Badminton, except at one time we were the best in the world. I remember Wong Peng Soon, the first Asian to win the All-England Championship, and then just dominated it throughout the 1950. Back home every kid who played badminton in every little kampong wanted to call himself Wong Peng Soon. There was no tinge of anybody identifying themselves exclusively as Chinese, Malays, Indian. Peng Soon was a Malaysian hero. Just like each of our football heroes. Now we do not have an iota of that feeling. Where has it all gone?
I don’t think it’s mere nostalgia that that makes us think there was a time when the sun shone more brightly upon Malaysia. I bring up sport because it has been a mirror of our more general performance as nation. When we were at ease with who we were and didn’t need slogans to do our best together, we did well. When race and money entered our game, we declined. The same applies to our political and economic life
Soon after independence we were already a highly successful developing country. We had begun the infrastructure building and diversification of our economy that would be the foundation for further growth. We carried out an import-substitution programme that stimulated local productive capacity. From there we started an infrastructure buildup which enabled a diversification of the economy leading to rapid industrialisation. We carried out effective programmes to raise rural income and help with landless with programmes such as FELDA. Our achievements in achieving growth with equity were recognised around the world. We were ahead of Our peer group in economic development were South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan, and we led the pack. I remember we used to send technical consultants to advise the South Koreans.
By the lates nineties, however, we had fallen far behind this group and were competing with Thailand and Indonesia. Today, according to the latest World Investment Report, FDI into Malaysia is at about a twenty year low. We are entering the peer group of Cambodia, Myanmar and the Philippines as an investment destination. Thailand, despite a month long siege of the capital, attracted more FDI than we did last year. Indonesia and Vietnam far outperform us, not as a statistical blip but consistently. Soon we shall have difficulty keeping up with The Philippines. This, I believe, is called relegation. If we take into account FDI outflow, the picture is even more interesting. Last year we received US$1.38 billion (RM4.40 billion) in investments but US$ 8.04 billion flowed out. We are the only country in Southeast Asia which has suffered nett FDI outflow. I am not against outward investment. It can be a good thing for the country. But an imbalance on this scale indicates capital flight, not mere investment overseas.
Without a doubt, Malaysia is slipping. Billions have been looted from this country, and billions more are being siphoned out as our entire political structure crumbles. Yet we are gathered here in comfort, in a country that still seems to ‘work.’ Most of the time. This is due less to good management than to the extraordinary wealth of this country. You were born into a country of immense resources both natural and cultural and social. We have been wearing down this advantage with mismanagement and corruption. With lies, tall tales and theft. We have a political class unwilling or unable to address the central issue of the day because they have grown fat and comfortable with a system built on lies and theft. It is easy to fall into the lull caused by the combination of whatever wealth has not been plundered and removed and political class that lives in a bubble of sycophancy.
I urge you not to fall into that complacency. It is time to wake up. That waking up can begin here, right here, at this conference. Not tomorrow or the day after but today. So let me, as I have the honour of opening this conference, suggest the following:
Overcome the urge to have our hopes for the future endorsed by the Prime Minister. He will have retired, and I’ll be long gone when your future arrives. The shape of your future is being determined now.
Resist the temptation to say “in line with” when we do something. Your projects, believe it or not, don’t have to be in line with any government campaign for them to be meaningful. You don’t need to polish anyone’s apple. Just get on with what you plan to do.
Do not put a lid on certain issues as “sensitive” because someone said they are. Or it is against the Social Contract. Or it is “politicisation”. You don’t need to have your conversation delimited by the hyper-sensitive among us. Sensitivity is often a club people use to hit each other with. Reasoned discussion of contentious issues builds understanding and trust. Test this idea.
It’s not “uber-liberal” to ask for an end to having politics, economic policy, education policy and everything and the kitchen sink determined by race. It’s called growing up. Go look up “liberal” in a dictionary.
Please resist the temptation to say Salam 1Malaysia, or Salam Vision 2020 or Salam Malaysia Boleh, or anything like that. Not even when you are reading the news. It’s embarrassing. I think it’s OK to say plain old salam the way the Holy Prophet did, wishing peace unto all humanity. You say you want to “promote intellectual discourse.” I take that to mean you want to have reasonable, thought-through and critical discussions, and slogans are the enemy of thought. Banish them.
Don’t let the politicians you have invited here talk down to you.
Don’t let them tell you how bright and “exuberant” you are, that you are the future of the nation, etc. If you close your eyes and flow with their flattery you have safely joined the caravan, a caravan taking the nation down a sink hole. If they tell you the future is in your hands kindly request that they hand that future over first. Ask them how come the youngest member of our cabinet is 45 and is full of discredited hacks? Our Merdeka cabinet had an average age below thirty. You’re not the first generation to be bright. Mine wasn’t too stupid. But you could be the first generation of students and young graduates in fifty years to push this nation through a major transformation. And it is a transformation we need desperately.
You will be told that much is expected of you, much has been given to you, and so forth. This is all true. Actually much has also been stolen from you. Over the last twenty five years, much of the immense wealth generated by our productive people and our vast resources has been looted. This was supposed to have been your patrimony. The uncomplicated sense of belonging fully, wholeheartedly, unreservedly, to this country, in all it diversity, that has been taken from you.
Our sense of ourselves as Malaysians, a free and united people, has been replaced by a tale of racial strife and resentment that continues to haunt us. The thing is, this tale is false.
The most precious thing you have been deprived of has been your history. Someone of my generation finds it hard to describe what must seem like a completely different country to you now. Malaysia was not born in strife but in unity. Our independence was achieved through a demonstration of unity by the people in supporting a multiracial government led by Tengku Abdul Rahman. That show of unity, demonstrated first through the municipal elections of 1952 and then through the Alliance’s landslide victory in the elections of 1955, showed that the people of Malaya were united in wanting their freedom.
We surprised the British, who thought we could not do this.
Today we are no longer as united as we were then. We are also less free. I don’t think this is a coincidence. It takes free people to have the psychological strength to overcome the confines of a racialised worldview. It takes free people to overcome those politicians bent on hanging on to power gained by racialising every feature of our life including our football teams.
Hence while you are at this conference, let me argue, that as an absolute minimum, we should call for the repeal of unjust and much abused Acts which are reversals of freedoms that we won at Merdeka.
I ask you in joining me in calling for the repeal of the ISA and the OSA. These draconian laws have been used, more often than not, as political tools rather than instruments of national security. They create a climate of fear. These days there is a trend among right wing nationalist groups to identify the ISA with the defence of Malay rights. This is a self-inflicted insult on Malay rights. As if our Constitutional protections needed draconian laws to enforce them. I wish they were as zealous in defending our right not to be robbed by a corrupt ruling elite. We don’t seem to be applying the law of the land there, let alone the ISA.
I ask you to join me in calling for the repeal of the Printing and Publications Act, and above all, the Universities and Colleges Act. I don’t see how you can pursue your student activism with such freedom and support in the UK and Eire while forgetting that your brethren at home are deprived of their basic rights of association and expression by the UCA. The UCA has done immense harm in dumbing down our universities.
We must have freedom as guaranteed under our Constitution. Freedom to assemble, associate, speak, write, move. This is basic. Even on matters of race and even on religious matters we should be able to speak freely, and we shall educate each other.
It is time to realise the dream of Dato’ Onn and the spirit of the Alliance, of Tunku Abdul Rahman. That dream was one of unity and a single Malaysian people. They went as far as they could with it in their time. Instead of taking on the torch we have reversed course. The next step for us as a country is to move beyond the infancy of race-based parties to a non-racial party system. Our race-based party system is the key political reason why we are a sick country, declining before our own eyes, with money fleeing and people telling their children not to come home after their studies.
So let us try to take 1Malaysia seriously. Millions have been spent putting up billboards and adding the term to every conceivable thing. We even have cuti-cuti 1Malaysia. Can’t take a normal holiday anymore.
This is all fine. Now let us see if it means anything. Let us see the Government of the day lead by example. 1 Malaysia is empty because it is propagated by a Government that promotes the racially-based party system that is the chief cause of our inability to grow up in our race relations. Our inability to grow up in our race relations is the chief reason why investors, and we ourselves, no longer have confidence in our economy. The reasons why we are behind Maldives in football, and behind the Philippines in FDI, are linked.
So let us take 1Malaysia seriously, and convert Barisan Nasional into a party open to all citizens. Let it be a multiracial party open to direct membership. PR will be forced to do the same or be left behind the times. Then we shall have the vehicles for a two party, non-race-based system.
If Umno, MIC or MCA are afraid of losing supporters, let them get their members to join this new multiracial party. PR should do the same. Nobody need feel left out. Umno members can join en masse. The Hainanese Kopitiam Association can join whichever party they want, or both parties en masse if they like. We can maintain our cherished civil associations, however we choose to associate. But we drop all communalism when we compete for the ballot. When our candidates stand for Elections, let them ever after stand only as Malaysians, better or worse.
 |
| Minaq Jinggo |
History, and the 8 o’clock news, are written by the victors. In recent years the government’s monopoly of the media has been destroyed by the technology revolution.
You could say I was also a member of the UKEC. Well I was, except that belonged to the predecessor of the UKEC by more than fifty years, The Malayan Students Union of the UK and Eire. I led this organisation in 1958/59. I was then a student of Queen’s University at Belfast, in a rather cooler climate than Kota Bharu’s.
Your invitation to participate in the MSLS was prefaced by an essay which calls for an intellectually informed activism. I congratulate you on this. The Youth of today, you note, “will chart the future of Malaysia.” You say you “no longer want to be ignored and leave the future of our Malaysia at the hands of the current generation.” You “want to grab the bull by the horns... and have a say in where we go as a society and as a nation.”I feel the same, actually. A lot of Malaysians feel the same. They are tired of being ignored and talked down to by swaggering mediocrities.
But also you cite two things as testimony of the importance of youth and of student activism to this country, the election results of 2008 and “the Prime Minister’s acknowledgement of the role of youth in the development of the country.”
So perhaps you are a little way yet from thinking for yourselves. The first step in “grabbing the bull by the horns” is not to required the endorsement of the Prime Minister, or any Minister, for your activism.
Politicians are not your parents. They are your servants. You don’t need a government slogan coined by a foreign PR agency to wrap your project in. You just go ahead and do it.
When I was a student our newly formed country was already a leader in the postcolonial world. We were sought out as a leader in the Afro-Asian Conference which inaugurated the Non-Aligned Movement and the G-77. The Afro-Asian movement was led by such luminaries as Zhou En-lai, Nehru, Kwame Nkrumah, Soekarno. Malaysians were seen as moderate leaders capable of mediating between these more radical leaders and the West. We were known for our moderation, good sense and reliability.
We were a leader in the Islamic world as ourselves and as we were, without our leaders having to put up false displays of piety. His memory has been scrubbed out quite systematically from our national consciousness, so you might not know this or much else about him, but it was Tengku Abdul Rahman who established our leadership in the Islamic world by coming up with the idea of the OIC and making it happen.
Under his leadership Malaysia led the way in taking up the anti-apartheid cause in the Commonwealth and in the United Nations, resulting in South Africa’s expulsion from these bodies.
Here was a man at ease with himself, made it a policy goal that Malaysia be “a happy country”. He loved sport and encouraged sporting achievement among Malaysians. He was owner of many a fine race horse.
He called a press conference and had a beer with his stewards when his horse won at the Melbourne Cup. He had nothing to hide because his great integrity in service was clear to all. Now we have religious and moral hypocrites who cheat, lie and steal in office but never have a drink, who propagate an ideologically shackled education system for all Malaysians while they send their own kids to elite academies in the West.
Speaking of football. You’re too young to have experienced the Merdeka Cup, which Tunku started. We had a respectable side in the sixties and seventies. Teams from across Asia would come to play in Kuala Lumpur. Teams such as South Korea and Japan, whom we defeated routinely. We were one of the better sides in Asia. We won the Bronze medal at the Asian games in 1974 and qualified for the Moscow Olympics in 1980. Today our FIFA ranking is 157 out of 203 countries. That puts us in the lowest quartile, below Maldives (149), the smallest country in Asia, with just 400,000 people living about 1.5 metres above sea level who have to worry that their country may soon be swallowed up by climate change. Here in ASEAN we are behind Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, whom we used to dominate, and our one spot above basketball-playing Philippines.
The captain of our illustrious 1970’s side was Soh Chin Aun. Arumugam, Isa Bakar, Santokh Singh, James Wong and Mokhtar Dahari were heroes whose names rolled off the tongues of our schoolchildren as they copied them on the school field. It wasn’t about being the best in the world, but about being passionate and united and devoted to the game.
It was the same in Badminton, except at one time we were the best in the world. I remember Wong Peng Soon, the first Asian to win the All-England Championship, and then just dominated it throughout the 1950. Back home every kid who played badminton in every little kampong wanted to call himself Wong Peng Soon. There was no tinge of anybody identifying themselves exclusively as Chinese, Malays, Indian. Peng Soon was a Malaysian hero. Just like each of our football heroes. Now we do not have an iota of that feeling. Where has it all gone?
I don’t think it’s mere nostalgia that that makes us think there was a time when the sun shone more brightly upon Malaysia. I bring up sport because it has been a mirror of our more general performance as nation. When we were at ease with who we were and didn’t need slogans to do our best together, we did well. When race and money entered our game, we declined. The same applies to our political and economic life
By the lates nineties, however, we had fallen far behind this group and were competing with Thailand and Indonesia. Today, according to the latest World Investment Report, FDI into Malaysia is at about a twenty year low. We are entering the peer group of Cambodia, Myanmar and the Philippines as an investment destination. Thailand, despite a month long siege of the capital, attracted more FDI than we did last year. Indonesia and Vietnam far outperform us, not as a statistical blip but consistently. Soon we shall have difficulty keeping up with The Philippines. This, I believe, is called relegation. If we take into account FDI outflow, the picture is even more interesting. Last year we received US$1.38 billion (RM4.40 billion) in investments but US$ 8.04 billion flowed out. We are the only country in Southeast Asia which has suffered nett FDI outflow. I am not against outward investment. It can be a good thing for the country. But an imbalance on this scale indicates capital flight, not mere investment overseas.
Without a doubt, Malaysia is slipping. Billions have been looted from this country, and billions more are being siphoned out as our entire political structure crumbles. Yet we are gathered here in comfort, in a country that still seems to ‘work.’ Most of the time. This is due less to good management than to the extraordinary wealth of this country. You were born into a country of immense resources both natural and cultural and social. We have been wearing down this advantage with mismanagement and corruption. With lies, tall tales and theft. We have a political class unwilling or unable to address the central issue of the day because they have grown fat and comfortable with a system built on lies and theft. It is easy to fall into the lull caused by the combination of whatever wealth has not been plundered and removed and political class that lives in a bubble of sycophancy.
I urge you not to fall into that complacency. It is time to wake up. That waking up can begin here, right here, at this conference. Not tomorrow or the day after but today. So let me, as I have the honour of opening this conference, suggest the following:
Overcome the urge to have our hopes for the future endorsed by the Prime Minister. He will have retired, and I’ll be long gone when your future arrives. The shape of your future is being determined now.
Resist the temptation to say “in line with” when we do something. Your projects, believe it or not, don’t have to be in line with any government campaign for them to be meaningful. You don’t need to polish anyone’s apple. Just get on with what you plan to do.
Do not put a lid on certain issues as “sensitive” because someone said they are. Or it is against the Social Contract. Or it is “politicisation”. You don’t need to have your conversation delimited by the hyper-sensitive among us. Sensitivity is often a club people use to hit each other with. Reasoned discussion of contentious issues builds understanding and trust. Test this idea.
It’s not “uber-liberal” to ask for an end to having politics, economic policy, education policy and everything and the kitchen sink determined by race. It’s called growing up. Go look up “liberal” in a dictionary.
Please resist the temptation to say Salam 1Malaysia, or Salam Vision 2020 or Salam Malaysia Boleh, or anything like that. Not even when you are reading the news. It’s embarrassing. I think it’s OK to say plain old salam the way the Holy Prophet did, wishing peace unto all humanity. You say you want to “promote intellectual discourse.” I take that to mean you want to have reasonable, thought-through and critical discussions, and slogans are the enemy of thought. Banish them.
Don’t let the politicians you have invited here talk down to you.
Don’t let them tell you how bright and “exuberant” you are, that you are the future of the nation, etc. If you close your eyes and flow with their flattery you have safely joined the caravan, a caravan taking the nation down a sink hole. If they tell you the future is in your hands kindly request that they hand that future over first. Ask them how come the youngest member of our cabinet is 45 and is full of discredited hacks? Our Merdeka cabinet had an average age below thirty. You’re not the first generation to be bright. Mine wasn’t too stupid. But you could be the first generation of students and young graduates in fifty years to push this nation through a major transformation. And it is a transformation we need desperately.
You will be told that much is expected of you, much has been given to you, and so forth. This is all true. Actually much has also been stolen from you. Over the last twenty five years, much of the immense wealth generated by our productive people and our vast resources has been looted. This was supposed to have been your patrimony. The uncomplicated sense of belonging fully, wholeheartedly, unreservedly, to this country, in all it diversity, that has been taken from you.
Our sense of ourselves as Malaysians, a free and united people, has been replaced by a tale of racial strife and resentment that continues to haunt us. The thing is, this tale is false.
The most precious thing you have been deprived of has been your history. Someone of my generation finds it hard to describe what must seem like a completely different country to you now. Malaysia was not born in strife but in unity. Our independence was achieved through a demonstration of unity by the people in supporting a multiracial government led by Tengku Abdul Rahman. That show of unity, demonstrated first through the municipal elections of 1952 and then through the Alliance’s landslide victory in the elections of 1955, showed that the people of Malaya were united in wanting their freedom.
We surprised the British, who thought we could not do this.
Today we are no longer as united as we were then. We are also less free. I don’t think this is a coincidence. It takes free people to have the psychological strength to overcome the confines of a racialised worldview. It takes free people to overcome those politicians bent on hanging on to power gained by racialising every feature of our life including our football teams.
Hence while you are at this conference, let me argue, that as an absolute minimum, we should call for the repeal of unjust and much abused Acts which are reversals of freedoms that we won at Merdeka.
I ask you in joining me in calling for the repeal of the ISA and the OSA. These draconian laws have been used, more often than not, as political tools rather than instruments of national security. They create a climate of fear. These days there is a trend among right wing nationalist groups to identify the ISA with the defence of Malay rights. This is a self-inflicted insult on Malay rights. As if our Constitutional protections needed draconian laws to enforce them. I wish they were as zealous in defending our right not to be robbed by a corrupt ruling elite. We don’t seem to be applying the law of the land there, let alone the ISA.
I ask you to join me in calling for the repeal of the Printing and Publications Act, and above all, the Universities and Colleges Act. I don’t see how you can pursue your student activism with such freedom and support in the UK and Eire while forgetting that your brethren at home are deprived of their basic rights of association and expression by the UCA. The UCA has done immense harm in dumbing down our universities.
We must have freedom as guaranteed under our Constitution. Freedom to assemble, associate, speak, write, move. This is basic. Even on matters of race and even on religious matters we should be able to speak freely, and we shall educate each other.
It is time to realise the dream of Dato’ Onn and the spirit of the Alliance, of Tunku Abdul Rahman. That dream was one of unity and a single Malaysian people. They went as far as they could with it in their time. Instead of taking on the torch we have reversed course. The next step for us as a country is to move beyond the infancy of race-based parties to a non-racial party system. Our race-based party system is the key political reason why we are a sick country, declining before our own eyes, with money fleeing and people telling their children not to come home after their studies.
So let us try to take 1Malaysia seriously. Millions have been spent putting up billboards and adding the term to every conceivable thing. We even have cuti-cuti 1Malaysia. Can’t take a normal holiday anymore.
This is all fine. Now let us see if it means anything. Let us see the Government of the day lead by example. 1 Malaysia is empty because it is propagated by a Government that promotes the racially-based party system that is the chief cause of our inability to grow up in our race relations. Our inability to grow up in our race relations is the chief reason why investors, and we ourselves, no longer have confidence in our economy. The reasons why we are behind Maldives in football, and behind the Philippines in FDI, are linked.
So let us take 1Malaysia seriously, and convert Barisan Nasional into a party open to all citizens. Let it be a multiracial party open to direct membership. PR will be forced to do the same or be left behind the times. Then we shall have the vehicles for a two party, non-race-based system.
If Umno, MIC or MCA are afraid of losing supporters, let them get their members to join this new multiracial party. PR should do the same. Nobody need feel left out. Umno members can join en masse. The Hainanese Kopitiam Association can join whichever party they want, or both parties en masse if they like. We can maintain our cherished civil associations, however we choose to associate. But we drop all communalism when we compete for the ballot. When our candidates stand for Elections, let them ever after stand only as Malaysians, better or worse.
Monday, June 6, 2011
THE LAST UMNO CRIME MINISTER
This brilliant essay by M. Bakri Musa was first published 12 April 2009. Now is as good a time as any to re-read it!
By M. Bakri Musa
12 April 2009
Newly-sworn-in Prime Minister Najib Razak created a buzz when he released 13 prisoners detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) and lifted the ban on Harakah and Suara Keadilan, publications of the opposition parties. He also promised “a comprehensive review” of the ISA, a statute long abused to silence the government’s critics. Malaysians long yearning for a change applauded him. There were skeptics, of course.
Najib is the obedient first son, the loyal subordinate, and the traditionalist aristocrat. He even inherited his father’s ancient tribal title, Orang Kaya Indera Shahbandar! How quaint in this 21st Century! His career path has been straight and narrow, on a track that had been conveniently laid down for him by others who felt indebted or grateful to his illustrious father.
I am particularly concerned with the choice of his deputy. Did Najib have a private session with Muhyiddin before selecting him? Nowhere is it written that UMNO Deputy President should also be the Deputy Prime Minister. Najib is trapped by tradition.
By M. Bakri Musa12 April 2009
Newly-sworn-in Prime Minister Najib Razak created a buzz when he released 13 prisoners detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) and lifted the ban on Harakah and Suara Keadilan, publications of the opposition parties. He also promised “a comprehensive review” of the ISA, a statute long abused to silence the government’s critics. Malaysians long yearning for a change applauded him. There were skeptics, of course.
Alas that was last week. This week the hopes of those citizens were cruelly crushed when they saw the real Najib with the announcement of his new cabinet. Far from being a team that would wow Malaysians, Najib’s cabinet was, as Tunku Aziz put it, “a team of recycled political expendables.” And a bloated one at that!
The skeptics were right; Najib’s earlier act was nothing but a big and cruel tease.
This roster of “political expendables” was the best that the man could offer, from a leader who only a week earlier warned his party that it should “change or be changed.” When given the ultimate freedom to choose his own team, Najib stuck to the tried and true, or what he thought to be so. So this was Najib’s brave version of “Berani Berubah!” (Dare to Change!).
Najib is incapable of change; there is nothing in him to suggest otherwise. He could not even recognize the need for one, much less respond to it. Change would be totally out of character for the man. Far from welcoming or be invigorated by it, change would threaten him.
Unfortunately for Najib, Malaysia has changed. Incapable of change, he is doomed to be changed come the next general elections, from Prime Minister to Leader of the Opposition. He will be our shortest serving chief executive, our Gerald Ford. Ford was the unelected American President who assumed office following Nixon’s forced resignation over the Watergate scandal. Like Ford, Najib too was not elected to the highest office. Ford was subsequently rejected by voters; the same fate awaits Najib.
For Malaysia, that would truly be a wasted decade, with the first half already being squandered by Najib’s predecessor, Abdullah Badawi.
The True Najib
Najib is the obedient first son, the loyal subordinate, and the traditionalist aristocrat. He even inherited his father’s ancient tribal title, Orang Kaya Indera Shahbandar! How quaint in this 21st Century! His career path has been straight and narrow, on a track that had been conveniently laid down for him by others who felt indebted or grateful to his illustrious father.Najib has never shown a talent for striking new paths. Even his ascendance to the Prime Minister’s office was paved by others, in particular Tun Mahathir and Muhyiddin Yassin. Najib must remember that a favor offered is a favor owed.
Just as he was the obedient son, Najib was also the dutiful and loyal subordinate. His blind obedience to Abdullah Badawi drew the wrath of Tun Mahathir. As for experience, Najib has been dependent on paychecks from the public purse all his adult life. He never had to meet a payroll; he has no idea of the trials and challenges of that endeavor; nor does he appreciate the sense of accomplishments and independence of those who have.
This is not the profile of a leader capable of making radical changes that Malaysia so desperately needs now.
Unfortunately the track Najib is on now ends at his office. Ahead, for him and the nation, is uncharted territory, with steep hills to climb and wide canyons to traverse. Turning back is not an option, as that path so carefully crafted by earlier leaders is now destroyed for lack of maintenance and prudent use.
That Najib is now portrayed as an agent for change is more a tribute to his highly-paid public relations operatives and the all-too-eager-to-please toadies in the mainstream media. However, you can peddle a dud only for so long; sooner or later the ugly reality will emerge and the bubble burst.
When that inevitability happens, beware! Voters react with vengeance when they feel that they have been hoodwinked by their leaders. Ask Najib’s immediate predecessor, Abdullah. The by-election results since the last general elections are portends for Najib and his party.
Totally Inept and Inadequately Prepared
Najib assembled his cabinet only last week. Even then he spent that limited time talking with leaders of his Barisan coalition instead of with potential candidates. He is clearly being negligent. He knew he will be Prime Minster months ago; he should have been interviewing and short-listing candidates all along. Being unopposed as president of UMNO and thus freed from having to campaign, he had plenty of time to preview his choices prior to last week.
I am particularly concerned with the choice of his deputy. Did Najib have a private session with Muhyiddin before selecting him? Nowhere is it written that UMNO Deputy President should also be the Deputy Prime Minister. Najib is trapped by tradition.Najib should have done a “Khairy Jamaluddin” on Muhyiddin, that is, keep him out of the cabinet and make him focus on rebuilding the party. God knows, UMNO needs intensive rehabilitation as much as its Youth wing, if not more so. Dispensing with Muhyyudin would strengthen Najib’s image as a reformer, quite apart from taking the sting out of having singly excluded Khairy from the cabinet.
Najib gave the very important Education portfolio to Muhyiddin. Is Najib assured that Muhyiddin agrees with him on the major policy issues, in particular the highly contentious matter of continuing the teaching of science and mathematics in English? Muhyiddin is unusually quiet on this.
It is equally hard to be enthusiastic on the rest of Najib’s team. This is what happens when you choose your cabinet based on pleasing others, especially those whom you owe favors. Najib struggled to get his team, just like Abdullah and Mahathir before him. Like them, he too found the pickings slim as he fished only in the same polluted and shallow puddle of UMNO and Barisan. He did not have the courage to venture beyond.
Najib unwittingly revealed much in his first few days as Prime Minister. Thanks to his PR team, Najib managed to sound very positive, at with his promise of “a comprehensive review” of the ISA. That sent orgies of praise for the man in the mainstream media and elsewhere. The more perceptive (or skeptical) would note that he specifically did not mention anything about repealing it.
Then there was his announcement on the release of the 13 ISA prisoners “with immediate effect.” In Najib’s lexicon, “with immediate effect” means at least three days later! This shows how much he is in tune with the actual workings of the civil service.
If I had been Najib’s communications director, this is what I would have done. Knowing how easily our civil servants could screw things up, I would first check with the Home Ministry, specifically the Chief of Police and Prison Director, to arrange for the release of the prisoners.Send them to the nearby rest house at government expense if their families were not yet ready to receive them. I would then alert television stations and other news media so they would be there to cover it.
Only after assuring myself that all those meticulous preparations are in place would I have Najib make his announcement. Imagine the dramatic impact when the split screen on the nation’s television screens would also show the prisoners being released as he made the announcement.It would also showcase the crispness of Najib’s new administration. Had he done so, he would have been spared the embarrassment of his orders being delayed for days because of – you guessed it! – paperwork!
On the day Najib announced his new cabinet, the judge in the long running Mongolian model murder trial rendered his judgment. Najib had been trying hard to ignore the grisly tragedy, but it kept cropping up at the most inopportune times. His strategy is to stonewall, banking that the success of his policies would make citizens forget the gruesome crime.
Najib is gravely mistaken in this. Even if his ethics were beyond reproach, Najib would find his policies a tough sell. Conversely, if he could clear up those sordid allegations (assuming of course he is innocent, a huge supposition) he would find that with his personal credibility now enhanced, the public would more likely buy into his policies. Stonewalling is no strategy.
As it now stands, Najib is doomed to be the last UMNO Prime Minister. He will not be even a “one-termer.” He will go down in history as our shortest-serving Prime Minister. Worse, it will be recorded for posterity that he was the Malay leader who brought down a once glorious organization, UMNO, an institution his late father was so instrumental in setting up. All destroyed in just two generations; the first to build it, the second to destroy. Truly a very Malay story!
For those who warmly applauded Najib on his first few days in office thinking that his was the dawn of a new day for the nation, I hope they would translate their disappointment into effective action. Deliver to Najib his own KPI (Key Performance Index) at the next general elections. It will be less than four years away; plenty of time to lay and grease the track for Najib’s (and UMNO’s) exit.
M. Bakri Musa © 2009
Huh? Naif Ton Rasa?
Bernama Press Release dated 9 April 2009
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