My Invitation to the Oxford Roundtable

My invitation to The Oxford Roundtable

Azly Rahman

I received an invitation to be a member/participant of a roundtable on cultural diversity held at Britain’s oldest institution of higher education, Oxford University. I was nominated to be part of the group of selected 40 individuals from the American higher education system who will be discussing issues of race, ethnicity, poverty and religious intolerance in this hundreds of-years-old institution that has produced important Western scientists, philosophers, inventors and religious leaders.

I wish to thank that person/institution that nominated me. Through a series of notes I wish to share my thought on what I learned from the experience. I will also share visual data of what I will manage to capture. Here are some thoughts I will be bringing to the institution that symbolizes the intellectual epicenter of the British Empire.

Culture and transformation

I will be presenting thoughts on the idea of cultural change as it is impacted by globalisation and the rapidisation of technology. “Culture” has become an important debate in an age wherein boundaries continue to shift and peoples began to claim their rights as citizens of the country they are in, and the meaning of democracy is beginning to be understood. Culture, to me is not merely about the house we inhabit or merely the tools we use, but a combination of both and more than this, it is about the way we enrich the sense of humanism we embody.

I am reminded by what the Spanish philosopher Ortega y Gasset said, “Man does not have nature…  what he has is history.” This seems to be a notion of humanity worth exploring if our belief about human evolution takes into consideration how human beings take what is available from nature and transform the resources into tools and institutions, and then turn institutions into tools that will transform human beings into classes of people who have the power to turn less powerful others into machines or automatons who have lost their soul to the spirit of the machine.

One can also argue that the origin of domination of human beings over others comes not via the manifestation of “evil within” as theologians would argue, but also a consequence of enabling technologies that speed up the enabling of “evil within”. As in the case of slavery, it is not merely through “evil” that slavery was born but through human being’s control of knowledge and consciousness and the nature of how one defines each other. It is through the technology of “language” and the written and spoken word, and whoever has better control of these will determine the nature and nurturance of slavery. As Marx in his “deterministic way of analysing history” would argue, whoever controls the production of knowledge controls the means of controlling the consciousness of others.

One can also argue that all forms of slavery, whether ancient, modern, or postmodern have been made possible by the “evolution of institutions” that evolve out of “inscriptions”. This means that whoever authors the ideology that creates the Great Pyramids of Gizeh, The Great Wall of China, The Great States of Greece, Rome and London, authors the means of institutionalising people through these institutions. In Malaysia, the institutionalisation of The Great Johor Super Corridor, inscribed in the name of The Iskandar Development Region, is yet another form of postmodern institutionalisation of postmodern slavery mystified in the name of globalisation, free enterprise and liberal democracy, in which the profits will be siphoned out of Johor whereas the locals will become postmodern slaves happily made to believe that they will be producing for the glory of The Kingdom of Johor specifically, and the government of Islam Hadhari in general. The concept of ” hamba sahaya” is taking a semiotic turn.

One can see how much the stock markets of the world whether in London, New York, Tokyo or even Kuala Lumpur — as powerhouse institutions of corporate capitalist domination — continue to allow their players to bet on the lives of others and make the powerless of the world pawns in the precarious and pandemical game of postmodern matrix of global slavery, by the click of the mouse. These are, again, the nature of the rhythm of capitalism in synchrony with the tune of the velocity of money as it races up and down Wall Street. The “bloodsuckers amongst us”, as American profound revolutioner Malcolm X would say, called the capitalists, have been successful in leeching off the world’s poor through the control of language and the design of the architecture of financial power.

Race, ethnicity and capitalism

Is “race and ethnicity” an intellectual invention of capitalism? Is the concept of a plural society a successful leit motif of imperialism — one that masks the oppression of humanity? We need to explore these issues.

The British colonials used it successfully. They kept the Malays, Chinese, Indians, Iban, Kadazan and these people of distinct races apart to be controlled by their respective sultans, kapitans, batins and so forth, let them work in separate economies, and next install the “Residents” with a good grasp of the anthropology of the natives, and next siphon the wealth of these colonies so that the British kings, dukes, earls and whatever class of colonials can enrich their coffers and build beautiful palaces in Westminster drawn from the blood, sweat and tears of the natives.

By “preserving” the ethnicities of the people they oppress, the British blinded the people from looking at the reality of the condition — whether the reality was in Malaya, Burma, China, India, Ghana, Rhodesia or even colonial America.

Race and ethnicity, as I have argued in many of my writings, are construct and definable according to the progress of economic conditions. In America, the debate on race continues to be intense, as the cultural contradiction of capitalist America began to rear its ugly head; a debate that continues to intensify especially after the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s.

Capitalism is developing in newer forms, designed in new and improved versions, couched in scientific terms, and made to progress by more sophisticated theories of knowledge and applications of these, continue to mask the nature of human oppression on a global scale.

From Uganda to Malaysia, from Krakow to Kuala Nerang, from Pontianak to Pontian — we see nations, states and principalities being transformed by those who own the means to use “culture, race, and ethnicity” in conspiracy with technologies of domination.

We must, as a nation at risk, begin our debate on these matters — because we are seeing things falling apart before our eyes. The seeds of destruction have germinated.

Dr. Azly Rahman,

Educator & Adjunct Professor;

Foundations of Civilizations, Education, & Politics

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 7 April 2007, 9:49 am and is filed under
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Hoax of bomb hoax – 2 1/2 hr closure of Penang Bridge

Fuming emails by irate victims of the totally unnecessary
2 ½ hr Penang Bridge closure
 on Wednesday, not because of any bomb hoax but the unbelievable  ineptitude of Penang Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon and Penang Works and Publ.ic Utilities Exco Koay Kar Huah.

This is one such fuming email:

The real cause?

Perhaps Datuk Dr Lim KY is going to regret when he had chosen a “coward”/soft/stupid/impotent leader!

Malaysia is not USA, where Tom Dick & Harry can b president. Their Executive System is strong enough for any stupid leader to order any emergency, crisis or war. Here our executive just push up without serious assessment and analysis of the case, they just like to let “boss”/leader to make decision and get rid of responsibility! So who is to be blamed when rakyat is the ultimate loser, many Chinese who went back to Penang for cheng beng  were stranded and cannot get back to work in time, many missed their scheduled return trip, many were exhausted by the  traffic  jam and felt sick/fatigued. All in all just because somebody made an enquiry and the Police over reacted and CM making stupid decision without even using all available resources,  brain, consideration to verify the case first.

This is very dangerous if in future he were to be subject to false alarm and declare state of emergency and ppl will take advantage of his weakness and then create chaos when they want to . And now we saw that Penang CM was fooled by another hoax call!! It is due to his richman’s son background making him not a good leader!? He cannot afford to take risk and verify first b4 making decision and promote a “fear”/kiasi/kiasu culture to Penangites to follow. Ppl R so easy to fictitiously create rumour and spread fear, they falsely accuse ppl breeding aedes, breeding snakes and evil, so they can then make use of MPPP mechanism to help clean house as well as “clean” his “eye sore” which  he is jealous of but are  the property of other ppl.

Similarly,  ppl started to get fed up with CM’s soft leadership/kiasi leadership, so they create fear, and at the end the ordinary ppl

suffer, the bridge was closed for several hours just after office hour where ppl R rushing home! Why it is so simple for just a call on pretext of coming from Datuk Kuok ?

My sister suffered heart failure and my house was not installed with telephone, so I rushed to roadside phone booth and call for

ambulance, they take it easy and verify me by asking me my return phone number, when I cannot give one, they ignored me, I have to call several times and gave assurance , explanations and swear/beg to them , then they delay and passing one another and another until finally they sent one ambulance coming. But my sister already gasped her last breath. Maybe if I were to call CM, he may save my sister’s life?!!

There should be some sort of screening and verifying B4 decide to close the bridge, after all what is the probability of a real bomb or time bomb? and what damage will happen if it exploded? Was  CM justified to declare “emergency” and close the bridge? What happened if the sudden closure of the bridge may cause death such as heart attack, accident?

There must be some “check n balance” Tan Sri CM !!!

Backgrounder to the “hoax of the bomb hoax”  resulting in the 2 ½ hr closure of Penang Bridge and the traffic snarl-up for thousands for hours:

Thousands of Penangites were caught in a massive evening jam when the Penang Bridge was closed for more than two hours after police received a call that there was a bomb on the bridge.

Many motorists heading towards the bridge after work were caught unaware and found themselves in a traffic bottleneck at the Bayan Lepas coastal road leading to the bridge on the island and Seberang Jaya on the mainland.

The bridge was closed to traffic at 4.30pm and only reopened at 7pm.

Traffic had to be diverted to the ferry terminals on both the island and Butterworth, causing George Town and Butterworth town to be choked with cars and motorcycles.
(Star  5.4.07)

Fuming motorists were left stranded for more than three hours.

On the mainland, the traffic jam stretched all the way from the bridge area to the Nibong Tebal toll plaza.

The situation was not any better on the island, as motorists were caught in traffic jams on roads leading to the bridge, including the Jelutong Expressway, Jalan Masjid Negeri and Jalan Datuk Keramat.

The bridge closure also saw many motorists making their way to the ferry terminal to catch the ferry instead.

As a result, the normally smooth-flowing traffic to the ferry terminal on the island and mainland became congested.
(
New Straits Times 5.4.97
)

The supposed cause

Police at the state contingent headquarters operations room received a call saying that there was a bomb on the bridge.

George Town OCPD Asst Comm Azam Abd Hamid said police then alerted Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon and he gave the green light for the police to close the bridge.

“A six-man bomb squad was sent to the bridge immediately. They found a 0.3m-long, 10cm-diameter steel pipe,” ACP Azman later told a press conference at the Northern Region marine police base.

The pipe, he said, was found wedged in the divider at the 3.9km point of the bridge on the Butterworth-bound side.

“It was suspected that the steel pipe contained explosives. Not taking any risk, the squad detonated it at 6.45pm at the site,” said ACP Azam.
(Star 5.4.07)

The Real Reason (1)  –  No bomb just steel pipe!

It was not a bomb. Police have confirmed that the steel pipe found wedged in the Penang Bridge divider did not contain any explosives.

“We believe the pipe could be a kangaroo bar from a vehicle. We checked the remains after detonating the pipe and found there was no explosive material,” George Town OCPD Asst Comm Azam Abd Hamid said yesterday.
(Star 6.4.07)

The Real Reason (2) — ineptitude of Koh Tsu Koon and Koay Kar Huah

It has turned out that the phone call which led to the closure of the Penang Bridge came from State Works and Public Utilities Committee chairman Datuk Koay Kar Huah.

Koay yesterday admitted that he received a call from a friend who was stuck in a traffic jam enquiring if there was a bomb on the bridge.

“I got the call and instructed my staff to check and verify if it was true. They then called the Malaysian Highway Authority,” he said at a specially called Press conference by Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon.

Asked if that was all the information that led to a wild goose chase which inconvenienced thousands of people, Koh chipped in and defended the decision to close the bridge.

Koh said the decision was made at 4.30pm after police received a call that a bomb had been placed on the bridge.

“I acknowledge the closure of the bridge caused a serious jam which inconvenienced many people.

“However, the police did the right thing. We have to place safety over convenience when such a situation arises”…

Meanwhile, northeast district police chief ACP Azam Abd Hamid said the police operations room at the state police headquarters received a call at 4pm informing there was a bomb on the bridge. He said police traced the number to Koay’s office.

“However, we are not going to take his statement as we treated the bomb call as a genuine threat.”

State deputy police chief Datuk Othman Harun said police had classified the case as intent to cause fear or alarm to the public under Section 505 of the Penal Code.

Thousands of motorists were caught in a massive jam for hours on both sides of the Penang Bridge when it was closed to traffic.

The traffic jam stretched all the way to the Nibong Tebal toll plaza on the mainland while roads on the island leading to the bridge such as the Jelutong Expressway and Jalan Masjid Negeri were also chock-a-block with traffic.

The road was only reopened to traffic at 7pm after police detonated a steel pipe which did not contain any explosive device.
(NST 6/4/07)

Self-exculpation

State Works and Public Utilities Committee chairman Datuk Koay Kar Huah said the public should stop blaming him for the temporary closure of the Penang Bridge on Wednesday

His one phone call had snowballed into something that no one had expected.

“I only made one call and that was to enquire if there was a bomb on the bridge.

“I asked a Public Works Department senior officer to verify it with the relevant authorities as I was attending a meeting then.

“I thought I did the right thing and I feel I should not be blamed for making that call,” Koay said yesterday.

Koay made the call to the PWD senior officer following a phone call he received from a friend who was caught in a jam at the bridge.

His friend was informed by others there of the existence of a bomb.

Koay said at no time did he call the police asking them to close the Penang Bridge, which resulted in a massive traffic jam from 4.30pm to past 7pm on Wednesday.
(NST 7.4.07)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 8 April 2007, 4:00 pm and is filed under
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Looking For Some Jantans

Looking For Some Jantans

M. Bakri Musa

Saddam Hussein did not by himself destroy Iraq; likewise Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe.  These leaders did not become tyrants overnight.  They became monsters only because of the inactions and silence of their followers.  No one had the gumption to restrain them; there were no jantans (alpha males).

These leaders began with the best of intentions and noblest of motives.  The seed of their (and consequently also their country’s) destruction was sown when their early strays were not corrected.  The lack of jantans emboldened these leaders, enabling their suppressed evilness to surface.  Once they morphed into monsters, they could no longer be restrained; they simply devoured everything in their path.

In apportioning blame for the evils perpetrated by these monsters, the culpability of those “enablers” must also be properly accounted for. They too must be held responsible even though many have already paid dearly with their life.

Not Yet A Monster

Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi is not a tyrant or monster leader, not yet.  With no jantan in his cabinet and UMNO Supreme Council to restrain him, rest assured he will be, and soon.  In the short period since assuming leadership, he has demonstrated many disturbing traits.  He is increasingly intolerant of criticisms, self righteously dismissing his critics as engaging in fitnah, a particularly derisive term deep with religious connotations.

His campaign commitment to integrity was a cruel hoax perpetrated on the electorate.  He tolerated individuals with tainted reputation. Earlier there were Kasitah Gaddam and Isa Samad; today Deputy Minister Johari and ACA Director Zulkipli.  Under Abdullah, Malaysia has become even more corrupt.

Abdullah is ethically blind to the obscenely rapid accumulation of wealth by his family members.  We would gladly bask in the reflected racial glory had they acquired their wealth through business acumen or entrepreneurial flair.  Instead, they became fabulously wealthy only after Abdullah became Prime Minister, an ugly fact obvious to all except them.

When hundreds of thousands of our citizens were displaced because of massive floods in Johore, Abdullah saw fit to open his brother’s restaurant in Perth.  Such irresponsible and perverted sense of priority!

In all these lapses, there was nary a word of disapproval much less reprimand from the pundits, intellectuals, and editorial writers.  They were curiously silent, a tacit approval for such shenanigans.  We look forlornly for some jantan who could have taken the leadership to task.  Alas, there were none!  Instead we have kaki upahan (hired hands) galore.  The surprise is that they could be had so cheaply.

That Abdullah Badawi has not risen to his position is not the issue. He demonstrates the classic Peter Principle (of being promoted

beyond his competence level) long before becoming Prime Minister.

The nation should not be held captive to former Prime Minister Mahathir’s mistake in selecting Abdullah.  Abdullah’s 2004 landslide electoral victory should not be the excuse for tolerating his continued incompetence and sinister tendencies.  President Nixon’s evil character remained hidden right through his landslide re-election.  Only through the jantan in the person of the special prosecutor was Nixon finally exposed.

We should not let Abdullah interpret his massive electoral victory as a license for his (and his family’s) personal enrichment.  This seemingly religious man, with previously modest taste, has suddenly acquired a fondness for luxury yachts, executive jets, and opulent mansions.  To think that only a few years back when he was kicked out of the cabinet — and with that, out of his government-provided quarters — this “imam” could not even afford a house!  The man’s expensive taste is as recent as it is vulgar.

Thank God for Malaysians!

Fortunately Malaysia does not lack for jantans.  Our numbers may not be large enough to throw the rascal out in an election, but we do make our voices heard.

While mainstream editors are content with reprinting government press releases and reporting trivia like the Prime Minister getting yet another royal award, the real journalists and professionals have long abandoned the mainstream media.  Ahirudin Attan is now more influential with his Rocky’s Bru website than when he was with the Malay Mail. Steven Gan’s Malaysiakini has long been a staple for serious Malaysia observers.  Raja Petra Kamarudin’s Malaysia-Today.net regularly registers nearly two million hits daily.  None of the mainstream media could claim even a tiny fraction of that figure!

The alternative media’s success reflects the hunger Malaysians have for independent news and views.  It also reflects their contempt for the mainstream media.  Despite endless changes in format, editors, and management, the New Straits Times continues to decline, in quality and circulation.

A few jantans are also emerging in academia.  Law professor Azmi Sharom’s commentaries are a refreshing departure from the usual toadying pieces.  Attorney Malik Imtiaz bravely takes on the powerful religious establishment with his fearless defense of religious freedom.

Ordinary Malaysians too are asserting themselves.  Former Anti Corruption Agency official Ramli Manan already caused the non-renewal of his chief’s (Zulkifli) contract.  Ramli did what Abdullah Badawi could not — getting rid of Zulkifli.

In Parliament, jantans like Lim Kit Siang may not get satisfactory answers to his serious queries, but he successfully exposed the

stupidities of government ministers and backbenchers, as well as other hired hands.

Another ray of hope is emerging from the most unlikely source.  The Raja Muda of Perak spoke passionately on the importance of the rule of law and the supremacy of our constitution.  He declared that good and upright leadership must be demonstrated, and our nation’s problems must not simply be wished away.  In nation building, Raja Nazrin went on, enforced solutions must be avoided, and the political, social and economic incentives must reward good behaviors and penalize the bad.

He was addressing young Malaysians with those wise words.  Looks like our older leaders need to hear that same message loud and clear, now that they are becoming increasingly deaf, literally and metaphorically.

It is a supreme irony that while a generation ago it was the political leaders who bravely reined in the excesses of the sultans, today it is a Raja Muda who has subtly taken our political leaders to task.

Raja Nazrin as well as brave citizens like Ramli Manan give us hope. Their vigilance is the best guard against the development of our homegrown Saddam Husseins and Robert Mugabes.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 8 April 2007, 9:46 am and is filed under
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Security flaw – suspend income tax e-filing system

The Inland Revenue Board should suspend its income tax e-filing system if it is not safe and secure following complaint of security flaw of the system allowing access to the particulars of other taxpayers.

I have received an email from a taxpayer complaining such a security flaw, as follows:

As I was filing my tax returns via e-Filing I encountered something that made me worried. As I clicked the save & continue button but the page refreshed with some other person’s Tax No. as well as their PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL info!

I was shocked and can even see the bank info and account number… I print screen and hope to make it known to others the possible leak of P&C info.

I find this NOT amusing as leaking anyone’s financial info makes me lose trust in the system and LHDN. Imagine I got to view 2 other person’s data!

If anyone here has direct access to LHDN’s Head Officer please inform him/her as to this matter to rectify ASAP!

The complainant has also posted his complaint on his blog,
WattaHack?

The Inland Revenue Board must demonstrate that with the introduction of its income tax electronic filing system, it is in the 24/7 era and mode, capable of giving instant response on its website even before the Inland Revenue Board office opens at 8 am tomorrow.

I am forwarding  this blog to the
Inland Revenue Board
,
[email protected]
, which will serve as a test as to whether it has fully embraced the 24/7 concept of e-government enabling it to come up with an immediate response today or whether it is still adopting the snail’s space to operate its e-filing system.

Let see how long the Inland Revenue Board takes to respond to  this complaint of its e-filing security flaw.

P.S.

I have got an instant automatic reply in my email to the Inland Revenue Board as follows, which is no good at all:

Tuan/Puan,

Ini merupakan maklumbalas secara automatik terhadap e-mel tuan/puan.

E-mel tuan/puan telah diterima pada  04/08/2007 jam 13:15:03.

Untuk makluman tuan/puan, pegawai kami sedang menyemak soalan-

soalan yang dikemukakan dan kami berharap dapat mengemukakan

jawapannya dalam tempoh terdekat.

Bagi memudahkan pihak kami mengesan dan menyemak e-mel asal

tuan/puan, sila gunakan nombor yang tertera di sebelah atas mesej

tersebut.

Dari

Pusat Khidmat Pelanggan

Jabatan Pengurusan Hasil LHDNM

Dear Sir/Madam

This is an automated response from system.

We received your e-mail on 04/08/2007 at 13:15:03.

Our officers are currently checking on your enquiries, and hope to have

an answer for you shortly.

In the event you need to contact us regarding your original message, please

refer to the tracking number at the top of this message. This will help our officer

locate and review your correspondence with us.

From

Customer Service Centre

Revenue Management Department LHDNM

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 8 April 2007, 12:42 pm and is filed under
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IT
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Contract award of West Coast Highway is a sham

Contract Award of West Coast Highway is a Sham

Richard Teo

It is disconcerting to learn that the West Coast Highway mooted in 1996 but put on hold because of the Asian financial crisis will be given to the original contractors awarded 11 years ago.

A project awarded 11 years ago certainly has no justification to be given to the same contractor unless the project was awarded in an open tender in 2007.

Cost of labour and price of material fluctuate over time and can bear no relationship after a period of 11 years. So on what basis was the Highway contract awarded to the same contractor?

How did the estimated cost of $3.12 billion been awarded to the contractor if there was no competitive bid for the project?

Surely a project of such magnitude would demand greater transparency and accountability.

The concessionaires for the project include Kumpulan Europlus Bhd and the contractor is Konsortium LPB Sdn Bhd.

As taxpayers whose money are being used for this project I think we are entitled to know how and on what basis this contract was awarded and who are the principal beneficiaries of this Highway Project.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 9 April 2007, 7:41 pm and is filed under
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Why 40% surge in crime after police talk of “zero crime” in KL only last November?

Two days after the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi made the call for an
“all-out war against crime”
, Malaysians were shaken  by the revelation that there had been a
40% surge in the crime rate
in Kuala Lumpur, the Federal Capital  this year.

Why did crime in Kuala Lumpur surge 40% in the first three months of this year when the Police had been talking about a   “zero crime” objective for the Federal capital only last November?

Malaysians can  still remember reading news reports in November last year  of police boasts that “there are virtually no more cases of snatch theft and wayside robbery in several crime-prone areas in the city, including the golden triangle” in Kuala Lumpur — attributed to the presence of senior police officers in patrolling the streets.

Why is the effect of the new police strategy to reduce crimes not only so short-lived but clearly counter-productive as evident from the 40% increase in Kuala Lumpur’s crime rate in the first three months of year?

Have the senior police officers been pulled out of patrolling the streets, which had been given so much publicity as the  new strategy to increase police presence to fight crime?

Deputy Internal Security Minister Datuk Mohd Johari Bahrum has asked for an explanation for the rising crime rate in the first three months of the year, which is capable of sabotaging the  “Visit Malaysia Year 2007” campaign to attract 20.1 million tourists to net a revenue of RM44.5 billion.

However,  in view of the importance of ensuring that Malaysia has a low crime index for the safety and security of Malaysians, tourists and foreign investors, why has the  Internal Security Ministry failed to mount a monthly monitoring of the crime index in the country?

Malaysians want the Prime Minister to explain whether he has a new operational strategy when he called for an “all-out war against crime” last Thursday, or was he just indulging in rhetoric without any concrete anti-crime strategy in mind?

When he became Prime Minister at the end of 2003, Abdullah promised the nation an “all-out war against corruption”.  Forty months later, the all-out war against corruption had been a total failure, with nothing to show whatsoever in the creating a culture and ethos of national integrity. On  the contrary, there  is national and international consensus and endorsed by former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad,  that corruption under Abdullah’s premiership is the worst under the nation’s five prime ministers in the past 50 years.

Will Abdullah’s second “all-out war”, this time against crime, produce the same tragic outcome  — not only no visible improvement in the crime situation but rapid deterioriation in the law-and-order situation with Malaysians, visitors and investors living under increasing fear of crime whether in the streets, public places or privacy of their homes/residence.

If Abdullah is serious this time in his all-out war against crime, he must enlist the support of MPs, civil society and the citizenry to restore to Malaysians their fundamental right to be free from crime and the fear of crime.

For a start, the Prime Minister should agree to the establishment of a Parliamentary Select Committee on Public Security to allow MPs to play a full and meaningful role to ensur:

* firstly, that the country has an efficient, incorruptible, professional world-class police service to keep crime low, combat corruption and uphold human rights; and

* secondly, that there is an effective and transparent National Policing Plan to ensure a steady reduction of the crime index in the country.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 9 April 2007, 12:55 pm and is filed under
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Sports – the last frontier  to unite Malaysians – is now used to divide Malaysians

Sports – the last frontier to unite Malaysians –  is now used to divide Malaysians.

This is what I told the Sports and Youth Minister, Datuk Azalina binti Othman Said in Parliament during the winding-up of the Royal Address debate yesterday.

As proof, I gave three instances:

1. Newly-crowned All-England doubles champions Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong being “forced” by Deputy Sports and Youth Minister, Datuk Liow Tiong Lai to campaign for MCA and Barisan Nasional in the Machap by-election by making an appearance at the
“Malaysia Love Badminton Campaign” in Machap
on Sunday.

2. Sports Commissioners Tan Sri Elyas Omar approving and registering Malaysian Sepaktakraw Association as a “sports body” under Section 11 of the Sports Development Act 1997 although it violated the law with its very narrow and discriminatory provision in its by-laws.

Section 13.10 of the Malaysian Sepaktakraw Association Constitution stipulating that “Semua Ahli Majlis Tertinggi dan setiap Pegawai dalam Persatuan hendaklah terdiri dari Bumiptuera Warganegara Malaysia” violates Section 2 of Second Schedule of the Sports Development Act 1997 on “Constitution and Rules of Sports Bodies Acting as the Governing or Representative Body of its Sports at National Level” which reads:

“2. Its activities are conducted without discrimination as to sex, race, colour, religion, social origin, language, political inclination or any other opinion held by its members.”

3. Sports Ministry discriminating against Malaysian Cricket Association by channeling all its funds to the Malaysian Malay Cricket Association.

Azalina cannot be blamed  for the abuse of powers in forcing Kien Keat and Boon Heong to help MCA in its Machap by-election campaign, for it was clearly the brain-wave of the Deputy Sports and Youth Minister and MCA Youth leader, Datuk Liow Tiong Lai.

But it was just wrong and most deplorable to manipulate and commandeer Kien Keat and Boon Heong to serve the MCA Machap by-election campaign.

I told Azalina and Parliament aht Kien Keat and Boon Heong are heroes for all Malaysians, regardless of political beliefs, race, religion or age, and all Malaysians hope that they can advance to greater glories in badminton for themselves and the nation — winning the  Thomas Cup and Olympic Gold.

It is all the more contemptible on the part of the MCA Youth leader to diminish Kien Keat and Boon Heong’s status as heroes for all Malaysians by forcing them to be part of the MCA Machap by-election campaign –  an abuse of power which must be condemned by all right-thinking Malaysians.

As for the second and third instances, Azalina said she would need to check before making any comments.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 10 April 2007, 5:00 pm and is filed under
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Nazri’s reply in Parliament completely unsatisfactory and unacceptable

The reply by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datu Nazri Aziz in the final winding-up of the debate on the Royal Address yesterday is totally unsatisfactory and unacceptable, particularly on four public interest issues of national importance.

As Nazri’s reply blatantly disregarded the paramount  principle in nation-building  which had recently been enunciated by the Raja Muda of Perak, Raja Nazrin Shah, MCA Ministers are challenged to speak up in Cabinet to dissociate themselves from Nazri’s reply on four important public interest issues:

	Brain drain  with migration overseas of one to two million of the best and brightest of Malaysian sons and daughters for over three decades;

	Education Minister and UMNO Youth leader, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein’s keris-wielding at the recent Umno Youth assembly in the context of rising chauvinist and extremist demands and pressures;

	Rejection of the Inter-Faith Council proposal;

	Worst corruption crisis in nation’s 50-year history.

Nazrin’s keynote address on “Prospects and Challenges of Nation-building” at the Young Malaysians’ Roundtable Discussion on National Unity and Development in Malaysia last week must be compulsory reading for Cabinet Ministers and all Barisan Nasional MPs — and they should be made to pass a test to ensure that they fully understand Nazrin’s speech and grasp the message of the Raja Muda of Perak.

The most important message of Nazrin’s keynote address is that Malaysia belongs to all Malaysians equally, and all have an equal right and responsibility to take ownership of their country and its future, as represented by this declaration:   “Malaysians of all races, religions, and geographic locations need to believe beyond a shadow of doubt that they have a place under the Malaysian sun.”

Unfortunately, Nazrin’s  message that all Malaysians must have an equal place under the Malaysian sun has not been understood by Nazri, Barisan Nasional Cabinet Ministers and MPs particularly from the MCA.

This is best illustrated by Nazri’s most unsatisfactory and unacceptable answers on behalf of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet on the following four issues:

1. Brain drain of 1-2 million Malaysians

Nazri’s likening  the brain drain of one to two million of the best and brightest Malaysian sons and daughters for over three decades as “ants attracted to sugar” is not only offensive to the Malaysians who had been forced to migrate overseas because of unfair and discriminatory nation-building policies which did  not give them and their children an equal place under the Malaysian sun, but proof of the stubborn continuance of the denial syndrome for an urgent reappraisal of 50 years of Barisan Nasional nation-building policies.

Not much seem to have been changed from the seventies when I raised the issue of brain drain in Parliament in the seventies, when a top government leader dismissed the issue as “Good Riddance to Bad Rubbish” to the present, when the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department could dismiss it as “ants attracted to sugar”.

In actual fact, the brain drain of one to two million talented, creative and enterprising Malaysians for over three decades since the introduction of the New Economic Policy marks the greatest nation-building failure in the past 50 years, and why Malaysia had trailed behind Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea when we were  ahead of them in terms of economic development when we achieved Merdeka in 1957 — and now risks losing to other more vibrant and dynamic  nations like Thailand and Vietnam, and one day even Indonesia!

What is shocking is the total silence of MCA Ministers to speak up in Cabinet and Parliament against unfair and discriminatory nation-building policies which had resulted in the brain drain, with the country facing  a new wave of brain drain.

MCA Ministers in Cabinet in particular should  speak up in Parliament to dissociate themselves from Nazri’s reply on this subject and the other three issues and demand that Nazri retract and render a public apology for refusing to acknowledge that  unfair and discriminatory nation-building policies continue to be one main cause of the brain drain.

2. Hishammuddin’s wielding of Malay keris

It is sad that Hishammuddin’s deplorable wielding of the Malay keris, in the context of rising extremist and chauvinist demands, is not only defended by Nazri but also by MCA Ministers and MPs.

Nazri compounded the offence when he repeated Hishammuddin’s earlier statement  that he would have no objection if I had brandished the “guan dao”.  Have MCA Ministers and MPs explained to Hishammuddin and Nazri that talk about wielding the “guan dao” is completely inappropriate, and why no MCA Minister or MP had  ever wielded the “guan dao”.

I had yesterday asked in Parliament whether MCA Ministers and MPs could accept Nazri’s justification of Hishammuddin’s use of the Malay keris — which makes him as the most divisive Education Minister in history, undermining the most important goal of the national education policy to foster national unity among the diverse races, languages, cultures and religions in the country. There was only deafening silence.

3.	Rejection of the Inter-Faith Council proposal

I find Nazri’s explanation why the Cabinet rejected the Inter-Faith Council proposal and the proposal to amend the  Federal Constitution on Article  121(1A) to end the deepening crisis  over the rights and sensitivities of non-Muslim Malaysians over freedom of religion the most astounding of all.

I had raised two important issues:

Firstly, why the Cabinet cannot accept the proposal for an Inter-Faith Council when in the early decades of Independence, there was a similar body, the  Inter-Religious Council, which was initiated by the first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman and chaired by a Cabinet Minister.

Secondly, the increasing insensitivity and intolerance of the religious rights and sensitivities of non-Muslim faiths in the country, as illustrated by the series of controversies from Moorthy to the Subashini cases.

I had stressed that the amendment of Article 121(1A) of the Federal Constitution in 1988 was to provide to Muslims the constitutional protection of  their rights to be adjudicated in syariah courts without detracting any constitutional  rights from non-Muslims.

However in the past few years, particularly after the “929 Declaration” of Tun Dr. Mahathir that Malaysia is an Islamic state, non-Muslim Malaysians have seen their religious and constitutional sensitivities and rights to be adjudicated in civil courts and not shariah courts come under relentless erosion.

The time has come for an amendment to the Federal Constitution to make it clear that Article 121(1A) does not derogate from non-Muslim Malaysians any rights which they had enjoyed without challenge or dispute before the 1988 Constitution amendment.

What was Nazri’s reply? He said my arguments were valid but there was no way the Barisan Nasional government could agree because it could not  convince and persuade Malays who constitute the majority of the electorate to support such a constitutional amendment!

How can such an argument be accepted — which will set a most dangerous precedent for the erosion of the constitutional guarantees and rights  in the Merdeka social contract of Malaysia as a democratic, tolerant, multi-religious and secular nation with Islam as the official religion but not an Islamic State, just on the ground that there is no way to get the support of the Malays, the majority of the electorate!

It is most shocking that MCA Ministers and MPs can accept such an outrageous justification for the arbitrary and unconstitutional  erosion and violation of  constitutional rights and principles of Malaysians.

4.	Worst corruption  crisis in nation’s 50-year history

I just cannot imagine how Nazri could stand up in Parliament yesterday and boast about the government’s anti-corruption record in the past three years when it coincided with the worst corruption  crisis in the nation’s history.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had said that the Chinese should learn from China which is fast rising to become a world economic super-power.

What is even more important is for the Barisan Nasional government to learn from China, such as in the battle against corruption.

I reminded Nazri and Parliament yesterday that when Zhu Rongji became Chinese premier in 1998, he declared war against corruption and asked for a hundred coffins, 99 for the corrupt in high places and one for himself — underlining the high stakes and personal risks involved in any all-out war against corruption.

I had asked whether the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi would have the political will to emulate Zhu Rongji, by asking   for a hundred coffins, 99 for the corrupt and powerful and one for himself?

It is most unfortunate that Nazri tried to make a joke of the “100 coffins” analogy, saying that he would reserve ten  coffins for DAP — which attracted my riposte that DAP leaders are not afraid of dire  consequences for standing up to fight corruption.

The time has come for Abdullah to summon a special meeting of the Cabinet to exclusively address the worst corruption crisis in the nation’s 50 year history — and to demonstrate the political will to arrest, prosecute and jail top political government leaders, whether national or state, for corruption.

(Media Conference Statement in Parliament on Wednesday, 11th April 2007)

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 11 April 2007, 2:56 pm and is filed under
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Businessmen using docs as proxies to open clinics

BUSINESSMEN USING DOCS AS PROXIES TO OPEN CLINICS

by FDI

Shah Alam

I read with amusement the above article which was headlined in the mainstream media stating that only doctors are allowed to open clinics.  Doesn’t the MOH have better things to do? Clearly this does not bear logic.

Large private hospitals in this country with all their various specialist clinics are owned by such corporations as KPJ which are public-listed, Sime Darby, Tabung Haji,  Pantai Hospitals, Sunway, Gleneagles, are all owned by businessmen. They employ or contract out services to a large number of doctors.  The Raffles Medical Group in Singapore is also owned by businessmen and runs a chain of 60 medical clinics in various parts of the island.

In fact it is to the advantage of doctors that businessmen are partners/owners in these ventures as it would bring in much needed investment capital and management expertise to upgrade services and also frees the doctor to focus on what he knows best — doctoring, and leave matters pertaining to customer service, marketing, accounts, IT, billing, credit control and banking to people who are well-versed and trained in these areas, unless of course the MOH would like to see our doctors become ruthless businessmen attending share market reviews instead of medical conferences.

If this rationale was applied to other industries, then buses must be owned by bus drivers or conductors, engineering companies be owned only by engineers or Genting should not own a power plant as they are only experts in gambling and Manchester United must necessarily be owned by Bobby Charlton or Ryan Giggs and not the Glazer brothers. We might as well dismantle the KLSE.

The statement by the MOH official further states that these arrangements contravene the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998 (PHFSA). This would mean then that the Act would directly contradict established Malaysian business rules and company regulations lending further credence that the PHFSA was a cut and paste legislation engineered by a few incompetent MOH officials and passed through an ignorant parliament oblivious to the existing laws of this country.

The official further states “..unscrupulous businessmen might get off scot-free as the law is silent on their participation in the business”. Silent?  Whatever happened to collective responsibility and how is it possible that the law is silent on such important matters. Is the Medical Practices division implying that the AG’s chambers who supposedly vetted this Act were sleeping on the job?

However what was clearly inappropriate was the reporter asking the doctor for his original APC?  It appears the Star’s reporters have now become quasi health ministry enforcement officers. This report appears to have been designed, with the help of a possibly bored Medical Practices division, to go on another round of GP bashing to gain some cheap publicity.

If the Medical Practices division is serious about proper pharmaceutical efficacies based on evidence-based medicine, they should immediately send in their enforcement officers to seal all the traditional sinseh shops which sell roots and herbs of questionable medicinal value which carry the risk of causing severe peptic ulcers, liver and kidney failure to the unsuspecting.

While Singapore is dismantling many of its anti-business regulations causing the  Singapore Medical Association to withdraw guidelines on medical fees for fear of contravening the Competition Act, our MOH officials are on the reverse gear and seem completely unaware that the world is hurtling inexonerably towards globalization. Cooking up regulations so that you can hide under the shell of protectionism will only mean we will be left behind and may suffer a fate worse then Proton.

There are far greater issues this country’s healthcare system is facing and they are serious. The absence of discussion in the mainstream media is so glaring that one has to assume that it probably has more to do with protecting its political owners and masters rather then sticking to the thin narrow line of professional journalism.

Ambulances that don’t have petrol, the high number of dengue deaths especially in Selangor, the ministry’s uncompleted and crumbling hospitals and last week, the question of patient’s having delayed access to heart treatment causing many of them to die on the waiting list are issues that require focused attention.

Unless the MOH is rudderless, which it currently appears to be so, this is clearly no time to be petty unless of course the MOH is using issues of this nature to deflect recent criticisms of its poor services in which case it should perhaps put its house in order before trying to clean up others.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 12 April 2007, 12:20 pm and is filed under
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Crime escalation – public  spat between de facto Police Minister and Police

The
“war”
 between the Internal Security Ministry and the Police is definitely more warlike than the “
all-out war against crime”
 or the earlier “all-out war against corruption” announced by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

The “all-out wars” against crime and corruption were just empty rhetoric but the “war” between the Internal Security Ministry and the Police have already sent sparks flying all over the country.

However, on a day when Malaysians are thoroughly disgusted and ashamed to read in the media of the
RM200 million havoc
at the grandiose Immigration Department headquarters at Putrajaya, where a burst pipe caused a torrent of thousands of litres of water flooding  seven storeys of the building, forcing  its closure and the evacuation of over 1,000 people thronging the immigration counters and the 600 immigration officers, the people are not amused at all by the ugly spectacle of the “cat-and-dog” fight between Internal Security Ministry and the Police.

Both incidents are disgraceful testimony that public service  culture, standards and benchmarks have plummeted  drastically in the 41-month premiership of Abdullah, with the “First-World Infrastructure, Third-World Mentality” Malaysian malaise becoming even  more deeply-rooted and terminal instead of it being eradicated and replaced with a “First-World Infrastructure, First-World Mentality” mindset and ethos.

Deputy Internal Security Minister, Datuk Johari Baharum is incensed that his figures about the phenomenal increase of the crime index, in particular in the Federal Territory, had been contradicted by the police.

Johari
 had said that the crime index in Sentul district in Kuala Lumpur in the first three months of the year had soared by 90 per cent, with snatch thefts going up by 693.5 per cent.

However,
Federal CID director Datuk Christopher Wan Soo Kee
 had contradicted him, saying that the crime index for the first quarter in Sentul had increased by 10.1 per cent while snatch thefts had dropped by 36.6 per cent.

How can the official crime statistics for the same period and locality between the Internal Security Ministry and the Police vary so widely, as to manifest a  “heaven and earth” difference?

Johari has made
two serious allegations
against the police —  firstly, that it had “manipulated the crime rate figures to confuse the public”; and secondly, that he “feared that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, may have also been given the wrong figures”.

This is the latest example of the direct result of the  disastrous lack of leadership demonstrated by Abdullah although he is Prime Minister, Internal Security Minister and Finance Minister — to the extent that there is a public fall-out between the Deputy Internal Security Minister, who is the de facto Police Minister, with the Police!

At a time when Malaysians are despairing at Abdullah’s failure to fully implement the recommendations of the Royal Police Commission, in particular to establish the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC), to create an efficient, incorruptible, professional police service to end the unchecked  crime wave and to restore to Malaysians, visitors and foreign investors the right to be free from crime and the fear of crime, the public spat between Johari and the Police is most distressing and demoralizing to public confidence in the whole system of governance headed by Abdullah.

Parliament and Malaysians do not want any cover-up but insist that the whole truth about the real picture  about the crime situation should be fully made public.

It is time that Abdullah end his “hands-off and mind-off” approach and attitude as Prime Minister, Internal Security Minister and Finance Minister, and he should come to Parliament on Monday to give a full ministerial statement about the real crime situation in the country, with particular reference to the latest crime index whether nation-wide or in the worst crime hotspots, as well as three  other important issues, viz:

	the cause for the public spat between the de facto Police Minister, his Deputy Internal Security Minister and the Police;

	the detailed strategy and objectives of the “all-out war against crime” which he announced only last week; and

	the real status of the implementation of the 125 recommendations of the Royal Police Commission and in particular, the establishment of IPCMC.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 12 April 2007, 3:38 pm and is filed under
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Johari-Police public spat – Abdullah must assume full responsibility as Internal Security Minister or relinquish post

The Prime Minister, Datuk  Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi cannot just shout
“Stop bickering”
  to the Deputy Internal Security Minister, Datuk Johari Baharum and the Police about the actual crime statistics in Sentul district, Kuala Lumpur but must assume full personal leadership and responsibility as Internal Security Minister to tell the nation the true facts about the runaway crime situation in the country or relinquish the key portfolio to a hands-on Minister.

On
Saturday
, Johari said the crime index in Sentul had risen by 82.2% in the first quarter of 2007 compared with the same period last year.  He also said snatch thefts shot up by 600%, making the highly populated area one of the most troubled spots in the city.

Three days later, Federal CID Director Comm Datuk Christopher Wan Soo Kee said snatch theft cases in Sentul had dropped by 142 cases or 36.6% in the first three months of this year. As such, the crime rate in Sentul for that period increased by only 10.1%.

On Wednesday, Johari countered that his figures were given to him by the police themselves and that he had not made them up or taken them from blogs.

Yesterday, Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Abdul Najib Abdul Aziz came out in defence of Wan, saying that the CID Director’s numbers were accurate.

Najib said Wan’s crime figures
“is the final, audited version”
 and that there is  “no cover-up, no manipulation”, adding: “We have nothing to hide from the public”.

However, Najib said the conflicting figures could be due to the auditing process and re-classification of several case.

This is most ridiculous.  Police credibility is not served with such a glib explanation.  Can Najib explain how the reclassification of snatch-thefts could result in such  a humongous difference between the 693.5% increase in the first three months in Sentul as stated by Johari in contrast to the drop of 36.6% for the same period as stated by Wan and the Police?

One version is not correct  and either Johari or the Police is wrong.  Why is Abdullah as the Internal Security Minister unable to publicly declare which version is correct, or whether both versions are wrong?

Or is it too difficult and complex for Abdullah to ascertain the true situation?

Johari had made two very serious allegations  – firstly, that the Police  had “manipulated the crime rate figures to confuse the public”; and secondly, that he “feared that the Prime Minister may have also been given the wrong figures”.

If the Opposition had made the allegation that the Prime Minister had been misled by the Police on crime statistics, it could be dismissed as hearsay; but when such an allegation comes from the Deputy Internal Security Minister who is the de facto Police Minister on day-to-day operations, the Prime Minister cannot ignore it but must clear the air. He must say whether his deputy minister is right or wrong in the latter’s suspicions about police misinformation.

Public credibility and confidence in the Abdullah premiership will suffer an irreparable blow if his response  to the public spat between Johari and the Police is only to order both to get out of the ring and disappear from public limelight.

In fact, Abdullah himself cannot stay outside the ring but must enter the picture as he is not only the Prime Minister but the Internal Security Minister to tell the nation the true facts about the runaway crime situation in the country.

When he became Prime Minister in October 2003, one of his top priorities was  to reduce crime to restore to Malaysians their fundamental right to be free from crime and the fear of crime, whether in the streets, public places or the privacy of their homes. Today, Malaysians feel even more unsafe from crime than when he became Prime Minister some 42 months ago.

The Royal Police Commission in May 2005   had  recommended as immediate  Police target a minimum of 20 per cent decrease in the number of crimes committed for each category within 12 months of its Report  — i.e. by May 2006. The Police on its part had the target of reducing the crime index by five per cent each year. Have both targets been achieved under Abdullah?

The reverse has actually taken place. The crime index in the country has worsened  in the 42 months Abdullah was Prime Minister from 156,315 cases in 2003 to 226,836 cases in 2006 — a sharp rise of 45.1% in the past three years.

In the past three years, violent crime had skyrocketed by 85.8 per cent from 22,790 cases in 2003 to 42,343 cases in 2006, with rape cases registering the highest increase of 65.5 per cent — reaching an average of 6.7 women raped daily in 2006 compared to an average of four women raped daily in 2003. In 2003, an average of 1.5 persons were murdered daily; but in 2006, this has increased to an average of 1.65 persons murdered daily.

The public spat between Johari and the Police, and the failure of Abdullah to step in to assume leadership and responsibility for effective policing in the country to keep crime low and Malaysians, visitors and foreign investors safe and secure will only  compound public loss of confidence in the efficiency,  effectiveness and good governance of the Abdullah premiership.

Abdullah should stop dilly-dally as Internal Security Minister.  Either assume full responsibility as Internal Security Minister or he should relinquish this important Ministerial portfolio to someone who could be a hands-on Miinister and not just delegate to a Deputy Minister to be a de facto Police Minister who clearly has lost the confidence, support and respect of the Police.

Either Abdullah give full support to Johari as his Deputy Minister and vindicate his deputy’s statements and actions or he would have to look for a new Deputy Internal Security Minister.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 13 April 2007, 1:21 pm and is filed under
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Machap by-election – the real victors

(Press Conference Statement By DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng In Melaka On 13.4.2007)

Machap Voters Are The Real Victors In Getting Tens Of Millions Of Ringgit In Development Projects And Endorsing DAP Call For Democracy By Giving DAP A Moral Victory In Reducing BN Majority By 481 Votes Despite Fighting The Entire Machinery Of The Malaysian Government

The 9,623 registered Machap voters are the real victors in yesterday’s by-election. Not only were  Machap voters promised or given tens of millions of ringgit in development projects and benefits, they were also able to endorse DAP’s call for democracy by giving DAP a moral victory in reducing BN’s majority by 481 votes.

This is a substantial achievement when DAP increased our votes at the expense of BN despite the benefits to the people of:-

a)      Newly paved roads all over Machap;

b)     Hundreds of new street lamps;

c)     A RM 1.2 million recreational area near the Durian Tunggal Dam;

d)     102 grants for housing lots for second-generation settler families at Felda Tun Ghafar Machap;

e)     RM3.7 million will be allocated to Felda Machap with RM3 million for upgrading water pipes, RM600,000 for the construction of a multipurpose hall and RM100,000 to repair the mosque;

f)      approved the application for 7,000 square feet of land by 50 second-generation Chinese settlers with a 99-year lease and a low premium of RM12,500;

g)     approved the 20-year-long demand of Machap Baru villagers to build 80 units of low- and medium-cost houses, which will be sold at price below RM60,000 each;

h)     Ministry of housing and local government’s special allocation of RM650,000 to upgrade roads and drainage system and to build a new air-conditioned hall;

i) RM 400,000 to relocate the telecomunnications tower in Machap Umboo to build a new replacement and unspecified amount to extend the land grant lease to 69 years from the present 34 years with reasonable land premiums;

j)       Health ministry will spend RM160,000 to upgrade clinics in Machap; and

k)       Education Ministry will give no less than RM50,000 to each of the three Chinese primary schools in the constituency.

Further BN’s tactics of fear, intimidation and vote buying were successful, especially in Tebong where BN’s votes increased to 1,037 votes from 992 votes whilst DAP remained almost unchanged at 165 votes from 162 votes in the 2004 general elections. Clearly BN’s victory is without honour as they would still have won (though perhaps not by 4,081 votes) without needing to resort to such dirty tactics.

DAP had not expected to win the Machap by-election but were hopeful of defeating BN’s goal of making DAP lose our deposit and significantly reducing BN’s majority. DAP succeeded but could not achieve the breakthrough hoped for in getting some Malay and Indian votes to scale back BN’s majority to 3,000 votes.

Nevertheless the reduction of majority is a significant achievement in that this is the first by-election since the 2004 general elections contested by BN that DAP has reduced BN’s majority. In all the previous by-elections, BN had increased both their votes and majority.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak is wrong to say that the drop in majority of BN is caused by Datuk Poh Ah Tiam’s increased stature as compared to BN’s new candidate. Even though the candidate may be new but Datuk Poh did not have the entire government machinery of Malaysia helping him to campaign. In that respect the disadvantage of the new candidate factor of BN is equalized by the advantage of having the entire Malaysian government machinery.

There is no reason whatsoever for BN’s majority to drop by 481 votes when essentially BN enjoys the same advantages. The drop in majority clearly indicates that despite the focus by the entire government, the voters especially the Chinese community responded to DAP’s call for democracy, equal economic opportunity and political equality.

Despite the turnout of 74.31%, it was clear that putting polling day on a working day instead of a Sunday had affected the turnout in some areas in that those working outstation could not return to vote. This was especially evident in Machap Baru where the fourth stream had a voter turnout of only 51.4%. In that stream, despite the lower turnout DAP’s votes had increased  to 113 from 96 whilst BN’s votes dropped from 368 votes to 188 votes.

In Machap Umboo, the number of votes obtained by DAP held steady at almost 40% despite the threats of withholding extension of land lease grants and shifting the telecommunications tower.

DAP thanks Machap voters who had supported DAP and our call for democracy to ensure that the government performs at all times and not only during by-elections. Good governance requires that the government listens to the people. Further good governance requires that projects that are carried out must benefit the many and not the few or that the government cannot refuse to carry out projects because there is no private benefit to BN leaders.

Clearly rural voters love democracy because they want to be “bosses”. By reducing BN’s   majority and giving DAP a moral victory, Machap voters are not only endorsing DAP’s platform for democracy but also acknowledging that DAP’s participation in the by-election has benefited them to enjoy all these development projects which otherwise BN would not have given.

(Previous by-elections after 2004 general election)

 	 	BN	Opp   Majority(by-e)  (Majority2004)

Kuala Berang	6051	3992	2059	(1695)

Pengkalan Pasir	7422	7288	139	(56) PAS won

Batu Talam	6276	419	5857	(2761)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 13 April 2007, 6:04 pm and is filed under
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My worst fears confirmed – Abdullah does not read letters sent to him

My worst fears have been confirmed — the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi does not read letters sent to him or get a briefing on them and these letters disappear into the “black hole” of the Prime Minister’s Department.

When
Abdullah
was asked  yesterday about a Japan Times report which allegedly implicated Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Taib Mahmud in a 1.1 billion yen (RM32 million) timber export kickbacks, he said no formal reports had been presented to him.

However, he said, he had asked the ACA to investigate the matter.

This is most shocking indeed as it was exactly a week ago that I had sent him an
urgent letter
 to draw his attention to the Japan Times report asking him to personally reply in Parliament on Monday in the winding-up on the Royal Address debate in view of the recent snowballing of serious  corruption allegations against  high-profile leaders in his administration.

If the Prime Minister does not read and is not bothered to get briefed about an urgent letter from the Parliamentary Opposition Leader on serious corruption allegations against high-profile leaders in his administration appearing  in the international media, gravely undermining  Malaysia’s image and  international competitiveness, who will expect the Prime Minister to have time for anyone who send him letters, petitions or appeals as their hope of last resort for justice?

In my urgent letter to the Prime Minister dated 6th April 2007, which was faxed to the Prime Minister’s Office which confirmed receipt when my office immediately checked with it, I had described the
Japan Times
report as  “the latest instance of more and more adverse international reports about corruption in Malaysia, such as the adverse rankings given to the country by the corruption surveys of the Transparency International and  the Political and Economic Risks Consultancy (PERC)” which  warranted immediate  action by Abdullah to salvage his reform agenda and pledge, in particular to make ant-corruption campaign the top priority of his administration.

According to the Japan Times report, quoting sources, nine Japanese shipping companies which transport lumber from Sarawak had allegedly failed to report some 1.1 billion yen of income in total during a period of up to seven years through last March.  It was alleged the money constituted kickbacks to Sarawak officials via a Hongkong agent connected to Taib and his family.

I even mentioned my urgent letter to the Prime Minister in Parliament on Monday during the winding-up debate by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Nazri Aziz, where I had also asked why the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) had not conducted investigations into the billionaire astronomical wealth of Taib Mahmud in his  quarter-century as Sarawak Chief Minister.

How can Abdullah say one week after my urgent letter to him that  no formal report had been presented to him.

The Star report
“Up to ACA to probe claims”
 carried a very significant paragraph pregnant with implications, viz:

Acting ACA director-general Datuk Ahmad Said Hamdan, who was also at the press conference, when met by reporters later, said that the ACA would look into the matter.

This paragraph says many things — that the ACA is just a “paper tiger” with  no independence, freedom or power  of investigation into  matters involving “high profile” personalities in the Abdullah administration, whether at national or state level — which is why the ACA could not move although the Japanese media had splashed the Sarawak  “32 million kickback” scandal for more than a fortnight.

Furthermore, although Abdullah has said publicly that “It is up to the ACA to handle it”, the ACA big bosses know that this is a statement meant more for P.R. and not to be taken seriously, which explains the very reluctant, unenthusiastic and even lifeless response of the Acting ACA chief that “the ACA would look into the matter”.

The media reported Abdullah as mounting “
an impassioned defence
of his record on battling corruption, saying he was ramping up efforts to battle the scourge” in his speech at the launching ceremony of the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Academy (MACA) yesterday.

It was however a very weak and tepid defence, lacking the three Cs of  conviction, commitment and credibility.

When Abdullah said that “Malaysia is making strides and not stagnating in its fight against corruption”, Malaysians will generally agree — as the problem is not one of stagnation but regression by big strides as illustrated by the seven-place plunge in Malaysia’s Transparency International Corruption Perception Index from No. 37 in 2003 to No. 44 in 2006, with all indications that Malaysia is heading further south towards No. 50th position on the occasion of the nation’s 50th Independence Anniversary.

Abdullah’s
assertion
 that  “the experience of some countries has shown that stern action against corruption and the accompanying media focus is often accompanied by worsening rather than improving perception of the situation” is eyebrow-raising  as it invites two questions — firstly, what are these countries he is referring two and secondly, what are these “stern action against corruption and the accompanying media focus” he is referring to, when the 18 high-profile “big fishes” could be allowed to escape scot-free into the “South China Sea” and remain immune from arrest and prosecution in the past 41 months?

In his
speech
yesterday, Abdullah called  on “everyone to work with him in the fight against graft”, but it is sadly obvious that not a single Cabinet Minister, Barisan Nasional leader or MP has come forward to work with him to fight corruption, to the extent that Abdullah had abandoned his call for “zero tolerance for corruption” when he first became Prime Minister.

Abdullah is right when he said the biggest enemy of the anti-corruption agenda was
“public cynicism and apathy”
 — except he should be frank to admit that he was the author of such public cynicism and apathy in single-handedly turning the high hopes and euphoria that he had generated when he became the  fifth Prime Minister  into ashes.  It was because of the public high hopes and euphoria that he will lead the country in  an all-out war against corruption which was the reason for  Barisan Nasional winning  an unprecedented 91% sweep of the parliamentary seats in the 2004 general election!

It is no use opening the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Academy, establishing the Institute of Integrity of Malaysia or proclaiming the National Integrity Plan when the Prime Minister has  very little credibility left, whether national or international, about his commitment to “walk the talk”   the agenda against corruption.

Let Abdullah come to Parliament next week to convince MPs and the nation that he has not abandoned his anti-corruption agenda and commitment.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 13 April 2007, 11:20 am and is filed under
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Chua – have a heart

CHUA: HAVE A HEART

by LKN

KUALA LUMPUR

Perhaps Lee Kuan Yew is right and we should indeed pay Ministers more if we are to expect a better dose of governance.

I read with bewilderment the MOH’s appeal to private hospitals to provide affordable heart surgery to the poor failing which it will invoke the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998 (PHFSA) to direct these hospitals to carry out “their social responsibility.”

Chua appears to have been suddenly inspired with this brilliant idea following his visit to the Narayana Hrudayalaya Institute of Cardiac Sciences in Bangalore and speaking to its “world-renowned director” Dr Devi Shetty where 14 Malaysians have been treated.

He further reasoned that the MOH may “arrange for the poor to be treated in Bangalore at a minimum rate if presumably prices in Malaysian private hospitals are not “reasonable”.

The Health Minister appears to demonstrate either inconceivable fiduciary irresponsibility or complete economic ignorance as to why cardiac costs and its concomitant services are high in the private sector.

He further seems oblivious as to why the government’s own hospitals cannot be more efficient in treating these patients ignoring completely that costs in government hospitals are probably the same if not more save for the fact that the tax-payer instead actually pays the same bill for government patients.

More astonishing is the lame duck response of the Federation of Private Medical Practitioners’ Association of Malaysia president Dr Steven Chow who apparently says the federation supports the minister’s call. Doctors should perhaps review who they elect to run their organizations as statements of this nature are really counter-productive to the betterment of health services in this country.

The heart unit at the Christian Medical College headed by Stanley John in Vellore was at the forefront in the provision of cardiac services in India in the 1960s but modern heart services really came into being in India when the cardiac unit at the Railway Hospital in Perambur, Madras was established by T.J. Cherian to not only cater for the 4 million railwaymen and their dependants but also for the general public.

Following this, many heart units mushroomed throughout India and the majority of them are in the private sector.

The cost of an angiogram in India is about 10,000Rs (RM700) and an angioplasty for a two-vessel disease is usually less then RM10,000. Contrast this with a Malaysian private hospital including IJN, where an angiogram can cost anything between RM3000-4500. Angioplasty and stenting can cost between RM12,000 to RM25, 000 depending on number of arteries blocked and/or stented.

If you need a bypass, a patient in the general ward of a private Indian hospital pays about Rs100,000 (RM7000). If you are admitted to a deluxe ward the price is about RM10,000 or if you are in the super-deluxe ward the package price is around RM12,000.

These prices can be cheaper if surgery is done in smaller cities such as Coimbatore, Trivandrum, Madurai, Cochin, Vishakpatnam, Pune or Noida. They are pretty much standardized if they are done in Madras, Bangalore, Bombay, Hyderabad or Delhi.

Why are prices in India much cheaper? They have the same mortality and morbidity results and use the same equipment. The reasons are:

        The private heart units cater to a large middle class population estimated to be around 200 million and growing. Costs therefore are lower.

        India has constant and active cardiology and cardiac surgical programs that produces surgeons and cardiologists to cater for these illnesses.

        They have an even more active program that generate support staff such as cardiac cath lab technicians, echocardiographers, perfusionists, physiotherapists, critical care nurses, biomedical technicians and nutritionists.

        India’s medical technical base is so established that it manufactures even Siemens CT scan machines under licence at a much lower cost.

        Many private hospitals in India, to save costs, invest in equipment from the refurbished market rather then buy new as high tech medical equipment has the potential of becoming obsolete within months as a result of rapid medical advances.

        Pharmaceuticals and consumables are almost entirely generic and manufactured locally.

        Land and construction costs of hospitals are far cheaper and are not handicapped by anti-business regulations such as the PHFSA.

In Malaysia:

        The market is far smaller although it has the potential to grow bigger.

        We don’t have established programs to train surgeons, cardiologists or paramedics. Even the specialists that we bring in quit our government hospitals fairly quickly and politics in government heart units is so bad that administrators in the MOH have reportedly lost control over these units although they are of national importance. The Minister himself has admitted in the mainstream media that more heart units are required but manpower is a serious problem.

        Thanks to us signing patency laws we can’t even do parallel pharmaceutical imports forcing our hospitals to purchase medicine and consumables at euro or dollar prices.

        A private hospital in Malaysia is still deemed a commercial venture and land purchased is subject to commercial premiums. Approvals can take as long as 3 years and are now further restricted by the anti-business PHFSA.  Even if approvals are given by local councils, they have the potential of being overturned by politicians or health officials as in the Telok Gadong hospital in Klang causing severe holding cost losses to the investor.

        Water and electricity at private hospitals are subject to commercial rates and bills are further subjected to service taxes.

        Private hospitals who borrow to set up hospitals are subjected to commercial 8% interest rates. Multimillion-dollar equipment hire-purchase loans are further subjected to shorter repayment periods of usually 5 years as a result of depreciation.

        Protectionist policies by the MOH and MMC have ensured that the void of specialists in the private sector cannot be filled leaving patients without specialists in both government and private sectors in many secondary towns. Even in newer hospitals such as Petronas’s Prince Hospital both Apollo Hospitals and Austria’s Vamed faced the brunt of this protectionism at the expense of escalating holding costs to our own Petronas.

But our incidence of heart disease is rising and we need to address these issues rather quickly and blackmailing the private sector with the PHFSA or threatening to send patients to Devi Shetty in Bangalore is not going to help neither patient nor country.

The Minister first needs to get his ship in order and this he can do by making certain that training programs for cardiologists, surgeons and paramedics are consistent and well established.

In this respect the Ministry should emulate the exemplary work of Datuk Abu Hassan of the Ministry’s Emergency services who instead of building a giant trauma center and monopolizing it has instead created more then 50 emergency physician posts throughout the country so that emergency services in all government hospitals are upgraded.

He has, in addition, established multiple training programs and conferences to further improve emergency services in this country.

The MOH must have similar programs for cardiac training.

The Minister in earlier media reports declared that finance was not a problem but manpower was in the provision of cardiac services in this country.

If such is the case, the MOH should open the unused unit at Serdang, possibly the new unit at Alor Star and should further upgrade ICUs and unused theaters in other general hospitals and contract out services to private specialists or hospitals.

In doing so the Minister should rein in the usual nonsense and obstructive policies that would generally be placed in his path by his own self-serving specialists to prevent private specialists in helping in the treatment of heart patients in this country.

Despite Chua’s rhetoric that private specialists don’t help out in government hospitals, the truth of the matter is his own government doctors are the ones who have placed endless barriers impeding private specialists from helping out.

But more importantly the Minister must bury his unconcealed animosity for the private sector and find ways and means to work with them for the betterment of this country’s healthcare. For a Malaysian minister, he appears to have no such inhibitions in working with the Indian private healthcare sector and Devi Shetty.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 14 April 2007, 9:52 am and is filed under
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Kah Kiat’s resignation as Sabah DCM no real loss?

Tan Sri Chong Kah Kiat’s resignation as Sabah Deputy Chief Minister is “no real loss” to Barisan Nasional. With or without Kah Kiat, it  makes no difference to the BN in Sabah.

This is the clear message from the public reaction of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as reported by the
Star
today:

Chong’s exit not really a loss, says Abdullah

The resignation of Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Chong Kah Kiat is “not really a loss” because it will not weaken the Barisan Nasional state government, said Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

The Prime Minister said Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Musa Aman had informed him of Chong’s intention to step down, saying he wanted to rest.

He added that there was no other reason than that given by Musa.

“So as far as I am concerned, he will get his wish. Let him rest,” he told reporters yesterday after launching the Conference to Improve the Delivery System of Government Services To Improve the Development Process As Well As Property Management.

Abdullah said Chong’s resignation was not unexpected because the latter had expressed his desire to step down a number of times.

On whether the resignation was a loss, Abdullah said; “Not really a loss in the sense that I don’t think the government of Sabah is going to be weakened with him not being around. But anyway we would like to say ‘thank you’.”

Has Kah Kiat become so irrelevant and inconsequential in Barisan Nasional and Sabah politics as to be shrugged off so ignominously by both the Prime Minister and the Sabah Chief Minister?

Kah Kiat had said that he was quitting the Sabah Cabinet
“as a matter of principle”
 — implying basic and fundamental differences with the Sabah Chief Minister.

The media have  reported that ties have been strained between the chief minister and his deputy for some time over numerous issues like Musa’s plans to develop Pulau Sipadan island off Sabah’s east coast, with
Malaysiakini
 citing as ” the final straw” their differences over Kah Kiat’s proposal to build a huge statue of the Goddess of Mercy in Kudat as a tourist attraction.

Has Kah Kiat been reduced to such a cipher in the eyes of Abdullah and Musa that his  “shock resignation” is dismissed with such contempt?

I have been informed that Kah Kiat’s resignation has whipped up “anti-Musa” sentiments on the ground in Sabah to an  all-time high. Everybody seems to be talking about Musa’s greed and cronyism.

Sabah and Sarawak, under Chief Ministers  Musa and Tan Sri  Abdul Taib Mahmud, are monopolizing media attention in a manner which are not in the best interests of the state or the nation.

The administrations of both Sabah and Sarawak stand as affronts and  total mockery of Abdullah’s pledge of anti-corruption and the National Integrity Plan.

Is  the Prime Minister  so  helpless and impotent after an unprecedented landslide 91% sweep of the parliamentary seats in the 2004 general election?

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 14 April 2007, 6:11 pm and is filed under
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Sarawak
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Suspend LKIM chairman and DG until probe of mutual corruption allegations

The  Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had pledged an “all-out war against corruption” when he succeeded Tun Dr. Mahthir Mohamad in October 2003, but his actions had never belied his word.

Ironically, Abdullah gave two illustrations of the vast gap between his rhetoric and action on the anti-corruption front when he spoke to the press at the launching of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Academy (MACA) on Thursday.

Firstly, Abdullah
lashed out
at the Chairman and Director-General of the Malaysian Fisheries Development Authority (LKIM) for their public quarrel over allegations of corruption.

LKIM Chairman Adam Abdul Hamid had lodged a report with the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) that the agency’s top management had spent RM55 million for  its Kg Geluncur complex in  Kuala Kedah without open tender.

Adam told
New Straits Times (10.4.07)
that the complex in Kg Geluncur, completed last year at a cost of RM29 million was unable to be used as the jetty was 10 metres from shore.

As a result, the same contractor was awarded a sand-dredging project to allow sea water to reach the jetty.  The fee — RM100 per cubic metre of sand removed when PWD rate is RM30.

There was also a RM8 million  land-levelling contract and a  RM17.8 million contract  to build a 1.8 km access road to the complex — all awarded  without open tender.

The
LKIM management
, under its director-general Datuk Annas Khatib Jaafar, had on its part lodged an ACA report against Adam, who is also chairman of Majuikan Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of LKIM, for secretly giving an offshore loan of 10 million euros (RM46 million) last year.

Abdullah should have suspended both the chairman and director-general of LKIM until outcome of investigations into  the mutual allegations of corruption instead of asking them to sweep their differences “under the carpet”, wanting the duo to “sit down and resolve the matter among themselves” rather than  going public and making “the public lose confidence in the government”.

The second issue was on the appointment of the
new ACA
director-general to replace Datuk Seri Zulkipli Mat Noor.

When asked, Abdullah said he was waiting for a detailed list of the candidates. He said: “As this is an important post, I want to study the background of the candidates before making the right choice.”

This is proof that Abdullah was caught  unprepared by having to appoint a new ACA director-general and vindicated my media statement a fortnight ago that the Prime Minister  was going to further extend  Zulkipli’s appointment as the ACA chief despite his dismal performance and record  — until the serious corruption allegations by former Sabah ACA director and whistleblower Mohamad Ramli Abdul Manan against Zulkipli made this option untenable.

Abdullah is taking too long to fill the vacancy of the post of ACA director-general.  The failure to promptly fill key posts after  the long-expected retirement of incumbents, whether Chief Judge of Malaya, Chief Police Officer of Kuala Lumpur and now ACA Director-General reflects very poorly on the efficiency, competence and productivity of the civil service leadership and the Prime Minister.

Such failures to promptly  fill key posts in the public service are rare phenomena under previous Prime Ministers but seem to be becoming a regular feature of the present administration.  It is time that Abdullah snuff out such bad practices and  buck up as Prime Minister as well as  getting  the entire civil service, particularly the top echelons of its leadership,  to buck up.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 14 April 2007, 11:38 am and is filed under
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Memories of the colony

Memories of the colony

Azly Rahman

En route from Amsterdam to London for the Oxford Roundtable, on board a Boeing 737 on March 25, my mind scanned memories of my childhood as the plane ascended.

Memories of my beloved grandfather who died more than 20 years ago took shape in my “mind’s eye”, as Jungian psychologists would say.

Like Irish poet James Joyce’s “stream of consciousness” these images played out like a slide-show at intervals of several minutes.

My grandfather, a bicycle-riding government messenger for the royal court of Sir Sultan Ibrahim, taught us how to make kites. Born in the British Military Hospital in Alexandra Road in Singapore and growing up in Kampong Melayu Majidee in the late 1960s, my activities included kite-making.

Grandfather would patiently and meticulously guide me through the process: how to cut bamboo, make the frame, carefully refine its shape with special paper, and finally put designs on it. He was a man, though without much material wealth, imbued with good ‘ol Johorean ethics which he passed down to his children and grandchildren.

He was a man who wept for hours beside his radio-gram the day a man named Tun Abdul Razak died. Perhaps the Bugis blood in Grandfather saw the connection between the leader and the commoner in a time when life was not yet complicated – a time when you did not hear of murder cases involving C4 explosives. This was a time when the Internet was not yet supreme.

‘Sir’ Sultan Ibrahim, like ‘Sir’ Sultan Abu Bakar, were Malay knights of the British Empire as much as Sir Elton John and Sir Paul McCartney are English knights.

The Malay knights had their own army – Askar Timbalan Setia – maintained with the taxpayer’s money. Sir Ibrahim, reportedly one of the richest individuals in the world, did not believe that the Malays could govern themselves.

Why did the British inscribe foreign titles onto the ruler of natives thousands of miles from the centre of the colonial empire? Perhaps this was a strategy of psychological colonialism that went well with material and physical colonialism.

But knighthoods as hegemonic tools are no longer necessary these days. Installations of McDonalds and Starbucks, British-style boarding schools, American-style MARA Junior Science Colleges, and 100-channel Astro TVs from satellites owned by Malaysian billionaires are what a nation need to create little ‘sirs’ and ‘madams’, mad-dogs and Englishmen, or little brown Yankees who pay taxes in an international and hidden system of ‘taxation without representation’ of the post-colonial empires.

A good system of hegemony – from physical to the psychological, from inscriptions to institutions – is what is needed to give the natives their daily “bread and circus”.

Colonialism is pervasive and cancerous. It is an ideology that legitimises colonisation, slavery, dependency, and imperialism. Different epochs of colonialism style themselves differently.

Colonialism shapes the mind and consciousness and turns the body into mini-temples of colonialism – turning what the Algerian thinker and psychiatrist Albert Memmi called “the colonised into becoming like the coloniser”, in taste, language and disposition.

Colonialism as process

The process of turning the colonised into colonisers is a complex yet discernible one. This is how is goes.

First, the Empire must study the resource-rich area to be colonised. Second, use power and knowledge to catalogue all aspects of the lives of the natives. Next, study the local chieftains, sultans, kapitan, rajah or any leader of the natives. Study their strengths and weaknesses by going into their psyche and the system of social dominance they have created to sustain their power. Next, know what these local leaders want and how to create more ‘wants’.

Patrol their waters in a display of military might. If possible, as in the historical account of Kota Batu (Qota Batoo) in the mid 1700s, use the word “terrorists” to describe the pirates of the Malacca Sultanate, and crush them in order to create more inroads into the area to be colonised.

Use “economic terms” to describe the areas to be colonised. For example, ‘Spice Islands’ (The Nusantara) ‘Cape Horn’ (Africa), Gold Coast (Africa) Ivory Coast (Africa), Silicon Valley (California), Multimedia Super Corridor (Malaysia) and the latest ‘Iskandar Development Region’ (Johor) and perhaps the Johor Disneyland, should it come into being to complement Singapore’s casinos.

When these areas are earmarked for conquest, make early contact with warring factions in order to make alliances. Divide and conquer is the strategy – then, now, and forever. Create maps that will define who will own what. In politics it is called gerrymandering. Refine the map as colonies are created. The natives, including the sultan, rajah, kapitan and village chiefs will not understand maps as these artifacts of power are of a different literacy genre. The natives are used to literacy of the Oral tradition. Maps are of Print Literacy.

Even the concept of space and time between the coloniser and the colonised are different. It depends on the concept of ‘the clock’, alien to the natives. Technology of ‘time-telling’ and ‘time-keeping’ varies among nations. ‘Chronos’ is a subjective concept. Whoever controls the more modern concept of ‘chronos’ controls the means of defining which native is the laziest. It all boils down to the mode of production and reproduction. All this must be done with one’s mastery of the political philosophy of Machiavelli.

Finally, when the natives are colonised, turn them into images of the coloniser through indoctrination, education and the ideology of consumerism. Write history for them or, in the case of Africa, get Hollywood to create Tarzan movies to be shown to Africans and to tell them why they cannot govern themselves. Let them learn that only the diamond dealer Cecil Rhodes can perform miracles for Africa such as calling a nation ‘Rhodesia’.

Back to the story of my kite. I cannot remember any other design I would make except one – the Union Jack! It was one of the most glorious feelings to ‘fly’ my Union Jack. That beautiful blue and red striped flag of a nation thousands of miles from where I live – a nation that I came to be obsessed with in my study of the human condition years later.

Mental colonisation

In the story of the boy with the ‘British’ kite, lies the archeology of knowledge, the geneology of things and the nature of “psychological inscriptions” we all subjected to as “cultural beings constructed out of the invented reality of others”.

Herein lies the hegemony of colonialism of all sorts – shackles that the human mind wishes to be liberated from. In my case, the feeling of wanting to constantly analyse myself as that “culturally constructed” being is always there – especially when my senses interact with the “installations and institutions” that exist around me, those that are “inscribed” onto the landscape and forces humanity to become “objects of history”.

What makes one a “culturally-constructed” being?

What makes us become the colonialist, the colonised; the imperialist, the imperialised; the racist, the humanist; the nationalist, the communist; the democrat, the technocrat; the dictator, the freedom fighter? All these perceptions are contingent upon the way we see ourselves as ‘beings’ being constructed by history as written by others.

This is an interesting notion of history – that the history of an epoch is the history of the ruling class. But the age of the bloggers might change this notion and prove Marx wrong. History marches on – from Pax Brittanica, Pax Nipponica and Pax Americana to Pax Barisan Nasionalisma and Pax Malaysian Bloggeria.

Bloggers have nothing to lose except their free accounts and passwords.

How we evolve out of these constructions and contradiction is a more interesting notion of history – that history is an enterprise that must undergo deconstruction.

How do we interrogate ourselves as active beings reduced to become objects of history by those who write history – the history of sirs and sultans, of colonisers and their consorts?

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 15 April 2007, 7:34 am and is filed under
Azly Rahman
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