Berani pilih sedia berjuang

By
Wan Hamidi Hamid

June 05, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider

5 JUN — Ulama tidak kalah, profesional tidak menang dalam pemilihan PAS. Yang membentuk wajah PAS sekarang ialah gabungan kedua-dua kumpulan di samping mereka yang bukan ulama dan bukan profesional — guru, pegawai perkhidmatan awam, peniaga dan aktivis.

Pemisahan antara kumpulan-kumpulan itu yang wujud lebih sedekad lalu tidak lagi menjadi isu dalam PAS kerana latar belakang mereka disatukan atas kesetiaan perjuangan mereka berlandaskan perlembagaan parti.

Yang menang adalah para perwakilan yang dilihat kecewa dengan kelembapan kepimpinan PAS dalam Pakatan Rakyat yang selama ini terganggu dek pujuk rayu Umno yang kononnya mahu mewujudkan perpaduan Melayu.

Yang kalah adalah mereka yang ditolak oleh para perwakilan kerana dianggap:

– Tidak melaksanakan tugas dan tanggungjawab dengan bersungguh-sungguh, termasuk gagal memastikan kemenangan PAS dalam semua pilihan raya kecil sepanjang 2010 dan pilihan raya negeri Sarawak baru-baru ini;

– Tidak mampu menggerakkan PAS dengan lebih cergas untuk sama-sama aktif dengan komponen-komponen Pakatan Rakyat; dan

– Di segi teknikal, terlalu ramai calon dari pelbagai latar belakang merebut jumlah jawatan yang terhad — 6 calon untuk 3 jawatan naib presiden dan 53 calon untuk 18 jawatan ahli jawatankuasa pusat.

Kepimpinan PAS yang baru dipilih pada muktamat parti ke-57 ini adalah lebih seimbang berbanding dengan yang sebelumnya.

Dengan kepimpinan Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang yang kekal sebagai presiden, sokongan daripada timbalan yang baru dipilih Mohamad Sabu akan diperkukuhkan dengan tiga naib presiden — Datuk Husam Musa yang kembali menjawat (beliau adalah naib presiden 2005—09) bersama dua penyandang Salahuddin Ayub dan Datuk Mahfuz Omar.

Walau pun media massa menggambarkan kumpulan profesional kini menguasai PAS, ia lebih menjurus kepada latar belakang para pemenang dan tidak dilihat di segi komitmen mereka kepada perjuangan PAS dalam era abad ke-21.

Dalam sidang akhbar selepas perasmian muktamar, Hadi apabila ditanya wartawan, menjelaskan: “Perpecahan dalam PAS tidak berlaku…Dr Haji Abas adalah Yang Dipertua PAS, Aminudin Baki (tokoh pendidikan Malaysia) dan juga Datuk Asri Muda (bekas Presiden PAS) semuanya bukan ulama,  namun PAS kukuh kerana kepimpinannya secara kolektif untuk laksanakan Islam yang luas, bukan fahaman barat yang sempit”.

Semalam presiden PAS itu menambah bahawa jawatankuasa pusat parti kini diwakili oleh lapan ulamak, dua doktor, dan selebihnya jurutera serta pemimpin masyarakat.

Lagi pula, jika benar pun profesional dikatakan mendominasi parti, mereka tidak mempunyai agenda lain kecuali tekad dengan perjuangan PAS yang selaras dengan dasar-dasar bersama Pakatan Rakyat.

Pendirian itu juga telah banyak kali diulangi oleh Mursyidul Am PAS Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat yang bukan sahaja komited kepada Islam tetapi juga teguh pendirian beliau dengan dasar-dasar bersama Pakatan Rakyat yang dilihatnya selaras dengan usaha Islam mebanteras gejala-gejala buruk yang dibawakan oleh Umno dan Barisan Nasional.

Lebih dari itu, sayap ulama yang — kekal dipimpin oleh Datuk Harun Taib — dilihat lebih konservatif, dan walau pun mungkin ada antara mereka yang bernostalgia “perpaduan Melayu”, akan memastikan usaha kepimpinan baru tidak lari dari landasan asas PAS.

Begitu juga kepimpinan sayap pemuda — kekal diterajui oleh Nasrudin Hassan — yang dilihat pro-ulama; mereka akan memastikan para pemimpin “dewasa” tidak terlampau ghairah untuk menang sehingga melupakan asas-asas perjuangan parti. Dalam masa yang sama, sayap pemuda juga mempunyai para pemimpin yang komited kepada dasar-dasar bersama Pakatan.

Sayap muslimat yang kini dipimpin oleh Ahli Parlimen Rantau Panjang Siti Zailah Yusof juga dilihat menjadi seimbang dan mahu penglibatan wanita yang lebih serius dan penting dalam parti.

Keseimbangan ini yang amat diharapkan oleh PKR dan DAP serta rakyat prihatin yang mahu melihat Umno dan BN diberi cabaran paling hebat dalam pilihan raya umum akan datang.

Ini bukan soal Pas kemaruk mahu menang tetapi perlu bersama dengan rakan-rakan Pakatan untuk memulihkan pemerintahan negara yang terlalu lama dikuasai oleh Umno dan BN yang melahirkan budaya buruk seperti rasuah, penyalahgunaan kuasa, penyelewengan, perkauman dan keagamaan yang sempit.

Adu domba Umno terutamanya melalui lidah rasminya Utusan Malaysia yang berkempen untuk “golongan ulama” termasuk secara terang-terang menyokong timbalan presiden yang kalah, Nasharudin Mat Isa, ternyata gagal mempengaruhi para perwakilan PAS dalam muktamar tahun ini.

Para perwakilan tidak terperangkap dengan dakyah Umno, sebaliknya tekad dengan perjuangan parti mereka walau sentiasa ditekan oleh pemerintah sejak zaman Merdeka lagi (kecuali sewaktu PAS berada dalam BN pada 1973-78).

Ucapan dasar presiden PAS juga menyusuri naluri perwakilan dan para ahli PAS yang mahu parti itu bergerak cergas setelah agak malap dirundung gangguan minda Umno sejak 2008.

Mereka menerima ketegasan ucapan Hadi yang menolak pakatan dengan Umno, yang mengulangi pendirian parti tentang negara Islam-negara berkebajikan dan yang mengingatkan semua tentang pentingnya pelaksanaan, dan bukannya cakap-cakap sahaja.

Hadi apabila yang ditanya wartawan mengenai negara Islam telah menjelaskan bahawa PAS lebih mementingkan isinya.

“Tema kita negara berkebajikan, ia sememangnya dah ada dalam Islam. Dalam al-Quran tak sebut negara Islam, dia sebut negara kebajikan, jadi kita laksanakan iaitu kita dahulukan yang ada persamaan,” katanya.

Walau pun tidak diharapkan sebarang perubahan radikal dari PAS, sekurang-kurangnya rakan-rakan dalam Pakatan serta rakyat prihatin kini lebih yakin dengan komitmen PAS yang sebelum ini sentiasa dihujani kata-kata manis dan godaan Umno.

Pakatan Rakyat juga lebih selesa sekarang apabila PAS, sebagai parti yang terbesar dalam gabungan itu, akan mula menggerakkan jentera penerangan dan pilihan raya parti bagi menghadapi pilihan raya akan datang.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 5 June 2011, 10:54 am and is filed under
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Choosing the IMF’s next leader

By
Joseph E Stiglitz

June 5, 2011 | Free Malaysia Today

NEW YORK: Sooner than expected, the International Monetary Fund will have a new managing director. For more than a decade, I have criticized the Fund’s governance, symbolized by the way its leader is chosen.

By gentlemen’s agreement among the majority shareholders – the G-8 – the managing director is to be a European, with Americans in the number two post and at the head of the World Bank.

The Europeans typically picked their nominee behind the scenes, as did the Americans, after only cursory consultation with developing countries. The outcome, however, was often not good for the IMF, the World Bank, or the world.

Most notorious was the appointment of Paul Wolfowitz, one of the main architects of the Iraq War, to lead the World Bank. His judgments there were no better than those that got the United States involved in that disastrous adventure. Having placed fighting corruption at the top of the Bank’s agenda, he left in the middle of his term, accused of favoritism.

Finally, as a new order seemed to emerge in the aftermath of the US-made Great Recession, the G-20 agreed (or so it was thought) that the next IMF head would be chosen in an open and transparent manner.

The presumption was that the outcome of such a process almost surely would be a managing director from an emerging-market country. After all, the IMF’s main responsibility is to fight crises, most of which have been in developing countries – more than a hundred since the disastrous policies of financial deregulation and liberalization began some 30 years ago. There were many heroes of these battles in the emerging markets.

Crises need to be carefully managed. In 1997, the mismanagement of the East Asia crisis by the IMF and the US Treasury transformed downturns into recessions, and recessions into depressions. The world cannot afford to repeat that performance.

New thinking needed

Today, the imminent crisis is in Europe, where the European Central Bank seems to be putting its own balance sheet and those of European banks – loaded with debt from Ireland, Greece, and Portugal – above the well-being of these countries’ citizens.

This debt almost surely needs to be restructured, but, having allowed the banks to leverage themselves beyond any level of prudence and load up on toxic derivatives, the ECB is now warning against any sort of restructuring or write-down.

But it is a bit late for the ECB to describe debt restructuring as “unthinkable.” The ECB should have done some thinking before it let this state of affairs arise. Indeed, more than thinking, it should have done some regulating to prevent Europe’s banks from becoming so vulnerable.

Now the ECB needs to think about how to help everyone, not just the bankers who bought the bonds.

The new thinking should put people first, and banks’ shareholders and bondholders second. Even if the shareholders and bondholders lose everything, with the right restructuring, we can still save the banks and protect taxpayers and workers.

Where the IMF’s next managing director will come down on this issue – and on whether fiscal salvation is to be achieved through austerity, with costs borne by ordinary citizens, even as bankers get only a mild slap on the wrist – is critically important, but hard to predict.

Despite the failure of the IMF’s strategy in East Asia, Latin America, and elsewhere, it still has adherents, even within the emerging markets.

The leadership contest has turned out differently from what many had expected. Some of the most qualified candidates (in both developed and developing countries) have not received the support of their own governments that the political process seems to require.

Other qualified people from emerging markets have been reluctant to put their hats into the ring – it is a brutal job, with a travel schedule that requires physical stamina to match wisdom and experience.

Much as I would like to see someone from the emerging markets and the developing world head the IMF, the first priority is to choose a leader with the requisite skills, commitments, and understandings in an open and transparent process, someone who will continue along the reform path on which the Fund has embarked.

Moving in the right direction

Realpolitik might mean that there will be senior people from both China and the US in the top management team, but the presumption that the number two position should be filled by an American also has to go.

Whatever the outcome, the IMF, the World Bank, and the international community need to reaffirm their commitment to an open and transparent process – and ask how that process can be improved.

For example, rather than nominations from governments, which often are reluctant to support excellent candidates from opposition parties, an international nominating committee could put forward names.

Similarly, changes in voting procedures (public voting by countries, rather than through constituencies, or a requirement that candidates win the support of a majority of developing and emerging countries) could persuade more emerging-market officials to put their names forward.

What we are seeing now – open campaigning, as opposed to selection behind closed doors – seems to be a move in the right direction. But one hopes that campaign promises won’t tie the new leader’s hands, as so often happens in electoral politics.

Simplistic ideologies got the world into the mess in which it now finds itself, and simplistic prescriptions (even of the “tough-love austerity” form) will only compound the problems.

One of the leading candidates to be the IMF’s next managing director has turned out to be a Frenchwoman, Christine Lagarde, who, as France’s finance minister, helped lead her country through the Great Recession. She has been an outspoken advocate of financial-sector reforms, and has won the respect of all of those with whom she has worked.

Politics is not always kind to good candidates. The world should be thankful that there is at least one. Where she was born should not be an impediment to her prospects.

* Joseph E Stiglitz is University Professor at Columbia University, a Nobel laureate in Economics, and the author of Freefall: Free Markets and the Sinking of the Global Economy.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 5 June 2011, 8:37 pm and is filed under
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Don’t turn talent outflow into brain drain

By
Lim Mun Fah

June 04, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider

JUNE 4 — The world is fighting for talents. We can hardly find another country having a messy overseas scholarship system and yet blames the media for causing chaos, like Malaysia.

I have a book entitled “The Talent War” on my bookshelf. It wrote: “Talent outflow in European countries has made the United States the first country to successfully detonate atomic and hydrogen bombs, as well as send satellites into space and astronauts to land on the moon. Meanwhile, talent outflow in China and India has created Silicon Valley, a home to many of the world’s largest technology corporations, in the US. Talents are more important to a country compared to oil, financial streets and nuclear weapons.”

I agree with the argument. In fact, strategies of how to cultivate and attract talents have become one of the most important policies in many countries.

However, it is frustrating that many developing countries, including Malaysia, have been sending a large number of students to study abroad but still facing the problem of brain drain.

According to “The Talent War”, it said that in today’s world, more than half of highly-educated immigrants have been absorbed by the US. A quarter of them were post-graduate students and half of them chose to stay in the US after completing their doctoral degrees, making the US a unique superpower.

However, the US is not the country attracting most Malaysian talents. According to the Malaysia Economic Monitor report released by the World Bank, Singapore has attracted most Malaysian talents (54 per cent), followed by Australia (15 per cent) and the US (10 per cent).

It is not a surprising phenomenon. In fact, it is entirely consistent with the world trend of talent flow, namely talents from developed countries flow to the most developed country while talents from developing countries flow to developed countries and talents from backward countries flow to developing countries. Of course, there are also some exceptional cases.

To effectively cultivate talents, it is essential to develop a fairer scholarship system and not to give up making changes for fear of triggering some minor issues.

I do not agree with the saying of making potential talents studying in local universities means retaining talents. Instead, I agree with “The Talent War” that talent outflow is not equivalent to brain drain. Studying, working and developing careers abroad are regarded as talent outflow and they might return and contribute to their motherland one day. As for brain drain, it is referring to those who have given up their original nationality, become citizens of the countries they are staying and would never come back.

Obviously, the transnational flow of talents is an unstoppable trend. The most important thing is whether we can stop domestic talents from becoming drained talents and prevent talent outflow from turning into brain drain?
 — mysinchew.com

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 5 June 2011, 10:48 am and is filed under
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RM450m Tambatuon dam controversy – Why MP Kota Belud never visited kampong? (4)

Twitter sequel Part 4

Part 1
 ,
Part 2
 &
Part 3
>

Iskandarbak Jun 04, 8:42pm

@mpkotabelud u back from Spore? hoping to get ur response on my feedback to ur post in ur blog re: dam in Kg T

Iskandarbak Jun 04, 8:46pm

@mpkotabelud I just checkd ur blog. U have updated it with d translation. But, i dont see my feedback comments there. I had also emailed u.

mpkotabelud Jun 04, 8:47pm

I got ur reply. On the move now. Tak dak masa utk think. Soon will reply. RT @Iskandarbak:

dredwinbosi Jun 04, 8:57pm

@mpkotabelud how many farmers to benefit fm dam? as long native have land they r not poor.

dredwinbosi Jun 04, 9:01pm

@mpkotabelud U r destroying homes and life of Tanbatuon Dusuns. Its part of our hertage.

Iskandarbak Jun 04, 9:07pm

Increase Yield instead of building a Dam to ensure rice security http://bit.ly/kFJBFz @stephstamaria @mpkotabelud @limkitsiang @dredwinbosi

limkitsiang Jun 04, 9:59pm

@mpkotabelud YB cld x answer “Wats yr feeling in yr 1st visit 2KgT” cos nvr been there b4/after bcame MPKB/dialogued in KgT on dam. Correct?

dredwinbosi Jun 04, 10:06pm

@limkitsiang @mpkotabelud Prob is MPKB is fm Tuaran n may not have feelings for ppl in Tambatuon.

JunzWonG Jun 04, 10:22pm

RT @dredwinbosi: @limkitsiang @mpkotabelud Prob is MPKB is fm Tuaran n may not have feelings for ppl in Tambatuon.

tanjooilong Jun 04, 10:30pm

“Consideration for the Construction of Dam in Kota Belud” – by Iskandar Abdul Kadir http://t.co/eiOP8PP

StanleyWTW Jun 04, 10:32pm

@limkitsiang @mpkotabelud It is a straight forward question, just answer it quick and without delay.

limkitsiang 11:05am

@mpkotabelud X surprised by YB’s silence last 2days 2my repeated Q: Wats yr feeling on yr 1st visit 2KgT cos u nvr stepped foot in2 KgT

limkitsiang 11:05am

@mpkotabelud shld visit KgT b4 Parlmnt meets Mon 13/6. KgT ppl waiting 4u 2dialogue w u about T dam which will completely flood/destroy KgT

limkitsiang 11:07am

@mpkotabelud Q Y YB no feelings 4KgT? My visit 2KgT 28/5, was so struck by KgT I immdtly tot of Chinese writer TaoYuanMing’s famous essay.

limkitsiang 11:10am

@mpkotabelud In “Peach-Blossom Spring” he wrote about a village cut off from outside world akin to paradise. This is my feeling on KgT

limkitsiang 11:11am

@mpkotabelud Should such idyllic place b destroyed by T dam? In English literature there is Samuel Butler’s Erewhon – an utopia on earth.

limkitsiang 11:12am

@mpkotabelud KgT should be promoted 2put Sabah/Msia on world tourist map – not be drowned by T dam. How many in Sabah/Msia know about KgT?

limkitsiang 11:12am

Even @mpkotabelud does not know n still refuses 2visit! Even if there is 2b a dam in KotaBelud, why can’t KgT be saved/spared?

JunzWonG 11:53am

Is heading to Kg Tambatuon w @HenryShimj @nickchak99 Wellon to intensify d fight against the T Dam project w NGO @limkitsiang @dredwinbosi

puziahelmardi 1:37pm

@limkitsiang @mpkotabelud Always a fighter. Unfortunately I am a Malay so I have to be loyal to the Malays

dearfirdaus 2:33pm

havent you read the proposal? its not finalised yet. RT @limkitsiang: Even @mpkotabelud does not know n still refuses 2visit! Even if there is 2b a dam in KotaBelud, why can’t KgT be saved/spared?

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 5 June 2011, 3:57 pm and is filed under
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The fate of Malaysians

By
Othman Wahab

June 05, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider

JUNE 5 — Such is the fate of Malaysians that we have to stomach insults and condescension on a daily basis. If it is not Datuk Ibrahim Ali, it is Datuk Hishammuddin Hussein or Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin or Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

At least one of them will insult our intelligence on a daily basis. In a speech to mark the Yang diPertuan Agong’s birthday, the prime minister warned those who caused disunity and stoked the embers of discord that their time is up. His administration would come down hard on them.

Seriously, does he expect us to believe this? Perkasa and Ibrahim and Utusan Malaysia have cornered the market on creating discord in the country and nothing has happened to them.

Surely the PM would agree that publishing and spreading lies of a Christian takeover of the country has to be punished. But his administration did squat even as Ibrahim Ali threatened to undo years of nation building by threatening to ignite his brand of Crusades against Christians.

But the PM and his officials must believe that Malaysians are stupid so he can sound tough and commanding. And just as you thought that you will be spared more gibberish, along comes Muhyiddin, in the same league with Ibrahim Ali.

He declares pompously that PAS is straying from its Islamic principles. How did he reach this earth-shaking conclusion? Because the Islamist party’s elections led to the victory of some so-called moderates over the conservatives and because PAS was willing to work with DAP.

This guy must really believe we are stupid. And therein lies the problem of Umno; they actually believe that we are dumb, brainless.

Firstly, Umno leaders should not lecture PAS on Islam. For that matter, any politician whose party has embraced corruption, racial chauvinism and injustice has forfeited the right to sit on a moral high horse.

Muhyiddin and his Umno colleagues have embraced money politics so wholeheartedly that they have forgotten the beautiful thing called democracy and the power of the vote.

The power of the vote is what pushed Mat Sabu and a few others to the fore. Whether he will be able to do anything for PAS is untested but you can bet that PAS delegates will punish him if he does not walk the talk.

This concept of democracy seems alien to Muhyiddin. If PAS works with DAP and not Umno, it is because the party rank and file want it that way.

I suppose the frightening thing about this is that PAS members are more willing to work with non-Muslims rather than their brethren. Why is this so?

My advice to Najib, Muhyiddin and company is to realise that Malaysians have grown up. You insult our intelligence at your peril.

* Othman Wahab reads The Malaysian Insider.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 5 June 2011, 8:06 pm and is filed under
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To laugh or cry at Utusan Malaysia’s “garbage of all garbage” write-up today accusing me of being a mastermind in PAS party elections?

Should I gnash my teeth and pull my hair out in anger and frustration at Utusan Malaysia’s “garbage of all garbage” write-up accusing me of being a mastermind in PAS party elections?

Or should I just dismiss it with all the contempt  which all calumny, lies and falsehoods deserve?

Indeed a classic  “do not know whether to laugh or cry” situation!

Penned by Utusan editors hiding behind the pseudonym Awang Selamat, the “garbage of all garbage” must be read by all Malaysians to forewarn them of the terminal mental disease condition afflicting certain powerful personalities walking the corridors of power in the Najib Razak administration. Hence it is quoted in full as follows:

Siapa paling puas?

Bisik-Bisik Mingguan

PELBAGAI analisis berlegar berikutan keputusan pemilihan Pas sempena Muktamar Agung parti itu. Kekalahan golongan ulama paling hangat diperkatakan.

Yang terserlah kejayaannya ialah kumpulan pro ketua pembangkang, Anwar Ibrahim atau Anwarinas yang diketahui menjadi pendokong aspirasi DAP.

Awang tidak terkejut dengan apa yang berlaku itu. Desas-desus mengenai gerakan menjayakan pengaruh Anwar sudah kedengaran sejak tahun lalu. Dengan kata lain, perancangan mengenainya telah lama dibuat melibatkan PKR dan DAP untuk mempengaruhi keputusan pemilihan Pas. Maka orang yang paling puas dan gembira ialah Anwar dan pemimpin utama DAP, Lim Kit Siang. Kedua-duanya boleh senyum lebar dalam tidur kerana percaturan mereka menjadi kenyataan.

Sudah banyak kali Awang menulis bahawa orang yang paling berkuasa dalam Pas sebenarnya adalah Anwar. Kedua, Mursyidul Am Pas, Nik Aziz Nik Mat dan ketiga barulah presidennya, Hadi Awang. Apatah lagi, Hadi telah lama hilang cengkaman. Beliau menjadi Presiden Pas paling lemah sehingga elemen luar mudah meresapi dan mencorakkan parti. Belum pernah berlaku dalam sejarah, Pas begitu tercemar teruk dengan pengaruh asing.

Hadi seperti juga Nik Aziz tunduk kepada strategi Kit Siang dan Anwar. Kedaulatan Islam bukan menjadi tonggak perjuangan sebaliknya ego dan nafsu politik menguasai diri. Isu moral Anwar selaku ketua pembangkang langsung tidak disentuh oleh Hadi dalam ucapan dasar yang membawa mesej Pas berkompromi kepada salah laku seks yang berulang. Awang percaya takkan ada parti Islam lain di dunia yang berpendirian seperti Pas dalam isu moral yang serius seperti itu.

Hadi juga melepaskan kesempatan terbaik untuk mengupas isu-isu kritikal berkaitan kepentingan Islam, sebaliknya mengalih perhatian dengan menghentam UMNO. Beliau telah memberikan isyarat yang salah kepada seluruh umat Islam yang mengharapkan pemikiran strategik Pas demi kekuatan politik Islam. Ternyata Hadi dan Nik Aziz terus membenarkan Pas diperalatkan oleh DAP yang tidak mahu Islam dominan menerusi agenda memperjuangkan kesamarataan. Ia adalah penghinaan dan sabotaj kepada agama Islam itu sendiri.

Namun Awang lega kerana ada beberapa tokoh Pas terutama Ketua Dewan Ulama, Harun Taib masih berani mempertahankan jati diri Pas serta tidak mahu parti itu mengikut telunjuk komponen dalam pakatan pembangkang. Biarpun golongan ulama kelihatan kecundang, Awang percaya mereka akan bangkit kemudian hari. Masih ramai ahli dan penyokong Pas di akar umbi yang mendokong ulama sebagai teras perjuangan. Majoriti umat Islam di negara ini juga sedia membuat perhitungan terhadap Pas pada pilihan raya umum akan datang sebagaimana beberapa pilihan raya kecil sebelum ini. Tidak sukar. Apatah lagi terhadap parti yang makin gagal membawa denyut nadi umat Islam.

The allegations by Awang Selamat, whether against me or Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, are so preposterous and so fantastic flights of fevered imaginations that they don’t deserve any  detailed rebuttal except contemptuous dismissal.

Utusan has reached a new height in venom and vituperation  in its wild fulmination today –  even putting in the shade Utusan’s irresponsible, seditious and treasonous “DAP-Christian Malaysia” bogey on its front-page last month!

The saving grace is that Utusan’s editors and their real masters are preaching to a diminishing audience (swiftly taking UMNO down the slippery slope to bankruptcy, both political and financial with plummeting circulation ) – which probably explains their screaming desperation by the day.

The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak spent RM70 million public funds  to enlist APCO expertise to promote 1Malaysia – which is being sabotaged everyday by UMNO and Barisan Nasional component parties with the Utusan’s ”garbage of all garbage” today the latest example.

It is the Pakatan Rakyat comprising DAP, PKR and PAS which symbolises the real 1Malaysia – uniting Malaysians regardless of race, religion, geography or socio-economic status – while Barisan Nasional led by Umno hegemon and the impotent and irrelevant 12 other BN component parties which represent a discredited, divided and dispirited nation-building concept!

Otherwise, how could DAP be accused by BN component parties like MCA and Gerakan of having sold out the Malaysian Chinese, Indians and non-Muslims to PAS while UMNO through Utusan is accusing PAS of being stooge and puppet of DAP?

Are the UMNO and BN leaders crazy, schizophrenic or just outright political opportunists  and knaves?

Is it because in Barisan Nasional, there is one master and the 12 other component parties in BN are just digits that everyone in BN believes that the PR is similarly constructed – that there is also  one master and the rest mere serfs in PR?

 They cannot be more wrong.

Pakatan Rakyat is a coalition of equals – and there is no master-and-serf relationship as in Barisan Nasional.

Pakatan Rakyat has come a long way since our establishment two years ago. Malaysians have to be reminded that there was no Pakatan Rakyat during the seminal 2008 general elections as PR was formed after the 308 political tsunami.

Each of the three PR parties – DAP, PKR and PAS – have been developing in the past two years to be better prepared for the greatest political challenge awaiting all Malaysians: the 13th general elections.

Congratulations to the newly-elected PAS leaders.  The time has come to deepen political understanding  and relationship of DAP, PKR and PAS at all levels, including having regular bilateral apart from multilateral discussions – such as DAP leadership having regular bilateral discussions with PKR and PAS leaderships as well.

——————————————————-

Utusan says Hadi, Nik Aziz forced PAS ulama out

By Shannon Teoh

June 05, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, June 5 — The Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia has ironically blamed top PAS ulamas Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang and Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat for the ulama faction losing top posts in the party elections over the weekend.

The Malay daily’s weekend edition Mingguan Malaysia said today the president and spiritual leader respectively had caused delegates to vote for progressive leaders instead of the conservative ulama who favour cooperation with Umno.

News editor Zulkiflee Bakar wrote that Abdul Hadi’s policy speech which attacked the Umno-led Barisan Nasional (BN) and focused on taking over government with PAS allies in Pakatan Rakyat (PR) had encouraged delegates to vote for “pro professional” candidates.

“Abdul Hadi was unaware that his speech would raise the spirits of the pro professionals to control the party. Talking about a welfare state gave the impression that ulama leaders were no longer needed as PAS has stopped fighting for an Islamic state,” he wrote.

The editorial added that the Marang MP’s drive to ready PAS for a general election expected within the year had further influenced delegates to ensure that professionals took up this responsibility.

“The ulama in PAS are perceived as weak and unable to face BN in the coming general election. This means the ulama will not have any power or role except to follow whatever strategies that are implemented by the professionals,” it said.

Mohamad Sabu won the party deputy presidency yesterday with 420 votes, leading a group of progressive leaders to counter conservatives who prefer to link up with Umno.

The Penang-born Mohamad defeated incumbent Nasharudin Mat Isa, who received only 224 votes, and vice-president Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, who came second with 399 votes. A total of 1,100 delegates voted in this year’s party elections.

In the vice-presidential race, incumbent Salahuddin Ayub took top spot with 753 votes, Datuk Husam Musa was second with 660 votes while another incumbent Datuk Mahfuz Omar kept his post with 616 votes.

The Umno newspaper also blamed spiritual leader Nik Aziz for ensuring that Nasharudin, part of the ulama faction, would fail to defend his No 2 post that has been held by ulama since 1981.

“Nik Aziz failed to advice his nephew Tuan Ibrahim to withdraw to avoid a split vote for ulama. Nik Aziz does not like Nasharudin for his links in trying to form a unity government with Umno even though it is for Malay and Muslim unity,” it said.

Zulkiflee said that the election results would make Abdul Hadi powerless to stop the “wave of political power” by PAS leaders who are loyal to PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

“This is all due to the mistake of the president who appeared to endorse this wave through his opening speech,” he wrote.

The party poll was billed as a contest between the party’s conservative ulama faction and the professionals (dubbed the Erdogans in a reference to progressive Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan).

The Erdogans are said to strongly back a coalition with former deputy prime minister Anwar rather than accept negotiations with Umno.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 5 June 2011, 12:49 pm and is filed under
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Why needs-based affirmative action makes no sense

By
Lee Hwok Aun

June 01, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider

JUNE 1 — We commonly hear these days that Malaysia should shift from a race-based affirmative action (AA) to needs-based affirmative action. Pakatan Rakyat started advocating this; Barisan Nasional followed.

The idea seems too nice, constructive, and harmonious to criticise. Both political alliances believe they have found a formula that can gain popular support and shift us away from the testy and rancorous debates over race-based AA and the New Economic Policy.

Unfortunately, needs-based affirmative action makes no sense, much as even I want to believe in it. The notion is, at best, imprecise and partial; at worst, incoherent and delusional.

The idea that we can replace race-based affirmative action with needs-based affirmative is deeply flawed on both conceptual and practical grounds.

Let’s first establish a common understanding that policy-making follows a sequence, from setting objectives to evaluating options toward attaining those objectives, then selecting the most appropriate and effective policies. This order of things will be widely accepted, but is rather elusive in our thinking on affirmative action, where objectives and policies tend to be muddled.

At the conceptual level, affirmative action has a specific objective: to increase the participation of a disadvantaged group, in Malaysia’s case a race group, in positions that confer social esteem and economic influence — tertiary education, high-level occupations, asset ownership.

The framers of the NEP got it right in setting out the policy’s two prongs: (1) to eradicate poverty irrespective of race; (2) to accelerate the restructuring of society to reduce and eventually eliminate the identification of race with economic function. The second prong corresponds with affirmative action. Bumiputeras were overwhelmingly under-represented in the ranks of university graduates, managers and professionals, and equity owners.

Affirmative action is principally not about poverty alleviation or needs-based distribution. At root, it aims to empower a disadvantaged group through elevating individuals from that group to positions in the upper rungs of the educational and occupational ladders.

Helping the poor and redistributing income through progressive socio-economic programmes in general, addresses more basic provisions and derives in a fairly straightforward manner from the principle of need.

The question does arise, why not target the poor, since most of the poor are Bumiputera anyway? This line of thought is appealing, but acutely misguided. Targeting the poor purely on socio-economic grounds surely helps the Bumiputera poor, such as through improving public schooling, infrastructure, and boosting rural economies. However, do these address the problem of Bumiputera access to and attainment of tertiary education and upper-level occupations? Not really.

If poverty is the primary problem, then pro-poor policies are the direct solutions. But where group under-representation is the primary problem, other solutions are called for. There is undoubtedly some overlap. For instance, fixing schools in poor regions would augment prospects for youth to enter university and move up the occupational ladder. This is possible, but only indirectly and slowly.

At the risk of redundancy, but in view of the difficulty in registering this point, let me reiterate: The problems that poverty alleviation and affirmative action attempt to solve are distinct; therefore, the policies must also be distinct. Again I must also stress the relationship: Needs-based considerations can reinforce, but not replace, race-based affirmative action. The two are complements, not substitutes.

That’s a hard truth on a “sensitive” subject. But let’s face is squarely.

Regrettably, we would rather replace the rhetoric, evade the sensitive part, and make believe we are replacing the system. If only we could. It’s odd, though, that we do this about affirmative action but not other policies. I do not hear anyone advocating an end to rural poverty programs and just doing general poverty alleviation.

A parallel argument could be made: Since most of the poor live in rural areas, do away with rural development. Just do income-targeted programmes and the rural poor will benefit disproportionately more. No, we do not apply this logic, because we recognize that rural poverty demands specific rural-based policies. And because the urban-rural divide, unlike the racial divide, is less sensitive.

But there’s an even harder truth: Affirmative action is inherently discriminatory. It confers preference toward a beneficiary group. The areas of intervention are characterized by structural barriers to entry — grade points for university admissions, tertiary-level qualifications for professional work, on-the-job experience for promotion to management.

Affirmative action is premised on the requirement that some degree of preference be accorded in favour of the disadvantaged group, who lack the requisite qualifications, past opportunities or work experience to compete on an equal footing. Over time, the preferential selection should diminish.

This is controversial, and agonisingly difficult to accomplish, yet I don’t know of a credible alternative. So it must be done, but it must be done productively, effectively and temporarily.

The case for AA is stronger in productive spheres, and weaker in areas potentially corrupted by acquisitive behaviour, such as equity and wealth ownership. Effective affirmative action demands focus on developing capability and self-reliance, especially through attaining tertiary education and accumulating work experience.

Again we are faced with realities that frame the basis of AA. For practical reasons, in addition to conceptual coherence explained above, affirmative action is executable primarily as a race based programme. Need-based considerations can reinforce AA, but to a limited extent.

For AA to be effective, we should select those within the beneficiary group who are most capable of coping with the challenges of upward mobility. The implications vary by sector. In education, the scope for giving preference to the poor is broader, and family background is a legitimate criterion for assessing young dependents’ admission to university.

However, while we want more youth from poor families to attain tertiary education, we must acknowledge that they are on average less equipped than middle- and upper-class kids to handle tertiary level study.

In employment, the scope of needs-based considerations is more limited, if not impossible. Needs-based AA in employment would entail employers granting preference in hiring and promoting professionals and managers on the basis of socio-economic background.

Such a scheme would consume an inordinate amount of resources to process an extra dollop of information — imagine employers having to verify and evaluate applicants’ parents’ income and assets to determine who’s poorer and should be given priority. It would also conflict with the principle that working adults are independent from their parents and responsible for themselves.

In other words, for the purpose of increasing Bumiputera representation in professional and management positions, the choice is simple: Either some form of race-based affirmative action, or no affirmative action.

So why are we entertaining the delusion that needs-based AA can replace race-based AA? Let me suggest three reasons.

First, as discussed above, race-based AA is a “sensitive” topic. We wish it away. It stays.

Second, race-based AA has become a blunt and abused instrument. Yes it has, which makes us further want to wish it away and focus on other instruments. But those other instruments (poverty alleviation) are fixing other problems (poverty).

We have ignored the core AA programmes — matriculation colleges, university admissions quotas, public sector employment — that are entrenched and unchanged (while somehow believing that AA is being reformed). Yet these are stifling Bumiputera advancement and diminishing the effectiveness of AA in recent times, and are the institutions in greatest need of real, gritty reform.

Third, we have mistaken the racialisation of anti-poverty measures as a form of affirmative action. We have come to think that the greater help extended to the Bumiputera poor over the Indian poor, to take a popular example, amounts to AA. Thus, to deracialise poverty alleviation is to reform AA.

Let’s not fall into such erroneous thinking. Where pro-poor schemes have become racialised, that’s because racial politics and power abuse undermined what are essentially race-blind programmes. Removing racial elements is not a reform of affirmative action; it is a repair job, a restoration of pro-poor policies to what they are supposed to be.

Make no mistake, I am not proposing that we maintain the status quo. Far from it, I am saying we must pay critical attention to neglected issues and ask tougher questions about the current AA regime.

For a start, put needs-based and race-based policies in their proper perspective. Needs-based poverty alleviation is conceptually and practically distinct from race-based affirmative action. Needs-based AA cannot replace race-based AA. However, we can and must reinforce AA, where pertinent, by incorporating socio-economic considerations prioritizing poor Bumiputera over well-to-do Bumiputera.

Next, we need to make race-based AA more effective. This begins by addressing shortcomings in the education system, especially the matriculation programmes and under-challenging environments that most Bumiputera graduates pass through. Beneficiaries must be imbued with self-confidence and a responsibility to excel because preference will be temporary, rather than unthinking loyalty to a party-state seeking permanent patronage.

This shift in attitude and educational content is necessary to lay the groundwork for negotiating a clear and steady plan for rolling back the current affirmative action regime and finding ways to balance the principles of diversity/multiculturalism, equity, and equal opportunity — which I believe we will continually need to safeguard. Right now we are either ignoring critical issues, or perpetuating a polarised stand-off, between those defending the privileged status quo without assessing the downside versus those demanding meritocracy without thinking of viability.

Of course, some will ask whether it is viable at all to transform affirmative action.

I don’t know. But I do know that we are still not asking the right questions.

* Lee Hwok Aun is a lecturer in the Department of Development Studies, Universiti Malaya.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 5 June 2011, 10:51 am and is filed under
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Will PAS’s new dream team be Umno’s nightmare?

By
Sheridan Mahavera

June 05, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider

ANALYSIS
 – June 5 — The election of veteran activists, parliamentarians, state administrators and think tank experts into the top PAS leadership has appeared to put the party on a firm war footing.

This line-up of Mohamed Sabu as the PAS deputy president and vice-presidents Salahuddin Ayub, Datuk Husam Musa and Datuk Mahfuz Omar is expected to not only stand shoulder to shoulder with allies in Pakatan Rakyat (PR) but it is said that they want to spearhead the coalition in its march to Putrajaya.

Their election perhaps speaks of the party’s changing membership and support base, and the rank-file’s desire to see the party move beyond an Islamist movement to a national-level ruling party.

And there is very little doubt about working or talking to Umno or Barisan Nasional (BN). Not only will this leadership have no truck with them, PAS’s new war cabinet fervently wants to replace Umno as the representative of Malay Muslims.

Yet despite the optimism that the new leadership could widen PAS’s public appeal, a significant number of members are uncomfortable with the shift in the voting trend.

“I wished that an ulama had won. PAS should be lead by an ulama because it is an Islamic movement,” said a Kuala Lumpur grassroots member when he heard the new line up.

For the first time in 20 years, a majority of PAS’s top leadership are made up of those who don’t come from a religious education background or to use a much-misunderstood term, ulama (religious scholar).

“This is the leadership that will put the fear in Umno,” said Kelana Jaya delegate Abdul Rahman Othman. “It is a dynamic dream team for us to go into the next general election.”

The headline-grabbing personality is the very amiable new party deputy president Mohamad. A former MP, senior Pakatan leader/activist, ex-Internal Security Act detainee, popular ceramah speaker and a veteran civil disobedience insurrectionist.

Mohamad defeated incumbent Nasharudin Mat Isa and another popular challenger, Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man for the coveted post.

Below him are three vice-presidents, each of whom has crafted huge public profiles as national parliamentary opposition leaders — Salahuddin, Husam and Mahfuz.

Of the central committee members, only six are considered “ulama” personalities. The rest of the 18 elected members are lawyers, doctors, engineers, — individuals that more reflect the majority Malay middle and working class that PAS courts.

Mohd Rashidi Hasan, a popular pro-PAS writer, explained that though delegates still wanted the ulama to be “guardians of the party”, they realised it would take more than religious scholars to beat Umno.

“PAS wants to lead Pakatan, but to do that it needs to win more Malay majority seats,” said Rashidi.

In a way, the election results are an out-growth of the sentiments that elected the new Muslimat (women’s wing) leadership, where the top three posts went to two MPs and a Senator.

“We wanted a leadership that would be able to take Muslimat forward,” said a Muslimat member from Perak, who requested anonymity.

It is a desire for PAS to move beyond Malay society’s religious set and appeal to mainstream Muslims, whose ties to the faith are basic and who are more worried about making ends meet.

Delegates however took pains to stress that the polls was not a manifestation of the “ulama vs professional” schism that has dominated media reports about PAS..

“We choose based on who we think can best perform,” said Temerloh delegate Syed Hamid Syed Mohamed.

“We want leaders who we think can raise PAS to the level of a ruling party,” he said. To get there, it needs to coordinate a united, hand-in-glove relationship with the DAP and PKR.

“Mat Sabu” as Mohamed is popularly known, brings with him an almost three decade-long legacy of working closely with DAP and PKR leaders.

He is said to enjoy a close friendship with DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, which was forged when both were detained under the ISA during the 1987 Ops Lalang crack down.

Though to the public Mat Sabu is known as the jester of PAS, those who’ve worked with him say he has wide experience leading campaigns against BN policy.

“He coordinated a campaign to oppose a plan to privatise health care that was eventually dropped. He has also been at the forefront of many civil society demonstrations and actions,” said Alor Star delegate Adnan Saad.

However, Mat Sabu still has a long, difficult road ahead and one of them is convincing the more conservative members that his methods will suit PAS’s Islamist brand of politics.

At the same time, Mat Sabu and the new leadership will have cut through the mental barriers of racialism that Umno has grafted into the non-urban Malay electorate.

They may have convinced PAS members that they can bring the party forward, but the real test will be whether Mat Sabu and the new leadership can persuade Malay Muslims that it will be PAS and not Umno, that can bring the community forward.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 5 June 2011, 11:16 am and is filed under
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Ahli Melayu terus sokong DAP, sanggah putar belit media

In
Roketkini

6 June 2011

PUCHONG, 6 JUN – Laporan akhbar Sinar Harian dan Utusan Malaysia yang mendakwa kononnya 64 ahli Melayu DAP keluar parti untuk menyertai UMNO adalah tidak benar sama sekali.

“Bagaimana boleh mereka kata 64 ahli keluar parti sedangkan ahli-ahli DAP yang ada di Lembah Kinrara hanya 60 orang sahaja,” kata Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri Kinrara Teresa Kok.

Beliau yang juga Setiausaha Organisasi Kebangsaaan DAP kesal dan hairan dengan mainan media yang melaporkan fakta salah.

“Kita akan menemui kesemua 60 ahli DAP di kawasan ini untuk mengetahui sama ada mereka benar-benar mahu keluar parti atau masih kekal dengan DAP,” katanya pada sidang media di sini hari ini.

Sementara itu, Pengerusi DAP Cawangan Lembah Kinrara Azhar Shapawi berkata hanya beberapa ahli sahaja yang mengikut bekas pengerusi cawangan Harun Abdul Wahab yang menyertai UMNO.

“Saya terkejut apabila nama saya dikaitkan sedangkan kami langsung tidak dimaklumkan tentang penyertaan kami ke dalam UMNO dan perkara ini tidak pernah dibincangkan sama sekali,” katanya.

Pada 31 Mei lalu akhbar Sinar Harian dan Utusan Malaysia melaporkan seramai 64 ahli DAP keluar menyertai UMNO di mana Harun dipetik sebagai berkata beliau keluar DAP kerana “…apa jenis peruntukan dan projek pun tak pernah dapat. Dengan rela hati saya keluar DAP dan berjuang demi kepentingan orang Melayu.”

Azhar yang baru dilantik memegang jawatan itu, kesal dengan kenyataan Harun yang mengutuk Teresa Kok yang didakwanya tidak pernah melawat kawasan sedangkan Exco Kanan Kerajaan Selangor itu kerap mengadakan program bersama penduduk kampung Lembah Kinrara.

Jelas beliau lagi, pelbagai program telah dianjurkan oleh Teresa untuk penduduk di sini antaranya Bantuan Skim Mikrokredit untuk peniaga kecil yang mana Harun sendiri turut mendapat bantuan tersebut.

Selain itu, Teresa juga menganjurkan program untuk penduduk Kg Lembah Kinrara termasuk:

1. Majlis berbuka puasa di Kg Lembah Kinrara

2. Sambutan Hari Raya Aidilfitri dan sumbangan kepada warga emas dan orang-orang miskin

3. Sumbangan buku latihan sekolah (600 naskah buku) sempena program ‘Back to School’

4. Seminar keusahawanan untuk orang Melayu dari Kg Lembah Kinrara dan Puchong di Bukit Jalil Golf Club

5. Tuisyen percuma kepada pelajar SPM di Lembah Kinrara

6. Sumbangan kepada ibu-ibu tunggal sempena Hari Ibu.

Azhar tetap akan memperkuatkan lagi DAP dengan mempelawa seramai mungkin Melayu menyertai parti dalam masa terdekat ini.

“Kami ahli Melayu DAP sangat berterima kasih kepada segala bantuan dan keprihatinan Teresa Kok dan Ahli Parlimen Puchong Gobind Singh selama ini,” katanya.

Beliau yang mewakili ahli DAP di sini berkeras dengan pendirian menolak politik kotor UMNO yang suka mempermainkan isu kaum dan agama sehingga merosakkan masyarakat di negara ini.

Azhar turut menyampaikan borang keahlian baru kepada Teresa membuktikan lagi kepercayaan penduduk dengan perjuangan DAP selama ini.

“Kami sokong perjuangan DAP yang menjaga kepentingan semua kaum dan kami akan terus bersama dengan DAP,” katanya. – Roketkini.com

                This entry was posted on Monday, 6 June 2011, 4:55 pm and is filed under
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As Malaysia’s assets wane, Umno scrambles for wealth control

By
Shazwan Mustafa Kamal

June 06, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, June 6 — The fight is on for the country’s diminishing resources and assets, and leading the charge to secure rights to projects and land ownership are Umno warlords and politically-connected individuals.

As Malaysia grapples with imminent tariff hikes and a subsidy bill that could double to RM21 billion this year, individuals within the ruling Malay party appear to be wasting little time in demanding that the Najib administration award them immediate rights to government and commercial projects.

This is evident in the current tussle surrounding Umno’s attacks on UDA Holdings Bhd’s sale of prime land in downtown Kuala Lumpur, where despite the agency’s assurance that the sale to Mutiara Goodyear would benefit Bumiputeras, Umno leaders have attacked the agency, saying RM215.5 million deal would hurt Bumiputera interests.

“With the government announcement of the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) and projects, these people want to take advantage of the situation, they want a share of the pie,” said Merdeka Center director Ibrahim Suffian.

“There is an expectation that for continued political support, Umno needs to be economically secure, and what we are seeing now is a scramble for diminishing assets, properties,” Ibrahim told The Malaysian Insider.

UDA has also come under fire recently from Malay hardliners in Umno and Perkasa as well as Utusan Malaysia for allegedly abandoning the Bumiputera agenda after it chose not to appoint Bumiputera joint-venture turnkey investors for the proposed Bukit Bintang City Centre, located on prime land in the heart of Kuala Lumpur’s Golden Triangle.

Umno leaders have alleged that there are several Bumiputera companies that were more than capable to be part of the redevelopment project, but were overlooked by the agency.

Another project that has come under fire from Malay hardliners is the Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit project where they have won a concession to allow consortiums to pre-qualify for the country’s most expensive infrastructure project.

Project owners Syarikat Prasarana Negara Berhad had earlier restricted the tenders to construction companies with higher capital and longer experience but acceded to demands led by Perkasa, the Malay rights group.

Merdeka Center’s Ibrahim said that the trend in Umno’s growing demands in acquiring government and commercial projects showed a continuation of an oft-clichéd practice of money politics within the party. According to Ibrahim, Umno still used political connections to maximise its own profits.

“We can see that there’s even a scramble within different factions of Umno for projects, assets… but the thing is the scramble for assets is not as lucrative as it used to be, perhaps that is why this is happening,” the polls analyst added.

Universiti Sains Malaysia lecturer Dr Sivamurugan Pandian feels the government should only award projects or business deals to those who were deserving, saying that the continuation of “patronage politics” could backfire on Umno.

“They (Umno) need to adapt to the current environment… an individual or company should only be awarded a project or sale of land if they are fully qualified, it has to be based on those who fulfil the best criteria,” the political analyst told The Malaysian Insider.

The DAP’s Tony Pua blames the current situation as the biggest flaw of the New Economic Policy (NEP), resulting in “race” being the main criteria to lobby and secure lucrative contracts, which leaves powerful and politically-connected Bumiputeras benefiting while leaving the “Bumiputera masses” with very little gains.

The DAP national publicity secretary charged that as a result, competitive and competent firms will shift their resources overseas as they find their expertise better valued and in demand in places other than Malaysia.

“The UDA, Mass Rapid Transit system, Sungei Besi airbase, Rubber Research Institute and other projects will serve as a key marker as to whether Najib’s administration is serious about transforming Malaysia’s economy.

“Should the political will be lacking, and the government continues to slice bigger chunks of a shrinking pie to these connected entities on the basis of race, Malaysia will remain trapped in the middle-income group, and slowly but surely decline in its competitiveness relative to the rest of the world,” Pua told The Malaysian Insider.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 6 June 2011, 4:32 pm and is filed under
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Beware of Tahrir Square, Umno

By
Patrick Lee

June 6, 2011  | Free Malaysia Today

PETALING JAYA: DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang warned Umno to beware of a Malaysian version of the Tahrir Square revolution as witnessed in Egypt.

He said that Umno leaders such as Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and other “wannabes” such as Mukhriz Mahathir were likely to lose out if such an event were to take place.

Tahrir Square or Liberation Square was the epicentre of massive demonstrations by Egyptians who succeeded in removing former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak from power.

“The question Najib has to answer is whether he is really ready and prepared when Tahrir Square comes to Malaysia,” said Lim.

“It applies to other Umno wannabes like Mukhriz as well,” said Lim.

The Ipoh Timur MP said was referring to Najib’s speech to an 8,000-strong crowd in Putrajaya on World Youth Day last month.

Najib was heard to have said: “If one million youths gathered in Tahrir Square to change that country’s leadership… in Malaysia one million youths can gathered to defend Putrajaya.”

Lim said that many former government ministers and strongmen had been brought to justice after the 18-day Egyptian revolution which started on Jan 25 this year.

‘Mukhriz being irrational’

Among them were former finance minister Yussef Boutrous Ghali, who in absentia, was sentenced to 30 years in prison on charges of corruption and embezzlement of public funds.

Yussef, who fled the country in February, was also ordered to give back 60 million Egyptian pounds to the state.

Lim said that the fate of Yussef, along with other members of Hosni Mubarak’s regime should served as an omen for the Najib administration.

“Najib will be sorely mistaken if he thinks that there are one million youths in Malaysia to defend Putrajaya to help him continue holding the seat of federal power of an undemocratic, high-handed, corrupt and decadent regime,” he added.

Lim also took a swipe at Mukhriz over his comments on PKR’s and DAP’s purported influence in the recent PAS elections.

Mukhriz had said that PAS’s lack of ulamas (religious teachers) in its elected leadership was due to influences from its Pakatan Rakyat allies.

The DAP supremo, however, rubbished this statement, and said that Mukhriz’s words were “wild, baseless and irrational”.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 6 June 2011, 4:37 pm and is filed under
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History education in M’sia: Deep roots of contestation

By
 Dr Lim Teck Ghee

Monday, 06 June 2011

Most Malaysians – including members of the specially appointed government committee to review the history curriculum – may not be aware of the deep roots of the current controversy on the narrow religious and ethno-nationalistic approach that has come to dominate history education in the country.  The following essay provides information on two studies that have examined the roots of the contestation on history education, especially with regard to the history curriculum developed for schools and the assigned textbooks. 1

Santhiram’s work: Textbooks that divide

The earliest academic study on the subject was undertaken by Dr R. Santhiram.  The study published in 1997 is a pioneering attempt at examining the extent to which the educational system – as exemplified in the curriculum and textbooks – was reflective of a multiracial and multicultural society. 2 Focusing on selected lower secondary school textbooks and using quantitative content analysis and qualitative strategies, the paper’s general conclusion was that while some textbooks provided curriculum content appropriate for a multicultural society, others had concentrated heavily on majority race identity. 3

Santhiram’s study covered four subject areas – English Language, Bahasa Malaysia, Moral Education and History – and his findings on all of them are useful. However, his conclusions on the history component are of special interest because of their relevance to the situation today.  This is what he had to write about the assigned textbook, KBSM Sejarah Tingkatan 2, authored by Zainal Abidin Abdul Wahid, Khoo Kay Kim, Muhammad Yusof Ibrahim and D.S. Ranjit Singh (Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 1989). 4

Santhiram noted:

To be sure, the focus here is on Malaysian national history. The main players on the political scene are Malay rulers and the indigenous people and the history focuses on their responses to western incursions and domination. As such, a major part of the History textbook highlights these matters. The text deals mainly with political issues and to a certain extent provoke pupils to think about the weaknesses of the Malay states that led to British intervention.

Topics on economic development, growth of towns, development of infrastructure and development of education tend to give an overview of historical continuity and progress with a very strong Malay bias. However, it is important to mention here that evidence of stereotyping mentioned in some earlier works on the analysis of textbook material seem to have been corrected in this book (Mukherjee et al., 1984). The contention then was that the history textbooks as a whole focused primarily on one ethnic group – the Malays – at the expense of other ethnic groups in Sabah and Sarawak. Superficial coverage was given to the historical background and sociocultural aspects of non-indigenous groups. Instances of stereotyping of the races and misleading statements on non-indigenous ethnic groups were recorded in that research. These and other shortcomings were cited as a hindrance to the promotion of national unity (pp.16-32).

In relation to the crucial educational objective as defined by the Ministry of Education of inculcating and nurturing national consciousness through fostering common ideals, values, aspirations and loyalties in order to mould national unity and national identity in a multi-ethnic society, Santhiram expressed disappointment with the book’s contents. According to him:

In this book, topics that give an understanding of the origins of the multiracial society and their contributions are dealt with very peripherally, though Chinese involvement in tin disputes is dealt with within the context of internecine disputes of the Malay nobility.

Circumstances of Chinese and Indian migration in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries are not adequately explained. The only reference to Indian involvement in the rubber industry is a three-sentence acknowledgement which goes like this: “European planters preferred to use Indian labour” (p.127) and “Indian labour was brought in to work in rubber estates. Many Indians settled in this country in the 1910s and 1920s” (p.128). There is a page devoted to the development of Tamil schools which reinforces the fact that these schools are for the poor Indians (p.173) and a three-paragraph reference to Indian political activities (p.210).

In his conclusion on the history curriculum and textbook, Santhiram had this to say

Recognition of the evolution of the plural society and the contribution of non-indigenous communities in Malaysia has to be reexamined with a view to providing a balanced account… . One cannot wish away the realities of the past by ignoring them. Surely, Malay nationalistic fervour has to be highlighted to instill a sense of belonging to the nation. But a sense of belonging has to be promoted among all ethnic groups.

He further noted:

The non-Malays have come to play an important role in Malaysian affairs in the past 100 years. Their contribution has to be acknowledged and highlighted, instead of making only footnote references to their presence. It has to be stressed that the Chinese and Indians are not detachable appendages but integral constituents of the Malaysian society. How can a people develop a sense of common historical experience and a sense of belonging to the nation if they feel alienated and marginalised and no recognition is made to their participation in the life of the country?

Cheah’s work: Ethno-nationalist victory in rewriting history

Santhiram’s study approached the subject of the national curriculum and textbooks from the discipline of education.  Another scholar, Cheah Boon Kheng, approached the subject from the discipline of history.

Writing in the American Asian Review in 2003 5 , Cheah noted that “History, ethnicity and nation-building are not only related issues, but also controversial and sensitive ones in the politics of Malaysia’s multi-ethnic society.” In his study, unlike Santhiram who used the technique of content analysis of textbooks to arrive at his findings, Cheah relied on a selection of primary and secondary materials to arrive at his findings and conclusions.  He also delved further into the country’s political history to trace the developments that have influenced history writing.

According to Cheah, government policy aimed at making Malay history as the basis of national history and Malay culture as the basis of national culture followed the decisions adopted by several Malay groups at a National Culture Congress in 1971. Another key milestone took place in 1987 when the then Minister for Education, Anwar Ibrahim, instructed that the school history curriculum be revised to make it explicitly clear that the present day Malay political primacy was based on Malay history and on the premise that Malays were “the original inhabitants” and that their position could not be challenged.

Cheah also noted that in spite of Malay political dominance, other indigenous ethnic groups have tried to ensure that their communities’ own historical roles were not obliterated. His study provides examples of attempts during the past 40 years by various individuals and groups to contest the Malay-centric and politically biased history.  These attempts included that of the country’s founding father and first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman who complained that a book used as a text book for the schools “was obviously an attempt to put party politics above the historical facts” and “did not give proper emphasis to the important incidents and events [including his own role] which led to independence.” 6 According to Cheah, in the foreword to the Tunku’s own memoirs, Looking Back , the father of the country’s independence wrote:

One academic writer did write a book in Malay on Malaysia’s Independence, a work which was actually distributed to schools for our boys and girls to read, but the author had completely omitted to associate me with events leading to Independence.”

Other attempts at contestation of the official version of the country’s history emerging from Malay ethno-nationalist pressure included complaints by Sabah and Sarawak representatives at a national curriculum committee meeting in 1987 that Malaysian history textbooks tended to be too peninsula-biased” and that “to foster national integration, West Malaysians should also learn the histories of Sarawak and Sabah.”

More prolonged resistance to the official rewriting of Malaysia’s history, according to Cheah, has come from the Chinese community.  This resistance – which continues in a weakened form today – has been waged especially in response to attempts by Malay politicians and authorities to deny the crucial role of Kapitan Yap Ah Loy as Kuala Lumpur’s leading founder.  Other topics of contestation include key political events such as the constitutional provisions for Malays and non-Malays prior to independence in 1957 and the portrayal of the Japanese occupation period in Malaysian history.

With reference to the latter topic, Cheah has argued that the case of Malaysian textbooks that relate to Malaysia’s official memory of the Second World War “is somewhat similar to the Japanese government’s amnesia about Japan’s wartime atrocities during the Second World War.” In his view, the latest Malaysian history textbook (1992) reflects the government’s stand on the Japanese occupation of the country.  It is tied up with Malaysia’s internal and international politics. Malay political primacy requires an agenda to highlight Malay wartime roles and experiences over that of other communities, and to accord recognition to Japan’s wartime support of Malay nationalist aspirations.

The task ahead in reviewing ‘official’ history

The guidance from Santhiram’s and Cheah’s work – though written some years ago – are important to bear in mind in relation to the current controversy over the history curriculum and textbooks as well as the parallel controversy over Interlok, the assigned exam text for the literature component in the Bahasa Melayu compulsory pass subject.

Santhiram is of the view that in a textbook-driven curriculum environment like Malaysia’s, it is imperative that clear guidelines be given to textbook writers to incorporate elements of material that will help foster images and forms that will shape experiences positively in terms of national unity goals. Careful thought has to be given to the area of textbook writing so that the content does not work against nationally declared goals and aspirations. But guidelines are not enough especially if the interpreters and implementers of the guidelines are drawn from one racial group and when representatives from other racial groups are added on, their roles are mainly to provide the fig leaf of legitimacy and cover up for biased and ethno-centric products.

Cheah’s conclusion was blunter and appears – for now – to be prophetic in discerning future developments. He noted that “the struggle for equal historical space and place by ethnic minorities in Malaysia has been argued on the basis of multiculturalism, i.e., the idea that different, disadvantaged minorities and cultural groups in society have equally valid perspectives on historical truth.”

Whilst recognizing that it is necessary “to empower these groups in the face of the dominant concept of historical truth held by the ruling ethnic group”, he realistically noted that “if the grounds used to prefer one vision or one interpretation of the past over another are political and if the persuasiveness of a historical interpretation is simply a matter of the power of its advocates within society and within the historical profession, then it does not follow at all that history is necessarily a democratic, fair or tolerant enterprise.”

Reflecting his pessimism, Cheah concluded that “[t]he controversies over Malaysian history textbooks have focused largely over the issue of national history textbooks being easily indoctrinated or manipulated by the ruling ethnic group, or by state-commissioned historians for mainly political interests – usually in the interests of ethno-nationalism, in favour of the majority ethnic group, the Malays, over the others.”

It is evident that the struggle for a democratic, fair and representative history in Malaysia will be a long and protracted one with the odds stacked in favour of the ruling establishment and their well rewarded apologists.

Now that another opportunity has emerged in the recent decision to review the history curriculum, it is imperative that Malaysians from all communities rouse themselves from their stupor and come together to correct past wrongs. Working to ensure that the full complexity and richness of our history – rather than a caricature of our past – is reflected in the curriculum and textbooks has to be a collective and multiracial responsibility if it is to have any hope of success.

*******************

Footnote:

1 The book, Glimpses of Malaysian history, was a collection of essays by Malaysian historians and was edited by Zainal Abidin bin Wahid and published by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.

2 See R. Santhiram, “Curriculum Materials for National Integration in Malaysia – Match or Mismatch”, Asia Pacific Journal of Education Volume 17, Issue 2, 1997, pp.7-18

3 For his analysis, Santhiram posed two questions to provide a general direction for analysing the curriculum materials. They were as follows: 1) To what extent do these textbooks help promote the development of national unity among the various races with specific reference to the Indians? 2) To what extent do these textbooks provide suitable role models for the minority ethnic groups, especially the Indians, to emulate?

Based on these two questions, the analysis concentrated on visual presentation, focus and themes in the stories and passages and the depth of treatment given to racial, cultural and religious diversity. Conspicuous stereotyping and omissions which would reinforce the identification of race with occupations and promote prejudice were also noted and assessment was also made of positive values and attitudes that were inculcated.

4 All four authors involved in writing this book came from academia with the first two being professors of History at Malaysian universities, and the other two, lecturers in local universities.

5 Cheah Boon Kheng, “Ethnicity, Politics and History Textbook Controversies in Malaysia”, Vol. XXI, No.4, Winter, 2003, pp.229-52.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 6 June 2011, 12:32 pm and is filed under
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Is Najib ready and prepared when Tahrir Square comes to Malaysia?

The wind of change in Malaysia  continues to blow strong and hard 39 months after the 308 “political tsunami” – this is the most important message from the weekend’s PAS party elections.

Mukriz Mahathir, one of the aspirants for the  highest Umno leadership position when Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak stumbles and falls, said “Congratulations to the DAP and PKR for succeeding to influence PAS to the extent that only those aligned to them (no ulama) were elected as PAS vice-presidents and even the deputy president”.

I say to Mukriz: “Congratulations for your wild, baseless and irrational comments as it is the best demonstration and proof to all Malaysians, particularly to the young generation of all races, that there is nobody in UMNO and Barisan Nasional who could live up to their aspirations for change to make up for Malaysia’s lost decades in building an united, just, democratic, progressive, prosperous and competitive nation.”

Recently on World Youth Day, Najib told a crowd of 8,000  youths – which was exaggerated more than one hundred-fold into a million-strong gathering –  that  “if in Egypt one million youths gathered in Tahrir Square to change that country’s leadership… in Malaysia, one million youths gathered to defend Putrajaya”.

The question Najib has to answer is whether he is really ready and prepared when Tahrir Square comes to Malaysia. That question applies to other Umno wannabes like Mukriz as well.

The latest news from Egypt in  post-Tahrir Square era is the Cairo criminal court sentence of Egypt’s former finance minister Yussef Boutros Ghali in absentia to 30 years in prison on charges of corruption and embezzlement of public money.

Ghali was awarded 15 years for squandering public money by using cars held in customs and 15 years for abusing his position to benefit from ministry funds.

He is among several ministers of the Hosni Mubarak regime to be brought to justice in post-revolution Egypt which is now investigating charges of corruption on officials of the previous government, including the ousted president. Former interior minister Habib al-Adly was earlier sent to 12 years in prison on corruption charges.

Are  Najib and UMNO/BN leaders prepared when Tahrir Square comes to Malaysia?

Najib had called on a million youths in Malaysia to defend Putrajaya.

The Prime Minister will be sorely mistaken if he thinks there are one million youths in Malaysia to defend Putrajaya to continue as the seat of federal power of an undemocratic, high-handed, corrupt and decadent regime.

I have confidence that there will be one million youths in Malaysia to defend Putrajaya ala Tahir Square – not to defend Najib, Umno and Barisan Nasional but  freedom, democracy and political change in Malaysia by democratic and constitutional means.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 6 June 2011, 8:38 am and is filed under
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Kit Siang: Mukhriz’s PAS polls claim shows BN cannot change

By
Yow Hong Chieh

June 06, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, June 6 — DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang slammed Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir today for claiming that the PAS party poll results show that the DAP and PKR have influenced the Islamist party into sidelining its ulama faction.

Lim said the Umno Youth executive councillor’s “wild, baseless and irrational” claims were proof that no one in Umno or Barisan Nasional (BN) could live up to the aspirations of young Malaysians, who wanted a better Malaysia after “lost decades” under the ruling coalition’s rule.

Mukhriz (picture) said on Saturday that the rise of the professional, or Erdogan, faction in PAS’s top leadership showed that the party now only championed the multi-racial line of its Pakatan Rakyat (PR) partners and no longer fought for the Islamic state.

“Congratulations to the DAP and PKR for succeeding to influence PAS to the extent that only those aligned to them were elected as PAS vice-presidents and even the deputy president,” he had told reporters in Jerlun.

“The influence of the DAP and PKR in PAS is very substantial. This does not reflect that PAS is free from the influence of those who are actually against Islam.”

Lim asked whether “Umno wannabe” Mukhriz would be prepared when youths rise up against BN rule in Malaysia despite a recent call by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak for youths to defend the administrative capital.

Lim said young Malaysians would not defend Putrajaya as the seat of “an undemocratic, high-handed, corrupt and decadent regime”, pointing out that Egypt has just sentenced its former Finance Minister Yussef Boutros Ghali to 30 years in jail on graft charges.

“I have confidence that there will be one million youths in Malaysia to defend Putrajaya a la Tahir Square — not to defend Najib, Umno and Barisan Nasional but freedom, democracy and political change in Malaysia by democratic and constitutional means,” he said.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 6 June 2011, 12:36 pm and is filed under
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Malaysia in the Era of Globalization #68

By
M. Bakri Musa

Chapter 8: Culture, Institutions, and Leadership

The Blight of Broken Families

I am appalled and saddened at the statistics on the family, especially among Malays. The number of teenage marriages is truly obscene. These young girls are not ready for motherhood. Think of the potential for personal growth thwarted by such early marriages. Malaysia must enact a minimum age of at least 18 for marriage. The divorce rates too are horrifying. These are actual divorces and do not include such cases of de facto divorces, that is, when Malay husbands simply abandon their wives or take on multiple wives. When one examines the structure and dynamics of such abandoned families, they are no different from divorced households. The children of families of multiple wives are just as neglected as if the father had divorced their mother.

            I am baffled and horrified that these Malays think that they can take care of their many children in absentia. There was a case in Johore where a man sired literally dozens of children through multiple wives. How can he be an effective father to his brood? Muhyiddin Yassin, a current federal cabinet minister and an UMNO senior vice president, has 48 siblings! His father, a respected ulama, had four wives. What kind of an example was he trying to set? If he wanted to emulate our holy prophet, why did he choose this particular trait? How could he have bonded with his multitude of children? The notorious terrorist Osama bin Ladin came from a family of 54 children! His father had numerous wives. No telling how many more children his old man would have had he lived to a ripe old age! Totally irresponsible! He made a mockery of the institution of marriage and family. I doubt he could even remember his children’s names, much less their birthdays and favorite toys. It is no surprise that Osama, like his father, also has multiple wives, an anecdotal affirmation of my earlier statement.

            A rapidly emerging and pernicious influence on the Malaysian family scene is the widespread practice of delegating child rearing to maids. Every year the country imports thousands of illiterate women from poor neighboring countries to be domestic help. The dangers here are twofold. One, young Malaysians are fast turning into spoiled brats with their whims taken care of immediately by these maids. Two, these maids may unconsciously impart an alien value system on the young. It is one thing to have maids do the household chores so mothers could have some quality time to spend with their children, it is quite another to leave child rearing to foreigners.

            If Malaysia were to import foreign workers, I would prefer them to be skillful programmers, creative musicians, and talented scientists. At least they would then impart their special talents onto locals. All these unskilled maids do is to make Malaysians feel smugly superior. It seems that the new status symbol in Malaysia is the number of household maids. The Australians have a per capita income considerably higher than Malaysians, yet they do not feel the need to import maids. The Australians have a totally different cultural value on child rearing.

            I have only three children yet my wife and I had a tough time coping with their homework plus all the problems of growing up. Many Malays blithely take on many wives on the stupid pretext that because our prophet had multiple wives, Muslims too should do likewise. Why, of all the many sterling qualities of our holy prophet (pbuh), present day Malays choose to imitate this particular trait? They forgot that when Mohammad (pbuh) had multiple wives it was an expression of his charity, to take care of widows and orphans during times of social stress as in war, a far cry from the priapic propensities of today’s Malays.

            The Chinese culture too has its own version of broken families: the habit of taking on concubines. With modern laws recognizing the children of such unions as legitimate heirs, such practices are now declining. The only redeeming aspect of communism in China is that it got rid of the concubinage.

            Malaysia should emulate Turkey and Tunisia and ban polygamy, or if that raises the ire of fundamentalist Muslims, place strong disincentives. I suggest that before anyone takes on another wife, he must have a trust fund of RM 100,000 for the benefit of each child he already has. There are just too many irresponsible fathers even among the educated class. And divorced fathers must pay child support. In America, through court order, the paychecks of errant fathers are garnished to benefit their abandoned children.

            Sadly, the Shari’a court system that has jurisdiction over family affairs of Muslims is a misogynist institution. Its record in protecting children and abandoned wives is abominable. One solution would be to give Muslim couples and families the option of choosing the civil court system if any one party requests it. Were this to happen, the monopoly of the Shari’a would be broken and then we would know how much faith people have in it. That would also serve as a stimulus for much-needed reforms of the system.

            One critical area in need of great reform is divorce laws. The era when Muslim husbands could abandon their wives by simply declaring, “I divorce thee” three times (talak), makes a mockery of the sanctity of marriage. It takes a lot to get married in the first place, and divorce should not be undertaken lightly. Even more degrading to the institution of the family is the acceptance by the Shari’a of divorce pronouncements made by husbands on their cellular phones! The divorce provisions of the Shari’a must be reformed to reflect present day norms of gender equality.

            Strengthen the family. This is not a women’s issue; it concerns everyone. Besides, it is the right thing to do. A stable family is the foundation of a strong society. Malaysia spends billions in trying to correct its myriad social pathologies, and is losing much more because of the lost potential of her blighted citizens. More resources must be diverted to strengthening the institution of the family. I am truly gratified that many Malaysian leaders beginning with Tun Razak had exemplary family lives. Both Mahathir and his present chosen successor, Abdullah Badawi, have not only carried on this fine tradition but they are also one of the few Malays who choose not to have multiple wives or large families.

            There is in America today a growing appreciation that the failure of many minority groups to advance, despite affirmative actions and civil rights legislations, is attributable to the decline of the family in that subculture. Today, a Black child born into an intact family, that is one with a father and mother, is a definite rarity. Unfortunately there is no respite from this tragic trend. This sad reality is finally dawning on enlightened Black leaders. They are now desperately trying to reverse this trend by strengthening the family. Lest anyone would ascribe ugly racial undertones to these observations, this same negative trend is also seen among Whites. And as so wisely pointed out by Moynihan, at the turn of the 19th Century the same social pathologies seen in Blacks and Hispanics today were also seen among Irish immigrants. At that time it was the abrupt transition from country to city life compressed within a generation that was so immensely disruptive. Such a social milieu gave rise to the wild Irish slums of Boston and New York with their drunkenness, corruption, family disorganization, juvenile delinquency, truancy, and other social pathologies.

            Malays today are undergoing a similar disrupting transition from a tranquil rural kampong life to a hectic urban one; all compressed within a generation. Such rapid changes take their toll on traditional institutions like the family. Thus it should not be a surprise that Malays are experiencing such social turmoil as reflected by the alarming rates of truancy, school dropouts, and divorce rates.

            Despite a generation of affirmative actions and other special set-aside programs in America, Blacks and other minorities still lag behind. Well meaning legislations cannot undo or reverse the damage done by the disintegration of the family. Similarly in Malaysia, after more than a generation of ever increasing and more generous special privileges, Malays are still lagging. Sadly, many Malay leaders are falling back on the same old stereotype and clichés to explain this failure. I suggest that Malays still lag despite preferential treatment because the institution of the Malay family is being severely stressed and threatened. Unless the institution of the family is strengthened, no amount of special programs will help. There is simply no substitute for a strong, stable, and intact family.

Next:   Leadership

                This entry was posted on Monday, 6 June 2011, 9:23 am and is filed under
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PAS dynamism is restored

Comment by
Zainon Ahmad

6 June 2011 | Sun2Surf

KUALA LUMPUR (June 5, 2011): IF the late nationalist Dr Burhanuddin al-Helmy — PAS’s third president who did much to turn the Umno breakaway into a strong party with its own identity and ideology — were alive today he would probably be pleased with this year’s muktamar.

He would be happy to note that the delegates to the muktamar had no qualms at all about criticizing ulamas for their unwillingness to encourage progressive thinking among Muslims in the country.

One ulama who was lampooned was Perak Mufti Tan Sri Harussani Zakaria who was referred to as “poco-poco” ulama for banning the dance in the state but refused to censure efforts to make public a sex video in which an opposition leader was said to be involved.

The different tenor of the debates was as if some aspects of the Islamist-nationalist philosophy Burhanuddin had striven to propagate as the party’s ideology are reemerging and seem to have inspired members to take the present course of deemphasizing ethnicity and the Islamic state agenda.

Burhanuddin had struggled to give the then fledgling party — with the names of many of its members still registered with Umno — character and strength to fight the mother party’s efforts to re-absorb it. To his credit in 1959 PAS captured Kelantan.

There was no talk of race or ethnicity then and there was easy mixing between PAS leaders and leaders of the labour and socialist parties. Race was only emphasized under the leadership of Datuk Asri Muda.

As for the Islamic state agenda it became part of the party struggle under Yusof Rawa who took over the leadership of the party after the Iranian Revolution of 1979.  The agenda took a definite shape under Datuk Fadzil Noor and Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang who promoted the idea of leadership by the ulama.

It was this agenda that had been the stumbling block to attempts at electoral understanding with other opposition parties, especially the DAP, to deny the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) its dominance in the national legislature.

PAS gained new members and support following widespread protests against the sacking of deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim which the party capitalised on to win its most number of parliamentary seats, 27, for the first time.

Most of the new members, including those who joined after 2008, began to influence the  leaders to stay with Pakatan Rakyat and to undertake reform to facilitate the smooth functioning of the grouping.

To these reform-minded members, which includes professionals as well as ulama, it was time for the party to move on from being a mere opposition party to being part of a governing group.

They were, of course, challenged by another group of members who prefer to be part of the existing ruling group, Umno or BN, to be achieved through a process touted as Malay unity.

Among those who flirted with the idea was deputy president and ulama Nasharudin Mat Isa. It was clear to the reformists that he had to go. When it became apparent that he had the support of the conservative ulama in his bid to defend his position against Mohamad Sabu or Mat Sabu, another ulama — Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man — was persuaded to contest.

The ulama vote was split and firebrand and street wise non-ulama won the deputy presidency for the first time. The reformists also won all the three vice-president posts and most of the central working committee seats.

The position of Hadi Awang as president could have been affected but for the tradition that the president remain unchallenged. He had earlier on been seen as close to Nasharudin, something party spiritual leader Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat was not too pleased about.

Thus it came as no surprise to delegates that in his speeches he rejected completely unity with Umno. It was also a signal to delegates.

The Islamic state agenda was mentioned but much downplayed. It is expected to be on the backburner until it is allowed to fade away or until such time as the party is ready to review its position in the party struggle.

Coming close to the general election there is fear that the rural voters may misunderstand.

Malay unity talk was fiercely criticized by the delegates, many of whom said it was aimed at benefiting Umno and the BN only.

“Why share the Malay votes with Umno when we can compete and win them all,” said a delegate yesterday, reflecting that a new and more confident party has emerged from the 57th muktamar.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 6 June 2011, 8:35 am and is filed under
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Reject groups stoking racial sentiments, says Utusan

By
Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani

June 06, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, June 6 — Utusan Malaysia said today the government must take stern action against those who fan racial and religious sentiments, saying that the country is at risk if these groups remained unchecked.

The Umno-owned newspaper, in echoing Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s message over the weekend, said these groups were willing to divide society with their narrow political understanding.

Last Saturday, Najib said the government will not compromise with groups acting for their own interests, warning that they were playing with fire.

“No compromise should be given to these groups that play with racial and religious issues. If they still continue then stern action must be taken. Like it or not, preventive and corrective measures must be taken.

“It is true by closing one’s eyes and hoping for unity without any pro-active measures by the government and community leaders from each race will only promise tragedy,” Utusan said in its editorial today entitled “Reject groups stoking religious and racial issues.”

The editorial said the groups were willing to become “champions” of their various communities for political mileage without considering the impact on the country.

“If this issue continues to be played then Malaysia will be inherited by a generation that is divided because they will constantly disputing issues involving race and religion,” said Utusan.

Utusan, known for its fiery racial editorials, recently caused public outrage when it alleged that church leaders were in a plot with the DAP to turn Malaysia into a Christian state and install a Christian prime minister.

The Malay daily has also called on owners Umno to spearhead a “1 Melayu, 1 Bumi movement” involving all Malay parties, claiming that the DAP was intent on toppling the country’s Malay leadership.

The opposition has claimed that Utusan was becoming Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s voice against Najib’s 1 Malaysia platform, saying that Putrajaya was divided by two separate ideologies.

Today, the editorial also warned that the groups will not succeed in their racial games because the country has shown that diversity is not a barrier and the people have experienced lasting peace without any racial riots.

“We have to learn from the downfall of other nations. Learn how Islam fell and why Islamic countries cannot unite and ultimately nobody will gain from it,” said the paper.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 6 June 2011, 1:25 pm and is filed under
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Respond to Ani’s expose, Najib told

By
Teoh El Sen

June 6, 2011 | Free Malaysia Today

PENANG: The DAP has demanded that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak explain why the public must suffer high electricity tariffs when the government could cut its subsidy bill by undoing the so-called “gas subsidy scandal” recently exposed by former Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) chief Ani Arope.

Referring to Ani’s allegation that the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) forced TNB to accept lopsided purchase deals with independent power producers (IPPs) nearly 20 years ago, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said a review of those deals would be “more than sufficient” to reduce the subsidy bill.

“Clearly, there is no justification for Putrajaya to hike electricity tariffs by 7%,” he said.

Ani said in a recent Facebook posting that the EPU bullied TNB into buying electricity from an IPP at 14 sen per kilowatt hour (kWh) despite an existing offer of 12 sen.

“You don’t need to go to a fanciful business school to figure out why we need a tariff hike – just revisit the terms given to some IPPs,” he said.

Lim said in a press statement today that Najib must respond to Ani’s allegation.

He said the scandal cost Malaysians RM131.3 billion between 1997 and 2010.

“Up to end 2010, Petronas has extended about RM131.3 billion in gas subsidy to both the power and non-power sectors,” he said. “If the gas prices remain unchanged… about RM27 billion in 2011 would have to be incurred.

“The prime minister must answer why Malaysians must pay for the mistake.”

He also quoted the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers, which said the power sector had yet to translate its price advantage in fuel cost into electricity rates that are more competitive with Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia, where the power sectors pay more for gas.

“The cost of electricity in Malaysia following this hike is nearly at par with Thailand,” he said. “If we compare with Thailand’s rate for low, medium and high voltage, Malaysia’s electricity tariff for all these categories is higher.”

DAP publicity chief Tony Pua recently cited Ani’s 2006 interview with The Star, in which the former TNB chief urged the federal government to declassify the power purchase agreements inked between TNB and the IPPs.

Ani said then that TNB was producing electricity at eight sen per kWh but the government asked it to buy from IPPs at up to 23 sen per kWh within a specific number of years and at a certain volume regardless of its requirements.

Ani helmed TNB between 1990 and 1996. He has claimed that he chose to resign rather than sign the lopsided deals.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 6 June 2011, 4:40 pm and is filed under
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