Is the real reason for the 46 days of government  inaction against the two school principals for incendiary, racist and insensitive statements because they cannot be faulted as this was exactly the “official ideology” which BTN had been indoctrinating civil servants past two decades?

All Malaysians want to know whether the scandal of the 46-day inaction by the Najib administration against the two school principals who made incendiary, racist and insensitive statements against students in schools will be top on the agenda of Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting or whether Cabinet Ministers would be like the traditional three monkeys with eyes that see not, ears that hear not and mouths that speak not!

Noises are being made by MCA, Gerakan and MIC outside the Cabinet protesting against the Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s statement claiming that he is powerless to do anything against the two principals as this falls within the ambit and jurisdiction of the Public Services Department and the Chief Secretary – but all these are empty posturings by these political parties when their Ministers in Cabinet maintain a discreet and self-serving silence on this issue.

In fact, the question must be asked in Cabinet, Parliament and the country whether the real reason for the 46-day government inaction against the two school principals who publicly made a mockery of Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Raza’s 1Malaysia policy is because they could not be faulted because what they said was exactly the “official ideology” which Biro Tata Negara of the Prime Minister’s Department had been indoctrinating civil servants in the past two decades!

Is this the reason why Muhyiddin had been thunderously silent in not condemning the two school principals for their incendiary, racist and insensitive statements, telling Chinese students to go back to China and likening Hindu prayer bracelets to a dog leash, because such offensive remarks were quite in line with the poison which BTN had been dishing out to civil servants in the past two decades?

In the Cabinet in the past 18 months, Muhyiddin had stood out as the champion of the anti-national and anti-1Malaysia poison spouted by BTN, which was why Muhyiddin had  done the following:

•	Defended  the racist “brain washing” and indoctrination on “ketuanan Melayu” by Biro Tata Negara despite criticisms and expose of its racist, divisive and seditious content for the past two decades;

•	Mitigated the Nasir Safar outrage claiming that it could have been “a slip of the tongue” when Najib’s senior political aide labelled Indians and Chinese in Malaysia as “pendatang”, alleging that the Chinese came as beggars and the Chinese women as “prostitutes”; claimed that Umno was solely responsible in drafting the constitution sidelining the contribution of MCA and MIC; and issued the threat to revoke the citizenship of those vocal about the subject cap for SPM examination.

•	Maintained a  conspicuous silence at the JAKIM (Islamic Development Department of the Prime Minister’s Office) forum at the end of January for 800 civil servants tantamount to an insurrection against Najib’s 1Malaysia concept – with government speakers making inflammatory and incendiary speeches, blaming Christians for provoking Muslim anger by challenging the ban on the use of the word “Allah” and Umno/BN politicians for failing to defend Islam, with one speaker suggesting that a repeat of the May 13 riots was possible if the Christians, whom he accused of practising “extremism” did not “back down”, uttering the threat: “Who knows, there might be a Feb. 13?”

•	Also kept a conspicuous silence  when the racialist rantings of Umno executive secretary Datuk Abdul Rauf Yusoh at an Umno club function in London in March this year  was exposed;

•	Aided and abetted  the inflammatory and incendiary campaign by Umno-controlled media like Utusan Malaysia, Berita Harian, government television and radio stations, playing the race and religious cards to viciously and falsely paint Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and Pakatan Rakyat Penang State Government as “anti-Malay” and “anti-Islam”; and

•	Declared that he is “Malay first and Malaysian second” which is not only against Najib’s 1Malaysia concept but served as a rallying point against Najib and any meaningful flowering of the 1Malaysia concept.

The proclamation by the BTN deputy director Hamim Husin  to a Puteria Umno closed-door function that Malay rights is a mandate to rule the country (Malaysian Insider) is the latest proof that the biggest enemy to Najib’s 1Malaysia is from within his own camp, not only Umno but also BTN in government.

When the BTN can continue its offensive, insensitive and racist “brain washing” not only among civil servants but extend it to political activists in Umno circles like Umno Putri, it is clear that Najib is facing an open revolt, which clearly has the backing of Muhyiddin.

This shambolic anarchy in the Najib premiership cannot continue or it will drive away all interested investments in Malaysia, whether foreign or domestic and condemn Malaysia to the fate of a new failed state in the world.

The Cabinet meeting on Wednesday must take a stand, not only to end the 46-day government inaction against the two principals for their  incendiary, racist and insensitive statements; on firm action against BTN by closing down the government “brain-washing” unit which is openly revolting against Najib’s 1Malaysia concept but also on whether the Cabinet fully endorse Najib’s 1Malaysia policy or otherwise.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 27 September 2010, 2:11 pm and is filed under
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The sorry state of dinosaur thinking

By
 Kee Thuan Chye

in
FMT

Sun, 26 Sep 2010

In just two days – Sept 23 and 24 – three developments summed up the sorry state of the ruling establishment. And caused sensible Malaysians to lose further faith in the government. In the first, the deputy prime minister played the role of Pontius Pilate by washing his hands of a responsibility the public had expected him to fulfil.

In the second, a former prime minister showed his racist true colours and desperation when he said Malays would lose power if Pakatan Rakyat took over the government.

In the third, the police arrested a cartoonist, just hours before the launch of his latest book. On what charge? Wait for the government to decide.

What we are witnessing is not surprising. These three events are manifestations of dinosaur thinking, which by now should be extinct. But those who adhere to them seem to think they’re still effective, which must mean they cannot be qualified to lead a progressive nation.

Muhyiddin Yassin may have some fine print in some rules of procedure to back him up in regard to the Kedah school principal who uttered racist remarks to his students. On Sept 23, he said any action against the principal can only be taken by the disciplinary board of the Public Services Department (PSD), headed by the director-general.

However, the public is asking: “But you are the education minister. And also the deputy prime minister. Surely, you have certain powers to act on something as heinous as racism, to send out a positive message to the people?”

The public is also asking why the report by the Ministry of Education team investigating the incident is taking so long to be considered. It was given to the PSD on Sept 4. Has the time been mostly spent instead on digging up the PSD regulations to provide Muhyiddin with an escape clause?

If you asked any sensible Malaysian, they would tell you Muhyiddin has simply “copped out”. He is not thinking like a Malaysian Leader No 2, one who must do the right thing in the Malaysian interest regardless of other factors.

His action shows he is thinking as a party leader, bound by considerations of race. On that score, you might be able to excuse Umno – and Muhyiddin – for thinking that no action against the principal means no loss of votes for the party. Better that than appeasing other races and risk losing Malay votes. That’s dinosaur thinking of the second highest order. Very un-1Malaysia.

Meanwhile, what has happened to the case of the Johor school principal who allegedly told her Chinese students to go back to China and insulted the religion of her Indian students? It seems all quiet on the southern front. Which also happens to be Muhyiddin’s territory. And Umno’s.

Dr M, the top dinosaur

I alluded earlier to dinosaur thinking of the second highest order. What about dinosaur thinking of the highest order?

That honour must go to Dr Mahathir Mohamad. On Sept 24, he said that if Pakatan Rakyat came to power, even if the resulting prime minister were Malay, he would be a tool of others. As an analogy, he said when  Mohamed Nizar Jamaluddin was menteri besar of Perak, “he followed the DAP’s orders”. He was heading “a Chinese government”.

This is actually nothing new from Mahathir. He has expressed these views before, in his bid to instil fear in the Malays that they will lose power and be overrun by non-Malays. Lately, however, he has been stepping it up. He is working more and more on conditioning the Malay mind into believing who the enemy is, even if it’s imagined.

This is dangerous divisive politics, but does Mahathir care? This is regressing to the politics of fear, which he generated when he was prime minister, but which many voters rejected during the 2008 general election. Again, does Mahathir care?

What seems clear from his recent sustained onslaught is that he’s getting more desperate in wanting to keep Pakatan out of Putrajaya. He apparently fears the consequences of Pakatan in government. From all the talk that has been circulating about aspects of his administration – and we’ve seen just an example in the recommendations of the Royal Commission of Inquiry on the VK Lingam case – he might be hauled up to answer some questions. Understandably, he would not want to live through that ordeal.

Meanwhile, Nurul Izzah Anwar of PKR has challenged Mahathir to a debate “to clarify if his ‘fear’ for the Malays is really about loss of power or, in reality, loss of wealth for the chosen few”. Would the old man of the past have the guts to take on the young leader of the present and the future?

Govt cuts  off its nose

As for the third event, the arrest of cartoonist Zunar (Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaque) has merely created a new popular hero in the movement for a better Malaysia. And it has made the government look worse for stifling free expression. Which is why it doesn’t make sense that it should resort to

that.

What’s even more damning is that there was no clear indication of what Zunar was being arrested for. According to his lawyer, Latheefa Koya, the authorities were not sure whether to charge him under the Sedition Act or the Printing Presses and Publications Act.

In this age of the Internet and speedy communication, arresting someone for producing a book of political cartoons is reflective of dinosaur thinking. Even if the cartoons are critical of the government, it speaks better for the government to tolerate its right to be published and disseminated, and to acknowledge that its creator enjoys the freedom of expression.

This is guaranteed in the Constitution, and we are supposed to be living in a democratic state. So let a thousand flowers bloom, let a thousand voices vie for attention in the marketplace. Perkasa is given their voice, why not Zunar?

Is it due to the fact that he is Malay and therefore more of a threat, because his ideas might appeal more to the Malay masses? Is it because cartoons transcend language and can express in one picture what a thousand words might not?

Whatever the reasoning, it overlooks one crucial point. Zunar is not alone. There is a resistance movement. Not an organised one, but it’s there. And it’s like the mythical Hydra. If you cut off one head, another will grow to take its place. Perhaps more.

So, to put it idiomatically, the cutting that has been done in the Zunar arrest is not quite what was intended. It is more a case of the government cutting off its nose to spite its face.

That’s what happens as a result of dinosaur thinking.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 27 September 2010, 11:13 am and is filed under
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International deluge of criticisms on persecution of Anwar

By
Dr. Chen Man Hin
, DAP life advisor

International deluge of criticisms from the conspiracy to convict Anwar of sodomy 2

Suddenly there appears to be a deluge of international personalities criticising the Malaysian government for persecuting Anwar on trumped up charge of sodomy 2.

It started with ex US vice president Gore, and IMF chief Stiglitz, followed by Barry Wain former AWSJ correspondent as well as a former US ambassador to Malaysia John Croft

All of them unanimously condemned the conspiracy to paint Anwar as a sodomist and therefore not fit to be the Opposition Leader.

These are all distinguished members of the international community who are shocked in unison by this serious transgression of justice, democracy and the rule of law by the Malaysian government. UMNO, the power behind the prime minister, intends to perpetuate their  power by trying Anwar on trumped up charges of sodomy, to convict and imprison him, thus denying him the opportunity to be the next Prime Minister.

Today, there is another powerful international figure in the person of Richard Branson  who has joined the international posse of activists out to demand justice for Anwar. Branson warned Najib that the trial of Anwar on sodomy charges has damaged the image of Malaysia and undermined the confidence of investors to invest in Malaysia.

He strongly advised Najib to dismiss the charges, if he wants foreign investors to put their money here, and help Malaysia to become a high income country.

The DAP had always been in the forefront to criticise the conspiracy to charge Anwar for sodomy and to find him guilty. We have warned that the international community will not idly stand by and watch an innocent person tried on trumped up charges and be put to jail

PM Najib should think carefully and heed international opinion. If he does not then FDIs (Foreign Direct Investments) which fell by 81% in 2009 will fall further and there will be zero investments, which would mean the beginning of the end for the New Economic Model as well as 1 Malaysia.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 28 September 2010, 4:58 pm and is filed under
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Cabinet tomorrow should dissolve BTN and institute action against BTN deputy director Hamin Husin to prove that Najib’s  call for the triumph of moderation over extremism is not only meant for international consumption  but also at home

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak yesterday made the sterling call in the United Nations, saying it was time for moderates to reclaim the agenda for peace and pragmatism.

In his maiden speech at the UN, the prime minister said there was a need to marginalise the extremists, and the “global movement of the moderates” of all faiths was needed to work together to make this a success.

Najib said these extremists had held the world hostage with their bigotry and bias, adding that “we must choose moderation over extremism.”

“We must, and I repeat, we must urgently reclaim the centre and the moral high ground that has been usurped from us.

“We must choose negotiations over confrontation. We must choose to work together and not against each other. And we must give this effort utmost priority, for time is not on our side.”

Malaysians fully endorse the Prime Minister’s call in the United Nations that moderates must win over extremists, except that Najib would have set a new record for Malaysian Prime Ministers addressing the United Nations in the past 53 years – evoking the least credibility and greatest cynicism among the Malaysian public although Malaysians fully agree with the sentiments expressed.

This is because Malaysians are seeing an almost daily breakdown of authority, credibility and legitimacy of Najib as Prime Minister, coming not from the national Opposition, the Pakatan Rakyat or the civil society,  but from within his own camp in Umno and the government bureaucracy with its contingent of  Big and Little Napoleons.

On the day that Najib took to the world stage to decry the deplorable phenomenon where the  mainstream “inadvertently allowed the ugly voices of the periphery to drown out the many voices of reason and common sense”, another instance of such extremism upping the ante in the escalation of the rhetoric of racial bigotry and religious in Malaysia which has become a common feature under Najib’s premiership in the past 18 months was being enacted.

At a Puteri Umno closed-door session in Kuala Lumpur, the National Civics Bureau (BTN) Deputy Director Hamim Husin breathed fire and brimstone to fan the rhetoric of race and religion, not only proclaimed that the rights of the Malays was to rule the country, but cast racial epithets at the Chinese and Indian communities in the country.

In contemptuously referring to the Indian community as “si botol” and the Chinese community as “si mata sepet”, the BTN deputy director has not only compounded and exceeded the offence caused by the two school principals which had produced  national outrage that the government had failed to take any disciplinary action for 46 days, Hamin has confirmed that such anti-1Malaysia thinking pervades and permeates large strata of the Big and Little Napoleons in the civil service and why no action had been taken against the two principals so far.

The Cabinet is meeting tomorrow. It must act or be exposed for its  irrelevance or impotence.

I call on the Cabinet tomorrow to dissolve BTN – which clearly is no more Biro Tatanegara but Biro Tentang Negara – and institute action against BTN deputy director Hamin Husin to prove that Najib’s call for the triumph of moderation over extremism is not only meant for international consumption in UN but also at home.

Borrowing Najib’s analogy in UN yesterday,  the real issue in Malaysia is not between Malays and non-Malays or Muslims and non-Muslims but between the moderates and extremists of all races and religions in the tasks of creating an united, vibrant, competitive and prosperous Malaysian nation.

Would the Cabinet dare to rise up to the challenge tomorrow and answer this national call?

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 28 September 2010, 3:36 pm and is filed under
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The BN dilemma

by
Mariam Mokhtar

Sep 27, 2010

MalaysiaKini

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s warning that “Malays would lose power if Pakatan Rakyat were to come to power”, is not his first racist rant since his retirement.

He delights in taking pot-shots at Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s administration and excels at instigating unrest. Why would the Malays lose power under Pakatan? The Malays lost whatever power they had under 22 years of Mahathir’s rule.

Mahathir is racist, but Najib would not dare charge him with sedition. Mahathir certainly acts like he is the ‘co-premier’ and his flirtation with extremist NGOs like Perkasa, must embarrass the current administration.

At times, we can be forgiven for thinking that he must be the second most powerful person in the government. His ruthless desire to cling onto the reins of power and pretend to speak out for ordinary Malays must create chaos in government circles. He is great at divide-and-rule.

If he is the ‘Father of Modernisation’, then he is out of touch with the people of 21st century Malaysia. Most Malaysians would be open-minded and accepting of one another, but for the politicians. I would accept a non-Malay prime minister of either sex and sexual preference, provided that person is a strong and capable leader.

Malaysia’s riches lie not its mineral wealth or its agricultural produce; its most important resource is its people. Why can’t we set aside racism and simply move forward?

We are a hardworking nation but Mahathir’s policies, perpetuated by his successors, have degraded us. With 10 years left until 2020, by when he hopes Malaysia becomes a developed nation, we still bicker over which race does what, where and when. Instead of emulating our neighbours, we behave like children squabbling in the playground.

Isn’t it a bit rich for Mahathir to suggest that Pakatan leaders might be a bunch of self-serving and racist politicians?

Mahathir and the other politicians in the BN coalition have already proven themselves to be self-serving and racist.

Research has shown that politicians are the least trusted group of people. The history of politics is the history of lies, and Mahathir could be considered the most professional in this group.

Once people like him have tasted power and climbed the ladder of authority, the lies, deceit and cover-ups have a cumulative effect.

He hates ordinary Malays to get on with their non-Malay counterparts and yet his chums are powerful Chinese tycoons.

Absurd claim

Mahathir is vehemently against the west and accuses it of undermining countries. However, he was happy to offer George W Bush his full support and cooperation in the aftermath of the Sept 11, attacks. He used this tacit approval to tighten his grip on political dissenters at home, using the ISA.

He has a problem with western values and their concept of ‘absolute freedom’ and told the US Congress in Washington: “The west is very impatient. You want overnight change.”

And yet, for 22 years, he altered the Malaysian landscape with his policies which polarised us, increased corruption, worsened nepotism and created the systematic destruction of our institutions.

His argument is that the Malays would lose power under Pakatan. That is absurd. He leaves the non-Malays with a persecution complex or the Malays feeling victimised.

This man is prepared to sacrifice the ordinary person to protect his, and his cronies’ domination of wealth and power. Malaysians from all walks of life are left frightened, angry and worried.

Similarly, the Umno cohorts are also fearful of what will become of them when Pakatan gains power. We, the taxpayers of Malaysia, want them jailed and our money returned.

Mahathir and other extremist leaders imagine we’re living in a Malaysia where the Malay reigns supreme for life.

Ideas like these will cripple the nation. This is the power that Mahathir has over easily-influenced and unprincipled Malays.

Malaysia is financially insecure. Our civil service is shored up with injections of cash even though large swathes of it are overstaffed and inefficient.

Mahathir has turned the Malays into a work-shy part of the Malay community. The country is suffering economically and our most gifted people seek jobs abroad. Talk of Malay rights just distracts Malays from valuing hard work and rewards.

The anomaly is that Bangladeshi fishermen are invited to take up 6,000 jobs in our fishing industry. Why? What happened to our once thriving fishing economy? Where are the government policies to modernise our fishing fleet and lift our fishermen out of poverty?

Taxpayers’ money is indiscriminately spent on divisive projects like the Biro Tata Negara (BTN, National Civics Bureau) or the unpopular National Service (NS). A few months of NS are insufficient for promoting unity. The BTN indoctrination traps Malays in a dependency culture.

Power-mad talk

Racial harmony and unity is an ongoing process, best started as early as possible in life. Mahathir’s racist policies are myopic. They have neither made Malaysia better nor improved the lives of the Malays, or any other poor Malaysians.

Let us not kid ourselves. Mahathir is not making the Malays ‘gain power’ or ‘have power’. He is merely referring to Umno’s (and BN component partners) hold onto power, over us. It is for their own ends – and certainly not ours.

What happens if people did not vote Pakatan? By Mahathir’s reckoning, the Malays will still have power.

‘Power’ is meaningless if people still don’t qualify to tender for contracts, have to pay a higher road-toll, are at the mercy of trigger-happy policemen or racist school principals, don’t trust the judiciary, cannot afford cars or houses, and face escalating prices for petrol, electricity and basic foodstuffs?

Who will the Malaysians blame then? It won’t be Pakatan. It will be Mahathir, his cronies and Umno.

Mahathir’s power-mad talk has only managed to cause tensions to rise. As a retiree who has caused irreparable damage to race relations, why doesn’t he just stick to making the bread rise in his bakery business, ‘The Loaf’?

Alas, the talent of the Malay youth to loaf or lepak, is well-known.

MARIAM MOKHTAR is a non-conformist traditionalist from Perak, a bucket chemist and an armchair eco-warrior. In ‘real–speak’, this translates into that she comes from Ipoh, values change but respects culture, is a petroleum chemist and also an environmental pollution-control scientist.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 28 September 2010, 10:34 am and is filed under
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Let Najib declare on his  return from his “Rise, Moderates” speech in UN whether he is prepared  to “galvanise” the moderates in Malaysia  to draw the line against the rise in extremism, whether racial bigotry or religious intolerance, led by DPM Muhyiddin

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak in his just-completed foreign trip made a strong call for global moderation, not only making it  the theme in his maiden address to the United Nations General Assembly but also  publicly commending United States President Barack Obama for the latter’s “courageous public position” in dealing with Islamophobia in  condemning the proposed burning of the Quran by a Florida pastor and  urging Obama “to galvanise the moderates, bring in the non-governmental organizations and social movements so that more people could see the importance of taking a moderate stance”

He told Malaysian media at the end of his six-day visit to the United Nations and the United States that his proposal for a “Global Movement of the Moderates” aimed at rallying leaders and intellectuals of the Islamic world to come forward and state their stand openly and firmly against extremism had received positive response, enhancing Malaysia’s profile particularly in the West.

Najib should know that the question all Malaysians are asking is when he is going to walk the talk and provide leadership in the country to galvanise the moderates, NGOs and social movements in Malaysia to take a stand against the rise of extremism – both racial bigotry and religious extremism – in the past 18 months of his premiership.

What is most ironical is that the rise of extremism in Malaysia, both racial bigotry and religious intolerance, is under the patronage of his No. 2 in government, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

This is why for 47 days, as DPM and Education Minister, there is not only government inaction against the two school principals who made incendiary, insensitive and racist statements against students in school, there is not a word of condemnation from Muhyiddin against such open challenge and contempt for Najib’s 1Malaysia concept.

This is also why there is a such a recrudescence of the worst form of racial bigotry and religious extremism from Biro Tata Negara which, instead of instilling national unity and integration, has been doing the opposite – fomenting inter-racial and inter-religious misunderstanding, distrust and division.

When the latest BTN scandal was exposed, with the BTN Deputy Director Hamim Husin at a Puteri Umno closed-door session in Kuala Lumpur proclaiming  that the rights of the Malays was to rule the country, and casting  racial epithets at the Chinese and Indian communities in the country, referring to the Indian community as “si botol” and the Chinese community as “si mata sepet”, what were the official reactions?

There was no denial from the BTN but only complaint that the privacy and confidentiality of Hamin’s talk to Putri Umno had been violated – while Muhyiddin who was holding the fort when the Prime Minister went overseas in his foreign forays maintained a stony and thunderous silence!

What is most shocking and outrageous, Muhyiddin helped to fan the rise of extremism when he  jumped in and demanded that Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng answer allegations made by Penang UMNO Youth on the state government’s financial source to fund its poverty eradication programmes, declaring that Muslims do not want to be associated should gambling money were used for the programmes.

In the case of Penang UMNO attack on Guan Eng and the Penang State Government for funding its welfare programme for Muslims with “unclean” money from Penang Turf Club money, the Penang state government has disclosed that the Penang Turf Club contributions are only channeled towards the eradication of hard-core poverty among the non-Muslims but not in the case of Muslims.

But what is most outrageous about Muhyiddin’s irresponsible intervention is that the Deputy Prime Minister  seems to be unaware that the Prime Minister Najib himself had replied in Parliament to DAP MP for Rasah, Anthony Loke that the federal government does not separate its revenue from halal and non-halal sources in its consolidated funds.

Is Muhyiddin now going to be consistent and demand in Cabinet and Parliament that the Federal Government’s  consolidated funds should be divided into halal and non-halal sections?

Let  Najib declare on his return from his “Rise, Moderates” speech in UN whether he is prepared to galvanise moderates in Malaysia against the rise of extremism, whether racial bigotry or religious intolerance, which is led by Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin?

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 29 September 2010, 4:18 pm and is filed under
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Najib put in an embarrassing quandary

By
Thomas Lee

While Datuk Seri Najib Razak was urging all nations of the world to “choose moderation over extremism” to promote international peace and harmony in his maiden speech at the United Nations General Assembly on Monday 27 September 2010, it is surely shocking that back in Malaysia at about the same time, a senior civil servant spewed out one of the most extremist and venomous speeches against the Chinese and Indian communities.

Federal Territory Biro Tata Negara (BTN) deputy director Hamim Husin referred to the Chinese and Indian communities as Si Mata Sepet and Si Botol when speaking at a Puter Umno function.

“The Si Mata Sepet who has never gone to a mosque or surau only has one vote. The Si Botol who only knows how to go up and down Batu Caves only has one vote,” Hamim was quoted as saying, when talking about getting votes from the non-Malay voters.

It surely is most malevolent and seditious for the senior BTN officer to use such a contemptuous, pejorative and derogatory terms of Si Mata Sepet (slit eyes) and Si Botol (alcoholic) to describe the Chinese and Indian citizens.

The flabbergasted speech by the BTN deputy director makes our prime minister sounds like a first-class hypocrite at the United Nations!

The prime minister has urged world leaders to embark on building a “Global Movement of the Moderates” from all faiths to work together to combat and marginalise extremists, whom he said, had held the world with their bigotry and bias.

“It is time for moderates of all countries, of all religions to take back the centre, to reclaim the agenda for peace and pragmatism, and to marginalise the extremists. This Global Movement of the Moderates will save us from sinking into the abyss of despair and depravation,” Najib told the world leaders gathered at the United Nations General Assembly.

Yet, back in his own country, a senior civil servant desacralizes his fair and impartial homily on inter-racial and inter-faith relationship.

The BTN, as an agency to train and develop civil servants, should be in the forefront of preserving and promoting racial equality, harmony and peaceful co-existence among the people.

It should be educating and acculturating the civil servants to lead all races to work towards achieving the inclusive OneMalaysia policy mooted by the Prime Minister.

However, the BTN has been shown to be an extremely racist and highly divisive politically-orientated agency to promote the supremacy of one particular race, which is in direct contradiction to Najib’s inclusive OneMalaysia policy.

During the height of the controversy over the BTN in the last quarter of 2009, various former participants of the BTN courses had testified that the agency is basically geared towards the propagada and promotion of an exclusive political agenda.

For example, the Selangor Pakatan Rakyat state government in December 2009 prohibited state civil servants and students in state-owned tertiary institutions from attending the BTN courses, claiming that they were an indoctrination process by the Barisan Nasional federal government and aimed at brainwashing Malaysians to hate all those opposed to its political agenda.

Pakatan Rakyat leaders have accused the ruling Barisan Nasional federal government of using the BTN to brainwash civil servants and tertiary students to hate the opposition and asked why the BTN is not open to public and conducted in secrecy.

Pakatan Rakyat leaders and former participants have also claimed that the courses were racist in nature and emphasised the idea of the supremacy and superiority of one particular race.

It was also reported that former BTN participants revealed that they were not allowed to take along their mobile phones and other electronic media gadgets while course notes were not allowed to be taken out of the lecture hall.

The latest malicious and malevolent remarks on the Chinese and Indian communities by the Federal Territory BTN deputy director has again highlighted the fact the BTN is in fact an indoctrination tool to instil and reinforce a racial supremacist agenda, which is, for all purposes and intend, an antithesis to Najib’s OneMalaysia ideal.

The predictable danger of such an indoctrination scheme causing untold harm to the already very frail and fragile multi-racial, multi-religious, multi-cultural and mulit-lingual Malaysian society is very real. It can even result in a veritable racial explosion, if not checked, curbed and controlled.

For the most part, those participating in the BTN courses consist of pre-university students, government scholarship students, civil service recruits, and civil servants sent for refresher courses.

With the BTN leadership comprising people with mentality like the Federal Territory deputy director, instead of seeking to instil the spirit of patriotism and love for the country, and promoting racial equality, justice, harmony and peaceful co-existence, the BTN is an utterly destructive agency which should be closed for good.

Najib has told the world leaders at the United Nations: “We must choose moderation over extremism. We must choose negotiations over confrontation. We must choose to work together and not against each other. And we must give this effort utmost priority for time is not on our side.”

If that is what the Prime Minister sincerely believes in and wants to happen, he must show the world by example that he practises what he preaches in his own country.

Then, among his first actions should be the dismantling of the BTN, and the taking of disciplinary action against the racist civil servants, such as the Federal Territory BTN deputy director and the two school principals who cynically and contemptuously run down the non-Malay students in their schools. The actions should include sacking these people, and charging them for sedition.

In the case of the Johor principal who liken her Indian students to dogs, and told them and the Chinese students to go back to India and China, it has been more than two and a half months since the incident was exposed, yet no action has been taken against her. The most ridiculous and stupid statement issued by the federal government is that the Education Minister has no power to act on the case.

Najib also must act fast to rein in and restrain those political racial rousers in his own party Umno who are playing the communal card, causing the racial temperature and tension to rise with their irresponsible blazing stirring of sensitive issues.

He should also put a stop to all the fierce and destructive racial attacks propagated in the media owned by his party. The series of communal onslaughts on the human, fundamental and constitutional rights of the people must be made to cease immediately.

Until our Prime Minister acts on these matters, his speech at the United Nations General Assembly will just be sounds from an empty gong, with no substantial and essential value.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 29 September 2010, 9:35 am and is filed under
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Malaysia in the Era of Globalization #34

By
M. Bakri Musa

Chapter 5:  Understanding Globalization

Leveling Effects of Globalization

 What critics in the West fear most about globalization is its leveling effect.  It means that an uneducated American will fare as badly as an illiterate Indonesian, but at the same time, a skillful Indian programmer can compete equally with his American counterpart.  The much coddled and highly unionized American workers panic when they discover that Mexicans earning a fraction of the wages can do the same work just as efficiently and skillfully.  Consequently many major American manufacturers are moving their plants to Mexico.  It is this aspect of globalization that is most feared by America’s Pat Buchanans and Ralph Naders.

             Manufacturing jobs are not the only ones heading south.  Typists in India do the transcriptions for many American hospitals.  My medical dictation at the local hospital is digitized, encrypted, and then transmitted via Internet to India, where it is downloaded and transcribed, and then re-transmitted back to America, ready for my patients’ charts by the next morning.  Many of these typists are Indian doctors who found that they could earn more as medical transcriptionists working for American companies than as practicing physicians paid by the Indian government.  Looked at differently, American capitalists value these Indian physicians for their typing skills while the Indian government does not value their healing skills.

             The services of many American corporations are also increasingly contracted out to the Third World.  Phone inquires are answered not by Americans but by Indians in India who have been trained to speak and respond like Americans.  They even assume typical American names like Debbie and Patty.  They are fully prepped in the minutiae of Americana so customers at the other end of the line think they are speaking to someone in Peoria, and not Poona.

             The data entry work of many insurance companies and airlines are done in places like Jamaica and Ireland.  Paper claims and used airline tickets are flown to Jamaica where they are inputted into computers and the data then relayed to America via satellite.  Such labor-intensive clerical work would be too expensive to be done in America.  With such opportunities afforded by globalization, it is hard to imagine it as a grand wicked scheme perpetrated by the West to victimize and oppress the Third World.  These critics ought to ask those Indian transcribers and Jamaican data entry clerks before condemning globalization.

            A common criticism of globalization is its tendency for social and cultural homogenization.  The usual example cited is the ubiquity of McDonald’s restaurants worldwide.  But this is a misreading.  McDonald’s is popular in India despite Indians being vegetarians; it serves vegetable burgers instead.  Thus what is popular is not the hamburger or McDonald’s, rather the concept of a fast, tasty, and affordable meal served consistently in a hygienic environment.  That is the universal value, cherished by vegetarian Indians as well as chopstick-wielding Chinese.

             When Malaysians bank at Citibank rather than the local variety, it is because Citibank offers superior customer services.  Nationalism is a very distant (if any) consideration.  This applies to Malaysians as well as Japanese and Americans.  Japanese are the biggest buyers of American Treasury notes (at least until recently when the Chinese took over) because they consider that to be superior investments, not because they are particularly fond of Americans.  What is valued is not America, rather quality and best returns.

             Many in the Third World see globalization as another version of Westernization because many of the innovations that drive it originate in the West.  But this will not be permanent.  China is rapidly developing by enthusiastically embracing globalization, and once it becomes a giant power it will become a major player not only economically but also politically and culturally.  Right now America can dictate its terms to the rest of the world, as there is no other power to challenge it.  But within a generation, China will also be such an economic and political force that it could challenge America, though not necessarily militarily.  Such Western concepts as human and civil rights that America now successfully presents as universal values simply because of the lack of credible challenges, will no longer be viewed as such once China is able to assert itself.  China will then be able to present an alternative version of those concepts.

             It is significant that Chinese leaders are furiously trying to catch up by embracing not only globalization but also all its other accouterments, especially the English language.  China wants its future leaders to learn directly from the West without having to depend on translations.  This is quite a remarkable transformation from the xenophobia of only a decade ago.

             Kenichi Ohmae, the Japanese management consultant advising Mahathir on the Multimedia Super Corridor project, noted that crass appeals to nationalism are receptive only to residents of poor Third World countries.  Once the annual per capita income reaches US$10,000, citizens begin to have a wider perspective.  They are then more interested in quality and best returns for their hard-earned money.  The typical American could not care less where her car is being manufactured, be it in Detroit, Tokyo, or Stockholm, as long as she gets value for her money.

             Independence, for nations as well as individuals, is definitely overrated.  It is much easier to be independent and to maintain your independence when you are strong, smart, and successful.  Paradoxically, when you are all three, you choose to depend more on others, that is, you become more inter-dependent.  I find the preoccupation of Mahathir and many Third World leaders in maintaining “vigilance” and “fighting” for their “independence” quaintly amusing if not for the fact that it is so misguided and downright destructive.

             America is the largest, strongest, and most self-sufficient economy; it could easily afford to be insular and independent.  If the Arabs were to shut off their oil, America will always be the Alaska oilfields and the vast coal deposits to replace it.  If the dollar were to tank, ordinary citizens would not suffer.  Sure imported luxury cars like Lexus and Mercedes may be more expensive, but there will always be Lincolns and Cadillacs as ready substitutes.  America could afford to be independent and be closed to the world, but instead its American economy remains the most open.

             As a result its citizens enjoy the highest standard of living.  Americans are certainly not bothered that foreigners make their cameras and radios.  Nor are they concerned that poor Indonesians and Vietnamese make their favorite sneakers.  In many ways they are glad for if Americans were to make those products, the average consumer would not be able to afford them.  In this way they could rationalize doing good by providing jobs to Third World inhabitants as well as benefiting from cheap imported consumer goods.  Besides, if those Indonesians improve their standard of living, they might buy higher-value American products.  One Boeing 747 sale to Indonesia’s Garuda Airlines would more than make up for the purchase of millions of sneakers.  Similarly, one Malaysian studying at an American college for one year is equivalent to the export of three mid-size American cars.  It is for these reasons that Americans are not obsessed with being “independent” or self-dependent.

             The notion that each nation must be self sufficient and self reliant (the classical ideal of an autarky) is not only inefficient and wasteful but also not in concert with the basic human character.  A nation, like an individual, cannot exist as an island unto itself.

             Citizens of Cayman Island go through periodic referenda on whether they should be independent, and each time they choose not to.  Having seen what happened to Jamaica and elsewhere, that is indeed a rational choice.  Had the Chinese in Hong Kong been polled, most would have chosen to remain with the “white devil” British colonials rather than “unite” with their Communist (as well as ethnic) kin on the Mainland.

            Many in the Third World misinterpret or are suspicious of globalization because of its Western, in particular American, origin.  Since the West once colonized many Third World countries, this fear is understandable.  This also reflects an ugly underlying racist assumption – distrust of the White Man.

             Why should we reject ideas simply because they originate from other than one’s own kind?  That is not rational.  We should be able to evaluate the merits of globalization regardless of its promoters and or origin.  The White Man also started socialism and communism, yet those ideologies were readily accepted in the colored world.  In reality, the fear of globalization is more closely tied with the fear of foreigners, especially so if those foreigners were also former colonizers.

             Globalization today is a reality, the mobs in Seattle and Prague notwithstanding.  The 9-11 terrorists’ attacks may have slowed this fast galloping phenomenon, but it is only temporary.  We can no more stop globalization than the flow of the mighty Mississippi.  Globalization now has acquired its own momentum.  Malaysia should accept this and begin learning to adjust and take full advantage of it.  If Malaysians can better understand globalization, they can use to its full advantage.  It is the ticket for Malaysia to join the ranks of the developed world and to achieve its Vision 2020 aspirations.  The way forward for Malaysia is not to rant and rave against globalization, rather to accept it and seize the opportunities afforded.

             Today’s globalization, unlike earlier ones that were based on ideology, is knowledge and technology driven.  It is modern technology and the application of knowledge that drives the global economy of today.  Trade and investments, together with the greater ease of movement of people across borders, are its drivers.  To be sure, people (and thus labor) do not cross borders as easily as goods and services, unlike in the heyday of imperialism when unschooled natives of India and Africa could enter Britain at will.

             To a large extent the mindset of critics of globalization in the Third World is conditioned by their earlier experiences with colonialism and their subsequent encounters with foreign investments.  Thus an understanding of the history and dynamics of foreign investments in the Third World is warranted.

  Next:
Foreign Investments in the Third World

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 30 September 2010, 10:32 am and is filed under
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No place for religious bigotry

by
Thomas Lee

My Sinchew

29.9.10

The Council of Churches Malaysia (CCM) should be commended for taking a firm stand against a so-called Christian preacher for attacking and insulting Islam in a series of videos posted on YouTube.

Certainly, there is no place for such a bigoted hostile attitude toward those of another faith from one’s own in our plural nation, with its multi-racial, multi-religious, multi-cultural and multi-lingual population.

As a Christian myself, I am very ashamed and disgusted with such intolerance, and the fanatical and uncompromising pursuit and propaganda of the Christian faith by the immature and uncouth preacher, who has brought shame to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The CCM is right in clarifying that the so-called preacher had acted in his individual capacity representing his own views, but it is incorrect to say that there is an “official view of the churches in Malaysia”, as there is none, although generally the Christian community abhors and loathes such destructive religious zealotry.

The assault on the people of another faith is not in the teaching of the Lord Jesus. Such bigotry is judging and degrading the human persons created by God in his own image on the basis of preconceived and bias opinions, and that is evil. It is definitely wrong, even sinful, when we participate in thoughts and actions that are based on pre-judging and condemning people of other faiths.

Obviously, we have our own doctrinal and theological understanding of our faith, and would certainly want to propagate and share it with others, simply because if we know it to be the truth, we cannot keep it to ourselves, particularly when we sincerely and firmly believe it to be a matter of eternal destiny.

But using insensitive and confrontational militant tactics in evangelism is not the teaching of the Bible. What we should be doing is to share the truth in love, not to run down others. Like what the Apostle Paul said, we should be all things to all persons, that is, to be accommodating and acceptable in our approaches and methods, without compromising our own beliefs.

Some of the most shameful episodes in the history of the Christian Church are the results of mistaken theological thinking and misguided zealotry, the result of the lack of understanding of the faith and the misinterpretation of the Bible.

For example, it was the misinterpretation of the Bible and theological prejudices that caused the white settlers of America to hate the so-called uncivilized and illiterate natives, calling them savages, robbing them of their land, and exploiting them as slaves or cheap labour.

It was the same religious prejudice that was used to justify the stealing of human persons from their homes and families in Africa and sent them to America as slaves. Human trafficking is the invention of the white Christians!

The previous South African policy of segregation and discrimination on grounds of race, notoriously known as apartheid, was based on the white reform theology taught and propagated by European Christians. The contemptible and despicable apartheid system was enforced by the National Party government in South Africa between 1948 and 1994, under which the rights of the majority non-white inhabitants of the country were curtailed and the minority rule by white people was maintained. Some reform Christian leaders justified the system on the basis that the black race is said to be cursed by God!

There is also the so-called “ethnic cleansing” in Bosnia which was also the result of the religious bigotry. The Bosnian Serb forces sought to eliminate 40,000 Bosnian Muslims living in Srebrenica. They robbed all the male Muslim prisoners, military and civilian, elderly and young, of their personal belongings and identification, and deliberately and methodically killed them solely on the basis of their faith.

Obviously, religious and ethnic hostility is the foremost contemporary social problem in our world, and we in Malaysia must not allow such maniacal and fanatical nests of intrigue to take roots and spread.

As an initial positive measure to do that, we need to restore religious knowledge as a properly constituted subject in our education system, allowing the students of various faiths to attend lessons on their own faiths. At present, only Muslims have to attend agama classes, while the non-Muslims do not have such a privilege. At the same time, a compulsory audit course on comparative religious studies should be offered in the tertiary institutions to allow the students to learn about and understand other religions.

The nefarious activity of the so-called Christian preacher is certainly not an isolate case. I am certain that there are others like him who are misleading the many biblical illiterate and gullible Christian folks in such hate crusades against the people of other faiths. This is because nowadays almost anyone can call himself or herself a pastor, or even an apostle or a prophet, and go around propagating his or her version of the Christian faith. Most of these people do not even have basic theological training, some even hold fake theological degrees to mislead and deceive the believers.

The Christian preacher certainly brought the Malaysian Christian community into an opprobrious situation in the eyes of our fellow citizens of the Muslim faith, and for that I ask forgiveness from them on behalf of my Christian brother who may not honestly know and understand the serious consequences of his action. Sure, he must be made accountable for what he has done, and be made to face the legal action he deserves. Let his case be a lesson for all of us.

Let me close with a story a friend sent me.

While waiting at the airport terminal to board a plane, a woman sat reading a newspaper. Earlier, she had bought a packet of cookies at the airport snack shop to eat after she got on the plane. As she was reading, she saw out of the corner of her eye that a man sitting next to her was eating a cookie.She looked down and saw that her packet of cookies had been opened and the man was eating them.

The woman couldn’t believe that the man would have such nerve as to eat her cookies. So with great irritation she removed all but one cookie from the packet and stuffed them into her mouth. At that point, the man reached down and took the last cookie. Before eating it though, he broke it in half and left half of the cookie for her.

This made the woman even more furious, so she grabbed the empty packet with the half cookie and crammed it in her handbag. Then, to her shock and embarrassment, she saw that there in her handbag was her unopened packet of cookies. The man had been eating the cookies from his own identical bag and not hers.

There is a valuable lesson in this story which relates to the subject of religious bigotry.

It shows us that it is often easier for us to see wrong in someone else than in ourselves. When it comes to the subject of religion, it is easier for us to think that other people have a problem in their faith than it is to think that we do. This story also tells us that when we judge or condemn others, we are actually condemning ourselves.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 30 September 2010, 6:31 am and is filed under
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Would Najib dare to revamp his Cabinet to ensure that only Ministers who publicly declare undivided loyalty to the 1Malaysia concept to build a nation where every Malaysian regard himself/herself as Malaysian first race second have a place in government?

The weak-kneed Cabinet decision on the latest anti-1Malaysia offence of the Biro Tata Negara (BTN) is a great disappointment and shame and the greatest disservice to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia concept.

In the first place, why was the announcement of the Cabinet decision to ask the Chief Secretary to investigate the latest racist remarks of a Biro Tata Negara (BTN) official  made by the MIC Minister for Human Resources Dr. S. Subramaniam and not by the Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who had chaired the Cabinet meeting during Najib’s absence?

Is it because the controversy over BTN’s latest offence against Najib’s 1Malaysia concept is regarded as a trivial matter not serious enough to warrant the personal attention and concern of the Deputy Prime Minister?

Secondly, the juxtaposition of the pronouncement by the Gerakan President and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon on the same day, warning against over-reaction in race disputes, seems to be a message on behalf of Umno leaders not to take too seriously the latest infraction of the BTN – serving only to undermine public confidence that much is to be expected of the Cabinet decision, especially bearing in mind the 48-day government inaction over the two school principals for their incendiary, racist and insensitive statements against students in school.

In fact, Tsu Koon seems to be speaking the same language as Perkasa which has claimed an overreaction with the issue “blown out of proportion”  over the racist and derogatory remarks of BTN deputy director Hamim Hussain at a closed-door Umno Puteri meeting in referring to the Chinese and Indian communities as “Si Mata Sepet” (squinty-eyed) and “Si Kaki Botol” (alcoholics)  respectively.

Thirdly, in failing to consider whether BTN should be dissolved, Cabinet has done a great disservice to 1Malaysia concept propounded by Najib.

This is not the first time that the BTN has proven that it is not fit to be an agency entrusted with the responsibility to instill patriotism among civil servants and undergraduates as it has emerged as  the greatest enemy to Najib’s 1Malaysia policy by propounding the narrow and unconstitutional concepts of Malay supremacy, holding to the highly biased, prejudiced and jaundiced view that non-Malays are “kaum pendatang” whose loyalty to Malaysia are to be doubted.

In fact, one could say without fear of contradiction that the greatest concentration of racists in government are to be found in the BTN, and this is why the failure of any government action against the BTN is an immediate reflection on the hollowness of  Najib’s recent declaration of “zero tolerance for racism” just before National Day and his United Nations speech calling on  the moderates in the world to unite against the extremists!

It is evident that Najib’s Cabinet is incapable of upholding and defending  the Prime Minister’s 1Malaysia slogan and policy.

Would Najib  dare to revamp his Cabinet to ensure that only Ministers who dare to publicly declare undivided loyalty to the 1Malaysia concept to build a Malaysian nation where every Malaysian would regard himself or herself as Malaysian first and race second would have a place in government?

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 30 September 2010, 10:43 am and is filed under
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Don’t turn cash aid matter into a religious issue

By
Thomas Lee

More than 40 Muslim senior citizens have returned cash aid from the Penang state government due to suspicion and uneasiness over the sources of the funding.

Bernama quoted an imam from Pulau Mertajam, Saidin Chik, 72, as saying that he decided to return the money as he learned that it was from non-halal activities.

“I received a RM100 aid sometime this year, but I heard over television and read in the newspapers that the money was from gambling activities. We have been praying everyday and suddenly we get a cash aid from non-halal sources and spent it. What is going to happen to our prayers?” he said.

Saidin told reporters this after handing over the money to Penang Umno secretary Azhar Ibrahim on Wednesday 29 September 2010.

According to Azhar, who is also the Penaga state assembly member, the Muslim recipients suffered mental anguish and emotional distress after knowing that they had received cash aid from non-halal sources, and are terrified at the thought of spending the money.

Azhar said more Muslim senior citizens are expected to hand over the money to the Umno Youth to return it to Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

The Umno Youth had earlier claimed that the state government was using a contribution from the Penang Turf Club to fund its hardcore poor eradication programme.

The Penang state government has acknowledged receiving RM500,000 from the Penang Turf Club, but said the money would be used to help poor non-Muslims.

Certainly, due respect must be given to our Muslim friends whose religious conscience does not permit them to accept money originated from non-halal source, but the unwitting and inadvertent incident should not exploited into a religious and political issue.

Guan Eng should not be lambasted for something which he probably assumed is proper and harmless, since over the years, the Barisan Nasional federal government has been using tax monies from the gambling corporations and haram businesses like pubs and non-halal restaurants which serve alcoholic drinks, and also from workers in haram professions such as pork sellers, to fund government and public projects.

Now that we know that it is forbidden (haram) for our Muslim citizens to accept and use monies derived from non-halal sources, then the federal government should rectify the matter, and have a special separate account for all tax monies collected from the haram sources such as Sports Toto, Magnum, the Genting casino, the pubs, and the entertainment joints and restaurants selling alcoholic drinks. These monies must never ever be used in anything associated with Islam, or in projects which may involve the Muslims.

No, I am not being cynical, just respecting the religious conscience of my Muslim brothers and sisters. Their right to practise their faith without impediment and hindrance must surely be upheld and given the utmost due respect.

Even in my own Christian faith, there are some followers who will not eat food that had been used in a worship ceremony of another religion. Although many of us who are more open and liberal do not feel restrained by our conscience on such matters, we do respect the wish and aspiration of the others who believe in the abstinence.

As for the tax monies collected from the haram sources, the federal government could use them for the building of Chinese and Tamil schools, temples, churches, cemeteries, or even scholarships for the non-Muslim students.

The totally unpremeditated “mistake” of the Penang state government should not be exploited by Umno to undermine the good and people-friendly scheme of helping the poor and needy of the state. Perhaps, Guan Eng should reoffer the cash aid to our Muslim brothers and sisters from a more acceptable source, such as rentals from Komtar or other state buildings.

Let us look at the positive side of this incident, and learn from it. Don’t aggravate the situation to turn it into a religious issue, like holding demonstrations against Guan Eng. I know Guan Eng personally for many years and firmly believe that he is a very good man with a good heart, with no malice or spite toward anybody, especially the Penangites of all races and religions under his tender care. And he is definitely not anti-Islam or anti-anybody, only anti-corruption and anti-discrimination.

Don’t exacerbate and exploit this cash aid matter, which any sane person will know and understand, has been done without any ill-intent.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 1 October 2010, 11:52 am and is filed under
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Ethnic outbidding and red herrings

By
Mavis Puthucheary

October 01, 2010

Ethnic outbidding is a favourite pastime among Umno politicians and they have become very good at some “innovative” ideas. We have been treated to “Ketuanan Melayu” and the declaration that Malaysia is an Islamic state.

Now we are told that as the Malaysian Constitution does not state that the prime minister should be a Malay, there is a chance that of this happening if the opposition coalition captures power at the federal level in the next election.

What are we to make of this “warning”?

First of all, we must distinguish the legal or constitutional aspects from political realities. In all democratic constitutions the person who becomes the prime minister is either directly elected by the people (in a presidential system) or is the leader of the party that has won the majority of seats in the elected house of parliament.

The Malaysian Constitution does not deviate from this basic democratic principle.

In reality, because democracy practices majority rule, in a multi-ethnic society, the prime minister is from the majority ethnic group.

However, this may not always be the case. In political parties that ideologically based rather than ethnic based, there is a strong possibility that the leader of the party would be from a minority group so if that party wins the elections, he or she would become the prime minister. But whether or not a person from a minority group gets elected would depend on the procedures adopted in the party for selecting their leaders.

Thus in India, the Congress Party elected a person from a minority group to be their leader and now prime Minister. In Singapore however, the highly centralized cadre system of the People’s Action Party mitigated against a non-Chinese being selected as leader of the party and prime minister.

When Barrack Obama was elected president of the United States, a lively discussion ensued in the local press about the possibility of a person from a minority group becoming prime minister.

At that time Lee Kuan Yew, the former Prime Minister, revealed that this matter was broached 20 years ago when a person of the right calibre was found.

However, according to the report, Lee left his name out of the list because “he felt Singapore was not yet ready for an Indian prime minister” (Straits Times November 15,  2008).

So much for the party’s creed of multiculturalism and meritocracy.

In Malaysia because Umno is the largest party in the multi-national coalition that has been in power since Independence, the prime minister has been from this party, and because this party is largely Malay, the person has been a Malay and Muslim.

Indeed, the posts of prime minister and deputy prime minister have “traditionally” been filled by the president and deputy president of Umno. The MCA has made repeated requests for a second deputy posts to be created for their leader but this has been rejected. .

Second, is the possibility of a non-Malay prime minister more of a reality than before? I don’t think so. True we have a new coalition that is a real alternative to the BN. Even so this new coalition, Pakatan Rakyat (PR) can only capture power at the federal level, if it has the support of  the ethnic majority – the Malays.

Indeed with nearly 70 percent of the parliamentary seats in peninsular Malaysia Malay-majority seats, the possibility of a non-Malay prime minister is extremely remote.

Then why is this matter raised at all especially as it has not come from the non-Malay leaders but initiated by Mahathir and taken up by factions within Umno?

In order to answer this question we need to understand a little about the leadership motivation and behaviour of Umnoleaders especially Mahathir. It should be pointed out that this is not the first time that this issue has been raised by Mahathir but in a different context and tone.

In 2000 Mahathir, as Prime Minister, opened the 47th Annual General Assembly of the MCA by announcing his “confidence that a non-Malay would one day become the prime minister” (New Straits Times June 18, 2000).

Initially the announcement was hailed by non-Malays and members of the international community as a sign that Malaysia was moving away from racial politics. The Economist proclaimed that the prime minister has a dream that the nation’s next leader might well come from the Chinese, Indian or other ethnic minority (June 30, 2000).

Soon it became clear that this was nothing but rhetoric used by him to please his audience.

Within days of this announcement, an article appeared in the press entitled “Non-Malay PM: more rhetorical than real” (New Straits Times June 27, 2000). In this article  Abdullah Ahmad explained that Mahathir only stated what was constitutionally correct, nothing more. Why Mahathir chose to raise this matter at the MCA’s annual assembly was never made clear.

According to Abdullah Ahmad, Mahathir’s real concern was the loss of Malay support in the 1999 elections. In that same article Abdullah Ahmad explained that Mahathir was “dramatizing” the issue in order “to create a certain impact within Umno and warning the Bumiputera that unless they stop warring among themselves the possibility of a non-Muslim becoming Prime minister – no matter how remote – exists” We are even more confused.

Why would Mahathir choose to deliver a warning to Malays and other Bumiputera at a meeting of the MCA?

But the matter does not end here. In a recent speech Mahathir again is reported to have issued a warning to Malays that they risked losing political power if the PR captures Putra Jaya from the BN.

How is it possible for Malays to lose political power when it would be through the exercise of their power that a PR government would come into existence?

It seems that Mahathir has resorted to yet another one of his twists and turns to argue his case. He is, intentionally one suspects, linking Umno with the myth of  Malay political superiority in order to convince the public that they should vote for Umno and the BN.

The issue of  a non-Malay prime minister is a red herring to distract people from asking the real question: what is the source of Malay political supremacy and why does it reside only in Umno?

Instead of dealing with the real issues, these leaders create bogeyman which they frighten us with. In this case the argument they offer runs like this: Umno gained for the Malays a position of political supremacy which is now in danger of being diluted because the PR leadership, though Malay and Muslim, is not working in the interests of the Malays.

The issue of the non-Malay prime minister is brought up in order to discredit the PR leadership. These leaders, though Malay and Muslim are accused of being “not really independent and a tool of others”.

So also PAS leaders have been accused of not abiding by their Islamic principles.

It seems strange that Umno which had always taken a more moderate middle ground  with regard to political Islam has shifted to a position which makes PAS seem more moderate than Umno.

In the past voters were told not to vote for PAS candidates because of their strong Islamic principles – it was claimed that once they took power they would integrate Islamic values into all aspects of Malaysian society. But now we are told not to vote for PAS candidates precisely because they have shifted their extreme position to one that is more accommodating.

All this would be laughable if it did not have potentially a sinister side to it. In claiming Malay political superiority, Umno leaders have conveniently forgotten that even when they have won their seats in Malay-majority constituencies they have done so by getting the support of the non-Malay vote especially in straight fights between Umno and PAS.

In the 1999 and in elections Khoo Boo Teik pointed out that Umno’s  parliamentary representation was less than the combined number of seats held by its coalition partners.

“The mutual access that Umno and its non-Malay coalition partners enjoyed came to Umno’s rescue in the ethnically mixed constituencies, in a reversal of past trends when it was the non-Malay component parties that needed saving. Ironically that result merely restored Umno’s unquestioned dominance of the BN framework” (Democracy and Elections in Malaysia, 2005) ,

A similar result happened in the 2008 elections when Umno was rescued by it partners in Sabah and Sarawak. As Khoo points out, the results of the 1999 elections hold dire implications for Umno “relevance” to the Malay electorate.

The results of the 2008 elections have all but shattered the illusion of Umno as the institutional party of government. The only way it can regain its position in the political system is to take an extreme pro-Malay stance, instilling fears of losing their political power as a way to unite the Malays under their leadership.

It is in this light that one should view the possibility of some groups taking up the issue of a non-Malay prime minister to demand that the constitution be changed to ensure that the prime minister is both Malay and a Muslim.

The fact that such a requirement is contained in some state constitutions with regard to the Mentri Besar, makes such a demand not as far-fetched as it otherwise might be.

It must also be borne in mind that as the space for public participation increases it also allows for the growth of civil society organizations that are organized along ethno-religious lines.

In such a situation there is a real danger of ethnic outbidding reaching a level where any remark, however innocuous, is interpreted in racial terms.

It is important that the PR political leadership not fall into the trap where they find themselves having to “prove” they are more pro-Malay than Umno by supporting such a constitutional amendment.

*
Mavis Puthhucheary is the co-editor of “Elections and Democracy in Malaysia” (UKM Press)  and contributor to the volume “Sharing the Nation: Faith, Difference, Power and the State 50 Years After Merdeka” (SIRD). ”

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 2 October 2010, 4:02 pm and is filed under
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Loss of Young Talent Thwarts Malaysia’s Growth

By
LIZ GOOCH
 | NY Times

Published: October 1, 2010

KUALA LUMPUR — With its dazzling skyscrapers, bright lights and ubiquitous symbols of modernity, Singapore has long worked its magic on Rachel Liew, 20.

Even as a young girl visiting the city-state with her family from her native Malaysia, Singapore’s clean streets, convenient public transportation and modern lifestyles made a lasting impression.

As Ms. Liew grew older, she came to believe that Singapore could also offer a better education than her homeland, and in 2008, she packed her bags and headed south across the border to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering at Nanyang Technological University.

“I might return to Malaysia if I had a really good job offer there, which I think would be unlikely, or if I eventually get married to a Malaysian who wants to live in his hometown,” said Ms. Liew, one of about 700,000 Malaysians living abroad. “But other than that, I think I would probably settle down in Singapore.”

That is exactly the kind of sentiment Malaysia’s policy makers are desperate to change.

Many Asian nations have long been concerned about the outflow of human capital to more developed countries, but here in Malaysia, the need to address the problem has assumed a new urgency in the final decade for reaching its long-established goal of becoming a developed country by 2020.

Companies have long complained about a shortage of skilled labor in Malaysia, and economists say it is severely affecting the country’s ability to attract more high-technology industries. The government is acutely aware of the shortage in skills and the potential hurdle it poses to the country’s 2020 goal.

“We don’t get it right, we are in serious trouble,” the human resources minister, S. Subramaniam, said during an interview.

Studying and working overseas have long been considered attractive options for those Malaysians who can afford to make the move. About half of those living abroad can be found in neighboring Singapore. Australia, Britain and the United States are also popular.

Robert K. Chelliah, who runs an Australian immigration agency in Perth, with offices in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, said by phone that the number of Malaysians contacting his company with inquiries about moving to Australia had soared 80 percent since 2008.

“In the last two to three years, the motivation to acquire Australian permanent residency has sharply increased across all age sectors as well as across racial backgrounds,” he said.

Like Ms Liew, most of the seven people interviewed for this article said that better education, wages and career opportunities could be found abroad, while parents wanted to ensure that their children received an internationally recognized education in English.

Many interviewees, when asked about their concerns about returning to Malaysia, cited racial tensions and the country’s affirmative action policy, which gives special privileges to ethnic Malays, who make up 60 percent of the population. The government has recognized the need to change the policy, which was introduced in the 1970s to improve the economic standing of Malays, who were more highly represented among the nation’s poor than its Chinese and Indian minorities.

Prime Minister Najib Razak has repeatedly emphasized that affirmative action would be made “market-friendly, merit-based, transparent and needs-based” under the country’s latest plan, the New Economic Model, which is designed to steer Malaysia toward its development goals. Ethnic Malays, or bumiputras, still benefit from privileges like discounted housing, and some government contracts are available only to companies they control.

A Malaysian Chinese businessman, who left Malaysia for Canada as a university student in the 1970s and stayed there, said that because of the policy, only a handful of his Malaysian Chinese classmates who also studied abroad had returned to Malaysia. Several other Malay and non-Malay interviewees also described the system as unfair.

Danny Quah, a professor of economics at the London School of Economics and Political Science, says that the brain drain has had a huge effect on the country’s economic and industrial development.

“People have left, growth prospects have dimmed, and then more people continue to leave,” said Mr. Quah, who is also a member of the Malaysian National Economic Advisory Council. “It’s a vicious cycle that the economy has had to confront for the last decade or longer.”

Malaysia’s growth rate dropped to an average of 5.5 percent a year from 2000 to 2008, from an average of about 9 percent a year from 1991 to 1997.

Private investment, meanwhile, has fallen to about 10 percent of gross domestic product in 2008 from more than a third of G.D.P. in 1997, and the World Bank has warned that a lack of human capital is a “critical constraint in Malaysia’s ambition to become a high-income economy.”

Stewart Forbes, executive director of the Malaysian International Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said foreign companies faced difficulties finding skilled workers in fields like electronics, the petrochemical industries and engineering. Some companies complain of poor communication and English skills.

“I don’t think it’s yet reached the stage where companies are saying, ‘I cannot do my business here,”’ Mr. Forbes said. “I think it’s true to say, however, that there’s lost investment opportunities here because of the labor situation.”

Mr. Forbes contrasted the skill shortage in Malaysia, where 80 percent of the work force has only a high school education, with a country like Taiwan, which emphasizes the number of holders of graduate degrees available to investors.

Previous government attempts to lure back Malaysian expatriates, namely the Brain Gain Malaysia and Returning Expert programs, have had little success. Despite financial incentives like importing cars tax-free and efforts to ease access to permanent residency for foreign spouses, they have attracted fewer than 3,000 applicants.

The government now plans to enhance and consolidate those programs under a new agency, to be known as the Talent Corp. Its financing will be announced as part of the country’s 2011 budget on Oct 15. It will recommend ways the country’s education and training systems can be overhauled to produce graduates who better fulfill industry needs, especially in sectors like information technology and financial services.

Muhyiddin Yassin, Malaysia’s deputy prime minister and education minister, is leading a major review of the education system. “There will definitely be a major overhaul of the system,” he said in an interview, adding that the system needed to foster creativity and innovation.

Enhancing the skills of the existing work force, encouraging universities to work more closely with industry and increasing the number of students enrolled in vocational training are also priorities.

Mr. Muhyiddin said that Malaysia needed to record annual economic growth of 6 percent for the next 10 years to achieve its 2020 goal and that a work force with the right skills was a “precondition” for such growth.

Still, enticing Malaysian expatriates home, when salaries there remain lower than abroad, presents a major challenge.

In Malaysia, the average income per capita is currently about $7,000, a figure the government wants to increase to $15,000 by 2020. In Singapore, by contrast, the figure hovers around $37,000, World Bank data show.

Mr. Subramaniam, the human resources minister, says that he expects salaries to rise as more high-technology industries develop and that, in the meantime, improvements in other factors, like work opportunities, may help lure Malaysians home.

“If we give them a good working environment, an area where they can grow, and it’s stimulating and satisfying, they might be willing to take a slight cut in their salary,” he said.

Still, some economists remain skeptical about the government’s initiatives to reverse the diaspora.

Terence Gomez, a professor on the economics faculty of the University of Malaya, said that changing the affirmative action policy remained a highly contentious issue, with the government under pressure from right-leaning groups and members of its own party, the United Malays National Organization, to maintain it.

But he said it was vital that Malaysia become more of a meritocracy if it is to succeed in drawing back the diaspora. For instance, non-Malays need to be assured that they can be appointed to senior civil service positions, and the private sector must be based on transparency and fairness, rather than race, he said.

Otherwise, “professionals won’t come back and work in the public sector, and investors won’t come back and invest in the private sector,” he added.

Mr. Quah of the London School said that it was not affirmative action alone that had driven the brain drain and that higher wages and economic growth, and good schooling opportunities, were vital to enticing expatriates home.

“This is an economically astute middle class, and they will see whether it’s in their interests to return or not,” he said.

Chen May Yee, 39, a Malaysian Chinese journalist who lives in Minneapolis with her American husband and two children, is yet to be convinced that Malaysia can offer the work opportunities and lifestyle she wants for her family. She said she had taken a pay cut each time she had previously moved back to Malaysia after stints in the United States or Singapore — sometimes as much as 50 percent.

“I’d love to move back for family and friends, but I just don’t see how to make it work economically,” she said.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 2 October 2010, 4:13 pm and is filed under
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Key political risks to watch in Malaysia

Oct 1, 10

Reuters/Malaysiakini

Malaysia has unveiled ambitious plans to boost its economy by mobilising hundreds of billions of dollars of private investment, although questions remain over whether the money will materialise.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s cut in fuel, gas and sugar subsidies in August triggered a political backlash that may see him holding off more reforms ahead of the next general elections due by 2013.

Najib has pledged to reform the country’s subsidy bill to tackle the budget deficit. But he is wary of upsetting the country’s majority ethnic Malays, a critical votebank whose support will be vital as he tries to revive his ruling coalition which was hit by record losses in general elections in 2008.

Following is a summary of key Malaysia risks to watch:

Political conflict

Political tensions spiked after the 2008 general election when unprecedented opposition gains transformed the political landscape. BN coalition’s 52-year grip on the country was dented when it ceded control of five states and lost its two-thirds parliamentary majority to an opposition led by former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

The political uncertainty has weighed on foreign investment with net portfolio and direct investment outflows reaching US$61 billion (RM188 million) in 2008 and 2009 according to official data. Money has since flowed into the bond market according to central bank statistics, but little has flowed into equities.

What to watch:

•	Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s sodomy trial. Anwar says the case is a political conspiracy, and a contentious verdict would anger his supporters. Any marked increase in political tensions could see more foreign money pulled from stocks, bonds and the ringgit. But with limited foreign portfolio investment still in the country, the impact will be muted.

•	Elections in the Borneo state of Sarawak, expected by the end of this year. The state’s chief minister has directed the ruling coalition to ready itself for state-wide polls, and analysts say nationwide elections could follow soon after. BN’s shock defeat in a May by-election in Sarawak raised doubts over its support levels in the state.

•	The Umno’s annual meeting in October.

•	Internal elections in Anwar’s PKR in November, which will choose his successor in the event that he is convicted in his sodomy trial and jailed.

Economic reforms

Since taking office in April last year, Najib has delivered measures such as granting new bank licenses and rolling back parts of a controversial racial affirmative action policy.

He has also pledged to trim the fiscal deficit and accelerate investment while aiming for average 6 percent annual economic growth under a five-year economic development plan unveiled on June 10.

With the Malays who make up 55 percent of the country’s 28 million population likely to be among the hardest hit by reform measures such as price hikes, Najib has opted for a gradualist approach to economic reform. He has postponed measures such as the introduction of a goods and services tax.

In July, Najib announced out fuel and other subsidy cuts to rein in a budget deficit which last year hit a 20-year high of 7 percent of GDP. The move drew protests from a coalition of student and human rights groups as well as opposition parties who have threatened to hold a mass rally if the cuts are not reversed by December, adding pressure to Najib as he tries to remain popular while stemming the country’s deficit.

Malaysia’s export-dependent economy has been losing its low-cost manufacturing competitiveness to regional neighbours such as Vietnam and needs to move up the value chain.

Among recently announced foreign direct investments are US$1.2 billion (RM3.7 billion) in May from disk-drive maker Western Digital and US$1 billion (RM3.08 billion) in June from Exxon Mobil. But Malaysia’s attractiveness as a regional investment destination has been eroding in the past few years due to faster-reforming neighbours.

Najib’s “New Economic Model” (NEM) will reform elements of a four-decade-old affirmative action policy favouring the majority ethnic Malays in order to boost the economy’s competitiveness.

The race-based policy gave a wide array of economic benefits to ethnic Malays who make up 55 percent of the population.

Investors complain that abuse of the policy spawned a patronage-ridden economy and made the country less attractive to foreign investors than neighbouring states.

Najib has rolled back elements of the policy, and axed the rule that companies must offer stakes to Malays. But his plans face growing opposition from conservative Malay rights groups.

What to watch:

•	The phased rollout of the NEM and how far Najib will accommodate conservative Malay pressure groups. The policy’s broad outline was announced in June.

•	The 2011 budget which Najib, who is also finance minister, is scheduled to be tabled in Parliament on Oct 15. This could include a revision to GDP growth forecasts. If the budget contains populist handouts it will be a further sign elections are close.

•	The introduction of a Goods and Services Tax, postponed in February. The government has said that it remains committed to introducing the tax with an initial rate of four percent.

Race and religion

Race and religion have always been explosive issues in Malaysian politics. Najib took power pledging a more inclusive approach to ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities, but some in his Umno party are beginning to cast this approach aside in a bid to woo conservative Malays.

The caning of three women under strict Islamic laws in February for having illicit sex signaled the government’s increasing adoption of a stronger Islamic agenda, and this has worried some investors.

A heated row over the use of the word “Allah” by Catholics, which sparked attacks on religious establishments, is also threatening to prolong minority unhappiness with the government.

What to watch:

•	Efforts to resolve religious disputes. The government has set up an interfaith committee to promote religious harmony and is trying to reach an out of court settlement with the Borneo Evangelical Church, which went to court over the “Allah” dispute.

•	If the government tries to woo Muslim voters with more conservative policies based on Islam, investors may be spooked.

•	A severe worsening of tensions could raise the spectre of sectarian unrest, but this is not regarded as likely for now.

Corruption

Malaysia used to be regarded as one of the region’s more reliable countries, but worsening corruption and a perceived lack of judicial independence have damaged investment.

Malaysia’s corruption perception ranking dropped to a record low of 57th globally in anti-corruption body Transparency International’s 2009 report.

What to watch:

•	Government efforts to deal with a scandal over a port trade zone close to Kuala Lumpur that exposed links between politics and business. False government guarantees given when the bonds were sold have triggered concerns among holders of US$1 billion (RM3.08 million) of bonds that they might not be repaid.

•	Last year, Najib promised to prosecute any wrongdoing with regards to the port project and this move could be an attempt to show investors that the country is serious about tackling corruption. A veteran ethnic Chinese politician has been charged over the case.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 3 October 2010, 9:43 pm and is filed under
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Can civil servants and BTN officials make incendiary, racist and insensitive statements going against Najib’s 1Malaysia concept and claim as protection that they are personal views made in private functions?

Biro Tata Negara (BTN) deputy director Hamim Husain today lodged a police report at Sentul district police headquarters against news portal, The Malaysian Insider, and one of its journalists over an article that claimed that he had uttered racist remarks.

Hamim refused to comment when quizzed by the press as he left the police station, and declined to reveal the contents of his police report.

Instead, he merely recited the al-Fatihah and prayed for Muslim unity outside the police station.

Hamim has added salt to injury and compounded his utter contempt for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia concept.

Is the BTN committed to Muslim unity or the 1Malaysia and Malaysian unity?

Hamim was accompanied by the Perkasa youth chief Arman Azha Abu Hanifah when he went to the Sentul police station to lodge the report and acted as his spokesman.

Arman Azha said that the police report against The Malaysian Insider and one of its reporters was lodged because the reporter had misinterpreted Hamim’s statement and had sneaked into a closed-door programme that was organised by Puteri Umno.

Two questions immediately raised are:

Can civil servants and BTN officials make  incendiary, racist and insensitive statements going against Najib’s 1Malaysia concept  and claim  as protection that they are personal views made in private functions?

Has the BTN Director-General and the Chief Secretary to the Government, Tan Sri  Mohd Sidek Hassan given approval to Hamim to lodge the police report under the patronage of Perkasa? Isn’t this another gross breach of civil service discipline?

Up to now,  there has been no denial of the Malaysian Insider report that Hamim had in a closed-door Puteri Umno function last week referred to the Chinese and Indian communities as “Si Mata Sepet” (“Squinty-eyed”) and “Si Botol” (“Alcoholics”) respectively when asking Puteri Umno members to approach the non-Malays for votes.

The excuse is that these are the personal views of Hamim and that they were made in a closed-door private function of Puteri Umno.

Perkasa has taken the ridiculous stand that Hamim is not wrong with what he said as it was said during a private closed-door function. Malaysians can ignore Perkasa but they are entitled to know whether it  is acceptable and permissible if  any of the UMNO Ministers had made the same remarks about “Si Mata Sepet” and “Si Botol” against the Chinese and Indian communities in private Umno or even private government functions?

Over the weekend, the Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan had issued a general service circular to heads of departments  instructing departmental heads to stop their officers from making statements touching on racial and religious sensitivities.

But Mohd Sidek’s warning that the government would not allow any action and conduct by a small number of the 1.2 million civil servants in the country contrary to the racial harmony forged by public officers as implementers of government policies had been like water down ducks back, “going into the right ear and coming straight out of the left ear” as illustrated  Hamim’s action today – which  is both an open defiance and contempt for the Chief Secretary’s circular.

This has compounded public disaffection at the total lack of political will and procrastination of the Najib premiership to take action against errant civil servants, not only against Hamim but also the two school principals although it is now 53 days since the first offence was committed by the Kulaijaya headmistress with her incendiary, racist and insensitive remarks against  students in school.

The Cabinet cannot pass the buck of political responsibility to curb such anti-1Malaysia misconduct by public servants.

The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Unity and Performance Management) Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon, when announcing yesterday that he would skip the Penang Gerakan EGM this Sunday because he would be attending the MCA AGM, had pledged to push for stern action against anyone, including politicians and civil servants, who make racist remarks.

Koh should realize that he had been responsible for the Cabinet portfolio of national unity since April last year, but never before as in the past 18 months  had national unity in Malaysia been so under intense and escalating attack by the rhetoric of racial bigotry and religious extremism – all emanating internally from the Barisan Nasional and the bureaucracy!

Koh should ensure that the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday produces action to demonstrate that the Ministers have the political will to penalise Hamim and the two principals concerned and do not allow them to defy Najib’s 1Malaysia concept with impunity.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 4 October 2010, 5:38 pm and is filed under
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Crime index down but do you feel safer?

Horrible experience by AnthonyLokeMP/SA/DAPSY chief. He his father mother tied up by burglars @Taman YoonChan Rahang terrace hse 4am n robbed of $10k

10/04/2010 08:49 AM

(Contd) of cash valuables. Freed themselves abt 5am. House ransacked Luckily no one harmed by parang-wielding robbers. Loke’s area was quite crime-free but no more safe

10/04/2010 08:53 AM

Crime index down but ppl feel even more unsafe. Let’s have twitterpoll- do u (where?) feel safe? RT @ekpoptani Are our police stats correct?

10/04/2010 10:19 AM

                This entry was posted on Monday, 4 October 2010, 11:22 am and is filed under
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