You can’t teach an old politician new tricks

Zan Azlee

The Malaysian Insider

Jul 12, 2013

What happens when an elected representative does something in office that is against the wishes of his electorate?

To be more specific, what if he does something without consulting his constituency and is mainly for his own personal benefit?

Well, in most cases around the world, this would be unethical and the elected representative would come under heated pressure and probably lose in the next election.

But in Malaysia, it happens to be quite all right. Because, you see, in this country, elected leaders are one step higher than normal people.

What they say is like gospel for everybody. Don’t believe me? Then check out our newspapers. It is filled with elected leaders saying this and that as advise for the people.

Take for example, the new Home Minister, Datuk Seri Zahid Ahmad Hamidi, who recently said that the Sedition Act should not be abolished.

He says this with full aplomb as if his judgement is the right one and should be the decision best for the country.

In truth, the Sedition Act is as archaic as the ISA and a sack of fosillised mammoth bones that is about to turn into petroleum and then processed by Petronas.

At the moment, the Sedition Act cover is just too wide and vague that it allows the authorities a lot of leeway for manipulation. So, it deserves at least an update.

Even the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, announced much earlier (many times, even) that the act would be abolished.

And it is not just Ahmad Zahid who is against the abolition of the Act. Many other BN leaders are too. So, I guess this just shows that many leaders are still too entrenched in old politics.

This old politics is the one that makes them think they do not have to answer to anyone and that they were elected through divine intervention.

An elected representative needs to listen to what the public wants because they need to realise that it is this public that holds the fate of their political career.

As it is, the popular vote has already been lost by the Barisan Nasional. They cannot afford to further alienate this segment of the population.

It does not take a genius political analyst to deduce that the Malaysian public wants an immediate change. If it is not a change of the guards, then at least a change within.

Malaysians are smart and getting smarter, and likewise, they want smart people to represent them too. This is only natural.

So to stay on top, politicians these days cannot be same old guards who are not of the same intellectual capabilities as the rest of Malaysia.

Gone are the days when democracy was supposed to be ‘Malaysian style’. It is no longer top down where those who have been elected write the rules.

Democracy is democracy no matter where it is practised, and what it means is that the people decide and write the rules.

Those who have been elected are only there to serve that purpose, which is to represent those who elected them, with their best interests at heart.

And then, boom! What does Ahmad Zahid decide to do again? He, along with his deputy, Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, goes all god-like again!

They decide to go against the decision of a panel of distinguished law professionals consisting of chief justices, lord presidents, lawyers, academics, journalists and thinkers.

According to these two who seem to know the law better, setting up an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) is unconstitutional.

Oh well, as they say, you really can’t teach an old politician new tricks. Or something like that, right? – July 12, 2013.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 14 July 2013, 7:38 am and is filed under
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The ball is in Najib’s court whether Tajuddin’s racist lies and provocations in Kuala Besut by-election campaign yesterday is in line with his call for “national reconciliation” and his “Global Movement of the Moderates” initiative

The ball is in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s court, whether the Deputy Agriculture Minister Datuk Tajuddin Abdul Rahman’s racist lies and provocations in the Kuala Besut by-election campaign yesterday is in line with his call for “national reconciliation” and his “Global Movement of the Moderates” initiative.

It was only yesterday that it was reported that the Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman had completed a seven-day three-nation European tour to promote Malaysia’s “Global Movement of the Moderates” initiative, covering Poland, Latvia and Russia.

But on the very same day, Tajuddin was doing his worst in spouting the most irresponsible and reckless form of extremism in the Kuala Besut by-election with his racist lies and provocations, making a total mockery of the pledge by the contestants that the by-election will be a model of “Ramadan politics” of restraint and morality to show respect to the holy month.

In fact, it would be difficult to find so many reckless and irresponsible racist lies and provocations packed into one speech as that delivered by Tajuddin in Kuala Besut yesterday where without a shred of evidence, he alleged that the DAP is out to abolish the system of constitutional monarchy and the Sultanate so as to establish a republic, and that the DAP is anti-Malay and anti-Islam.

In December 2011, I had challenged the Deputy Prime Minister and Deputy UMNO President, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, to substantiate his insinuation in his speech at the UMNO Wanita, Youth and Puteri Wings’ annual general assemblies that DAP wanted to abolish the system of Malay sultantates and set up a republic or he should apologise for the lie.

But Muhyiddin did neither – showing the hollow commitment of the No. 2 leader in the Umno/BN government to truth, morality and integrity.

The very fact that in the Kuala Besut by-election in the holy month of Ramadan in a constituency which is regarded as an UMNO stronghold with UMNO boasting that it would increase its 13GE majority 2,434 votes to 4,000 votes in the by-election, UMNO leaders have to resort to such despicable, inflammatory and seditous racist lies and provocations is an indication of the increasing desperation of certain UMNO leaders who feel that they their irresponsible and reckless politics of race is fighting a losing battle with a more informed, intelligent and discerning electorate throughout the country.

Najib has often said that UMNO must change or UMNO will be changed. Is Najib capable of leading UMNO to bring about this change, starting by taking a stand against Tajuddin’s reckless and irresponsible racist lies and provocations in Kuala Besut yesterday, or will be continue to keep his silence despite such monstrous lies and falsehoods which completely discredit his “national reconciliation” and “Global Movement of the Moderates” initiatives?

                This entry was posted on Monday, 15 July 2013, 11:45 am and is filed under
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Dzaiddin says IPCMC consistent with the Federal Constitution

The Malay Mail Online

July 15, 2013

KUALA LUMPUR, July 15 – The proposed establishment of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) is consistent with the Federal Constitution, according to Tun Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah.

Offering his views on IPCMC’s legitimacy under the Federal Constitution, the former chairman of the Royal Commission to Enhance the Operation and Management of the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) made a reference to Article 140.

“Article 140 thereof provides that Parliament may by law provide for the exercise of Police Force Commission’s disciplinary control over members of the police force in such manner and such authority as may be provided in that law.

“Therefore, there can be no doubt about its consistency with the Federal Constitution,” he said in a statement today.

His remarks followed a recent statement by Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi that the proposed setting up of IPCMC would result in “overlapping jurisdictions and laws among the country’s enforcement agencies”, and was “not in line with the Federal Constitution and was against the concept of justice”.

With the intention of facilitating a more informed debate about the IPCMC, Mohamed Dzaiddin quoted several passages of the Police Royal Commission of Inquiry Report which stated that:

“One effective means of ensuring that doctrines, laws, rules and procedures are observed and implemented is by the establishment of an external oversight body. This method has been adopted by many modern policing systems whose experience has been that internal mechanisms alone are inadequate, unreliable and frequently ineffective.”

The 2005 report, as cited by Mohamed Dzaiddin, also said that: “Purpose: IPCMC shall conduct oversight of police and in this regard perform the following main functions:

– receive and investigate complaints about PDRM and its personnel;

– prevent, detect and investigate corruption and other serious misconduct in PDRM;

– propose measures to the Minister of Internal Security to improve police integrity, reduce misconduct and build public confidence in PDRM.”

The report further stated that “it (IPCMC) will work closely with the Police Force Commission and PDRM’s Disciplinary Division”. – Bernama

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 16 July 2013, 12:41 am and is filed under
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Fight the Smear Campaign against the Oil Palm Industry

Koon Yew Yin

A few weeks ago the sky was covered with smoke from the burning of forests in Sumatra to clear land for agriculture. Many in Malaysia and Singapore were affected by the haze.  Some observers in the west used it as an occasion to bad-mouth the oil palm oil further. In this article, I will try to share some facts of life in the oil palm industry so that Malaysians will not join the western world in their smear campaign.

Firstly, we must remember that the west had cut down their forests and trees centuries ago to develop their countries.  Malaysia and Indonesia are both new comers in the development scene and have been felling our forests for only a few decades now.  Of our tropical agricultural crops, oil palm is the most recent cash crop commodity.

Although there has been a rapid rate of exploitation, it still occupies a small proportion of our total land area.  The oil palm industry in Malaysia accounts for 15.5 per cent of total land area and only 4.5 per cent of total land area of Indonesia.  A large proportion of the oil palm plantations are also not newly felled forest but are old rubber plantations that have been converted to this more lucrative crop.

Many in the public know of my views which are critical of many developments in the country.  However, praise needs to be given when it is deserved; and our home grown oil palm industry is one which deserves all our support. This support is important in view of the sustained criticism made against the oil palm industry by lobby groups that have their origin in the west.

Why We Should Support Our Oil Palm Industry

There are many good reasons to support our oil palm industry in Malaysia and Indonesia. These are some of the most important.

1.    Firstly it is not only Felda settlers that are dependent on the crop for a livelihood. Malaysia’s annual US$25 billion (RM79.75 billion) palm oil exports support some two million jobs and livelihoods along the sprawling value chain. This means that one in every five working Malaysian is dependent for his or her livelihood on the crop.

2.    Plantations have borne the brunt of the bad publicity. However, the small farmers are also affected. More than 40 per cent of oil palm planters in Indonesia are smallholders whilst in Malaysia they contribute to 38 per cent of the country’s palm oil output.

3.    Environmental activist groups such as World Wildlife Fund, Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace have launched many campaigns alleging that the expansion of oil palm plantations have destroyed forests, threatened endangered wildlife and robbed indigenous peoples of their land. Many of their arguments are not based on fact but are sensationalized from a small and atypical number of cases.

4.    The anti-oil palm lobby in the west includes pro-soya bean and rape-seed groups who see oil palm as a major competitor and have recruited food lobbyists to play on fears of the health hazards of palm oil consumption. . Together with environmental activists, these well-funded groups have created trade barriers to the global oil palm trade under the pretext of environmental activism.

5.    In a fair contest amongst competing vegetable oils, palm oil will win hands down. The oil palm tree is the world’s most efficient oil crop because one can harvest five tonnes of oil per hectare. This is 10 times more productive than soya bean planted in the West, including United States and five times more productive than rapeseed, Europe’s main oil crop.

6.    It is an undeniable fact that palm oil is the cheapest and most popular form of cooking oil for consumers, including many poor families in the west. Should trade barriers to benefit rapeseed farmers who are already heavily subsidised by the European Union (EU) government be successfully implemented, this will hurt consumers all over the world.

7.    Also should alternatives to oil palm be grown, more land would be needed to produce an equivalent volume of oil to replace palm oil, resulting in more deforestation and problems for Mother Earth.

8.    Oil palm smallholdings and plantations meet the United Nation’s Framework Convention on Climate Change which defines a forest as an area of 0.5 to one hectare having more than 30 per cent canopy cover and having a potential height of two to five metres. To accuse the industry in Malaysia and Indonesia of contributing to global warming is sheer nonsense. In fact oil palm trees just as with other forest species, produce oxygen for us to breathe and act to counter coal and oil emissions which are the major cause of global warming.

9.    Finally, the western environmental activists’ campaign against oil palm plantation expansion, in the name of “saving rainforests”, is a violation of international norms and Malaysia’s and Indonesia’s sovereignty.

Appeal to Malaysians

In a keynote address to over a thousand delegates at a conference organised by the Incorporated Society of Planters (ISP) in Sibu, Sarawak, recently, Datuk Amar Abdul Hamed Sepawi, Chairman of Sarawak Plantation Berhad warned,   “We’re at a crossroads. It’s time for oil palm planters to adapt to the fast-changing world of ruthless vegetable oil politics if we want to stay relevant in this market”.

Conclusion:

I trust all Malaysians will circulate this article to all their contacts to fight against the smear campaign against our palm oil industry and eventually I hope consumers, all over the world, will not buy soyabean or rapeseed oil which is more expensive and not really superior to palm oil.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 16 July 2013, 2:05 pm and is filed under
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Malays rule, OK!

Mariam Mokhtar

Malaysiakini

Jul 15, 2013

What Rowena Abdul Razak, daughter of one of Malaysia’s most infamous toadies, said that minorities were incapable of ruling, it is not just an affront to Malays, but an insult to all Malaysians.

Rowena should know that when you raise your head above the parapet, you can expect it to be shot. It is alarming to hear a woman with a sound education, who has enjoyed a privileged upbringing, and is currently pursuing her postgraduate studies, talk about the governance of a country in terms of majority rule, Malay rights, protection and race.

It is disheartening to hear educated Malays talk in such a shortsighted manner and act as if they learned nothing from their times spent in civilised countries. They have learnt nothing of the outside world, nor of the fallacy of Malay supremacy.

Students like Adam Adli Abdul Halim have had their education curtailed, whereas children of Umno Baruputras enjoy the largesse of the taxpayer. Adam was trying to help all Malaysians, whereas Rowena appears to be selfishly championing Umno Baruputras.

At a Bar Council Forum on electoral reforms Rowena queried the ability of the minority to protect the rights of the majority.

barack obama president of the united states of americaHas she not heard of Benjamin Disraeli, Barack Hussein Obama and Alberto Fujimori? One was Jewish but became prime minister of Great Britain, the man who was of African extraction now heads America and a Japanese once ruled Peru.

Rowena talks like an Umno Baruputra. Most normal people want a country which is ruled by an able leader, who is prepared to look after its citizens with equality and fairness.

She said, “In Malaysia, you are proposing something where the minority would be empowered, how then do you protect the rights of the majority?”

How ironic that what she said is true. This illegitimate minority Umno Baru government has already broken many of the promises it made before GE13. It does not champion the interests of the majority but it excels in protecting the rights of Umno Baruputras.

By referring to “the majority”, Rowena presumably means the Malays. If the truth be known, the original Malays are a minority in Malaysia and it is the pseudo Malays, those who want to take advantage of the perks which were granted to the Malays, in the constitution, who form the majority in Malaysia.

Holding the rest of Malaysia to ransom

We once had a PM, Mahathir Mohamad, who was of Indian extraction. He sought to confuse the Malay mind by creating a dilemma within the Malay world. What emerged was another Malay species – the Umno Baruputra. In a sense, the minority Umno Baruputras could be classed as a minority species and it is they who are holding the rest of Malaysia to ransom.

In Syria, the ruling minority Alawite sect, to which President Bashir Al-Assad belongs, punishes and kills the majority Sunnis for opposing his rule. Rowena is right but conversely, we have seen that Mahathir’s policies continue to wreak havoc on the Malay psyche. Rowena is therefore wrong when she said that “the minority cannot even protect themselves”. The Umno Baruputras who govern, only think of themselves and jealously guard their turf.

If we allowed Rowena the benefit of the doubt, and assume that the Malay majority can protect others, why have we issues with forced conversions of children of another faith into Islam, why are Christians forbidden from using the word Allah, why is the Ambassador from the Vatican shown the door and why are certain people – Indians, Orang Asli and Penans having problems establishing their citizenship?

Why did Mahathir dilute the percentage of the true Sabahans with an influx of Muslim foreigners from the Philippines, Indonesian and Pakistan? The former majority Kadazan-Dusun population was cheated by a minority group.

Rowena criticised the NGO Tindak Malaysia for the low (10 percent) percentage of Malays in the organisation which she said was not representative of Malaysian demographics. Is this a fair criticism? Are Malays averse to volunteering? Do they avoid corporate social responsibilities?

It is wrong of Rowena to publicly admonish Wong Piang Yow, the Tindak Malaysia chief, for something beyond his control. Malays may form a majority in some other NGOs, like Perkasa, but this is not necessarily a good thing.

abdul razak baginda and altantuya shaariibuu murder caseIn November 2006, when Rowena’s father, Razak Baginda, was charged with abetting two police personnel in the murder of the Mongolian national Altantuya Shaaribuu, observers were shocked when Mazlinda Makhzan, Baginda’s wife, screamed, “Why charge my husband, he does not want to be the prime minister…”? What was Mazlinda insinuating?

After Baginda was acquitted in 2008, he held a press conference, and stressed throughout the 50-minute-long media briefing that Najib Abdul Razak, the deputy prime minister at the time, and his wife, Rosmah Mansor, had nothing to do with Altantuya’s murder. Why did Baginda blame bloggers for misleading the public?

It is curious that Rowena and her mother, Mazlinda, attended this Bar Council forum on electoral reform and attracted attention with their remarks.

One would think that a family, with a chequered past, such as theirs, would want to be as discreet as possible, especially as large sums of the taxpayers’ money were stolen under the guise of commission, a woman was murdered violently and a cover-up involving the judiciary, police and immigration allegedly followed.

Stuff of spy-thrillers

The trail of sex, corruption and scandal which Baginda weaved with his alleged lover across Europe and Asia is the stuff of spy-thrillers. There was no romance involved, just plain deceit and lust. The rakyat demand answers and justice.

Why would the Baginda family be interested in electoral reform, especially as a change of government could trigger a re-trial of Altantuya’s alleged murderers and force Baginda to return the millions he sequestered? More importantly, Najib’s true role might be exposed.

Rowena should realise that the sins of her father have cast a shadow over her. Is the rakyat being misled by remarks made by her and her mother? Is this a distraction designed to dissuade people from attending Suaram’s Scorpene fund-raising dinner, to be held on July 19, at which new revelations about the progress of the French lawyers could be revealed?

Has Rowena been pressured into becoming the new “Ummi Hafilda”; another sexton charged with burying news that are detrimental to Umno Baru?

Conversely, having been betrayed and having to endure the wrath of the public, there is a slight possibility that both mother and daughter want justice to be served. They must know this can only happen if Pakatan forms the government of Malaysia.

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, 16 July 2013, 1:15 am and is filed under
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Pakatan’s uphill GE13 battle in the courts

The Malaysian Insider

July 15, 2013

The simple summary of Pakatan Rakyat’s suit in court today is that it did not get a fair election. The question now is, what can and will the courts do?

No matter how you slice or dice it, it is tough for Pakatan to win its suit against the Election Commission (EC) because courts here are loath to disturb anything to do with elections. It is even rare for election courts to overturn polls results.

What more nullifying the whole Election 2013.

Also, Malaysian courts have in recent years not demonstrated a willingness to confront the government of the day on various issues – be it conversions of minors to land matters.

That said, it is remains important for Pakatan to thoroughly detail its cases in which it believed fraud prevented it from winning on May 5, 2013. In dispute are at least 43 seats before the courts.

But what is quite clear is that the EC’s handling of the indelible ink over the past five years would have made the Keystone Kops proud. Never have we seen a commission blunder and make a hash of things the way it has.

All these years under the Prime Minister’s Department has insulated it so much so that it has fallen out of touch with the people and the need to be independent.

One hopes having parliamentary oversight will at least improve the commission because more is needed than a change of staff, and that is a change of mindset.

The commission has one job only, conduct free and fair elections. But Pakatan and other civil societies have complained that they have done the reverse.

So, the courts now have to decide whether Pakatan’s lawsuit has merits or the EC did conduct free and fair elections on May 5. – July 15, 2013.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 16 July 2013, 12:48 am and is filed under
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Quo Vadis Malaysia

The boastful declaration by the Barisan Nasional MP for Kinabatangan, Bung Moktar Radin in Parliament yesterday admitting that UMNO division leaders demanded contracts from the government and anyone who did not do so were cowards is the latest outrageous statement  from Barisan Nasional Ministers, leaders and supporters in the past six weeks since the 13th general election results on May 5, 2013.

Other instances of such outrageous statements by BN Ministers/leaders/supporters in the past six weeks include:

•	Deputy  Agriculture Minister Datuk Tajuddin Abdul Rahman’s desecration of  Ramadan politics on Sunday night by spouting the most irresponsible and  reckless lies in the Kuala Besut by-election campaign alleging that DAP is anti-Malay, anti-Islam and anti-Malay Rulers,  out to abolish the system of constitutional monarchy and the Sultanate so as to establish a republic with Karpal Singh as Malaysia’s first President;

•	Minister in Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Shahidan Kassim’s interview with Sin Chew Daily last month where he gave the gratuitous and misguided advice that the Chinese in Malaysia should break away from the “extreme racism” indoctrinated by the DAP so that “Malaysia would one day have a Prime Minister of Chinese ethnicity”. Shahidan was doubly wrong as  DAP had never indoctrinated the Chinese in Malaysia with any “extreme racism” and secondly, the issue of a Chinese Prime Minister was never on the radar of any Malaysian Chinese as the issue had never been  whether a Chinese can be Prime Minister but whether the country has a Prime Minister for all Malaysians.

•	The mythology of a DAP-funded “Red Bean Army” of 3,000 cybertroopers with a budget of RM100 million to RM1 billion in past six years to character-assassinate and demonise Umno/BN leaders which dominated the speeches of Umno/BN MPs in the  royal address debate in Parliament, with even a Cabinet Minister proposing that the Cabinet consider a  Royal Commission of Inquiry into the mythical “Red Bean Army” when the proper subject of an RCI would be into the consistent racist, inflammatory and seditious lies and provocations in the past four years by Umno/BN controlled media, particularly Utusan Malaysia. Lately, this pack of lies about DAP’s funded  “Red Bean Army” is used to justify demand for a RM350 million allocation by UMNO/BN cybertroopers to fight the mythical “Red Bean Army” in the next five years.

•	The apologetic response of “corruption is just not peculiar to Malaysia” of Paul Low, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of integrity and good governance, to the 2013 Transparency International Global Corruption Barometer survey that only 31 per cent of respondents thought the Malaysian government had been effective in fighting corruption, down from 49 per cent in 2011.

•	The repeated racist fulminations by former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir to aggravate racial polarisation with lies and falsehoods, as falsely accusing the DAP of rejecting the concept of Malay/Chinese/Indian “kongsi”, mischievously and maliciously alleging that the Chinese want to oust the political power of the Malays.

•	The racist and seditious speech by former Court of Appeal judge Mohd Noor Abdullah warning that the Chinese Malaysians must be prepared for a backlash from the Malay community for their “betrayal” in the 13th general elections.

•	The initial statement by Datuk Seri  Ahmad Zahid Hamidi on becoming Home Minister telling  critics of the 13th general elections to leave the country if they do not like the country’s electoral system.

All these statements and pronouncements, if uncontradicted, point to a future direction of the country which is  inimical to the development of a united, harmonious, progressive, competitive and  prosperous Malaysia – the very opposite of the aspirations of a 1Malaysia, “Global Movement of Moderates” and “national reconciliation”.

Quo  Vadis, Malaysia?

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 16 July 2013, 2:08 pm and is filed under
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Decisions makers in Ministry of Education are no-brainers

– Lok Kong

The Malaysian Insider

July 16, 2013

No one would like to belittle the ones who make decisions and policies in the Ministry of Education.  But these no-brainers were and still are making bias, useless and stupid decisions/policies.

Anything against their whims and fancies are taboo.  They abruptly abolished the English schools left over by the British; they abruptly U-turn to teach Science and Mathematics in Bahasa Malaysia in all national schools; they suddenly make 3 subjects compulsory at private tertiary institutions. They are (!) Islamic and Asian Civilization, (2) Ethnic Relations and (3) Malaysian Studies.  They must be taught in Bahasa Malaysia just to name a few major ones.  All these stupid policies will retard the progress of Malaysia for many years.

Being no-brainers, they cannot cognitively think these policies are bad for the country as a whole generally and the Rakyat in particular. Being no-brainers, they are unable to think of good policies to educate the students to be useful and productive. Being no-brainers they enact policies that cause the huge brain drain in this country. Being no-brainers they eventually doom Malaysia.

Education is the most important for the nation. It takes good education policies to educate the Rakyat in many years. In Chinese culture it has been said that it takes 100 years to educate meaning   very long time. How can the PPSMI show results after very short time?  It was started in 2003 (Form 1), the first cohort can only graduate with first Degree in 2010 or 2011 and with MBBS in 2013 or 2014. It is very stupid to make 100% U-turn to stop teaching the Science and Mathematics in English and in Bahasa Malaysia instead. This flip-flopping within short time is not acceptable. What is the basis for doing so is best known to them. These no-brainers are nuts.

They don’t know that Science and technology are the fields which our education system must emphasize instead of religious studies, social sciences and art disciplines. For information China had been mired in very backward situation for some 5000 years was because of over-emphasizing on imperial examinations and was neglecting science and technology for the same period of time. The best way out is to only make the above said subjects elective ones.

For any race to be respected by the international community is to uplift its standard in many disciplines not otherwise.   How this can be achieved? A forward looking and open education policy must be put in place.  The global language is English. It is the best mean to be used to obtain many fields of advance knowledge.  We must therefore be very bold to emphasize it by reintroducing the English medium schools as soon as possible.

We must admit that scientifically and technologically, all Malaysians (Chinese, Malays, Indians and all other minorities) are very backward compared to the west.  In order to catch up, we must emphasize on science and technology.  Making the subjects of Islamic and Asian Civilization, Ethnic  Relation and Malaysian Studies compulsory subjects in Bahasa Malaysia is definitely not rational and is wasting precious time for studying useful subjects in science and technology. Many middle-east countries are very advance in religious knowledge but scientifically and technologically they are very backward. It looks like the no-brainers want Malaysia to be one like these countries.

No one speaks Bahasa Malaysia (BM) beyond our borders. Malaysia is a tinny country with 0.2% of world population. These no-brainers are so stupid and ignorant that they want to make BM world class language at par or better than English. Only these no-brainers have this wishful dream.

For almost 60 years, none of them has made good education system and good policies but apt at killing the good ones. When can these no-brainers change for the better, God knows! – July 16, 2013.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 17 July 2013, 1:05 am and is filed under
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Must be election time again

– Tunku Munawirah Putra

The Malaysian Insider

July 17, 2013

The Islamic Civilisation and Asian Studies (Titas) could have been an enlightening liberal arts subject, had it not been forced onto students to take it up. It is most unfortunate to see it being robbed of its purity with the kind of politics entrenched in its enforcement.

It is like experiencing the abolition of PPSMI (the teaching and learning of Science and Mathematics in English) all over again, in terms of how and why the decision was made.

The Titas issue seems to be following a similar pattern as the abolition of PPSMI, which was done close to a by-election. Titas and the Kuala Besut by-election is just like PPSMI and the Manik Urai by-election. Both decisions were made known about a week prior to the date of the by-elections. Hence, however well-meaning the decision could be by certain quarters, it is still a controversial decision that got bulldozed through, in an attempt to appeal to the voters in the area. Why else is it announced just before the by-elections, when it could have been held back until the by-elections are over to avoid such suspicion?

In Manik Urai it was about race and language. Now in Kuala Besut it is about religion. It seems that the people of Kuala Besut need to be made aware that Barisan Nasional is no less Islamic than its opponent, just as the Manik Urai voters needed to know that Barisan Nasional would defend the rights of the Malays by defending the national language. By the way, Barisan Nasional did not win in Manik Urai 4 years ago.

Compulsion is hardly acceptable in this day and age where choices are boundless. The more one is cornered or restrained, the more one retaliates. How then can we be convinced and accept the fact that forcing Titas on every student is done in the name of national reconciliation when the very act is against national reconciliation?

Can we please bring the focus back to educating our children to their best ability

Let Titas remain pure, as an elective liberal arts subject. Subjects in university of this nature must really challenge the mind to think beyond boundaries, with no holds barred in its classroom discussions. The subject matter must be checked against elements of propagandic indoctrination to make it reputable and appealing to foreign students as well. It could also add to the university ranking should the university choose to develop it further.

As for PPSMI, after 4 years, we are still hopeful that every school in the country, especially the rural schools, would have the choice of having at least one PPSMI class in every cohort. Students must know how to take advantage of the virtual learning environment (VLE) setting that is being built now. It is obvious that most of the knowledge in VLE is readily available in English. Streamlining the learning of Science and Mathematics through VLE would be especially useful if we intend to improve our Trends in International Mathematics and Science Survey (TIMSS) ranking. What is the use of investing billions if the children are not able to maximise its usage?

We need a wholesome education transformation that is best for the children. The National Education Blueprint is still plagued with political agenda no matter how much the Government denies this. In addition, expenses incurred in the name of education need to be checked against wastages, leakages and overcharging.

Most importantly, every contract for equipment or services must go through an open tender.

To the ruling Government: It is not in what you say but it is in what you do. So STOP politicising education, race, religion and language. Hasn’t General Election 2013 given enough warning signs of what the voters want?

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 17 July 2013, 5:30 pm and is filed under
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In Memory: Koh Yeow Tong

by Allan CF Goh

Yeow Tong is the name,

Athletics, his fame.

He raced with the wind

For his famous wins.

He soared in the jumps,

Never mind the bumps.

Came the sun or rain,

On field, he would train.

In rugby, football,

And more, he walked tall.

Now he lies stilled, lamed;

Classmates mourn his name.

May his soul rest in peace,

By God’s side, feeling pleased.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 18 July 2013, 6:05 pm and is filed under
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Post-Election Payback Time in Malaysia

by John Berthelsen

Asia Sentinel

Tuesday, 16 July 2013

Mahathir backs moves to punish minorities and reward pro-government voters, companies

Last week, the Malaysian government announced its allocation of public university seats for the upcoming academic year. Only 19 percent of Chinese students got places, along with 4 percent of Indians despite the fact that the two together make up about 30 percent of the student population. Last year, Chinese students got 23 percent, in line with their proportion of the overall population.

That was the first tangible fallout from the 13th general election held on May 5, in which the Barisan Nasional, the ruling national coalition, won 133 of the 222 seats in the Dewan Rakyat, or Parliament, preserving its majority despite the fact that it only received 47.38 percent of the popular vote against 50.87 for the opposition Pakatan Rakyat coalition headed by Anwar Ibrahim.

The second came yesterday with the revelation by Democratic Action Party National Publicity Chairman Tony Pua of the award of a RM1 billion (US$314 million) commuter railway project in the massive government-backed Iskandar development in the southern state of Johor to Metropolitan Commuter Network Sdn Bhd, a 60:40 joint venture between Malaysian Steel Works Sdn Bhd and KUB Malaysia Bhd, both of which are linked to UMNO, to build and operate a 100 km inter-city rail service in Johor. According to an official with the company quoted in local media, Masteel will receive a 37-year build-own-transfer arrangement on the project despite the fact that it is slated to break even in 12 years. Although Masteel says the project was a private sector initiative dating from 2008, it is inconceivable that it would have been granted without the imprimatur of the government.

The common denominator appears to be the return of Mahathir Mohamad, the 88-year-old former prime minister, and his close friend and ally, former Finance Minister Daim Zainuddin, at the top of the power structure in UMNO, politically emasculating the current Prime Minister, Najib Tun Razak. Despite the loss of the popular vote, the majority of the rank and file inside UMNO believe it was Mahathir’s strident racial politics that preserved the Barisan’s – and particularly UMNO’s – place at the top of Malaysian politics, and that it was Najib’s attempt to reach out to the other races that cost them.

Ethnic Malays make up 60.3 percent of Malaysia’s population, Chinese 22.9 percent and Indians 7.1 percent, according to the latest census. Malays and Indians dramatically abandoned the Barisan Nasional in the May election, with the Malaysian Chinese Association hit so hard that the party, once the second-biggest in the coalition, refused all cabinet positions. The Malaysian Indian Congress fared somewhat better, but not much.

“Najib was a good prime minister. But instead of strengthening his hand the Chinese and non-Malays and non-Muslims weakened him. But UMNO is strong. So Najib is out of steam,” said a lawyer with close contacts to the Mahathir wing of the party. “Najib has lost energy, lost his mandate, lost respect. Mahathir, Tun Daim and the UMNO grassroots are in charge,”

The practical effect is likely to be felt sometime around the UMNO annual general meeting, he and other sources say. The party appears to be following the dictates of Malay nationalists such as the firebrand Ibrahim Ali, the head of the NGO Perkasa, and will seek to cut further into Chinese opportunities in commerce, education and other fields. In particular, several sources said, Najib’s attempts to broaden the investment horizon in Malaysia through cutting back on ethnic Malay ownership privileges are dead, along with his 1Malaysia attempts to reach out to other races.

Najib himself has gone silent, leaving his faction in the party distressed and at sea, believing he was so discouraged with the election results that he has basically given up. After the election, he left for an extended government trip to Tanzania and London, followed by a holiday on the French Rivera, then returned to Malaysia after two weeks to continue to remain mute. That spurred a news analysis in the increasingly influential Malaysian Insider news site asking: “There will come a time when Malaysians will ask this question: for how long more is Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak going to stay silent during roiling debates on the most important issues facing the country? And then there will come a time when Malaysians will just stop expecting any intervention from the man who occupies Putrajaya; when the mandate he won on May 5 will not matter?:”

In particular there are major concerns over Malaysia’s always tense racial situation, which has grown more worrying in the face of expectations that tensions would abate following the election, in which Malay nationalists goaded on by Mahathir used ethnic concerns to charge that if the opposition won the election, the Chinese would dominate the political process as they have the country’s economic landscape, leaving ethnic Malays behind.

Since the election, however firebrands have continued to fan religious and ethnic flames. In particular, a bill suddenly appeared in the cabinet, allowing the consent of just one parent for the conversion of a child to Islam, a major concern for the mostly Chinese wives who have married ethnic Malay males. The bill was hastily withdrawn after a public storm.

Other storms have erupted, including one over a statement by the Papal ambassador, Archbishop Joseph Marino, for “interfering in domestic affairs” after the Catholic official pointed out that everywhere else in the world, Christians refer to their god as “Allah,” and should be allowed to do so in Malaysia as well.

“Under the 1961 Vienna Convention on diplomatic ties, Marino has clearly overstepped his authority as an ambassador by interfering in the domestic affairs of Malaysia,” huffed Perkasa vice-president Datuk Zulkifli Noordin. Khairy Jamaluddin, now the Youth and Sports minister and someone usually thought of as a moderate, has criticized the Catholic figure.

But the biggest storm erupted when two foolhardy Chinese sex bloggers, Alvin Tan and Vivien Lee, posted a picture on Facebook with the greeting Salamat Berbuka Puasa (happy Ramadan breakfast) while eating bak kut teh, a popular herbal soup that is forbidden to Malays because it contains pork. The insult was doubled by the fact that Ramadan began on July 9 and Muslims are required to fast from sunup to sundown. The two were arrested and questioned for nine hours before delivering an abject apology.

The Facebook posting nonetheless caused outrage across the country, both on the part of Malays and non-Malays alike as raising racial tensions. In the meantime, say UMNO sources, members of the Chinese dominated Democratic Action Party, the biggest proportionate winner in the national election with 38 parliamentary seats, have been slinging racial insults of their own as fast as the Malays sling them back.

Throughout the controversies, however, Najib has not used his office as prime minister to lower the temperature. Although he gave a press conference in London, he didn’t mention the attempts to oust the Vatican ambassador, growing questions over promised repeal of the country’s sedition act, which hasn’t taken place, or the racial tension fanned on both sides but mainly by Malay nationalists.

In the meantime, UMNO bloggers and cybertroopers paid by the party and the government, once supportive of Najib in the overthrow of his predecessor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, have now turned against the prime minister. Malaysia Bloghouse, a loose association of UMNO-friendly bloggers loyal to Mahathir, are asking for Najib’s head. They include former Information Minister Zainuddin Maiden, a Mahathir acolyte, and Kadir Jasin, a former New Straits Times editor and Mahathir/Daim apologist.

Despite the pressure and despite his seeming disappearance, however, it appears Najib will stay on both as UMNO president and prime minister, sources say. Mahathir delivered a weak endorsement directly after the election, saying basically that there was nobody around to replace him.

As a sign of the emasculation of the prime minister, however, an UMNO source said, “Najib’s ETP will proceed but with changes to suit the demands of Malays and UMNO. More of the economy for them, more privileges, more power, more access, more funding, more infrastructure.”

There are no details yet, despite the educational changes and the Masteel award. However, the changes should be articulated during the UMNO annual general meeting.

“It’s the political trend so far,” the source said. “It is what the Malays want, Daim and Mahathir running the show, Najib will have to amend his course. It is talked about in every meeting I attend.”

“Najib still chairs the cabinet meetings, still makes stupid decisions,” said a Kuala Lumpur-based businessman. “But Mahathir and Daim are agitating for changing all of the posts. Daim is talking to people to challenge the prime minister. A lot of this is happening because (Najib) is sitting on his ass and doing nothing. It is going downhill.”

As a result, the businessman said, his group’s own plans for a major investment in the Iskandar project are on hold.

“Since the election, all policies, his 1Malaysia policy, have all gone quiet. We don’t know if it’s on or off. We don’t know if we’re going to get support from the government. So we are going to have to decide what to do, whether to commit. Nobody seems to know. Nobody has mentioned the ETP, nobody has talked about 1Malaysia.”

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 18 July 2013, 9:12 am and is filed under
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What is wrong about TITAS

by Dr Lim Teck Ghee

18th July 2013

Pandan Member of Parliament Rafizi Ramli’s support of the proposal by the Ministry of Higher Education to make the Islamic and Asian Civilisation Studies (TITAS) course compulsory in private tertiary institutions (IPTS) is a disappointment. More disappointing is the reasoning behind his support for the introduction of the subject.

His argument that “politically, it’s not helping when it’s made too much of a fuss, because it fits the Malay right-wing argument that the Chinese and non-Malays refuse to understand and look down on everything Islam” smacks of crude political opportunism.

Members of the public who see him as a potential future leader expect him to take on and not surrender to Malay right wing opinions that are based on irrational and mischievous thinking.

Rafizi should know that the religious and socio-cultural conflict in the country is not because the non-Malays refuse to understand and look down on everything that is Islamic. The great majority of Malaysians respect the faith of their neighbours even if they may not understand it. What they resent and oppose is the state-sponsored assertion of dominance and superiority of a religion that is different or not their own.

I am sure Malay Muslims will similarly resent and resist any action to marginalize their religion and culture in any country in the world. In this particular case, we are witnessing the use of the public sphere to force feed the young with perspectives that are biased to one religion and narrowly selective.

During the past two decades there has been a concerted attempt by Umno leaders using the bureaucracy to reconfigure Malaysian and world history as well as civilizational studies taught in schools to fit in with their “ketuanan Melayu”, “ketuanan Islam” and “ketuanan Umno” mindset.

Surely Rafizi is fully aware of these efforts – including those linked with the BTN scandal – which are derived from unjust and unacceptable notions of Bumiputera and Muslim privilege, superiority and dominance.

Surely he does not believe the lame justification put out by Muhyiddin Yassin, the Minister of Education in Parliament that the introduction of the required course is simply to streamline the requirement of public and private institutions of higher education. If he did so, he must have been born yesterday.

That Umno has been able to succeed in the past with the introduction of one policy after another to mould the educational system to conform to its political agenda speaks volumes about the so-called neutrality and professionalism of the Education Ministry, the craven non-UMNO leaders in the government as well as about the degree of ignorance and apathy amongst Malaysian parents.

An awakened public

The Malay and non-Muslim public have now awoken. During the past two years we have seen various NGOs, including the multi-racial and multi-religious grouping of “Kempen Sejarah Malaysia Sebenar” (KemSMS) raise their voices for the overhaul of the current history syllabus and text books.  They have also requested for delay in the planned implementation of History as a compulsory subject at the secondary level (see
http://english.cpiasia.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2179:reclaiming-our-truly-malaysian-history&catid=141:lim-teck-ghees-contribution&Itemid=93
).  It is not clear to what extent their proposals and recommendations have been accepted and incorporated into the report of the special committee studying the history text books and history syllabus for secondary schools curricula. The important thing is that they have done their homework and spoken up.

A similar outcry and close scrutiny of TITAS is needed. Under the guise of instilling “national patriotism” and “nationalism”, it is likely that TITAS is part of the overall game plan of Umno in cahoots with our education officialdom to ensure that the party’s version of politically correct history, religious and civilizational studies is imprinted into the minds of our young generation.

If TITAS goes through as a compulsory requirement, non-Malays and non-Muslims will not be the only losers. Young Malays and the Muslims themselves too will lose out as they imbibe and internalize a propagandistic and truncated version of the world’s religions and civilizations which will highlight the self -proclaimed superiority of Islam and the shortcomings of all other religious and civilizational systems. This can only diminish and impoverish rather than nourish their minds, values and behaviour.

This is why Rafizi needs to reconsider his stand – if not for the sake of the non-Malays, at least for the sake of the Malays. This is why other stakeholders need to speak out and demand to know the truth behind the proposed course and put its contents, the recommended text books, and other requirements under the microscope of public scrutiny.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 18 July 2013, 12:38 am and is filed under
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Deracialising M’sian journalism

by Eric Loo

Malaysiakini

Jul 18, 2013

We find strength in numbers. Shared goals prompt us to unionise for collective bargaining and associate for mutual affirmation. Hence, we have clubs and fraternities, guilds and societies, centres and institutes. We identify with the group’s creed, culture and calling. But when journalists’ associations are founded on racial positioning instead of editorial mission, it piques my interest in their political motivation.

In a democracy we’re free to associate and assemble along racial lines. I understand the motives for Perkasa’s existence; likewise the reasons for Hindraf and Dong Zong’s founding. But let not our journalists be defined by racial differentiation.

When media practitioners assemble under exclusivist racial umbrellas, when they see themselves first as Malay, Chinese or Indian journalists instead of journalists who happen to be a Malay, Chinese or Indian, it raises a range of ethical issues. The main being their professional integrity and capacity to report fairly and truthfully when they are confronted by race-related issues and moved to write about it.

For instance, the recent commentary in Utusan Malaysia by the president of the National Association of Malay Journalists and Writers of Malaysia (NAMJ). Dr Alias Mohamed, who is also president of the Kelantan Malay Journalists Association, wrote that if Malay leaders continued to accommodate the Chinese, they would risk losing their Malay authority and political leadership.

The president’s warped sense of ‘Ketuanan Melayu’ may not represent the views of all NAMJ members.

But it does legitimise a hegemonic framework that its members may see as acceptable in shaping their coverage of race and religion related issues, such as, of late, the preferential treatment policies, which for more than 30 years now have discriminated against qualified non-Malay students in accessing places in public universities, the child conversion (to Islam) bill, the usage of the word ‘Allah’ in Christian Bahasa publications, the post-GE13 power relations structure and a token suggestion by the prime minister on the night of the election results on May 6 of a ‘national reconciliation’ to unite the people.

Forming associations of journalists by race rather than professional mission gives the public the impression that racial attributes do shape and inform on the work of a Malay, Chinese and Indian journalist. Which goes against the nature of what ethical journalists do, regardless of their gender, race or religion – that is to understand and interpret events and issues in their contexts, and then writing about it.

Journalists should observe and reflect on what they’ve seen and heard, analyse and elucidate between right and wrong, then and write about it fairly, truthfully and responsibly for a discerning public.

Because race and its assumed attributes impact on what and how we feel, think and react to others different from us, the critical challenge for Malaysian journalists is to figure out how to not jump the gun when reporting on the grievances of “other” communities.

Because journalists do set the public agenda through the headlines, texts, story angles, dominant sources and selective quotes, the public should be more vigilant in engaging online with journalists to investigate into issues that matter and to expose the entrenched corruption in the system and its deleterious impact on the people’s socio-economic welfare.

Mainstream journalists know more than what they are able to report. They are hamstrung by in-house autocratic editorial controls, and hence a learned sense of self-censorship. It is easy to see why the stories we read in the mainstream papers are mainly based on statements by the government rather than investigative exposé driven by the journalists’ bold initiatives.

Increasingly unethical practices

These constraints, however, should not excuse the increasingly unethical practices committed by political mouthpieces such as Utusan Malaysia, which have regressed further to the right with their ethnocentric editorial culture.

In the long run, we need to find ways to depoliticise the media ownership structure and deracialise the editorial controls and contents in the mainstream media. However, a newsroom that reflects the racial diversity of Malaysian society, while essential, may not necessarily be sufficient to get us to talk across racial fault lines.

What is required is a fundamental change in the news culture, the capacity to talk honestly and respectfully across fault lines, and a renewed commitment to ethical and accountable journalism by media owners, editors and their journalists.

I cite below some principles on reporting about race that I’ve compiled in numerous journalism training workshops I’ve conducted over the years in parts of Asia. I hope Malaysian journalists, regardless of their ethnicity, will find these principles relevant to their obligations to report fairly, truthfully and accurately on the increasingly polarised Malaysian society we live in today.

*Factual accuracy in a single story is no substitute for the whole truth. A single story that is factually accurate can nonetheless be misleading. Journalists must always consider the contexts of the issues.

    *In multicultural societies, editors must be highly sensitive of the danger of stoking racism by selective reporting and stereotyping. Generalisations based on the behaviour of an individual or a small number of individuals are invariably unjust.

    *When there is potential for communal tension, journalists must take time to investigate and expose the underlying causes.

    *Statistics can be used to excite passion. They should always be multiple checked and interpreted. This is particularly relevant to issues such as the institutionalised discrimination against non-Malay students in the annual intake by public universities.

    *All stories of communal, racial or religious nature should be scrupulously ascribed to their sources. The authority of the sources should be properly evaluated, and where appropriate rejected as reliable sources.

    *Where several languages are spoken, meanings are sometimes lost in translation. Words and phrases may have different connotations among different groups. Hence, journalists should always use considered language, especially in headlines and also in the display. No concession should be made to racial rhetoric.

    *Statements should not be accepted at face value from any source, including government sources. Where necessary, these should be accompanied in the news columns by corroboration and interpretation.

    *Pictures can distort reality. An unrepresentative picture may lie even more than a news story and add to prejudices.

    *In mixed societies with underlying causes of tension – social, economic or religious – journalists should initiate investigative stories with sociological content.  These would inform and educate the public.  It also helps disperse an environment of resentment and suspicion.

    *Place equal emphasis on stories of cooperation/harmony with stories of controversies and conflict.

    *Avoid over-relying on official sources, particularly politicians and special interest groups. Get down to the grassroots and listen to the people who are affected by the issues.

    *Journalists should not allow their stories to be driven by the public hysteria of the moment. Question the assumptions on which the hysteria is based, and always be sensitive to alternative views.

    *Factual errors in a speech related to race and religion must be pointed out, where necessary, in the same column as the speech itself is published.

ERIC LOO left Malaysia for Australia in 1986 to work as a journalist. He currently lectures at University of Wollongong, Australia, and serves on the advisory committee of UPI Next, a journalism education and training platform run by United Press International. He edits a refereed journal Asia Pacific Media Educator and conducts journalism training workshops in Asia. Email:
[email protected]

                This entry was posted on Friday, 19 July 2013, 7:51 am and is filed under
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End impunity for the powerful, reform institutions

 – Josie Fernandez

The Malaysian Insider

July 18, 2013

Corruption with impunity is undermining democracy, socio-economic advancement and the independence of Parliament, state and legislature in Malaysia.

Corruption with impunity is a major challenge stifling efforts to reform institutions such as the Elections Commission, Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission, the Police and Political Parties. Election fraud is another indicator that impunity has been institutionalized.

Reforms proposed by civil society groups such as Transparency International Malaysia to restructure the Elections Commission, for a more independent MACC and for removal of laws that curtail the independence of the media have been ignored by the government.

Recent surveys such as the Transparency International Global Corruption Barometer (GCB) 2013 results have shown that approximately 70 percent of the Malaysian Public does not have faith in the government. Results from the GCB 2013 reveal that the public perceive the police to be the most corrupt, followed closely by political parties, civil servants and the Parliament/Legislature.

Bad behavior in Parliament is yet another strong indicator that impunity is the driver of such behavior. Often the prosecution of political and public officials is hindered by collusion, interference of government bureaus, personal influence and institutional pressures.

There has been little progress made into the investigations of allegations of corruption against political leaders such as the Sarawak Chief Minister, Abdul Taib Mahmud. In Sarawak actions have not been taken against civil servants failing to appear as witnesses in native customary rights (NCR) land cases. This is yet another example of impunity. (A recent case in point is the Long Terawan lawsuit in Miri, Sarawak involving an NCR case filed by members of the Berawan Community of Long Terawan Mulu. The Sarawak government had taken the land to build an airstrip and a road for a hotel affiliated with the Mulu National Park.)

Freedom from punishment for the powerful is a sign of a bad government. Everyone should be equal before the law.

Reforms can be affected through the passing of appropriate laws to deal with the issue of corruption with impunity. In the United Kingdom, public officials can be subjected to a judicial review at the discretion of individuals who feel the official acted outside of his authority or engaged in an illegal or unjust action.

To restore public confidence that the government is committed to the fight against corruption, it must end impunity for the powerful. – July 18, 2013

                This entry was posted on Friday, 19 July 2013, 7:58 am and is filed under
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Eulogy to a friend – Koh Yeow Tong

by Allan CF Goh

Excuse me for misusing this site to eulogize a friend, who has just said his last goodbye. Koh Yeow Tong was, and will always remain, a valued classmate of the Class of ’59 of the Batu Pahat High School.

Classmates fondly call him the super-athlete. He ruled over the field and track events on every Sports Day in the school, district and state. He also excelled in games, and played in the Asian All Blues (a bunch of blue-ribboned sportsmen from Asia) in rugby, challenging the mighty European teams.

On field, he was the demon sportsman; off field, an impish gentleman, generous to a fault, always concerned with fellow classmates. We will certainly miss him. He will live on in our collective memory.

May his soul rest in peace.

The Race

(Dedicated to Koh Yeow Tong)

The group of young athletes,

Muscled in superb condition,

Mass at one end of the field,

In suppressed anticipation.

Getting ready for the race,

They do their warm-up exercise.

They stretch and windmill their arms,

They are tense and well energized.

The loud-speaker booms the call;

Each racer moves to his own lane,

They adjust the starting block,

And hope, pray for the glory grand.

Settling down on their block.

They crouch in stilled concentration,

Oblivious of everything,

Every muscle steeled to action.

The starter calls to ready,

Set, ending with the pistol’s loud sound.

All the racers shoot out fast,

Launching their bodies off the ground.

In a bunch, they start the race.

In a line they speed down the lanes,

With breaths blowing with control,

With pumping muscles and flying manes.

That’s the hundred-meter race.

As the runners race down the course,

The bunch separates the best.

These speedy warriors fight their cause.

The whole stadium comes to life.

The crowd yells their loud, wild support.

Time speeds on for everyone.

The supporters show great rapport.

To the ending line, they charge,

Bunched up, the runners cross the line.

The winner raises his hands,

Acknowledging a victory fine!

He does the proud victory lap,

To the crowd’s loud encouragement;

Humbled to have won the gold,

And the hard training’s fulfillment.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 19 July 2013, 11:24 pm and is filed under
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Stop this public lynching

by Dr. Lim Teck Ghee

Friday, 19 July 2013

Commentary

The decision of the AG to charge Alvin Tan and Vivian Lee marks the half-way point in the public lynching of these two young people.

What were they guilty of?

A moment of unthinking madness; an act of stupidity and idiocy; a prank in bad taste; racial and religious insensitivity; youthful arrogance – yes, these criticisms and much more in the way of scorn and public shame and odium can be heaped on their foolish and misguided attempt to draw attention to themselves.

But to charge them for sedition and for a criminal act under the penal code! And then to deny them bail as if they are a major threat to public peace and order. Please!

Let us not forget that prominent politicians guilty of even more in your face racial and religious taunting have got away scot free, with the last notable racist political figure even put up as a candidate during the recent election. And what about even earlier incidents such as kris brandishing?

Come on, Malaysia!

Alvin and Vivian have already apologized for their offensive Selamat Berbuka Puasa ‘greeting’, calling it their “stupidest stunt” and reiterating that it was done in humour.

In a youtube posting available to everyone who should view it first before calling for their heads to be off, Alvin said,

“We are recording this video to ask for forgiveness for offending Muslims in this holy month of Ramadan. We sincerely regret offending religious beliefs and sensitivities in multi-cultural Malaysia,”

He also said that they had no intent to insult or ridicule the Muslim faith, nor incite racial conflict.

In most societies except the most blinkered, the authorities and public would have moved on to more important matters.

But not in Malaysia where foaming politicians and retired politicians have bayed for the young couple’s blood and are urging our ‘independent and impartial’ judiciary to impose the most serious punishment possible.

Alvin had ended the video by saying “selamat Aidilfitri dan maaf zahir batin (happy Aidilfitri and apologies for all discretions)”. He may not be genuinely repentant. But shouldn’t we give him the benefit of the doubt.

Apparently to the lynching and vigilante mob, this plea for forgiveness and compassion is not enough.

Viewing (mainly with pity and sadness) what is happening to this young couple and the innocent youth who had the words “Saya hina agama Islam” scrawled on his chest, leads me to wonder what has happened to us in this country that we can allow a few political and religious leaders, the media and our authorities to make a national controversy over a mindless stunt by two young people, blow it out of all rational proportion and act as if they are speaking on behalf of moderate Malaysians.

Alvin and Vivian invited this on themselves when they stupidly posted their crude prank. By surrendering to the lynch mob, we dishonor our core values of humanity, compassion and mercy.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 19 July 2013, 5:25 pm and is filed under
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Titillating TITAS

By
Tunku Abidin Muhriz
 | JULY 19, 2013

The Malay Mail Online

It’s not just me: students who I meet at innumerable forums tell me that their history textbooks (and the inane methods of learning) are more likely to induce catatonia than an appreciation of our past; retired soldiers who I meet at war memorials and regimental dinners forlornly remark that important battles of a generation ago are completely forgotten; and retired bureaucrats, senior judges and politicians of the “old school” I have the pleasure to know are resigned to the fact that their heroes — King Ghaz, Tun Suffian, Dr Mohamed Said — will never be household names again.

As for those names which every Malaysian does know, it can be argued that they are simply put on pedestals without sufficient appreciation of their life stories.  Ironically, there are many excellent biographies, autobiographies and collections of the writings of our early patriots (the books of Tunku Abdul Rahman could constitute a whole course!), but they don’t seem to be used as teaching materials.

It is only in particular places that a strong institutional memory survives: our fiercely proud historic schools, or families and clans organised enough to hold events to connect young members with their old.

I’ve observed the traditions of a Cantonese kongsi and witnessed a reunion of Jaffna Tamils apart from joining hundreds of my own blood relatives, and a curiosity about ancestors triggers the viewing of the same periods of history through different but equally fascinating viewpoints.

So when I read that Islamic Civilisation and Asian Civilisation Studies (TITAS) is to be made compulsory at private universities, I had mixed feelings. Of course, it is important for people everywhere to have an understanding of these profoundly important civilisations, but it is not as simple as that.

First, we have to consider the course content. I spoke to some students and had a look at some of the materials: lots of dates and names and some introductions into the theories of major thinkers — but there could be more.

There were no case studies drawn from the enormous time period and geographical space available that would engender critical thinking — there could easily be an introduction to the story of Muslim philosophy from Ibn Sina to Al-Ghazali to Ibn Rushd, for example.

On a happier note though, I saw nothing that promoted a political party or any assertion that one civilisation was superior to another.

Of course, this is a vast subject area and major omissions are inevitable, which begs the question as to why this is all being crammed into a single course.  A more holistic approach would be to spread the material throughout and earlier in the student experience.

Indeed, asking university students who are intent on specialising in particular fields to do an additional, unrelated course may be academically detrimental to their core subject. Except they would not be asked, they would be forced — which leads to the point on academic autonomy. Regardless of the merits of the course, it should surely be up to universities and their students to determine the make-up of their degrees.

Finally there are the cost and logistical implications of universities having to allocate hitherto unbudgeted time, space and teachers for this imposition.

This point about autonomy came up quite frequently at the inaugural meeting last week of the University of Malaya Research Advisory Council, of which, I agreed to be a member alongside academics, sector specialists from government agencies and corporate figures.

The council is a commendable initiative of the Deputy Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation, who explained that the Vice Chancellor is very keen for UM to (once again) become one of the world’s top 100 universities.

Strengthening research capacity is central to this, and so the discussion centred upon how to link the university’s research to the demands of industry.

The theory is that this will make UM’s research more relevant and responsive to the nation’s economic interests.

Sitting next to Professor Terence Gomez, I interjected, saying that while I had nothing against applied research, the university should prioritise pure research and seek academic freedom for itself and its competitor universities, without which all talk of strengthening research capacity is hollow.

That might attract some of our best historians and social scientists, currently based in the UK, Europe, the USA and Singapore to return and set off a beautiful chain reaction in the rest of our academic environment.

__

Tunku ‘Abidin Muhriz is founding president of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas).

JULY 19 — Regular readers will be familiar with my lament at the woeful state of education of history in our country, in particular, the need for the inculcation of a shared (but contestable) national history, the importance of that history in framing a common understanding of citizenship, and putting this narrative in a wider geopolitical context.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 19 July 2013, 11:52 am and is filed under
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Alvivi – a dignified response

by Sheela R.

As a young girl, growing up in multi-cultural Malaysia, I have had my fair share of challenges. Raised as a vegetarian long before it was recognised and accepted as a healthy lifestyle, I have had to constantly explain my dietary habits to people who are unaquainted with vegetarianism.

As a student at the primary and secondary levels, I had to frequently put up with comments such as,

“Oh! You don’t know what you are missing!”

“If you eat only vegetables you are going to grow up looking green!”

“If you don’t eat meat you won’t be strong!”

“Ikan tak boleh, ayam tak boleh, semua tak boleh, kesian!”

“A vegetarian? What’s that? Are you some sort of vegetable?”

Naturally, such comments riled me, but over the years, I grew to understand that they stemmed from silliness or ignorance rather than wilful malice. I learned not to react to such distasteful comments but to respond with dignity. I eventually found ways to explain to others, the socio-cultural reasons for my diet. Invariably, once they understood my reasons for abstaining from meat, they became highly respectful and sensitive towards my dietary requirements.

In retrospect, imagine if I had responded in kind,

“You flesh eaters are all going to end up as Dracula!”

or

“You are insulting my race and religion!”

I would have stooped to their level and it would have been impossible to foster any kind of understanding, let alone respect.

There will always be persons lacking in judgement or cultural sensitivity. Take the case of our famous or rather infamous couple, Alvivi. Their antics are undoubtedly stupid and deserve censure. However, throwing tantrums and “baying” for their blood for misdemeanours such as this won’t help, but a dignified response would go a long way.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 20 July 2013, 12:29 am and is filed under
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Those in whose name we fight and in whose name we betray

By
Sakmongkol AK47
 |JULY 20, 2013

LATEST UPDATE: JULY 20, 2013 08:43 AM

Tajudin Rahman, currently a deputy minister was never known for niceness. He has always come across as crude, arrogant and condescending. The nearest term that can best describe him as a person is hubristic. That comes from the word hubris (pronounced hew-bris. It means extreme pride or arrogance and comes as a result of an overestimation of one’s own competence or capabilities. Especially when the person demonstrating these qualities is in power. Hubris is also associated with a person having a tunnel vision believing in only his rendition and explanation of things.

That is how Tajudin Rahman approached the Kuala Besut by election- in an arrogant and hubristic manner. DAP is not contesting in Kuala Besut and the core support group of the DAP- the Chinese is hardly present in Kuala Besut. Its almost 99% Malay. It’s a downtrodden extended village that has suffered or has been marginalized during uninterrupted Umno rule at the federal level. The conditions in which the majority Besut Malays find themselves in today is the result of Umno’s handiwork.

What else to work up the Malays? Say something about the political future of Malays, the Malay monarchy and Islam. Who else to blame other than DAP- partner to PR parties?

Tajudin has elected to fray DAP and because of its presence in PR. Maybe he is alarmed that DAP won 39 parliamentary seats and saw that ascendance as the rise of the Chinese specter. He is ignoring the fact that Chinese form about 23% of the population. Malaysian Indians constitute about 10% of the population and other Bumiputeras constitute the rest. The country is 61% Malay, 30% non-Malay and 9% non-Malay Bumiputeras. But Tajudin sees the DAP as the biggest threat as it is seen as having the gravitational pull for those who oppose Umno and BN.

He ignores the fact that DAP champions the cause of the poor, the marginalized, fights for a better government, better governance, fights against corruption and fights against  race supremacists. Together with other PR partners, DAP fights for those in whose name Umno fights for and in whose name Umno betrays by doing our bit.

What does Umno do in the name of the Malays and what does Umno actually do for the Malays? In the name of the Malays, Umno secures political power in order to use that power entrusted to exploit the wealth of the country and distribute it largely among the elite. It’s the underlying feudal mentality at play here. Accumulate and concentrate political power and then redistribute the fruits of victory as part of their beneficence. Hence Umno sees nothing contradictory and hypocritical in practicing direct negotiations that have now morphed into selected or close tenders. The same elite is selected, and the tender closes out the non-compliant players.

DAP is pictured as that fiendish character out to suck out blood from Malays. So if DAP wins political power, it will abolish the Monarchy and install DAP Chairman Karpal Singh as Malaysia’s president. Then, Malays will be subjected to oppressive rules. Islam will be persecuted and so forth.

Tajuddin thinks he is speaking to an imbecilic audience. Tajudin’s crude story telling must be countered by an equally crude response. What is Tajudin’s real message? His message is how to preserve Malay political dominance. That’s already achieved. Malay MPs formed the majority in parliament unless of course Tajudin regards as Malays, only the Umno Malay MPs. As long as there are more Malay MPs in parliament, Malay political dominance is assured. What Tajudin fails to understand is not all Malays want to be Umno’s pliant tool serving the interest of the elite group in society.

Tajudin is telling his audience that all the Malays in Umno, PAS, PKR are all eunuchs and they will sit idly by when legitimate Malay interests are threatened. Or he thinks only the Umno types can defend legitimate Malay interests. The others aren’t Malay enough.  Hence PAS is accused as compromising its value by associating with DAP. PKR, the other partner in PR is painted as a party with extreme liberal views. It’s a party supporting the rights of gays and lesbians and the perverted. PR is also accused as being a tool serving the interest of the DAP.

What is DAP interested in? DAP is interested in a better government, better governance, no corruption, no racism, fair dealing and all that are necessary to create a better and just society. We support what the Agong said in his speech. We dedicate ourselves to the upholding of the rule of law, accountability, good governance and integrity. As Muslims, we all support these objectives and getting these is our common mission.

DAP will gladly support the alleviation of poverty done in the right manner. For instance I find the giving out of BR1M objectionable not because I oppose the giving of cash to poor and needy, but the manner it was given. It’s not Umno’s or BN’s money- its money extracted from tax payers. The giving out should have been apolitical. Bank Negara proposed the distribution of cash directly into recipients’ accounts. The distributing banks were ready and willing to do it- but Umno leaders wanted the cash given through them.

Why? Because then, they will be able to tell the story that it’s out of Umno’s beneficence, that you the wretched of the earth, you the voiceless, you the downtrodden,  get to enjoy this cash. So if you want more, keep us in power- we give you RM500, allow us to wallop the billions. We who fight in your name, deserves to be rewarded as how we see fit.

So Tajudin Rahman comes into town regurgitating the usual crap- that DAP is anti-Malay, anti-Malay Monarchy, anti-Islam or anti whatever the Malay wants. That is not true. Umno now survives on lies and misinformation.

I am telling readers from my own personal experience – I am a DAP member and got elected on a DAP ticket. My other colleagues and the leadership have never stopped me from speaking about Malay interests or about the hopes and despair of the Malays. Indeed I have and my DAP colleagues understood my position. Indeed as a Malay in DAP I can speak about the despair of the Malays freer that the Umno MPs can.

The DAP is a political realist. Even if all the Chinese combine and unite, they have only a 23% support base. That’s numerically impossible for a united Chinese party to take over the government. They can become a vocal opposition but not govern over the majority Malays.

The Malays constitute 61% of the population. All branches and levels of government are dominated by Malays. Even if Chinese take over as head of departments, almost 96% of the 1.4 million civil servants are Malays. What can the Chinese head of departments do, if the million strong Malay civil servants down their tools? The government will come to a standstill.

The DAP is not anti-Islam. The problems facing the Muslim ummah have nothing to do with the DAP. I hope Muslims don’t get offended. We can’t force others to get converted and we can’t use that as a reason to oppress them in direct and indirect ways. If we Muslims spend as much time looking after our own house instead of trying to Islamise others, we will be better off. Each year we spend millions in the name of Islam media-hyping about all things Islam- we have the ubiquitous dakwah programs in the media, we get excited at the sermons of hallelujah-ing clerics.

But if we Muslims stop to ponder- the biggest portion of sex offenders, sex miscreants, drug addicts, juvenile crimes is made up of Malay Muslims. What does this mean? It means the programs proselytizing Islam made-for-the- media does not work.

So do we blame the DAP for our own shortcomings? This is not a put down on my well-meaning friends in the government, but as a Malay and a Muslim I am asking all of us Malays and Muslims to look at our own house first. The DAP is not responsible for the bad things that is happening to the Malays and Muslims. – sakmongkol.blogspot.com,  July 20, 2013.

* Sakmongkol AK47 is the nom de guerre of Datuk Mohd Ariff Sabri Abdul Aziz who is Raub MP.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 20 July 2013, 4:37 pm and is filed under
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Disclose out-of-court deals

P Gunasegaram

Malaysiakini

Jul 19, 2013

QUESTION TIME
When a ball goes out of court, it goes out of play and play stops. But not so when a case goes to court and then there is an out-of-court settlement. Things are still very much in play, only the public does not get to see the action any more.

Out-of-court settlements are great if the dispute at hand is nobody else’s business but the parties in conflict. It is the right thing when matters are private, for example divorce cases when there is no reason whatsoever why it should become a public matter.

But when it involves the government, it is against the public interest to have out-of-court settlements, and if there are, then it would be best if the full terms of the settlement are made known to the public. Otherwise, who knows what will be hidden from the public eye?

Two incidents earlier this week caused us to be alarmed and relieved in turn. It was alarm when The Star reported that speculations were rife that a suit between tycoon Halim Saad on one side and former minister and government special adviser Nor Mohamed Yakcop, the government and Khazanah Nasional Bhd on the other, will be settled out of court – for RM1 billion.

Halim had claimed some RM2 billion in the suit, alleging that he was fraudulently induced to  give up control of United Engineers (M) and other related companies. He said that the terms of the agreement were not adhered to.

Nor Mohamed, who was recently, and after Halim’s suit, made deputy chairperson of Khazanah Nasional and chairperson of its executive committee, in his affidavit denied the allegations.

And so we thought after The Star report, is this going to be another case which will be settled in private with no one but those involved knowing the details? Will the government do an out-of-court settlement again, after a case involving Tajudin Ramli and the national asset management agency, Pengurusan Danaharta Nasional, was settled out of court in February last year?

What was amazing in that particular settlement was that Danaharta had already obtained judgment for RM589 million against Tajudin in 2009. Together with interest, that would have amounted to over RM800 million, raising the question of why the government settled when they already had that RM800 million in hand.

The terms of that agreement were never made public but it basically resulted in the parties dropping all claims against each other, leading to speculation that the settlement may have favoured Tajudin, who, like Halim, was one of a coterie of businessmen who were closely linked and were proteges of former finance minister Daim Zainuddin.

Putting all that talk to rest

Are we to expect that the same thing will happen with Halim? We were relieved when Khazanah Nasional put all that talk to rest with a strong statement from which we quote verbatim:

“We refer to the article, “Halim’s legal suit poser – Will it be settled out of court?” published in The Star on July 18, 2013.

“With regard to Tan Sri Halim Saad’s legal suit against Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop, the Government of Malaysia and Khazanah Nasional Berhad (“Khazanah”), the respective defendants would like to state that contrary to the said article, there is neither a settlement being proposed nor are they aware of any discussion in respect of the same.

“All three defendants continue to believe that they have a strong defence to the claim and shall take all measures necessary to vigorously defend it in order to protect their respective interests. Further, as the case is now before the courts, it should therefore be deliberated and decided accordingly by the courts.”

We take heart that the defendants will vigorously defend the case. And we hope that no matter what the unpleasant and unsavoury details that would be revealed in court, the defendants will stick with it and go ahead with the case.

Let all be revealed in court and let not anything be hidden which the public has a right to know. And if there is an out-of-court settlement let the terms of the deal be revealed to the public and the rationale for the that clearly stated.

There is much that happened in Corporate Malaysia in the anything-goes years of the nineties and their newly-minted millionaires and billionaires and how they made their fortunes through privatisations, corporate finance and other deals.

And there is the story too of how many of them were brought to their knees and even hurled flat on their faces following the financial crisis.

If there is restitution to be made to any of them or if any out-of-court settlements are to be made with any of them following their fall from grace, then the public has a right to know the circumstances under which the settlements are made and what they were.

Anything less than that is nothing but a cover-up.

——————————————————————————–

P GUNASEGARAM is founding editor of KiniBiz.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 21 July 2013, 6:10 pm and is filed under
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I am a Muslim and I am not that offended

– Young Singaporean Muslim

The Malaysian Insider

July 21, 2013

When I first saw the “Halal Bak Kut Teh” picture on The Real Singapore Facebook page, I was irritated but I didn’t think much of it. I believed the guy was an idiot and that’s it. But I was surprised that the backlash has gotten so big over just a few hours.

I was disappointed to see so much hate comments being posted by fellow Muslims over this one photo and some even go far as to post threats of violence and death threats. And now, the couple is facing up to 15 years in jail and heavy fines over this one photo, which really saddens me as thieves and people with assault charges usually get much less.

Why am I not offended? I actually have a different perspective on the issue. I subscribed to a few foreign news channels like Al Jazeera and The Young Turks and I have seen the faces of REAL HATE.

I have seen people like Pastor Terry Jones, who called for the burning of the Quran. I have seen a group of Islamophobic Americans gather to throw hateful slurs at a mosque event in California. I have seen the absolute disrespect of Nakoula Basseley Nakoula and his blasphemous film which he called “The innocence of muslims”. I have seen the bigotry and also the sympathy of the people of Texas in ABC news experiment “What would you do?” when Muslims are discriminated. I have seen a Hispanic woman pushing a Muslim man onto an oncoming train, killing him, just because he was Muslim. And the worst of late, I have seen the genocide of the Muslim Rohingya people by the so called “Buddhist” Burmese.

The face of hate comes in many sickening form. But when I see Alvin’s face, I don’t see a hateful person; I just see the face of a troll.

Understanding hate and dark humor.

Maybe it is because of my age and my exposure to the internet, I understand dark humor and some can be really funny. I am a fan of South Park with their highly intelligent yet crude but funny jokes and satires. But in the end, dark humor is essentially a joke that can either be funny or fall flat and just be stupid.

I would say that Alvin’s Halal Bak Kut Teh photo is just a piece of really bad dark humor that is not funny. There is no real malice in this photo. He did not insult our prophet, he did not call for the Quran to be defaced and he did not go out to injure a fellow Muslim. At most I could say that he is insensitive for suggesting that a dish most commonly made with pork is halal.

We are getting into an uproar over FOOD? Let’s change the situation a bit and say Alvin did the same photo BUT with frog legs (which is also haram). How much of an uproar will that make?

Being respected. As Muslims, we always ask that our religion be respected. But it would be hard to respect someone if he acts like an overly sensitive baby who would throw a tantrum over such a small issue. We need to be mature. If you find the photo insensitive, feel free to make a video or make an article to address how insensitive the post is or simply bring this matter to facebook admin let them handle it. To issue threats of violence, instigate suicide and even death threats over a food related matter is simply unacceptable.

Justice. Quoting from the Holy Quran 2:190

“Fight in the way of Allah those who fight you but do not transgress. Indeed. Allah does not like transgressors.”

The concept is simple, if you are called to defend our faith, do so without transgression. If you are threatened with words, you are to fight back with words ONLY. If you are threatened with fists, you are to fight back with fists at most. If you are threatened with a sword, you may fight back with a sword.

What Alvin did does not warrant jail time for up to 15 years or even such a heavy fine. Prison is a place where we keep thieves, robbers, rapists and murderers, people who have committed crimes against property and person. To treat Alvin, whose crime is bad humor, like a harden criminal is indeed transgressing the limit. At most, all he deserves is a small fine and mandatory community work (maybe at a mosque so he could learn a thing or two about being with Muslims).

In all, we must keep things in perspective in issuing justice so that our emotion doesn’t cloud our reason. We should not turn an issue about food into something that could divide a nation and we must act more maturely if we want to be respected. – The Real Singapore, July 21, 2013

* Young Singaporean Muslim submitted this article to The Real Singapore, a news portal on life in Singapore.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 21 July 2013, 5:43 pm and is filed under
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