Towards The New Malay

by
M. Bakri Musa

[Talk given at a forum at the University of Buffalo, on November 1, 2008, themed “Alif Ba Ta, Towards the New Malay,” organized by Kelab UMNO New York-New Jersey.  The contents here are from my book Towards A Competitive Malaysia.]

Whenever the theme of this conference (or variations thereof, as with the “Malay Problem” or “Malay Dilemma”) is discussed, whether in the hallowed halls of Putrajaya or the
warong kopi
in Kota Baru, the various arguments expounded could be crystallized around two main clusters.  On one side there are those who would confidently assert that there is nothing wrong with us, rather the fault is with the evil outside world intent on doing us in.  The other would find nothing right with us; we are our own problems.

            The two viewpoints may be poles apart in their basic assumptions, but they share one underlying commonality.  They view Malays essentially as victims, with the first seeing us as victims of the merciless outsiders – the “them” – while the second viewing us as invalids, the tragic victims of our inadequacies, real and perceived.

The cruel “them” could be the colonialists.  If only they had stayed out of our world, we would not today be burdened with a dangerous race problem, and we would not have to work so hard to keep up with them.  We would then enjoy our tropical nirvana shaded by the lush fronds of the coconut tree and soothed by the lapping waves of the South China Sea.

Colonialism is now long gone.  It is no longer cool to be a colonialist, except in such odd places as Russia.  Still colonialism, or its variants, is being invoked every so often, and not just by the less informed.  With the old form gone, the more sophisticated have invented new players to fill in the void.  Enter the neo-colonialist.  This modern variant is even more virulent as it is concerned with colonizing us mentally rather than just physically!  Worse, those who fall victims to this new spell do not even realize that they are being colonized!  Such are the awesome powers of the neo-colonialists!

If only these neo-colonialists in the form of the cabals of evil international financiers with their foreign ideology of capitalism would leave us alone, we would still have Bank Bumiputra and its massive portfolio of dud loans.

The “self blamers” do not lack for ammunition either.  We are burdened by the inadequacies of our culture, we are being repeatedly reminded ad nauseam, and not just by our own kind.  We are too nice and not aggressive enough, hence we are easily taken advantage off by others.

If only we are a wee bit
kurang jar
(uncouth), more
kiasau
(crude), or be more like “them!”  Hence we are urged to have our own Revolusi Mental (Mental Revolution!”), be a
Melayu Baru
(New Malay), and assert our
Ketuanan Melayu
(Malay Hegemony).  That would be our salvation, we are repeatedly assured.

There is yet a variation of this theme.  If only we Malays were united!  They would like us to be like sheep, meekly and blindly following the shepherd; follow our leaders, we are endlessly exhorted, even if they are corrupt and incompetent as they lead us over a cliff.  To them unity is unanimity.

Culture is not our only burden.  We have also strayed from our faith, they piously chastise us.  Thus more religion, especially for our young, hugely expanded religious establishments, and more religious police to make sure that we stay on the straight and narrow path.  Just to be sure, we also concocted a new and presumably improved version of our faith, Islam Hadhari.

My favorite is the self-blamers’ pseudo-scientific theory that the fault is with our genes, our fate sealed the moment we were conceived.  There is nothing that we can do to alter that; so accept it.  It is our price for indulging in too much inbreeding!  “We must intermarry!” our supposedly scientifically enlightened leaders urge us!

If our ancestors’ psyche was destroyed by the religious determinism of the past (our fate is written in the book –
al kadar
), today our minds, especially those of the young, are being crippled by the biologic determinism propagated by these pseudo scientists whose understanding of modern genetics is gleaned from reading
Readers’ Digest.

A Different Approach

My approach to the “Malay problem” is different.  I could not care less what caused our present tribulations; I am more interested in solving or at least ameliorating them.  Physicians treat and at times cure complicated diseases like cancers or even simple ones like appendicitis without ever knowing the cause.  We do with what works.  That is my approach to the “Malay problem.”

I do not belittle the importance of understanding the cause of something.  Consider the miracle of the polio vaccine, made possible because we know exactly what caused the disease.  Polio is now wiped out, and with that the elaborate iron lungs and fancy reconstructive surgeries.

In the sphere of human and social behaviors however, unlike that of the natural sciences, there is rarely a unitary cause or principle to explain reality.  Often it is multi-factorial, their interactions and dynamics rarely predictable.  The best that we can hope for is that by replicating some of these conditions we might also reproduce the same results.

In approaching the “Malay problem,” I am also guided by another overriding assumption.  That is, there is nothing unique to the problems we face; others have faced similar problems.  The corollary to this is that there is much that we can learn from others, those who are successful as well as those less so.

Voluminous treatises have been written on the rise and fall of great civilizations and empires.  Today however, I am discussing the fate of smaller social units and over a much shorter time span.  The rise and fall of civilizations span centuries; the relevant field of studies there being primarily history, archeology, and perhaps the classics.  My discussions today examine the development of societies over a much shorter time period of a generation or two, within the memory of those currently living.  The relevant disciplines here are essentially the social sciences, specifically economics.

Diamond of Development

When we study successful societies, we can anchor the various contributing factors around four main pillars:  leadership, people, culture, and geography.  These elements form the four angles of my “Diamond of Development,” with each factor influencing and in turn being influenced by the other three.  When all four are favorable, they create a virtuous cycle, with each synergistically reinforcing the other three.  Conversely when all elements are negative, there would be a rapid downward spiral.

The importance of leadership is readily apparent, as encapsulated in our traditional wisdom:
Endah negeri kerana penghulu
(Great country, great leadership!)  Leaders are to a country what wings are to a plane; they define and limit the capability and performance.  The old double wings were suitable for slow single piston planes but would impose a severe drag on faster jets; they need backswept wings with adjustable leading and trailing ends to adjust the wing shape to effect maximal lift at low speed and minimal drag at high speed.  Likewise with leaders; the all-knowing powerful dictator may be best for an emerging society but he would be out of place for an educated sophisticated nation.

As for people, the UNDP declares that people are the real wealth of a nation.  As for the crucial interactions between the two, consider that Saddam Hussein could never be elected dog catcher in America.  He was lucky to have been caught by the Americans and not the Iraqis.  Had he been caught by his own people; he would have been butchered and his corpse desecrated.  Saddam’s sadism had spread to the Iraqi people, illustrating my point on the interactions between all factors, in this particular instance, between leader and people.

Culture is society’s DNA (genes); it determines the behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all the other products of human work and thought that we socially transmit to members of our society.  Economist Douglass North defines institutions, a component of culture, as the rules of the game, the humanly devised constraints that shape human interactions.  Cultures and institutions assure some predictability to our interactions and thus serve to reduce transaction costs.

Of the four factors, only geography is the gift of nature and thus essentially unalterable.  A society is either fortunate to be endowed with favorable geographic attributes or it does not.  There is not much we can do to alter that reality.  The other three are human creations, and thus potentially alterable.  While we cannot change our geographic attributes, we can modify our attitudes towards them, which in turn govern our relationship with and how we treat them.

If we treat our coastlines and rivers as sources of pestilence and inherently evil, the place where the hantu laut
(sea spirit)
 and hantu darat
(land spirit)
 are in constant conflict as portrayed by Joseph Conrad’s many Malay novels, then our attitude towards those properties would be negative.  Consequently we would not hesitate dumping our garbage there with abandon; we would not care for the ensuing pollution.

We could however, alter our mindset and instead respect and appreciate those geographic attributes.  We would then build levees and canals as in the Sacramento delta and south Florida so we could have beautiful marinas, fertile farmlands, and prime real estate.  Similarly, while we cannot change the hot humid south, but through air-conditioning and skillful marketing, we can create the desirable Sunbelt.

In desert Las Vegas with less than 10 inches of rain annually, homes sport fountains and swimming pools.  Good governance and institutions make that possible.  Malaysia has daily downpours, yet its taps are frequently dry; blame bad institutions for that.  Milton Friedman once famously remarked that with inept governments and corrupt institutions even sand could be made scarce in Saudi Arabia!

Unitary Versus Systemic Approach

Relating my Diamond of Development to the “Malay problem,” there are two possible approaches:  unitary versus systemic.  The unitary approach would be to focus on one factor, for example leadership, in the hope that it would pull up the other three.  Prophet Muhammad, s.a.w., was an example of such a transforming leader; he transformed the Arabs, their culture, and the area’s political geography.  The risk with such a single-approach strategy is that we could also end up with a Hitler; he too transformed the German people, their culture, and the geography of Europe.!

Likewise, there are many ready examples of society being transformed by pivotal changes in culture, people, or even geographic events.  Malay culture was transformed with the coming of Islam, European colonization, and currently, capitalism and globalization.  Islam ended our animist beliefs; it also brought the written culture, and with that, a quantum leap in the intellectual development of our society.  Colonization upended our feudalism, ending for example, slavery and indentured labor.  The impact of capitalism and globalization is yet to be reckoned.

Cataclysmic geographic events can also have transforming effects on people, culture, and leaders.  In his book
Guns, Germs. And Steel.  The Fates of Human Societies
, Jared Diamond theorized that climactic and environmental changes doomed the Norwegians in Greenland and the Easter Islanders; their leaders, people, and culture could not cope with the new physical environmental demands required of them.

Those are the dangers of focusing or depending on changing any one factor alone.  A surer and more achievable approach would be of small incremental enhancements targeting all four factors simultaneously.

Elect slightly more competent and less corrupt leaders, provide more education and better health services for your people, tame some of the non-productive and destructive elements of your culture, and have some respect for the environment.  These small incremental changes could be readily implemented, and they would reinforce each other and combined, they would produce great synergy.

An equally important consideration is that if we were to make a mistake (inevitably there will be), it would be more readily corrected and its negative consequences more readily contained and hopefully be restrained by all the other elements that are working right.

There is one overriding consideration to my Diamond of Development; it is premised upon the fact that there must be peace.  If citizen are at war with each other, there can be no development and the ideas represented by my diamond of development are mute.  When people are in turmoil as in war, their primary concern is survival, not development.

Leaning From Others

Lastly, returning to my earlier theme of learning from others, there is much that we can learn from the exemplary society, certainly in the eyes of Muslims, of the first Muslim community in Medinah led by Prophet Muhammad, s.a.w.

Here we had a truly transforming leader; selected no less by Allah.  It is instructive what he did first at Medinah.  He recognized that he did not have as yet a united community, his followers divided between the native Medinans
(al Ansar)
and the immigrant Meccans
(Muhajireen)
.  Instead of dwelling on their real and potentially divisive differences (tribal, geographic, etc.), he appealed to their commonality, their commitment to the new faith.  This is the crucial point.  We need leaders who can bring people together not divide us.  This is true in Malaysia as in America and elsewhere, as well as today and in the past.

This brings the centrality and assumption of my diamond of development.  There must be first peace before there can be any economic development.  This was what the prophet emphasized, by appealing to the commonality of the Muhajireens and Ansars.

Once he had his people committed to a common goal, the prophet then addressed the other three elements of my diamond.  First he made sure that his followers were educated.  He offered his prisoners freedom if they were to teach the Muslims.  He also built bazaars so citizens could partake in trade among themselves.  He did not charge them for using those facilities.  He encouraged them to trade, as indicated by this hadith (approximately translated), it is better to give than to receive a paycheck, meaning, better to be an employer than an employee.  That is also the essence of free enterprise and capitalism.

As for the environment, knowing that Medina was at the time wrecked by malaria, he had the swamps drained and advised citizens to cover their water at night to prevent mosquitoes from breeding.  Even the minutest element of hygiene did not escape him as when he urged Muslims not to urinate on stagnant water.  The prophet essentially addressed the two key determinants as to the quality of people: health and education.

The last point is culture; he removed some of the more odious practices of the Arabs like slavery, female infanticide, and the denigration of women.  He did all these mundane but necessary things without waiting for divine revelations.  His leadership style was one through personal examples
(quadrhat hasanah).
  He not only told people what to do, he also showed them how.

During this forum I hope that my diamond of development would help you organize your thoughts.  I look forward to the discussions.  Thank you.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 8 November 2008, 1:58 am and is filed under
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Two  recently-retired corrupt judges – ACA must start investigations from CJ Zaki

The new Chief Justice, Tan Sri Zaki Azmi’s
revelation
of two recently retired judges who were suspected to be corrupt is shocking not because of the admission of rotten apples in the judiciary but only that  it was made publicly in so specific  a fashion for the first time.

That there are corrupt judges in the judiciary has long been an open secret, which had been more than amply proved by the “correct, correct, correct” Royal Commission of Inquiry into the V.T.Lingam videotape.

This is one reason why Malaysia had suffered the plunge of our judiciary’s international reputation as a world-class institution,  propelled by two decades of judicial darkness and scandals when the independence, impartiality and integrity of the Malaysian judiciary became an international laughing-stock.

Speaking at the panel on
“Integrity, the Catalyst for Sustainable Development”
 at the national integrity convention in Kuching yesterday, Zaki said about the two corrupt judges:

“God helped me because when I came (into the judiciary), they were gone. No, I didn’t dismiss them, they retired.”

He said he knew the two judges personally.

The question is whether the two corrupt judges “were gone” when he became Chief Justice last month or when he was elevated to President of Court of Appeal on December  11, 2007, three months after he made the triple jump from the private sector to be appointed Federal Court judge straightaway?

If the former, then the question arises why he did not set in motion the establishment of judicial tribunals to impeach these two corrupt judges in the past 11 months.

Secondly, why hadn’t he reported the two corrupt judges to the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) as the crime of corruption has neither  time bar nor statute of limitations?

Zaki’s expose should prompt the ACA to immediately open investigations  on the two  recently retired judges who were corrupt to make public examples of them for betraying  their oath of judicial office.

It was only early this week that the new Penang  ACA director Latifah Md Yatim said that the ACA has been investigating corrupt allegations from
all sources
including newspaper reports and poison pen letters as long as there is basis.

Speaking to reporters after officially taking over the director’s post, Latifah, who was previously the ACA director of Sabah for about two years,  said “there is now no excuse not to give information” and that  the public should never be afraid to come forward to make reports.

There should be no need for the ACA to advise Zaki  not to be afraid or that  there could be no excuse for him not to give information to the ACA on the two recently retired corrupt judges.

In Kuching yesterday, Zaki also confessed  that he had succumbed to the culture of corruption when he recounted his “first-hand experience of having to face corruption problems in the court”, as reported by
New Straits Times
report,

“Stop it now, corrupt court staff warned”

:

“What I am telling you is not fiction but based on my own experience in private practice,” he said at an integrity convention here.

Recalling an incident in 1987, Zaki said he was “blacklisted” when he complained to the chief registrar of two missing files belonging to his clients.

“It took me six months to be nice, to bribe each and every individual to get back into their good books before our files were being attended to.

“That was my personal experience, and I am telling this to all the clerks and all the registries to stop this nonsense and I know this is happening, even as late as last week… a lawyer came to see me.”

He added that the clerk asked the lawyer to come the next day to collect the file after saying “tapi jangan lupa, ya”, signalling him to come with cash.

Is Zaki prepared to spearhead a crusade to clean up the corruption and malpractices at all levels of the judiciary, by giving personal attention to all complaints about corruption, malpractices and abuses of power at all levels of the judicial hierarchy?

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 8 November 2008, 10:36 am and is filed under
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Why Azmi should resign as PAC Chairman

Yesterday, the Star carried a letter by an ex-airman contending that
“We don’t need the Eurocopter”
.

He wrote:

“AS an ex-RMAF serviceman for 22 years, I believe I am qualified to comment on our government’s insistence on purchasing the Eurocopters. Worse still, without any physical tests.

“Buying the Eurocopter for use in Malaysia is like buying an F1 for use in Petaling Jaya; or a Rolls Royce for use in a remote kampung.

“This chopper is such a sophiscated machine, it is not meant for the normal role of a helicopter. I still see the Aloutte and Nuri (Sea King) in service in other countries.

“Eurocopter is more a combat helicopter. Who do we want to fight anyway? Why use it for search and rescue or during flood relief operations? Other choppers can do that just as well or even better!

“The Eurocopter is expensive. So are the training, spare-parts, servicing, accessories or role changes and armoury. Can we afford the subsequent costs of parts and modern armoury?

“You don’t buy such a sophisticated machine without evaluation. By first going through its built-in purpose, the subsequent cost of training for pilots and ground crews, availability and cost of spare parts, etc.

“Saying that the Alouettes and Nuris are old and obsolete is no justification for buying a machine that will not be fully utilised.

“Just buying the armoury to go with the machine will cost a bomb! Buying the Eurocopter just to show off is downright arrogant!”

As the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) had concluded its “rush” inquiry into the RM1.6 billion Cougar EC725 Eurocopter helicopters, can the PAC Chairman Datuk Azmi Khalid answer the questions posed by this former RMAF personnel?

Of course, he is unable to do so, as the PAC inquiry led by Azmi was not to conduct an in-depth inquiry into all aspects of the helicopter deal, including whether the choice of the Cougar EC725 and the phasing out of the Nuris were valid and in the best interests of the RMAF personnel; the technical, offset and price differentials of the seven bidders as well as the propriety of the whole tender process, such as whether, how much and the who’s with regard to mega defence  commissions for the helicopter deal.

As I made it clear  in Parliament during the debate on the Prime Minister’s Department on Wednesday (Nov. 5, 2008), Azmi had brought disrepute and odium to the PAC in his “rush” to whitewash the Eurocopter deal to enable the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Rahman to claim in Parliament in his November 4 budget winding-up that the Eurocopter deal had been cleared by PAC.

This is most improper and irregular as the PAC has not submitted its report to Parliament – raising the question whether Azmi was serving PAC, Parliament or the Finance Minister.

This was why I called on Azmi to step down as PAC Chairman.

My exchange with Azmi in Parliament over his disgraceful role as PAC Chairman can be followed in this video clip.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 8 November 2008, 2:11 pm and is filed under
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Can Zaki prove doubters wrong about his suitability as CJ?

The announcement by the newly-appointed Chief Justice, Tan Sri Zaki Tun Azmi, who as a lawyer had represented Umno, that he would as far as possible avoid hearing cases involving the political party (or as Star headlined
“No Umno cases for now”
) is a step in the right direction to disprove doubters wrong  about his suitability as  the No.1 in the judiciary.

This is however only a  small beginning if Zaki is to dispel all the doubts even  the most non-partisan in Malaysia entertain about his  controversial appointment as Chief Justice.

Public disappointment at the appointment of Zaki as Chief Justice had been  most palpable especially as the the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had promised judicial reform to top his final short-list of three reforms before stepping down from office  next March – but Zaki’s appointment as Chief Justice was made in disregard of  the spirit of judicial reform and there was no consultation whatsoever with the major stakeholders in the country, whether Bar Council, MPs or  the civil society.

As I had said before, MPs who had grave reservations about  Zaki’s fast-track appointment as Chief Justice had two options after his elevation: firstly to invoke Article 127 of the Constitution to move a substantive motion in Parliament with the support of at least one-quarter of Members of Parliament, i.e. 55 MPs to discuss Zaki’s appointment; or two, to give Zaki the opportunity to acquit himself and prove that he is capable of taking full account of the widespread reservations about his appointment to the process to restore public confidence in the independence, impartiality and integrity of the judiciary after two decades of judicial darkness.

I belong to the latter category and I will like to see Zaki proving all the doubters of his appointment wrong.

Malaysians are hungry for a Chief Justice they can be proud of, as for two decades, the judiciary had proved to be the weakest link of the Malaysian system of governance – even weaker than Parliament.

The judiciary is the last bastion of the constitutional rights and fundamental liberties of Malaysians to protect them  from the excesses and corruption of executive power but the judiciary had been an abysmal failure in this regard.

In the past two decades after the arbitrarily sacking of Tun Salleh Abas as Lord President in the 1988 “Mother of Judicial Crisis”, the country has had five heads of the judiciary.

Unfortunately, three of the five, Tun Hamid Omar, Tun Eusoff Chin and Tun Ahmad Fairuz had mired the judiciary and country even deeper in national shame and international infamy – making efforts to restore national and international confidence in the independence, impartiality and integrity of the judiciary and return to its previous high international esteem a most Herculean one.

Two others, Tun Dzaiddin Abdullah and Tun Abdul Hamid Mohamed were basically “stop-gap” Chief Justices, who were unable to carry out any institutional reforms to restore national and international confidence in the judiciary, although the former must be credited with “stopping the rot” in the judiciary.

Can Zaki restore Malaysia to its pristine credibility, integrity and high international esteem it had enjoyed until two decades ago, painstakingly nurtured by his predecessors before 1988 including his father Tun Azmi Mohamad – despite coming to the highest judicial office in the land with very  “heavy baggage” from the past?  This is Zaki’s greatest challenge and test as Chief Justice.

Zaki’s
interview
 with Bernama Chairman Datuk Seri Mohd Annuar Zaini is however a cause for concern, as in a matter of 24 hours,  he seemed to have quickly backtracked from his zeal and fervour against corruption in the judiciary reflected in his speech at the  panel on “Integrity, the Catalyst for Sustainable Development” at the national integrity convention in Kuching on Friday to one which is equivalent to a denial syndrome, when he said:
“From my observation, if there had been one or two corrupt judges before, now there is none.”

Let me remind Zaki of the latest survey among expatriate business executives in Asia by the Hong-Kong based
Political and Economic Risks Consultancy (Perc)
in September which  found that Malaysia lagged behind even South Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines on which Asian country has the best judicial system. Malaysia was ranked seventh while the first three places went to Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan.

Another  local survey
last month of lawyers’ perception of the judiciary conducted by Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) gave a grim picture of the state of public confidence in the judiciary.

According to findings of a survey of 339 lawyers conducted in March and April, the judicial process and judicial appointments are greatly subject to undue influence and judicial authorities subject to corruption and bribery.

From the survey, 91% felt that the judicial process in the superior courts (High Court, Court of Appeal and Federal Court) was subject to various levels of undue influence from the Government or others.

As to whether judicial authorities were susceptible to accepting bribes to give favourable judgments, 94% said yes.

However, only 15% thought they always took bribes.

The survey also found that 96% thought judicial appointments were subject to influence.

These surveys should banish from Zaki any denial complex about the need for a root-and-branch overhaul of the judiciary, if Malaysians are to be proud of the judiciary again as two decades ago.

Zaki should not be too quick to declare that there is no corruption in the judiciary, when he had just painted, and truly, a picture of grave corruption in the judiciary in his talk in Kuching last Friday.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 9 November 2008, 4:24 pm and is filed under
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RPK’s rearrest under ISA – Cabinet/Parliament must overrule Hamid

Home Minister, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar’s announcement in Kota Kinabalu last night that the Home Ministry will
appeal
against the Shah Alam High Court decision on Friday to free Malaysia Today website editor Raja Petra Kamaruddin from detention under the Internal Security Act (ISA) is most deplorable and reprehensible.

It shows Hamid’s utter contempt for the fundamental concept of the rule of law and the most rudimentary commitment to human rights in the country.

In ordering Raja Petra’s release after a 56-day ISA detention, Shah Alam High Court judge  Justice Syed Ahmad Helmy Syed Ahmad
ruled
 in the blogger’s habeas corpus application that the Home Minister acted outside his powers in detaining  Raja Petra under the  ISA, as the  grounds given for Raja Petra’s detention were insufficient rendering the ISA detention unlawful.

Syed Ahmad Helmy held that although Section 8 of the ISA on the detention order by the minister barred judicial review, there  was  a procedural non-compliance by the Minister resulting in an “ultra vires” order.

As  illustration, the judge  gave the example that
the minister cannot act in bad faith to detain a person who decided to colour his hair red.

In actual fact, Hamid acted mala fide in a very substantive manner in issuing a detention order under Section 8 of the ISA late in the night of September 22  not because Raja Petra constituted a threat to national security but to frustrate the administration of justice and the rule of law by “killing off” Raja Petra’s earlier habeas corpus application.

Raja Petra’s first habeas corpus application to challenge the legality of his ISA detention on Sept. 12 under Section 73 of the ISA was slated for hearing at the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Sept. 23.

When Raja Petra’s lawyers, his wife  Marina Lee Abdullah and family members  and supporters turned up in court on the morning of Sept. 23 for the harbeas corpus hearing, they were shocked to learn from the Senior Federal Counsel, Abdul Wahab Mohamad that the issue had become academic and the application should be struck out as Raja Petra was no longer detained under Section 73 (which permits judicial review) but under Section 8 (which bars judicial review except for procedural defects).

Raja Petra had also been summarily packed off to the Kamunting Detention Centre to start his two-year formal detention.

I had  on Sept. 24
condemned
 Hamid’s ministerial detention order of Raja Petra, “hours before his habeas corpus application hearing at the Kuala Lumpur High Court” on Sept. 23 as “a gross violation of human rights, a blatant abuse of power and downright contempt of court by the Home Minister and a travesty of the rule of law in Malaysia”.

I had said: “One would have expected that being a lawyer by training, the Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar would have greater regard, respect and understanding of the principles of a just of rule and would not do anything to frustrate the legal process as in RPK’s habeas corpus application hearing yesterday. But Hamid has proved everyone wrong.

”The Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail should explain whether he was privy to the Home Minister’s decision on Monday (Sept. 22)  night to frustrate the legal process over RPK’s habeas corpus application hearing yesterday (Sept. 23)  challenging the police detention under Section 73 of the Internal Security Act (ISA) by the simple but most cynical and irresponsible expedient of the Minister signing a formal detention order under Section 8 of the ISA.

”Was the Attorney-General consulted and his agreement sought to this irresponsible ploy to frustrate RPK’s habeas corpus application and did he advise the Home Minister against such flagrant contempt of court and to trust in the impartiality and integrity of the judicial system to pronounce on the legality of the police detention of RPK under the ISA under Section 73?

”Whose idea was it that the Home Minister should abuse his powers to expedite the formal detention of RPK under Section 8 of the ISA in order to frustrate RPK’s habeas corpus application, when RPK had been detained for only 10 days under Section 73 which provides for a 60-day police custodial detention?”

There had been thundering silence from Hamid, Gani Patail as well as the MCA/Gerakan Ministers and leaders who had been staging a “song and dance” about their new-found opposition to the ISA, demanding a review if not repeal of the draconian detention-without-trial law.

The Shah Alam High Court decision to free Raja Petra, which is a positive reflection in the last five months of the Abdullah premiership, should be the occasion for the Cabinet to undertake a full review of the draconian laws in the country as well as to uphold the doctrine of the separation of powers by repealing all legislation which institutionalizes the executive usurpation of judicial powers and independence by excluding judicial review of abuses of executive power, like Section 8 of the ISA.

However, Hamid seems to be unrepentant in refusing to understand the changes demanded by Malaysians after the March 8 “political tsunami” for a full restoration of the just rule of law, a truly independent judiciary and a total end to all forms of abuses of executive power.

I call on the Cabinet to overrule Hamid’s decision to appeal against the Shah Alam High Court decision to free Raja Petra from ISA detention, which can only mean that Hamid wants Raja Petra to be re-arrested and sent back to Kamunting Detention Centre.

The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi should restrain Hamid from proceeding with the appeal against the Shah Alam High Court decision to free Raja Petra until there is a full review of the matter by both the Cabinet as well as Parliament.

Will the MCA and Gerakan Ministers and leaders stand up now to oppose Hamid’s  decision to appeal against the Shah Alam High Court decision?

The Parliamentary Caucus on Repeal of ISA and release of all ISA detainees will hold an emergency meeting in Parliament tomorrow to discuss the issue.

There will be two candle-light “No to ISA” vigils tonight  – one at Taman DR Seenivasagam in Ipoh at 8 pm and another at Padang Timur Petaling Jaya (near Amcorp Mall), which have now multiple objectives, viz:

·	No to ISA;

·	Release all ISA detainees;

·	First Anniversary BERSIH rally for a clean, fair and democratic electoral system.

·	No to any appeal against Shah Alam High Court decision to re-arrest  Raja Petra and send him back to Kamunting Detention Centre;

·	Restore doctrine of separation of powers among the Executive, Parliament and Judiciary; and

·	Repeal all laws with “no judicial review” clauses to subject all forms of executive abuses of power to legal challenge and judicial review.

I will be at the  Candlelight Vigil for freedom, justice and democracy  in Ipoh tonight.  Other DAP leaders will be at the PJ Candlelight vigil.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 9 November 2008, 1:08 pm and is filed under
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RM100 million Sabah money-laundering – why ICAC but not ACA investigating?

I started my speech on the Finance Ministry during the 2009 Budget committee stage debate in Parliament today by referring to the latest bad news for Malaysia – international ratings agency
Fitch
 today downgraded its outlook for Malaysia from “positive” to “stable”, saying the economy would be hit by lower oil and commodity prices.

In revising the outlook on Malaysia to stable, Fitch took into account the likely impact on the balance of payments of lower oil and other commodity prices.

It said that Malaysia would also suffer from “the deterioration in external demand conditions for electronics exports.”

I pointed out that the latest Fitch rating for Malaysia is further proof of the testing times the Malaysian economy  is  facing with the worst global economic crisis and the crucial importance of the confidence factor in tiding through the trying times.

I expressed regret that when the new Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak presented the RM7 billion economic stimulus when winding-up the 2009 Budget policy debate last Tuesday, its “confidence” capability was seriously undermined when Najib committed the serious parliamentary faux pax of not presenting it in a regular and proper manner in Parliament by an amendment to the 2009 Budget.

I blamed this on the preoccupation of UMNO Ministers on Umno party elections resulting  in serious neglect of  their government and parliamentary duties.

Umno Ministers should take five-month leave from their Cabinet and parliamentary duties to focus on their Umno party election campaign instead of neglecting up to 80 per cent of their government duties.

The excessive police force and violence at the Petaling Jaya candlelight vigil for freedom, justice and democracy, resulting in the arrest and manhandling of 23 persons, including DAP MP for PJ Utara, Tony Pua, a DAP Selangor State Exco and a DAP State Assemblyman was also cited as an example where poor or bad governance, not just in economic matters, could undermine investor confidenc in Malaysia.

What could be worse when the Selangor Chief Police Officer, Deputy Comm Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar  could publicly tell a lie in
denying
that the police had moved in on the participants at the candlelight vigil last night while they were singing the national anthem, when there are videos to prove the Selangor CPO wrong.

I next asked whether the Barisan Nasional government is serious about fighting corruption when the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) is not investigating into RM100 million money-laundering involving a Sabah politician although
Hong Kong’s Independent Commisson Against Corruption (ICAC)
was in Sabah for a  three-day investigation last week.

DAP MP for Kota Kinabalu Dr. Hiew King Cheu, accompanied by DAP’s sole Sabah State Assemblyman, Jimmy Wong Sze Phin (Sri Tanjong) and Sabah DAP leader Edward Mujie had
lodged
a police report in  Dang Wangi, Kuala Lumpur  to demand that the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) investigate the allegation which had appeared in the press and the Internet about a Hong Kong seizure of RM16 million cash meant for the Umno Permatang Pauh by-election campaign.

During the month of August, the Internet had been abuzz with the news and report that Michael Chia, a confidante of the Sabah Chief Minister, Datuk Seri Musa Aman had been arrested at the Hong Kong International Airport on August 14 for alleged money trafficking and laundering with Singapore currency worth RM16 million before boarding a flight bound for Kuala Lumpur.

I asked in Parliament today why the Sabah Chief Minister had failed to meet with the three-man ICA investigating team and why the ACA is not investigating into the money-laundering scandal, which is now said to involve more than RM100 million and not just RM16 million as originally reported in the Hong Kong media.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 10 November 2008, 4:19 pm and is filed under
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Change has come to Malaysia!

by
Martin Jalleh

(MJ from the Shah Alam Court
)

It was a very moving moment in time – one which your memory will forever hold and behold. I had thought that we only get to see this in a Disney movie. But it was happening right in a courtroom in Bolehland today (7 Nov. 2008).

The packed courtroom of Raja Petra (RPK) supporters could not contain their joy. They clapped and burst out into cries of excitement and elation even before Justice Syed Ahmad Helmy Syed Ahmad could finish delivering his judgment.

They were gently reprimanded by the judge that they were in a Court of Law.  But for some it was impossible to be silent. You can’t be restrained when it is such a great and glorious victory! And so they whispered: “We have won! We have won! RPK is free!”

The judge ruled that the detention of RPK under the ISA was illegal (unconstitutional) and ordered his immediate release. The court found the (Home) minister had not followed proper procedure under Section 8 of the ISA.

As the judge left for his chambers, everyone sprung up…some with their clenched fists raised high in the air – speechless. Others grabbed the nearest person available to express their elation whether it be a stranger, supporter or Special Branch.

“Yes, yes, yes!” proclaimed Angela from Seremban who has attended every RPK-related court case with her son.  Yes, justice is done; yes, the truth always wins; yes, let us continue the good fight!

“God bless the judge…What a brave judge! I hope nothing will happen to him and they won’t transfer him elsewhere…” a man who identified himself as Lim declared to his friends.

A visibly moved Ignatius Gomez, who was present with his wife and daughter to “lend our voices and presence to any movement that works towards the abolishment of the ‘barbaric’ ISA” proclaimed loudly: “Justice has prevailed!”

A Brave woman

Marina was moved to tears. She hugged their two daughters, Suraya and Sarah – who have been her sturdy support and who have kept a very brave smile for their mother in the long struggle for their father’s freedom.

Without any hesitation Marina reached out next in deep appreciation to RPK’s lawyers – a team of young, dedicated, daring, diligent and determined attorneys who, time and again, won the admiration and acknowledgement of everyone. Lead lawyer Malik Imtiaz Sarwar’s brilliance and humility in court will remain etched in the memory of many.

In fact, the team, together with other lawyers who had come to show their support, adorned in their court attire, and in all their distinguished shapes and sizes, abandoned their stoic and sage-like disposition and spontaneously hugged each other. Alas, lawyers are human too!

Some of the supporters sat still and smiled to themselves. It was a judgment they found too difficult to believe! Or they wanted to relish the moment and watched, enthralled by the unreserved show of emotion of the rest.

The doors of the courtroom swung open. Marina came out of the court and as the sea of people stood behind, she thanked each and everyone who had played an unique and vital role to get her husband free.

Surely each person, for having stood up for justice, served as a tiny “ripple”, that when put together, made up that giant wave of change that no person (definitely not the Home Minister) nor the powers that be could stop.

Fighting back the tears Marina said: “Though I was hopeful I had not expected the decision. This is a very good sign that our country is changing and I hope that this change will continue…”

“I want to thank the lawyers, the supporters, the bloggers, the reporters…I am so overwhelmed by the decision that I am short of words….Thanks to the judge for his very courageous decision.”

The “celebration” continued on in the court’s foyer. It was only the beginning. The judge had ordered that RPK be brought (from Kamunting) before the court by 4pm, after which he would be released.

Free at last!

It was time for lunch, but none seemed hungry anymore. I followed a group of RPK supporters many of whom I was meeting for the first time. Robert Choo, a retired college lecturer told everyone: “Lunch is on me. Order anything you want. Very rarely do we get such a brave judgment!”

The diversity was amazing. It was a multi-racial group with ages ranging from 16 to 60 years. We were all middle-class. Except for the self-employed, the rest had to take leave to be in court. The group was predominantly women…very vocal ones too!

As I listened intently I realized the conversation was different from the usual. It was not centred on our obsession with food. They spoke about the candlelight vigils in Seremban, PJ and Ipoh . They shared their fears that RPK would be rearrested and what they could do to prevent it!

What made them want to attend the court case? What motivated them to take the risk? Why did they want to exchange a very comfortable and consumeristic existence for an involvement that is often thankless and even looked upon by the majority as being “stupid”?

It was much more than just giving support to RPK. They were angry with the arrogance and abuse of the BN government. They were fed up of being treated like kids and of a government trying to fool all the people all the time.

They expressed their disgust over desperate politicians playing the religious and racial card and gambling the country away. They looked forward to a new government of integrity, credibility and accountability.

They felt that it was time to take a stand, to say and do something, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant…like just by being present in court – even though at times they found it hard to comprehend what was going on!

They realized they were not alone…and their growing solidarity has helped them to soldier on. They spoke of their proud association with Harris Ibrahim, Bernard Khoo and a host of frontline exemplary leaders. They saw in each other a comrade for justice and they displayed an obvious synergy that has freed them from the culture of fear.

Finally, the moment came – the man of the hour appeared…looking tired and even in a daze, still stunned by the court’s decision. As soon as he left the warm embrace of his wife and children, his supporters mobbed and moved him all the way into the courtroom!

Justice Syed Ahmad Helmy ordered RPK to be released. He thanked the lawyers of both sides for their professionalism. The crowd stood in deep respect and reverence as the brave judge left the courtroom.

They garlanded their hero. There was another round of hugs. Some looked up to the heavens in prayerful thanksgiving. Tears flowed freely in celebration of the freedom of one who cared and dared enough to write so that others may be free.

Raja Petra looked as though he was “holding court” on the front steps of the Shah Alam Court. No fetters could extinguish the fire and fervour in the man. It fact, it had fanned the flame in him: “”We have to fight all-out and get the ISA abolished!”

The peerless Patriot and Prince was fittingly driven away in a red Rolls Royce. As his supporters parted, it was obvious that they were not going to rest on their laurels. They were already talking of meeting in the candlelight vigils in Seremban and PJ.

It was truly a historic day of hugs, heart and hope. In contrast to the cavalier attitude of Syed Hamid in the recent ISA arrests, there was the calibre and courage of Syed Ahmad Helmy, a glimmer of hope in the judiciary.

Compared to the arrogance of the Umno-dominated government which believes that might is right, there was the humility of ordinary citizens who achieved the extraordinary in their multi-racial solidarity!

The Home Minister wants to appeal the judge’s decision – which he claims he respects! We understand. Umno’s internal security is threatened and it is rapidly losing its appeal. Further Syed Hamid wants to be very “appealing”, he is standing in the coming Umno elections.

Former de facto Law Minister Zaid Ibrahim has said that Umno cannot change. And as can be seen from last night’s Anti-ISA gathering when the “uncivilized” police ran riot in the Petaling Jaya Civic Centre, the Police cannot change. They will continue to be arrogant.

Our hope for change lies in the rakyat. The people’s involvement in the process that resulted in RPK being free confirms this.

(10 Nov. 2008)

                This entry was posted on Monday, 10 November 2008, 5:11 pm and is filed under
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Changing Mindsets

by M. Bakri Musa

[Talk given at a forum at the University of Buffalo, on November 1, 2008, themed “Alif Ba Ta, Towards the New Malay,” organized by Kelab UMNO New York-New Jersey.]

We are familiar with E H Weber’s three-bowl water experiment where if you were to put your right hand in a basin of warm water and the left in cold, and then both in a bowl of water at room temperature, the right would feel it as cold while the left, warm.  The physical reality is the same yet your perception is very different, in fact the very opposite.

            Dispensing with the philosophical discussion on the meaning of reality, I would modify the oft-quoted observation that “perception is reality” to “perception creates the reality.”

We view reality through our own special lens, which imparts its own hue and tint, the consequence of our experiences and expectations as shaped by, among others, our culture, language, and environment.  Language especially, as it is more than just a means of communication; it is also our collective way of looking at and understanding the world, the basic thesis of Edward Sapir.

Additionally, the reality we perceive depends on how it is being framed.  Framing, by definition, means highlighting certain elements and excluding others.

Fixed Versus Growth Mindset

While we cannot remove those personal lenses, we can be made aware of the consequent possible distortions and amplifications.  One way would be to purposefully put on another pair of lens over it.  Only then would we notice that all lenses carry their own special tinting and refracting.

Behind those lenses is our brain that processes all these signals and tries to discern the pattern.  This neurological complex is our mindset, the fixed mental attitude or disposition that predetermines our responses to and interpretations of situations; our inclination or habit.

The Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck suggests that one has either a “fixed mindset” or a “growth mindset.”  The first group view their talent and ability as fixed, and that their lot in life is ultimately tied up with their innate nature.

Those with the growth mindset believe that their fate is dependent on how adaptive they are in seizing opportunities, as well as how well they grow with and adapt to their experiences.  They do not believe that their fate is dependent on what nature had bestowed upon them, the benevolence of some remote emperor, or what had been written in the book of life.

In medieval times those of the fixed mindset believed that their fate was set at birth.  Born a peasant and you would always remain one, and so would your children and their children.  This was continually reinforced by cultural beliefs and religious convictions (predetermination).  In this scientific age, those with a fixed mindset attribute their success to their innate ability, which ultimately is related to their genes.

Scientific sophism aside, this biologic determinism is just as crippling as the religious pre-determinism of yore (or still is today in many Muslim societies).

The good news is that even if you are of the fixed mindset, you can change it into the growth mindset.  Dweck’s book, Mindset:  The New Psychology of Success, suggests a number of ways of recognizing whether you are of a fixed mindset, and then learning on how to change it to a growth one.

Changing mindset requires tackling the problem at two levels:  individual and societal.  Your being here at this conference means that you already have a growth mindset, you have the curiosity to consider contrasting viewpoints.

Your studying at an American university means that you are primed for a growth mindset.  To come here you have to have learned English, which is not your native language.  That also opens up your mind to looking at the world in a different way, as per Sapir’s thesis.  The earlier you learn this second language the greater is the ease with which you can learn it, and the easier is it for you to appreciate that reality can be viewed from different perspectives.  This confers other significant cognitive advantages.

Coming here also means living in a different culture in the formative years of your life, another growth mindset primer.  To get the maximal benefit however, you must partake fully in your new environment and seize it as an opportunity to enrich your life.  You would limit this opportunity were you to cocoon yourself within the familiar environment of your campus and fellow countrymen.

American universities have a unique tradition of liberal education.  The best definition of a liberal education is this:  It cultivates the mind and refines judgment.  Few systems of higher education in the world offer this opportunity to indulge your intellectual curiosity, and explore disciplines that at this stage may seem unrelated to your ultimate career choice.  I say at this stage, for as you advance in your career you will find that you will fall back on the wisdom and insights you have gleaned from those apparently unrelated disciplines.

These advantages would be for naught if you have a fixed mindset.  Indeed that would only reinforce your preexisting perceptions and prejudices, what social scientists refer to as “confirmation bias,” the tendency to search for or interpret new information in a way that confirms your preconceptions and avoid those that do not.  If you believe that the West is inherently decadent, then when visiting Washington, D.C., all you would see only are the porn shops, street potholes, and the homeless pandering.  You would certainly miss Georgetown University, Library of Congress, and the National Institutes of Health.

The writer Anis Sabirin, a former Fulbright scholar and who spent decades living in Los Angeles, related in her memoir Dua Dunia (Two Worlds) her experience driving across America and visiting the Library of Congress.  She was treated with the utmost courtesy and given all the help she needed, in contrast to her miserable experience at the University of Malaya library where she was a former faculty member!

Anis Sabirin is a Claremont PhD in economics; she is the beneficiary of America’s tradition of liberal education.  Even though she is passionate about her love for Malaysia as reflected in her stirring syairs, yet she has an open attitude to discern these differences.  That is the essence of having a growth mindset.

These two activities – traveling and reading (as reflected by visiting libraries) – are the best ways to enhance a growth mindset, as long as you keep an open mind and be aware of the dangers of confirmation bias.  Restrictions on travel, standard in China, Russia and other repressive societies, together with book banning and burning, are the crudest expression of this fixed mindset.

While all of you here are primed for a growth mindset, the opportunities for those back home are much more restricted if not non-existent.  Even if they were so inclined to be curious and explore new vistas, the environment is far from conducive, in fact it is downright repressive.

Personal Merdeka

Tradition has it that when an Orang Asli young man comes of age, he would be given his axe and then told to leave the tribal home to fend for himself in the jungle.  That is one quick and sure way to learn your way in this world!  This ritual “leaving home” symbolizes liberation, a personal merdeka of sorts.  The axe represents the appropriate tool for surviving the jungle.  That is what we should be doing with our young; liberate them and equip them with the necessary tool, which in the current world would mean knowledge.

We can nurture a growth mindset in our young through enlightened educational policies.  One way would be to develop the child’s full spectrum of talent, from learning a second language early to exposing them to the performing and fine arts as well as sports.  Only through this wide exposure would we ensure not missing the child’s hidden talent.  Further, studies have shown that when a child excels in one area, that transfers on to other areas.

Our universities should emphasize liberal education, with students exposed to the humanities as well as the social and natural sciences regardless of their ultimate career choices.  Professional qualifications like law and medicine should be graduate degrees after having obtained a solid liberal education.

As for culture, its tendency is inherently conservative, towards maintaining the status quo.  Culture nurtures the fixed mindset, especially so in traditional societies.  Malay culture is definitely that, with its emphasis on titles, honorifics, and social hierarchy.

This deference is reinforced by our religion, or rather the way we teach it.  We emphasize taqlid, the following of edicts of earlier scholars.  It is interesting that the word taqlîd is derived from the root qallada, meaning, “to place a collar (qilâdah) around the neck,” thus leading someone “by the collar.”

We should pay due deference to precedents so as to maintain stability, but we should not be trapped by it.  To me that is what taqlid means, not blindly following those before you but being guided by them.

Fear of Failure

One crucial cultural attribute to enhancing the growth mindset is the healthy attitude towards failure.  In Silicon Valley, a failed entrepreneur would recoup and then try again.  He or she considers his failure as a badge of honor, at least on becoming successful.  Failure is viewed as a learning experience.  In Malay culture we berate those who have bravely tried but failed, instead of offering help and encouragement.  Worse, he or she would forever be tagged as a failure and be looked upon as reflecting all the inadequacies of his race.

This fear of and stigma associated with failure are destructive.  As Hamka wisely observed, “Takut gaggal adalah gagal sejati!”  (The fear of failure is the real failure).

Mistakes and failures are part of life.  Physicians have a pragmatic approach to mistakes.  In making clinical decisions, all things being equal, we would pursue a path where should we make a mistake it would be more readily corrected than one where our mistakes would be more difficult to remedy.

For example, surgeons will opt to operate on a suspected acute appendicitis and find out that it is normal (that is, a “mistake”) rather than risk missing an inflamed appendix that would later rupture and put the patient’s life in jeopardy.

Geography also plays a role in shaping our mindset.  Throughout the world coastal areas and others exposed to large body of water are more cosmopolitan than inland.  In China, it is Shanghai; Malaysia, Malacca; and India, Goa.  With the traditional mode of transportation being over water, areas easily accessible to water would be open to new visitors (traditionally mainly traders).  Their residents are thus used to the infusion of new people, cultures, and ideas.

I end my discussion on changing mindset by referring to that delightful feature animation movie, Happy Feet.  Even if we are all singers, we should still respect those who cannot sing, for they may well be great dancers.  Their rhythmic dancing may complement our fine singing.  That film captures the essence of what I am trying to convey here about having an open mind and a growth mindset.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 10 November 2008, 7:32 am and is filed under
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Nor Mohd to give full and proper accounting of Valuecap tomorrow

During the debate in Parliament today, I spoke on the controversy of the RM5 billion EPF loan to Valuecap to double its funds to RM10 billion to buy undervalued stocks and asked for a full and proper accounting of Valuecap since its establishment about six  years ago.

I said that the Second Finance Minister, Datuk Nor Mohd Yakcop, who was at the time the Economic Adviser to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, had announced when Valuecap Sdn. Bhd., was set up in early 2003,  that it would be operating with RM10 billion funds – and  that the cash for the RM10 billion had already been provided to Valuecap by the three equal owners, Khazanah Nasional Bhd, Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) and Kumpulan Wang Amanah Pencen (KWAP).

However, Valuecap actually had RM5 billion and not RM10 billion as stated publicly by Nor Mohd Yakcop.

I asked Nor Mohd, who is now Second Finance Minister and was in the House to shepherd through the Finance Ministry’s committee stage, to explain.

As Valuecap had never given any proper accounting of its performance in the past five to six years, I asked Nor  Mohd to provide such information in his reply.

I also raised the opposition  of the workers and in particular the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) to the government directive to EPF to advance the RM5 billion loan from workers’ savings  to Valuecap to prop up the stock market.

Nor Mohd will start replying first thing tomorrow morning.

On the way out of Parliament after today’s meeting, I bumped into him and spoke to him about the need for full and proper accounting of Valuecap to Malaysian taxpayers as this had never been done before.

The Minister agreed, remarking that the government’s problem is that it had not explained enough.

We can look forward to the first full and proper accounting of Valuecap’s performance in the past five to six years  in Parliament tomorrow!

                This entry was posted on Monday, 10 November 2008, 6:48 pm and is filed under
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Police mayhem

Firstly, the excessive police force and violence at yesterday peaceful candlelight  vigil to campaign for “No to ISA” and  mark the first anniversary BERSIH campaign for free, fair and clean elections must be condemned in the strongest possible terms.

It shows that the police has completely forgotten the important recommendation of the Royal Police Commission that the police force should become an efficient, professional, incorruptible world-class police service with three priority objectives – to keep crime low, eradicate corruption and respect human rights.

If the Royal Police Commission recommendations had been taken seriously, the shameful and disgraceful episode in Petaling Jaya yesterday, where some 23 people were arrested including DAP MP for Petaling Jaya Utara Tony Pua,  DAP Selangor State  Exco Ronnie Liu and DAP Selangor State Assemblyman  for Kampong Tunku Lau Weng San would not have happened.

Why is  the massive deployment of police personnel to break up a peaceful gathering of Malaysians to campaign  for freedom, justice and democracy by excessive police force and violence continue to be a greater priority and more important police agenda  than the mobilization of police personnel to keep crime low and restore to Malaysians, tourists and investors their  fundamental right and freedom to be safe from crime and the fear of crime?

The police under Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan has got the police priorities all wrong and misplaced, and this has been illustrated in a most outrageous manner  by what happened in the 24 hours yesterday – on the one hand, excessive police violence  to arrest 23 peaceful celebrants of freedom, including elected representatives in PJ while total police impotence in a Mat Rempit mob rampage in Jalan Loke Yew, KL beating four  people unconscious as if Malaysia is a broken-down fourth-world failed state!

What has Musa to say about the disgraceful mayhem at Jalan Loke Yew in the early hours of yesterday  morning where Mat Rempit mob rule imposed a regime of sheer lawlessness without any police presence or  intervention?

I am shocked that Musa could still prattle about “the security of the country was very much under control” under his charge, when the reverse is the case – in a special interview with the Star today. “Ensuring men in blue won’t be spent force” – Star)

Musa said that the crime rate had increased to 209,559 last year and he is very proud that the figure is expected to remain almost the same this year.

This is like a student who had scored F7 for a subject in an examination last year and very proud that he is still getting F7 this year!

Musa is setting a bad example for the entire police force in completely forgetting about the Royal Police Commission Report to reduce the crime index.

In its report in May 2005, the Royal Police  Commission found that it was completely unacceptable that there had been a “dramatic” 29 per cent increase in the incidence of crime from 121,176 cases in 1997 to 156,455 cases in 2004, and recommended “As an immediate measure, PDRM should target a minimum of 20 per cent decrease in the number of crimes committed for each category within 12 months”.

If the Royal Police Commission’s recommendation of a minimum 20 per cent decrease in crimes within 12 months of its Report  had been achieved, then the 156,455 crime incidence in 2004 should have declined to 125,164 cases in 2005.

Instead, under Musa’s leadership, the police fought a losing war against the rising crime index, which had worsened from 156,315 cases in 2003 to break the 200,000 barrier  in 2007 – a sharp rise of some 34% in the past four years.

Instead of saying sorry to Malaysians for the failure of the police under his leadership to meet the target set by the Royal Police Commission, we have the IGP preening himself with pride that the crime index this year is likely to be the same with those of last year, breaking the 200,000 barrier!

I had called for Musa Hassan resignation as IGP in Parliament last month and I reiterate my call, as he has ceased to be a professional policeman dedicated to the three objectives set out by the Royal Police Commission for the police force  – to keep crime low, to eradicate corruption in the police force and to respect human rights.

[Media Conference Statement in Parliament on Sunday 10th November 2008 at 11 am]

                This entry was posted on Monday, 10 November 2008, 12:18 pm and is filed under
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Urgent motion in Parliament – no to Hamid’s appeal to court to re-arrest RPK

I have given notice to the Speaker, Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia to move an urgent motion of definite public importance in Parliament tomorrow urging the Cabinet to overrule Home Minister, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar’s decision to appeal against the Shah Alam High Court decision to free Malaysia Today website editor Raja Petra Kamaruddin from Internal Security Act (ISA) detention.

My motion, under Standing Order 18, deplores Hamid’s decision to appeal as “utter contempt for the fundamental concept of the rule of law and the most rudimentary commitment to human rights in the country”.

The motion said:

“In ordering Raja Petra’s release after a 56-day ISA detention, Shah Alam High Court judge  Justice Syed Ahmad Helmy Syed Ahmad ruled in the blogger’s habeas corpus application that the Home Minister acted outside his powers in detaining  Raja Petra under the  ISA, as the  grounds given for Raja Petra’s detention were insufficient rendering the ISA detention unlawful.

“Furthermore,  Hamid acted mala fide in a very substantive manner in issuing a detention order under Section 8 of the ISA not because Raja Petra constituted a threat to national security but to frustrate the administration of justice and the rule of law by “killing off” Raja Petra’s earlier habeas corpus application slated for hearing at the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Sept. 23 to challenge the legality of his initial  ISA detention on Sept. 12 under Section 73.

“The Shah Alam High Court decision to free Raja Petra is in fact a positive reflection in the last five months of the Abdullah premiership and  should be the occasion for the Cabinet to undertake a full review of the draconian laws in the country as well as to uphold the doctrine of the separation of powers by repealing all legislation which institutionalizes the executive usurpation of judicial powers and independence by excluding judicial review of abuses of executive power, like Section 8 of the ISA.

“Hamid’s decision to appeal against the High Court decision is proof that the Minister, though a lawyer, is  unrepentant in refusing to understand the changes demanded by Malaysians after the March 8 “political tsunami” for a full restoration of the just rule of law, a truly independent judiciary and a total end to all forms of abuses of executive power.

“The Cabinet should  overrule Hamid’s decision to  re-arrest  Raja Petra and  send him  back to Kamunting Detention Centre.”

This is time for MCA, Gerakan and all Barisan Nasional  (BN) leaders to walk the talk as MCA/Gerakan Ministers and leaders have been staging a  “song and dance” in the country about their new-found opposition to and criticism of  the ISA, demanding a review if not repeal of the draconian detention-without-trial law.

The MCA and Gerakan have in their recent national delegates conferences passed resolutions demanding review if not repeal of the ISA.

Last week, another BN  component party, The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from Sabah also passed a resolution calling for review of the ISA at its national congress, questioning whether the ISA was still relevant and whether there was a need for the scope of the Act to be clearly defined if it was still needed.

Yesterday, the Deputy Home Minister, Datuk Chor Chee Heong said in Alor Star that he is opposed to the ISA arrest of the Sin Chew senior report, Tan Hoon Cheng, DAP MP for Seputeh Teresa Kok and blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin.

Did he make his opposition to the ISA arrests of the trio  loud and clear to the Home Minister?  Have the four MCA Ministers taken a common and collective stand in Cabinet to oppose the ISA detention of the trio, including Raja Petra?

Are  Chor and the MCA, Gerakan, LDP and other BN   leaders now prepared to oppose Hamid’s appeal against the Shah Alam High Court decision on Raja Petra’s habeas corpus application – implying the re-arrest of Raja Petra and his being  sent back to Kamunting Detention Centre?

The statement by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in Kepala Batas on the  ISA detention of Raja Petra  is most unfortunate and shocking.

Abdullah claimed that the Government had always been careful when enforcing the ISA , stating: “The ISA is not a tool to be used at our whim and fancy. There must be reasons to warrant any arrest and it must be used with caution.”

When Abdullah cannot convince the Deputy Home Minister that the ISA had not been used arbitrarily at Hamid’s  “whim and fancy”, how can the Prime Minister expect to convince Malaysians at large and the world outside that there had been no gross abuse of power of the ISA?

The Shah Alam High Court has found gross abuse of ISA power in Raja Petra’s detention. The court of national and international opinion are united in consensus that the ISA detention of Tan Hoon Cheng, Teresa Kok and Raja Petra are gross abuses of power – how else explain the relase of the Sin Chew report after eight hours and Teresa after seven days?

This is why there should be a special debate on the ISA in Parliament, including whether Hamid shoulod proceed with his decision to appeal against the Shah Alam High Court decision to free Raja Petra from ISA detention .

With the latest developments, I call on Barisan Nasional MPs including Ministers and Deputy Ministers like Chor to endorse the collective requisition by 85 MPs for a full debate on the ISA.

The Parliamentary Caucus on Repeal of ISA and release of all ISA detainees will hold an emergency meeting today to  discuss the issue.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 10 November 2008, 9:45 am and is filed under
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MCAC Bill – “magic formula” to transform Malaysia into a model nation in anti-corruption?

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced at the National Integrity Convention in Kuching last  Friday that the Cabinet had on the same day approved the
Malaysian Commission on Anti-Corruption (MCAC) Bill
, which would replace the Anti-Corruption Act and will be “the foundation for the formation of an anti-corruption commission that is effective and subject to independent monitoring through a comprehensive check-and-balance system”.

Abdullah said the MCAC bill will be tabled for first reading in Parliament
“as soon as possible”
.

However, it would appear that the Prime Minister’s concept of “as soon as possible” is very different from that of the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz who will be responsible for piloting the bill through Parliament.

This is because Nazri was reported in the press the  next day as saying  that the MCAC Bill would be tabled for first first reading in Parliament by
December 11
, which is one full month away!

I call on Nazri to speed up and table the MCAC Bill  for first reading in Parliament without further delay, possibly this week itself, to allow for fullest public feedback and debate before a parliamentary vote on what has been bruited as Abdullah’s legacy as the fifth Prime Minister of Malaysia.

However, there is greater  skepticism than belief  among Malaysians that the MCAC would be the “magic formula” to transform Malaysia from a country in an unchecked plunge in annual  international corruption rankings, whether Transparency International (TI) or the Political and Economic Risks Consultancy (PERC) into a country in the forefront of model nations in integrity and anti-corruption.

Can Abdullah achieve in the next five months what he had failed in the past five years  – to declare an all-out war on corruption in Malaysians?  It will be very difficult to find takers for this belief especially when Abdullah won’t be around when the legislation is enforced!

Recent developments in the past eight months since the March 8 political tsunami have only cast doubt that the MCAC will not end up as a toothless tiger like the Suhakam, which was established with the statutory duties to protect and promote human rights but has proved to be nothing more than a “window-dressing”!

Reasons for the great skepticism that the MCAC would be able to make any difference in combating the worsening corruption in the country include the following:

·	Terminal denial complex by all in authority at the failure of Abdullah’s  five-year National Integrity Plan to reduce corruption and improve Malaysia’s ranking in Transparency International Corruption Perception Index to at least No. 30 by 2008 – as instead we have plunged further down to No. 47, and still heading south!

·	The MCAC Bill is driven by the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) which has proven to be totally impotent in fighting the “sharks” in contrast to the “ikan yu” in corruption – with a likely similar outcome of a more glorified MCAC as compared to ACA but with little change in real power  equation to be able to take action against the corrupted high-and-mighty in power without “green-light” from the sitting Prime Minister.

·	This is why there is the scandal of Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) investigating the case of RM100 million money-laundering involving a Sabah politician but which the ACA has studiously avoided investigating, although a police report had been lodged on the same matter!

·	The total impotence of ACA despite  a thousand complaints of money politics in Umno party electioneering, with Umno disciplinary board chairman Tengku Ahmad Rithauddeen openly conceding that “Money politics in Umno has now become too deeply rooted for the party to completely deal with it” which “seems to be getting worse with every party election”.

·	The singular lack of commitment on the part of the Prime Minister-designate Datuk Seri Najib Razak to wipe out corruption and what is worse, with him hounded and haunted by serious allegations concerning integrity which he is not prepared to completely dispel through  a Royal Commission of Inquiry.

In view of these widespread reservations about whether there is real  political commitment and will to fight corruption, it is all the more imperative that the MCAC Bill should be made public to allow for the fullest public discussion and consultation now  before it is debated in Parliament next month.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 11 November 2008, 10:40 am and is filed under
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The growing anti-ISA rebellion

DEWAN DISPATCHES: As rebellion grows, the Internal Security Act’s tryst with destiny

By
Azmi Anshar
New Straits Times

2008/11/10

DEWAN RAKYAT Nov 10, 2008:

Three discrete incidents yoked to the Internal Security Act interplayed with Lim Kit Siang’s urgent House motion filed today demanding the Speaker allow its deliberation tomorrow in the Dewan Rakyat. Kit could not have chosen a more opportune time to shove this motion that entangles Raja Petra Kamaruddin’s unexpected release from ISA detention and the Home Ministry’s push to have him re-arrested, with Umno’s show cause letter to its rebel ex-Minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim for collaborating with the Opposition to repeal the ISA and the Bersih’s anti-ISA vigil that concluded chaotically with police arrest of demonstrators.

It has always the DAP MP for Ipoh Timor’s pitbullish mission to dismantle the Internal Security Act, in particular its most galling provision of detention without trial that had been inflicted on the DAP supremo, his son and their many comrades over the past 40 years. If there is a an agenda of the highest order in his series of campaigns to neutralise what he perceives as underhanded Government tactics, the ISA’s dismantling would be his crowning glory, perhaps more profound than the slimmest idea of becoming Deputy Prime Minister.

For now, Kit is seeking that the Cabinet overrule the decision of Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar to appeal against the Shah Alam High Court’s decision to free Raja Petra, he of the Malaysia Today infamy, and force the gadfly of sordid web tales to return to Kamunting. Invoking Standing Order 18, Kit injected his motion with an appeal on the “positive reflection” in the last five months of the Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s premiership, hoping, in his own words, that the PM would “direct the Cabinet to fully review draconian laws and uphold the doctrine of separation of powers by repealing laws institutionalising executive usurpation of judicial powers and independence.”

Generally, and under the police recommendation, the Home Minister acts independently of the Cabinet in signing away detention warrants so Kit’s motion is, while not exactly an exercise in futility, a long shot that the Cabinet may weigh favourably. In any case, Kit has to surmount that formidable martinet of a Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia, who by any level of expectation, would likely to summarily dismiss the motion in the time he thumps his gavel.

Kit’s true mission, it can be discern, is to dismantle the ISA as an institution that needs to be trashed to the gutters of history, but is there any affection for Raja Petra himself, the gadfly of the hour? Not everyone have that kind of affinity for the blogger whose notoriety surpasses his reputation. RPK, as he is better known, has less to do with trust for his writings than with the infectious fantasist tales of murder, political connivance and general mayhem that he routinely publishes.

If you troll the people who react to RPK’s grisly tales, you would not fail to notice that he commands a humongous horde of zombies (or a few zombies firing off thousands of missives under a slew of nom de guerres), who flames anyone who criticises or even questions RPK’s facts, fancies and fantasies, even if the critique was contributed in good faith and laid out constructively. Like snarling Rottweilers, the zombies will claw away, first at the commentator’s manhood, than lineage and then organisation, in despicable language and menacing tone without ever addressing the substance of the critique. RPK, it seems, can do no wrong, even when his accusations are wild, brazen and unproven.

RPK also does not play according to the rules. If the whole political shebang was a game of football, RPK is the player who would nonchalantly score using illegal Hand of God and an ill-will tackler of such ferocious intensity that he’ll break your legs with a two-footed tackle rather than let you advance into his goalmouth. RPK thinks nothing of committing fouls, accepting condescendingly a first yellow card and then inviting a second from the referee for another indecent foul that leads to the consequential send-off.

But no, he is so disdainful of any fouls that he feels he is impervious to any form of red-card offence, so he defiantly stays on the field continuing as if the game cannot resume without him. The exasperated referee would have no choice but to instruct the security handlers to bundle away RPK out of the field while he shouts and screams that he is the victim of a mass conspiracy. That’s the way RPK enacts his brand of journalism: devise, imagine or concoct stories of murder, mayhem and debauchery that forces the target of his attacks to retaliate by filing a libel lawsuit, which RPK would ignore as if it was an inconvenience by refusing to appear in court to defend himself. When the plaintiffs win a judgment by default, RPK sneers at it contemptuously and declares that he won’t pay a single sen in damages.

Regardless of the scorched earth assault he launches on his victims, RPK is roundly hailed as hero, saint and martyr. Very much infallible, indefatigable and indestructible, his shocked release from ISA detention was willed as evidence to his invincibility. So what’s a RPK victim to do? Two of his perennial targets – Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Umno Youth pretender Khairy Jamaludin – have restrained themselves from launching lawsuits against RPK despite their strong case, realising that no matter what action is constructed against RPK, it would be like firing Teflon bullets that simply glosses over a halo-like forcefield. Is this why RPK had to be restrained under the ISA?

Zaid Ibrahim, on the other hand, does play by the rules, the populist ones at least. When he was fortuitously appointed as a Cabinet Minister as de facto Law Minister, he set forth a couple of axes to grind, the sharpest abrasion leaned heavily on the sins of a certain ex-Prime Minister strongly accused of being instrumental in the sacking of Tun Salleh Abas and four other senior judges for, among others, misusing their bench and insulting the then King in 1988.

Zaid plays the politician so powered by principles that, after persuading the Cabinet to pay a massive RM10.5 million compensation to the five tribunally-expelled judges, resigns in a hissy fit over the ISA detentions of Teresa Kok (DAP-Seputeh) and a journalist, and then sets himself up for imminent punishment from Umno when he openly allied himself with the Opposition’s anti-ISA bandwagon.

The question is, what was Zaid doing in Umno all these years enjoying all those lucrative perks bequeathed to him while he was suckling in the bosom of his Umno patronage? Knowing full well that Umno had been the bulwark behind the ISA’s continuity, why remain in the party, contest in the general election under its ticket and yet spit on your party’s policies while playing to the populist dogmas of the Opposition? A sudden dawning of conscience? Or something else that could explain his impending defection?

In the media conference today, Zaid, who received the show cause letter a fortnight ago over his show-cause letter by Umno over his strident opposition to the ISA, bellowed that the Government failed the people in repeatedly reneging on Tunku Abdul Rahman’s promise that the ISA would “never be used to stifle legitimate opposition and silence lawful dissent.”

Many pundits are gleefully speculating that Zaid is already flirting with the idea of leaving Umno and joining PKR, on the startling supposition that he would hold an extremely senior post should Anwar Ibrahim make good his promise after promise to hijack Federal Government rule by his threats of deducting the BN simple majority into becoming a deficit in Parliament.

As for the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih) candlelight vigil at the PJ New Town that collapsed in a fiasco of arrests, Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar was steadfast in his defence of the police detention of 23 activists. “If those who are unhappy with the way police had dispersed the rally, you should lodge police reports.”

Syed Hamid saw nothing sinful about the detention. “Police work is police work. They are responsible for maintaining law and order. This is routine police work,” he asseverated to reporters at the parliament lobby after fielding stinging rebukes from Kit and his son, Lim Guan Eng (DAP-Bagan) even as he professes to being unaware of details of the incident.

Guan Eng was unrepentant in his attacks against Syed Hamid, expressing shock over the way the police had acted brutishly in rounding up the 23 and breaking up what had been seen as a peaceful rally. “I cannot understand why peaceful citizens and elected representatives were attacked,” Guan Eng said as he shook his head over the arrests that included Tony Pua (DAP- PJ Utara) and Selangor Exco Ronnie Liu, a DAP assemblyman and Lau Weng San, the Kampung Tunku assemblyman.

How’s this for some theatrics in victimology and saintliness? Pua showed reporters the shirt he wore during his scuffle with the security types, pointing fervently to the buttons that had been ripped out due to manhandling by certain policemen despite his willingness to cooperate and walk to the police truck after he was arrested. On a more serious charge, he accused one policeman of kneeing him in the gut while another tried to kick his shin. Lau insisted that police charged the crowd while they were singing “Negaraku” to end the night’s proceedings, a charge vehemently disputed by Selangor police chief Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar. Lau alleged that he was punched twice by a police officer, pointing to bruises on his cheek.

Three discrete incidents, all hounding on the iron-fisted appliance of the ISA’s governance. The growing anti-ISA rebellion has begun to grow exponentially, more so after Zaid is steadily burning his bridges with Umno on his scorn for the ISA and support from Parti Rakyat Sarawak’s Billy Abit Joo (BN-Hulu Rajang) for an Opposition petition for a parliamentary debate to review the ISA.

It’s still premature to question whether the ISA can survive this mass rebellion but Kit is now riding on a Harley-Davidson rather than a trishaw in his quest to fulfill his real destiny – the end of the ISA.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 11 November 2008, 6:14 am and is filed under
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Valuecap – Nor Mohd’s “avoid and evade” game

I had hoped against hope  that the Second Finance Minister, Datuk Nor Mohd Yakcop, would come to Parliament today to give the first full and proper accounting of Valuecap’s performance in the past five to six years.

I was dead wrong.  Nor Mohd staged an “avoid and evade” play, fully agreeing  when I interrupted him that Valuecap needs to be more transparent, but when pressed to give a full and proper accounting of Valuecap’s past performance, pleaded that he did not have the time to do so during the debate.

This prompted my question asking what is the use of him agreeing that Valuecap should be more transparent but refusing to be transparent when asked specifically?

Although Nor Mohd said he did not have the time to give an accounting on the past performance of Valuecap during his winding-up speech, this did not prevent him from going on and on on other subjects – to the extent that I walked out in disgust!

In view of Nor Mohd’s admission  that Valuecap had been remiss in the past in failing to be more accountable and transparent in its custody of taxpayers’ money, and his excuse that he did not have the time in his speech today to be transparent about Valuecap’s past performance, he or the Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak should make a ministerial statement in the current meeting of Parliament to report on the performance of Valuecap in the past five years.

I had earlier asked Nor Mohd why the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), which had been directed by the government  to provide Valuecap with a RM5 billion loan to buy undervalued stocks, had changed its previous standing opposing such an adventurist investment – also reminding him of the MTUC’s objection to the RM5 billion EPF loan to Valuecap.

In November, 2002, when the Valuecap was being set up, there were strong talks in the market that EPF monies would be involved.

I read to Nor Mohd the EPF’s denial and clarification issued on 20th November 2002 by its Deputy Chief Executive Officer (Investment), Dr. Roslan A. Ghaffar, viz:

“The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) denies reports in today’s newspapers (November 20, 2002) which associated the operations of ValueCap Sdn Bhd with the EPF’s investments and two other state-run funds.

“The EPF wishes to clarify that it has not appointed ValueCap Sdn Bhd to manage the EPF’s investment fund. The EPF also denies that its involvement in the KLSE is to shore up the stock market. The EPF’s investments are not used to bail out ailing companies.

“The EPF invests in companies with sound fundamentals, long-term growth potential and competent management. The EPF is always prudent and professional in its approach when investing members’ savings. The Fund ensures that the investments are safe, not exposed to high risks and gives reasonable returns to its members for their retirement.”

Nor Mohd just made a bald denial that EPF had changed its stand on Valuecap investments.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 11 November 2008, 6:31 pm and is filed under
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Why no transparent search committee to pick new University of Malaya Vice Chancellor?

I congratulate  former Multimedia University (MMU) Prof Dr. Ghauth Jasmon on his appointment as University of Malaya Vice Chancellor and hope that he could be successful in his tenure to restore the university’s international academic reputation in getting it back not only into the Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) Top 200 Universities bracket, but even among  the Top 100 Universities.

There have  been good reports about Ghauth’s leadership of MMU for 11 years and the circumstances of his departure from MMU reflected adversely on the university than on him.

I have no criticism of Ghauth’s appointment except to question why the process of selection of University of Malaya Vice Chancellor has not been as transparent and above-board as promised by one Higher Education Minister after another.

Nobody seems to know that Datuk Rafiah Salim was to be replaced as UM Vice Chancellor and she herself was given 48 hours’ notice. In fact, nobody knew that a search for a new UM Vice Chancellor was taking place, who sat on the Search Committee and the candidates being considered.

The search process should be an open and transparent one, with those interested in the post able to submit their applications to the Search Committee, so that the best and most qualified, regardless of race or religion, could be chosen to return Malaysian universities to academic excellence and  the rank of world’s Top Universities.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 11 November 2008, 3:10 pm and is filed under
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Change Doesn’t Have to Take 400 Years to Happen

By
Farish A. Noor

The electoral victory of Barack Obama as the new President of the United States of America is long overdue, and many of us are thankful for it. No, its not because the rest of us are racists who hate white men; and no, its not because we are captive to the essentialised idea that black Americans are all victims and are necessarily good and innocent, in toto. Its simply because change is refreshing and we believe that change is good and healthy for the nation and humanity in general.

I recall taking a flight from Frankfurt to Kuala Lumpur once, when the pilot spoke to the passengers before take off. Suddenly there was a collective gasp of surprise when we realised that our pilot was a woman! I was suddenly gripped by an overwhelming sense of relief and curious pride, for somewhere in my settled conscience the idea had been sedimented that all pilots (like all doctors, scientists and Presidents) had to be male. Throughout the flight I had to resist the temptation of bursting into the cockpit to congratulate her, and to tell her how proud I was to be flying in a plane piloted by a woman for a change. (Though of course because I am Muslim I would have been arrested immediately and handcuffed for fear of being a terrorist!)

That’s how change happens. It takes us by surprise and in a second its over and the historical moment has passed. But it requires that one vital element that makes change possible in the first place: human agency. There would not have been a woman pilot on my flight if this woman had not pursued her ambition to become a pilot relentlessly, never giving up on her dream despite the obstacles she may or may not have faced.

I am only raising this point now as I have noticed a rather disturbing, and potentially dangerous, narrative that has and is being spun in the wake of Obama’s victory. This is the narrative that the change that has come to the United States is due to the long historically determined and linear process of evolution; that we are told takes time, time and more time. We are fed the line that “Of course America has finally changed because it took four hundred years for black Americans to rise to where they are today.”

This sort of non-historical nonsense is served to us warmed up as a pseudo-scientific account of how and why historical progression needs to follow its own appointed destiny, and work within a fixed template that is set and determined in all cases. But this, the historian would like to add, is also utter nonsense.

The French lived under centuries of feudal rule by despotic Kings and Emperors like other Europeans, and for centuries they tried again and again to release themselves from the yoke of feudal domination. Until the time came when contingent historical factors occasioned a radical opening that allowed for revolutionary change at last. Likewise black Americans have been struggling against racism as soon as they were enslaved and brought to America in chains, and it wasn’t just yesterday that they realised that one of them could run for President.

For this reason we should not see Obama’s victory as a sudden and novel development of American society, but rather as one of those openings that allow for rupture from continuity and the historical progression of the same. Historical moments like these are always contingent, radical and unexpected, but they happen because there are human beings who exercise their free will and agency to will and fight for change; rather than to sit by and let history takes its course. History may always be a repetition of sameness, but historical moments take place when that sameness is challenged and successfully ruptured.

Therefore let us not swallow the silly argument that just because it took Americans 400 years to elect a black man as President every other country on the planet needs to wait 400 years before we can do the same too. No, change does not take 400 years to happen. In countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and others, change has been on the boil for some time now and there is ample evidence that the old crumbling structures of governments and institutionalised power are falling apart. Will Malaysians have to wait 400 years before they see a woman as Prime Minister? Or a Malaysian-minded Prime Minister who breaks away from the outdated structures of racialised politics? Will countries like Indonesia, Pakistan, India also have to wait 400 years before we see real change?

The narrative of history threads together elements of the same and the familiar to form a story that is consistent and intelligible, but the historian will tell you that history is replete with contingencies and ironies that broke the mould of the past and charted a new course for the future. For that reason, America’s success and Obama’s success should inspire us not to repeat history, but to go against it. Obama’s struggle against the tide of time makes him a man of our times; and let us hope that for so many other countries in Asia that same untimeliness will prevail as well. We can start by exercising our will for change, and by saying ‘No, we will not wait four hundred years before we dream of a better world today.’

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 12 November 2008, 5:38 am and is filed under
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