... and moving on from Election Day, the first priority of our Opposition State governments and the now very substantial Opposition bloc in the Federal Parliament, is to REIGN IN the Civil Service - with particular emphasis on the POLICE who must be brought to task, reformed, re-engineered, re-trained and otherwise re-organised to reduce the country's crime rate.
Corrupt and inefficient officers interested only in bullying HINDRAF lawyers and booking cars with Singapore licence plates in the hope of earning a fast buck must be punished - in clear, certain and painful terms.
Forensics training, and the mastery of other types of basic evidence gathering, retention and delivery for the purposes of successful prosecution must be the order of the day. No more reliance only on informers, anonymous "tip-offs", and the extraction of doubtful confessions under torture.
Makkal Ossai, Makkal Shakti!!
Lawman
LawMan's Dogs
Killer Beasts Doing Breakfast
Showing posts with label Malay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Malay. Show all posts
Sunday, March 09, 2008
What Happens When You Try to Kill All the Lawyers
The impossible has happened - the BN has lost its two-thirds majority for the first time since 1969, and the Opposition controls 5 states and all Parliamentary seats for the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur (which is not a State).
The DAP, PAS and Keadilan will, operating as a loose coalition, form the State Governments of Penang, Kedah, Perak, and Selangor. In addition, PAS will rule Kelantan with a much stronger majority than it obtained in the last election in 2004.
As President Musharraf discovered much to his dismay when he decided to Kill All the Lawyers - figuratively speaking - Abdullah Badawi's BN has realised, too late, what happens in any functioning society which wants to maintain at least a semblance of democracy: when you find yourself trying to put down (well, at least ignore or denigrate) street protests mounted by lawyers, you are at the deep end of the pool and will drown in the next election.
A tip for politicians in future elections: be careful how you treat the professional class. You start dumping them in jail, it's a good leading indicator that you will fare poorly at the next (honest) polls.
For a better idea of what I'm talking about, go here and here.
And of course, Mr Shakespeare's famous line about Killing All the Lawyers, which when read in context was actually a Major Compliment to the Legal Profession, can be found here (Act IV, Scene 2, Henry VI Part 2).
One compliment to the ruling party though; the Malaysian elections were by and large, free and fair, and allegations and fears of rigging were basically unfounded, going by all currently available evidence.
Unfortunately, as Musharraf discovered in Pakistan, if you rig the vote you lose the elections no matter what the official outcome may be, and if you don't rig the vote then you lose the elections fair and square - either way, you lose.
Like I said, don't put the lawyers down, or you are looking at losing the next polls.
Now, some will say the BN hasn't actually lost the polls, at least not in the way that Musharraf was wiped out in Pakistan. Musharraf wasn't actually up for election; his party lost big and lost all control of Pakistan whereas Badawi WAS up for election, and the BN managed to retain all of East Malaysia and the southern and eastern regions of Peninsular Malaysia. But I say the BN very obviously lost in the sense that despite having gerrymandered election seats over many years in its favour, lopsided media coverage, the devotion of massive resources to a PR campaign, and the detention without trial of its most extreme recent critics (Manoharan & company, of HINDRAF), the BN received an absolute whopping in states it had considered reasonably safe - Selangor, Perak, Kedah - and in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, previously divided between Opposition and BN but as of yesterday TOTALLY Opposition (bar 1 seat). AND the BN lost Penang, was wiped out in Kelantan, AND lost its 2/3 majority - the holy grail of Opposition politicians. The Barisan Nasional has NEVER been beaten so badly since Independence. In Malaysian terms, it counts as a certain defeat.
For the first time in all recorded history, we have 5 Opposition Menteris Besar - one each from Keadilan and the DAP, and 3 from PAS. My congratulations to them all. I just hope they don't waste the chance to Just Change It!
and, for good measure: MAKKAL SHAKTI!!!
- Lawman -
The DAP, PAS and Keadilan will, operating as a loose coalition, form the State Governments of Penang, Kedah, Perak, and Selangor. In addition, PAS will rule Kelantan with a much stronger majority than it obtained in the last election in 2004.
As President Musharraf discovered much to his dismay when he decided to Kill All the Lawyers - figuratively speaking - Abdullah Badawi's BN has realised, too late, what happens in any functioning society which wants to maintain at least a semblance of democracy: when you find yourself trying to put down (well, at least ignore or denigrate) street protests mounted by lawyers, you are at the deep end of the pool and will drown in the next election.
A tip for politicians in future elections: be careful how you treat the professional class. You start dumping them in jail, it's a good leading indicator that you will fare poorly at the next (honest) polls.
For a better idea of what I'm talking about, go here and here.
And of course, Mr Shakespeare's famous line about Killing All the Lawyers, which when read in context was actually a Major Compliment to the Legal Profession, can be found here (Act IV, Scene 2, Henry VI Part 2).
One compliment to the ruling party though; the Malaysian elections were by and large, free and fair, and allegations and fears of rigging were basically unfounded, going by all currently available evidence.
Unfortunately, as Musharraf discovered in Pakistan, if you rig the vote you lose the elections no matter what the official outcome may be, and if you don't rig the vote then you lose the elections fair and square - either way, you lose.
Like I said, don't put the lawyers down, or you are looking at losing the next polls.
Now, some will say the BN hasn't actually lost the polls, at least not in the way that Musharraf was wiped out in Pakistan. Musharraf wasn't actually up for election; his party lost big and lost all control of Pakistan whereas Badawi WAS up for election, and the BN managed to retain all of East Malaysia and the southern and eastern regions of Peninsular Malaysia. But I say the BN very obviously lost in the sense that despite having gerrymandered election seats over many years in its favour, lopsided media coverage, the devotion of massive resources to a PR campaign, and the detention without trial of its most extreme recent critics (Manoharan & company, of HINDRAF), the BN received an absolute whopping in states it had considered reasonably safe - Selangor, Perak, Kedah - and in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, previously divided between Opposition and BN but as of yesterday TOTALLY Opposition (bar 1 seat). AND the BN lost Penang, was wiped out in Kelantan, AND lost its 2/3 majority - the holy grail of Opposition politicians. The Barisan Nasional has NEVER been beaten so badly since Independence. In Malaysian terms, it counts as a certain defeat.
For the first time in all recorded history, we have 5 Opposition Menteris Besar - one each from Keadilan and the DAP, and 3 from PAS. My congratulations to them all. I just hope they don't waste the chance to Just Change It!
and, for good measure: MAKKAL SHAKTI!!!
- Lawman -
Thursday, January 04, 2007
This is going to Kill MAS?
Lately I've been hearing horror stories about MAS, in particular its standard of service. Seems that morale is very low, and employees are merely going through the motions. Was it like this before the sale of MAS to a certain (now former) cellphone tycoon a decade ago? I cannot remember, so it probably was not (I would remember bad service, not good service - that, I would take for granted).
Well, this is not going to make the folks at MAS jump for joy - it might make a few jump ship, or jump plane, at any rate jump airline, but if you owned shares in MAS you wouldn't be looking to add to your holdings right now.
For a first, I'm going to do both the link and the entire article - talk about unnecessary infringements of copyright - however, the source is named (BERNAMA):
http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v3/news_business.php?id=239622
"Business
January 04, 2007 21:21 PM
Malaysian Aviation Industry Takes A Quantum Leap
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 4 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian aviation industry is taking a quantum leap following the government's vision of making the country a regional hub, when it gave Fly Asian Express (FAX) the nod to divert from its normal domestic routes to offer budget long-haul services to Asia, Australia and Europe.
FAX is 50 per cent owned by AirAsia Bhd chief executive officer, Datuk Tony Fernandes, while the other two shareholders -- Kamarudin and Raja Mohd Azmi -- owned 30 per cent and 20 per cent respectively. It operates a rural air services in Sabah and Sarawak since Aug 1, 2006.
The move augurs well for Visit Malaysia Year 2007 in attracting more tourists, further boost the tourism industry and will have a spin-off effects on the economy.
It would also enable locals to travel abroad at much cheaper rates.
"Such efforts would promote travelling both inbound and outbound," said AmResearch Sdn Bhd head of research, Gan Kim Khoon.
Being the first business model of a budget long-haul service itself gives a sense of pride to the country as well as for operators, FAX and AirAsia Bhd.
However, for some it came as a surprise.
"It is a surprise. I feel a bit peculiar that AirAsia or FAX would depart from their original point-to-point destinations and test flights that are more than 3.5 hours," said Standard&Poors Equity Research airline analysts, Shukor Yusof.
FAX, together with Richard Branson's Virgin Group and Stelios Haji-Ioannou's easyGroup, the parent company of Britain's easyJet, is expected to announce tomorrow plans to offer long-haul low-cost services to the three continents.
Shukor said the market for long-haul flights was different from low-cost models or structures which were currently used by AirAsia and other low-cost carriers (LCCs) in the region.
"It really depends on what FAX or AirAsia hopes to achieve in the new venture because they have to price it differently. But then again pricing alone is not the only factor in the business," he said.
He said a passenger's decision to fly is not purely based on pricing alone but a combination of factors including connectivity, services and route selection.
"Hence, the model would be flawed if the company decides to design the long-haul budget business based on pricing structure alone.
"The model will be flawed if it is going to be based on pricing alone as long-haul flights need certain number of business class passengers who are able to pay more compared with casual travellers or backpackers.
"You got to fill your flights everyday. If you don't have enough people using your aircraft to go abroad, long distance flying becomes insignificant and your cost will rise and margins eroded," he said.
Asked on the impact on the aviation industry in Malaysia given that this would be the longest LCC route, Shukor said there would not be much in the near future.
He said this could very well serve the company and country in the long run.
Reports, quoting sources, said if the FAX-easyJet-Virgin alliance decides to fly to London as well, they could also use the Luton airport as a hub because Virgin already operates a rail link from there to central London.
The alliance would also give Virgin and easyJet an access to Kuala Lumpur's LCC terminal, the gateway to a dream Asian hub for their Europe to Australia routes.
Shukor was optimistic this local venture could be successful if there was a bigger market for such services.
Asked on Malaysia's aim to become the aviation hub for the region, both Shukor and Gan agreed there was a possibility of it being realised.
Both believed it was important to have substantial inter-connectivity and bigger volume of airlines flying in and out of Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).
"Arguably, Malaysia does not really have prominent inter-connectivity, which is a fact," said Gan.
"But should FAX pull off this feat, it would entice more airlines to touch base with KLIA," said Shukor.
On a more personal note, he said, this was the beginning of an even more adventurous journey for Fernandes and company.
"He has proven pundits wrong when he started AirAsia, which is currently the most successful and profitable low-cost airline in the region," he said."
-- BERNAMA
Well, this is not going to make the folks at MAS jump for joy - it might make a few jump ship, or jump plane, at any rate jump airline, but if you owned shares in MAS you wouldn't be looking to add to your holdings right now.
For a first, I'm going to do both the link and the entire article - talk about unnecessary infringements of copyright - however, the source is named (BERNAMA):
http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v3/news_business.php?id=239622
"Business
January 04, 2007 21:21 PM
Malaysian Aviation Industry Takes A Quantum Leap
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 4 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian aviation industry is taking a quantum leap following the government's vision of making the country a regional hub, when it gave Fly Asian Express (FAX) the nod to divert from its normal domestic routes to offer budget long-haul services to Asia, Australia and Europe.
FAX is 50 per cent owned by AirAsia Bhd chief executive officer, Datuk Tony Fernandes, while the other two shareholders -- Kamarudin and Raja Mohd Azmi -- owned 30 per cent and 20 per cent respectively. It operates a rural air services in Sabah and Sarawak since Aug 1, 2006.
The move augurs well for Visit Malaysia Year 2007 in attracting more tourists, further boost the tourism industry and will have a spin-off effects on the economy.
It would also enable locals to travel abroad at much cheaper rates.
"Such efforts would promote travelling both inbound and outbound," said AmResearch Sdn Bhd head of research, Gan Kim Khoon.
Being the first business model of a budget long-haul service itself gives a sense of pride to the country as well as for operators, FAX and AirAsia Bhd.
However, for some it came as a surprise.
"It is a surprise. I feel a bit peculiar that AirAsia or FAX would depart from their original point-to-point destinations and test flights that are more than 3.5 hours," said Standard&Poors Equity Research airline analysts, Shukor Yusof.
FAX, together with Richard Branson's Virgin Group and Stelios Haji-Ioannou's easyGroup, the parent company of Britain's easyJet, is expected to announce tomorrow plans to offer long-haul low-cost services to the three continents.
Shukor said the market for long-haul flights was different from low-cost models or structures which were currently used by AirAsia and other low-cost carriers (LCCs) in the region.
"It really depends on what FAX or AirAsia hopes to achieve in the new venture because they have to price it differently. But then again pricing alone is not the only factor in the business," he said.
He said a passenger's decision to fly is not purely based on pricing alone but a combination of factors including connectivity, services and route selection.
"Hence, the model would be flawed if the company decides to design the long-haul budget business based on pricing structure alone.
"The model will be flawed if it is going to be based on pricing alone as long-haul flights need certain number of business class passengers who are able to pay more compared with casual travellers or backpackers.
"You got to fill your flights everyday. If you don't have enough people using your aircraft to go abroad, long distance flying becomes insignificant and your cost will rise and margins eroded," he said.
Asked on the impact on the aviation industry in Malaysia given that this would be the longest LCC route, Shukor said there would not be much in the near future.
He said this could very well serve the company and country in the long run.
Reports, quoting sources, said if the FAX-easyJet-Virgin alliance decides to fly to London as well, they could also use the Luton airport as a hub because Virgin already operates a rail link from there to central London.
The alliance would also give Virgin and easyJet an access to Kuala Lumpur's LCC terminal, the gateway to a dream Asian hub for their Europe to Australia routes.
Shukor was optimistic this local venture could be successful if there was a bigger market for such services.
Asked on Malaysia's aim to become the aviation hub for the region, both Shukor and Gan agreed there was a possibility of it being realised.
Both believed it was important to have substantial inter-connectivity and bigger volume of airlines flying in and out of Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).
"Arguably, Malaysia does not really have prominent inter-connectivity, which is a fact," said Gan.
"But should FAX pull off this feat, it would entice more airlines to touch base with KLIA," said Shukor.
On a more personal note, he said, this was the beginning of an even more adventurous journey for Fernandes and company.
"He has proven pundits wrong when he started AirAsia, which is currently the most successful and profitable low-cost airline in the region," he said."
-- BERNAMA
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
The Old Man Must Learn to Let Go
The Old Man has to learn that his time is past. When he was PM he created a culture of fear. Operation Lallang was his doing. Anwar's sodomy trial and related actions were his doing. Twas he who sacked Tun Salleh Abbas. So Malaysia is no less an oppressed society now than when he was at the helm.
The Old Man can be praised for doing great things. I won't go through the list of his achievements here. No space. Suffice to say that when Al Gore came to KL and insulted the entire nation at a dinner at which he was the guest of honour and we were the host, I felt sufficiently annoyed to register an email address in the Old Man's name for myself and to circulate a non-anonymous email to all my friends at that time, denouncing Al Gore's lack of any grasp whatsoever of the subject matter of his speech. I thought it was a defining moment of the Old Man's career when, irregardless of who he may have annoyed, the entire nation stepped back and gave him its full backing against what was an obviously unwarranted attack by a rude, arrogant guest. Hopefully the guest has learned something in the intervening decade. He has, after all lost a US Presidential election in the meantime.
Anyway, back to the core of this post: whatever great things the Old Man did, his time is past. He did it to himself; no one else. So to now try to do a Jesus or a Lazarus (come back from the political dead) is downright bad taste. Let go. Your time is over, Old Man. You retired. It was your choice. Now stay retired so the rest of us can get on with our lives.
LMT.
The Old Man can be praised for doing great things. I won't go through the list of his achievements here. No space. Suffice to say that when Al Gore came to KL and insulted the entire nation at a dinner at which he was the guest of honour and we were the host, I felt sufficiently annoyed to register an email address in the Old Man's name for myself and to circulate a non-anonymous email to all my friends at that time, denouncing Al Gore's lack of any grasp whatsoever of the subject matter of his speech. I thought it was a defining moment of the Old Man's career when, irregardless of who he may have annoyed, the entire nation stepped back and gave him its full backing against what was an obviously unwarranted attack by a rude, arrogant guest. Hopefully the guest has learned something in the intervening decade. He has, after all lost a US Presidential election in the meantime.
Anyway, back to the core of this post: whatever great things the Old Man did, his time is past. He did it to himself; no one else. So to now try to do a Jesus or a Lazarus (come back from the political dead) is downright bad taste. Let go. Your time is over, Old Man. You retired. It was your choice. Now stay retired so the rest of us can get on with our lives.
LMT.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
What Goh Chok Tong said in response to Mahathir
For those who may be wondering what it was Goh said exactly (I referred to it in my last post):-
South China Morning Post
January 26, 2001
IAN STEWART in Kuala Lumpur
RELATED:
Meritocracy comes under attack
Book fuels mistrust of meritocracy
A NEW row between Malaysia and Singapore has underscored the racial tensions that have adversely affected relations between the Chinese-run island republic and its predominantly Malay neighbour since they became independent.
Singapore's Prime Minister, Goh Chok Tong, has angered Malaysian leaders by saying that Malays in his country do better educationally on a percentage basis than Malays in Malaysia, where they are aided by affirmative action programmes.
He also said a higher percentage of Singapore Malays held administrative and managerial positions, although Malaysia proportionately had more Malay doctors, lawyers and millionaires.
Hishammuddin Tun Hussein, head of the youth wing of the United Malays National Organisation (Umno), the dominant government party, accused the Singapore leader of "undermining, intentionally or otherwise" the achievements of Malays in Malaysia.
Other Umno officials said it was unfair to compare Malays in Singapore with Malaysian Malays because the island republic was small and had a higher per capita income than Malaysia.
Mr Goh's assertion, which was based on a government survey, goes to the heart of the different political ideologies of Singapore, which espouses meritocracy, and Malaysia, which rejects it.
He was responding to charges by Malays in both countries that their race was marginalised in Singapore.
Mr Goh said a book on the subject by a Singapore Malay writer "provided the excuse for Malaysian media interest in the fate of Malay Singaporeans".
Malaysian commentators said the book, Singapore Dilemma, by Lily Zubaidah Rahim, shattered the myth of meritocracy and vindicated Kuala Lumpur's policy of giving special privileges to Malays.
Mr Goh said that in Singapore, where admission into universities and polytechnics was on the basis of merit, the Malay community had made significant improvements in the number of passes at all levels.
He said that last year, 25 per cent of the Singapore Malay workforce had upper secondary or higher qualifications. In 1998, the latest year for which Malaysian statistics were available, the equivalent figure for Malaysian Malays was 14 per cent. The figures for Malays holding administrative and managerial or professional and technical positions in Singapore and Malaysia were 23 per cent and 16 per cent.
The affirmative action issue has recently been a hot topic in Malaysia, with the Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, blasting members of a Chinese community group as "extremists" for suggesting Malay privileges be abolished. But he also has scolded Malays for not doing as well as Chinese in schools and universities.
South China Morning Post
January 26, 2001
IAN STEWART in Kuala Lumpur
RELATED:
Meritocracy comes under attack
Book fuels mistrust of meritocracy
A NEW row between Malaysia and Singapore has underscored the racial tensions that have adversely affected relations between the Chinese-run island republic and its predominantly Malay neighbour since they became independent.
Singapore's Prime Minister, Goh Chok Tong, has angered Malaysian leaders by saying that Malays in his country do better educationally on a percentage basis than Malays in Malaysia, where they are aided by affirmative action programmes.
He also said a higher percentage of Singapore Malays held administrative and managerial positions, although Malaysia proportionately had more Malay doctors, lawyers and millionaires.
Hishammuddin Tun Hussein, head of the youth wing of the United Malays National Organisation (Umno), the dominant government party, accused the Singapore leader of "undermining, intentionally or otherwise" the achievements of Malays in Malaysia.
Other Umno officials said it was unfair to compare Malays in Singapore with Malaysian Malays because the island republic was small and had a higher per capita income than Malaysia.
Mr Goh's assertion, which was based on a government survey, goes to the heart of the different political ideologies of Singapore, which espouses meritocracy, and Malaysia, which rejects it.
He was responding to charges by Malays in both countries that their race was marginalised in Singapore.
Mr Goh said a book on the subject by a Singapore Malay writer "provided the excuse for Malaysian media interest in the fate of Malay Singaporeans".
Malaysian commentators said the book, Singapore Dilemma, by Lily Zubaidah Rahim, shattered the myth of meritocracy and vindicated Kuala Lumpur's policy of giving special privileges to Malays.
Mr Goh said that in Singapore, where admission into universities and polytechnics was on the basis of merit, the Malay community had made significant improvements in the number of passes at all levels.
He said that last year, 25 per cent of the Singapore Malay workforce had upper secondary or higher qualifications. In 1998, the latest year for which Malaysian statistics were available, the equivalent figure for Malaysian Malays was 14 per cent. The figures for Malays holding administrative and managerial or professional and technical positions in Singapore and Malaysia were 23 per cent and 16 per cent.
The affirmative action issue has recently been a hot topic in Malaysia, with the Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, blasting members of a Chinese community group as "extremists" for suggesting Malay privileges be abolished. But he also has scolded Malays for not doing as well as Chinese in schools and universities.
Non Malays marginalised in Malaysia and Indonesia: why is this news now?
Lee Kuan Yew's comments about Singapore having to adopt (in effect) a "kiasu" stance towards Malaysia and Indonesia because these 2 countries systematically marginalise their Chinese communities have - it seems - caused a real ruckus in Malaysia.
This comes hot on the heels of Badawi's son in law's obviously bigoted, ignorant, racist, politically opportunist and completely non-factual anti-Chinese comments, for which he has not apologised and shown absolutely no intention of apologising.
Malaysia has asked Singapore's high commissioner to offer an explanation for Lee Kuan Yew's comments (reported on Channel News Asia, tonight 28/9/06 at about 9.20pm). Malaysia has further stated that Lee's comments count as interference in Malaysia's affairs and could incite racial trouble. Malaysia's foreign minister has said he wants an apology.
I'm surprised.
Lee Kuan Yew's fight for a Malaysian Malaysia is why (among other things, admittedly) Singapore had to leave the Federation. Lee has for the past more than 4 decades that he has been active in politics strongly opposed the idea of affirmative action for the majority ethnic group in this region. He has never minced his words about Malay rights as the concept is understood in Malaysia. Why is he being called to apologise or explain now?
It is **precisely** because of this - what Lee referred to as systematic marginalisation - that so many of my relatives and secondary school and other childhood friends have declined to join the civil service, or even to stay in Malaysia, and opted instead to live and work overseas, principally in Singapore and Hongkong / China, with Australia and Canada/US/UK coming close behind.
Many English-educated Malaysian Chinese now have PR in Australia, Canada or some other country, as an escape route for in case things get really ugly in Malaysia. Why do our great beloved leaders think they feel so insecure in what is, like it or not, their own country, the land of their birth?
When you have fantastic bigots like Khairy spouting anti-Chinese comments without being properly penalised, what do you expect those who are observing you to think?
Heck, Mahathir has never minced his words about Singapore either, come to think of it. Singapore has never asked Mahathir to apologise for anything he said about, for instance, the Malays' position in Singapore, even when what he said was manifestly inaccurate. Remember Goh Chok Tong's speech in reply to allegations by Mahathir that the Malays had been marginalised in Singapore? Yep, Singapore had fewer Malay doctors and lawyers, Goh said, but on almost every other measure of material and vocational wellbeing the Malays in Singapore were better off than their compatriots in Malaysia. The fact that Malays in Singapore are on average richer than Malays in Malaysia and have full and satisfying careers - after 4 decades of independence - should have given our beloved leaders in the good ol' Malaysian hinterland pause for thought, but hey, these guys are, going by their appearances, not interested in thinking. They're interested in politics, which in Malaysia is of course a whole different thing from actual, rational, thinking (and announcing it).
I say Lee Kuan Yew was right to say what he did, that he should continue saying it, and that Malaysian leaders who demand some sort of apology should be shown their own past record of misdeeds and asked to apologise first. Say sorry for denying hardworking non-Malays their due in Malaysia. Say sorry for dispossessing many of them of a disproportionate share of their wealth, to squander (ie. mis-spend, NOT just spend per se) on the majority ethnic group. Say sorry for the various racist slurs made by top Malay politicians in the ruling coalition over time - starting with the late Dato Harun of Selangor, and ending with the not-so-late Khairy J. Say sorry for mismanagement on a massive scale, measured both temporally as well as materially. Say sorry for everything. Then Lee can offer an apology in return, for telling the truth - it hurts, so I'm sorry, but it's true, and for that there can be no apology.
LMT.
This comes hot on the heels of Badawi's son in law's obviously bigoted, ignorant, racist, politically opportunist and completely non-factual anti-Chinese comments, for which he has not apologised and shown absolutely no intention of apologising.
Malaysia has asked Singapore's high commissioner to offer an explanation for Lee Kuan Yew's comments (reported on Channel News Asia, tonight 28/9/06 at about 9.20pm). Malaysia has further stated that Lee's comments count as interference in Malaysia's affairs and could incite racial trouble. Malaysia's foreign minister has said he wants an apology.
I'm surprised.
Lee Kuan Yew's fight for a Malaysian Malaysia is why (among other things, admittedly) Singapore had to leave the Federation. Lee has for the past more than 4 decades that he has been active in politics strongly opposed the idea of affirmative action for the majority ethnic group in this region. He has never minced his words about Malay rights as the concept is understood in Malaysia. Why is he being called to apologise or explain now?
It is **precisely** because of this - what Lee referred to as systematic marginalisation - that so many of my relatives and secondary school and other childhood friends have declined to join the civil service, or even to stay in Malaysia, and opted instead to live and work overseas, principally in Singapore and Hongkong / China, with Australia and Canada/US/UK coming close behind.
Many English-educated Malaysian Chinese now have PR in Australia, Canada or some other country, as an escape route for in case things get really ugly in Malaysia. Why do our great beloved leaders think they feel so insecure in what is, like it or not, their own country, the land of their birth?
When you have fantastic bigots like Khairy spouting anti-Chinese comments without being properly penalised, what do you expect those who are observing you to think?
Heck, Mahathir has never minced his words about Singapore either, come to think of it. Singapore has never asked Mahathir to apologise for anything he said about, for instance, the Malays' position in Singapore, even when what he said was manifestly inaccurate. Remember Goh Chok Tong's speech in reply to allegations by Mahathir that the Malays had been marginalised in Singapore? Yep, Singapore had fewer Malay doctors and lawyers, Goh said, but on almost every other measure of material and vocational wellbeing the Malays in Singapore were better off than their compatriots in Malaysia. The fact that Malays in Singapore are on average richer than Malays in Malaysia and have full and satisfying careers - after 4 decades of independence - should have given our beloved leaders in the good ol' Malaysian hinterland pause for thought, but hey, these guys are, going by their appearances, not interested in thinking. They're interested in politics, which in Malaysia is of course a whole different thing from actual, rational, thinking (and announcing it).
I say Lee Kuan Yew was right to say what he did, that he should continue saying it, and that Malaysian leaders who demand some sort of apology should be shown their own past record of misdeeds and asked to apologise first. Say sorry for denying hardworking non-Malays their due in Malaysia. Say sorry for dispossessing many of them of a disproportionate share of their wealth, to squander (ie. mis-spend, NOT just spend per se) on the majority ethnic group. Say sorry for the various racist slurs made by top Malay politicians in the ruling coalition over time - starting with the late Dato Harun of Selangor, and ending with the not-so-late Khairy J. Say sorry for mismanagement on a massive scale, measured both temporally as well as materially. Say sorry for everything. Then Lee can offer an apology in return, for telling the truth - it hurts, so I'm sorry, but it's true, and for that there can be no apology.
LMT.
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Racist Malays
Racist bigots claiming to be Malay are at it again... every time it is inconvenient to explain or take the blame or admit any wrongdoing, wave the MALAY UNITY banner cynically, manipulate emotions, play on the Malay community's deep-seated inferiority complex, a.k.a. fear of being marginalised in their own country even though they control the politics, the military, the police and very large portions of the economy, and shout THE CHINESE WILL RIP US OFF IF YOU KEEP CRITICISING ME, YOUR FELLOW MALAY!
The amazing thing is how successful this ploy is even after so many years, at diverting attention from one's own wrongdoing, actual or perceived.
From The Sun:
Hishammuddin urged to lead moderate UMNO youth
The amazing thing is how successful this ploy is even after so many years, at diverting attention from one's own wrongdoing, actual or perceived.
From The Sun:
Hishammuddin urged to lead moderate UMNO youth
KUALA LUMPUR: The controversial remark by Umno Youth leader Khairy Jamaluddin that a non-Malay political party will take advantage of a weak Umno has not subsided.
Following the MCA annual general assembly last week during which Khairy was criticised, another BN coalition party Gerakan also expressed dissatisfaction over the matter.
At the party's 19th Wanita and Youth National Delegates Conference on Friday (1 Sept), Gerakan Youth chief Datuk Mah Siew Keong said although it is fair for someone to defend his own community, it should not hurt the feeling of other communities.
"If you want to play racial sentiments to gain political mileage, you are not a hero," he said, without naming names.
Khairy did not attend the convention. However, BN Youth and Umno Youth chief Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein was seated on the stage with other Gerakan leaders.
In his speech, Mah also urged Hishammuddin to continue taking care of all communities regardless of ethincity.
"We should clap to encourage him to lead a more moderate Umno Youth and to face the pressure of racism he faces," he said, to a round of applause.
On the same note, Gerakan Wanita chief Tan Lian Hoe said one should not forget the needs and sentiments of others.
"Respecting each other should not only extend to Umno but to other BN component parties," she said.
She said the situation is likely to split the BN and encourage criticisms from the rakyat, thus giving the opposition the opportunity to gather votes.
She noted that leaders of the component parties and leaders should abandon selfishness to prevent conflict which may weaken the coalition.
In a press conference later, Hishammuddin reiterated the issue will be resolved within the BN.
"When the temperature is lower, it's for my deputy (Khairy) to explain what the misunderstanding is. I think that is not a problem," he said.
He said the most important thing is the relationship of the top leadership.
"Nobody can exploit short term publicity for short term gain, this applies to other issues also...We need wisdom in doing this," he said.
He said inciting racial sentiments to gain popularity at the respective community will not last long.
"Their future will be tainted by the (racist) perception. This applies to all BN Youth," he said.
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