Neil Khor, you are barking at the wrong tree as Badawi will be a “gonner” at the end of March, 2009

Comment:

I commend Neil Khor for writing this piece. Unfortunately, he addressed it to Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, a lame duck Prime Minister who hails from Kepala Batas, Penang. A real leader to me is a man of vision, intellect, conviction and true grit who dares to do things ordinary mortals cannot do.

Badawi will cease to be Prime Minister at the end of March, leaving our country in a political turmoil and an economic mess that we have never experienced in our 51-year history. He started with his gimmick, Cemerlang, Gemilang, Terbilang and Islam Hadhari. After 6 years of his administration Malaysia is about to hilang as a thriving democracy under Najib Tun Razak. To me, Badawi is a symbol of mediocrity and incompetence. He is also a man who cannot keep to his word. Integrity is Greek to him and his work ethic is the worst compared to his predecessors, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, Tun Hussein Onn and Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamed.

I have never seen gutter and gangster politics in practice as in our country under a corrupt, racist, and incompetent UMNO-led Barisan Nasional. The worst, I am afraid, is yet to come when Najib takes over. Badawi is going to hand over our country to a successor, Najib Tun Razak, who is known to use gangster methods to suppress dissent and political opposition, send dissents to gaol under ISA, and create a climate of fear.

Yet, Universiti Islam Antarabangsa is giving Badawi a doctorate (honoris causa). It is a bad joke as I would have thought that universities only award honorary degrees to men and women of distinction and substantial achevement. I recall that Oxford University refused to grant Margaret Thatcher, the Prime Minister of Britain, despite her many achievements in public service, because its faculty and student body disagreed with her politics. But in the case of Badawi, I am sure, more honorary doctorates will be forthcoming, in addition to a Tun-ship when he finally steps down.

Yes, we seek natural justice and our constitution guarantees our fundamental freedoms (of expression, assembly and association). But what we see today is the breakdown in our system of checks and balances and separation of powers. It is not fair perhaps to heap blame on Badawi since the rot started under Tun Dr. Mahathir who ruled for 22 years with an iron hand. But Prime Minister Badawi must bear part of the blame as he squandered opportunities to begin a process of rebuilding our institutions of governance and our fledging democracy, and for not ensuring that we are united as one people, living in peace and harmony one another, with high ethical and moral values. Instead, under his watch, we are a nation run by corrupt plutocrats and elites who have consistently failed to connect with ordinary Malaysians, who are trying hard to earn a decent living, more difficult now given adverse economic conditions.

Badawi did not keep his pledge, not only to Endon, but also to his mother. As someone who knew him in Penang since 1958 and at the Universty of Malaya, I am very disappointed that Badawi has let us down very badly. I am sure that many Malaysians feel that he could have done better for our country.

On the contrary, the sycophantic editors of the government controlled media like the NST, the Star, Utusan Malaysia, TV1, TV2 and TV3, of course, feel differently about him. Right now they are already busy preparing supplements about his many achievements as the 5th Prime Minister of Malaysia. But I think the Malaysian people and history will be a better judge of the Badawian legacy. Mine is certainly unfavorable.—Din Merican

Pak Lah, remember your pledge to Endon
Neil Khor
March 16, 2009

Some time ago, as students of constitutional law in Universiti Malaya, we were taught the concept of natural justice. Basically, natural justice means procedural fairness in court proceedings. In layman’s terms: the right to a fair and just trial.

When one finds oneself in a court of law, one should have the right to trustworthy representation (at least access to defence lawyers that have one’s interest at heart) and to be presumed innocent until proven otherwise. Today, some 17 years later, it has been shown that some in Malaysia do not respect or believe in natural justice.

In Perak, a judicial commissioner decided that the speaker of the state legislative assembly can only be represented by the state legal advisor. That a clear conflict of interest exists, that the speaker will never be able to get just representation and that by hiding the proceedings from the public eye, justice cannot be seen to be done; all of these mitigating factors do not seem to prick the conscience of the judge.

To add insult to injury, some in UMNO even suggested that if the speaker wants to avail himself to justice, he should resign from his post. It seems that our Sixth Form teachers have also been proven wrong about the separation of powers in a constitutional democracy. What transpired in Perak with the police, state secretary and some thugs preventing the sitting of an elected legislative assembly shows that the executive has overstepped its constitutional role.

That the high court sees fit to interfere in the affairs of the legislature demonstrates that Montesquieu’s model of governance of the separation of powers between the executive, judiciary and legislature no longer exists in Perak. This is deeply unfortunate for Perak’s ruler was a former Lord President. The actors involved in this mockery of both natural justice and the separation of powers have truly insulted HRH Sultan Azlan Shah.

Regressing to primary school, we were told that boys who gang up to beat others were called bullies. That their actions were wrong and that was why discipline teachers punished them. This early lesson no longer applies today. Rules no longer matter.

Again, in Perak, it seems that those who wield the biggest stick can do as they please. Even the legislative assembly secretary, who is in reality the chief clerk, and a servant of the speaker can issue orders countermanding his boss. It seems we are a society ruled by the lowest common denominator. Such skullduggery has robbed all institutions concerned of respect and dignity.

But make no mistake, I had good teachers. It just seems that some people refuse to learn their lessons. What is the lesson from Perak? Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah hit it on the nail when he said that the BN in Perak is mired in a ‘cascade of illegality’.

Yet, there is deafening silence from the BN’s component parties. Does this mean that they have abandoned UMNO? What is, for example, Gerakan’s view about all this? Surely, a learned man like Dr Koh Tsu Koon can offer a reasonable and convincing explanation defending the actions of the BN in Perak.

The MCA has also kept quiet except for its sole survivor from March 8. What he said is not worth reproducing! What we need from the BN component parties are convincing arguments to provide ballast for the BN side. Unfortunately, what UMNO leaders are saying does not cut any ice.

When the chips are truly down, it is Malaysia and Malaysians who are the ultimate losers. Some people are wondering whether we are a country headed for a ‘developed world status’ (11 years and counting) or nothing more than another failed state?

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, it is time to do the right thing. Remember your pledge to Endon Mahmood: ‘Take care of them’. Give Perak back to her people.—www.malaysiakini.com

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