ONE-Malaysia, a cruel and dishonest practical joke?
posted by din merican–April 28, 2009
The Malaysian Insider
April 27, 2009
ONE-Malaysia : A Cruel Joke?
by Tunku Aziz
It never ceases to amaze me how simple and trusting we Malaysians are. We have heard all these promises before. 
Pak Lah, the Mr Clean and Mr Nice Guy of Malaysian politics proclaimed his great mission of fighting corruption after 22 years of unprincipled and largely unaccountable governance under Dr Mahathir Mohamad. We lapped it all up, initially at any rate, and believed every word the spin doctors spewed out about Abdullah Badawi.
It was not too difficult a job for Abdullah Badawi, or anyone else for that matter, after Mahathir, to look ethically spotless, clean and pure as the driven snow. Badawi, with his religious credentials, gave every appearance of being the reformer that this country had been praying for. Alas, his leadership proved a total let-down for Malaysia.
What began as a journey full of hope and promise turned very quickly into a national nightmare. Abdullah, who skippered the good ship MALAYSIA, was in truth an incompetent and inept rating playing at being Admiral of the Fleet. We discovered soon enough that he could not tell north from south and a sexton from a pair of compasses. We had to put up with his erratic command, watching with increasing anxiety as he set the ship adrift aimlessly, with no prospect of ever making landfall.
Now let me move away from naval to boxing metaphors, and I hope I am not mixing them in the process. Abdullah had come to lead us laden with his own strange stock-in-trade. It was a mix, in no particular order, of Islam Hadhari that he himself could not explain to save his life, the memorably inane “Work with me and not for me” catchphrase, and the almost absurdly messianic anti-corruption clarion call that he had used to fool the entire nation.
I am embarrassed to admit, on reflection, that he had me fooled from Day One. Abdullah was persuaded by close family members and advisers that he was doing a brilliant job, and this was what he wanted to hear.
He believed that he had what was needed to punch above his weight. He did not realise until too late that the Islam Hadhari as he had postulated it was no match for the reality of UMNO politics with its long-established culture of money politics (for which, read grand corruption), in-fighting and back-stabbing.
Soon enough, he found himself out-pointed at every turn by his own seconds, Najib and Muhyiddin, whose protestations of eternal love and loyalty made with a straight face before the disastrous March 2008 elections seemed the height of black humour. They pushed all the responsibility for the electoral failure to Badawi, and with indecent haste, distanced themselves from him. They turned collective responsibility on its head. This was their interpretation. And now, they are now leading Malaysia.
I am recalling the Abdullah years as a way of reminding ourselves not to be tempted into swallowing the “right noises” that Najib is making, hook, line and sinker. He is apparently good at developing popular policies on the trot, and all his reform promises seem to flow so effortlessly and glibly off his silvery tongue and that worries many people who are looking more for substance rather than form.
His ONE- Malaysia is a case in point. How does Najib propose to give practical effect to his excellent concept given the reality of Malaysia’s race-biased policies of racial discrimination? Does he not see a contradiction? Is he clear in his own mind what he is talking about? For now, it remains a slogan and, without a clear vision of what ONE- Malaysia is intended to be, it could well turn out to be nothing more than a grand illusion.
Does he really believe that he has what it takes to reconcile UMNO’s pathological obsession with bumiputra rights on the one hand with the principles of inalienable equality for ALL Malaysians on the other? ONE- Malaysia without complete equality of opportunity is nothing if not a cruel and dishonest practical joke.
So, until Najib sets out his plan for ONe-1 Malaysia that accords with the conditions for a truly “Malaysian Malaysia” (with apologies to Lee Kuan Yew), I suggest, in a manner of speaking, we do not put the champagne on ice as it could be premature.
Having read his weekly columns in the NST, an UMNO controlled newspaper, and now this piece in the Malaysian Insider, I am asking the real Tunku Aziz to stand up. As usual, his article makes interesting read.
There is a rumour that Tunku Aziz, who is now a DAP Vice Chairman, might leave DAP to join the government as a member of an important committee. Can he come out categorically to say that there is no basis to this rumour. If not, I wonder how credible can he be?
He is a good wordsmith, but may not be someone with conviction about what is right and wrong. He used to praise Tun Badawi and now he condemns the former Prime Minister and then conveniently escapes mea culpa by acknowledging that “I am embarrassed to admit, on reflection, that he had me fooled from Day One. Abdullah was persuaded by close family members and advisers that he was doing a brilliant job, and this was what he wanted to hear.”–Eiz235
Eiz235 - April 28, 2009 at 12:42 pm
Salam Sdr Din
Anak saya pergi interview kat KL hari ini dengan sebuah syarikat bukan Melayu dan ayat pertama yang di tuturkan adalah ‘maaf kami tak ambil staff yang pakai tudung.’
I thought the non Malays have accepted PAS and of course muslimah PAS all wears the tudung. 1Malaysia is as much a joke as Malaysia for Malaysian and Ketuanan Rakyat. Masa nak undi semua united tetapi in practice racial prejudice diamalkan terang2.
Umno busuk,DAP pun busuk dan PAS tetap bodoh!
__________
Kassimselamat2, jangan terlampau marah. Mengenai anak perempuan anda yang memilih untuk di temuduga di syarikat bukan Melayu adalah masalah peribadi. Bukan semua bukan Islam faham tentang kepentingan memakai tudung di dalam Islam. Ini juga sepertimana , undi orang bukan Melayu seratus peratus mengundi calon Islam.
Tidak ada kepastian di dalam kedua dua perkara ini. Lagipun Pakatan Rakyat belum menerajui kerajaan Malaysia. Perdana Menteri pun di lantik oleh segolongan masyarakat yang ada di dalam UMNO. Memang ada diskriminasi di negara kita kerana dasar UMNO-BN yang membuat orang Melayu dan juga bangsa lain rasa terpinggir dan hampa. Mencari dan berjaya di dalam kerjaya bukannya mudah sebab peluang-peluang yang baik hanya akan diberi kepada kroni dan penyokong UMNO saja. Ini tidak termasuk orang Melayu yang menyokong PAS dan PKR. Sebab itu, pihak kami memperjuangkan keadilan untuk semua.
Tiap-tiap anak Malaysia semestinya diberi peluang untuk berjaya dalam apa saja bidang yang mereka pilih. “Social mobility through equal opportunity”. “Know-How not Know Who”. Kami di PKR dan Pakatan Rakyat ingin membina mesyarakat yang adil, tulus and kompetitif serta beretika tinggi. Misi ini memerlukan masa yang panjang untuk dilaksanakan. Sebelum membuat perubahan yang perlu, PKR-Pakatan mesti mengambil alih kerajaan pusat melalui cara yang demokratik dan aman. Sokongan rakyat sangat diperlukan untuk tujuan itu.
Sebarlah, kassimselamat2, perubahan akan sampai dibumi bertuah ini. Percaya lah. Salam. —Din Merican
kassimselamat2 - April 28, 2009 at 1:16 pm
Kassimselamat2,
Itulah realitinya di Malaysia. Bila kena batang hidung saudara maka saudara akan melenting.
Cuba saudara pergi tanya di Jabatan Penerbangan Awam. Berapa orangkah anak anak Malaysia bukan Melayu di antara seratus orang yang baru dilatih? Kosooooooong.
Jangan di perbodohkan dengan slogan orang politik. I. Malaysia hanyalah “wayang” samalah seperti episod sedih “tidur dengan saya”.
“For now, it remains a slogan and, without a clear vision of what ONE- Malaysia is intended to be, it could well turn out to be nothing more than a grand illusion.”
I am suprise that Tunku Aziz is still hoping that Najib will clarify his 1. Malaysia or 1. Rosmah whatever.
NAJIB DELIBERATELY KEEP EVERYONE GUESSING ANG TALKING ABOUT IT. That is the whole idea of making a vague statement so that everyone keep talking about it. I am surprise that Tunku Aziz could be so “lurus bendul” hoping for more. May I repeat my favourite phrase ‘TO ASK FOR THE OBVIOUS IS THE WISDOM OF A FOOL”
Are you one of them Tunku?. I don’t think so. But why you asked the question?
tean - April 28, 2009 at 4:54 pm
“Abdullah, who skippered the good ship MALAYSIA, was in truth an incompetent and inept rating playing at being Admiral of the Fleet. We discovered soon enough that he could not tell north from south and a sexton from a pair of compasses. We had to put up with his erratic command, watching with increasing anxiety as he set the ship adrift aimlessly, with no prospect of ever making landfall.” Tunku Aziz
Listen!
Mahathir was Captain James Cooke of Malaysia Incorporated. He pioneered sea lanes never before known to have been traveled or even existed. He braved troubled waters and showed boldness and courage in going where others have not gone. He made enemies as many as he made friends because of his abrasive style of leadership. He engineered a mutiny and blamed it on his assistant Anwar Ibrahim who was forced to walk the plank.
On these voyages Abdullah Badawi was allowed to be nothing more than a witness to the captain’s navigation skills. During the captain’s skilful navigation of unchartered waters, Abdullah Badawi made himself useful to his captain by cleaning the ship’s deck and scrubbing the floor of the ship’s toilets.
Abdullah Badawi never thought he would be asked to take over the wheel of the ship but when he finally did, he thought the ship had brakes, gas paddles and clutches the same way Jeanne Abdullah’s car has. In the meantime Najib was busy making waves for him. When his ship ran into a storm and landed on some rocks, Najib was seen to be the man most able to steer the ship to dry docks for some urgent repairs since he was responsible for the waves – but not without first taking on board Malaysia’s James Cooke who was left stranded on an island after a brief mutiny.
Meanwhile the assistant who had been forced to walk the plank survived to command his own ship and now fires a shot across the ship’s bow.
Mr Bean - April 28, 2009 at 8:33 pm
Najib’s concept of One Malaysia is a departure from his earlier policy of “One for You and Two for Me” and we should be thankful to him. At least we now know he will be as corrupt as his beneficiaries of his policy are and his willingness to share the fruits of corruption in a more equitable manner.
Mr Bean - April 28, 2009 at 8:51 pm
“One for you and rest for me” is more appropriate. His slogan of 1Malaysia simply means one Malaysian and that’s Najib.
Tok Cik - April 28, 2009 at 9:11 pm
To hire and fire is the prerogative of the employer.
If there is a law against racial discrimination at the workplace an employee could sue for damages. In all cases it is a matter of getting the evidence and most of the time evidence is hard to gather and almost impossible to document. In this case, I am willing to bet that there is no evidence of racial discrimination. It is her word against that of the interviewer and that would not do if the intention is to seek redress in a court of law. In a court of law he or she who alleges will have to prove. Cases are fought and won on the evidence. God has nothing to do with it.
Now here is the question.
Why should someone like that object, if a private sector company run by a non-Malay family whose sons and daughters couldn’t get a job with the government because they are not of the ‘right’ race turns her down, because she does not have the right appearance for the job? It could be purely a business decision.
Imagine someone at the front desk, dressed in a hijab at a health center in a five star hotel were to greet Ham Sap, Manikam and Jaswant Singh?? What’s wrong with this picture? Somehow it doesn’t look right.
With Manikam, money would not come. With Juswant Singh, it could be ‘just one’ Singh and you won’t see him again. Only Ham Sap may come back for repeats.
Mr Bean - April 28, 2009 at 11:33 pm
kassimselamat2,
Memang anakmu tidak dilayan dengan ‘adil’ dalam perkara ini!!! Diskriminasi berasaskan perkauman atau agama memang adalah suatu masalah besar di masyarakat kita. Diskriminasi itu bukan sahaja wujud di syarikat-syarikat swasta tetapi juga di jabatan-jabatan kerajaan dan polisi kerajaan sendiri.
Kita perlu memutuskan “vicious cycle” dengan memilih pemimpin-pemimpin yang sanggup menunjukkan keadilanan dalam polisinya , dan merujuk kepada undang-undang yang melarang perbuatan-perbuatan yang berunsur diskriminasi berasaskan perkauman dan kebudayaan. Undang-undang itu mestilah member peluang-peluang perkerjaan yang kadar yang sama bagi semua tanpa kira mereka yang bertudung atau tidak. Sepatutnya diskriminasi yang dibenarkan hanya diatas ketidaksesuaian calon dengan jawatan yang diminta.
Shiou - April 29, 2009 at 3:22 am
“Sepatutnya diskriminasi yang dibenarkan hanya atas kesesuaian calon dengan jawatan yang diminta.”
This is not discrimination but suitability of the candidate to the position applied. A square peg will not fit into a round hole.
If the work involves carrying heavy loads of whatever, it is not discriminatory to reject an application by a woman. If there is a law against discriminating applicants based on sexual orientation then it would be discriminatory to reject carpet munchers for the job of a carpet salesperson.
Mr Bean - April 29, 2009 at 3:34 am
“It was not too difficult a job for Abdullah Badawi, or anyone else for that matter, after Mahathir, to look ethically spotless, clean and pure as the driven snow.” Tunku Aziz
I disagree.
Mahathir is known to come back home at lunch time to scrub the shit that was thrown at him during the course of the day at his office so as to smell like roses and “pure as the driven snow”.
When did it snow in Malaysia? Maybe I stayed away too long. It got cold.
Mr Bean - April 29, 2009 at 3:49 am