Stop Racism and Ustazism

May 20, 2013

COMMENT: I have always enjoyed reading the writings of Prof. Dr. Tajuddin. He is a clear thinker with the guts to call a spade a spade. Guts and grit are qualities that are lacking in our communities. Yes, indeed. Our country is in trouble and that means we are in deep trouble. Why? Because we leave everything in the hands of politicians who have consistently betrayed our trust.

Knowing that, we remain on the sidelines assuming that the future of our country is still  in good hands. Malaysia is not in good hands. Maybe I am being a pessimist to say that we have reached a breaking point.

We have an arrogant regime back in power which is behaving like a wounded tiger ever ready to pounce on dissidents and civil society activists at the slightest provocation, and an alternative force that continues to use street protests for their own ends. I have seen both sides and I  am disappointed.

Prof Dr. Tajuddin’s message, which I endorse, is intended for those smooth talking politicians on both sides of the political divide, in UMNO-BN and Pakatan Rakyat. Stop pontificating and jostling for power and get down to the serious business of governing this country. Malaysia can no longer on auto-pilot. It needs leadership with guts and integrity to do the right thing.

Fortunately, we have civil society activists like Ambiga, Haris, Hishamuddin Rais, Poet Laureate Dato Samad Said, Dr Wong Chin Huat, Marina Chin et.al and new generation of young men like Adam Adli and the netizens who are speaking up. So far their message has not reached our rural heartland which remains the backbone of the present regime. If we can awaken the sleeping giant that is our rural heartland, we will be able to move forward for better Malaysia. Let us  now debate the good Professor’s blueprint.–Din Merican

http://www.malaysiakini.com

Malaysia is in trouble and We are: Stop Racism and Ustazism

COMMENT by Prof Dr Mohamad Tajuddin Mohamad Rasdi (May 19, 2013): Although many things remain uncertain after the GE13 result, one thing is unarguably clear… Malaysia is in trouble.

Who is in trouble? Not Pakatan, not BN to my mind… we are. We… the rakyat. Our children are in trouble and yes, theirs too, in the distant future if we do not stop this juggernaut called…racism.

I would like to outline my basic blueprint for rebuilding this country with the special focus of eliminating racism as its main objective. My programme may be ‘shocking’ or ‘unusual’ but it has the virtue of never been thought off or tried.

In architectural design training, the best design ideas are usually the ‘shockers’!I have been trained to understand the box but never to stay long in it and to always leave it on the front porch…well, most of the time.

My programme or blueprint can be easily implemented by BN…if it wants to, if it has the heart, the will and intelligence to.But if it is still sore what with statements like; ‘leave the country’ or ‘sodomising minds’ and ‘Chinese Tsunami’, then I would assume that it is disinterested to resolve the problem of racism in this country. Point blank.

Now if the minority BN government does not want to implement the programme, will the majority Pakatan form its own shadow cabinet and pool their financial resources to implement this programme?

In the first place, I have to ask Pakatan leaders a point blank question: Are you guys actually interested in resolving our dreaded racism issue?

I have followed very closely political events in this country from 1997, and after all that Anwar and Pakatan have gone through…I still have a small lingering doubt.

In my academic reading, Pakatan is simply a strong coalition built to fight one single enemy. Which enemy? Racism? Religious intolerance? Poverty? Nope…just BN.

I am generalising of course but I am using my poetic license to make this simple point that racism will still not go away if Pakatan now sits in Putrajaya. Why do I say so? Because I have not witnessed a single paper by Pakatan to seriously look at the problem of racism.

Now if Pakatan, too, seems disinterested to rebuild Malaysia, then it is up to the third political force, the rakyat via the machinery of NGOs like BERSIH and the Islamic Rennaissance Front to take matters into our own hands.

My philosophy is simple…if you believe in something; you just have to do it yourself.Then come the next election we, the rakyat, will throw both parties out and rule in a different way.

How? Think out of the box-lah.

Nice words

Now, before outlining my programme, allow me to say a few nice words about BN. Not the present BN but the old founding fathers of BN.Yes…the one before former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad and the sacking of Salleh Abbas (right).

To be fair UMNO, MCA and MIC have done a great service to this country by successfully working with one another amicably and providing peace and prosperity for three decades.

When I stand amidst 2,000 academics at UTM hall with easily 90% Malay Muslim scholars, I would say BN deserves an A-. Why A minus? Must subtract a very strong minus for 1969 May 13. Now let’s be clear the A- is for the BN before Mahathir.

The post Mahathir BN deserves a failing grade and the grade for a post GE13 BN is a letter and level of failure that I can’t find low enough. Why have I given a failed grade to Mahathir’s BN when we have shiny tall buildings, and a New Putrajaya kingdom with a massive crystal mosque?

Because this was when basic human decency and dignity was violated.Operasi Lalang, the Memali bloodshed, the Tun Salleh Abbas sacking, The Anwar ‘kangaroo’ Trial, The Anwar second sodomy case, The dubious sexually explicit videos and above all else the death of many innocent children in the National Service.

Fail. E-, F, X, whatever.

It is my academic reading that this nation has lost its citizen’s honor and respect. How can that compare to BRIM and the Tall Two Towers of Petronas or the Splendour of Putra Mosque?

Allah The Most High sent all his prophets to teach about the dignity and humaneness of man to treat one another with love and compassion. Allah The Most Beneficient, needs no RM600 million mosque.

So, in summation, BN was a great blessing then, but now it is becoming an entity that would dismantle what its own forefathers built. In principle, there is nothing absolutely wrong with the political concept of BN…its present leaders show no qualities comparable to the leaders of old.

Right, so now comes my programme. Remember…I am not a social scientist, nor a super management guru but just a guy with a Phd in architecture, 40 books to my name, hundreds of encyclopedia entries, hundreds of media articles and a fondness for reading how to get close to god from Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist perspectives, as well as freethinkers.

This is my take and my priority in dealing with racism.

Retrain the Ustaz

First and foremost, I would like to retrain 50 ustaz or religious teachers for six months on a single message; Islam abhors, rejects and can never tolerate racism in any form, action or even thought.

The Ustaz will be taught in class, at the temples, churches and houses of people from various races and religions.Upon graduation, they will be the light that will realign the Muslim Malay mindset.

Why have I made the ustaz my top priority? I have listened to thousands of sermons, CDs, cassettes and ceramah to know that the ustaz and the content of their lectures and sermons have contributed greatly to the polarisation of this country.

My second priority is education. I have already written extensively about vernacular schools and the national curriculum. Just to sum up, there are just two points.

First, if we are to keep the vernacular schools and religious madrasah, then there must be a no-nonsense policy that the children must have a ‘year out’ at the primary and the secondary level at a national school.

Second point is that the national school curriculum must be revamped so that cultural and religious needs of non-Malay Muslim students must also be strictly adhered to.

Exchange some of the content of science, maths, history, geography and Bahasa Malaysia for cultural studies and religious understanding.There will be teachers teaching Islam, Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism in the national curriculum.

My third priority is my Hijra Children Concept which I wrote about in Malaysiakini some time ago.

In sum, I called for volunteer parents of 14 year olds and 16 year old sons to come forth and exchange their children with a family of a different race and culture for a period of three months. In this way not only the children will get to interact with different people in Malaysia, the parents can also interact with the relatives of other culture related to the adopted child.

This is a very important programme because of its direct social implications.
Fourthly, I would personally dismantle the National Service, kick out all military personnel and reorganise the camps into fun filled summer camps concept of 2 weeks with 50 percent Malays and 50 percent non-Malays on a voluntary participatory method.

There will be no military style program but more of games, talks, art and craft and service to the community visitation to temples, churches and mosques.

Fifthly, I would reorganise Dewan Bahasa and split it into one which still concentrate on developing knowledge in Bahasa Melayu but the other entity must publish books about our different cultures and religions in the Malay, Chinese and Indian languages. The books should be about rituals, customs, religions and traditions.

Sixth, I would concentrate on our teachers in secondary and primary schools. The teachers have to be retrained like the Ustaz but in a one month course where they learn in class but also get close to the multi-ethnic parties.

Seventh is a programme for university students.The students must be retrained to understand that cultural understanding is paramount in business management as well as in public relations.

Regardless of whatever profession students target these two skills are necessary for confident career advancement or prospects.

The eighth programme is what I call the ‘Personal touch’. In the age of mobile phones, fast internet and everything on a tight schedule, we must go back to the simple days of laid back talking, eating and plain old socialising.

All politicians, high ranking officials should take off one weekend every four months to pick from a preselected family of a different race and live with them and participate in the family, religious and social rituals.

Leaders must come down to earth once in a while…or for a number of whiles in fact, to rediscover the true meaning of humility, tenderness and simple caring. All these human traits seem to have disappeared in front of the LCD screen.

Inter-cultural exchange

At UTM School of Architecture, in the measured drawing programme where students have to measure and record the history of heritage buildings, they would have to stay for a month with the families that own the houses and the community which surround it.

The inter-cultural exchange is a by-product that I found most beneficial and important.There you have it. My simple blueprint. Call it naïve, strange or even ridiculous.

But this is my honest reading of what has happened in Malaysia and how I think might return us back to a nation with a serious and humane conscience and minus racism and religious intolerance.

If BN and Pakatan is disinterested, then Malaysians of all walk of life with the help of NGOs can raise funds and organise ourselves to do what must be done for our children’s future.

Racism in Malaysia will never disappear and having certain parties purposely, accidentally or even naively perpetrating mistrust between the races will not help the situation change.

The fate of our nation lies with the few citizens who still have a conscience, hope and the vision to see Malaysia in a new light.

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PROF DR MOHAMAD TAJUDDIN MOHAMAD RASDI is a 23-year veteran academic and teaches architecture at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. He specialises in mosque and Islamic architecture particularly that which relates to Malaysia using a hadith-based and socio-cultural approach in order to create the total idea of built environment suited for a whole social structure.

Racist Ex-Court of Appeal Judge speaks of Malay Backlash

May 12, 2013

Racist Ex-Court of Appeal Judge  speaks of Malay Backlash against the Chinese

by Nigel Aw@http://www.malaysiakini.com

Former Court of Appeal Judge Mohd Noor Abdullah (left) today warned that the Chinese Malaysians must be prepared for a backlash from the Malay community for their “betrayal” in the recently concluded 13th general election.

“The Chinese betrayal towards the Malay’s hand of friendship – that is true. Because they plotted to seize political power even though they have already have economic power,” he said to raucous applause at a forum in Kuala Lumpur today.

The  forum, titled “GE13 post-mortem: Muslim leadership and survival”, was organised by UiTM Malaysia Alumni Association and Gabungan Pelajar Melayu Semenanjung and held at the Premiera Hotel.

Mohd Noor said some had defended the Chinese community by saying they were supposedly misled by certain leaders but this was done in order not to hurt their feelings.

“For the Malays, the pantang larang (taboo) is to be betrayed, because when they are betrayed, they will react and when they react, their dendam kesumat tidak tersudah-sudah (wrath will be endless).

“When Malays are betrayed, there is a backlash and the Chinese must bear the consequences of a Malay backlash,” he said.

The constitutional expert said that Malays had thus far been defensive and if they were to go on the offensive, they should demand for the creation of more Malay reserve lands, including in the cities.

“The nice term would be called ‘re-organising society’ but the crude term would be for Malays to emigrate into the cities so that we will own the houses together with others and not only be able to just look at them,” he said.

He added that the Malay reserve lands can be allocated in such a way that would ensure Malay majorities which would be a “green zone” during the next general election.

‘Two-thirds in everything’

He also called for the presence of two-thirds Malay presence in key sectors by ensuring there is 67 percent share for Malays and bumiputera in education, civil services and businesses.

“Arrange it in such away, that from today on, every businesses would have a 67 percent share ready for Malays to be taken up at any time,” he said.

Mohd Noor also called for the abolition of the term “Chinese” and “Indian” which would be replaced by “Malays” and Non-Malays” or “Bumiputera” and “non-Bumiputera”.

“The orang asli are our cousins, the Sabah and Sarawak Bumiputeras are our relatives, everyone else are just our neighbours because they came to menumpang (stay) here before.

“We gave them recognition and protection and eventually citizenship until they became rich,” he said.

However, when approach by reporters later, Mohd Noor appear to soften his stance and said he and other speakers were only conveying the mood of the Malay community.

“There may be a counter-backlash from the Chinese but let us all be sober and try to understand each other’s feelings. Come and sit at the round table and find a solution.

“The law must be implemented tooth and nail and anybody who talks about racial disharmony, creating friction among each other – last time there was ISA – now, charge them because sedition law says anybody who create ill-will among the communities, you can be charged, you can be convicted,” he said.

Currently, Mohd Noor sits on the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) complaints committee and formerly sat on UMNO’s disciplinary committee appeals board.

Here You have it, Mr. Jaafar: The Malapportionment of Blame

May 12, 2013

by Tricia Yeoh (05-11-13)@http://www.malaysiakini.com

COMMENT In the past week, two Malay newspapers Utusan Malaysia and Kosmo! chose to have as their headlines controversial statements that could be considered incendiary in reference to the Chinese having rejected Barisan Nasional in favour of the opposition Pakatan Rakyat, following the results of the 13th general elections held almost a week ago.

Both former and current Prime Ministers Dr Mahathir Mohamed and Najib Abdul Razak (right) have said as much, creating the public perception that this election marked out the stark difference in voting patterns between the Malays and Chinese, especially in the latter’s reference to a ‘Chinese Tsunami’.

Malaysians have to caution against this ethnic positioning as an easy blame game, for several reasons. First, it is more accurate to state that the results saw a split between urban and rural voters, hence a spatial and class, rather than an ethnic, divide.

Pakatan strengthened its incumbent position by winning two-third majorities in Selangor and Penang, the two most industrialised and urban states, which together contribute to the almost 60 percent of the country’s GDP.

In Selangor, the only parliamentary seats won by Barisan were in the more rural or semi-urban areas such as Sabak Bernam, Sungai Besar and Tanjong Karang.

In Seremban, DAP candidate Anthony Loke would not have won with more than a 12,000 majority (and a 16,501 swing) had it not been for Malay support, where Malays constitute 44 percent of the seat’s population.

Flawed Argument gets nailed

The argument that Opposition gains were only due to Chinese swing is also not fully accurate, since Malay-majority seats such as Kuala Terengganu (89 percent Malay, 10 percent Chinese) were wrested by Pakatan with a 10,785 majority (and a 11,413 swing). Both are urban seats.

It is ,therefore, too simplistic to attribute the Opposition’s gains to racial polarisation, since one must equally examine class and geographical differences.

Second, the allegations of electoral fraud make it difficult for accurate analysis to take place.Pakatan has accused the electoral system of being rigged through a number of ways, such as providing identity cards for foreigners to vote, flying them into the peninsula en masse from East Malaysia, and Malaysians having their names either removed from the voter roll or registered without their knowledge, ‘indelible ink’ that was very easily removed, and vote-buying, among other discrepancies.

If the fraud is indeed as widespread as alleged, then this raises serious concerns as to the legitimacy of the election results, which has a direct effect on our reading of voter sentiment.

Out of the 24 parliamentary seats with a majority of less than 1,500, 17 of them were eventually won by Barisan – including Bentong and Kuala Selangor, where initial results saw the Pakatan candidates leading.

In many cases, the number of spoilt votes exceeded the majority, and the majority was less than 4 percent of the total number of votes, the latter of which would have required a recount although this was denied in Kuala Selangor.

Game of Statistics stripped

Barisan is now the federal government because it bagged 133 seats out of the 222 in total, giving it a majority of 22 seats.  However, a series of questions must be asked: Could the Barisan win at the federal level be attributed to the wins in these marginal seats, some of which had their results changed after the recounts?

If so, should the Election Commission not investigate the alleged fraud cases that could have affected the outcomes of the razor-thin wins of such seats, which in turn would have led to a very different result?

Finally, statistics are emerging that demonstrate the effects of malapportionment on the election results. Pakatan’s 89 seats had an average of 63,191 votes cast, compared with Barisan’s 133 seats which had an average of 39,381.

Simply put, Pakatan won in the seats with larger constituencies, while Barisan won in the smaller ones.  This explains the Barisan win, despite Pakatan having won the popular vote with 51.4 percent of the population’s support and Barisan with 48.6 percent.

Moving forward, both political coalitions – together with civil society – will have to reflect deeply upon what actions are needed to address these issues, as well as their mid to long-term implications.

Time to look at Naked Truth

There is an urgent need for Pakatan to craft messages that better target the low-income, rural and Malay voters, assuring them that their lifelines would not be cut off without Umno around.

Barisan has to take a good look at its coalition model, since its component parties MCA and Gerakan are effectively depleted. It will also have to examine the reasons for which urban, middle-class voters rejected their offerings so resoundingly.

In order for the alleged electoral fraud to be taken seriously, cases have to be systematically compiled and recorded.

BERSIH 2.0 has stated it would organise a People’s Tribunal to this end, while PKR has appointed newly elected Member of Parliament Rafizi Ramli for its compilation purposes. This will be in addition to the election petitions expected to be filed by Pakatan parties in 20 constituencies or so, in which the winning margin was less than 5 percent.

It is hoped that the lawsuits, which must be filed within 21 days after the results are gazetted, would be an effective recourse sought by Pakatan in seeking justice for what it considers an unfair elections.

Even if these efforts, accompanied by hard evidence, fail to ultimately impact upon the election results, they would still be crucial for the court of public opinion in the coming months, for historical record as well as valuable lessons learnt in order to better prepare for the 14th general election.

Why GE-13 should be toasted

Finally, it is clear that without genuine electoral reform, even an election which is the most fundamental form of democracy would not be conducted fairly, nor its citizens’ votes respected.

In a system where parliamentary seats are not fairly weighted nor apportioned, the party with minority support emerges the victor.  This is an unfortunate consequence of the way constituencies are demarcated at present, which can only be amended with a two-third majority support in Parliament.

Before political analysts deduce that this was an election that divided Malaysia racially, one must be cognisant that if not for these irregularities, a very different result would have emerged.

Coming to a conclusion based on the election results at merely face value would not be entirely accurate.  If anything, it must be pointed out that young urban-dwellers voted across ethnic lines for the opposition against a corrupt regime, a trend that will only continue given that urbanisation is expected to exceed 70 percent by 2020.

It is this that should instead be celebrated and not conveniently ignored, in the desperate need to explain the worst election performance in Barisan’s history as entirely due to the racial divide.

In the journey towards a more open, transparent and democratic Malaysia, the 13th general election has raised even more questions on electoral processes, which if not corrected, will have a permanent mark on all future elections.

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Ms Yeoh’s background

TRICIA YEOH is Research Director of Institut Rakyat, Parti KeADILan Rakyat. She previously served as Research aide to Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, Menteri Besar, Selangor Darul Ehsan.

The 2013 Election Results: Back to the Drawing Board for Both Coalitions

May 10, 2013

The 2013 Election Results: Back to the Drawing Board for both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat

by Dr. Lim Teck Ghee

Finally the general election is over. For politicians and analysts, the work of number crunching, deciphering the results and trying to understand the choices made by voters is just beginning.

Some conclusions are easy to arrive at. Firstly, despite a skewed electoral playing ground and the rolling out of more than RM2.6 billion worth of financial and other incentives to voters, the BN could not improve on its 2008 performance. Although it regained power in one state and has a comfortable majority at parliamentary level, its share of state and parliamentary seats has been substantially reduced. Had a fair election prevailed, it would have been consigned to the opposition benches. In fact BN lost the popular vote count by a substantial margin nation-wide. In most if not all electoral systems found in the world, it would have been booted out of office. In our case, it came dangerously close to it.

Barisan National: Still in Denial Mode

Najib blamed the Chinese tsunami for the BN’s lack luster performance. This was a knee jerk overreaction to the strong Chinese voter support given to the DAP and his disappointment with it. It can also be read as an attempt to tap into Malay public sympathy ahead of the backlash expected from UMNO conservative forces anticipated to come together to demand his resignation for failing to deliver the highly publicised target of a two thirds majority for UMNO and the BN.

Other commentators including UMNO ones have noted that the UMNO and BN results point to rejection not just from Chinese but also from large segments of other voters, including Malays.

Efforts had been made by Najib to woo just about every racial segment of the population. In particular the Malay dominated rural, civil service and police and military constituencies were targeted with perks and handouts timed for the election. For several months leading up to voting day, government and Malay media had also given prominence to Dr. Mahathir and other conservative Malay leaders playing up Malay and Muslim insecurities and emphasizing the importance of preserving Malay and Islamic dominance. Their objective was aimed clearly at bringing about the eclipse if not decimation of Dr. Mahathir’s nemesis, Anwar Ibrahim’s PKR and its multi-ethnic agenda of change, equality and reform.

That these failed to work was mainly due to demographic, occupation and spatial changes in the Malay population and widespread disapproval of the BN’s record of corruption, cronyism, and bad governance. Attempts to stampede the majority Malays into rejecting the opposition through raising racial and religious sentiments were only partially successful with young, better educated and urbanized Malays joining their non-Malay counterparts in opting for change – even if it was for a relatively untried, little tested and potentially unstable new coalition.

It is telling that despite a massive media campaign touting the stability of the BN and demonizing the divisions of the opposition, the electorate in the urbanized states of Selangor, Penang and other urban areas preferred to vote for the deep blue sea rather than the familiar.

In the end, the tsunami was not a Chinese one but a Malaysian urban and middle class one with voters who were better informed considerably less influenced by the government and BN friendly mass media and less susceptible to subtle threats and not so subtle incentives, and opting to cast their vote against the BN.

Pakatan’s Dilemma

For the Opposition, although they had their best result ever in winning the overall popular vote both at federal and state level and in making some inroads into formerly unassailable Barisan strongholds, Putrajaya was too far a reach this time.

Predictably, and with justification, PR has blamed electoral fraud and irregularities as the main reason for their failure to win power. Anwar Ibrahim, the PR leader has refused to accept the election results especially in closely contested constituencies and announced that a special investigative team from the three opposition parties will work with electoral reform group Bersih to gather information and proof that the election was neither free nor fair.

Even if proof of election fraud and irregularities is produced, there is no way the opposition or any other force can persuade the Election Commission to overturn the outcome of the election or order new elections. PR needs to reconcile itself to the fact that it went into the elections knowing and accepting of the obstacles the ruling party would deploy to stymie the opposition including possibly seeking to deny the handing over of power even if it was won fairly and squarely by the PR.

For PR to keep complaining about the way the election was stolen provides BN the justification to label them losers intent on inciting an Arab style spring mass revolt and bent on seizing power illegally. Better for them to take the high ground by accepting the outcome; and leave civil society groups to raise doubts about the legitimacy of the election results and to provide the evidence that can help pave the way to genuinely free and fair elections the next time round.

While the excoriation of the Electoral Commission and BN will not get the PR far in reversing the election results, critical analysis of their own shortcomings that have prevented Pakatan from securing a greater measure of popular support will be more useful in helping the opposition establish a basis for an overwhelming victory five years from now. The concern that the PR offers a potentially fragile replacement government and is badly divided on the key issue of Islam’s role in the country’s socio-political system remains in many minds – even amongst staunch PR supporters – and needs to be addressed sooner rather than later.

The three parties comprising PR will also need to demonstrate that they have an inclusive political vision which can garner a larger measure of political support from Sabah and Sarawak’s natives. An important reason why BN has retained power has been the failure of the Peninsula tsunami to be replicated in East Malaysia in 2008 and now again in 2013.

Malaysia’s Growing Political Maturity

What should both sides –BN and PR – take away from the elections? Firstly, the limited success of the vote buying and racial chauvinism inciting campaign should lead both coalitions to rethink their post election strategies and policies. The present and next generation of voters will be even more predominantly urban dwellers, better educated and politically informed. They will be less easily fooled by political rhetoric or bought over by handouts and promises of rewards – the latter is already viewed by many as akin to bribes which have an effect opposite to that intended.

Besides desiring fair and good governance, Malaysians crave for moderate and accommodative policies and will reject politicians and parties espousing racial and religious extremism. The clock may have been turned back by the irresponsible post election race baiting engaged in by Utusan Malaysia and Dr. Mahathir. But it cannot be turned back on the country’s growing political maturity and the changes for the better that this will bring.

Antara Orang Tua dan Anak Muda

May 9, 2013

Kata orang tua…

Kamu orang muda, tak pandai bersyukur. Kamu lahir dalam kesenangan. Nikmat dari titik peluh kami dahulu. Kami melawan penjajah untuk merdeka.

Berperang dengan Jepun untuk pertahan tanah air. Berperang dengan Cina pada 13 Mei untuk pertahankan Raja Melayu.

Pertahankan hak bumiputera. Sanggupkah kamu serahkan negara ini kepada pendatang Cina?

Anak muda jawap…

Kalian orang tua sudah selesa. Kalian sudah ada sebidang tanah. Kalian sudah ada sebuah rumah. Kalian sudah ada kerja, gaji dan pencen. Dahulu, kalian mengaji percuma. Kami, belum habis mengaji sudah berhutang. Habis belajar, belum tentu ada kerja. Kalau bekerja, belum tentu boleh miliki kereta, rumah, dan tanah. Mahu makan sekali sehari pun susah.

Ya, benar. Jepun sudah pulang. Inggeris sudah berundur. Namun kami dijajah oleh bangsa sendiri. Melayu korup dan khianat. Membiar bangsa sendiri hidup melarat. Dahulu, meski dijajah, kamu masih boleh memiliki rumah sendiri. Kini, meski merdeka, kami hanya mampu menyewa.

Dahulu, demi mempertahankan tanah air, kita menghalau Joseph, Donald, Mizuno, Kozumi. Kini kita hanya berdiam diri ketika tanah kita dirampas oleh Mahmud, Muhammad dan Abdullah.

Kamu pinta kami berwaspada dengan Cina dan India? Tapi kamu import Indon, Myanmar dan Bangla? Kamu minta kami waspada dengan Cina, tapi mereka lebih prihatin tentang nasib kami berbanding Melayu, bangsa sendiri. Kamu minta kami berwaspada dengan Cina, tapi Melayu itu yang merompak tanah kita. Kamu pinta kami waspada dengan Cina, tapi Melayu itu yang berdusta.

Saya masih ingat. Ketika anak Melayu bawah umur dirogol oleh pembesar Melayu, Cina yang dikutuk hari ini bangkit membela. Beliau (LGE) akhirnya dihukum penjara.

Kamu kata, Cina mahu hancurkan kita. Tapi yang dibina Melayu, roboh dan runtuh belaka. Kamu kata, Cina mahu kita binasa, tapi Melayulah yang merompak harta negara, merampas Royalti dari negeri yang mempunyai penduduk Melayu paling ramai.

Kamu kata, DAP benci Islam, tapi peruntukkan Islam dilipatganda berjuta-juta. Kamu dakwa UMNO bela Islam, tapi roboh masjid, tutup sekolah agama, sekat dakwah, batal biasiswa agama.

Kamu kata DAP rasis, ultra cina dan benci Islam, tapi Zairil Khir itu Melayu, Islam dan anak pemimpin UMNO. Lalu kami tanya, mana calon Cina dari UMNO? Mana calon Melayu dari MCA?

Kamu kata, Cina itu musuh kita. Saya tanya, jiran rumah kita siapa? Bermusuh dengan jiran bukan ajaran agama.

Kamu kata, mesti bantu Melayu kerana Cina semuanya kaya. Kami tanya, Ah Chong, penjaja sayur yang mengayuh basikal itu berbangsa apa?

Kamu kata, berpakat dengan Cina DAP haram. Kami tanya, MCA dan Chua Soi Lek itu Melayu?

Bila kami hormati Cina, kamu kata kami lupa asal usul. Yang kami ingat, kami berasal dari negara Malaysia yang berbilang bangsa, Cina, India Kadazan, Murut dan sebagainya.

Kamu kata, hanya BN yang boleh memerintah. Kami kata, Penang lebih cemerlang di bawah DAP, Selangor lebih maju di bawah PKR.

Malaysia apa yang kamu gambarkan kepada kami?Kami inginkan Malaysia yang lebih damai. Warganya aman tanpa mengira bangsa dan keturunan. Kami tidak perlu memaki dan mengutuk Cina untuk membela Melayu. Kami anak Malaysia!

Semoga rakan-rakan Cina dan India saya tabah dalam menghadapi segelintir ultra Melayu yang nakal.

Mohd Ihsan Fadhli Che Min
Warganegara Islam (May 7, 2013)

https://www.facebook.com/hasanhusaini/posts/655020974514792

Najib, the Reconciler, defends the racist Utusan Malaysia

May 8, 2013

http://www.malaysiakini.com (o5-o7-13)

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has defended today’s Utusan Malaysia front page report that asks the question “What more do the Chinese want?”

“You blame Utusan but you don’t ask about the Chinese papers,” Najib said during a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today.

Najib said that Chinese dailies produced similar types of news, before abruptly leaving the press conference venue. He was speaking to reporters after chairing a two-and-a-half hour meeting with newly elected BN representatives at the Putra World Trade Centre.

Najib also said the Chinese community were “taken for a ride” by the Opposition and were under the impression that their votes could trigger a change in government.

“I do not blame them. But we need to tell them that they were taken for a ride, similar to the Sept 16 claim,” said Najib, according to fz.com, in reference to Pakatan Rakyat’s failed attempt to entice 30 BN MPs to join them in 2008.

‘BN made urban gains too’

Najib also dismissed suggestions that the election result had exposed a “urban-rural” divide, pointing out that BN did make some gains in urban seats.

On claims that foreigners had voted on Sunday, Najib said this was ludicrous as it would take 100 jumbo jets to fly in the alleged 40,000 foreigners said to be brought in to vote BN.

“Has anyone seen these jumbo jets landing? Yet, whatever we say is a lie, what they say is the truth when in reality it is the opposite,” he said.

On the integrity of the electoral system, Najib said Pakatan were in two minds over the system – supporting it when they won, yet are sceptical whenever they lose.

“If we could manipulate the system that way, do you think we would have allowed (the losses) to happen?” he asked.

PAS: Do not stoke racial sentiments

Meanwhile, PAS Secretary-General Mustafa Ali has reminded politicians and the media not to stoke racial sentiments that may create unrest.

“There should not be anyone pointing figures at any race because they are not satisfied with the 13th general election results.PAS urges all, including the authorities, to do their duty to protect the citizens, rather than condone provocation from irresponsible groups, which will stoke racial sentiments.What happened in the 13th general election is the rejection, in general, of BN by all groups.This is the reason why BN is defeated in the popular vote, for the first time in the country’s history.”

Mustafa said according to the Election Commission (EC), it is clear that 5.623 million voters or 49.96 percent chose Pakatan Rakyat at the federal level, while 5.237 million voters or 46.53 percent supported the BN.

He said only irresponsible people would see the rejection of the BN from a racial aspect.

Malaysian Buddhist Organisations: Vote Wisely and Make the Difference

April 28, 2013

http://www.malaysiakini.com (04-25-13)

The coming 13th general election will be a critical one deciding the fate of the people and this nation. Malaysia’s Buddhist organisations, in the spirit of upholding Buddha Sakyamuni’s compassion and wisdom, call on all Malaysian Buddhists as well as the political parties participating in this election to:

(1) Step forward and fulfill one’s duty as a citizen; to vote in earnest and with responsibility to elect a government that will bring advancement, harmony and equity in serving the people of different races and faiths.

(2) Follow Malaysia’s founding spirit which emphasise on unity and the mutual prosperity of all ethnic groups. Whichever political party that comes into power, the ruling government must assure that the resources are equally distributed and that racial, religious and educational issues shall not be manipulated by political parties as tools to polarise the people.

(3) Encourage religion which has the effect of purifying the society and our hearts. We seek the ruling government to protect the constitutional rights of freedom of religious beliefs, put to a stop the marginalisation of non-Islamic religious education and accord fair treatment to religious development.

(4) Ensure Malaysia shall maintain its status as a secular country, pursues a policy of separation of religion and state. The ruling government must also ensure that the Federal Court is the highest source of adjudication in all matters.

(5) Ensure that the political parties must be genuine in curbing the malpractices within current electoral system, including money politics, vulgarism and abusive language should not be engaged during campaigns.

Politics is everybody’s business as political parties and politicians’ words and deeds affect the social life of the people. Let’s elect an ideal government.

6) Urge the political parties and people throughout the country during the election period to be more action oriented in the decision-making with compassion to curb violence and more wisdom to reduce ignorance.

Vote wisely as their decisions will make a difference. Let’s all be united together to build a better tomorrow. May our nation be blessed with prosperity, happiness and peace.

From:

1) members of Malaysian Buddhist Consultative Council:-

Young Buddhist Association of Malaysia,
Buddhist Missionary Society Malaysia,
Sasana Abhiwurdhi Wardhana Society
Persatuan Penganut Agama Buddha Fo Guang Malaysia
Vajrayana Buddhist Council Malaysia

2) Fo Guang Shan, Malaysia

3) Theravada Buddhist Council of Malaysia

More Ibrahim Alis for Politics of Extremism?

April 11, 2013

by Jeswan Kaur@www.freemalaysiatoday.com

The nation’s most opinionated politician, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, seems to be having a problem leading a quiet life. Instead, the former Prime Minister is unable to do without the public glare, never mind that it often ends up revealing the ugliest of truth about him.

Yet, Mahathir, who is no stranger to controversies, seems to thrive each and every time he opens his mouth.From calling his successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi “stupid” to doubting Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s leadership qualities, Mahathir has practically opened up his own can of worms.

For a leader who has been revered as a “statesman”, Mahathir has time and again proven that he has little to boast of as a statesman.On the contrary, he has gone on post-retirement to expose himself as a racist bigot, a politician who plays to the gallery only to fulfil his own personal agenda.

Recently, Mahathir did it again, earning the ire of the rakyat when he said that the country will only be safe if it has more “Ibrahim Alis”.

Just what was the 87-year-old Mahathir thinking of to come out with such a ridiculous suggestion?How long more should Malaysians tolerate the nonsensical antics of Mahathir or for that matter why should the rakyat pay any attention to what this longest-serving prime minister has to to say, if Mahathir continues to insult the intelligence of the people whom he once served?

Mahathir, who is patron of PERKASA, has urged Barisan Nasional to field Ibrahim under its banner in the coming general election.Should BN oblige, Mahathir says, he is willing to travel to Ibrahim’s constituency of Pasir Mas to campaign for the ultra-Malay politician.

Enemy of the nation?

While he has been lauded for taking Malaysia to greater heights, Mahathir has also done his fair share of harm to the nation, by not only leaving behind “shackled” mindsets but also by widening the racial chasm.

It was Mahathir who belittled the non-Malays when he reprimanded them to be eternally grateful to the Malays for allowing them to call Malaysia their home.

And now while he is busy endorsing extremists like Ibrahim, all that the rakyat can say is that they regret having given Mahathir the 22 years to lead Malaysia: the damage done by this fourth prime minister is irreversible.

Ibrahim, 62, meanwhile has never shied away from threatening the non-Malays when it comes to the issue of Ketuanan Melayu or Malay supremacy. It is also Ibrahim who showed no respect when he suggested that the Malay-language bibles be torched for using the word “Allah”.

To Mahathir, it was no act of disrespect and malice on Ibrahim’s part. Defending his “understudy”, Mahathir said Ibrahim, the Pasir Mas MP, was merely referring to a common practice of burning publications that have been identified as illegal.

The Mahathir-Ibrahim Ali afflliation is certainly not in the best interest of the nation, despite the former’s claim that Perkasa is a “force” to be reckoned with, boasting of a 400,000 membership.

Time to retire for good

The rakyat clearly are not interested in Mahathir’s rantings, so why then does the good old doctor not get the message?

Or has Mahathir become immune to feedback coming from the people and remains recalcitrant in wanting to speak his mind, albeit it being nothing but crap – be it about the nation being in safe hands with leaders like Ibrahim or that the Rosmah Mansor biography is an asset in shaping the minds of generations to come?

The people have moved on post-Mahathir and it is time that Mahathir did the same, putting an end to his never-ending hunger for glory.

Had Mahathir spoken words of wisdom, the scenario would have been otherwise; instead, to the rakyat’s horror, he has started relishing his role as the devil’s advocate, serving to achieve no one’s interest but that of himself.

With the country now abuzz with the 13th general election, one hopes Mahathir takes the cue and calls it quits as far as seeking attention and praise go.

Jeswan Kaur is a freelance writer and a FMT columnist.

Understanding Malaysia’s Pivotal General Election

READ THIS:

Prime Minister Najib Razak recently dissolved Malaysia’s 222-seat parliament, paving the way for the country’s next general election, which is now scheduled for May 5. Electioneering in Malaysia has been at fever pitch for many months, and it will only grow more intense in the coming weeks.

In this Q&A, Vikram Nehru and Van Tran analyze Malaysia’s political landscape. They explain why this election, which pits the long-dominant Barisan Nasional coalition against the up-and-coming Pakatan Rakyat, could be pivotal…

• What is the significance of the upcoming general election?
• What is the makeup of the two main political coalitions?
• How has PR performed thus far?
• What makes BN appealing to the electorate?
• What has PR done to boost its chances with the electorate?
• What potential obstacles lie ahead?

http://carnegieendowment.org/2013/04/10/understanding-malaysia-s-pivotal-general-election/fyxs#significance

A House is not a Home

March 29, 2013

by Elza Irdalynna

http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com

By the time this article comes out, a close friend of mine will be getting ready to leave the country. Newlywed and pregnant, she will be joined by her entire family to migrate to Australia after obtaining their permanent resident status they applied for nearly a decade ago.

She isn’t the first of my friends to start their lives anew in another country, and she won’t be the last. And while they will be terribly missed, can we really blame them for choosing to leave?

Statistics keep showing an increase of Malaysians migrating with each passing year. The brain drain is a true problem in this country, as more and more of our creative and intellectual minds leave, never to return.Many factors come into play, but at the core of it all, they leave because this land has ceased to become their sanctuary.

In secondary school I wrote a play called “Anak Ikan Lemas di Laut” (Small Fry Drowning at Sea), about a girl struggling to understand and fit in the racial definition bestowed upon her.

This play was written as a direct response to another play I wrote, which did not win at the state level competition for drama as it was “not Malay enough”. Note that this was an English drama competition.

The champion was a play on Hang Tuah. Needless to say, the play mentioned above that questions culture and tradition and its irrelevance to the person she chooses to be, was deemed too controversial to be staged.

However, that feeling of being alien in your own home plagued me since I was a little girl, and it still does till this day. I’m sure many Malaysians experience this same crisis.

Being fluent in English is jeered upon. Forsaking archaic traditions and beliefs is considered immoral. Freedom of expression is either restricted or misunderstood.

Of course, no country is perfect. No government is without flaws and corruption. Yet why do so many choose to go over to the so-called greener patch of grass?

Perhaps it’s largely due to the people who run this country. The societal parents – and how detached we’ve grown from each other. A ruling party more interested in rebranding its name and increasing its number of voters, with no intention of fulfilling its promises as its slogan suggests.

Election is a game

Unlike the set dates for elections in many countries such as the United States, even Indonesia, Malaysia treats its elections like a game – up to the whims and fanies of the ruling government.

Like parents so caught up in chasing wealth, our rulers have abandoned us, and left little reason for true patriotism. The people who leave aren’t traitors to their nation. Instead, they are the ones who have been betrayed. Our rights are stripped, and any attempt at true justice is easily thwarted by new laws that clearly violate the constitution.

If anyone dares to question or challenge these biased laws, they would be threatened with imprisonment for “sedition”. The government doesn’t want  people who can think and stand up for what is right. It wants zombies. Throughout our lives, we are forced to fit ourselves in its definition of what our identities should be.

Racial, economic, religious and educational gaps are enforced instead of bridged. Individualism is suppressed. Youths of today are told to be grateful and not question the authority.

They forget: it is the people who gave them that power. Instead of telling the people to serve the country, might I suggest the government start serving the people?

Most of all, this country lacks hope. No amount of 1Malaysia songs it repeats on the radio, or recitals of the Rukun Negara in school could instil faith in the country, when its blatant abuse of power is on display for all to see.

We are no longer blind. We are better informed and we are aware of the mainstream media being used as the government’s tools of propaganda.

Alternative and social media has exposed its trickery, and the people won’t stand for it any longer.That is why many leave. They’ve grown weary of the lies and deceit. They yearn for their rights to be protected, and their voices heard.

Perhaps the country they move to will not be far different from this. But treachery isn’t something they aren’t used to, and maybe it’s better to be betrayed by others, instead of your own countrymen.

Elza Irdalynna writes about art, love, and other things she pretends to understand. She is also an FMT columnist.

Kua Kia Soong on Tanda Putera

February 24, 2013

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

Dr.Kua Kia Soong on Tanda Putera

For the first time after 55 years of domination, UMNO’s hegemony has finally been shaken. Through all these years of Alliance and BN rule, UMNO has been able to sustain it’s relative success and cultural hegemony by presenting their definition of reality to the masses through the mainstream media – newspapers, textbooks, TV and films.

They have tried to create a ‘consensus’ that the reality they have created is the only way of seeing the world and of viewing historical facts. Any groups who present an alternative view are therefore marginalized for after all, “history is written by winners” as Alex Haley said.

Thus, before every general election since May 13, 1969, the official propaganda organs, especially the mainstream press and television, have without fail, saturated their coverage with the spectre of chaos and bloodshed should the opposition win. This has been taken to a repulsive extent when scenes of arson and corpses during the May 13 incident have been used in official adverts by the ruling coalition, for example in the 1990 general election in which I participated as a candidate.

Such adverts have been invariably accompanied by racist commentary on episodes such as the May 13 pogrom, aimed at engendering chauvinistic feelings among the majority Malay population against the Chinese who have been portrayed in official propaganda as the upstart “immigrants”.

Why Always Show Bukit Kepong?

All these years, FINAS (the film corporation paid for by Malaysian taxpayers) has provided only one film that has been shown at prime time before every general election, namely, “Bukit Kepong”. This was the episode during the Emergency when the insurgents – portrayed in the film as wholly Chinese – had attacked the police station at Bukit Kepong. Not surprisingly, all the mata mata were all portrayed in the film as Malays. The rationale for showing “Bukit Kepong” before the general election was never spelt out, although the crude intention to sow racist hatred among the Malay masses toward the “Chinese communists” was crystal clear.

UMNO’s “cultural hegemony” worked well for years, until the contradictions inherent in the Umnoputra-weighted New Economic Policy began to create irreparable fissures in the Malay community. Along came the affable PAS stalwart, Mat Sabu who introduced Mat Indera as the Malay leader in the Bukit Kepong assault to an erstwhile historically naïve public. He further pointed to the elephant in the room – namely, that the Bukit Kepong assault by the Mat Indera-led insurgents was against the British colonial power that controlled the country at the time and should be viewed as a patriotic act!

The even more tragic episode in Malaysia’s history is of course, the May 13 pogrom. The official rendition has been to portray the events as the result of “Opposition” (read “Chinese”) arrogance and insensitivity to “Malay” feelings, as well as being Communist inspired. Thus, “May 13″ has been the most frequently used ghost story (in the words of the Tunku) in UMNO’s “soft” arsenal. The message before every general election was that “May 13″ bloodshed might recur if the Opposition ever came to power.

Declassified Documents on May 13

My 2007 title was an attempt to bring to light the available documents on the May 13 incident and to provide an alternative to the official version which has now been thoroughly discredited. The declassification of the official May 13th records in the British Archives in 1999 had provided a welcome opportunity to research this painful incident more thoroughly.

I would love to have similar access to the Malaysian Special Branch records for the period, if only they possessed the same integrity for historical records. (Would a victorious Pakatan Rakyat government declassify these records in the name of transparency and freedom of information, I wonder?)

The British Foreign Office records drawn from files of confidential memoranda, embassy exchanges, correspondents’ despatches (banned in Malaysia at the time) certainly debunk the official Malaysian government’s version that the bloodshed was caused by “Chinese provocation” against Malays, that the communists had a hand in it, and that the fatalities only numbered 137.

The thesis in my book is that the pogrom was orchestrated by the emergent state capitalist class in UMNO to secure their interests, which they have succeeded in doing until the present day, not least because of the threats of fascist violence used and reused at suitable junctures since then.

Tanda Putera: For Malay eyes only!

Judging from the online interview given by the director of Tanda Putera (TP), it is clear that this film had been produced in an attempt to counter the impact of my 2007 title. My authoritatively researched book invited Malaysians to review for themselves, the evidence that debunked both UMNO’s ghost stories and the notion that opposition votes in the 2008 general election would lead to mayhem. The reality was that the political tsunami happened and there was no mayhem.

Unfortunately for the makers of TP, as Abe Lincoln said, “We cannot escape history.” Or as Peter Carey, the writer, has put it:

“History is like a bloodstain that keeps on showing on the wall no matter how many new owners take possession, no matter how many times we paint over it.”

Also, unfortunately for the Director of the film (left), her film has been unceremoniously put on hold from general release for political expediency. It seems her political masters cannot afford to show this to the Chinese voters or it would be disaster for the 13th general election! Would an artist with integrity put up with such an indignity? Would an artist with integrity tolerate being treated like a mercenary to be used at the whims and fancies of her paymasters for their own narrow ends?

We now know that TP has recently been shown to a select captive audience of Felda settlers who happened to be in Kuala Lumpur for an official function. While journalists were asked to leave, some through their professional persistence, managed to stay and see the film. Thus we can only go by their reviews of the film, viz. that the Chinese are portrayed as the aggressors in the aftermath of the 1969 general election; that the Chinese had gone to Malay kampungs shouting arrogant and insensitive slogans; a scene of Chinese youth urinating on a flagpole at the Mentri Besar’s residence; Chinese youth vandalizing campaign materials; a Chinese crowd shouting “Malays go and die”; A Chinese crowd disallowing two Malay youth on motorbikes to pass through, claiming that Selangor belonged to them; that the communists had a hand in orchestrating the mayhem; that foreign correspondents at the time fielded unreliable despatches… all blood racing stuff to arouse Malay emotions.

May 13 Tragedy, Tanda Putera Farce

Is Tanda Putera art? Will it win any Oscars? Is TP a contribution to Malaysian history? If TP is supposed to be objective, why is it only fit to be shown to a Malay audience and not open to public scrutiny?

Voltaire said that “history can be well written only in a free country.” Our country is not even free enough to screen the film! At the moment, it can only be shown for “Malay eyes only”.

From the review of the film, the webpage of the film and the utterances of the film director so far, I would conclude as Marx did in The 18th Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte:

“All great historical facts and personages occur, as it were, twice … the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce.”

Hindraf Blueprint for the Marginalized Indians in Malaysia

February 18, 2013

In keeping with the blog’s intention of providing different perspectives on issues of importance to our country, I have chosen to post this video which clearly explains Hindraf’s agenda.

Hear it and then decide whether Hindraf is justified in seeking a solution(s) to the plight of marginalized Indians in our country. My own view is quite simple and that is no one, Indian, Chinese or Malay, should be left out from the mainstream of national economic, political and social life. There must be justice and equity for all.

I sincerely believe (and my wife Dr Kamsiah too) that we have enough resources to meet everyone’s need. As Gandhi said, “The world has enough for everyone’s need, but not enough for everyone’s greed.”Let us, therefore, focus our minds on solving problems and creating opportunities for all Malaysians to be what they wish to be. –Din Merican

The Ugly Malaysians we have become

February 15, 2013

by Prof. Dr. Ibrahim Baijunid*

THE worst and the best of personal cultures are emulated in homes, schools, community, the media and politics.

The espoused ideal of Malaysia is to create a knowledge and virtues-based society, a kind of Utopia.

The best society can only occur when there is a critical mass of people, the mainstream, particularly those in power and in the corridors of power, who uphold the highest principles and culture.

There are uncouth people in all societies with ugliness in behaviour. The notion of ugliness is not about looks or beauty, but rather ugliness in thoughts, intentions, schemes, conspiracies and behaviour.

Such ugliness leads to a Ku Klux Klan kind of mentality and ethnic cleansing drives. Ugliness transcends every code of decency.

Bad people with hatred in their minds and hearts have some kind of psychological disconnect with humanity, although they may profess to have good connects with their in-groups.

Other societies, for instance Americans, have heartily criticised ugly Americans, those in politics and in daily lives. The Ugly American, for instance, is a political novel by Eugene Burdick and William Lederer, published in 1958.

The novel was so influential that a movie starring Marlon Brando was made. The Ugly American failed to understand not just local culture, but human nature.

Ugly Malaysians are those with double standards in everything, from personal behaviour to public actions. They are those who plan and instigate riots, as differentiated from those who organise peaceful and legitimate demonstrations; those who lie to family, friends, neighbours, the community, the people and to themselves; those who, when abroad, distort every fact about Malaysia; those who hate others and hate themselves.

They are those who sneeze into other people’s faces and cough into other people’s food; who clear their throat gutturally or blow their noses while people are eating; those who smoke and intrude into people’s breathing space.

They are school and road bullies; political bullies who become little “Hitlers” when they have a little power. They have ill intentions towards others.

Ugly people anywhere tend to be arrogant, greedy, envious, lustful, slothful, loud and ostentatious. They expect others to conform to their culture, attend to their needs and obsequiously address their every political or cultural whim and fancy.

Not-so-beautiful Malaysians take themselves seriously as individuals and groups which cannot err. They can attack others harshly and be ungenerous in every way, but will not entertain the slightest criticism of themselves.

Mature societies are willing to criticise, joke and laugh at themselves. In the American television comedy series, All in the Family, the character of Archie Bunker is presented as bigoted, but lovable and decent.

There are Malaysians who are bigoted, but neither decent nor lovable, some would say. There was a time when the nation was very political in the struggle for independence but society was not politicised, and when Malaysians could joke and laugh at themselves.

The humour in many of P. Ramlee’s movies was evidence of the ability of society to reflectively laugh at itself and its racial, cultural or even religious stereotyping.

It is not enough for the nation or individual institutions to highlight the academic successes of their students with a string of As. The ultimate outcome which really matters is whether the education system has educated a generation of students who respect democratic principles, participate actively and contribute meaningfully to the betterment of societies.

Any educational reform must give priority to outcomes of genuine positive behaviour beyond the cognitive domains. The affective domain is about the feelings and matters of the heart, respect for people, filial piety, love for country — about right behaviour, good manners, courtesy and civility.

In terms of values, knowledge and behaviour, the school system must reinforce the best from home culture. In every classroom, there are the dynamics of class, culture and aspiration in play.

Teachers and principals are at the centre of managing the dynamics and ensuring that the best behaviour, not the worst, become the norm.

A university, for example, must set the highest standards and culture, and not allow squatter-like survival culture to be the norm, whether in the cafeteria, in discourse, in writings and thinking.

Educational institutions and the media must also shape personal cultures to ensure that high culture opportunities are made available to all children and citizens.

Prof. Dr. Ibrahim Baijunid  is  Deputy Vice-Chancellor, INTI Laureate International University, Malaysia-www.nst.com.my

Malaysia has a Cat among Pigeons not a Nelson Mandela

January 13, 2013

by The Ice Cream Seller @http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

In the last few weeks, I have been prodded enough to awaken my few and far between bouts of commenting on issues here. The bile and venom that spews out of one man is enough to awaken a grizzly bear from hibernation.

As I thought about it, I also thought of Nelson Mandela (left) (can someone please tell Ibrahim Ali that he is not a footballer playing in the African Nations Cup?). How blessed South Africa is to have such a statesman and what did we do to have a cat among the pigeons?

Then I thought back to the days towards  the end of Apartheid when I first set foot on the African continent and what it was like then and now. At that time, Mandela was the rage.

Also at the time, our then Prime Minister was also riding high, but somehow, it always seemed that hands down, Mandela was it. The man. The hero. Now both are past leaders. One is revered in retirement and the other, working feverishly as a “dalang”.

Let’s examine some aspects of each based on their actions, qualities and achievements, and from there, a reader ought to distinguish the one with the broad shoulders and the one with a chip on his shoulder.

Jail

One spent a considerable time in jail in Robben Island. The other sent a considerable number to jail all over the country.

Revenge and Separation

After Apartheid (can someone please tell Ibrahim Ali that it is not the name of some kuih?), Mandela worked tirelessly for reconciliation. A truth and reconciliation commission was set up.

At the televised proceedings, white Police personnel and Army officers broke down and wept when confessing their misdeeds. Likewise the black community, whether they were from the ANC or not. They sought forgiveness and forgiveness was largely given. The price of the terrible acts they committed was the weight of their conscience.

Here, we can’t even allow Chin Peng to return home. Unlike the Malaysian Bali bombers, Chin Peng (right) fought for independence though his ideology was different in terms of what we felt should be, post Merdeka.

On the contrary, our exported terrorists have their bodies brought home in RMAF aircraft and we are so humane as to fly their relatives or spouses to accompany the bodies home.

Whilst Apartheid was dismantled, our NEPartheid grew and flourishes till today ― separate schools, separate examinations, university placements, civil service intakes, promotions in the various government agencies and bodies, separate mutual funds, separate plates, separate cups, scholarships, housing discounts, loan schemes, set apart cities (Putrajaya, Shah Alam, Bangi), etc.

Forgiveness vs Revenge

Mandela was able to forgive those who put him in jail ― even the wardens became his friends. He earned their respect and made them see the error of their ways and value system.

He could sit and talk with FW de Klerk (the then leader) and de Klerk ― though a political opponent ― could see the larger picture through humane eyes that Apartheid was wrong. He could also see the measure of the man in Mandela. A white Afrikaneer (please tell Ibrahim Ali that it is not a type of cheese) that I knew told me that he was so proud of what he referred to as “my president”. To come from someone of the opposite divide and to say so with such pride was something to hear and behold

Here we are being taught and brainwashed against the perils of imaginary enemies. And our enemies are everywhere ― Jews, Christians, pendatangs, gays, lesbians, Singapore, Valentine’s Day, Bibles, etc, etc.

Odium and disdain

One is a revered statesman and hugely popular, even amongst past political opponents. The other (right) is looked upon in utter contempt and disdain bar the life members of the racist NGO, PERKASA, where he is the patron.

Rugby World Cup

Years back, South Africa hosted the Rugby World Cup. At that time, it was almost entirely played by the whites and the challenge was to get the best team to play for the new Rainbow nation.

Mandela realised that this was something that would help cement the nation’s peoples. He called for the captain ― a white ― and had tea with him in the Presidential Palace. It didn’t matter to the President that he was white and that nearly all the team would be white.

The equivalent of PERKASA was screaming that the black players should be the majority. Mandela reasoned that they should not take away what was so important to them (the white population ) ― Rugby ― and his view prevailed.  Bottom line: They won the World Cup with nearly all their players white and sweating blood and guts to bring glory to their country and the event was a great advertisement for their country.

Here, what were multiracial teams for football, hockey, rugby that represented the nation are reduced to mono-ethnic camps. Almost every sports association has been politicised and consequently, the spirit of the nation has been crushed under the tidal wave of NEPartheid.

Our best years in football had the likes of Chin Aun (left), Mokhtar Dahari, Choon Wah,  Santokh Singh, M. Chandran, James Wong, Spiderman Arumugam, Chow Chee Keong, etc. The hockey team that came in 4th at the 1975 World Cup was only unusual in that every race was present except a Punjabi!! Where have all the so-called “pendatangs” gone in team sports?

Diversity

South Africa is made up of many indigenous peoples. Add to that the migrant Asians, white settlers and other neighbouring African states. Today, they celebrate their diversity and are called the Rainbow Nation.

Here, we threaten pendatangs with revocation of citizenship. Even the word pendatang, which I never really heard in my school days in the 70s, has gained considerable currency so much so I am quite nonchalant to define myself as a pendatang even though I am “Genpentiga (Generasi Pendatang Tiga)”.

Pribumi, Bumiputera (all imported words from India by the way) are singled out at the expense of people of migrant descent. Unfortunately, the singular defining factor of separation in our land has been for sometime now along the lines of religion ― diversity can be accepted provided religion is the same.

Genuine warmth

When Madiba ( as Mandela is affectionately known), the smile radiates warmth. There is no venom in his smile. When Madiba laughs, it is a hearty laugh. Madiba does not snigger.

Confidence vs Insecurity

When Mandela speaks or walks, there is an air of authority, presence and confidence. Despite all the years spent in jail, he never thought of payback time by clinging on the reins of power. Equally, he was able to entrust his political foes with the reins of power. On one occasion, he appointed a political opponent, a tribal chief ― Mangosuthu Butolezi ― as the President whilst he was away from office. Mangosuthu Butolezi was a Zulu chief.

Can we envisage a situation where a Karpal Singh or a Lim Kit Siang is given the reins even for a few hours?

Chiefs of national institutions

During Mandela’s tenure (though not necessarily during its entirety), he showed he could govern with a robust Opposition, a Judiciary and Police force headed by whites. Compare that to the situation here ― where they were either sacked or retired off. Magnanimity, grace, compassion and exemplary leadership compared to deceit, lust, jealousy, greed and insecurity all rolled into one.

Post retirement

Madiba does a lot for charity and in his early years of retirement, was a sought after peace maker throughout the African continent. He lives is a relatively modest residence and does not involve himself in the pits and gutters of politics.

He does not promote his children to higher office ― certainly not at the expense of and detriment to others. More than anything, he is a powerful symbol of unity despite there being no such thing as “1 South Africa”.

Noble Peace Prize

South Africa can stand proud and tall as a nation that two of its leaders ― from opposite sides of the political divide ― were recognised for their efforts in forging peace and dismantling Apartheid by the award of the Noble Peace Prize. Unfortunately, here, opponents are ostracised and those who are not get awards from PERKASA

To the younger readers you will note that in many parts above, I only allude to Mandela. To elucidate on our equivalent situation will only add to your despair and grief. So I will spare you that.

* Ice Cream Seller reads The Malaysian Insider

On Azharudin M Dali’s Sejarah Masyarakat India di Malaysia

February 8, 2013

Commentary on Azharudin M Dali’s Sejarah Masyarakat India di Malaysia

by Dr. Ranjit Singh Malhi (received via e-mail)

The Malaysian Sikh Community has the distinction of being a progressive and dynamic community which within one generation was transformed from predominantly being one of policemen, bullock carters, watchmen, dairymen and mining labourers into doctors, lawyers, teachers and other professionals. The Sikhs, proportionately, have perhaps the largest number of professionals compared to any other group in Malaysia.

Unfortunately, the history of the Sikhs in Malaysia is yet to be fully written and has received scant academic attention to date. In this regard, the latest book by Dr. Azharudin Mohamed Dali of the University of Malaya entitled Sejarah Masyarakat India di Malaysia with one entire chapter on the Sikh Community is greatly welcomed.

I am currently completing a book pertaining to the social, economic and political history of the Sikhs in Malaysia. Allow me to share with your readers numerous factual errors pertaining to the Malaysian Sikh Community in Dr. Azharudin’s book as shown in the table below to avoid them being repeated in subsequent writings. To be fair, two of the factual errors can be traced to the sources cited by Dr. Azharudin.

 

	Errors	Facts (Authoritative Sources)
1.	Date the Order of the Khalsa was instituted     (pg. 110)  – 1619	1699
2.	Date Khalsa Diwan Malaya was established  (pg. 113)  – 1902	27 December 1903
3.	Sikhs have not objected to being referred to as “Bengalis” (pg. 14)	In April 2008, Sikhs objected strongly when Perak’s Menteri Besar, Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin wrongly referred to the Sikhs as “Bengalis”
4.	There was only one Sikh organization in Malaya  in 1917 (pg. 112)	There were at least five Sikh organizations in Malaya in 1917: Khalsa Diwan Malaya, Sri Guru Singh Sabha Ipoh,  Sri Guru Singh Sabha Pusing, Sri Guru Singh Sabha Larut and Sri Guru Singh Sabha Central Workshops (Sentul)
5.	Name of Sikh organization formed in 1926     (pg. 112)  -  Malaya Khalsa Diwan	Guru Khalsa Diwan Malaya
6.	Date Sikh commercial immigrants arrived in Malaya in significant numbers (pg. 106)            -  early twentieth century	Late 1920s
7.	Name of second MIC President  (pg. 111)           -  Bodh Singh	Budh Singh
8.	Khalsa Diwan Malaya of Selangor was formed in May 1918 (pg. 113)	Khalsa Diwan Malaya of Selangor was registered in January 1918
9.	Wir Singh was in Singapore until December 1915 before leaving for Penang and Perlis               (pg. 120)	Wir Singh was in Perlis in January 1915 and when Jagat Singh was arrested in May 1915, he fled to Sumatra to continue his anti-British activities
10.	Date Komagata Maru (ship) arrived in Vancouver  (pg. 119) – 21 May 1914	23 May 1914

Additionally, Dr. Azharudin gives the erroneous impression that the Sikhs of the Malay States Guides (MSG) stationed at Singapore played a major role in the Singapore Mutiny of February 1915. The hard truth is that the 1915 Mutiny was a rebellion against the British started and conducted almost entirely by one half of the 5th Light Infantry regiment (Muslim Rajputs) of the British Indian Army stationed at Singapore. The ringleaders of the mutiny – Subedar Dunde Khan, Jemedar Chisti Khan and Havildar Imtiaz Ali – and Sepoy Ismail Khan who fired the first shot of the mutiny were all men of the 5th Light Infantry.

 Only eleven (7 Sikhs and four Muslims) out of about 97 men of the MSG (Mountain Battery) stationed at Singapore were charged and convicted of complicity in the mutiny. The seven Sikhs were found in Tiong Bahru where shooting had taken place in the vicinity and two of their rifles having been recently fired. Six of the Sikhs were sentenced to nine months and the seventh sentenced to eleven months of imprisonment.

According to Dr. T. R. Sareen in his book, Secret Documents on Singapore Mutiny 1915, the seven Sikhs were sentenced to imprisonment under very flimsy circumstantial evidence. Both the rifles confirmed to have been fired were not used by the Sikhs against any British officers or troops loyal to them. It is highly likely that these rifles were thrust upon the Sikhs by the native officers of the 5th Light Infantry when the rebellion broke out. The four other Guides (non-Sikhs) were sentenced to imprisonment terms of between one and a half to two years “without hard labour” for being absent from their camp for three days and having arms in their possession, a few of which belonged to the 5th Light Infantry.

There was no evidence at all that the Mountain Battery of the MSG had participated in the outrages committed by the 5th Light Infantry. When the mutiny broke out, most of the Guides ran away to Singapore town and some surrendered themselves at the Central Police Station.

Later evidence revealed that some men of the MSG were intimidated to join the mutineers and that two Sikhs of the Mountain Battery of the MSG removed the breechblocks of two artillery guns and buried them in the ground. Both guns were later recovered after the mutiny.

The role of the MSG in the 1915 Mutiny has been aptly summarized by Dr. T. R. Sareen as follows:  “… there is no shred of evidence to connect the individuals (of MSG) with any of the outrages or with various detachments of mutineers … their conduct though lacking in initiative, was perhaps justifiable.”

To sum up, out of the 202 men tried by court-martial for their involvement in the 1915 Mutiny, only 11 belonged to the MSG and all of the 47 insurgents sentenced to death and executed were men of the 5th Light Infantry.

 

 

 

 

Cong Xi Fa Cai to all our Mandarin friends

February 8, 2013

Cong Xi Fa Cai–The Year of the Snake

We wish all Mandarin friends and associates at home here in Malaysia and around the world Cong Xi Fa Cai. All the best and let us make the world a better and more peaceful place.

Although Asian astrologists have not given 2013 a thumps up, we of the human race must persevere to make it a good one. To some extent, we are masters of our fate.

For us in Malaysia, 2013 is an election year since rumours in Kuala Lumpur have it that GE-13 will be held at the end of March. The campaign season which began in 2009 with our country on auto-pilot since has entered its final phase.

We await to read the manifestos of both UMNO-Barisan and Pakatan Rakyat and scrutinize their list of candidates for the national and state elections. Please decide wisely and choose a government that genuinely listens to, and serves us well.

GE-13 promises to be a hotly contested one. But that is normal in adversarial politics. But once elections are over and the outcome is known, we must accept the newly mandated government and work to support it, holding it fully accountable for its decisions and actions. That is democracy and good citizenship.

Dr Kamsiah and I want a government that fights corruption, uses our money to benefit the entire nation, and makes our streets, work places, schools, shopping malls, and our homes safe. We need competent and honest Ministers in the new Cabinet who are imbued with some idealism and the will to do what is right and do it right to take the country towards its goal of becoming a developed nation by 2020.

In the Year of the Snake which is supposed to be a very challenging one, let us start thinking we are Malaysians, not “pendatangs” and “kafirs” on the one side and “sons (and daughters) of the soil” and  believers on the other. Let us act as proud,  hardworking, honest and self-reliant people. We can accomplish great tasks and overcome challenges, only if we do it together.  A House divided cannot stand. All the best to you. Cong Xi Fa Cai–Dr. Kamsiah and Din Merican

Bridge builders stand down Book Burners

January 29, 2013

by Terence Netto (01-28-13) @http://www.malaysiakini.com

COMMENT It was a weekend fraught with anxiety over what some pyromaniacs had threatened to do. In the event, it turned out to be an occasion when meaningful symbolism triumphed as incendiary intent fizzled out – and the rest of the country breathed a little easier.

The children of light had triumphed over the children of darkness – that was the essential story of the weekend just past. Whom and what did it take for this to happen?

It took imagination by some leaders and constructive thinking by ordinary people for the triumph – albeit, temporary – of the nobler impulses over the baser instincts of man.

Rarely have such disparate symbolic gestures, like the birthday celebration of a durable leader, and the quiet reading and contemplation of scriptural texts by a host of ordinary people, combined to provide an appraising public with the liberating possibilities that a creative imagination affords.

Perkasa firebrand Ibrahim Ali (left) had set the stage for dire possibility two weeks ago with his call to Malays to burn Malay-language bibles that used the term ‘Allah’ for God.

That incendiary call prompted a welter of reaction but none was publicly forthcoming from leaders rhetorically invested in the paths of moderation.

Politics, like nature, abhors a vacuum. Predictably, Ibrahim’s call, seemingly safe from interdiction by the powers-that-be, drew an anonymous respondent to post an invitation to the public to witness a burning of bibles on January 27 at a public venue on mainland Penang.Fortunately, not everyone took the threat in supine fashion.

Nik Aziz meets Karpal

The ecumenical Mujahid Yusof Rawa, the PAS MP for Parit Buntar and his party’s pointman for their outreach programme to non-Muslims, had been working for a long time to counter just the kind of fear mongering at which Ibrahim Ali is a dab hand.

Mujahid, in cahoots with comrades in PKR and DAP in Penang, contrived to have PAS spiritual leader Tok Guru Nik Aziz Nik Mat meet up with DAP chairperson Karpal Singh at the latter’s home, which is located in the thick of the Thaipusam festivity yesterday along Waterfall Road in Penang.

Sunday, Jan 27, happened to be the Kelantan Menteri Besar’s 82nd birthday.  Karpal, who has recently been the target of criticism by some ulama in PAS over the former’s appeal to them to reconsider their stance on the ‘Allah’ issue, was pleasantly surprised by the visit to his house by Nik Aziz, the birthday man himself.

They reminisced on a past when they first became colleagues in 1978 on the Opposition benches in Parliament, Karpal representing Jelutong in Penang, and Nik Aziz turning out for Pengkalan Chepa in Kelantan.

“His presence sends a strong message that our unity is as strong as ever, despite all that happened,” chimed a happy Karpal.

A cake for the prelate

After that visit to Karpal, Nik Aziz met up with the Catholic bishop of Penang, Sebastian Francis, at a hotel where he presented a cake to the prelate.

The meeting was not originally on Nik Aziz’s schedule but was arranged spontaneously, as a counterpoint no doubt, to the threatened bible-burning event that did not take place.

Bishop Francis told a frail-looking Nik Aziz that the country’s needs his spiritual example, a sentiment that Ibrahim Ali would likely disagree.

Elsewhere in the country, at a park within the vicinity of the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, a small crowd of people, who could not have known about the ecumenical goings-on between DAP and PAS in the north and between Islamic and Christian leaders, flopped down on the grass to read spiritual books they have brought along to the collective read-in.

One of them, a Muslim named Masjaliza Hamzah (right), brought a Bible and read from it. She said, “Other people may be worried for me, but I am not worried about my own faith.”

The thought here echoes with some resonant lines from the poet William Blake: “In every cry of man/In every infant’s cry of fear/In every voice, in every ban/The mind-forged manacles I hear.”

Yesterday, spiritual and lay leaders in Penang and in Kuala Lumpur, acted out gestures whose striking panache helped breach the ‘mind-forged manacles’ that the book-burning crowd want people to be shackled with.

Our Malaysia of the 70′s

January 26, 2013

by Dr Azly Rahman @www.malaysiakini.com(01-25-13)

With the state of racial and religious things entire in our beloved Malaysia today – rumours of a festival of Bible-burning, continuing humiliation of the Malaysian Indians especially, the death of critical sensibility in our public universities, the devastating revelations of the ‘Sabah IC-gate’ plot, the issue of ‘stateless Indians’ and the criminalisation of children not able to be schooled because they were born ‘stateless’ and a host of other issues Malaysianly unbecoming.

I have decided to travel down the path of nostalgia. I am quite sure many of you reading this column would agree that the late sixties and early seventies presented a good frame of reference of what it means to be Malaysian and what ‘national identity’ could be about. Names upon names came back to me as I conjure fond memories.

There was a certain kind of magic, innocence, and sincerity to foster a Malaysian identity, back then. It didn’t matter what race you were, one could love to one’s heart’s content folks like these: P Ramlee, AR Tompel, Aziz Sattar, Saloma, Siput Sarawak, Ayappan, Lim Goh Poh, Andre Goh, Kartina Dahari, Orchid Abdullah, soccer players like V Arumugam the ‘Spider Man’, Soh Chin Aun ‘The Towkay’(right), Shaharuddin Abdullah the cool guy, Mokhtar Dahari ‘Super Mokh’, Santokh Singh, and many other great names that helped make Malaysian Malaysia proud.

One could laugh at the comedian-ventriloquist Jamali Shadat’s jokes, remember names such a V Sambanthan, Khir Johari, the great statesman Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman, Tan Siew Sin, Temenggung Jugah (the man with a really cool haircut I so wanted one… ), Aishah Ghani, and of course the reluctant but down-to-earth and benevolent multiculturalist-statesman Tunku Abdul Rahman  with his famous uncontrollable blurting of Malay curse words and his philosophy of “oil and water can never mix”. A simple, yet profound life was back then…

Those were the days before today… when hell is breaking loose. What happened to the ethos of that genre, I wonder. Growing up in the early 70s, different words to describe reality, practices, and possibilities were dancing happily around me. Perhaps those street names tune us to calmness… Jalan/Lorong Aman, Sentosa, Bahagia, Rahmat, Syukur, Ne’mat, and Merdeka…

All these shaped the child’s mind, such as that of mine growing up with a fascination of names, as if living is about being taught names and being able to “read the self and the word” in order to be liberated.

There were also words related to spirituality; words such as ‘sembah-Hyang’, marhaban, berzanji, kenduri, berkhatan, and bersugi gigi…  There were also cool words related to Malay magic such as jampi serapah, tangkal, kemenyan, dukun, pawang, and of course the “mambang laut-mambang darat-mambang udara” trinity/trio”…

Smooth-sailing seventies

Back in the day of the smooth-sailing seventies people were happy wearing what ought to be simple fashion and accessories… kebaya, baju kurong (not a straitjacket mind you), baju Melayu Telok Blangah, terompah, selipar chapal, selipar Jepun… manik koran, and all kinds of Malay, Chinese, and Indian ‘bling bling’ to adorn oneself with cultural niceties

Growing up in the kampong, I was not attuned to hearing totally foreign words, imported from elsewhere to denote and connote the self, spirituality, and salvation, and “saving the soul of others”; words such as solat, dakwah, ushrah, tarbiyyah jihad, muzakarah, jubah, serban, hijab, purdah, burqah, niqab, Arqam, tabligh, Ayatollah, muktamaar, buah tamar, or even Daulah Islamiyah…

Not that I knew or had even heard of… until the beginning of the eighties when these words like Karl Marx would became technologies of the “body, mind, and spirit” that changed the social relations of production and the ideological landscape of the country and the consciousness of a segment of Malay people… And  I never heard anyone wanting to burn the Bible nor shout “Allahu Akbar” (God is great) when scoring goals in a friendly kampong football match.

And the beauty of living back in the day was how the self was constructed out of the early introduction to pluralism/ multiculturalism such that in me, every time the Chinese spirit of Bruce Lee possesses me, I could just go out and beat up my best friend Fook Shiang for example. We could then walk to town and overdose on the Indian food tosei and capati. Along the way we would stop by breezy Lido beach to grab a bite of the Javanesse soul food tauhu (tofu) sumbat.

Next, we could stop by at our teacher’s house and listen to his stories of Malay spiritual powers and magic called ‘Ilmu Budi Suci’ where the energy within possibly called the ‘chi’ can be harnessed so that one could kick like Bruce Lee without even touching your enemy!

Then, back in the day, we could go home after that to watch Joe Bugner got punched out into outer space by the ‘Black Superman’ named Muhammad Ali. I could still remember the words of the announcer … “Annnddd in thissss corneerrr… weighing 220 pounds… from Louisville Kentucky… the undisputed world champion… Moooo hammaaaad… Aaaa Liiii… Aaaa Liiiii… Aaaa Liiii…” to the sounds of the audience gone berserk.

I could go on and one with this nostalgic; a trip down memory lane of the seventies especially, just by recalling words and words that were synonymous with a world that was about to enter globalisation but was dealing with a strange brew of modernisation and uneven development – a Malaysia before Mahathirism.

That was true multiculturalism without any strand of today’s idiocy. That was our Malaysia with a lot of sense and sensibility.

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DR AZLY RAHMAN, who was born in Singapore and grew up in Johor Baru, holds a Columbia University (New York) doctorate in International Education Development and Master’s degrees in the fields of Education, International Affairs, Peace Studies and Communication. He has taught more than 40 courses in six different departments and has written more than 300 analyses on Malaysia. His teaching experience spans Malaysia and the United States, over a wide range of subjects from elementary to graduate education. He currently resides in the United States.