Perutusan Anwar Ibrahim sempena Hari Merdeka

31hb. Ogos 2009

Perutusan Anwar Ibrahim sempena 31hb Ogos, 2009: Semangat Kemerdekaan Menyanggah Perhambaan dan Membina Keyakinan Baru

Apabila mendekati tarikh 31hb Ogos, ingatan kita akan mengimbas kembali rentetan peristiwa dan perjuangan rakyat yang berkemuncak dengan Kemerdekaan. Tarikh tersebut terungkap sebagai tarikh keramat, menjanjikan kebebasan daripada cengkaman penjajah dan menyelamatkan martabat hidup rakyat.

Persoalan yang menerjah kita semua ialah : bagaimana kita menghayati makna tarikh tersebut hari ini. Pergulatan ini menjadi penentu kepada persoalan makna diri kita sebagai rakyat Malaysia.Tekad baru untuk memahami makna diri Malaysia sebagai bangsa merdeka juga menuntut kita untuk memahami bagaimana kita menjadi tidak merdeka; bagaimana kita hilang kemerdekaan sebelum kita memperolehinya kembali.

Lebih dua ribu tahun yang lalu, Brutus bertanya warga Kota Rom “siapakah yang begitu hina sehingga mahu hidup sebagai hamba ?” Ceasar mahu memiliki kuasa yang tidak terbatas. Nafsunya sebegitu besar dan mahu memastikan Rom dalam genggamannya.

Pertentangan antara Brutus dengan Ceaser adalah pertentangan antara kebebasan menentang nafsu kekuasan tidak terbatas. Sejak negara kita merdeka kita masih bergelut dengan pertentangan ini. Kebebasan – kebebasan bersuara, kebebasan media, kebebasan institusi kehakiman sentiasa mahu disekat oleh penguasa. Oleh itu kita menginsafi hanya bangsa yang pernah melalui gelita penjajahan akan mengerti makna cahaya kemerdekaan. Bagitu juga, hanya diri yang pernah kebebasannya diragut akan menghargai nilai kebebasan.

Syarahan Perdana Professor Dr. Syed Muhammad Naguib al-Attas yang berjudul Islam Dalam Sejarah Dan Kebudayaan Melayu juga menghuraikan dengan panjang lebar peranan paksi tauhid sebagai aqidah menambat keyakinan baru yang menolak faham tahyul dan perhambaan, seterusnya menjadi pelantar kepada pemikiran yang berakar dengan tradisi aqliyah dan mencernakan budaya segar dengan bahasa Melayu sebagai pertuturan kepustakaan(lingua franca) rantau ini. Ratusan tahun berlalu yang sewajarnya tambah memperkukuh dan memantapkan semangat dan keyakinan baru tersebut.

Cantik sungguh puteri Palembang,
Sayang bersunting bunga pudak;
Betapa keras dilambung gelombang,
Kucacak tiang, kulayar jua.

Manakala melangkaui separuh abad kemerdekaan, kita rakyat Malaysia sewajarnya mempunyai kesedaran betapa Bahasa Melayu bukan sekadar bahasa pasar, bahasa komunikasi basahan untuk berjual beli. Bahasa Melayu adalah bahasa ilmu, bahasa tamadun dan bahasa untuk mengungkapkan pengalaman kemanusian yang paling mendalam dan luhur. Bahasa Melayu telah menjadi bahasa intelektual dan kerohanian untuk umat Islam, makanya Bahasa Melayu juga seharusnya menjadi bahasa intelektual dan kerohanian umat Buddha, Hindu, Kristian dan lain-lain keyakinan.

Bahasa Melayu yang saya sebutkan di sini bukanlah bahasa milik orang Melayu semata-mata. Bahasa Melayu adalah milik rakyat dan bangsa Malaysia yang berketurunan Melayu, Cina, India, Kadazan, Dayak dan lain-lain. Bahasa Melayu adalah milik semua rakyat Malaysia.

Kemerdekaan mestilah tidak terperangkap dengan bahana dari politik sempit dan kelam sesebuah parti politik tertentu. Kemerdekaan perlu di lihat dari perspektif rakyat keseluruhannya ; perjuangan pelbagai kaum, menggunakan pelbagai wadah, dan melibatkan pelbagai aliran pemikiran. Sejarah ternyata mengajar kita bahawa Perjuangan Menuntut Kemerdekaan menerbitkan kesatuan semangat untuk menentang penjajah dan imperialisme Barat ketika itu.

Generasi terdahulu yang sama-sama berjuang untuk kemerdekaan, dan mereka yang menempuh zaman mudanya di masa awal kemerdekaan menjadi saksi kepada kepelbagaian aliran dan wadah perjuangan rakyat. Tetapi penulisan sejarah kemerdekaan yang disampaikan kepada generasi hari ini masih belum berlaku adil kerana fakta yang bercampur propaganda. Ini merupakan beban dan tanggungjawab kepada ahli-ahli sejarah kerana tanpa pensejarahan yang adil, kita tidak akan dapat melihat dan menemui makna dan rupa diri bangsa kita yang sebenarnya. Nama pejuang kemerdekaan seperti Dato’ Onn Jaafar, Ustaz Abu Bakar Baqir, Dr Burhanuddin al Helmy, Ahmad Boestamam, Mat Salleh, Panglima Rentap dan Rosli Dhobi tidak sewajarnya digelapkan dari sejarah menuntut kemerdekaan.

Kemerdekaan adalah untuk kebebasan dan keadilan. Inilah yang dijanjikan kepada kita pada 31 Ogos 1957. Sekiranya kita mahu berdegil untuk meneruskan saki baki peninggalan feudal, atau mahu memperkokohkan lembaga-lembaga sistem otoritarianisme, sudah pasti kita menjadi bangsa yang terpinggir. Bangsa Malaysia tidak miskin dengan sumber daya manusianya. Dengan paras pembangunan yang telah dicapai dan kekayaan yang kita miliki Malaysia boleh menjadi negara yang besar. Dan kita perlu yakin bahawa Malaysia boleh menjadi bangsa yang besar. Tetapi kita tidak boleh menjadi bangsa yang besar sekiranya rakyatnya tidak bebas dan merdeka.

ANWAR IBRAHIM, Ketua Pembangkang, Parliamen Malaysia

ENGLISH TRANSLATION

As we approach 31st August, our memories are triggered back to a series of events, primarily the people’s struggle for independence. That day is a day of hope, promising freedom from colonial captive and reclaiming the dignity of the people.

A question that we ask ourselves today is; how do we appreciate the meaning of Merdeka? This struggle has become a reason to question our identity as the proud people of Malaysia. A resolution to understand Malaysia as an independent nation also requires us to understand how it feels to be dependent; and how we have lost our independence even before it was returned to us.

More than two thousand years ago, Brutus asked the people of Rome “Who is here so base that would be a bondman?” Ceasar thirsts for unlimited power. His appetite for power was so strong that he wanted the whole of Rome to be within his grasp.

The fight between Brutus and Ceasar was a fight between freedom and the desire for unlimited power. Since gaining independence, our country is still struggling. Struggling for the freedom of expression, the freedom of mass media, the freedom of the judiciary without bending to the whims and fancy of the government. We realise that only a nation that has been through colonisation will understand the meaning of independence and also that only when freedom is taken away, then the true value of independence is understood.

The series of primary lectures by Associate Professor, Dr Syed Muhammad Naguib al-Attas titled “Islam Dalam Sejarah Dan Kebudayaan Melayu”, (Islam in Malay History and Culture), rejects extensively deviant teachings and slavery, following which encourages new age thinking in accordance with the traditions of aqliyah (rational discourse)  and the absorption of the Malay language as the lingua franca of this journey. The hundreds of years passed have also further strengthened and solidify spirits of the said new confidence.

The beautiful Princess Palembang,
with her flowered earrings;
No matter how hard the waves bounce;
I will strive and I will sail.

However, having gone past half a century of independence, we the people of Malaysia have realised how the Malay language is not only a colloquial one or a mere communication tool for trading. The Malay language is a language of understanding, a language of civilisation and a language to express the noble and meaningful human experiences. The Malay language has become an intellectual and spiritual language for the disciples of Islam; and can also be used as the intellectual and spiritual language for the disciples of Christians, Buddhists, Hindus and other beliefs.

The Malay language does not only belong to the Malays. This language belongs to people of Malaysia – the Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans, Dayaks and all other races. The Malay language belongs to the citizens of our beloved country.

Independence should not be trapped within the political realm or a particular political party. Independence needs to be seen from the people’s perspective as a whole; the fight for all races, and involving all streams of thoughts. History has thought us that the fight for independence invokes unity against colonialism and the western imperialism at that time.

The earlier generation who were there to witness the formation of independence, understood first hand the struggles of our forefathers. Unfortunately, the history of independence in our books today, have been tainted by propaganda. This has become a burden to historians because without a full and transparent documentation of our past, we will not understand the true identity of our nation. Names of fighters of independence such as Dato’ Onn Jaafar, Islamic theologian Abu Bakar Baqir, Dr Burhannudin al Helmy, Ahmad Beostamam, Mat Salleh, Panglima rentap and Rosli Dhobi who valiantly fought for our country, should not have been deleted from our history books.

Independence is for freedom and justice. This was promised to us on 31st August 1957. If we are stubborn to carry on governing with feudalistic ways, or if we do not oppose the authoritarian institutional system, we will surely be a nation that is marginalised. The Malay language is not lacking of human resources. With the level of development that we have achieved and the wealth that we own, Malaysia can be a developed nation. But until we are truly independent and free, that goal will remain a dream.

ANWAR IBRAHIM. Leader of the Opposition, Malaysian Parliament

The Malays of Tomorrow

August 31, 2009

Malays speaking without fear

MP for Lembah Nurul Izzah Anwar

by Nurul Izzah Anwar

I can’t say that I know Datuk Zaid Ibrahim very well. Our past encounters have been limited to a fleeting hello in front of the steps of my alma mater, the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies in 2006, another chat during a reception in honour of Datuk Ambiga Sreevanesagan in June and, most recently, at the PKR’s recent EGM. It’s amazing, but perhaps unsurprising that he has in these three years evolved from an ambiguous reformist in UMNO into the conscience of all Malaysians.

I had always been impressed by his outspokenness, and his willingness to fearlessly voice out his views on issues of national importance is nothing short of inspirational. Zaid does not mince his words where many hesitate to call a spade a spade, especially where it matters the most.

An articulate Malay speaking out for a multiracial and progressive Malaysia is terribly important in this current political climate. For our own community, Zaid epitomises how the Malays might redefine ourselves, to re-imagine a world where we do not think that we are inferior or threatened but are rather confident in whom we are.

In reading Zaid’s book Saya Pun Melayu, I sense the need for Malays to embrace a new paradigm on what it means to be Malay. Many indeed are doing so and this is a heartening. “Malay” need no longer carry connotations of dependency on the state, insecurity, or the crippling feeling alienation and the lack of self-worth.

The word “Malay” can and must eventually mean a call to embrace a broader Malaysian identity, along with a true, inclusive nationalism that is proud of who we are individually but also in what we have accomplished together. We can be sure of our identities and yet still be a part of something greater than all of us — and this is something all the ethnic groups in Malaysia ought to aspire to.

Zaid’s book highlights that fact that we need to look beyond the stereotypes and take an objective, albeit positive look at our community’s accomplishments. We have made great strides in business, the arts, education and the professions. Our success extends from Lembah Pantai where Malays own vibrant businesses selling products made by Malays to the flourishing nasi lemak stalls in Kota Baru.

We attend leading universities throughout the world, increasingly through our own merit. We can count internationally recognised choreographers, painters, cartoonists, writers, and film directors amongst our numbers.

Beyond these markers, our success can more often that not be seen at home through our everyday acts of compassion and sensitivity to others, which spread to our fellow Malaysians to become a national virtue. The kindness shown towards our children, parents and neighbours is perhaps one of the most important signs of who we Malays are as a community. These are real achievements that no one can or would want to take from us.

I’m not denying that we still have a long way to go in moving our community forward, nor am I unmindful that a lot of our successes would not have been in possible without the NEP and its institutions. However, it has become patently obvious that these structures are now holding the Malays back, and that the world has changed since then.

The Malays and, as a-matter-of-fact, all Malaysians need to change as well if we want to remain relevant in this world. We need to step away from our obsession with all things racial and realise that the project of nation-building is not a zero-sum game. Malaysia can never succeed until and unless its entire people feel like they are truly a part of it.

Why then does the old paradigm of ethnic insecurity persist? Why does suspicion and acrimony towards our fellow Malaysians and they towards us still linger? Why are mainstream newspapers calling for ethnic conflict, accusing minority communities of all sorts of ludicrous plots?

The sad reality is that these myths are being perpetuated by UMNO and Barisan Nasional for their own gain. The fact is that UMNO wants to keep the Malay community under its suzerainty forever. They do this by focusing on what we have supposedly not achieved, rather than acknowledging our gains and potential.

They claim to want to protect and uplift the Malay community, but all they have been doing for the last few years is playing on their fears and prejudices. The same can be said for the Barisan components with the non-Malays. This glass-half-empty mentality is being used by UMNO/BN to protect each other and to ward off challenges to their stranglehold on power.

We’ve seen from the case of Zaid of how UMNO demonises anyone who steps out of the pattern of complete loyalty to the party and who have different ideas on how to improve the livelihoods of Malays and Malaysians. We have also as of late seen their scare tactics in action. They have labeled people as “traitors” for calling for a new path of development for Malaysia. They prefer to protect their interests rather than allow the Malaysian people — especially the Malays — to benefit from reform, less corruption and more inclusion.

UMNO also regrettably perpetuates the myth that the Malay community is perpetually under threat from their non-Malay counterparts, and that UMNO is the only party that can save them from this supposed “servitude”. This, rather than anything else, is why race relations have gotten worse in Malaysia.

You cannot expect harmony in a country where its largest ethnic group is constantly bombarded with the message that the minorities are supposedly out to get them and take away their rights. Yet, they chose to follow this tactic since they believe in the short term this will strengthen UMNO and bring Malays back to the party.

They use these “attacking” tactics because they cannot offer anything else. They have shown that they would prefer to entrench those in power rather than allow new ideas and reforms to increase our chances for greater success. There is a real danger that their short-sightedness may cost future generations of Malaysians dearly.

The fact is that Malays have nothing to fear. We are demographically the largest ethnic group in Malaysia and the birth rate is going to keep it that way. Our position in the constitution is enshrined and this isn’t going to change either.

That is what UMNO and the Malay extremists do not get, and what the community as a whole needs to understand. The non-Malays and Malays who challenge UMNO are not seeking to reduce the position of the Malays in anyway, but to defend and uplift all Malaysians. We have to understand that we are all tied together and that we all have a stake in the land. We cannot survive individually as Malays, Chinese or Indians but as Malaysians.

Our non-Malay fellow citizens are not “challenging” our rights or “insulting” or culture and religion — rather they are calling for our nascent nationhood to be allowed to achieve it’s full potential than for us to remain stuck in our ethnic and mental ghettos. The liberals and moderates amongst the non-Malays also suffer from the depredations of extremists within their own communities — they deserve our support as well. The wave of reactionary politics that is engulfing us can only be turned back if progressive Malaysians stand firm against their threats and untruths.

While it is true that much more needs to be done to address those who have not benefited — for all Malaysians — the focus on what we don’t have rather on what we have accomplished only undermines us. We need to imagine a better future, for Malays and Malaysians — this will incidentally make it easier for all of us to achieve what we might lack.

The Malaysia of tomorrow cannot be one in which we are blinded by fear and negativity. The first step in imagining and defining a better future for all of us is to open our eyes and speak out like Zaid and others like him.

Bakri Musa on Permatang Pasir By-Election(August 25, 2009)

August 31, 2009

Voters Drawing the Line

by Dr.M. Bakri Musa
Morgan-Hill, California

In the heyday of UMNO the joke was that the party could field a dog as an election candidate and it would still win. The party leaders must still harbor that delusion for in the recent Permatang Pasir state by-election (August 25, 2009)  they fielded a disbarred lawyer.  This time however, voters wisely drew the line at the dog.

The surprise was not that Rohaizat Othman successfully hoodwinked UMNO leaders to secure the nomination rather how easily those senior leaders were taken in by this shyster. Now that their candidate has been thrashed, those UMNO leaders were belatedly bemoaning the fact that their chosen man had been less than truthful to them.  That is the quality of UMNO top leadership, folks!

Even after the sordid details of the man’s sleazy professional past and checkered personal life had surfaced, UMNO leaders still vigorously defended their choice.  They had the nerve to suggest that those critics were trying to smear the UMNO candidate.  Those UMNO leaders obviously did not realize that their man was already soiled.

Reflection on Muhyiddin

The "Star" Bungler of Permatang Pasir

Consider UMNO Deputy President  and Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin  Yassin’s comments.  He went to great lengths defending the integrity of his party’s standard bearer.  He likened the Bar Council’s sanctions as nothing more than a traffic violation!  I recognize that traffic in Malaysia is terrible, but really!  I wonder what it would take to be branded a crook and thus be disqualified by Muhyiddin’s reckoning.  I am making a huge assumption here, that is, the man has some standards.

A commentator in the mainstream media reported that Muhyiddin was apparently livid on hearing the details of Rohaizat.  Only his severe poker face belied his anger, so she claimed.  If Muhyiddin was truly angry he sure did not reveal it in his actions; he was ‘gung ho’ right to the end.  That commentary revealed more about the writer – ‘sucking up’ to Muhyiddin so early on.  She should try a better excuse next time.

It is a recent tradition with UMNO that its deputy leader be in charge of by-elections.  This Permatang Pasir election was the first to be under the direct leadership of Muhyiddin.  Hence his comments and actions bear scrutiny.

Muhyiddin’s decision to continue with Rohaizat’s candidacy despite all the revealed blemishes says volumes on the judgment as well as ethical standards of Muhyiddin.  Not to scare readers, this character is also Deputy Prime Minister, and going by our recent history, he could very well be Prime Minister one day.

If a two-bit disbarred country lawyer could easily dupe Muhyiddin, imagine him as Prime Minister negotiating with his counterpart across the causeway on selling our precious fresh water, or his participating in crucial international treaty conferences!  That is a scary thought.

The brief Permatang Pasir election campaign revealed more than we ever wished to know about this crooked lawyer and his equally slimy personal life.  While Rohaizat was disbarred by the Bar Council, he could still practice in the Sharia court.  This is the same court that recently sentenced a young mother to be whipped for drinking beer.  That should tell us something of the ‘Islamic’ (at least the Malaysian variety) standard of ethics.

To me, the Permatang Pasir campaign revealed more about UMNO, specifically its culture and top leaders.  What has been revealed should scare all Malaysians who are concerned with our nation’s future.

Muhyiddin’s ethical blind spot was disturbing enough.  More reprehensible was his performance during the campaign.  He fell into the predictable pattern of past ambitious UMNO leaders-in-waiting.  There he was, freely and irresponsibly playing up the race card, eerily reminding me of Najib’s and Hishammuddin’s brandishing of their kerises.  Aspiring UMNO leaders like Muhyiddin have this primitive urge to display their chauvinistic manhood during tough election campaigns.  That is their culture.

Unfortunately, as the party still garnered over a third of the votes (presumably Malay votes), UMNO leaders will continue with their bigotry.  Now they are blaming non-Malay (specifically Chinese) voters for abandoning Barisan.

UMNO of The Future

To be sure there were a few – very few, in fact only two – UMNO leaders who spoke out against Rohaizat, and did so early.  Mahathir wondered out loud whether a liar could be a people’s representative.  Tengku Razaleigh was much more forceful, “… UMNO is projecting the image that it lives by a different moral code from the rest of Malaysia.”  “Either that, or this is the best we can do,” he continued.  Indeed!

Alas, both Mahathir and the Tengku represent UMNO’s past.  To gauge UMNO’s future, look at the leaders of its Youth and Puteri wings.  They not only endorsed Rohaizat but aggressively campaigned for him.  I would like to ask UMNO Youth leader Khairy Jamaluddin specifically whether he feels that a disbarred lawyer and a man who lied about his wife is a worthy representative of UMNO.

The situation with UMNO Puteri is even more interesting.  I wonder how those pretty young girls in their distinctive pink baju kurong feel about campaigning for a man who took a second wife secretly, and then lied about it publicly.  The Puteris’ stand-by-your-man stance may be praiseworthy in other circumstances but not when your man is a cheat and a crook.  Instead of campaigning for him, Puteri members should be contacting the second wife to see whether her man had been providing for her.

The Permatang Pasir by-election could have been a splendid opportunity for UMNO to shine if only their leaders had been smarter and pursued a radically different tack.  Imagine if upon knowing the sordid details of Rohaizat, UMNO leaders publicly admitted their mistake and demanded their candidate withdraw on pain of being expelled from the party.

Yes that would give PAS a walk-over, but that would not have changed the end results.  Besides, UMNO had done this a few months earlier in the Penanti by-election.  Think, however, the message the party and its senior leaders would have sent to their members and Malaysians generally, and the impact that would have on all.  UMNO would have won a great moral victory.  As it is, UMNO lost the election as well as the moral high ground.  The party had set a new low on what is acceptable.

Judging from the post-election comments by UMNO leaders, from Najib Razak and Muhyiddin on down, UMNO has yet to learn this pertinent lesson from this latest debacle.  The party still harbors the delusion that even its flawed candidates could still win.

The next time around expect UMNO to reach even lower to a new bottom in their search for talent.  I must admit it would be difficult to find someone more unworthy than a disbarred lawyer.  Trust me,however, UMNO will find one.

BN is its own worst enemy

posted by din merican–August 31, 2009

August 30, 2009

Malaysiakini.com

BN’s nemesis is BN itself

by Athi Shankar

Leadership crisis in component parties and other related problems were the main reasons behind Barisan Nasional’s consistent defeats in by-elections over the past year, said an academician.  Social scientist Dr Sivamurugan Pandian said his study showed that the coalition could not break the by-election jinx because its own supporters have deserted it.

This was based on the results and patterns of voting for and against BN in the last seven by-elections in the Peninsular, he said.

“There are serious problems within all BN component parties which the leadership involved should address and rectify. It seems the main enemy for BN now is BN itself,” he said.

Due to this, he said BN’s members and supporters were either boycotting balloting or voting for Pakatan Rakyat to express their anger.

He cited the current crisis in MCA and PPP, previous one in UMNO and Gerakan, and perhaps soon in MIC would surely weaken the coalition.

He said the BN leadership currently seemed weak in handling and resolving such crises. “BN leadership at all levels can’t afford to be in a state of denial any longer. Or else this series of defeats would carry on until the next general election,” he said, adding that the BN leadership should now embark on a strategy to lure back their own disgruntled members and supporters.

Despite the leadership change in UMNO and the Federal Government, Sivamurugan pointed out that the people were still voting against BN. He said the coalition’s leadership should find out the reasons behind this downslide – on why the Malays were not backing BN and why non-Malays were inclined towards voting for Pakatan.

“BN should find out whether its newly hatched policies were understood by the people, whether information has been correctly disseminated to the people etc,” added the USM lecturer.

Communication breakdown

He said there was a feel-good political climate with the appointment of Najib Abdul Razak as the country’s sixth premier but this has yet to translate into votes.

“There could be a communication breakdown between the higher and lower BN leadership levels, which is a crucial link to reach out to the grassroots,” added the academician.

Sivamurugan said the country needed two strong and vibrant political blocks for democracy and civil liberty to prosper.

“But it looks bad currently because the electoral matches have been favouring one side for the past one year,” he added.

Of the seven by-elections held in the Permatang Pauh, Kuala Terengganu and Bukit Gantang parliamentary seats, and Bukit Selambau, Penanti, Manek Urai and Permatang Pasir state constituencies, Pakatan won all.

BN had only won one in Batang Ai, Sarawak, which many critics considered as insignificant.

Conduct In-depth Study

Sivamurugan urged BN to conduct an in-depth nationwide study to accumulate information and grassroots’ feedback on the sentiments, demands and grouses of the people against the federal ruling coalition.

He said firstly BN would have to find out whether the people had voted against it because they were pro-Pakatan or anti-BN.

“If the votes were anti-BN, the coalition leaders have to acknowledge it and address the reasons for it immediately,” he said.

He said defeats in Permatang Pauh and Permatang Pasir were expected since both areas were Pakatan and PKR supremo Anwar Ibrahim’s strongholds.

“But what about other areas?” he asked. “Except for Manek Urai, BN suffered massive loss of votes in other constituencies.”

Sivamurugan also slammed PKR for not being able to keep its group of elected representatives together and allowing too much of BN infiltration into the party.

He said the PKR leadership was duty-bound to ensure that these elected representatives don’t hop to another party because the electorates voted for a change in the last general election.

Three PKR state assemblypersons – two in Perak and one in Kedah, have opted out to become independent representatives. “PKR will have to check and stop this to avoid losing public confidence,” said the academician.

On the eve of Merdeka Day: Hot on 1Malaysia?

August 30, 2009

1Malaysia in Music: A Malaysian Identity or just strategic branding?

By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal

There are several ways of appreciating music, appreciating a song. Songs are like stories or Shakespearean quotes; they can be seen and analysed in a multitude of ways, and there is no limit to what a song can mean to somebody.

For me, the first thing I look for in a song is the lyrics. I go ape when a song addresses serious socio-political issues, or talk about life and death, god and religion. Trouble is you’ll never hear songs like these hit the local airwaves, or even make it to television.

Now don’t get me wrong. Sure I don’t mind the occasional Akon’s “I-Wanna-Make-Love-Right-Now-Na-Na” but I find it a little troubling when the same song is repeated on every radio station.

It doesn’t even matter if you don’t particularly like the song; at the end of the day you’ll be singing along to the lyrics because the radio stations have brilliantly pasted the song inside your head via fervent repetition.

So I was coming home from work one day and I happened to tune in to one of the local stations. They were playing this Merdeka-themed song featuring a lot of guest artists, and I think it was called “Satu Malaysia”. It talked about how we were one as a nation even though we are from different races, and how we are united in song and in the end nothing else matters.

That same night, I chanced upon a television advertisement while enjoying the usual teh tarik with my band mates after a jamming session. Apparently, in conjunction with Merdeka, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has organised a 1 Malaysia song competition, aimed at “capturing the diversity of the nation.”

It was initiated by Najib himself who wanted a song which “represented the spirit of Malaysia, written and chosen by the people to voice out what 1 Malaysia meant to them.” Ten finalists have already been chosen, and the winner will be announced on the 31st and walks away with a cash prize as well as a music video.

While I applaud the efforts taken by our Prime Minister, at the same time I cannot help but remain somewhat unmoved by this gesture. True, the best way for creative expression and engagement of the public is through music, but the cynical part of me wonders: what type of songs will be selected? Do they (the songs) touch on the good and the bad of what’s happening in the country, or is it just going to be another “we are united despite being different”.

I, for one, think that the winning song will probably be about how we are “diverse but still together”, strong, bold in facing challenges. And I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s done in a mixture of languages eg Bahasa Malaysia, English, Mandarin etc.

Most importantly it will push the concept of 1 Malaysia.

I guess every administration needs a slogan, a catchphrase of the day, something to adhere to. It’s like the wrestling entrance music for a wrestler. Back in Tun Dr. Mahathir’s time it was Wawasan 2020.

The thing is, is 1 Malaysia a relatively new concept? I think not. I think that the concept in itself is a more of a strategic branding than a Malaysian identity. I mean, I think we as citizens would have realized by now that after 52 years of living together, we have somehow found some common ground on issues that matter to us:

1. Corrupt politicians are a no-no!

2. We need more sugar, and cheaper petrol (yes please!)

3. The need for the government as well as the opposition to be transparent and fair in every process. There are so many things that have happened in our country that needs clarification, what with the scandals and an on-going inquest. Transparency please!

4. Race attacks in newspapers (have we really come down to this?)

This is my 1 Malaysia Merdeka wish list. I don’t mind listening to patriotic songs which tell me that we are happy together all-the-races-living-in-perfect-harmony, but I would be lying if I said I actually believed it.

No society is perfect. Problems like race and religion are issues that will be part of our daily discourse for a long time, like a scab refusing to budge. It’s just like a band. You cannot force every band member to like a certain type of music. People will always have different tastes and opinions.

But I guess that is what is good about having a functioning democracy. We agree to disagree on some concerns, and talk it out in the open. Having room for dissent is always good, that way we can value varying thoughts and beliefs.

And that is what makes us function as a nation. Not through government-sponsored song competitions, but understanding and realising that we have similar concerns that go way beyond our differences.

1 Malaysia or not, life goes on. We simply have to catch up with it.

Ted Kennedy Jr’s Eulogy

August 30, 2009

A Faithful Son’s Poignant Tribute to his Dad, Senator Edward Moore Kennedy

The Kennedy Brothers

Senator Edward Moore Kennedy was laid to rest on August 29, 2009 at Arlington National Cemetery , across the Potomac River from Washington D.C., 100 yards away from the grave  of his brother, Senator Robert Francis Kennedy who was, in turn, buried 100 yards from the final resting place of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, and Jackie Kennedy and their son, Patrick Kennedy.

At Arlington National Cemetary

At a mass in Boston’s Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica, his son, Edward  Moore Kennedy Jr, delivered a poignant encomium to his dearly departed father. Thanks to  New Yorker Bean, I have been able to share this youtube video of the young Kennedy’s tribute to his dad .

In his eulogy, President Obama said this of the Late Senator:

“The world will long remember their (Joseph and Rose Kennedy) son Edward as the heir to a weighty legacy; a champion for those who had none; the soul of the Democratic Party; and the lion of the U.S. Senate — a man whose name graces nearly one thousand laws, and who penned more than three hundred himself.

But those of us who loved him, and ache with his passing, know Ted Kennedy by the other titles he held: Father. Brother. Husband. Uncle Teddy, or as he was often known to his younger nieces and nephews, “The Grand Fromage,” or “The Big Cheese.” I, like so many others in the city where he worked for nearly half a century, knew him as a colleague, a mentor, and above all, a friend.

Ted Kennedy was the baby of the family who became its patriarch; the restless dreamer who became its rock. He was the sunny, joyful child, who bore the brunt of his brothers’ teasing, but learned quickly how to brush it off. When they tossed him off a boat because he didn’t know what a jib was, six-year-old Teddy got back in and learned to sail. When a photographer asked the newly elected Bobby to step back at a press conference because he was casting a shadow on his younger brother, Teddy quipped, “It’ll be the same in Washington.”

This spirit of resilience and good humor would see Ted Kennedy through more pain and tragedy than most of us will ever know. He lost two siblings by the age of sixteen. He saw two more taken violently from the country that loved them. He said goodbye to his beloved sister, Eunice, in the final days of his own life. He narrowly survived a plane crash, watched two children struggle with cancer, buried three nephews, and experienced personal failings and setbacks in the most public way possible.

It is a string of events that would have broken a lesser man. And it would have been easy for Teddy to let himself become bitter and hardened; to surrender to self-pity and regret; to retreat from public life and live out his years in peaceful quiet. No one would have blamed him for that.

But that was not Ted Kennedy. As he told us, “(I)ndividual faults and frailties are no excuse to give in — and no exemption from the common obligation to give of ourselves.” Indeed, Ted was the “Happy Warrior” that the poet William Wordsworth spoke of when he wrote:

As tempted more; more able to endure,

As more exposed to suffering and distress;

Thence, also, more alive to tenderness.

…Ted Kennedy’s life’s work was not to champion those with wealth or power or special connections. It was to give a voice to those who were not heard; to add a rung to the ladder of opportunity; to make real the dream of our founding. He was given the gift of time that his brothers were not, and he used that gift to touch as many lives and right as many wrongs as the years would allow.

…While he was seen by his fiercest critics as a partisan lightning rod, that is not the prism through which Ted Kennedy saw the world, nor was it the prism through which his colleagues saw him. He was a product of an age when the joy and nobility of politics prevented differences of party and philosophy from becoming barriers to cooperation and mutual respect — a time when adversaries still saw each other as patriots.

And that’s how Ted Kennedy became the greatest legislator of our time. He did it by hewing to principle, but also by seeking compromise and common cause — not through dealmaking and horse-trading alone, but through friendship, and kindness, and humor.

… Of course, luck had little to do with Ted Kennedy’s legislative success, and he knew that. A few years ago, his father-in-law told him that he and Daniel Webster just might be the two greatest senators of all time. Without missing a beat, Teddy replied, “What did Webster do?”

…And we can strive at all costs to make a better world, so that someday, if we are blessed with the chance to look back on our time here, we can know that we spent it well; that we made a difference; that our fleeting presence had a lasting impact on the lives of other human beings.

This is how Ted Kennedy lived. This is his legacy. He once said of his brother Bobby that he need not be idealized or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life, and I imagine he would say the same about himself. The greatest expectations were placed upon Ted Kennedy’s shoulders because of who he was, but he surpassed them all because of who he became.

We do not weep for him today because of the prestige attached to his name or his office. We weep because we loved this kind and tender hero who persevered through pain and tragedy — not for the sake of ambition or vanity; not for wealth or power; but only for the people and the country he loved.

But though it is Ted Kennedy’s historic body of achievements we will remember, it is his giving heart that we will miss. It was the friend and colleague who was always the first to pick up the phone and say, “I’m sorry for your loss,” or “I hope you feel better,” or “What can I do to help?” It was the boss who was so adored by his staff that over five hundred spanning five decades showed up for his 75th birthday party.

…Ted Kennedy has gone home now, guided by his faith and by the light of those he has loved and lost. At last he is with them once more, leaving those of us who grieve his passing with the memories he gave, the good he did, the dream he kept alive, and a single, enduring image — the image of a man on a boat; white mane tousled; smiling broadly as he sails into the wind, ready for what storms may come, carrying on toward some new and wondrous place just beyond the horizon“.

Fare Thee well, Senator Kennedy. May you serve as an example to all our Legislators in our august Malaysian Parliament so that they too can serve “not for the sake of ambition or vanity; not for wealth or power; but only for the people and the country…“

Let us also listen to the US President ‘seulogy to a mentor, friend and former legislative colleague. — Din Merican

President Barack H. Obama’s Eulogy-Part 1

Part 2