By Melissa Chi, The Malaysian Insider
December 07, 2010
First-class education system, a corruption-free government, zero tolerance on racism and the basic skill to communicate properly are all on one Malaysian’s mind when he chooses to work in Australia.
Anthony Leong, 30, an application support programmer, said he is considering giving up his Malaysian citizenship and live in Australia permanently, for the sake of his future family.
He said he had become frustrated at the corrupted system, the quality of local university graduates and the red tape he had to go through to apply for welfare support for his 70-year-old disabled aunt, among other things.
He is now a permanent resident in Australia, working for the Queensland Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, and is considering applying to be an Australian citizen once he has convinced his father and sister to move with him.
Low purchasing power, racism, political instability, low income, race-based policies, crime rates and non-dual citizenship laws are seen as some of the reasons that have kept a lot of Malaysian talents anywhere but here, 300,000 annually to be exact.
Another Malaysian who had also chosen to be Down Under felt unappreciated in Malaysia.
“I am a Malaysian who loves my country but I do not feel loved. Why then should I stay?” Wesley Wong, 25, a software developer in Australia, told The Malaysian Insider.
His deep sense of frustration was echoed by many who are working abroad.
“The country should learn that all Malaysians love their country. Any Malaysian who does not feel appreciated in their own country will definitely find elsewhere to go because they realise that their future is bleak,” he said in an e-mail interview.
Leigh Howard, South Asia director for Talent2 International Limited, told The Malaysian Insider that approximately 300,000 Malaysians leave the country for better education, work and business prospects, quoting figures released by the government.
“That would compare with a figure of 80,000 for a country such as Australia which has a similar size population and workforce,” he said.
He added that Malaysia is lacking talents in the services sector, technology, banking, as well as in oil and gas.
Brian Fernandez, 40, a headhunter for senior and middle management positions for the last decade at Talent Search International, said those talents are lost to Singapore, all over Europe and the Middle East.
“Setting up Talent Corp is a nice blah blah but it’s not real,” he said, dismissing the initiative launched yesterday.
The prime minister announced at its launch yesterday that foreigners and Malaysians living abroad can soon apply for a new resident pass that will allow them to live and work in Malaysia for up to 10 years at a time.
Although he had earlier said that Talent Corporation, which was established under the Prime Minister’s Department, will spearhead initiatives to attract the estimated 700,000 skilled Malaysians currently working abroad, the prime minister did not mention the ambitious figure at the launch.
Instead, Najib announced a new policy to retain and attract talent to Malaysia.
He said the resident pass will be made available to highly-skilled expatriates seeking to continue working and living in Malaysia as well as Malaysians residing overseas.
Unlike an employment pass, he said the resident pass has the advantage of not being tied to an employer and it can be issued for a longer period.
Najib, also the finance minister, said the pass will also be available to those originally from Malaysia as well as their offspring who no longer hold Malaysian citizenship.
Following the announcements, however, he did not specify how the new body will reach out to those “highly-skilled talents”.
Fernandez was sceptical about how the new initiative will pan out, even before the launch yesterday.
“Malaysia is very good with plans, but when it comes to execution, it’s a different story,” he said.
The Malaysian Insider had reported that Singapore had trumped Malaysia in the brain gain stakes, according to a recent Gallup poll which saw the island-state beat some 150 countries to come out as the most favoured destination in the world for educated migrants.
Fernandez cited his family as “a classic case” as one of his sisters is working for the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland and another in Singapore.
Fernandez, who has a university degree and a small child, had also left for Singapore in his late 30s, said that he was “one of thousands who had left Malaysia in the last two years.”
He said Malaysia had lost a lot of talents in technology because the skill is very transferable and that “Singapore is a good example of a vacuum cleaner, sucking talents out of Malaysia.”
He added that Malaysians in the banking and financial industry, especially accountants, are being offered better salaries and benefits abroad, whom he said, usually stay on in the country and do not return.
Fernandez used the biotech industry in Malaysia as an example of the many sectors which need to improve, to gain talents.
“Singapore went through that as well. They had a 10-year plan, bought global talents from the UK, the US, there were a lot of PhD students. They grew the talent pool and now they have more than 1,000 PhD holders,” he said.
He credited the government for its efforts and said that at least Malaysia is headed in the right direction as he noticed that talents are being paid better in recent years and that senior management salaries had gone up in government agencies as well as government-linked companies.
SOLUTIONS FOR THE PHENOMENON
Howard said that even though there is an incentive package for repatriating Malaysians which includes tax exemption for importing a car and leeway for their children to enter international schools, “however more could be done.”
Under the Human Resources Ministry’s “Return of Experts Programme”, an approved returnee is entitled to bring back two cars tax-free, as well as the applicant’s accumulated income, also tax-free.
However, this is hardly an incentive as in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries which do not have approved permits (AP) or prohibitive taxes on imported cars.
Howard said the solution to this brain drain phenomenon is twofold.
“In a broader sense, the same types of economic and social conditions which attract quality immigration will assist with repatriation, (for example) there needs to be material improvements in education, career and working life.
“At the same time, there are some very specific initiatives that would target and attract Malaysians to return home. All of them involve a considerably more detailed and proactive approach,” he said.
He suggested the government follow the footsteps of large multinational companies in the private sector that invest heavily in their employee value proposition (EVP) and review specifically at this target group.
He also said the level of outreach needs to be highly proactive as policies and standard incentive programmes can only go so far.
“(The government) needs to adopt a less passive and highly rigorous approach to identification, communication, and interaction with this pool of people. It’s not impossible to map out and identify Malaysians living overseas, it just involves work. Following up from this, the type of engagement programme needs to be sophisticated enough to have a long-term impact on repatriation numbers. Whether it’s accelerated resettlement, incentive programmes or fundamental changes to the Malaysian economy ... will also play a role,” he said.
“It may not come as a surprise that the private sector is already undertaking its own efforts to identify and repatriate Malaysians into mission critical roles within their organisations,” he said.
Fernandez said some of the ways to stop Malaysian talents from leaving are to have better physical security, better policing and opportunities, adding that “it’s not always about the money”.
“A trickle will be a flood. If there are opportunities, people will come back,” he said optimistically.
Currently, he said there is a net outflow rather than inflow of talents and warned that it will get worse next year.
However, Fernandez said that losing Malaysians might not be the end of the prime minister’s vision for the country to be a high-income and a developed nation by 2020.
“If we are losing Malaysians and can’t get them back, then hire foreigners. It’s not easy for a foreigner to get work permit here and that’s a mistake. It should be more difficult for unskilled workers,” he said.
In the National Economic Advisory Council (NEAC) report on the New Economic Model (NEM), it says that the numbers of expatriates have fallen from nearly 90,000 in 2000 to nearly half of that by 2008.
The net result is a “shortage of dynamic talent to push Malaysia into higher added value activities”.
“We are competing globally, so we need to look globally. It’s not a zero-sum game, it is not that if you bring in a foreigner, it’s at the expense of a local,” he said, adding that bringing in international talents can spur more job opportunities.
MALAYSIA IS NOT ALONE
Howard was quick to add that Malaysia is not alone in the brain drain phenomenon, and that every country experiences immigration and emigration flows, which constantly affects the calibre of the workforce.
“What you need to do is examine is the brain exchange, (for example) that you ensure the skills entering the country are at least the same or ideally superior than those exiting. Malaysia’s challenge is that our emigrants are more skilled than our immigrants (and our general population),” he said.
Howard stressed that the government should improve on the selection, settlement and integration of skilled immigrants to help boost the quality of the workforce in Malaysia. He said that not only do skilled immigrants provide a higher calibre workforce through their own efforts, but they also indirectly improve the skills and knowledge of those around them.
The report by the NEAC on the NEM laments that “we are not developing talent and what we do have are leaving”.
The report says that currently, some 350,000 Malaysians are working abroad, with over half of them having tertiary education.
This leaves more than 80 per cent of the workforce with SPM-level qualification, and their wages are being continually suppressed by the vast availability of foreign workers and other barriers like subsidies and price controls.
According to the World Bank, Malaysians residing overseas numbered only 9,576 in 1960 while the world’s total registered migration was 382,912 per nation. By 2005, the world’s registered migration increased to an average of 919,302 per nation, an increase of 2.4 times. However, Malaysia’s emigration numbers rose to 1,489,168, an almost 100-fold increase over the 45-year period.
Many first world countries have schemes to attract talents from all over the world. The closest example is Singapore, which has employer-sponsored (Scheme 1) working visas, which are issued within three working days on receipt of application. And under its Scheme 4, top-notch professionals are “purposely” sought from all over the world and attracted to reside in Singapore.
Jonathan Monteiro, 28, a headhunter, described this phenomenon as a chicken or egg situation, where because of the lack of talents in Malaysia in certain industries, investors hesitate to invest, hence the limited pool of Malaysian talents will opt to leave the country for better opportunities, mostly to where the said companies invested in.
Monteiro said most Malaysians are tempted to work abroad because salaries offered are more attractive.
For example, he said, certain jobs in Qatar pay Malaysians about 85 per cent more than what they do here. Monteiro said he is considering moving to Qatar next year to be in the human resources industry.
“When you come back, you’ll definitely need to take a salary cut,” he said, adding that no one he knows was working in a company in Malaysia that could match their salaries abroad.
He said, however, that some of them will eventually return to Malaysia, “simply because it is home.”
RETAIN AND RECRUIT TALENTS
Lyvian Loh, 27, a market analyst in the US, said among other things, health insurance is very affordable, there is freedom of speech and it has a less stressful lifestyle.
She said there is also “lesser expectations of entertaining your superiors to get a better positions or to get promoted”, the pay is relevant to your degree or ability, and that the purchasing power is higher there than in Malaysia.
“It is definitely a problem for the country but is a benefit for the particular individual. If a country doesn’t appreciate the talents and qualifications in their own country, the individual may as well go to a better place where people appreciate them while giving them a better life,” she said of the brain drain phenomenon.
Jesse Lee, 30, a senior accountant in the US, said following completion of her degree at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, she had only wanted to stay on for a few years to learn the culture and the working lifestyle there, but had since changed her mind.
“Gradually, I fell in love with the people, environment and the surroundings here. Not only there’s the higher salary, you get the freedom you don’t have back home. You know, here’s just like what Alicia Keys described in her song — if you can make it here, you can make it everywhere, concrete jungle is where the dreams are made of, there’s nothing you can’t do.
“It gives you hope. You know as long as you work hard, you will achieve what you dreamed of. But there’s a huge trade off for working abroad. You don’t get to see your families and friends often,” she said.
Asked what the solutions might be, she said the government should “walk the talk.”
“1 Malaysia isn’t just a slogan. The government should really put in effort to unite the people and create a ‘home’ for us. Fix the corruption and reduce crimes,” she said.
Wong had similar initial plans as Lee and had also changed his course.
“I had wanted to return to Malaysia to help my family business when I was studying for my bachelor’s but some time in 2007/2008 but I changed my mind and decided to stay in Australia. This was because I saw no future in Malaysia with the current system in place. My parents had advised me to stay in Australia as well,” he said.
Wong called for open tenders for projects, lower crime rates and that the government should do away with race-based policies and emphasise on meritocracy instead.
“The brain drain phenomenon has been a problem since many years ago. Many Malaysians have realised that you will never get anywhere if you don’t pull the right strings. This has spurred many Malaysians to leave the country in search of greener pastures where they can be appreciated. Malaysia has been stuck in the middle-income trap for many years and will still be for many years to come because the level of education there is appalling.
“Malaysia can’t continue on with its manufacturing sectors because many other countries can do the same thing for a cheaper price but yet Malaysia continues to churn out many sub-par graduates with poor language skills. As it goes, Malaysia won’t move on to the next stage after manufacturing, which is to start designing and inventing products because of the lack of talent in the country,” he said.
Among other things that Malaysians working abroad complain about are the rampant racism which they felt is more tolerated in Malaysia compared to where they are, having to choose only one citizenship and oppressive laws such as the Internal Security Act.
Go to The Malaysian Insider to read the 350 comments posted.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Thursday, December 9, 2010
1Malaysia "Saying SORRY Not Our Culture !"
Is it really that hard to say "SORRY", especially when one is a Minister or leaders running this country?
Yes, it is very hard indeed for our leaders to say the simple word "SORRY" when they have done wrong or offended the rakyat with their no brain statements.
All patriotic Malaysian Chinese have not forgotten what the present Prime Minister did in 1987 with his racist stance. Has he said "SORRY" for being a racist, I did not hear or read about it, anyone can confirm?
Raising of the kris and being asked, when they are going to use it, had hurt many but the insincere apology came with an 'if'.
There are many instances of racist remarks coming out from the civil servants right up to Ministerial levels and all they can say is either they were misquoted or not intentional but to say "SORRY", its very hard, just not their culture to say it.
Not a single leader thus far has felt "SORRY" for the billions of ringgit that just evaporated into thin air over all these years and abused of power by lawmakers including most departments of the institutions. Everyone is acting like they are above the law with no shame of their guilt, how can one expect them to say "SORRY".
Altantuya was murdered on Malaysian soil and two Malaysian policemen were found guilty of committing the crime and yet the Government finds it so difficult to say "SORRY" or show any sympathy to the victim's family, neither are they willing to do so on a Government to Government basis.
Another Umno leader who refuses to apologise for his statement regarding the poor response from the non Malays joining the army has proven yet again how hard it is for any of them to simply say "SORRY".
The following comments from Malaysiakini readers:
Nicole: Since when have Umnoputra ministers really cared about the sensitivities of the 'nons' in the last 53 years? They have been pushing it especially after Tunku Abdul Rahman was deposed.
All they have done is to pretentiously create all sorts of so-called bumiputera sensitivities and made themselves become unquestionable and unaccountable for all infractions, discrimination and corruption.
The insults felt by the non-Malays are real and substantiated by history, while the artificial and exaggerated taboos of the Umnoputras are often frivolous, egoistical and faked.
Apa Nak: So Umno talk about transformation but their leaders are as arrogant as ever. Too proud to say sorry for wrong words used. A true leader is a person who dares to admit his mistake and apologise. We are all human and we do make mistakes. Either Umno leaders are super human or they are not human.
KSN: In making yesterday's statement, Zahid still had to use 'if'? You are not sure? Or are you just being arrogant? Or is that all the generosity 50 percent of our population deserve? In the same breadth you talked about 1Malaysia? Indeed, you do not qualify to talk about that subject.
Justicekini: If I was House speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia, I would never allow Zahid to say another word, suspended him and asked him to do his homework by reading up on history books. Pandikar should have refer him to the rights and privileges committee.
What Zaid said held no water, but now he is asking us to work together? Have we not worked together for the last 53 years? We have always been 'one Malaysia', with or without the 1Malaysia slogan. Now I see Malaysians more divided than ever.
Albert: "I did not mean to hurt the feelings of the non-bumiputera community." This is a typical response from some idiotic Malays. The same explanation was provided for the racist comments hurled at our young students by the two principals in Kedah and Johor.
Sometimes I wonder what is going on in their minds? It could really be a misunderstanding. But then I would argue that they are not brought up properly. You do not insult your fellow countrymen, and say that it was nothing but a misunderstanding. Or could it be that they do not care what the minority rakyat (i.e Indians, Chinese, etc) think?
Punishments are not forthcoming. At worst, they'll just be transferred to another position. There is simply no sense of responsibility or accountability or remorse for their actions or deeds.
Ferd Tan: With the general election looming, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is now scared that his statement of the lack of 'strong patriotism' among the non-bumi had offended their feelings. He has strong reasons to be afraid, very afraid - his Bagan Datok, Perak constituency has 42.8 percent non-bumiputera.
With his insult against them, he has indirectly insulted his 14,800 Indians and Chinese voters in his constituency. Come next election, we hope his non-bumiputera voters will not forget his insult.
Let's teach him a lesson by not voting for him. This is the only way to get rid of any racialist leaders who are bent on playing with gutter politics.
Rolls-Royce: M Kulasegaran, you 'pun satu macam' (one kind). If a person wants to apologise, it must come from a sincere and remorse heart. A solicit or a 'forced' apology is no apology. If he apologise sincerely and without condition, it shows he is a man. If he apologises grudgingly after your prompting, both of you are kids.
Forget it Kula, apologies are actually a convenient way for recalcitrant people to repeat their recalcitrance.
Mohd Noor Ahmad: One speech for the general elections, one speech for Umno elections, one speech for Deepavali open house, one speech for Chinese New Year open house and one speech for Raya open house. Different speeches for different audience. Typical Umno, true hypocrites.
Patriot: The day the BN government appoints a non-Muslim bumiputera as the head of the Armed Forces, the inspector-general of police, head of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), you will find a long queue of non-Malay applicants.
The key issue is that non-Malays do not have promotional opportunities to get to the top of the food chain. However, if you get yourself circumcised, you may rise to a colonel position in a non-important unit.
Since independence, other than ex-naval chief K Thanabalasingam, who else has risen to a top post? For that matter, which university has ever appointed a non-Malay to be its vice-chancellor?
So what does 1Malaysia means to us? Even DPM Muhyiddin Yassin has said he is Malay first, Malaysian second. No wonder thousands of Malaysians now, even Malays, are migrating.
Here in the UK, you can see hordes of Malaysians working, and hordes of Umnoputras' wives shopping in Harrods. We should not change our country, but change the party ruling Malaysia.
Stingray: My father's younger brother fought the Japanese invaders and then the communists when serving with the British Army. He was captured by the communists and never found again. Does this make Zahid and the recent bumiputera 'pendatangs' any more sensitive?
Cheong Sai Fah: Sure Zahid, you didn't mean to hurt our feelings. Just like many others before you who called us "pendatang", "Indians came to Malaysia as beggars and Chinese, especially the women, came to sell their bodies", and even threatened us with the withdrawal of our citizenship.
No, you don't hurt our feelings. But we will express our displeasure in the only way open to us.
Not Confused: In any mature democracy that espoused and practiced honesty, integrity and professionalism, this brainless minister would have resigned immediately. Not here in sad, sad Malaysia.
Rakyat Malaysia: As a minister, you should be aware of making racist remarks if you were truly practising 1Malaysia, unless you are an Umno racist, which is true in this case. 1Malaysia is nothing more than a marketing talk by BN-Umno thieves.
Zahid should know better. Issuing a statement like this does not change anything. This just gives other Umno people a way to make racist remarks first and then issue another 'I didn't mean to' statement again. Easy. You don't get punished for your racist remarks. But when others fight racism, Umno will be all over them.
What is Umno really, but a racist party. We should enact a law so that it is a violation to make racist remarks, and punish the racists to 10 years' jail.
James Dean: Zahid, you didn't mean what you said then, so similarly you also don't mean what you say now. Unless you make a direct apology, all what you have just said is hollow.
malaysiasakit: It is not true to say the Armed Forces do not promote non bumiputras. In fact they habitually do promote non bumiputras who are incompetent, ball lickers so that these guys can be subservient to those in the highest levels of command. Occassionally, these incompetent non bumis are used as examples why non bumis are not promoted cos those promoted do not perform. So there is a sinister plot to undermine the participation of non bumis in the Armed Forces. Now we know why the Minister refuses to apologise.
JUSTICE KINI: If you are truelly in the Armforces.You will courtmarsal can dismiss without any medals or appreciation.How much do you know about our forces.Be with them,stay with them,Learn from them.Many have alredy given various for your remarks from Top to bottom.I rather have a EX ATM chief in your position who knows nothings of ATM,you are also one of the choosen one of unelected PM.In election you fish vote vote by promises goodies and cash Likewise you should improve your input to get more non Malays in the force.Its your Job to find one.If you cannot do not swiping statement or retire from this Ministry.Najib is able to create post and position just as Samy Vellu.Final ? acticle our submarine can not dive.At least get that done.if not mere waste of the Taxpayers money.
AyerTawar: They, the Minister, teacher, headmaster, police and civil servants by whatever rank are the Tuan of the country. Forget about an apology as long as the offender is the Tuan. Only a change of government will change this culture and retarded mentality and make this country a better one for all.
Anonymous: Its your fault. Ask si mata sepet MCA and si botol MIC and they will disagree with you people. Yer in, year out and their loyalty remain with umno.
Sad: Zahid Hamidi is a recalcitrant. Infact many in UMNO are also recalcitrant.
never vote for BN: Thank you Zahid, Thank you!
Yes, it is very hard indeed for our leaders to say the simple word "SORRY" when they have done wrong or offended the rakyat with their no brain statements.
All patriotic Malaysian Chinese have not forgotten what the present Prime Minister did in 1987 with his racist stance. Has he said "SORRY" for being a racist, I did not hear or read about it, anyone can confirm?
Raising of the kris and being asked, when they are going to use it, had hurt many but the insincere apology came with an 'if'.
There are many instances of racist remarks coming out from the civil servants right up to Ministerial levels and all they can say is either they were misquoted or not intentional but to say "SORRY", its very hard, just not their culture to say it.
Not a single leader thus far has felt "SORRY" for the billions of ringgit that just evaporated into thin air over all these years and abused of power by lawmakers including most departments of the institutions. Everyone is acting like they are above the law with no shame of their guilt, how can one expect them to say "SORRY".
Altantuya was murdered on Malaysian soil and two Malaysian policemen were found guilty of committing the crime and yet the Government finds it so difficult to say "SORRY" or show any sympathy to the victim's family, neither are they willing to do so on a Government to Government basis.
Another Umno leader who refuses to apologise for his statement regarding the poor response from the non Malays joining the army has proven yet again how hard it is for any of them to simply say "SORRY".
The following comments from Malaysiakini readers:
Nicole: Since when have Umnoputra ministers really cared about the sensitivities of the 'nons' in the last 53 years? They have been pushing it especially after Tunku Abdul Rahman was deposed.
All they have done is to pretentiously create all sorts of so-called bumiputera sensitivities and made themselves become unquestionable and unaccountable for all infractions, discrimination and corruption.
The insults felt by the non-Malays are real and substantiated by history, while the artificial and exaggerated taboos of the Umnoputras are often frivolous, egoistical and faked.
Apa Nak: So Umno talk about transformation but their leaders are as arrogant as ever. Too proud to say sorry for wrong words used. A true leader is a person who dares to admit his mistake and apologise. We are all human and we do make mistakes. Either Umno leaders are super human or they are not human.
KSN: In making yesterday's statement, Zahid still had to use 'if'? You are not sure? Or are you just being arrogant? Or is that all the generosity 50 percent of our population deserve? In the same breadth you talked about 1Malaysia? Indeed, you do not qualify to talk about that subject.
Justicekini: If I was House speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia, I would never allow Zahid to say another word, suspended him and asked him to do his homework by reading up on history books. Pandikar should have refer him to the rights and privileges committee.
What Zaid said held no water, but now he is asking us to work together? Have we not worked together for the last 53 years? We have always been 'one Malaysia', with or without the 1Malaysia slogan. Now I see Malaysians more divided than ever.
Albert: "I did not mean to hurt the feelings of the non-bumiputera community." This is a typical response from some idiotic Malays. The same explanation was provided for the racist comments hurled at our young students by the two principals in Kedah and Johor.
Sometimes I wonder what is going on in their minds? It could really be a misunderstanding. But then I would argue that they are not brought up properly. You do not insult your fellow countrymen, and say that it was nothing but a misunderstanding. Or could it be that they do not care what the minority rakyat (i.e Indians, Chinese, etc) think?
Punishments are not forthcoming. At worst, they'll just be transferred to another position. There is simply no sense of responsibility or accountability or remorse for their actions or deeds.
Ferd Tan: With the general election looming, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is now scared that his statement of the lack of 'strong patriotism' among the non-bumi had offended their feelings. He has strong reasons to be afraid, very afraid - his Bagan Datok, Perak constituency has 42.8 percent non-bumiputera.
With his insult against them, he has indirectly insulted his 14,800 Indians and Chinese voters in his constituency. Come next election, we hope his non-bumiputera voters will not forget his insult.
Let's teach him a lesson by not voting for him. This is the only way to get rid of any racialist leaders who are bent on playing with gutter politics.
Rolls-Royce: M Kulasegaran, you 'pun satu macam' (one kind). If a person wants to apologise, it must come from a sincere and remorse heart. A solicit or a 'forced' apology is no apology. If he apologise sincerely and without condition, it shows he is a man. If he apologises grudgingly after your prompting, both of you are kids.
Forget it Kula, apologies are actually a convenient way for recalcitrant people to repeat their recalcitrance.
Mohd Noor Ahmad: One speech for the general elections, one speech for Umno elections, one speech for Deepavali open house, one speech for Chinese New Year open house and one speech for Raya open house. Different speeches for different audience. Typical Umno, true hypocrites.
Patriot: The day the BN government appoints a non-Muslim bumiputera as the head of the Armed Forces, the inspector-general of police, head of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), you will find a long queue of non-Malay applicants.
The key issue is that non-Malays do not have promotional opportunities to get to the top of the food chain. However, if you get yourself circumcised, you may rise to a colonel position in a non-important unit.
Since independence, other than ex-naval chief K Thanabalasingam, who else has risen to a top post? For that matter, which university has ever appointed a non-Malay to be its vice-chancellor?
So what does 1Malaysia means to us? Even DPM Muhyiddin Yassin has said he is Malay first, Malaysian second. No wonder thousands of Malaysians now, even Malays, are migrating.
Here in the UK, you can see hordes of Malaysians working, and hordes of Umnoputras' wives shopping in Harrods. We should not change our country, but change the party ruling Malaysia.
Stingray: My father's younger brother fought the Japanese invaders and then the communists when serving with the British Army. He was captured by the communists and never found again. Does this make Zahid and the recent bumiputera 'pendatangs' any more sensitive?
Cheong Sai Fah: Sure Zahid, you didn't mean to hurt our feelings. Just like many others before you who called us "pendatang", "Indians came to Malaysia as beggars and Chinese, especially the women, came to sell their bodies", and even threatened us with the withdrawal of our citizenship.
No, you don't hurt our feelings. But we will express our displeasure in the only way open to us.
Not Confused: In any mature democracy that espoused and practiced honesty, integrity and professionalism, this brainless minister would have resigned immediately. Not here in sad, sad Malaysia.
Rakyat Malaysia: As a minister, you should be aware of making racist remarks if you were truly practising 1Malaysia, unless you are an Umno racist, which is true in this case. 1Malaysia is nothing more than a marketing talk by BN-Umno thieves.
Zahid should know better. Issuing a statement like this does not change anything. This just gives other Umno people a way to make racist remarks first and then issue another 'I didn't mean to' statement again. Easy. You don't get punished for your racist remarks. But when others fight racism, Umno will be all over them.
What is Umno really, but a racist party. We should enact a law so that it is a violation to make racist remarks, and punish the racists to 10 years' jail.
James Dean: Zahid, you didn't mean what you said then, so similarly you also don't mean what you say now. Unless you make a direct apology, all what you have just said is hollow.
malaysiasakit: It is not true to say the Armed Forces do not promote non bumiputras. In fact they habitually do promote non bumiputras who are incompetent, ball lickers so that these guys can be subservient to those in the highest levels of command. Occassionally, these incompetent non bumis are used as examples why non bumis are not promoted cos those promoted do not perform. So there is a sinister plot to undermine the participation of non bumis in the Armed Forces. Now we know why the Minister refuses to apologise.
JUSTICE KINI: If you are truelly in the Armforces.You will courtmarsal can dismiss without any medals or appreciation.How much do you know about our forces.Be with them,stay with them,Learn from them.Many have alredy given various for your remarks from Top to bottom.I rather have a EX ATM chief in your position who knows nothings of ATM,you are also one of the choosen one of unelected PM.In election you fish vote vote by promises goodies and cash Likewise you should improve your input to get more non Malays in the force.Its your Job to find one.If you cannot do not swiping statement or retire from this Ministry.Najib is able to create post and position just as Samy Vellu.Final ? acticle our submarine can not dive.At least get that done.if not mere waste of the Taxpayers money.
AyerTawar: They, the Minister, teacher, headmaster, police and civil servants by whatever rank are the Tuan of the country. Forget about an apology as long as the offender is the Tuan. Only a change of government will change this culture and retarded mentality and make this country a better one for all.
Anonymous: Its your fault. Ask si mata sepet MCA and si botol MIC and they will disagree with you people. Yer in, year out and their loyalty remain with umno.
Sad: Zahid Hamidi is a recalcitrant. Infact many in UMNO are also recalcitrant.
never vote for BN: Thank you Zahid, Thank you!
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
‘Anti-National’: Right Word, Wrong Coalition
It doesn’t add up. Why are we paying to upkeep BN’s image and line the pockets of its leaders? Are they the nationalists who uphold the people’s interests?
By Kee Thuan Chye
What Prime Minister Najib Razak said at the opening of the BN convention last Sunday reflects a mind of the lowest common denominator. It is not the kind of mind one expects of a prime minister.
He stooped really low in taking swipes at the two-family dominance of the DAP (Lim Kit Siang’s and Karpal Singh’s) and “nepotism” in PKR, forgetting that he too is the son of a former prime minister, and that Dr Mahathir Mohamad also has a son who is a deputy minister with ambitions of becoming bigger.
Instead of taking on the opposition on ideological grounds and maintaining prime ministerial decorum and dignity, he resorted to name-calling. He called Pakatan Rakyat “anti-national” and “very dangerous”. He said their activities were “despicable”. Some media organisations reported it as “evil”.
These are cheap words that anyone can utter. If by “anti-national” and “despicable”, he means that Pakatan has been “bad-mouthing” Malaysia abroad, as he says it has, it would not have been about the country but the government, which deserves to be bad-mouthed anyway. And the government deserves that for all the ills it has committed over the last three or four decades, and for leading Malaysia to the economic, social and moral morass it is in today.
Let us get one thing clear – the country and the government are separate entities. Governments come and go, the country is eternal (unless it is destroyed or fragmented). We owe our allegiance to the country, not to the government. Therefore, saying bad things about a bad government is not being anti-national.
Most important of all, voting against a bad government is not being anti-national. A bad government does not deserve loyalty. Disloyalty to the government is not disloyalty to the country; in fact, voting out a bad government is being loyal to the country.
Anti-national activities
Ironically, Najib’s description of Pakatan sounded as if he was talking about BN.
After all, what could be more “dangerous” and “anti-national” than corruption, of which BN has been deep into, reportedly making billions from negotiated contracts and cronyism?
And who are the anti-nationals if not those who seek to divide the people with periodic declarations that are racist, or that question the integrity of certain races or their patriotism?
If evidence is required, here is a list of only a few BN people (there are no doubt countless more) who have been guilty of expressing such anti-national sentiments and even got away with it – Ahmad Ismail, Noh Omar, Nasir Safar, Hishammuddin Hussein, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
If you want more, attend an Umno general assembly and you won’t be disappointed.
What could be more “dangerous” and “anti-national” than messing with the minds of the young from the moment they enter primary school, indoctrinating them with racially and religiously divisive messages, and reinforcing this by subjecting some of them to Biro Tatanegara (BTN) courses before they go overseas for further education?
What about doing the same with the civil servants?
What about suppressing the mass media, and using it to spin the news in BN’s favour? And using it to disseminate racial hatred and to propagate racial supremacy?
What about taking our education system to the pits, lowering the standards by lowering the passing mark, not only at SPM but in universities? Ask any university lecturer if the marks are not tampered with and they’ll have plenty of stories to tell you.
What about making use of the police and other law enforcement agencies to make life hard for the opposition? Or instituting judicial persecution when it suits the government’s purpose?
A dream merchant
When Najib said at the convention, “BN is a responsible coalition… The people can trust us to do not only what is right but what is in their best interests”, he must have been either speaking tongue-in-cheek or spinning through his teeth.
That’s what Najib is good at, really. He is at best a dream merchant. If he weren’t prime minister, he might have been a salesman.
He has been trying to sell us 1Malaysia, the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) and the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) without providing us a tangible product. At least for now, they are merely dreams. And for all that he promises, they might not be fulfilled.
Now he’s talking about the Political Transformation Programme (PTP) pula. And by that, he means the “historic changes” BN has recently made by creating four different types of membership. Puhlease! Who cares about that? It only serves BN’s interest, not the rakyat’s. Call that political transformation?
Political transformation should, among other things, involve having a large percentage of the Malaysian population choose the country’s prime minister rather than 146,500 Umno delegates. Najib himself is PM not even because of this relatively small number of people. He was simply handed the position by his predecessor.
As for BN undergoing political transformation itself, the best way to make it do so is to vote it out of government so that it will know what it’s like to be in the opposition – deprived of corruption opportunities, deprived of power, deprived of the temptation to be arrogant.
With the PTP, Najib is just trying to fool us again. If he wants to talk about political transformation, he should repeal the ISA, the PPPA, the OSA, the UUCA, and restore the independence of the judiciary. And that’s just for starters.
Without institutional reform, the government cannot regain credibility. In fact, the government has lost so much credibility that even charging Dr Mohd Khir Toyo with fraud – apparently timed to occur right after the BN convention – is seen by the public as an election ploy. This was the same public reaction when Dr Ling Liong Sik was charged a few months before.
Khir Toyo had been in the news for a long time over his multi-million-ringgit home, the MACC had been urged again and again to investigate him, but it is only now that the moment has become opportune to haul in the man that the people love to hate. Yet even so, the people are not convinced.
After what they’ve seen of other somewhat similar cases, how could they not be cynical about it? Let’s see if the verdict will come before the next general election. Even if the maximum Khir Toyo can get is two years’ jail and a fine.
Never-ending price hikes
But election ploy aside, the fact that a prominent Umno man is being charged with corruption speaks ill for the party, especially in these times when the cost of living is rising as prices of essential goods go up and up.
Last month, there was an increase in the price of petrol which Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said would probably be the last for the year. But only a few days ago, it was raised again. And the story was buried on page 16 of The Star with, to add insult to injury, a positive heading!
The people should feel incensed that they are paying more for their daily needs while there are politicians in the ruling coalition, including one who was once a menteri besar, alleged to be corrupt.
Not to mention the money spent on wasteful projects and on making the government look good, like the RM36 million spent on McKinsey & Co. And the hiring of the undeserving S Samy Vellu as an envoy with ministerial status.
It doesn’t add up. Why are we paying to upkeep BN’s image and line the pockets of its leaders? Are they the nationalists who uphold the people’s interests?
So, the next time Najib wants to use a word like “anti-national”, he might want to be sure he knows its true meaning and apply it to the right people. Otherwise, he might appear like a two-bit spinmeister. And that’s not becoming for a prime minister – especially one who’s not been duly elected.
By Kee Thuan Chye
What Prime Minister Najib Razak said at the opening of the BN convention last Sunday reflects a mind of the lowest common denominator. It is not the kind of mind one expects of a prime minister.
He stooped really low in taking swipes at the two-family dominance of the DAP (Lim Kit Siang’s and Karpal Singh’s) and “nepotism” in PKR, forgetting that he too is the son of a former prime minister, and that Dr Mahathir Mohamad also has a son who is a deputy minister with ambitions of becoming bigger.
Instead of taking on the opposition on ideological grounds and maintaining prime ministerial decorum and dignity, he resorted to name-calling. He called Pakatan Rakyat “anti-national” and “very dangerous”. He said their activities were “despicable”. Some media organisations reported it as “evil”.
These are cheap words that anyone can utter. If by “anti-national” and “despicable”, he means that Pakatan has been “bad-mouthing” Malaysia abroad, as he says it has, it would not have been about the country but the government, which deserves to be bad-mouthed anyway. And the government deserves that for all the ills it has committed over the last three or four decades, and for leading Malaysia to the economic, social and moral morass it is in today.
Let us get one thing clear – the country and the government are separate entities. Governments come and go, the country is eternal (unless it is destroyed or fragmented). We owe our allegiance to the country, not to the government. Therefore, saying bad things about a bad government is not being anti-national.
Most important of all, voting against a bad government is not being anti-national. A bad government does not deserve loyalty. Disloyalty to the government is not disloyalty to the country; in fact, voting out a bad government is being loyal to the country.
Anti-national activities
Ironically, Najib’s description of Pakatan sounded as if he was talking about BN.
After all, what could be more “dangerous” and “anti-national” than corruption, of which BN has been deep into, reportedly making billions from negotiated contracts and cronyism?
And who are the anti-nationals if not those who seek to divide the people with periodic declarations that are racist, or that question the integrity of certain races or their patriotism?
If evidence is required, here is a list of only a few BN people (there are no doubt countless more) who have been guilty of expressing such anti-national sentiments and even got away with it – Ahmad Ismail, Noh Omar, Nasir Safar, Hishammuddin Hussein, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
If you want more, attend an Umno general assembly and you won’t be disappointed.
What could be more “dangerous” and “anti-national” than messing with the minds of the young from the moment they enter primary school, indoctrinating them with racially and religiously divisive messages, and reinforcing this by subjecting some of them to Biro Tatanegara (BTN) courses before they go overseas for further education?
What about doing the same with the civil servants?
What about suppressing the mass media, and using it to spin the news in BN’s favour? And using it to disseminate racial hatred and to propagate racial supremacy?
What about taking our education system to the pits, lowering the standards by lowering the passing mark, not only at SPM but in universities? Ask any university lecturer if the marks are not tampered with and they’ll have plenty of stories to tell you.
What about making use of the police and other law enforcement agencies to make life hard for the opposition? Or instituting judicial persecution when it suits the government’s purpose?
A dream merchant
When Najib said at the convention, “BN is a responsible coalition… The people can trust us to do not only what is right but what is in their best interests”, he must have been either speaking tongue-in-cheek or spinning through his teeth.
That’s what Najib is good at, really. He is at best a dream merchant. If he weren’t prime minister, he might have been a salesman.
He has been trying to sell us 1Malaysia, the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) and the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) without providing us a tangible product. At least for now, they are merely dreams. And for all that he promises, they might not be fulfilled.
Now he’s talking about the Political Transformation Programme (PTP) pula. And by that, he means the “historic changes” BN has recently made by creating four different types of membership. Puhlease! Who cares about that? It only serves BN’s interest, not the rakyat’s. Call that political transformation?
Political transformation should, among other things, involve having a large percentage of the Malaysian population choose the country’s prime minister rather than 146,500 Umno delegates. Najib himself is PM not even because of this relatively small number of people. He was simply handed the position by his predecessor.
As for BN undergoing political transformation itself, the best way to make it do so is to vote it out of government so that it will know what it’s like to be in the opposition – deprived of corruption opportunities, deprived of power, deprived of the temptation to be arrogant.
With the PTP, Najib is just trying to fool us again. If he wants to talk about political transformation, he should repeal the ISA, the PPPA, the OSA, the UUCA, and restore the independence of the judiciary. And that’s just for starters.
Without institutional reform, the government cannot regain credibility. In fact, the government has lost so much credibility that even charging Dr Mohd Khir Toyo with fraud – apparently timed to occur right after the BN convention – is seen by the public as an election ploy. This was the same public reaction when Dr Ling Liong Sik was charged a few months before.
Khir Toyo had been in the news for a long time over his multi-million-ringgit home, the MACC had been urged again and again to investigate him, but it is only now that the moment has become opportune to haul in the man that the people love to hate. Yet even so, the people are not convinced.
After what they’ve seen of other somewhat similar cases, how could they not be cynical about it? Let’s see if the verdict will come before the next general election. Even if the maximum Khir Toyo can get is two years’ jail and a fine.
Never-ending price hikes
But election ploy aside, the fact that a prominent Umno man is being charged with corruption speaks ill for the party, especially in these times when the cost of living is rising as prices of essential goods go up and up.
Last month, there was an increase in the price of petrol which Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said would probably be the last for the year. But only a few days ago, it was raised again. And the story was buried on page 16 of The Star with, to add insult to injury, a positive heading!
The people should feel incensed that they are paying more for their daily needs while there are politicians in the ruling coalition, including one who was once a menteri besar, alleged to be corrupt.
Not to mention the money spent on wasteful projects and on making the government look good, like the RM36 million spent on McKinsey & Co. And the hiring of the undeserving S Samy Vellu as an envoy with ministerial status.
It doesn’t add up. Why are we paying to upkeep BN’s image and line the pockets of its leaders? Are they the nationalists who uphold the people’s interests?
So, the next time Najib wants to use a word like “anti-national”, he might want to be sure he knows its true meaning and apply it to the right people. Otherwise, he might appear like a two-bit spinmeister. And that’s not becoming for a prime minister – especially one who’s not been duly elected.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Ketuanan Melayu: A Risky Experiment
BY Mariam Moktar
I was born Malay and was hardly conscious of my race, either at school or at home. Race hardly cropped up in conversation except when we had form-filling to do – like applying for an identity card. Religion was something sacred and the only time we’d be aware of our racial and religious differences was deciding what to wear for a wedding or whose open house to visit, during the various festivities.
Thus, the recent clamour for “ketuanan Melayu” is destructive and damaging – not just for Malaysia but more so for the Malays, the very people that the “ketuanan Melayu” concept is supposed to protect. It is wrong because “ketuanan Melayu” is a dangerous experiment in social engineering.
Our neighbours were both Chinese and Indian. As children, we studied and played with each other, even hitched lifts to school when necessary, whilst the adults shared garden produce, swopped certain special dishes for the various ‘open houses’ and practiced their own version of ‘neighbourhood watch’.
Today, the Wongs are living out their twilight years away from their children, who have now settled overseas. Their children were willing to pay for them to live in a gated community, but they refused. In gated communities, they said, people hardly know one another and lives are conducted behind high walls and electric fences. The Wongs are unwilling to trade their relative freedom for living in secure isolation.
Mrs Pillai is now a widow, living on her own. Both her son and daughter have emigrated and she is loathe to leave Malaysia. She tells me, her children saw no opportunities in Malaysia. Her daughter is particularly bitter at having to leave her mother and especially angry that she was denied a place at a local college, and denied help by a local political organisation who refused to recommend her for a study loan.
Several thousand non-Malays have left, but many Malays have also gone. Families are torn apart or wrecked by a false belief in so-called superiority. Our country has not benefited from the wasted talent.
Where’s the sense of equality and justice?
When will Malays understand that the call for “ketuanan Melayu” creates antagonism at best, and violence at worst? There is open hatred toward non-Malays. The Malays have become arrogant; and non-Malays have been forced to be compliant. But for how long? Perhaps, it is the Malay who has more need of change. Where is their sense of equality and justice?
If “ketuanan Melayu” is supposed to benefit the Malays, why are the majority of Malays poor? If politicians had genuinely wanted to help Malays, the majority of Malays would now be wealthy, after 53 years of Umno rule. But this is not the case. The majority of Malays are poor.
Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad warned that the Malays will “lose their power” if Pakatan Rakyat were to come to power. He labeled Pakatan leaders as a bunch of self-serving and racist politicians.
What “power” is he referring to? Is he referring to Umno’s potential loss? Will the loss mean no more abuse of power and enrichment of family, friends and cronies? Is he lamenting the lack of control over the media, police, judiciary and the parliamentary rights and privileges committee? Did he also mean the inability to detain those who dare speak out against injustices?
Malay extremists claim that Pakatan’s alternative call for “ketuanan rakyat” goes against the Malay rulers. However, no one objected when Mahathir clipped the wings of the royals.
Mahathir and Najib Abdul Razak have sought to suggest that Umno/BN is a caring party, but despite 1Malaysia, Malaysians probably feel less united today.
Perhaps, the Malay extremist politicians promoting “ketuanan Melayu” can rightly be called “Children of Mahathir”.
Why will the extremists not deal with the social ills that beset the Malay youth – drug abuse, abandoned babies, under-achievement, and Mat Rempit? They have been fed propaganda and expect instant rewards but soon become disillusioned. They then fall further into the trap that ‘non-Malays are robbing them of their rights’. Is it any wonder they are bitter and have little aspiration?
The same group of extremists expects other faiths to respect Islam – but they fail to reciprocate this. It is alleged that in some mosques, the sermons preach unbridled hatred.
Many loopholes and obstacles
Last Saturday, a 14-year-old girl and a 23-year-old teacher were married at a mosque in Kuala Lumpur, after a religious syariah court approved the union. The teenager said, “It has been hard trying to juggle two rôles – as a student and a wife – but I am taking it in my stride.”
Can no one else see that this is wrong? How does the state protect children from paedophilia? Has the child’s health and maturity been considered? What about her mental and maternal health, when she undergoes repeated childbearing at a young age? What about her education?
Muslim men can remarry easily. So who will support her should her marriage fail? Or if her husband leaves her for a younger woman or fails to support her when he remarries? Our syariah law and welfare system has many loopholes and obstacles. Some women claim it works against them.
Look at how Malay men perceive of their women. Despite equality in Islam, women are given short shrift. Nurul Izzah Anwar’s request for a debate with Ibrahim Ali was rejected. He called her ‘small fry’ and told her to contact the head of Wiranita, the Perkasa women’s organisation, instead. This demeaning attitude towards women is replicated in many Malay households.
When will the champions of “ketuanan Melayu” talk about success, progress, innovation, creativity, harmony, sharing and excellence instead of alluding to the “only my rights matter” mentality?
We Malays must face up to our insecurities so we can live at peace with ourselves. The non-Malay is a convenient scapegoat for our failures. We need to admit we have problems and face up to them.
Our religious leaders must make a clear stand against polygamy, paedophilia, child-snatching and intolerance of other faiths. Our Malay leaders must learn to respect other non-Malay Malaysians and treat them as equals. Only then do we have the right to ask others to respect us. We must stop the hypocrisy and madness that is called “ketuanan Melayu”.
MARIAM MOKHTAR is a non-conformist traditionalist from Perak, a bucket chemist and an armchair eco-warrior. In ‘real-speak’, this translates into that she comes from Ipoh, values change but respects culture, is a petroleum chemist and also an environmental pollution-control scientist.
I was born Malay and was hardly conscious of my race, either at school or at home. Race hardly cropped up in conversation except when we had form-filling to do – like applying for an identity card. Religion was something sacred and the only time we’d be aware of our racial and religious differences was deciding what to wear for a wedding or whose open house to visit, during the various festivities.
Thus, the recent clamour for “ketuanan Melayu” is destructive and damaging – not just for Malaysia but more so for the Malays, the very people that the “ketuanan Melayu” concept is supposed to protect. It is wrong because “ketuanan Melayu” is a dangerous experiment in social engineering.
Our neighbours were both Chinese and Indian. As children, we studied and played with each other, even hitched lifts to school when necessary, whilst the adults shared garden produce, swopped certain special dishes for the various ‘open houses’ and practiced their own version of ‘neighbourhood watch’.
Today, the Wongs are living out their twilight years away from their children, who have now settled overseas. Their children were willing to pay for them to live in a gated community, but they refused. In gated communities, they said, people hardly know one another and lives are conducted behind high walls and electric fences. The Wongs are unwilling to trade their relative freedom for living in secure isolation.
Mrs Pillai is now a widow, living on her own. Both her son and daughter have emigrated and she is loathe to leave Malaysia. She tells me, her children saw no opportunities in Malaysia. Her daughter is particularly bitter at having to leave her mother and especially angry that she was denied a place at a local college, and denied help by a local political organisation who refused to recommend her for a study loan.
Several thousand non-Malays have left, but many Malays have also gone. Families are torn apart or wrecked by a false belief in so-called superiority. Our country has not benefited from the wasted talent.
Where’s the sense of equality and justice?
When will Malays understand that the call for “ketuanan Melayu” creates antagonism at best, and violence at worst? There is open hatred toward non-Malays. The Malays have become arrogant; and non-Malays have been forced to be compliant. But for how long? Perhaps, it is the Malay who has more need of change. Where is their sense of equality and justice?
If “ketuanan Melayu” is supposed to benefit the Malays, why are the majority of Malays poor? If politicians had genuinely wanted to help Malays, the majority of Malays would now be wealthy, after 53 years of Umno rule. But this is not the case. The majority of Malays are poor.
Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad warned that the Malays will “lose their power” if Pakatan Rakyat were to come to power. He labeled Pakatan leaders as a bunch of self-serving and racist politicians.
What “power” is he referring to? Is he referring to Umno’s potential loss? Will the loss mean no more abuse of power and enrichment of family, friends and cronies? Is he lamenting the lack of control over the media, police, judiciary and the parliamentary rights and privileges committee? Did he also mean the inability to detain those who dare speak out against injustices?
Malay extremists claim that Pakatan’s alternative call for “ketuanan rakyat” goes against the Malay rulers. However, no one objected when Mahathir clipped the wings of the royals.
Mahathir and Najib Abdul Razak have sought to suggest that Umno/BN is a caring party, but despite 1Malaysia, Malaysians probably feel less united today.
Perhaps, the Malay extremist politicians promoting “ketuanan Melayu” can rightly be called “Children of Mahathir”.
Why will the extremists not deal with the social ills that beset the Malay youth – drug abuse, abandoned babies, under-achievement, and Mat Rempit? They have been fed propaganda and expect instant rewards but soon become disillusioned. They then fall further into the trap that ‘non-Malays are robbing them of their rights’. Is it any wonder they are bitter and have little aspiration?
The same group of extremists expects other faiths to respect Islam – but they fail to reciprocate this. It is alleged that in some mosques, the sermons preach unbridled hatred.
Many loopholes and obstacles
Last Saturday, a 14-year-old girl and a 23-year-old teacher were married at a mosque in Kuala Lumpur, after a religious syariah court approved the union. The teenager said, “It has been hard trying to juggle two rôles – as a student and a wife – but I am taking it in my stride.”
Can no one else see that this is wrong? How does the state protect children from paedophilia? Has the child’s health and maturity been considered? What about her mental and maternal health, when she undergoes repeated childbearing at a young age? What about her education?
Muslim men can remarry easily. So who will support her should her marriage fail? Or if her husband leaves her for a younger woman or fails to support her when he remarries? Our syariah law and welfare system has many loopholes and obstacles. Some women claim it works against them.
Look at how Malay men perceive of their women. Despite equality in Islam, women are given short shrift. Nurul Izzah Anwar’s request for a debate with Ibrahim Ali was rejected. He called her ‘small fry’ and told her to contact the head of Wiranita, the Perkasa women’s organisation, instead. This demeaning attitude towards women is replicated in many Malay households.
When will the champions of “ketuanan Melayu” talk about success, progress, innovation, creativity, harmony, sharing and excellence instead of alluding to the “only my rights matter” mentality?
We Malays must face up to our insecurities so we can live at peace with ourselves. The non-Malay is a convenient scapegoat for our failures. We need to admit we have problems and face up to them.
Our religious leaders must make a clear stand against polygamy, paedophilia, child-snatching and intolerance of other faiths. Our Malay leaders must learn to respect other non-Malay Malaysians and treat them as equals. Only then do we have the right to ask others to respect us. We must stop the hypocrisy and madness that is called “ketuanan Melayu”.
MARIAM MOKHTAR is a non-conformist traditionalist from Perak, a bucket chemist and an armchair eco-warrior. In ‘real-speak’, this translates into that she comes from Ipoh, values change but respects culture, is a petroleum chemist and also an environmental pollution-control scientist.
Don't Change Your Country, Change Your Government - Edited
Note: Edited version. Thanks to sister Farida (SABM), she corrected the grammar and vocab mistakes. Sorry for my poor English but the message for change still has to go out.
---------------------------------------------------------
A very inspiring and notable tweet from YB Hannah Yeoh yesterday prompted me to put up this posting.
@hannahyeoh Just heard news another young lawyer friend will b migrating 2Australia.Young people,don't lose hope.Dont change ur country,change ur govt!
This country is going through the worst of times since Merdeka in terms of quality of education, denial of human rights, corruption etc. and institutions are not performing their duties without fear or favor but instead are bowing to the demands of the ruling elite.
We can see how this country is faring - from being the best in Asia to being the best of the worst. All along we have seen that the government is simply happy to be in this category and has not striven to attain the "best among the best" status.
Other than a possible economic disaster, there is also the real threat of being bankrupt by 2019, the possibility of racial and religious issues exploding. The government is still reluctant to face and deal with these issues head-on but is allowing them to simmer, all in the 'good' name of 'sensitivity'.
Each Prime Minister, upon taking charge, always comes out with his own individual slogan calling for this and that but at the end of the day these slogans have failed miserably, the situations get worse economically, there is racial disunity and religious intolerance, and the institutions deteriorate into just "yes man" to the "powers" that be.
All these slogans, be they economy or unity plans have one thing in common: they are crafted based on political expedience. I have yet to see one that is successfully implemented or sustainable over a reasonable period of time. All we see are billions of ringgit lost through leakages and corruption, these are the only plans that are successful and sustained over all these years since independence.
The present PM's economy plans and his unity call of 1Malaysia are superb, but just like previous PMs' initial euphoria, they will not take root but will taper off after the wins at each general election or when a new PM takes over.
I fully agree that subsidies have to go but not when these savings are not put into proper use or for the benefit of the rakyat, but are instead poured intointo egoistic and prideful monstrous projects. Spending millions to engage foreign consultants is an insult and shows disrespect to our own rakyat's capability. For all we know there may be leakages and corruption along the way.
Without looking into and rectifying these glaring issues, such as the 'ketuanan melayu' mentality, discrimination, adulterated education system, hidden hands sowing racial hatred and religious intolerance with impunity, censoring of freedom of speech and the democratic process, maintaining inhuman acts such as the ISA, OSA plus other outdated acts, lack of capability in the serious fight against corruption and the institutions acting and behaving above the law, all of the PM's plans and promises will simply not come to fruition.
The irksome thing about the government is that it thinks that the rakyat are fools. It makes promises, offers superficial grant as bait, and hopes voters will continue to be gullible and vote its members in again and again.
Thousands upon thousands have left this country and thousands more will be leaving, simply because they have not been able to achieve what a normal citizen in any country would have.
One thing the rakyat always forget is that they have the power and means to elect a clean and good government - one that will abide by the oath taken, will be guided by the law and Constitution and will govern the country without fear or favor.
As what YB Hannah Yeoh had tweeted, why do you need to change your country when you can change the bad under-performing government that is tainted with racist, arrogant and corrupt leaders.
You are migrating because the other country is offering you what you cannot get as a citizen from your own country. Fair enough, but did it occur to you that if you stay back, help to fight for the change for a better government, you might find that your future here may be better and brighter than in the country you intended to migrate to?
So, use your voting power to take back your country and demand what belongs to you as a citizen of this country.
Nothing is ever too late, if we have the heart and mind to see it through. The 13th GE is the best opportunity for us to see the change that we have yearned for all these years.
Young people, don't lose hope. Don't change your country, change your government! Together, we can DO IT
A very inspiring and notable tweet from YB Hannah Yeoh yesterday prompted me to put up this posting.
@hannahyeoh Just heard news another young lawyer friend will b migrating 2Australia.Young people,don't lose hope.Dont change ur country,change ur govt!
This country is going through the worst of times since Merdeka in terms of quality of education, denial of human rights, corruption etc. and institutions are not performing their duties without fear or favor but instead are bowing to the demands of the ruling elite.
We can see how this country is faring - from being the best in Asia to being the best of the worst. All along we have seen that the government is simply happy to be in this category and has not striven to attain the "best among the best" status.
Other than a possible economic disaster, there is also the real threat of being bankrupt by 2019, the possibility of racial and religious issues exploding. The government is still reluctant to face and deal with these issues head-on but is allowing them to simmer, all in the 'good' name of 'sensitivity'.
Each Prime Minister, upon taking charge, always comes out with his own individual slogan calling for this and that but at the end of the day these slogans have failed miserably, the situations get worse economically, there is racial disunity and religious intolerance, and the institutions deteriorate into just "yes man" to the "powers" that be.
All these slogans, be they economy or unity plans have one thing in common: they are crafted based on political expedience. I have yet to see one that is successfully implemented or sustainable over a reasonable period of time. All we see are billions of ringgit lost through leakages and corruption, these are the only plans that are successful and sustained over all these years since independence.
The present PM's economy plans and his unity call of 1Malaysia are superb, but just like previous PMs' initial euphoria, they will not take root but will taper off after the wins at each general election or when a new PM takes over.
I fully agree that subsidies have to go but not when these savings are not put into proper use or for the benefit of the rakyat, but are instead poured into
Without looking into and rectifying these glaring issues, such as the 'ketuanan melayu' mentality, discrimination, adulterated education system, hidden hands sowing racial hatred and religious intolerance with impunity, censoring of freedom of speech and the democratic process, maintaining inhuman acts such as the ISA, OSA plus other outdated acts, lack of capability in the serious fight against corruption and the institutions acting and behaving above the law, all of the PM's plans and promises will simply not come to fruition.
The irksome thing about the government is that it thinks that the rakyat are fools. It makes promises, offers superficial grant as bait, and hopes voters will continue to be gullible and vote its members in again and again.
Thousands upon thousands have left this country and thousands more will be leaving, simply because they have not been able to achieve what a normal citizen in any country would have.
One thing the rakyat always forget is that they have the power and means to elect a clean and good government - one that will abide by the oath taken, will be guided by the law and Constitution and will govern the country without fear or favor.
As what YB Hannah Yeoh had tweeted, why do you need to change your country when you can change the bad under-performing government that is tainted with racist, arrogant and corrupt leaders.
You are migrating because the other country is offering you what you cannot get as a citizen from your own country. Fair enough, but did it occur to you that if you stay back, help to fight for the change for a better government, you might find that your future here may be better and brighter than in the country you intended to migrate to?
So, use your voting power to take back your country and demand what belongs to you as a citizen of this country.
Nothing is ever too late, if we have the heart and mind to see it through. The 13th GE is the best opportunity for us to see the change that we have yearned for all these years.
Young people, don't lose hope. Don't change your country, change your government! Together, we can DO IT
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
LinkWithin
