by Azly Rahman
I am following with interest the development of the collaboration between non-governmental organisations and political parties. I try to analyse the role of local NGOs and international NGOs viz-a-viz the parties they augment or even sabotage.
In a free country such as Malaysia, we will see more of the interplay between hegemonic and counter-hegemonic forces as they deal with angelic or demonic political groups.
It is not easy to read this as we members of the public are always presented with perceptions in this endless game of invented realities. I wish Malaysians are by now well-equipped with the skills of critical media analysis and in political economics to engage in intelligent discussions on the politics of the day.
How would one read the media hype over Perkasa? How might one read Dr. Mahathir Mohamad’s patronage of this interesting group? How about the pledge by the retired and aged Umno leader to uphold the struggle on the rights of the Malays? How do these go with the neverending story of the present regime to hold on to power as the 13th general elections greet us?
The image of Perkasa and its members brandishing the keris must have terrified Malaysians again – as if there is no repentance, remorse, and shame in the way the Malays conduct their war on perception. I feel that these constructed set of Malays are merely an embodiment of a crude image of an insignificant and diminutive group, disengaged from the larger group of Malays that are now global, cosmopolitan, and multicultural in its outlook.
The image of Perkasa is akin to a propped up image of Hang Tuah made of marshmallow.
At a time when 1Malaysia seems to be desperately promising the gradual phasing out of all race-based political parties, a return to multicultural Malaysian Malaysia, and a close monitoring of hate-groups and fascist-leaning NGOs, Perkasa seems to be an organisation which need not have to be born.
At a time when the people of Malaysia are more aware of the decades of race-based divisive politics that has made the concept of tolerance and unity daunting, Perkasa might be perceived as a fermentation of the concept of ketuanan Melayu. In other words, it is a pekasam, as the Malays themselves would call it – a ferment that is offensive in smell to those who loves good things in life, and a great and addictive delicacy for those who love fermented food.
Perkasa a tool
In an age wherein NGOs are fashionable creations to carry out whatever that political parties cannot achieve and NGOs can help do with good funding, Perkasa is a perkakas or an instrument/tool of parties that are pushing the ketuanan Melayu agenda desperately – to what conclusion we are yet to see. As many NGOS can be created – 10s. 100s, 1000s, etc. – the more the louder – although not necessarily making the argument for racial superiority more intelligent.
In an age wherein Malays are now questioning everything – themselves, truth, religion, government, media, and even their “Malayness” – NGOs like Perkasa are an easy target for the philosophical reflection of Malayness.
These days Malays are asking: who is Perkasa and will it be an embarrassment to the image of the progressive and thinking Malays? How much will it cost to create a Perkasa ? would be another question, Malays in general might ask.
As a keen observer of Malaysian culture, I am interested in seeing the process of fermentation and fragmentation of the Malaysian mind as a consequence of the interplay between technology, culture, and politics.
The level of consciousness of Malaysians in the early 1970s is different than now, 40 years later. It is not easy to incite violence based on truncated race-based arguments on who owns this or that and how many percent of the economic pie should that be. Today, it is the classes of this or that race that determine the nature and structure of poverty and wealth.
It is the mainstream media controlled by the ruling parties that are still primitive in analysing the causes of the wealth of Malaysians. It is the controlling interests behind the production of perception that are still creating conditions of poor visibility in telling Malaysians what actually is the nature of stratified society they are in.
“The centre cannot hold/things fall apart,” as the poet William Butler Yeats once wrote – verses that can aptly describe what is happening in Malaysian politics as we witness the age of uncertainty dawning upon us. But maybe in the case of Perkasa we are seeing it fermenting after all, into a pekasam wherein the image of Hang Tuah, the immoral historical-obedient fool in the court of Malacca, is slowly becoming uglier as in the portrait of Dorian Gray, slowly melting as in a propped up marshmallowed-mannequin in all its uselessness of the semiotics of ketuanan Melayu – an assertion of idiotic pride and an anti-thesis to Umno’s own 1Malaysia, a slogan that is desperately in need of blind followers.
May this nation be spared of hate groups.
#1 by Jamesy on Tuesday, 6 April 2010 - 9:54 am
Mahathir and Ibrahim Ali should go and knock themselves on the head with this article.
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JANGAN BIAR MELAYU DIHINA!
By Wan Saiful Wan Jan.
Saya gembira membaca laporan yang dikeluarkan oleh Majlis Penasihat Ekonomi Negara yang meggariskan Model Ekonomi Baru (MEB) buat Malaysia. Secara umumnya dokumen tersebut membuktikan betapa pemerintah kita mula sedar bahawa satu-satunya cara untuk membawa pembangunan pesat di negara kita ialah dengan memperteguh pengamalan sistem ekonomi liberal.
Bab 2 dokumen tersebut dengan tegas menyatakan bahawa negara kini telah terjatuh dalam perangkap pendapatan pertengahan (middle income trap). Perangkap ini bermaksud bahawa kita sukar untuk bersaing dengan negara-negara yang menawarkan kos operasi lebih rendah tetapi pada waktu yang sama juga tidak dapat menyaingi negara-negara maju yang mempunyai kebolehan teknologi lebih tinggi. Akibatnya kita “terperangkap” di tengah-tengah.
Kelemahan-kelemahan yang dihadapi oleh negara juga dibincangkan dengan terbuka dalam Bab 2 dokumen tersebut. Dalam bab-bab selepas itu pula, terutamanya dalam Bab 6, dinyatakan beberapa cadangan untuk memastikan negara boleh keluar daripada perangkap pendapatan pertengahan dan terus mara ke hadapan. Hampir semua cadangan yang dikemukakan menjadikan sistem ekonomi kapitalisme pasaran bebas sebagai teras.
Contohnya, MEB mengatakan bahawa sektor swasta amat penting untuk memacu ekonomi negara. Untuk membolehkan sektor swasta memainkan peranan dengan efektif, maka dokumen itu mencadangkan agar dihapuskan pelbagai subsidi, kawalan harga dan insentif-insentif yang mengganggu perjalanan sistem pasaran bebas. Penghapusan semua ini akan membawa negara kepada satu sistem ekonomi yang lebih bebas dan berdayasaing.
Saya tidak mengatakan dokumen MEB ini adalah satu cadangan yang sempurna. Masih ada ketempangan di beberapa tempat. Tetapi saya tidak berhajat untuk membicarakan dengan terlalu mendalam mengenai MEB dalam dalam artikel ini. Insha-Allah saya akan cuba menulis lebih lanjut mengenai MEB dalam jangka masa terdekat.
Dalam artikel ini, saya hanya mahu memperakui bahawa dokumen MEB telah menggagaskan satu permulaan yang baik untuk proses transformasi negara. Kelihatannya penggubal dasar negara menerima juga bahawa sistem kapitalisme pasaran bebas sahajalah yang boleh menjamin Malaysia akan menjadi sebuah negara maju. Syukur alhamdulillah.
Dalam kesempatan ini saya sebenarnya mahu mengulas mengenai tindakan pihak-pihak seperti Perkasa dan Datuk Ibrahim Ali yang seolah-olah sengaja mahu menggagalkan usaha Datuk Seri Najib Razak untuk mentransformasi negara.
Saya amat marah dengan mereka ini kerana mereka berselindung dengan nama Melayu untuk menghina dan memperkecil-kecilkan orang Melayu. Dengan bertopengkan nama Melayu, mereka bersuka ria menuduh orang Melayu tidak boleh bersaing dan tidak boleh maju jika tidak dihulurkan tongkat seumur hidup. Lemah sungguh Melayu di mata mereka!
Tatkala Najib begitu yakin dengan kebolehan bangsa Melayu untuk bersaing di arena global, tiba-tiba ada pihak yang memperlekeh kebolehan orang Melayu untuk berjaya dengan usaha sendiri.
Tatkala Najib mengambil langkah berani untuk mengurangkan kebergantungan orang Melayu terhadap bantuan dan subsidi kerajaan, ada pula orang Melayu yang bersungguh-sungguh mahu menggagalkan usaha-usaha pemimpin parti Melayu sendiri.
Kenapa kita terpengaruh dengan tohmahan bahawa orang Melayu tidak akan berjaya jika tidak dilindungi oleh kerajaan? Kenapa tidak yakin dengan kemampuan bangsa kita sendiri? Orang Melayu tidak diciptakan bodoh atau cacat sehingga perlukan tongkat subsidi dan hak istimewa seumur hidup. Tidak sama sekali!
Hakikatnya walaupun pemuka-pemuka ini berbangsa Melayu, tindakan mereka datangnya daripada satu punca sahaja, iaitu perangai memandang rendah kebolehan bangsa Melayu.
Benarlah kata Tun Mahathir Mohamad bahawa Melayu mudah lupa. Mungkin mereka sudah terlupa bahawa pemerintahan Melayu yang amat berjaya pernah wujud di rantau ini ratusan tahun dahulu.
Hakikatnya bangsa Melayu adalah satu bangsa yang boleh berjaya seperti mana-mana bangsa lain di muka bumi. Meragui kebolehan bangsa Melayu adalah sama seperti menghina dan merendah-rendahkan kebolehan bangsa Melayu.
Banyak tindakan-tindakan Najib yang menunjukkan beliau kini yakin dengan kebolehan orang Melayu untuk bersaing dalam pasaran terbuka. Bukan sahaja bersaing, tetapi Melayu boleh berjaya dalam persaingan itu.
Contohnya, beliau telah meliberalisasikan sebilangan sub-sektor perkhidmatan kepada pasaran bebas, menjemput pemodal asing melabur di negara kita, menurunkan kadar cukai, cuba mereformasi sistem percukaian dan berusaha mengurangkan kebergantungan orang Melayu terhadap subsidi.
Semua ini adalah langkah-langkah baik menuju ke arah sistem ekonomi liberal berteraskan pasaran bebas. Sistem pasaran bebas amat diperlukan untuk menjadikan Malaysia sebuah negara maju yang rakyatnya berpendapatan tinggi.
Lawan kepada sistem ekonomi liberal pasaran bebas ialah sistem ekonomi terkawal. Contoh paling senang sistem ekonomi terkawal ialah sistem komunis atau sosialis. Kita semua tahu bahana kemiskinan yang dibawa oleh sistem komunis dan sosialis. Melayu tidak memerlukan ekonomi terkawal seperti komunisme atau sosialisme.
Sebagai pemimpin yang telah memulakan langkah pendekar untuk mentransformasi nasib rakyat termasuklah bangsa Melayu di tanah air ini, Najib dan para pemimpin negara perlu terus iltizam membangunkan ekonomi negara supaya menjadi lebih terbuka.
Model Ekonomi Baru harus teguh menjadikan sistem pasaran bebas sebagai terasnya, dan berusaha menghilangkan mentaliti subsidi daripada pola pemikiran orang Melayu.
Orang Melayu perlu berhenti menghina dan memperlekeh kebolehan bangsa sendiri. Orang Melayu perlu menolak mana-mana individu atau pertubuhan yang mengatakan bahawa Melayu terus perlukan perlindungan kerajaan. Mereka itu adalah Melayu yang tidak yakin dengan kebolehan bangsa sendiri. Jangan kita percaya jika individu atau pertubuhan itu menyatakan mereka mahu “melindungi” bangsa Melayu. Sikap tidak yakin mereka kepada kebolehan Melayu sebenarnya adalah satu penghinaan kepada orang Melayu.
Melayu boleh bersaing. Melayu boleh berjaya. Jangan biarkan pemuka-pemuka itu terus menghina bangsa Melayu!
#2 by Motorist on Tuesday, 6 April 2010 - 11:07 am
PERKASA is a bunch of old men (cronies) who wont let go of the golden goose which has been handed over to them on a silver platter.
They are joined by the younger generation, who grew up brain washed into believing by virtue of being special race, they are entitled to free hand outs from the Gov.
#3 by Godfather on Tuesday, 6 April 2010 - 12:04 pm
You get hold of a bunch of middle-aged Malay folks who grew up on crutches and you tell them that the world has changed and that crutches are not longer available or incapable of being repaired. You think these people will believe you ? You think that these people won’t cling on to their old ways, and try their very best to ensure that their children and their children’s children continue to have the crutches ?
That’s what UMNO and Perkasa want to do. They invoke fear and uncertainty and they make sure that their support base is reminded that the true champion of Malay rights (or Malay crutches) is UMNO and no one else.
You look at the latest scholarship awards announced by Moo Hee Din. The first criterion is race, and 60 pct is already allocated for the dominant race. How do you change that without changing the government ?
#4 by pulau_sibu on Tuesday, 6 April 2010 - 12:21 pm
1500 scholarships for SPM students?
What the most stupid boleh mentality. The best SPM students should be trained first in the local universities until they get a bachelor’s degree, not to send them overseas right now. Those money should be used for the local universities, training more students and professors. We have to prove that our boleh u can cultivate excellent students. Else what the top 100 or top 200 ranking are we talking about? Boleh should send only PhD students overseas, not the SPM students. Sending SPM students overseas is the biggest joke on earth.
#5 by mycuntree on Tuesday, 6 April 2010 - 12:42 pm
I’m in full agreement with Godfather on this Perkasa NGO.
And if Malaysians are serious about wanting a more progressive Malaysia, one with a future and stake for every one of its citizen, the 1st step we must take and make, is to remove the biggest impediment to it. And that means the removal of the UMNO/BN regime without any more delay.
#6 by bennylohstocks on Tuesday, 6 April 2010 - 12:50 pm
A SUB-CONTRACTOR
#7 by k1980 on Tuesday, 6 April 2010 - 12:53 pm
Sorry lah, Ah Hee, now that PR is out of Perak, no more money for you lah. Go pawn your rear-rings if you need money
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_A0G8x4YSZvw/S7auux78TsI/AAAAAAAANJ4/CpxFV4ur9x8/s1600/najis_hee.jpg
#8 by johnnypok on Tuesday, 6 April 2010 - 12:57 pm
… and from Pekasam to Pekosong.
Empty tin makes loud noise. This kind of parasites is harmless.
#9 by sotong on Tuesday, 6 April 2010 - 1:18 pm
Perkasa is not a real NGO…..their members are working for the government – directly and indirectly holding powerful and influential positions.
Our country do not need another extreme group, with vested interests, to promote further division and hate.
With bad leadership, there will be many Perkasa.
#10 by Comrade on Tuesday, 6 April 2010 - 1:28 pm
Lazy and spoonfed people have no place in society
Real success is achieved through diligence and capability
Coupled with transparent honesty
Choose a govt that practises the CAT policy
That adheres to the concept of 1M as a legacy
Vote in PR for a better all round national prosperity
#11 by Ridzuan Aziz on Tuesday, 6 April 2010 - 2:13 pm
Every race in Malaysia has a party/ngo’s that can champion their interest. In the case of perkasa, their cause is for the Malays.
Perkasa is founded by a group of people who voluntarily associate with an aim of working together to achieve a common goal/objective. That goal is to defend the rights of the Malays, ascertain the Malays are aware of their privileges.
To achieve this goal, it involves community participation in critically identifying and analyzing their needs and problems. The Malays must realize this, Perkasa also has to ensure that the original basis on which it is formed, is achieved.
#12 by Black Arrow on Tuesday, 6 April 2010 - 2:38 pm
PERKASA is another of UMNO’s countless subsidiary companies.
#13 by limkamput on Tuesday, 6 April 2010 - 3:42 pm
I admired what you wrote but the problem is I don’t think the majority of the Malays and also other Malaysians are like you.
I think many of us are still caught in the quagmire of racism, insecurity and ignorance, despite whatever you may say about the impact of education, time and globalisation.
May be some economic development has taken place; we see taller buildings, more expensive cars and opulent living here and there. But in terms of cultural, ethical and social development, I think we are very much the same, in fact, in some instances we are moving backward. Just look at the blatant abuse of power in this country. Are they not educated and culturally polished individuals? Just look at the hygiene level and the environmental degradation that is going on (by the way, the NEM has not mentioned a word about this). We have clogged drains all over the country with rats as big as cats and flies and mosquitoes swarming all over. Just look at our schools, universities and hospitals. What we see are impressive physical buildings but devoid of substance within. May be I have a simple mind. When I see all these, I see the moronic tolerance or ignorance of our people.
UMNO, Perkasa and Mahathir are not stupid. When they see their good life under threat (and I am not talking about the Malay rights here, it is their crony rights I am talking about), their resort to naked racism and extremism are expected knowing that most of us are still insecure and ignorant. To counter Perkasa and those alike, I don’t think we need sophisticated arguments. Just tell people that if the affirmative programmes were carried out objectively and effectively, the government could have helped three times the number of Malays at half the resources now spend on these programmes. In other words, two-third of the programmes meant of Malays were siphoned off by perhaps one-third of the target recipients. Here lies the problem; the one-third recipients are the powerful and influential people within the establishments. They populated the ruling elites, the civil service, police, armed forces, the GLCs, the Judiciary and other enforcement agencies. Hence the increasing income disparity within each racial group and the blatant abuse that is likely to go on and on.
We shall see how Hulu Selangor goes. Between rationality and emotion, which do you think could influence the people better, more so the people are not very educated and learned?
#14 by chengho on Tuesday, 6 April 2010 - 4:27 pm
Malaysia is a free country Azly Rahman. u been too long abroad , u forget the realpolitik of Malaysia. we are not in Shangrila of mount everest.
#15 by DCLXVI on Tuesday, 6 April 2010 - 4:49 pm
chengho: “Malaysia is a free country”
Free for all to be abused by the corrupt & the greedy?
chengho: “Azly Rahman. u been too long abroad”
Azly shouldn’t be blamed for the brain-drain…
chengho: “u forget the realpolitik of Malaysia.”
Is it ‘Umno-BN must rule forever’ even though there’s supposed to be real democracy?
chengho: “we are not in Shangrila of mount everest.”
We don’t want to be in Somalia or Zimbabwe either…
#16 by DCLXVI on Tuesday, 6 April 2010 - 5:01 pm
Ridzuan Aziz: “Every race in Malaysia has a party/ngo’s that can champion their interest. In the case of perkasa, their cause is for the Malays.”
Do we need more than enough of such parties or NGOs for every ethnic group in the country?
Ridzuan Aziz: “Perkasa is founded by a group of people who voluntarily associate with an aim of working together to achieve a common goal/objective. That goal is to defend the rights of the Malays, ascertain the Malays are aware of their privileges.”
The concern is whether such goals/objectives are actually hiding some ulterior motives which could be for the personal gain of certian individuals…
Ridzuan Aziz: “To achieve this goal, it involves community participation in critically identifying and analyzing their needs and problems. The Malays must realize this, Perkasa also has to ensure that the original basis on which it is formed, is achieved.”
But it should be done without implying that any shortcoming experienced by one ethnic group is the fault of some other ethnic group…
#17 by undertaker888 on Tuesday, 6 April 2010 - 5:14 pm
Malaysia is a free country — chapchengho
ya ..free for those umno freeloaders and their machai like you.
Azly Rahman. u been too long abroad–chapchengho
better to be abroad than have his head confine by umno and depending on crutches all his life…like you.
#18 by dagen on Tuesday, 6 April 2010 - 7:26 pm
NGOs are not political parties. They are the faces and voices of the people. They represent the people. They came about because of the shortcomings and imperfections of democracy; e.g. (1) the idea of majority rules often results in unfairness towards the minority and (2) popular support to form a majority government can be a mere 40+% of votes cast.
But in malaysia NGOs are being used as tools by political parties. MCA used them. Umno too is doing the same. They act as umno’s spokesperson in the ringside – saying things which umno as a political party cannot. And very importantly, because they are made up of ordinary people and not politicians (well that was what NGOs are suppose to be and that is why ibrahim an independent is heading that movement) their views gives ordinary folks the perception that their views and expressions are the people’s wishes and desires. Will malays fall into their trap? Only half of the invited people attended perkasa’s first general meeting. That speaks volume. That means malays are not gullible like what umno believed they are.
Oi sipendatang ahmad dari sebelah utara, ibrahim is not doing his job well enough. Only half of the invited people attended the inaugural general meeting. Show him what you are capable of achieving. Show him your ketuanan. Its bigger than ibrahim’s I am sure. Show him.
#19 by sotong on Tuesday, 6 April 2010 - 7:42 pm
Non Malays population has declined substantially over the decades……there is no need for organisation like Perkasa to create further division in the society.
#20 by frankyapp on Tuesday, 6 April 2010 - 10:45 pm
Hi Sotong,you know non malays population has declined is not due to migration but more on the arrival of illegals who are given citizenship through dubious mean by the Umno/Bn regime. Sabah state alone has an extra ordinary increased in population from 1.5 million in the late 60s to the current population of 3.5 million.Out of this 2 million,I think at least 1.2 million are illegal who are given citizenship through dubious means.This’s Umno’s way to increase the muslims/malays population to claim vast majority to eat all the cake by themselves.
#21 by johnnypok on Wednesday, 7 April 2010 - 7:13 am
Their dream of becoming a superior race may take a long time. 50 years of spoon-feeding and NEP made them weaker, and more stupid, and now they are shouting for NEM, Perkasa, and what not. If the majority don’t wake up and revolt against their so-called champion of their race, their fate will certainly be sealed, and they will forever be poor and helpless. Even God cannot help, but watch them self-destroy until extinct.