Archive for category nation building
Don’t ban it if you don’t get it
Posted by Kit in Azly Rahman, culture, nation building on Thursday, 24 May 2007
Don’t ban it if you don’t get it
Azly Rahman
There is nothing more frightening than active ignorance. – Goethe, German philosopher
The Internal Security Ministry denied that it had seized 10 copies of the book on May 13, clarifying that it had only taken the books to check the contents. The books would be returned if they contained nothing that violated the Printing Press and Publications Act 1984.
Deputy Minister Fu Ah Kiow said news reports stating that the books were seized were incorrect and believed that the matter was being deliberately blown out of proportion to gain publicity. “It is just a very ordinary procedure, something that the officers will do if they receive reports about any publication that may be unfavourable for the public.
“They will still carry out their duties even if there is no report,” he told reporters. Fu was asked to comment on the books taken from a bookstore in Mid-Valley Megamall in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday. Fu said his officers were still reading the contents.’ (The Star)
The above news report still amplified the culture of book banning we have had since independence. To be telling schoolchildren and parents that we ban books is not conveying a smart message for our smart schools. Why not tell these children to think and think freely and to read and read voraciously? Why use the schools to promote the message of active ignorance?
Active ignorance
In our history, one of the most famous books banned was of course The Malay Dilemma by a medical doctor from Titi Gajah, Kedah. The author later became Malaysia’s fourth prime minister, staying in power for 22 years. We banned Kassim Ahmad, Othman Ali, Karen Armstrong, and many work of national and international authors who proposed new line of thinking about society. We ban good movies on the Malaysian early political experience that tries to enrich our youth with a radical perspective of this nation and its narration.
We were even afraid of our respectable social scientist Dr. Lim Teck Ghee’s Asli findings on the New Economic Policy, written with such a refreshing and constructivist perspective. Through the repressive Internal Security Act, we jailed out intellectuals — without trial — people like Lim Kit Siang, Dr Syed Husin Ali, Kassim Ahmad, Dr Chandra Muzaffar, and many others who lived their lives presenting alternative viewpoints for a better Malaysian future. We have installed a government of active ignorance, interested in the advancement of poor understanding of human development. We continue to live a national life of contradiction. Read the rest of this entry »
A simple and dignified wedding celebration spoiled by the presence of the State Mufti
Posted by Kit in nation building, Religion on Tuesday, 22 May 2007
by Richard Teo
Like many Malaysians, I was particularly enthralled when the Raja Muda, Raja Nazrin Shah in a speech some time ago declared that “Malaysians of all races, religions and geographic locations need to believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that they have a place under the Malaysian sun”.
For such pearls of wisdom to flow from a regal figure is extraordinary especially when we compare to the diversive speech by our erstwhile politicians in a political meeting sometime ago.
However, like many others, I feel disappointed that the simple and dignified wedding celebrations was tainted by the presence of the State Mufti, Datuk Seri Harussani Zakaria who was given a prominent role in conducting the wedding ceremony.
This religious head who is Perak’s State Mufti should have been charged and imprisoned for inciting racial riot at a Catholic church. His malicious intent to cause racial disharmony was deliberate. From his pulpit he announced to his shocked congregation that a mass conversion was about to take place in a Christian church.
His infuriated Muslim congregation marched to the Catholic Church and almost cost a riot. Fortunately, an ulgy incident was averted when it was found that the conversion was for a group of Indian girls. Read the rest of this entry »
Rakyat who have made Bangsa Malaysia a reality…
Posted by Kit in nation building on Sunday, 20 May 2007
by SK Chua
As a true blue Malaysian born and bred here all my 55 years, I have no doubt that this is the country for me and for my kids.
I was 17 years old and in the hometown of Pontian, Johor when the May 13 incident happened. Our parents’ only concern at that time was my elder brother’s safety in Ceras at the Technical Teachers’ Training College (fondly known as T3C).
Back then there was no email and our parents had to wait for him to call back the next day to tell us he was safe. He told us there was no problem at all at the dormitory and that all students, Malays, Indian and Chinese were like a family to one another and he could not assure us enough that whatever was happening out there was not going to affect their closeness under the same roof.
We believed him. Even in Pontian, we had neighbours and friends of different race and faith living next to each other but we never looked at one another as adversary. Read the rest of this entry »
Was May 13 naturally orchestrated?
Posted by Kit in Azly Rahman, nation building on Saturday, 19 May 2007
Was May 13 naturally orchestrated?
by Azly Rahman
Perhaps it was. That would be the answer to the event that has become embalmed as a semiotic of racial conflict. Perhaps it wasn’t planned. We need more interpretations of this event. If we ban more books on this, we are afraid of holding a mirror to our history and ourselves.
If we encourage our youth to explore the roots of the bloody conflict, we will have a better generation of thinkers. No more “Ketuanan Melayu, China, India,” or whatsoever notions of self-aggrandisement –just the simple act of opening the dialogues of peace.
But was May 13 planned? I have some thoughts.
It has to happen when and because the lid of authoritarianism was lifted. It was the British lid that brought some kind of stability to the lowest of the lower class of Chinese, Indians and Malays. Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia 2007 – export brains, import brawns
Posted by Kit in Education, nation building on Tuesday, 15 May 2007
Malaysia is celebrating 50th Merdeka anniversary – half-a-century of nationhood. But things are going wrong all over us, whether macro or micro, from long-standing protracted ones to unheard-of scandals and outrage of public services.
The cry of Ooi C.H.’s plaintive email can be summed in one sentence – why is Malaysia continuing to export brains and import brawns? Read Ooi’s cry of a Malaysian patriot and nationalist:
I’m a former student from a famous high school in Bukit Mertajam. Each year, my school ‘produced’ many excellent students and intellectuals such as doctors, engineers, lawyers, etc, for the community and nation.
This year also the same. My school achieved most satisfactory results in both SPM and STPM. But sadly, among those ‘good’ students, more than half will pursue their studies at private colleges, such as Inti, Nilai.
After 1 year of study at these colleges, they will further their study overseas if their financial situation allows them to do so. It’s not only loss of human resources, it also a huge loss in terms of money. Let’s say, if a student spends RM200k to go to Australia, Canada, etc. Imagine how much it wil be if this involves 1000 students a year?
When the STPM results were announced, yes my school did it again. 6 students got 5As and 1 of them was among the best candidates in the country. 38 students gained 4As.
Most of them have done the same thing after receiving their results. Guess what? Yup, they applied for Singapore’s universities. I guess about 15 people got the offer from Singapore. I think all of them will accept the offer, no doubt. What is so surprising about the small number of 15 students?? All of them are top students in my school!! According to the Singapore government’s policy, they will be bonded for 3 years. As they will receive attractive salaries and stable permanent jobs in Singapore, few of them will come back to develop their career in Malaysia. Read the rest of this entry »
Jamaludin Jarjis – stop censoring the press and be man enough to make public apology to Sheena Moorthy
Posted by Kit in Indians, nation building on Monday, 14 May 2007
The Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation Datuk Seri Dr. Jamaludin Jarjis should stop censoring the press and be man enough to make an unqualified public apology to third-year CalyPoly Biotech Malaysian student Sheena Moorthy for his disgraceful conduct in making racist and derogatory remarks about Malaysian Indians when he met Malaysian students in Los Angeles, California a fortnight ago on 30th April.
During his official visit to California enroute to the Biotechnology Industry Organisation (BIO) Convention in Boston, Massachussets, Jamaludin had met some of the Malaysian students studying in California especially the ones from TPM Academy twinning programme at the Belacan Grill Malaysian Restaurant, Redondo Beach, Ca.
One of the students was Sheena Moorthy, who has become a cause celebre with her complaint that during the 3 ½ hour session, Jamaludin made “totally uncalled-for racial insults” when he passed a few racial remarks on her, being one of the two Indians present there.
This incident happened in front of a crowd of about 100 people including students, officials from the Malaysian Consulate, TPM, Tourism Malaysia, etc. But everyone is afraid and nobody is prepared to stand up to speak the truth.
Sheena and her sister, Dr. Sheela Moorthy, who is currently living in the USA and supporting her sister’s education at CalyPoly, are demanding a public apology from Jamaludin.
Sheena has written to complain about Jamaluddi’s racist and derogatory remarks to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and several Malaysian Ministers, including the MIC President and Works Minister, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu.
Last Tuesday (8th May), I first raised the Sheena-Jamaludin issue in Parliament when I spoke in the debate on the Youth Societies and Youth Development Bill, citing it as one instance of Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders setting bad leadership examples to Malaysian youths on national unity and national integration. Read the rest of this entry »
Ketuanan Melayu – are students taught that this is mere history which contradicts Bangsa Malaysia and Vision 2020?
Posted by Kit in nation building on Friday, 11 May 2007
History students must be taught that “Ketuanan Melayu”is a concept pertaining to a past historical era but not pertinent to Malaysia of today as it contradicts the Bangsa Malaysia concept of Vision 2020
Parliament has set up the Select Committee on unity and national service to grapple with difficult and hard issues pertaining to national unity and nation-building.
The task and challenge of the Select Committee is to wrestle with these great issues and give its considered recommendations “and not just transmit the government’s stand or views.
I find that on many issues raised by those who attended the public hearings of the Select Committee, the Select Committee took the easy way out by responding either with “take note” (ambil maklum) or “acknowledges comment” (memperakui ulasan) based on the relevant Ministries’ official replies.
This is utterly useless as this is not the role for which the Select Committee had been set up by Parliament and it should not shirk from its duty to take a stand on the issues pertaining to national unity and integration which had been brought to its attention.
Let me give one illustration.
I refer to the submission by the DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng to the Select Committee on 29th April 2005 on education . The topic, as noted in page 88 of the report, is to “eliminate racist concepts” in Form 3 and Form 5 history textbooks which dwelt on the concept of “Ketuanan Melayu”. Read the rest of this entry »
Last-minute ban on international Muslim-Christian diagloue – big blow to Malaysia’s reputation as model multi-religious nation
Posted by Kit in nation building, Religion on Friday, 11 May 2007
When tabling the motion for the House to accept the interim report of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Unity and National Service, the Select Committee Chairman and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Dr. Maximus Ongkili said the government encouraged inter-religious dialogue to promote inter-religious understanding and national integration.
The latest development in this field questions the seriousness of the government’s commitment to inter-religious dialogue.
I have here the London Times report today headlined “Summit on religious harmony is thrown into discord by Malaysia” which reads:
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has suffered a serious setback in his attempts to foster Muslim-Christian dialogue after the Malaysian Government banned an interfaith conference he was due to be chairing this week.
Christian and Muslim scholars from around the world had bought air tickets, written papers and begun to pack their bags for the Building Bridges conference, the sixth in a series intended to foster dialogue between the two religions. It was cancelled with just two weeks notice. Read the rest of this entry »
Indians can change their destiny
Posted by Kit in Indians, nation building on Wednesday, 9 May 2007
Indians Can Change Their Destiny
by Richard Teo
I fail to agree with Samy Vellu’s assertion that the 3% equity for the Indians had been on the national agenda for a long time and that nothing had been planned and implemented for the community. The failure to reach that equity level lies not wholly with the govt but with the MIC leader which Samy leads.
The dilemma facing the marginalised Indian community will continue as long as they are led by the current MIC leaders. For 25 years the Indian community have been led by these leaders and in many ways the trust bestowed on them have been repeatedly betrayed.
The pitiful and marginalised position the Indian community are enduring would not have occurred had their leaders placed community above self, service and sacrifice above greed.
Partly to blame for this current dilemma are the Indian community generally and the MIC members specifically. Like the proverbial sheep been led to the slaughter house, they had faithfully placed their trust to these same leaders who had deemed fit to plunder the wealth meant for the poor and destitute in the Indian community. Read the rest of this entry »
Merdeka! But are we totally free?
Posted by Kit in Azly Rahman, nation building on Wednesday, 9 May 2007
Merdeka! But are we totally free?
by Azly Rahman
Let me share my thoughts on independence and social contract by first quoting excerpts from a poem by the American poet Emma Lazarus, and next from the Enlightenment thinker Jean Jacques Rousseau.
“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” (The New Colossus by Lazarus, inscribed on the Statue of Liberty in the New York).
“Nations, like men, are teachable only in their youth, with age they become incorrigible. Once customs have been established and prejudices rooted, reform is a dangerous and fruitless enterprise, a people cannot bear to see its evils touched, even if only to be eradicated, it is like a stupid, pusillanimous invalid who trembles at the sight of a physician” (Rousseau in The Social Contract).
The excerpts above inspire my essay on the meaning of social contract.
Let us go back to our history and listen attentively to the idea of the formation of Malaysia. We must revise our understanding of social contract that we derive from state-authored textbooks, written by the intelligentsia; knowledge that has since formed the perception of policy makers.
What revisions do we need to make to our social contract, if we are to be independent? Read the rest of this entry »
Hishammuddin – apologise for “keris-wielding” episodes to restore confidence as a symbol for national integration among students
Posted by Kit in Education, nation building on Tuesday, 8 May 2007
During the debate in Parliament today on the Youth Societies and Youth Development Bill, I called on the Umno Youth leader and Education Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein to apologise for his “keris-wielding” episodes to restore confidence as a symbol for national integration among students in the nation’s schools.
This raised the heckles of UMNO MPs in the House particularly Datuk Badruddin bin Amiruldin (Jerai) and Idris Harun (Tangga Batu) who demanded clarifications which I rejected as I had only ten minutes to speak as the second last speaker on the Bill.
As a result, the last MP in the debate, Razali Ismail (Muar) started his speech on the “keris-wielding” episodes, allowing Badruddin to go on a rampage to accuse me of being disrespectful and contemptuous of Malay culture and the Yang di Pertuan Agong in not accepting the keris as a national symbol.
In rebuttal, I made it very clear that I accepted without reservation the Malay keris as part of the national emblem, and that when the Yang di Pertuan Agong unsheathed and kissed the keris, it was a symbol of justice.
However, what was unacceptable was when the Umno Youth leader wielded the keris in the context of extremist and communal demands utterly insensitive of the feelings and rights of all communities in the country. I reminded Umno MPs that at the recent Umno Youth general assembly, an Umno Youth delegate even asked when Hishammuddin was going to use the keris now that he had wielded it twice — highlighting the totally unacceptable circumstances of the keris episodes. Read the rest of this entry »
What else does the govt want from us?
Posted by Kit in nation building, NEP on Monday, 7 May 2007
What else does the Govt want from Us?
by Richard Teo
On the same day when it was reported that two major banks “require law firms to have a minimum of three partners of which one must be Bumiputra with a minimum 50 per cent stake in the firm before they can do any business with the banks” another report in Singapore says “Job ads in the city: No age, race.”
Two different emphasis on policy matters, one from our close neighbour Singapore and one from our own virtually sums up the two different directions we are heading.
After 50 years of being in power our leaders are still promulgating laws and policies which are dividing the nation while in Singapore, the rationale is to eliminate race as a criterion to select candidates for jobs believing in the concept that “multi-racialism is a fundamental principle here”.
How divergent and different each nation’s path has become.One will lead the nation to ultimate destruction whilst the other will grow and prosper.
How can our leaders be so myopic and parochial? Why must it always be the Malays vs Chinese thing? Can’t they adopt a more pragmatic view that the Chinese are not their enemies and that we are all sitting in the same boat. If this boat sinks we sink together. Read the rest of this entry »
Ijok – full Parliament debate next week if PM wants to know reasons for Chinese swing to Opposition
Posted by Kit in Election, nation building on Wednesday, 2 May 2007
The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi should honour his promise to be Prime Minister of all Malaysians and allocate time for a full debate on the meaning of the Ijok by-election on Saturday before the current Parliamentary meeting adjourns next Thursday after a four-day resumption beginning on Monday.
Two days ago, Abdullah conceded that there was a swing against the Barisan Nasional among the Chinese voters in the Ijok by-election and asked the MCA and Gerakan to explain why the Chinese had supported the Opposition.
However, MCA President Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting still disputes that there is any significant swing, claiming that while “there was a certain extent of swing in the votes but as a whole, Barisan still obtained a substantial number of the Chinese votes”.
With such hidebound denial syndrome with the classic complex of the ostrich hiding its head in the sand, how can the Prime Minister expect to get any truthful answer from MCA and Gerakan leaders as to why there was a swing of the Chinese voters to the Opposition in Ijok?
MCA leaders are quite united in publicly pinning the primary blame for the swing of the Chinese voters to the Opposition in Ijok on the MIC and the poor service record of its former Assemblyman Datuk K. Sivalingam. Ka Ting said a secondary factor was the unhappiness of the Chinese with “certain statements which had hurt their feelings”.
This has further reinforced public doubts about the ability of the MCA and Gerakan to tell Abdullah the truth as to the reasons for the swing of Chinese voters in Ijok to the Opposition, especially when: Read the rest of this entry »
Ijok – Raja Nazrin has answer for swing of Chinese voters to Opposition
Posted by Kit in Election, nation building, UMNO on Tuesday, 1 May 2007
The front-page headline of Sin Chew Daily today blared: “Chinese in Ijok support Opposition — PM wants to know why from MCA and Gerakan” .
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the other Barisan Nasional top leaders especially MIC President Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu are elated by the Barisan Nasional victory at Saturday’s Ijok by-election with a bigger majority than in the 2004 general election — but whether the country has anything to be jubilant about over the Ijok by-election on the occasion of the 50th Merdeka anniversary of the nation is a subject which should engage the serious debate of all thinking Malaysians.
Abdullah’s public puzzlement as to the reasons for the swing of Chinese voters to the Opposition in the Ijok by-election and wanting to be enlightened by MCA and Gerakan bear testimony to the validity of my question as to whether the country has anything to celebrate over the Ijok by-election – whether, for instance, Najib is right that the Ijok by-election is proof that Malaysian democracy is “vibrantly alive” or whether it is the symbol of the worst culmination of electoral corruption in the past 50 years of Malaysian election history.
But what cannot be in doubt is that the Ijok by-election represents a great failure not only for MCA and Gerakan but also of Pak Lah as Prime Minister who had pledged to “hear the truth” when the reasons for the swing of Chinese voters to the Opposition in the by-election continue to elude them.
In the first place, how can Abdullah hear any “truth” from the MCA when the MCA supremo in the Ijok by-election, MCA Secretary-General Datuk Ong Ka Chuan had only a day earlier publicly denied that there was any swing of Chinese voters to the Opposition in Ijok by-election? Read the rest of this entry »
Singapore Malays better off than Chinese in Malaysia
Posted by Kit in nation building, NEP on Tuesday, 1 May 2007
Singapore Malays better off than Chinese in Malaysia
by Richard Teo
It is rather ironic that Baki Aminuddin could venture to write in Malayisakini that “S’pore Malays worse off than Chinese here” when in fact the opposite is the truth.
Before I begin to answer his fallacious argument I would like to pose one very simple question to him. If S’pore Malays are really worse off in Singapore why is there no exodus of Malays from S’pore to Malaysia? Instead the opposite is happening where the Chinese are making a beeline to Singapore for work and education?
Baki is naive to deny that LKY’s statement that the BN govt is systemmatically marginalising the Chinese and non-Malays. Before condemning the S’pore govt of marginalising the Malays and their education Baki should support his assertion with facts rather
than spurious allegations.
There is no official policy to deny the Malays the chance to further their education till tertiary level provided they have the abilty to compete on a level playing field. Can Baki honestly say that the Chinese and non-Malays in Malaysia are given the same opportunity in education? Is it not a fact that Malays are exclusively given places in Mara schools where with their one year matriculation exams they can hop into any of the local universities whereas non-Malays have to undergo the more rigorous two year STPM exam to gain admission? Read the rest of this entry »
It grieves my entire being but does it bother Pak Lah and Cabinet?
Posted by Kit in nation building on Saturday, 28 April 2007
I have received an email which grieves my entire being but does it bother Pak Lah, our Prime Minister and the Cabinet? If they do not understand the cry deep from the heart and soul of “J”, who sent the email, then the 50th Merdeka anniversary celebrations this year are completely meaningless, waste of time and money.
Read this heart-rending email:
Dear Mr. Lim,
I have utmost respect and admiration for your tenacity in remaining in Malaysia to champion the cause of justice and equality and fight for a Bangsa Malaysia. My heart broke when I read about your article regarding the honest cyber cafe operator especially when he wondered if he “had chosen the wrong country” to start and operate his business.
I see my situation summed up in that phrase. You have said before that the best and brightest are leaving this country. Well, I am making every preparation to leave. I have consistently scored straight As in every public exam and placed among the top 3 of my form. In university, I studied medicine and am among the top scorers. I have just graduated and scored near perfect results in a medical licensing examination that will enable me to work abroad and further my studies.
I was born a Malaysian yet I cannot see myself as a Malaysian. As a chinese, I feel that I am being discriminated against. I feel that the government is trying its hardest to sideline me just because of my race. I look around and see this discrimination manifested in various forms. From the issue regarding religious conversion to the allocation of places in local universities, the stench of discrimination is sickening. Read the rest of this entry »
Hishammuddin’s keris-wielding disqualifies him as a symbol of national integration
Posted by Kit in nation building, Parliament, UMNO on Wednesday, 18 April 2007
The Sun is the only English and Bahasa Malaysia newspaper to report my questioning the Education Minister and UMNO Youth leader, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussin for his infamous keris-wielding in Parliament yesterday.
Hishammuddin was answering the query during Question Time on “the effectiveness of Students’ Integration for Unity programme since it was put into practice and whether the programme has achieved its objective”.
I had prefaced my supplementary question with the observation that Hishammuddin was “well-known” for his keris-wielding incidents in the context of extremist and communal demands in utter disregard of the rights and sensitivities of all races in a plural nation to the extent that he had been asked when he was going to use the keris, forfeiting his credibility and legitimacy as a symbol of national integration; and whether he would apologise for the keris-wielding incidents.
This set off a pandemonium in Parliament with Umno MPs creating a din to drown out my question, leading me to observe that UMNO MPs dared to defend the “keris-wielding” in the context of extremist and communal demands but dared not be questioned on the rightness of their actions in Parliament. Read the rest of this entry »
Nazri’s reply in Parliament completely unsatisfactory and unacceptable
Posted by Kit in Corruption, nation building, NEP, Religion, UMNO on Wednesday, 11 April 2007
The reply by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datu Nazri Aziz in the final winding-up of the debate on the Royal Address yesterday is totally unsatisfactory and unacceptable, particularly on four public interest issues of national importance.
As Nazri’s reply blatantly disregarded the paramount principle in nation-building which had recently been enunciated by the Raja Muda of Perak, Raja Nazrin Shah, MCA Ministers are challenged to speak up in Cabinet to dissociate themselves from Nazri’s reply on four important public interest issues:
- Brain drain with migration overseas of one to two million of the best and brightest of Malaysian sons and daughters for over three decades;
- Education Minister and UMNO Youth leader, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein’s keris-wielding at the recent Umno Youth assembly in the context of rising chauvinist and extremist demands and pressures;
- Rejection of the Inter-Faith Council proposal;
- Worst corruption crisis in nation’s 50-year history.
Nazrin’s keynote address on “Prospects and Challenges of Nation-building” at the Young Malaysians’ Roundtable Discussion on National Unity and Development in Malaysia last week must be compulsory reading for Cabinet Ministers and all Barisan Nasional MPs — and they should be made to pass a test to ensure that they fully understand Nazrin’s speech and grasp the message of the Raja Muda of Perak.
The most important message of Nazrin’s keynote address is that Malaysia belongs to all Malaysians equally, and all have an equal right and responsibility to take ownership of their country and its future, as represented by this declaration: “Malaysians of all races, religions, and geographic locations need to believe beyond a shadow of doubt that they have a place under the Malaysian sun.”
Unfortunately, Nazrin’s message that all Malaysians must have an equal place under the Malaysian sun has not been understood by Nazri, Barisan Nasional Cabinet Ministers and MPs particularly from the MCA. Read the rest of this entry »
Sports – the last frontier to unite Malaysians – is now used to divide Malaysians
Posted by Kit in Election, nation building on Tuesday, 10 April 2007
Sports – the last frontier to unite Malaysians – is now used to divide Malaysians.
This is what I told the Sports and Youth Minister, Datuk Azalina binti Othman Said in Parliament during the winding-up of the Royal Address debate yesterday.
As proof, I gave three instances:
1. Newly-crowned All-England doubles champions Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong being “forced” by Deputy Sports and Youth Minister, Datuk Liow Tiong Lai to campaign for MCA and Barisan Nasional in the Machap by-election by making an appearance at the “Malaysia Love Badminton Campaign” in Machap on Sunday.
2. Sports Commissioners Tan Sri Elyas Omar approving and registering Malaysian Sepaktakraw Association as a “sports body” under Section 11 of the Sports Development Act 1997 although it violated the law with its very narrow and discriminatory provision in its by-laws.
Section 13.10 of the Malaysian Sepaktakraw Association Constitution stipulating that “Semua Ahli Majlis Tertinggi dan setiap Pegawai dalam Persatuan hendaklah terdiri dari Bumiptuera Warganegara Malaysia” violates Section 2 of Second Schedule of the Sports Development Act 1997 on “Constitution and Rules of Sports Bodies Acting as the Governing or Representative Body of its Sports at National Level” which reads:
“2. Its activities are conducted without discrimination as to sex, race, colour, religion, social origin, language, political inclination or any other opinion held by its members.” Read the rest of this entry »
Looking For Some Jantans
Posted by Kit in nation building on Sunday, 8 April 2007
Looking For Some Jantans
M. Bakri Musa
Saddam Hussein did not by himself destroy Iraq; likewise Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe. These leaders did not become tyrants overnight. They became monsters only because of the inactions and silence of their followers. No one had the gumption to restrain them; there were no jantans (alpha males).
These leaders began with the best of intentions and noblest of motives. The seed of their (and consequently also their country’s) destruction was sown when their early strays were not corrected. The lack of jantans emboldened these leaders, enabling their suppressed evilness to surface. Once they morphed into monsters, they could no longer be restrained; they simply devoured everything in their path.
In apportioning blame for the evils perpetrated by these monsters, the culpability of those “enablers” must also be properly accounted for. They too must be held responsible even though many have already paid dearly with their life. Read the rest of this entry »
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