Syariah: ‘The law of the land’
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Court, Islam, Judiciary on Saturday, 25 September 2010, 10:53 am
Clive Kessler
The Malaysian Insider
Sept 21, 2010
These days it’s not easy for a person of good sense to avoid being accused of sedition.
Especially if you have a basic grasp of modern political history and the nation’s constitutional foundations.
Voicing well-known facts and trite legal principles can get you into real trouble.
You question Ketuanan Malayu, for example, and you are told by those of a “Perkasa-ish” inclination, or lectured by Dr. Ridhuan Tee Abdullah in Utusan, that Malay political dominance is an agreed and foundational national principle. That it is inscribed in the Constitution.
What is in the Constitution? Here the champions of Ketuanan Melayu invoke Article 153.
That is the peg on which they hang the claim that enduring Malay ascendancy, even absolute political domination, is constitutionally enshrined. That it is an integral part of the “social contract” that made the nation and its Constitution possible.
But Article 153 is a small and dubious peg for such a big, even extravagant, claim. It merely provides for, or allows the government in its good judgement to institute, certain defined kinds of preferential treatment for Malays in certain identified and circumscribed areas.
It does not provide for, enshrine or constitutionally entrench Malay ethnic supremacy, enduring political domination.
But if you say this, you are likely to be challenged, and hit with a volley of police reports accusing you of sedition.
Of a triple sedition: against legitimate Malay political entitlement, as enshrined in Article 153; against the rulers who are the constitutionally-designated protectors of the Malay stake in the country; and hence also against the Constitution itself and the nation whose sovereignty it embodies. Read the rest of this entry »
Kit Siang calls Dr M ‘No 1 racist in Malaysia’
Posted by Kit in Mahathir, Pakatan Rakyat, UMNO on Saturday, 25 September 2010, 9:41 am
By Clara Chooi
The Malaysian Insider
September 35, 2010
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 25 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s latest play at racial politics has earned him the wrath of his parliamentary foe Lim Kit Siang, who has now christened the former premier with a new nickname — “the number one racist in Malaysia”.
The DAP advisor slammed Dr Mahathir for playing the race card yet again when he claimed the Malays would lose power if Pakatan Rakyat (PR) defeats the Barisan Nasional (BN) in the next general election.
“Our beloved former Prime Ministrer Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said that in the next general election, the Malays would lose power if the PR forms the government.
“Imagine, a former Prime Minister, who ruled us for 22 long years, returning to politics as the number one racist in Malaysia,” he boomed to a crowd of over 1,000 people at a fundraising dinner in Bandar Menjalara here last night, organised by the Segambut DAP division. Lim’s rhetoric earned him thunderous applause from the crowd, who yelled in disagreement at Dr Mahathir’s latest assertion.
He also accused Dr Mahathir of appearing on the stump for Umno by trying to frighten off the Malay voters from voting PR.
“He is trying to instil fear in the Malays by playing the race card on them. This is the height of Dr Mahathir’s irresponsibility. He is becoming an ultra again,” Lim said. Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia stumbling
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Economics, Finance, Mahathir, Najib Razak on Friday, 24 September 2010, 8:18 pm
Eric Ellis
TheAge
Australia
September 23, 2010
ONE of Australia’s key partners in Asia is struggling. Given the way its leaders have taunted Australia over the years, schadenfreude at its plight would be understandable. But this should be resisted, for if Malaysia stumbles, the effects may ripple across the region.
Erstwhile sponsor of the Carlton Football Club, a cash cow for the Australian education sector, Australia’s 10th largest trading partner and a champion of ”Asian values” – whatever they are – Malaysia seems to be brimming with sky-is-falling Chicken Littles. And their analyses are alarmist; ”failed state”, ”deep pit”, ”national decay”, ”ocean-going corruption”, ”useless mega-projects”.
While some of these could be used to describe the Delhi Commonwealth Games – a massive undertaking Malaysia successfully pulled off 12 years ago by the way – it is about a country oft-regarded as an Asian success, whose rampant economy inspired a cockiness among its leaders to take racially tinged potshots at the ”decadent and immoral” West, and at Australia in particular.
And then there was the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to demonise, indeed anyone its mercurial then prime minister Mahathir Mohamad didn’t like on any given day. And there was 23 years of it, the Mahathir monopoly on Malaysian power.
So what’s prompted such painful hand-wringing from a tigerish economy that likes to boast how it ditched traditional models to virtually promise endless riches? The answer is some of the nastiest foreign direct investment (FDI) statistics an Asian economy has served up in a generation. Read the rest of this entry »
PR will move urgent motion on 1st day of Parliament Oct 11 if no satisfactory action taken against two school principals who made racist slurs against students in schools
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Muhyiddin Yassin, Najib Razak, nation building, Pakatan Rakyat, Parliament on Friday, 24 September 2010, 12:28 pm
Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has again rubbished Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s slogan of “1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now” when he made the startling statement yesterday that he is completely powerless to act against the two school principals, one in Johore and the other in Kedah, who had made racist slurs against students in their schools.
The previous occasion when Muhyuiddin rubbished Najib’s “1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now” concept was when the Deputy Prime Minister declared that he is “Malay first, Malaysian second” – diametrically contrary to the 1Malaysia objective to create a Malaysia where every Malaysian would regard himself or herself as Malaysian first and race second.
Muhyiddin’s latest gaffe was made at the opening of the Anti-Corruption Initiative for Asia and the Pacific regional seminar on the Criminalisation of Bribery in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, substituting for Najib who has left for New York to address the 65th United Nations General Assembly.
Malaysians wonder whether Muhyiddin would declare that he is “Malay first Malaysian second” or “Malaysian first Malay second” when his turn comes to address the UN General Assembly in his capacity as Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia! Read the rest of this entry »
Democracy only works when people claim it as their own
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Corruption, Judiciary, nation building, Parliament on Friday, 24 September 2010, 8:53 am
People first, democracy now!
By P Ramakrishnan
In a democracy worth its name, it’s the people who come first. The government exists for them and not the other way around as is happening now. We are made to believe that the people are there to do the government’s bidding. The government actually tells you that.
You vote for my man on Sunday, you will get a cheque on Monday. That’s what they told the voters in Ulu Selangor. In Sibu they told the voters, “You elect my man, I will pay for the flood mitigation project” – otherwise you can drown in the flood for all I care!
In other words, you will be rewarded if you serve the ruler; otherwise you will be punished. They don’t govern the country any more – they rule over you; they lord over you.
Is this what democracy is all about? Read the rest of this entry »
The MCA number game backfires
Posted by Kit in Good Governance, MCA, Thomas Lee on Friday, 24 September 2010, 8:16 am
by Thomas Lee
My Sinchew
23.9.2010
The revelation that the senior private secretary of ex-Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat has asked for the vehicle registration numbers MCA 1 to MCA 9999 in Malacca be reserved for MCA members is clearly a reflection of the high-handed manner a small-time political administrator in the Barisan Nasional abused his little derived authority.
Current Transport Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha has confirmed that such a request was contained in a memorandum dated 17 Feruary 2010 and addressed to Road Transport Department (RTD) director-general Datuk Solah Mat Hassan.
Tee Keat has denied that he had endorsed the memorandum written to the RTD director-general by his private secretary, saying that “I still remember, among the things that came to my attention which I rejected included this memorandum, although I had returned to duty in March after some health problems.”
Kong, meanwhile, said that the instruction would be rescinded.
“Nobody can reserve any number for the MCA. It is part of the sequence of the way that the RTD issues the registration number and according to the state,” he said.
This ignominious and scandalous incident is certainly more serious and shameful than that of the so-called Support Letters Scandal in Selangor, in which swift and harsh action was taken against the errant municipal councillor by the state government and the DAP. Read the rest of this entry »
Call on political parties from both sides of divide – BN and PR – and civil society to come forward to defend Hatta Wahari and NUJ to uphold professional ethics and integrity of Malaysian journalists
Posted by Kit in Media, Najib Razak, nation building on Thursday, 23 September 2010, 4:26 pm
Congratulations to Hatta Wahari the newly elected President of National Union of Journalists (NUJ) for bringing in fresh air with the courage of conviction to uphold journalistic professionalism and ethics.
Although Hatta is from Utusan Malaysia, he has drawn the line in the sand to uphold, defend and promote journalistic ethics and professionalism when he blamed Utusan Malaysia’s editors for the daily’s frequent run-ins with politicians.
Hatta, who is a senior journalist at Utusan, said the conflicts were between the daily’s chief editor Aziz Ishak, backed by senior editors, against the politicians from both BN and Pakatan Rakyat.
He said: “NUJ sees that it is unfair to fault Utusan Malaysia which includes journalists, photographers, graphic artists and other staff who don’t share the agenda (of the editors).
“They also do not have the authority to criticise the chief editor and the senior editors.
“NUJ is also of the opinion that the chief editor and senior editors of Utusan were not advocating media freedom but instead merely fulfilling the needs of their ‘political masters’.”
I am sure all the suffering journalists in the mainstream media, who have not been able to fully practise the ethics and professionalism of their craft, fully endorse the intrepid stand taken by Hatta, who deserves the support of political parties from both sides of the divide – Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat – as well as the civil society. Read the rest of this entry »
When is Najib going to provide leadership and take a stand against Malaysians “whose heads are not right” who have caused unprecedented inter-racial and inter-religious strain?
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Najib Razak, nation building, Religion on Thursday, 23 September 2010, 11:33 am
Speaking at the Interfaith Relations Working Committee luncheon yesterday, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the world contained individuals whose heads were “not right”.
He was referring specifically to the recent threat by an American pastor to burn the Quran and the Sept 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre by terrorists who “hijacked Islam” and said such conflicts were caused by ignorance.
He said: “Without understanding and knowledge, there can never be goodwill and understanding. We need to know the beauty found in every religion.”
What Najib said yesterday is very correct but Malaysians are entitled to ask why he had not provided leadership to take a stand against those in Malaysia “whose heads are not right” in the past 18 months of his premiership resulting in the escalation of the rhetoric of racial bigotry and religious extremism despite his proclamation of “1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now” policy? Read the rest of this entry »
Teoh Beng Hock, Did You Commit Suicide?
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Court, Crime, Teoh Beng Hock on Thursday, 23 September 2010, 9:07 am
by Richard Loh
I am truly sorry, Sdr. Teoh Beng Hock, that I have to ask you this question, Did You Commit Suicide? Everyone knows that this is really a stupid question to ask but am I wrong? No, I am not wrong because this is the way how our government, macc, pdrm and the judiciary taught us, to be stupid.
When your family met up with the prime minister, he made a promise that your mysterious death will be fully investigated and ensured that no stone will be left unturned. With this promise, the prime minister should called for a royal commission of inquiry which your family and the public had wanted, instead, he called for an inquest. Why did he reject the RCI, simply because the chances of getting the truth of your mysterious death is very high. For an inquest, they have the upper hand to protect the guilty (if any), manipulate and fabricate, anyway, anyhow they wanted.
On the onset, the government, PDRM, MACC and the judiciary had already made up their mind to see that your mysterious death be concluded as committing suicide, that is, you took your own life. I came to this conclusion by judging the way they presented the case, the investigation by PdRM, the judiciary allowing the DPP to ridicule witness and articulation of imaginary theories. Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia in the Era of Globalization #33
Posted by Kit in Bakri Musa, globalisation on Thursday, 23 September 2010, 8:58 am
Chapter 5: Understanding Globalization
Earlier Forms Of Globalization
Globalization is not a new concept. There have been other globalizing trends in the past. Imperialism was one form, based essentially on the “White Man’s burden” to enlighten the dark world. The ensuing economic bounty to the colonizers is not to be dismissed. The world of the 19th and 20th Centuries was carved according to imperial dictates.
The legacy of colonialism is such that today Malays in Malaysia, having been under British rule, know more about Britain than about their kindred across the strait in Sumatra. Malays in Sumatra in turn, being under the Dutch, know more about Amsterdam than Kuala Lumpur even though imperial forces have long left the region. Colonialism was able to break longstanding cultural and ethnic ties. Another ready example is Hong Kong where its residents, though ethnically and culturally Chinese, feel more at home in Britain than Mainland China. Quite apart from their choices of names, there is a gulf separating Hong Kong’s Christina Chin with her affected British accent from Beijing’s Jeng Zoumin. They each view the world very differently; one ignores such differences at one’s own peril.
The difference between today’s globalization and the colonialism of yore is that with the latter, there was no choice. Colonialism was imposed; the colonized had no say on the matter. It was premised on the supremacy of the colonialists over the natives, or more crudely, the White man over the colored. Colonialism’s globalizing trends were restricted to within territories controlled by that particular power. There was freedom of trade and movement of people only within the colonial empire but not beyond. British colonies were integrated only with Britain.
Like colonialism, today’s globalization is also broad and transcends race and geography. But unlike colonization where there was no choice on the part of the colonized, in today’s globalized world no nation is forced to join in. It is completely voluntary. Read the rest of this entry »
Syabas, Hatta, for standing up for press freedom
Posted by Kit in Media, Thomas Lee on Wednesday, 22 September 2010, 7:23 pm
by Thomas Lee
My.Sinchew
22nd Sept. 2010
I wish to commend and congratulate the newly-elected National Union of Journalists (NUJ) president Hatta Wahari for making a bold and brave stand in defence of press freedom. It has been a long time since any leader of the NUJ has stuck his or her neck out to speak out against the abuse and exploitation of the media, especially in the mainstream newspapers.
In an interview with Malaysiakini, Hatta blamed the top editors of Utusan Malaysia for the daily’s frequent confrontation with politicians.
According to the senior journalist at Utusan, the conflicts are between Utusan chief editor Aziz Ishak, supported by the senior editors, against the politicians from both the Barisan Nasional and the Pakatan Rakyat.
Hatta said it is unfair to fault the newspaper company per se with the alleged manipulation of its paper’s content by the editors with vested political interest.
He said there are many Utusan journalists, photographers, graphic artists and other staff members who do not agree with the agenda of the editors, but are powerless to do anything.
Obviously these lower-ranking journalists and staff members do not have any say in the decision-making process of the newspaper, let alone criticize or challenge the chief editor and senior editors on their political slant.
Hatta said the NUJ feels that the Utusan chief editor and senior editors do not advocate or practise press freedom, but merely take care of the interest of their political masters. Read the rest of this entry »
If it’s a problem, don’t recognise it
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Kee Thuan Chye, nation building on Wednesday, 22 September 2010, 7:09 pm
by Kee Thuan Chye
Malaysiakini
Sept 22, 2010
COMMENT
Idris Jala is a good speaker. If you listen to him and you don’t watch it, he will sell you an idea.
That’s what he did – or tried to do – when he gave the keynote address at the “We Are Malaysia” event hosted by UCSI University on Malaysia Day.
He spoke of 1Malaysia and its aims, and how national unity can be achieved. One of the central aims of 1Malaysia is upgrading the diverse population’s attitude towards one another from tolerance to acceptance and, eventually, the celebration of diversity. And one of the central strategies of achieving that is the recognition that, in Idris’ own words, “in life, there are only two types of issues”.
Sounds rather pat, as if coming from a self-enrichment guru. But as I said, Idris Jala (left) is a seller of ideas.
What are these two types of issues?
Problems and polarities. A problem, expounded Idris, is something that can be solved. A polarity is something that cannot be solved but must be managed. The examples of polarities he gave are old and young, urban and rural, good and evil, rich and poor. Like the North and South Poles, they cannot be removed; therefore a balance must be struck between them. Read the rest of this entry »
MCA Ministers should explain why MCA so deadset against my parliamentary question on police inaction on previous five-year police reports vis-a-vis Sosilawathi mass murders suspects
The four MCA Ministers should explain why the MCA is so deadest against my parliamentary question on police inaction on previous five-year police reports against the brother lawyers suspected of the heinous and gruesome Sosilawati mass murders that the MCA cybertrooper launched a concerted attack against me on twitter last night.
The cause of this MCA cybertrooper attack was my parliamentary question for the first day of the 34-sitting 2011 budget meeting of Parliament beginning on Oct. 11 which is addressed to the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, asking him “to list the date/nature of police reports lodged against the lawyer brothers in Banting suspected responsible for the Sosilawati mass murders, reasons for police inaction which have gravely undermined public confidence in police professionalism and latest actions on these police reports”.
Today, we read of another heart-rending story of a housewife, Samson Nahar Mohd Dali, 35, from Sungai Petani, whose husband Shafik Abdullah disappeared in April, being told by the police that there was a high probability that her missing husband had been murdered and was related to the Sosilawati mass murder suspects.
Shafik is among three people still listed as missing by police investigating the Sosilawai mass murders. The other two missing men have been identified as Indian businessman A. Muthuraja 34 and another businessman, identified as Thevaraj Shanmugam, 28, from Taiping.
Another case which police are working on is the murder of housewife T. Selvi, 44, who was slashed to death by two men outside her home in Banting in April last year. Read the rest of this entry »
How real is the Economic Transformation Programme?
The Economic Transformation Programme (ETP), the latest pronouncement by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Idris Jala, follows upon a number of other pronouncements that have become the hallmark of Dato Seri Najib’s administration.
Like the previous pronouncements of 1Malaysia People First Performance Now, the Government Transformation Programme, the 10th Malaysia Five Year Plan, the ETP is rich in rhetoric.
The sloganeering and spin that is common to all of these exercises provides a clear indication that the Government led by Najib is wholly at sea in tackling the enormous challenges that the country faces.
These challenges have accumulated over the wasted three decades characterized by mismanagement, corruption and abuse of power that has benefited a small coterie.
A common feature of the series of announcements is that they contain unrealistic assumptions about economic growth prospects; they use clichés that are taken from business school texts that have been spun in order to create a false impression of a rethinking of policies.
The various announcements of “policies” and “strategies” are littered with a slew of abbreviations such as KPIs, NKRAs, MKRAs, NKEAs, EPPs and BIZ Ops are freely bandied about. Read the rest of this entry »
‘1Malaysia’ – the enemy within
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Mahathir, Muhyiddin Yassin, Najib Razak, nation building on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, 9:10 pm
Christopher Barnabas | Sep 20, 10
Malaysiakini
As the nation celebrated the 47th anniversary of the formation of Malaysia, it is crucial to note that we are a nation divided at unprecedented levels in the history of the country. While political ideologies may differ from both sides of the divide, it is the treacherous levels of racism and extremism that are most disturbing to the common people today.
It was timely that during his Malaysia Day message entitled ‘Our Fight against Extremism’, Najib Abdul Razak took upon himself to warn against the rise of extremism in the country, articulating his sadness that by rejecting the diverse way of life, they are rejecting his ‘1Malaysia’ vision.
Going through some government websites, I came across the ‘1Malaysia’ concept paper, with one key point that stood out particularly clearly: ‘Malaysians, regardless of race or religion need to think and act as one race, that is the Malaysian race, that thinks and acts towards a common goal to build a world that is prosperous, progressive, peaceful, and safe thus enabling it to compete with the other communities in the world’.
Now having read that, let us examine several unsettling incidences since its inception which have resulted to an absolute failure of this vision thus far:
1. The Mahathir factor: The longest-serving former Umno president/PM of Malaysia has been labeled the ‘father of all racism’ by an Umno cabinet minister last year. Not surprising therefore that he appears unconvinced publicly about the ‘1Malaysia’ vision. Recently, he went as far as to conclude that even the newly proposed NEM which supports ‘merit-based’ policies are clouded with a racist agenda, prompting Zaid Ibrahim to diagnose him as having a psychological disorder. Read the rest of this entry »
Question for first day of Parliament on Oct. 11 – why police inaction over spate of police reports for past five years against lawyer brothers suspected of killers in mass murders of Sosilawati and three others
My first question for the first day of the 34-sitting 2011 budget meeting of Parliament beginning on Oct. 11 will be in connection with the gruesome and heinous mass murders of cosmetic millionaire Datuk Sosilawati Lawiya and three others in Banting on National Day.
The question directed at the Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein is asking for the list of the “dates/nature of police reports lodged against the lawyer brothers in Banting suspected responsible for the Sosilawati mass murders, reasons for police inaction which have gravely undermined public confidence in police professionalism and latest actions on these police reports”.
The new Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar has publicly admitted that Sosilawati’s case could have been prevented if fast action, including proper investigation, had been conducted over earlier reports of missing persons.
He said a task force had been formed to investigate all missing persons reports linked to the lawyer brothers, adding:
“There should be no more slacking. Those caught slacking or ignoring missing persons reports will be severely reprimanded.”
Read the rest of this entry »
Who is the second UMNO/BN Minister who dare to publicly declare that he/she is Malaysian first and race second in keeping with Najib’s 1Malaysia policy?
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Muhyiddin Yassin, Najib Razak, nation building, UMNO on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, 12:08 pm
I am surprised that in the past 24 hours, the other Ministers have not rallied behind the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz who had courageously declared that he is Malaysian first and Malay second.
Who is the second UMNO/Barisan Nasional Minister who dare to publicly declare that he/she is Malaysian first and race second in keeping with Najib’s 1Malaysia policy?
It has taken Nazri more than six months to respond to my challenge in Parliament in March this year to all Cabinet Ministers to declare that they are Malaysian first and race second.
Surely, Malaysians do not have to wait for another six months before another Minister plucks up sufficient courage to follow Nazri to declare that he/she is Malaysian first and race second.
I have given notice to ask the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak a specific question on the commitment and loyalty of Ministers and top civil servants to his 1Malaysia concept when Parliament reconvenes for the 2011 Budget meeting beginning on Oct. 11.
My question to Najib in the first week of the Parliamentary meeting next month read:
Read the rest of this entry »
An open-and-shut case
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Najib Razak, nation building on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, 8:43 am
Mariam Mokhtar | Sep 20, 10
Malaysiakini
During the Raya celebrations at his home in Pekan, the Prime Minister, Najib Abdul Razak, encouraged us to hold open houses and receive guests irrespective of race and religion to foster national unity based on ‘1Malaysia’. He said that an open house would be more meaningful if “we also open our hearts to our guests”.
The PM should also include an open mind. A willingness to listen to other people’s opinions should promote greater understanding and harmony.
If only Najib was aware of the level of intolerance some Malays have for non-Malays and non-Muslims. I don’t expect him to know what happens at the ground level and I doubt if his advisers and close associates tell him the truth.
Fewer Malays visit non-Malay open houses for the various festivals. The issue is not just with food. Some object to visiting places where there is a shrine. A few refuse to eat off crockery and cutlery that has ‘touched’ pork. Others worry about the content of the soap with which to wash their hands. Many Malays are oblivious to how their non-Malay colleagues go out of their way to accommodate Malay sensitivities. Sometimes, even the best efforts are in vain.
When it comes to pot-luck or giving food as presents, non-Malays express frustration that their contributions are refused, even if the non-Malay took great pains to ensure the use of halal ingredients. Rejection of their unappreciated and wasted efforts, is hard to accept.
Official functions are also dominated by Malay intolerance. Recently, the Malay organisers of a parent-teacher association dinner at a school in Malacca arranged for a restaurant which had the ‘Halal’ accreditation, to cater the function. It would have been a halal Chinese dinner. Unfortunately, the arrangement was cancelled as a few of the Malay parents and teachers objected, because the restaurant owner and his staff were Chinese. Read the rest of this entry »
National integration with constitutional integrity
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Constitution, nation building on Monday, 20 September 2010, 4:37 pm
— Azzat Kamaludin (loyarburok.com)
Malaysian Insider
September 20, 2010
SEPT 20 — Our lives, attitude and outlook are formed by the encounters we experienced. I shall begin my discussion of this subject, by sharing with you two encounters that have so shaped me.
The first occurred after I passed out from the Royal Military College, then known as the Federation Military College. It was a college set up in 1953 by the then British High Commissioner to Malaya, Sir Gerald Templar. Its Charter was and is “Preparing young Malayans (now Malaysians) to take their places as officers in the Armed Forces, in the higher divisions of the Public Services and as leaders in the professional, commercial and industrial life of the country”. It was the second full boarding school to be established in the country.
The first full boarding school established on 2 January 1905 was the Malay College Kuala Kangsar, originally known as the Malay Residential School of Kuala Kangsar, it was conceived by the then Inspector of Schools for the Federated Malay States who in a letter to the Resident-General in February 1904 wrote about “establishing at a suitable locality in the Federated Malay States a residential school for the education of Malays of good family and for the training of Malay boys for admission to certain branches of Government service.”
I joined the Military College in Form 3, three years after Malaya became independent. After a few months of making friends I came to know Malays from Kota Baru, Besut and Kuala Lumpur; Chinese from Penang, Ipoh and Pontian; Indians, Sikhs and other races from Kuala Pilah, Seremban and Muar. Clearly the composition of students had been carefully constituted — there was not only geographical representation but also racial representation. I understood later that a racial quota was employed for admission to reflect the racial composition of the country then.
My two best friends when I left the College were a Chinese and a Sikh boy. As it happened, all three of us had decided to study law. We knew we could not pursue it without assistance from the State. I found that I had no problem whatsoever in obtaining a scholarship for my purpose. But it was not so for my two friends. Although there were scholarships for non-Malays, there was none for law. I tried to help them. Read the rest of this entry »
A nation of failed economic development plans
Malaysiakini
AB Sulaiman
Sep 20, 10
COMMENT
The world can be a nasty place especially in terms of planning, where your best and well intentioned plans can produce the worst unintended results. The country’s numerous development plans is a perfect example of this.
Since Independence we have always strived to be a country with strong social, economic and political credentials: a strong healthy and united people, public safety and security, great infrastructure, mature democracy, clean human rights record, good education system, governed under rule of law, and of course, a justice-minded judiciary.
To top them all off we are to enjoy a per capita income equal to the peoples in advanced economies. We wish to be an advanced country in our own right.
The current realities are anything but. The people are fragmented while some are migrating to friendlier lands, our infrastructure while adequate is wasteful, our democracy is an ugly disguise for authoritarianism, our education system produces non-thinking graduates, the rule of law has become the rule by law, and the judiciary is an international laughing stock. Read the rest of this entry »
