Malaysia after regime change - PAS and Islam

As Malaysia prepares for its 13^th general elections, due no later than April 2013, the long-standing competitive authoritarian regime will face one of its most difficult tests. The 2008 elections dealt a surprise blow to the incumbent Barisan Nasional (BN), and ever since, Prime Minister Najib’s government has struggled to protect its now-fragile majority. After four years of renewed opposition activism, rumours of defection from UMNO (the United Malays National Organisation), and the recent acquittal of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysians will have the chance to vote the BN out of office once and for all.
In a post-BN Malaysia, observers will closely monitor the role of Islam in public life. Much of what happens will depend on the shape of the government that follows. In terms of the composition of a post-BN government, two outcomes seem most likely: (1) a multi-ethnic Pakatan Rakyat-based (PR) coalition in which PAS (Parti Islam SeMalaysia/Pan Malaysian Islamic Party), PKR (Parti Keadilan Rakyat/People’s Justice Party), and the DAP (Democratic Action Party) all participate, perhaps along with one or more East Malaysian parties; or (2) an UMNO-PAS “Muslim-Malay” coalition, again perhaps involving the cooperation of one or more East Malaysian parties. Either way, PAS—an explicitly Islamic party—will be part of the government.

That PAS would advocate for a greater role for Islam in Malaysian public life is undeniable. PAS describes its goals as follows:

• Memperjuangkan wujudnya di dalam negara ini sebuah masyarakat dan pemerintahan yang terlaksana di dalamnya nilai-nilai hidup Islam dan hukum-hukumnya menuju keredhaan Allah. [Fighting to create a society and government that is run according to Islamic principles and the laws which please Allah]
• Mempertahankan Kesucian Islam serta kemerdekaan dan kedaulatan negara. [Defending the sanctity of Islam alongside independence and national sovereignty.]

The prospect of PAS in government alone is worrying for those many Malaysians (both Muslims and non-Muslims) who express concern about the Islamisation of Malaysian politics and society. Moreover, a PR-based government would struggle to balance PAS’s goals with the DAP’s largely non-Muslim constituency. That would make an UMNO-PAS alliance all the more attractive to PAS, while UMNO, whose membership is not restricted to Muslims but is overwhelming Muslim anyway, would likely not hesitate to return to power with a new coalition partner.

Questions about PAS after the BN may reflect the concerns that many non-Muslims in Malaysiahave about the role of religion in public life, and Malaysia’s Hindu minority in particular has cause for grievance on this account. But this obscures the corrosive effects that six decades of ethnic partisanship have had on the prospects for Malaysian democracy. It is a mistake, in other words, to focus narrowly on PAS, or broadly on Islam itself, when anticipating Islam in a post-BN Malaysian political order. Doing so confuses the potential consequences of PAS in government with the factors that have contributed both to PAS’s popularity and to the current state of Islam in Malaysian public life.

PAS itself has not played a major role in the Islamisation of Malaysian politics or Malaysian society. Rather, it was Malay politicians in the pre-independence period (the very same group that went on to found UMNO) who enshrined Islam in the constitution and legally defined Malay-ness with reference to Islam. This was done not in the name of Islam, but to protect what were perceived to be “Malay interests” (see for example A History of Malaysia, pp. 256-257). After independence, with communism illegal, social democracy discredited (through its historical affiliation with a largely Chinese opposition party), liberalism cast as antithetical to Malaysian values, multiculturalism or pan-ethnic solidarity discouraged through the party system, and the bumi/non-bumi split underlying every aspect of social and economic policy, the only “Malay” alternative to UMNO’s Malay platform was PAS’s Islamist platform.

Today, in a society in which economic function and demographic characteristics such as urbanisation no longer distinguish Malays from non-Malays as easily as they once did, core issues such as religion have a new importance for voters whose political identities are constructed through an ethnic framework.

The strategic logic of political competition in Malaysia’s plural society therefore rewards parties seeking Malay votes when they appeal to the characteristics that define Malays in opposition to non-Malays. It should not surprise anyone that when Malay voters find UMNO politicians wanting, they are likely to vote for the only opposition party whose political outlook has not been labelled as “un-Malaysian” for the past half century.

Facing this, non-exclusivist opposition parties such as the DAP and PKR have struggled to transcend the ethnic paradigm in Malaysian politics. The choice for non-Malay, non-Muslim voters has been whether to cast their lot with their own regime-allied (and ethnically-constituted) parties, the “un-Malaysian” multiethnic opposition, or the Islamist PAS.
The fundamental challenge for public life in a post-BN Malaysia is not Islam, it is ethnicity’s dominant role in defining Malaysians’ political identity, and this challenge is just as pressing today as it would be if a new government with PAS comes to power following the upcoming elections. Of course, PAS’s explicitly religious goals are important to note, but there are few things that it could do in government that are not already within UMNO’s capacity today.

UMNO has presided over—and its campaign messages and public policies have encouraged—the rise of Islam in public life. It is tempting today to see what Judith Nagata called the “reflowering of Malaysian Islam” as merely a local instance of a global Muslim awakening, but this misses the very politics of Islamic politics in Malaysia.

In the Malaysian context, the rise of religion is the unavoidable consequence of the politicisation of ethnicity. A PAS-led government might go further than the BN has in prosecuting perceived insults to Islam, or in expanding the domain of Islamic family law, but such worries already mark Malaysian public life. The religious issues facing Malaysia are far deeper than the ruling party’s religious outlook, and having PAS in government is best understood as the outcome of decades of social change and religious conflict rather than a possible independent cause of future religious tensions.

It is reasonable to wonder what Malaysian politics would look like with an avowedly Islamist party like PAS in government, but as always, the meaning of Islam in Malaysian public life cannot be separated from the dominance of ethnicity in Malaysian politics.

The “solution” to the “problem” of Islam in Malaysian politics—if one believes that Islam is indeed a problem—is the same as the solution to many of the other issues that face contemporary Malaysian society: a post-ethnic movement (not merely a multi-ethnic one) in which Malaysians identify, assemble, and act as Malaysians rather than as representatives of ethnic groups in a zero-sum competition for power and resources.
This is what many hope that a PR government would mean, and in rhetorical terms, that is what Najib’s 1Malaysia campaign promises. A recent article in the Economist suggests that many young Malaysians would welcome such a post-ethnic politics. But they will have to wait, for Malaysian politics as BN-versus-PR restates the ethnic politics framework without moving past it.







Thomas Pepinsky is assistant professor of government at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY,USA. His work focuses on comparative politics and international political economy, with a special focus on contemporary issues in island Southeast Asia. His interests include the politics of finance, authoritarianism, Islam, and finding a way to move Ithaca to the tropics.

THE MALAYSIAN INDIAN IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM - KEY NOTE ADDRESS BY PROF. DATO DR. C.P. RAMACHANDRAN

Welcome to the Millennium Conference for Malaysian Indians.

The theme of the Conference as you would have no doubt noted is 'Rebuilding Our Community'.

More than a year ago a few of us were discussing the incident in Kampong Medan and were deliberating the big question of how marginalised Malaysian Indians had become.

And after some discussion we felt that part of the cause for the dire straits of the Malaysia Indians has been the relative non-involvement of the middle class Indian in the effort to help the impoverished and marginalised Indians in the country.

THE CONTEXT
That a wide chasm exists today between the middle class Malaysian Indian and the working class Malaysian Indian is an undeniable fact. It is also a reality deeply rooted in the history of Indian migration to Malaysia, euphemistically referred to as "labour" and "non-labour" migrations. The former category primarily refers to the bulk of migrants brought under the dreaded Colonial indentured system succinctly encapsulated in the Colonial administrator Sir Thomas Hyslop's famous phrase: "We want Indians as indentured labourers not free men"

The non-labour migrants refer to the "literate" Indians brought in to man the administrative and clerical and security services. K.S.Sandhu in his seminal work on Indian migration to Malaya, best describes the genesis of the middle class - working class chasm as follows:

"Once this movement of literate Indians to Malaya began, many more emigrated from the same localities, and found employment on plantations and in other private enterprises where the employers found them invaluable assistants in dealing with Indian labour"

"Invaluable assistants in dealing with Indian labour" is the operative phrase. Herein lay the roots of the mindset of the middle class Malaysian Indian of today. A mindset steeped in sublime ignorance and blind arrogance, even to the point of denying the very roots of our common genetic and ethnic heritage. A mindset that readily identified with the ruling class to subjugate and lord-over our downtrodden brethren. This same mindset persists today in the way we view ourselves.

However there is a big gap in the way others view us. It is of no consequence to other Malaysians that we have Dravidian, Aryan or any other esoteric roots; or that we come in many shades of colour. To them - we are just Indians!

In this beautiful multiethnic nation of ours, we have been and are, either the object of envy or the subject of denigration- more often than not, the latter. The microscopic minority that has achieved the riches desired by all and sundry, remains miniscule and withdrawn from the mainstream of daily problems faced by the toiling underclass majority. In between we have the not so significant middle class that wallows in its illusion of grandeur and is equally divorced from the problems of the vast majority. All this is rooted in history. We need to understand everything in the historical context before we can even begin to comprehend the enormity of the challenges that we have to address if we are to remain a meaningful component of the Malaysian polity in the new millennium.

A SENSE OF HISTORY
Without a sense of history any community is condemned to a time warp of ignorance and inaction.

The saga of the Malaysian Indian is steeped in centuries of civilisational hegemony - from the 1st to the 13th century as socio-cultural and religious "rulers" and in the 19th and 20th centuries as the politically and economically "ruled".

The Indian provided the civilisational foundation during the early centuries of the first millennium for all ASEAN member nations, except Vietnam and Philippines. Thus the historians reference to "Indianised States of South-East Asia" or "Greater India". Lest it be forgotten, it is the Indian civilization that provided the political, social, religious, cultural and administrative leadership for this region. Historians Rawlinson and Winstedt described this era as India's all but total cultural contribution to Southeast Asia, from the first to the fifteenth century. After a lapse of a thousand years these contacts were resumed but in less creditable form. Indians did not return to Malaya as representatives of a prosperous maritime nation but as indentured labourers from a land subject to alien rule. (C.Kondapi: Indians Overseas, 1951)

It is a historical fact that the successors of Greater India transitioned into the "cannon fodder" of the Colonial powers in the 19th century. In Colonial Malaya they were the economic slaves of the British, be it in the plantations or the administrative urban centers.

This position was somewhat maintained in post-Independence Malaya and Malaysia. Whilst there was some upward mobility to professional and middle-class ranks, this was largely confined to sub-ethnic groups that had the initial advantage of English education and that, which placed a high premium on education.

The majority of the Malaysian Indian has been mired in a proletarian under-class status. In 1957 almost 70.4 percent of the Indian labour force was in the rural plantation and mining sectors, 24.2 percent were employed in government agencies mainly as labourers, 3.6 percent in transport services and 1.8 percent in manufacturing. In 2000, 15.1 percent remain in the agriculture sector whilst 62 percent are in the manufacturing and services sectors. This fundamental shift from primarily rural work "tapping rubber" to the urban work of "soldering chips" and "driving lorries" is a reality that needs to be recognized. Is there really a difference between the fetid, unending estate environment and the inhuman squalor of the urban squatter colony?

THE PROBLEM STATED
The socio-economic problems faced by the production-service worker of the 21st century are not much different from that experienced by the indentured labourer of the 19th and 20th centuries. The setting has changed but the problems have not.

They are very real- the low educational achievement, the social inequities and the lack of political or economic clout. This is best seen in the high dropout rate, the high crime rate and the dependence on political and economic handouts.

Indians feature highest in all of the negative statistics.

" The second highest infant mortality rates.

" The lowest life expectancy rates- 67.3 years compared to national average of 71.2.

" The highest school drop out rates best seen in the data that only 5.0 percent of Indians reach the tertiary level compared to the national average of 7.5 percent.
[And to top it all, just recently we have openly declared to the world that our students cannot make the cut under the newly introduced system of meritocracy for tertiary intake!]

" The highest incidence of alcoholism, that cuts across all classes. Alcohol it seems is the greatest leveler of class distinctions.

" The highest incidence of drug addiction in proportion to population.

" The highest number of prisoners in proportion to population.

" And we are told that the largest number of gangs is now Indian gang and that 60 percent of serious crimes are committed by Indians.

These are depressing statistics. But is it all bad news? Not really.

Indians constitute 15.5 percent of professionals in the country.
This includes doctors (28.4%), lawyers (26.8%), dentists (21%), veterinary surgeons (28.5%), engineers (6.4%), accountants (5.8%), surveyors (3.0%)and architects (1.5%) and Scientists. There are also an increasing number of businessmen in the Indian community. The Sindhis, Gujeratis and Punjabis have been formidable businessmen, as are the Indian Muslims.

There are Indian contractors, road builders, oil and gas suppliers and contractors and we are all aware of the Indian who built up a telecommunications, media and gaming empire and the Indian who built one of the fastest growing ports in the country, as well as Scientists and  Doctors who has reached highest positions. Then again these high achievers are more than likely to be the descendants of the "non-labour" migrants of yore.

INDIAN CONTRIBUTION TO NATION BUILDING
It is undeniable fact that Indians have contributed to the building of this country since the 19th century. This is sometimes forgotten.

Indian labour opened up the country. Indian labour opened up the forests, established the rubber plantations, built the roads, railways, set up the transmission lines, built the ports and airports.

Indian civil servants formed the core of the civil service and the medical service. Indian veterinarians looked after animal husbandry. Indian teachers formed the backbone with the missionaries of the teaching service. Indians pioneered private education in the country. (e.g. my father)

But this was at a high and often untold cost to human rights and dignity.
Hundreds of thousands of Indians died because of disease and hardship. In the building of Port Klang alone more than 500 thousand Indians died of malaria.

The 1957 Federation of Malaya Census Report succinctly summarises this point as follows:

"The important characteristics to note about Indian migration to Malaya are that, firstly, the great bulk of this movement has been of an ephemeral character, with approximately 4 million entering and 2.8 million leaving the country between 1860 and 1957.

Secondly, much of the 1.2 million net immigration appears to have been wiped out by disease, snake-bites, exhaustion and malnutrition, for the Indian population of Malaya in 1957 numbered only 858,615 of which 62.1 percent was local born."

The invaluable contribution of the Indians appears to have been forgotten. But some have remembered. In 1975 a local born Indian known by his initials SAJ wrote this unpublished Ode to the Indian Working Class and I quote:

"We tapped the rubber that beautified your homes,
We built the roads that produced your bountiful economy,
And now we live in non-descript squalor.
You pass us by and snigger at our sub-human status,
Not in the least realizing how our blood, sweat and tears,
Contributed to the comfort and the opulence,
You now enjoy!"

Whilst others may choose to forget, Indians should not forget. Indians also played a role in the fight for Independence and in the fight against the communists. It is sad therefore to contemplate the dire straits the community is in today.

The object of this conference is to bring all Malaysian Indians, irrespective of language or location from India into a common forum to discuss the Malaysian Indian dilemma and to examine what role we can each play in helping the community at large. As our numbers continue to decline, in a relative sense, we appear to become less and less relevant. In 1957 we constituted almost 12 percent of the population. It is forecasted that in the year 2020 Indians will only form 6.4 percent. The implications from the political, social and economic dimensions are self-evident. Perhaps in the Census of the year 2050, we may even be classified as "Others"! ( A real possibility)

ROLE OF THE MIDDLE CLASS
In a society where race determines opportunity the Indian is at a severe disadvantage. All Indians must now become involved. The problem of the Malaysian Indian community is our problem as well. We must acknowledge it. It is our problem because the displaced, alienated Malaysian Indian working class individual that gets embroiled in crime and other socially unacceptable practices is not going to discriminate on the basis of ethnicity in targeting his next victim. He is just as likely to rob our homes or kill us as he would others. Why should he discriminate in our favour when we have not done him or his family any favours?

We cannot like the proverbial ostrich pretend that it is someone else's problem. It is ours and ours alone. This is precisely why we need to build the bridges of social inclusion.

We are all Indians. Whatever the precise shade of our complexions or shape of our noses, those outside the community perceive us, as Indians. We should not be ashamed of belonging to the Indian community. We have a common value system born in the cradle of the Indian civilization. We come from one of the oldest civilizations in the world and this behoves us to carry ourselves with dignity and distinction.

NEED TO ADOPT THE LEARNING PARADIGM
The adage " knowledge is power "is often used, but what does it really mean to the individual and the community?

We can only be categorised as mindless robots if we repeat platitudes but do not attempt to understand the real import! Worse still if we do not put to use what we acquire as information and internalise it as knowledge for the betterment of self and the community at large.

Pursuing knowledge for the sake of knowledge is indeed the domain of philosophers in the Socratic tradition. Theirs' was a cerebral exercise - to expand and extend the limits of logical thinking and to postulate on the intricacies and the vagaries of life. They had their utility in providing the intellectual tradition for the human civilization.

We can't all be Plato or Aristotle, but we can certainly use the information available in this wondrous, yet daunting, era of the information society, to upgrade our knowledge and skills to make ourselves better human beings.

For this, we have to rise above the level of textbook knowledge. We have to stop gloating that we are educated, we are professionals, what have you…

To be called "educated" one needs to translate the knowledge acquired to strive for a higher and higher quality of life in the spiritual, intellectual and of course the material dimensions.

It is so very easy to escape into the world of social snobbery using our so-called professional -cum-educated status in society. However, deep in our souls we know, it is certainly most difficult to be recognised as a truly educated person.

It is not the paper qualifications, but the possession of the mindset to constantly strive for knowledge and thus a better understanding of the rapidly changing world, that qualifies one to attain the humble membership of the society of the educated.

Thus as a community we need to adopt a learning paradigm. Let us cast aside our false pretences, our flawed assumptions and our predisposition for myth making. That should be the start to opening up a whole world of knowledge for the larger good of the community.

In my humble opinion, the Malaysian Indian needs to rediscover the passion for learning and the thirst for knowledge. Then from a civilisational perspective, Malaysian Indian community can reconstruct the glory of past millennia and become meaningful players in the Malaysia of the new millennium.

WAY FORWARD
The reason for this conference is to establish a coherent framework of action to guide individuals, groups and institutions to bring to bear resources, to first resolve the inimical problems and second to build a spirit of self-reliance.

It is only through a sense of history can the Malaysian Indian see himself or herself as a person of self-worth and self-reliance. The achievement of this state of consciousness can only come about if the Malaysian Indian middle-class, unprecedented as it is, takes the bold step to actively build bridges to engage the under-class majority. We cannot afford to continue be polarized along the axis of opposition between productive, information-rich, affluent groups and impoverished groups that are economically devalued and socially excluded.

In my view to be socially and economically excluded is unfortunate, but to be "included" and not do anything about it to benefit the society we live in, is blatantly criminal. We all have important and invaluable roles to play. We need to target segments of the population to bring about "hubs of learning" to facilitate innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship. Value creation that results from this will contribute to economic development.

Let us do it in small yet meaningful ways; mini-projects in schools, places of worship, homes, and community centres. What is required is a total effort by all sectors of society. Sustainability in implementation of programmes and projects is critical.

Getting people involved in the process of transformation is key. It must be people-driven. Of course people must want to change. We cannot afford to subscribe to the view that one NGO's, one political party's or one government agency's approach is the panacea for all problems. Blind arrogance should not be allowed to control the way we need to respond to challenges. History should not be allowed to repeat itself.

Can we not learn some lessons from our chequered history in this land of milk and honey? Surely as individuals we need to first make the commitment to life-long learning. Second, we can make someone, somewhere information-rich by sharing our tacit knowledge, on a daily basis. The true meaning of prosperity for Malaysian Indian in the new millennium can be an abiding reality, if we can all make this commitment today. The paths to prosperity begin with you!

CONCLUSION
If as a community we do not want to be marginalised to occupy the "exalted" positions on the periphery of society, we need to make a positive start by understanding the basis of the real problems and challenges. Then and only then will our future be secure.

This indeed is a unique moment in history to rise above the petty prejudices and ignorance and to take actions that will ensure the Malaysian Indian a rightful place in the Malaysia of the new millennium.

It is battle for the hearts and minds and it must begin with the self-realisation that it is "our problem", not someone else's. We can mobilize the resources if we have the vision and the will to change our mindset.

Finally, I hope that cognizant of the aspirations of all other Malaysian communities, you would conduct your deliberations in a constructive and objective manner.

In this regard, I would like to share with you the words of wisdom given to us by none other than the late Indian philosopher par excellence, Dr.S.Radhakrishnan:" We may become learned and skilled, but if we do not have some kind of purpose in our life, our lives themselves become blind, blundering and bitter. For a truly cultured mind, there is a single-mindedness, a dedication to a single purpose. For the uncultured mind, the whole life is scattered in many directions. Therefore it is essential that the education you acquire should give you not merely learning and skill but endow you with a definite purpose in life. What that purpose is, you have to define for yourself".

As for today and tomorrow, it is my fervent hope that you would single-mindedly focus on charting the course for the advancement of the Malaysian Indian in the new millennium.

THE MALAYSIAN INDIAN IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM:

KEY NOTE ADDRESS BY PROF. DATO DR. C.P. RAMACHANDRAN

Even Dr M thinks Najib will lose but a debate with Anwar is still vital

THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE The polls are looming and Malaysia is gearing up for the most hotly-contested general election ever. Unlucky 13 may be the one that finally breaks the Barisan Nasional's 50-year dominance over Malaysian politics and welcomes the Pakatan Rakyat to Putrajaya.

With all things in the balance, it is only right that the people of Malaysia test the ability of its two prospective prime ministers on a public stage to discuss public policies. Yes, it’s high time we see a Najib Razak - Anwar Ibrahim debate.

For the record, the Republican Presidential candidates in the United States have already had 20 debates; which has helped narrow the field down to only 4 candidates. The debate floor is a great place to gauge each candidates stand on such things as immigration laws, English as the official language of America and setting up more jobs for unemployed Americans.

So why can’t Malaysia have a debate between Najib and Anwar?

Even Mahathir is worried Najib will lose

It is also telling that former premier Mahathir Mohamad has openly advised Najib not to debate Anwar. It immediately sparked talk that Mahathir was afraid the technically less competent Najib would disgrace himself in such a debate.

Indeed, the reason Mahathir trotted out defied logic, insisting that a 'debate' made sense only if Anwar shared the current the BN's views.

"What’s the point of debating when everyone knows his stand, and the debate won’t change this. It’s a different case if Anwar shares the government’s opinion on matters raised," the government media reported Mahathir as saying.

At the root of the BN's problems is that Najib Razak is merely caretaker prime minister, one who was appointed to the post by his party after an internal power struggle that ousted former premier Abdullah Badawi. Najib should have immediately called for snap general elections to win his own mandate from the people, but he chickened out, knowing that he was likely to perform worse than Badawi. Only one year remains of the BN's 5-year mandate now, with Parliament due to automatically dissolve in April 2013 regardless of whether Najib calls for polls.

On the other hand, Anwar has been prime minister in waiting for too long. Anwar Ibrahim is now the leader of the opposition pact Pakatan Rakyat, and if it wins more of the 222 seats in Parliament than BN, Anwar will finally become PM. Back in 90s, Anwar was already the hottest Malay leader in town. Then he was the Umno deputy president and even Mahathir feared him, so much so that sodomy charges were fabricated to bring down and jail Anwar.

At that time, Najib was nowhere in the radar, unable to command a following of his own. 

In fact, he claimed to be one of Anwar's biggest supporters then. And so did others like current Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and Defense minister Zahid Hamidi. With Anwar released only from jail in 2004, it is not surprising that these men switched their allegiance to Mahathir, and now, they are keeping an eye on premiership for themselves. As for Mahathir, sure he would rush for the chance to be PM again - if Malaysians would vote for him that is - but basically, his efforts are now focused on getting his son Mukhriz to take over Umno and the premiership in the round after GE-13.

Paranoia only confirms Anwar's legitimacy to be PM

This is why since 1998, the BN government has gone to incredible lengths to keep denying Anwar his shot at the premiership. In fact, the change in the Malaysian political scene can be traced back to his detention under the dreaded Internal Security Act in 1999. This was the event that galvanised the opposition movement in Malaysia. And every political move the Umno-led BN has made since has been designed to keep Anwar out of the race for prime minister.

So silly is this thinking that many pundits say it is because of this very paranoia of Anwar, that Mahathir and gang have actually trapped themselves now. Always worried that justice will finally come and they will be made to answer for their misdeeds, they have helped themselves to huge chunks of the national wealth resulting in RM888 billion in illicit outflows to overseas accounts. They have also neglected their duties, the economy and the weak governance of the country have chased away massive foreign investment. At the same time, by their sheer insistence to 'shoot at sight' Anwar and his Pakatan cohorts, they have unwittingly confirmed Anwar's legitimacy as challenger for the Malaysian premiership.

So, barring other candidates who feel that they can garner the confidence of the Parliament as prime minister, these two gentlemen are Malaysia’s heavy-weights for the main contest. And should there be other candidates, they too should be allowed their chance to debate so that Malaysians as a whole benefit and get to choose the leader they believe can best deliver the job.

What does the Constitution say

Article 43 (2) states - The Cabinet shall be appointed as follows, that is to say: (a) the Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall first appoint as Perdana Menteri (Prime Minister) to preside over the Cabinet a member of the House of Representatives who in his judgment is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the members of that House;

The key to being prime minister in Malaysia is that a member of the House of Representatives command the confidence of the majority of the members of that house. Malaysians vote in fellow citizens as members of the House of Representative and 'pass on' the responsibility of choosing the Prime Minister to these elected representatives. Trust is passed onto these reps to make the wisest choice to benefit all. Whether these reps betray their countrymen and instead vote based on instructions from 'higher authority' in their party or in line with bribes taken will determine whether they are re-elected in the next round.

So the people must keep tabs and do not take for granted their reps will not betray their trust. But how can the people of Malaysia gauge the capabilities of whom will best fit the role of Prime Minister? A public debate would do fine.

But Malaysians still think MPs are their bosses!

A public debate is a medium by which the public can see and gauge for themselves the candidates with aspirations to lead the nation. Any reservations can then be voiced out to their respective Members of Parliament and the voice of the people must then be taken into account when choosing the person that would command the confidence of the House of Representatives to be PM. It is a process by which the people of Malaysia can be and should be part of. How difficult it this? Is this not a hall-mark of a progressive and mature democracy?

Sad to say, in many parts of the country, the people feel beholden to the reps. They feel their MPs are their bosses and not the other way around. But allocations given to the MP to distributes to the needy are actually money belonging to the nation - the Malaysian people as a whole. The elected rep is just a person chosen to undertake this task and the basis for choosing him or her should be trust.

The MP's constituents chose him because they trust him. So he has to do right by them and not behave as if they owe him and need to thank him and be grateful to him. This is the problem with Malaysia and only a government that will not take advantage of the rural people and instead educate them on their rights should be elected in GE-13.

This is 2012 and Malaysia is already very late in the people awareness and empowerment game.

Cannot function without a script written out for him

Yet in true BN government-knows-best form, Najib Razak will not take part in a public debate. And Mahathir supports this fully, although the older man's reasons may be less flattering to Najib than the younger man realizes!

But why won't Najib take on Anwar. At 58, Najib should possess greater fire and derring-do than the 64-year-old Anwar.

Perhaps, it is because in a public debate, Najib Razak’s most obvious flaw will be on show. He is a 'scripted' man - and in a volatile environment of a public debate where scripts are written on the spot by oneself as one speaks - he would simply be dumbfounded. Yes, the cat is out of the bag. Without scriptwriters, Najib will have nothing to say. Unaided, Najib would fail miserably against Anwar Ibrahim, a man who has been tried, tested and tempered through all temperatures on the most public of forums including the two Umno-instigated sodomy trials.

Bear in mind, Anwar has been defending himself in since 1999. He was not only the fastest-rising and most popular Finance minister of the Southeast Asian region, but he  has borne the brunt of all sorts of attacks against his sexuality, morality, character and personality. Both in the public sphere and in the courts of law.

Winner is obvious, and there may be sniggers but ...

In an immediate face-off the winner is obvious. But Najib should not be so vain and shallow as to refuse a debate because he knows, like the rest of the nation, he will surely lose. He must adopt a more gung-ho attitude and not just roll over and die. Style is not really that important, neither is articulation. Facts and substance are.

This is what Najib, at 58, should learn. He is no longer 18 and trying to show off to his girlfriend. He is Prime Minister of Malaysia and Malaysians want to hear what he has to say. How can he just drop his head and pretend it is not important. Not only will his critics in the Pakatan have a field day ridiculing his cowardice, even his own people in Umno will doubt him even more. Does Najib not think Mahathir would not in private sneer at him and perhaps tell common friends that 'Najib is so useless, I have to come out and help him to get out of it!' Isn't this a very likely reaction, even if not from Mahathir, others in Umno will surely say so.

Above all, Najib owes his countrymen. They already know him and they are entitled to know whether he has more to him than he has shown so far. Really, he should recognize their rights. Otherwise, he should talking about his dad, Abdul Razak who was the second premier, all the time as if being Razak's son means he would never do anything to harm Malaysia. But is not keeping Malaysia backwards and allowing ruthless opportunists like Mahathir to call the shots a slap in the face to the memory of his dad. One really wonders if Razak would approve of Mahathir or perhaps would have been even worse than Mahathir if he had ruled Malaysia longer.

Reclaim your rights

Malaysians should reclaim their rights and their nation. A public debate is the basic building block of a democracy. It is not an elocution or a beauty contest but a forum where the ideas and policies of two or more different quarters can be publicly evaluated, and the people can make up their minds. The prime minister's post is the highest executive job in the land. Malaysians have a right to gauge the potential of each candidate for themselves and not be curtailed by what the Umno-BN chooses because it is not to their disadvantage.

Finally, the prime minister can be anyone who is a member of the House of Representative and not limited to president of Umno. And to leave no room for doubt as to how the prime minister is chosen, all candidates must be made to lay out their plans and ideas and aspirations for Malaysians to vet through and to eventually approve of - whether at the ballot boxes on their own or through their reps in Parliament.

This is playing fair, this is playing fair according to the rules of democracy. This is the sign of a mature democratic country. If Najib or any other candidate in the future - whether from BN or Pakatan - refuses to debate in the run-up to any major election, he or she should not even be nominated to contest.

by  Maclean Patrick & Wong Choon Mei

Malaysia Chronicle

A nation divided, a country devastated

Times have changed and are fast changing even in ultra-traditional societies. The lessons we are drawing from even recent episodes as in the likes of Egypt Springs is most edifying for the selfless and wise.

The well worn cliché ‘a nation divided is a country devastated’ has sprung back with profound meaning in this century. It applies very aptly to Malaysia.

Today we are witnessing the nation heading down a slippery slope on all four frontiers of governance, namely the political, social, economic and environmental parameters. Political party survival has taken precedence over all else and it is clearly becoming an ‘at all cost, by any means’ war cry and battle strategy.

Religion is not spared. Race is not spared. Sex is not spared. Institutions are not spared. Ethics is prostituted. Justice is clouded. And how long can the main stream media continue to orchestrate to the whims and fancies of those embroiled in winning at all costs?

Chop! Chop! Chop! Separate them...
Meanwhile the world is being swept without warning by financial tides of devastation; weather havocs that predict imminent food crisis; and the rise of civil society to fight the 21st century’s worst enemy namely corruption and political tyranny. These, the governments around the world – including even our neighbors like Thailand, Philippines, and Indonesia are better braced to combat as they have no political party survival wars to be preoccupied with. Neither do they subscribe to the stone-age ‘kill at all cost’ mantra.

But in our own yard here, just look at the volume of files mounting within the Palace of Justice as thousands of reports are lodged against corruption and misuse of power. Look at the breaking news every day. Listen to the talks at warongs. Scan the online forums.

Look at the way politicians from BN are spending money; or how about their families and spouses?

Look at the way the government denies brutality inflicted on its own citizens (Bersih 2.0), only to be exposed by the international media.

Look at the scandals that keep surfacing one after another – scandals that not only involve Malaysians within its borders but also those that have global implications involving international players. Do not forget the many episodes of custodial deaths and how the cases are being battled and dragged in court.

Look at our daily news rations. What do all these tell us?
Indeed this nation is being divided left, right and centre in the name and want for power and control. The victims are the knowing and unknowing rakyat of today those who are yet to be born.

The leaders are not interested in knowing that a nation divided is a country devastated. Who cares anyway? “If this country crumbles, I have my safe haven on the Gold Coast” seems to be the hidden assurance amongst the powers that be.

Two sets of everything
Take a look at all the social pages of glossy magazines that are spilling over in Malaysia. What do you see?

No different. One set of laws for the knowing and unknowing rakyat and another set of freedom for the rich, famous, well heeled and power brokers.

Yes, the fact that some lone and brave voices with still some conscience and integrity left behind are stepping forward from behind the curtains of the ruling BN to state the truth about this nation’s governance, is a crystal clear indication that this country is in a perilous state of affairs.

While the world is collaborating and partnering with all of its political parties within each nation, ours is one that is going after the opposition’s throat. While others around the globe are re-focusing on the four crucial parameters of politics, social, economic and environment to be better prepared in protecting its citizens against the ravages of weather, corruption, abuse, power and control, and financial uncertainty, we are saying “everything is okay” while we are dead bent on dividing the nation along race, religion, politics, social, economy.

Therein remains the assessment that Malaysia is on the highway of being a devastated country.






J. D. Lovrenciear, is a reader of Malaysia Chronicle

When All The Non-Malays Leave Malaysia .......

As the days go by, more and more depressing news is cropping up. Deputy Education Minister Wee has made a statement that the PSD scholarships for bright students have been abused. Many students with 10A’s are not offered PSD scholarships , while those with 4-5A’s managed to secure them.

It shows that even our brainy, bright, young talents are being discriminated against and barred from a chance to further their education overseas.

These will a big loss to our country’s talent pool and to the nation’s future. What a sad state of affairs, when even being the best is not enough.

Will an investigation be conducted as to who these beneficiaries are and whether they rightly deserve such coveted scholarships ?

Although it may not be a serious controversy, our bright young minds and talented geniuses who cannot afford an overseas education without financial support will only contribute to the unstoppable brain drain of this nation. Our hopes to be a first world nation are dashed on the rocks.

These are our future leaders who will chart the course and contribute to the grand design of this nation.

Today, our pool of leaders are nothing to shout about. Some of them are a bunch of clowns. Every time they open their mouths, we can see through their idiotic minds, no matter how very hard they try to hide the fact that they are not very bright. Even some leaders have questionable overseas degrees. Without highly skilled intellectuals to be our leaders who can see through the greed, corruption and inequality, it will be very difficult
for Malaysia to attain First World status.

Malaysia seems less and less a ‘Promised Land’ to the non-Malays. With a mock democracy and an authoritarian system of Government in place, Malaysians who cherish democracy, meritocracy, freedom of expression, equality and freedom of religion are discouraged from regarding Malaysia as their homeland.

Those who can afford it have to save to send their offspring overseas to further their studies and to seek employment. Once their offspring have secured an education and employment in their host countries, many will apply for Permanent Residence to join their offspring. Bringing with them all the wealth and talent to their host country. Malaysia continues to lose its wealth and its valuable human resources.

Talent Corporation is facing an uphill daunting task to encourage Malaysians to return and serve the country. Those who say it is another for-show hype by Prime Minister Najib Razak are right. Malaysia simply doesn’t offer a conducive environment for the highly skilled and talented to return and help build this nation. Current policies in place, are a gross hindrance. Those who actually return mourn the rashness of their decision, and many cannot wait to leave again.

Malaysia could be such a lovely place to build an existence. Its citizens could have coexisted in peace and harmony. There is so much going for this country, but our leaders have made a terrible mess of it. The level of corruption is simply unacceptable. Equal opportunities are in shambles. Threats of racial conflicts and religious sensitivities still
exist. Dinosaur leaders refuse to relinquish their powers and continue to overstay their welcome. Malaysians are humiliated and abused by the government that is supposed to serve them.

Beyond the limit

And now, they continue to threaten the peace of this country by resorting to racial conflicts to split the nation. Non-Malays are constantly reminded that Malays own this country. Malay Supremacy should not be questioned and Islam is superior to all other religions - this is being shoved down their throats each day.

Non-Malays feel sidelined as 2nd class citizens, humiliated that they cannot be equal and even encouraged to leave the country if they are not happy. Barisan Nasional, who is supposed to be the only political coalition capable of serving this nation, stands blind and impotent, as the abuse continues unabated.
One day, we may see the exodus of the non-Malays from this country. When the last Chinese is gone, we will start to miss the pretty, mini-skirted Chinese lasses, and the corporate-dressed Chinese executives. Gone will be the sound of Chinese music during Chinese New Year, the dragon dances, the firecrackers, the red angpows, the Chinese operas and kung fu movies on TV.
Left behind will be empty buildings from Chinese businesses and the friendly neighborhood sundry shops , whose owners used to chatter in 'broken' Malay. Gone will be the Chinatown in Petaling Street , with its cheerful bright lights, myriad of colors and all kinds of everything for sale amidst the incessant Chinese chatter.
When the Indians follow, there will be no more dark beauties in colorful saris, no more colorful temples, no more Hindi movies and the interesting Indian and Hindu culture. No more fiery chicken curries, tosai, tandoori and papadam.

And with it goes the Hindu culture with the carrying of the Kavadi and Chariots of the Gods of Thaipusam and Festival of Lights of Deepavali. No more laughter of happy Indian children playing.
With the Christians joining the exodus, there will be no more sounds of Christmas carols, green Christmas trees dressed in white cotton and decorations. No more Santa Claus in the Shopping Complexes and Shopping Centres. No more Christmas turkey dinners in hotels all over the country and no reason to celebrate the New Year, which Malay hardliners say is a Christian celebration.

Kuala Lumpur, as Malaysia leans to a more Islamic way of life, will see masses of people going to work all dressed in headscarves and Baju Melayu, with even your own sister hardly recognizable among the crowd. How boring it will be without the non-Malays to lend flair, culture, color, identity and fun to our way of life.

Malaysia may one day be like Saudi Arabia . All work and no play or is the other way around - all play and no work!

It will be really sad for Malaysia to lose all its ethnicity, diversity, its potpourri of culture and its identity. Aren’t we selling Malaysia as truly Asia ? Why must the government continue to play with our sensitivities and keep tearing us apart?

If the non-Malays go, I will leave too. No sense hanging around and continue to be abused by these 'half aliens' even though they may be of the same race as me. Suddenly, New Zealand sounds very appealing. I’m sure they need average journalists like me with no sense of humor.





Written by Iskandar Dzulkarnain,
Malaysia Chronicle

Malaysia's Brain Drain - It's Not Just Politics and Racial Discrimination.

Malaysia's brain drain appears to be picking up speed. According to a recent parliamentary report, 140,000 left the country, probably for good, in 2007. Between March 2008 and August 2009, that figure more than doubled to 305,000 as talented people pulled up stakes, apparently disillusioned by rising crime, a tainted judiciary, human rights abuses, an outmoded education system and other concerns.

The general assumption is that Chinese and Indians form the majority of those abandoning the country of their birth because ethnic Malays consider them pendatang – aliens in a Malay land, regardless of how long they have been in the country. However, increasing numbers of Malays have already emigrated as well, or are seriously thinking it, dismayed by corrupt practices as well as the rigid confines of Islam and the rise of fundamentalism embodied in the revelation on Wednesday by Home Minister Hishammuddin Tun Hussein that three women had been caned in Kajang Prison in Selangor on Feb. 9 for having had illicit sex under shariah law.

In 2000, according to figures compiled in 2007, 40 percent of Malaysian emigrants headed for Singapore – at the same time Singaporeans are headed somewhere else. By one estimate, (Singaporeans Seek Asylum Elsewhere, Asia Sentinel, Jan. 7) the number who put the Lion City behind them is as high as 15 percent of annual births. In 2006, the Transport Minister, Raymond Lim, expressed concern that 53 percent of Singaporean teens would consider emigration. One website survey put Singapore's average outflow at 26.11 migrants per 1,000 citizens, the second highest in the world - next only to East Timor (51.07).

Of the other émigrés, 30 percent go to OECD countries (Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada and Britain) 20 percent to Asian countries (Brunei, Philippines, Indonesia) and the rest of the world (10 percent). Malaysian Employers Federation executive director, Shamsuddin Bardan, said in an interview that 785,000 Malaysians are working overseas. Unofficially, the figure is well over 1 million.

Nor are people all that is leaving. Asia Sentinel reported on Jan.11 (Malaysia's Disastrous Capital Flight) that there has been an exodus of money from Malaysia on a scale which surpasses that which occurred during the Asian crisis. The decline is also reflected in a sudden decline in base money supply – even while, thanks to Bank Negara, broader M2 has continued to grow modestly.

A major problem is the flight of graduates. As early as 2004, former Premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was becoming concerned, pointing out that as many as many as 30,000 thought to be working in foreign countries, many of whom had held scholarships in top universities from the Malaysian government but chose to stay overseas at the end of their studies. Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad demanded that other countries pay Malaysia for having seduced them to stay, " since, by right, the graduates' training and knowledge should be called intellectual property."

The typical reasons are well-documented: improved employment and business prospects, higher salaries, better working environments, greater chances of promotion and a relatively superior quality of life.

Three Malay women put a personal face on statistics in conversation with Asia Sentinel, sharing their decisions to emigrate. Two are graduates of overseas universities, the third is from a local school. Their decisions to leave were made, they say, after a lot of soul searching. But for these women, money and economic incentives were not the end-all. Their names have been changed to protect them.

Anita claims to have left because of her sexuality. She graduated from a university in the United Kingdom but continued with a post-graduate degree course. At the end of her studies, she worked in a multinational corporation in London and is now a department head. She was recently married, in a civil ceremony, in the UK. A Malay, Anita is naturally Muslim. Her partner is another woman, Nadia, an Iraqi Jew. They met as undergraduates.

For a decade, the two made the annual pilgrimage to Malaysia to visit Anita's ageing parents, Anita says. When in Kuala Lumpur, they are regular patrons of lesbian joints in Bangsar. After the Malaysian National Fatwa Council issued an edict banning lesbianism in 2008, Anita travelled alone. Nadia dislikes the risk of being 'caught,' The clues to their sexuality are their short cropped hair, Doc Marten shoes, preponderance of masculine clothes and, on closer inspection, their identical wedding rings with each other's names inscribed. Anita is in self-imposed exile because her partner will not be allowed to reside in Malaysia.

Although male homosexuality is illegal in Malaysia and sodomy incurs a punishment of 20 years jail, Malaysia's civil code does not ban lesbianism. Malaysian men are just so big-headed that they cannot imagine any woman not wanting to sleep with a man.

"It is unacceptable to see women who love the male lifestyle including dressing in the clothes men wear," said Abdul Shukor Husin, the Fatwa Council chairman. Harussani Idris Zakaria, the mufti of Perak, says that the council's ruling was not legally binding as it had not been passed into law. He wants tomboys to be banned because their actions are immoral. "It doesn't matter if it's a law or not," he says,

In 2000, Malaysia had around 80,000 official expatriates. By 2008, this figure had shrunk to 38,000 as the collapsing global economy cut into trade and thus trade and Malaysian exports. When Bibi worked in an electronics factory in north Perak, little did she foresee marrying her expatriate quality control engineer. After his conversion to Islam and their subsequent marriage, he attempted unsuccessfully to gain permanent residence. He claims to have spent a small fortune on lawyers, on 'proof' and photographs for the application process, and several trips to the immigration offices to be 'verified'. He claims that one low ranking government official even offered him a birth certificate for RM60,000, as a pre-cursor to a 'red' identity card, which would help facilitate the PR status.

When Bibi's husband's work permit expired, he attempted to form a trading company. He travelled to the border every few months to renew his immigration-social visit pass, while he explored this avenue. He was ineligible for a sole proprietorship and although he could form a limited company with 51 percent bumiputra ownership, he found that for one reason or another, it was not viable. Local partners wanted maximum profits for little or no work. A Caucasian, he was seen as a cash cow, he says.

In addition, the Perak town they lived in was very provincial. Had he lived in Kuala Lumpur or Penang, he could be anonymous, like the expatriates married to Malay women in these cities. As an expat convert in his local town, the Malays expected him to uphold Malay values and scrutinized his every move, right down to his religious obligations. He was disillusioned with living in a goldfish bowl and both he and Bibi left for Europe.

According to one local daily, the number of Malaysian researchers, scientists and engineers working overseas exceeds 20,000 with 40 percent of them in the United States and 10 percent in Australia. When Ida graduated from Australia with a chemical engineering degree, she worked in a chemical plant in Selangor. Her friendship with a chemist blossomed into love, with talk of marriage. There was one problem - Anthony was a Catholic. He dutifully presented himself at the mosque for agama lessons in preparation for his conversion. The imam never appeared for their pre-arranged appointments. Frustrated with being let down repeatedly, he stopped going. His lucky break came when he was offered a job in a neighboring country. Ida joined him. She was free from parental and family pressures, he from the religious zealots. They married. He retained his faith, she remained a Muslim. They started a family and have since emigrated to New Zealand. Recently, she embraced Catholicism.

Malaysian emigration has critical policy implications. There are questions over what will happen when overseas students receive employment offers in the country where they are studying, when skilled people leave Malaysia, when pensioners retire abroad (the silver economy) and the nation registers an increase in unskilled foreign workers but a decrease in skilled expatriates.

The challenge for policymakers is to harness the economic and political potential of this largely ignored diaspora. There is no point pretending Malaysia does not have a serious problem. The incentives to reverse the brain drain and attract those who are abroad must be reviewed, as they are currently ineffective. For many like Anita, Bibi and Ida, it is not just politics and racial discrimination but also religious and social pressures that drive them away.





By Mariam Mokhtar
Asia Sentinel.com