by M. Bakri Musa
The greatest legacy the leader of a nation could bequeath would be freedom from an oppressive government. This realization comes to me when I compare Malaysia’s experience during the 1997 economic crisis to America’s current struggle with its massive debt mess.
The differences in reactions and consequences are attributable to one salient factor: Unlike Malaysians, Americans do not fear and are not dependent upon their government. Americans have a healthy skepticism towards their leaders and government, an attribute generally lacking among Malaysians.
With Malaysia in 1997 there was a general crisis of confidence, with widespread gloom and doom permeating the skyscrapers in Kuala Lumpur as well as the suraus in Ulu Kelantan, and from the Prime Minister to the village penghulu. It also precipitated a deep and ugly split in the leadership that resulted in riots and ugly street demonstrations. The very symbol of our sovereignty – the ringgit – was devalued.
Like Malaysia then, America is today plagued with a mountain of debt on a scale a universe beyond what Malaysia suffered. The American dollar is also being debased, not by the government however as with Malaysia, but by the more powerful force of the marketplace.
The American tribulation is even greater, as the leadership – in particular President Bush – is viewed as ineffective and irrelevant. America is additionally burdened with an expensive and bloody war. Yet for all that, there are no riots or widespread doom and gloom. When Americans are disenchanted with their president or government, they throng the voting booths in record numbers to vote for a change.
Our Inherent Freedom
In Islam, a ruler is denied “the right to take away from his subjects certain rights which inhere in his or her person as a human being.” Meaning, freedom from oppression is not a gift bestowed by the ruler upon the ruled, rather the natural state. Or to put it in the language of the Quran, the will of Allah! Citizens would consent to giving away those rights to the ruler only upon a demonstrated need for the greater good.
Many a leader, evil and benevolent, have used this rationale to take away this precious rights away from citizens. Even otherwise civilized societies are not immune to this seduction, as evidenced by the easy passage of the Patriots Act in America. Citizens have only themselves to blame if they were to grease the path towards their own enslavement.
Government oppresses less through sheer size and more through exercising unchecked powers. Scandinavian countries have large governments, yet their people are not oppressed or threatened. These governments get voted in repeatedly.
They use their might not to oppress citizens but to emancipate them. The police force is used (rightly) for discouraging and apprehending criminals, not for spying on innocent citizens or harassing political dissenters. Public funds are used to build daycare centers and affordable housing, not detention camps and police barracks.
The Indian government is also large, though in terms of absolute budget size it is smaller than most of the Scandinavian countries. Yet the Indian government remains oppressive and intrusive in the lives of its citizens, caricatured by the ubiquitous “Permit Rajs.”
By modern standards, Stalin and Mao Zeedung had access to more limited resources and far primitive instruments of controls, yet they were able to maintain a tight grip on their people, even long after those leaders were dead.
A repressive government led by well-intentioned and capable leaders can achieve wonders in improving the lives of their citizens, as seen with Singapore. Even when the leaders were less well intentioned and less capable, they could still do remarkable things, as with Indonesia’s Suharto.
Nonetheless oppression is still oppression no matter how seemingly sophisticated the guises and excuses. Singapore effectively controls its citizens through inane and intrusive rules as well as punitive laws like its libel statutes. South Korea’s General Park justified his on the pretext of economic efficiency and national security. It worked only temporarily in South Korea; it will be the same with Singapore. Sooner or later citizens’ yearning for freedom will emerge. Once the flame of freedom is lighted, it can be doused only temporarily.
Let Your People Be!
In America, when someone says, “I am from the government, and I am here to help you!” it would be treated as a line from an unoriginal comedian. In Malaysia, it would be taken as a solemn promise, even though it is rarely fulfilled. This reflects the control the government exerts over Malaysians, or more charitably, the citizens’ faith (misplaced) in their government.
In America, Ronald Reagan became the most popular modern president by promising to “take the government off citizens’ backs!” In Malaysia, whenever citizens’ groups meet over a problem, their resolutions would inevitably begin with, “The government must do this and that!” That reflects an ingrained dependency syndrome.
It was not always so. There was a time when citizens especially Malays would never trust the government. It was easy then as it was a colonial one, manned by people of a different race and skin color.
Rulers exert their grip on citizens primarily through fear a la Saddam and Stalin, or rewards a la Singapore. Both are effective; the second however is more enduring as citizens could delude themselves into believing that they are doing the state’s bidding on their own volition.
Thus through a carefully crafted system of rewards, Singapore quickly reduced its birth rate. It was so successful that the government is now desperate to reverse course! Singapore’s positive reinforcements prove more effective than China’s odious and punitive laws.
There is a third route, cara halus (subtle way), unique to Malay culture where rulers exerts a emotional hold on their subjects through a collective sense of terhutang budi (debt of gratitude). It is predicated upon the cultural belief encapsulated in the saying, Hutang budi di bawa mati (we bring our debt of gratitude to our grave). Malays would willingly put themselves (and their children) into endless servitude to the sultan in return for some perceived favors, sought or unsought. Such controls, reinforced by cultural norms, are even more powerful.
UMNO leaders play on these collective cultural guilt trips when they continually harp on their pivotal role in Merdeka and Ketuanan Melayu. “Be grateful!” “Kacang lupakan kulit” (Bean forgetting its pod); “Melayu Mudah Lupa!” (Malays forget easily!); these are the phrases bandied about to emotionally enslave Malays.
For added insurance, the UMNO government also uses fear through such oppressive laws as the ISA, as well as rewards of massive patronages via the New Economic Policy. Hence the strong grip the UMNO government has on Malays especially. This communal guilt trip is just as enslaving as Stalin’s harsh police state.
As long as citizens are not liberated and emancipated, they will never realize their full potential. Their creativity will forever be stifled; their talent stunted. The best that they could achieve would be total obedience, otherwise known as servitude.
More dangerously, such citizens would go berserk once that control is suddenly gone or destroyed. Long reduced to human robots, they are unable to think or act independently. Today’s Iraq is a tragic reminder of this reality. This fate awaits all closed societies.
If that were to happen to Malaysia, it would be the greatest tragedy, for both ruler and ruled.
Oh, UMNO uses more ways than what you mentioned to control the mind of the Malays and make them eternally grateful. UMNO creates a bogeyman out of every China man in this country.
“….Even otherwise civilized societies are not immune to this seduction, as evidenced by the easy passage of the Patriots Act in America. Citizens have only themselves to blame if they were to grease the path towards their own enslavement”.
Be careful Bakri Musa! One “know all” here will tell you the Patriots is a necessary evil in the post 9/11 era. Better don’t mess with this bloke whose ego is probably as big as the US’s current trade and fiscal deficit combined.
The UMNO BN led goverment,is now punishing the people for voting oppositon.Recently Seremban was hit very bady by floods ,the state goverment took its own sweet time to help the people.
“The UMNO BN led goverment,is now punishing the people for voting oppositon.Recently Seremban was hit very bady by floods ,the state goverment took its own sweet time to help the people.” – badak
So this is one of BN’s reform?
I call it digging its own grave.
BN is no more relevant to rakyat as we have decided in GE12.
UMNO wil be the target for Malays especially when they are taking away their own peoples’ future and lied about the party’s mission and vision.
UMNO …. it’s all about paying back what you have taekn away from your own people who trusted their lives for this party.
Ugut bunuh Karpal: Pelajar kolej serah diri
JOHOR BAHRU 28 April – Seorang pelajar kolej yang menghantar komen di sebuah laman web dengan menyatakan Pengerusi DAP, Karpal Singh ‘halal’ dibunuh, hari ini menyerah diri di Ibu Pejabat Polis Daerah (IPD) Johor Bahru Selatan di sini.
Remaja berusia 19 tahun dari Kluang itu yang ditemani ayahnya serta ahli-ahli Pas Johor tiba di IPD tersebut pada pukul 1 petang ini dan polis telah mengambil keterangan daripadanya untuk membantu siasatan.Sementara itu, Timbalan DAP Johor, Norman Fernandez berkata, pelajar tersebut juga telah menemui beliau pada pukul 4 petang ini untuk menyerahkan surat permohonan maaf sepanjang satu muka surat kepada Karpal.
”Pelajar itu, ayahnya dan beberapa wakil daripada Pas negeri telah menyerahkan surat permohonan maaf dan menyesali perbuatan dan masalah yang ditimbulkan olehnya.
”Dia juga berjanji untuk tidak menghantar mesej sedemikian rupa ke sebarang peti mesej (e-mel) dalamannya,” katanya ketika dihubungi di sini hari ini.
Beliau memberitahu, pelajar itu juga merayu agar Karpal menarik balik laporan polis yang telah dibuat.
Menurut Fernandez, beliau akan menyampaikan surat itu kepada Karpal esok dan terpulang kepada Pengerusi DAP itu untuk membuat keputusan berhubung perkara itu.
Dalam pada itu, Ketua Bahagian Siasatan Jenayah negeri, Senior Asisten Komisioner II, Amer Awal ketika dihubungi berkata, polis sedang menyiasat perkara itu mengikut Seksyen 506 Kanun Keseksaan.
Menurutnya, beberapa individu akan dipanggil untuk diambil keterangan bagi membantu siasatan.
Katanya, komen bertarikh 24 April pada laman web Pas Johor Bahru yang dihantar oleh pengirim yang menggelar dirinya ‘Alif’ itu mendakwa Karpal telah menghina Islam dan oleh itu, darahnya halal dibunuh.
Sehubungan itu, Karpal membuat laporan polis berkenaan perkara itu di Pulau Pinang, Sabtu lalu.
Who is your choice to be the next PM of Malaysia ? Vote now at sonofpenang.blogspot.com
Well said, Dr. Bakri.
Education is their downfall! It is plain for everyone to see except themselves!
YB LKS, as long as the current national schools’ syllabus remain, our Malay friends will never do themselves a favor.
What Mr Bakri has highlighted are gravely important and pivotal in transforming Malaysia.
[When Americans are disenchanted with their president or government, they throng the voting booths in record numbers to vote for a change.] – M Bakri Musa
Yes, it is very true in a sense that UMNO is stifling the creativity of Malays and feeding them with scapegoats from other races.
They made it feel like everyone here is against the Malay, against their religion, against their way of life, against their dietary preferences, and practically everything else!
Competition in education is very vital. If other race can do better in ‘pidato bahasa Malaysia’ then we should sponsor the other race to compete and be rewarded and not the Malay just because he or she is a Malay!
It is just like allocating a Chinese friend of mine to study ‘perhutanan’ in UPM while the Malay all get to be ‘Engineers’! Now my friend has come out and work for a MNC and attained a high executive role in the company – and the company does not deal in ‘perhutanan’!!! See how other races rise up to adversities and progressed?!
And when we say it’s not right – they will say, “Oh, you are challenging Ketuanan Melayu!” and all sorts of accusations. In the same time disregarding the statement altogether even if it holds true for them as well!
Their mentality is in need of a revolution! And it could be started right at school with the right guidance by qualified teachers, the right competition, the right pressure to build their minds to free them from over-dependencies and to free them from the evil game of politics!!
Politicians are cowardly and have corrupted minds – NOT ALL – but we must let them know who is the ultimate BOSS of them all and not to be controlled by them!!!
If they are incompetent leaders, just bring him down and ask him to go, expose their crimes, don’t hide it just because you want to be patriotic – that’s not the way!
And also, Malay leaders should have more confidence in their Malay countrymen.
Let them walk the road and fall and learn from mistakes. If they continued to “suap” when will they grow up??!!
If you know what I mean, Bakri Musa, it is the white in America who gave up slavery. Yes the Black fought against it, but it was the white who ultimately gave up. Hope we can draw some parallel here.
If want freedom then go be like Taiwan Parliament where decent man throw punches and salivas at opponents.
Without ORDER a proper resolution can’t be tabled and passed.
What if the Barisan Nasional had won the election with a landslide victory?
Link: http://www.kingsmary.blogspot.com/
///Unlike Malaysians, Americans do not fear and are not dependent upon their government. Americans have a healthy skepticism towards their leaders and government, an attribute generally lacking among Malaysians.///
After 50 year under BN rule, Malaysians are polarized to two distinct groups, the Malays and non-Malays. Malays are dependent upon the government, but do not fear them. The non-Malays are not dependent but fear the government.
From the first days of independent UMNO planned to hang on to power by Malay votes. That was how the parliamentary constituencies were drawn so that Malays’ votes weighed more than non-Malays. With almost equal population in early days of Malaya, non-Malays could only obtain at most 25% of the parliamentary seats if voting was based entirely on race.
The Malays during the colonial days did not have to depend on the British to survive. Yet Malay community produced towering Malays who excelled in Judiciary and government services. To be sure, the Malays then were Malays that one would recognize easily rather than having to go through the definition included in the Federal constitution.
Philanthropists think in terms of marginal utility of the money and the gain in total welfare on the money they give away to assuage their sense of compassion. Government leaders stand on moral high ground when they devise programmes to help the poor and downtrodden without having to part with their personal funds, and they win the reputation as a caring government. Yet, opportunists as most politicians are, they made use of government funds to spend as philanthropists and seized the opportunity of that process to build loyalty from the beneficiaries. To create the sense of indispensability of the government to the beneficiaries, the Alliance and later BN’s government denied non-Malays equal opportunities. That was justified through Article 153, and later NEP. It moulds Malay mindset to be loyal to BN because it is through BN that the preferential treatment of Malays would be perpetuated. That mindset was further strengthened by the oft repeated indoctrination by UMNO government that Malays are weak, and they could not stand on their own, or compete on level playing ground.
The present generation of UMNO leaders is too far removed from their founders to recognize that Article 153 of the Federal Constitution was intended to create level playing ground in 15 years from 1957, and subject to review. The late Tun Razak made the constitutional amendment to Article 153 a condition for convening parliament in 1972 after it was suspended for emergency rule. With that amendment, Article 153, the provision to provide assistance to Malays to acquire capacity to compete on equal footing, and it euphemistically known as the special privilege for Malays, takes on the new life of Ketuanan Melayu.
That the non-Malays decided in the 12th GE to ditch BN was only surprising in the extent they did. What is more perplexing is the fact that Malays were willing to vote opposition. Have they managed to realize that the savings the government had in depriving non-Malays equal opportunities to Malays in terms of establishing more university places and scholarships paled in comparison to leakage through corruptions? Are the ordinary Malays unhappy that their endeavors and success in academic attainment are suspects because of the system of university intake? Have they realized that collective wealth of Malay community is not a measure of individual standard of living, and in making a few very rich Malays through the APs system, they have to pay much more for their vehicles, to keep Proton alive? Is Ketuanan Melayu an excuse for the Tuans, the descendents of the ruling families since independence, to remain in power?
The call for PM AAB to resign, especially from the states whose warlords have lost the rights to wealth and power confirm that Malays are not monolith, and they have keen sense of jealousy, not just against non-Malays as promoted by NEP, but within the community. The intense factional fighting within UMNO, the party for the Malays, show that Malays are ordinary human beings believing that they have the rights to attain their potentials, and not be constraints by the thought of TDM and his king-maker role. It is hoped that among the UMNO PM hopefuls, there are people who would move away from the divide and rule policy of their forebears.
With due respect! Please be reminded is their right ! The right that is enshrined in the Constitution. And this right meaning is the right to everything without denying the rights of others.
Let’s read the sentences a few times very thoroughly……what actually it means?
Loh Says: Your comment is awaiting moderation.
Yesterday at 20: 44.32
Hi Loh,
I noticed too that during the evening all our comments are put into the moderation lists except during daytime.
Strange practice but true.
Jamesy.
Islam did not teach children to determine who is halal or not halal to be killed. It is the UMNO infection, that causes Malay to feel arrogance by wielding the Keris.
Thanks Jamesy.
Loh Says: Your comment is awaiting moderation.
Yesterday at 20: 44.32
///Unlike Malaysians, Americans do not fear and are not dependent upon their government. Americans have a healthy skepticism towards their leaders and government, an attribute generally lacking among Malaysians.///
After 50 year under BN rule, Malaysians are polarized to two distinct groups, the Malays and non-Malays. Malays are dependent upon the government, but do not fear them. The non-Malays are not dependent but fear the government.
From the first days of independent UMNO planned to hang on to power by Malay votes. That was how the parliamentary constituencies were drawn so that Malays’ votes weighed more than non-Malays. With almost equal population in early days of Malaya, non-Malays could only obtain at most 25% of the parliamentary seats if voting was based entirely on race.
The Malays during the colonial days did not have to depend on the British to survive. Yet Malay community produced towering Malays who excelled in Judiciary and government services. To be sure, the Malays then were Malays that one would recognize easily rather than having to go through the definition included in the Federal constitution.
Philanthropists think in terms of marginal utility of the money and the gain in total welfare on the money they give away to assuage their sense of compassion. Government leaders stand on moral high ground when they devise programmes to help the poor and downtrodden without having to part with their personal funds, and they win the reputation as a caring government. Yet, opportunists as most politicians are, they made use of government funds to spend as philanthropists and seized the opportunity of that process to build loyalty from the beneficiaries. To create the sense of indispensability of the government to the beneficiaries, the Alliance and later BN’s government denied non-Malays equal opportunities. That was justified through Article 153, and later NEP. It moulds Malay mindset to be loyal to BN because it is through BN that the preferential treatment of Malays would be perpetuated. That mindset was further strengthened by the oft repeated indoctrination by UMNO government that Malays are weak, and they could not stand on their own, or compete on level playing ground.
The present generation of UMNO leaders is too far removed from their founders to recognize that Article 153 of the Federal Constitution was intended to create level playing ground in 15 years from 1957, and subject to review. The late Tun Razak made the constitutional amendment to Article 153 a condition for convening parliament in 1972 after it was suspended for emergency rule. With that amendment, Article 153, the provision to provide assistance to Malays to acquire capacity to compete on equal footing, and it euphemistically known as the special privilege for Malays, takes on the new life of Ketuanan Melayu.
That the non-Malays decided in the 12th GE to ditch BN was only surprising in the extent they did. What is more perplexing is the fact that Malays were willing to vote opposition. Have they managed to realize that the savings the government had in depriving non-Malays equal opportunities to Malays in terms of establishing more university places and scholarships paled in comparison to leakage through corruptions? Are the ordinary Malays unhappy that their endeavors and success in academic attainment are suspects because of the system of university intake? Have they realized that collective wealth of Malay community is not a measure of individual standard of living, and in making a few very rich Malays through the APs system, they have to pay much more for their vehicles, to keep Proton alive? Is Ketuanan Melayu an excuse for the Tuans, the descendents of the ruling families since independence, to remain in power?
The call for PM AAB to resign, especially from the states whose warlords have lost the rights to wealth and power confirm that Malays are not monolith, and they have keen sense of jealousy, not just against non-Malays as promoted by NEP, but within the community. The intense factional fighting within UMNO, the party for the Malays, show that Malays are ordinary human beings believing that they have the rights to attain their potentials, and not be constraints by the thought of TDM and his king-maker role. It is hoped that among the UMNO PM hopefuls, there are people who would move away from the divide and rule policy of their forebears.
Aiya, I was looking forward to ‘one know all’s’ rebuttal to limkamput. I must say I am increasingly enjoying their tit-for-tat fencing. Their respective for-against perspectives are quite illuminating, especially for the ‘less-informed’ like me.
Re Bakri’s article, we ought to sympathise with our Malay brethren. Their culture of submission to patrons and protectors coupled with the mirage of Ketuanan Melayu over the past 30 years has done them no favours. They have discovered in this period how irrepressible the other races are. They have also come to understand (I hope) that by continuing to label non-Malays as an ‘immigrant’ race which deserves to be ‘chased out’ at every occasion and at the whims and fancies of their Patrons, all this does is to make the Chinese and Indians resolve generation after generation to learn from our past, acknowledge our heritage, accept that as part of the far-flung diaspora, we are ’embattled’ every where our race is found outside of the land of our forefather’s origins and like our forefathers, we have to work very hard for the present and prepare well for the future.
Maybe with the results of GE12, our Malay brethren will be able to finally accept that ‘together we stand, divided we will fall’ since Malaysian non-Malays have every reason to make our country as successful as possible. We should be able to proudly proclaim ‘I was born of this land, Malaysia’ – not 1st generation but for many, even 4th generation.
Maybe now, our Malay brethren will accept that ‘Muslim’ doesn’t mean Malay, and many Muslims who have at best only set foot here in the last 15 years or even as recent as a few years back are now accorded so-called privileges that were uniquely the ‘birthright’ of Malays born of this land. Maybe, Malays are now ready to accept that the right of citizenship is not predicated on race or religion, and that citizenship means ‘equal under the Constitution.’
For Chinese and Indians (as well as other races) whose great-grandparents were born of this land, there’s light at the end of the tunnel because of GE12. And for our children who may be called upon to sacrifice their lives to defend this nation if the need arises – so that we may, if that need does ever arise, finally be regarded as ‘equals’ even as our lives are no more nor less precious than the Malays’ in the defense of our country.
In the meantime, it is necessary for irrepressible Malays such as Bakri, Azly, Farish, RPK and so many other enlightened individuals to continue to undo the harm that’s been done over the past 30 years or so.
With the hope that we achieve such enlightenment before 2050 when the Malay population is projected to reach 80% and Ketuanan Melayu reigns supreme.