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Najib dare not even mention the word “meritocracy” – quintessence of reform – , what meaningful civil service revamp could he achieve?

The PR worked overtime. News headlines like “Modenisasi sector awam” (Utusan Malaysia), “Civil Service Revamp” (Star), “Civil service to recruit ‘best brains’” (New Straits Times), “PM proposes civil service reforms” (The Sun) dazzled Malaysians

But whoever takes the trouble to read the contents of the first address of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak to the civil service yesterday will find the quintessence of meaningful civil service reform missing.

When Najib dare not even mention the word “meritocracy”, what meaningful civil service revamp could he achieve?

There is one critical difference between Malaysia and other countries which value the importance of the civil service – in those countries, the best and the most talented of each generation join the civil service while in Malaysia the best and the most talented avoid the civil service!

Najib talked about hiring “the best of the best in talent and expertise for the sake of the people” to revamp the civil service. Why should the “best of the best in talent and expertise” be attracted into the civil service when “meritocracy” continues to be a dirty word?

Even with the opening up of key positions in the administrative and diplomatic service to outsiders, they will be smothered, stunted and stultified by mediocrity if there is no political will to introduce a new culture of meritocracy in the public service!

This was why previous attempts to hunt and attract talented Malaysians who had emigrated overseas to return to Malaysia to serve the country had been such a dismal failure.

In his speech, Najib said that under his 1Malaysia concept, there should not be any quarters in this country that consider themselves second-class citizens nor feel sidelined or left behind in the process of progress.

This is an admission of the great flaw and failure of past government nation-building efforts – alienating more and more Malaysians, regardless of race or religion, making them feel that they are second or third class, even underclass, in Malaysia, whether the Chinese, the Indians as seen in the Makkal Sakti phenomenon, the mass of ordinary Malays who are marginalized by the Umnoputra (disguised as NEP) policy, the Orang Asli, and in Sabah and Sarawak, Kadazan-Dusun-Murut and Ibans communities who increasingly feel that they are strangers in their own country.

In declaring that under his 1Malaysia concept, no one will be marginalized and no quarter would regard themselves as second-class citizens, Najib has made an important admission that this had been the result or effect of past nation-building policies.

Yet, in the next breath, Najib said that his “1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now” slogan is “a continuity to the slogans” of former prime ministers Tun Mahathir and Tun Abdullah.

If Najib’s slogans are no different from the “Amanah, Berseh, Cekap” slogan of Mahathir and “Cemerlang, Gemilang, Terbilang “ of Abdullah, which have left a nation with its people marginalised and divided, how then is Najib’s “1Malaysia” slogan going to be any different from those of the two previous Prime Ministers?

66 Replies to “Najib dare not even mention the word “meritocracy” – quintessence of reform – , what meaningful civil service revamp could he achieve?”

  2. what about the word quota? or kuota in bahasa.
    nak beli ASM dan ASW2020 pun ada kuota, kalau aku bumiputera aku tak beli ASM/ASW2020. bodoh lah aku. aku akan beli ASB. ASB kan hanya untuk bumiputera, lagi pun dividennya lagi tinggi dari ASM/ASW2020. ASM/ASW2020 tu untuk golongan kelas dua aje… situasi unik ini berlaku hanya di 1Malaysia.

  3. The best and most talented avoid the country like the plague…leaving behind the average and the mediocre. This is what Mamakthir wanted for the country – if you are not happy here, you can leave. He’d rather have mediocre people he can control than smart people he can’t hoodwink.

    How many of us know of our friends who have migrated overseas, or with children studying overseas with the aim of never coming back ?

  5. sebab itulah aku kena kerja kuat. aku nak jadi penjawat jabatan awam tapi jangan harap sebab penjawat jabatan awam 1Malaysia hanya dikhaskan untuk golongan sepertimana majoriti penjawat jabatan awam yang ada sekarang. kalau boleh aku pun nak rasa jadi penjawat jabatan awam – umpamanya pengarah di jabatan kejuruteraan pihak berkuasa tempatan di malaysia. dengar kata ada side income yang cukup lumayan. kalau tak pun jadi pengarah di jabatan perlesenan pun jadilah. kalau ada side income bulan bulan tak payah lah aku kerja kuat. boleh lah relax relax. masa lapang aku, aku berpolitik lah…

  7. Now I dare to dream and to dream aloud I would.

    Oi everyone najib says we can now send out children to Uitm. I kinda fancy an indian man as our IGP and maybe a singh as our CJ or AG and maybe a chinaman as DGIR. Zeti can continue as Governor of BN. That would be nice.

    For now this is a dream and the divide between dream and reality seems impossibly far. But never mind. I will just dream on. Najib will turn it into reality. Somehow. I dont know how. Just somehow. That is his job.

  10. IN the first place YB, can someone ask Najib to define just what the hell is “1Malaysia”? Clearly, with tangible and measurable implements.

    As it is, he knows he already guffawed, being unable to explain what 1Malaysia means.

    Unless of course, he’s just making it up as he goes along….

  11. If meritocracy has been practised since our independence day, our development would be on par with other developed nations! Sadly, this is not the case in Bolehland! Najib, can you please do a survey, how many Malaysian Chinese and Indian feel that they are not being sidelined??? One Malaysia, one system! Abolish all the quotas! Amend the Federal Constitution, so that all Malaysians all equal! Jangan cakap-cakap sahaja!!!

  12. Agreed with cinaindiamelayubersatu. What is the meaning of 1Malaysia if even govt investment bonds are divided into bumiputra and non-bumi categories?

    This is only one example of the web of govt policies which differentiate between bumiputra and non-bumiputra.

    Does Najib dare to remove the requirement to state race in all govt forms?

    Words must be matched by action. Otherwise 1Malaysia will become as hollow and useless as Mahathir’s Bangsa Malaysia.

  15. BN is only good at spin. It has actually painted itself into a corner as it has rejected all the terms associated with good governance: Meritocracy, Ketuanan Rakyat, Reformasi :).
    I bet BN can’t even recall the meaning of their own previous slogans:
    2020; Bersih, Cekap dan Amanah; etc. BN thinks that so long as it keeps reinventing the wheel, the rakyat will remain confused and continue to buy their spin.
    But the past GE and subsequent 5 by-elections have proven otherwise. BN knows it is in deep sh*t but cannot find a way to get out of its own web and cesspool. And until the next GE comes along, they will continue to think that they are still in with a chance.
    Crikey, what a bunch of morons have BN degenerated into!

  16. Not far from here (about 5 hours driving or 45 minutes flight)….The leaders proudly claim that they are practising equal opportunities and meritocracy……….On the contrary, they restrict a particular ethnic from holding certain ranks within the military though they are qualified…In recent years, there has been much public discussion on the question of their loyalty to the nation….

  18. With regards to the headlines, is history about to repeat itself? Badawi administration started with a blaze of positive spin only for the non-delivery to shatter his glowing promises.

    To be fair to Najib, he did do a bit. He has to, he got no choice. He needs to differentiate himself from Badawi and also under pressure from the Pakatan Administration which shows to be positive in Perak and Selangor especially.

  20. You mean choosing the right person to do the right job with no favoritism by Naif Ton Raza?
    UMNO buggers will never admit mistakes..yet is admitting in their strange ways of saying things.
    I guess….all must master the art of talking like a crooked lawyer…with no admission being question….answering..”it sounds like me…look like me…but it is not me”…smart answer.
    Correct…correct …correct?

  21. These UMNOputras are not ashamed that we have a per capita income equal to 25 pct of the little red dot. They are not ashamed that we are blessed with natural resources and land, and yet we are far behind countries that live on wit and skills. They are so proud of their failures it is simply mind-boggling.

  22. Razak said that NEP was for a generation, 20 years. He did not live twenty years to remove it. Had he lived up the 20 years, would he have removed NEP? That is a question Najib might be able to ask his father in his dream.

    Assuming that Razak would really keep his words, and if he had lived and mamak did not make it to the PM position, the income disparity among the Malays, or more correctly between true Malays and mamak would not be what it is today. I also believe that though Razak was biased for Malays in the FELDA scheme, he would not declared that since non-Malays would not be assimilated into Malays, (meaning that for example Indians convert to Islam, and pick up Malay language and pretended to follow Malay culture and thus claim to have Malay and Malay blood only running in the veins), as stated by TDM in CheDet.co.cc that non-Malays deserved to be treated as second class citizens. Razak would have at least been truthful in computing Malays corporate ownership share of 30% target based on the correct statistical methodology covering not only the value of equity according to what the market was willing to pay, rather than the so-called par value, and that he would have included the wealth of FELFA into the computation of Malays share (which the current government has excluded in the computation because it was not a limited company, a technical convenience to lie with statistics). ASLI has proven that Malays have owned more than 30% without including the contribution of FELDA, years ago. If Razak was still alive in 1990 when the 30% target had been surpassed, would he have kept to his words to remove NEP, and hence all the race-based government regulations and policies, including the APs, the government service, university admission? If he would not honour it, then we can draw our conclusion on the character of the person.

    If he was willing to do as he promised to remove NEP after the target 30% of Malay share capital had been reached, but that he was not alive to remove NEP, then he was lucky posthumously to have his son holding the authority as PM. The question now is whether the son would be willing to keep his father’s promise, and work to convince UMNO members that the country indeed belongs to all Malaysians.

    Razak started to veer from the Malaysian Malaysia concept, and the country had gone on a detour for 40 years. His action bred the like of opportunist in the shape of TDM who wanted to prove to be more Malays than Malays so that he could utilise the divide and rule to remain in power. But he did not really live the Malay customs as evidenced by the change he engineered in creating special courts to try royals, and now it makes loyalty of the subject to the royalty a questionable issue.

    TDM never failed to accuse Singapore and disparage against it, and he would even go to war with Singapore under the excuse of building the crooked bridge for only one simple reason. Without Singapore as benchmark TDM would have been able to claim success. But with Singapore’s achievement based only on Singaporean Singapore, it was able to achieve what it had and the society honours the value of integrity, honesty, justice and they are free from moral hazards.

    Najib should tell the Malays who are addicted to NEP that though Malaysian Malaysia is 40 years too late in the making it is the correct ideology to proceed. Isn’t it fairness and justice the basic moral fibre of Islam? So, the religious teaching should guide the way of life, and religion should not be politicised.

    Najib has a lot of baggage which UMNO opportunists would want to use as leverage to make him follow TDMs guidance. It is time that he looks to support from all Malaysians to bring Malaysia out of the doldrums. Malaysians would support what are right and just, but UMNOputras only support their own interests. The convenient formula of sharing the spoils to keep peace among UMNOputras should stop. Najib should not only compete against UMNO leaders but also the opposition parties in giving Malaysia back to Malaysians.

  24. How is he going to revamp the civil service? Can he kick out the idiots and head nodders? Is it so simple? Is he willing to hire those who disagree with him?

    Instead of trimming the cabinet, he actually increased it? Najib is all talk, and no action. He speaks on need to do things, but he doesn’t have a plan to do anything.

  26. ….because the little red dot upsets all the Mahathirites. For years, Mamakthir has been telling UMNO not to worry, one day the little red dot will come begging to rejoin, the little red dot has no future, and we can easily conquer it.

    The difference is that the people there understand the difference between MERITOCRACY and MEDIOCRITY. In Bolehland, UMNO can’t spell these words, let alone understand the difference.

  29. Najib couldn’t even impose meritocracy within UMNO, so how can we expect him to institute meritocracy in government ? Look at the idiots like cintanegara that UMNO sends here to disrupt and divert attention – they couldn’t even have a coherent debate. Or maybe they don’t bother with any debate since the clowns are paid to post their messages irrespective of relevance or content..

  32. As long as NEP is intact,the revamp of the civil service is not possible.The NEP obstrusts or hinders such revamp or modernisation of the civil service.NR will be able to recruit the “best brains “from the malays.But without meritocracy,he will find it difficult to recruit the “best brains ” from other citizens .If NR is sincere and really serious to revamp the civil service,he has to take a much closer look at the NEP’s pointers such as the recruitment and appointment of all civil servants .For example the criterion of recruitment,what is it based on ?.Is it the colour of the skin ?. { as it is now being practised }. This is the main tool which hinders the modernisation of the civil service.Can NR or will NR dares to modify or change this major obstrustion in order to accomodate other races ?. If he can,then he will get the the “best of takent and expertise “

  33. Godfather Says: Look at the idiots … that … disrupt and divert attention … the clowns … post their messages irrespective of relevance

    I’ll try to avoid ‘ooh look at this’ posts in future. Sorry if I made your comment look like one of monsterball’s.

    From a purely logical point of view, Najib’s statements are not contradictory. He could ‘revamp’ the civil service by recruiting the ‘best brains’ as well. Once he has recruited the best brains as well as a surprisingly large quantity of regardless-of-quality brains from the favoured majority of voters, who will vote against him? I can see Najib’s civil service being the biggest – ever!

  34. OK, give me a job as Secretary General of a ministry, complete with car and allowances, private secretary, and then give me the right to hire 10 deputies to do all the work. I’ll have what they call “gaji buta”. Maybe I’ll consider stopping all these criticisms against the ruling coalition. Maybe they have been right all along – if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.

  37. Hai Ya! NR is only \tanam tebu di bibir\! Where got no sideline onelah! Look at the govt. departments, e.g. PPD/JPN (education). Only one race monopolises the posts there. If you can find a \non\ there, it’s because that post needs someone who’s a \non\ , ie someone to be in-charge of chinese or tamil language. The \nons\ are not qualified to be there!!!

  39. I’d rather not jump the gun right now and would prefer to wait and see what Najib intends to do to improve the civil service. It is definitely bloated. While there has been a lot of improvement within the last few years that are commendable and should not be ignored (e.g. LHDN, immigration, Pemudah), there are many areas that can be improved further. Many here seems to have conveniently ignored the improvements we have seen in the civil service and instead chose to only see the areas where improvement is required!

    Agreed that meritocracy is the way but all big changes must come gradually and not suddenly. I see Najib’s move as the start of a gradual move towards the right direction. But seriously, I do not think even IF PR comes to power in the country we would see the bumiputera/non-bumi categorization removed nor would the special positions of the bumi be removed. This would happen if DAP comes to power but not if PR comes to power due to the presence of PKR and PAS. Those who think otherwise should have a reality check!

  41. There are two conflicting thoughts here. One, in Malaysia, the best and the talented avoid the civil service. Two, the Chineses and the Indians are not interested in the civil service. The truth of the matter is that there are more Muslim names in the civil service compared to non Muslim names. There are a lot of interpretations to this situation. The government prefers the Muslims. The government wants the Muslims to be in control of the country. The government thinks that non Muslims do not belong to Malaysia. Before a change can come about, we all have to be honest. The truth hurts. A lot of non Muslims apply to join the civil service. But each time the applicant is successful, you find that it is a Muslim name. Only once in a blue moon will you find a non Muslim name. It looks like having a Muslim name makes you more successful than having a non Muslim name. Malaysian civil service needs a revolutionary change. But will you dare to be that catalyst of change ? If you dare to be the catalyst of change, then you have to sacrifice a lot. For a start, you need to sacrifice the old ways. Will you want to sacrifice the old ways ? The old ways which make your work so comfortable ? Sacrifice bad work ethics for example, if an office boy were to see his very big boss play golf during normal working hours, do you think you have the moral right to stop him from having tea in the coffee shop during normal working hours too ? If your very big boss is always on the handphone during working hours, don’t be surprised if your colleague is sitting there reading newspaper during working hours. Complaining to his boss is useless because his other bosses are also not doing their work seriously. Why are public servants arrogant ? Because their bosses never tell them to be humble and because their bosses are also arrogant. Don’t take it personally. Just know that within the office, something is happening. Why is the public servant not that clever ? Because their bosses would be jealous of them if they are cleverer and they will use their power to oppress them. Why is the cop doing corruption ? Because he sees that other cops and his bosses are doing that too. There are 1.2 million government servants. How much time do you need to change them ? 5 years ? You have good workers because they have good work attitude. The best brain can be a lazy brain too. But not the best brain can be the better worker. Which one is better ?

  43. This is just a meaningless talk by NR. Who will in his right mind want to work under someone who is just slightly smarter than an idiot? As long as the nep is there and there is no meritocracy in the system, what are the chances of promotion for the very talented non-bumis? Sad to say, the country will only change when it’s economy is reduced to Indonesia’s level.

    We know that umno is using the nep to stay in power and will not be prepared to adopt meritocracy. Sabah and Sarawak also realized that nep are for the malays only and are waking up that they are not the real bumis and receive their fair share of the country’s wealth. One day they will wake up and kick the umno/bn thieves back to west malaysia.

  44. ONE MALAYSIA (can they mean it?)!

    Finland has decided to acquire a vaccine against swine flu as soon as one becomes available. No such vaccine exists. It can be manufactured only after a pandemic has begun, when the structure of the virus is ascertained.

    What about bolehland? there must be death toll rise before bolehland bertindak !!!!!!

  45. In order to show “The Best Brains & The Best Talents” only within..Somebody who are above Nobody.., “Nobody must always try to be Somebody” to make them feel extraordinary Somebody indifferent smart in every things in control…..!That’s why ..Somebody have created “One-Malaysia” slogan..sounds like …One People…One Nation..One..Ssssing…” ! Whether any creative slogans-“Malaysians Malaysia” or “One-Malaysia”..or any more creative slogans will be meaningless if No Actual Actions and Result-Oriented being implemented..performed & achieved with high ethical values & morally upright quality with a total hearts & minds honest and integrity ,..it would be like “Tak-Nak” berhenti..slogan…!

    Still it’s a good first step towards A Total Modernised United Honourable People First ..Performance Now..One-Malaysia for the betterment of every single Rakyat Malaysia so as to achieve a progress and prosperity for Our People Our Nation and Our One-United-Malaysia.!

    Together we pray ..The Time The Great One-Malaysia Year 2020..! May God Bless..Malaysia…Insyallah..!

  46. imranj78 Says: chose to only see the areas where improvement is required!
    Ah, so maybe that’s why it’s not called the ‘Loyal’ Opposition? In an era where democracy has become a popularity contest and politics is as much about marketing as it is about competent administration, this behaviour is to be expected. They say “look what we’ve done that is great!” and the Opposition says “but look at all this other stuff that doesn’t even suck!”. You’d like people to be grateful for scraps when they’ve been buying tickets to the feast for 50 years but denied entry. Their job is to tell everybody how great the scraps are, everybody else’s job is to howl “but it’s just scraps! Again!”

    not if PR comes to power
    Well this is the RM1trillion question, isn’t it? If PR existed, we could ask it. If it had a shadow cabinet, a journalist could contact the appropriate shadow minister and ask the question. There’s only one way to find out, but it’s like buying a sack at the market and not opening it until you get home.

    I hope it would happen if DAP came to power but doubt it would if PR comes to power. If I’ve got it wrong and it would happen under a PR government, it would be nice to hear someone say so, definitively, once and for all. The problem with ‘removing bumi status’ (though I find it hard to believe that the poorest bumis find ‘status’ very much use at Tesco) is that it looks like a threat to take something away, when I suspect for many it amounts to roughly nothing anyway.

    Malaysia has very apparent inequalities in distribution of wealth. I’d like to see PR offer a concrete list of changes they’d make to tax and welfare as a better-functioning replacement for the NEP, rather than continue to dodge the question. From the little I know of PAS, I suspect they would be the most likely of the 3 to support a fair-to-all replacement for the NEP. I suspect DAP would struggle to convince their traditional supporters to give anybody anything at all in replacement. I’m not sure who Anwar’s ‘heartlands’ are – would they consider an NEP replacement or not?

    Imranj, am I wrong about PAS? Would they really reject a fair replacement for ‘bumi’ status, given that it was intended originally to be a short-term measure to help the poorer bumis, was against the recorded better judgement of your Rulers at Independence, and has manifestly failed the poorer bumis? It must be a tricky question to answer – not least because the persons who must answer it are not poorer bumis.

  48. Does Najib feel comfortable talking about meritocracy when his Cabinet has been criticised as one having deadwoods, uninspiring people, has-beens, controversial personalities etc etc?

    When the leadership lacks merit, how can they talk about merit? Who would believe in them? Will they be credible?

  49. Similarly if your boss or big boss or bigger boss or biggest boss can have fun, why do you all have to go around accusing your immediate colleagues of being wrong to have scandals ? Scandal is wrong whether it is done by boss or servant. Then you complain to the boss but you forget that the boss is doing the same thing too. Or who do you think you are going around disciplining people when what you do is ethically wrong ? People wait for years and years and years and cannot get anything. You only have to open your powerful mouth and your powerful friends can get you what you want within split seconds. And you are so proud of it that you declare it openly. Do you think you are right in disciplining people ? If you can misuse the service, why can’t others ? What is the meaning of you can do it, others cannot. Only you can screw the service, others are not allowed. Only your friends can screw the service, the people whom you hate cannot. You are a greater liability to the government. So don’t shoot the front liners. Shoot the last liners.

  50. Don’t be fooled by Najid and his sweet sounding slogans. Remember:

    Only under PR can the ambitions of the umnoputras be curtailed.

    Only under PR can a just and democratic society nurtures and protects all its people and treats them equally.

    Only under PR can dissent will not be punished.

    Only under PR can the press and media will be free and fair and brave.

    Only under PR can journalists will not be intimidated.

    Only under PR can goodwill is stronger than ill will.

    Only under PR can good leaders are honourable people who will always place the interests of their people before the interests of themselves.

    Only under PR can the young will learn from the mistakes of the elders.

    Only under PR can we will not be fooled again, wherever we are and whoever we are.

    Only under PR can all wrongs will be righted.

  51. You hit the nail right on the head OrangRojak.This guy Imranj 78 is a racist at heart although he claims he is not.What he is saying in fact is we ought to keep on dividing the country into bumiputra and non Bumiputra,continue perpetuating the special position of the Malays which you have correctly pointed out is supposed to be a short term measure (15 years a review is supposed to be made)to help bring up the Malays at that time by providing more educational opportunities.In fact Tun Ismail would not have it more than that since if it is continued forever it would simply mean the Malays have no pride in themselves in admitting they can’t compete on equal terms with the rest.
    Tell me Imranj what’s wrong in just identifying ourselves just as Malaysians and not as Malay,Chinese,Indian,Dusun,Iban etc.
    Tell me what is wrong in not writing your name in an examination scrip, only an examination number (to be given to every candidate) like they used to many many moons ago.
    Tell me what is wrong in scrapping the special position for the Malays but instead special positions be given to the Orang Aslis,Penans,Muruts and other indigeneous groups for they are the underclass of this country.
    The UMNOPUTRAS want all this to be kept intact (bumi and non bumi classification,NEP,special position of Malays) to only get richer and richer whilst most of the Malays are not much better than the rest of Malaysians.Do you know the Gini Index of your country,Imranj? Gini Index is a measure of wealth distribution by the way.If not for Papa New Guinea,Malaysia’s wealth distribution in Asia is the worst!That is how well UMNO looks after the Malays, not to mention the others!!

  53. World Health Organisation (WHO) already issued warning that the swine flu could be pandemic.

    As of todate, 160 Mexicans had been reported as the confirmed victims of the suspected swine flu caused by H1n1 virus. (The U.S. government spokesmen prefer the name “H1n1” then swine flu due to the protest from pig farmers in the government officials’ using swine flu to describe the symptom of a disease of which the true cause has not been confirmed.) Due to the large number of death in Mexico due to H1n1, some media adopted the name Mexican flu to replace the name swine flu.

    As of todate, one case of human death in suspected H1n1 infection was found in Texas, the United States. It was also widely reported that H1n1 had been spred to Australia, New Zealand, and many countries of Europe.

    The important questions now for the Malaysians are as follow:
    “Are the Malaysians ready to take all necessary precautions in order to fight the world-wide epidemics? Do we have the adequate medical experts to provide the relevant advice to the Federal Government for taking precautionary and preventative measures in order to check the possible outbreak of the H1n1 in Malaysia?”

    As more and more international travellers will try to cut down their travelling frequencies due to the outbreak of H1n1, it is expected that most major airlines companies will be facing a slow down period in the business cycle. The business environment will most likely be turning much tougher in the near future.

    Unfortunately, Zambry of Barisan Nasional is only interested to continue the fight in power grab of Perak by resorting to all efforts by hook or by crook. The Malaysian people should realize much better now that which politicians have really put the People’s interest in their top priority and they should not hesitate to vote out the power-hungry politicians of Umno by the next by-election or the next General Election and to vote in the Pakatan Rakyat politicians who always have the People’s interest as their main concern.

  54. Murkriz Mahathir said that he wanted to keep NEP to look after Malays, and other races. If looking after Malays and other races are to be carried out at the same time, there is no need to have NEP. He wants to use NEP to look after Malays, and then a century later, non-Malays. He was acting on his father TDM’s aspiration that maybe after 1000 years when the people somehow become Malays, then they will look after non-Malays when there are none.

    TDM spoke with fork tongue, and the son is retracing the father’s actions.

    Razak had to create NEP to justify why May 13 had happened.

    TDM divided the country into Malays and non-Malays so that he can justify his status as Malay by showing that he was a Malay champion.

    Article 153 and the later NEP were meant to creating conditions that Malays would be able to compete with other races. It is like a training course, and once the Malays as a group has achieved an accepted standard of success, they will have to face the real world. That training course is no longer required. The 30% corporate ownership was a passing mark for the Malay community to remove the stigma that it is a community which would not survive on its own without the assistance of the government. Or Tun Ismail said that they would be able to claim their pride as a race.

    If any UMNO leader would say that after 50 years of article 153 instead of 15 years, Malays are still not ready to compete with other races, then he is saying that the Malay race has not the basic makeup of a human to compete in the real world. Mamak Malays would be quite ready to claim that because they know the weakness of Malays do not reflect on the mamak, since what run in their veins are not Malay blood, however they want to say it.

    Razak claim that NEP was to be for 20 years. It would be logical to believe that he would feel shy to claim that NEP was needed beyond the deadline to monitor the living of Malays so that the share capital would not fall by a fraction of one per cent. That is spoon feeding, and if the head of the community has no confidence that the community could live on their own efforts, then that community is a failed race.

    The presence of NEP and article 153 serves to remind the people that they are divided, and what is worse is that the success or failure of any individual person is the collective responsibility of the community. This is especially irrelevant when Malay does represent a pure race in the country. But with the clear division of Malays and non-Malays in government policies politicians could easily exploit them for their own advantage.

    The advent of NEP and article 153 has not made the society race-blind. People of different races in the country are keenly aware of the presence of persons of different race or religion. Since they are so sensitive that peopleof different races or religions could be touchy of what they choose to feel sensitive, they mingle around but not communicating. They are polarised in thoughts if not in physical presence. The latest episode of a fracas between students of different races in a national school brought about an assembly of over a thousand non-students around the school on hearing rumours. It demonstrated that they are willing to be counted to contribute to physical actions. But what do they fight for, the honour of the community out of the quarrel of students? Thus NEP after 38 years has not brought the people to accept each other. The acceptance of people of different races as equal Malaysians have to begin from government policies.

    If the BN government advocates 1Malaysia now that the Malays have attained the standard to compete freely with other races, then policies which are based on race should stop. This will remove the opportunity for politicians who survived on racist appeal, such as Kairy and Murkriz.

    As I said before Najib had the unique opportunity to dismantle the barrier between the race as created by his father through NEP. If Razak had lived long to become a statesman he should have removed NEP. Belatedly Najib should render NEP irrelevant so that the ill thinking of his father in association with the NEP might be ameliorated over time.

  56. Don’t talk like all Malays benefit from NEP. The real fact is there are still who have not benefited for donkey years. Does NEP work for one who supports the other parties ? Anyway, coming back to KPI. Some big shot appeared in today’s t.v. and talked about it. If you spend so much time writing reports and forms and what not to justify the KPI or whatever you call it, that is also not a good work ethic. You spend so much time writing and justifying yourself until you neglect your core duties.

  57. To be sure most commenters do not,for one moment, think that all Malays benefitted from NEP.Most here know that NEP is just a convenient ploy fully capitalised to enrich a small privileged group of Malays for their own self interest,and their greed knows no bounds.
    If they are truly sincere in advancing the national interest as they claim they have NEP should be made needs-based instead of race-based,plus there must be a special policy to protect orang aslis,penans,muruts,rungus,sungai,kenyah,
    kayan,kelabit,ukit etc,etc for they are the underclass with no political power or financial power besides being small in numbers.

  60. meritocracy?

    AMNO:no such word in our vocabulary,meritgocrazy gotlah!

    Amno was thinking,you al l can think of whatever we say,most of the time,we dont mean what we say!get it?

    Why?why,why,why?

    Bcos,we want “KETUANAN MELAYU AMNO” to be there forever,so that we cud squeeze every drop of the country’s wealth,that’s WHY!

    cross-over our death body,then you all will have MERITOCRACY!

  61. cemerlang asked, ‘why are civil servants so arrogant?’

    because the sheer majority of them are Malays, and Malays choose to believe in the idea of ketuanan melayu, therefore being a (i) civil servant and (ii) Malay who is sold on ketuanan melayu, this person is therefore automatically superior to any non-Malay rakyat who requests for ‘service’

    because up until Pakatan Rakyat SWEPT 5 states, the ruling party making up the government ‘ruled the people’ NOT ‘served the people’ If the BN ruled, why would the civil servants serve?

    because BN believes they have ‘inalienable right to POWER to rule’ unlike Pakatan Rakyat who are thankful to the people for ‘the mandate to serve the people.’ It BN is drunk with POWER and uses power to dispossess the rakyat, why would the civil servants choose to NOT also dispossess the rakyat of our right to service?

    and now,

    Pakatan Rakyat are working to earn the trust of the rakyat unlike BN who demand the gratitude of the rakyat. So, why would a civil service that’s been part of a system in RULING the rakyat NOT demand automatic respect from the people?

    because when the civil service is propping up the people and the party who sold them ‘Malay superiority’ and ‘inalienable rights to privilege more equal to others’ then that becomes the attitude that defines their existence.

    Why would the civil servants want to acknowledge that WE, THE RAKYAT, ARE THEIR EMPLOYERS. The day we exercise our right and act as ONE as their EMPLOYER to SACK their heads, that will be the day the CIVIL SERVICE will recognise that we are their BOSS! Not the other way around.

    And the party that can do this for us is Pakatan Rakyat!

    So, if you are a civil servant reading this and you really think your boss is one big, fat lazy cow who does not deserve to be in the position giving all of you hell, then VOTE PAKATAN RAKYAT. Because PR SERVES THE PEOPLE and that WILL CASCADE DOWN THE RANKS and your big, fat, lazy cow boss will either resign (not possible due to the pension), be cold-storaged (due to age) or sacked (to purge bad rubbish)

    SUPPORT PAKATAN RAKYAT FOR REAL CHANGE!

  62. The issue of all and one has been used by politicians to motivate their supporters. Article 153 and NEP was supposed to prepare Malays to live in the real world without crutches. The excuse was Chinese and Indians were better off than Malays. UMNO wanted it to mean that every single Chinese or Indian is better off than any Malay. But we know that it is not true. When UMNO claimed that Chinese and Indians were economically ‘richer’ than Malays, they wanted Malays to believe that every Chinese is Lim Gohtong or Robert Kok. That cannot be true.

    TDM said that there are Malays drivers for Chinese “towkays” and hence NEP should stay. TDM created the impression that all Malays were drivers for Chinese and all Chinese were “towkays’.

    Nobody would believe for a moment that every Malay is worse off than every Chinese or every Indian. So it is not justified that every Malay deserves special treatment under article 153. Thus it is incorrect that any so-called affirmative action should be implemented based on anything other than needs.

    NEP was formulated to change the identity of economic function with race. If that idea was mooted because different communities celebrate different festive occasions and to prevent disruption in the services when people take extended period for festive celebrations, sufficient number of persons from each community should be trained to undertake certain key services. There would be no need for the social-engineering project which UMNO claims that NEP was set up to do. But when UMNO said that occupation should not be tied to race, they have not brought down the percentage of Malays in government services since 1969, but instead government services look like an extension of UMNO branch when Malays form more than 90% of the work force compared to about 75%. What was more damaging to the Malays was that the propaganda to change linkage of occupation to race gives them the idea that certain occupations are beneath the dignity of the princes and princesses of the soil. The princes and princesses should not be involved in manual work. Thus Malay families would only accept that their children should only work in air-conditioned environment, whether or not those jobs do bring out their latent talents. Thus when works in the field such as construction and agriculture are taken up by foreign workers, there are tens of thousands of unemployable graduates. That was the outcome of UMNO policy in pushing students who lack the aptitude for further study through the universities. That was the perverted implementation of NEP.

    NEP had the target of Malays owning 30% of equity capital in corporate sector. ASLI’s report issued in 2006 proved that that target had long been surpassed. That was independently confirmed by academicians in Malaysian universities. AAB and Najib were more interested to accept that government failed rather than celebrated their success in having achieved the target set for NEP. They promised in December 2006 that EPU would show the methodology and to prove that ASLI was wrong. Two years have passed, and ASLI’s report has not been technically challenged by EPU methodology, and one can only conclude that the 30% target had indeed been achieved. Any government who cares to honour its promise would have declared that NEP is over.

    If NEP was to be government’s action on social-engineering so that the country can live in an environment of social and economic development, then every Malaysian, Malay, Chinese and others would have benefited. As it is NEP has shown to people that returns do not commensurate with efforts put in. Some people sow while others reap the benefit. For example when companies have proven to be successful, they have to give up 30% of the profitable shares for others simply because the beneficiaries belong to the ‘protected race’. That is against the ethic of just and fairness. When university admission is said to be based on merits; using different standards of matriculation and HSC on par, those who get admitted know well that meritocracy was in name but not in fact, and that in real life cheating is a way forward. Such teaching of treachery can only have adverse effect on the students, who are future leaders of the country, to aspire to be person of integrity.

    TDM confirmed that the AP scheme was part of the NEP programme. We also know that each AP was worth around 20 thousand ringgit. They were supposed to be given to chosen Malays so that they can become rich; as TDM claimed that so long as he made one Malay millionaire, he had succeeded in implementing NEP. He did not see any Malay driver driving for Chinese towkay then, I suppose. We hear of the hundreds of thousands of APs issued every year, around a thousand Malays were given some APs. TDM’s son got a few hundred APs a year. But there are fewer than five persons who share half of the total, say 50,000 APs a year. At 20,000 ringgit one AP, the five persons share 1,000 million ringgit windfall a year. God knows how many years have they been enjoying the windfall. The value of APs issued over the 30 years since it started in 1980s amounted to at least 30 billion ringgit. APs could have been sold and realised as government revenue. But they were given out to selected Malays; one wonders how many of them are mamaks.

    AP system makes cars in Malaysia cost more, and motorists did not pay the higher price as government revenue. They pay it as profit to the people selected by Mahathirs during his 22 years as PM. Obviously APs cannot be given to every Malay, so not all Malays benefited from NEP in APs execution, but worse every Malay why owns a car pay more for it so that some Malays would become rich, and that his wealth would hopefully be included in the computation of Malays share of equity in the corporate sector to make Malays proud. There are of course other means to make some Malays rich. The government has the right and power to collect taxes and to use earning of natural resources, such as from Petronas. Government funds are used to pay for projects which are supposedly for the benefit of Malaysians. But at times such projects are to serve the ego of the powers-that-be. Malaysian government used to have open tender for projects and procurement so that one ringgit will get at least 80 sens worth of goods or services. But since TDM’s abolishment of public tender, we hear for example a case where 30,000 ringgit was paid for less than 3,000 ringgit worth of renovation in a school. That was a small project which was nevertheless brought to cabinet for decision. We had also a medium size case involving the planned construction of the crooked bridge from Johor to its border at bridge-end causeway. The 1.2 billion ringgit bridge was awarded without tender. Had a tender been called, it could have been cancelled before any work had started. But because TDM did not call for tender, AAB government had to pay 1.2 billion ringgit for cancelling the project. That was no loss eventually, since part of the objective was to make a crony rich. The high price government pays for projects means that money which should have brought the citizens goods, services and conveniences became wealth trusted in the hands of cronies by UMNOputras. They were done in the name of NEP.

    NEP was created because it was said to prevent a repeat of May 13. May 13 was said to have happened because of economic disparity between the races. It was not because the non-Malays were pendatang and they were not converted in to Malays or assimilated into Malays. It was not because Chinese and Indians chose to be educated in vernacular schools. It was not because Chinese and Indians did not show loyalty to the Sultans and the King, or that the non-Mulsims did not show sensitivity to the practise of the Islamic religion. The riots were said to be caused by Malays feeling jealous of the economic success of non-Malays. So NEP was established to make Malays rich, as if the sense of jealousy is a respectable reaction for demanding policy direction. We know now that May 13 was not a spontaneous reaction to economic disparity whether that existed or not.

    NEP has divided the people in the country and had caused exodus of good citizens who could have otherwise continued to contribute to the economic development of the country. Having found a convenient way to enrich themselves, and yet exempted from accountability for the power of government, and ensured of continued support to perpetual rule, UMNO would not forgo NEP when the 20-year term was up in 1991. To keep NEP, UMNO has cultivated their members to the mindset of Ketuanan Melayu, and they threaten to unleash May 13 to defend NEP. That confirms only that may 13 was indeed orchestrated.

    Not all Malays benefited from NEP in its perverted implementation. Without NEP and with accountability, citizens of all races should be able to avail whatever assistance now provided to Malays, and extended to all citizens, and more. It gives back the pride of Muslims who can stand tall living in an environment of fairness and justice advocated by Islam. Yes, Malays will have to forgo the sense of ketuanan which is against the teaching of any religion at all. But they retain the pride of self reliance and never have to say grateful to TDM. Surely the Malay community does not have to be rescued by mamak!

  63. Wow, LOH, that was a good read! Thank you!

    So, what is 1MALAYSIA?
    A Malaysia into the next 50 years where there will no longer be instituionalised discrimination through instruments such as the NEP?

    What IS 1Malaysia?
    A Malaysia that holds the EQUAL RIGHTS of it’s citizens as paramount over something as divisive as ketuanan melayu?

    WHAT is 1Malaysia?
    Until there is a sincere commitment to treat all Malaysians as equal regardless of race or religion, it is definitely good for a chit-chat over 1NOW, 1 NESCAFE at 1Utama, paid with the 1CARD.

  65. always an interest topic , gomen service

    do you in any JKR project, the SO representative or the JKR resident engineer or whatever big designation name spent more of their time on some training or symposium of event somewhere…than in the project at all.
    and the project vehicle usually a big heavy duty 4 wheeler or SUV or MPV seen quiet frequently around schools picking up school children, or found most of the time located at the HQ and not on project site.

    Just look at the mismanage projects like the pregnant sg melaka, my foreign friends kept asking me…whle enjoying my ikan bakar

  66. Does the number of A’s really count to secure the very much coveted JPA scholarship?
    In my opinion and as we can see now, it’s clearly a no.

    (if you’re kind enough and have the patience and time, please answer the question only after you’ve kindly read my post.)

    students tend to take extra subjects nowadays because they thought that scholarships would all come easily to them if they managed to get all A’s in their SPM. they think that the only important criteria in the awarding of scholarships is based alone on their results. the more A’s the better.

    let’s say 2 students applied for Law. student A had a result of 9A1’s and 1B3 (assume it’s addmaths) and in g-ceo, she got A1 . student B got all 10A1’s and a B4 for g-ceo. so student A isn’t as intelligent as student B in maths but does that matter much if you’re about to venture into law? let’s say there’s only one slot left for Law. who do you think is the most deserving to get the scholarhsip? in this sense, we are looking into another criteria besides academic wise which is the linguistic skills of a student. how would a lawyer be a lawyer if he can’t even write or speak in fluent english?

    if you have 15a1’s and you’re about to venture into medicine. will that 5 extra subject matter that much in your career field? won’t you actually stand on the same ground as someone who just had 10A1’s?

    and i wondered if anyone had ever thought of this. years back, there wasn’t as many subjects offered in SPM as there is right now. most students took 8 to 10 subjects only, with very few daring to take more than 10 subjects. they scored less A’s than those who get 15, 16, 17A’s today but does that mean they intellectually more challenged than the future students now? yes? no? if you’ve answered no, you’ve just agreed that a student who got 10A’s are as good as those who got 15A’s in the world we live in today.

    there’s a loophole in this that you could argue back too. the standards of our education were higher back then. ahh, but my main point is that, back then, before these other subjects were offered, are the students less equipped to face the world? no right? so it’s not the quality of education we’re talking about here, it’s the question if the extra subjects that the students take now should be given that much weightage when reviewing them if they should be given the scholarship? back then, there wasn’t such and such subjects offered but still, the students were up to the standards to receive overseas education.

    next point, as we all know it’s not just academics that these JPAs’ bosses look at when deciding to award scholarships to students.

    have you ever thought of what that 7A1-and-3A2-student had who managed to secure the actuarial science scholarship that you lose out to with 10A1’s in your hands that you had not?

    perhaps she had a co-cu background as good as yours but she didn’t have parents as rich as yours. financial background wise, do you think you still deserve the scholarship when your parents are earning 5-6k a month while hers only earn 2-3k? and her 3A2’s are subjects considered not related to the field of actuarial science; examples, biology, chemistry, bm. so did it matter? it didn;t matter right? you got 10A1’s and she got just 7A1’s the only difference is that she’s just isn’t as skilled as you are in biology chemistry and bm but that’s not important anymore when you venture into actuarial science.

    and in my opinion, co-cu do not represent much of the students ability and soft skills nowadays. the smart ones would naturally vie for high posts in societies and clubs and do everything they can to get it because they know that they will have a clearer chance to get the scholarship if they are the presidents or the head prefects and not bacause of that they have the required leadership skills as a leader. this is like another trend almost similar to the trend of taking extra subjects. sometimes, a student is selected to be the head prefect not because he is the best leader but just because he or his parents had connections with the school’s authorities. in clubs, selections of presidents are based on votes by the students so this could be a fairer deal though sometimes, the student is voted just because he’s popular. well, this is what you call fate. you’re fated to be popular you get to be the president. you get fated to have an aunt as your principal, you get to be the head prefect. of course, the last two statements are just statements. they can be true they can be false.

    and the racial quota. 60% allocated for bumi is a very fair deal for the non-bumi’s since the population of bumi’s are more than 60%. if you don’t trust me, you could google it up. lim kit siang had posted the race distribution percentage in malaysia in his blog before so you could start your search there. the non-bumi’s can’t complain anymore about the quota since it’s not being unfair to them but to the bumi’s. but of course, we can never be sure if the quota distribution is followed strictly.

    lastly, the online test. have you ever wondered what’s the use of it? i’ll make an assumption about the test since i’m not sure what’s the objective of it myself. i think it’s to filter those candidates who didn’t have the intention to return to malaysia and those who didn’t really have the interest in the field they’re applying. ok, some may not know what they want to do in their future and just applied for a certain course but if that person applied for medicine just because he didn’t know where else to bring his excellent results… *takes a deep breath*. just think of it. 6 years is not a short time and medicine is not an easy field.

    perhaps that’s the use of the online test, since it tests the candidate’s consistency in answering questions because they were repeated questions, just in different forms.perhaps it’s to see if the candidate have pure interest in the field they are applying to and perhaps this test place more importance for those who applied for crucial fields.

    so that’s all i’m going to say. i’m sure there are errors in spellings and grammers somewhere up there but i’m too tired now. i’ll do a recheck tomorrow and edit it if it would please you but i will click on the submit button now.

    i forgot one more thing, meritocracy. malaysia can’t follow singapore, japan, or USA by giving scholarships based purely on merits (well, not to say that these countries do give out scholarships based PURELY on merits bacuse they also judge other criterias like linguistic skills). we are a developing nation and while developing, we must ensure all races and comunities in the rural area and urban area develop on at least the same pace. we can’t totally ignore the race quota and the financial background of the student’s family when giving out scholarship to malaysian students because if this happens, development will still happen in malaysia but we will see malaysia becoming like india. some parts of the country’s fully developed, resembling a metropolitan while at some parts, it’s just terrible.

    that’s all.

    back to the survey,
    SO, does the number of A’s really matter???

    original post back on this page http://www.recom.org/forum/showthread.php?t=8581

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