Time
Sunday, Sep. 05, 2010
By Michael Schuman / Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia is that rare country with an unequivocal national narrative. It goes something like this: Malaysia’s 28 million people, comprising mainly Malays, Chinese and Indians, make up a moderate and modern emerging democracy. Unlike members of other multiethnic countries, they respect one another’s beliefs and values and share a commitment to achieving prosperity. The official religion is Islam, but other faiths are freely allowed and celebrated. This is one harmonious place.
Much of that narrative is true — but not all of it. Malaysia’s economic miracle has stalled, and while the nation is, indeed, somewhat pluralistic, it is no melting pot. Indeed, it is a society where people define themselves first and foremost by race.
The country’s political leadership has in some respects reinforced those ethnic identities. For the past 40 years, policymakers have doled out special privileges — in education and business — to one community: the majority Malays. The program is one of modern history’s greatest experiments in social engineering and possibly the world’s most extensive attempt at affirmative action. But the policies have also bred resentment among minorities, distorted the economy and undermined the concept of a single Malaysian identity.
Now a movement is gaining strength to finally change the system — and it’s coming from the very top. Prime Minister Najib Razak, 57, has surprised the country by advocating a fundamental reform of the pro-Malay program first introduced, ironically, by his father, who was Malaysia’s Prime Minister in the 1970s. Though the specifics of the new policies remain hazy, Najib’s intent is not. “I want Malaysia to be globally competitive,” he told TIME in an exclusive interview. “For that, we need to get every single Malaysian to be together.”
Najib’s proposals have simultaneously raised hopes, ire and fear. The mere idea of changing the affirmative-action system has reopened old wounds in Malaysian society and reactivated the long-running debate on how best to fuse Malays, Chinese and Indians into one nation. The direction Malaysia takes, moreover, has repercussions beyond its shores. The issues raised by Najib’s proposals are relevant to any upwardly mobile developing economy, especially a multicultural one: how to increase wealth and do so equitably.
In confronting these sensitive challenges, Najib is taking enormous political risks. The primary base of electoral support for Najib’s political party, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), is the Malay community, and altering decades-old perquisites could cause voters to defect to the opposition. But Najib believes he has little choice. If Malaysia’s economy is to compete with China, India and other rapidly emerging neighbors, Najib sees no other route but reform. “The competition is much greater and some would describe it even as cutthroat,” Najib says. “There is a realization that what has worked in the past may not necessarily work in the future.”
The Malay Card
Najib is facing the same dilemma his predecessors have since the earliest days of Malaysian independence: balancing the perceived needs of the Malays, both political and economic, with those of the country as a whole. At the heart of the problem is the reverse-pyramid shape of the Malaysian economy. Though the Malays and other indigenous peoples, together known as bumiputra in Malay, make up about 60% of the population, they have traditionally been poorer than the Chinese and Indian immigrants, who have long dominated the nation’s business and trade. After Kuala Lumpur was struck by race riots in 1969, a shaken leadership determined that communal peace was impossible without economic balance. The result was the New Economic Policy (NEP), introduced in 1971, which aimed to raise the Malays’ share of the economic pie. Malays were given preferential access to public contracts and university scholarships. Any company listing on the stock market had to sell 30% of its shares to bumiputra investors. Though some measures have been softened or eliminated over the past two decades, many pro-Malay privileges remain. Certain government contracts are available only to bumiputra-controlled firms, for example. Malays even receive special discounts on home purchases. The affirmative-action program has become so ingrained in the Malaysian psyche that it is akin to a national ideology.
It is also controversial. Critics contend that the pro-Malay program too often benefits the connected few over its intended targets: the poor and struggling. All car-import permits, for example, are awarded to bumiputra-controlled firms, a policy intended to foster entrepreneurs in the community. But government audits have revealed that Malay businessmen with access to the permits sometimes sell them to minority traders who don’t — at an instant profit. (The Ministry of Trade and Industry, recognizing the problem, says it will phase out the permit system by 2020.) “Unfortunately, as [the NEP] was implemented over time, some of the zealots, politicians and bureaucrats included, tended to become more racial and emphasized more on the people who have relationships with them,” says Razaleigh Hamzah, an UMNO dignitary and former Finance Minister. “That’s where it went wrong.”
Despite four decades of special aid, 3 in 4 of the poorest people in Malaysia are still bumiputra. Adli Ahmad Ghazi, the Malay co-owner of Malaysian Defensive Driving & Riding, a 70-employee driving school in Kuala Lumpur, complains that the pro-Malay policies do little to help a small businessman like himself. In 2008, Adli tried to get financing from three agencies tasked with supporting Malay businessmen or small enterprises, but got rejected. When he has to deal with the bureaucracy, Adli says, he faces the same red tape as any other businessman. It took him two years to buy a parcel of land for his company from the local government. “The [NEP] rules don’t really apply to people on the ground,” Adli says. “They say the NEP would help the Malays, but it only helps a small percentage of the Malays.”
Comfort Zone
Affirmative action may not be helping the overall Malaysian economy either. Though Malaysia has been among the best-performing economies in the world since World War II and boasts a spectacular record of improving human welfare — the percentage of the population living in absolute poverty has plummeted from 50% in 1970 to less than 4% today — the story is now stuck on the same chapter. Malaysia has fallen into what is called the “middle-income trap.” Having elevated itself to a comfortable level of income, Malaysia has been unable to take that next leap into the realm of advanced economies. While growth has slowed, Malaysians have watched other fast-paced Asian rivals zip by. In 1970, the gross national income per capita of South Korea, at $260, was below Malaysia’s $380, but by 2009, South Korea’s was almost three times larger, at $19,830 vs. $7,230, according to the World Bank.
Malaysia’s struggles reflect those facing Southeast Asia as a whole. The region’s economies once seemed among the world’s most promising emerging markets, but in recent years, progress in almost all of them has been stymied by upheaval and poor governance. Thailand remains rudderless as its fragile democracy has degenerated into perpetual factional strife. The promise of the Philippines remains unrealized as its feeble government has continually failed to enact the tough reforms needed to turn around the underperforming economy. Indonesia is only now returning to its place as one of the world’s premier emerging economies after a decade of political uncertainty scared off foreign investors.
If it is able to change its economic system, Malaysia could show its neighbors the way forward. Malaysia’s essential problem is that its growth model — export-oriented manufacturing, often by foreign-invested factories — has become mismatched with its needs. Malaysia must become more innovative if its rapid development is to continue. But that’s not happening. Private investment has fallen from a third of GDP in the mid-1990s to only about 10% today, labor-productivity growth has slowed, and R&D spending remains anemic. Instead of developing new products with highly skilled technicians, Malaysia’s manufacturing sector still too often assembles goods designed by others, using imported technology and low-skilled foreign workers. “There is a growing realization that Malaysia’s relative position compared to other countries that are catching up very quickly is not improving,” says Philip Schellekens, a senior economist at the World Bank. “Relative to where they want to be, there is still a long road.
Though it would be incorrect to blame the pro-Malay policies for the economy’s woes — Malaysia did, once, achieve remarkable rates of growth with the perquisites in place — they are nevertheless dampening business sentiment, scaring off talent, curtailing investment and stifling domestic competition. Chua Tiam Wee, president of the SMI Association of Malaysia, a small-enterprise organization, believes relaxing the NEP preferences would create a more level playing field on which the most capable firms could advance, making the economy more merit-based and upgrading Malaysian industry. The affirmative-action policy is “a source of a lot of distortions to the economic system,” Chua says. By limiting the opportunities available to minorities, the NEP is likely contributing to a brain drain, in which some of the country’s most talented people choose to work elsewhere. The government estimates that more than half of the 350,000 Malaysians working abroad have a college education. Stéphane Garelli, director of the World Competitiveness Center at IMD, a business school in Switzerland, believes that the affirmative-action regulations have made Malaysia less attractive to foreign investors. Malaysia’s “bargaining power to put such restrictions on foreign investors is not as big as other nations’,” he says.
Chinese and Indian entrepreneurs in Malaysia certainly believe the pro-Malay policies cap their business opportunities. Pardip Kumar Kukreja, the Malaysian-Indian chairman of Grand Paradise Holdings, a Kuala Lumpur — based firm that manages and owns hotels and operates travel agencies, laments that he can’t get access to lucrative contracts providing travel services to the government due to regulations that favor Malay-owned enterprises. Removing such restrictions, he says, can act as an incentive to invest. Kukreja recently decided to launch an Internet-based business to sell travel services worldwide because Najib’s administration liberalized affirmative-action rules for the tourism sector last year. “There are many things we’d like to do, which we hope we’ll be able to do in the near future,” he says. “To a small and medium entrepreneur, he wants to make his own decisions.”
New and Untested
Najib is convinced the old ways must go. The centerpiece of his economic reform program, introduced in March, is called the New Economic Model (NEM). The plan envisions reducing red tape to encourage more private investment and internal competition, decreasing the state role in the economy and improving the education system to produce more skilled workers. “For us to move up a few notches, we have to address the structural problems,” Najib says. “We cannot be in denial.” Most of all, the NEM also proposes a major reform of affirmative-action policies to phase out remaining racial quotas and focus efforts on uplifting the poorest 40% of the population — irrespective of race. Says Najib: “I don’t want anyone to feel that they’ve been left out or marginalized.”
There are urgent political reasons he feels that way. UMNO, which has ruled Malaysia in coalition since its independence from Britain in 1957, lost ground to opposition parties in a hotly contested 2008 general election, and Najib is faced with the daunting prospect of expanding UMNO’s political base outside its core Malay constituency. The NEM is an effort by Najib to turn stodgy UMNO into the party of change and outmaneuver its rivals. Some powerful voices within UMNO are egging on Najib to push his reforms. “We have to be bold and brave to ensure [our] long-term competitiveness,” says Khairy Jamaluddin, an UMNO member of Parliament.
Yet Najib has also come under pressure from conservative elements in the Malay community to hold back. “The bumiputra are still lagging behind,” complains Ibrahim Ali, president of Malay nationalist organization Perkasa. “If the economy is not balanced, then everything will lead to trouble.” As a result, Najib doesn’t have full support from an UMNO worried about scaring off Malay voters. Najib’s reform program “is a tough sell within the party,” admits Khairy. “There will be people who resist the changes.”
The split in UMNO reflects the greater divide within the Malay community over the future of affirmative action. Some Malays believe that they still don’t possess the skills and resources to contend against Chinese businessmen, making continued affirmative-action policies indispensable. The program “should stay in place and improve,” says Rizal Faris, president of the Penang Malay Chamber of Commerce. “What [officials] want to achieve is a level playing field where all parties are able to compete on their merits, but we need to ensure that the Malay community has been sufficiently skilled and pulled up.” But others believe the time has come for Malays to step up and compete on their own, without special government aid. Akmal Syahirah, a 21-year-old law student at the University of Malaya, says that affirmative action should be eliminated, even though her family has greatly benefited from it in the past. Her father acquired land to produce palm oil through a pro-Malay development scheme, and her three younger sisters received tuition for extra after-school studies. But now, “I think we need to change,” she says. “We can’t just let Malays stay in their comfort zone.”
Balancing Act
Faced with such contending forces, Najib is trying to please everybody. Affirmative action won’t be eliminated entirely under the NEM, but altered to weed out abusive practices, target money where it is most needed and support the most worthy Malay businessmen, all the while trying to open up opportunities for minorities. Najib sees no contradiction in such a strategy. “Affirmative action remains in place, but the way it is carried out would be different,” he says. “When it comes to helping the poor and the vulnerable groups, it should be irrespective of race. But there are certain affirmative actions which are still necessary, because the bumiputra are still very much behind and they must be helped. We want to help those bumiputra who are potential winners.”
Even as he faces the daunting task of reforming Malaysia, Najib must deal with the domestic and international fallout from the divisive trial of Anwar Ibrahim, the opposition’s most prominent leader. In 2008, only months after the opposition’s electoral success, Anwar was charged with sodomy, a serious crime in Malaysia. The trial has a déjà vu flavor. Anwar was convicted of sodomy in 2000 (and abuse of power a year earlier), but the ruling was overturned in 2004 and he was freed after six years in prison. Anwar has pleaded not guilty to the latest charge and attacked his trial as a politically motivated attempt to discredit the opposition. The government denies that, saying the courts have a duty to conduct a fair trial. Yet the case has tainted Najib’s administration. In a joint essay in the Wall Street Journal, former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and former Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz wrote that Anwar’s trial threatens “all those in Malaysia who have struggled for a freer and more democratic nation.”
The biggest test for Najib still awaits. All eyes are watching for the detailed policy prescriptions of Najib’s NEM, which could be released in October. Some Malaysia experts expect the final package to be underwhelming. Najib “doesn’t have the strength to follow through, whether politically or personally,” says John Malott, a former U.S. ambassador to Malaysia. “He’s not a transformational figure.” Najib insists his critics underestimate him. “I want to transform Malaysia,” Najib says. “I want Malaysia to be a 21st century nation and I am determined to do that.” Malaysia’s future — and new narrative — depends on it.
The article originally appears in the September 6, 2010 issue of TIME Asia magazine.
— with reporting by Liz Gooch And M. Krishnamoorthy / Kuala Lumpur
“He’s not a transformational figure.”
Why is that?
Because Perkasa will perkosakan him if he ever tries to be one
///After Kuala Lumpur was struck by race riots in 1969, a shaken leadership determined that communal peace was impossible without economic balance. The result was the New Economic Policy (NEP), introduced in 1971, which aimed to raise the Malays’ share of the economic pie.///–Time
The cause of the 1969 riots was not what was stated above. But even the author of the article believes in the justifications provided by UMNO. That is why NEP would remain forever.
There is no racial problem in Malaysia; the problem is the division of people into those who are licensed to steal and become beneficiaries of the spoil in terms of ‘government/ secret society policies’. That division is based on the criterion called race, classified based on article 160 of the constitution. It is further compounded by the fact that the memberships of the ‘Malay club’ increase by natural high birth rate and other artificial means through inclusions and associations. As the number of Malays grow, and most of them remained fooled by UMNO that institutionalized corruptions through NEP was good for the race, Malay votes would not want any change to the easy lives in which their livelihood became the responsibility of the government. There is no way UMNO government would move away from race because race was the only issue the politicians knew how to fish votes and besides while Malaysians might be stuck in low income struggle, the people in power are in the most lucrative position to create wealth which could be enjoyed by umpteen generations of their offspring living in developed countries overseas. There is no hope for Malaysia as a nation because the government would not change; that includes Najib. Malaysians who aspire to live in a developed country have convinced themselves that it is easier achieved by migrating. That satisfies the politicians who prefer an Islamic state which could be achieved more easily when the population moves to a purer Muslims mix.
The thoughts of a great man—
…open the door to race-based politics, he said, and “our society will be ripped apart.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/11/world/asia/11lee.html?_r=1&ref=world
Don’t waste time n energy, 2 move forward, M’sia must replace BN gomen with PR gomen
Just do it, not just duit
Yes. The only way forward is to get rid of obstacles like umno and perkasa.
I’m of the opinion that the may 13th riot was due to political jealousy,rather than the in balance of the enconomy. After the riot,Umno leaders took the opportunity to blame the later and hedged out the NEP in favour of the malays.However should it happened to be sincere,most malays to day would have benefited from it .Instead Umnoputras and cronies took the chance to amass themselves with wealth and power,leaving the vast majority of malays and non malays high and dry to this day. And now that they are mega rich and to protect their ill-gotten wealth and position,they wish to rule or hold power forever. Now they realised that they could no longer cheat their own people because of the opposition exposured of its evil agenda all along ,they manipulated race, religion and raja raja,knowing pretty well these are pretty sensitive to the malays and muslims in the country for their own advantages. And this’s not enough,they further created a dark horse called Perkasa to creating more evil activities to touch on the sensitivities of the non malays and non muslims in the country. Their ultimate agenda is to enhancing,hopping to trigering the pretty racial volatile situation into a kind of national racial political turmoil. And with such scenario,Umno/Bn has every reason for the whole world to see that they have no choice but to declare emergency degree to continue to rule the country in the interest of the safety of its people.
Y r we buying arms 2 modernize?
http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/2010/09/why-is-bn-buying-pistols-grenades-from.html
Is patriotic Perkosa menahan against Bendera?
2 modernize, we need Penny 2 look after our sen n ringgit, can or not?
We do hv brilliant rakyat (oops, ex-rakyat, dis 1 fr KK, Sabah) treasured by other nations
http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/2010/09/malaysian-born-penny-wong-promoted.html
Singapore’s Health Minister is also ex-rakyat fr Penang
Architects Khoo Peng Beng (fr Ipoh) n his wife Belinda Huang (fr Selangor) designed d most innovative public housing blocks on d planet, The Pinnacle@Duxton (Singapore), which houses a phenomenal 7,000 people on an area of land d size of 2 football pitches
http://www.todayonline.com/Commentary/EDC100904-0000082/Sharing-the-Singapore-model-with-the-world
Khoo is fr d family that founded Pg’s iconic clan house, Khoo Kongsi
Can he and his wife help 2 transform Pg 2 a vibrant city?
///Faced with such contending forces, Najib is trying to please everybody/// – Time’s Michael Schuman.
It’s better to do right than to try please everybody. In face of contending forces, an attempt to please everybody usually ends up pleasing no one, and displeasing everyone else!
The country is not in good shape. That’s why many people want change. The 308 general election is interpreted as showing that. Top UMNO & BN’s leaders do not dispute this : otherwise they won’t be talking about re-inventing and reforming. Or hijacking PR’s winning formula to be inclusive by 1 Malaysia, GTP and NEM.
There are political risks. The top position is not voted by Malaysians at large, like the American System but by a small coterie of party delegates by party war lords who are against reforms viewed inimical to their vested interests and privileges. This is aggravated by former premier extending patronage to Perkasa to lobby against Najib’s tentative reforms.
Najib has a problem of (A) how to compete with Anwar/PR in the front relating to who could effect real change and (B) another problem at the flank from conservatives rallied by former premier not to do so.
(A) and (B) are not reconcilable. To clear the mind the issue is first to determine which (A) or (B) is the real problem – from Najib/UMNO’s perspectives.
By Najib/UMNO’s perspectives we assume that they are not the promotion of equality, pluralism, human rights, zero tolerance for corruption or even the country’s competitiveness per se. It is the perception of the voters of how the promise to manage these issues is sincere and effective that deserve or alienate votes.
Likely top UMNO strategists have correctly identified that (A) remains the real challenge whilst (B) is a red herring, which they cannot allow to undermine their efforts in (A).
That’s why UMNO secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor publicly dissociate UMNO from Perkasa and told his BN component party counterparts that UMNO would not back Perkasa.
Looks like the best way to transform Malaysia, is to change the gomen. The present set of BN leaders suffer from ” power-itis ” which brings on Corruptitis. Once they know that they can be changed, then they will listen to the people. All the ” -itis ” will be cured.
And it would help ( easier to transform ) if that old rascal, the evil mischief maker is removed, is no more.
drngsc #10
Agreed 100% For Malaysia to move beyond race to become a developed and modern country Malaysians MUST UNITE to first Re-move UMNOB/BN. First thing first. ( utamakan yang harus diutamakan )
QUOTE: Though the specifics of the new policies remain hazy, Najib’s intent is not. “I want Malaysia to be globally competitive,” he told TIME in an exclusive interview. “For that, we need to get every single Malaysian to be together.”
Fat hopes, Najib! With your wish-washy policies, we don’t even know which direction you are heading. If I say north, I am correct, and if I say south, I am also correct. You are really a good magician, Najib!
Before we dream about modernizing, Malaysians in general need to seriously improve their own behaviours first. For example, we need to learn how to drive or to park our cars properly rather than the usual double or triple parking. We also seriously need to learn how to read, for example if there is a NO SMOKING sign , it means no smoking. We need to learn not to litter all over. We need to learn to protect our environment etc etc etc.
If we cant do these basics stuff, forget about modernizing, it will just be a wet dream. And please dont blame UMNO or BN.
Until we learn to act and conduct ourselves properly, we are going to have a 3rd world mentality … and change will NEVER come.
No, najib is certainly no magician….he’s only good at farting….look he has let go gas again here….foreign journalists including CNBC & TIME are stunt by what he did…but only momentarily. Sad thing is everybody, all Malaysians included, will move on and pretend nothing has happened. That’s why John Mallot says “He’s not a transformational figure.” he only transforms gas….now you hear it, now you don’t…!!!
Hi Jjx, you must indeed be very kind to UMNO or BN. With headmistresses preaching racism in school, I wonder who we should be blaming… the headmistress or UMNO. We have a screwed-up government and a screwed-up education system and here we are talking about modernization. Modernize my foot first!
Hi Jjx, you must indeed be very kind to UMNO or BN. With headmistresses preaching racism in school, I wonder who we should be blaming… the headmistress or UMNO. We have a skrued-up government and a skrued-up education system and here we are talking about modernization. Modernize my foot first!
NR: “We are free fr d wars, conflicts, oppression n natural disasters which some of our brethren elsewhere in dis world suffer fr”
Correct, correct, correct – but we r NOT FREE fr man-made disasters
Corruption, large scale national plunder, divide-n-rule policies, racial bigotry, etc
1. Abolish NEP and AP
2. Apologise and promise not to confiscate the Bible anymore
3. Do not destroy place of worship anymore
4. Do not discriminate anymore, and offer scholarship to all deserving students
5. Issue birth-cert and IC to all the genuine citizens, and stop “selling” IC to the illegals.
At the rate they are going,
–meritocracy is racism
–balik negara asal
–MAS now railway (trains, planes and automobiles)
it is not modernization but MURDER-nization of the country.
Bullshit.
UMNO, PERKASA & NEP will never change.
Najib says ..
“Affirmative action remains in place, but the way it is carried out would be different,”.
Wistful thinking. You just can’t have your cake and eat it. As long as it remains a policy, those tasked with its implementation, will hijack the policy and implement it their discriminatory ways no matter what the politicians says. And this is compounded when the civil service, tasked with any implementation, are literally all from one race. There are abundant evidence of this misguided implementations in the scholarship awards, job and promotion opportunities in the civil service, appointments to GLCs, licensing approvals etc. Heck! there are even double standards in the sedition investigations of the two school principals and Namewee.
The NEP was conceived with noble intentions. It was hijacked along the way. The NEM will go the same way if not worse. It is just a pipe dream…
Modernization???
Where got money!!!
To Umno and cronies, everything is modern all right but to the rest of us, we might be living on tree top after 2020.
Just look at those alarming rate and figures of our country’s wealth being looted and stashed out in foreign countries.
Makes me shiver!
Thanks to MahaDevil, who’ve created so many little devil.
To those ordinary folks who still wanna continue on supporting those evil, keep on dreaming for a better future.
///To Modernize, Can Malaysia Move Beyond Race?///-Michael Schuman
To which the parallel question arises: when UMNO secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor publicly dissociated UMNO’s position from Perkasa’s race rhetoric and told his BN component party counterparts that UMNO would not back Perkasa, is that sincere or another Sandiwara stance in the sense of being today stated and tomorrow contradicted stance?
First, it must be asked whether Perkasa’s rhetoric helps get more Malay votes for UMNO and abjuring Perkasa implies losing them as Ibrahim warned.
We have heard no compelling analysis thus far that UMNO’s aligning with Perkasa’s stance will cause a significant recovery of Malay votes that had already gone the other way to PR in last GE, and PAS, in particular, when TDM first prosecuted Anwar for Sodomy I, with Sodomy II likely to further impede such recovery if not aggravate the loss of this segment of vote bank.
There is however evidence that Perkasa’s high profile activities will alienate the remaining residual of supporters for BN’s Non Malay component parties (eg MCA & Gerakan) if further crossovers of Chinese votes, not just to DAP but also to PKR and even PAS in last 2 Hulu Selangor and Sibu by-elections were an indication. Any acquiescence by UMNO with Perkasa’s rhetoric will be seen as a credibility gap between what Najib talks (1 Malaysia, GTP & NEM) and walks alienating those whose expectations are raised and let down.
Also another factor of decisive swing votes that need to be considered, come next election. Distributing material goodies to members of civil service (given bonuses) and Felda settlements and rural households retain traditional voters but what about the new voters principally the younger set exposed to education, urbanization and the Internet? They are (rightly or wrongly) assumed to favour change as opposed to Perkasa’s stance against. Their 10% swing could be decisive in the next GE.
Then one has to evaluate Ibrahim’s threat – that UMNO risks losing UMNO members’ support (at last as far as those 50,000 who are also Perkasa’s members) in next election if it withdraws endorsement of Perkasa’s agenda and pushes ahead with reform against its wishes.
One wonders if what Ibrahim said were true for whom these disgruntled Perkasa’s members would vote in next election when they’re unhappy with UMNO and its reform agenda. They cannot vote for Perkasa as an alternative to UMNO because it is not a registered political party contesting in an election! Would they vote for the Opposition parties then? I don’t think so as Opposition is pushing for the same change! Unless they spoil their votes or don’t vote, they will still have to vote for UMNO which is still very much upholding the fight for Malay rights, and the NEP (whose implementation is proposed to be tweaked only to render it more market friendly and needs based in order to broaden down to Malay masses to mitigate the intra ethnic class differences).
Continuing from preceding post:
So the threat of loss of vote by UMNO (alone) if Perkasa were not accommodated is not as real and urgent as, on balance, the greater and real risk of votes by Barisan Nasional (comprising all Non Malay component parties) as a whole, if the alternative of acquiescing with Perkasa continues…
Perkasa’s rhetoric is interpreted as driving a wedge between UMNO and BN’s other component parties that it leads – and needs to provide the multi-racial front. (Unless UMNO does not care even for such a multi racial front and could go alone).
Besides, Perkasa holds itself out as a pressure NGO group to check UMNO against its neglect to uphold its traditional raison de etre of fighting for Malay rights.
This implies if Perkasa becomes more popular it logically means in the converse that UMNO’s leadership is failing in this raison de etre – an unacceptable inference. On the other hand if Perkasa were not popular, then there is also no reason to accommodate its demands when it drives a wedge between BN’s component parties and UMNO.
Either way it makes realpolitik sense to treat Perkasa’s challenge as secondary in relation to the greater primary challenge of competing against Anwar/Pakatan Raykat for the next GE on the question before the voters as to which coalition (ruling or opposition) is more sincere and effective in instituting change that the country deserves and in dire need of having…
If that’s correct, then there is something more tangible than mere sandiwara in the recent public dissociation by UMNO from Perkasa’s agenda, assuming UMNO secretary general Tengku Adnan had support of UMNO’s Supreme Council in his statement.
It would then serve Najib’s end to be firmer in pursuing his platform of 1 Malaysia, NEM & GTP without prevarication.
So to the Question “Can Malaysia move beyond race”, it is not easy for Malaysians to do so but at least the first tentative steps have been taken towards that objective when there is convergence of both ruling and opposition coalitions in pursuing a common platform of change towards greater inclusiveness in rejection of Perkasa’s/TDM’s stance. It only remains for Malaysian voters to decide which of the coalitions – BN or PR- is more sincere or hypocritical and quicker and more effective to deliver the platform of reform and change to save the country.
Agreed.
The affirmative action should be for the poor. But Najib was quick to say that the affirmative action is still for the Bumiputras and declaring that the special rights of Malays would be preserved. The constitution does not recognize special rights for anybody. It was the special position of Malays and natives of Sabah and Sarawak that is recognized in the constitution. Imagine Najib does not even realize that or did he pretend?
Mamakthir said that to gain votes UMNO should follow Perkasa’s call to be racist, or something to that effect. It seems that he is only interested in gaining power, at any cost to the nation. That makes him an opportunist. He is the opportunist of the worse kind as he cares not for the harmony of the society, the unity of the people in the nation and the well being of the nation. Mamakthir chose race to achieve that end, and he is the worst racial opportunist. By the way he can’t be a Malay racist because he is not anthropologically Malay.
If I am the PM, I will form a new party : –
UMPP = “United MALAYSIAN People’s Party” and open the membership to all races (minus TDM and E-Ali), and restore 100% democracy to make Malaysia one of the most attractive tourist destinations in the world.
The PM post can be held by any race. No more NEP. No more AP. No more discrimination.
k1980
Whenever I read of LKY and Singapore’s success stories, immediately my mind wanders to the man who failed the Malaysian people. He betrayed the Malay Race and plundered the nation to almost dry. ”Father of all racists” he is.
yeah, if a chinese rule malaysia,
he wouldn’t be racist right?
name me a country that is rule by a chinese and hes fair to every race?
its funny when people who say Mahathir isn’t a malay
is neither a malay nor Islam ..
does it seems logical for someone who is neither a malay nor Islam deciding what race he should be?
The malay accepts Mahathir as a Malay…
but the chinese who isn’t even a muslim decide if hes a malay ?
Kinda racist, dont you think?
It was never meant to be. Najib has too much baggage – but its true for almost every leader in UMNO even the next generation. That is why it can never be done even if they want to do it.
///The malay accepts Mahathir as a Malay…
but the chinese who isn’t even a muslim decide if hes a malay ?
Kinda racist, dont you think?///
Now who would have bothered to adjudge whether he’s a Malay if he had not first adjudged others -whether they are Malays or non Malays- and profiting on that classification yardstick, prosper his own political career, without heed as to the collateral effects on others or for that matter the interests of the nation???
I take it to be a self evident truth that every person, whether Malay, Chinese, Indian being human first, and race inconsequential, has same instinct for survival and fear of non-survival – and all things being equal between people (minus irrelevant self interested man-made artificial distinctions) each is entitled to equal access to opportunities and resources and fair competition of these, the relative success of which ought to depend only on individual merit as measured against his innate capabilities or degree of effort he is prepared to expend, and the sacrifice he is prepared to personally bear, to enhance these capabilities to secure this goal! I take it that that is the Human Condition.
But contrary to that Human Condition, we have a person whose life’s work it is to build in place a political, social and economic structure based on an hierarchy of political and legal judgementalism of who gets the rewards and bear the costs based only on the extraneous factor of race (or religion), and who evinces a firm intent, even in the evening of life, to preserve that legacy no matter that it is neither right nor good for the interests of all.
The problem with such judgementalism is that at the outset it is constructed out of the unmeritorious exploitation of the instinctual and primordial fears of masses of people in one racial group by deflecting their anger and blame at and scapegoating others of other racial groups and by so doing to deflect, as a cover up, the attention of all groups in strife and contention away from the greed and avarice of the elite group driven by same instinctual drives to amass resources in advantage over the rest!
Don’t the rest then have a right to reciprocally adjudge and make him account for his actions, let alone adjudge his race as he has done the same to the rest??? It is only fair and equal – that this is done – in the affairs of men whose status within the Human Condition is equal.
One may question why men are equal or deserve to be treated equal. They are certainly not considered so, whether here or elsewhere. They are equal, I would argue, based on the Human Condition.
The Human Condition is in a way illustrated by the link provided by K1980 per #3 relating to “Reflection for Man Who Defined Singapore”
Even he of arguably greater life’s accomplishments than TDM does not escape it (the Human Condition). “How do I comfort myself?” he asked. “Well, I say, ‘Life is just like that.’ ”
Like what?
Like the inevitability of all things coming to an end, no matter one might have had (during) the greatest of accomplishments whether in amassing wealth, wisdom, power, friends or foes.
“I’m reaching 87, trying to keep fit, presenting a vigorous figure, and it’s an effort, and is it worth the effort?” Harry Lee asked. At least he still has the wisdom to see the absurdity of it. For the more one has, ironically the harder and more painful it is to give up, and surrender to the inevitable.
From where they come from and where they would go thereafter draws a blank as Kuan Yew said, ““What is next, I do not know,” he said. “Nobody has ever come back.”
And that’s in sum total is the common predicament of all as they trudge wearily along, and people sharing common predicament -if they are aware of the same- do show and ought to show compassion to one another and help all (sharing same plight) along – instead of just make things alright and comfortable for one self whilst others can go to hell.
This is something octogenarians – not just the one down South – after a long and eventful life ought to reflect on: the destiny of many others trudging towards the same inevitable end, many of whom in quiet desperation having no solace from being deliberately denied off equal access to opportunities by man made rules, artificial distinctions based on race, pedigree or religion constructed from selfish motivations.
How does selfish motivation serve at the end?
It seems only Malay knows whether the other is. If he makes the mistake of recognizing a non-Malay Malay he himself cannot be a true Malay.
What so funny hah?
Malaysia accept malay, chinese, india and native as Malaysian.
If you cant accept that Malaysia is for all Malaysian and all Malaysian equality then
You should f_ck off from this land.
Remember that Malaya was formed by Malay, Chinese and India majority. And here become their motherland.
its funny when people who say Mahathir isn’t a malay
is neither a malay nor Islam ..
does it seems logical for someone who is neither a malay nor Islam deciding what race he should be?
The malay accepts Mahathir as a Malay…
but the chinese who isn’t even a muslim decide if hes a malay ?
Kinda racist, dont you think?
What so funny hah?
Malaysia accept malay, chinese, india and native as Malaysian.
If you cant accept that Malaysia is for all Malaysian and all Malaysian equality then
You should f_ck off from this land.
Remember that Malaya was formed by Malay, Chinese and India majority. And here become their motherland.
Malaya was not formed by Malay only.
Malay was formed by Malay, Chinese and India majority.
After independent this land become their land.
Do you understand what is called independent?
Do you understand whoever who formed this land Malaya they have the rights demand equality?
This land belong to them.
Malaya was formed by Malay, Chinese and India majority.
Tired to explain to those idiot.
Their idiot head don’t understand whoever form this land Malaya independent this land become their motherland and they have the rights demand all equality.
Do you understand here become their land after formed Alliance and granted independent from British?