The question many Malaysians are asking is whether the eighth Cabinet meeting tomorrow will still end up empty-handed with no disciplinary action against the two principals, one in Johore and the other in Kedah, who made racial and religious slurs against students in schools despite the first incident occurring 55 days ago on August 12.
Another case of disgraceful conduct by public servants was discussed by the Cabinet last Wednesday – the derogatory, offensive and insensitive reference to the Chinese and Indian communities as “Si Mata Sepet” (“Squinty-eyed”) and “Si Kaki Botol” (“Alcoholics”) by the National Civics Bureau (BTN) deputy director Hamin Husin at a closed-door Puteri Umno function – but there was no satisfactory outcome although the open mockery of the Prime Minister’s 1Malaysia policy by public servants further undermined Najib’s authority, credibility and legitimacy.
The Cabinet meekly asked the Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Sidek Hassan to investigate the racist remarks by Hamim, who have meanwhile received the endorsement of Perkasa to lodge a police report under the tutelage of Perkasa.
Where does the Cabinet come in on this. Do the Ministers have any leadership role? Or are they completely impotent and irrelevant!
The Najib Cabinet risks being regarded as the Cabinet-joke in the nation’s history under six Prime Ministers – with a Deputy Prime Minister who openly repudiated Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia concept by declaring that he is Malay first and Malaysian second; a KPI Minister who cannot pass the KPI in his own political party, denounced by his President-predecessor and party adviser as “an ostrich” who ran away from problems; and Cabinet Ministers most of whom dare not take a clear-cut stand whether on 1Malaysia or New Economic Model, the two signature policies of the Prime Minister.
All Malaysians await the outcome of tomorrow’s Cabinet meeting – whether there is going to be more procrastination and “tai chi” over the gross indiscipline of the two errant school principals and the BTN deputy director in openly flouting Najib’s 1Malaysia concept.
I am waiting for the outcome of the Cabinet tomorrow to decide whether to move an emergency motion in Parliament on Monday to demand an urgent debate on these two issues.
What action? Do mean sack ? Sure no. They will by all means justified NFA. Case Closed Do Not talk further and MCA Gerakan Closed the mouths shout?
MCA boss has the be bandaged with the sex tape so what can he say?
Will the eighth Cabinet meeting tomorrow still end up empty-handed with no disciplinary action against the two principals who made racial/religious slurs against students in schools despite the first incident occurring 55 days ago? – Uncle Lim
Yes, very likely.
There were actions, now waiting 4 reactions – ban ban tan n tan ku ku loh
No C ah, TBH’s case, >1 year, no where near end lah, ban ban tan what
Drag on until all lupa, end of cerita
UmnoB/BN Cabinet where got time 2 decide dis, all busy ready 2 go 2 KLIA 2 welcome back maha racist MMK fr Ausland
No die yet in Ausland, so tua mia 1
A kitchen cabinet only knows how to eat, drink and be merry!
What action? The issue will not even be discussed. Reason, certain party / body is already looking into the matter so not necessary for cabinet to discuss.
Probably they’ll do something la just before the election. Otherwise, it’s a very good tool for PR to campaign against the all-mighty for the GE. Put all the remarks used sibotol simatasepek etc under category of racism.
The authority is buying time, time will wash away all memories. Glad we have YB LKS ever so persistent. TQ.
Cabinet no discuss dis n no take action 1, no need lah, everything OK now
Cabinet no worry abt PR, just relax n watch PKR, DAP, PAS implode n kill each other
Also UmnoB found d magic bullet (duit haram) 2 incite senior Malays/Muslims against DAP
NR n Moo very happy RPK oredi gave up on PR
When PKR, DAP, PAS near self-destroyed, NR will call 4 GE, UmnoB/BN sure win big 1
///Where does the Cabinet come in on this. Do the Ministers have any leadership role? Or are they completely impotent and irrelevant!/// – YB Kit.
We don’t expect any real action. There’s no leader in the horizon who has the personal attributes, prerequisites and strength of leadership, combined with guile and manoeuvre, to address much less reverse the ascendancy of racial and religious bigotry in this country – unless (possibly) there’s another leader like the No. 1 Racist (as labeled by YB Kit). (Even that, the chances of reversal, not that good, and cannot be a quick fix).
It is ironical that the 4th PM who was primarily responsible for getting us mired by his divisive policies in racial and religious problems is the probably the type of character who evinces the remote prospect of undo-ing the excesses caused by himself. (It is now of course moot as he is retired from politics).
Look at the facts here: In 1980, TDM promoted the education quota as part of the NEP. The Quota marginalised non malays. Towards his later years, TDM ameliorated the effects of the Quota by amending the Education Act to promote the liberalization of university start-ups, leading to branch campuses being built or the formation of permanent tie-ups (twinning programmes) with some of the reputable universities in the world. Whether or not the motive is fairness or save foreign exchange or help cronies having a stake in these tie-ups or to ensure our local public universities are reserved only for Bumis, the fact is the move has since enabled at least Middle Class non malays to provide their children a decent tertiary education at lesser cost, and today even students from neighbouring or foreign countries come here to take the twinning programmes as a way of getting at cheaper cost the Western accredited qualifications.
He knew that the prop of NEP was not helping Malays in terms of competitiveness, so in 2003, after all the damage done, he actually took tentative steps to reverse the crutch by introducing some form of meritocracy in the form of gradually lowering down the quota percentage reserved each year for the intake of bumiputra applicants in higher institutions to encourage fair competitions. In the year just before his retirement, he attempted to remedy this problem by announcing that Mathematics and Science subjects must be taught in English in all primary and secondary schools, which he still defends until today.
Just like his 22 years of aggressive Islamisation to compete with PAS by which process many went to Middle East madrasahs and came back with fundamentalist thinking. Whilst it is moot whether he could, had he been still in power, reverse the spawning of fundamentalists in all sectors (as 5th Column), at least he dared, more than others, to tell them off. One of these, an intern in a hospital, refused to touch a patient on religious ground and used a pencil to poke instead. TDM told him to forget about being a doctor. Don’t forget it was under TDM’s deputy (Anwar)’s watch (as acting prime minister in TDM’s absence) that three Muslim women taking part in a beauty contest were arrested by officials from Selangor state’s Islamic Affairs Department. The women, all Malay, made history by becoming the first Malaysians to be charged and fined for indecent exposure in a beauty contest. Upon his return, TDM publicly lambasted Islamic officials for abusing “the little powers” that they had.
Just like the way he in earlier years of consolidating power smashed democracy by emasculating the Judiciary in 1988 and by Operation Lallang intimidated everyone with culture of fear by placing all political opponents & civil society spokesmen under ISA, not to mention his unenviable record of deposing deposed 3 DPMs & contenders for power. It is paradoxical that the one who emasculated democracy also promoted it with the MSC, signed the Bill of Guarantee with the rest of the World for independence of Internet that allowed MalaysiaKini to thrive, and from there theMalaysianInsider and the concurrent development of blogosphere signifying the fledging emergence of democratic expression amongst Malaysians. When a commenter in Malaysiakini (Petrof) likened Umno Youth to white supremacist group Ku Klux Klan, police reports were lodged by right wing UMNO cadres for sedition and the police raided Malaysiakini. TDM asked for a copy of what was written, and after that no further action was taken against Malaysiakini.
Napoleon once said when asked to explain the lack of great statesmen in the world, that ‘to get power, you need to display absolute pettiness, to exercise power, you need to show true greatness.’
I won’t say TDM is Napoleon’s disciple: on the first part of making his way up to power he certainly displayed the first part of pettiness in using every race and religious card, as regards second part, when he exercised power, it can’t be said that he did it like a statesman.
But in his later years when more secure and relaxed, he evinced some tentative steps, in the exercise of power, to reverse the mistakes of his own administration and legacy. It can’t be said that he was actuated by good motives but his style has always been his favourite song Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” whether in making or rectifying his known mistakes.
Of course I am not saying that had he stayed in power for another 10 years he could reverse all that was bad. I am not even sure he would have that redeeming motivation to make amends to his mistakes, or that even if he had such a motive he could make succeed in the face of so many racist and religious zealots he had by his own hand created by his policies.
But the No 1 Racist has two advantages over other leaders:
First he has the credentials and track record of being an ultra and extremist himself. This could lead to extremists having greater respect for what he says. When he promotes Wawasan 2020 and Bangsa Malaysia – not very different from 1 Malaysia – it will arouse less insecurities, suspicions and resistance from extremists who think he has their interest and agenda ultimately at heart. They are also more scared to provoke his vindictiveness & wrath if they seek to oppose him.
That’s because of his second advantage of a forceful belligerent and cantankerous attitude mixed with guile and daring to do the extreme to get his way. He had no problem in sacking judges and clipping traditional rulers powers on bills to be passed, trying to jail his deputy for sodomy, fighting those above his weight, whether international Jews or currency traders. So what of extremists if he seek to curb them? He does not try to please all contending factions. If he were to take a position against extremists, racial or religious bigots, they have more to fear from him than the others.
Today he is becoming “petty” again (as shown by his race rhetoric), probably wondering who are these minions who lacking his force of personality, try this herculean task of seeking to unwind the mistakes of his legacy, which he thinks only he alone has the better chance to do it – if he judges it best in his personal interest to do so.
So, after becoming petty again, he is not up to the task of playimg the elder statesman’s role of tackling the rise of extremism provoked by 1 Malaysia and ameliorating the raging divisive forces it provokes. We’ll be happier if he won’t exacerbate it, which he is evidently doing. It is academic anyway, he being no more in power (officially).
However we have a slim chance to fight rising extremism here unless we get another leader in the cabinet like the so called ‘No. 1 Racist’ ie subject to the caveat of him possessing the positive without the obvious flaws and negative traits as they relate to the issue of leadership.
Unfortunately there isn’t one around in the horizon.
In the first place, must this case be decided by the Cabinet.
Either the police charge her with sedition or the ministry take disciplinary actions against her.
Something is very wrong in the country, if the cabinet needs to step in.
Why not close this issue of racial slurs. A majority of Malaysians will have nothing to do with the ways of those arrogant administrators. Focus on national unity.
By harping on the need to punish more severely the 2 errant Kulai’s & Sg Petani’s principals and BTN’s deputy director for their racist remarks, YB Kit is doing a fantastic job in driving a wedge between the component parties of BN and UMNO to facilitate the implosion of BN.
Already (according to TheMalaysianInsider) LKY has ticked off his protégée KTK for being an “ostrich” in appeasing UMNO’s pro-Malay policies and MCA’s CSL rapped Muhyiddin for not taking action against the 2 racist principals. They want to be seen by their respective constituencies as not weak kneed. They hope Muhyiddin will understand their posturing – justified on BN’s electoral interest as a whole – if they were not to fade from irrelevance in the 12th GE, into total oblivion and extinction in the 13th GE!
The basic contradiction in BN’s communal politics is that what is imperative for these component parties to do for national elections – ie. to fight for inclusivity/equal opportunities and respect for all races – runs squarely contrary to what each component party and especially UMNO will have to when it comes to their internal party’s elections in which contenders for party’s positions will have to beat chest and drum up their respective communal agendas, and in UMNO’s case, “Ketuanan Melayu”.
In this conflict/tension between the ethnic-centric imperatives of party’s elections as against the inclusive imperatives of the imminent next national elections, the Economist Intelligence Unit (“EIU”) correctly predicted that the former would prevail – “Umno tends to turn inward during leadership battles, ignoring the interests of other (BN component) parties…” If true it implies Muhyiddin – and the cabinet that he leads in Najib’s absence- is likelier not to budge on his original position of leaving the disciplinary matter of the principals to the PSD. The suggestion that the second omni-planetary luminary within the UMNO/BN’s firmament has to defer to PSD’s jurisdiction on disciplinary actions against civil servants imposes even on the naïve. This presents a gridlock of conflicting positions between UMNO and the significant other BN’s component parties (MCA, Gerakan & MIC) – a perfect political opportunity for the Opposition and Kit in particular to exploit/leverage.
Where strong leadership is wanting against external Opposition’s pressure leveraging on “1 Malaysia versus Ketuanan” issues, everyone else on the other side of the political divide will be pitched against each other when they try to assert their own position on how to confront the political challenges of the day. Not just BN’s politicians but also retired ones like TDM or NGOs like Perkasa. Why it must be a pleasant surprise to even a bureaucrat like the chief secretary that he too amid the political maneuvering now is ostensibly vested a say above the DPM/Education Minister on the fate of the 2 principals! This is part of the process of the BN’s implosion arising out of its internal inconsistencies and tensions.
The downside to this so-called BN’s implosion process in which all want to have their say loudly and publicly and fight each other within the BN and its component parties is that it creates tension within the wider society.
That many Non Malays seize the 2 principals & Hanim’s race misstatements to demonstrate their offence is understandable arising from cumulative frustration over 40 years of marginalization due to race policies; that there are just as many race supremacists nurtured by these 40 years of race ideology that will fight back, in defence, to put the ‘pendatangs’ in their place is also inevitable, leading to greater political instability as the EIU also predicted.
I support DAP man’s view in his remark #12.
It was just like the issue on displaying mandarin words in KLIA yrs ago. KLIA was already then an independant entity. Yet the decision on the matter was left to the cabinet.
So we can see who the real evil master of racial politic is. And no wonder the country is regressing.
///However we have a slim chance to fight rising extremism here unless we get another leader in the cabinet like the so called ‘No. 1 Racist’ ie subject to the caveat of him possessing the positive without the obvious flaws and negative traits as they relate to the issue of leadership.///– Kit
Confucius said, “yit yan” (a phrase or more correctly a thought) can either kill a nation or bring it to greatness. In Malaysia, that “thought” of enriching oneself in position of power is what kills the country. To get the power, politicians resorted to race issue supplemented by religion. All other plays emerged from the urge to stay in power. Never was there a thought of what politics could do for the people and for the nation.
Najib should be able to do at his age something good for the country, if he cares about his place in history more than the duration PM position. That of course presupposes the continued existence of Malaysia as a multi-racial secular nation. It would be a different matter if he wants a ‘Muslims’ nation with purity in race and religion. He would then be in the right track to support those who asked pendatang to go back to their ancestors’ land. Well, not all have to go back; Malays are free to remain in their adopted land.
Malaysia has moved from absolute monarchy ages ago, or more recently since 2003. For a democracy to thrive there should be rule of law. If the government cares for the good of the nation, policies that make the country regress would not surface. If it did the opposition would take over. No one party would remain in power forever, if politics is the job for those who care, rather than who got in to become fabulously wealthy.
The cure for the nation is to have true democracy, not to have strongman in politics.
“…..the open mockery of the Prime Minister’s 1Malaysia policy by public servants further undermined Najib’s authority, credibility and legitimacy.”
Is he aware? With the amount of overseas trips he is making in that flying palace, I am not sure if he is aware that the legs of the chair he is sitting on is slowly being sawn away.
Has anybody counted how long he has been travelling overseas and compare if he has outdone Pak Lah’s travelling record when he was PM? It is a great temptation and feeling to be feted and accorded respect as a visiting PM. Better still to be travelling in the lap of luxury with cronies lining up to arrange parties and meetings to rub shoulders with celebrities. Sound familiar? Remember Pak Lah and Jean Todt/Michelle Yeoh in Ozzie land? History repeats itself.
So YB, who cares about two racist principals and one senior racist BTN officer. It is more fun to be on a yacht in Monte Carlo with some delectable starlets.
#17, U mean: delectable n palatable starlets? Yummy, slurp, slurp, no time 4 racist principals, racist BTN officer, n I-Bra-him (only got time 4 un-Bra-her lah)