Dr M and sovereignty

— Ronald Benjamin
The Malaysian Insider
Aug 20, 2011

AUG 20 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s speech that the Malay community has been split into three groups and that this could create a scenario for foreign intervention is another type of opinion that does not understand the nature of politics and what makes a nation vulnerable to foreign intervention.

This type of view has been used by authoritarian leaders around the world on the pretext of safeguarding national sovereignty but who contradict themselves by building political barriers for their own people with laws and economic systems that infringe on human dignity.

This in turn gives opportunities to foreign powers to manipulate shortcomings in these nations with larger agendas in mind.

The question is how could a nation call itself sovereign when it denies its own people the right to express themselves?

Don’t the privatisation policies embraced by Dr Mahathir for the benefit of the connected few at the expense of the majority go against the very grain of national sovereignty?

Where does the so-called ideology of neo-liberalism come from? Is it not the powers that Dr Mahathir is trying to protect the nation from?

Does not the Malaysian Gini co-efficient of 0.45 show equity issues from the time of Dr Mahathir? Is it not true that the common good of the majority is a better reflection of what constitutes national sovereignty? How could so-called ethnic unity be really achieved with such glaring discrepancy?

Do we find other developing nations using ethno-religious ideology as the means to achieving and clinging on to power? Why are many Islamic nations are not progressing? Is it due to authoritarian, rigid religious ideology that has impeded creativity and freedom?

Therefore it is vital to understand that substance related to national sovereignty is something beyond opposing policies of the West politically, but to look critically on the ideological make-up of our own nation and the equality aspect that defines the political economic and social scenario.

When we look at countries in the developed and developing world, we see homogeneous societies divided by opinions and class but we do not find foreign powers interfering with them because these societies have strong democratic systems that absorb and neutralise grievances.

Developing nations like Venezuela have shown how citizen participation in grassroots movement have neutralised imperialistic designs of foreign powers. Bringing in the foreign bogeyman would not solve the problems associated with unity.

Being honest and coming up with innovative ideas on the political, economic and social fronts that involve the participation of the common men and women in the country would be a better option. This is would enhance national sovereignty in the long run.

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23 Replies to “Dr M and sovereignty”

  1. Yeah he is right this mamak. One is the mamak malays or bumi pura-pura. the second one is melayu umno or the bumi rasuah rasuah. The third is the ordinary Malays. Mamak now is anxious becos the ordinary Malays are choosing the blue pills over the red umno pills.

  2. First it is colonists, then the western imperialists, then the Jewish conspiracy and the Chinese bogey. What else is new than to blame the whole big wide world when the malaise confronting this country is nothing more than a successive of moronic leadership who are corrupt, incompetent, indulging in grandeur and practises third world tribal mentality. For goodness sake, the world and the non Malays don’t own you fellows a living. The Malays’ misery is your own doing more so the political power after independence is for you to determine. The non Malays are never against Malay leadership. The non Malays just want good Malay leadership. But look at what you have done, kutty? Did you not enrich and squander billions? You have to ask yourself why the Malays have split three ways in the first place. For everyone you unfairly helped to enrich and for every ringgit your squandered, you are actually marginalising and sidelining thousands (Malays and non Malays). Kutty, you may think you are very smart; you do not know your own baloney.

  3. I think this guy was no. 1 enemy of Tunku

    as history written

    Later Life & Death
    In 1977, Tunku Abdul Rahman became the chairman of The Star, a newspaper which was banned in 1987 by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad because of its provoking columns that were harshly critical of the Malaysia’s government. Following a rift with in UMNO, he unsuccessfully tried to establish a new party UMNO Malaysia. In the general election of 1990, Tunku Abdul Rahman actively participated and widely campaigned against Mahathir Mohamad despite his worsening health. He died on 6 December 1990, aged eighty seven and his body was buried at the Langgar Royal Mausoleum in Alor Star.

    Why Tunku did not like him?

  4. The Malays are permanently split in to those who were religious and those not so. Then the not so are split between the corrupted and the enlightened who knew they had been cheated by Mamaks.

    Mamak thinks that only Malays defend the nation because the police, the armed forces and the civil services are manned mainly by Malays. But they are firstly the instruments of UMNO, and secondly the defenders of their own interests.

    Malaysia could be colonized sooner or later whether Malays are united in their ketuanan Melayu concept, or split into groups pursuing their common interest because the ruling party has never been concerned about the interest of the nation. If they had, they would have utilized the human resources of the country rather than reserving positions for persons so that UMNO can remain in power.

    Najib said that even after 40 years of discriminatory racist policies, Malays in the rural areas are still weak and poor. If the poor and weak are the concern of Najib and UMNO, then register them and give them assistance according to their needs and aspiration. But then Najib cannot be trusted to wanting to eliminate Malays poverty group in the rural areas. It is the rural poor Malays that give UMNO the justification to enrich those who are similarly classed, but not necessarily having any blood or cultural relationship grouping them into one ethnic group called Malay. Indeed how could Calicut Kakak-Mamak from Kerela India bear any relationship to Bagis from Pahang. But for common political interest they called themselves Malays. So Najib is not concerned about poor rural Malays. He is happy that rural Malays remain poor so that he could use the racist policies to fool those who hope that one day UMNO leaders would do what they preach. Or have they been brainwashed to the extent that they are happy to remain poor so long as non-Malays continue to be discriminated?

  5. ///“I am aware that many allegations have been made against our effort. However, they are unaware that it is being done in their best interest,” he said.

    As of Friday, a total of 2,088,358 foreign workers had been registered, of whom 1,135,499 were illegals.///Hishamuddin Keris

    Is it in the interest of the nation that the immigration department under the Home Ministry allows the border to be so porous let over a million workers enter and work in the country? With that record, Malaysia is not a transit for global criminals, it is the base for criminal activities.

    Is it in the nation’s interest that those who could be members of UMNO have long been ‘bersih’ into Malaysians and enjoying bumi-status calling themselves Malays? The million plus illegals do not include those who came in through Project M (Calicut Mamak) who added a million and more to Sabah’s indigenous persons who are Sabah UMNO members. Thus the official illegals might stand at a million plus, the unofficial illegals to Malaysians but Malays to UMNO number many more million.

  6. One who denies his half Indian blood and can lie 14 times within half an hour on Lingam case ,…being questioned and feel know shame at all is not worth talking about.
    Only Najib hero worships him …..like a god…and we know what Najib is.

  7. Three is nothing. I think the Chinese is split into maybe 30 (yes thirty) or even more. What is wrong with that? I am of the opinion that different grouping does not mean it is bad. For it give us diversity in idealogy. With different idealogies we get creativity and that is how we human progress. The important thing is we grow and progress together without criticising each other because of our colour or believe.

  8. It’s always easier to point to some “big bad wolf” from outside than to see the “little mouse creeping inside” trying to get out. This has always been Dr M’s strategy to focus our rage at the “western forces” rather than recognise that our own children have grown up and wants to be heard.

  9. The Home Minister should give a breakdown of the number of illegal workers by nationality, and by religion. I bet 90 percent would be non-Muslims. The reason being the illegal Muslims have attained a higher status than indigenous non-Muslim Malaysians, by the corrupt practice of UMNO registrar of nationals.

  10. Mahathir, Mahathir…bila nak bersara?

    Certainly there is no monopoly of wisdom as you are wont to say. But, wisdom….you….? No way.

    Jadi, bersara-lah dan habiskan masa dengan isteri dan anak cucu.

  11. Hey, raja Petra of malaysia Today fame or infamy says that the current AG and the former IGP do not even understand English.

    That is really insulting tto two of the most senior civil servants in malaysia.

    But actually, after reading his articles, I am just about convinced unless proven otherwise.

  12. Alamak mudah je. Kalau pisang dah dibahagikan dua, gorengkan terus.

    Out of order? Oh. But but isnt the author talking about splitting this and that?

    Oh. I see. OK.

    Anyway. Kan apanama tu sentiasa bercakap dari sebelah mulut aje. Nampaknya dia tu lebih dashyat dari john wayne. Koboi betul – errr tulin.

    Benar! Tengok. Suka bertopi jenis-koboi. Reflection of his true character tu.

    Dia ni koboi mamak sebenarnya. Patutlah dia dashyat. Yaaa. This town aint big enough utk kami berdua.

    … dagen in a telephone conversation with cintanegara.

  13. There’s hardly a point to argue logically against Mahathir’s position. Reason is not what he is concerned. He’s merely using the old hackneyed political ruse of stoking fear amongst his party’s constituencies – fear of loss of Malays’ political dominance hegemony, foreign interference in national sovereignty (read Malay political hegemony). When one frightens people, one will invoke primordial human emotions to search for security and safety by uniting against “others” under leadership of him who warns the risk and viewed saviour. The saviour can then control the masses that he galvanised for the common purpose.

  14. This fear mongering & scare campaign has proven successful political method to galvanise Malay/Muslim support for UMNO for 50 years. In the present absence of alternatives UMNO just falls back on the well tried methods. Hence the recent rabble rousing of Christians taking over Putrajaya and conspiracy to subordinate the official religion etc. This method has proven successful elsewhere over space & time. Thus Hitler galvanised Germans using fear of Jews. Even in modern democracy like US, elites and defence contractors in the American military Industrial complex, faced with the prospect of having to decommission itself after the disintegration of the Soviet Union and with it the bogeyman of Communism talking over the world have (thanks to 911) found a replacement in Osama/Al-Qaeda to fear monger and galvanise their people for military adventurism in Afghanistan & Iraq – and now Libya. Ultimately everything boils down to making money- manipulating fear, create opportunities for exercise of power to the privileged/vested interests to have unfair advantage over others to make money.

  15. Mahathir cannot accept non Malay leadership.He cannot accept the fact the nation can have anybody as its leader.He also cannot accept the fact that the nation is secular.He cannot accept the fact of meritrocracy.He cannot accept the fact of royalty.He will defend by instilling fear into the Malays.He had done this by using all the draconian laws but he was a bit unprepared of the free media that had changed the thinking of the very malay he had educated.An educated malay accepts other religions, other races and leadership based on meritrocracy.Mahathir will go to his grave and will turn his body the other side not to face the fact.Even in death he will not face the truth of a great nation built on the blood of the immigrants and the natives.He has to learn to forget and not accuse the malays of forgetting!

  16. Libyans are celebrating today their freedom from the 40-year rule of Gaddafi who seized power in 1969. Gaddafi has been saying that the people in Tripoli loved him but today the people there are out celebrating his fall frompower.

    When can Malaysians celebrate the freedom they lost in 1969 after the Razak coup? After 42 years, UMNO members should come out to celebrate the way Libyans do, the demise of UMNO in the coming election. Libyans were said to benefit from the oil windfall until they realize that Gaddafi got the lion share of the resources. Similarly, UMNO members would soon or have already realized that the racial polarization in the country served only to provide UMNOputras the immunity to accountability, at the expense of living a low-income high-cost living. They will soon enjoy their liberty from the stigma of the people placed in the special position like an endangered species, after the next election.

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