Category: Articles

By Narayan
May 18, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider

MAY 18 — I am Narayan, aged 44, and an Australian today. I was Malaysian till last year. I moved to Australia in February, 2007. My family joined me in Australia in July, 2007.

My children are Australian and my wife is Malaysian… still holding on to a string of hope to maybe retire in Malaysia.

Why did I leave? Am I a “pengkhianat” (traitor)?

Let us examine it from my family’s eyes.

Economy of the middle-class: In Malaysia as a senior manager in various private sector companies and even in a GLC at one time, I would be paying 30 per cent tax. In return, I could keep a reasonable home 45km out of the city, travel by public transport, have a maid, kids in suburban Sekolah Kebangsaan, need insurance to top up for medical costs, and go to a private hospital each time. Continue reading “Giving my family a better chance”

By ES
May 18, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider

MAY 18 — I’ve left Malaysia for about nine years now, and lived and worked in several countries such as Singapore, China and, now, Hong Kong.

The past and recent news reports on brain drain have pretty much summarised the reasons for leaving Malaysia except they were not accepted by our leaders. I’ll just echo some of the findings by relating my personal experience.

Social injustice

Unable to get into local universities even with good academic results. Mine was a working-class family and my dad had to work extremely hard to save (barely) enough money to put me through a private college (whose quality could be questioned).

It was a twinning program with an American university. A large portion of our class (100 per cent non-Bumiputera) didn’t end up going to the America for their final year to “twin” with the university because of financial difficulties. Those who did, like me, mostly have remained overseas. Continue reading “Why I left Malaysia”

Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad
The Malaysian Insider
May 16, 2011

MAY 16 — The birth of my first child has given me a new perspective on things. While I do feel older, it has also made me realise that it’s not just my future, or the future of my generation that I have to work for alone now.

So when I found out that my colleague Nurul Izzah Anwar received SMSes threatening her daughter, I was sickened and outraged, as I imagine any parent — any human being — would be.

It is still too early to tell who was behind the SMS or why they did it. It might be part of the bigger political game or it might be some crazy lunatic.

What is clear however is that it is a result of the debased phenomenon we call Malaysian politics. To say politics is dirty is a cliché, but this incident proves that Malaysian politics is filthy to the core.

The country has gone through many tragedies: the Memali incident, the 1988 judicial crisis, the 1998 sacking of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and many others. Combined together, it has damned Malaysia.

Central to the decline is the “Get Anwar” agenda. One may agree or disagree, like or dislike Anwar, but I think not many can dispute that the establishment led by Umno has been consumed by their desire to destroy Anwar at all cost. Continue reading “The ‘Get Anwar’ agenda”

By Joseph Tawie

The Broken Shield
Saturday, May 14

KUCHING: Two Sarawak Pakatan leaders today (14 May) demanded an immediate investigation to be taken against Chief Minister of Sarawak Abdul Taib Mahmud following reports by Sarawak Report that the President of Swiss Federation Micheline Calmy-Rey has revealed Taib’s assets in Switzerland.

Calmy-Rey has forwarded the information about Taib’s assets in Switzerland to its regulatory body FINMA (the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority) for investigation.

The Swiss President said that Switzerland takes extremely seriously the concerns that have been raised internationally about Taib’s alleged profiteering from timber corruption and are unhappy that such assets may have been invested in Switzerland.

In a statement on the report, Sarawak PKR Chief Baru Bian said: “For the President of a foreign country to acknowledge that her government has begun investigation into Taib Mahmud’s assets is indeed an indictment on the credibility of the Chief Minister. Continue reading “Two Pakatan leaders demand immediate action against Taib”

By Sakmongkol AK47
The Malaysian Insider
May 15, 2011

There has been a sudden surge in Malay preference for ghost films recently. Perhaps the implications for this preference are more serious than just the indication of productivity of the artistic creativity that produced them. Let’s see the political implications.

When DS Najib addressed the UMNO hoi poloi, the UMNO lumpen-proletariat, the UMNO murba, I was sure he wanted his message to reach a wider audience.

In particular the Malay masses who have deserted UMNO in the 2008 elections. Even more so, the 1.5 million UMNO members who did not vote for UMNO candidates for various reasons. Najib’s call for unity is not made to a vacuous audience, this he must know.

I hope he doesn’t underestimate the discerning capabilities of the rural folks and UMNO members. UMNO members can no longer be divided into old and new UMNO. By old I mean those UMNO members who desire a return to the old UMNO. Continue reading “Malays and cerita cerita hantu”

By Adrian Ng
LoyarBurok
13 May, 2011

Reflections of the incidents of May 13, 42 years ago, and how Malaysia has grown since then.

Mom was 16. They lived at Cheras Batu 2 1/2 squatters, near the legendary field which produced Mokhtar Dahari, and near Cochrane Road School, where DBKL has now built a hall along Jalan Loke Yew. Grandpa decided not to open his stall at Central Market that day. The situation was tense from what was being heard in KL due to the massive win of the Democratic Action Party. Rumours were spreading that the Malays were going to attack the Chinese. Everyone was terrified.

Grandpa and grandma quickly packed up some food, just in case they needed to make a run and gathered everyone. They all sat quietly waiting as far back as possible in the tiny little wooden house, at the back of the kitchen. Grandpa took a radio to the kitchen, to listen to any news on what was happening outside.

No one dared venture outside. Continue reading “May 13: A Recollection”

By Lisa Ng
LoyarBurok

13 May, 2011

Is it racialism that causes Malaysian Chinese to be cliquish? Or is it just bad faith? Let’s explore the reasons why some Malaysian Chinese youth can’t integrate into society and why abolishing vernacular schools may be just a blind shot at solving a growing problem.

Eu Jienn’s story

Chong Eu Jienn is 15. He lives in Kepong, KL. He speaks fluently in Mandarin. If you ever get lost in Kepong and bump into him, please do not ask for directions in English. He will not know how to respond to you. If you switch next to Bahasa Malaysia, he might be able to bring up a broken explanation consisting of recognisable words like “sana” or “depan” but the rest might be in Mandarin so you’d better know a bit of the language yourself if you want to understand what he is telling you.

Eu Jienn is a product of the vernacular schooling system. His parents decided long ago that their children would be educated in a Chinese Independent School. Firstly, China was quickly becoming an important economic power. Secondly, friends with children in National schools were lamenting about the quality of teachers in such schools. Thirdly, Eu Jienn’s parents came from very strict family backgrounds – discipline was top priority for them and Chinese schools were renowned for discipline. Fourthly, Eu Jienn’s parents were DAP supporters. His grandparents were aligned to BN due to the presence of MCA which was felt to represent the Chinese voice in government. But the loyalty ceased as the political landscape shifted with Mahathir, in favour of the Malays. Besides, what was so important about English or Bahasa Malaysia anyway? If Eu Jienn performed well academically, he could get a good job in Singapore or China. Singapore, for one thing, was close enough to stay in touch with their eldest son. Singapore was also kind to the Chinese. And, yes, in Singapore, people spoke Mandarin.

You could hardly blame Eu Jienn’s parents for such a narrow view. For them, vernacular schools were the best bet to ensure a future of better opportunities for their children. They must have known how important English was as it is still the lingua franca of the business and working world. And yet they somehow chose to ignore this point in shaping their son’s future. Continue reading “Malaysian. Chinese. Totally Foreign.”

by Goh Keat Peng

“… the top anchors at all the networks had scurried into the briefing room. Once there, they received a presidential scolding for their concern with ‘silliness.’ Obama began his five-minute statement with the complaint that he wouldn’t be able to get the networks to break into their regularly scheduled programming for a speech on policy proposals. “I know that there is going to be a segment of people for which no matter what we put out, this issue will not be put to rest,” Obama said. “But I am speaking for the vast majority of the American people as well as for the press. We do not have time for this kind of silliness. We have better stuff to do. I have got better stuff to do. We have got big problems to solve. We are not going to be able to do it if we are distracted, we are not going to be able to do it if we spend time vilifying each other … if we just make stuff up and pretend that facts are not facts, we are not going to be able to solve our problems if we get distracted by side shows and carnival barkers.”

The New York Times editorial on this press conference was entitled, “A Certificate of embarrassment”. It says in part:
Continue reading ““WE HAVE BETTER STUFF TO DO””

By Kenny Gan

The 13th general election will be the most watched and anxiously awaited event in the annals of Malaysian political history. Previous general elections have been tame affairs where the result was never in doubt; it was only a matter of how many seats the opposition could wrest away from BN. But the next election will be different as BN faces a real threat of losing power to a united opposition.

To be sure, this is not the first time that the opposition parties have grouped together to challenge BN. In the 1990 general election, Tengku Razaleigh’s Semangat 46 forged a coalition with other opposition parties and in 1999 DAP, PAS and Keadilan formed Barisan Alternatif to take advantage of public revulsion over Mahathir’s cruel treatment of Anwar.

But these opposition pacts did not even manage to deny BN its customary two-thirds majority. They failed because the social forces at that time were just not in their favour. The minorities were controlled by racial and religious fears and the mindset of the people then could not accept being governed by any coalition other than BN.
Continue reading “Pakatan’s Chances of Winning the 13th General Election”

7.00 am 18th April 2011- Changi Airport

Having spent a great 4 days in Singapore, I was happily settled in the limousine on my way to the airport. I had made a special effort to get up early to leave the hotel by 6.30am (the Limousine chauffeur Mr. Dean Ong was punctual on the dot) to be at the airport by 7.00am for my flight to Penang at 8.05 am.

As I was alighting I discovered to my horror I had left my laptop behind. Panic button activated! Mr. Dean made the decision for me by saying calmly “I will head back for it”.

I proceeded to check in at the SilkAir Counter but was advised against it as I had check in luggage and it would be troublesome if I were to change flight. Wait for confirmation of retrieval of laptop and whether it could be delivered in time for me to check in at 7.15 am latest.

Immediate priority was to contact Hotel (oh dear no telephone contact with me), so I proceeded to look for ‘ Information Counter”. I happened to sport a lady wearing an uniform (bright orangy red top and purple skirt ) and holding a tablet. She looks likely to be airport official. I approached her , told her my predicament and my need for the contact number of Marina Mandarin Hotel. She promptly access the internet, found what I wanted and connected me to the hotel using her handphone. (At this point I didn’t who she was.)

The Hotel staff was most professional and efficient and the person at the concierge knew exactly when I left the hotel in a white limousine (he even knew the car number plate!). I told him that I had left my laptop behind but I did not know where. He could look for it in the room, reception, restaurant and the concierge urgently and keep it with him for the chauffeur Mr. Dean Ong to collect it. There was no time to lose as I have to board the plane by 7.55 am at the latest. He agreed without a murmur and said he would try his best. Continue reading “An amazing experience in Singapore”

Hello Uncle Kit,

I would like to bring a very serious issue of fear among Malaysians. Having lived in Switzerland for almost 5 years now as a single female Chinese lady, I am able to walk on the streets in Europe (any cities) at midnight ALONE without the fear that someone will attack me any second. Last week a Malaysian friend who has been living in Petaling Jaya for years came for a visit. While she was here, we walked back to my apartment from the train station on foot around 10pm. She told me, she would not have walked on her own without me. She said, on the way, there’s a man sitting on the bench along the sidewalk and she thinks he could pose a danger to her life. As a matter of fact, I hardly notice there’s a man SITTING ON THE BENCH and what more to say how can it be possible that this man could be a threat. When i mentioned this to my Mainland Chinese friend, she asked me, is the security in Malaysia so bad that my Malaysian friend is always thinking any man or human around her can be a threat? How can it be possible the security in Malaysia is worse than mainland china?

While this could be due to individual personality, then it just struck me, what have we become as Malaysian? Are we always constantly living in FEAR? I think it’s getting ridiculously extreme, the level of our fear. How could it be possible that fear is part and parcel of our society? Is this a new Malaysian culture in Bolehland? When my brother was actively speaking out on Facebook about his dissatisfaction about issues in Kuching or generally in Malaysia (not sensitive issue, like racism, but more on what could be done better by the government in terms of administration and helping the people in needs), my mother actually asked him to stop writing them, in fear of offending the government and the risk of being arrested under ISA. I cannot agree with her why we should refrain from voicing out just because the government is not able to accept any form of criticism. Growing up, we were brainwashed in our education that ‘you shall not criticise the government, you must thank Dr M, you are blessed, we are the best country in the world’, but reality sets in and we are shattered from our ‘dreams’. Continue reading “Sarawak – Baby steps for Change”

By Zairil Khir Johari
April 16, 2011

APRIL 16 — It is now late at night on the final day of the Sarawak campaign. I am exhausted, as is everyone else on both sides of the divide.

It has been a gruelling campaign, especially for those of us who have had to criss-cross the vast state. Nevertheless, the tour is now over and in the evening of the morrow we will be met with either victory or defeat.

I will not attempt to predict the result as I will leave that to those more informed and capable. I would, however, be pleased to share my own personal observations of the mood, characters and happenings of the last 10 days.

The campaign, at least on our part, rocketed off (pardon the pun) to a flying start. Buoyed by a great sense of collective excitement, we went in with all guns blazing.

In Kuching, we chose to pit a young female newcomer against an incumbent assistant minister, thereby bringing the battle to the BN’s doorstep in a bid to wipe them clean in the south bank of the state capital.

To boost her campaign, her nomination was accompanied by none other than Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, with political secretary in tow.

Our posture was an offensive one as the constituency in question, Batu Kawah, has traditionally been a BN stronghold. We lined up our heavy artillery and proceeded to fire, night after night, entertaining Kuching with our well-choreographed ceramahs and our yellow-billed mascot that quickly became an overnight hit of mammoth proportions, far exceeding our expectations.
Continue reading “The last 10 days”

Joe Fernandez
Free Malaysia Today
April 16, 2011

The bottomline is that it must be about change and reform in the politics of the state.

Unless a miracle happens today at the polling booths, the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) has virtually sown up this state election with at least 30 seats “in the bag” even before polling begins. This figure, less than the magical but easily obtainable majority of 36 seats for BN in the State Legislaive Assembly, is based on reading the harsh realities on the ground and comparisons with the line-up of candidates in the 71 seats at stake.

The opposition is “assured” so far of 16 seats, that is, 14 to DAP – Bukit Kota against Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) being its “sole” remaining battle – and two PKR seats, namely Batu Lintang wrested from the Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) and Kerian from the Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP).

The Chinese and urban community in Sarawak continues to form a solid vote bank against the alleged abuses and excesses of the Taib regime. Much of these votes are unlikely to budge despite a mixture of a few carrots and mostly sticks from SUPP, Chief Minister Taib Mahmud and Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak. Continue reading “Miracle if opposition forms simple govt”

By Thomas Lee Seng Hock

Dear sisters and brothers in the faith,

Greetings in the Name of our beloved Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ. His love, grace, peace, joy and blessings be upon all of you who love, honour and obey him.

I write this open letter as a fellow believer and as a humble servant of the Almighty God to make a clarion call to my sisters and brothers in the faith to unite in solidarity of vision and mission to bring about a moral and spiritual transformation of our beloved nation, by our individual prayers and united corporate intercession, and through our vocal articulation and visible demonstration of our life and faith beyond the walls of our comfort zone within our churches. The time has come for us to wake up from our spiritual slumber, and stand up, without fear or favour, and be counted for the Lord Jesus.

Most, if not all, of you are surely aware and concerned that our beloved country is currently going through a very critical and uncertain time, during which various delicate and sensitive matters are being exploited and abused by the evil forces out to destroy the peaceful and harmonious co-existence of our multi-racial, multi-religious, multi-cultural, multi-ideological and multi-lingual nation. It is during such a time as this that we as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ need to go on our knees before the throne of grace to seek forgiveness, mercy and divine intervention to save our nation from disintegration and destruction.

The Church and State

One of the most heretical deceptions that the Christian community has been infused with by misguided western missionaries is the so-called separation of the church and state, meaning that Christians should not be involved in matters of the state, or take any stand on political issues. This teaching is based on a distorted exegesis of the statement by the Lord Jesus on the issue of paying tax: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21). Continue reading “Epistle to the Church in Malaysia”

By Hafiz Noor Shams
April 15, 2011

APRIL 15 — There is a common denominator to any kind of respectable democratic system. The side with the most votes generally wins. There lies the importance of inclusive politics in a diverse society typical in Malaysia.

It is not enough to appeal to only one specific community in a competitive democracy as a whole. There is always an extra vote somewhere outside of the community that can make a difference. The communal divides have to be crossed just because those who fail will lose the democratic competition.

One of those divides in this country is language. There is no doubt that this divide exists in Kuching.

I have been in the Sarawak capital for nearly two weeks now and I have been trailing the state election campaigns of the DAP very closely. This gives me the opportunity to observe the party’s strategies and operations firsthand with respect to the election.

Kuching of the south bank — Padungan, Pending, Kota Sentosa and Batu Kawa — are Chinese-majority areas. In two of those areas, the Chinese make up no less than 90 per cent of the total voters.

At the same time, it is inevitable for an impartial observer to conclude that the DAP is primarily a Chinese-based party. It is ethnically more diverse than any other political parties in Malaysia, with the exception of its Pakatan Rakyat partner PKR.

That does not negate its Chinese characteristic, however. This statement cannot be any further than the truth in Kuching, where its active membership reflects the demography of the city.

The composition of Kuching makes it only natural for Chinese to function as the primary language in the city. It is not a wonder that the DAP had used only Chinese for its political communication here in the past. There were not too many reasons for the local chapter to change. Continue reading “DAP’s tilt at inclusiveness”

By Hafiz Noor Shams

MARCH 31 — I am tired of politics revolving around personality. With it comes excessive feudal culture and ugly mudslinging all too frequently. One can never truly escape it but there are other issues of actual importance if one wants to escape the ugliness of it all. These other issues are the ones that truly affect our livelihood. These issues involve our jobs, our savings and our taxes, among others.

Until very recently, Malaysian politics was grazing at the level that makes politics a worthy field to match its name. From military procurement to the mass rail transit system and to nuclear power, things that matter took the limelight.

For a period, there was nuance in the political debate held in the public sphere. It was a breath of fresh air from the stale old stuff of race and religion.

One example that took public debates to the next level was Pakatan Rakyat’s Buku Jingga. Although I do not necessarily agree with some points, I can definitely appreciate how the Buku Jingga forced both sides of the divide to raise the level of debates beyond name-calling. That is the greatest contribution of Buku Jingga.

There were other matters running parallel to this. One was the sodomy trial involving Anwar Ibrahim and Saiful Bukhari Azlan, which is still ongoing of course. Ongoing or not, the issue is dead to me. I have lost interest in it.

What made it even more forgettable were the outrageous details. Listening or reading graphic descriptions associated with the trial created a sensation that I call sodomy fatigue.

Yes, there is a feeling that the system is being manipulated at Anwar’s expense. Yes, there is a feeling of injustice committed against Anwar. Yes, he is important. Yes, he has a significant role to play in instituting a competitive democratic system in the country. Continue reading “What’s important, and what’s not”

By P Ramakrishnan | Aliran President

Was Anwar’s bid to takeover Putrajaya on 16 September 2008 a “big fat lie” as Najib has claimed? P Ramakrishnan reminds us about a certain trip to Taiwan.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak was reported by The Sunday Star (20 March 2011) as having said that PKR had gone to the extent of telling the ‘biggest political lie of the century’ when it announced it would take over the government on 16 September 2008.

“We have to keep repeating this because human memory is short and they forget, but we must remind the people that it was the biggest political lie of the century,’ he said.

He said PKR leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had made the Barisan Nasional worried when he claimed that more than 30 of the coalition’s elected representatives would cross over, “But in the end, it was all a big fat lie’ he added.

Continue reading “Was it a big fat lie, Mr PM?”

By Lisa Ng | Loyar Burok

As we bring #WhyMalaysia week to a close, Lisa Ng writes a heartfelt customer complaint letter to our tanah tumpah darah, our beloved Bolehland, Malaysia.

My dear Malaysia, it doesn’t get more melodramatic than this, does it? “This” being about whether to stick with you till “death do us part” or to walk away, even if for a little while, especially if there is evidence of ill-treatment.

You see, for Christians, marriage is an unbreakable covenant between God and the couple. Some people would call it a “contractual promise” of sorts. Others would say that, however we term it, the general principle of faithfulness applies to Man and Motherland. The only difference is, even Christians are not so cruel that they insist we stick with our hurtful spouse (or even parent in some cases) if our wellbeing is at stake.

That is why my Conscience was clear when my family decided to depart from your bosom to—not necessarily greener—but relatively safer pastures. At least for now.
Continue reading “Why, Malaysia?”

by Zairil Khir Johari

NB: This article was first published in the March 2011 issue of The Rocket.

“A new star rises in the eastern sky – a star of freedom for yet another Asian people. A new hope comes into being, a dream long cherished now materialises. It is freedom for the Malayan people and once this torch of freedom is lit let us hold it up high so that all around us will glow with radiant happiness. Let freedom be secured for all the law-abiding people. There shall be freedom of worship, freedom of speech, freedom of want, freedom of association, freedom of assembly and freedom of movement.” – Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra, 1957

The aspirations above were cast 54 years ago by the buoyant father of a fledgling nation. Were he alive today he would undoubtedly lament over the fact that we, his children, have collectively failed to live up to his ideals of nationhood. The torch that he lit is now all but extinguished.

Over the last five and a half decades, every basic tenet aforementioned has been compromised for the sake of political and economic expediency by a government intent on maintaining their stranglehold on power. But what’s worse, we let it happen.
Continue reading “When Change Beckons”

by Robert Fisk
Independent.co.uk
Saturday, 26 February 2011

The Middle East earthquake of the past five weeks has been the most tumultuous, shattering, mind-numbing experience in the history of the region since the fall of the Ottoman empire. For once, “shock and awe” was the right description.

The docile, supine, unregenerative, cringing Arabs of Orientalism have transformed themselves into fighters for the freedom, liberty and dignity which we Westerners have always assumed it was our unique role to play in the world. One after another, our satraps are falling, and the people we paid them to control are making their own history – our right to meddle in their affairs (which we will, of course, continue to exercise) has been diminished for ever.

The tectonic plates continue to shift, with tragic, brave – even blackly humorous – results. Countless are the Arab potentates who always claimed they wanted democracy in the Middle East. King Bashar of Syria is to improve public servants’ pay. King Bouteflika of Algeria has suddenly abandoned the country’s state of emergency. King Hamad of Bahrain has opened the doors of his prisons. King Bashir of Sudan will not stand for president again. King Abdullah of Jordan is studying the idea of a constitutional monarchy. And al-Qa’ida are, well, rather silent. Continue reading “The destiny of this pageant lies in the Kingdom of Oil”