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Towards A Developed Malaysia – Part 2

By M. Bakri Musa

[Presented at the Third Annual Alif Ba Ta Forum, “1Malaysia Towards Vision 2020,” Rochester Institute of Technology, NY, December 5, 2009, organized by Kelab UMNO NY-NJ. The presentation can be viewed at www.youtube.com (search under “Bakri Musa RIT”) or through this link]

Part Two of Six: Diamond of Development

In my book Towards A Competitive Malaysia, I relate how the four cardinal elements – leaders, people, culture, and geography – govern a society’s trajectory of development. Each element influences and in turn is being influenced by the other three, as illustrated by my “Diamond of Development” diagrammatic representation. When all four factors are favorable, we have a virtuous cycle propelling that society quickly towards progress. When one element is wanting, it quickly exerts its negative influence on the other three, and soon we would have a vicious cycle leading towards a quick downward spiral.

An important caveat to my diamond of development is that it presumes peace. When a nation is at war or in conflict, the only certainty is death and destruction, not development. This is a much-needed reminder for a plural society like Malaysia. Just look at Northern Ireland and Sri Lanka.
Continue reading “Towards A Developed Malaysia – Part 2”

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Hanif’s “pagar makan padi” indictment – 50th Merdeka anniversary only meaningful if IPCMC announced before August 31

The verdict is now in 27 months after the Royal Police Commission Report in May 2005 to create an incorruptible, efficient, professional and world-class police service to reduce crime, eradicate corruption and respect human rights — a police force which is not only more rotten than before Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi became Prime Minister, but with the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) and the Attorney-General’s Chambers equally tarnished for “Harap Pagar, Pagar Makan Padi”!

This harsh judgment was not made by Opposition leaders and NGO critics of government, but by a venerable pillar of the establishment, the former and longest-serving Inspector-General of Police and Deputy Chairman of the Royal Police Commission, Tun Hanif Omar in his Sunday Star column with a title which is an indictment on all the three “vital institutions” — “THE FENCE THAT EATS THE RICE”!

Hanif’s article is even more condemnatory of the rot in the police force than the Royal Police Commission report when everyone should be singing praises for a reformed police after the implementation of the Commission’s 125 recommendations to create an incorruptible, efficient and professional world-class police service.

Instead this is what Hanif wrote yesterday:

I briefed the Royal Commission that police corruption was so extensive that a very senior ACA officer had confided in me and another top retired police officer that 40% of the senior officers could be arrested without further investigations — strictly on the basis of their lifestyles. One state police chief had a net worth of RM18mil. My friend and I had watched the force getting deeper and deeper into the morass of corruption. ..

“I could not help telling the ACA officer that he really had his work cut out for him and that his fight against corruption was the most important fight facing the country but I hoped that he could effectively stamp out this corruption without destroying our PDRM which had done such yeomen service to the nation.

But what has the police to show in the follow-up to the Royal Police Commission Report?

Hanif lamented that although the Police Royal Commission Report was made public two-and-a-quarter years ago, “yet PDRM has still not burnished its image”.

He wrote: Continue reading “Hanif’s “pagar makan padi” indictment – 50th Merdeka anniversary only meaningful if IPCMC announced before August 31″

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50th Merdeka Anniversary National Mission – restore Malaysia’s position as No. 2 in Asia in economic development

The ING Insurance Agency Force Association Malaysia (INGIAFAM) must be commended for its success in hosting the biggest-ever insurance convention in its history on the occasion of its 25th anniversary with some 2,500 participants.

I am very impressed by the vim, verve, vitality and vigour exuded by the organizers and participants of this Conference and I have no doubt that if these qualities could be extended to the national stage, Malaysia can hold her proper place in the forefront of nations in this challenging era of globalization.

The theme of the ING Insurance National Convention 2007, “Honour — Gratitude — Appreciation”, cannot be more appropriate as the nation is celebrating half-a-century of nationhood on its 50th Merdeka Anniversary. The Conference theme, “Honour — Gratitude — Appreciation”, is not confined just to your family, relatives, your work colleagues and customers, but also to the nation, for we are all Malaysian patriots who love this land and want the best for our country.

Applying your conference theme “Honour — Gratitutde — Appreciation” to the nation, it is worth pondering how to make the 50th Merdeka Anniversary most meaningful for Malaysia.

When we achieved Merdeka 50 years ago in 1957, the nation was second in Asia after Japan in terms of economic development. Today, we have lost out to Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong and risks being overtaken by Thailand, Vietnam and even Indonesia.

The 50th Merdeka Anniversary will be the suitable occasion for the private and public sectors and all Malaysians to commit themselves to a National Mission — to restore the nation’s position when we achieved Merdeka in 1957 when we were second in Asia after Japan in terms of economic development. If we cannot beat Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong, at least we must be in the same league with these countries as well as ensure that we can never be overtaken by Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia. Continue reading “50th Merdeka Anniversary National Mission – restore Malaysia’s position as No. 2 in Asia in economic development”

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My Invitation to the Oxford Roundtable

My Invitation to the Oxford Roundtable

My invitation to The Oxford Roundtable
Azly Rahman

I received an invitation to be a member/participant of a roundtable on cultural diversity held at Britain’s oldest institution of higher education, Oxford University. I was nominated to be part of the group of selected 40 individuals from the American higher education system who will be discussing issues of race, ethnicity, poverty and religious intolerance in this hundreds of-years-old institution that has produced important Western scientists, philosophers, inventors and religious leaders.

I wish to thank that person/institution that nominated me. Through a series of notes I wish to share my thought on what I learned from the experience. I will also share visual data of what I will manage to capture. Here are some thoughts I will be bringing to the institution that symbolizes the intellectual epicenter of the British Empire.

Culture and transformation

I will be presenting thoughts on the idea of cultural change as it is impacted by globalisation and the rapidisation of technology. “Culture” has become an important debate in an age wherein boundaries continue to shift and peoples began to claim their rights as citizens of the country they are in, and the meaning of democracy is beginning to be understood. Culture, to me is not merely about the house we inhabit or merely the tools we use, but a combination of both and more than this, it is about the way we enrich the sense of humanism we embody.

I am reminded by what the Spanish philosopher Ortega y Gasset said, “Man does not have nature… what he has is history.” This seems to be a notion of humanity worth exploring if our belief about human evolution takes into consideration how human beings take what is available from nature and transform the resources into tools and institutions, and then turn institutions into tools that will transform human beings into classes of people who have the power to turn less powerful others into machines or automatons who have lost their soul to the spirit of the machine. Continue reading “My Invitation to the Oxford Roundtable”