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Enhancing Human Capital Through Health

by M. Bakri Musa

Two well-recognized factors to enhancing the quality of human capital are health and education. When citizens are healthy and well educated, their capacity to be productive and contributing members of society is greatly enhanced. The converse, when they are unhealthy and poorly educated, they are a burden upon society.

To the pair I would add a third: freedom. To get the best out of people, we must grant them space to enable them to develop their talent and pursue their passion. Then we should grant them the freedom to express themselves and their creations.

Great and inspiring works in the arts and sciences are the creations of those who are passionate in what they do. Such passions come only when people are given the freedom to pursue their dreams and aspirations. Such endeavors are rarely undertaken purely in the pursuit of honor or wealth but for their own intrinsic pleasures and rewards.

Honors and material rewards may well follow, and we should not minimize their importance. They help inspire and motivate the rest – the talented and otherwise – who need the extra nudge.

As for freedom, there may be exceptions to my statement but they are more apparent than real. Ananta Pramoedya Toer produced his greatest literary works while imprisoned under the most trying physical conditions on Pulau Buru. The authorities may have imprisoned him physically, but as he contemptuously asserted in his autobiography, they could not imprison his will and thought, though not for lack of trying. Continue reading “Enhancing Human Capital Through Health”

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JHEOA benefited bureaucrats for 50 years but not Orang Asli

I congratulated the Minister for Rural and Regional Development, Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib for getting the nomination for the contest for Umno Deputy President though I remarked that his integrity was questioned by none other than his former boss and former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.

(This was what Mahathir said on November 12, 2008 on Mohammad’s successful nomination for the Umno Deputy President contest: “I think there is a lot of hanky panky going on. When you know that someone has a bad history is still getting support, I think that bad history has relevance to his support.”)

This was my preface when seeking clarifications during Muhammad’s winding-up of his Ministry during the 2009 Budget committee stage debate.

Muhammd put up a stoic front and refused to be drawn into responding to Mahathir’s remarks although there was the usual raucous yelling and protests by the UMNO parliamentary jeer-leaders. Continue reading “JHEOA benefited bureaucrats for 50 years but not Orang Asli”

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Ronnie Liu charged – third political trial after 308 political tsunami

I was at the Petaling Jaya Magistrate’s Court 3 where DAP Selangor State Exco member Ronnie Liu was charged with a new-fangled offence – abetting in the obstruction of a public officer in the carrying out of his duty without the alleged principal offender being charged.

If convicted, Ronnie will be liable to the penalties of the parent charge of Section 186 of the Penal Code on obstruction of a public officer in carrying out his duties, i.e. RM10,000 fine, two years jail or both. This can lead to forfeiture of Ronnie’s position as Selangor State Assemblyman and Exco member and disqualification from standing for any elective office for five years.

Ronnie’s charge is the third political trial after the March 8 political tsunami, after blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin for criminal defamation and sedition and Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for sodomy.

Clearly, the Barisan Nasional leaders have neither heard the message nor learn the lessons of the March 8 “political tsunami” which, in the relevant case, is that there should be no more political trials in the country. Continue reading “Ronnie Liu charged – third political trial after 308 political tsunami”

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No PAC report on Eurocopter and no PAC investigation into HSBB and BII scandals after more than a month

No Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report on its inquiry into the RM1.6 billion Eurocopter deal has been tabled in Parliament today although the PAC Chairman Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid had promised last Wednesday that the PAC report would be ready to be tabled in two or three days.

More than a month had passed since Azmi announced on Oct. 14 that the PAC would investigate into three scandals which had shook Parliament and the country – the Eurcopter helicopter, Bank International Indonesia (BII) and the high speed broadband (HSBB) deals but there has been no inquiry into the latter two apart from a most unsatisfactory inquiry into the first.

This does not reflect well on the chairmanship of PAC by Azmi.

Why is the PAC reluctant to go full-steam to conduct investigations into the propriety, accountability and integrity of the HSBB and BII deals? Continue reading “No PAC report on Eurocopter and no PAC investigation into HSBB and BII scandals after more than a month”

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Najib should not leave the country with a RM7 billion “black hole” in 2009 Budget

As the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak is leaving for Peru and the United States tomorrow and will not be back until early next month, when the 2009 Budget would have been passed by Parliament, there is one important thing he should do in the next 24 hours before he goes abroad.

Najib should not leave behind a RM7 billion “black hole” in the 2009 Budget and should direct Second Finance Minister Tan Sri Mohd Nor Yakcop to take necessary action to incorporate the economic stimulus package into the 2009 Budget for parliamentary approval.

All over the world, governments are preparing their countries to face the world’s worst economic crisis in 80 years. China has announced a US$586 billion economic stimulus package while South Korea unveiled a US$11 billion stimulus package. In the United States, Congress is working with the Bush Administration to craft a US$700 billion bailout of troubled US banks.

Malaysia, however, is an oddity. Although the government has announced a measly RM7 billion economic stimulus package when winding up the debate on the 2009 Budget on November 4, this RM7 billion economic stimulus package is quite a mirage as it has not been formally presented to Parliament by way of an amendment to the 2009 Budget and is therefore not before Parliament for approval when every sen of government expenditure must be passed by the House. Continue reading “Najib should not leave the country with a RM7 billion “black hole” in 2009 Budget”

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Why PM and DPM out of the country at same time this week – breaking 30-yr standing rule?

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is in Uzbekistan for a four-day official visit, accompanied by his wife and Cabinet Ministers including Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz and Senator Tan Sri Amirsham Abdul Aziz (both from the Prime Minister’s Department), Datuk Shafie Apdal (Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage) and Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin (Higher Education). Abdullah will only return back to office for duty on Friday, 21st November 2008.

Tomorrow, the Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak will leave with another team of Cabinet Ministers for the 16th Apec Economic Leaders Meeting (AELM) in Lima, Peru, starting this week.

It has been reported that Najib will go ahead to New York from Peru and will only be back home early next month.

This would mean that for at least two days on Wednesday and Thursday, both the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister would be out of the country at the same time – which will run counter to the 30-year standing rule or of longer vintage that both the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister should not be out of the country at the same.

Why has this standing rule been broken this week? Continue reading “Why PM and DPM out of the country at same time this week – breaking 30-yr standing rule?”

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RM7 billion “black hole” in 2009 Budget – Najib has got lousy advisers

Yesterday, the Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman presented a walloping RM2.78 billion budget for the state for 2009, declaring that the amount allocated would be able to keep up the economic momentum to ensure Sabah’s continuous growth, especially amidst the current economic turmoil.

He also announced a higher state development fund for next year to the tune of RM1.040 billion.

Very impressive but where have all the past billion-ringgit development funds for Sabah gone to, and will the huge budget and massive develoment funds announced by Musa yesterday go the way of past funds – disappearing into thin air instead of translated into projects on the ground to directly benefit the people?

In Tawau this morning, I visited Jalan Sin Onn, an important artery for Tawau but which is choked with traffic. The Barisan Nasional Government had promised to build Jalan Sin Onn into a four-lane dual carriageway, way back in the Seventh Malaysia Plan as part of its “Sabah Baru” manifesto to capture power in Sabah state.

It was in the Seventh Malaysia Plan as well as in the Eighth Malaysia Plan. It is now in the Ninth Malaysia Plan but will it again be shunted to the Tenth Malaysia Plan into a ‘never-never” future, without a single foot of construction? Continue reading “RM7 billion “black hole” in 2009 Budget – Najib has got lousy advisers”

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Melamine contamination in the new “kangkong” menu of the new MCA leadership

Immediately after the 55th MCA General Assembly last month, Umno MPs objected noisily in Parliament when I referred to the new “kangkong” MCA leadership, complaining that I was too quick-on-the draw in deriding and running down the newly-elected MCA national leaders at the just-concluded MCA party elections with Datuk Ong Tee Kiat as the new MCA President and Datuk Seri Dr. Chua Soi Lek as the new MCA Deputy President.

This was of course not the case, as the term “kangkong” MCA leadership was first coined, which is completely value-neutral, was coined from inside the MCA – a play of the surnames of the new MCA President and Deputy President, which taken together, sounds like the Chinese term for “kangkong”. (“Ong” and “Chua”)

These Umno MPs were not really stout and reliable defenders of MCA dignity and reputation for they were actually the ones frequently guilty of the uncomradely act of bullying MPs and Ministers from the other Barisan Nasional parties, as illustrated by the recent attacks on the Gerakan Wanita chief and Deputy Information Minister, Datuk Tan Lian Hoe – but the mentality of being “bully victims” had become so ingrained and entrenched in the thinking of MCA, Gerakan, MIC MPs and those from other BN component parties that nobody in BN dared to speak up tro defend Lian Hoe from these attacks except for DAP and Pakatan Rakyat MPs!

Although the Prime Minister and UMNO President, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, denied at the recent MCA General Assembly that UMNO is a “bully party” to MCA and other BN component parties, nobody in MCA, Gerakan, MIC and the Sabah and Sarawak component parties really buy his denial. Continue reading “Melamine contamination in the new “kangkong” menu of the new MCA leadership”

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Malaysian universities losing out to Thailand, Indonesia and Philippines

Malaysia is losing out in the unrelenting battle for international competitiveness among nations, with Malaysian universities even losing out to universities in Thailand, Indonesia and Philippines – something completely unthinkable in the first three decades of our nationhood.

For the second consecutive year, Malaysia had fallen completely out of the list of the world’s Top 200 Universities this year in the 2008 Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) – Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings.

The national shame of Malaysia falling completely out of the list of the world’s Top 200 Universities this year in the 2008 Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) – Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings is being compounded by the ignominy of Malaysian universities losing out not only to top universities in Singapore, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea but also to other South East Asian nations like Thailand, Indonesia and Philippines.

The 2008 THES-QS rankings should be a “wake-up” call to the Higher Education Minister and the Cabinet of the advanced crisis of higher education in Malaysia, but I have given up hope that the Barisan Nasional government is capable of “waking up”!

For the second consecutive year, there is not only not a single university in the 2008 THES-QS Top 200 Universities list, there is also not a single university in the separate ranking of Top 100 Universities for five subject areas – Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities; Life Sciences and Biomedicine; and Technology. Continue reading “Malaysian universities losing out to Thailand, Indonesia and Philippines”

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Launch of booklet “The Cries of Sabah”

Am in Tawau together with Tunku Aziz for the Tawau DAP Branch-cum-Sri Tanjong service centre opening this morning.

Tonight, will attend a history-making event, the first thousand-people political dinner in Tawau organized by Tawau DAP and the DAP’s sole Sabah State Assemblyman Jimmy Wong at Lau Gek Poh Memorial Hall.

This is another historic first by Tawau DAP. Last year, Tawau DAP organized a very successful and capacity-crowd lunch-time ceramah and during the March 8 general election, pioneered a breakfast ceramah.

There are also other embarrassing “firsts:” in Tawau, as I found during my visit. The power breakdown is getting so regular and prolonged that Tawau’s daily newspaper, Morning Post, was forcibly turned into an evening paper when it could be distributed only at 4 pm!

Tonight, I will also launch a booklet “The Cries of Sabah”. Continue reading “Launch of booklet “The Cries of Sabah””

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Kedah 50% bumiputra housing controversy being resolved

The controversy of 50% bumiputra housing quota in Kedah is being resolved.

I raised this issue at the Pakatan Rakyat Leadership Council in Parliament on Tuesday and I am given to understand that there is no change from the previous position on bumiputra housing quota in the state.

Hopefully, this matter can be clarified and set to rest without further prolongation of the controversy. Continue reading “Kedah 50% bumiputra housing controversy being resolved”

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Hamid – when are you going to assume personal responsibility for rampant crime?

The Selangor Chief Police Officer, Deputy Comm Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar should apologise to Ronnie Liu for the unprecedentedly ill-mannered, rough and high-handed police arrest of the Selangor state exco at the Selangor state secretariat on Wednesday, just in time to prevent him from attending the weekly state exco meeting as if he posed instant and major threat to national security and public law and order.

The Police has to date failed to give any credible reason why the arrest should be effected in so rude and crude a manner, when the police should know that Ronnie was not about to be a fugitive from justice and from his past record, would have fully co-operated with the police in his own arrest.

I am not here disputing Ronnie’s arrest – putting aside for the moment the merits and demerits of the charge pending against him – but the manner of the arrest of a State Exco, raising the question asked by Malaysians not only in Selangor but throughout the country that if the police could be so highhanded and ill-mannered when dealing with a Selangor State Exco, how could the ordinary man and woman in the street expect good manners and courtesy from the Police in their everyday interactions?

Ronnie is to be charged on Monday under Section 186 of the Penal Code for the offence of obstructing a public servant in the discharge of his functions, which is punishable on conviction to a two-year jail sentence, RM10,000 fine or both. Continue reading “Hamid – when are you going to assume personal responsibility for rampant crime?”

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“Bastard in the House” (2) – “Spoilt brats” running BNBBC

The latest tantrum by the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Barisan Nasional Backbenchers Club (BNBBC) breathing fire and brimstone against the formation of the Parliamentary Caucus on the Integrity and Independence of the Judiciary is most unseemly but typically characteristic of the BNBBC since it was taken over by leaders who had conducted themselves not very different from “spoilt brats”.

In the previous Parliament, when the BNBBC was helmed by Datuk Shahrir Samad (now Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister), there was class, quality and a palpable commitment to parliamentary integrity, excellence and professionalism but which got Shahrir into trouble when he stood up in Parliament to support my motion to refer a Barisan Nasional MP to the Committee of Privileges over the “One-Eye Closed” episode.

Even when the BNBBC was subsequently taken over by the then Larut MP, Dato’ Raja Ahmad Zainuddin bin Raja Haji Omar (who is now back as Perak State Assemblyman), utmost efforts were made by the BNBBC to maintain parliamentary standards.

All these commendable benchmarks went down the drain in the present Parliament after the March 8 “political tsunami”, when a new BNBBC leadership took over and nobody has done more than the present BNBBC Chairman and Deputy Chairman to bring shame, dishonour and disrepute to Parliament.

The greatest “achievement” and scandal of this BNBBC leadership is its Taiwain “agricultural study tour” for BN MPs to foil a “916 sky-change” – but no BNBBC official could answer my simple question during the 2009 Budget debate on October 15 what lessons they have learnt from their Taiwan trip to explain why Taiwan, which was poorer and more backward than Malaya when we achieved independence in 1957, had shot forward to become a more advanced and richer country while Malaysia had been losing out to one country after another in the past half-century, whether to Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong or South Korea, and is in danger of losing out to even more countries like Thailand, Vietnam and even Indonesia?


Continue reading ““Bastard in the House” (2) – “Spoilt brats” running BNBBC”

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Note to A Malaysian Obama

by M. Bakri Musa

On Tuesday November 4th, 2008, America became, in the words of comedian Jon Stewart, more of a “show” nation and less of a “tell” one. In electing Barack Obama, America shows the world that it is now closer to being that “more perfect Union,” to quote the preamble to its constitution. Nations are like people; it matters not where you have been, more important is where you are headed.

In his victory speech Obama cited 106-year old Ann Dixon Cooper from the South who recalls only too well the time when women and blacks were not allowed to vote. The fate of blacks was worse. In his stirring speech Obama challenged Americans to imagine their nation a century hence; what his young daughters would experience should they be lucky enough to live as long as Ms. Cooper. Would they too see comparable progress as that witnessed by her?

Obama’s victory captured the world’s imagination, especially in Kenya where his father was born, and also in Malaysia, but for a far different reason. I had intimation of this when on meeting Malaysian students in New York the weekend before the elections I was asked whether Malaysia is ready for her own Barack Obama. Before replying, I countered with a question of my own: Is there a Malaysian Obama, or more specifically, is Malaysia capable of producing one? Continue reading “Note to A Malaysian Obama”

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Police – back off, be neutral and stop being catspaw to Umno leaders

Why was DAP Selangor State Executive councillor, Ronnie Liu arrested in so rough and high-handed a manner just before the Selangor State Exco meeting yesterday at the Selangor State Secretariat in Shah Alam?

One would have thought that Ronnie had become a dangerous criminal or had been guilty of some capital crime from the police operation, refusing to allow Ronnie to attend the Selangor State Exco meeting although he promised to surrender himself at the Puchong police station later.

In the event, Ronnie was in the Puchong police station for about 15 minutes when his brother came to post RM2,000 bail – to be charged at the Petaling Jaya magistrate’s court on Monday.

What was Ronnie’s crime? For allegedly obstructing a Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) officer from carrying out his duty. When? Nov. 2 last year.

Is this the latest case of malicious prosecution? Continue reading “Police – back off, be neutral and stop being catspaw to Umno leaders”

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DNA Identification Bill – motion to refer it to Select Committee on Dec. 8

I will propose on December 8, when Parliament resumes debate on government bills after passing the 2009 Budget, a motion to refer the DNA Identification Bill – given second-reading passage on August 28 – to an all-party Select Committee to draft adequate safeguards to prevent police abuses and to protect human rights, in particular the right to privacy of Malaysians.

The country needs a DNA law to nab the guilty in crime and exonerate the innocent and there should be a healthy national debate on how Malaysia can have the best and most efficient DNA legislation in the world from the perspectives of science, criminology and human rights, learning the experience of other countries with DNA laws.

In Malaysia, however, public debate on the DNA Identification Bill has been overshadowed by grave concerns that it could be used as an instrument of political victimization and repression.

As Malaysia is suffering from an acute multiple crisis of confidence in key institutions of governance (never before in the nation’s history have police reports been lodged against the Attorney-General, the Inspector-General of Police and very soon the Chief Justice), it is beholden on the government to ensure that the DNA Identification Bill can secure the support of all sectors of society and not become a controversial subject of distrust and division among Malaysians.

This can be achieved if the DNA Identification Bill is the result of a fully consultative process involving all political parties and all sectors of society.
Continue reading “DNA Identification Bill – motion to refer it to Select Committee on Dec. 8”

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Azalina – honour your promise and table in Parliament PriceWaterhouse report on Pempena scandals

This is to remind the Tourism Minister, Datuk Azalina Othman that it is more than a week since her promise in Parliament to table the PriceWaterhouse report on the various financial scandals of Tourism Ministry’s subsidiary, Pempena Sdn. Bhd.

When replying to me in Parliament on Monday, 3rd November on the 2009 Budget, Azalina said that PriceWaterhouse report into the financial scandals of Pempena would only be ready two days later on Wednesday, and I specifically reminded her at the time to keep her undertaking to present the PriceWaterhouse report in Parliament.

In fact, when she was further questioned on the PriceWaterhouse report, the Deputy Speaker, Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, who was in the chair at the time, came to her rescue, urging MPs to “bersabar tunggu hari Rabu”…”hingga laporan selesai”.

In my speech on the 2009 budget on October 15, I had referred to the Oct. 13, 2008 expose by the Sun in the report “Over the limit…PSD ALLOWS MINISTER ONLY EIGHT STAFF, BUT 20 ON TOURISM MINISTRY’S PAYROLL”, calling in Parliament for a full explanation for the serious allegation that the tourism minister’s office “has excess baggage”, being overstaffed as “the appointment of some 20 staff breaches the Public Services Department (PSD)’s regulations limiting the appointments to only eight” and that “it defies a Treasury circular on cost-cutting and austerity”. Continue reading “Azalina – honour your promise and table in Parliament PriceWaterhouse report on Pempena scandals”

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Is Telekom Malaysia trying to kill REDtone?

The Second Finance Minister, Datuk Nor Mohd Yakcop gave a most unsatisfactory reply in Parliament yesterday to the mountain of questions by MPs, mostly from Pakatan Rakyat, about the award of the RM11.3 billion High Speed Broadband (HSBB) monopoly to Telekom Malaysia, together with a RM2.4 billion subsidy with taxpayers’ money.

I stood up during thd 2009 Budget debate on the Finance Ministry to ask whether the government is prepared to review its award of the HSBB project to Telekom Malaysia or to allow the building of another HSBB network as there is an offer by another company to do so without a single sen of subsidy in order to promote broadband liberalization and enhance competition.

To this question and those by other MPs on the rationale of awarding the HSBB to Telekom which will encourage Telekom monopoly and discourage broadband liberalisation, Nor Mohd gave an ambivalent reply saying that the government was prepared to review the HSBB project if necessary – which means nothing at all.

Either the government is reviewing the HSBB project awarded to Telekom towards calling for a proper tender to be called or it is not reviewing at all!

The arguments for and against the RM11.3 billion HSBB award to Telekom Malaysia and the government subsidy of RM2.4 billion had been canvassed in Parliament during the winding-up by the Energy, Water and Communications Minister Dato Shaziman bin Abu Mansor in the 2009 Budget policy debate on November 3, 2008. Continue reading “Is Telekom Malaysia trying to kill REDtone?”

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Eurocopter answers PAC must give in its report

I thank Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid for committing a grave parliamentary impropriety yesterday in compromising his position as the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman and trying to hit out at me in Parliament for my earlier criticisms of him in mishandling the PAC inquiry into the RM1.6 billion Eurocopter helicopter deal, resulting in our joint appearance before the media at yesterday’s lunch-break.

This has refocused parliamentary and national attention on the RM1.6 billion Cougar EC725 Eurocopter deal and the PAC inquiry, which I had described as the most important and high-profile PAC inquiry in the 51-year history of Malaysian Parliament.

Azmi gave a public undertaking yesterday that the PAC report into the Eurocopter inquiry would be ready to be tabled in two or three days.

I therefore expect the PAC report on its inquiry into the Eurocopter ideal to be tabled in Parliament by next Monday or Azmi should explain why he has broken his solemn undertaking both inside and outside the House. Continue reading “Eurocopter answers PAC must give in its report”

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Change Doesn’t Have to Take 400 Years to Happen

By Farish A. Noor

The electoral victory of Barack Obama as the new President of the United States of America is long overdue, and many of us are thankful for it. No, its not because the rest of us are racists who hate white men; and no, its not because we are captive to the essentialised idea that black Americans are all victims and are necessarily good and innocent, in toto. Its simply because change is refreshing and we believe that change is good and healthy for the nation and humanity in general.

I recall taking a flight from Frankfurt to Kuala Lumpur once, when the pilot spoke to the passengers before take off. Suddenly there was a collective gasp of surprise when we realised that our pilot was a woman! I was suddenly gripped by an overwhelming sense of relief and curious pride, for somewhere in my settled conscience the idea had been sedimented that all pilots (like all doctors, scientists and Presidents) had to be male. Throughout the flight I had to resist the temptation of bursting into the cockpit to congratulate her, and to tell her how proud I was to be flying in a plane piloted by a woman for a change. (Though of course because I am Muslim I would have been arrested immediately and handcuffed for fear of being a terrorist!)

That’s how change happens. It takes us by surprise and in a second its over and the historical moment has passed. But it requires that one vital element that makes change possible in the first place: human agency. There would not have been a woman pilot on my flight if this woman had not pursued her ambition to become a pilot relentlessly, never giving up on her dream despite the obstacles she may or may not have faced.

I am only raising this point now as I have noticed a rather disturbing, and potentially dangerous, narrative that has and is being spun in the wake of Obama’s victory. This is the narrative that the change that has come to the United States is due to the long historically determined and linear process of evolution; that we are told takes time, time and more time. We are fed the line that “Of course America has finally changed because it took four hundred years for black Americans to rise to where they are today.” Continue reading “Change Doesn’t Have to Take 400 Years to Happen”