Do Not Abuse 1Malaysia

Malaysia has long been labelled a country of first class infrastructure with a society of third world mentality. Though one should discount the appalling public transportation and faltering rural schools to justify this statement.

But yes, Malaysians are a third world society. If history stands to witness, Malaysians abuse everything that is provided to them. First, it was public infrastructure. Nowadays, we seem to have gone one step further in perverting government policies to satisfy our own personal interests. We simplify and misinterpret government policies, hence constipating the whole society building process. 

News was, Malaysians have already started to abuse our PM’s barely infant 1Malaysia concept. Malaysians saw the concept as an opening to demand unreasonable provisions from the government even as Najib has yet to reveal details of the concept. 

He did, though, summarize the three main thrust of the concept. Comprehensive acceptance, nationhood and social justice. These are noble virtues but I don’t see the opposition making any concessions. They would continue abusing the 1Malaysia concept as they have everything the government has afforded them since independence. Here are notable examples:

1. Infrastructure

Remember when phone booths used to exist? And remember how a working one never existed? A defect phone booth wasn’t neccesarily useless. In fact, the first form of texting (SMS) was invented with a phone booth. We vandalized them phone booths and signed off by either carving or using permanent pens to write stuff like “Jimmy was here” or “I love Amy”. The next passerby would then get our messages. We have since replaced phone booths with mobile phones and kids these days abuse them by taking naked pictures of themselves.

Primitive SMS Spam

2. The National Car

Mahathir established our own national carmaker in 1983 so that people could afford cheap cars and at the same time cultivate patriotism. The Proton maybe cheap and slow but the pride driving in one is priceless. Not only do Malaysians complain about the quality of Proton cars and the government‘s protectionist policies, we drive our Protons recklessly and cause accidents even when driving at low speed. Road accidents cause the highest number of deaths every year but accidents involving foreign made cars are comparatively less. Why do we hate our national car so much? 

3. The Freedom of Speech

The freedom of speech is guaranteed under the constitution. However, it is sad that many have exploited this right by criticizing the government and other authorities. Our founding fathers have gravely overestimated the intelligence of the people. Criticizing is not in our culture as it not polite to do so especially if the government says it is not constructive. Of course we may offer our objections and opinions. But only through pantuns (Malay poems).

4. The Democratic System

Half the nation abused the democratic system in 2008 by voting against BN. The Alliance didn’t grant this nation democratic elections to be voted out of power. People are allowed to vote every five years so that we could show our gratitude towards the UMNO led government. That’s why the ballot is secret, so that our sincerity is assured. 

5. The ISA

The ISA is another example subject to frequent abuse. The ISA may be a throwback from the colonial era but today it serves as a preventative measure to counter rising crime. But guess what do people do? They become candlelight terrorists. They hold candlelight vigils and strike angst into neighbourhoods during the night. When the police haul these terrorist and throw them into jail, they play victim and accuse the ISA of being draconian and undemocratic.

6. Blogs

The most recent, yet the most rampant of abuses. A recent survey showed that 93% of BN lawmakers do not know what “blog” stands for. Okay, that isn’t true. But nobody would be surprised, no?

Evil Plan Revealed: Anwar Wanted Sabahan as DPM

At a joint conference with U.S Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton on Thursday, Anifah Aman has revealed details about Anwar’s 16th Sept plan. To materialize his takeover of the government, Anwar has offered the Deputy Prime Minister’s post to the prominent Sabahan politician in an effort to engineer a crossover of east Malaysian lawmakers.

I think this revelation would come as a shock to many Malaysians. The deputy PM post has always been held by a west Malaysian Malay. The deputy PM is one missed heartbeat away to be the most powerful man in Malaysia and is traditionally groomed to be the successor when the PM retires.

West Malaysians would never imagine an east Malaysian being the PM. Historically, Sabah and Sarawak have never been part of the Malay Empires. Both only joined Malaysia in 1963 to achieve independence from the British. Since then, both states have consistently been anti-Malaya, Sabah even contemplated secession in the 80’s.

Anifah Aman is part of the prominent Aman family, which is widely considered as the Kennedys of Sabah. Ayub Aman was a former Minister during the Berjaya government while Anifah’s brother is currently the Chief Minister. Sabah may not have a royal sovereign but the Amans enjoy glamour and adoration of the Sabahan people as the royal families do in the Malay states.

However, an east Malaysian PM is the last thing west Malaysians need. Sabah may have joined mainstream politics in 1994 when UMNO established itself as the state government but that only happened because UMNO was backed by the Amans. This should also not be misunderstood that the anti-Malaya sentiments amongst Sabahans have since dwindled. The issue of oil royalty, state rights and disparate wealth distribution remain hardcoded in the Sabahans’ mindset.

Potential DPM

If a Sabahan becomes the PM one day, one can only expect retribution. First, the constitution will be amended to enforce Sabah’s political authority. Malay privileges will be abolished and replaced with affirmative action policies favouring east Malaysians. This would also force a civil unrest between the Malays and non-Malays in west Malaysia, hence ensuring that the more populated west Malaysia would not unite against the dominance of the Sabah. The status of Sabah would then be restored to a commonwealth, equal in status to the whole of Malaya. The Malay Sultans would then be stripped off their titles and banished to exile in Banggi island. The command of the army would then be transferred to Sabahan generals.

West Malaysia would no longer enjoy the income from the oil industry as it would be shifted to finance the construction of a new modern capital in Kota Kinabalu. The headquarter of Petronas at the KLCC will either be demolished or auctioned to bidders from Singpore or Indonesia. The main office would then be housed at a new and taller 120 story building in the new capital. Putrajaya would be turned into a large military base to counter possible uprisings.

To further safeguard the supremacy of east Malaysia, west Malaysia would be socially reengineered. The 11 west Malaysian states will no longer be considered as states. Instead their status will be downgraded to a district status. The large districts of Pahang and Selangor will be carved up into 5 new districts. Johor will be split into two where the southern part of Johor will be sold off to Singapore. The unprofitable district of Perlis will be given its independence.

As a pretext to counter the ongoing racial unrest, Parliament would be suspended and the Sabah state government would take over as interim government. The political system would then be revamped and electoral districts would be redrawn so that Sabah, Sarawak and Malaya would have the same number of parliamentary representation. As an exchange for full autonomous status, Sarawak would always back Sabah dominance.

The media would also be taken over to serve the new Sabah dominated government. In west Malaysia, Malay newspapers are encouraged to spread nationalism among the Malays and bash non-Malays and the same would be applied to the Chinese and Tamil media.

As a republic, the country’s outlook on social issues would be liberalized. West Malaysians would not be forced to accept Sabahan cultural hegemony. Instead, the neutral Western culture would be embraced. Malaysia would be turned into the strongest American ally in the region. This would also avoid international criticism over the new Malaysian government’s discriminatory treatment against its people. U.S pop culture would be heavily promoted and would play a significant role in the youth. Alcohol and sex will no longer be demonized. The MTV Asia music awards would be held in Malaysia every year.

The circumstances I mentioned above may seem unimaginable today. But a single misstep can change everything. Anwar’s plan to install a Sabahan as his deputy PM would be one very big mistake. After the failure of his 16th September plan, many still harbour hopes to one day see Anwar as PM. But Anwar is an old man with severe back injuries. That’s why who he chooses as his deputy is important. It has been revealed that he has gone against all customs and traditions and planned to install an east Malaysian as his deputy and successor. And I reveal to you today the most possible scenario should an east Malaysian become PM.

Najib Should Shave for Change

As we celebrate a month of Malaysia being cuddled in the safe, warm embrace of Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak (or dry and secure under the umbrella, whichever brand of imagery makes you heart flutter), I was prompted to take a look back into our long, glorious line of Prime Ministers (Tun Mahathir and maybe the other four), and realised that for our Dear Leader to succeed in bringing about the change we need and can believe in, he must shave off his moustache.

Greatness shining through even with a moustache

For starters, I’m sure the PM’s father would’ve imparted his wisdom clearly on him. And if Tun Razak was alive today and had a moustache, he would shave it. Why? Well, the second PM came to power to fix the situation the weak and ineffectual Tunku Abdul Rahman had created, namely having a weak government after the 1969 election which had to contend with opposing views. But the key point is that the Tunku HAD A MOUSTACHE. Tun Razak on the other hand, was clean shaven, and he took care of things damned well didn’t he? The NEP wouldn’t have gotten anywhere without this man and the clean-shaved mouth the great ideas that came to be expressed with it.

Left: Hopeless and unshaved. Right: Vigilant and wise men shave

Then came Tun Hussein Onn, who maintained Tun Razak’s ideas and got himself his own ‘Bapa’ title, which I can’t recall. This man had the great task of holding 800 delinquents in Kamunting from endangering the rest of us and he had the smarts to appoint the great Tun Mahathir his deputy. And HE was clean-shaven.

Stern shaven face

Finally, Tun Mahathir was given a chance to lead our nation, not weighed down by any onerous and superfluous moustache. He gave us Proton, and some other stuff! He hired two good assistants, Musa Hitam and Ghaffar Baba. Both clean-shaven. It may be that with less time spent grooming a moustache, one has more time to come up with original ideas or learn from the economic policies of Koreans.

Shaved goodness

Capable assistants unburdened with facial hair

Then trouble came. And a big trouble it was – the moustachioed Anwar Ibrahim, who was so sloppy and arrogant he even had a goatee! This hairy-faced man then went on to challenge his caring mentor, the same one who nurtured his talent and aided his rise through UMNO. Perhaps the Tun would’ve helped Anwar on his baby steps better if he had taught him to shave. We all know what happened next. Two men with facial hair tried to destroy our country after Tun Mahathir left – Anwar and Pak Lah. One can occasionally see Khairy Jamaluddin with unshaved residue as well.

Evil bearded man

Evil bearded men

If you look on the Pemuda UMNO website (http://www.pemudaumno.org.my) and check out its ‘sejarah’ section, you would see the blatant idolising of Anwar. Some choice snippets:-

“Masih saya ingat lagi suasana muram yang menyelubungi seluruh perwakilan dari 144 bahagian Pergerakan Pemuda UMNO sewaktu saudara Anwar Ibrahim menyatakan pendiriannya untuk meletakkan jawatan sebagai Ketua Pemuda Pergerakan Pemuda UMNO”

“Saudara Nazri Tan Sri Aziz Yeop … terpaksa tunduk menahan sebak di dada, dan dari jauh lagi terlihat linangan air matanya menandakan kesedihan yang teramat sangat kerana terpaksa berpisah dengan Saudara Anwar Ibrahim.”

“Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansur, berkali-kali melahirkan kata-kata dalam sendu yang tertahan-tahan”

It is perhaps indicative of Anwar’s bearded influence on the young UMNO members who served under him in the Pemuda movement that we now have a bunch of leaders with facial hair – the PM, the Deputy PM, Nazri Aziz, Hishammudin Tun Hussein etc.

Greatness shining through even with a moustache

We must change!

Even Zahid Hamidi has shaven that moustache off, in a great sign of loyalty to UMNO and to shake off the Anwarista plague he had before he was properly educated and enlightened.

So to our dear PM, I sincerely hope you can see that, a nice, clean shave is precisely the change our country needs. Some may call it merely cosmetic, but you must denounce these critics, for they, as we usually say, “tidak ingat sejarah”.

Najib Must Listen To Mahathir

Typical of his nonchalant brutal honesty, Mahathir told us the Perak fiasco exactly as it is.

“It’s not good for the world to see the musical chairs in Perak where the MB is changing because of the decision of the courts,” Dr Mahathir said.

When asked if the current impasse in Perak would affect the ruling Barisan Nasional’s chances in the next elections, he said: “I hope people will have short memories.”

“The outcome is a foregone conclusion” said Dr Mahathir if fresh elections are held, adding that it was his feeling after the by-election in Bukit Gantang and from talking to people.

“So why should we have fresh elections ?“ he asked, saying that it was costly and that he did not agreed will calls by other BN leaders for fresh state elections.

He added that the people had already voted and chosen people who are willing to defect.

“It’s not good for the world to see the musical chairs in Perak where the MB is changing because of the decision of the courts,” Dr Mahathir said.

When asked if the current impasse in Perak would affect the ruling Barisan Nasional’s chances in the next elections, he said: “I hope people will have short memories.

Mahathir said that the only solution for both BN and PR is to call for an assembly sitting where a vote of no confidence against Nizar Jamaluddin can proceed. That’s by far the wisest suggestion I’ve heard so far, although I have my reservation that the outcome of a new state election is a foregone conclusion. I believe that with a state machinery and an Election Commission that are sympathetic towards BN, BN might just be able to nick this election under the nose of PR. Going by Mahathir’s conviction that Perak people have voted and chosen people who are willing to defect, I’m pretty sure BN would gain back the majority of Chinese votes through Hee Yit Foong.

As the favored one of Mahathir, I hope Najib would heed to Mahathir’s call. Rather than taking the risk with new elections, BN should consolidate their position by pushing through a vote of no confidence. People have already had their say in the 12th GE and now it’s BN’s turn to decide on things.

In an unrelated story, Najib has defined his own legacy by calling himself the “people’s Prime Minister”. He said that the perception that he comes from a family of aritocrats is not true. He points out that the country’s latest slogan “1Malaysia, People First, Performance Now” clearly shows him to indeed be a “people’s Prime Minister”. Not even by withholding fresh elections in Perak would deny Najib this title.

Najib may have yet to decide on anything concrete, but he  has indicated his willingness to hold talks with PR to solve the Perak crisis.

PUTRAJAYA, May 14 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak today reiterated that Barisan Nasional is willing to talk to Pakatan Rakyat in order to resolve the political deadlock in Perak but stressed that there must be no preconditions.

“It must also be done with respect towards the rules, inside or outside the state assembly, and there must not be any preconditions,” the prime minister told a press conference today.

I fully agree with Najib on this call. PR should take a leaf out of  Barack Obama’s book who pledged to hold talks with terrorists without preconditions.

In the same press conference, Najib also commented on Nik Aziz’s rejection of a unity government. He was bewildered on why Nik Aziz rejected something that was never proposed.

Zambry Kadir is our Mahatma Gandhi

Today I read about the bashing Dr Zambry Abd Kadir, the legitimate MB of Perak, received after he had compared himself to Mahatma Gandhi in his blog posting. I couldn’t understand why people are all over Zambry when all he did was to point out the obvious similarity between what he went through and the struggles of Mahatma Gandhi. Instead of debunking his claims, people like Lim Kit Siang and the MalaysianInsider journalists went on a personal attack spree.

So as a law abiding and someone who is loyal to the royal institution, I feel compelled to defend Dr Zambry. As a person who thinks rationally and speaks according to facts, I find Dr Zambry’s latest blog posting very truthful. Even before this, I have already thought of Zambry as a rare man who possess strong principles and one who stands up against tyranny. Despite all the smears and opposition propaganda, I was and remain convinced, that history would see him as a great man who defended democracy and the will of the people in Malaysia. At first I thought he was our Obama but since that title has already been taken, Gandhi would also appropriately describe Zambry and his struggles.

Apart from being blindly partisan, the reason why people do not see the similarity between Zambry and Gandhi is that people do not really know Gandhi despite being a household name.

Gandhi advocated brutal adherence of truth. Zambry acts only on the truth. The truth is BN holds the majority in the state assembly and that means the majority of people in Perak support a BN state government. With 3 assemblymen switching from PR to BN, the people of Perak have clearly indicated that they wanted a change of government. They realized their mistake during the 12^th general election and have since wished to revert back to a BN government. The Sultan observed this feeling of regret and only did what His Highness had to do when His Highness decided to sack the PR state government.

Modern Day Gandhi

Gandhi practiced Hindu Universalism and studied all religions. Zambry studied political philosophy and religious comparison at the Temple University.

Gandhi revolted peacefully against the occupation of the British in India. Zambry stood up against the illegal assembly sitting by PR under a tree.

Gandhi employed non-cooperation resistance against the British. Zambry too employed non-cooperation with former assembly speaker, V. Sivakumar.

Gandhi attained his awakening to social injustice after he witnessed firsthand the discrimination by the British in South Africa. Zambry too attained his awakening after witnessing discriminatory policies of the DAP in Perak. The issuance of land titles to new village dwellers comprised of Chinese immigrants has heavily influenced Zambry’s subsequent social activism. He saw this as an apartheid against real malaysians. Historically, the apartheid points to a system of legal racial segregation. But since this system doesn’t exist in Malaysia, apartheid can also mean the tyranny of the minority, according to Mahathir. Everyone knows that the main principle of Malaysian democracy is that the tyranny of majority rules the minority.

The most obvious similarity between Zambry and Gandhi, however, is that both served time in prison for their civil disobedience. Zambry was jailed under the ISA when he sided with Anwar Ibrahim against what was then an authoritarian BN government under Mahathir. As history tells us, all great men have spent time in prison for holding on to their conscience. The same goes for Zambry who never deserted the beliefs and principles he held back when he was arrested under ISA.

I hereby call for all Malaysians to think rationally so that they are able see through all the baseless slanders and character assassination by Lim Kit Siang and members of the opposition against Zambry. I stand strongly behind Zambry and the legitimate BN state government in Perak. I believe that Zambry, a man with the will of Gandhi, the charisma of Martin Luther King and the conscience of Mandela, will lead us through this stormy path to victory against tyranny.

After Swine Flu, non-Muslims cannot hide behind the freedom of religion anymore

Recently, a new global pandemic has threatened the survival of humanity. This pandemic is caused by a plague called the Swine Flu (Demam Khinzir). It is not at all surprising that we would eventually face a viral disease caused by swine. Swine has always been touted as an unhygienic animal which are often the medium of viral diseases. That’s why the people of the book, the Muslims, the Jews and the Adventists, do not consume pork.

Although Muslims do not consume pork, they nevertheless do not impose their views on people who choose to. That’s why the non-Muslims in Malaysia are allowed to have pig farms to produce their own supply of pork. This is an example of the high degree of freedom afforded to the minorities in Malaysia. However, after this latest viral outbreak, Malaysia can no longer afford to continue advocating this liberal policy at the expense of the health of its citizens.

Killer Swine in Action

First of all, the open sale of pork must be stopped. Supermarkets must withdraw pork products like canned luncheon meat. Currently there isn’t a requirement for pork based products to be labeled “Haram” and this has caused confusions among the Muslims consumers, as they are constantly harrowed by fear of pork containment in their daily nutrition. The public display of pork in Chinese eateries has also polluted the scenery of our cities. The tourism industry in particular has been severely hurt by this. Tourists have often complained to being duped as this country,  promoted as a modern Muslim civilization overseas, yet tourists who come here end up disappointed as they bear witness to this disturbing food culture of Char Suey or Sau Nyuk (grilled pork) being displayed publicly in eateries and dried pork being sold openly in night markets. It doesn’t matter if these scenes are only limited within immigrant quarters like Petaling Street or Georgetown. The point is that this immigrant mentality must be shed and embracing our PM’s concept of 1Malaysia would be a good start.

This feeling may not be heard very often but I’m convinced that I speak what the majority of Malaysians feel but dare not express. With the rampant sale of pork and pork based products, Malays can’t help but worry about their health, their piety and also to an extent, their personal security. The swine flu may yet be the last straw. After years of suffering from epidemic diseases transmitted by pigs, we must stand up to this tyranny that hides behind the name of freedom of religion.

So today, I demand that all you non-Muslim Malaysians take responsibility for your filthy habits. You must apologize for the misery you have caused and start considering the concerns and fears of other Malaysians who do not share your taste in food. Do not take this as a threat but the biggest implication of your unwillingness to change is that Malaysia may be forced to rethink its definition of freedom of religion.

ABIM and PEMBELA, the true defenders of the Malaysian Constitution

Amidst all this controversy surrounding the case of M. Indira Ghandi, it appears so far that the only parties who managed to offer any helpful insight is ABIM and PEMBELA. So far, people, especially the bias online media, have been too emotional when highlighting this case, to the point that even the Cabinet has been heavily influenced and made a decision which is nothing but hurried and bereft of logic. ABIM and PEMBELA dutifully remind us and the cabinet that this matter should be decided by the rule of law.

PEMBELA cited the R Subashini v T Saravanan case, in which the Federal Court interpreted Article 12(4) to allow the Muslim-convert husband to decide the children’s religion according to Syariah law. This means that the Federal court has already made a precedent in that, in a case where a civil marriage is technically annulled because one of the participants has converted to Islam, the husband gets custody of the children and gets to determine their religion.

To enlighten us further, ABIM asked a rhetorical question, “What if in future, a mother with a breastfeeding child converts to Islam? He further points out that the recent cabinet decision would mean that the mother will be denied to raise her child. Now, isn’t it unfair that a mother is denied her rights to the children she gave birth to? What monster would want to take a mother’s right away? By right, the mother should get custody and the right to determine the religion of her children. However, we must not confuse ourselves with the case of M. Indira Ghandi. Although she has a young child, we do not know if she is breastfeeding and until she proves that, it must be considered that the child is not breastfed. But there is no way she can prove it anyway, because it is reported that the father of her children has taken the child with him.

Waiting for Syariah Court Ruling On This Man

I’m glad that ABIM and PEMBELA have talked sense into us. This case seems so simple to me now. By the rule of law, the father Mohd Ridzuan must returned his custodial rights and the right to convert them to any religion of his choice. Indira has no right to challenge his rights since she has not been breastfeeding.

After learning the opinions of PEMBELA and ABIM, I have nothing but only agreement. I echo their call that the cabinet takes its hands off this case and allow the due process of the law to take its course without any undue pressure from any party. Although there is only one logical ruling the Syariah court can make, the process must nevertheless take place. The Syariah court must not allow itself to be influenced either by the government or anyone else and act strictly according to divine laws and that includes prohibiting non-Muslims to participate in its processes. However, to ensure that the Syariah court does this, ABIM must not remain quiet and confront whoever tries to misinterpret the law. And to my delight, this was exactly what ABIM has promised.

It is also very presumptuous to say the Syariah court will not be fair in its ruling. I would like to remind everybody that the Syariah court has already made a very fair ruling regarding this case. If we look back a little, the Syariah court has authorized the conversion of Mohd Ridzuan’s children. The Syariah court exercised fairness by demanding that Mohd Ridzuan comes up with the children’s birth certificates and the court only allowed the conversions to proceed after he complied. The question whether the custody of the children has already been resolved or not at the time of conversion does not arise because the marriage has already been annulled and taken as if it never happened.

Why PR should not stand in the Penanti By-Election

Our PM, Dato Najib has indicated that BN might not participate in the Penanti by-election come end of May. I absolutely agree with the reasons given by him. By-elections are expensive and distracts the government from its task of dealing with the economic crisis. The opposition parties of course love by-elections because they do not have to spend millions like BN does. The Election Commision has already put a cap on how much a candidate can spend for his/her campaign. But this rule doesn’t apply to BN and rightly so because BN is the federal government and the federal government cannot withhold civil and infrastructural projects just because there is an election.

Unlike the PR who exploits its party volunteers, BN has always been principled enough to make sure that its party workers are properly compensated. Not to mention the difference between BN and PR party workers is that BN party workers are full time workers. They serve the party either by lobbying on behalf of big shot businessmen or as contractors themselves to carry out government projects. But I am convinced, Dato Najib will rethink and retract his earlier decision and Penanti is going to see an UMNO candidate. I believe Dato Najib will return to party principles to never deny UMNO party workers their payday.

Payday due for Penanti Umno

On the contrary, I think PKR should reconsider their decision to contest Penanti. Bearing the name of “Keadilan”(Justice) in their name, PKR must live up to it by skipping the by election. The previous representative for Penanti, Fairus Khairuddin has clearly let his constituents down by being investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). Although the MACC has since decided against a charge against him, he is guilty until proven otherwise and he has yet to do so. With Fairus not proven innocent, PKR should show a bit of remorse and not contest in the by-election as a symbol of apology to the voters of Penanti. Although some people might point out that PKR acted on integrity by making a a bold move in replacing a tainted assemblyman through democratic means, I reject this notion.

This so called pursue of integrity is the last thing our country needs and PKR should not make a precedent of it. If the people start to demand integrity in our politicians, the government will fall apart. There are many BN parliamentarians who are already branded controversial by the bias online media, although MACC and other various authorities have consistently proven them to be innocent. Yet the online media have never acknowledged this creating a negative public perception on these politicians. Integrity or even the perception of having integrity should not be a quality expected in our politicians. Instead stability should be the main factor in choosing our government. Stability would ensure UMNO homogeneity and that in turn would mantain the status quo in our country, that is freedom from Zionist control and with it, the freedom of speech to deny the holocaust.

So, for the good of democracy and the people of Penanti, I hope PKR would heed my advice and do the honorable thing.

May 1st – Malaysian Workers celebrate non-Unionization – Part 3

Today and the reemergence of the Left

By 1990, the NEP has been successfully executed and as a result, the collective Malay wealth has surged to a very high level at the expense of the remaining socialists. Malay corporate entities such as Petronas, Sime Darby, despite receiving no government support, grew in stature and became powerful players in the private sector, so powerful that the government considered selling the National Heart Institute to them. The NEP was so beloved, that the elites of the country, regardless of ethnicity, decided to continue this policy in 1990 as long as the socialists are repressed and prohibited from reigniting populist bottom up politics.

Recently, the opposition parties have repeatedly slandered the government by reigniting the class warfare. They propagated that the NEP has deserted the poor Malays and favored only the well-connected. They pointed out the wealth disparity within the local and localized Malay community as evidence. They claim that there exists a vast gap between the ruling class and the rest of the Malays. Of course they conveniently ignore the fact that there is hardly any wealth disparity among the “rest of the Malays” itself. And they also ignored the function of UMNO as a vast tent under which members can freely pursue wealth. The fact that UMNO ladder maintains the same old policy of not discriminating its members by their academic qualifications, personal credibilty or morality, only their proficiency in English opens up the opportunity to become wealthy to even more people. Membership was never a problem either. As long as one declares oneself as a Malay and promise to promote UMNO ideology, one can be a member of UMNO. Sometimes, one can even be a registered UMNO member without one’s knowledge. Occasionally tearing up a photo of a Chinese nerd and calling other Malaysians immigrants would help one’s ascendance a great deal.

Propaganda by the left to create Class Warfare

These accusations, although baseless, have somewhat affected the wild popularity the Malay electorates enjoyed to give UMNO, in that the BN coalition suffered the loss of its two-thirds majority in the 2008 elections. However this loss wasn’t very significant as the Reconstruction processes that required constitutional amendments such as the crusade against the tyrannical judicial body in the 80’s,  have long been completed.

Yet, the opposition didn’t abandon their socialistic ideals and pandering approach despite being rejected in the 2008 polls. Instead they continued to move left and even named their coalition the Pakatan Rakyat (People’s Collaboration), completely abandoning core Malaysian values such as nationalism, racialism and love for the royalty. They demand Fairness and Equality, two completey fictitious concept, like Federalism. George Orwell, a stauch anti-communist, has long explained the futility of the concept of equality. Fairness is a wild fantasy. What’s fair when not everybody is born rich or has royalty bloodline? The opposition and their fellow Jewish sympathizers constantly goes back and forth between the contradicting concepts of Equality and Meritocracy, neither which is practised by BN.

As I see it, there’s no future for socialism in our country. Laborism is basically dead. The Labour movement in Europe has forced increased productivity of the labour in exchange of better working conditions, shorter working hours and higher wage. The average working hours in Europe has been reduced to 40 hours in 4 and a half day week, but at a very large expense. The daily break has been reduce to 1 hour. Now this is absolutely unacceptable in Malaysia because it would never accomodate our 6 meals a day culture.

The advancement in the modern Malaysian fiefdom means labour unions are obscelete. We were smart enough to take advantage of our geographical position of being surrounded by overpopulous countries and tapped their vast and cheap labour. Being immigrants (not to be confused with Malaysian Chinese and Indians), these laborers are subjected to our law, which is no labor law. There is no retrenchment policy for them, no proper housing or healthcare benefits. And we get to blame all the crimes in our cities on them. It’s definitely a win-win situation for all sides involved, the government, the private sector, and the people.

In this holiday of May Day, we are given time off to remind ourselves of how far our nation has come. Unlike most countries, we are perhaps the only one unthreatened by labor movements. Today, while you lie on your IKEA sofa in your nice living room, I urge you to look back, literally, and appreciate your ever so clean home and that you have a maid attending to your crying toddler. The only reason you can afford a full time maid for RM300 a month is because labor rights do not exist. If you do not see it, then you don’t deserve to celebrate our government today.

May 1st – Malaysian Workers celebrate non-Unionization – Part 2

 

Aftermath and Reconstruction

 The Alliance had won outright, yet they generously offered the Emergency as a period of ceasefire. In their wise mind, they knew the struggle didn’t end there and they must somehow show reconciliation towards the opposition and socialist sympathizers for them to carry out the Reconstruction. They knew they mustn’t dwell on this victory and what better way to move quickly forward by undergoing rebranding with new progressive partners such as Gerakan and PPP. A new grand coalition called the Barisan Nasional (National Front) was created. The name itself bears significance in that it implied the victor of May the 13^th, the Nationalists. The Socialists will have no place in the future and history books.

With a new grand coalition and a strong parliamentary majority, the Reconstruction can now commence. It was to be implemented through a policy called the NEP, the New Economic Policy. The main goal of the policy is to abolish identification of ethnicity with economic function, which means the native and non-native Malays are to be empowered to achieve a collective Malay wealth rivaling that of the immigrants. Some may have noted this, but NEP itself, being a policy of affirmative action, was quite socialistic itself. But what these people did not realize is that this type of affirmative action is not aimed at the lower classes, instead it is aimed at people of one race. Coincidentally this is what Germans used to call National Socialism, something people have always mistaken with the Communism. And again, coincidentally, the National Socialists too were staunchly anti-Communist/Socialist and accused immigrant Jews of monopolizing the economy.

Young Turks against Communists

The NEP was carried out in every aspect of society. The Malays were given scholarships and grants to further their studies locally and abroad. After a while, this education policy was liberalized so that it doesn’t discriminate scholarship applicants by their school academic performance. Complementing the education policy, the government was expanded with many new civil agencies to accommodate these new educated Malays so that they won’t have to compete with the other ethnics in the private sector. This was also a smart move to prevent pure conservative Malay minds from being polluted by new brand of ideas pioneered by the immigrants such as Liberalism, Pluralism and Secularism, although the first pioneers of secularism were actually the Brown Gentlemen.  But soon enough, secularism died in the early 90s when it was sacrificed by Dr Mahathir to counter the threat of PAS. And a good sacrifice it was since PAS is in essence a socialistic party, waging a class warfare between the clerics and the secular aristocrats.