Yes, They Have Now Said It … Be Politically Correct

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PENERANGAN

Kami adalah sekumpulan rakyat yang prihatin (concerned citizens), mahukan perpaduan negara dan munculnya suatu Bangsa Malaysia yang tulen melalui sistem Satu Sekolah Untuk Semua (SSS).

Dalam pada Kempen SSS menonjolkan Bahasa Malaysia sebagai alat menyatu padukan rakyat, laman citra ini pada masa masanya menggunakan Bahasa Inggeris bagi maksud mendapatkan mereka yang ditujukan memahami sepenuhnya pesanan pesanan, penerangan penerangan dan hujah hujah yang dikeluarkan disini.

Pembaca dipersilakan membuat komen didalam Bahasa Malaysia atau Bahasa Inggeris dan SSS Admin akan menjawab didalam bahasa yang digunakan dikomen tersebut. Pendirian dan pandangan kami banyak terdapat dijawapan jawapan kapada komen tersebut.

Dengan kepercayaan bahawa keengganan menggunakan Bahasa Malaysia sebagai bahasa pengantar disekolah sekolah dan dikhalayak ramai adalah diakibatkan kurang faham atau kurang menghormati Perlembagaan negara sepenuhnya, maka perbincangan dilaman citra ini telah diluaskan kapada isu-isu tersebut dalam konteks perpaduan pada keseluruhannya. Harap maklum.

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RENCANA KALI INI

He did say about the need to be politically correct. But just look at the article by Tay Tian Yan below. Very clear he does not have an adequate knowledge or want to know more about the history of this country than those erroneous statements he puts out. Imagine, saying the history of this country began with the Malacca Sultanate. How shallow that is. He and the likes of him think the Malays had been here for only 500 years. And that the Hindu civilization of “1,400 years ago” was not Malay. That Malays are only those who converted to Islam en mass beginning with the Sultan of Malacca. Going by that perception, are the Chinese not Chinese before they accepted Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism, the three religions in one that some one wrote in this blog in the past, that Professor C.P Fitzgerald said in his book on the History of China?

He has never heard of the Malay kingdom of Langkasuka (believed to be present day Patani), or the Greek records referring to the Golden Chersonese, Arab records or the Indian Pali texts, mentioning travels to the Malay Archipelago some 2,000 years ago, or the archaeological excavations in Batu Pahat and the Bujang Valley in Kedah since the days of Dr Alistair Lamb of the Universiti of Malaya many decades ago. He should definitely be advised to read such books as the “Encyclopedia of Malaysia, Early History”, edited by the Malaysian archaeologist Professor Dr Nik Hassan Suhaimi himself, and “Tamadun Alam Melayu” by Mohd Arof Ishak, published by the Historical Society of Malaysia, 2009.

Lacking in knowledge of Malayan / Malaysian history has led him to question even the need for making History compulsory in schools. He talks about the teaching of History like the Americans do, as perceived by him. Such narrow mindedness. Devoid of a true perception of the racial problems that have been existing in this country since Lee Kuan Yew and the PAP started the chauvinist “Malaysian Malaysia” slogan, perpetuated by Lim Kit Siang and the DAP. A concept that subverts the Special Position of the Malays and the Bumiputeras of Sabah and Sarawak. One that does not show respect for the Social Contract entered into by the leaders of the major racial groups at Merdeka and the Constitution of the country that embodies that Social Contract. One that has been the latent cause of the 1969 race riots.

There is a need for “Persepsi yang sama tentang masa lalu”, says Dr. Firdaus Abdullah, Pakar Rujuk di Akademi Pengajian Melayu, Universiti Malaya, in his article below that. Chauvinistic DAP Tony Pua jumped up with a negative perception, suggesting that the new policy would be an attempt at “indoctrinating school children with a narrow interpretation of the Constitution”. No sooner said than jumped. Like Lim Guan Eng accusing MACC of responsibility over Teoh Beng Hock’s death just as the Police were beginning their investigations, and the cause of death is not known until this very day.

These are the kind who must be taught the history of the country so that they know everybody’s contribution relative to one another and, more importantly, everybody’s place in Malaysian society. Article 8 of the Constitution says everybody is equal but Article 153 says the Malays and the Bumiputeras of Sabah and Sarawak have a Special Position and attempts to make them catch up with – now far from equal to – the Chinese in wealth and education must be respected as well. It must be, for the sake of long-term unity, peace and prosperity.

The rest of the articles published in here serve to amplify the points raised. Let’s discuss them in the usual manner.

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The need to be politically correct

By TAY TIAN YAN
Translated by DOMINIC LOH

You need to pass your Bahasa Malaysia paper to get your SPM certificate. This is something everyone can comprehend. This is Malaysia and there is a need for this.

Beginning 2013, an exam candidate must also pass history as well before he can get the same cert. But why?

People will tend to ask: Why not English? Or Maths? Or the student’s mother tongue?

These subjects are all very important. At least they carry some practical values in our quest for a developed and high-income nation.

Indeed, but while English, Maths, or another language are needed by the country, they are not politically needed.

History is politically needed.

For instance, our history started with the Malacca Sultanate, then Umno leading the nation to independence, the all-too-sacred invincibility of social contract, and BN steering the nation towards stability and prosperity… These important lessons need to be instilled in our future generations.

You must pass the History papers before we can get the cert, so students will never want to doze off in history classes and they need to go for history tuition classes after school. They also must make sure they remember all the facts and figures by heart before exams.

From that moment on, all the so-called politically correct facts must be etched deep inside the students’ hearts. They must never forget nor challenge them.

This psychological education meets all the political requirements.

While history is important, and there are indeed good reasons to make history a compulsory subject that students must pass in exams, there is nevertheless a prerequisite: this ruling should only be implemented in specific developed nations.

In these countries, history is not meant to re-engineer the students’ minds, but to inspire them. History is not made to serve the purpose of politics, but to elevate human characters and social progress.

For instance, in America’s history textbooks, the teachers would relate the history of European immigrants in North America, and then want the students to form study groups, search for information in the library and compile a report to debate whether the arrival of Europeans in North America had caused destruction to the Indian civilisation.

Or the teacher would talk about the Civil War, and then separate the students into two groups, one standing alongside the North while the other standing alongside the South, and debate about the benefits and influences of the War.

This is what we call true history education.

I can never imagine some day our teachers would allow their students to debate whether the history of the Malayan Peninsular began with the Hindu civilisation 1,400 years ago, or with the arrival of Parameswara in Melaka 500 years ago.

Similarly, other than Umno, MCA and MIC, the other political organisations, including the roles played by leftist movements in the country’s independence as well as as the British decision to forego this Far Eastern colony long before that, would never be touched on.

As for social contract, something that even the pros are still unclear of, the history textbooks will define based on political needs.

In developed countries, history education allows the students to think about and unveil the meanings of different types of arguments.

Moreover, the decision to make it compulsory to pass history was made in an Umno general assembly, not after in-depth deliberations by educational experts in a non-political situation.

Sin Chew Daily

MySinchew 2010.10.26

http://www.mysinchew.com/node/47152

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Kenapa DAP bimbang subjek Sejarah?

oleh Senator Datuk Dr. Firdaus Abdullah, Pakar Rujuk di Akademi Pengajian Melayu, Universiti Malaya

October 29, 2010

Persepsi yang sama tentang masa lalu
Harapan yang sama untuk masa depan
Itulah matlamat yang hendak dituju
Pengajaran sejarah memegang peranan
Hubaya hubayah dakyah DAP
Mengungkit-ungkit isu perkauman
Subjek Sejarah seragamkan persepsi
Sekali-kali dihalang jangan

Kenapakah DAP tiba-tiba seperti melatah dan melenting bila Timbalan Perdana Menteri merangkap Menteri Pelajaran Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin mengumumkan bahawa Sejarah akan dijadikan sebagai salah satu subjek wajib lulus untuk memperoleh Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) mulai tahun 2013?

Pengumuman itu sepatutnya disambut baik dan dialu-alukan sebagai satu langkah penting untuk membina rasa kebersamaan di kalangan generasi muda. Rasa kebersamaan (persamaan persepsi tentang sejarah masa lalu dan persamaan harapan untuk masa hadapan) adalah salah satu syarat utama untuk membina sebuah negara bangsa.

Dan ini akan dapat dicapai melalui satu silibus pelajaran Sejarah yang seragam yang sama-sama dipelajari oleh semua murid dan pelajar pada setiap peringkat sistem persekolahan kita. Begitulah seharusnya satu reaksi yang sihat terhadap pengumuman Muhyiddin itu.

Tetapi seorang pemimpin penting DAP, Tony Pua Kiam Wee telah memberi reaksi yang negatif dan tergesa-gesa mengadakan sidang media dan menzahirkan sikap buruk sangka dan rasa bimbang kononnya dasar baharu tentang pelajaran dan pengajaran Sejarah itu nanti akan menjadi satu “percubaan sembrono untuk mengindoktrinasikan para pelajar kita dengan satu tafsiran sempit tentang Perlembagaan.”

Dia bimbang (berprasangka?) kiranya sukatan baru pelajaran Sejarah itu nanti hanya akan tertumpu kepada Fasal 153 Perlembagaan Persekutuan dan perkara-perkara lain berkaitan hak-hak keistimewaan Melayu.

Sekiranya Tony Pua mempunyai sikap yang lebih positif (bebas daripada sebarang prasangka negatif) mungkin akan lebih bertanggungjawab jika komentarnya berbunyi seperti ini: “Semoga dasar baru subjek Sejarah itu akan memberi peluang kepada generasi muda kita untuk melalui satu proses sosialisasi yang lebih sihat dan berkesan ke arah pembinaan satu negara bangsa.”

Tetapi untuk mengharapkan dia berkata begitu, mungkin satu perkara yang sia-sia sahaja, kerana itu bercanggah dengan agenda politiknya.

Dalam sidang media tersebut (yang tersiar dalam sebuah portal berita) Tony Pua juga telah merujuk pandangan satu pihak lain yang mendakwa bahawa keutamaan yang diberi kepada subjek Sejarah sebagai “wajib lulus” untuk dapat Sijil SPM pada masa ini adalah illogical kerana kononnya tidak sesuai dengan hasrat untuk menjadikan Malaysia sebuah negara berpendapatan tinggi.

Menurut mereka, seperti yang dikutip oleh Tony Pua, yang lebih patut diberi keutamaan ialah pengajaran Matematik, Sains dan Bahasa Inggeris.

Ertinya, secara tidak langsung dia cuba hendak mengalihkan perhatian kepada perkara lain dan melengah-lengahkan (jika tidak hendak dikatakan ‘memperlekeh’) kepentingan pengajaran dan pembelajaran sejarah dalam proses pembentukan sebuah negara bangsa.

Rasanya didorong oleh “prasangka negatif” itu jugalah maka Tony Pua menggesa Menteri Pelajaran supaya menubuhkan satu “badan penasihat bebas” untuk “merombak semula” (overhaul) subjek Sejarah itu sebelum dijadikan mata pelajaran wajib.

Dia mahu supaya badan penasihat bebas itu turut dianggotai oleh wakil-wakil Majlis Peguam (Bar Council) dan hakim-hakim ternama yang sudah bersara di samping pakar-pakar sejarah.

Saya melihat beberapa perkara tersirat yang menggusarkan dalam reaksi Tony Pua terhadap hasrat kerajaan untuk memberi keutamaan subjek Sejarah dalam sistem persekolahan kita.

Pertama, nada ‘sarkastik’ dan prasangka negatifnya, memaksa kita untuk bertanya apakah yang dia mahu sebenarnya dan kenapa dia begitu “takut” terhadap subjek Sejarah. Masing-masing kita mungkin mempunyai jawapan sendiri terhadap soalan seumpama itu.

Tony Pua cuba hendak “mempolitikkan” satu isu pendidikan. Di satu pihak dia cuba hendak memprojeksikan diri dan partinya sebagai “jaguh” yang senantiasa mengungkit-ungkit hak keistimewaan Melayu (terutama Fasal 152 & 153 Perlembagaan) dan dengan demikian secara halus ingin memenangi hati siapa-siapa sahaja yang “anti Melayu” (termasuk barangkali orang Melayu yang mengaku “liberal’).

Di satu pihak lain dia ingin melakukan “provokasi halus” terhadap MCA dan menyebabkan parti komponen BN yang dianggotai oleh orang-orang Cina itu berada dalam keadaan serba salah. Adakah MCA akan membiarkan dirinya menjadi “proksi” DAP dalam BN? Atau adakah MCA akan mengambil sikap yang lebih matang dan tidak membenarkan dirinya “lebih DAP” daripada Lim Kit Siang.

Apabila Tony Pua mencadangkan penubuhan “badan penasihat bebas” untuk “merombak” subjek Sejarah dalam sistem persekolahan kita itu, pada hemat saya, tujuannnya ialah hendak “memerangkap” pimpinan kerajaan (Kementerian Pelajaran) agar terjerumus ke dalam satu “polemik yang membazir”).

Polemik yang berlarut-larutan mengenai isu ini mungkin akan memberi keuntungan politik kepada DAP. Tetapi satu akibat sampingan yang jangan sampai dilupakan ialah pelaksanaan dasar (keputusan) baru mewajibkan subjek Sejarah untuk lulus SPM itu mungkin akan terjejas dan tertangguh.

Oleh kerana itu langkah yang bijak di pihak kerajaan ialah berdiam diri dan tidak usah melayan cadangan penubuhan “badan penasihat bebas” seperti yang disarankan oleh Tony Pua itu. Motif terselindungnya semakin jelas apabila dia mahu seorang wakil Majlis Peguam (Bar Council) duduk dalam badan penasihat bebas yang dicadangkannya itu. Kenapa Tony Pua tidak menyebut wakil Persatuan Sejarah Malaysia?

Akhurulkalam saya petik kutipan berikut yang pernah ditulis oleh seorang pengarang Amerika, Joseph Anderson (1836-1916): “ There is nothing that solidifies and strengthens a nation like reading the nation’s history, whether that history is recorded books, embodied in customs, instituitions and monuments.”

Muhyiddin telah berada di atas landasan dan jalan yang betul, jangan benarkan petualang-petualang politik menghalang hasrat mulia untuk mewajibkan mata pelajaran Sejarah sebagai salah satu syarat mendapatkan Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia. — Utusan Malaysia

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Jangan persoal hak Melayu

oleh Prof. Madya Dr. Mohd. Noor Yazid, Sekolah Sains Sosial, Universiti Malaysia Sabah.

October 23, 2010

Hak keistimewaan orang-orang Melayu dan bumiputera Sabah dan Sarawak sebagaimana yang terkandung dalam Perkara 153 Perlembagaan Persekutuan tidak sepatutnya dipersoalkan oleh sesiapapun.

Tetapi anehnya, selepas Pilihan Raya Umum (PRU) 2008, hak keistimewaan orang Melayu sering disentuh dan dibangkitkan oleh pihak tertentu sama ada golongan bukan Melayu mahupun orang Melayu sendiri.

Kenapa ini harus terjadi? Pada hal, ia telah ‘terpahat kukuh dalam Perlembagaan Persekutuan yang sangat sukar diganggu-gugat sebagaimana yang dinyatakan oleh Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak dalam ucapan dasar Perhimpunan Agung Umno 2010 kelmarin.

“Hak orang Melayu dilindungi sepenuhnya serta ‘terkunci kemas’ dalam Perlembagaan Persekutuan tanpa dapat digugat dan kenyataan ini wajar diterima oleh semua kaum di negara ini.”

Najib menambah, “seandainya mempunyai dua pertiga dalam Parlimen pun, ia tidak akan mampu mengubah setitik apa pun jua, tanpa kebenaran Majlis Raja-Raja yang dianggotai oleh sembilan Raja-Raja Melayu.”

Hakikat ini perlu difahami oleh semua warganegara. Asas pemahaman Perlembagaan Negara mahu tidak mahu mesti difahami oleh setiap warganegara agar kita dapat bertindak dengan lebih tepat dan tidak terpesong dari jalan sebenar. Dalam masa yang sama, ia tidak digunakan oleh pihak-pihak tertentu bagi kepentingan mereka.

Dalam memahami hak-hak keistimewaan orang Melayu sebagaimana yang terkandung dalam Perkara 153 (yang mempunyai hubungan rapat dengan ‘kontrak sosial’, ia perlu dikaitkan dengan sejarah perjuangan bangsa serta struktur negara. Bagi melihat dan memahami perkara ini, perkara 153 tidak boleh dilihat secara bersendirian. Hanya semata-mata membincangkan perkara 153, ia akan memungkinkan kita menjadi keliru. Di antara perkara yang berkait rapat dalam memahami perkara 153 adalah:

1. Perkara 38 (5)

2. Perkara 10 (4)

3. Perkara 8 (2)

4. dan perkara-perkara lain yang berkaitan.

Perkara 38 (5) adalah sangat penting difahami dalam membincangkan Perkara 153. Dalam Perkara 38 (5) menyatakan “Majlis-Majlis Raja-raja hendaklah dirundingi sebelum dibuat apa-apa perubahan tentang dasar yang menyentuh tindakan pentadbiran di bawah Perkara 153.”

Inilah di antara istimewanya Perkara 153 kerana ia tidak boleh dipinda hanya dengan suara majoriti dua pertiga Parlimen. Walaupun dua pertiga ahli Parlimen bersetuju meminda hak keistimewaan orang Melayu, ia tidak akan dapat dipinda sekiranya tidak ada persetujuan daripada sembilan orang sultan/raja Melayu.

Kadang-kadang timbul salah faham bahawa jika parti politik tertentu dapat menguasai dua pertiga dalam Parlimen, maka perkara yang berkaitan dengan hak keistimewaan ini akan dipinda dan diberikan hak yang sama rata kepada semua rakyat.

Pernah juga dikatakan oleh pihak-pihak tertentu bahawa hak istimewa ini adalah perkara lapuk lebih setengah abad lalu yang kini tidak lagi sesuai.

Memang Perlembagaan Persekutuan menyatakan satu peruntukan tertentu mengenai hak kesamarataan yang terkandung dalam Perkara 8. Tetapi dalam Perkara 8 (2) juga ada dinyatakan dengan jelas ‘kecuali sebagaimana yang dibenarkan dengan nyata oleh Perlembagaan Persekutuan ini…’

Ini bermaksud ada kekecualian ‘kesamarataan’ itu apabila ada dinyatakan dengan jelas dalam Perlembagaan sebagaimana yang dinyatakan dalam Perkara 153 itu.

Perkara 153 ini mendapat kedudukan istimewa kerana ia tidak boleh dipersoalkan sebagaimana yang dinyatakan dalam Perkara 10 (4). “Pada mengenakan sekatan-sekatan demi kepentingan keselamatan Persekutuan atau mana-mana bahagiannya atau ketenteraman awam di bawah Fasal (2) (a), Parlimen boleh meluluskan undang-undang melarang dipersoalkan apa-apa perkara, hak, taraf, kedudukan, keistimewaan, kedaulatan atau prerogative yang ditetapkan atau dilindungi oleh peruntukan Bahagian III, Perkara 152, 153, atau 181 melainkan yang berhubung dengan pelaksanaannya sebagaimana yang dinyatakan dalam undang-undang itu.

Memang tak dapat dinafikan bahawa Perkara 153 adalah perkara yang istimewa dalam Perlembagaan Persekutuan yang tidak boleh diubah. Kedudukannya amat konkrit dan tidak sepatutnya dipersoalkan oleh kaum lain.

Penulis melihat ada maksud tersirat dan falsafah yang tinggi nilainya di sebalik hak keistimewaan orang Melayu sebagaimana yang dinyatakan dalam Perkara 153 ini, iaitu pembentukan satu rupa bangsa yang kuat dan stabil yang didokong oleh kumpulan majoriti yang besar sifat dan bilangannya.

Maksud tersirat adalah akan terbentuknya satu kumpulan bangsa Melayu (bukan bangsa Malaysia) yang dominan dalam jangka panjang. Bagi mengukuhkan hujah ini bahawa orang-orang Melayu itu (mengikut pentafsiran Perlembagaan Persekutuan) adalah bukan dilihat daripada segi biologi, tetapi lebih kepada sosio budaya dan undang-undang.

Bagi menyokong hujah ini, kita mesti merujuk Perkara 160 mengenai definisi ‘orang-orang Melayu’. Melayu mengikut Perkara 160 adalah ‘orang Melayu’ ertinya seseorang yang menganuti agama Islam, lazim bercakap bahasa Melayu, menurut adat Melayu dan – (a) yang lahir sebelum Hari Merdeka di Persekutuan atau Singapura atau yang lahir sebelum Hari Merdeka dan ibu atau bapanya telah lahir di Persekutuan atau di Singapura, atau yang pada Hari Merdeka berdomisil di Persekutuan atau di Singapura: atau (b) ialah zuriat seseorang yang sedemikian.

Tidak mudah memahami Perkara 153 dan hal-hal yang berkaitan tanpa menghubungkaitkan dengan perkara-perkara lain. Rumusan yang dapat dibuat bahawa Perkara 153 dan hal-hal berkaitan dengan hak istimewa orang Melayu adalah mempunyai niat baik dan tujuan positif bagi pembinaan negara bangsa khususnya dalam jangka panjang.

Tidak sepatutnya ada sesiapa yang menolak dan mempertikaikan perkara ini jika benar-benar faham dengan mendalam. Adalah wajar kenyataan Perdana Menteri dalam ucapan dasar Perhimpunan Agung Umno 2010 bahawa hak keistimewaan Melayu ini wajar diterima oleh semua kaum di Malaysia.

Sebagai parti politik besar seperti Umno, persoalan seperti ini perlu jelas agar orang-orang Melayu faham dan sedar tonggak sebenar perjuangan bangsa Melayu dan Umno, agar bangsa Melayu terus bersatu dan kuat bagi kestabilan negara dan pembangunan Malaysia. — Utusan Malaysia

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Najib needs to preserve and promote the line of balance — Tay Tian Yan
October 25, 2010

There are few nationalist political parties left in the world today.

In an era with no intrusion and occupation by colonial powers, nationalism has lost its relevance in the battle for sovereign nationhood.

Today, passers-by would think it a film shooting if they see people in full ancient armour walking in Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur. They would wonder whether these people have come to the modern world from ancient times through a time tunnel.

Of course, these armed warriors should not simply pick any passer-by to duel with them. They will scare everyone.

Nationalist political parties in many countries have changed with the times and transformed into modern parties after accomplishing their historical missions.

For example, the Kuomintang of China no longer shouts slogans calling for the rise of the Chinese people; the Indian National Congress (INC) no longer resists Western empires; and the African National Congress (ANC) no longer confronts apartheid.

They have walked out from history, took off their national costumes and replaced them with suits. They have transformed into modern parties that know how to manage their countries and regions well, and they have become competent governments that are respected in the international community.

Similarly, Umno, the most successful nationalist political party of the region, should also change with the times. Umno has ruled for more than half a century and it should now walk out from its own shadow to find a new position.

Undoubtedly, Umno is unable to give up nationalism, but it must at least get rid of communalism.

The speech given by Umno president and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak during last week’s party general assembly must have been well-pondered. The speech should represent his ideologies and the direction he wants Umno to take.

First, Umno must be an inclusive political party.

Most nationalist political parties will resist and exclude others to highlight their struggling roles in the early stage. But when they gradually reach a mature stage, they should reduce resistance and exclusivity, and replace them with open liberal leadership and inclusivity.

Whether Umno can be more inclusive depends on its attitude towards the disadvantaged and minority groups in the society. If it can create national wealth with openness, fairly manage national resources, and treat other racial groups impartially, its inclusiveness will then be demonstrated.

Secondly, Umno must eliminate the sense of insecurity among racial groups to resolve social conflicts.

Najib has stressed that everyone must abide by the social contract. He has also reiterated the spirit of the Federal Constitution.

He said that the special status of Malays is protected by the Federal Constitution and cannot be disputed. The rights of other racial groups are also guaranteed.

On one hand, he has to dissolve the right wing of the Malay community, such as Malay rights group Perkasa which has created a sense of insecurity in the Malay community, and fear among the non-Malays. On the other hand, he also has to tell non-Malays not to cross the original line of balance.

The line of balance has been the moat of the BN from the past to the present. The BN has to hold the line and draw the middle power to stabilise its rule.

However, with the provocation from the right wing and the attack of the liberal left wing, the line of balance is being shifted.

Umno has chosen to return to the original safe zone with an attempt to put an end to the threats from both wings.

While Najib is taking the moderate path and trying to gain support from party members, he must also persuade the Malay and non-Malay racial groups to regain their acceptance so that he can win the next general election and continue being the master of Putrajaya.

And Najib must also take diverse political landscapes and the rise of civic consciousness into account. — mysinchew.com

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication. The Malaysian Insider does not endorse the view unless specified.

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/breakingviews/article/najib-needs-to-preserve-and-promote-the-line-of-balance-tay-tian-yan/

Hollow .. Playing to the Gallery .. Realistic .. The UMNO President’s Speech

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Dalam pada Kempen SSS bertujuan memajukan Bahasa Malaysia sebagai alat menyatu padukan rakyat dan menimbulkan suatu Bangsa Malaysia yang bersatu padu dinegara ini, laman citra ini pada masa masanya menggunakan Bahasa Inggeris bagi maksud mendapatkan mereka yang ditujukan memahami sepenuhnya pesanan pesanan, penerangan penerangan dan hujah hujah yang dikeluarkan disini.

Pembaca boleh membuat komen didalam Bahasa Malaysia atau Bahasa Inggeris dan SSS Admin akan menjawab didalam bahasa yang digunakan dikomen tersebut. Pendirian dan pandangan kami banyak terdapat dijawapan jawapan kapada komen tersebut.

Dengan kepercayaan bahawa keengganan menggunakan Bahasa Malaysia sebagai bahasa pengantar disekolah sekolah adalah diakibatkan kurang faham atau keengganan menghormati dan mengikuti Perlembagaan negara sepenuhnya, maka perbincangan dilaman citra ini telah diluaskan kapada isu-isu tersebut dalam konteks perpaduan pada keseluruhannya. Harap maklum.

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Malays and non-Malays, at home and abroad, are watching and listening to what is said by the UMNO President and the delegates at the Annual General Assembly. The delegates are still discussing the President’s speech at PWTC. We, members of the public, may also discuss what they have said so far.

Some were looking for a more assertive stand by the UMNO President and Prime Minister on matters affecting national unity. Like promising to take action on divisive and seditious words and actions by several groups in recent times. Including on MCA President Dr Chua Soi Lek’s statements on the call for the abolition of the 30% Bumiputera equity target. No promise of tough action came out and Dato Seri Najib’s votes-in-mind conciliatory tone continued. Only detailed explanations on the guaranteed continuity of the Malay Special Position, rights and privileges were given. A veiled warning here and there.

Others were and still are expecting that the delegates would come out lashing in the name of protecting and promoting the Malay rights and interests that UMNO was set up for over 60 years ago. With circulars said to have been issued to UMNO Divisions and Branches, and the pep talk by Najib in a closed-door session the night before the opening ceremonies, calling for restraint and a “responsible” reaction on current events, we will see in the remaining debates whether all the delegates are, in the words used (albeit in a different context) as a film title, “All The President’s Men”. And watching if anyone says that the words and actions of Chua Soi Lek are “responsible” in terms of national unity or not.

Meanwhile, we read such reactions as those stated in the heading of this post. Let’s discuss them.

We publish below comments obtained from cyberspace pertaining to the speech and those debating the speech. They are numbered for easy reference when commenting.

Of course, as usual, those opposition blogs have nothing nice to say.

Free Malaysia Today says many delegates felt “it was insufficient for the party’s top leadership to demand a shift in mentality to enhance Bumiputera competitiveness when it is not supported by a mechanism to ensure Bumiputeras can compete domestically and internationally .. Malays cannot compete given the poor economic opportunities available to them. They wanted the race-based affirmative action as espoused under the New Economic Policy to be continued under Najib’s New Economic Model (NEM)”.

There were “veiled attacks” on Najib, led by a Malacca delegate who said, “The father had undertook the bold move of creating the NEP and now the son must be brave to implement (the policy) without compromise.” He said that the non-Malay component parties were betraying the agreement made by the country’s founding fathers and are questioning the Bumiputera quota policy instead of backing it as agreed. He asked the Government to curb discriminatory policies in non-Malay private companies and demanded immediate action on them if it wants to see Malays progress to a level playing field. A Wanita UMNO delegate backed him, saying, “”Do not ever question the Special Position of the Malays.”

Pending further news reports on the debate at the General Assembly, we leave you with the words of the UMNO Permanent Chairman, who was following up the speech by the Jelebu Division Deputy Head hitting at Chua Soi Lek saying that the Social Contract should not be discussed openly, although he and the MCA had publicly called for the abolition of the 30% Bumiputera equity target. The Chairman spoke light-heartedly yet pointedly, in Hokkien, then translated it:

“I said, Soi Lek, I am your friend. Please don’t disturb the 30% which belongs to the Malays. We have given you the 70%. Distribute that among yourselves, the Chinese, the Hindus and all … We don’t call you immigrants. But please don’t disturb our rights. Let’s not quarrel about this.”

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No 1

Ucapan Najib –

Komen saya dibawah garisan seperti ini ******* dan tidak bernombor

40. Misalnya, kaum bukan Bumiputera, setelah 39 tahun dasar afirmatif
dilaksanakan, masih lagi merupakan kaum yang memiliki kekayaan
terbesar. Kita menyedari, ada pihak mendakwa tindakan afirmatif itu
sendiri yang mendatangkan kesusahan, akan tetapi, bukti empirikal
menunjukkan sebaliknya. Sebenarnya, sikap penerima bantuan, cara
pelaksanaan dan landskap di mana tindakan itulah yang menjadi punca
masalah.

**********

Tidak ada sebut langsung kepincangan cara implementasi DEB dan apa
mahu dilakukan bagi membaikkinya. Adakah sebab tak mahu sebut DEB
dalam MEB? (MEB ke MBE ke Dato A Kadir Jasin – the grand old man
of journalism – ada tulis rencana diMalaysian Business, Feb 2010, nanti
saya akan kemukakan disini bila lapang).

42. Sayang seribu kali sayang juga, setelah lima puluh tiga tahun kita
merdeka, hari ini, rakyat Malaysia sedang berhadapan dengan asakan
bertalu-talu terhadap teras-teras utama perhubungan kaum yang wujud
selama ini. Jika polemik nasional ini tidak ditangani dengan baik,
kita berasa amat cuak, kerana, ia berkemungkinan menjadi ancaman
kepada perpaduan negara.

**********

Juga tak sebut apa yang perlu dibuat secara positif, pro-aktif.
Contohnya, dakwa Chua Soi Lek diMahkamah. Suruh kita waspada saja
tak cukup, budak kecik pun boleh cakap gitu.

43. Sebab itulah, saudara dan saudari, kita perlu sentiasa berwaspada,
kita perlu terus mengingatkan diri masing-masing bahawa, kejayaan
pertiwi tercinta sememangnya dimungkinkan oleh sumbangan, idea dan
pengorbanan pelbagai kaum. Hakikatnya pun, ia bukanlah jasa, mahupun
ikhtiar ekslusif satu kaum semata-mata, akan tetapi segalanya
merupakan hasil mahsul, tuaian kudrat oleh semua kaum secara kolektif.

***********

Betul usaha semua kaum. Tapi yang mau mencebis hak kita macam mana?

46. Awaslah, awaslah kita, terhadap saudagar mimpi yang membuai dengan
dogengan, menjadi petualang memintal kepalsuan, menenun kebencian,
memperdagang fitnah, mengadun madu dengan tuba, meleceh pengorbanan
dan tanpa segan silu, mengajak kita menikmati buah khuldi yang
bergentayangan di pohon rendah, sehingga sanggup menggadai
segala-galanya.

************

Siapa dimaksudkannya tidak dinyatakannya. Apa tindakanya tidak
disebutnya. Nyata simply playing to the gallery. Sukarno-like
demagoguery.

47. Bertolak dari situlah, bagi bangsa Melayu khususnya, perasaan
mereka amat terhiris kerana ikrar budiman yang telah dipateri di
ambang merdeka kini diungkit kembali. Sedangkan, berpayung sumpah dan
janji itulah kita sanggup membuat pengorbanan terbesar bagi mencapai
sebuah kemerdekaan, yakni berkongsi pemilikan Tanah Melayu dengan
kaum-kaum yang lain.

48. Serentak dengan itu, penerimaan kerakyatan yang berasaskan prinsip
jus soli atau hak tempat kelahiran berbanding prinsip jus sanguinis
yakni hak darah dengan sekelip mata telah mentransformasikan landskap
sosiopolitik Tanah Melayu untuk selama-lamanya.

49. Dek kerana itu, kita tidak boleh lagi hidup terpenjara kisah nan
lalu tanpa melihat ke hadapan. Pokoknya di sini, sepertimana prinsip
keutuhan sebarang kontrak yang dibuat di bawah lembayung kedaulatan
undang-undang, jika tidak dihormati, maka tiadalah kepastian, walaupun
bagi perkara-perkara asas yang telah dipersetujui bersama. Analoginya
di sini, jika ia berlaku dalam bidang perniagaan, maka pihak yang
berbuat demikian akan mendapati diri mereka, tidak lagi dipercayai
oleh sesiapapun, apabila memungkiri janji.

50. Seterusnya lagi, jika ikrar setia yang telah diwaad, dilanggar
sewenang-wenangnya apabila tidak sesuai dengan selera atau kepentingan
tertentu, akan hancurlah kepercayaan dan rapuhlah rasa penghormatan di
antara kita, kerana, masing-masing akan dihidapi penyakit kesangsian
terhadap motif, kejujuran serta keikhlasan terhadap satu sama lain.
Hal yang membarah sebegini berbahaya, saya ulang, amat berbahaya
kepada sebuah negara berbilang kaum, agama dan budaya seperti Malaysia
kerana ia berpontensi menghancurkan segala apa yang dibina sejak lebih
lima puluh tahun yang lalu.

51. Satu hal yang pasti, timbal balas dipersembahkan bukan sahaja oleh
bangsa Melayu, tetapi juga oleh kaum lain. Ia dimanifestasi melalui
muafakat murni iaitu bagi memperoleh kerakyatan, orang bukan Melayu
telah sanggup menerima prinsip hak keistimewaan sebagaimana termaktub
di bawah peruntukan Perkara 153 Perlembagaan Persekutuan. Kemudian
itulah, kewarganegaraan Malaysia pada dasarnya bukan lagi bersifat
sama rata dan sama rasa tetapi telah disesuaikan dengan realiti yang
ada demi matlamat dan kepentingan jangka panjang nasional.

**********

The above 5 paragraphs appear to be telling the non-Malays to
count their blessings but somehow I don’t get to feel that he is
telling them to be grateful, no clear telling them not to be funny
with Malay rights and privileges. Maybe I’m expecting too much from
Najib.

52. Inilah sebenarnya asas teras kepada kontrak yang telah dimuafakat
bapa-bapa pengasas mewakili kaum masing-masing di ambang kemerdekaan.
Ia kemudiannya telah dimaktubkan sebagai kontrak sosial nasional,
tertinta dalam perkara dan fasal Perlembagaan Persekutuan yang menjadi
undang-undang tertinggi negara. Mahu tidak mahu, kita sewajibnya
menghormati persepakatan mulia yang telah dilakukan kerana itulah
kunci kepada kelangsungan dan survival kebangsaan.

53. Kini pula, sebagai generasi kepimpinan mutakhir, kita telah
diamanahkan untuk menghadapi tuntutan zaman monumental ini sebagaimana
generasi kepimpinan pertama yang telah dihadapkan dengan cabaran untuk
membina asas kepelbagaian. Oleh itu, adalah amat tidak
bertanggungjawab jika kita memilih jalan berpeluk tubuh dan duduk
bersimpuh tanpa berbuat apa-apa. Lebih teruk lagi jika ditanggungkan
pula beban ini kepada generasi kepimpinan akan datang.

********

memilih jalan berpeluk tubuh? Memeluk Cina teramat sangat? Hingga mereka
mahu cebis hak kita?

54. Demikian itulah, kita harus membina landasan baru perhubungan kaum
di Malaysia dengan mengambil kira dua prinsip penting. Pertamanya, ia
haruslah berasaskan masa depan yang dikongsi bersama dan kedua, ia
harus mengambil kira faktor sejarah tanpa mengenepikan realiti hari
ini serta potensi masa depan.

**********

Interpretasi “realiti hari ini” itu diperso’alkan. Nampaknya persepsi “realiti hari ini”
yang ada padanya berlainan dari yang ada pada kita. Persepsinya berdasarakan
mahukan undi. Persepsi kita mahukan hak dan kepentingan kita jangan disentuh
oleh sesiapa. Terutama sekali ahli BN.

55. Sememangnya, manusia tidak wujud dan hidup dalam sebuah utopia.
Manusia tidak dapat lari dari realiti dan persekitaran. Malaysia
adalah sebuah negara berasaskan keluhuran perlembagaan dan kedaulatan
undang-undang sepertimana ideologi kebangsaan yang ternukil dalam
panca prinsip Rukun Negara.

56. Seperti yang kita maklum, kedudukan orang Melayu serta Bumiputera
dan kepentingan kaum-kaum lain dari segi politik telah termaktub jelas
dalam Perlembagaan Persekutuan. Ia terkunci kemas dalam
artikel-artikel Bahagian 3 mengenai kewarganegaraan, Perkara 38
berkait Majlis Raja-Raja, Perkara 152 tentang Bahasa Kebangsaan dan
Perkara 153 mencakupi antara lain Perezapan kuota perkhidmatan dan
permit untuk orang Melayu.

57. Seterusnya, saudara dan saudari, kita mesti memahami dan
mengetahui bahawa, pindaan terhadap artikel-artikel ini tidak boleh
dilakukan tanpa persetujuan Majlis Raja-Raja mengikut Perkara 159
Perlembagaan Persekutuan. Ia ditambah kukuh pula oleh Perkara 10
Fasal 4, yang memberi kuasa kepada Parlimen, bagi menggubal
undang-undang, melarang perbuatan mempersoal apa-apa perkara, hak,
taraf, kedudukan, keistimewaan, kedaulatan atau hak kedaulatan yang
ditetapkan atau diperlindung oleh peruntukan Bahagian 3, Perkara 152,
153 dan Perkara 181.

***********

Bagus dia sebutkan ini semua.

58. Sehubungan hal ini, hendaklah kita mengetahui bahawa apa yang
menjadi polemik hebat hari ini, sama ada tentang kerakyatan selepas
merdeka atau hak istimewa orang Melayu sebenarnya, sudah menjadi
perdebatan akademik. Ini kerana, dari segi perundangan,
peruntukan-peruntukannya sudah pun tersurat dan sekaligus terpateri
kemas.

***********

Mengapa guna perkataan “perdebatan akademik”? Bukankah dia perlu
sebutkan “seditious”, menghasut? Beri tahu mereka jangan buat demikian.

59. Seandainya mempunyai majoriti dua pertiga dalam Parlimen pun,
tidak akan mampu mengubah setitik apa jua, tanpa kebenaran Majlis yang
dianggotai sembilan orang Raja-Raja Melayu. Dalam kata lain, sia-sia
sahaja jerit pekik untuk menggunakan peruntukan tentang kerakyatan
bagi mengancam kaum lain kerana peruntukan yang tertulis ini begitu
konkrit sekalipun darurat diisytiharkan, ia tetap tidak boleh
disinggung.

60. Di sebalik semuanya, suka tidak suka, ada sebab yang amat kuat
mengapa perkara-perkara ini tidak dibenarkan untuk dipinda kecuali
dengan perkenan Majlis Raja-Raja. Hikmahnya, adalah supaya peruntukan-
peruntukan tersebut di letakkan luar daripada forum perbincangan. Jika
dibuka juga kepada perbahasan, maka kita bimbang, kita khuatir, ia akan
membangkitkan keresahan serta mengapi-apikan “primordial instinct” atau
naluri asal wujud antara etnik.

61. Di atas segalanya, rakyat Malaysia perlu sedar bahawa sejarah
telah menunjukkan tidak kira betapa majunya sesebuah ekonomi, betapa
berevolusinya sesebuah tamadun, betapa terpelajarnya manusia dan
betapa tinggi tahap toleransi, seandai dan sekiranya naluri asal wujud
ini tidak diurus dengan baik, kesannya kelak, kita mungkin menyaksikan
kezaliman yang sangat dahsyat bakal terjelma, dinyalakan oleh sikap
dan disemarakkan sifat tabie manusiawi itu sendiri.

64. Merentasi situasi ini, sebagai orang Melayu yang merupakan kaum
majoriti, kita mempunyai tanggungjawab kepimpinan untuk ditunaikan.
Satu tanggungjawab moral kepimpinan yang melangkaui kepentingan kaum
kita sendiri. Tanggungjawab ini secara alami telah tertakdir dan
tertanggung ke atas orang-orang Melayu disebabkan kita adalah dalam
rumpun majoriti yang membentuk 67 peratus daripada penduduk Malaysia.
Seperti yang telah saya bicarakan di awal ucapan tadi, ketentuan ini
disahihkan lagi oleh faktor sejarah serta sikap dalaman bangsa itu
sendiri.

***********

I’m damn glad that Najib regards the Bumiputeras of Sabah and
Sarawak as Melayu, using the term “Rumpun Melayu”, as per the book “Tamadun
Alam Melayu” published by the Historical Society of Malaysia. Looks
like we don’t have to send him copies of the book! And he or his brother
won’t call themselves as “pendatang”?

Good that the UMNO Permanent Chairman drove the message home to Chua Soi Lek and his gang, despite jovially in the Hokkien dialect, not to touch our rights and privileges and we won’t call them pendatang.

Emchai la. Gua bo hiau kong la. Gua emmai lu ke Mandarin school la. Ang chua lu ai Mandalin school ah? Bo eisai lo. Lu kiok lespek for Pelembagaan la.

66. Dalam pengertian lain, di arus kemodenan dan kerancakan
globalisasi, soal hak, harga diri dan asal-usul tidak lagi membawa
apa-apa makna jika bangsa kita mundur dan ketinggalan. Secara
otomatis, rasa hormat, rasa menaruh harap oleh pihak lain kepada kita
juga akan luntur. Dek yang demikian, pada saat ini juga kita perlu
bingkas bangun dan berlari deras bagi menggapai justifikasi peranan
umat Melayu dengan penuh berhemah lagi profesional.

67. Menjengah ke hadapan, sebermula Perhimpunan Agung Mac 2009,
pelbagai rencana dan perancangan rapi serta strategi telah disusun.
Jadinya, kita tidak boleh lagi berlengah-lengah dan membuang masa.
Mengatasi semua perkara, tumpuan kita sekarang ini adalah terhadap
gerak kerja parti. Gerak kerja UMNO sebagai sebuah parti siasah mesti
berubah. Kendati begitu, UMNO harus kekal berpegang teguh kepada
tujuan asalnya, sebagai sebuah parti Melayu massa yang mampu
mengungkap aspirasi bangsa.

68. Laksamana Hang Tuah menyebut, takkan Melayu hilang di dunia.
Begitulah, bangsa Melayu terutamanya dirantau ini, telah menjelajah
zaman dan menempuh rangkaian suka duka. Ketahuilah, tahun 2011 yang
bakal menjelang bukanlah sembarangan. Ia menandakan genapnya tempoh
lima ratus tahun, semenjak kejatuhan empayar Melayu Melaka. Di sini,
kita harus mengambil pengajaran kenapa sebuah empayar begitu hebat di
Kepulauan Melayu yang menjadi persinggahan perdagangan dua benua telah
rebah dijajah Portugis.

69. Ironisnya, banyak pihak hanya menumpukan kepada runtuhnya empayar
Melayu ini kerana pengkhianatan dari dalam. Ya, memang benar ini
sebahagian sebabnya. Tetapi fakta yang tidak kurang penting untuk
diambil iktibar ialah ehwal tentera kedua-dua pihak, masing-masing
ternyata memperlengkap persenjataan peperangan untuk era yang
berlainan.

***********

“pengkhianatan dari dalam” itu perlu dibincangkan. Perlu interpretasi
yang tepat dan sesuai.

70. Maksud saya, pihak Portugis menggunakan senjata yang moden untuk
zamannya, dengan senapang dan meriam sedangkan pertahanan Melaka waktu
itu masih menggunakan senjata yang sesuai dengan zaman yang telah
berlalu. Walaupun keris, tombak dan lembing menjadi lambang
kepahlawanan, namun ia ternyata tidak mampu menewaskan bedil dan
meriam. Begitulah resam dan ketetapan, sunnah putaran alam.

71. Oleh yang demikian amatlah mustahaknya Melayu alaf ke-3, Melayu
abad ke-21 dipersediakan untuk eranya. Dari begitu obsesi terhadap
hak, sebaliknya Melayu abad ke-21 wajib mempersiap siagakan dirinya
untuk memanfaatkan hak yang ada. Apa gunanya kuota, rizab dan permit
jika segalanya dipersiakan. Apa gunanya peluang jika ia digadai demi
keuntungan jangka pendek.

***********

“Apa gunanya kuota, rizab dan permit jika segalanya dipersiakan”.
Menyingalah mereka didewan itu yang tidak dapat habuan, selain dari
sehelai tikar sembahayang dan RM100. Sepatutnya dia sebutkan
Kerajaannya akan coba tukar sistem mengagihkan faedah DEB. Tak mahu
cakap mungkin sebab DEB sensitif kapadanya? Melampau, kalau gitu.

73. Kita harus menjadi Melayu yang glokal. Saudara dan saudari, saya
ingin bertanya, apa kurangnya bangsa Melayu? Melayu…… seharusnya mampu
bersaing dengan yang terbaik. Melayu…… seharusnya mampu bertarung
dengan yang paling kuat. Melayu…… mesti menjadi yang terhebat di
pentas antarabangsa.

74. Justeru, saya sebagai Presiden UMNO…… tidak mahu….. menerima
alasan bahawa anak Melayu masih lemah kesan penjajahan hampir lima
kurun. Saya sebagai Presiden UMNO beserta rakan-rakan pimpinan dalam
parti juga tidak rela…… melihat bangsa Melayu menjadi bangsa yang
meminta-minta, kita tidak mahu…… melihat bangsa Melayu menjadi bangsa
yang berpuas hati dengan momokan rezeki secupak tak kan jadi
segantang.

************

YANG DIATAS INI SEMUA SAYA TIDAK BOLEH TERIMA. MELAINKAN DIA SEBUT
FASAL LEVELLING THE PLAYING FIELD.

76. Kepada semua pihak hendaklah menyedari, bukankah apa yang Malaysia
capai selama lima puluh tiga tahun kemerdekaan adalah juga hasil usaha
dan penerajuan bangsa Melayu? Lantas, kita menjadi lemas dan rimas
dewasa ini, apabila kedengaran suara-suara sumbang yang cuba
memperlecehkan pencapaian orang Melayu. Benar sekali, amat mudah bagi
lidah tidak bertulang membuat nista. Mereka dengan suka-suka menuduh
perkhidmatan awam sebagai lubuk ketidakcekapan.

77. Walhal, jika perkhidmatan awam negara tidak kompeten, sudah lama
kita menjadi negara gagal, tidak mungkin pula akan berjaya berkembang
sebegini dari negara pertanian berpendapatan rendah kepada sebuah
negara perindustrian moden.

*************

76-77 SOMEWHAT MITIGATE HIS STATEMENTS IN THE PRECEDING PARAS.

UMNO bukanlah sebarang parti, UMNO lahir daripada suara hati dan
aspirasi orang Melayu. Menelusuri perjalanannya, UMNO telah dilanda
rentetan dugaan yang besar. Tahun 1951, Presiden dan Pengasas UMNO
telah meninggalkan parti. Kemudiannya, PAS telah ditubuhkan oleh salah
seorang calon Presiden yang tewas kepada Almarhum Tunku dalam
pertandingan menggantikan Dato’ Onn sebagai pemimpin baru UMNO.

85. Menjelang 1969, UMNO dan rakan-rakannya telah hilang buat kali
pertama majoriti dua pertiga dalam Dewan Rakyat, sekaligus kita
dihadapkan dengan rusuhan kaum dan demokrasi terpaksa digantung. Dunia
ketika itu, sudah seperti melambai selamat tinggal kepada UMNO. Detik
cemas 1987 pula menyaksikan parti berpecah dua dan negara menghadapi
insiden ketegangan kaum.

************

Good that he mentions the race riots of 1969, although merely in
passing. Need to mention that from time to time to remind the DAP
fellows not to repeat the callous and intolerable acts and utterances
when celebrating their election victory in 1969.

89. Semuanya ini kerana ahli-ahli dan pemimpin UMNO terus berpijak di
bumi nyata. Semuanya ini juga dimungkinkan kerana ahli-ahli dan
pemimpin UMNO tidak pernah sedetik pun pudar keyakinannya terhadap
perjuangan benar ini, tidak pernah pula sesaat pun luluh harapan
kepada pucuk pimpinan. Pokoknya, pegangan mulia UMNO telah
memanfaatkan bukan sahaja orang Melayu tetapi seluruh rakyat Malaysia.

***********

“tidak pernah pula sesaat pun luluh harapan kepada pucuk pimpinan”.
Apa maknanya? Betul ke?

90. Hakikatnya, kitalah parti politik pertama yang berani meluaskan
medan pemilihan sehingga melibatkan 140,000 orang ahli. Sebelum kita
meminda perlembagaan (parti) pun, kita terkenal dengan parti politik yang
amat kompetitif pertandingannya.

95. Maka, kepada semua saya berpesan, kepada semua saya beri pedoman,
janganlah kita terpalit damak beracun sandiwara lawan yang hanya
menempah alam kegagalan. Berpasaklah kepada parti UMNO. Bertetaplah
kepada panji-panji Barisan Nasional. Walau berkecai tulang dan juga
badan, walau bercerai jasad dari nyawa. Saudara dan saudari, walau apa
pun yang terjadi, Putrajaya mesti kita pertahankan!

*************

“Walau berkecai tulang dan juga badan, walau bercerai jasad dari
nyawa” – One commenter in Malaysia Today twisted it saying Najib
is prepared to berkecai tulang etc to protect Malay interests.

**************************************************

No. 2

Some comments (made by the writer in capital letters) on the English
version of the speech as reported in the following:

http://umno-online.com/?p=23321&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=najib-%25e2%2580%2593-malay-rights-fully-protected

“Even if the two-thirds majority is gained in Parliament, nothing can
be changed without the consent of the Council represented by the nine
Malay Rulers.

“In other words, it would be pointless to quarrel and use this
provision on citizenship to threaten the other races because the
provision enshrined is so concrete even if an emergency were to be
declared, it still cannot be touched,” he said when delivering his
keynote address at the Umno General Assembly 2010, at the Dewan
Merdeka, Putra World Trade Centre, here. –

I DONT LIKE THE WORDS “THREATEN OTHER RACES”, IMPLYING BLAME ON MALAYS
WHO ACTUALLY WERE REACTING TO THE OTHERS QUESTIONING THE MALAY
SPECIAL POSITION AND THE NEP. HE KNOWS FULL WELL IT’S BLOODY LKS AND DAP
THAT STARTED IT DECADES AGO, NOW EVEN FOLLOWED BY SEDITIOUS MCA.

When delivering his speech with the theme ‘Empowering the Race to Lead
Prosperity’, Najib pointed out that efforts by certain groups to
question the position of the Malays as a race whose privileges are
protected, had clearly caused uneasiness and dissatisfaction towards
the Malays who are noted for their accommodating attitude.

“This feeling of discontentment has begun to spread and may destroy
the racial harmony which we have nurtured for so long,” he said to
loud applause from the more than 4,000 delegates and observers. –

THIS IS OK.

Najib said that after gaining independence for 53 years and that
Malaysians were now facing relentless pressure on the main thrusts in
racial relations which had existed all this while, this national
polemic could possibly pose a threat to national solidarity.

“What poses a problem under these circumstances is that there will be
tension when history is ignored or forgotten as time goes by, or when
there are irresponsible groups who try to re-interpret all this to
suit their interests or narrow agenda,” he said. –

STILL NO MENTION OF WHAT SHOULD BE DONE TO THE “IRRESPONSIBLE GROUPS”,
NO MENTION OF THE SEDITION ACT THAT THE POLICE CAN PICK UP ON AND DO
ARRESTS AND/OR CHARGE THE BLOKES IN COURT,

OF COURSE, HE WON’T EVEN MENTION AMARAN. HE STILL STICKS TO HIS POLICY
OF APPEASEMENT TO THE CHINESE.

Najib said the Malays had actually made the biggest sacrifice to
achieve independence, when they were willing to share the ownership of
‘Tanah Melayu’, which was their motherland, with the other races. –

NAJIB IS ADEPT AT TRYING TO PLEASE EVERYBODY. NICE WORDS AT MCA AGA, NICE WORDS AT UMNO AGA, HE MIGHT EVEN SAY NICE WORDS AT PAS MUKTAMAR. DOING SO AT PAS MAY EVEN BE
WELCOME IF IT INDUCES CO-OPERATION OR MELAYU BERSATU.

WANTING CHINESE VOTES IS UNDERSTANDABLE. BUT NOT BY A POLICY OF
APPEASEMENT. BRITISH PM NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN TRIED IT ON ADOLF HITLER BEFORE WORLD WAR II, GOT INTERPRETED AS A WEAKNESS, THE GERMANS INVADED BRITAIN AND THE BRITISH WERE ALMOST BROUGHT DOWN TO THEIR KNEES BEFORE THE ALLIED FORCES GATHERED IN STRENGTH AND INVADED GERMANY.

**********

No 3

Other comments randomly picked out:

No 3a.

Najib ni, in other words, was trying to tell the Malays to just shut up and accept whatever thrown at them, perhaps… just because 152 and 153 are “securely locked” into our Perlembagaan.

Orang yg tak pakai otak aje yang akan terima bulat-bulat “jaminan” Najib nih… to leave the Malay, Bumiputera and Islamic Articles in the Perlembagaan intact and untouched is just one thing, but to ensure the rights and interests enshrined in those Articles are practically being upheld is a different story altogether.

the moral is, just because those matters are “securely locked” into our Perlembagaan and can’t be changed even with 100% support in the Parliament without getting the consent of Raja-Raja Melayu, it does never mean that those matters will always be upheld and will not be ignored or undermined by those in power.

*********

No. 3b

Depa boleh desak, so UMNO pun boleh desak. Nak desak kat sapa? kat Agung? Bukankah diri sendiri yang pegang kuasa? What la Najib!!

*********

No. 3c

The Chinese education is actually at a dilemma..they have come to a stage where..the private sector etc.. cannot longer cope with the increasing numbers and surplus that they produced. This is one of the reason they push for acceptance of more non malays into government and universities. They do not want to change into SSS … they want the government to change to accommodate them.

*********

No. 3d

could Najib meant, by saying that only Raja2 can change Perlembagaan, that Malay should not be alarmed that MBE do not specify DEB in it ? i have a feeling that he’s asking Malays not to bising at whatever hes doing or plan to do, because whatever it is, it wont change Hak Melayu ! in other words, that part in his speech was meant for MALAYS .

**********

No. 3e

I fully agree on your point with regards to the actual implementation/ enforcement of the provisions hence the call for a Royal Review on the 153.

Other than that the whole speech is extremely hollow….

**********

Signs of the Times .. Chaos and Uncertainties .. What Went Wrong … The MCA Situation

*************************************************************************************************************************

Chaotic, says the Sin Chew Daily writer. Uncertainties, says the Mysinchew.com writer. The Chinese now have less confidence in the MCA, says the Utusan Malaysia writer. What went wrong, asked the recently vanquished former MCA leader. No more business as usual, says the victorious current MCA leader. He won depite an illicit sex video of him widely circulated not long before the party elections.

How come? Some answers can be found in the article written by Dato Seri Ong Tee Kiat, the former MCA leader. The following quotes are interesting:

“Party insiders had been overly engrossed in .. fund-raising programmes .. Instead of explaining or justifying the policies, many may sing in the chorus along with the critics of policies within the community. After all, the party network hardly furnishes them with much information on the subject .. Many grassroots leaders surviving on the administration’s political resources .. found .. all revenue life-lines severed. This had made them fall easy prey to certain party leaders who pandered to money politics.

“.. grassroots leaders, particularly party delegates who would exercise their voting rights in the party election, on the payroll of aspiring party leaders who are set to wrest control of the party leadership ..
The personal pay cheques are sufficient to convert them overnight into local lieutenants merely serving the interests of their paymasters in the party .. serving the party and the people would no longer appear on their radar screen.

“.. becoming intensely self-interest driven in the current context .. To the young generation “value-driven” or “mission-driven” partisan politics is likely to sink into .. oblivion in no time.”

The Utusan Malaysia article says that the MCA is short of time. Dato Seri Najib has asked them to deliver. Can they?

Who says only UMNO has been involved in money politics? Attempts to make money from politics and use money for gaining or maintaining power occur in practically every party. Former MCA leader Tun Ling Liong Sik was charged in court in connection with the financial scandal over the huge Port Klang Free Zone project. The current MCA Youth leader Wee Ka Siong is allegedly also implicated in the affair. Selangor State Executive Counciller Ronnie Liu is said to be the “fund raiser” in the DAP.

And the quote from the Sin Chew Daily article is “The PKR is in turmoil, the DAP faces some internal infightings while Gerakan is submerged in a drastic crisis of confidence in its leadership”. UMNO and the rest have been covered in other writings. So, all is not well in Malaysia today. The signs of the times.

The articles referred to above are reproduced below. Let’s talk about them. Our views are given as replies to comments readers make.

*********************************************************************************

Nation mired in political uncertainties

By LIM MUN FAH
Translated by SOONG PHUI JEE

There is only one word to describe the current local political situation: chaotic. The PKR is in turmoil, the DAP faces some internal infightings while Gerakan is submerged in a drastic crisis of confidence in its leadership.

The PKR chaos is mainly caused by the electoral fight for party positions and power. Almost everyone in the party is laying claims to a party position, with an eye on a powerful position if the party were to win big in the next general election.

The DAP trouble is also a struggle for positions and power, particularly in Perak, where state DAP chairman Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham and secretary Nga Kor Ming are been engaged in a factional fight with state deputy chairman M. Kulasegaran.

As for Gerakan, an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) has been scheduled for Sunday 10 October to vote on a no-confidence motion against Penang party chairman Datuk Dr Teng Hock Nan. Party president Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon is caught in a hubbub of controversy when he announced that he would rather attend the opening of the MCA general assembly on that day, instead of the crucial party EGM in Penang.

Koh’s announcement upset party adviser and ex-president Tun Dr Lim Keng Yaik so much that he resigned as the adviser. Lim lambasted Koh for having no guts to face problems and conflicts in the party, saying that Koh only wants to please everyone.

Earlier in the year, Lim had shocked the party and the public by declaring that Gerakan has lost Penang forever.

The Gerakan crisis is different from that of the PKR and DAP as it involves the party members’ confidence in Koh, who is seen as a weak leader, lacking in potency and influence. It is fundamentally a crisis of confidence in the party leadership.

The electoral dispute in the PKR and the internal controversy in the DAP involve only some minor power struggles among the grassroots warlords

There is no question about the power and authority of PKR adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang.

In Gerakan, however, Lim is apparently powerless as he is no longer the party president, while Koh is a weakling lacking in vitality and political power and strength.

Lim has suggeted that Koh’s biggest weakness is that he is a man-pleaser, being afraid to offend people, refusing to face the reality of political problems, and trying to be nice guy.

After the March 2008 general election, Gerakan found itself diminished into an insignificant “mosquito party” with no bargaining power in the BN coalition, having lost its crown jewel Penang to the DAP and its Pakatan Rakyat partners.

The DAP and PKR, on the other hand, have emerged as a new political powerhouse under the alternative Pakatan Rakyat coalition.

Over the past two years, the battle between the BN and the Pakatan Rakyat has been intensified. Although both coalitions have pledged to carry out massive socio-economic and political reforms, so far neither has been able to make much headway. About the only thing the disappointed people see nowadays are the fierce infightings within the component parties of both coalitions.

Malaysia has come to a critical moment of its political history, but there are still many uncertainties over the direction the country is heading.

In the face of the uncertain situation, the people cannot help but sigh in frustration and worries. Nevertheless, they are still full of expectations, hoping that the political parties will behave themselves and strive to create a truly high-quality democratic culture in the country.

Sin Chew Daily

MySinchew 2010-10-06

http://www.mysinchew.com/node/46067

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Parties facing uncertain times — Lim Sue Goan
October 12, 2010

OCT 12 — The current hot political scenario has been brewing for more than two-and-a-half years, and the last two months have been a real critical time for the component parties of both the Barisan Nasional (BN)and Pakatan Rakyat, with intense internal struggles threatening to cause massive damage to their image, and even their existence.

Many important programmes have been scheduled for October and November, and both coalitions now have to face two unexpected by-elections.

The MCA has basically been stabilised after its fresh poll on March 28 and it has started to actively restore the people’s confidence. However, Gerakan has fallen into a troubled period.

Even though Penang Gerakan chairman Datuk Dr Teng Hock Nam has survived the no-confidence vote against him at an extraordinary general meeting in Penang on Sunday, the leadership crisis remains unresolved.

Umno is going to hold its annual general meeting from October 19 to 23, and it is expected that a loyalty pledge will be taken to endorse Umno president and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s reform plans, to prepare for the next general election.

After the Malay rights group Perkasa and former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad have stirred up several racial issues, Najib’s 1 Malaysia concept has been in a quandary. Also, his New Economic Model (NEM) is facing some obstacles. Hence, it is important for Najib to get the full support of his party. He wants to lead a united Umno, instead of a factional party.

The next will be the BN convention on November 28. The main agenda of the convention, which has been postponed for several times, is to amend the constitution so that the BN can accept direct members to strengthen the power of the coalition.

The convention is expected to boost the morale within the coalition and bring desirable effects if it works with other reform plans.

Meanwhile, component parties of the Pakatan Rakyat are having their party elections and PKR is going to have a new leadership. Datuk Zaid Ibrahim is not steady enough to do great things as he has repeatedly changed his stand. Therefore, Azmin Ali is expected to win the party deputy president post while Nurul Izzah Anwar is expected to become a new generation leader.

PKR advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim must introduce new strategies during the PKR annual general assembly from November 26 to 28 to strengthen the party organisation and discipline. Otherwise, internal faction will weaken the party’s strength, especially when Anwar might face imprisonment for sodomy.

The DAP is going to hold its party state elections in November. The surfacing factional problem is a difficult task and, thus, the central leadership has been committed to resolving the problems in Perak. We can see that the Perak DAP deputy chairman M. Kulasegaran’s attitude has turned softer and the two factions have started to prioritise the party interests and future.

The Galas and Batu Sapi by-elections are going to serve as support-rate indicators for the BN and the Pakatan Rakyat. Particularly, a third of voters in Galas are non-Malays while Batu Sapi has about 40 per cent in non-Muslim voters.

If the BN wins the two by-elections, the Sarawak state election might be held together with the general election in March next year. The Batu Sapi by-election in Sabah is going to serve as a bellwether for the Sarawak state election. If the Pakatan Rakyat fails to threaten the BN, it will be difficult for it to take over Sarawak.

In addition, the government has started to implement its reform plans, such as the education ministry has abolishing the policy of teaching Science and Mathematics in English and deciding to change the Penilaian Menengah rendah (PMR) examination for Form Three students to a school-based assessment starting 2016. Also, Najib is going to table the 2011 Budget on October 15 and the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) on October 26.

The BN has been diligent in work over the past year while Pakatan Rakyat seems to have been overshadowed. If the Pakatan Rakyat still does not pull itself together and introduce new reform plans, swing votes might go to the BN, and its dream of taking over Putrajaya will fade further and further away. — mysinchew.com

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication. The Malaysian Insider does not endorse the view unless specified.

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/breakingviews/article/parties-facing-uncertain-times-lim-sue-goan/

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‘What went wrong, my dear partners?’

by Datuk Seri Ong Tee Kiat, a politician who paid a price for his value-oriented politics. A perceived maverick in the establishment, also the MP for Pandan.

October 11, 2010

The political tsunami of the 2008 general election was a real acid test for all the component parties of the ruling coalition. The unprecedented electoral setback provided us with food for thought, particularly the effectiveness and relevance of these parties in the current political landscape.

The crux of the matter is not in the race-based partisan structure alone, as the political tsunami hit not only the raced-based component parties but across the board.

The blame game within the coalition does not bode well if no in-depth reflection and self-remedy on the prevailing weaknesses are instituted by the respective component parties as well as Barisan Nasional (BN) as a whole.

From the perspective of non-Malays, BN is conspicuously and overwhelmingly dominated by Umno. No doubt Umno being the mainstay of the coalition would undeniably be playing the role of the bigger brother; nonetheless, any pervasive perception of its over-dominance would inevitably render the other component parties’ roles insignificant, if not irrelevant.

In meeting the ever-escalating demands and aspirations of the people, the perceived ineffectiveness of the component parties would only further alienate the communities they claim to represent.

Over the years, it has been the common perception that government policies largely remain in the grip of Umno. This has been clearly manifested time and again by the major policy announcements made by Umno ministers at Umno party functions, without any perceived participation of the component parties at all.

Of course, such conspicuous display of power dominance does create grouses among the disgruntled coalition partners. However, the smaller coalition partners too should carry their fair share of blame as they have knowingly or unknowingly developed a sense of self-marginalisation in their psyche.

This is evident in the many political statements made or even sometimes resolutions endorsed at the party’s general assembly that call for the government to address certain issues or concerns.

This would then make the party’s effectiveness subservient to the ruling coalition in question which wields the government machinery.

On the policy fronts, the pressure from Umno has always been for its partners to explain, if not justify the government policies whenever they come under fire in the non-Malay communities.

Nonetheless, they hardly understand the real scenario and predicament on the ground especially within the non-Malay social fabric.

By and large, political discourse within the party ranks or for the public has so far taken a back seat in most, if not among all coalition partners. How did that happen?

Such a tacit paradigm shift could be attributable to what some party veterans term value decadence within the party. Party insiders had been overly engrossed in either fund-raising programmes or apolitical initiatives.

Instead of explaining or justifying the policies, many may sing in the chorus along with the critics of policies within the community. After all, the party network hardly furnishes them with much information on the subject.

The perceived lethargy of the party grassroots became more pronounced after the 2008 political tsunami when the opposition front managed to wrest control of five states.

Many party cadres or grassroots leaders surviving on the administration’s political resources had all of a sudden found themselves in the lurch with all revenue life-lines severed.

This had made them fall easy prey to certain party leaders who pandered to money politics. Now that it is no longer uncommon to have grassroots leaders, particularly party delegates who would exercise their voting rights in the party election, on the payroll of aspiring party leaders who are set to wrest control of the party leadership.

Under such circumstances, their allegiance to the paymaster would almost certainly ride rough-shod over the political cause and interest of the party and community it seeks to represent.

The personal pay cheques are sufficient to convert them overnight into local lieutenants merely serving the interests of their paymasters in the party. The orthodoxy of serving the party and the people would no longer appear on their radar screen.

In areas where the coalition partners were once known for their local service, they found themselves caught in a newfound dilemma. The traditional petition-writing style of constituency service and municipality-linked services are all now outmoded.

The municipal officials have to serve their new political masters from Pakatan Rakyat after the change of guards in March 2008. Moreover the dependants of petition-writing services have dwindled as the electorate has grown more sophisticated. Hence, these grassroots leaders may appear to be likened to sales personnel without products to sell.

While the terminology of political education seems to sound increasingly remote, if not totally alien, to many partisans nowadays, partisan politics is becoming intensely self-interest driven in the current context.

To the young generation, they make no attempt to deny that “ideology-driven” is now discarded as a by-product of the past Cold War era, while “value-driven” or “mission-driven” partisan politics is likely to sink into the same oblivion in no time.

As the election draws closer, the party bosses of the coalition would be setting their sights on statistics linked to the sizes of electorate and party membership. However, the bloated party membership in any one constituency can no longer offer anybody comfort, much less grant anybody the assurance of delivering sufficient voters’ support to win the seat.

Though it is unfair to label the entire membership in any locality as phantoms, it would be an absolute naivety to believe that the lawfully registered members could ever make their presence felt in the local community.

Many registered local branches might never be heard of by the local folks. To the party insiders who know the tricks of the game, this is one of the usual gimmicks deployed to beef up the number of party delegates who are expected to lend support to the leaders who mastermind the formation and registration of such local branches.

As the saying goes: “Politics is a number game”; any shrewd and crafty politician can always out-manoeuvre his fellow comrade in any power tussle within the party through manipulating the branches and delegates, but it is near impossible for him to hoodwink the entire electorate by means of gutter politics.

* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/opinion/article/what-went-wrong-my-dear-partners/

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No more business as usual — Dr Chua Soi Lek
October 10, 2010

Just a year ago, our party was at the crossroads of a crisis and now a new team has been duly elected. The wounds would have healed by now and there lies lots of work ahead, more so when there are greater challenges ahead for the party and the nation.

…

Bear in mind, the people will not support a party in disunity. I have to admit there are fractions at the division level which need to be addressed urgently

Today’s political climate is different. It cannot be business as usual and the changing political landscape requires us to be on our toes.

To do well in the next general election, we have to overcome the negative perception of the Chinese towards MCA.

We have been perceived as a party that has been unable to voice out the aspirations of the community although they would agree that MCA had been diligently providing services pertaining to localised issues.

I have to be frank to say it is important not just for the Barisan Nasional to win at the next general election, but the MCA as a party must also do well in order for us to be effective.

The political tsunami in the 2008 elections had reduced MCA’s representation in Parliament from 31 seats in the 2004 elections to only 15.

The state seats were reduced from 75 which we won in 2004 to 31 seats in the same election.

The people have spoken loud and clear. Other than developing the nation, the rakyat expects the government to reduce corruption, be accountable, transparent, democratic and fair.

Extremism rearing its ugly head

Of late politicians from both sides of the political divide have been playing up on racial and religious issues.

We strongly condemn such actions.

As a peace loving Malaysian, I would appeal to all politicians from both sides of the political divide, to reject those who thrive on racialism

Datuk Seri Najib Razak, if Barisan Nasional pursues the middle path and politics that embraces all races, then I am confident the rakyat will continue to support the BN under your leadership.

As you pursue your policy of inclusiveness under 1 Malaysia, the voices of extremism be it of any race or religion, will become a minority.

Untapped voters

As we are approaching the 13th general election, our utmost concern now is to woo the estimated four million Malaysians above the age of 21 who have yet to register as voters.

They are the potential voters who play a crucial role in determining the next federal government.

Today these youngsters talk about ideals and a civic society that promotes fairness, justice and they are utterly up in arms against abuses of power and corruption.

They want to be respected as citizens and need not be reminded to be grateful because their parents were accorded citizenships and certainly they don’t want to be called “pendatang”.

These youths want to be recognised and be part of the process of nation building. They feel that they have suffered in some ways because of discriminatory policies.

Their parents, the older generation may endure the policies then but the younger generation who do not connect with history finds it difficult to accept.

They may not know the role played by our founding fathers in fighting for independence and citizenship for non-Malays. They are more interested to know what the nation can offer them now and the future.

On the unregistered voters, the party has also started its registration drive to register as many new voters and it would be stepped up to reach as many people.

Education

We are all for grooming a competitive Malaysian race that is dynamic, outstanding and one that possesses great calibre, innovativeness and creativity, hence education policies should be based on merits and needs.

I would like to express MCA’s humble thanks to the prime minister for being responsive towards our constant dialogues with him which has seen positive changes.

At this juncture, I would also like to applaud YAB Datuk Seri ‘s recent decision to offer scholarships to all students, regardless of race, who scored 9A+ in their SPM examinations. Of the total students, a total of 1550 students were Chinese. This is truly in the 1 Malaysia spirit.

I also want to put on record that a historical breakthrough was also achieved this year as a total of 92 per cent of Chinese students had successfully enrolled in local public universities, which is the highest enrolment ever in the history.

Sir, you have been most gracious and proactive towards our suggestions of a more equitable and just society and we appreciate your great understanding and proactive approach.

On this note, may I also record our appreciation on the recent award of scholarships by 1 Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), a strategic development company owned by the Government to 50 top Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) holders pursuing their higher education.

The scholarships is not a one-off thing and each recipient are given scholarships valued at RM45,000 each and it comes without any bond.

The Dong Zong (United Chinese School Committees’ Association) and Jiao Zong (United Chinese School Teachers Association) have been conducting the UEC examination (which is equivalent to STPM) since 1975 and this is the first time UEC top scorers received scholarships from the Government.

The prime minister and deputy prime minister have also been instrumental in allowing holders of the Unified Examination Certificate conducted by the Chinese independent schools to enter teacher training institutions. This has helped a lot in easing the shortage of Chinese school teachers.

The entry qualification set for UEC holders to enter the teacher training institutions was initially fixed at four credits in the SPM including Bahasa Malaysia but through MCA’s effort, the Education Ministry has agreed that a credit in the national language and three credits in the UEC examination would make the cut.

PTPTN loans are also now made available to independent Chinese school students with the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) to take up courses at local private higher education institutions.

Sir, we believe this is the first step towards giving more recognition to UEC and an indication of the Government giving more weight to the UEC and the role of the Chinese Independent Schools in training the young and talented.

I also wish to disclose that the education ministry has agreed to allow Utar to train non-graduate teachers of Chinese schools to attain graduate status under a special programme.

Since its inception in 2002, UTAR has produced more than 13,500 graduates up to 2009. It now offers no less than 41 Bachelor’s Honours and 10 Master’s degree programmes.

The university has also received the education ministry’s approval to offer its first medical degree programme and the first intake of the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) had started in May.

As for KTAR, it has produced more than 150,000 graduates who are highly sought after by employers.

The figures are all testimony of hardwork which the party and its leaders had gone through to realise the education needs of all Malaysians.

Sir, in the Ninth Malaysia Plan, a total of RM325 million in development funds were allocated to 1,292 Sekolah Rendah Jenis Kebangsaan (C).

It is not true that the government did not give allocations to Chinese schools. But this is inadequate and this has given opportunity to the Opposition to exploit the anti-government sentiments among the Chinese community. We need more funds under the 10MP.

Sir, when we fight for our mother tongue education, other than its cultural values, it has immense economic potential in changing the economic environment.

The emergence of China as the second economic power in the world has made Mandarin language to be of great economic value.

Our trade with Mandarin speaking nations accounted for 20 per cent of our total trade. If we need to boost up the figures, we need to train more Malaysians to be multi-lingual and are good in Bahasa, English and Mandarin. Only then we can achieve the status of a high income nation.

MCA will not look at Chinese education purely on racial lines.

In the next five years, there will be an increase of 60,000 students and we need to relocate new schools and build new Chinese schools as well.

In this context, I would like to thank Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin who has agreed in principle to MCA’s request that in any new development of more than 3,000 houses, where the majority of the community are Chinese, then there should be a compulsory provision of land specifically for usage of Chinese schools.

Another good news is that the utility bills in all government-aided Chinese primary schools will be paid by the education ministry starting next year.

Economy

Our nation’s economy needs a quantum leap to achieve a high-income status. The New Economic Model (NEM), Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) and 10th Malaysia Plan which are three of the four pillars of national transformation that will enable Malaysia to achieve the goals of Vision 2020, that is, to be a high-income economy and developed nation by 2020.

The government under the leadership of YAB Datuk Seri Najib is putting in place a people-centric agenda in driving the country’s engine of growth, with much consideration for a fairer economy.

To achieve the high-income goal, our country must maintain at least sic per cent of economic growth and attract RM100 billion of foreign and domestic investments annually under 10MP, therefore the liberalisation in various economic sectors will help in attracting investments.

Hence, we need to liberalise more economic sectors and increase productivity, competitiveness and be more innovative.

There is a need to review the 30 per cent Bumiputera equity in certain sectors but the MCA do not propose to rob Ali to pay Chong or rob Chong to pay Ali. Our objectives are clear and sincere — to ensure that the economic transformation can be achieved.

The way of doing business in Malaysia should also be simplified and be business-friendly.

The world has changed and is still changing. People are more demanding, the business community is more demanding and the complexities of doing business are far more challenging.

Sir, we support your effort to reduce the budget deficit so as to show that our debt rating is not affected. We have to maximise the utilisation of our nation’s resources to reduce wastages and leakages.

We should also encourage open tenders to reduce cost and promote greater transparency. Corruption and kickbacks had always been associated with the closed tender system.

Foreign workers

MCA acknowledges that the nation is too dependent on foreign workers and to solve the problem, the government should not be indecisive.

Flip-flop decisions do not go down well and we cannot solve problems by arbitrarily suspending recruitment. The government needs to come up with a comprehensive recruitment requirement for the various sectors.

As a stop gap measure, MCA proposed that foreign workers be subjected to a 5+3 or 5+5 tenure, depending on the sector concerned.

We should also allow the replacement of the same number of workers once the work permit had expired. The business establishment concerned should be entitled to replace the same number of workers so that their business operations would not be affected.

Fixing minimum wage

…

Mca Youth and Wanita

…

Proper management of party assets

…

Accountability

It has been more than two years since the Pakatan Rakyat government has taken over several states. We need answers on what they have accomplished so far.

Have they been able to woo more investors to their respective states and to check corruption within their own administration — the illegal sand mining, gaming outlets camouflaged as cyber cafes, illegal entertainment joints and all that.

Take for instance their manifesto pledging local council elections. What has happened to it?

The supporting letters scandal is a reminder to us that they don’t deliver what they have promised.

Please honour your promises.

Staying relevant

I would like to touch on the importance of staying relevant to keep up and reach out. There is no easier way than to reinvent and rebrand ourselves.

We should have the right tools to be effective and we have to embrace new technologies to reach out to the people.

We can no longer rely on the traditional media to communicate with the rakyat. We need the new media.

A new generation of people who spend a lot of time in the social media have emerged and we have to engage with this people, comprising mostly youths.

Social media are distinctively different from the traditional media such as newspapers, television and film.

We are talking about the outreach of social media networking which is immense with millions of viewers savouring the information via Facebook, Friendster, Twitter and the various blogs.

If we do not avail ourselves with these new technologies of communication, then we would have failed in our quest to link up with these new generation of people who articulate well, are more demanding and outspoken.

MCA leaders must from now on be on the offensive. We should no longer adopt the defensive stand.

We must also engage ourselves in intelligent debates on unfair practices, wrong doings and important issues affecting the people in the blog sphere.

As for our MCA comrades in the Pakatan-controlled states — do not forget that you are in the Opposition-controlled states and behave like one.

Go ahead and expose the shortcomings, scandals, abuse of power, malpractices and weakness of those governments. And I am sure there are many.

As leaders, we must respond to issues swiftly and not when everyone is into it, then we jump into the bandwagon. Always take the lead instead of being mere followers but be politically correct and raise sensible issues which affect the raykat.

MCA has already gone on an offensive to declare cyber war to effectively disseminate our message to the voters, there has been too many twisted information in the cyber world and the wrong perception given that of MCA and the government.

Power sharing

Barisan Nasional faces greater challenges ahead that will put the sharing of power under stress. We have gone through the ups and downs through 12 general elections.

There will be occasions when MCA will take a different stand from Umno. MCA needs to be sensitive to the needs and aspirations of the Rakyat — that we continue to be their voice in the government and that MCA continues to have a role to play in the government.

Please do not question our loyalty to Barisan Nasional and our commitment to power sharing.

We have only one agenda — to make Barisan Nasional the party of choice by the rakyat. However we are not a blind follower. We will continue to articulate the hopes, fears, expectations and frustrations of the various communities in Malaysia.

MCA will ensure that it continues to stay relevant to issues and we will be more high-profile in our pursuit to push forward our political agenda in resolving the various issues.

It would be unfair to blame the Government of only looking after the Bumiputeras and not non-Bumiputeras. All races have actually benefited from the NEP.

We have to admit that Malaysians are better off today than our forefathers but we can’t deny that some have benefited more from NEP because of weaknesses in the implementation process.

Hence, we fully support affirmative action that should be based on needs and merits. The race factor should not be the sole criteria in boosting the country’s social economic development.

Needs and merits should be the basis and key fundamentals of policy decisions.

Barisan after being in power for 53 years has its fair share of weaknesses, abuse of power and corruption. We do not claim to be a perfect government but hope that Malaysians will deliberate carefully if they think Pakatan will be a better choice.

In the battle cry for change by the Pakatan Rakyat in the 2008 elections, we noticed that the only change DAP has brought about was to strengthen PAS and deliver Chinese support to them.

We feel if Pakatan comes to power, PAS would be in the captain’s seat. PAS will not forget its autocratic Islamic stand and don’t be surprised if PAS comes back to power, it will turn back the clock.

We also need to reaffirm our commitment to the Chinese community that MCA is very sensitive to their needs and that the party has a role to play within the government and be their voice.

Sir, we stand beside you in facing the challenges of nation building and the obstacles you face. We are committed to achieve the prime minister’s vision of a 1 Malaysia agenda by 2020.

Sir, we believe that in you that we see hope for a change for a better Malaysia.

Together we will work to achieve 1 Malaysia by 2020.

* The above is the speech delivered by MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek at the party’s annual general meeting on October 10, 2010.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication. The Malaysian Insider does not endorse the view unless specified.

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/breakingviews/article/no-more-business-as-usual-dr-chua-soi-lek/

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MCA Kini Kesuntukan Masa

Artikel oleh Lim Ching Long dalam ruangan Yuan Lun di muka surat A12, akhbar Nanyang Siang Pao, 13 Oktober 2010 ini menyentuh mengenai Perhimpunan Agung Tahunan (AGM) MCA yang lalu.

AGM kali ini mengutarakan suara hati orang ramai. Jadi, Jawatankuasa Pusat tidak boleh pandang ringan. Oleh kerana ia mencerminkan suara orang ramai, maka ia bersabit dengan kepentingan dan keuntungan orang ramai serta isu-isu penting yang berlaku dalam masyarakat yang perlu MCA hadapi.

Tetapi menyedihkan, perhimpunan AGM pada 10 Oktober lalu menyaksikan dalam semua usul yang dibangkitkan, ia umpama menukar botol baru tetapi isinya tetap lama.

Sebagai parti kedua terbesar di negara ini, MCA tidak sepatutnya kemukakan usul yang begitu umum, kurang isi dan tidak mantap. Ia seperti mengemukakan usul untuk pandangan individu. MCA juga tidak sepatutnya mengusulkan cadangan dan sesuatu tajuk yang tidak jelas, contohnya isu-isu yang menyerang orang lain.

Sepatutnya, MCA mengemukakan usul yang boleh dilaksanakan. Jika semua usul hanya dapat tepukan dan sorakan penyokong, ia bukanlah satu keadaan yang tepat dan baik, seperti ikut arus tiupan angin. Perhimpunan AGM sepatutnya bersungguh-sungguh mengusulkan isu-isu yang lebih tepat, termasuk apa yang rakyat mahukan seperti pendidikan, ekonomi, budaya, politik dan masalah kehidupan dalam masyarakat.

Keseluruhan usul AGM pada 10 Oktober lalu tidak cukup menyeluruh, terutama sekali berkaitan pendidikan. Seperti ada satu kebocoran yang boleh menyebabkan penyelewengan dan tidak ada penghujungnya.

Kali ini, usul untuk pendidikan ada tiga iaitu menetapkan sistem peruntukan pembiayaan ke semua aliran sekolah, selain semua sekolah pelbagai aliran diletakkan di bawah tunggak pendidikan serta program pendidikan negara; yang kedua Kementerian Pelajaran perlu menghapuskan kandungan pelajaran yang tidak sesuai dan ketiga, menyeru kerajaan supaya terus membantu pelajar cemerlang serta memberi lebih banyak peruntukan terhadap mereka.

Apa yang kami tidak faham, kenapa AGM pada 10 Oktober lalu langsung tidak menyentuh mengenai pengiktirafan sekolah menengah Cina dan sijil peperiksaan gabungan sekolah menengah Cina, termasuk penambahan sekolah-sekolah Cina serta guru-guru bahasa Cina di maktab perguruan. Adakah isu-isu ini sudah dapat diselesaikan dan tidak perlu lagi diusulkan?

Selain itu, semua ahli MCA perlu faham iaitu masyarakat Cina mahu lihat perkara yang jelas, bukan seperti menggelabukan pandangan melibatkan perkara-perkara tertentu. Contohnya pelajar sekolah menengah Cina boleh menggunakan keputusan SPM untuk masuk ke maktab perguruan, atau perlu membina sekolah Cina di kawasan bilangan penduduk kaum Cina yang ramai, dan bukan apa yang Liow Tiong Lai sebutkan, “kawasan perumahan lebih 3,000 penduduk kaum Cina” ataupun Chor Chee Heung umumkan “lebih 5,000 penduduk Cina di satu-satu kawasan, boleh buat tambahan bina sekolah rendah Cina”.

Hanya usul yang menjurus kepada keuntungan dan kepentingan rakyat saja akan dapat sokongan rakyat. Sepatutnya, selepas AGM ini, MCA pusat perlu mengadakan beberapa sesi perjumpaan untuk membincangkan isu yang telah diusul untuk pelaksanaannya.

MCA juga perlu bersama-sama membincangkan isu-isu seterusnya, menjemput kementerian ataupun jabatan berkaitan untuk sama-sama duduk berbincang bagi selesaikan isu, menggunakan langkah-langkah untuk selesaikan masalah, selain menghantar laporan lengkap dan laporan balas kepada kementerian ataupun jabatan yang berkaitan dengan segera.

Tepat apa yang disebut oleh Ong Ka Chuan bahawa masyarakat Cina kini kurang yakin pada MCA dan ia dapat dilihat melalui keputusan beberapa pilihan raya kecil yang lalu. Bagi menangani pilihan raya umum akan datang, MCA sudah kesuntukan masa.

…

http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/info.asp?y=2010&dt=1015&pub=Utusan_Malaysia&sec=Rencana&pg=re_05.htm

Be “Less Communal” … Najib is said to have said … to MCA

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In Parliament, they debate the Agong’s speech. In here, we’ll discuss Dato Seri Najib’s speech. Made at the MCA gathering. The MCA which recently organised an Economic Congress that resolved asking that the 30% Bumiputera equity target be abolished. That was as seditious as never seen from MCA before. The party that represents the Chinese which, as a community, has acquired tremendous wealth and control the economy of the country. That shocked the Malays. The majority in the country that was left far behind economically and educationally by British colonial rule. That made people anxiously wait for Najib to do more than ask everybody to respect everybody. That made us want to write a post solely on this, this time. Using what was reported in the Malaysian Insider.

If he was telling the MCA to be “less communal”, it was just a tap on the finger. He should have done much more. He obviously was still placating the Chinese. Telling them that they are all loyal citizens. Wonder what his measure of loyalty is. No doubt many Chinese are loyal to this country. But what about those not respecting the Constitution. Nobody in the Government has ever tried to define what loyalty is. The basis for determining one’s sense of belonging to this country. Not even the Ministry of Information and Mass Media. There has been no sustainable campaign to instil a sense of belonging or loyalty to this country. Of bringing the Dong Zong and the adherents of Chinese schools to mainstream Malaysiana. Of instilling a sense of togetherness, common values, hopes and aspirations.

We even print the comments to the MI post. We can discuss them as well. Just look at the first one which practically says “Give me what I want, only then I’ll give what the country wants”. He has never heard what US President J.F Kennedy said, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for the country”. Or the expression in use in Europe and elsewhere for hundreds of years – “My country, right or wrong”. Some might sell the country by shouting “My kingdom for a horse”. The kind where “When the going is tough, the unloyal gets going”.

In the interest of mutual respect, goodwill and harmony, we can only call everybody to respect everybody. Because we don’t have the power to haul people into the Courts and charge them with sedition. Najib has that power. But he chose to speak the above i.e as reported below. Nevertheless, the Police has started to investigate a few people on sedition matters. Including the MP for Teluk Intan and the MP for Lembah Pantai.

Let’s discuss them as usual. Your comments are welcome.

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Najib tells MCA to be less communal
UPDATED @ 06:02:21 PM 10-10-2010By Clara Chooi October 10, 2010

Najib’s message suggested Umno may be growing weary of MCA’s “demands.”

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 10 — Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Datuk Seri Najib Razak delivered a clear directive to MCA leaders today to stop being overly communal in their political struggles and to employ the spirit of “give and take” when making demands of the government.

In his 48-minute speech at the MCA annual general meeting here this morning, the prime minister told party leaders to fight for the rights of all races and not just those of the Chinese community.

“Serve the people, not just the Chinese community but all races. If you see a poor Malay or Indian, go and help him.

“I encourage Umno to do it, too. During the fasting month, I gave aid to the poor Chinese and the Indians too… so what is wrong?” he said.

He pushed MCA president Datuk Seri Chua Soi Lek to so some “ass-kicking” and ensure that all his party’s grassroots leaders were loyal and committed to the BN’s struggles.

“Dr Chua, you have to do some ass-kicking, as the Americans say. Move the machinery at the district level… they are getting lethargic and demotivated.

“They have to be loyal and committed, and if they are not, please leave the party; we do not need them around… make way for others who believe in our cause,” he said.

Najib’s words appeared to contain a thinly-veiled message to MCA leaders that many of its BN comrades in Umno were growing increasingly uncomfortable with the Chinese-based party’s relentless demands for the abolition of affirmative action policies that were not needs or merits-based.

In its recent economic congress, MCA leaders called on the government to remove the 30 per cent Bumiputera equity target, earning the wrath of many Umno leaders.

Its demands sparked an argument between the two BN allies and saw leaders from both sides issuing scathing statements against one another.

Today, Najib, who is also Umno president, chastised parties that only knew how to make demands of the government without taking the “national perspective” or “national interest” into consideration.

“That is why when I say that MCA has to become the voice of the Chinese community, it is not just in the context of just demanding.

“Everyone can make demands. I go to MCA, they demand. I go to Gerakan, they demand. I go to MIC, they demand. I go to Sabah and Sarawak, they demand. I go to the Telegu community, too, they demand.

“Everybody demands… this is a normal process by you need to put in the national perspective, not only just for your own community but sometimes, we have to have the spirit of give and take.

“That is what makes Malaysia so special, we have the spirit of give and take for the sake of national interest. You look after me, I look after you,” Najib said.

Najib also noted the difficulties he faced as prime minister when trying to be more inclusive in his policies, explaining that he would be bombarded with queries from Umno members on whether the Chinese community had responded in kind.

“I am also the president of Umno. My Umno leaders tell me, look, you want to give [the Chinese community] this and that, what are [they] doing? Are they responding?

“I tell them, ‘yes, they will respond in time’… but please… do not wait too long,” he said.

Najib called on MCA to communicate the urgency with which the Chinese ought to return their support to the BN, pointing out that this plea was about “beautiful Malaysia”.

“Tell them not to wait too long… do not hold back… to proceed with the spirit of the BN. The Indian community is more responsive. The Chinese are holding back. Tell them, frankly, this is not just about the Chinese community, this is about this lovely country, about beautiful Malaysia,” he said.

At the same time, Najib also assured MCA that all BN component parties, particularly Umno, would give them room to make their demands.

He told MCA leaders that he did not agree with the term “pendatang” used on the Chinese community, pointing out that they were all “loyal citizens of the country”.

“Yes, you came here at one time, but that was three, four, five generations ago. Now, you are all loyal citizens of the country,” he said, to rousing response.

“As such, we in the BN, including Umno, must give space to MCA. We have to give some space and latitude to MCA because gone are the days when you can say, oh, I fight for the interest of the Chinese community but maybe the community, especially the youths, maybe they do not believe us. They ask… are you really fighting for us? Are you really carrying out our interests?

“So if we do not give room to MCA, how can we, when the next general election comes, hope that MCA can deliver?” he admitted.

Najib pointed out that BN needed to be more realistic and understand that it required the support from all races to retain power.

“We have to be realistic and we certainly should not be racist. We should embrace the need to work together, just like how our forefathers had shown us,” he said.

He pointed out that in their fight for independence, the nation’s leaders had moved to form the Alliance as they had recognised that inter-racial co-operation was the only way forward for the nation to survive.

“We must not forget history, the philosophy behind it and the thinking behind it but this must be translated into modern times.

“My dream for Malaysia is to make it a truly world class 21st century nation… not a second-rate mediocre one,” he said.

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/najib-tells-mca-to-be-less-communal

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Comments (65)

phsoon · 1 day ago
you help me, i will help you.

wakeup · 1 day ago
‘Malaysians tell UMNO/Najib to be less racist’
Try this new headline for size…..

lembu susu · 1 day ago
Hello, start with your own backyard first. U let your lieutenants n your boys to scream at Ketuanan Melayu, but you pretend you are fighting for every races. What a bluff!

MainDuaBola 120p · 1 day ago
The trouble is UMNO is always want to take, take and take and not to give leh.

heart2heart · 1 day ago
MCA make your stand and see where you stand. MCA will be stagnant and extinct if they don’t have the guts to make their stand to pullout of BN if there are no actions taken the racial insults or threats of closing Chinese schools.

MainDuaBola 120p · 1 day ago
I gave aid to the poor Chinese and the Indians too… so what is wrong?” Dear PM Its only one month but for the other 11 months its take, take, take and take.

Anak Jitra · 1 day ago
UMNO serves the Chinese and Indians ? LOL !

They only serve the 2,800 Division Heads and their cronies. They do not even take care of the poor Malays. If they do, why are there so many poor fishermen are Malays ?

MainDuaBola 120p · 1 day ago
“That is what makes Malaysia so special, we have the spirit of give and take for the sake of national interest. You look after me, I look after you,” Since we have all these why warn MCA not to be communal.

yezdi · 1 day ago
Can you believe the ceek this guy has?

maha · 1 day ago
The only party that get without demand is UMNO and UMNOputras.

Newchief · 1 day ago
mca …. this is truly a SMACK ON YOUR FACE !!!! high time you think of your positions as bn partners !!!! umno president now acts like BIG BULLY to non-malay components !!!!

Albert 119p · 1 day ago
Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Datuk Seri Najib Razak delivered a clear directive to MCA leaders today to stop being overly communal in their political struggles and to employ the spirit of “give and take” when making demands of the government. In my mind, as far as UMNO is concerned, if you talk about non-malays & the sidelined poor malays, you are being overly communal & must practise “give and take”. But if you are talking about the demands of UMNO Malays & its cronies, you are not being communal & allowed to “take” only. I simply cannot see the logic in PM Najib’s argument.

Old Malaysian · 1 day ago
It reads everyone (non-malays) give, UMNO takes. Since when has UMNO give way to other community?

Albert 119p · 1 day ago
“In its recent economic congress, MCA leaders called on the government to remove the 30 per cent Bumiputera equity target, earning the wrath of many Umno leaders.” UMNO leaders have conveniently forgotten that RM50 out of RM52 billion worth of bumi equity was disposed for quick profit during the tenure of Mahathir as PM. Mind you the RM50 billion is at IPP price & are sold at probably RM80-100 billion by the UMNO malays & cronies. Do we honestly think that the UMNO leaders are reasonable people & query the whereabouts of these RM 50 billion bumi equity instead? I seriously doubt it.

joepublic · 1 day ago
A spot on speach by Najib.
That is how it should works.
Give and take, but dont take from others.

Avinder · 1 day ago
UMNO must practice what it preaches

communal · 1 day ago
Is UMNO also to be less communal ??
LKY has mentioned that UMNO in Malaysia is communal ??
If we are all Malaysians, WHY we need these communal parties ?? communal differentiations ??
That apply that UMNO still want to be a communal party more than others ??

1RegressNation · 1 day ago
What an ironic these words came from a leader whose 300,000 mainly UMNO members are member of an untra, no hold, invincible, untouchable and suffered from ” foot-in-the-mouth” disease group. How’s that for an advise from a smoker asking another smoker to quit smoking. Sheesh!

Tan · 1 day ago
I told you so MCA is getting more irrelevant in BN as the day pass by. Some of the demand are real pressing such as education where the vernicular school are left to fend off themselves in funding that leads to continuous donations drive to sustain its operation. If the government is truely appreciating the brains in the country, education should be free for all irrespective of which medium of instructions the students choose to study. Aren’t they the national assets and future leaders? They are only good at acting by magnifying issues when some pittance amount was received for a cause on ad hoc basis. After 53 years of independent and as a major partner in BN, this clearly show that MCA is quite useless and easily outdo by outsider such as Perkasa when it matters.

change28 · 1 day ago
What a hypocrite Najib is!

UMNO hypes up the “special rights” issue and insists on 30% of this and that. And he claims it is others who is overly communal.

The proper thing for Najib to do is to call on everyone including UMNO and Perkosa to be less communal.
Even your own Deputy claims to be a Malay first and a Malaysian second. How communal is that?

Najib will be what he really is, a man with no substance who has to rely on such devious psychological tricks to pull the wools over the eyes of ignorant citizens.

That Najib believes he can get away with these “accuse others before they accuse you” tricks demonstrates the disdain and contempt he has for the rakyat!

I have absolutely no faith in this man!

Bosan · 1 day ago
Hahaha…that’s a real big slap on MCA’s face, if they have one. MCA have got it all wrong. To gain the support of the chinese does not means that they have to be more like chinese perkasa than malaysian chinese…..

lol · 1 day ago
“I encourage Umno to do it, too. During the fasting month, I gave aid to the poor Chinese and the Indians too… so what is wrong?” he said.

For 1 month in every year, Indians and Chinese qualify for aid?

Sean · 1 day ago
heheheh
“so what is wrong?” “I gave aid to the poor [communal label] and the [communal label] too”
“so what is wrong?”
At least he asks us easy questions!

Alwyn · 1 day ago
Yes Najib, please start with UMNO. Let’s see UMNO being less communal.

Bluemoon · 1 day ago
Yes, PM is right on the spot. The more MCA is trying to overcome their inferiority complex the more communual they are. MCA is urging everybdy except themselves to draw a line between extremist. Notably, they have singled out UMNO and Perkasa while at the same playing lovey-dovey with DJZ. In fact MCA is now worst than DJZ. Both are communually extremes to the core.

Guest · 1 day ago
Please tell it to your Deputy and his kind first.

AyerTawar · 1 day ago
The “prime minister told party leaders to fight for the rights of all races and not just those of the Chinese community”. “I encourage Umno to do it, too.”, said the PM. Mr Prime Minister, the stupid MCA leaders did not know how to subcontract the work to people like Ibrahim Ali and that’s why they have to do it on their own. You should encourage them to do it, too.

tiuniasin · 1 day ago
Hahaha … he’s right you know, you give and we take ….. all of the time !!

Buta Singh · 1 day ago
I pity this man with a schizophrenic double speak personality.

Bright Lights · 1 day ago
Yes Bro Talks are easy, let see the real Results in a few years from now

Foo Wy Len · 1 day ago
Can you please tell UMNO to be “less” racial ?

joepublic · 1 day ago
I observed all race based political party nowdays is playing the racial card, not only UMNO.

Joder Umbudra · 1 day ago
A very good sweet talk but do you tell your umnoputra to do the same? Actions speak louder than words. Why do you not take action against your umnoputra? Why no action is taken against Ibrahim Ali who causes these problems?

zainal hj abdullah · 1 day ago
people have the rights to make demands ….but it must be within the framework of our constitution

kokdiang · 1 day ago
Is UMNO getting less communal? IS Utusan MalaysiaKuno less communal. Yet this paper is owned by UMNO. Charity begins at home Mr PM.

cinacelup · 1 day ago
Najib chose the wrong audience to deliver his speech. Go tell it to Mahathir, Ibrahim Ali, Perkasa, BTN and school teachers. Everything will be fine if they take your advice.

joepublic · 1 day ago
Here lies the problem, whenever there is racial issue crop up, UMNO will be put to blame.
Open your eyes, it will never end, unless we malaysian stop playing and harping racial tunes.

wengman · 1 day ago
A person can talk all he wants, it is his action that everyone will judge him by.

I help you, you help me. I look after you, you look after me. Don’t be so communal and demand so many things. All of these words should also be repeated verbatim to Perkasa.

Greg 77p · 1 day ago
Hmm…very rich from the leader of a political party that has nothing but taken everything for itself.

lee terry · 1 day ago
Mr PM just for your information the Malaysian has give away alot since the 1st NEP, from our chinese bank, education, goverment position, business optunities and many many more, we will not give away anymore, and we need equal share in all

JOE · 1 day ago
Give and take? Najib, all you do is take, take, and take.

Sepank · 1 day ago
Right I’m just considering is a cobra’s venom or Najib’s message is more toxic? like Lee Terry said, we will give away no more.

Jack 77p · 1 day ago
That is good, MCA should be less communal, so must UMNO and MIC. maybe Najib should remover the rock in his eyes before asking others to remove the dust from their eyes.

Does this guy knows what he talking about. maybe he is one of those who talk and shoot first abd think later.

chanjerping · 23 hours ago
this pm is talk talk talk only. the things he said overseas are rubbish. he dun do at home, those things he preaches overseas! curb extremism? stop brain drain? be less communal?

bigjoe99 · 1 day ago
This is the problem when you have poor quality leaders. When they don’t know how to do their job, the talk and talk and talk.

rodneytan · 1 day ago
Chinese will not trust UMno ledership any more, because they had hurt the chinese in the past 52 years.

ckm · 1 day ago
.. there is a difference bewteen being loyal to the country and supporting UMNO / BN ..

.. If one do NOT support BN , does not mean one is NOT loyal to the country ..

.. in fact , I love Malaysia so much , that by not going against BN , I will be doing the country a disservice , i.e to fight corruption and racism .. we need Change ..

rookie · 1 day ago
Time to let another alternative to run the Federal????

aries 120p · 1 day ago
If the Malay can have a Perkasa, why not the other communities?

Why make the hell of a scene when there were suggestions to come up with one?

Isn’t that hypocritical? The people has the right to do some “ass-kicking” too, when they are being pushed around too much. After all isn’t it all about People First? If it isn’t, stop using the slogan even for one more time.

Justlee · 1 day ago
It is easier to issue an order even indirectly to mca than to umno because mca is more compliant after years of kowtowing to ketuanan melayu. National interest according to pm means dont stir up a hornet’s nest. What has been working so well before dont question or ask for changes.By now mca should know better that pm’s talk carries no weight. It is just talk without action otherwise why so many pendatang issues are still unresolved or not resolved fairly.Pm just wants mca to keep on bluffing chinese voters with sweet talk and other smaller incentives in order to pull in votes for umno.

hak ka king · 1 day ago
Seriously if Najib is not one of the UMNO clowns, he should issue the same directive to UMNO, his number 2 idiot and the number one ticket holder of Perkasa. Better still as BN chairman, he should direct that all communal components of BN be dissolved henceforth.

Flim · 1 day ago
Like KLSE, why not merge all the component parties into BN only and then do some ass-kicking like the Americanoes to be 1Malaysian

Kilo · 1 day ago
Mr PM, how many times must we tell you that MCA does not represent the Chinese?
Why do you keep barking up the wrong tree?

As a marketing person you are just replacing ‘racist’ with ‘communal’. They are all the same.
This is the root of the problem is racist parties. What is wrong with MCA protecting the Chinese when umno is protesting the Malays? MIC is right in protecting the Indians too.

You know that we know that racist parties are outdated. So dissolve all communal parties and have a BN parties that ‘struggle’ for Malaysians and proud to be Malaysians. if not all these are just marketing talks and talk and talk…. And the ‘disunity’ issues will continue.

Kacauman · 1 day ago
Now the truth of the 1Malaysia originator speaks of his view! MCA is created to serve Chinese, UMNO serves Malays and MIC serves Indian, which is well known and can’t change. Now Najib wants MCA to stop asking for what they suppose to be, where’s the spirit of 1Malaysia?

Now we all know what’s the real thinking of Najib for 1Malaysia! It’s merely a slogan and it serves no purpose. No wonder all these while Najib just keep mum on all those racist issues because he himself is a racist too!

2sen · 1 day ago
i have always wondered… why those from came from Java and Sumatra 3 or 4 generations ago are not pendatang?

kenu13 110p · 1 day ago
hahaha look who’s talking. This wont’ descend to a failed state, it’ll become a funny state

Malaysians · 1 day ago
If recognised we all Malaysians, regardless of ethnic group, then we should be under 1 race = Malaysian, with different in believes/religions/languages/customs.traditions. Also with true equality in all angles, then there shall not be Bumi and non-Bumi, we all are Malaysians, just like Indonesia, if they can do it, why not Malaysia ??
Dun said with forked tounge and walk with the talks the soonest before GE13 …..

chanjerping · 1 day ago
in a way, pm is directing MCA not to make demands against malay rights. get it? so CSL, pls shut up and be more “communal”. tit-for-tat in BN govt.

joe_mamak · 1 day ago
BN should be less communal too. Scrap all component parties and merge into one party. Things would really get interesting then.

Anonymous · 22 hours ago
This society is not build on the justice, how can you ask them to help each other.

Rammittru 97p · 22 hours ago
the chinese have been giving and giving and giving, including being the largest contributor to national revenue. isn’t it now time to take a breather and take something? but not crumbs please. no anymore.

GNT · 19 hours ago
Mr. PM, please clarify who gives and who takes.

Durian Besar · 18 hours ago
UMNO practise “Give and Take” :- You give I take!

MainDuaBola 120p · 10 hours ago
During the fasting month, I gave aid to the poor Chinese and the Indians too… so what is wrong?” There is nothing wrong PM but you give during the muslim holy month and in the hope of getting blessing from God. You give hoping to get back something in return but what about other months?. Hehehe

MainDuaBola 120p · 10 hours ago
You give to fulfil a religious obligation only mah. What about other months?

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The Political Will … the Lack of it

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The crux of the matter is the Political Will. In capital letters. The lack of it, that is.

Many of the problems of unity in the country can be solved in ways most politicians know how to. It’s only a matter of whether there is the will to do so. Or it’s more convenient to find ways to circumvent them. It’s the calculations for the votes that is all important to the politicians. Hence, it was said, “Single-stream schooling will be implemented when the rakyat wants it”. Without saying how to determine whether the rakyat wants it now or not. Never mind the fact that Article 152 of the Constitution says Bahasa Malaysia is the National Language. And vernacular schools do not use it as the medium of instruction.

Or they say, “the 30% Bumiputera equity target will be retained”. Without spelling out that the New Economic Policy (NEP) is being continued fully in the New Economic Model (NEM). Or not applying the Sedition Act against those who call for the abolition of the 30% Bumi equity target. The call being made even after the announcement in Parliament that it would be retained. Nothing was done beyond just telling the general public not to raise sensitive issues. It went to the extent of becoming farcical.

We rarely agree with the views expressed by Sakmongkol AK47. But this time we do. On the matter of political will stated in his article reproduced below.

With the political will not there, even the civil servants are said not to be co-operating. Frustrating the wishes of the political masters, as implied in the third article below. And the writer went to town and dug all the shit he could find. And poured it in the Sin Chew article below.

Then an opposition party Member of Parliament with a PhD says he is giving his two cents worth. The last article below is worth precisely that. Writing about patriotism without mentioning the Constitution as a basis of loyalty and love for the country is meaningless. It’s like saying one is loyal and patriotic simply because one utters the words “I love my country” a hundred times. Or that one pays tax. Or flies the flag.

That is the stuff of the average guy. Not someone with a PhD. And an MP who is supposed to provide leadership, guidance and appropriate advice to his supporters. Quoting an environmentalist that patriotism means defending the country against the government. Quoting Voltaire that it is OK to be wrong when perceiving the Government is wrong. Stuff that inspired a revolution – the French Revolution. In the Malaysian context, it’s a lot of political hogwash. And he belongs to the Islamic party, PAS. In cahout with the racist party, DAP. Racist because their so-called Malaysian Malaysia slogan is subversive to the Special Position of the Malays and the Bumiputeras of Sabah and Sarawak. Opposed the New Economic Policy. Calling for equality without acknowledging that in this country equality must take into account the Malay and Bumiputera Special Position which is enshrined in the Constitution.

Does he not notice the section of the citizenry which does not respect Articles 152 and 153 of the Constitution, the Social Contract? Those who alienate themselves by insisting on vernacular schools and disregarding Bahasa Malaysia as the National Language? Those who even dare to ask, seditiously, that the 30% Bumiputera equity target be abolished, making others react by asking that similar action be done to their citizenship? Those who shout to one another in Parliament and one even climbed the table, stood up on the table in full State Legislative Assembly uniform shouting at opponents, leading to the Sultan of Perak publicly drawing their attention to such rowdy behaviour? That these are the reasons for the lack of enthusiasm on Merdaka and National Day among that section of the population?

Let’s discuss these. Readers are invited to read the comments and the replies to them as well. A lot of our thoughts and opinions are stated there. And do join in the discussions. However much or little you may want to say. Welcome.

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THURSDAY, 30 SEPTEMBER 2010

Political will, the NEM and ETP.

by Sakmongkol AK47

The people who wrote the NEM say, the heart of the model is the political will of the government. In simpler language, it means the government must be ready to not spare the rod.

So far, it has shown a lot of slacks in this department. The PM as the principal driver, has shown himself to be in a state of perpetual diffidence; he can’t control the UMNO enforcers, he is easily spooked by Perkasa and is seen to be over eager to please non Malay demands. He believes the success of the NEM and ETP depends on the involvement and support of the non bumis.

The sad part is, that’s true. Which group is more economically adaptive and will respond to the ‘incentivize’ plans of the government? Which group has better stock of knowledge workers? Which group is more competitive? The non bumis.

So what do you do to the to-be-marginalized group? Najib has not addressed this issue sufficiently. It is causing him minus marks. Even UMNO people are questioning his Malay credentials. He is more absorbed into showy PR exercises. He is eager to champion his new philosophy of 1 Malaysia where our ethnic and cultural diversity will be strategically leveraged.

But you have to solve the basic economic issues. You can’t write in special positions and such things into economics. You have to devise programs, policies to help them. Policies, and actions help them earn income, not having some provisions written in. so you come up with the nebulous concept of market friendly affirmative action. What is this? If you are already market friendly and driven, you don’t need a special category of market friendly affirmative action.

In other words you are saying, you don’t have any solid policies to help out the 40% base. But you have policies for the top 20%. For the bottom 40% you have market friendly affirmative action. For the top 20%, you actually have projects for them dropping as it were, like manna from heaven.

In this sense, when the NEAC recommends that the government must have solid political will, it is right. It must have the heart of steel to break the logjam of vested interests. It is also right to point out that the opposition will come mainly from people who are beneficiaries of rent seeking activities.

While it is right in this aspect, it is wrong in identifying those people with the vested interests. Perkasa? Miss by a mile.

The main beneficiaries are ganging up in support of the NEM to ensure that remain beneficiaries and stakeholders to the new plan. bankers, big contractors, direct negotiation bidders, the government’s business partners are all there to celebrate the hallelujah-ing the ETP show.

Here is one big contradiction. The NEM and ETP are crafted by technocrats. They say, we must have political will. They also say we must have a process of engagement. Here is the contradiction.

The political will or its lacking are explained by non politicians. Asking 3000 people to come for an exceedingly expensive sandwich party can hardly qualify as a process of engagement and dissemination of the ideas of the NEM. Because it isn’t done by politicians or through political channels, it will not have the power backing. The survival of the NEM, the ETP and whatever catchphrases therein, depend on political backing.

The sponsors and promoters of the NEM and ETP have displayed ignorance in not having these two ‘projects’ communicated by the political machinery..

The majority of the UMNO members, who provide the steel to the heart are not even aware what is the NEM or the ETP. Yet, these will impact on them the most- since they are direct beneficiaries of government big push of strategic policies.

Come on baby, light my fire.

The wheels of the NEM are of course the SRIs- strategic reform initiatives. Phew!

Fire up the private sector so that they will invest in high value added products and services. But of course- the 43-50 billion MRT is a valued added product and service. It is a valuable plan for the sponsors of the plan.

The large property development projects involving government land – that is also a high tech value added investment. That would certainly fire the voracious and nefarious appetites of gatekeepers and vested interest groups.

We want to develop quality workforce. Start with raising entry level qualification of those going into government jobs. We must find people who are paid well and won’t complain as overworked and underpaid. You get paid commensurate with the qualifications you have.

The NEAC extols the creating of competitive domestic economy. Of course again by employing cutting edge methods such as the Swiss challenge method. Hence MMC-Gamuda for example is invited to propose the building of MRT. Others are invited to counter offer and the first proposer has the first right of refusal. Who are the ‘others’?

But here is the clearest indication of lack of political will.

The Council will now seek and incorporate feedback and collaborate with all stakeholders over the next few months to further analyse and detail the policy measures and implementation frameworks.

In other words baby, it is still the age of government knows best. Unfortunately, it’s a government that is not sure of its top down policies.

NEM – Najib’s Economic Policies

As far as economic policies to deal with Malays are concerned, thus far, Najib’s policies are invisible. We don’t see specifics beyond the stylized phrase- market friendly affirmative action.

Tun Razak was a focused man. He was PM. He thought hard about Malay economics. He was connected. In Najib’s case, we get a different picture. He hasn’t got that connection. I don’t know who advises him on economic policies. Maybe it’s the NEAC. Or maybe its McKinsey Consulting group. Maybe its Omar Ong and associates who has earned big money to buy himself a bachelor pad worth RM 15 million. Who knows?

The recent carnival-like show, with PowerPoint shots and copious flow of refreshments and energized emceeing ala Jobs or Tom Peters, bear the hallmarks of typical business school presentations. In that sense, Najib has abdicated thought leadership. he wasn’t there, preferring the economic plans to be crafted by consultants and presented by the most junior minister.

I would have thought, an economic plan of this magnitude must near the personal imprimatur of the PM himself. It should be the PM himself acting as chief coach the other day. But then maybe it’s all part of his strategy- to have the ability to disown aspects of the ETP if they proved to be unpalatable to the public. Belum muktamad.

The new economic model is the alternative approved by Dato Najib to supplant the NEP-like policies. NEP-like policies are policy instruments and not economic theories. We need to recognize these. Tun Razak the architect of the NEP recognized the limitations of unbridled free market economy, with respect to the circumstances by which Malays find themselves in. By circumstances we mean, the overall social, cultural and even political enabling environment that shape the Malay mind and his actions.

These were probably what Tun Razak discovered when he started the NEP. The Malay has the same maximizing postulates but with different emphasis. Let’s say, for convenient sake, the Malay values graceful living more. By that we mean, he will not go overboard so as to sacrifice personal comfort for that extra income. If he can earn sufficient to keep body and soul intact, he will not overextend to make the body satisfied at the expense of the soul’s discomfort.

Let us further say, even though we don’t fault the Malay for having this mindset, we feel its not right and supportive of our desire to build a prosperous country. For that we need a precocious, acquisitive and aggressive spirit. We want to cultivate the willingness to sacrifice personal comfort, adopting a philosophy of wanting to. Wanting more, wanting better, wanting bigger. Always improving on the existing order of things.

How do we re-engineer the conventional Malay mindset? Has the PM applied his mind to address this particular issue? If he doesn’t, he is dangerously close to abandoning Tun Razak’s legacy?

http://sakmongkol.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2010-10-01T10:54:00%2B08:00&max-results=7

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Good policies frustrated by poor implementers
Opinion 2010-10-01 15:22

By LIM SUE GOAN
Translated by SOONG PHUI JEE

The civil service with its 1.29 million staff should be the implementation engine to generate the success of the Government Transformation Plan (GTP), the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) and the 1Malaysia concept. Unfortunately, many civil servants do not seem too enthusiastic or passionate enough, and also lack the essential quality and skills to contribute substantially to these programmes and associate projects.

How could the civil servants help the country to transform into a high-income economy if they have no discipline, sense of moral values on what is right or wrong, professional ethics, and broad worldview?

The case involving syabu worth RM250 million is the best negative example. Four police officers were awarded and promoted for refusing bribes offered by the drug suspects. However, the four officer were later found to have secretly stolen four packs of syabu as a “reward” for themselves.

Based on the principle of natural justice that “the benefit of doubt shall be given to the defendant”, the drug accused Lee Yong Toe was acquitted.

Meanwhile, the police officers accused having been involved in the theft of 40kg of drugs that were meant to be court exhibits were merely let off by having their pay increment and promotion frozen. The light punishment, if it could be called a punishment, is simply outrageous, and reflects a sickening cronyism in the public service.

It is surely a worrying trend that power abuse and corruption are seemingly becoming the general civil service culture.

Several senior civil servants were charged with corruption, but many of them were acquitted due to technicalities or poor investigative evidence, whether genuine or deliberate.

In addition, lengthy procedures and red tapes are involved for actions to be taken against civil servants who have committed wrongdoings. For example, no action has been taken yet against the school principals who have made racist remarks, on the flimsy and ridiculous excuse that the Education Minister has no power to act on them.

If corruption and power abuses have become the habits of the public domain, it is impossible to achieve the National Key Result Area of combating graft.

Management Science has stated that “execution is the discipline of getting things done”. There will be no execution power without discipline and the most important element to promote economic restructuring is execution.

Chief Justice Tun Zaki Azmi has personally observed the lack of discipline among civil servants during an incognito tour. Many civil servants were eating at the cafeteria and court clerks were caught sleeping during office hours, while pots, gas barrels, stoves and sauces were found in conference rooms as some civil servants have actually turned the conference rooms into kitchens! When he sat at the front desk one morning, he found that many court staff members came in late for work.

Zaki described what he saw and heard “crazy”. However, there should be more crazy things out there, including paying RM5,700 for a car jack worth RM50 and the Bureau Tata Negara’s (BTN) refusal to listen to advice.

BTN officers have not learned a lesson from the outbreak of controversy over racist curriculum in December 2009, and the resignation of Datuk Nasir Safar, a former aide to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, over his racist remarks. They just continue blustering. It certainly is an act of indiscipline.

How can a public service team with declining discipline executes major policies?

Moreover, the country is undergoing an unusual period filled with political chaos, people trying to fish in troubled waters, extreme racists clamours and the confrontation between the BN and the Pakatan Malaysia. Therefore, the 1.29 million of civil servants must keep a clear head. If they are unable to distinguish between public and private interests and just follow Malay rights group Perkasa to wallow in the mire, it will only make things worse.

If the civil servants remain unchanged, how are they going to implement the transformation plans? It is indeed a big dilema for the Najib administration.

Sin Chew Daily

MySinchew 2010-10-01

http://www.mysinchew.com/node/45787

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Patriotism revisited
September 04, 2010

by Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, a member of the PAS central working committee and MP of Kuala Selangor.

SEPT 4 — I did not want to write anything on the 53rd Merdeka Day this year. For the more discerning sections of the rakyat, the spate of events that preceded it spoke for themselves. But with the Malaysia Day on September 16 drawing close, it doesn’t benefit anyone to remain under a self-imposed gag-order. This writer is back in his combative, engaging mood to share his two sen’s worth.

Despite the efforts of showcasing the Merdeka Celebration as a “burst of patriotism, a sight to behold and a moment to cherish” by the Barisan Nasional-mainstream media, many would disagree that it was a phenomenon that went beyond the confine of the walls of Stadium Putra in Bukit Jalil. Very sad indeed.

Its absence was even more palpable nationwide and it doesn’t take much convincing to arrive at that conclusion either. But the fundamental question to address is, “Why?”

What has become of the patriotism of the entire citizenry, you may like to ask?

Why are we no longer willing to voluntarily and spontaneously express and exhibit our love for our nation, to support and defend its cause with devotion? Isn’t that the universal definition of a patriot? Has it been become obsolete for now? No! Is it still valid? Yes! But why aren’t we capable of showing all this anymore? Why has it gone stale, if not entirely dead?

The answers to these million ringgit questions lie in the very questions themselves. The state of voluntarism and spontaneity in expressing love and devotion for the nation has a lot to do with one’s conviction.

One’s conviction, in turn, defines one’s attitude and invariably value-judgment. You cannot impose and compel perception, much less conviction, in others. Compulsion is very much against the nature of love and devotion. Compulsion breeds hypocrisy, the anti-thesis of true love and a disease that betrays devotion.

Lest I am misunderstood, let it be clear that I am not demanding that patriotism be revisited but, more importantly, contextualised. It is a timeless moral precept worthy of embodiment. What remains debatable and the bone of contention is how to express and exhibit patriotism specific to one’s political and historical context.

Historically, the challenge of achieving independence from the colonial British had rallied and galvanised the nation from all walks of life and ideological persuasions. Despite their diversity, the founding fathers and their generation strived and heavily sacrificed their all to attain independence in their respective ways. It was perhaps patriotism at its best.

Five decades later, the symbolism has been reduced to waving the Jalur-Gemilang and episodically parading of our youths and uniformed security forces to demonstrate discipline and resolve to defend the country.

Quite evidently, this symbolism of the post-colonial era could no longer hold the nation together, much to the disgust of our leaders. Needless to say, patriotism is surely more than flag-flying at places of business, in house compounds and on motor vehicles.

The nation is now in a severe state of despondency, and embattled with unending crisis. It is in dire need of rejuvenation in its concept and embodiment of patriotism. Not only has it to grapple with the ever challenging global economy and its uncertainties, the systemic rot as a result of subversion of all critical institutions has exacerbated the nation’s decline in competitiveness.

The country, recognised by World Bank as one of the richest nations on earth by way of resource per capita, is languishing in myriad uncertainties and under-performance.

The grim and gloomy outlook seems never-ending. What the rakyat never seemed to understand is why the endemic corruption and leakages continue unabated. And why, despite the many high-sounding mantras of inclusivity and market-friendly approaches of the prime minister, is the nation still beholden to an “affirmative action policy” that eventually only favours a few business elites well-connected to the power-that-be. Why is the divide between the haves and have-nots yawning further post-NEP?

As if that isn’t enough to keep the rakyat in a beleaguered state, the BN-leaders under the premiership of Datuk Seri Najib Razak seem least concerned if the country is torn apart by the spate of race-hate politics that they seem to engender.

We are now mired in racial-hatred and antagonism as never before. Seeing the racial divide widen sickens me and a good many of us, save the racial bigots that strive and thrive in racism.

Going by the spectre of racial-slurs, inflammatory and venomous rhetoric of political leaders and many other prominent people — most unexpectedly from heads of schools — the nation stands numb in thinking of what lies ahead for them and theirs.

As we celebrate this auspicious anniversary, we seemed mired in increasingly rabid and insulting racism, which greatly threatens our already flimsy unity and precarious contrasting diversity.

Perhaps it was never very good anyway in the recent past, but it has surely become a lot worse of late. Never has the rakyat witnessed anything resembling this before, save of course the scourge of May 13, 1969. Without attempting to enumerate the various events, as it pains us further every time it is repeated, you shudder at the thought of what might be the grand finale of it all. God forbid!

The nation, now apparently caught in a transition politics of change and reform, demands that leaders shall no longer turn a deaf ear and a blind eye to the many troubling and turbulent state of the nation.

With this changing landscape of evolving New Politics and a nascent two-party system slowly yet surely being put in place, I now implore that the timeless moral imperative of patriotism be similarly contextualised and revisited as a national dialogue in the public sphere. It has to be crafted to resonate with the changing political context and challenges of an agenda of nation-rebuilding.

The rakyat is ready to be liberated with information and knowledge, to become a well-informed citizenry that will put into practise the knowledge-based politics that will safeguard the interests of the nation. The rakyat shall no longer be beholden to the powers-that-be.

The maxim of the New Politics dictates that it is the rakyat that are the real stake-holders and the actual owners of democracy, as it is in their power to elect and give their mandate to the government of the day. Incidentally that has always been the notion and narrative of representative democracy.

Therefore the rakyat shall not be cowed to abide and support the government when they commit mistakes, and worse still, if they are adamant in abusing their power. Voltaire aptly puts it that “It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.”

I now invoke and paraphrase the notable quote of Mark Twain’s, a famous writer who said, “Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.”

In the context of our current political scenario, it is perhaps pertinent to put the issue to rest conclusively by paraphrasing Edward Abbey, a writer and environmentalist: “A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government”.

Bluntly, it is points outlined above that I propose as the meaning of patriotism in the context of the New Politics for a renewed Malaysia

Najib and his government mustn’t be in denial nor flip-flop on critical policies that affect the survival of this nation. The rakyat has now become awakened by the power of New Politics driven by the pervasive alternative media. They are relentlessly demonstrating tremendous desire for arresting the many malaises and correcting the many wrongs of the government.

Given the current political-economic backdrop of the nation, it would be foolhardy for Najib’s BN government to expect exuberant patriotism to be spontaneously exhibited by the rakyat. As now it is beneficial for leaders of both sides of the divide to come to grasp with the challenging task of genuine nation-rebuilding and reform.

It pays to listen to the heartbeats of the nation, the rakyat.

* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/opinion/article/patriotism-revisited/