malaysiakini: Najib’s suicidal slogan... by Dean Johns

Najib’s suicidal slogan

by Dean Johns
Malaysiakini, Dec 29, 10

It seems to me that the more persistently Najib Abdul Razak propounds his “1Malaysia. People first. Performance now” slogan, and the more desperately he defends it, the more damage he does to himself and Barisan Nasional. So naturally I’m 1 big supporter of the thing.

For a start, the “1Malaysia” part of it is so blatantly false that all it does is remind the hearer or reader of BN’s long-term strategy of dividing the nation’s races and religions, the better to try and ensure its eternal rule.

And this is not just an allegation, but an absolute fact. As evidenced by the BN government’s stacking of the civil services with employees of one particular race, through the wildly unequal allocation of government scholarships and contracts, to its supporting the concept of ketuanan Melayu through official economic policies, racist pressure-groups like Perkasa and publications like Utusan Malaysia.

Thus the “1Malaysia” phrase itself is such an outright and obvious lie that the long-running controversy over its originality appears virtually irrelevant. Yet Najib persists in claiming authorship as though his political survival depended on it. Which I fondly hope it does, given that the version of the concept with which I’m most familiar, “One Nation”, was the name of the notorious Pauline Hanson’s Australian political party, which long ago self-destructed.

Similarly, as far as I’m aware, other previous 1/One/Satu-style names and slogans proven by no means notably successful in Singapore, Indonesia or anywhere else they’ve been created. And as for “One Israel”, who knows whether it was dreamed-up by Najib’s friends at Apco Worldwide, as Anwar Ibrahim alleges and Apco deny, and who the hell cares?

Staking his credibility
Besides Najib, of course, who appears to be staking his non-existent credibility on the claim that he originated the thing. Recently, declaring that he felt “slighted” by the “big lie” that the “1Malaysia” concept had been plagiarised from another country, he claimed that “It is my own creation. Other countries may have a one this and a one that but nowhere in this world is there a 1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now.”

As many commentators on this statement have remarked, it would have been very odd indeed if any another country had thought to call itself “1Malaysia”, as Malaysia wouldn’t have been its name, and thus the expression would have been even more false than Najib’s version of it is.

Having read over the previous paragraph several times, I’m not entirely sure it makes sense. But never mind. Nothing about Najib’s slogan makes sense, including his recent remark in its defence to the effect that his government moves forward “on the basis of reality and not any dream”.

“A responsible government needs responsible policies,” he reportedly added, “not promises that are not founded on reality.”

Unfortunately for the case he was attempting to make, “not founded on reality” applies not only, as we’ve seen, to the “1Malaysia” section of his slogan, but even more so, if possible, to its “People First. Performance now.” segments.

Far from convincing anyone that Najib himself or the BN government has the slightest intention of performing on behalf of the people, now or ever, it raises countless challenging questions.

Like what has Najib or BN done, lately or ever, to protect the people of Malaysia from the appalling road toll or the police inaction and corruption that enable vehicular slaughter on such a scale? What have Najib or his government done to stem the slaughter of ‘suspects’ by this same police force? Or to stem the tide of cronyism and corruption that costs the people billions a year in lost and stolen revenue?

What have Najib and his government done, or what do they intend to do to restore the peoples’ rights to transparency, truth and justice that have been so comprehensively eroded over decades of rule by the BN regime?

Absolutely nothing. So that, with the single, solitary exception of the word “Malaysia”, which is undeniably the name of the country, every single additional element of Najib’s slogan is utterly and obviously false.

However, such glaringly obvious falsehood doesn’t prevent BN’s indefatigably sycophantic ‘news’ agency, Bernama and the rest of the so-called ‘mainstream’ media from reporting it as if it was gospel truth.

Illustration of ‘lies, damn lies and statistics’
Just the other day, for example, Bernama quoted Information, Communication and Culture Minister Rais Yatim as claiming that the 1Malaysia concept “is regarded as good” by 84 percent of respondents to a recent survey.

And in an equally impressive illustration of the well-known expression “lies, damn lies and statistics”, the BN-complicit media recently reported that the ridiculous slogan’s self-procaimed author himself enjoys 69 percent support.

Citing a clearly highly dubious phone poll by the Merdeka Centre for Opinion Research, Star announced that “broken down into ethnic groups, the survey found 74 percent of Malays, 54 percent of Chinese and 85 percent of Indian respondents were satisfied with the prime minister’s performance, seen as a major boost for Najib as he mulls an early general election next year.”

The fact that these findings were “broken down into ethnic groups” seems to me further give the lie to the fake unity-promoting purpose of “1Malaysia”. But even more significant is the core message these fanciful findings are intended to convey, which is that well over half of the Malaysian people of all races are such idiots as to imagine that Najib’s performance as prime minister is satisfactory.

When in fact, as every Malaysian with even half a brain knows, his only achievement in almost two years as premier is the creation of the world’s most cynical, self-destructive slogan.

A slogan whose obvious falsehood appears to be working so powerfully in his disfavour that, along with memories of the still unsolved murder of 1Mongolian, it could well prove political suicide for Najib personally, and a fitting epitaph for 50+ years of the BN regime.

DEAN JOHNS, after many years in Asia, currently lives with his Malaysian-born wife and daughter in Sydney, where he mentors creative writing groups. Already published in Kuala Lumpur is a third book of his columns for Malaysiakini, following earlier collections ‘Mad about Malaysia’ and ‘Even Madder about Malaysia’.

TMI: The future!! Happy people!? Beautiful country!? by Ahmad Mustapha Hassan

The future!! Happy people!? Beautiful country!? — Ahmad Mustapha Hassan

December 22, 2010

DEC 22 — In the 50s and the early 60s, when I was actively involved in the struggle for independence, I was more than convinced that with independence the country would experience a future full of promise, stability, prosperity, with a happy  and united nation.

During the colonial period, economic activities had been segregated by race. The British were only interested in making as much as possible from the country. The arrangement that they had created had served them well.

Independence would mean the integration of all these activities, and as such, there would be interactive relationships among all. The breaking down of these segregated economic walls, however, did not materialise in a systematic and speedy way. Thus conflicts occurred.

Remedial measures were carried out but it was hijacked by greedy and self- centred politicians. Instead of moving forward, the country went backwards and more acute problems arose. The vision and goals of independence had been thrown into the gutter. We thus moved towards a failed state status.

This is the problem faced by all former colonies. Leaders after tasting power, instead of taking care of the welfare of their people, took care of themselves first and forever. The people remained poor and neglected. Just see the conditions in the African states. See what is happening in Myanmar. Malaysia is no better. See the palaces built by politicians in power.

In Malaysia, to remain in power and continuously rape the wealth of the country, race is used to frighten the followers, that if they abandoned this (greedy) leadership, their future will be in jeopardy.

In fighting for independence, the people were cajoled to support the cause but after the achievement of independence, the people are again coerced into fear of their future if they abandoned the current leadership.

Race is the menacing factor that is being used to their personal advantage, that it will threaten the stability of the country. Not only that, it will also bring about intense communal feelings.

For failure to improve the lot of the Malays, the powers that be encouraged the phrase emphasising the supremacy of the Malays — “Ketuanan Melayu”. This never cropped up during the struggle for independence, nor was it ever used after independence. Only now suddenly it rears its ugly and venomous head, to frighten the non- Malays.

Naturally, a much wider chasm is created and the authorities simply have turned a blind eye to what it has unleashed. The agenda is to create divisions as done by the British colonial powers for self enrichment. But it must be remembered, this is the 21st century and not the late 19th or the early 20th centuries.

The environment and the scenario have changed and the situation is now wrought with all kinds of happenings that can become examples for fear and suspicion. Killings and ethnic cleansing in the name of race have become common occurrences.

The world too has become a smaller place and with that people are no longer incapable of sizing things up. People turn to emigration to escape what they feel may be an impending catastrophe. Even the Malays have no hesitation leaving the country as they feel things have gone too far in this mania of seeking wealth without regards to the welfare of others. The country is suffering from brain drain and only the corrupt are happy with this.

The situation cannot go on like this indefinitely. It is bound to proceed towards disaster. Children in schools have already been made familiar with racial profiling. Teachers are no longer dedicated in their professions. Instead of showing good examples to the students, they have become the source of creating tensions among the students with their brainless comments about the races in the country. But the authorities have shown reluctance in meting out stern action against these recalcitrant so-called teachers.

As long as they are Malays, they can commit these hideous acts and the government will try to provide excuses for their unpardonable acts.

The non-Malays will fall into a different category. Any slight excuse, they will be hauled up as what had happened to the young man Namewee. The young man will be persecuted for all kinds of reasons. This is done to satisfy and pacify the Malay communal extremists.

That racism has been on the increase in the country cannot be denied. Evidence is everywhere, be it in the social sphere, economy or even education.

The activities of the Malay ultra group have only pushed the other racial groups to emphasise more on their own well being and not that of the country. This is the direct result of not stopping the actions and utterances of those advocating the supremacy of the Malays.

The government only talks of racial unity but very little positive action has taken place. Even the governing political party has not moved towards integrating all the parties into one single political entity.

Of greater danger, however, is not the racial element but the religious aspects. This is a much more vicious and serious threat to the country. Unless the country maintains its secular nature and eliminates the dominating character of the religious authorities, the future does not augur well.

Although Islam is the official religion of the country, it does not mean that Islam overrides the interest of other religions in the country. The unwarranted religious conversions have to stop and the episodes of body snatching will have to be put to an end.

These incidents have caused a lot of family sufferings and the government must not condone such acts. The government will have to be bold if it wants to safeguard the future of this country. The Syariah courts now seem to be having the upper hand in every family dispute. The courts will naturally support the Muslim member of the family at the expense of the other members. The civil courts have been reluctant to play its role in all these conflicts.

This only brings about a sense of injustice to the aggrieved parties. They have no recourse to correct the injustice that they suffer. The government has not acted on these conflicts for fear of antagonising the religious zealots.

A church that was erected by the Orang Asli who professed the Christian faith was demolished on reasons that could easily had been overcome and the word “Allah” has been banned from use by Christians although in East Malaysia, the word had been in use for a very long time.

The Fatwa Council has become very powerful. Their approach is always negative in nature. Instead of trying to bring about the understanding of Islam to a wider circle, it functions as if everything about Islam is its prerogative to interpret and nobody else’s.

It also takes on the role of seeing that the unfortunate Muslims, who it believes being ignorant and stupid, are not led astray by the non Muslims. Thus non Muslims cannot quote from the Quran as this will confuse the Muslims. There are other major issues which have passed the scrutiny of this wise and able council.

All these are trends that will create greater suspicion among the people in the country. There is no attempt to make each understand the others’ religion and beliefs. The Muslim authority has kept away from associating itself in the interfaith group as this will affect Islam’s standing in the country. This is arrogance of the highest order.

The two most critical factors that will determine what the future of this country will be are race and religion. The government must act fast to counter the ruinous nature and the possible catastrophe that can be brought about by the uncontrolled and emotional makeup of these two elements.

The ugly writings are on the wall.

* Ahmad Mustapha Hassan is the author of “The Unmaking of Malaysia” and a former general manager of state news agency Bernama. He was also the press secretary to prime minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein and the then deputy prime minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

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

TMI: Show maturity, support BN when beneficial, Zaid tells Pakatan... By Clara Chooi

Show maturity, support BN when beneficial, Zaid tells Pakatan

By Clara Chooi

The Malaysian Insider, September 22, 2010

 

BATU PAHAT, Sept 22 – Datuk Zaid Ibrahim has told Pakatan Rakyat lawmakers to show political maturity and shake off fears of being unpopular by supporting the Barisan Nasional government’s policies if they were beneficial to the people.
The former Umno minister also urged Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to take a firm stand on sensitive issues that touch on race and religion, even if his deputy, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, was against it.

This, he claimed, were the main ingredients needed if the country wanted to break free from divisive and race-based politics to achieve national unity.

In a summary of his speech on national unity delivered at a function in Batu Pahat tonight, Zaid (picture) stressed that leaders from both sides of the political divide needed to stop their petty bickering and show some political maturity by standing together on longstanding issues that needed to be resolved.

“A show of unity would send the right signal that elected representatives are the ones who decide on policies for the rakyat and not some theologian or bureaucrat.

“I believe the opposition must support the government when it is good for the people,” he said.
Zaid, who is now the Pakatan Rakyat coordinator and a contender in the PKR deputy presidency race, also said that bipartisan support in Parliament should be encouraged as it was a reflection of a mature democracy.

“This is especially when the government needs help in dealing with certain difficult issues,” he said.
He expressed disappointment that PR lawmakers had kept silent when the Najib Administration wanted to present three bills in Parliament to resolve sensitive, outstanding issues – the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976, the Administration of Islamic Law Act 1993, and the Islamic Family Law Act 1984 – in early July last year.

The bills were aimed at clearing up some of the ambiguities in the country’s legal system pertaining to jurisdiction issues surrounding the Syariah law and common law, which have oftentimes caused much difficulties to families engaged in divorce matters, religious conversions or custody battles.

“Unfortunately of course, the Rulers Conference deemed it fit to review the bills themselves first and hence, the effort of the new Prime Minister was stopped and we have heard nothing since then.

“But still... PR parliamentarians had not taken the opportunity at the time to support the BN and the new PM to resolve these issues,” he lamented.

Zaid added that it was easy to talk about the intention to unite the nation and to come up with a to-do list on how to achieve it but finding a strong enough political resolve to do so was difficult.

“And this is where PR and BN must show some political maturity. It will be a test for [Prime Minister Datuk Seri] Najib [Razak] on the one hand and PR leaders on the other, on their commitment to national unity and political stability.

“The nation awaits to see an effective and responsible leadership to guide them through an uncertain future. This is the real challenge to all present political leaders,” he said.

Zaid claimed that former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s model of politics - to reign by securing and maintaining power at all costs – is contrary to the reconciliatory politics needed for nation-building.

“Najib’s new formula is 1 Malaysia. Will it work?” he asked.

Najib, he added, needed to take a firm stand when handling difficult issues pertaining to the racial diversity of the nation.

“The long walk that will really test the mettle and sincerity of our leaders is the handling and managing of difficult issues. Matters like the special position of the Malays under Article 153 of the Constitution, the position of Islam under Article 3, the equality of all citizens and religious freedom... these are issues that need to be clarified with honesty.

“A firm stand must be taken by Najib, even if his deputy (Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin) is against it. No pussy footing, no fudging to please only certain groups.

“Only a clear articulation of the government’s stand on these issues will coalesce into national building blocks of trust necessary for unity,” he said.

It has often been speculated that there was no love lost between Najib and his deputy Muhyiddin, who has been accused by the opposition as being a hindrance to the Prime Minister’s 1 Malaysia goals.

Although both men have denied a friction in their relationship, Muhyiddin’s controversial assertion once that he was a “Malay first and Malaysian second” has continued to stigmatise the BN administration as being fractured and falling apart.

Zaid also bleakly pointed out that Malaysia had only regressed over the past few years, claiming that the country could now hardly be called a “united nation”.

“Unity has deserted us. We need only to open the newspaper to see how one race is being pitted against another, or religious issues that are being played up so openly to antagonise or demean one group against one another.

“Teachers have become purveyors of sick ideologies. We need only to go on the internet to be bombarded with blog postings or video clips that scream bigotry and intolerance,” he said.

In recent days, the country was hit by a slew of racially-charged issues, further fuelled by bickering between political leaders in the BN leadership.

Among the issues were the racial slurs uttered by two school principals, one in Johor and another in Kedah, who had allegedly insulted their non-Malay students in front of their schoolmates.

While the opposition and many leaders in MCA and MIC spoke out to condemn both principals however, the BN government was seen as acting too slowly in resolving the issue.

Najib in fact, was criticised for remaining “elegantly silent” in the matter.

What was most disappointing, Zaid pointed out tonight, was how political leaders continued to stay non-commital, refusing to acknowledge the severity and the impact of such open displays of intolerance.

“Our leaders have stayed totally impotent in the face of such an onslaught. In fact now, the divisive politics of the BN are detrimental to the long-term goals of the nation. It is also detrimental to BN’s own wellbeing,” he said.