Unbridled American-led Free Market Economy Unbundling...

"Again, how immeasurably greater is the pleasure, when a man feels a thing to be his own; for surely the love of self is a feeling implanted by nature and not given in vain, although selfishness is rightly censured; this, however, is not the mere love of self, but the love of self in excess, like the miser's love of money; for all, or almost all, men love money and other such objects in a measure. And further, there is the greatest pleasure in doing a kindness or service to friends or guests or companions, which can only be rendered when a man has private property."
~ Aristotle, Politics, Book II, Part V

I have always wondered how financial markets work, especially the humongous bubble leveraged on staggering multiples of supposed assets or investments.

How is it that when one 'invests' big or bigger, one can then create even bigger borrowed volumes of trade? Frequently these so-called educated ingeniously 'hedged' speculations are supposedly to help stabilise wilder fluctuations in volatile markets, well... what now?

Hedge funds and derivatives trading (and other so-called structured financial options) have now shown up its true colours—it's not green, and many if not most entities are now in the deep red!

It began with the sub-prime loans debacle where unqualified and risky borrowers were given uncharacteristically preferential mortgage interest rates well below market levels. Wikipedia describes this as "Subprime lending is the practice of making loans to borrowers who do not qualify for market interest rates owing to various risk factors, such as income level, size of the down payment made, credit history, and employment status." [For a cartoon powerpoint subprime made easy...]

Many therefore were borrowing more than they can afford to remortgage or pay back, some were holding on to such 'cheap' holdings as investments in lieu of hard cash and other more volatile stocks and shares; and defaulting in huge numbers. Foreclosures therefore spiral upwards. (For a good analysis, see Jakarta Post 'The Tumbling of Giants")

Then, the soaring crude oil and commodities price hike triggered and unravelled the tenuous hold on liquidity. Savings and loans banking entities as well as insurers were all caught in a vicious web of interlocking downward spiral of near worthless returns. Then, Bear Sterns went under, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) and Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) collapse, the Lehman Brothers chapter 11 protection, Merrill Lynch, Washington Mutual shock and worst of all the huge AIG collapse...

Now, the US with a panicky but hapless President George W Bush, is trying to cobble together the biggest bail-out the world has ever seen—USD 700 billion! This, purportedly to forestall the collapse of the world's largest economy and potentially triggering a global economic meltdown! It appears that the rooster has come home to roost.

Some 10 years ago during the Asian financial crisis, respected economists worldwide but especially American, were all pushing the then battered economies to accept the collapse and rapid-fire restructuring while the IMF and World Bank called all the shots, not withstanding the terrible social upheavals and shocks. (see Times' How Asia's Bankers Avoided Crisis)

Many home-spun corporations were quickly sold to foreign fund managers and multinationals. Huge numbers of the local population were bankrupted and impoverished, with some of the most traumatised resorting to rioting with ethnic overtones... Then, it was said that this was an acceptable phase of change for the better...

Thus, it is so ironic that the Americans are changing its tune—turning its own economic model on its head, and calling for such a blatant if callous bail-out! By protecting these huge corporations, it may be earnestly helping to prevent a severe meltdown. However, it is feared that it might also be protecting those perpetrators who had wallowed in profligate, wanton greed and obscene wealth acquisition for so long, with the addiction and mentality of casino gamblers of gargantuan proportions!!!

Naturally, the American citizen is not amused, with more than 90% of them feeling that they the taxpayers should not be bailing out these corrupt officials (that they should not profit in any way from their mistakes), while at the same time urging the lawmakers to ensure the sanctity of their mortgages, their savings and their pensions. Furthermore, more conservative Republican Americans are still opposed to dismantling the free-market system which they feel should not see a return to more governmental oversight (see Conservatives Viewed Bailout Plan as Last Straw)

Asian economists are now feeling even more betrayed and angry. They now realise that the world is truly unequal. "Do as I say but not as I do" appears to be the American model of free-market capitalism. (See Does financial bailout show US double standards?) Many people refuse to acknowledge that deep down (perhaps for fear of offending the superpower USA), there has always been an American 'exceptionalism' clause where its citizens and its interests reign supreme and supersedes everyone else's... Its benign power is evident only when its interests are protected or extended.

Perhaps, it is time for the US to eat humble pie and acknowledge that it alone cannot provide all the answers and solutions to our immensely complex and chaotic world. Perhaps, the US can help to finally strengthen its own flawed institutions by reinforcing more institutional oversight guidelines and regulations (not less!). In so doing, America might then recover its vaunted capacity to export good ideas and ideals, but perhaps more by example than by other devious means of influence and subtle and not so subtle coercion.

Perhaps the free trade agreements so aggressively pushed with many countries, should be revisited or even revised to acknowledge each and every country's inflexible interests, which are already in place in several clauses of the American agreement, but which many countries sheepishly enter into because of the so-called USA-driven market size...

Gross excesses during the past few decades were often apologetically rationalised away by the weight of US-trained and US-indoctrinated economists worldwide, such that alternative models have been left by the wayside. Socially-conscientious or directed mechanisms, safety net issues are almost taboo in the modern paradigm of this now shaky economic model. Continental European economic models with stronger social protections appear to have withstood better the current financial storm. (see Why the world will avoid Armageddon)

Thus, perhaps older Europe can play a bigger role in today's world in helping to reshape and restructure the world's economy. Perhaps, the Asian model of guided and government-regulated free-market models can find a more respectable place where control and regulations still exact a modicum of fear and responsibility from the crass extremes of unbridled greed and speculation.

Not being trained as an economist, helps to picture in my simple mind that there really is no free lunch. That one plus one may be 2, 3 or even 5, may be plausible. But 100 or 10,000 (!!!?), this seems just too far-fetched, too stretched beyond the imagination of unsophisticated mortals who deal with simple multiples in hoped-for returns from investments for one's future.

But we have of late let some award-winning theoretical free-market economists propagate attractive if mindboggling concepts of mathematical if unreal 'imaginary' numbers of market possibilities.

The past 2 decades or so have seen newfangled economic theories fanning a mentality of voracious greed to reap enormous profits and pay-outs, seemingly on an erstwhile unending gravy train of limitless resources. This belief has spurred that exponential urge to spend, speculate, guesstimate or gamble beyond one's monetary worth or capacity...

Following the 1987 global recession, we seemed to have embarked on a roller coaster ride of mainly positive growth of exponential proportions, with a spectacular rise in a middle class population worldwide. [See Henry Liu's essay on The Coming Trade War and Global Depression (2005)]

Free market capitalism and mass consumerism swept the world in an unprecedented success story which saw the demise of the communist-socialist model beginning with the 1989 dismantling of the Soviet Union.

Excesses and poor judgements by many aspirant developing countries on fast track growth led to the Asian Tom Yam crisis of 1997-98—this disaster crippled and decimated many third world nations and led to enforced hugely unpopular infusions of IMF and World Bank measures and funds.

Governmental bail-outs were frowned upon, and this 'shock and awe' model was proposed as the necessary bitter medicine which will eventually salve all economic hurts and wounds, notwithstanding the social upheavals which were unleashed in nations such as Indonesia, Thailand, South Korea and even in Malaysia...

In the long run, this approach was supposed to enhance economic strength and stability of the individual countries involved, where freer markets with foreign funds and investments, inflows or outflows, would be unhampered. It also presupposed that regulatory frameworks be simplified to the point of being ineffectual—it appears that Milton Friedman's school of economics was once again given free reign to transform new nations, new markets...

Only that this approach is supposed to allow individual/personal ingrained self-interest and 'greed' to ride supreme and therefore encourage a trickle down effect to finally eradicate poverty. Because, everyone as homo economicus should in theory be capable of finding their own true worth and place in today's world—they should be able to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps, unassisted, as this would artificially weaken the model...

Yet, despite this proposed unapologetic hard-nosed approach, most nations found that they could not accept the unvarnished practicality in toto, that, it was and remains an unforgiving mindless system which unfairly punishes the weak, the marginalised, the less capable, the less endowed. Pitiable safety nets had to be set up as glossy corporate social responsibility measures, often placed at the bottom rung of economic need or even consciousness...

Hence, while enormous wealth has been generated, enlarging a bigger than ever middle class, this paradigm has also enhanced the rich-poor divide (socioeconomic inequality measure, the Gini index).

As the nouveau riche empowered entrepreneurial and the investment savvy speculators pile on wealth and acquire more and more consumer goods and services, the left-behind and marginalised continue to fester in the underbelly of privation and hardship.

This growing destitute class seethes with anger, envy and appears readily to slip into disaffection with resultant tendencies toward potential violent, vengeful, anti-social behaviour—the stuff that begets urban anarchists, religious fanatics, jihadists, other mindless mobs totally opposed to the 'western' model of the world!

Extreme wealth disparity which breeds social dystopia—where an increasing populace feels miserable, dispossessed, disempowered and oppressed—is a real danger to a peaceful, progressive harmonious world.

Notwithstanding the ascendancy of economics and finance in the world today, the recent financial meltdown is a timely reminder that economics is never a hard science if ever, and whichever economic model cannot be the one and only foolproof unchanging model for the world.

It is precisely because mankind is quite unique in the biosphere of this one Earth, that he thrives relentless. With his/her multifarious activities, preferences and free choices, mankind represents the non-linear chaotic paradigm of fully evolved animal life.

What makes the first human from Africa migrate outwards around the globe, will never be known. But our proliferation globally into every nook and cranny of the planet attest to our tenacious grasp for life.

By testing the limits of his/her physical ability, intellectual prowess, artful skills at extending him-/herself through arms, appendages, then barter trades and finally financial alternatives, man has become that quintessential homo economicus.

Sadly, the long arms and tentacles of human reach can be too impactful, too abrasive even. Our human lives now extends through pervasive interweaving impacts and ubiquitous interconnectedness, changing nearly everything it touches...

But with our innate nature which makes everyone of us free to choose and to want for personal property, he is also ultimately, unpredictable...

An abridged version of this appears in malaysiakini as American capitalism unravelling

Malaysia must Change for the Better, no Ifs, no Buts...

Malaysiakini published a version of this as an opinion piece on 25.09.08

Raja Petra sent to Kamunting
The government's continued disregard and disdain for the Malaysian public boggles the mind.

It also shows its precipitous descent into a beleaguered mindset of a morally-emaciated misdirected authority, seemingly grasping at whichever convenient straws to prop up its crumbling foundations...

Instead of listening to and reflecting on the wishes and aspirations of an increasingly vocal rakyat, it continues to wallow in a fossilised mentality that 'might is right', as long as it continues to believe and hold on to the majoritarian trump card.

Sadly, but perhaps hopefully this might just change in the next few days or weeks—many Malaysians are praying and hoping for change for the better.

The current leadership appears to subscribe to the view that it alone holds all the puissance and licence for arbitrary diktats of obsolete inequitable laws, hollow-sounding rhetoric and cheap propaganda.

Somehow it seems to have become shell-shocked into an impervious barricade of seeing no evil, hearing no evil but speaking and acting with callous and vilest evil—hitting back with whatever they've got the power to lash out! It appears to be clinging on to whatever little power it has left—which is dwindling day by day; worse it appears to be losing relevance, in the eyes of an earnest rakyat. (See BN dynasty crumbling, says Bukit Bendera MP)

Shockingly, even our past PM Tun Dr Mahathir has decried the current administration as inept. He said that the government now commands much less support than it did after the recent general election, but rather than share the public's urgency for change, the present office-holders had "redoubled efforts to frustrate renewal, cut off reform, and silence criticism".

It has inflexibly steeled itself from having to shift gears in a much changed Malaysian political reality since March 8, 2008, that ensconced racial and ethnic divisions which had previously been battened down, are passé.

By steadfastly holding on to the concept of and playing up the divisive if dumbed-down special unequal sectarian rights, the current leadership appears to be foundering on a dessicated landscape of enlightened global visions and aspirations for greater inclusivity and equality—that the quest for basic human rights cannot stop at narrowly-defined sectarian exclusivity or political expediencies.

The now much maligned Ketuanan Melayu catchphrase, with its expectant master-follower relationship appears to have lost its jingoistic power to inflame fear and privation for an increasingly sophisticated rakyat, at least for a sizeable number.

It is true that many Malays and bumiputras continue to fear that once this interpretation of exceptional right is taken away from them, they might not be favoured anymore and would be sidelined, even marginalised in their so-called 'own homeland'. This is a very real and rightful concern, and all Malaysians must be mindful that this does not and should never happen.

But I think every thinking Malaysian understands this perspective which has been ingrained into the psyche for so long, that this has become an immovable crutch reinforcing a diffident yet hand-out frame of mind.

We must all work together to ensure that fairness—even if with initial overweening affirmation to reassure our Malay and bumiputra brethren be justly extended—based on social need rather than simply birthright, be the paradigm of the new Malaysian model, with eradication of all leakages and wastages from corrupt and other venal interests.

I strongly believe our economic pie is big enough for all. I believe our collective potential is even greater when we can all work together without unspoken but seething suspicion, envy or disgruntlement.

There's really no necessity for fear of being excluded of fair opportunities for any Malaysian, as I fervently believe that every Malaysian will always have a soft spot for the poor, the marginalised and the truly deprived. 50 years of living together in relative peace and harmony would and should ensure that common sense and goodwill will prevail.

I believe we are more magnanimous and generous than we have been given credit for. A socially-engineered liberalism with an ethnically-blind and equitable social contract, will ensure that untrammelled market forces not be allowed to override the sensitivities and needs of those truly in need.

That every Malaysian will be accorded every fundamental right to a decent home, wages, access to basic amenities and health care, basic rights and freedom to associate, to think, to speak, to write and to believe.

That quality and merit must supersede all pretensions of enforced arbitrary allocations, to education, business, housing, employment, even social welfare, which can only make our nation and economy, our productivity and yes, especially our Malaysian nationalistic fervour stronger and more meaningful. That we can all shout out loudly and passionately with one unison voice that we are Bangsa Malaysia!

In a globalised world, this can only add on to our previously unimagined strength, rather than serve as a deadweight anchor dragging us slowly but inexorably into inefficiency, corruption, nepotism, dependency and poorer than can be achieved productivity...

In the past few years, this has become more evident with our sharply declining economic growth as the chasing developing world continues to progress in spite of us and our fantastic head-start.

We're now beginning to showcase our wasted, weighted-down, demoralised human capital achievement, which has now become even more tangible with the rise and rise of resurgent dynamic economies of China, India, Vietnam, Thailand and even Indonesia! With the current financial meltdown and banking debacle, we have to be even more resilient, otherwise we can expect worse to come... (See Bursa plunges nearly 4%, recovery in afternoon)

Ketuanan Rakyat must now be the new shibboleth for Malaysians now more confident of and attuned to fairplay and global competition.

We must continue to reinforce and burnish this quest for greater personal and national achievement, empowerment and excellence. We must learn to aspire to be world-beaters and not simply be content as jaguh kampung (village champions).

Malaysia Boleh and must change for the better!

(photos from The Malaysian Insider, ISA graphic from malaysiakini)

Oh Malaysia! Whither is thy just soul for all?

I decided last month to take a break from my erstwhile blogging, if anything just to sniff through the musty air for some balance, some freshness,
some insights for sanity...

Alas, during and following the Permatang Pauh by-election, Malaysian politics had descended into crasser and baser meanness.

Torrid mud-slinging wasn't enough, and when the chips and popular support appear to be slipping further down, ethnic emotions have been stoked and charged upwards, with growing senseless and ad hominem rhetoric rising decibels into deaf-piercing levels of plangency.

Personal and racial attacks have taken on an ugly momentum which only breeds a nuclear cycle of chain-reaction—with irrational fears and bigotry serving as fodder for mass incitement into hatred and jitteriness.

Political thuggery appears to have taken leave of the senses of some of our inane politicians, such that one wonders if we are living in a banana republic as currently exemplified by the chronically self-destructive Zimbabwe, Somalia and other failed states.

Perhaps, as passionate Malaysians who hanker for a renewed Malaysia to emerge as a developed first world nation, we are expecting too much. It is painfully clear that we have yet to be able to mature gracefully, without the insane retreat into tribalism and narrow-minded sectarianism.

In this regard I totally agree with Azly Rahman that we can do better and hopefully soon, we must "celebrate the end of racism with the sinking of Bahtera Merdeka. For too long race and religion has been used a twin-concept of fear and domination of those robber-barons who call themselves nationalists in a post-industrial tribalistic world." (see September 16: the end of nationalism and tribalism?)

Sadly, the embattled government is playing straight into the hands of a small band of unthinking, asinine 'territorial warloads', whose locked-in mindsets appear to be to protect or to preserve their parochial fiefdoms, now so overtly taken away from them since March 8, 2008.

The current leadership seems to have become tone-deaf to the rakyat's rising concerns and interests, supplanting these with erroneous and foolhardy tactics to stay in power at whatever costs!

The sudden removal of fuel subsidies, the hike in utilities rates, and the greatest inflation (7.7% then 8.3% in June and July 2008, respectively) ever in 27 years, have jolted the rakyat that this current government is fast losing its grip on reality and has lost its commitment to serve its citizens. (Latest August 2008 CPI at a whopping 8.5%, another 27-year record!!!)

Thus, isn't it understandable that more and more of the rakyat has joined in the rousing call to urge the government to be more accountable and fair, with clarion calls to place the rakyat’s interests first, to eliminate wasteful projects, cronyistic practices and rampant corruption?

Somehow, during these past few years under Pak Lah, the government has become impenetrable and impervious to the reality bites and bytes of an evolved emboldened rakyat who are clamouring for greater transparency, freedom of expression, and participatory engagement.

Most importantly, the urgent need to change from the archaic model of patently racial divide and rule, into one of greater participation and inclusion, sans ethnic or religious compartmentalisation. It is fervently hoped that race-based political parties might indeed be passé, soon in modern 21st century Malaysia.

But the emergence, rising popularity and acceptance of Pakatan Rakyat as a collaborative and viable if cobbled-up opposition front is frighteningly clairvoyant, of political changes to come. Such consistent opposition gains pose a severe threat to those hopelessly clinging on to power from their ingrained stranglehold of outdated top-down Umno-dominated politics and policies!

This sudden realisation of power loss, public disenchantment and disavowal, has made many an old-school politician queasy at the real possibility and prospect of becoming irrelevant, discredited and disempowered!

I am writing this during my lay-over in Dubai, en route to London, accompanying my son who is to begin his university studies at King's College.

Just before I left, my heart sank. Although we had feared that a desperate, embattled government might resort to whatever means to hold on to its challenged power, we had naively harboured thoughts that perhaps sanity and good sense would prevail. Alas, this was not to be so.

We heard that blogger-extraordinaire of Malaysia Today, Raja Petra Kamaruddin had been detained under Section 73(1) of the Internal Security Act (ISA), i.e. detention without trial! This morning, half a day later, we heard that opposition (DAP) law-maker Teresa Kok and Sin Chew Daily Tan Hoon Cheng had also been detained under this totally discredited and antiquated draconian ISA.

Newspapers, which had exposed the antics of this racist taunt, were also given show-cause letters as to why they should not be sanctioned! Flying in the face of natural justice is this ludicrous and totally misguided move to sanction and punish the exposers and not the actual perpetrators of this terrible racially charged misdeed!

Ironically indeed, the centre of the storm of these racist remarks and extremism—one previously unheard of but unrepentant UMNO chieftain—has simply been given a slap on the wrist: suspended for 3 years from all UMNO posts!

These rafts of undignified and uncalled for actions are to be condemned in the strongest terms. It would appear that the government headed by UMNO is stating in effect that if only the journalist hadn't reported (and the media hadn't exposed this!) on these outrageous remarks by that racist UMNO chief, then there would not have been any knowledge of this simmering racial tension, deviously stoked by this repugnant man and his coterie of supporters.

Never mind that selected people on the ground had already been inflamed, and jolted in their many targeted pockets about possible ethnic fears and strifes... that 'immigrant' and 'squatting' races don't need to be considered as citizens, and that they can leave the country, if they do not like the current policies!

Oh, how can we peaceful Malaysians counter such bigotry, such calls for racial purity and protection which harks back to the days of Hilterism and Nazist ideology, or former South African apartheid regime?! How can we ever hope to rebuild a newer more inclusive society that protects the rights and sanctity of all?

Worse this government is now resorting to all sorts of draconian laws to further extend itself, consolidate its eroding popularity and power, and repress disgruntlement from a fractiously impatient and angry rakyat clamouring for greater and greater freedom and change for the better!

As 'puny' rakyat there appears to be only so much that we can do, but each and everyone of us must rise up and speak our mind for justice, fairness, freedom to express and live, with due protection of our laws and our Constitution.

We must not let ourselves be intimidated by these new fear-instilling extra-judicial acts from our common purpose to rid Malaysia of such excesses of governmental decadence!

While we abhor and eschew all forms of violence, we urge the government to respect the rakyat's wishes and not dampen and dumb down our efforts to be heard!

By deceitfully creating a climate of fear and uncertainty, this government must not be allowed to fan and provoke public unrest. This would be to play into the hands of this beleaguered and unpopular leadership waiting to unleash possible emergency laws to promulgate and propagate their power indefinitely.

We urge our peace- and freedom-loving Malaysians to pray and speak out for the better good of our nations. I don't believe we are alone in this.

The world is watching, and we cannot allow this government to ride roughshod over all of us. The USA has already summoned our embassy staff to protest. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are condemning this desperate act of our current leadership.

Even the government's own de facto law minister Zaid Ibrahim has protested these actions which he felt were totally inexcusable and has threatened to resign (see Law minister threatens to quit over ISA).

Thus, how can any sensible Malaysian view this differently, if not to believe that these dastardly acts reek of pure political overtures of cynical overkill and power play? Zaid Ibrahim has stated that "We have a government that commits to laws and reforms, we can't be using old-style politics or resort to creating fear. We have laws and they (the detainees) should be charged in court... The problem with the ISA now is that it is used against certain people, it is a very unjust law."

Another minister (human resources minister) Dr S. Subramaniam has also openly complained that "(t)he prospect of a person being detained without a chance of being heard and to defend himself is against the grains of present day popular belief," and that "a government sensitive to the feelings of the people cannot be blind to the fact that a significant proportion of the rakyat abhor the ISA." (See Another minister questions ISA dragnet)

Let's hope common sense will prevail finally, and a new dawn will rise for a truly resplendent and modern liberated Malaysia.

In the meantime, all Malaysians must call for these freedom fighters to be set free immediately!

This untenable ISA should be repealed and its arbitrary acts must be laid to rest forever!

These repeated acts of political desperation and social injustice seriously undermines the rights and the mandate of the present leadership to govern!

Perhaps, it is truly time for a new rebirth, a new leader, a new government of integrity, greater righteousness, transparency, social cohesiveness and promise, to take over.

Enough is enough, we cannot afford such callous abuse or any more of the same ineptitude to go on and on! It's time to call this government to accounts. It's time to say it's time for change!

"We shall overcome
We shall overcome.
We shall overcome the tyranny of an arrogant, ineffective, incompetent, corrupt and lazy government that
does not have any more respect for the rule of law
does not have any shame in showing its greed and lust
does not have any mercy in using brutal force to silent the voices of change
does not have much respect for the principles of human rights
does not have much intelligence when it comes to parliamentary debates
does not have a clue of what good governance means
does not have any regard for the plight of the poor and their livelihood
does not have any respect for the intelligence of the faculty and students in our universities
does not have any shame in overstaying their welcome
does not have any interest in controlling crime
does not have any will to fight corruption
and does not have leaders that are wide awake,
and does not have any idea that spoiled brats and greedy ones are running the country and finally destroying not only the party but also the nation."
~ Azly Rahman (Victory Speech)


An edited version of this blog appears in Malaysiakini's Time for a Just Malaysia

Shame! Another salacious saga we can do without…

“If thou speakest not I will fill my heart with thy silence and endure it. I will keep still and wait like the night with starry vigil and its head bent low with patience.
“The morning will surely come, the darkness will vanish, and thy voice pour down in golden streams breaking through the sky.
“Then thy words will take wing in songs from every one of my birds' nests, and thy melodies will break forth in flowers in all my forest groves.”
~ Rabindranath Tagore, Gitanjali

Once again the tawdry, the salacious and the senseless seemed to have besmirched our mainstream politics.

Malaysians have been and will be dragged through the mud of explicit sex education of the foulest, most humiliating theatrics, all in the name of rule by law, purportedly to honour the humble request of a lowly citizen who cried foul because he claimed to have been buggered by non other than a potential Prime Minister in waiting!

He must have justice and and his pound of flesh, and our usually lethargic institutions have been marshalled with supreme efficiency and speed, to charge the accused...

At this juncture, I confess to be being biased. Having followed the highs and lows of Anwar Ibrahim's career, his rhetoric and his writings, I have come to the conclusion that he comes across as someone whom I can relate to. This is not to say that I necessarily agree with him in toto, but his ideals, when he passionately articulates or writes on these, are in the right direction.

More than a decade ago when I chanced upon his book on "The Asian Renaissance" I then realised that perhaps finally we have in Malaysia a leader of intellectual quality and substance. Here is evidence of his attempt at urbane conversation as to his ideals and hopes, about what Asians (including Muslims and Malaysians) can do to excel and to engage with the changing modern world. I believe this underlies his enlightened sincerity and moral courage. It certainly is totally incongruous with the accusations that he is a sexual deviant and pervert. Like what any computer would say: it just “does not compute…”

It is true that he is not without flaws, but then again which politician is 'squeakily clean'? For that matter, who amongst men are infallible? Who amongst us are qualified to cast the first stone? Nevertheless, a fair number of people I've spoken to, are still somewhat wary of his seemingly changeable (some have even labelled him chameleon-like) stance on some contentious communal, educational, economic issues.

He has in a limited way acknowledged that he has had a pretty checkered and questionable past during his tenure within the National Front government. Then, some of his ministerial decisions seemed to have been less than convincing, occasionally erratic and some would even say scheming and yes even politically expedient.

But like most people who are learning, adapting and now willing to listen to constantly shifting groundswells of opinions and ideologies, he has personally disavowed some of his poorer judgements of the past. More importantly, he and his colleagues have shown that they have the citizen's welfare and wellbeing at heart, and that policies and ideas are modifiable to cater to the greater good and the better of intentions. (See his recent interview with Shawn Crispin of Asia Times in Malaysia Today.)

Can his avowed pledge to stamp out corruption and nepotism and to promote greater accountability be any less rousing and consonant with our own aspirations? Should one simply be skeptical just because these are too populist? After all, shouldn’t the public expect their mundane concerns to be the motivating foci of their elected representatives?

Perhaps modern politics require one to be adaptable and enduring—most importantly, a successful politician and leader must have an inexhaustible store of strong core values which must continue to underlie his/her basic philosophy for life and an unshakable belief in the general public good...

Notwithstanding all these, the past few years since his freedom from incarceration, have seen the emergence of another Anwar, one who has sufficient conviction and charisma to now cobble together a functional coalition, the Pakatan Rakyat.

For the first time in Malaysian history, we appear to have a truly workable indeed viable alternative, in what is now touted as the preferred modern political reality, i.e. a less fractious but more efficient 2-party system. A closely-balanced 2-party system would allow easier changes of government, because they serve as mutual counterweights, for gritty checks and balances, to forestall vested excesses, corruption and misrule.

These demarcated polities allow for citizens to decide periodically (every 4-5 years) which side they prefer, and also allow them to keep or to spurn when these elected representatives fail to live up to their promises and expectations. No longer can elected parliamentarians be allowed to keep their sinecures, when they are corrupt, ineffective or plainly inept.

For many Malaysians, this represents a new hope, a new spirit of renewal which seemed to have fizzled or disappeared from the vocabulary of the incumbent powers, under the fossilized mindset of the ruling party—50 years tend to entrench one into immovable fortresses of decay and decadence...

Alas, hopeful concepts translating into hard-nosed realities would not easy. Indeed, such a revolutionary change is always thought to be difficult if not impossible to achieve, what with the incumbent powers wielding all the aces in the pack of cards...

Our institutions have been battered and are perhaps at their lowest ebb in morale and certainly in respectability and trustworthiness—public perception of them are at their rock-bottom lows.

Yet, prolonged incumbency and ingrained power-beliefs tend to make our officers of these institutions, imperious and self-protective, dishing out their oft repeated echoes that might is right, and that as the authorities still in charge, they would broach no dissent to their dictates and pronouncements, as if these were cast in concrete!

Some have lamented that following the shock upset of the March 8, 2008 elections, the government has been locked down in denial mode, and are no longer listening—somehow our rakyat's voices seem to no longer carry the weight of sense and balance anymore. Not only are their protestations and queries falling on deaf ears, they are given a talking down to, instead!

Some have detected great consternation and disbelief among the unaccustomed politicians under siege. Many are still disbelieving that they are now in such a shaky position of power dilution. They are so angry and indignant, that they are now bent on punishing those whom they believed have wrought such an unprepared cataclysm upon them!

The Lingam video debacle chronicling unabashed tempering of the judiciary must take the cake for executive abuse and excesses. It reaffirmed the rakyat's distaste of a tainted legal system, and solidified its worst suspicion that some very senior judges who were then in cahoots with some lawyers, can be bought hook, line and sinker!

Worse, the then Attorney-General (AG, our legal system's highest office) and the Inspector General of Police (IGP, highest ranking police officer) have now been accused of misconduct, tempering of evidence and witnesses, allegedly during their then lesser roles and ranks in the 1998 public-relations disaster!

Thus, it is not surprising that for the hard-pressed police force and the AG’s office, they would be more inclined to easily believe a young strapping accuser, rather than to perhaps consider that the accuser might have been lying, and that other motives may be involved. What better way to resolve once and for all, such a festering boil of unprecedented proportions in the shape and form of Anwar Ibrahim?

Once again, the possibility of righting that expunged evidence and parading of the sex-stained and DNA-tainted mattress, that undignified black-eye incident they had suffered some ten years ago, might seem appealing…

But then they fail to understand that the rakyat are no longer pliant believers in whatever spins the authorities are dishing out. They want to know why and more. And that if that were to be the case, they are questioning why the police is not entertaining other possible scenarios other than the ‘scripted.’

Why indeed is it so much more believable that the accused is capable of such a crime, compared with other more heinous crimes for which statutory declarations have also been made against other VIPs? Why indeed, the differential treatment and fast-tracked energies to charge with such haste?

The rakyat wants to know who the accuser is acting for, and for what personal gains to expose one's most intimate soul, nay, even body part and name, to such a glare of cheap and shameless publicity?

But, I suppose it is possible that if one is truly sexually assaulted, then one's demand for justice can be very strong, to redress such a wrong of shameful 'assault' against one's nature... Although most if not all rape victims tend to be so traumatized and self-ashamed, they would avoid undue publicity at all costs…

Indeed, for many among the Malaysian public, we wonder who would benefit from this highly damaging and publicly humiliating "character assassination to silence an effective leader of the political opposition" (to quote former US vice-president Al Gore)?

It is patently obvious to all political pundits and even the most neutral observer, that perhaps such a high profile politician as Anwar Ibrahim has been too charismatic, too popular, and who is by all intents and purposes too ready and poised at the cusp of re-entering his much derailed political destiny...

Apparently, this momentum—this tryst with destiny must be stopped at all cost, some believe... The timeliness of it all must be serendipity at its chanciest best, any other lottery would have been more difficult to imagine.

Notwithstanding the inept denials by the highest echelons of our society, the undisguised attempt to charge the opposition designate leader with the religiously-tainted odium of sodomy, cannot be but starkly clear to all except those ostriches whose heads are buried in the sand of self-blinkered ignoramuses.

What was surprising is the fact that the final charge seemed to have been whittled down to one of consensual if illegal form of sex, i.e. sodomy, without the hint of assault (i.e. rape) and only on one occasion, at one locale. This is in spite of the earlier leaked reports and accusations that the "poor" victim pleading for justice had been "sexually assaulted" at least several times!

One wonders if this was the best that the police and prosecutors could come up with, because of the inadvertently-leaked medical report from Pusrawi Hospital which had found no such injury, and which would have made the later reports untenable, especially if totally discordant but exaggerated reports were to emerge just a few hours or days after the first examination!

Again, maybe because justice sometimes works in mysterious ways, another statutory declaration (SD) has emerged—this time by the same beleaguered Dr Mohamed Osman, on the harrowing and intimidating experience of trying to be true to his calling and profession. As a medical professional myself, I salute his valiant courage in steadfastly standing up to this impudent affront of such despicable pressure, if this were to be true.

Yet again, sadly, he has chosen to expose the machinations of certain powers through the only sane and foolhardy brave soul of RPK (Raja Petra Kamaruddin). Has this audacious web portal of Malaysia Today now become the bastion sanctuary for all whistle-blowers, because no other institution can now be trusted?

Not surprisingly though, the police is now investigating this SD with the view that it contains too many 'inaccuracies' and that it served to paint the police in a rather poor light... Once again, the police are upset. This SD’s authenticity is now in doubt, there are inconsistencies you see, so investigations are underway… Police CID chief has argued that this release of the SD is an attempt to undermine the police and discredit their work… "We strongly believe that this article is intended solely to skew public perception and to undermine police authority," Bakri said.

Alas, such is now what most Malaysians already know and believe. This SD is simply but one of a long litany of sequences of events which already has long undermined the credibility of the authorities even before this.

The police and the other institutions must now show us that they can rise above their waning rhetoric, indignant statements, selective prosecution, and show the public that they can be truly professional and impartial.

Would this be possible under such a climate of doubt and recriminations?

Or would salacity trump sagacity once again to the detriment of Malaysia…

Alas, who should the poor Malaysian public now believe?

An abbreviated article has been published in malaysiakini as Another salacious saga we can do without

Ethics, Medical Confidentiality vs. Political Pressures

Some of you would have already known that many people especially some cantankerous bloggers and some doctors are wondering why the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) has so far not spoken ("not a squeak from them"). See Malaysiakini 'Not sodomy-related? Let's not be anal'

Until now, I have remained silent on this issue, as my liberal and passionate views of social justice may not be acceptable to many who feel that we should be cautious in accommodating the powers that be.

As a concerned doctor, I too wish that more can be done and perhaps even more can be said. I respect the stance that the MMA should be cautious and circumspect in heavily-tinged political affairs.

At the same time however, I do believe that we have to allow for differences in approach which ultimately must be consonant with the current leadership's style and position of any society, as well as respecting the demands and aspirations of our medical membership.

So it is imperative that the MMA President and his elected Council members should be comfortable, as he would be the spokesperson and quotable person when all else matters--the buck stops with him, so to speak.

Thus, the medical profession is indeed in some quandary as to how to address this issue, in as fair a manner as possible.

My personal view on this is that we have to be objective yet firm in affirming fairness and justice to all parties concerned, notwithstanding our earnest misgivings and personal bias.

Being a medical practitioner for nearly 30 years, and now as an elected member of the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) I would like to suggest the following (as a personal opinion):

1. Medical reports are confidential and private, and breaching this is a serious infringement of our Code of Ethics for all medical doctors without exception.

However, with regards Dr Osman Hamid's purported leaked report, we have to establish that this leaking of the report is indeed perpetrated by the doctor himself or his agents, or the hospital. This can only be ascertained after a full and comprehensive inquiry--we should not jump the gun and accuse him or the hospital of any wrong-doing until then.

Under the current climate of accusations and counter-accusations (disclosures and counter-declarations), isn't it possible or more likely, that this is the work of another unknown person, sympathetic to whoever he/she has felt duty-bound enough to be a whistle-blower? (Whatever the motives, unfortunately, this act is still wrong from an ethical and legal viewpoint).

2. Whatever the circumstances however, the onus is on the doctor and the hospital authorities to be responsible for ensuring that every medical report or record be securely protected of its privacy and confidentiality.

They must take all possible measures to safeguard such information, especially when high-profile personalities are involved--there should be no compromise on this duty and legal requirement.

Health care workers including ancillary and support clerical staff must understand that they cannot simply access and distribute any medical record as he or she chooses--they must remember and abide by the consequences and the rules.

We cannot have just any Tom, Dick and Harry gain access to whatever medical or health records at their whim and fancy. Aside from the prying gossipy intentions, other more serious motives include blackmail or other illicit ill-intent which can result from such unwitting exposure and unsanctioned disclosure. Those who violate such a law, should be answerable to the law.

3. However, many doctors are alarmed to hear that alleged pressure has been brought to bear on medical professionals to coerce them into modifying and/or to altering medical reports, to the dictates of certain personalities, authorities or even the police.

4. Our medical professionalism demands that we treat every medical examination seriously. Doctors have to treat each patient singularly as unique individuals who can expect no lesser respect, attention and empathetic care, regardless of whoever he or she is, without any bias or fraternal considerations.

We wish to reiterate that any medical record/report is a professional and legal document, which should always be truthfully and accurately certified. Such a prescribed duty should broach no untoward coercion by anyone, to persuade them to do otherwise.

5. If any such coercion or illegal attempts have been made to subvert and/or obstruct such duties, then the medical professional involved must inform the relevant authorities such as the MMA, the MMC, and even lodge a police report to protect his professional duty and self. He or she should also seek legal advice either through his/her medical protection/defense society, or other independent legal or judicial means.

Seeking recourse through political parties is a double-edged sword which can sometimes undermine the objectivity of the complaint. Unfortunately, making police reports or statutory declarations are now also fraught with disquieting uncertainty and chary dubiety; especially under the highly-politicised climate that we are in today.

Many are genuinely wary of the police and their perceived lack of total transparency and trustworthiness. As one of the highest social institutions of the country, this is a terribly desperate state of affairs. As one of the rakyat, it saddens me to be leery of the police, and we all wish that this were not the case.

Clearly, not all police personnel should be lumped together as untrustworthy, and I daresay that most are genuinely sincere and incorruptible professionals. I would like to place on record that I've had some very professional interactions with the police on many occasions, in the past.

Alas, the prevailing perception toward the police and our battered institutions, is for many, quite unfavorable to say to least. A Merdeka Centre survey recently highlights the rakyat's severe concerns: Many worried country going downhill. Only some 30% of those polled are confident in the institutions to handle these recent issues fairly.

"Disappearances" after having made some controversial reports, are now worrying even the bravest armchair critic or blogger, can an individual's safety be assured? Latterly, even the dissenting doctor in question has taken "extended leave", whose motives are understandable, under the circumstances. We all hope that he is safe and not in any harm's way.

6. Our medical fraternity must reaffirm a strong united stand, and we wish to reassure all medical doctors that collectively we will stand by and support any medical professional member who should be threatened or pressured in anyway by whichever party.

7. We wish to state that we are not taking sides in this controversy, but we wish to put on record that social justice and fairness must always be maintained especially in political or even criminal proceedings or contentions.

8. Doctors have an unbending ethical code to conform with, and honesty and accuracy in medical recording and reporting must be at the forefront of such professional practices, without fear or favour--the judgement and sanctity of our moral underpinnings are not and should never be for sale!

We urge all doctors to be true to their profession and their Hippocratic oath and training. We urge the authorities, police and political parties to refrain from using or coercing doctors to serve as tools to further their devious means and ends.

Let's keep that one last-respected bastion of public institutions safe and free, from falling under the oppressive crumbling weight of despair and failure of almost all others!

A slightly shortened version appears in malaysiakini's as Ethics, medical confidentiality vs political pressures

Obama's Audacity of Improbable Hope

4 years ago, when Barack Obama was given the podium to address the Democrat convention, it raised many an eyebrow. Mainly because, as an African American, he had been given such an accolade, and at such a tender age at that.

At that time I remembered downloading his speech, and comparing it with others including Al Sharpton, John Kerry, John Edwards and Al Gore. Even then, he had shown remarkable talent in rhetoric in an evangelical, inspiring, rabble-rousing, exhortation sort of way...

Since then, I must confess that I have become one of the religiously-converted hordes of Obama-manic fans.

His historical perspective as one who was born into a mixed-race marriage, forms the basis of his contention that for the American dream, his was one of unimaginable "improbable hope." And he has been declaiming this point relentlessly to inspire legions of people who hanker for change, betterment and hope. "This is our moment," exhorts Obama.

I watched him during his recent Berlin address (25 July, 2008). Undoubtedly, although he admitted wryly that he did not look like any of his predecessors before him (he being the first African American or man of colour), he stood shoulder to shoulder with the best and the exceptionally brilliant--200,000 Berliners were on hand to experience his charismatic aura, and to cheer him on.

Obama is certainly captivating and personable. He is without doubt a great orator who effuses with goose-pimpling inspiring rhetoric, but at the same time enunciating many bold expansive ideas which I hope he will be able to implement once he becomes the President.

It is true that many of his rally-calls border on generalities rather than specifics, as some have criticised, but in this world of nebulous moral confusion, 'them-and-us' American exceptionalism and tired battle-weary politics, it is refreshing to have someone like him to continue to offer us hope!

Most importantly, he comes across as a supremely confident statesman, one who is not shy of confronting controversies head-on, one who dares to admit his nation's faults--warts and all, while acknowledging that he still loved America very much, that he can still hope to evoke and provoke change, a rallying-cry to remake the world even...

One of my pet issues on nuclear disarmament received a rare attention boost in his Berlin speech, and gives global citizens the hope that one day our children and our chidren's children can live free from the spectre of nuclear arms and war, forever:

"This is the moment when we must renew the goal of a world without nuclear weapons. The two superpowers that faced each other across the wall of this city came too close too often to destroying all we have built and all that we love. With that wall gone, we need not stand idly by and watch the further spread of the deadly atom. It is time to secure all loose nuclear materials; to stop the spread of nuclear weapons; and to reduce the arsenals from another era. This is the moment to begin the work of seeking the peace of a world without nuclear weapons."

In many ways, the American story is one which is singular and unmatchable in history, even as it continues to metamorphose today. Barack Obama must represent the newest incarnation of an evolving mindset of progressive enlightened Americans.

The many contradictions: the self-serving politics, the gross excesses of mass consumerism, pop culture, the entrepreneurial energies and innovative productivity are quintessential of the American experience. Yet despite it all, it has always put on the forefront, the inalienable and ineradicable right of the individual.

Most importantly, there is always that indisputable possibility for political change that is inbuilt into its rigidly upheld Constitution. Every American demands and acknowledges this right, and would fiercely fight to keep this flame alight.

It is true that the USA is also replete with its occasional gridlock politics of the executive, i.e. the President, the Senate and the Congress, but these partisan vested interests are tempered and safeguarded by a truly independent Judiciary (the Supreme Court). America allows an unprecedented capacity to question itself, to reinvent itself.

It is true that often enough, America tends to overreach itself and its influence, much to the dismay and anger of the watching world. Yet, its near sole superpower status means that it must continue to engage itself in the affairs of other nations.

Sometimes, America's interference is rejected outright especially when these strike too close to the loutish antics and extremes of some autocratic and despotic regimes.

At other times, the world angrily demands that a cautious and isolationist America engages more rapidly and responsibly to prevent further genocidal collapse and catastrophic abuse of humanity, especially of the marginalised and dispossessed minorities such as in Bosnia, Darfur, Liberia, etc.

Some are very grudgingly accepted, but most times American brazenness is rejected because of jingoistic claims of national sovereignty and independence. Sadly, Malaysia has even now sounded such 'nationalistic' clarion calls to stop the US of A from interfering with our laws, our interpretation of it or worse, how we choose to enact these for overtly political purposes... See Malaysiakini's Gov't demands US stop 'interfering'

As the world's sole-surviving (but certainly not flawless) Leviathan, it has an unenviable task to make some sense of this truly multifarious world of precariously perched balance of good and evil: to curb mankind's dalliance with widely disparate and fissiparous destinies, and to temper and deter our insuppressibly innate tribalism and brutishness...

Notwithstanding this, I remain hopeful that our political leadership can rise above itself amidst such a quagmire of floundering and directionless political uncertainty.

At this current juncture of political stalemate, can any Malaysian truly feel optimistic that good and truth will prevail over so much mucky political dissimulations, prevarications, propaganda and outright lies?

Will heart-warming unalloyed ideas and durable ideals once again emerge to uplift the Malaysian spirit to wonder again with hope, and to rekindle that daring to dream for change for the better?

Will we ever be so lucky to see another Malaysian leader of calibre to lead us out of this horrendous mess, with even half the vision and charisma of Obama?

Will this be 'our moment', soon?

I can dream, can't I?

Vero Possumus! (“Yes, we can!”)

“I know my country has not perfected itself. We’ve made our share of mistakes, and there are times when our actions around the world have not lived up to our best intentions."

“People of Berlin, and people of the world, the scale of our challenge is great. The road ahead will be long. But I come before you to say that we are heirs to a struggle for freedom. We are a people of improbable hope. With an eye toward the future, with resolve in our hearts, let us remember this history, and answer our destiny, and remake the world once again.”


A shorter version is published in malaysiakini

Liberal Political Leanings...

I have often considered myself a liberal socialist rather than a conservative.

"...the idea of a polity administered with regard to equal rights and equal freedom of speech, and the idea of a kingly government which respects most of all the freedom of the governed..." ~ Marcus Aurelius in Meditations

Even when I was a young student during my formative years, I had always been partial to individual thinking and independent thoughts.

But I've always adhered to the principle that one must always be free to think and to speak out loud, and everyone's rights must be respected...

We are all entitled to differences of opinions and ideas, but we must be mature enough to share these openly as well as respect other viewpoints which may be diametrically opposed to ours.

Most importantly, we must be able to discourse and debate whatever ideas without fear of repercussions and undue censorship or ad hominem attacks.

I've also always cherished individuals who possess new and fresh ideas, and who are creative, even if somewhat outlandish. This is in spite of the relatively disciplined period of my life, when I was somewhat shape-shifted down a narrow path...

Coming from a modest working class background meant that I had to adopt a tenacious attitude towards working and getting the goals that I aim for. It also meant that I simply had to apply my focus squarely on each goal at hand, and direct towards this singular effort, at full attention.

Discipline and perseverance was my motivating force then, and I was very much in tune with my school's (St. Joseph's, Johor Bahru) motto of "Courage, Will and Perseverance".

But perhaps, more importantly, we also had some very dedicated and motivational teachers and a Canadian principal, Gabrielite Brother John Bordeleau, who would painstakingly push us to the limits of our sometimes latent talents, which he and others seemed somehow to unleash and unravel...

Yes, they could be quite disciplinarian, but I can remember very few instances when any one student had to be corporally punished during my tenure as prefect and later head prefect from 1969 to 1971.

Then as discipline teacher and headmaster, Brother John believed in stern warnings, but more importantly quiet intimate personal counselling and one-to-one heart talk behind closed doors. These served the bases for 'punishment' and occasional detention. That these worked for the ultimate betterment of a maturing adolescent cannot be denied.

Few students ever did drop out, and then only because of dismal academic failures. There was however, one precocious boy who was finally remanded to the then mental institution at Tampoi, Johor, because of schizophrenia.

This extreme behavioural dislocation manifested itself in a blistering torrent of pornographic scribblings on paper and classroom walls, which shocked the school due to its extreme and graphic explicitness, while at the same time educating many a closeted few! Many students learnt their first exposure to such lewd lexicon from this one chap alone!

But otherwise, I cannot honestly remember any other student becoming a thug or gangster, after completing high school... In reminiscent moments, I sometimes wonder if such enduring and benevolent legacies can ever result from today's breed of dispassionate, coldly impersonal schools.

Are there still selfless and irreplaceable teachers, principals left, who would rise above themselves, their narrowly defined roles and their meeting-cluttered, exam-focussed responsibilities? Would our younger minds ever be exposed and nurtured with such tender touches of talent-spotting or simply, attentive caring?

Whatever the influence, the pedagogy, I believe, many of us did benefit in more incalculable ways than can be imagined. I believe that my early positive experiences helped shape my character to what it is today.

I have been conditioned ('educated') to believe very much in personal achievement and that everything is possible with hard work and dedicated practice. I'm convinced that everyone can rise above themselves and their station, if and when he or she puts in sufficient effort and determination.

At the same time, as a group no matter how disparate, people can collectively achieve social and political progress amidst the most dire of circumstances and hardship. If only they can put the greater good before their own parochial individual interests, many things can be achieved.

As part of the then young Christian students' (YCS) society, we had begun some voluntary social services, which included offering weekend tuition classes to the underprivileged children who lived behind the railway lines. These were rewarding if sometimes frustrating times.

With so little family support, it was demanding to instill the spirit of inquiry and personal industry into some of these children--we ended up essentially getting them to learn to read and grasp some basic arithmetic...

Thus began my initiation into volunteerism. It also exposed me to the presence and reality of even poorer segments of society more in need than my own.

Despite having possessed of a slight cynical bent, I have always believed deep down that everything is nearly always possible, although sometimes grudgingly so--even long before I had read Vaclav Havel's The Art of the Impossible: Politics as Morality in Practice, many years later.

"...To awaken in people a new sense of responsibility for the world, or to convince them to conduct themselves as if they were to live on this earth forever and be answerable for its condition one day. Who knows how many cataclysms humanity may have to experience before such a sense of responsibility is generally accepted? But this does not mean that those who wish to work for it cannot begin at once."

Thus, it is somewhat surprising to hear that of late, perhaps liberalism is taking a backseat in this modern era. It is true that for the past 30 to 40 years, sociopolitical liberal education has flourished and permeated the highest echelons of academia, especially in the West. This has thrived in spite of the rise and rise of free market capitalism and intense globalisation.

On Campus, Liberal Professors Retire

'“Self-described liberals are most common within the ranks of those professors aged 50-64, who were teenagers or young adults in the 1960s,” they wrote, making up just under 50 percent.

When it comes to those who consider themselves “liberal activists,” 17.2 percent of the 50-64 age group take up the banner compared with only 1.3 percent of professors 35 and younger.' ~ Jennifer Cohen, New York Times, 3 July 2008

I suppose I belong to this generation of 'liberal activists' who would in certain circumstances feel passionately enough to take up a banner, to protest, and to articulate our concerns for social justice more readily. More frequently than not, liberal activists could be prodded into acting out, while suppressing fears of possible consequences from undermining our occasionally impetuous or even reckless courage.

But it appears that one generation on, those that followed, were somehow less inclined to feel as intensely, to be sufficiently moved to act, to speak out... More conservative mindsets and more placid contentment appear to moderate down one's fervour for activism.

Neo-conservative and modern economically-savvy thinkers are now extending their reach into academia and influencing large swathes of younger graduates as to the unbridled virtues of mass market consumerism and unrestrained 'Friedmanesque' economics, where laissez faire free market is allowed free reign, with as much governmental deregulation as possible.

Milton Friedman considered his own political philosophy as classically liberal and consequentialist libertarian, and stressed the advantages of the marketplace and the disadvantages of government intervention. Over the past 30-odd years, his free market ideas have greatly influenced both conservatives and libertarians.

However, many economists have criticised his extreme ideas of completely deregulated free market, i.e. that free markets always work (Orlando Letelier).

Many are now pointing out that completely free markets are fraught with social failures, and have called for timely governmental interventions which can provide social safety nets and therefore serve stabilising and useful purposes (Paul Krugman).

Thus, with all these confusing trends and blends of contrasting yet overlapping ideas, it is difficult to identify with whichever brand of liberalism, that one believes in.

There has been too much graying of margins and criss-crossing of permissive yet indulgent libertarian ideas, which because of its extreme forms can be confusing. This is especially so with economic liberalism, that free market diehards will attach the most neo-conservative tags.

Therefore, from my own perspective, will my concept of socially aware liberalism see its demise soon?

Will our Social Contract be too archaic to matter in time to come?

Are we living in a police state? Who's protecting who?

An abridged version appears in malaysiakini as Edging towards a possible police/military state

The past few years have seen an intensifying presence of police around the country, particularly around our capital city, Kuala Lumpur.

This has become even more rampant of late, such that one begins to wonder if their ubiquitous presence is for the sake of the citizens or to protect the interests of certain politician-personalities. It boggles the mind as to who's protecting who? See Gridlock in KL as police mount roadblocks

Sadly, this increased police presence is not in vicinities of need, i.e. at the many known hotspots to discourage criminals from playing a cat and mouse game with law enforcement officers, and their escalating petty but violent crimes.

Snatch thieves are blatantly targetting hapless and helpless ladies and even arms-full men, with sometimes very awful consequences. Cars are hijacked in bright daylight, outside one's homes even! Not all these are benign, and many fall prey to senseless gratuitous violence. A few victims have died, and many others have suffered grievous injuries including paralysis. Handbags of pedestrians have to be clutched so tightly as if every passerby is a potential snatch thief! Yet, where are the police when you most desperately need their presence and assistance?

Few can truly feel safe even when walking around the vicinity of their own home or neighbourhood, so much so, that residents have banded together to employ their own security detail to protect their homes.

Gated communities and closed housing estates are now de rigeuer. Perhaps it would not be too long now, before we approach the level of armed auxiliary soldiers to guard almost all middle class homes, such as in Manila, Philippines! It certainly makes a mockery of our safe neighbourhood concept, even more ironic for what has previously been touted as a peaceful country such as ours.

It appears that no one is safe. Recently one of my expatriate patients, a South American woman was molested as she went on her morning walk with a female friend! It appeared that a couple of full-helmeted men astride a motorbike circled around them a couple of times before attacking her. The women managed to escape by running towards a group of construction workers nearby. However, the two molesters had the gall and audacity to come around again to taunt them despite the presence of other people!

You can imagine the emotional and psychological trauma suffered by these women! They were even too afraid to report to the police because sadly, they had residual fears of the police and military from their own country, which had for long decades been under military rule...

There, the police and the military are not recognised by most of the citizens as respected law enforcers--rather they are feared as intimidating thugs associated with corrupt right-wing dictatorships. Tens of thousands of suspected anti-government citizens had 'disappeared' during the previous military regimes of Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay.

Are we in danger of approaching such a state of despair? As Malaysians, we must pray and hope not, but we must also jealously guard against the soaring use of rule by law to execute and prosecute selective interpretations of the nation's statutes in a biased discriminatory manner!

Example: an accuser of sexual deviancy ('liwat") is police-protected, whereas the accused is investigated, harassed and possibly to be charged soon; when such consensual mutual acts (even if true) are illegal for both. Skeptics now openly challenge the notion that justice is seen to be done, the way this issue is being conducted by our law enforcement agencies--See Sodomy claim: Let's see the hard evidence. See also Cops explore options as Anwar defies order.

The more enlightened and modern amongst us would always feel piqued that such intimate bedroom affairs are the business of anyone but themselves. Worst of all, it appears conveniently timely, to resurrect the antiquated laws of homosexuality, just when the country's political stakes are reaching its most stridently plangent peak...

If history is meant to be learnt, then clearly it has not succeeded in Malaysia, with our political mavericks. Ten years ago, such a political ploy failed miserably to convince not just the judiciary but the rakyat as well, that this tawdry accusation was anything but political assassination. True, the fallout from the easier charge of abuse of power was made to stick, to ensure that the challenger was incarcerated and left in political wilderness for an appropriate tenure--6 long years...

Thus, for the current crisis of faith, many Malaysians, and I dare say not just bloggers, are extremely skeptical that this is simply a serendipitous echo brought upon by a "serial sexually irrepressible deviant", and not a Machiavellian game of political brinkmanship.

One can only hope that common sense will prevail, and that those involved will not push many exasperated Malaysians to the limits of tolerance, although recent unfolding events seem to be imply that the final denouement is still not yet played out.

Why Malaysians are asking, are such public displays of police-military collaboration and joint exercises taking place at this time? Why are even such joint exercises at public security control even contemplated? See Malaysiakini's Parliament turns into a 'war zone'

Why indeed, if these are not in preparation for something more sinister? Could there be some devious plans being hatched, as preparation for some potential worst case scenarios?

What indeed lies underneath such a camouflage of shadow play, so much a part of political 'talkshop' in Malaysia. Because there is so much that cannot be articulated out loud, whispering campaigns, juicy gossips and sexual innuendoes, abound via sms, emails, blogs and even youtube amateur videos! Our wayang kulit appears to be more than its surreal shadows, and often it is embodied with some elements of disconnected 'truths' rather than total fiction...

Hence, the worrisome rumours of emergency rule are being bandied about in the blogosphere. Clearly in this instance, I hope that this is all purely shadow play... Perhaps, the chief dalang master is trying to warn us to restrain ourselves. Perhaps we are not too subtly being forewarned not to test the limits and patience of the authorities, perhaps...

Thus, people are rightfully worried. Of course, we are concerned and do not hanker for such a terrible catastrophe to happen. But the signs do not augur well for peaceful resolution of the intense politicking that has erupted thus far.

Political instability has engulfed the nation, whether we like it or not. Our leadership seems to have been floundering about after the unprecedented loss of its two-third's majority to rule without challenge. Crisis after crisis appears to be dogging the leadership, right from the moment of the 5-state loss on March 8th, to the pathetically announced subsidy withdrawal and unprecedented sharp fuel price hike.

The 'shock doctrine' was perhaps planned by the economically-savvy 'Ox-bridge' boys of the PM's coterie of preferred advisers. Perhaps this was the handiwork of some Chicago-trained Friedman-indoctrinated economists who have for a full generation believed that a severe shock is better tolerated that several smaller ones.

This is predicated by the teaching that free enterprise can be imploded into a system only when some catastrophic crisis has been thrust into a suddenly bewildered and harassed populace, thereby eliciting an expected, confused, disoriented response, which can then be quickly and aggressively exploited for further shocks to totally revamp a political or economic system. Sometimes, this is so drastic that an immutable revolution has taken place, before it is finally recognised, and by then it is just too late to reverse!

Using the military putsch to achieve this objective, has already many precedents. Political scientist and author, Naomi Klein argues that it started with the Chilean experiment of General Pinochet when he and his army toppled the then elected but socialist president Allende, with the connivance of the United States' CIA.

Once any military dictatorship takes hold, it can continue with gross authoritarian excesses and abuse for decades... Chile, then Argentina, Uruguay in South America; in Asia, we have hermetically sealed autocratic Myanmar, the occasional sporadic coups in Thailand, Philippines; and the previous Indonesian era under General-President Suharto...

Naomi Klein's recent book The Shock Doctrine (The Rise of Disaster Capitalism), makes engrossing but enlightening reading--we must not let this take place in Malaysia.

Azly Rahman's timely discourse on this militarisation danger in Malaysiakini's column is also well-worth contemplating (With whom will the army stroll?). He has passionately averred that the army and the police must respect their roles and not exceed their constitutional limits: "Soldiers fight to protect external enemies of the people, not to protect corrupt politicians against their own people... The police are supposed to be maintaining justice in a world of irrationalities and unjust behaviour. The police need no extra protection if they are true to their conscience and always available and reliable to protect the citizens, even against elected representatives who abuse power."

As concerned citizens, we urge our more enlightened leaders to recognise that we are edging towards a possible police and/or military state. That it would be a folly to accede to this for political expediency.

Some of our embattled leaders are already rationalising that the increased police presence and blockades are to protect public peace and deny illegal demonstrations from disrupting businesses, etc. They argue defensively that the inconvenience caused cannot be helped because they, the police are just simply doing their job. If only we can be more understanding, perhaps we can believe this explanation more...

But Pak Lah seems not to understand still, that we the rakyat do have a crisis of faith in the authorities! Many among the public find that the police, the judiciary, the government agencies, and whichever politicians who try to explicate their take on law and order, shallow and without the moral authority to do so anymore--in short, we are painfully disbelieving of whatever they say.

We are suspicious if they can be trusted again to do the right thing or whether they are simply pandering minions to the demands of their political masters, or worse for other purposes and self-gratification.

Yes, it is unfair, but our institutions have lost so much of their credibility, that many people are simply questioning the veracity of everything and anything!

Yes, the perception war appears to have been lost, and the rakyat seems no longer willing to tolerate further displays of dissembling from these people anymore...

So whither can we go forward? Let's get back on track.

Our police, our institutions must find its way back to regain the people's faith, by being scrupulously fair, neutral and transparent in all its proceedings henceforth.

Politics must be left by the wayside in every police interaction with the public and/or partisan politicians. Only then can some semblance of justice be seen to be taking place, without fear or favour...

Only then, can perhaps the rakyat's perception be swayed to a more even keel of belief in our beleaguered and discredited institutions...

Do we dare to be hopeful?

(Photos above are from sin chew jit poh and malaysiakini websites)