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Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

Young disillusioned Malaysian
Umno is too big to fail but ...
Muhyiddin confused about language
Floods a wake-up call for region

Posted: 31 Oct 2011 07:49 PM PDT

Sadly, it was only two years, and I might have changed my mind already. I am seriously in doubt now whether I should go back and serve in Malaysia, or stay here. Just the thought of staying here make me cringes; it is a very selfish decision. But I am giving up on Malaysia and its people.

Zain Abdullah, The Malaysian Insider

I am going to tell you a story. A story about me, myself and my government.

As typically with me, the story starts with an idealistic 20-something young adult who just started his first year of university.

I remember the first time I arrived in the United Kingdom. I firmly believed that I should come here, get my qualifications and return to Malaysia to serve the people.

My main intention in doing medicine is because I believe it is the best way I can directly work with and serve the people.

At that time, I did not particularly like medicine. I'd rather be a zoologist and work with the WWF. However, since the intention to serve and work with the deprived communities in Malaysia has been a part of me since I was 11, I persevered and took medicine instead.

The common issue that crops up time and again as a Malaysian student overseas is whether to go back and work in Malaysia. And in my first year, I was the biggest proponent of "balik Malaysia kerja".

Whenever anybody said that Malaysia is bad and they do not want to go back to Malaysia, I would not hesitate to give them a piece of my mind. A few times I got into heated exchanges with my colleagues and seniors just because they stuck to their decision not to go back and serve the people.

Sensing my innocent yet idealistic views on the issue, my wise senior at that time took me aside one day. With his kind words of advice he told me: "Do not be overconfident; after five years you change your mind, even you do not want to go back."

I jokingly laughed at him, still confident that I would not change even after five years in the UK.

Why am I giving up, you might ask. Before I answer that particular question, answer my question first. Why not?

Everyday, when I open the news portals there will be at least several news items that show "oh-not-so-intelligent" actions and decisions of the government, its ministers and their agencies.

These include the mismanagement of the country's Treasury, the biased judicial system, the mainstream media that censors anything unfavourable to the government, the misbehaviour of the police force and the MACC, the ambiguous accumulation of wealth by the governing elites while the commoners are faced with increasing hardships in life.

1. The V.K. Lingam judge brokering case

2. Port Klang Free Zone mismanagement

3. Deaths of Teoh Beng Hock and Ahmad Sarbaini after MACC investigation

4. Death of Aminulrasyid, Kugan Anathan and several others at the hands of the police

5. The commission scandals for the French submarines

The list could go on and on.

When I first arrived in the UK, I sincerely believed I could return and bring reforms and improvements to Malaysia. However, each news item killed my hopes little by little. And after two years, the accumulative effect has caused me to almost give up on Malaysia and Malaysians.

The little devil besides me kept hissing: "Why would you care about the Malaysian people and Malaysia, they are not saveable. After all, were it not because of their votes for the same incompetent leaders (this applies to both the ruling and opposition parties) that we will not have this conundrum."

I might just be tempted.

READ MORE HERE

Umno is too big to fail but ...

Posted: 31 Oct 2011 06:46 PM PDT

As for the welfare and the financial health of the country with its RM407 billion national debt, we better change government before it is too late.

Nawawi Mohamad, The Malaysian Insider

The Najib blunders that you have been reading about in the news are worth watching carefully. Like many have said, the situation has now morphed into something much bigger than a Umno crisis — it could batter the entire BN stability, which is pretty fragile anyway, in view of the impending general election. Nevertheless, like many have said, the best way for Najib to move forward on his reform agenda is to call a poll — to gain a fresh mandate and also to find out what Malaysians think of him. After all, he was not elected by the people of Malaysia and neither was he elected by the members of his party.

You have read a lot about Gerakan, MIC and MCA, but the problem in BN is Umno. Umno has long been governed poorly. Umno is too big to fail but with all the blunders, it might also be too big to bail. Even Mahathir might not be able to credibly bail it out along with all the other Umno leaders. So what can be done? There is no one solution that can solve the myriads of teething problems so the only way to solve the issues is through change and sacrifice.

First the bickering in Umno must stop. The Majlis Tertinggi must get the right criteria to determine who the winnable candidate is. Candidates should only be chosen based on this set of criteria and those who don't have the required attributes must sacrifice themselves no matter what. If Umno still insists on candidates being nominated at the grass-roots level, it simply won't work. Why is this so? Umno's grass roots are divided amongst themselves and this division will result in an overall weak foundation for Umno and for any party for that matter.

The next thing Umno must do is to drop all leaders who are tainted by scandal and wrongdoings. This exercise could also be used to mould potential leaders for the next generation and mould those with integrity, charisma and calibre. Umno leaders must also change the culture of fighting for top posts — and the associated view that they are lucrative positions.

Umno must then admit its mistakes, ask forgiveness from the rakyat and turn over a new leaf. This can be done immediately by looking through the Auditor General report and bringing the wrongdoers to justice. Sacrifice some veteran leaders who have tarnished the party's image. This way Umno will be seen as moving against corruption, willing to take action and removing the bad apples while still maintaining most of its leaders.

READ MORE HERE

Muhyiddin confused about language

Posted: 31 Oct 2011 06:11 PM PDT

He speaks about 'Bahasa Melayu' when he really means 'Bahasa Malaysia'.

If Muhyiddin is really serious about the kampung kids in Peninsular Malaysia getting schooling in Bahasa Melayu, the bahasa kebangsaan, he should stop passing off Bahasa Malaysia as Bahasa Melayu. Bahasa Malaysia only strikes a chord with those who are familiar with other local dialects and languages and English.

Joe Fernandez, Free Malaysia Today

Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has finally bared his fangs and prematurely declared that the teaching of Maths and Science in schools will be in Bahasa Melayu and no longer in English, as it has been conducted for the past decade or so.

He definitely means Bahasa Malaysia, not Bahasa Melayu, which is in the dustbin of history.

Bahasa Malaysia, a work in progress, is Bahasa Melayu plus local dialects and languages plus English.

Bahasa Melayu is an old Khmer dialect plus Sanskrit plus Pali plus Arabic. The Bahasa Melayu used as the bahasa kebangsaan (national language) in Malaysia is the Johor-Riau-Lingga dialect.

The Hindu missionaries made Bahasa Melayu the language of religion. From there, it went on to become the language of administration, education and trade in the islands of Southeast Asia. Hence, it became the lingua franca of the Malay Archipelago. The term "Malay Archipelago" is a reference to the language rather than to any ethnic group.

Bahasa Melayu fell on hard times with the coming of westerners, and in their wake, Chinese immigrants.

In the British territories of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, for example, English replaced Bahasa Melayu. The language of the Chinese took over in the retail, if not wholesale, sector in Southeast Asia and relegated Bahasa Melayu and other local languages to the marketplace. Even so, Chinese businessmen in Southeast Asia conducted all business correspondence in English.

Muhyiddin is right if he thinks that students have a right to get schooling in their own mother tongues. This is enshrined in the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and is actively promoted by Unesco.

However, he is dead wrong if he thinks that only those who habitually speak Bahasa Melayu have a right to get formal schooling in their mother tongue.

Bahasa Kebangsaan

Those who habitually speak English at home have a right as well to get schooling in that language.

And that goes as well for those who speak any number of other tongues at home in Malaysia, namely, Kadazandusun, Bajau, Suluk, Filipino, Bugis and Chinese in Sabah; Iban, Bidayuh, Melanau, Orang Ulu, Sarawak Malay and Chinese in Sarawak; Orang Asli, Thai, Portuguese, Bahasa Melayu, Tamil and Chinese in Peninsular Malaysia.

To bring all these people together, we have Bahasa Malaysia, which is not bahasa kebangsaan.

The Federal Constitution clearly states that Bahasa Melayu is the bahasa kebangsaan of Malaysia.

Unfortunately, that is not the end of the story. Bahasa Melayu is no longer used in the schools. Its role has been replaced by Bahasa Malaysia and is spoken only at home, especially in the kampungs in the southern parts of Peninsular Malaysia.

Again, when Muhyiddin talks about Maths and Science being taught in Bahasa Melayu, he is actually talking about Bahasa Malaysia which, as stated, is not the bahasa kebangsaan.

Those who claim that Bahasa Melayu and Bahasa Malaysia are synonymous will then have to explain why Bahasa Indonesia is not synonymous with Bahasa Melayu. Bahasa Malaysia is not synonymous with Bahasa Indonesia either.

Bahasa Indonesia is Bahasa Melayu plus local dialects and languages plus Dutch plus English. The most widely spoken languages at home in Indonesia are Javanese and Sundanese. "Indonesia" is an Anglicised version of two Greek words, Indos (Indian) and nesos (Islands). The Greeks referred to the South Asian subcontinent as the Land of the Ind (Indus River) and hence India, the Anglicised form.

Another example is Filipino, which is Tagalog plus local dialects and languages plus Spanish plus English.

READ MORE HERE

Floods a wake-up call for region

Posted: 31 Oct 2011 03:28 PM PDT

Governments and private sectors across the region need to wake up to the fact that economic development and environmental protection are not irreconcilable, but indeed go hand-in-hand.

Of course, we can't ignore the over-logged hillsides or the rubbish-packed rivers either. Indeed, the rain has now become a harbinger of death and destruction – even in Singapore where flash-floods have roiled Orchard Road periodically to the embarrassment of local authorities.

By Karim Raslan, The Star

IN Shahnon Ahmad's novel, Ranjau Sepanjang Jalan, a doomed family of poor rice-farmers waits patiently for the rains – rains that never come. It's a struggle that farming communities anywhere would be familiar with.

For centuries, Southeast Asians have viewed the annual monsoons as a revitalising force.

Indeed, the control of water through irrigation canals and dams has also been a key aspect of power in the region's great lowland, rice-plains.

The Chao Phraya, Brantas and Mekong rivers have hosted great kingdoms based to a large extent on the access to water.

However, over the past few decades as agricultural land has been concreted over with housing developments, roads and industrial parks, the water has had nowhere to flow.

It's arguable that we've become disrespectful of Nature's needs as we re-shaped the landscape to our ends regardless of the consequences.

At the same time, (and courtesy of global warming) nature has become more erratic and extreme.

The rains are either overwhelming or absent, making it harder and harder to anticipate their possible impact.

We no longer have the certainty that our ancestors did when it comes to the seasons.

The deluge in Thailand is hence a wake-up call for Southeast Asia. Coming so soon after similar floods and natural disasters in the Philippines and Indonesia (especially Java), it underlines the vulnerability of these densely-populated, low-lying littoral (or coastal) areas.

As we adjust to these stunning reversals, we have to ask if Asean policymakers have got things wrong?

For many years, governments in the region have presented the economy and environment as exclusives, you can only have one or the other.

We have railed against the hypocrisy of the West which lectured developing nations about sustainability while they continued to pollute.

To be honest, I was initially one of the sceptics. The whole "green" thing seemed wishy-washy; either a way for guilty middle-class liberals to assuage their conscience or worse yet, a not-too-subtle way for certain developed nations and their corporations to effectively kill off competition.

The need for economic development and poverty alleviation seemed so much more pressing. Nevertheless, the damage that Mother Nature has wrought has forced me to reconsider my views.

Indeed, a similar process is taking place across the region. The Thais have been debating the cause of the current tragedy.

Was it the insistence of storing water in the up-country dams despite unexpectedly heavy rains? Was it rampant over-building in the lowlands or deforestation? A failure to anticipate a sudden change in rainfall patterns?

Whatever the cause, it's undeniable that scale of human activity that is taking place in Southeast Asia, and indeed Asia generally has made dealing with natural disasters all the more difficult.

When all is said and done, poor environmental management is economically destructive.

Damage from Thailand's floods could amount to 500bil baht (RM49bil), and its GDP growth this year could be slashed by over 3%.

At the same time, environmental issues can heighten political risk.

The Thai floods have exacerbated the still raw wounds of a deeply-divided society.

Floods, landslides, terrible pollution and even droughts have made ordinary people increasingly wary about development.

This in turn is strengthening the nascent "green movement" as people seek reasons behind the terrible occurrences, even in the still-authoritarian People's Republic of China.

For instance, a 12,000-strong demonstration in Dalian last August forced the closure of an unpopular chemical plant in the heavily-industrialised, normally investor-friendly city.

The political implications of such environmental protests cannot be exaggerated. Indeed, environmental disasters often suggest a failure on the part of governments to manage the resources under their stewardship.

Similarly, corporates are finding that their activities are coming under increased scrutiny and the anger on the ground is no less palpable towards them.

Basic regulatory compliance and corporate social responsibility initiatives may no longer be enough: people don't want their neighbourhoods destroyed in the blind pursuit of profit.

The days of apathy towards green issues are clearly over in the East.

As the Philippines academic turned activist-politician Walden Bello wrote in 2007, it's wrong to assume "...that the Asian masses are inert elements that uncritically accept the environmentally damaging high-growth export-oriented industrialisation models promoted by their governing elites.

"It is increasingly clear to ordinary people throughout Asia that the model has wrecked agriculture, widened income inequalities, led to increased poverty after the Asian financial crises and wreaked environmental damage everywhere".

Governments and private sectors across the region need to wake up to the fact that economic development and environmental protection are not irreconcilable, but indeed go hand-in-hand.

We shouldn't wait for disasters like the Thai floods or worse before taking action.

Kredit: www.malaysia-today.net

Selasa, 1 November 2011

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

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