Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
| Najib is desperate for answers Posted: 22 Dec 2011 08:38 AM PST Malays are convinced that there are too many things not right about Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak's leadership abilities. From the feedbacks and various reports the people, especially the Malays, are not convinced of Najib's leadership abilities – there are too many things not right about his leadership and the party. Awang Abdillah, Free Malaysia Today In the 2008 general election, Barisan Nasional (BN) won 140 seats compared to 198 in the 2004 polls. Of the 140 seats, Sabah and Sarawak contributed 54 seats, giving the BN coalition a simple majority. If you do not count Sabah and Sarawak, then Peninsular Malaysia only won 86 seats in the 2008 election. MIC and Gerakan only managed to retain three and two seats respectively while MCA won a face-saving 15 seats. In the 2004 general election, MCA won 31, MIC took nine and Gerakan 10 seats. What was obvious is that BN component parties in the Peninsula took a heavy beating in 2008 compared to in 2004. Umno-BN in the Peninsula was saved by the BN component parties of Sarawak and Sabah. Since then there is a clear indication that the trend of the Malay voters in Peninsular Malaysia is the growing loss of confidence in Umno-BN. BN chairman and Umno president Najib Tun Razak is distressed and troubled over the coming 13th general election – the outcome can either make or break Umno for good. Najib is desperate for answers. 'Follow my rule, Najib' Former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad has indicated to him to go back to his (Mahathir's) political doctrine of the undemocratic, dictatorial rule . During the 62nd Umno general assembly, Najib, followed by Umno leaders and delegates, called for Umno and Malay political, economic and racial supremacy. They believed this was achievable through the Mahathir doctrine and unachievable through the practice of the standard democratic and free enterprise rules of competition. Najib has tried juggling his options before, initially adopting more democratic approaches namely introducing all sorts of political, electoral and economic reforms. He also introduced "transformation" plans and invested in personal image-boosting campaigns by foreign consultants but with little results because the real leadership with Umno, and national problems are not addressed.
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| Dr M, in India we have bad roads but true democracy Posted: 20 Dec 2011 04:26 PM PST Last week, Dr Mahathir gave a speech in India which stirred one Indian activist to retort in an open letter to the doctor. We want to become a nation with a system that treats all its citizens as equal unlike your country that officially accords special rights to Malay Muslims calling them first-class citizens while relegating thousands of people of Tamil, Chinese and other ethnic origins. By Siddharthya Swapan Roy, Free Malaysia Today Dear Dr Mahathir, A couple of days back I woke up to newspaper reports which quoted you as saying that India's democracy is a hindrance to its development and, if we did away with the nuisance of democracy, we will become developed. Well, sir, it is heartening to see your concern about India's future, especially now that our own elected government has orphaned us. To read that someone from the outside cares about our development sounds so very nice. But you see, sir, your (apparently) good intentions notwithstanding, your advice to Indians is, well how should I put it… ill-advised. I'm not really sure if you know much about the history of our nation. Don't get me wrong. Going by facts like the general absence of news from Malaysian newspapers; the absence of anything but song and dance in your electronic media; the absence of bookstores that sell knowledgeable books (for example, ones from which you can learn about history and not how to get rich in six steps); the abundance of malls and the stark absence of libraries; the abundance of coaching centres that can make masseurs, air hostesses and a host of quick-fix technicians and the relative absence of centres of higher learning especially in the social sciences; and, above all, the fact that this insanely consumerist and hedonist Malaysia was made under your tutelage, makes me doubt your knowledge of the history of India or any nation for that matter. So allow me to apprise you of the story of our independence. We won independence from colonial rulers waging a long and tortuous battle. A battle that sought to replace a discriminatory, unjust and violent regime that had enslaved huge populations with one which was based on the principles of liberty, equality and fraternity. India was home then, as is now and as will always be, to an immense diversity of people who spoke different tongues, prayed to different Gods, wore different clothes and had different political beliefs. These diverse people said to each other that – we, despite our differences, will strive to live and flourish together and make a sovereign nation which will be democratic, socialist and secular. We did not anywhere say that we want to be Malaysia or for that matter China or the US. In India, no one is above the law We want to become a nation with a system that treats all its citizens as equal unlike your country that officially accords special rights to Malay Muslims calling them first-class citizens while relegating thousands of people of Tamil, Chinese and other ethnic origins. Despite the fact that they have known no other land than Malaysia as their own, you denigrate them with the tag of being second-class citizens. We try to work towards having a system wherein a person will grow according to his merit and hard work earning what she or he has rightfully earned. You may be surprised to know that here in India making cartels based on identity, even if under the name of a holy cow called "Bumipuetra" or son of the soil is looked down upon by most of us. Here, promoting the selective interests of one's self or that of his kin is called corruption and nepotism and not, as you call it, development. We are in fact fighting tooth and nail to arrest the scourge of corruption and (you'll be shocked to know) get the guilty punished. Here in India no one is above the law and many a times powerful public figures go to jail for being corrupt or subverting the law. Now that we are at it, sir, I'm sure it would be interesting to know what the minorities of your country have to say – especially the jailed and beaten ones – about the development-democracy debate. In fact, sir, your idea of development is largely at odds with many of us here. What you did to the tropical forests and water bodies of Malaysia (that is, raze vast acres of them into oblivion to make way for big-buck oil palm plantations and piggeries and so on) would cause huge outrage among many of us who are looking for sustainable development. We are yet to be unanimously convinced that making cemented roads – however broad, lining them with buildings, even if glass-covered and glossy, and putting cars on them, however fast – is a substitute for our valued bio-diversity. Many of us are very convinced that displacing huge populations of native people for useless things like racing tracks is a blot on the word "development". There are many of us who find it a shameful and cruel hypocrisy that while your country has abundant and openly advertised sex tourism, it still whips women for being licentious!
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