Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Red faces after Psy’s no-show for yee sang tossing (Video)
- Reclaiming Reason (part 1)
- 10 Reasons Why We Must Vote in GE13
- BN's PSYchological moves on Penang
- For God’s sake?
- Najib out-Gangnam DAP?
- ‘Ang Pow-Kau Kau-Mai Mai-Yam Seng’ society
- Does Suing MRT Co Make Us Pinggir Za'aba, TTDI Residents Elite?
- Malaysian Loves Corruption & Can’t Live Without It
| Red faces after Psy’s no-show for yee sang tossing (Video) Posted: 12 Feb 2013 03:53 PM PST An eye-witness at the scene said the crowd at the back was not sure what exactly was going on on stage as all they could make out were people walking around during the tossing of the yee sang, but it seemed obvious that Psy was not there at the time. The video above provides a clearer account. The BN leaders' look of anticipation and excitement slowly turned to embarassment. Is it my imagination or did their faces assume the same hue as their attire? Even the cajoling by asking the crowd to join in the clapping to pile on pressure on Psy to appear on stage failed to persuade him. Read more at: http://anilnetto.com/malaysian-politics/red-faces-after-psys-no-show-for-yee-sang-tossing/
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| Posted: 11 Feb 2013 03:44 PM PST I asked him of his opinion on the practice by some Muslims in Malaysia who brush their teeth using a piece of wood which was apparently used by the Prophet (peace be upon him) to clean his teeth. The Malays call this wood "kayu sugi." He smiled and asked me, "What is important to you, usage of the wood or the cleanliness of your teeth?" Without waiting for a reply from me, he continued, "if the usage of the wood is important to you, you use the wood and if the cleanliness of your teeth is important, you use Coldgate, as do I." He smiled. It got me thinking. Have the Muslims misunderstood the sunnah (the Prophet's acts and sayings – the sayings are known as "hadiths" -, all of which are otherwise known as the "tradition")? If for example, we have a sunnah that the Prophet loved to ride horses and learned how to use bow and arrow, what is the real lesson which we could derive from it? Is it that the Muslims should emulate the Prophet by learning how to ride horses and use the bow and arrow or is it that Muslims should stay healthy by leading an active life and perhaps in the process also learn the art of self-defence? In a speech delivered at the Islamic Information Service's Outreach Award ceremony, on 3rd October 1998 in Beverly Hills, Sheikh Zaki Ahmad Yamani, posits: "But back to how we apply Islamic Law in a modern society, a Muslim society? It's an important issue because first we have to distinguish between Al-Sharia and Al-Fiqh al Islami - Islamic Law and Islamic Jurisprudence. Al-Sharia or Islamic Law, it's what written in the Quran or in the Sunnah. This is obligatory, so to speak. The other part, Al-Fiqh al Islami, is a huge volume of legal opinion (sic)….. In Saudi Arabia they apply Hanbli (sic), In Iran they apply Jafri, in Yemen they apply a blend of Zaidi and Shafa'i. And so on. That is not really the Islamic Law. What we applied 10 centuries ago or 15 centuries ago it cannot be really applied today at a time when camel was the only means of transportation." Judging from current trend in Malaysia, where adherence to the strict and almost literal meaning of the sunnahs is the norm, Sheikh Zaki's statement above is astounding, to say the least. Some people may even argue that it is heresy. Effectively, what the good Sheikh was saying is the various schools of thought and what they represent is not really Islamic Law. Thus it is not obligatory or mandatory for contemporary Muslims to subscribe a slavish adherence to the various principles which those schools propound. Sheikh Zaki is not alone in his thinking. Contemporary Muslim jurists, such as Tariq Ramadhan has often made a case for a complete re-look and re-thinking of Syariah (Islamic code laws). Tariq Ramadhan has even gone as far as suggesting that the Muslim world should suspend the application of hudud laws until such time when a complete Islamic social justice is attained in Islamdom thereby laying a fair path for a thorough Syariah application. Islamic history would show that in a period of almost unsurpassed intellectualism in medieval Islam (using the word "medieval" to describe this period is almost unfair as the intellectual expression of this era was anything but medieval), there were various schools of thought called the Rationalists which pursued a rationale and reasoned methodology of interpreting and applying Islamic laws. Against them were of course the Traditionists, who insisted on strict and almost literal application of the tradition and the Quran, thereby reducing Islam into a one dimensional legal code instead of a dynamic "ad-deen" (way of life) for which the Quran lays the foundation.
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| 10 Reasons Why We Must Vote in GE13 Posted: 11 Feb 2013 12:08 PM PST Without doubt, we are into the final lap of what must be the most hotly contested general election in our nation's 56 years of history and one that many would consider to be a pivotal moment. To many, the match is between the incumbent ruling coalition, the Barisan Nasional(BN) and the opposition coalition of Pakatan Rakyat(PR). To some the choice is between Najib and Anwar whilst to others it is between maintaining status quo or change. But I want to put it to you that this election is not about BN or PR. Why? For usually in any contest, the winner is the one with the better skills, strategy, funds and luck even. But in an election, the winner or loser is decided not by the contending parties but by the audience or in this case the voters. For in a democracy, we, the people more literally, have the power to decide who wins or loses, who to serve us as our government and who to serve us as the opposition for the next 5 years. This election is really about us, the voters, being able to exercise our democratic right to vote in a free and fair election. More than ever before, if we are registered voters, we must vote in the upcoming 13th General Election. If you are still undecided or unconvinced if you should vote, let me offer you 10 reasons why you MUST vote in this election.
Read more at: http://thomasfann.wordpress.com/2013/02/10/10-reasons-why-we-must-vote-in-ge13/
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| BN's PSYchological moves on Penang Posted: 11 Feb 2013 11:18 AM PST Even the most ardent of hip-hop/rap haters will know who PSY is. The Korean rapper became an overnight sensation worldwide with his Gangnam Style song and video, which had also spawned countless parodies the world over.
And PSY was here in Penang to perform as the headline act at Barisan Nasional's Chinese New Year open house event earlier today. On BN's invitation, sponsored by some undisclosed corporate entity, as has been reported. It just so happens that Walski is up in Penang spending the Chinese lunar New Year with the in-laws, as he does every year. It also just so happens that the historic Han Chiang grounds, where the BN Open House was held this morning, is not far from where his in-laws are. And so Walski thought, what the heck. Not that he's a big fan of PSY, but as an old friend used to say, "He's International, and He's Here". That said, Walski doesn't dislike PSY either, and is quite impressed with the rapper's meteoric rise to international fame. For BN, bringing PSY to Malaysia was to be the coup de grâce, a gift to the people of Penang, in hopes that Penang would return to their fold come GE 13. The logic, apparently, was that BN could bring the real deal, while DAP could only manage a parody - Ubah Rocket Style. Did this strategic move work? By now, most of you reading this already know the answer.
Before we delve into that, here's a quickie look at what went on at the BN Open House earlier today. This, by the way, is the first major political party/coalition open house Walski's been to. That said, he kind of knew what to expect. Being that its Chinese New Year, the obligatory ang pow and Madarin Orange giveaway was to be expected. Yes, BN was there in full force, and all their component parties participated in one way or another. The ang pow and orange giveaway was done by somebody from UMNO's Women's Wing, by the looks of it. For those who bothered to queue, what they got was a box of two mandarin oranges, and a red packet with RM 2 in it. For the record, the image above is not Walski's ang pow (he didn't bother to line up for it), but of a little girl who was kind enough to let him take a photo of the packet's contents. Most of you should know what two Mandarin Oranges look like, so Walski didn't bother snapping any photos of 'em. As for the box holding the oranges, it was a rectangular red-colored box that looked exactly like, well, a rectangular red-colored box. What else would it look like? So anyways, there were loads of people who came to the open house. Walski estimates that the crowd, at its peak, was probably somewhere around 50,000 thereabouts. Including the police, RELA, BN volunteers, etc. Malaysiakini in their report estimated around the same number. It is a wonder, therefore, how Gerakan Youth Leader, Tan Keng Liang, could have estimated 100k (via his tweet earlier today). Unless the man was seeing double. The Han Chiang grounds isn't all that big, and there were many tents and other structures on the grounds. No way could it have been 100,000 people. But never mind, based on Tan's optimistic tweet, more important is the REASON why a lot of folks came. Before we get to that, more on what happened. PM Najib and the other VIPs arrived at the grounds at around 11am, and the "festivities" began, with the obligatory multi-cultural dances, emceed by a very over-exhuberant lady whose name escapes Walski. Kept egging the crowd, every now and again, to complete the sentence "ONE…..", and greeted with mostly silence from a crowd getting progressively impatient for the most important person for the day. And Walski's not referring to our Dear PM Najib either. So on the stage they were: PM Najib and Rosmah, former PM Abdullah Badawi, BN Penang Chairman Teng Chang Yeow (an extremely uninspiring person, Walski might add), other ministers, etc. Najib's son addressed the crowd in Mandarin. You gotta give the guy points for trying. The response was lukewarm at best, however. More clues there as to WHO the crowd was really waiting for. After that Rosmah went up on stage, with a backup choir, to give the audience a couple of Chinese New Year standards. The crowd wasn't impressed. And then came the first of two embarrassing moments for the day. PSY SLAP IN THE FACE: Korean superstar refused to toss 'yee-sang' with Najib, BN If Walski were tasked with writing the headline, it would have read "Najib Invites to Yee-Sang, But PSY Doesn't Give A Toss". But that's just Walski... PSY is astute a professional artist enough to not get involved in Malaysia's political grandstanding , and therefore declined the invitation, much to the embarrassment of Team BN. Read more at: http://asylum60.blogspot.com/2013/02/bn-psychological-moves-on-penang.html
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| Posted: 10 Feb 2013 03:33 PM PST Disputation in Malaysia over the Kalimah Allah, the name of God, has not abated. On the contrary, it continues to become ever more acrimonious and worrying. These days we now even have some enthusiastic "idealists" who give advance notice of their readiness for a virtually premeditated amok —— or to excuse others who might resort to that kind of intimidatory violence —— in order, paradoxically, to uphold their notions of moderation, mutual acceptance and tolerance in interfaith relations. A question of many parts There are many aspects to this dispute, all of them requiring close and serious consideration. There is the constitutional and legal aspect, which is fundamental, and which —— especially in habitually litigious Malaysia, where everybody always seems ready for a large and long-lasting "lawyers' picnic" —— can never be ignored or taken lightly. There are important considerations in the areas of political philosophy, especially of democratic and multicultural theory, which are relevant and need to be acknowledged. There are questions in the area of historical linguistics, especially in the field of comparative Semitic philology (from old Syriac and Ugaritic through Hebrew and Aramaic to Arabic) which must be considered. After all Middle Eastern Christians have been using the name of Allah to denote, and reverentially to address, their God for many long centuries going back to the time before the birth of Muhammad. There are issues that arise from the religious and civilisational history of the Southeast Asian world, especially the fact that the Bible, or key parts of it, have been translated into Malay in which the idea of the Christian God has been rendered as Allah for several hundred years. All these aspects of the current dispute are important. They need to be fully discussed. But I shall not go into them here. Others have already explained these matters with great patience and precision. Instead I wish to suggest and explore another, different dimension of the present controversy over the invocation of God's name. The cultural anthropology of the Malay world I wish to address and highlight a cultural aspect of the problem. I want to suggest that this controversy is "a very Malay thing". Here I mean "a very Malay thing", or "something that is in its own way very Malay", in a very specific sense and manner. I mean in a "cultural" sense, as old-fashioned cultural anthropologists used to, and might still, understand the matter. Those of us who know something about Malay village life, either as inhabitants of that older, now disappearing world or else as intrusive cultural analysts and reporters, know of the role of the village bomoh, the spirit healer, and of its great social and human importance. How does the bomoh work? By calling upon the "spirit world" through spirits with whom he is familiar, with whom he has a continuing relation, upon whom he may make some kind of moral claim. And how does the bomoh do this? He does so by summoning those spirits to him, into his presence, in a séance or spirit mediumship session. He summons them by means of powerful jampi, invocations. If you have ever heard these jampi recited —— or read about them in the old works of Skeat, Gimlette, Annandale, Wilkinson, Winstedt and the like —— you will know how they work. Through these jampi the bomoh calls upon his connections in the spirit world. He calls upon them, imploringly but at the same time commanding them, virtually requiring them to come and help him. He does do by asserting ritually, in his densely coded jampi or incantation, his right to their presence, assistance and serviceable intervention. He does so by reminding them they are not strangers to him, nor he to them. That he has a claim upon them, and that they are obliged to recognize his claim upon them. How does he assert this? He does so by means of a number of the standard "formulaic" expressions of his ritual language —— through the arcane phraseology and idioms of his jampi. "I know you!" he declares. "I know your name. I know your origins." That is crucial. Knowing its name and then to assert knowledge of a spirit's origins and place in the hidden recesses of the cosmos is to be able to hold it to oneself, and its power to one's needs and purposes. By the affirmation of this relationship —— a special and very personal, even exclusive, relationship —— the bomoh not only reminds the spirit that he, the bomoh, is there. He affirms his claim, and asserts an obligation on the spirit's part, for that power to come to him, to help him, to render some special assistance to him: some special assistance that the spirit would not and need not render to others who do not know its name —— who do not know and therefore have no basis or right to call upon it, since they do not have that same special relationship with the spirit. The spirit has a superhuman or supernatural power. By the ritual affirmation of that special relationship, the bomoh asserts and establishes his right to recognition, consideration and assistance from that extra-human power. He voices his claim to enjoy the benefits of that power that he is able to invoke. Power and knowing names in the Malay world This matter of knowing the names of things and their origins —— and the idea that this knowledge is both empowering and that it is also an entitlement of power, that this knowledge confers and revalidates and announces a great moral power that the person who knows these things may enjoy —— is not just a matter that applies to bomoh. It is a more general and pervasive theme in what used to be called "traditional Malay culture". To give but one example, one of some recent and contemporary significance, people may recall how on a number of occasions in modern memory various state rulers have intervened with the designated road, highway and mapping authorities to insist that certain street and place names be changed. The names given by the road and mapping authorities may, by the latest standards and conventions, have been linguistically impeccable. They may have pleased the sign-makers and mapping experts, but so far as the Malay rulers were concerned they were simply wrong. And, in the end, it is the Malay ruler who truly knows the proper, correct names of places. He knows because it is he who —— perhaps ironically, as part of his pre-Islamic Hindu-Buddhist cosmological inheritance as focus of the human world and anchor of its relation to the wider universe —— gives them their names, on the basis of his authoritative knowledge of their true if obscure origins. So "incorrect" place names and signage are changed. They are changed because the ruler says so. But not capriciously. He says so because that is what, in part, it means to be a ruler. In the "traditional Malay cultural universe", places and people have no names and no fixed, clear social existence or identity until they are named and recognized by a ruler —— in their royally-given names. The leading scholar Anthony Milner has written an important work entitled Kerajaan expounding this idea. And he does it with great clarity and scholarly depth.
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| Posted: 08 Feb 2013 03:20 PM PST According to BN sources, Han Chiang has been Pakatan Rakyat and DAP's stronghold for fund raising and rallies and is infamous for the 2008 catalyst rally which caused the Chinese wave of voters to swing to PR and DAP. In earlier days the chief financial sponsor (backer) of independent Chinese language education (up to pre university or HSC level) was Lim Lean Teng, one of the early Penang millionaires, who believed very strongly in Chinese language education and put his money where his mouth was. Even as a kid I came to know of him (because of his Chinese education sponsorship) and learnt where his mansion was located along Penang's 'Millionaire Row', what is today's Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah, very near Kedah House (or Istana Kedah today?).
The alumni of Han Chiang School may be found throughout SE Asia, especially in Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Brunei, etc, where their rich parents sent them to the only place (then) in the region to provide traditional (pre Communist China) style of Chinese primary and secondary education. I presume Taiwan was the only other source but alas, outside the SE Asian region, while Hong Kong provided such education in the Cantonese (but not Mandarin) language. TMI informed us that the new backer of Han Chiang School is Tan Sri Tan Kok Ping, a matey of Penang CM Lim Guan Eng. It's claimed that Han Chiang is Pakatan's or more correctly, DAP's 'hallowed grounds' as it was here that the DAP rally in 2008 'convinced' Penangites to ubah (change) the state government once again, after 40+ years. Thus the rumour has been that DAP is particularly upset by the BN staging its Chinese New Year (CNY) celebrations cum 'Open House' at the school facilities, right at its politically 'hallowed grounds'. The guest of honour at the BN CNY celebrations is PM Najib Tun Razak, and the star attraction the man from Korea, Gangnam style rapper Psy, but as reported, the location of the event rather than Psy has the greater political significance. Unfortunately, as I mentioned in a previous post Silly season & serious scrutiny, DAP has unwittingly allowed DPM Muhyiddin to seize the moral high grounds by its silly spoilsport campaign against the BN's CNY event. In that post I had written: As a DAP supporter, I'm actually embarrassed by DAP and Pakatan's campaign against the BN 'Open House', UNLESS of course DAP can show that the event involves expenditure of public funds. Yesterday, when I read Malaysiakini's Vox Populi, I was amazed that more than a few readers actually (and stupidly) urged Psy not to come, as if the Korean would forego his handsome fee to take sides in Malaysian politics. This sort of emotional outburst, going to the extent of expecting a foreigner to take up partisan allegiance and show biased sympathy in Malaysian politics, is regrettable, immature and disappointing. If indeed the event starring Psy is funded by the BN or private sources, then Pakatan has not only gone silly but in the process has unwittingly and lamentably elevated low brow Muhyiddin to high moral grounds when the DPM stated in today's Malaysiakini that Guan Eng aims to spoil BN's CNY bash. Well, realizing BN now has a winner, PM Najib has swiftly jumped on the Muhyiddin's bandwagon to also play victim by stating:
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| ‘Ang Pow-Kau Kau-Mai Mai-Yam Seng’ society Posted: 08 Feb 2013 01:16 PM PST Are we all living in Trump towers of the famed New York City real estate gambler? While in the word of Malay politics and Malay society we have seen the rise of the 'Tongkat Ali' society - of libidinal politics of material pursuit of living a life of lesser-dignity. We are seeing now in the Year of the Snake the evolution of yet another form of life – the rise of the 'Ang Pow-Kau-Kau-Mai Mai-Yam Seng' society. We are seeing voters being bought over by the 'Hijau ka-Merah ka-Ungu ka' materiality of mad money dished out to kampong and town folks desperately in need of these in order to keep afloat and alive in the Master-Slave society. 'Ang Pow' or packets of gifts of money replacing the traditional gift baskets called 'hampers' are dangled or even sent out via post service in tune with the last hurrah and hoopla of the infamously styled Malaysian postal voting. 'Kau kau' or 'the best of the best' of offers a la The Godfather movies' quote of "I-will-make-you-an-offer-you-can't refuse" type of sensibility is the genre of is what the ruling regime is promising as 'you-help-me-I-help-you' type of gifts are being dished out. "Mai mai" or "come one come all..." (in Kedah dialect to connote alluring) type of announcement is being sent to voters dangled with money, money, money... so the culture of not having to work hard but gaining nonetheless through gifts from "the hands that feed and shan't be bitten" shall be initiated and shall take root in a society increasingly drowned in materialism. "Yam Seng" or loosely translated as "let's toast-to that" will be the ultimate triumphant cry of the winners of this years' general elections that promises slithering, scheming, and sickening politics to date. We have perfected the art and science of creating a culture of shameless venomous election campaigning since the end of the 1990s when the public space and social discourse have been smeared with pus and blood and deadly-viralled mucus of 'pornographic politics' enabled by the Fourth Estate controlled by those who owns the means of dirtifying consciousness and corrupting spirituality. Children now learn words denoting and connotating vulgarism; that have been all the while reserved for adults to be used in all wee-hours of "Yam Seng" drunked-ness in country clubs, nights clubs, and all-men and womens' clubs. I don't know if all these make sense to you readers out there. I have been accused many times of writing incomprehensible essays under the influence of my own way of looking at things that might have been simpler than they should. Or perhaps, we all should take things as they are and wait for Divine Justice to show its beautiful face amidst this ugly world plagued by snakes slithering all over and all levels of society. I don't know. Such is what I am thinking - in thinking about the archaeology of metaphysics as this phrase suddenly proposed its hand in marriage with a society that has become an 'Ang Pow-Kau Kau-Mai Mai-Yam Seng' entity, apropos to the Year of the Snake we celebrate in good health and prosperity. READ MORE: http://azlyrahman-illuminations.blogspot.com/2013/02/archaeology-of-metaphysics-anyone.html
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| Does Suing MRT Co Make Us Pinggir Za'aba, TTDI Residents Elite? Posted: 07 Feb 2013 01:50 PM PST I'll begin first by thanking my good friend and occassional mentor, Ahiruddin "Rocky" Attan, for highlighting Pinggir Za'aba's suit against MRT Co. This suit is very much a private matter to the plaintiffs, my wife being one of them. I also thank those who have commented for and against the suit in Rocky's blog and hope they continue their interest here, and in the interest of getting some good feedback, I will also relax my typical restrictions to commentaries. For those who have misunderstood Rocky's definition of Elite, please have a look at the images of the houses of most of the plaintiffs on Pinggir Za'aba that I have attached below. Pinggir Za'aba is a long road, just as TTDI is a large housing area. The part of TTDI directly effected by the MRT has neither bungalows nor semi-D's and whilst we are not the poorest of citizens, we are not among the most affluent either. We are Elite though, in that we are nearly all tertiary educated, most are or were professionals, managers in corporations or civil servants.   Having heard the views of many, allow me to present my reason for supporting my wife's decision to join the civil suit against MRT Co. Metaphorically and in brief, I can say that the reason for my support of the suit is from my reading of Clausewitz's On War, where the great Prussian military philosopher describes War as simply the continuation of Politics or Policy by other means. Hence, this suit, is simply the continuation of Pinggir Za'aba's engagement of MRT Co by more aggressive means. To elaborate on the why, ever since residents of Pinggir Za'aba were informed our homes would be impacted by the MRT's construction by notices put up on trees along our road by SPAD some 2+ years ago, we have been trying our best to engage various government agencies. Understanding that the MRT is a nation-building project of some importance, we have never asked for it to be scrapped, but rather preferred re-alignment or an underground route for it, and failing that, that were at least hoping to be given due compensation either for damages to or for having to abandon our homes. The PR and engagement from SPAD and Prasarana was to me actually quite poor, though I would put more blame on SPAD for this - Prasarana seemed in these engagements as being victims of circumstance. SPAD's position was often inconsistent, its approach to engagement shoddy (beginning with notices put up on trees remember!), but at least there were no empty promises. Where they could not deliver on our suggestions of hopes, we received non-commitals and silence, which sounds bad, and may even sound strange for those who went to the PR 'roadshows', but worse was to come. Read more at: http://thoughtsintangents.blogspot.com/2013/02/does-suing-mrt-co-make-us-pinggir-zaaba.html
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| Malaysian Loves Corruption & Can’t Live Without It Posted: 07 Feb 2013 12:41 PM PST If there's one hot topic of discussion during the coming Chinese New Year, it has to be the Mother of General Elections – the 2013 Malaysia General Election. This is perhaps the final time family members would sit together, cracking garlic-flavour groundnuts sipping Anglia Shandy or Carlsberg, and debate over who and which party to elect – either current regime (BN) or opposition (PR). This is also the time family members get to brainwash each other on which party to vote for the next federal government. The swing in support to either BN or PR would be fierce and wilder than Dow Jones during sub-prime crisis. Of course PM Najib Razak's PR team realizes the significance of this and has spent many hours on the drawing board preparing scripts to attract Chinese voters. That's why PM Najib looks more Chinese than all the past prime ministers combined. To a certain extent, he's even more Chinese than the Chinese themselves (*tongue-in-cheek*). There're thousands hanging buntings by the roadsides depicting him wearing Chinese traditional costume with his Chinese New Year message. Heck, he even tried his Chinese-friendly trick on radio station by having conversation in Mandarin with his son, although the stunt turns out rather funny (*grin*) and weird. If only he has the stamina he may just put on the lion dance costume and jump around your house begging for your votes. Ultimately, the question will be – which party to choose and why? If your answer is the opposition because the current regime is corrupt, then get ready for a rude awakening – the so-called corrupt BN (Barisan Nasional) will win the next general election hands down. In case you're still scratching your head peeling kuaci, the voters who voted opposition back in 2008 did not do so primarily because the current regime was corrupted. If that was the main reason, how on earth could former PM Mahathir rule this land for a whopping 22 years, despite the fact that his regime opened the floodgates of corruption and racism? In actual fact, Malaysian Chinese and Malays love corruption, without them realizing it. Like it or not, corruption has been part and parcel of Malaysian culture, thanks to Father of Corruption – Mahathir Mohamad. That was why a study done some moons ago found that graduates actually thought corruption was not such a big deal after all. Corruption has been ingrained into the mindset of Malaysian citizens so much so that it's almost legal and inseparable entity from daily lifes. Corruption was like lion-dance during Chinese New Year and "meriam-buloh" during Hari Raya festivals. While Malaysian Chinese consider corruption as a main ingredient to get business going, Malaysian Malays consider corruption as "rezeki". That's why the opposition can only go so far by drumming government massive corruptions as the reason why they should be booted from Putrajaya. Do you really think corruption will disappear into thin air after opposition wins the next general election and form the federal government? Why do you think everybody rush to lick Lim Guan Eng and Anwar Ibrahim boots to be fielded as candidates? And do you really think Sabah's King of Frogs Jeffrey Kitingan, Wilfred Bumburing and Yong Teck Lee really want to take care of the Sabahan? Pleeeeze!!! With the exception of probably Lim Kit Siang and Nik Aziz, you can't really trust the rest of the opposition politicians. If they have no intention of enriching themselves, then President Obama is still a virgin. Ever wonder why Mahathir confidently declared he will not leave the country before the next election results are announced? That's because he was dead sure the current corrupt regime will still form the next federal government. If the recent AES implementation criticisms by the public was any indicator, it shows that the public can't live without corruption, well, at least majority of them. Malaysian drivers like to speed and drive as if they're Formula-1 drivers and they have no plan of changing their lifestyle (or rather drive-style). And AES was a classic example of how zero corruption will affect their lifes. While they accept the reality that they would be caught breaking the laws, they want the flexibility to negotiate their way out through bribes. And you can't "kautim" (settle) by giving money to the AES camera on the spot, can you? These people would rather pay RM50 as "coffee-money" for each of 10 traffic offences than to pay full RM300 for 2 offence tickets, literally speaking. From sales executives to company directors, 90% of their business deals involve "under-table" money, one way or another. If the only thing that opposition can promise is eliminate corruption, then a sizeable Chinese and Malays would rather vote for the corrupt regime, if that was how they secured their current businesses or "rezeki" in the first place. So, does that mean the current corrupt regime should be returned to power? Well, perhaps the answer can be found by the recent advise from Mahathir himself - choose between the lesser of two evils. Of course when Mahathir blogged his advise, he was referring to the possibility of violent demonstration should the opposition lose in the coming election, although I can't figure out till today how can one lose something that it does not possess in the first place (*grin*). Since the opposition has not win the federal government since independence, there's no benchmark of how corrupted they would become. Thus, the perception of the general public – the BN regime is tremendously corrupt while the PR regime will be mildly corrupt, if the latter choose to corrupt after all. The choice is pretty obvious based on Mahathir's "choose between the lesser of two evils" theory. The good news for the opposition fans – the corrupt Chinese businessmen are flexible to switch sides and butter the opposition's bread should there be a change in government. The bad news – the corrupt Chinese businessmen are worry and perceive a lesser corrupt governments to mean lesser business deals for them. Read more at: http://www.financetwitter.com/2013/02/malaysian-loves-corruption-cant-live-without-it.html#.URP_LyS0n9w.gmail And of course, there's this video: 7FTYE3rAu3k Or watch at: https://www.youtube.com/embed/7FTYE3rAu3k |
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