Desecrators, Not Defenders of Malay Honor
SEEING IT MY WAY (Malaysiakini.com)
M. Bakri Musa
What strikes me on this latest Raja Petra saga is that the public officials involved were all Malays. Their behaviors besmirch the good name of my race and culture. Contrary to their conviction and assertion, they are not the defenders of Malay honor; they are the desecrators of Malay honor.
Charging Raja Petra Kamarudin as well as author Syed Akbar Ali under the Sedition Act for what they had posted on the Internet is less a crude attempt at intimidating bloggers but more a sinister shadow play (wayang kulit) with many hidden hands each trying to make its puppets move in a particular way in order to convey its threatening message. It is also a blatant abuse of the criminal justice system.
While the government may wish it to be otherwise, this crass manipulation of prosecutorial power would not make citizens refrain from using this new medium, nor will it infringe on its freedom. The Internet is now well beyond the control of any authority, least of all a corrupt and incompetent
More significantly, this latest spectacle reflects two unsavory and destructive traits that are fast becoming the norm among our leaders and public servants.
One is their small mindedness and the other, their contemptible habit of misusing government assets for personal gains. The first attribute is closely associated with incompetence; the second, corruption. This pairing is lethal; it will destroy our society very quickly.
There is one other observation which while abundantly clear, is rarely stated openly. As the leadership and public service in
Small Minds At Work
First were the UMNO Youth members who lodged the police report. You can bet that they are all either on the public payroll or dependent upon government dole and contracts. If only they had a better comprehension of the English language, they would agree with millions of Raja Petra readers that there was nothing seditious in the said article.
Similarly, the police officers who raided Raja Petra’s home and grabbed his laptop never bothered to question those UMNO Youth leaders what was so seditious about the article. If the police had posed this most elementary preliminary inquiry, they would more than likely discover that those UMNO blokes had not read the piece, or if they did, they did not understand a word of it.
These police officers were not low-level sergeant types but ASPs and DSPs. They, like UMNO Youth members and many of the present generation of “educated” Malays, are English illiterate, thanks to our abominable UMNO-inspired education system.
As for the prosecutors and other lawyers in the Attorney General’s office who signed on to proceed with the case, as well as the presiding judge, well, that is what happens when you “massage” the scores of the Bar examinations.
If only the police had told those UMNO Youth members to grow up, or if the prosecutors and others in the Attorney-General’s office had exercised their independent judgment that Raja Petra was no threat to public security, the nation would have been spared this spectacle. More importantly, those police officers could then focus on solving the numerous unsolved murders, while our prosecutors could go after corrupt officials. There is no shortage of both.
As for the judge, if only she had exercised a modicum of diligence and read the allegedly seditious article, she would have thrown the case out. If she had any sense of judgment, she would have dispensed with the bail and released Raja Petra on his own recognizance. Did she really believe that he would flee?
That judge obviously did not have the courage of her colleague, High Court Judge Hishamuddin Yunus. In May 2001, this brave judge ordered the release of two ISA detainees on a writ of habeas corpus application when it was shown that the police officers were cavalier in carrying out their duties. The judge went on and fearlessly declared that Parliament should review and either scrap or amend the ISA so as to reduce its potential for abuse.
I did not expect the judge in Raja Petra’s case to lift her judicial robe and look beyond her bench, as one Judge Syed Aidid Abdullah did. Enough that she would do it like Judge Hishamudin, in the course of her deliberation and written judgment.
Syed Aidid was the judge who in 1996 wrote a letter to the Attorney-General alleging specific instances of corruption, abuse of power, and judicial misconduct among his colleagues on the bench. The Attorney-General of the time dismissed it as
No wonder none of the senior public officials involved in Raja Petra’s case paused to reflect on their actions, or do anything other than what they have been instructed to do. They all dutifully carried out what was asked of them, robot-like, without thinking.
In a commentary after his release, Raja Petra wrote of his decision to let his wife post bail. He was initially determined to stay in jail until his trial to expose the rot in the system. What made him change his mind were the words of his jailors.
Of all the public servants, those jailors were the only ones who went beyond their prescribed duties and used their brains. They convinced Raja Petra that he would be more useful to our nation by being outside of prison than inside.
They were also concerned about his safety as well as that of the other prisoners. In their wisdom, the officials had detained Raja Petra in the same prison where the accused murderers of Altantuya were held. Again, wisdom and common sense elude our public officials!
It is ironic that of all our public officials, only the jailors were capable of independent judgment. One would have thought that this would be second nature for those in “higher” positions.
Abuse of Public Property
There was the earlier “visit” by the police after Raja Petra made highly uncomplimentary comments on the Yang Di Pertuan Besar of Negri Sembilan. It was just a “visit” with the usual routine seizure of Raja Petra’s computer. Well, at least one of the police officer’s home now has a computer!
Malaysia-Today did not spare Prime Minister Abdullah either, with its series on UN’s “Iraq Oil For Food” corruption scandal. Then there was the highly damaging series on the “world’s richest unemployed” (to borrow Lim Kit Siang’s inimitable phrase), the Khairy Chronicles, and the equally damning expose on the “double Muhammad,” the former Mentri Besar of Selangor who was caught at an Australian airport with millions in cash in his back pocket. In none of these instances did the police react.
If Najib felt that he was being libeled, he should have hired his own lawyers and bear his own legal fees. Instead, the criminal justice system was being abused for this dirty job, for free at least to Najib.
Sadly, treating expensive government resources as their personal assets is fast becoming a pattern among our leaders, from using the fleet of luxurious corporate jets for their political campaigns, to “privatizing” choice government-linked companies to “sell” to their cronies and families.
There are many hidden hands and concealed causes in this latest convoluted shadow play. They would all be instantly exposed if only someone would flip the light switch on. Thus the fury provoked by Raja Petra’s initial lighting of a small candle. Rest assured that this man has his hands right on the main light switch. Keep reading!
Individuals like Raja Petra, as well as Judge Hishamuddin Yunus, Syed Aidid and Raja Petra’s jailors, rekindle my faith. We have eagles in our midst, but it is difficult for them to soar surrounded as they are by turkeys. To put it in a local metaphor, it is hard for a kucing belang to show its stripes when surrounded by kucing kurap (scruffy cats).
We have to get rid of these kucing kurap so our kucing belang could do their work in getting rid of the rats infesting our society. We cannot remain silent as that would only encourage these kucing kurap.
I join others in denouncing this brute behavior of the Abdullah administration. Raja
To Raja Petra Kamarudin, Judge Hishamuddin Yunus, Syed Aidid, and all the kucing belang in our midst, I salute you! Hunt down ‘dem rats!
May 11th, 2008 at 6:49 pm
Like I mentioned in my comments to your previous writings, modern day Robin Hood robs the poor to enrich the rich. “Sheriff of Notingham” in the old tales was a brutal character that swore to capture Robin Hood, dead or alive!
Nowadays the roles have somehow switch. Robin Hood robs (in broad daylight) the poor to enrich the rich while the “Sherif” (in the forms of RPK etc) is the self-proclaimed “protector” of the public. I think the mutation on both sides occur over the past 50 years since independence. As Robin Hood could no longer rob the colonial masters to feed the local poor, and as the local poor has progressed economically, the decendents of Robin Hood felt that it is their “absolute right” to now rob the poor to enrich the rich.
As God is Great, or for the non-believers “equilibrium” in the equation must be maintained, a new breed of “Sherif of Notingham” is born in cyberworld. Mutated from the earlier brutal character of defending the rich while robbing the poor, a reversal of role is witnessed. Here the Sherif and his band of loosely organised gang attacks Robin Hood and gang for their plundering and rape of the nation and the people.
Interesting? Think…
May 11th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
Umno is on the course of self-destruction notwithstanding Badawi’s exhortations that members correct public perception that it is arrogant and corrupt. I look forward to the day when the party has nothing to fall back to but its inglorious past. A past littered with the excesses of Mahathir, Badawi, KJ, Toyo and their sycophants. Let’s do our bit to ensure its early exit.
May 12th, 2008 at 1:11 am
Is this article your writing? because I saw it posted on another blog too. What i can say it is rather insulting to the malays i guess to read this. But it is good that it will make them wake up. But i believe there are a handful of malays out there who dont agree on how umno leaders are doing their jobs. ANd they certainly do not want to be associated with such umno leaders. A disgrace to proper well behaved malays. *sigh
But yes, as malays, we have to look into ways how we can help heal the situation, not make it worst.
May 12th, 2008 at 1:51 am
pipitart,
Bakri’s pieces are being posted on many blogs. Some of those in the list are Lim Kit Siang, Malaysiakini, Din Merican and Rocky Bru (sometimes). His reason is simple to disseminate the message far and wide. Bakri’s latest piece on Umno is most poignant as it touches on the Malay psyche. What he says is true as we are the ones who are responsible for our own destruction. Getting rid of kuching kurap (feral cats) is not easy as they outnumber the kuching belang many times over. Over the years they have become very aggressive and cunning. Thanks in no small way to a very pliant and accommodating homemaker - Umno .
May 12th, 2008 at 6:28 am
all this focus on ‘Malayness’ is self destructive in the first place. If the Americans can look at Obama and see a President for Americans and not a black champion, when can we discard the mentality of Malayness and embrace Malaysia-ness?
Perhaps only after this generation has passed away; including RPK, LKS, Bakri Musa and co.; for though they profess to be forward-thinkers, inner mind has been tainted with a racialistic pysche.
May 12th, 2008 at 8:27 am
The critique is quite serious but the persons affected and who should improve themselves or their performance do not read your well-thought out piece. So they continue to make the mistakes or commit the serious crimes without fear of being stopped by your readers and other concerned citizens.
I understand Syed Aidid did not get any pension. A former CJ made sure he was out of service before their “activities” with Lingam and the tycoon.
Judge Hishamuddin is kept low at the High Court and the present CJ moved him to a lesser post in Commercial.
Recommend we appoint Farooqi (of UiTM?) as the AG, Tunku Aziz as IGP and a new CJ by October? Malaysia deserves better.
May 12th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
The author as well as those who added comments to this wonderfully written piece inspire me, just to realize that there are excellent, eloquent & rational Malay minds. Vive the kucing belang!
For a long while now I had equated the Malay mind with the UMNO mind, which has caused me to be guilty of acute generalization. I hope there is enough of intellectual Malays around to rid them of the kucing kurup!
May 12th, 2008 at 8:19 pm
There are many Malay intellectuals out there. They have either been silenced or have refrained from making comments in public, until an alternative cyberworld is made available. Whether by design or by accident, I hope this cyberworld would be utilised to its maximum advantage.
I am not a defender of Malay rights. I do not see this is required as until and unless the Federal Constitution is changed, rights and previledges of all as citizens of Malaysia stand guarded. Malays included!
The Malays must decide which path they must take.
UMNO can no longer claim (or rather “lie-through-their-teeth”) that they are defenders of the Malay race! They are not and neither are they defenders of Islam.
So who/what is this UMNO? Once a upon a time they were “something of a hero against the colonial masters” but now are “nothing more than greedy individuals” that have mutated into a bunch of highly organised thiefs and robbers. No longer is millions of Ringgit is sufficient, the plunderings have progressed to billions of Ringgit.
What is enough to UMNO continues to baffle and amaze me!
May 12th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
bexe! I’m glad we have helped you opened your eyes and change your perception about the malay mindset. You know what is killing malaysians now? Generalization. Perception. Unfair judgements about so and so race.
What I believe is it is NOT any party at fault (in this case most are blaming UMNO for being useless etc etc etc) But it’s those certain people’s attitudes within UMNO themselves. I believe there are good umno people in UMNO as there are useless people in Pakatan Rakyat too.
So open your eyes and stop generalizing everyone! We’ve gotta be smart and not be played around by these political games set out by others.
May 12th, 2008 at 9:12 pm
Being defeated is Temporary,
but giving up is what makes it PERMANENT!!
…..a brutally honest piece,thank you.
May 12th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
You know Doc Bakri, it’s probably not fair to equate these betrayers of the rakyat’s trust to animals. Not fair to the beasts, I mean.
But I suppose it serves a descriptive purpose.
Speaking of which, you probably have got the skinny on the imminent migration of BN frogs en masse, what with you being close with DM and all.
Though the rats seem to cop a collective nonchalant attitude [reads 'complete denial mode'], words on the ground seem to indicate that the hijra is a done deal, only waiting for the “on your mark”. Betul ke?
May 13th, 2008 at 3:22 am
“There is one other observation which while abundantly clear, is rarely stated openly. As the leadership and public service in Malaysia are increasingly under Malay control, these two odious traits (corruption and incompetence) are now viewed as an integral part of the Malay persona and culture. This is what makes me angry, as it should every Malaysian, Malays especially.”
Sadly, it is not just the public servants who spoil the bad name of the malays. A lot of Malays, feeding off the arrogance and ‘ultraness’ of the UNMO leaders, believe they can and must show non-Malaysa they are the true TUAN of Malaysia. many a times I have seen Malays (especially Datin-looking-type in tudung) who feels they deserve special treatment by jumping queue, refusing to follow normal procedures, harassing members of the general public to ‘move along’ because she has an urgent appointment to goto, and making all sorts of unreasonable demands.
And the general perception that the Malays form the majority of drug addicts, mat rempits, snatch thieves, robbers, rapists, those involve in incest cases don’t help either…
May 13th, 2008 at 3:50 am
Dear Doc MBM,
I am from Trg and it really thug my heartstring to see hard core poors in this state of plenty.The state that could spent RM 400 million and supposedly another RM300 million to deepen the estuary of Sg Terengganu so that The Luxury cruiseship could anchor and watch the RM200 million Monsoon cup being stage annually.Not more than 5 kilometers fr this staging place, there are people living with no electricity and water supply.
If not for The Agong putting a stop to all these ,the rape of Terengganu’s wealth could have continued…..and expect us to call this Islam Hadhari????
The excesses of UMNO would continue unabetted if nothing is being done..on top of that The people of TRG got to beg for the 5% royalty …do UMNO think that we have no pride left ????
May 13th, 2008 at 4:34 am
The opening statement of MBM reflects his racial slant typical of those brought up a few generations ago. But it’s better to be late than never to be HONEST to oneself, and then go on to be HONEST to the COMMUNITY (not just your race) you cherish.
May 13th, 2008 at 7:02 am
Dr,
you said ” If Najib felt that he was being libeled, he should have hired his own lawyers and bear his own legal fees. Instead, the criminal justice system was being abused for this dirty job, for free at least to Najib.”
I think that exactly what Najib was trying to do , pl read the letter written by his press sec to MT. Before he could do it , somebody else jumped the gun by directing the police to arrest and charge RPK under Sedition Act based on his posting on 25 Apr 2008 which I fully agree with you that it contained no seditious elements that warrant the police to take such action! The person/s involved in jumping the gun is as good as everybody’s guess.
The idea is to make RPK and fellow bloggers point fingers at Najib, thus making the latter a target of more allegations against him. Whoever responsible of this plot knew very well that the charge against RPK will not stick and RPK will not even be called for defence!! However the objective of the plot will be considered successful because Najib will still be insinuated in Altantuya’s case. I feel that this scenario will prevail untill Najib is being ousted, as he is being considered as a stumbling block for the aspiring DPM (u know who!)
Dr, I’m no fan of Najib, but to put him under such strain is uncalled for ,worst when the police being made use of!! I think Dr cld remember RPK wrote series of articles on police/underworld relationship and that lead to Putra Jaya? So I’m dead sure that the same hidden hands are puppeteering the police !!!
How much we loathe a person of his misdeeds, as malays, we must have certain amount of compassion , what more as muslim brothers. If Najib is brought to justice and found guilty, so be it. Untill then let us refrain being judges!! Regards
May 13th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
Woe betide this country with the current set of idiots running the government. Ask anyone in the streets if they feel save coming out of home these days, the answer is a definite ‘no’. The mat rempits, who roam the streets at night and terrorise the people, are getting so emboldened now because they know the police is incapable of reigning them in. The trend is worrying as more and more Malay youths are becoming mat rempits, thinking that it is glorious to become one. The government and the police should use their resiurces to deal with the mat rempit menace, instead of going after people like RPK, Karpal Singh and many others who long to see justice, peace and harmony in this country!
May 14th, 2008 at 12:30 am
The Police are using selective powers to investigate. If you or I make a police report it will remain a report. However if an UMNO member makeas a police report the police will immediately spring into action. What happened to Cekap Bersih Amanah? The Police right down from the IGP must remember that the taxpayer are paying them their salaries not UMNO.
UMNO and the Government of Malaysia are two different entity. While UMNO forms the government in Parliament, the administrative government must remain neutral and serve the public instead of the political masters. Unless and until this is clearly hammered into the heads of the Malays in the government service we will always have the “saya yang menurut perintah” mentality.
May 14th, 2008 at 1:57 am
We can say many things and each is a sound idea. BUT nobody in authority cares.
I was told only 27 people read this blog. Please tell me I am mistaken.
All the blogs do not carry any weight and we are in hopeless situation.
The politicians, be they in BN (Bawa Negara) or PR (Pergi Rumbu) have their own agenda, majority only for their narrow Party desires.
So who can rescue the three (or 4?) persons that Dr M Bakri Musa set out to champion? Half way, we read of music, then of other aspects which dilute the sentiments that we should champion. So here we see the interfering hands of the BN (and maybe also the PR) to just set aside the idea of helping the persons named in the original story and they mislead us to unimportant areas ! Again, we are blinded with no proper objective!
May 14th, 2008 at 9:13 am
Attitude is everything. If you give up before the battle begins then there will never be change. 27 readers or 3 readers does not matter. Remember the ripple effect.
People in authority do care but sometimes they are blinded and sidetracked. Being in power for too long leads them to become complacent. Thus they have to be reminded from time to time.
Bakri is not trying to champion the 3 or 4. He is using these people as example for the rest that are in the same dire situation. Remember about the story of “When they came for the communisy….” Maybe when they come for you will there be anyone that is going to speak out for you?
May 14th, 2008 at 6:26 pm
Sherk,
Talking about the IGP and the Police’s propensity to prosecute selectively. This again boils down to the Malay psyche. Remember how our mums used to tell us “jangan makan budi nati padah buatnya”?
Musa and his ilks are simply returning a favour to their political masters for placing them where they are. Do you honestly think Musa gets the top post based on his merits alone?
I have known and worked with many of them in the past. The good ones normally fade away because they cannot stomach what the see thus leaving the “kaki ampu” whose only talent is to “ampu” the bosses. To them the way up is by nodding their heads, saying “yes” and smiling when and where it’s necessary. Everything is on cue - so predictable.
Musa said that the ISA was necessary and that detainees’ cases were being monitored by a board. Hogwash. Once you are in getting out is not as easy as ABC.
This Musa fella is a moron. Should PK take over the government he’ll be the first in the dole line. And I am pretty sure he’d plead ignorance and claim that he was simply following orders like Col Adolf Eichmann had said during his trail in Jerusalem in 1960. Eichmann was hanged in 1962. Good riddance.
May 14th, 2008 at 7:57 pm
Tok Cik
Right on. I do remember tho is “jangan termakan budi nanti tergadai body” Just kidding.
I know Musa, ex Bukit Bintang Boy. Yes promotion in the Police force needs to be on merit and not on ampu. Musa should have been retired long ago. In Malaysia you cannot be smarter than your boss. That way the boss will always look good. Thus you have the present cabinet and the present IGP, CAFS, KSU and KP. If they are smarter than their boss they would have left long ago or have been removed or not promoted.