How To Stop Cars And Win Enemies
Farish A. Noor
When it comes to dealing with the grouses of the Malaysian public – many of which happen to be legitimate, mind you – it would seem that the benighted leaders of our blessed country have read every single page of the stupid book.
We recall the period when we, the Malaysian public were told by our Malaysian government that we had the right to speak up and that our voices would be heard. We were assured that we had the right to speak, to raise our concerns, to voice our opinions and to even state our differences and disagreements in this new Utopian, idyllic public space that had appeared out of nowhere. But no sooner than had we opened our mouths to utter the first sentence beginning with “But,” the tear gas canisters were shot in our faces, the batons were raised, the water cannons were put to work. It is hard, as I wrote not too long ago, “to listen to the people while you gas them in the face.”
The latest (of many) instances of back-tracking came with the defensive posture taken by the senior leadership of this country in the face of the demands voiced by the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) of
As an analyst however my own take on what has happened with the Hindraf issue is one that is coloured by the concerns of a political scientist: Seen purely from an objective point of view, the academic in me is boggled and dumfounded by the response of the Malaysian government to date; the latest being the tear-gassing of Hindraf protesters before the very gates of the Parliament building. One wonders how and why the plethora of other alternatives were not apparently given serious consideration at all. Has it come to the point where calling out the riot police is the first response that the government can give to any demand emanating from civil society?
But the list of blunders does not end there: Coming back to
Instead it was one of many road blocks set up to monitor the traffic heading towards the capital the day before the Hindraf demonstration. As we stopped for a pause and the smokers among us kissed our cancer sticks with relish, I could not help but notice that the cars and vans that were being stopped were those with Malaysians of Indian ancestry in them. Why?
That was precisely the question asked by an irate Malaysian driver whose van was stopped and who was asked to step out of the vehicle with his entire family. Before my very eyes every single one of these Malaysian-Indians – our fellow Malaysian citizens – was asked to produce his or her identity card and to explain why they were driving up to
A second car was stopped and three Malaysian-Indian men were asked to step out. They looked as if they were on a fishing trip as fishing rods and nets were in the boot of the car. But likewise they too were asked to walk to the desk, hand over their IDs to the policemen, give their personal details and asked what they were doing on the road that day and why.
Though none of the authority figures present at the road block made specific mention of Hindraf, I was not the only one who noticed that most of the vehicles stopped then were those with Malaysian-Indians in them. It was too glaring, too obvious to avoid and we were all embarrassed by what was happening before us, in broad daylight.
Bumming a kretek from an Indonesian worker who stepped out of his lorry and watching the scene together, my Indonesian fellow-nicotine addict quipped: “Waduh, jelas di
I replied, with more a touch of shame than humour: “Ia, mas- walaupun Suharto meninggal di
Now here comes the obvious question that begs to be answered: Had no one, along the entire chain of command and responsibility, thought of the consequences of such actions? By stopping and questioning the passengers of Malaysian-Indian background on the suspicion that some of them might be attending the Hindraf rally the day after, was there not the blatant risk that the authorities would be offending many more ordinary Malaysians who felt that once again, as Malaysian-Indians, they were being singled out for unfair treatment? And if so, what have these road blocks and checks achieved, save to alienate even more Malaysian-Indians and lend weight to the claims of Hindraf? In the book of A Hundred and One Easy Blunders for Governments to Make, this case comes under the chapter How to Stop Cars and Win Enemies.
In the weeks ahead as election fever sweeps across the country, we will undoubtedly hear more of such stories of road blocks, profiling of suspected dissidents and opponents, traffic redirected, speeches disrupted, permits for assembly denied, etc. And with every single one of these calculated blunders, the critical mass of resentment, alienation, marginalisation piles up and grows higher and bigger. Political analysts are meant to make sense of politics even in the most troubled and complex of contexts, but here I am left with no compass or map to make sense of the situation: Ours has become the reactionary politics of irrationality instead.
Dr. Farish (Badrol Hisham) Ahmad-Noor, Senior Fellow, Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Research Director for the Research Cluster ‘Transnational Religion in Contemporary Southeast Asia,’ Nanyang Tech University,Singapore. Tel (off) 6790 6128
February 24th, 2008 at 12:23 am
I witnessed similar incidents after the Hindraf rally. I saw cars with Indians being stopped as these cars headed north. Without exception all the cars stopped were occupied by Indians. I felt ashamed that we were doing this in Malaysia!
To date, I have not perceived anysignificant threat posed by Hindraf, save that the members have been awakened to the neglect imposed on them through the non-performance of MIC. The leaders of MIC should have been faulted, not otherwise!
February 24th, 2008 at 6:01 am
Ah! if it is the intention of the government to insult and intimidate the Indians, it is surely going to misfire. We, the moderate Indians, have been begging for years to give a fair hearing to repressed and maginalised Indians. The MIC, as arrogant always, had taken the position that it has no reason to listen as their always cited reason was that Indians have been voting BN consistently, and this goes to show that everything is alright with the Indians.
The govt, turned the other way, passing the buck to MIC. Numerous appeals fell on deaf ears. Since their uncharacteristic displacement from estates, or putting it crudely, chased away from their comfort zones, the Indians, many of them lacking the necessary education and working skills, had been left much to themselves within an atmosphere of simmering resentment. The govt bluffed its way around when it came out saying that Indians displaced from estates would be taken care of. What the crooks were more interested was filling their own pockets. Making MIC as the scapegoat, the govt had washed off its hands. When those of us who do mingle and had ears for these deprived Indians passed on our views, the leadership of MIC was dismissive and even worse, the govt had clearly given the impression, through a number of its speeches of its leaders, particularly from UMNO, that it does not give a hoot who or what Indians are.
The way Indians were treated by the govt, particularly the police, during the “Rose” rally, or assembly is demeaning and shameful and this coming from a man who emphatically said that he has all the ears to listen. A liar to the core he is. What most of Indians are now worried is that the rallying Indians may be holding on to the patient agenda for now but not for long and the brunt of their anger may be turned not towards the govt but against the police. It is a real fear that most of us have and if the govt or the police believe that strong arm tactics and brute force would subdue the Indians, it is just going to be plain wishful thinking.
February 24th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
Yes Farish, our Mr Duplicity PM called for “the truth” but he wasn’t interested to listen. After 4 years, has he delivered any of his 2004 election pledges?
The rakyat had been keeping record of his overseas trip - he has made 80 trips away from the country since becoming the Prime Minister, and only attended 5 days of Parliament session out of the 91 days! Now he’s asking for more time? Are we to let ourselves be conned again and/or further tolerate him? No we are all in the mood for CHANGE!
Someone just sent me this and I like to share it with you all here. Just sit back, relax and turn on the speakers.
http://www.comedycourt.com.my/latesthits_04.html
February 25th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
There is a place for everyone in Malaysia be they Malays, Chinese, Indians and others. The bigots in UMNO have no place in this modern world that knows no boundaries. Everyone is free to worship who they wish to worship and no one can refuse them their rights. I don’t know where these UMNO people got the idea that Malaysia is for the Malays and Malay Muslims only.
As a Malay and a Muslim what UMNO is doing goes against the teaching of Islam and the prophet Muhamad pbuh I guess when UMNO is trying to outIslam PAS this is what happens.
February 25th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
It’s not about trying to out-Islam the opposing party it’s about the people who make up the party. There is nothing wrong with Umno, the party is blameless but the people who represent the party are the culprits. They have too much of the good things that they can’t bear losing them. So they’ll do everything within their power to remain relevant. As long as they are in power they can continue to plunder the country. Do they really care for the rakyat? No not an iota. Must we keep them? No, let’s kick them out for good. Enough is enough.
See how the mainstream media suck up to their masters. Can you believe whatever that’s being shown and reported? Do they take us for fools? I think they do. How naive.
February 26th, 2008 at 10:51 am
Tok Cik
Thanks for the candid views. I beg to differ about “nothing wrong with UMNO” it’s the people. UMNO is made up of people and the people make UMNO. The people representing UMNO chose the directions for UMNO and so they are eventually responsible for the public image of UMNO.
Perjuangan Melayu dah lama tamat. Orang Melayu sepatutnya sudah boleh berdiri atas kaki sendiri. Selagi UMNO memomokkan orang Melayu selama itulah orang Melayu akan terasa ketinggalan dan berharap atas bantuan kerajaan.
Sejak Merdeka Malaysia sudah melateh beribu malahan beratus ribuan anak Melayu dalam pelbagai bidang, vokasional dan juga professional. Akan tetapi dimanakah mereka sekarang? Maseh mengharap bantuan kerajaan untuk hantar anak keUniversiti. Sedeh amat sekali nasib orang Melayu.
Sampai masa untuk pilihan raya UMNO mula membangkitkan isu isu Melayu dan hak hak dan keistimewaan Melayu untuk memancing undi. Selepas pilihan raya semua ini diketepikan dan orang Melayu di biarkan melarat. Sila lihat bilangan anak anak Melayu yang menganggor atau menjadi penagih dadah. Apa rancangan UMNO untuk membanteras penganggoran anak Melayu? Apa rancangan UMNO untuk memulehkan penagih dadah?
UMNO sekiranya ingin menjadi pemerintah dimasa hadapan terpaksa berfikir global dan bukan berpuakpuak. UMNO mesti membangunkan Islam secara yang benar dan tulus, bukan untuk memancing undi.
February 26th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
Kenyataan anda tepat sekali, Sherk. Umno adalah satu pertubuhan, satu entiti yang diwujudkan khusus untuk mertabatkan orang Melayu tetapi ahli-ahlinya, oleh kerana tamak haloba, telah mengsisirkan perjuangan demi kepentingan peribadi. Ini lah yang saya maksudkan. Jesteru itu, ianya menjadi tanggongjawab kita, sebagai orang Melayu, untuk memandu Umno ke jalan yang asal.
The problem lies with the rural Malays who are easily swayed by gifts and false promises. Just go to the kampong now and feast your eyes. You can see how feverish the BN (Umno) incumbents and their cohorts are working dishing out gifts and money to win over their constituents. It’s difficult to tell these poor folks that vote buying is evil. They don’t give two hoots.
It boils down to ringgit and sen and if you have plenty of it nothing is going to stop you from splashing, not even God. This is moral corruption of the highest order and it’s being sanctioned by the ruling party itself.
Lim Kit Siang said something about comparing BN’s 2004 manifesto and its current manifesto. It’s interesting to note whether the promises of 2004 have been fulfilled. Corruption is rife. Prices of essentials have escalated. Personal safety is now an issue. Trust in our leadership has nose-dived, as evident from the Lingam Royal Commission of Inquiry. There’s nothing much to talk about except for the multi-economic corridors Badawi has been trumpeting around.
One day the gravy train will come to a stop. It will stop when our oil wells run dry. It will stop when foreign investors look else where. It will stop when you and I no longer comment in Bakri’s blog. And the day, my dear friends, is well nigh near. By then it’ll too late. Too late for everything. So, let’s do something now. Vote wisely.Enough is enough.
February 26th, 2008 at 11:03 pm
Tok Cik
I agree with you 100% on all issues addressed by you. As Dr M use to say Melayu Mudah Lupa. The vote buying by UMNO as you say is immoral but Islam Hadhari has made it Halal. But let’s not forget what PAS used to say “Kain Palaikat Diterima tapi Undi BN belum tentu” Melayu Kelantan pandai sekali.
The rot started with Dr M. He created this environment. We can write a whole book on what he did to corrupt Malaysia. Seems money is the root of the evil and the only way is to cut the supply of the money.
Malays should start to vote the candidate rather than the party. Vote with conscience and perhaps there is a slim chance Malaysia can be rehabilitated. My prayers are with all Malaysians for the coming election. Will the last Malay turn out the lights and bring the flag with you. Salams