Towards A Competitive Malaysia #107
Chapter 16: Critique of Current Strategies
Thirty years after the death of Tun Razak in 1976, and three Prime Ministers later, the nation’s basic socioeconomic policies still bear his trademark. His NEP gave way to the National Development Policy in 1990, and in 2000 to the National Vision Policy. In 2006, under Abdullah Badawi, Malaysia has its National Mission Policy to take it to 2020.
The labels may change but the policies’ underlying thrust remains the same, and could be briefly described thus: more of the same, but with bigger and further reach together with an ever increasing price tag. There is little attempt at examining the assumptions. As there is little critical analysis, the learning curve is flat, and mistakes get replicated and amplified, and they call that experience!
In its first decade under Tun Razak, the NEP was remarkably effective and there was minimal leakage. Abuses began soon after his death, and accelerated under Mahathir. The rot began slowly, and because it was tolerated and not dealt with harshly, the pattern set in very quickly. When the first few scholarships went to ministers’ children and contracts to politicians and their cronies without there being any howling protest, the message quickly registered that those practices were acceptable.
From there to the present rot, the slope is steep and slippery. Today politicians and ministers, and their kin and kind, are the first to hog the public trough. They consider it their divine right to such bounties; challenge them at your own risk. UMNO’s “money politics” is merely one ugly manifestation, and far from being the most egregious. These abuses are taken in stride; they are no longer considered aberrations. They have become embedded in the normal ethics and culture. That is the most destructive aspect.
There is no shortage of responsible parties contributing to this sorry state. Foremost are the leaders for tolerating and thus implicitly encouraging such behaviors. They do not set the necessary high standards of integrity and competence for themselves and others. These abuses occur during their watch; they must be held accountable.
These leaders do not operate in a vacuum. As per my diamond of development, citizens, culture and institutions, and geography all contribute. If Allah had not blessed Malaysia with all those natural bounties, the greed of these leaders and their level of corruption would have been considerably less. If citizens had not readily endorsed what these leaders were doing, that might have restrained them. If our culture and institutions had been strong, that would have nipped early those corrupt and abusive tendencies.
There is a danger that having implied that all is responsible, no one is. Ultimately the leaders must bear the greatest burden and have the most to answer. Those in the political opposition too have not lived up to their constitutional responsibilities. Leaders of the Chinese Democratic Action Party cannot see beyond their narrow parochial interests. They cannot frame their criticisms beyond racial boundaries. The leaders of PAS are no better. To them, the solution to every problem is in the Quran. Just read it, they would smugly proclaim.
Their simplistic dismissal of those who disagree with them as kafir (a particularly insulting epithet) merely degrades their stature as leaders and as Muslims. Scholars, intellectuals, editors, and pundits too must share the blame. When the nation sorely needs sober analyses and critical evaluations, they grovel themselves to be apologists and spinmeisters for the establishment. They do not serve the nation with such postures, nor are they being true to themselves or their calling.
With Mahathir’s long tenure over and Abdullah comfortably in his, these commentators are now, without any trace of embarrassment, singing a different tune. Many who previously were unabashed supporters of Mahathir are now damning him, all in their effort to ingratiate themselves to the new leader. Scholars like Shamsul A B and commentators like Johan Jaafar who in the past endlessly glorified Mahathir are now using unflattering words to describe him.
Ministers, who used to kiss Mahathir’s hand and unhesitatingly genuflected themselves in other ways in front of the man, are now calling the elder statesman names. Kalimullah Hassan, now an Abdullah cheerleader and appointed by him to head The New Straits Times, once chided me for a critical piece I wrote on Mahathir. Kali’s tune is decidedly different today. He and others are revolting caricatures of Mahathir’s “Melayu mudah lupa!” (ungrateful Malays) and Syed Husin Alattas’ “Ugly Malays.” These and other Melayu Baru (New Malays) have morphed into Melayu Barua (Malay scoundrels).
In part this reflects the general Malay culture that in order to praise someone you have to damn his peers. By attempting to besmirch Mahathir’s legacy they hope to elevate Abdullah’s status. Abdullah should concentrate on ensuring that his candle is burning bright. There is no need to blow out his predecessor’s or anyone else’s candle in order to make his appear brighter.
In this chapter I will critique the current strategies of the Abdullah administration,
applying the same tough criteria I used in evaluating Mahathir’s.
Next: The Umpteenth Malaysia Plan
June 10th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
Dear Dr. M. Bakri Musa,
In this great article on MM Lee, I hope Malaysians can appreciate & LEARN from this “Towering Asian & International Political Icon”.
I had been exposed to the LKY’s “Critical but Rewarding” Values inculcated in the 60s to the 70s whilst with Malayan Airways through to MSA & SIA.
The reward has been worth it & I am now enjoying my Malaysian Dream from the fruits of my perseverance to be the “Master” of my “Vocation & Destiny”.
May I share this with you & your readers….
Lee Kuan Yew on Malay vs. Chinese Culture
George P. Landow, Professor of English and Art History, Brown University; Distinguished Visiting Professor, National University of Singapore, 1998-1999
In Lee Kuan Yew: The Man and His Ideas, his biographers relate how Lee sought explanations for the different economic approaches — and degrees of success — found in Singaporean Chinese and Malay communities.
Long before becoming Singapore’s Prime Minister — in fact, while still a student — he had rejected colonialist notions that some races were superior to others, and so he sought other explanations.
Turning to contemporary anthropology, he came upon a convincing one in the work of Bryan Parkinson, a Fellow at the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies at the University of Hull, whose 1968 article in the journal Modern Asian Studies argued that Malays and and Chinese had different “maximising postulates” or ways of conceiving success:
This desire to succeed is no more absent from rural Malay society than it is from any other, but to the Malay success means something different from what it does, for example, to the Malaysian Chinese.
The Chinese seem to regard success as being the improvement of their economic position even if this requires fundamental change or innovation.
The Malays seem to regard success as doing what their forebears have approved and practised, but doing it as well as they can.
Wealth and economic advancement are desired by the Malays, but not at the expense of renouncing utterly the traditions and traditional occupations of their forebears to which they have grown accustomed.
Parkinson further argued that although there was “nothing irrational about Malay values,” they would explain why Malay economic advancement has been and will likely “remain relatively low” in comparison to what Lee termed the “achievement-orientated, striving, acquisitive” Indian and Chinese communities.
Attempting to solve this “extremely delicate problem,” Singapore has tried several approaches,
The first being a form of affirmative action that provides….
“Free education from primary school right up to university for any Singapore citizen who is a Malay.
This is something we don’t give to the majority ethnic group — the Chinese.
They pay fees from secondary school onwards.”
Second, the government has employed “judicious intermingling of the communities so that, thrown into the more multiracial milieu we have in our new housing estates,
Malay children are becoming more competitive and more striving”
[147].
References
Han Fook Kwang, Warren Fernandez, Sumiko Tan. Lee Kuan Yew: The Man and His Ideas. Singapore: Times, 1998.
Contd….2
June 10th, 2009 at 9:28 pm
Contd….2
Dear Dr. M. Bakri Musa,
Question:
If LKY has been “Magnanimous” towards the “Minority Malays” in Singapore to provide that affirmative action, why are our UMNO/BN Leaders “Marginalising & Depriving” the Anak Bangsa Malaysia from achieving MERITOCRACY?
Bapak Borek…Anak MESTI Rentek & tak boleh LEBEH PANDAI pada Bapak?
Malaysia has been embroiled in racial politics and due to the fear of losing political power, all actions taken by the main party in power was never targeted towards bringing wealth to all.
Wealth was distributed to the chosen few only. They were the cronies and the backers of the party leadership to perpetuate their own selfish ends.
Seeing the efficiency and the progress achieved by Singapore caused the Malaysian leadership to suffer from an inferiority complex.
That Malaysia should suffer from this complex was of its own making.
In a recent interview, Kuan Yew said that Malaysia could have done better if only it treated its minority Chinese and Indian population fairly.
Instead they were completely marginalised and many of the best brains left the country in drove.
He added that “Singapore was a standing indictment to what Malaysia could have done differently”.
He just hit the nail right there on the head.
In 2009 we are witnessing that “Ketuanan UMNO Ideology” going “Horribly Wrong” with Denials, Intimidations, Threats, etc convoluting it into “Gutter Politics & Law of the Jungle”.
The PRESENT LEADERS on BOTH sides of the Political Divide are “Trapped” in their “OWN QUAGMIRE” with no Win-Win SOLUTIONS….
Malaysia NEEDS NEW LEADERS with Political MATURITY to ACHIEVE its Financial, Economic & Social CONSOLIDATION & STABILISATION.
Until such times Malaysia can IDENTIFY “Role Model” MATURED, EDUCATED, INTELLIGENT, ESTABLISHED Leaders & Politicians of HONOUR with Calibre & Tolerance without Fear or Favour,
Malaysia CANNOT even THINK of having a 2 or 3 PARTY Political System of Government to mitigate the IMPENDING Political & Financial fallout.
June 10th, 2009 at 9:36 pm
Dear Dr. M. Bakri Musa,
Every “Anak Bangsa Malaysia” must strive towards Excellence with inspirational experience & struggle to achieve his/her “Malaysian Dreams”
In these days of predatory capitalism and money politics, altruism and personal sacrifice for larger goals are rare commodities.
It is the same for a community or a nation: we look for our heroes, people who can propel us to greater heights.
If it is true that the search for such towering Malay figures has so far been futile, it is probably because the people concerned have been looking in the wrong places.
We perhaps will have to look beyond UMNO and the Malay community as well - for, after all, there are towering figures among many ordinary Malaysians, irrespective of ethnic origin, if we care to look closely.
Indeed, the attributes and values that we speak of and cherish are universal: high intellect, a high value system, successful careers, good economic standing, and well-respected culture and religion.
In multiethnic and multicultural Malaysia, one can and must draw valuable lessons from the experiences and important values of each of the ethnic communities.
In doing so, one is nudging society in the direction of the once much-touted ideal of Bangsa Malaysia (Malaysian race).
There are hardworking people, for instance, in all of the ethnic communities in Malaysia just as there are intelligent people in these communities who can be a source of human capital and an inspiring example to all Malaysians.
These are important attributes especially if they involve people who STRIVE and PERSEVERE in a situation where they eventually prevail and succeed with no (or little) state assistance such as scholarships and other facilities.
Other equally important values and attributes are moral uprightness, critical-thinking and a principle-centred life.
A towering figure - whether in industry and academia, as an example again - is someone who is not only intelligent, resourceful and creative, but also sticks to his/her beliefs and principles even though these may go against the mainstream or status quo.
These industrious people should in fact be given recognition by the powers-that-be so that, firstly, they become a shining example for other Malaysians (not just Malays) to emulate and, secondly, their hard work and intelligence is given due recognition, which would encourage them to propel themselves further in the quest for excellence.
More importantly, this kind of recognition can help stem the brain drain out of this country.
This effort could involve industry and academia, for example, where talent needs to be nurtured, recognised and duly rewarded and where academic and professional excellence is crucial.
The country as a whole would benefit from such people who make principled decisions and take carefully considered actions.
Giving views and ideas that are different from the management of a factory or a university should not be erroneously perceived as undermining its authority.
If anything, they should be considered as a very useful contribution to knowledge building.
If the search for towering Malaysians were to be “liberalised”, then we would be able to appreciate the good in many of us Malaysians….
In this 21st century context of Malaysian Nation Building & the creation of the “New Breed of True Grit High Yield Technocrats”.
Despite the ravages of modern capitalistic living and rapacious politics, there is still a pool of Malaysians who are altruistic, disciplined, principled and loving and whose actions and beliefs can easily leave us humbled and inspired.
June 11th, 2009 at 3:25 am
Rahman gave us life, Razak spoon-fed us toddlers, Hussein just watched us growing up, but Mahathir poisoned us from adolescence to adulthood!
Badawi was kind to let us go free to search for antidotes, but will Najib slaughter us with kris when we are old and weak?
June 11th, 2009 at 9:43 pm
The above commenter wrote:
Turning to contemporary anthropology, he came upon a convincing one in the work of Bryan Parkinson, a Fellow at the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies at the University of Hull, whose 1968 article in the journal Modern Asian Studies argued that Malays and and Chinese had different “maximising postulates” or ways of conceiving success:
This desire to succeed is no more absent from rural Malay society than it is from any other, but to the Malay success means something different from what it does, for example, to the Malaysian Chinese.
The Chinese seem to regard success as being the improvement of their economic position even if this requires fundamental change or innovation.
The Malays seem to regard success as doing what their forebears have approved and practised, but doing it as well as they can.
Wealth and economic advancement are desired by the Malays, but not at the expense of renouncing utterly the traditions and traditional occupations of their forebears to which they have grown accustomed.
Parkinson further argued that although there was “nothing irrational about Malay values,” they would explain why Malay economic advancement has been and will likely “remain relatively low” in comparison to what Lee termed the “achievement-orientated, striving, acquisitive” Indian and Chinese communities
—————————————————————————–
My, my, so many theories on why the Malays are uncompetitive vis-a-vis other races. There’s Mahathir’s Malay Dilemma “inbreeding theory”; then there’s the theory that the Brits divide-and-rule policy of keeping the Malays on the padi fields and in the seas as fishermen, thereby denying them opportunities for economic advancement. But the above-mentioned theory that Malay economic advancement has been and will likely “remain relatively low” in comparison to what Lee termed the “achievement-orientated, striving, acquisitive” Indian and Chinese communities is yet another spin on Malay ‘umcompetitiveness”, takes the cake, which political opportunists could use to justify the continuation of the NEP aka the Never Ending Policy and aka the Never Enough Policy and lead constitutional rulers to say, “Don’t question Malay interests.” What a tower of babble we have erected.
June 12th, 2009 at 1:57 am
Malays can twist but the earth will not move in sync. Just sit down and wait in patience for the twist to break bones in due course.
June 12th, 2009 at 3:59 am
Hey Abangcina, you think anywan can do the twist? Then break bones and still manage to carry on twisting on crutches?
June 13th, 2009 at 7:26 am
Eh Outsider, I know a better Wan, an invertebrate forever twisting on the floor.
June 14th, 2009 at 10:38 am
Hey ah kow and ah beng,
Towkay come a visiting. The van has two extra seats back down south. Dont be shy to ask him for a ride. Promise I wont laugh if you two take up the seats….he doesnt come that often….take this chance and get lost…ha ha ha …..
June 15th, 2009 at 4:53 am
Eh wan-tut, I know you want some kopi-lui…it’s okay, don’t be shy to ask from the towkay krana ekonomi lembab la…..he is a rich and nice guy you know….it’s okay really because you have 4 lobang to sumbat plus many mouths to feed leh ….Allah will forgive you wan la.
June 16th, 2009 at 7:50 am
of course he has to be rich. a small country but all family affair ma. That is what you have been aspiring all along. Taken the seat oledi?
June 17th, 2009 at 8:35 am
Even the gawk of everywan, Mahathir, could not/dare not bring himself to utter the lie la……….