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 …..

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
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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.

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?

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.