Malaysian theatrical politics

On which direction the nation is moving towards is a guess that will not falter in any sense.
COMMENT

In the good old days, I watched Tom and Jerry, Road Runner and alike on television for entertainment, as cinemas (or rather called theatres in those days) were a luxury. A weekend outing to the theatre was basically to watch Hindi films that took three hours off your life at each visit.

No wonder we remember their plots so well even to-date without much effort.

But today, I amuse myself with Malaysian theatrical politics. Open any news; if you call so, and it puts a smile on your face. The daily dose comes from the evergreen Barisan Nasional government and followed closely by its villain called Pakatan Rakyat.

And like any typical Bollywood art piece, you must have the comedians thrown in. This role is superbly played and led by Perkasa and the uncountable number of non-governmental organisations.

Alas, not to forget the ultra rogues who outwit the intelligence of the average person, i.e. the criminals.

With the near perfect blend of characters, we have put to shame Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Priyanka Chopra and even Datuk Shah Rukh Khan. We have Najib, Anwar, Ibrahim Ali, Rosmah and the ghost of deceased Altantuya in the cinematically charged saga that has evolved into a magnetic soap opera with re-runs over the years.

What have we not?

Mysterious deaths involving C4, untraceable guns and ammunition, mafia like killings in broad day light, convulated kidnapping cases, border infringements, illicit drugs, corruption conspiracies, scandals, sodomies, racial and religious discomfort, street protests, unwarranted speeches, comical reactions and above all a flaccid parliament.

Plenty of court drama as the seasoning. An ideal “masala-mix” that guarantees to satisfy every palate.

Najib being the superhero currently has gone into hiding literally, as the heat of events unfolding around the nation overtakes the race in all media channels. He may be in the recharging mode to launch missiles soon, since the mother of all parties, Umno, is to convene its election around the corner.

On which direction the nation is moving towards is a guess that will not falter in any sense.

Take your pick. The villains are having a field day lambasting Najib from all directions but like a typical Bollywood hero, he seems to be ducking every bullet and sword hurled to him.

Accompanied with multiple summersaults and using his bodyguards, Najib and his love are merrily jetting around the world without a scratch.

Our political environment post-GE 13 is nothing short of a couple running around the garden singing praises of each other. Except here, the two major parties seem to be running and skipping on thorny beds with the roses having lost its color and scent.

Stale and stinking will best fit the current scenario. We are at the episode where comedians are on the run seeking applauds from the audience. Everybody is tired and anticipating Najib to hover his might over the nation and pull it out of the doldrums.

Will he be the shining knight jumping out of an armored carriage soon or will he further hibernate in the summers of Putrajaya?

Reeling out is the opposition who seem to be playing all the musical instruments to rhyme with the songs. They have panoramic eye sight and nothing escapes their vision, no matter how minute or microscopic.

They beat the living daylights out of every issue, be it positive, negative or neutral. They super charge everything to hilt and “carnivalise” issues to the entertainment of its audience.

Has there been any tangible outcome or are we, the public, merely being brought to a musical chair party with the finishing of playing charades?

Our economy is constipated. Crime is in “diarrhoeatic” state. And social bonds among different communities are fast evaporating.

From being a melting pot that once we boasted about, we have soured the broth in every aspect. The ordinary man-on-the-street is merely being entertained with a very heavy price for the ticket.

A movie that has gone terribly wrong and twisted; from its original script. The founding fathers of Malaysia had a different dream and trajectory for the nation.

The audience is being short-changed blatantly and the irony is that there are no refunds for bad movies. Once taken its gone.

Self-claimed movie critic

Of late we have abundant of self acclaimed “movie” critics. Some are constructive and sincere in realigning the story line but some are clearly tainted with ulterior motives.

A good director needs the backing of financially savvy producer, cameraman, light man, dance choreographer; fight coordinator, an effective security around its shooting location, singers and above all a splendid editing team.

Looks like there is an acute need to fill all this vacancies in our movie before it goes nightmarishly wrong that may fit only for theatres in Timbuktoo!

To avoid boredom and mundane story line, there is now a sudden resurrection of Tun, the previous Godfather, as Amitabh did in “Sarkar” (political overlord).

Whipping out his razor sharp writing and oratory maneuvering, Tun just craves to be part of the silver screen again. Plainly put, he is disgusted to the core with the current lead actors and co stars.

His philosophy of a movie is out of the world which befits alien nations. The director, producer, financiar, hero, comedian, composer, lyricists and singer must be a one man show. Only then you can hold the audience long enough to be glued to their chairs.

Tickets are priced for premium four dimension cinemas and honey-laced popcorn comes free; far more during festivities.

No doubt, Tun won mountain full of Oscars and accolades not only locally but universally too for being the avatar for 22 years or so. Nevertheless in his movies, there was never a place for heroines unlike today and he practiced zero tolerance on issues that were not straight sexually.

The making of a new movie is always easier but undoing and retaking a messed and ruffled reel is a daunting task.

We shall wait the “awakening” of the new making. Notwithstanding the downgrading of our masterpiece in acclaimed academies, even sleeping beauty is jumping wagon from Hollywood to get the feel of the happenings.

Silence in no longer bliss. Revealing interviews with sensational intertwining stories that got shelved many years are now resurfacing.

The battle is eagerly being anticipated between “Sarkar” and “Sleeping Beauty”. It may well be known as the hybrid movie which can make or break our superhero if he continues keeping his vocal cords at rest.

Narinder Singh is a FMT team member.

Are we Bangsa Malaysia enough?

By Haris Ibrahim,

Pakatan Rakyat does not believe in BN’s racial politics emphasising an old agenda of “a Malay leader taking care of a Malay, a Chinese leader taking care of a Chinese and an Indian leader taking care of an Indian.”"Time has arrived for everyone to take care of everyone, regardless of race, religion and colour,” – YB Lim Guan Eng as reported in Malaysiakini.

______________________________________

On 14th May, 2007, I wrote this in my post ‘Bangsa Malaysia : Cyber Dream?’

Until ‘sons and daughters of Malaysia’ can truly mean each is a brother and sister one to the other who look out for each other at all times and not only when it is ‘safe’, those who continue to dominate us by the ‘divide and rule’, ‘Malays must have political power cos the Chinese hold the economy’ and ‘don’t you dare question our rights’ rethoric will continue to rule the day.

Until you are unable to sleep because there are brothers and sisters languishing as ISA detainees, poor and the impoverished, religiously persecuted, know then that your own desire for Bangsa Malaysia is only skin deep.

Until you are prepared to purge the racist and the apathy in you, Bangsa Malaysia will always remain a dream for you.

______________________________________________

For a long time, I have agonised over writing this piece to challenge my fellow Malaysians. Finally I said to myself – “what the heck? If I don’t do it now, I may not live long enough to see if they really care about the future of this beloved land”.

What better time to challenge my fellow citizens if not the approaching 50th year of nationhood. So here goes.

For too long, we have allowed to our own detriment a “cartel” of self-serving politicians and their coterie of entrepreneur buddies to set the agenda for this nation. They have moulded our thinking and controlled our thoughts, behaviour, responses and actions using the time-tested symbols of manipulation – race and religion!

We readily succumb to their clarion call to defend the race and religion and have fallen victims to our own comfort zone of categorising and stereotyping our fellow Malaysians along these lines. We, without a thought, consciously and sublimely succumb to grand generalisations and condemn our fellow beings based on these categories.

“All Malays are stupid, lazy and dependent on government handouts!”

“All Chinese are greedy, uncouth and are prone to using any means to accumulate wealth!”

“All Indians are dirty, untrustworthy and are prone to alcoholism and criminal activities!”

Unfortunately or fortunately depending on your worldview very little is heard by way of generalisations on Kadazans, Ibans, Dayaks, Melanaus and other minority Malaysians because we ,especially in Peninsular Malaysia, have rarely taken the trouble to know about, let alone understand our East Malaysian brethren.

God forbid, if and when we do so, I am sure some equally ridiculous generalisations will spew forth from our warped minds! And we will spew it with relative impunity with nary a thought!

Just for a moment reflect on these generalisations…..better still say it out aloud!

Can you honestly with a clear conscience say that you have no family member, relation, friend or associate of your so called “racial-religious tribe” that is not stupid, lazy, greedy, uncouth, dirty or untrustworthy? If you can I would really like to meet you and your pure tribe! You really must be specially selected by the Creator.

Have you not ever come across Malays that are intelligent and industrious and self-reliant; Chinese that are generous, civilised and not wealthy; or Indians that are clean, trustworthy and “teetotallers”?

What about the Malay cardiac surgeon who did a triple by-pass on your father and saved his life? What about the Chinese hawker who donated his day’s entire earnings for the tsunami disaster victims? What about the Indian who donated his kidney to save your cousin?

Have you not ever come across, heard of, or befriended a fellow citizen of the “other” tribe who was kind, considerate, generous, moderate, rational and objective etc.

Surely you have but you would in all probability have rationalised it as he or she is “different” because….. You would have subconsciously enumerated a host of reasons not to “upset” your comfortable worldview.

So why do you do it? Because it is so easy when you stereotype and rationalise your way through life using tribal categories. You don’t have to think and waste your precious brain cells. It makes you feel secure. It gives you a warm feeling of oneness, ownership and identity with the ilk of your tribe.

You reinforce your ignorance with equally ignoramus tribe members and everything is honky-dory! The bonding feels good! You feel great wallowing in your misplaced tribal pride.

And of course the cartel has ensured that you continue to muddle along this way because they will always benefit from this tribal mindset. Ah! But have you for a moment reflected on what the cartel does to control and reinforce your thoughts and actions.

Consider these “symbols” of thought control and manipulation so creatively used by the cartel:-

“Bangsa Malaysia versus Ketuanan Melayu”

“Perpaduan Negara versus Perpaduan Ummah”

“Malaysian Malaysia versus NEP”

“Secular State versus Islamic State”

“Bahasa Malaysia versus Bahasa Melayu”

“Bumiputra versus Non-Bumiputra”

“Constitutional Liberties versus Social Contract”

Think! How many times have you fallen for these Machiavellian machinations?

Worse still how many times have you used them to achieve your own ends?

Did you really feel good about yourself?

Did not an “inner voice” say something to prick you?

Of course it did, but you rationalised it anyway!

So my fellow citizens the buck stops with you!

You and only you, can do something about breaking the shackles of tribal group think!

And this 50th Merdeka will be truly meaningful if you take the first step to liberate your mind from the insidious control of the cartel and your respective tribes.

I challenge you not to meekly accept your tribe’s group think and let the cartel’s agenda hijack your mind! Pledge that from this day on – to rephrase Martin Luther King – “I will not judge my fellow Malaysians by the colour of their skin or their religious affiliation but by the strength of their character and the courage of their conviction”.

This Merdeka Day commit to beginning the process to really take charge of your thought processes. Once you have sorted out the obvious “inequities” in your mind, move out of your comfort zone and go forth to “liberate” your family, relatives, friends and tribal members.

And Oh Yes! – don’t forget your fellow Malaysians. They are waiting to bond with you and discover the true meaning of nationhood! – Jayanath Appudurai

Did Malaysia mature when we were not looking?

Ooi Kee Beng - The Malaysian Insider

OCT 31 — The flurry of Malay organisations making the news in Malaysia bodes well for the country, whether or not these group together extreme rightists, opposition voices, concerned students or professors, or green or human right activists.

The matter has now become too obvious to be denied, which is that the Malay community in Malaysia is like any other community anywhere in the world. Its collectiveness, like anyone else’s, is pragmatic and contingent. This is how it should be. They are not an entity whose extremely diverse and individual needs, thoughts and aspirations can be articulated through one single political party.

The myth is broken. What will take its place is a cacophony of noises or a symphony of tunes, depending on one’s politics and disposition.

That powerful party, Umno, is the oldest in the country, founded as it was just one year after the Second World War. It has dominated Malaysian politics to this day, but now rightly fears that it will lose power in the very near future.

When the party started, its slogan was “Hidup Melayu” — Long Live the Malays. Only after changing that to “Merdeka” in March 1951 did it begin to make serious headway into the popular consciousness.

From the very beginning, Malay political consciousness went in many directions. There were pan-Indonesianists, communists and other leftists, monarchists, Fabian socialists and republicans. The British, with their reputation lost through their defeat by the Japanese, favoured conservatives who were willing to work closely with the nine sultanates. This entity was Umno.

The amazing diversity found in the Malay community — as in all communities — was obvious from the onset. Those more concerned about religious values broke away to form PAS in 1951, while Umno itself split around the same time when its president, Onn Jaafar, left with his group of followers to form the Independence of Malaya Party (IMP).

Umno gained the upper hand through co-operation with the Malayan Chinese Association, formed at the instigation of the British to draw Chinese support away from the communists. This coalition managed to gain independence in 1957 for the country after its electoral successes saw the British abandoning the IMP, which they had favoured since its founding.

Even after 1969, when the so-called Malay agenda could be applied fully through the New Economic Policy, internal fighting continued within Umno, leading to outright splits in 1988 and 1998.

Today, when more and more Malays are urban and well educated, and make up an increasing portion of the population, the expression of diversity within that community — the breaking of the collective myth — should be seen as the coming into being of Malaysia’s modern citizen, largely determined by the Malays.

Opposition from other communities since 1969 has been generally weak, and based on the activism of certain individuals. The propaganda that had served Umno for so long, that the Malays are in danger of extinction, does not work anymore.

This became most obvious when the group Himpun recently demonstrated with a cry against purported Christian threats to Islam.

Despite the claim that a massive crowd of one million would turn up, the Umno government granted the permit. Only 5,000 people showed up, indicating quite clearly that Malays in general cannot relate to the old idle logic any longer.

The Malays continue to decide the national discourse, as they have done since the beginning. But most hearteningly, diversity is taken for granted, and a lot of activism is done in collaboration with non-Malays.

The Malaysian citizen has come into his and her own right.

There is no longer any doubt that the Malays will “hidup”; and Merdeka was won a long time ago. What seems to be the problem now is, how quickly will the death of the old myth mean the fall from power of Umno?

Instead of 1 Malaysia, Umno’s latest slogan, to be correctly reflective of the government’s concerns, should be “Hidup Pemimpin Umno” — Long Live Umno Leaders. — Today

Malaysia

Malaysia boasts one of south-east Asia's most vibrant economies, the fruit of decades of industrial growth and political stability.


Its multi-ethnic, multi-religious society encompasses a majority Muslim population in most of its states and an economically-powerful Chinese community.


Consisting of two regions separated by some 640 miles of the South China Sea, Malaysia is a federation of 13 states and three federal territories.


It is one of the region's key tourist destinations, offering excellent beaches and brilliant scenery. Dense rainforests in the eastern states of Sarawak and Sabah, on the island of Borneo, are a refuge for wildlife and tribal traditions.

Malaysia made the transformationfrom a farm-based economy

Ethnic Malays comprise some 60% of the population. Chinese constitute around 26%; Indians and indigenous peoples make up the rest. The communities coexist in relative harmony, although there is little racial interaction - and the overturning of a ban on the use of the word "Allah" by non-Muslims in December 2009 highlighted the religious divide in the country.


Although since 1971 Malays have benefited from positive discrimination in business, education and the civil service, ethnic Chinese continue to hold economic power and are the wealthiest community. The Malays remain the dominant group in politics while the Indians are among the poorest.


The country is among the world's biggest producers of computer disk drives, palm oil, rubber and timber. It has a state-controlled car maker, Proton, and tourism has considerable room for expansion.


Malaysia's economic prospects have been dented by the global economic downturn, which has hit export markets hard. In March 2009 the government unveiled a $16bn economic stimulus plan as it sought to stave off a deep recession.


The country also faces other serious challenges - politically, in the form of sustaining stability in the face of religious differences and the ethnic wealth gap, and, environmentally, in preserving its valuable forests.


Malaysia's human rights record has come in for international criticism. Internal security laws allow suspects to be detained without charge or trial.

Tunisia now, Tun-isia next?

(Malaysiakini) The Tunisian people's ousting of the hated Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali regime reminds all us opponents of criminal governments that it's high time to rid Malaysia of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his successors in the BN gang.

Seeing the Tun flying off to a well-deserved retirement in Saudi Arabia and his thieving, conniving successors, confederates and cronies out of office and on trial for their crimes against the nation would be a democrat's dream come true.

But admittedly it doesn't appear to be too likely any time soon. Malaysia missed what seemed a golden opportunity to rid itself of the Tun, Tunisia style, when so many citizens proved too confused, cautious or chicken to support the Reformasi movement back in the late 1990s.

Since then the survivors and successors of Mahathirism have had 10 extra years to continue their looting of the nation's wealth and corruption of its institutions, and the Tun himself has been around to help perpetuate his poisonous legacy.

And however many disappointments the Malaysian populace has suffered in this time; however many billions of public money squandered, embezzled, stolen and stashed away overseas; however many lives lost through police brutality; however many major crimes committed and condoned by the powers that be, the majority seem happy to keep copping it.

Or so it seems, as long as BN can still bribe and bully enough voters to support its candidates in buy-elections, as in the current 'contest' in Tenang.

So accustomed are Malaysians to atrocities committed against them by BN, apparently, that many or even most seem incapable of seeing the latest one as the final straw.

In Tunisia, the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back was the suicide by self-immolation of a young man unjustly targeted by the police. But in Malaysia, or, for the purposes of this column, Tun-isia, many if not most citizens seem content to tolerate a very similar case, the death of Teoh Beng Hock in MACC custody.

The finding by an 18-month coroner's enquiry that Teoh's suspicious death was “neither suicide nor homicide” has apparently inspired no particular protest by the nation's lawyers, or any outpouring of popular outrage on the streets or in polling stations.

Similarly, the victimisation of senior journalist and National Union of Journalists president Hata Wahari, though no doubt privately decried by many, brought not a murmur of public protest from his colleagues in the mainstream press, let alone a public march or industrial strike in his support.

And when it comes to protesting against the outrageously racist and religionist antics of BN-sponsored 'newspaper' Utusan Malaysia and Malay-supremacist pressure-group Perkasa, moderate Malaysians are rendered silent by BN threats of a repeat of the deadly riots of May 13.

They forget, or fail to recall, that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak is the son of Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, the man who allegedly fomented the events of May 13, 1969 for the purpose of deposing and replacing Malaysia's founding premier Tunku Abdul Rahman.

And in any event, let's face it, BN's so-called law enforcers have been waging a gradual or slow-motion May 13 for years, in the process killing far more non-Malay detainees and 'suspects' than there were casualties in the original riots.

Expectations check
Another of the killings that stands out as justifying a Tunisia-style popular revolt against Malaysia's Tun-isian BN government, is that of the murder of Mongolian translator Altantuya Shaariibuu.

This case was and remains riddled with so many glaring mysteries and inconsistencies that it would have destroyed any even marginally-respectable ruling coalition.

From the official pre-trial declaration that there were definitely only three suspects involved, through the unexplained erasure of the victim's immigration records to Najib's swearing on the Quran that he had no knowledge of or involvement in the crime, the entire affair was a national and international outrage.

But far from spelling doom to Tun-isia - or should that really be Tun-Asia? - this monumental scandal didn't even deter the Tun from supporting Najib as the replacement for his hand-picked successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

So, all things considered, I and my fellow political optimists shouldn't get our hopes up too much that the revolution in Tunisia will have any marked effect on the situation in Tun's Malaysia.

In fact, far from revolution or even evolution, the nation seems hell-bent on a process of devolution. It is sinking slowly but surely down the corruption rankings, while rising to the heights in illicit financial outflows.

And from this week it looks set to sink still lower in the media-freedom stakes, with the pending announcement by Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein on new Internet sedition guidelines.

Unfortunately the deadline for this column won't wait for the big announcement. But going by BN's previous record of bringing the charge of sedition against its critics, notably the self-exiled Raja Petra Kamarudin, it won't be good news for us virtual BN-bashers.

Opposition to BN is not sedition, of course, as BN is just the coalition of parties in government, and not the system of government itself. In fact the BN regime itself is seditious, in that it works tirelessly to corrupt and undermine Malaysia's constitution, while its critics only want it out and respectable government restored.

In other words, the loyal Malaysian opposition and its supporters are calling for the repeal of seditious laws like the Internal Security Act and the Printing Presses and Publications Act, and the cessation of 'soditious' activities like the trial of Anwar Ibrahim on a trumped-up charge.

Or, better still, the Tunisia-style removal of Mahathir and his entire coterie of BN colleagues and cronies.

DEAN JOHNS, after many years in Asia, currently lives with his Malaysian-born wife and daughter in Sydney, where he mentors creative writing groups. Already published in Kuala Lumpur is a third collection of his columns for Malaysiakini, following earlier collections 'Mad about Malaysia' and 'Even Madder about Malaysia'.

Najib should seriously implement 20-Points Agreement on Borneonisation by setting target to fill at least half of 59 Federal departments in Sabah with Sabahans as heads before the next Malaysia Day on September 16, 2011

By Lim Kit Siang,

Sabahans are disappointed that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has come to Sabah completely empty-handed for the first Malaysia Day national public holiday in 47 years.

This makes a complete mockery of the belated recognition of the importance and significance of September 16 as Malaysia Day in the history of Malaysian nation-building process, which involves the rightful place of Sabahans and Sarawakians in the Malaysian scheme of things.

If not for People’s Power as represented by the emergence of Pakatan Rakyat, Malaysia Day on September 16 would not have been declared a national public holiday by the Prime Minister even after 47 years!

This is why the people of Sabah and Sarawak do not want to see the declaration of Malaysia Day as a national public holiday as a mere political ploy but want it to symbolize a belated recognition by and wake-up call for the Federal Government after 47 years to take seriously and address full-heartedly the frustrations, grievances and alienations suffered by Sabahans and Sarawakians for three generations at not being given full and fair treatment as Malaysian citizens – by removing once and for all the nagging sense felt by Sabahans and Sarawakians that they are not accorded recognition and rights as first-class citizens of Malaysia.

This is why Sabahans and Sarawakians expect more than having Malaysia Day declared as a national public holiday – why Sabahans expect Najib to come to Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan on the occasion of Malaysia Day to announce concrete measures how the Barisan Nasional Federal Government proposes to begin to address and resolve their 47-year-old grievances, frustrations and disaffections at not being given fair and proper treatment under the Malaysian sun.

For a start, how does Najib propose to fully implement the Twenty-Point Agreement which was the “magna carta” for Sabah in 1963 to join hands with Sarawak, Malaya and Singapore to establish the new nation and federation of Malaysia.

Yesterday, the Sabah press carried headlines like “Sabahans losing patience over 20 Points – Maijol”, quoting United Pasokmomogun Kadazan Dusun Murut Organisation (UPKO) vice president Senator Datuk Maijol Mahap declaring that “Sabahans are fed up with the Federal Government’s failure to fulfill what have been promised in the 20 Points Agreement”.

Maijol said: “Even after 47 years of being part of Malaysia, they are still waiting for the time when the 20 Points Agreement will be fully fulfilled.”

The minimum Sabahans had expected from Najib on his visit to Sabah to celebrate Malaysia Day as the first national public holiday is an acknowledgement and commitment by him as Prime Minister to fully implement the 20 Points Agreement.

This was also why at my arrival media conference in Kota Kinabalu yesterday morning and at the historic launching of Pakatan Rakyat Sabah last night, I had recommended to the Prime Minister the idea of a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Twenty Points Agreement to assess their success, shortfalls and failures so that all the 20 Points can be fully implemented.

Unfortunately, my proposal has been ignored and the hopes of Sabahans and Sarawakians that their 47-year-old grievances and discontents will at last be addressed have been dashed with Najib coming to Sabah completely empty-handed.

Najib should make immediate amends for this serious omission by tabling the full implementation of the 20 Points Agreement as the first item of business at the Cabinet meeting next Wednesday, putting on the Cabinet agenda the proposal for the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the 20 Points Agreement.

One of the Twenty Points Agreement referred to a “proper Ministerial system in North Borneo”.

This commitment for a “proper Ministerial system” in the 1963 Twenty Points (the Great Charter of Sabah) had clearly been violated in the past 47 years or we would have seen a fair distribution of the state’s wealth and resources among Sabahans and not the abnormality firstly of Sabah which started as one of the richest states in Malaysia deteriorating to be one of the poorest states after 47 years; and secondly, the emergence of a coterie of new rich revolving around the Chief Minister or ex-Chief Ministers and ex-state ministers and their cronies while the overwhelming majority of Sabahans remain poor.

Let the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the 20 Points conduct a full and comprehensive investigation into nearly five decades of misrule, corruption and gross abuse of power in the state which negated and nullified the pledge of the Sabah Magna Carta for “a proper Ministerial system” in Sabah.

Another Twenty-Point pledge is Borneaisation, which stipulated: “Borneanisation of the public service should proceed as quickly as possible.”

What has the Barisan Nasional Federal Government to show for “Borneanisation” of the public service in Sabah after 47 years?
I understand that out of 59 Federal departments, only five are headed by Sabahans. Over 80 per cent of school heads in the education department in Sabah are filled by officers from Peninsular Malaysia, which is clearly against the spirit and letter of the Twenty-Points on Borneanisation after 47 years.

I call on Najib to seriously and immediately implement the Twenty-Point Agreement on Borneonisation by setting the target to fill at least half of 59 Federal departments in Sabah with Sabahans as heads before the next Malaysia Day on September 16, 2011.

Najib should table this target at the Cabinet meeting next Wednesday to demonstrate that his administration is serious in wanting to address the 47-year grievances, frustrations and discontents of Sabahans and Sarawakians – making the first Malaysia Day as a national public holiday really worthwhile and meaningful.

(Speech at Malam Pakatan Rakykat Beaufort organized by DAP Beaufort on Thursday, 16th September 2010 at 10 pm)

More youth taking ownership of Malaysia's future

By Stephanie Sta Maria - Free Malaysia Today

KUALA LUMPUR: More youth are gradually stepping forward as torch bearers of the country's future. One sign of this was at the Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia's (SABM) first anniversary event yesterday. According to SABM's core group member, Haris Ibrahim, the non-partisan movement is more youth-driven than when it was launched last September. The youth made up almost half of the 70-odd crowd and also dominated the speeches and performances.

“SABM attracted the oldies back when it was first launched,” Haris recalled with a laugh. “But I think the baton is being passed on to the younger generation.”

He explained that SABM's interaction with the youth revealed that they were not disenchanted with Malaysia but simply with its brand of politics.

“They were initially very cynical of SABM's message of One People, One Nation,” he said. “But they evevntually realised that we old fogeys are equally disenchanted and very sorry for the state in which we've left the country for them. So they have now come on board to help us take our message forward.”

'Change inevitable'
PJ Utara MP Tony Pua, who was there with his young daughter, expressed surprise at the youthful crowd gathered there.

“These are the faces you would expect to see in a trendy mall, not in a politically aware crowd,” he said. “So it was a very pleasant surprise and it just goes to show that the youth are preparing themselves to own their country.”

“We are more globalised today,” he added. “And change is inevitable. But it's the speed of change that is questionable.”

According to Haris, SABM's next initiative is to take its message to more youth and also the older generation in the hinterland.

As a start, SABM invited political parties from both sides of the divide to engage in a dialogue to see if they would open up their networks to help it get its message across.

“We received a response from Pakatan Rakyat, Parti Socialis Malaysia and Human Rights Party,” Haris said. “We heard nothing from BN so we assume that it believes the 1Malaysia concept is sufficient. But we're ready to work with political parties because this is the shortest way towards unity.”

Islam as politics in Malaysia

Issues of political Islam - somewhere between "Western sexy" on the one hand, and jihadi terror on the other - are expected to weigh on Malaysia's national discourse.

By Simon Roughneen, Asia Times Online

Two years after canceling her last scheduled concert in the country, United States pop star Beyonce announced this month that she would perform in the Malaysian capital in late October. Her 2007 gig was canceled after the Pan Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) - a party that forms part of the opposition coalition - threatened protests. "We are against Western sexy performances. We don't think our people need that," said PAS spokesman Sabki Yusof at the time.

Beyonce's about-turn comes despite a raft of piety-tinged controversies in recent weeks, including the sharia law sentencing of a 32-year-old woman and an Indonesian national to six lashes for drinking alcohol in public. The government did an about-turn of its own, rescinding a ban on Muslims - who make up around 60% of the population - from attending a Black Eyed Peas concert in the capital Kuala Lumpur on September 26. That gig was part of a global series of events to mark the 250th anniversary of the founding of Irish beer giant Guinness.

While political Islam has recently gained traction and plenty of profile in Malaysia, there is no indication the trend could acquire the violent edge that marks counterparts in the Philippines, southern Thailand and parts of Indonesia. Some have noted that until recently, Southeast Asia's most wanted Islamist terrorist, Noordin Mohammed Top, was a Malaysian national. Noordin was killed in a shootout with Indonesia's counter-terrorism unit, Detachment 88, this month.

Issues of political Islam - somewhere between "Western sexy" on the one hand, and jihadi terror on the other - are expected to weigh on Malaysia's national discourse. The opposition PAS and ruling United National Malays Organization (UMNO) - the biggest party in the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition and long-time dominant force in national politics - are now competing in a sort of a sharia-promoting race-to-the bottom while trying to maintain alliances with their wary political allies, including moderate Muslim Malays, Christian Chinese, Hindu Malay-Indians and other secularists.

Malaysia's last elections, held in March 2008, made history by ending the BN's two-thirds parliamentary majority, which the coalition had maintained throughout Malaysia's post-independence history and ensured its dominance over the legislative process. The opposition, comprising the Chinese secular Democratic Action Party (DAP), PAS and opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's Keadilan party, won 82 seats in the 222-member parliament as well as control of five of Malaysia's 13 states, including Penang, which the BN coalition lost control of for the first time.

Anwar made a play to lure a group of BN parliamentarians representing the states of Sabah and Sarawak to cross over to the opposition and topple the UMNO-led government on September 16, 2008, the date marking the anniversary of when the neglected eastern states joined with peninsular Malaya to form Malaysia, in 1963. (Singapore seceded and became an independent country in 1965.)

That came and went without success, and since new Prime Minister Najib Razak took office in April this year, he has tried to claw back some of the lost electoral ground by making changes to the New Economic Policy (NEP), an affirmative action program implemented in 1970 to help Malays attain equal economic footing with more prosperous minority groups, but which many Malaysians feel has long been submerged in cronyism and graft.

Racial profiling

Earlier this month Lim Guan Eng, chief minister of Penang and DAP secretary general told the Financial Times, "There is a chance [of the opposition winning a parliamentary majority], but it is not going to be easy. It is probably harder under Najib than under Abdullah [Badawi]." UMNO has been making efforts to woo Indian and Chinese voters, with rumors circulating that it will try to bypass its traditional ethnic-based partners in BN and set up its own Indian and Chinese wings.

In a similar, if contradictory vein, many believe that UMNO is upping the sectarian ante by taking a page from PAS's political playbook and demonstrating more forcefully its shariah credentials, as seen in the lashes handed down for two beer guzzling Muslims. That strategy plays on a divide inside PAS between hardliners who want sharia prioritized and realist types who see the need to reach out to moderate Muslims - as well as Chinese and Indians - if PAS and the opposition coalition are to have any hope of ultimately displacing the BN at the next elections.

Still, the opposition coalition, known as Pakatan Rakyat (PKR), has been on something of a roll. Former UMNO minister Zaid Ibrahim recently switched sides and past Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA - the main Malay-Chinese member of the BN) leader Chua Jui Meng also defected. The PKR has taken seven out of eight by-elections held across the country, at both national and regional parliament levels, since the 2008 elections. Most recently, the PAS candidate took Permatang Pasir from the BN, a local constituency in Penang, and attracted significant Malay-Chinese support.

Malay-Chinese are the largest population group in Penang, and while support for PAS is likely just as much a vote against UMNO, PAS has previously acquired non-Malay, non-Muslim support in its own stronghold state Kelantan. Lena Leong is a politically-unaffiliated Penang-based partner at Zaid Ibrahim's law firm. She told Asia Times Online that, despite mutual wariness and apparent incompatibility, "PAS and DAP can hold together until the next election."

While the PKR faces a long and likely twisting road to the next elections, which must be held by 2013 but could be called earlier, UMNO and BN is struggling to make sense of a Malaysia where the new politics involves opinion-forming and issue-driving over the Internet, by using alternative news sites and blogs, and bypassing the often-deferential pro-UMNO print newspapers.

Former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad wrote on his blog three weeks ago that the BN was heading for "the rubbish heap of history" unless it upped its game. Sim Tze Tzin is a Keadilan member of the Penang state legislature and an advisor to opposition leader Anwar. He told Asia Times Online that "BN and UMNO has not changed, even if its leadership has. Najib's reforms are cosmetic and there is a lack of real substance."

Najib is currently promoting his "One Malaysia" unifying theme - which PKR claims is derivative of its own commitment to transcending ethnic and religious differences. At the same time, Najib maintains that UMNO is a genuinely Islamic party. Such contradictions, analysts note, echo the opposites-attract composition of the PKR's political alliance. Whether these contradictions can be maintained until the next polls, either within BN or across the entire country, remains to be seen.

Malaysia is changing and it's not clear to many that UMNO is keeping pace with shifting voter perceptions and behaviors.