Pot calling the kettle black

A case of short memory or is it selective recollection. The full details are in the web edition of the sun of 23rd October 2006.

Extracts:

"Q: You said Malaysia has become a police state. Isn'’t is ironic because your critics said the same thing about your administration?
A: I never stopped people from making speeches. In 1987, when Tengku Razaleigh, Musa Hitam and Abdullah Ahmad Badawi challenged me, Abdullah remained as minister. They were travelling all over the country, campaigning with Umno branches and divisions and I never stopped them. But of course, Pak Lah now says he was stopped. Umno branches said they heard him when he came to talk. And I know because when I went to his area to speak, he came up on the stage and he spoke also. I never stopped him from speaking. I never stopped Tengku Razaleigh from speaking, which is why, although I was nominated by 86 divisions and Tengku Razaleigh was nominated by 37 divisions, I barely managed to win because of the intensive campaigning carried out by Tengku Razaleigh, Musa Hitam and Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. But now, I am not allowed to speak to anybody. I know I'’m speaking to the Press now. I know some media companies will make some kind of spin about this but fortunately for us that in my time, we have the Internet, so I would advise people to read the Internet and not these newspapers because they are all getting phone calls."

I never stopped people from making speeches??? Duh. ISA, Operasi Lalang, Printing Press Act.

"Q: It seems that you have made a terrible mistake in choosing the Prime Minister.
A: Well I have made a lot of mistakes. I chose people and they all turn against me. I'’m very bad, really. You know when people come to me and cry over something, I think, ya, he is sincere. Although they were stabbing me before, when they come I accept them back."

He is so sweet. Kind hearted. Others stab him in the back. Poor guy. Not that brilliant after all if his anointed successors have been suchdisappointmentent...

Singapore corrupt?

My suspicions about squeaky clean Singapore had some support when I saw this article in bloomberg of 11th October 2006.
Excerpts:

``Actually, Singapore's success came mostly from being the money laundering center for corrupt Indonesian businessmen and government officials,'' Xie, who was based in Hong Kong before leaving Morgan Stanley on Sept. 29, wrote in the e-mail. ``Indonesia has no money. So Singapore isn't doing well.'' ``To sustain its economy, Singapore is building casinos to attract corruption money from China,'' Xie said.

I wonder why someone who works with Morgan Stanley, a renowned international firm, would even speculate about such things. Has not Singapore always pride itself of being above board? Maybe their cover-up job is so good that everyone has been hoodwinked into thinking that what is said is true.
But looking at Indonesia for example, I could see that a certain marginalised group has benefited a lot from their business links with Singapore. When push comes to shove, as in the debacle after Suharto's fall, many seek an escape route to Singapore. It is well known that quite a number have big investments in the city state and vice versa. Maybe the long lasting Suharto regime was propped up by money from the island state. Who knows?

Question Time: The NEP quota hangover

This headline in theedgedaily of 9th October 2006 seems very apt with the current debate on the fate of the NEP. I was particularly struck by this paragraph:

"So why is this misinformation perpetrated? The simple answer would be that there are many bumiputeras, especially the politically connected, who will benefit by it - but not the large majority of bumiputeras, mind you. These bumiputeras are those who benefit from an allocation of bumiputera shares to them at concessional rates and the need to get bumiputera partners to bid for government projects and so on. Many well-connected and politically influential bumiputeras will be affected if the quota system was unwound. That explains a lot of things happening now, particularly the reluctance of the political leadership all this while to do anything about the quotas or to revise the way that it is measured so that it is meaningful. It also explains why former deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim supported the NEP when he was in government because he needed the support of those who benefit from it. Now, in opposition, that support becomes immaterial and he can call for the NEP to be abandoned. That would also explain why former Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB - a vehicle specifically set up under the NEP to enhance bumiputera equity ownership) chief executive officer Datuk Khalid Ibrahim now says the NEP could destroy the Malays because of the way it is structured to help only some bumiputeras and perpetuate inefficiency and patronage. And it also explains why young leaders such as Khairy Jamaludin, deputy head of Umno Youth, who was not even born when the NEP was implemented and of whom expectations were high that he would tread a more enlightened path given his youth and idealism, strongly defended the quota system."

These are the facts which those in power would never admit. As the article said, it is to the advantage of those in power to maintain the status quo ad infinitum. The have-nots will remain where they are now and any hopes of changing that situation will require a gargantuan effort from those in power. An enlightened power which the present administration does not seem to possess. Pity the meek and the downtrodden. Their fate in life???

Wherefore public transport

I was one of the thousands of commuters in Kuala Lumpur dependent on the light rail transport system affected by the system breakdown on Friday, 6th October 2006. This letter which appeared the next day in the Star sums up quite succintly how many feel about the system(?).

"Breakdown failure on operator’s part

FIRST-CLASS infrastructure, Third-World mentality. High-tech driverless Putra LRT, bottom-rung maintenance. It's sad.

Imagine this: Thousands of commuters during Friday morning rush hour. And the train system conveniently breaks down, again. Chaos results.

Are Malaysians surprised? No. That’s what makes the entire situation so wretched.

For the past five to six months, the LRT service has been disrupted about once a month. Every time it malfunctions, Putra staff will put up the sign “We are having an unavoidable technical problem”.

Many of us have travelled on the virtually trouble-free Singapore MRT.

It's simple. If you don’t maintain the trains, the system stalls.

I urge the Transport Minister to make the following changes:

1. Fire the top management in charge of Putra LRT. Constant system failure means failure on their part.

2. Fine the company RM1mil for every hour the LRT is down. It's a small sum to pay for delaying the thousands of people who would otherwise be working and contributing to the economy.

3. Display the LRT’s KPI. Show monthly statistics on system failure, late trains, Touch ’n Go breakdown, ticketing gate malfunction, air-conditioning failure in trains and stations. In this way, I'm sure Putra will do more to improve the system to save face.

4. Fire those who can’t meet these KPIs.

Drastic action is needed for a major change.

RADICALHOP,

Petaling Jaya."

I agree whole heartedly with the writer's suggestions but I doubt any of it will see the light of day any time soon. As it is, there will be an inquiry and it would be anyone's guess whether any action will be taken after that. The planners are never the ones who use the system. They are bureaucrats, pen pushers, cocooned in their air-conditioned offices dictating what is best for the rest of city. They must use the system too to see how viable or reliable it is in action. There is a huge difference between that lovely skecth on paper with reality.

Hope

An apt article appeared in thestar 30 October 2006 after the Chinese marginalisation statement by Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.
Those without connections will always suffer in this country as long as the ruling party continues with its present policy of giving the wealth largesse to just a select few. We are just continuing the old feudal system replete with masters and servants. That system seems to be the preferred choice of the ruling class to maintain the status quo. The only hope of a viable alternative government does not seem to have much hope of seeing the light of day in the immediate future. We are so used to the current political set-up that anything which differs from the norm might look so strange to the majority.
Whatever faults the current administration has, the bread and butter issues seems to be a top priority. But the present escalating cost of living is testing the patience of the common people. The opposition might be able to make some headway if they exploit this issue intelligently and gave a better solution than the present government. If people of this country are assured that they at least can make a decent living within the present economic conditions then maybe the other issues such as sharing equitably the economic cake and race relations can be tackled with more vigour.
We do hope the future will be better for the next generation of Malaysians.

Racial polarisation

It is always intriguing whenever the great doctor says his piece. An example appeared in the sun 28 September 2006. Part of his speech appeared in the article on the Second Congress of Leaders of Traditional Religions held in Astana, Kazakhstan on 12-13 September 2006.

The excerpt.

'It would be more effective for heads of religious institutions to convince world leaders to help remove the causes of terrorism, than trying to convince terror groups to stop their aggression. Former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, an invited speaker, said this when addressing delegates during the second day of the congress. Mahathir said:"Perhaps religious heads could persuade would-be terrorists not to blow up aircraft and their passengers but frankly, I do not think this will work." He said no matter who talks to them (terror groups), the pain will always be there and these people who threaten international security have no other means to fight their powerful enemies except via terror attacks. He said the anger and frustration of the Palestinian people have reached a stage where "rationality" is no longer possible. "Bereft of other weapons, they resort to blowing themselves up and killing innocent people," he said. Mahathir said the world must realise that the strategy of "out-terrorising" the terrorists by Israel and the United States is not working. "All that we see is an escalation in their counter-attacks and the whole world feels insecure and we are even being haunted by the fear of being blown out of the sky whenever we fly," he said. He called on religious heads to convince leaders of the countries against whom the attacks are directed to try and understand the problem and deal with the root causes. Later, in response to a question by theSun, Mahathir said the fervour of multi-cultural relations in Malaysia is the same as in Kazakhstan. "But, of course, there will be groups (in Malaysia) which will try to promote differences among the races but it is up to the majority to ensure that differences are settled in a proper way," he said. Asked what may have caused racial polarisation in the country and if it will grow to become a "painful thorn on the side" in later years, he said: "It is partly due to political reasons." "Because certain parties play up Islamic issues there will be a tendency for other parties to attempt to also make use of religion to seek'religious justification' by themselves." "In the process they might become more extreme and this will lead to the kind of problems we see among the people today," he said.'

I wonder which political party made the move to be more Islamic than its opposition. Did the leader forgot the decision he made to take into the party's fold an ex-student leader who was known to have strong support among the young and those aligned to the Islamic movement. The worsening polarisation we see in the country is in a way the result of policies implemented by the great doctor in his quest to achieve his vision of a developed Malaysia. He will never acknowledge that he had a part in the current predicament that we face. Not in his character to admit that he had made a mistake. Admitting one's mistake needs a bigger man. That man is not the doctor.