It is sloganeering. Let there be no doubt.
The line between the political party running the government and the government has been so blurred over the years by design rather than by accident has allowed taxpayer money to be used to bolster the image of the political party. A DAP supporter may validly ask as to when did he give his permission for his money to be used to mislead the public.
This willl continue to happen under both UMNO-BN and a Pakatan government unless this nation building shit comes to a halt and laws introduced to prevent the use of public funds for political and partisan purposes.
“..hostile reactions which led me to conclude that the Age of Reason, at least in political terms, has bypassed Malaysia.”- Tunku Aziz
Yes YM, the Malaysian Age of Reason never existed. Sociocultural and politico-economic Enlightenment has never been a virtue of its half a decade long rule. The narrow racial and religious stereotyping has progressed to a stage of near irreconciablity.
Implementation of national policies that affect all and sundry are patchy or corrupted. The entitlement resnt seeking,sycophants or bodekers and bodoh-sombongs are too mired in their Lilliputan world view, pompous bureucracy and more often than not – interprete such policies as a means of extralegal self-enrichment.
Whatever we want to call it, 1 Malaysia or Malaysian Malaysia as elucidated by your goodself, requires a paragidm shift in mentality of all the major races, creed and denominations. We need to start at the Judiciary and law enforcement agencies.
Tribalism/ethnocentricity along with religious instrangency/fundamentalism, are the death of any on-going dialogue on nation building. I look askance at the knee jerk responses of the present government in hypocritical scale as never seen before. And i’m not talking only about the Feds, some of the PR ruled states are also exhibiting similar paranoid schizophrenic behavior.
While we should not compare Malaysia with the havoc the Referendrum in Sudan today is causing, are we in the process of descending into the abyss?
This will continue to happen under both UMNO-BN and a Pakatan government unless this nation building shit comes to a halt and laws introduced to prevent the use of public funds – Mr Bean
The law has nothing to do with it. Even the constitution is trashed by an incumbent govt and under UMNO-BN, it is done blatantly in the open. Najib takes pride in telling voters he is bribing them with tax payers money to get their votes.
PR govt would do the same.
A free media like that you have in your neck of the woods is the only answer. Media exposure of the corruption of the govt is the only way for Malaysia.
The election platform for the PR Coalition parties for the next GE is that when PR comes to govt, they will abolish the restrictive Publications Act with its annual licensing which is being used by govt of the day to suppress dissent and opposing views.
Malaysia mainstream media is as good as the Communist Chinese’s China Daily and Kim Jong Il’s North Korea’s newspaper.
“The law has nothing to do with it.” Frank
The law has nothing to do with it? The government spends millions of your hard earned money advertising a party slogan 1Malaysia, incessantly bombarding the minds of suspecting Malaysians 24/7 including young minds like that of your 12-year old grandson, to which they give only lip service, has nothing to do with the law? You disappoint me, Frank.
Just as gun laws have everything to do with the wounding a U.S. Congresswoman and killing of others this morning over here in Tucson, Arizona. Here is a 22-yearl old young man who announced he had a Glock automatic. It is legal over here to own a gun for your protection. It sure didn’t look like he was protecting himself when the shooter, in a killing spree this morning, shot dead five people and wounding fourteen others within a matter of minutes.
In Malaysia are there laws in force being implemented today that would prevent the illegal use of taxpayer money in the way of TV advertisement, billboards and whatever else, disguised as TV ads from the Ministry of Information? This has been happening for years and years. Attention of Malaysians is drawn from time to time mostly during the heat of general elections by the opposition; and when the ruling political party wants to silence dissent among civil servants over its policies by alleging the misuse of state resources. We have seen how a senior cop was accused of taking to the air in a government plane so he could enjoy the coastline as the sun was setting.
It is time the government be made to answer for its misuse of public funds for partisan purposes disguised as government disseminating information to the public. Don’t you think?
“Malaysian first is no better than 1Malaysia unless we are willing to make a commitment to subordinate our natural instincts to ……submit ourselves to the higher and nobler cause and demands for a 1Malaysian Malaysia” Tunku Aziz
This is the fundamental flaw as most are still unsure of the meaning of the catchword. How are we to submit ourselves to a higher and nobler cause when the whole 1Malaysia concept is just a slogan coined to fool the rakyat.
Fifty years of BN rule has achieved little in terms of racial integration. What’s on top of the coalition’s agenda is political survival while to the Umnoputras and the royalty, it’s about making more money on the sidelines.
The rakyat have been duped big time.
Education without freedom of speech is just training. The essence of education is the freedom of speech without which our uiversities are nothing but one massive production line turning out slaves, prisoners to their own thoughts, free to propagate and perpetuate the very conditions which have enslaved us. For what?? For a well paid job constructing bridges with the same structural flaws because we are afraid to ask and challenge those who teach us.
We are told to accept the concept of 1Malaysia however defined and not address the issues that lead us to ask the question in the first place.
Thus , steps taken from now onwards will determine how far Prime minister Najib’s 1 Malaysia ideology will go and where it will eventually end up . If there were anything in need of ratification in pursuing the 1 Malaysia philosophy than obviously this would be to first address the biggest stumbling block which is the total decline in social capital – the experiences people gain in working together in community groups . Lest we forget , lessons about compromise, accommodation, and participation are important building blocks for democracy. Pushing for a high level of civic engagement , a healthy level of voluntary and charitable engagement are the essence to making our communities and nation better.
Let me make a public declaration of my status in view of the continuing debate on whether a person is Chinese, Malay, Indian, or whatever our race, is first or Malaysian first. I am Malay in cultural terms just as a Chinese cannot be anything but Chinese culturally. Malaysian is a political term and has nothing to do with any culture because you cannot by any stretch of the imagination claim that there is a Malaysian cultural tradition. There is none. – Tunku Aziz
The British colonizers credited for having left behind the Westminster form of democracy to their successors witting or unwittingly had left yet another one of their legacies , a damning legacy , that of the art of divide and rule. A tyrannical feature to have been passed down which in due course turned into an obsession, An obsession which has left its mark and have since shown no signs of going away.
The present crop of successors ought to vary with varying circumstances , bearing in mind that hanging on to a past , which in part is dysfunctional to the present and in many ways irrelevant to the future.The needs of the 21st century demand a leadership that is culturally sensitive and internationally focused , with an orientation towards the future rather than the past. Hence , until and unless policies deemed favoring a particular group is forgone , the country’s various communities will stay divided and without a more liberated democratic stance progress will be halted.
Leadership that’s culturally sensitive, danil?
Impossible! Requires them to be knowledgeable, temperate, self-controlled, forbearing, kind, loving, faithful, enduring and all those virtues of a saint.
What we can aspire for, are leaders who are able to to walk their “Talk”. To be able to speak from a ‘rostrum’ with the symbols of another faith. Culture is only one aspect, religion is another fundamental issue.
Can a Muslim speak in a church and a non-Muslim do vice versa in a mosque? Or is this being subverted by imbeciles with no grounding in common sense? It is said: “To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure.”
I see a great confusion amongst a majority of Malays, who can’t seem to separate their race, culture and religion, much less their political affiliation and economic entitlement.
Dear danildaud, :
That was why Tun Abd. Razak tried to undo the divide & rule of the British, by a very novel & sublime socio-economic philosophy of correcting the imbalances by eradicating economic functions by race. Yes, a briliant piece of social-economic engineering : it was a new extension on economic thoughts, and for that, if he had been a “white ” or westerner, he deserved & would have been a Nobel Peace Prize laurreaute ! WHY DID NOT MALAYSIA ( Govt ) PUSH FOR THAT ?
No, subsequent Govt wanted to cherish the divide & rule idea for their own selfish reasons which we know about & we are now angry.
Again, British came first via East India Co for commercial & trading purposes, but saw Communist uprising in place. The resultant victory of our combined forces, led the British to put in place the British Administration, of which they had the upper-hand. No doubt British policy vis a vis Asia was MORE Economic reasons, because Britain too was somewhat impoverished during 18th to 19th century era. So, one cannot blame them for relying heavily on Chinese industry & reselience in commerce & trading…( we could go on & on on this ) It was pure economic pragmatism. IT IS OUR PEOPLE WHO ABUSED IT !
No, I loathe to say this again : As with all those things, when Britain had already successfully built the underground system beneath the River Thames ( approx 160 years ), in Malaya then, our communications-system, roads for example, were earthen roads in mud & slosh, literally….So the British built them too !
I mean, sometimes we have to take things philosophically viz : Air will occupy space & water will fill itself in vacuums , by the law of nature !
Leadership that’s culturally sensitive, danil?
Impossible! Requires them to be knowledgeable, temperate, self-controlled, forbearing, kind, loving, faithful, enduring and all those virtues of a saint.- Menyalak-er
I spend a a considerable amount of time in jungles and on islands . You’ll be amazed of what nature could teach us. I have come across happenings in the wild that if i were to speak about would in all probability draw laughter from the ones listening. And this has happened on numerous occasions . Some even went as far as suggesting its all a sick joke and that i was insulting their better judgment. Like for instance , a tale of a tame domesticated monkey whose owner felt pitiful of , decided to released it on an island expecting it to join the troop of monkeys wandering wild on the island. What happened soon after was to the surprised of those who witnessed this rare feat. The poor creature was attacked and was rejected outright by members of its on species. The most heartening incident to it is – the monkey miraculously managed to befriend the islands warden’s dog which was kept there in the first place to chase the other monkeys from entering the wardens quarters. The spectacle of the monkey wearing a cowboy hat(courtesy of the warden) riding on the dogs back while the dog caught fish at the islands shores which it shared with the monkey was phenomenal to say the least.
Alright enough of monkeys. This is my 2cents worth:
I am a jungle person so don’t take me for being anything more than that. You were saying the country was lacking a leader nor anyone else with the potential of being a leader that every race or creed could count-on as a person or persons endowed with the craft of masterfully exhibiting affectionate tendencies towards all communities of the country. I have to go with you on this one if you are referring to the narrow mindedness and parochial mindsets of Malayans. Naah! i take it back .
While being affectionately caring towards mankind is a trait best reserved for man of god ie.Pastor or a Muslim imam with a more liberated hindsight.Politicians on the other hand are preachers of worldly matters so deceitfulness and non committal aspects of their hype policies and sloganeering , pussyfooting if you like or outright bullshit on their part are expected and stand as good a reason for us to show them the exit doors come each GE.
That said , if we were to look at fairness and just as traits sought after in Governance than who best can fill this gap. And where would we place Malays the likes of Din Merican , Tok Cik , Semper Fi & Bean (two American Malays) , and a Chinese like yourself or Frank whatever he is , in the equation.
I mean, sometimes we have to take things philosophically – Abnizar7
William The Conqueror will tell you “I came , i saw , i conquered” .
The British Empire had a much benign way of telling of their coming . Tending to exert a beneficial influence on the people they conquered. That was after they went to their pompous aristocrats and spoke about the 3Gs – Gospel , Glory and Gold
In more recent times , When interviewed , the then American First Lady Mrs. Bush said the best byproduct of ousting the Taliban from Afghanistan was the liberation of Afghan women. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the same thing when asked what the U.S. achieved in its war in Afghanistan.
So philosophically speaking , If the liberation of Arab women was so important to the Bush administration, then why did the United States not invade Saudi Arabia?
January 8, 2011
A Gun for Hire I am NOT
One of the crucial qualifications required of a politician, even one subsisting on the fringe of the magic circle such as I, is a capacity to develop a thick hide, quickly, to absorb, withstand and endure cheerfully the innuendos, aspersions and imputations of improper motives, that will assuredly come his way whatever he does, says or writes.Although I am much the same person that I was before I made a conscious personal decision to throw in my lot with the DAP, I am today viewed with a degree of suspicion.
Some of my readers believe that I write as a party propagandist, yet others are of the view that I should refrain from commenting on the shortcomings of the Pakatan Rakyat, and worse, I should not say anything that might cast a shadow on my own party image.
I write as an independent columnist and comment on issues of the day as I see them, motivated not by sycophancy, as accused by a New Straits Times leader writer and others of his ilk or out of a misguided sense of loyalty to my own party, no matter what.
I despise anything that smacks of the putrid odour of decaying doctrinaire with its cultivated blindness to the importance of critical thinking. I am not a party political spin doctor. For that you must turn to APCO.
Last week when my article on the ban imposed by the Selangor state government on the use of the 1Malaysia logo on advertising material, I was inundated with hostile reactions which led me to conclude that the Age of Reason, at least in political terms, has bypassed Malaysia. “My party right or wrong” must have no place in the larger reckoning of our plan for Malaysia.
As for airing my party sensitive criticisms “through proper channels”, my detractors need to be reminded that I comment as an independent writer, and not as a party hack.
My own stand on 1Malaysia is on record. I have opposed it from day one, not because it had come out of the fertile imagination of Najib, or out of a strong uncontrollable doctrinal madness to oppose it for its own sake, but I did not believe that without his spelling out the social, political and economic policy underpinnings, it could amount to anything at all. He has not succeeded in convincing anyone that at the core of 1Malaysia is equal opportunity for all.
1Malaysia is not altogether without any virtue: racial unity is a perfectly honourable and desirable aspiration, but what we are waiting to hear from Najib is his elucidation in the clearest possible terms how he proposes to shift 1Malaysia from the aspirational to the practical.
For me, on the basis of what Najib has articulated so far, 1Malaysia must perforce remain in the realm of sloganeering.On the level of the abstract, 1Malaysia is fine, but after more than a half-century of Merdeka, let us get to grips with what we all really want in the long term to ensure the sustainability of our multiracial society.
1Malaysia as 1Malaysian Malaysia offers a greater chance of success and will have the overwhelming support of all true Malaysians who regard Malaysia as their home and the object of their love and loyalty. It is a bold step to take now, and not committing to doing what is just and fair is not an option.
It is a brave new world out there and we must be in the mainstream of the new movement for progress, peace and prosperity grounded in basic principles of fairness, justice and equity for all the people of Malaysia. Without this commitment to social change, Malaysia will never be in a position to realise its full potential.
Let me make a public declaration of my status in view of the continuing debate on whether a person is Chinese, Malay, Indian, or whatever our race, is first or Malaysian first. I am Malay in cultural terms just as a Chinese cannot be anything but Chinese culturally. Malaysian is a political term and has nothing to do with any culture because you cannot by any stretch of the imagination claim that there is a Malaysian cultural tradition. There is none.
That having said, what is important is to do in our daily lives what is in the best interests of our country. Malaysian first is no better than 1Malaysia unless we are willing to make a commitment to subordinate our natural instincts to preserve our Malayness or Chineseness and submit ourselves to the higher and nobler cause and demands for a 1Malaysian Malaysia.
Therein lies the future of this great country. Are we up to the challenge?
