Judge, Jury and Executioner September 7, 2008
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I disagree with Pirated Victim (Shock over Puchong MP standing up for wanted criminals, The Star 7th September 2008). Pirated victim had been a victim of criminals and thus feels very strongly that any means could be used to eradicate criminals from our streets.
However, Pirated Victim must also understand that the police cannot be the judge, jury and executioner of criminals. The duty of the police is to investigate the crime, apprehend the suspect and the Deputy Public Prosecutor will prosecute that person in court. The suspect, as he is still not convicted will have a right to defend himself in court. Then only will the judge decide and the corrections institutions do their part if and when the suspect is sentenced. Only then is he guilty and becomes a convict.
This is the judicial process that we all must adhere to. The police cannot be given powers that allow them to kill criminal suspects. It is understandable that there will be casualties when a shoot-out happens. However, there are documented instances and empirical research that suggest the police have got it wrong when they have injured innocent people thinking they were highly wanted suspects.
The notion that the suspects are able to buy time through the wits of their lawyers is true but if the police had thoroughly investigated the case, produced all the sufficient evidence in court and had not made any technical errors, there would be no cause for concern. The police need more funds to get the high-tech equipments used by law enforcement agencies around the world and the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) needs to weed out the negative elements in the police force that help these criminals.
There are also many disturbing questions that all the other law enforcement agencies should look at. Why are there so many gun-related crimes in the last few years? Guns have never been a feature of criminal activities in Malaysia. How are these weapons being smuggled in? There have been many reports that illegal immigrants are committing these crimes. Why are these people still in the country? How did they get in? Where did they obtain the weapons?
Thus it is important in order to maintain law and order, that everyone involved behave professionally and ethically. We do not want to create a vigilante society that operates outside the scope of the law. The country cannot afford to have people taking the law into their own hands.
It is also important to note that everyone deserves to have the opportunity to defend themselves. This is the pillar of a comprehensive criminal justice system and the foundation of our believes in a truly democratic country.
The Fiasco November 14, 2007
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Last Saturday, a group of patriotic Malaysians gathered at the Dataran to make the march to see the Supreme Head of Malaysia, our DYMM Seri Paduka Baginda Yang Di-pertuan Agung. Their intentions were simple and humble. All they wanted was to hand in their petition of how they thought this country is being run and being sacrificed for the benefits of the fortunate few.
They requested for a permit but it was refused. They asked for protection from law and order, it was also refused. Instead, the entire machinery and governmental force was thrown at this innocent group of people just voicing out what they believed was their constitutional right under Art 10 of the Federal Constitution, the freedom of speech and association.
Once upon a time ago in our recent past, the son-in law of the highest commander in the land had sat and demonstrated with thousands of people when the U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice visited Malaysia. At that time no permits were requested or were questioned but the rally went on. Under Article 10 of the Federal Constitution, that was an illegal act but as usual, is not about whether you are the best candidate for the job but who you know in high places.
Being part of the business society that travels around the world, it is becoming very hard to defend the ridiculous behaviour of those in power. Logic and the art of politicking will tell you that the best way to control the situation on that fateful Saturday where the democracy of our nation was questioned is to award a permit permitting a said number of people to go and petition the His Majesty. They should be accorded police escort and protection.
This simple gesture would have stopped a lot of chaos and the saving of tax-payers money as there was no need for so many police personnel and tear gas being used. Why is the government so worried about the RAKYAT petitioning His Majesty if they have done nothing wrong and followed the principles that our forefathers followed when they were forming this nation of ours.
At the end of the day, the Agung cannot act by himself to change the wrong that has been going on. The Constitution clearly states that he must consult the Prime Minister on most matters of the state. However, by not granting a permit for a peaceful rally, the government has won itself condemnation and the creation of unnecessary chaos that could have easily been avoided. The world is changing, but the people in it is changing faster.
The State of GLCs September 18, 2007
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Last week I visited Singapore during a working vacation. I chanced upon an interview given by Tengku Mahaleel on Channel News Asia, a Media Corp news channel. He highlighted a few things during that interview.
The first was the reasons why he believed he should have been allowed to continue the job but we are not going to dwell on that. What surprised me was that when he left, he said Proton had cash in the tune of two billion ringgit. He says they now only have 300 million ringgit.
If what he says is true, then one must wonder where the cash has gone. Has it been used to purchase more rediculous entities like MV Agusta or for designing vehicles like Tiara and Juwara that were a disgrace and should have been scrapped at the design stage itself.
Or there could be one more possibility. The money has been used to line the pockets of the rich and powerful few while we suffer here with the burden of Proton being protected through high tariffs for foreign cars. If Proton has the quality in it’s products, then fair and good. However, their standards are well known and why should we the public suffer the burden.
If Tengku Mahaleel is right, then I hope Proton will come forward and let us know what happen to all that money and how do they propose to safe the national car industry. The people are now more knowledgeable and thus we demand more answers. This is just one industry involving a government linked company. I wonder what kind of worms are in the tins of other GLCs.
Then I hear the Deputy Prime Minister saying on national television that the government has given 14 billion ringgit in subsidies for petrol while Petronas has forked out 13 billion ringgit in subsidies.
I can understand when his Honourable DPM speaks of the government subsidies but as for the subsidies by Petronas, well we all know that they must pay for the exclusive right of finding and getting petrol out of this nation. Do we have to beg for what is rightfully ours? Even if the government has given all these subsidies, it is not from the coffers of their party but from the taxpayers money. They are only returning the wealth belonging to every single Malaysian i.e. the oil and soil belongs to all of us.
The government privatised many national bodies with the idea of making them more efficient and to better serve the public. However, due to their monopolistic situation, the public is still not getting what they deserve. The nature of monopolistic business is such that the consumer always gets a bad deal. The monopolistic situation even extents to private companies linked to the selected few.
The time is right for all to come clean. The road ahead may be a long one but if we start reforming now, maybe, just maybe we could achieve the dreams of our forefathers and live in a peaceful, modern and coherent society.
The Invisible Enemy August 30, 2007
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It is common knowledge that in all the wars that have been fought justly, there has always been some kind of rules of engagement. The boundaries of what can be done and cannot be done is the interpretation of the warring parties.
The trend now seems to be that all is fair in love and war. This means anything is acceptable when the war is on. However, what have we done about the political wars that go on and the invisible enemy that we fight?
We are just simple people trying to get a better deal for all in the country because the invisible enemy uses the powers that may be to manipulate and suppress us from the background. These group uses all kinds of tactics in order to stop the people from voicing out what they really feel.
If the invisible enemy thinks that by suppressing the freedom of speech that is guaranteed under the constitution will benefit the nation, I believe they are living in a different planet.
The problem the invisible enemy now faces is that there are voices that are invisible too. Before, they were hiding behind the curtain of the powers that may be, but today the fight is on and rules of engagement has changed too. Are they ready to come out of the closet and fight for what is just or just remain there, try to manipulate and eventually lose whatever they have been safeguarding so far.
This is a question of choice rather that force. The world is a smaller place now and the clock is slowly ticking towards changes that are inevitable. This country needs people on the forefront not those invisible enemies who undermine the entire Constitution and the political process by manipulating the system for their own ends.
At the end of the day, we Malaysians are people of faith regardless of what faith you believe in. One thing is for certain……there will be a judgement day and I hope to be on the right side of the path on that day. For the invisible enemy…..may god open your eyes before it’s too late.
The NEP July 27, 2007
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| Reviving the NEP: The great march backward? | | Print | |
| by Dr Dzulkifli Ahmad, PAS Research Centre
The debate on the NEP has again taken centre-stage in Malaysian politics. The opening session of the RTM’s ‘Debat Perdana’ hosted by Dato’ Johan Jaafar, now into its seventh season, witnessed the writer representing PAS, Dato’ Mukhriz Mahathir from the Umno Youth and the Member of Parliament of Muar, Razali Ibrahim slugging it out on the NEP; lively yet not as fiercely as some may have wanted. The ambience of the debate as usual, was naturally attributed to the moderator’s role. The writer, however has no qualms to admit that despite whatever others have to say about the moderator, he was quite gracious to the only Opposition panelist in that debate. Though he has had his fair share of the airtime, the writer still felt that a lot had not been amply debated, given the constraint of time. This piece aims at highlighting various issues that may have not been exhaustively propounded. Political Backdrop to the NEP Despite achieving independence in 1957, income disparity apparently worsened between 1957 and 1970, with the rich getting richer and the poor becoming poorer, especially among ethnic Malay Bumiputeras. The deteriorating socioeconomic disparity, largely a legacy of the British “Divide and Rule” tactic, came to be interpreted primarily in ethnic terms. While ethnic Malay Bumiputeras were suspicious of the Chinese economic hegemony to be responsible for Malay underdevelopment, ethnic Chinese conversely were accusing the Malay-dominated Alliance government of discriminating against them. Given that political backdrop, Malaysia’s New Economic Policy (NEP), was essentially a social interventionist policy, in response to the problem of poverty, unemployment and inter-ethnic economic imbalances that had emerged well before the racial riots of 13 May 1969. Like other nations around the world that practice ‘affirmative action’ , be they developed or developing countries, it is meant to correct the socio-economic imbalances or disparities. Quoting from the author though, “in too many countries, such policies have turned out to be ways of producing relatively minor benefits for a few and major problem for society as a whole”. While acknowledging the historical impact of the colonial rule, I wouldn’t however put all blame on the 13th May racial riot, as the underpinning rationale for the NEP, justifying it into a historical ‘bogey’ to be used expediently by politicians for ‘Malay Dominancy’ (read Umno hegemony). The actual cause of 13th May as indicated by analysts were multi-factorial, which included the notion of a ‘palace coup’- with greater military-police role, to marginalise the Tunku’s leadership seen as being too conciliatory toward the ubiquitous Chinese business community, by the Young Turks within Umno, led by the late Tun Razak. The latest writing on May 13th, based on declassified documents of the worst Malaysian riots, is perhaps more revealing and deserving of a critical reappraisal. NEP’s Broad Successes Recognised Understandably, the NEP had two-prong objectives, namely to ‘eradicate poverty regardless of race’ and to ‘restructure society through elimination of identification of race with economic function’. The overall aim was to achieve ‘national unity’ through ‘redistributive justice’. A noble objective indeed it was. For the record, the first Outline Perspective Plan (OPP) for 1970 -1990 was chalked out to identify medium and long-term targets designed to achieve the objectives of the NEP on the basis of sustained economic growth.Needless to say, the first prong of the poverty eradication objective received all round support and provided the legitimacy it both required and deserved. The NEP has arguably succeeded in reducing poverty in absolute terms. Absolute poverty within the Malay community was reduced dramatically from 65% in 1970 to less than 7% by 2000. Relative poverty however persists and is particularly evident in urban areas. The Malay-bumiputeras have now made a significant presence in all the various professional occupations. Success on this score must be duly credited to the NEP. NEP’s Relevency Question Reanswered When the first question was thrown at the writer in the debate about whether ‘the NEP is still relevant?’ he wasn’t able to cough up with a crispy and cogent answer. This would be how he would like to have it answered, given the second chance. NEP as a social development policy of the government was accorded a specific time-line. Implemented by the first OPP, it started in 1970 and should have ended by 1990. Few may be aware that the NEP was succeeded by the National Development Policy (NDP) with the subsequent OPP2 for 1991-2000 and later the National Vision Policy (NVP) with the OPP3, for the period covering 2001-2010. Hence we are in the regime or reign of the NVP. Bluntly put, NEP has in fact outlived its life-span, period. It was succeeded by the NDP and the NVP. Therefore, on the issue of its relevancy or otherwise, perhaps the answer is quite obvious, as it should have ended in 1990. But since the question has been raised, let’s further the debate to really dissect its success and failures and the various causal relationships. NEP – the Legitimating Ideology for Umno’s ‘Malay Supremacy’. It doesn’t take a political pundit to tell the nation that the NEP is the legitimating ideology for Umno’s hegemony and legitimacy, which they now find difficult to ‘wean off’. Yes, NEP has overstayed its welcome, but there has never been an official repudiation of the NEP, especially not by the ‘powers-that-be’. And incidentally, what is overriding and paramount to Umno’s elite consideration of the NEP, is of the issue of the 30 % ownership of the corporate equity as opposed to the twin-prong objectives of eradicating poverty and eliminating identification of race with economic functions. As far as the writer’s observation goes, it is the 30% rule for bumiputera participation that has ended in the ‘affirmative action’ being perceived, rightly or wrongly, as a ‘zero-sum’ policy that is working at the expense of other races. Although the NEP is premised on the projection of growth, hence in absolute terms, the redistribution should not be affecting the ownership of the various ethnic groups, the reality on the ground didn’t reflect that scenario. That claim must be fully verified through empirical studies. The insistence on Umno’s own underachievement hovering at 18.9% corporate equity of Malay-bumiputera too, despite others claiming to the contrary, is again mind-boggling and naturally smacks of their ’sinister’ motive. The measurement, to make it worse, is shrouded in mystery, ending in endless dispute between advocates and critics. Why Umno Failed To Achieve the 30% Corporate Equity and all? Despite reprimands against such practices, a lot of the bumiputera contractors were alleged to be mere rent-seekers (read cronies), spinning the contract out to non-bumiputeras in the infamous practice of Ali-Baba partnership. Time and again, the less eligible were alleged to be given such huge privatization contracts or concessionaires. Millions of ringgit were wasted in inflated prices that didn’t bring much value-added services and billions more spent, in bailing them out during their failures. The list is a very long one. This was grudgingly but honestly admitted by both Umno panelists. Thus Umno has come to admit that they have in fact bungled the opportunity to achieve the objective of 30 % corporate equity themselves. Hence the primary reason why the ‘redistribution strategy’ failed, is simply due to rampant nepotism, chronic inefficiencies, leakages and the unbridled practice of crony capitalism. The rent-seeking activities of a few politically-well-connected Umnoputras have unscrupulously denied the right of a bigger pool of genuinely deserving Malay entrepreneurs and corporate outfits, competing in a very tilted-playing-field within the Malay community. This is immensely regrettable and has become the greatest stumbling block to achieving the various targets of the NEP. The now infamous case of AP kingpins stands as a clear testimony to such subversion of an otherwise commendable ‘redistributive programme’. Reports of differential treatment based on political persuasion were widely acknowledged, as I’ve exemplified in the debate. IDR – The End of NEP? It is now common knowledge that bumiputera contractors (read Umnoputera) are given special preference (60% of the contracts) under the Ninth Malaysia Plan. This is another multi-billion ringgit developmental programme already launched. Already some mega ones have been rolled out through direct negotiation, sidelining the need for an open-tender system. However, no such ‘affirmative policy’ is recommended in the Iskandar Development Region (IDR) in South Johor. Tun Musa Hitam, a member of the advisory council of the IDR, on the contrary, is insisting for an exemption from the ‘affirmative policy’ of favouring bumiputeras in the hope of attracting foreign investors to the region. This has caused quite a mixed response and anxiety from the Malay constituency. Bridging the Yawning Income Divide Going by the UNHDP Report 2004 and after 37 years of NEP, Malaysia has become the worst country in income disparity between the rich and poor in Southeast Asia. The UNHDP Report 2004 shows that the richest 10% in Malaysia controls 38.4% of our economic income as compared to our poorest 10% controlling only 1.7%. The yawning disparity is widening by the day but the focus seems skewed to the objective of attaining the 30% Malay corporate equity. Amongst the races, the Malay suffers the greatest income disparity. The Gini Coefficient – which measures income inequalities – within the Malay community, had increased from 0.428 in 1990 to 0.4495 in 1997. There’s no further updated statistics on this.An ethnic approach in interventionist policy that doesn’t cut across the racial divide and not premised on genuine needs, is principally and fundamentally flawed. Giving handouts and continuing rent-seeking activities to non-deserving entities, be they bumiputera or non-bumiputera cronies and only adding cost without increasing value and quality to any economic activity, spell doom for the nation’s future, in the face of global competition. Continuing the affirmative action for the ’super rich Umnoputeras’ will eat badly into our national resources and produce deleterious knock-on effects on our nation’s integrity and competitiveness. Surely this cannot and must not be assumed forever. The already capable Malays, after 5 decades of post-independence, must no longer be beholden to an ‘affirmative mindset’ that entrapped them into an unrelenting ‘crutch mentality’ that will disallow them to be truly competent, competitive and enterprising. We must not repeat our mistakes. Otherwise, it will be ‘the Great March Backward’ for the nation.- ES |
Second Tsunami A reminder To Make The World A Better Place June 6, 2007
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As Appeared in The Star Newspaper on 20th July 2006
Mother Nature visited this part of the world again. The tragedy of the great tsunami still lingers fresh on everyone’s mind. The loss of many lives and the destruction of land and livestock had really shaken the world.
Have we learnt from the teaching of the devastation that took place on that faithful day in 2004 and the recent tragedy in Indonesia? It doesn’t seem so. We still take things for granted and live our lives as though there are many tomorrows waiting for us. The problem we face is one of procrastination. The attitude that there is always another day to do the work in hand has made many lose sight of the great importance of the sanctity of the human life. One great tsunami and there will be no tomorrow for many.
Moreover, many of us fail to realise the things that are important to us and let our lives pass us by. All of us wish to do something good for society and humanity but how many of us are actually doing it remains a grave reality. There are millions of charity organisations around the world helping the poor and the needy but are we doing our part by helping these organisations remain to be seen.
Help could be in many different forms, from monetary aid to physical labour work. It is the thought that counts. The mentality and culture must be changed in order for us to have a prosperous and happy world to share with others today and those of the future. If only every one of us puts in a little effort, the world could be a better place for all of us to live in.
It is said that charity begins at home. Let us be kind to our parents, siblings and friends. Help those in need. The world needs love and care not anger and war. Let the tsunami be a lesson to us so we can prepare ourselves now for a better future ahead.
