[Politikus] Happy 52nd Merdeka

Posted: 31 Aug 2009 04:33 AM PDT

NegaraKu

Let me wish all Malaysian Citizens a Happy 52nd Merdeka, most important, please drive home safely if you have travelled far during this long holiday season.

Also a warm Welcome to all foreign visitors and hope that Malaysia has given you a lasting impression that you may consider coming back to our beloved country again and again in the future.

Overheard in the kopitiam today, "I love my country, but does the Government love me?"

And overheard others throughout kopitiams around the nation:

1) 16As and no scholarship, whereas the dongoi who cant speak a full sentence of English goes to Medical School …

2) Cowhead March and no one detained – Peaceful Virgil and people get locked up …

3) Innocent reporter spent a day in ISA lock up!

And to echo Patrick Teoh (the long time DJ for Radio 4): "NIAMAH!"

Look East Policy

Posted: 31 Aug 2009 04:14 AM PDT

Is there a lesson to be learned?

Hatoyama's grandfather would have been proud of him. After a 30 year gap, the 3rd generation Hatoyama (Yukio) is now set to rule the country, a feat that his grandfather tried but did not manage to, years ago.

The rise of the Democratic Party of Japan's (DPJ) landslide victory over the weekend is nothing miraculous. It has not been producing anything significant since Taro Aso was declared the Prime Minister. But what Aso was trying hard to achieve, the DPJ was only smart enough to fan the anti-LDP sentiments and ride the wave of displeasure till it hits the voters right in the face. With a growing generation of aged population and crumbling Japanese economy, anything but LDP will be alright with the populace.

In the 80s and early part of 90s, former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad propagated the concept of Look East – meaning, we should learn from the more advance economies especially Japan for inspiration. We were told to work hard and imitate Japanese creativity in breaking-through our more traditional reliance on agriculture stock to expanding towards industrialisation.

Part of that was the culmination of the resolve to have our own automobile industry in the form of Proton. And in support of that, many more satelite industries were produced, all in the hope of helping to sustain Proton as a viable and eventually 'lead car producer' in South East Asia.

Now this article is not about what is now history to us, but I just want to reminiscent back on whether the Look East attitude is still in many of us. A seed that was germinated from 20 or more years ago. Fast forward to 2012(3), could this be the fate of BN also?

There's always a myth that 50 years is a magic number in any political cycle. India had a change of guards, Taiwan had it and now Japan. With Japan closest to our country in this purported political "tsunami" (Japan had a long history of undivided rule by a single Party/Coalition of 54 years, except for the short period of 10 months where there was a transfer of power) is somewhat an echo of our own democracy.

Today, we celebrate our 52 years of Merdeka, also 52 undivided years of rule by a single coalition.

Can we draw any parallel between what DPJ has achieved over the weekend with what Pakatan Rakyat is trying to achieve? Is there any lessons that we are still blinded by despite the results of 12GE-308. Has UMNO been sincere enough to look through the web of illusions that they have been relying on and start to make incremental and truthful changes.

Despite what the PM Najib is trying extremely hard to do, there are more in the backyard that needs to be cleaned up before we can see a return of faith with the BN. With most of the component parties experiencing internal turmoil – the Chinese fighting each other, most probably another episode of Chair Throwing will come soon, the Indians are not willing to remove a permanent human asset from their Party and smaller parties trying hard to find their foothold, we'll be lucky if Commander Adama (a.k.a. Najib) is able to pull off a successful Battlestar Galactica journey for us to the newfoundland.

In the end, we can say Japan is too remote an incident for us to draw any parallels and hide our head in the ground, but I fear that there are more similarities than differences between the two. Taking a hint from former Deputy Prime Minister Musa Hitam, what he alluded to today in Sinchew (31 Aug) is cause to raise an alarm. The hindsight that he provides tells us intimately that UMNO is still living on 'cloud nine' and that they believe that nothing can 'touch' them.

The experience that I have with my attempt to service my own constituency tells exactly the same story. The inability of local UMNO warlords in changing their approach and the arrogance of supremacy their exude everytime 'we' try to help the voters is a shining example of doom and end of the tunnel.

We can believe that Najib is capable of bringing the country and the nation forward, and I have no doubts about that, but what I fear most and afraid of seeing is that, in time to come, when Najib has charged far enough and he takes a look behind only to find 'numerals' behind him, while most other warlords and eunuchs are trying to compartmentalise their own influence over a vanishing dynasty. You have seen it in Russia (the Tsars), in China (the last Ching dynasty) and now in Japan – when are we going to learn?

I'll start believing (that change is possible) if anyone can quote me the next acronym after R.A.H.M.A.N.

[Politikus] Wither or Weather?

Wither or Weather?

Posted: 28 Aug 2009 07:34 PM PDT

Likely Unlikely!

I feel sad that an organisation as old as MCA (perhaps at last count, they celebrated their 60th anniversary) is now being saddled with its own internal problems that could perhaps, have been avoidable, had the President been not so adamant on having it his way.

Perhaps a maverick's journey will always begin with bravery and single-mindedness towards achieving its goal (whatever that goal is) but it will always end with disaster because to run a million strong organisation takes more than just strong-headedness, it takes more tact to keep it intact.

Ong Tee Keat has perhaps been the most vocal MCA politician in the last five years speaking out on issues that affects the rakyat. And I remember not too long ago, he went against Hishammuddin (Minister of Education then) and dug out all the abuse of funds with regards to a contractor over-charging and under-providing for a school's renovation that resulted in the collapse of part of the school premises. The row between him and Hisham made OTK a local hero and showed others that he dared to stand up against the Education Minister (at that time OTK was only a Deputy Minister).

Fast forward it 4 years later. He's now the Head of a major party within the ruling coalition. He's reached the top post of his party and can (in a way) do whatever he likes and however he likes with the fate of the party. It now rest on him to seriously take into consideration all facets involved when he is to decide on any major move within the party.

Decisions are hard to make, especially if it involves a million heads (ie. a million members). For every decision you take, there are at the very least 30% of the members who are not willing to even hear you out. And there are always another 20% more who will question you till the end on why certain actions are taken. On a normal Binomial Curve, you can't runaway from these folks who are sitting on the 'sigma' ends.

It is now time for OTK to seriously think about how he wants MCA to move forward. If I were to also draw a parallel between him and Najib (PM), then I would say both are in very precarious position now. With Najib on his toes every day to (1) help the nation grow by monitoring KPIs and KRAs, (2) keep the steam away from his screaming UMNO extremes at bay, (3) managing the feelings and sentiments of the component parties, (4) strategising every move against the Pakatan coalition, I believe every day is both a joy and a pain in the … for the PM. He could have asked himself, what the hoot am I doing all this when the rakyat is not appreciative of it at all.

On the other hand, for OTK, he is right in being a maverick in his own Ministry, by exposing all its irregularities vis a vis the latest PKFZ wrongdoings (and many more), but that is not the way to expose 'your' own party. One does not go all the way to kill off an 'enemy' when the enemy is democratically elected by thousands of others. Its better to cold-storage than to receive the wrath of a strike-back.

As for now, OTK dugged his own pit and he has to haul himself out if he is to see the end of the daylight. With a billionaire hot on his pants and ranting about the missing 10 million, and internally facing a vote of no confidence, he better do something soon or else, it may turn ugly. In 2001, chairs were thrown in their AGM, what will be the 'mode of exchange' this round …

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