I did not do it last year or the year before.I am not inclined to do so this year either for I am suffering from a disease known as 'malangitis'. I just coined this word, so don't bother looking up the dictionary for its meaning.
It's from the word malang or bad luck or cursed in Malay. It inferssakit Ketuanan Melayu, thus the cursed Ketuanan Melayu disease. I am having the bad luck of suffering from the excesses of theKetuanan Melayu leadership as they run the country, so I won't be in a festive mood come Merdeka Day.
Apparently malangitis took root when the Malay leadership took absolute control over the running of the country after the May 13th 1969 debacle.
The Malays were like the proverbial hungry fishermen among other not-so-hungry ones.
The leaders meaningfully wanted to preserve the honour and dignity of the Malays by formulating and instituting policies that would catapult the Malays into the not-so-hungry fishermen category; into the Malaysian economic mainstream.
So they did what had been thought a wonderful idea - by giving the Malays a lot of fish. But of course for a limited period of twenty years, according to its architect, the second PM, Abdul Razak Hussein (right).
In other words by 1990 they wanted to see the Malays in control of thirty percent of the Malays from a very low two. We all know the name of the policy is the NEP.
But giving fish to a bunch of hungry fishermen has proven to be a short-sighted way of solving the problem. Better had they been given some materials like wood, some tools like axes, saws, nails, ropes, threads and such and teach them how to make boats and nets. They would soon be able to fish again! It's a sustainable solution so they won't be hungry ever again!
This would amount to changing a mindset, of jumping out of the paradigm box.
But changing the mindset is a tough exercise. It requires a good injection of technical knowledge, skill, ability and experience, and quite possibly involves a lot of sacrifice and hard work.
It takes a lot of time too, not to mention good old fashioned luck. More importantly perhaps, it takes a lot of mental attitude to want to jump out of the box, to change, in the first place. A quick fix might provide short term relief to a deep-seated problem but not sustainable long-term ones.
Stagnant level
Well, we all know that the targeted twenty years had passed by and Malay involvement in the economy had been, well, lacklustre - at 18.9 percent in 1990 and apparently at this stagnant level in around 2005 by the government's own admission. I am wondering what the figure is now.
And here came the first symptom of malangitis. In 1990 the leaders did not call the country's stakeholders (that's us) in the country to sit down, have a close look and analysis at the situation, and to come up with some fresh ways of going forward.
Had they done so, at this point they might discover the truth that the Malays might have the wish to change but have not got the mental and technical wherewithal, capability, and the courage to undertake painful sacrifices beyond just hard work. Appropriate plans and programmes would have been formulated.
But instead the leaders did not even have the intelligence to seek feedback. They went on doing exactly what they have been doing in the past twenty years: continue with the (already proven) ineffective quick fix. They gave the Malays more and more fish!
Since then and for two decades now, the country went into a tailspin.
Well, well. All modern pundits and philosophers say that we all must learn from our mistakes for if we don't we are bound to repeat it. And repeat it we have. We are now paying the price for our folly.
For a start democracy has become a dirty word. It used to be the system of government of the people by the people and for the people, but now to a system of government of BN, by Umno and for the Malays.
It used to be a system of rule of law but now it's rule by law (i.e. for private individuals). It used to be a system where justice and fairness is the norm, and where meritocracy is supreme.
Now it is a system of autocracy where cronyism and nepotism are rife.
The government prestige and reputation has reached new lows. Just witness the following comment expressed by a FairMind on a reportregarding the sudden presentation of a purported 'note' by the AG's Chambers in the Teoh Beng Hock case, which I take liberty to quote:
"In Malaysia, we have the immigration department obliterating Altantuya's (left) immigration records, the government hospital's doctor doctoring Kugan's post mortem record, the military covering up for the lost jet engine, the AG, PDRM and the MACC fabricating evidence for the powers-that-be, the judges acquitting the crooks and BN cronies, the customs close one eye on politicians and royalties, etc. Not only thieves and robbers are involved in dishonesty any more; in Malaysia even the government does it - yes, big time! Can we believe in the government any more?"
Belligerent tone
As a people, the Malays were becoming arrogant. Leaders like Ahmad Ismail are known to have said publicly that "If you don't the country, just leave". Others say something like "Don't test our patience", again on the principle of quick fix, albeit on a belligerent tone.
Others, many others, wave the kris menacingly in the air to dramatise and underscore their perceived grievances against the (more stable and rational) non-Malay population.
Meanwhile any and every Malay would make full use of the fact that the Malays are in control; they make full use of the might is right principle of government knowing that Big Brother is lending total support. Any and every article that smells of anti-government, anti-religion and anti-Agong sentiments would be declared 'seditious'.
As such a police report at the very least would be made against the author. Helen Ang suffers from this case when Perkasa Youth chief Arman Azhar Abu Hanifah launched a police report against her partly for expressing anti-Agong sentiments.
(But when Tun Mahathir Mohamad amended the constitution in an obvious anti-monarchy binge in 1993, well... that is ok; perhaps Perkasa was not yet around).
The imams or ulama too were becoming arrogant. They make the claim that this country is constitutionally an Islamic state (which it is not), and then force their archaic versions of Islamic values to well nigh everyone. Under this ambit suddenly S Banggarma (right), a Hindu from birth, found herself caged as a Muslim!
But at least she is still alive. Recently two unfortunate souls jumped out from the window of their respective apartments when the morality police came knocking; they were inside with their female partners. They died upon hitting ground several floors below.
The questions here are: is it justifiable for the morality police to be watchful over private morality? Are they not in some way culpable for any physical injury including death in their pursuit of upholding morality? I believe somehow that they are and at the very least an inquest should have been organised. In the event I did not detect any expression of remorse or regret on the part of the causers of these unfortunate loss of life.
The civil servants, another 'branch' of the Ketuanan Melayu leadership, too have their arrogance or misplaced philosophies.
Sidek Hassan (right), the chief secretary to the government said in a Malaysiakini interviewthat civil servants "have to be loyal" to the government of the day because "the government serves the people... the government have to be answerable to the people".
He is absolutely correct at this point.
But he added "And if the government thinks that the best way to serve (the people) is to do it in a certain way, as civil servants we follow what the government tells us to do," which effectively nullifies his first point.
Civil servants should stand up against any excesses shown by the government for their loyalty must always be directed to their paymasters, the people.
String of Cs
I have listed string of Cs prevailing in the country which demonstrating other symptoms of malangitis in my previous article, some of them being confusion, contradiction, conflict, and coercion in describing the social political and economic environment.
In this current writing consider this following case to illustrate two of the many Cs, confusion and contradiction, the case of the touted 'The Government Transformation Programme', otherwise known as '1Malaysia'.
Apparently the goal of 1Malaysia is "a nation where, it is hoped, every Malaysian perceives himself or herself as Malaysian first, and by race, religion, geographical region or socio-economic background second".
It was a definition clear and concise, even a reasonable secondary schoolboy could or would understand what this means. We were all geared to internalize this worthwhile mission.
But when DPM Muhyiddin Yasin was asked about his stand on this vital issue he insisted that he is 'Malay first'! He continued with by now famous "How can I say I'm Malaysian first and Malay second? All the Malays will shun me... and it's not proper."
Then take the case of the august YB Mustapa Mohamed (right) speaking at a press conferenceon Aug 7 after opening a 10th Malaysia Plan seminar at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur.
Apparently he mentioned that the people, especially Malays, should not disregard the NEP because it has brought about "many achievements" since its inception in 1971. It breaks my heart when I hear that Malays say they don't need the NEP," he apparently said further.
He cleverly did not say that many Malays are essentially tired not of the original principles and visions of NEP but on the inability to respond adequately psychologically to the changing demands, to the subsequent abuse of its implementation (like nepotism), and to the endemic corruption it has brought along.
Affirmative action
Mustapa then talked about the non-bumiputeras having to accept the reality that Malays have rights to affirmative action, that the dignity, pride and honour of the Malay must be protected.
A series of confusion immediately here for he mentioned two famous words - rights and reality. Rights and reality? What rights and what reality?
Is it the right to steal and plunder the nation's treasury? Or to smash into pieces public institutions like education (and producing graduates who could not interact) and the judiciary (where we revert to tribal laws)?
Or, fragmenting of the people into bumis and non-bumis, filthy rich and dirt poor Malays, Muslims and non-Muslims? Between open-minded freedom-loving and close-minded mentally enslaved citizens?
Or, FDI to dwindle by 89 percent in 2009 alone and with Mustapa saying not to worry, this is ok? Or, the running away of domestic capital abroad? Or the more than 300,000 talented, experienced, knowledgeable and trained people running away to other climes in the last two years? Are these the rights and reality Mustapa mentioned in the pursuit and preservation of Malay dignity and honour?
Hang Tuah wouldn't agree to this, nor would Tun Abdul Razak, or the ordinary well-meaning but manipulated Malay mainstream.
In the meantime my acute malangitis prevents me from planting thejalur gemilang come this August 31st.
AB SULAIMAN is an observer of human traits and foibles, especially within the context of religion and culture. As a liberal, he marvels at the way orthodoxy fights to maintain its credibility in a devilishly fast-changing world. He hopes to provide some understanding to the issues at hand and wherever possible, suggest some solutions. He holds a Bachelor in Social Sciences (Leicester, UK) and a Diploma in Public Administration, Universiti Malaya.
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