Malaysia needs amputation, not medication
Victor ChewPublished: Jul 1, 2009 7:20 PM | Updated: Jul 1, 2009 7:20 PM
You read such a lot of foreigners and Malaysians who have gone overseas to reside complaining about Malaysians nowadays. What went wrong? Have we changed so much since independence? When the dramatic change did actually take place? Was it suddenly or was it gradual? These are some of the questions that must be answered to understand the criticisms launched at us.
It is inevitable that we have to change after independence. We are no longer a British colony and no longer a controlled people. What prize did we and do we have to pay for gaining independence? The very composition of races in our multi-racial nation is a headache.
Somehow, we managed it with some hiccups along the way. The founding fathers knew what was needed and they agreed to the needs of the various groups. However, a compromise will always be a compromise. Not everyone would be satisfied.
Like all compromises, there must be changes and adaptations with time. This then becomes the primary factor for the failure of the system to work today. Unfortunately to some and fortunately to others, this country was ruled by a combination of political parties that originally brought us independence.
There were some major and drastic modifications along the way that even the founding fathers were not too happy with. The opportunity for such a major and drastic change came with limited racial violence in the very heart of the nation – in Kuala Lumpur on May 13, 1969.
Umno became synonymous with the government. Malaysia was ruled almost by Umno alone, despite having so many other coalition partners. We have been hoodwinked for over 30-odd years with this concept that is called the New Economic Policy whereby the equity share of the Malays/bumiputera should be 30%.
It does not matter who owns the 30% or how many Malays own the 30% equity. That is the crux of the matter. Unfortunately for the Malays, some leaders realised that they can hoodwink the rest of their own community and as long as they can show that percentage share in Malay equity can grow, they will get Malay support and be retained in government.
The end result is a few cronies of those in power becoming richer and richer and thus more powerful resulting in control of the nation lying in the hands of a few. The majority of the Malays remained poor despite all the handouts.
By right, no one should get rich as a government servant given the lousy remuneration, but many did. How? Of course, it was by corruption. With the NEP in place, for non-Malays to get any form of business, would be rather difficult unless they are in ‘partnership’ with a Malay individual or company.
The only and quickest way available to them would be to bribe their way in. This coupled with the ineffectiveness of the government to curb corrupt practices resulted in the widespread state of corruption that now exists.
The population of this country has become either too dependent on handouts or are willing to give handouts to gain some favours that would benefit them. The rule of law becomes subservient to the power of money. Bribery becomes the way to get things done, not formal and legal procedures.
What values have such people, brought up in almost two generations to accept corruption as a way of life? It is not just a question of eradicating corruption, but rather also a dramatic change of policies. I am not against special privileges for the have-nots, but I am against people using this issue to exploit others, including people of their own race, whom they are suppose to help in the first place.
I am against this policy when it marginalises others and those who are politically-connected get the lion’s share of the good stuff. I am against this policy when those implementing it hoodwink everyone into believing that they are the saviour of their own race when in actual fact they exploit their own kind.
We have top-class leaders who have truly studied and passed examinations and went and took their degrees properly locally and overseas. From all races, we produced educated, learned and efficient people. Unfortunately, because of preference for one race, many not of that race preferred to work and settle down overseas, where they have better opportunities than in Malaysia.
This we term the ‘brain drain’. The ‘brain drain’ is not only among non-Malays but among the Malays too. These educated and intelligent Malays do not want to come back to a nation that is unfair and run by cronies of political leaders. They, being not of that gang, would face similar discrimination too as the non-Malays.
It was the infighting within Umno that resulted in this form of demarcation within the Malays themselves but the real cause of the downfall of Umno starts with one man – Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.
His ideas may be great, Vision 2020, etc, but nonetheless, it was that of only one man and the rest were just ‘yes men’. Many consider his time as PM to be the glorious years of Malaysia but I consider it the lowest ebb of Malaysia’s freedom.
We are fortunate that he decided to give up and although not a capable leader, Abdullah Badawi gave us some freedoms back. This was his own downfall for he allowed people to speak up, to openly criticise him and the boldness cost him in the March 8, 2008 elections.
His promised reforms of the police and judiciary and the possible end to ISA never materialised. This is the greatest drawback to Malaysia becoming a civil society once more. From an honest man, he became a man of power and the vices of power followed him. This is the never ending story of Umno – power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Three decades of decadent leadership in Umno and therefore in the nation have resulted in a society that is full of decay, corrupted to the core and unable to dig themselves out of a swill hole. Malaysia needs an amputation not medication. We need to chop off the gangrenous limb before he blood of the nation is completely poisoned.
Unless and until we can find a new government that can rid us of the corruption, the usurping of powers by the police and the unfair courts and biased judicial system, we are doomed. We need new faces not only in the present ruling coalition but also in the opposition.
New blood with integrity and honesty must come forward and offer themselves to the people. The people themselves must show a desire for change that would make not only the nation better but themselves better.
We must no longer tolerate evil but reach out for the good. We must learn to respect life, virtues and the incorruptibility of human souls. Then only will Malaysian society evolve and progress. Otherwise, we are doomed.
It is inevitable that we have to change after independence. We are no longer a British colony and no longer a controlled people. What prize did we and do we have to pay for gaining independence? The very composition of races in our multi-racial nation is a headache.
Somehow, we managed it with some hiccups along the way. The founding fathers knew what was needed and they agreed to the needs of the various groups. However, a compromise will always be a compromise. Not everyone would be satisfied.
Like all compromises, there must be changes and adaptations with time. This then becomes the primary factor for the failure of the system to work today. Unfortunately to some and fortunately to others, this country was ruled by a combination of political parties that originally brought us independence.
There were some major and drastic modifications along the way that even the founding fathers were not too happy with. The opportunity for such a major and drastic change came with limited racial violence in the very heart of the nation – in Kuala Lumpur on May 13, 1969.
Umno became synonymous with the government. Malaysia was ruled almost by Umno alone, despite having so many other coalition partners. We have been hoodwinked for over 30-odd years with this concept that is called the New Economic Policy whereby the equity share of the Malays/bumiputera should be 30%.
It does not matter who owns the 30% or how many Malays own the 30% equity. That is the crux of the matter. Unfortunately for the Malays, some leaders realised that they can hoodwink the rest of their own community and as long as they can show that percentage share in Malay equity can grow, they will get Malay support and be retained in government.
The end result is a few cronies of those in power becoming richer and richer and thus more powerful resulting in control of the nation lying in the hands of a few. The majority of the Malays remained poor despite all the handouts.
By right, no one should get rich as a government servant given the lousy remuneration, but many did. How? Of course, it was by corruption. With the NEP in place, for non-Malays to get any form of business, would be rather difficult unless they are in ‘partnership’ with a Malay individual or company.
The only and quickest way available to them would be to bribe their way in. This coupled with the ineffectiveness of the government to curb corrupt practices resulted in the widespread state of corruption that now exists.
The population of this country has become either too dependent on handouts or are willing to give handouts to gain some favours that would benefit them. The rule of law becomes subservient to the power of money. Bribery becomes the way to get things done, not formal and legal procedures.
What values have such people, brought up in almost two generations to accept corruption as a way of life? It is not just a question of eradicating corruption, but rather also a dramatic change of policies. I am not against special privileges for the have-nots, but I am against people using this issue to exploit others, including people of their own race, whom they are suppose to help in the first place.
I am against this policy when it marginalises others and those who are politically-connected get the lion’s share of the good stuff. I am against this policy when those implementing it hoodwink everyone into believing that they are the saviour of their own race when in actual fact they exploit their own kind.
We have top-class leaders who have truly studied and passed examinations and went and took their degrees properly locally and overseas. From all races, we produced educated, learned and efficient people. Unfortunately, because of preference for one race, many not of that race preferred to work and settle down overseas, where they have better opportunities than in Malaysia.
This we term the ‘brain drain’. The ‘brain drain’ is not only among non-Malays but among the Malays too. These educated and intelligent Malays do not want to come back to a nation that is unfair and run by cronies of political leaders. They, being not of that gang, would face similar discrimination too as the non-Malays.
It was the infighting within Umno that resulted in this form of demarcation within the Malays themselves but the real cause of the downfall of Umno starts with one man – Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.
His ideas may be great, Vision 2020, etc, but nonetheless, it was that of only one man and the rest were just ‘yes men’. Many consider his time as PM to be the glorious years of Malaysia but I consider it the lowest ebb of Malaysia’s freedom.
We are fortunate that he decided to give up and although not a capable leader, Abdullah Badawi gave us some freedoms back. This was his own downfall for he allowed people to speak up, to openly criticise him and the boldness cost him in the March 8, 2008 elections.
His promised reforms of the police and judiciary and the possible end to ISA never materialised. This is the greatest drawback to Malaysia becoming a civil society once more. From an honest man, he became a man of power and the vices of power followed him. This is the never ending story of Umno – power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Three decades of decadent leadership in Umno and therefore in the nation have resulted in a society that is full of decay, corrupted to the core and unable to dig themselves out of a swill hole. Malaysia needs an amputation not medication. We need to chop off the gangrenous limb before he blood of the nation is completely poisoned.
Unless and until we can find a new government that can rid us of the corruption, the usurping of powers by the police and the unfair courts and biased judicial system, we are doomed. We need new faces not only in the present ruling coalition but also in the opposition.
New blood with integrity and honesty must come forward and offer themselves to the people. The people themselves must show a desire for change that would make not only the nation better but themselves better.
We must no longer tolerate evil but reach out for the good. We must learn to respect life, virtues and the incorruptibility of human souls. Then only will Malaysian society evolve and progress. Otherwise, we are doomed.
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