The recent raid o­n malaysiakini and the subsequent interrogation of its staff by the police, allegedly sparked by Petrof's letter, reflects not o­nly the dictatorial nature of Umno and its by now largely irrelevant unit, Umno Youth, but also the mentality that fosters such actions. It seems obvious that the preference of force over political discourse is merely the latest manifestation of the ruling party's intellectual bankruptcy.

Readers need not be reminded of the threat to burn down the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall, the call to drench kerises in Chinese blood, the intention to effect the closure of Chinese medium schools.

Yet, such actions are quite rational when seen through Umno's ideology of 'ketuanan Melayu' and the feudalistic traditions that accompany it. The 'ketuanan Melayu' ideology spawned the bureaucratic mind: feudalistic traditions poisoned it.

It was, to a large extent, Umno's 'ketuanan Melayu' that inspired the party to divide Malaysians into bumiputera and non-bumiputera, that led Umno leaders to concoct schemes such as the New Economic Policy, or its newer version, the National Development Policy.

Those divisive policies have caused not o­nly periodic political stresses, but also economic setbacks and racial polarisation. They have been harmful to every community, including, ironically, the Malay Malaysian community.

Perhaps nothing illustrates better the failure of Umno's policies than in the field of education. Conventional wisdom has it that it was PAS' introduction of Islamic customs that drove thousands of non-Muslim children away from national primary schools. In reality, such practices have its origins more than two decades ago, when Umno-supported headmasters, with the support of the Education Ministry, started the party's Islamisation binge.

It's common knowledge that, in the past, attempts had been made to impose the customs of o­ne ethnic group even in multiethnic national schools. A most recent example is the directive from the principal of Sekolah Menengah Infant Jesus Convent (in Melaka), requiring all students to wear baju kurung o­n Fridays. That directive was retracted o­nly after public protests, perhaps because Umno knows it is currently standing o­n politically shaky grounds.

Still, what really drives the exodus of non-Muslims from national primary schools is the deplorable educational standards found in that school system. The rapid dumbing down in all subjects - not merely English - is due largely to the widespread practice of hiring and promoting teachers and headmasters o­n the basis of ethnic origins, rather than o­n merits. Today, the national school system has become so rotten that thousands of Malay parents prefer to send their children to Chinese primary schools.

Red tape

The same policy has also contributed to the dumbing down of the civil service. It has led to a cumbersome bureaucracy, a lengthening of red tape and long queues confronting those who must interact with the government or government institutions.

It also ensures that contracts for government projects go to companies that are often less than qualified for the job, and explains why expensive taxpayer-financed bailouts have become a regular feature of Malaysian business news. It is a fertiliser for corruption, nepotism, and cronyism.

This 'ketuanan Melayu' ideology is also the prime reason why the security forces - the police and the military - are overwhelmingly dominated by o­ne ethnic group.

Again, largely because its recruitment and promotion policies, the police force today is well-known for its inefficiency as much as for its perceived brutality, not to mention its unenviable reputation as hirelings of the ruling party.

Unlike entities such as the civil service or the police force, most Malaysians have little opportunity to interface with the military and hence know little about its organisational culture or level of efficiency.

However, the ease with which the alleged al-Ma'unah rebels entered the Grik military base could be a reflection of the sorry state of the armed forces.

The sectors discussed here, civil service, including education, and the security forces also happen to be bureaucracies, and it is precisely this common characteristic, this Achilles heel, that is holding back the majority ethnic group from achieving what they wanted to achieve a long time ago - a proportionate share of the national economy.

In my previous article 'Politician, educate thyself' (Jan 2, 2003), I wrote that "socio-economic conditions are often more important in the cultural modification or transformation of society." This presupposes that what we do, how we earn our living, influence the way we think and behave. This also means that, in its zeal to dominate all public sectors, to ostensibly "protect the Malays", Umno has pistol-whipped the Malay Malaysian community into a bureaucratic straitjacket.

Bureaucratic mindset

As a result, a large proportion of Malay Malaysians have family members who're part of the country's huge bureaucratic structures.

What is a bureaucratic mindset? It is o­ne that emphasises a follow-the-sheep collectivism rather than individualism. Because decisions are made through extensive board meetings and then seeped through several departments before they are implemented, the opportunities for passing the buck, for denying personal accountability, are enormous. Even a departmental head can disclaim personal accountability by shifting his guilt to "mistaken feedbacks" from his inferiors, or to some "faulty" rules that exist within the organisation.

The Malaysian bureaucracy is a peculiarly safe environment for those who're part of it. The average bureaucrat can usually depend o­n a system that guarantees fixed wages and regular promotions. He or she can expect a life-long tenure, unless he or she is imprudent enough to criticise Umno or speak well of the opposition. Given such an environment, o­nly the foolhardy would want to be innovators, to take risks in a system that rewards obedience (e.g. to the government) and mediocrity.

Contrast, then, the bureaucratic mind with the entrepreneurial mind. The Malaysian entrepreneur is usually a non-bumiputera and if he is a Chinese Malaysian, he is literally born to take risks, unless his parent is an MCA minister. He cannot depend o­n the government giving him life-long tenure at some corner of its vast bureaucracy. His child or children, no matter how hard they study, cannot be sure of a place in the university. He has to find ways to get his startup capital for any kind of business.

Conversely, the more the government makes its vast bureaucracy the preserve of Malay Malaysians, the more they get stuck in their bureaucratic mindset, and the less able they are to compete with non-Malay Malaysians, much less other global competitors.

Monetary haemorrhage

There is today indeed a large Malay Malaysian middle class, but many of them are professionals - highly paid perhaps - rather than entrepreneurs. Moreover, this new middle class's view of the world tends to be rose-tinted, especially when, despite their new-found wealth, they're still eligible for government-sanctioned handouts such as discount prices for new condos.

In short, as Petrof pointed out, their "special privileges" are deemed to be perpetual, and the state and taxpayers will have to continue forking out money to support them.

This desire to hold o­n to free lunches may be due to natural human greed, yet it should also be noted that bureaucratic minds fear change: they fear the uncertainty that loss of such privileges might entail.

However, the question remains: with an ever-decreasing non-Malay entrepreneurial population, how long can this monetary haemorrhage continue? How long can such privileges be sustained before the nation goes bankrupt, if it isn't already?

Such questions must have cropped up in more perceptive minds - minds that are able to think outside the bureaucratic box - and it is not surprising to hear Dr Mahathir Mohamad talking about "removing the crutches".

However, some self-appointed Umno Youth 'heroes', with an eye o­n the next elections or perhaps cabinet places, have thought it fit to ignore the prime minister's advice, and have even gone to the extent of warning all those who brought up the matter of "special privileges" to shut up or face sedition charges.

Lethal mix

Umno Youth's actions are indicative not o­nly of its bureaucratic mind - a mind that stunted Malay entrepreneurship - it is also a reflection of the ruling party's feudalistic traditions. This mixture of race-induced bureaucratic mind, o­ne that's unable to innovate or accept change, and the organisation's feudalistic traditions, has worked to poison the few strong points that all bureaucracies possess.

For example, the bureaucratic mind often balances its rejection of individualism with a respect for other individuals. To this end, it stresses o­n social adjustment, o­n interpersonal skills that help groups to feel a sense of belonging, a sense of o­neness. However, the 'ketuanan Melayu' ideology has managed to limit this unifying feature to o­nly o­ne race, o­ne religion, o­ne culture, to the exclusion of all others. It has insisted that all history is read from o­nly o­ne angle, with all the truths coming from o­nly o­ne party, and sometimes from o­nly certain individuals within that party.

Add this penchant for self-righteousness to a feudalistic mind and the result is lethal. A feudalistic mind does not tolerate dissent. This means the merit of bureaucratic procedures, the rational thinking and planning that accompany each government project, cumbersome though they sometimes might be, is oftentimes replaced with dictates from some higher-ups. When this

happens, the normally unquestioning bureaucratic mind becomes even more passive, even more unenterprising.

On the other hand, Malay Malaysians who could rise above the bureaucratic mind, who dare question decisions made by their superiors, are likely to meet a fate resembling those ancient peasants who defied the wishes of their feudal lords. Within the Malaysian bureaucracy, it could mean demotion or transfer to some rural areas for the intrepid civil servant or military officer: jailtime in Sungai Buloh for a minister.

And outside that bureaucracy, any defiant noise is met with charges of sedition or threats of violence that would make any medieval lord proud. This was how Umno Youth behaved in the past, and no doubt how it would behave in the future.

L CHUAH is a self-proclaimed literature hog who is interested in applying a multi-disciplinary approach to world affairs.