Understanding one's past

• Speaking Out: Insights into Contemporary Malaysian Issues
  By Collin Abraham
  Utusan Publications & Distributors
  Kuala Lumpur, 2006

Rethinking the present - or more correctly, rethinking accepted renditions of the present - is not only a sign of maturity but also a requirement for a deeper understanding of one's past and world.

In this collection of letters and articles published over the years in a large variety of dailies and journals, Collin Abraham reveals himself a reflective observer of the history of Malaysia.

The range of topics he touches on as an 'academic activist' provides students of Malaysia today with a salient list of the central themes in the country's socio-political life.

Malaysia turns 50 next year. One may argue that its many successes came at a price, and it is the mission of its intellectuals to identify what this price in socio-political and socio-economic terms is and how this may hamper further development.

Abraham's compositions are sorted under four headings - Education, Economics, Social Issues and Politics. Some of his most poignant points are made in his analysis of the education system, and the dynamics of its own deterioration.

One major focus of the country's long-running affirmative action policy had been the provision of educational opportunities to Malays. However, he argues, since the political elite are wont to send their own children to universities overseas, most leaders had not taken the quality of local universities seriously.

'Crutch culture'

In time, the political expediency of admitting large numbers of Malays into the universities could not but undermine the quality of education even further. Low quality in education, together with the policy of appointing Malay graduates to administrative and teaching positions, soon meant that the quality of university administration also deteriorated.

This in turn had a strongly detrimental impact on the quality of education itself. Today, 90 per cent of unemployed or unemployable graduates in Malaysia are Malays. While the identification of such a process may be uncontroversial enough to be acceptable to politicians, a culture of denial is deeply embedded in the system, helping to shore up the 'crutch culture' that the prolonged shoddy implementation of the affirmative action policy has encouraged.

Added significance is given to the issue of education by the fact that women in Malaysia perform better academically. Women, in fact, tend to see education as a path of liberation.

The weaker section in this volume concerns matters of economics, but Abraham more than makes up for this through his arguments in other areas. He shows greatest width when discussing social issues, and raises questions where others tend to skim the surface.

The question of incest is discussed, along with drug problems, graft, rural development and the point of hard work. The displacement of Malaysian Indian plantation workers, seen by many as a social time bomb, is studied at length in a series of articles.

New imperialism

Abraham's discussions of world politics claim the emergence of a new imperialism, while his general analysis of Malaysia perceives a democratisation of the decision-making process that can encourage a 'coming together' of Malaysians through their realisation of 'a similar future'.

In truth, the decisive criterion for the success of Malaysian politics, regardless of what ethnic chauvinists on all sides may think, is the direction in which racial relations are going.

Finding acceptable means to identify this is no easy task, especially if we remember that no other issue is more politicised in Malaysia than that of inter-racial relations. There is, therefore, all the more reason for scholars to dwell bravely on them.