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1Malaysia

Najib’s 1Malaysia a two-faced scam?

Kim Quek
Monday, 10 August 2009

Take a look at the following two scenarios which were spectacularly contradictory to each other:

Scenario 1: Prime Minister Najib Razak’s wife Rosmah Mansor put up a stellar performance in a charity dinner that helped to raise RM 2.3 million for a Chinese primary school in Segambut, Kuala Lumpur on Aug 6. Rosmah not only serenaded the audience with a popular Mandarin song (which alone netted RM 200,000), her group of ministers’ wives gave rendition to four songs each in a different language - Mandarin, English, Malay and Tamil - to give full expressions to her husband’s ‘lMalaysia’ motto. She heaped praise on the Chinese community for their unfailing generosity to support Chinese education and urged other communities to follow suit in the spirit of ‘1Malaysia’.

Scenario 2: Almost at the same, mass circulated Malay paper Utusan Malaysia, which is UMNO’s mouthpiece, spat racial fire through an incendiary article. Writing under the title ‘Melayu jangan jadi bacul’ (Malays, don’t be cowards) on Aug 4, journalist Noor Azam accused the Chinese and Indians of wanting to “destroy Malay political power held by UMNO since independence” with the help of Anwar Ibrahim and PAS. This supposed power grab was pursued with Chinese-dominated DAP manipulating the Malay leaders in Pakatan Rakyat. The writer further claimed that “The attacks and the hatred shown by the opposition and Chinese and Indian political activists towards the Malays have worsened”. To goad the Malays into action, he even went to the extent of calling them ‘cowards’, saying “The Malay race has become stupid cowards, and people who are cowards will die before even their deaths.”

Such bare-faced incitement of racial hatred and racial clash should have landed the writer in lock-up and the newspaper’s licence revoked under Malaysia’s repressive laws, particularly if they are on the other side of the political divide, but Noor Azam and Utusan Malaysia not only escaped untouched, but had the honour of being defended by none other than the UMNO’s Deputy President and Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin who ridiculously and inexplicably blamed the opposition for causing such heightening of racial temperature. That Noor’s racist blast bears the stamp of UMNO’s policy is unmistakable.


The objectives of this two-pronged strategy are obvious. Strategy 1 (Scenario 1) is meant to coax the return of Chinese and Indian votes which had exited the BN pen in a mass exodus in the 8 Mar 08 elections. And Strategy 2 (Scenario 2) is geared towards splitting the opposition and re-uniting the Malay electorate under the UMNO canopy by appealing to the primordial instincts of race and religion through pressing the panic buttons of lies and deceit, of which the nonsense of Scenario 2 is typical.

This explains why Najib’s new measures are mostly ad-hoc, piecemeal, populist and election-centred – every move calculated for electoral gains.

My Personal Opinion

I don't usually like to talk about politics, but looking at these depressing Malaysian news like the article above almost everyday, I would also like to share my perspective regarding this matter.

Let me bring in the concept of the "invisible hand" by Adam Smith, which I strongly believe in. Things work naturally to bring maximum benefit to society.

In ecology - the prey-predator mechanism maintains the balance of the ecosystem.

In metaphysics - there are attractive and repulsive forces balancing each other in the most fundamental level of matter.

In economics - the "invisible hand" drives the demand and supply of a free market to achieve optimal price and quantity.




The biggest problem now lies in the fact that the affirmative action policy of Malaysia is resisting the natural tendency of this "invisible hand" to drive Malaysia's economy to greater heights.

In investment - companies listed in the KLSE must find bumiputeras taking up a minimum 30% of equity under this policy, driving away foreign investors and funds, resulting in reduced foreign investment.

In education - this affirmative action policy is draining away local talent by having quota on public tertiary education and scholarship opportunities, lowering the standards of education (e.g. poor command of English, the Science and Math issue), increasing unemployment rate etc etc etc.



Former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohammad has bemoaned the extreme reliance of Bumiputras on their privileges. Of course he has to say it nicely to the people first, and he couldn't remove this policy right away, otherwise he wont get to say it again after the next general election, you know.

THAT IS THE PROBLEM.

Do the leaders truly want progress for our nation, or remain popular among the people and continue to stay in office?

Thanks to this policy, the mentality of being complacent and taking-for-granted-because-the-government-will-give-me-what-I-want is already deep rooted among the people today. And the Prime Minister is having a hard time dealing with this mess. I am not sure if beliau is really trying, but based on the article I just saw above, I am quite convinced that it is more towards rallying support from the people and prevent the repeat of the 08/03/08 election loss. Ever wondered where will Malaysia be heading to in the future? Now you know. Quite sad huh.

As what I have learnt to write as conclusion for my Economic essays on free trade - "Protectionism may be necessary to let infant industries grow amidst a crowd of economic giants, but may breed inefficiency and complacency in the long run."

OK, now let me rephrase:

The affirmative action policy may be necessary to help the bumiputeras escape poverty during the post-independence era in the 1960s, but it is breeding inefficiency and complacency in the long run, which is NOW, TODAY, SEKARANG. With news like Anwar, Teoh Beng Hock and the ISA, YO, the people up there, can you see the current situation already? @_@

Please, for optimal benefit for the people, the economy and the nation, just scrape it.

Just my two cents worth. What do you think?

新加坡

Happy Birthday Singapore!

My favourite national theme songs of all times.

龚诗嘉 - My Island Home/幸福的图形


孙燕姿 - One United People/全心全意

成长

最近看完了一部香港连续剧《师奶股神》，给我了对人生很大的启发。



我发现在工作界高层的人士一般都不比平凡的打工仔生活得开心。反而在剧中的家庭主妇们最真实，不假作，有话直说，虽然对一些人来说会显得很粗俗，不太雅观，但这是我佩服她们的一点。

随着岁月的流逝，随着时间的推移，我们一天一天的长大，慢慢地成熟懂事，但我觉得我们已渐渐失去一样东西，那就是纯真。我们开始接触社会，看到它真实的一面，in response 就得跟着社会的某种方式行事。我们一定要上学读书，做工赚钱，建立家庭， 这是society 对我们的expectations。

人懂得东西越多，想要的也就更多，因为人的心总是不会满足的。这就是人的本性。我们总是提醒自己做人一定要知足，一定要珍惜身旁所拥有的一切，因为我们是不会自动这样子想的。虽然是个很悲观的想法，但我觉得这就是事实。

有时候，没有学问的人讲起话来会比我们读书人讲得更有道理，因为他们单纯的思想点到了许多人生的道德观念，反而我们被社会的许多东西（金钱，地位，名誉等）模糊了眼睛。

我真的希望能够回到以前小时天真无邪，无忧无虑的生活。我要求的只是一个简单、平凡、快乐的生活。为什么一定要跟着社会的步伐走呢？

遇见

I think I just saw 潘玮柏。

Highlights of Holland and Belgium

Sorry for the long period of inactivity, have been busy, but lazy to update most of the time. Now I shall blog my trip to Holland and Belgium with Kenneth, Junyi, Vin-soon and Catherine while I still have the momentum to.

Amsterdam

Capital of the Netherlands. Dirty, dodgy, nasty, messy - all the bad things you can think of. They have Coffee Shops - which sells drugs by the way, Cannabis College, Marijuana plant shops, sex shops, live prostitute displays at the Red Light District - the Geylang of Singapore, or Soho of London. Why is it that prostitution and Chinatown are always side by side?! Same goes for London and KL. So the name 红灯区originates here in Amsterdam, although only the ones in Amsterdams really have red lights.

Red Light District - this shop is not open yet

Chinatown and Coffee Shops

Pee deflectors - set up at "attractive corners to the drunkards for peeing at night" to prevent them from dirtying the town. They get the pee all over them instead.

Toilet aka Pee Station - for drunkards who need to pee. It just a plastic structure with no water or any drainage system, mind you.

Well I wasnt brave enough to try the muffin (with marijuana!) sold the the Coffee Shops, but according to Junyi he had a really bad headache the next day after eating it. He was supposed to get HIGH but didnt happen. LOL

We rented bikes and cycle to see Amsterdam - passing by a Windmill, a Jewish ghetto, the Heineken beer factory, many canals and also the big words "I AMSTERDAM". Nice experience!

Rotterdam

My favourite city so far out of all that I have visited (together with Paris)! Clean, neat, modern and the total opposite of Amsterdam. Take a look and you'll know why.

Erasmusbrug

Train system - even better than Singapore's!

As the busiest trading port in the world, it has such rapid development over the years! Reminds me of Singapore. Woohoo I was so looking forward to home back then!

Euromast - tallest tower in the Netherlands. Rotating around so we got to see breathtaking views of the entire city of Rotterdam. Beatiful buildings, bridges, rivers and greeneries. Ah I just love cities which are neat and systematic. Observed the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen from 10.02pm to 10.06pm Local Time.

The Hague

Financial Capital of the Netherlands. Mostly high rise buildings with Ministry of so and so everywhere throughout the city. The Malaysian Embassy there is like a rich man's bungalow. Not bad!

Malaysian Embassy of the Netherlands

There is also the International Court of Justice, where the case of some island dispute between Malaysia and Singapore was resolved (Haiz Singapore so small no land, Malaysia still so greedy want to rebut for what. Not like Malaysia develop all her land properly also LOL. But finally the island goes to Singapore lah, haha). When we were there, they were also an ongoing Iranian protest.

International Court of Justice



Scheveningen Pier - a windy beach facing the North Sea. It was freezing cold!

Brussels

Capital of Belgium - Main highlight is CHOCOLATES! Wah the colourful display and the smell attracts us into visiting shop after shop. Can sample some more before deciding whether to buy or not. So tempting lah in the end bought loads as souvenirs for family and friends.

Amazing and unforgetable trip - and I earned a nickname "178" from Catherine, who refuses to acknowledge me as being taller than 180cm, which eventually evolved to "itchy butt" =_=

Life is Like A Boat

Bleach动画的第一首片尾曲，第一次听就深深地被打动。这就是音乐的力量。。。
好emo的一首歌，我觉得很适合晚上一个人听。

もう一つの氷輪丸

Bleach the Movie 2: The DiamondDust Rebellion

Although the plot seemed pretty clichéd like a typical anime storyline, the action and graphics were awesome! This movie just reignited my long-lost interest in Bleach, right in the middle of my final exams @_@

Anyway, the Humanities Department just offered me to take up Japanese in Year 2! I'm so gonna learn what this blog title means. I know there's a 1 there and is that 氷water?

What an irony - ever since I came to London, I have been working on every language - Cantonese, Chinese's Chinese, Malay, Japanese etc except English. "Cheers mate!" or "How is it going dude?" just doesn't appeal to me lah, you know. I guess Asian culture is deep rooted in me after all.

Just my opinion - I just can't seem to find much beauty in English. Which explains why i blog mostly in Chinese. Personally, I think Chinese is a very "feeling" language, full of 名句精华 or 优美字句 expressing emotions with elegance. Cantonese and Japanese sound polite too, Malay can also berpantun-puisi-syair-whatever. English, on the other hand, is a "oh-so-i-need-to-make-you-understand-what I'm-trying-to-say" language, used in everyday life in banking and commerce, science and technology etc.

Maybe I'm being biased because I'm not from an English background (but I'm in London now!) but I think each language has its effectiveness and limitations. English is not effective in expressing our truest and deepest emotions, and similarly Chinese is not suited for things like scientific terms (try the Periodic Table!) or names of non-Chinese people. Hah, let me test you! What's Arnold Schwarzenegger or Tōshirō Hitsugaya in Chinese? (Hint: Scroll upwards)

Right now, I would rather memorise the names of the 13 Bleach Captains and Vice Captains than study for my next paper =_=

Hmph! Bleach-ing all the way after exams!

另一个天堂

王力宏&张靓颖 《另一个天堂》

爱上了这一首歌，一连串repeat 听了十几次。。。
好喜欢听男女对唱的歌曲，俩人声音配合起来的时候多么动听。

母亲

妈，祝妳母亲节快乐！

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最近从电台听到了一位听众为她母亲送上的祝福语:

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我没钱买按摩椅，但我可以当妳的按摩椅。

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好温馨的一句话，我也把它送给妳！

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我好想念和妳谈天的时候，看妳喝guiness喝红脸high的样子，我们聊啊聊啊就聊了一整晚。

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我好想念在家帮妳做家务的时候，有时还站在厨房看妳炒菜。我这一次回去要拜你为师，毕竟我在这里自己做饭的技巧也真够烂！

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我好想念我开车妳在旁边 ngi ngi ngo ngo 的时候，有一次差点“动”到另一辆车，和妳闹翻脸，也差点把妳弄哭了。

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每次有烦恼或不愉快的时候，妳总是当我的出气筒。

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我：“我每次有事就complain给妳听，妳会不会听到sian啊?”

妳：“只要听到你投诉给我听，我就知道你没事啦。”

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每次即将面临紧张重要大事，妳总是当我的护身符。

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我：“我明天有面试咯。”

妳：“我等下回向给你。”

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妳总是在我背后默默地支持我，祝福我，看着我逐渐长大。

没有妳，就没有我。

我真的好想好想快点回家见妳！

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妈，我爱妳。