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| Me at 66...a little bit tired and a little bit frayed around the edges , |
Those of you who are of my age (sixty-six) or older have gone through
almost the entire life time of our nation – from it’s birth at Merdeka in 1957
to the reality of NOW as the possibilities for the implementation of the GST is
being debated in Parliament and in the Public domain with gusto. Does this
GST debate suggests that our country is now able to discuss openly all matters
of national concerns without fear of favor….or does it reflect a country deeply
divided between those who are for the government and those who are against! The
answer to that is moot.
What I want to do today is to discuss in general terms the Malaya that I
was born into in 1947 and the Malaysia that it has become in 2013…not in
tedious detail but in general. This will not be about race about religion or
about politics. This will be about my country, my nation….my Malaysia.
The Malaya that I first became conscious of was then fighting a life and
death struggle against the communist.
The Malaysian Emergency was declared the year after I was born – in 1948
- and lasted until I was eleven
years old. I still remember the police road blocks we encountered every time we
traveled in our Borgward Isabella, the food rations that the army was provided
with (condensed milk in tubes, cream crackers), the proliferation of new
villages to incarcerate the Chinese population and the presence of the British
much in evidence around us.
I remember living in Alor Gajah, Tampin and then Johor Baru where we
stayed at Jalan Straits View and I started school at Sekolah Ngee Heng. From
there we moved to Pengkalan Chepa where I attended Sultan Ismail School and
then to KL and Gurney Road School…and from there to MCKK.
During all these times Malaya is a haze somewhere in the background of
my thoughts. What mattered were school, family life, cousins and relatives.
My first memory of anything to do with politics was because my Uncle was
then staying at 22 Jalan Kia Peng and his neighbor was Abdul Rahman Talib – a
Minister in the Malaysian cabinet. His son Fauzi was later to be a school mate at
MCKK but at that time we were already conscious that a minister in the
government was an important post and Tunku, Tun Razak, Tun Ismail, Tan Siew
Sin, Sambathan, Sardon Jubir, Ghazali Shafie, Khir Johari, Bahaman were names
that became familiar to me….but only because they held important posts in the
government…not because there were in any political parties.
It was only while I was in London in 1969 when May 13th
happened that I became acutely aware that amongst Malaysian there were Chinese,
Indians and many other ethnicity and of course we Malays. That each of us is
different in many ways and had cultures and a way of life that accentuated
those differences not diminish it.
I struggled for a while to define these differences especially because
as a Malay I started to have feelings of being threatened as a race by these
differences – especially by the economic strength of the Chinese. To me then
the Chinese economic strength threatened to engulf the Malay race in
Malaysia….and it became my feeling then that the May 13th incident was a
manifestation of what the Malays wanted done to claim back from all the other
races, especially the Chinese, our own Tanah Melayu - Malaysia.
There were other worries – when will the killing stop, is my family safe
in Malaysia and what happens now …..But all this fade away as race became a
defining concern for most Malays.
It took a long while for my rising awareness of the Malay plight to
change from one of wanting the other races, especially the Chinese, to be
taught a lesson that Malaysia belongs to the Malays and you are our guests for
as long as it is our pleasure, to one where I started to question if UMNO was
managing the NEP for the interest of the Malays or for themselves!
Gradually and eventually it gelled into what it is now – an
understanding that we are all Malaysians with the same right to live, work and
die in Malaysia and a firm commitment that meritocracy should rule our nation
in all things Malaysians…except amongst those in the minority and less
privileged than us for whatever reasons, for those who are unable to take care
of themselves, for the sick, the poor and for the aged……and we
need to treat with respect and dignity everybody who are Malaysians.
Fast forward to today!
Our politicians are defined by one line that have stuck in my head from
the time Mahathir unleashed Ops Lallang in October 27 in 1987 not only on the
106 persons arrested under the ISA but more tellingly, upon the people of
Malaysia – for what happened then affected all of us – our way of life, our
freedom and our future. What struck me was the arrogance of Mahathir! It seems
to me then and now that Mahathir and our politicians is defined by this one thought!
Aku peduli apa?
And that arrogance defined how Mahathir, his successors and UMNO do
politics in the twenty-two years that Mahathir was our Prime Minister.
My awareness of the massive corruption, nepotism and cronyism came only
later when I bought myself a computer and became familiar with the Internet –
and this happened less than a decade ago
- in fact until about six years ago I still had to depend on my son to
sent an email for me!
But today I am computer savvy – not yet as street wised as most of you –
but I know how to surf the net and I have my own blog…not yet up there with the
heavenly kings of the Internet, still computer challenged in matters of
technical computer speak, but for now, steady as she goes.
So what of the Malaysia that I now know?
One worry dominates my thoughts! Are we back loading our future to the
extent that our children and our children children’s will be forever burden
with paying for our failure to be responsible and accountable for the things
our government now do in our name today?
Are we to defer to a later date the costs of corruption, cronyism,
nepotism and the plundering and pillaging now done by our politicians? Is it
too late to do anything?
Is the collective failure of UMNO and our other politicians to provide a
better future for our future generation inevitable and acceptable in the
context of politics now or are we as a people saying enough is enough to these
politicians and take it upon ourselves to change what needs to be changed so
that there is a future for our people?
These, to me, are the fundamental questions that need to be asked and
answered by all of us if we are to make some sense of all that is happening in
the name of politics in Malaysia to day. What we do today will decide our
future, but for most of us, the future is of no concern because it is not of
our time. And this is especially so amongst our politicians and amongst those
we call our leaders.
Observe our leader of the Opposition and head of PKR. Just this week he
seems to lead the charge against the Chief Executive of his own Selangor state
for arbitrarily, so it seems, raising the salary of the most senior of the
State executives.
I do not care a rat’s arse if Khalid did or did not raise the salary of
these executives (deserved or otherwise) with or without consultation with the
Head of PKR in that State or with or without discussing it with the Economic
advisor of the said state! What I care about is that these three should have
show some decorum, common sense and responsibility in ensuring that when any
decision of such importance are being made, it will be done in a manner that
shows that these leaders lead by example! Instead time and time again by their
actions I fear for the future of our nation if PKR should ever be in government
at Putrajaya!
Our Prime Minister is no better! He does not have the ability to
understand that his wife should not have use of the government jet for ANY
reason what so ever – approved or not approved by Cabinet! If, in so simple a
situation he is unable to think for himself what is right and what is wrong,
how can we trust him to do what is right for our country.
The world is okay but our country is fucked!
I no longer believe what my government tells me while my faith in the
opposition has been sorely tested by its inability to build on the massive
support from the electorate as evident in the 51% popular vote it obtained in the last general election! So
where do we go from here?
Can we hope that the changing political arena will empower the people to
gain strength and take matters into their own hands to bring change that we all
aspire to? Or will the diminishing political capital of UMNO bring about chaos
and cause the rise of Islamic fundamentalist and Malay activists and not moderation and economic
reform powered by people power?
These are the questions that occupies my thoughts even as I am assailed
by the continuous chatter on the net about the follies of our politicians and
their trivial pursuits to advance their own personal and political crusade….pay
hikes for Selangor reps, the EC chief proud but stupid admission to gerrymandering
(forgetting his oath to do his duty to ALL Malaysian), rate rise that simply
does not gel in a time where the public are already burdened with rising costs
and diminishing income, murals in Johore, changing day of rests to suit one
religious factions without due consideration to others, bumbling Ministers, the
plights of the Penans, the GST……anything else but the plight of the people of
Malaysia!
Anything but the plight of the people…….
