Tunku Abdul Aziz

Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 27 – The DAP today signalled its intention to go for the country’s largest demography, the Malays, by organising an Aidil Fitri open house and launching its second Malay-majority branch.

Party secretary-general Lim Guan Eng opened the party’s second Malay-majority branch in Taman Terata and exclaimed that DAP is for all Malaysians.

“We will fight for all races as long they are Malaysians, we will fight for their rights,’ he said at the Aidil Fitri open house in Kg Cheras Baru here.

The Penang chief minister added that the party has also not forgotten about Sabah and Sarawak.

“I hope they will be brave in bringing reformation like how we did in peninsular Malaysia so that we ca have change,” he said.

He asked the federal government to fight graft at all levels to ensure a prosperous economy.

“The government must stop hiding those are guilty of corruption and take actions against them,” he said.

Lim explained that Pakatan Rakyat will fight for women’s rights unlike Barisan National (BN).

“Look at the Penan girls, they are getting raped at will under Barisan National’s rule. But that will not happen under Pakatan Rakyat. Under our rule, we will not allow our women to raped. This issue is very close to my heart because we always struggle for women‘s rights,” he said to a rapturous applause.

Lim also blamed the mainstream media for it’s negative coverage of Pakatan Rakyat and the Penang government.

“They did not report when Transparency International praised the Penang government for its fight against corruption through the CAT system. CAT is Competency, Accountability and Transparency. I urged the government to implement the CAT system for the whole country,” he said.

Lim then received a token of appreciation from 30 members, mostly women, from Taman Teratai branch.

The spokesperson of the new branch told the audience that DAP is willing to fight for the people unlike BN.

“We joined DAP because we want to fight for women’s rights. I am very happy that they fight for our rights,” Nadia Bidin said.

Earlier hundreds visited the open house for a feast despite a heavy downpour.

Lim and DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang welcomed Selangor mentri besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim and fellow colleagues from the Pakatan Rakyat.

On the way to the hall, Khalid was greeted with a silat performance. Inside the hall, Khalid was greeted by DAP advisor Chen Man Hin, DAP vice chairman Tunku Abdul Aziz, Seputeh MP Teresa Kok, Kepong MP Tan Seng Giaw, Puchong MP Gobind Singh and Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua.

The guests of honour were delighted with a Nasyid performance as they sat for their at their table.

As soon the group began singing, heavy rain began to pour outside the hall. People from the outside began to crowd into the hall so that they could listen to Lim’s speech.

Gobind even stood up so that an old lady could have his seat. After the speech, Lim proceeded to give duit raya to children at the open house.

An hour after Khalid left, Datuk Hasan Ali appeared and was greeted by both Lims. Hasan however refused to give any comments.

Malaysian Insider

SEPT 26 — I was in Seoul last Monday to participate in the World Forum for Democratisation in Asia (Third Biennial Conference) on “Sustaining Democratisation in Asia: Challenges of Economic and Social Justice” with some 200 delegates from Asia and the United States.

The conference brought together people from diverse backgrounds and of all ages, to seek ways of strengthening, and arresting the rapidly declining state of democracy in their countries. These men and women, all with impeccable credentials as human rights advocates, shared many of the same democratic values that have inspired human beings through the ages, all over the world, to make great personal sacrifices against humanly impossible odds in the name of justice and freedom from the tyranny of state-sanctioned human rights abuses, such as we are subjected to in Malaysia regularly.

I spoke on the panel on “Citizen Participation and Political Accountability.” In the audience were participants from Indonesia, the US, India, Cambodia, Nepal, Singapore, Malaysia and Mongolia, among others.

I thought I was doing well, having made some rather important points on the need for citizens to take charge of their own destiny as freedom was far too important to be left to the tender mercies of politicians, many of whom were charlatans at best and untrustworthy to boot. I mentioned as an example how citizens’ active participation in the March 2008 general election in my country had succeeded in changing, albeit ever so slightly, the 50-year corrupt political landscape, a feat that was nothing short of miraculous given the corrupt and repressive environment against which they were fighting to change.

I must confess that I was somewhat surprised that interest in Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s “baggage” had extended beyond the shores of Malaysia. Blame the borderless cyber technology for this unwelcome attention. Before I could finish my final remark, I was stopped dead in my tracks by the personable Yale- and Princeton-educated Ms. Oyungerel Tsedevdamba, advisor to the President of Mongolia. She wanted to know, in the nicest possible way, why Malaysian citizens had voted for a person of Najib’s known reputation to assume the highest political office, and, she continued, was it true that in the Altantuya Shaariibuu trial, the Malaysian judiciary was acting improperly to protect Najib?

We do not, of course, have direct prime ministerial elections in Malaysia. I explained that the prime minister was elected by his party; Umno. It says more about the integrity of the party than perhaps the person it elected to high office. Now, I am not unused to being asked all kinds of questions in my years of public speaking, both at home and abroad, but this, about the murder trial of Altantuya threw me off balance. Ms Tsedevdamba was putting the proverbial cat among the pigeons. It caused a real flutter in my dovecot, no pun intended. My character and integrity would be put under close scrutiny, effectively on trial, and as in any trial, telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth would, I thought, be the best policy.

I am fiercely patriotic, proud of our many achievements in a number of important areas, but like many of you I often hang my head in utter shame and humiliation when I see the cynical manipulation of democratic principles by a government that seems to have lost its moral capital by developing an unethical and immoral political behaviour into a fine art form. To them who govern this country, the end would seem to justify the means.

In this respect, it is useful to remind ourselves what Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, when he was Prime Minister, used to proclaim, without a tinge of embarrassment, that we were a democracy because we held regular elections. It was not important to the emasculator (or perhaps constrictor is a more appropriate word in his case) of human rights that they might not always have been free and fair. What Dr Mahathir and his Umno friends have never appreciated, or deliberately failed to acknowledge, is the fact that democracy is not just about elections. It is what happens between elections that really is the point at issue. I hope Najib will not allow this grotesquely vintage Mahathir blind spot to rub off on him. It could lead to further electoral nightmares he can do without.

The “Umno-led by the nose Barisan Nasional” government has always been preoccupied more with the form rather than the substance. To them democracy is a product you could pick and choose as and when you like, much like buying a kilo of sugar over a supermarket counter, in the same way they buy votes by the thousands at party election time.

Democracy is a process that requires active citizen participation and direct involvement because it belongs to the people irrespective of race. They should, therefore, be free from the shackles of corrupt political and bureaucratic practices that have become embedded in many of our once proud national institutions but, which today, have become nothing more than the sordid tools of an unprincipled government. The people should be liberated from the clutches of unjust and undemocratic laws such as the ISA.

Don’t these Umno leaders see any contradiction between sending their own fellow citizens to indefinite detention without trial and celebrating Merdeka religiously at great public expense each year to mark the nation’s freedom from the injustice and degradation of alien rule? You cannot have 1 Malaysia without first dismantling those policies and systems that have done untold damage to the development of democracy in our society. These must be replaced by those that are consistent with the dictates and aspirations of a Malaysian Malaysia with all that this implies.

The end of the year is the season for overseas conferences. I will be speaking at three in the next six weeks and I wonder if the likes of the delectable Ms Tsedevdamba will be in the audience to plague and ply me with questions as I was in Seoul about the Najib-Altantuya nexus, the submarine and other arms contracts. Najib should have realised by now that his every word, gesture and action will be scrutinised and analysed by the people of this country. It is their right to know what their prime minister is up to in the public domain. It is the price he must pay willingly under our democratic system.

I suppose if my listeners ask me awkward questions about Najib, I will have to tell them that I am not, thank heavens, Najib’s keeper. I suppose, also, that is the price I pay for living in the shadow of Najib’s 1 Malaysia.

Malaysian Insider

SEPT 26 — I was in Seoul last Monday to participate in the World Forum for Democratisation in Asia (Third Biennial Conference) on “Sustaining Democratisation in Asia: Challenges of Economic and Social Justice” with some 200 delegates from Asia and the United States.

The conference brought together people from diverse backgrounds and of all ages, to seek ways of strengthening, and arresting the rapidly declining state of democracy in their countries. These men and women, all with impeccable credentials as human rights advocates, shared many of the same democratic values that have inspired human beings through the ages, all over the world, to make great personal sacrifices against humanly impossible odds in the name of justice and freedom from the tyranny of state-sanctioned human rights abuses, such as we are subjected to in Malaysia regularly.

I spoke on the panel on “Citizen Participation and Political Accountability.” In the audience were participants from Indonesia, the US, India, Cambodia, Nepal, Singapore, Malaysia and Mongolia, among others.

I thought I was doing well, having made some rather important points on the need for citizens to take charge of their own destiny as freedom was far too important to be left to the tender mercies of politicians, many of whom were charlatans at best and untrustworthy to boot. I mentioned as an example how citizens’ active participation in the March 2008 general election in my country had succeeded in changing, albeit ever so slightly, the 50-year corrupt political landscape, a feat that was nothing short of miraculous given the corrupt and repressive environment against which they were fighting to change.

I must confess that I was somewhat surprised that interest in Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s “baggage” had extended beyond the shores of Malaysia. Blame the borderless cyber technology for this unwelcome attention. Before I could finish my final remark, I was stopped dead in my tracks by the personable Yale- and Princeton-educated Ms. Oyungerel Tsedevdamba, advisor to the President of Mongolia. She wanted to know, in the nicest possible way, why Malaysian citizens had voted for a person of Najib’s known reputation to assume the highest political office, and, she continued, was it true that in the Altantuya Shaariibuu trial, the Malaysian judiciary was acting improperly to protect Najib?

We do not, of course, have direct prime ministerial elections in Malaysia. I explained that the prime minister was elected by his party; Umno. It says more about the integrity of the party than perhaps the person it elected to high office. Now, I am not unused to being asked all kinds of questions in my years of public speaking, both at home and abroad, but this, about the murder trial of Altantuya threw me off balance. Ms Tsedevdamba was putting the proverbial cat among the pigeons. It caused a real flutter in my dovecot, no pun intended. My character and integrity would be put under close scrutiny, effectively on trial, and as in any trial, telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth would, I thought, be the best policy.

I am fiercely patriotic, proud of our many achievements in a number of important areas, but like many of you I often hang my head in utter shame and humiliation when I see the cynical manipulation of democratic principles by a government that seems to have lost its moral capital by developing an unethical and immoral political behaviour into a fine art form. To them who govern this country, the end would seem to justify the means.

In this respect, it is useful to remind ourselves what Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, when he was Prime Minister, used to proclaim, without a tinge of embarrassment, that we were a democracy because we held regular elections. It was not important to the emasculator (or perhaps constrictor is a more appropriate word in his case) of human rights that they might not always have been free and fair. What Dr Mahathir and his Umno friends have never appreciated, or deliberately failed to acknowledge, is the fact that democracy is not just about elections. It is what happens between elections that really is the point at issue. I hope Najib will not allow this grotesquely vintage Mahathir blind spot to rub off on him. It could lead to further electoral nightmares he can do without.

The “Umno-led by the nose Barisan Nasional” government has always been preoccupied more with the form rather than the substance. To them democracy is a product you could pick and choose as and when you like, much like buying a kilo of sugar over a supermarket counter, in the same way they buy votes by the thousands at party election time.

Democracy is a process that requires active citizen participation and direct involvement because it belongs to the people irrespective of race. They should, therefore, be free from the shackles of corrupt political and bureaucratic practices that have become embedded in many of our once proud national institutions but, which today, have become nothing more than the sordid tools of an unprincipled government. The people should be liberated from the clutches of unjust and undemocratic laws such as the ISA.

Don’t these Umno leaders see any contradiction between sending their own fellow citizens to indefinite detention without trial and celebrating Merdeka religiously at great public expense each year to mark the nation’s freedom from the injustice and degradation of alien rule? You cannot have 1 Malaysia without first dismantling those policies and systems that have done untold damage to the development of democracy in our society. These must be replaced by those that are consistent with the dictates and aspirations of a Malaysian Malaysia with all that this implies.

The end of the year is the season for overseas conferences. I will be speaking at three in the next six weeks and I wonder if the likes of the delectable Ms Tsedevdamba will be in the audience to plague and ply me with questions as I was in Seoul about the Najib-Altantuya nexus, the submarine and other arms contracts. Najib should have realised by now that his every word, gesture and action will be scrutinised and analysed by the people of this country. It is their right to know what their prime minister is up to in the public domain. It is the price he must pay willingly under our democratic system.

I suppose if my listeners ask me awkward questions about Najib, I will have to tell them that I am not, thank heavens, Najib’s keeper. I suppose, also, that is the price I pay for living in the shadow of Najib’s 1 Malaysia.

Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 19 — Ibrahim Salleh, a school security guard, proudly displayed his new red DAP membership card which he obtained last week.

He is among 50 Malays from Kampung Lembah Kinrara in Selangor to join the Chinese-based opposition party, forming the state’s first Malay-led branch.

“I have no problem with DAP being led by Chinese. I believe this can bring change to the Malay community,” he told The Straits Times.

There are already four Malay DAP branches in Perak and membership has risen to about 200 after last year’s polls.

Kinrara state assemblywoman Teresa Kok is determined to set up at least three more Malay branches by the end of the year.

Ibrahim, a father of five, believes the DAP will help the Malays to progress, as the democratic party strives for equal opportunity for all.

He pointed out that although Barisan Nasional talked about protecting the Malays and giving them special rights, it was only those in Umno who benefited in the end.

To him, the DAP is a multi-racial party that respects the rights and religions of other races.

“I believe in DAP now. People used to tell Malays that if DAP takes over, we cannot even have azan (call for prayers) but that is not true,” he said.

Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who is pleased with the development, said: “This shows that DAP has been accepted by the Malays, just like the Chinese and the Indians who accepted PAS and Parti Keadilan Rakyat.” He believes that DAP’s recruitment of Malay members will strengthen his Pakatan Rakyat alliance.

The DAP’s success in drawing Malays is significant for the party, which is generally seen by Malays as stridently championing Chinese interests such as Chinese schools, and fighting for issues like the right to sell alcohol and pork in public places.

The DAP’s motto, Malaysian Malaysia, and its socialist roots have also turned off many Malays who see it as a sidelining of the Malay agenda, and promoting a secular culture.

But the party broke through a psychological barrier when Malays voted for it in droves in last year’s general election after they were disillusioned with Umno.

Political analyst Agus Yusoff of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia said: “Malays used to stay away from DAP but they have changed because it is a different political scenario now.”

The party also received a boost when the well-respected former Transparency International Malaysia president Tunku Abdul Aziz submitted his membership form last year and is now a party vice-president.

For a long time, the only well-known Malay name in DAP was MP Ahmad Nor, who was its vice-president until his death in 2003.

Umno leaders had criticised the new Malay grassroots leaders of DAP as “politically lost” and “ungrateful”.

Umno information chief Ahmad Maslan told Berita Harian that the DAP wanted to attract Malays only to advance its narrow political agenda that will eventually be detrimental to the Malays.

“We ask the Malays not to be taken in by the DAP’s tricks; it’s just to give the DAP a positive image,” he said.

But Haron Wahab, 56, who helped to set up the Kampung Lembah Kinrara branch, disagreed.

“My friends and I are not lost or ungrateful. We want to support DAP because Kok has been helpful to us,” he said. — The Straits Times

Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 15 – Malaysian officials and media have been generally restrained in their reaction to displays of belligerence on the streets of Jakarta.

But anger is palpable on the Internet and among ordinary Malaysians.

The government has registered its protest over threats made against Malaysians, and last week summoned Indonesia’s ambassador here to express “grave concern” over persistent accusations of cultural theft.

Kuala Lumpur has repeatedly said that it had nothing to do with erroneous tourism advertisements on the Discovery Channel featuring the Balinese pendet dance. The channel has since stopped airing the 30-second clip.

By and large, the Malaysian mainstream media have reported responsibly on the matter, quoting mainly officials and not engaging in any emotional venting. Malaysian officials have also pledged the safety of Indonesian citizens against any backlash.

But on the streets and in the blogosphere, Malaysians are increasingly outraged by what they see as Indonesians’ refusal to be appeased. Some even complained that the local media here did not play up the issue.

One letter to Utusan Malaysia newspaper called for a ban on Indonesian songs and programmes.

The reader, Inanza, expressed her disappointment over “the lack of nationalistic spirit shown by our media over this”.

“It’s not that we want to be irrational like Indonesia but at least make it seem as if we are doing something, not just closing our eyes and ears,” she wrote.

Indeed, many Malaysians were at first unaware of the spat when it erupted last month, due to the lack of coverage in the local media at that time. When Indonesians started burning the Malaysian flag and throwing rotten eggs at the embassy in Jakarta, they were baffled.

One 27-year-old Malaysian asked on the networking site Facebook: “Can somebody tell me why exactly those Indonesians hate us?” Some plan to create Facebook groups to counter anti-Malaysia groups which use profanities and hateful language to condemn Malaysia.

Clearly frustrated by the whole situation, some officials have pointed out that Malaysia is the source of employment for some three million legal and illegal Indonesian workers. Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, over the weekend, noted Indonesians made up the bulk of foreign criminals jailed in the country.

Housewife Stephanie Chee said: “There are other more pressing matters than a dance. There are people who are so poor in Indonesia that they have to come here to earn RM500 (S$203). They should only talk when they have figured out how to provide food and create employment for their masses.”

It seemed Indonesians were “bent on having a blow-up”, wrote Abd Ghani Hamat in a commentary in the financial newspaper The Edge yesterday.

Describing their behaviour as irrational, he added: “Despite politicians in both countries playing down the human error, belligerency persisted. Perhaps the Indonesian protesters want to see the whole of Malaysia kneel before them and beg for forgiveness.”

Earlier this month, former Transparency International Malaysia chairman Tunku Abdul Aziz wrote a commentary in the Chinese-language Sin Chew Daily, asking: “What else next? Stop eating satay and wearing kain batik because these are Indonesian?”

“We are not your whipping boy. Grow up Indonesia!”

Some analysts have said the hate campaign in Indonesia looked to be artificially manufactured. Malaysian intellectual Farish Noor said that “countries do not behave in a hostile manner against other countries for no apparent reason; and they do not engage in hate campaigns without someone orchestrating them”. – The Straits Times

Kenyataan Media YBM Senator Tunku Abdul Aziz, Naib Pengerusi DAP pada 14 September 2009 di Petaling Jaya

Shahrizat, Hentikan Kenyataan Mengapi-apikan Perkauman

Parti Tindakan Demokratik (DAP) kesal dengan pembohongan Ketua Wanita UMNO Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil yang mendakwa kononnya DAP memperalatkan orang Melayu.

Shahrizat mengeluarkan kenyataan yang tidak berasas itu kerana beliau sebenarnya takut melihat sambutan orang Melayu terhadap DAP, terutamanya dengan penubuhan cawangan DAP yang dipimpin oleh orang Melayu yang pertama di Selangor.

Ini adalah bukti di mana UMNO semakin bimbang kehilangan sokongan orang Melayu. Baru wujud satu sahaja cawangan DAP yang majoritinya orang Melayu di Selangor, UMNO sudah pun ketakutan.

Cawangan DAP yang mempunyai majoriti orang Melayu itu telah ditubuhkan di Kampung Lembah Kinrara minggu lalu. Menurut pengasasnya, Haron Abdul Wahab, orang Melayu di kawasan itu memilih DAP kerana yakin dengan prinsip parti yang memperjuangkan nasib semua kaum di negara ini. Mereka sedar DAP membantu rakyat tanpa memilih bulu.

Menurut satu laporan akhbar semalam, Shahrizat telah dipetik sebagai berkata bahawa DAP tidak pernah memperjuangkan hak dan kepentingan orang Melayu tetapi sebaliknya hanya mengutamakan kepentingan kaum lain.

Shahrizat tidak berkata yang benar kerana dia tahu orang Melayu telah menerima DAP dan sedar DAP tidak anti-Islam dan tidak anti-Melayu, malah berjuang mempertahankan dan melindungi hak semua kaum dan agama.

Orang Melayu sudah sedar bahawa kepimpinan Setiausaha Agung DAP Lim Guan Eng sebagai Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang bukan sahaja menjamin hak-hak orang Melayu dan Islam, malah menggalakkan lagi perkembangan syiar Islam di negeri itu.

Walaupun tidak sampai dua tahun pentadbiran Pakatan Rakyat yang dipimpin oleh Lim Guan Eng di Pulau Pinang, rakyat di negeri itu khususnya orang Melayu telah pun menerima sumbangan ikhlas dari prinsip Cekap, Akauntabel dan Telus (CAT). Antaranya adalah pengiktirafan tinggi kepada pelajar-pelajar Melayu cemerlang, termasuk untuk para penghafal Quran atau Huffaz, dan peruntukan RM1.5 juta setiap tahun kepada sekolah-sekolah agama rakyat.

Malah kita tidak boleh lupa bagaimana Lim Guan Eng menjadi mangsa konspirasi politik sehingga beliau dimasukkan ke penjara semata-mata kerana mempertahankan hak dan maruah seorang gadis Melayu yang menjadi mangsa pencabulan.
Malah di mana sahaja DAP bergiat aktif, orang Melayu dan umat Islam tidak pernah diketepikan, malah sama-sama dibantu dengan kaum-kaum lain yang mengalami kesusahan. Semua usaha ini tidak pernah dihebahkan oleh UMNO dan media arus perdana miliknya yang hanya mahu meneruskan agenda perkauman bagi menjamin kuasa kekal di tangan mereka yang tidak bersih, rasuah dan menyalahgunakan kuasa.

Sepatutnya Shahrizat menghormati hak asasi rakyat Malaysia untuk memilih mana-mana pertubuhan politik dan berhenti dari bermain dengan isu perkauman yang boleh mencetuskan syak wasangka antara rakyat.

Sepatutnya juga, sebagai Menteri Pembangunan Wanita, Keluarga dan Masyarakat, beliau perlu menumpukan kepada protfolionya untuk memastikan golongan yang memerlukan benar-benar mendapat perlindungan.

Sehingga hari ini, Shahrizat telah berdiam diri dengan isu tuduhan kes rogol yang berlaku terhadap gadis Penan di Sarawak, dan isu ancaman rogol oleh samseng-samseng UMNO terhadap Ahli Exco Kerajaan Negeri Selangor Rodziah Ismail sewaktu majlis dialog pemindahan kuil Seksyen19 pada 5 September lalu.

Shahrizat sepatutnya berkhidmat dengan lebih gigih dan jujur untuk membuktikan perlantikannya semula sebagai Menteri adalah tidak sia-sia, setelah beliau sendiri ditolak oleh rakyat dalam pilihan raya umum 2008.

DAP sedia menghulurkan salam persahabatan untuk membantu beliau dalam menangani mana-mana isu yang melibatkan kezaliman dan ketidakadilan terhadap wanita, keluarga dan masyarakat. Yang penting, Shahrizat mesti hentikan sikap mengapi-apikan perkauman kerana ia bukan sahaja zalim tetapi boleh menghancurkan perpaduan antara rakyat pelbagai kaum dan agama.

TUNKU ABDUL AZIZ

mysinchew.com

Fifty two years of Merdeka, of being in full control of our own destiny, and what have we achieved as far as national unity is concerned? It remains a forlorn hope, a gleam in the eye at best. A harsh comment, perhaps, but it is not far from the truth. The polarization which exists today and which appears to have taken a grip on the nation as a whole must not be allowed to gain a permanent foothold. Bearing in mind that we are talking in national terms, the problem bedeviling us affects us all-they are our problems both individually and collectively. What can we all do about them?

Whether we succeed or fail in bringing about sustainable national unity depends very much on the social, educational, and economic policies that we develop and implement. Of these, I consider education to be the most important agent of change. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that because our education policy allows for separate existence of ethnic schools, a sort of educational apartheid, whole generations of Malaysians of different racial backgrounds have grown up without the benefit of studying, playing together and enjoying the rich cultural diversity to be found in this country of ours.

The result is apathy, indifference, ignorance and prejudice. All this is a far cry from my own school days when we were in it together, and by the time we left school, we would have made friends with boys and girls of all races, many of whom are still my friends today. Race was an accident, and it certainly never bothered me. I am convinced that the road to national integration is through the portals of our national schools. I do not believe that you can create racial unity and understanding by putting young children in their separate national institutions. My views on a single education system do not go down well with people who are blinkered, and care little or nothing about the future of their country. We have little choice in the matter if we want to achieve integration on a sustainable basis.

The government must find the courage to review the education system with the single, overarching objective of achieving national unity by providing one that, while meeting the language needs of the Chinese and the Indians, is truly national in every respect. All of us must drop our chauvinistic and selfish grandstanding, and start to think about the country for once. Otherwise, there is not going to be a ghost of a chance of creating a society that can live side by side in harmony, grounded in mutual trust, respect and understanding.

The harmony that we proudly claim to exist in our country is not deep rooted. Scratch the surface, and what do we really see? Uneasy coexistence, compounded by the most irrational suspicion and prejudice. And yet, are we doing enough to address the weaknesses inherent in our race relations? Have we made any serious attempt to understand the root causes of racial polarization and disintegration? If the holding of open houses once a year is our state of the art strategy for national unity, then it only serves to confirm my long-held belief that as a country we are unduly preoccupied with form. What we need is more substance. The Government alone cannot push this important national agenda entirely on its own, and as in the case of fighting corruption, we must become part of the solution.

There is, therefore, a role for civil society organizations, NGOs, the corporate sector, the professions, the media, parent-teacher associations, community and religious leaders to lend support to efforts to bring about racial unity and integration through a fair and enlightened school system-one that will satisfy both the individual as well as the national aspirations. All of this will require a sincere commitment to the welfare, peace, harmony and prosperity of our country and all our people, not just for now, not only just for ourselves, but for the generations after us.

National unity requires hard work, often soul-destroying because results are often extremely elusive and illusory. We must never make the mistake of thinking that national unity is product money can buy. It is a process that requires much adjusting in a never ending spirit of give and take. I believe, if we care enough about our very own Malaysian Malaysia, it is worth the sacrifice. Are we up to the challenge?

Going our separate ways in educational terms will keep us even farther apart than is good for us as a people. The way ahead for our Malaysian Malaysia is by adopting a unified education system.

Malaysian Insider

OCT 10 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak does not disappoint. He is true to his values whatever they might be. He upholds his principles with messianic zeal. His principles are of indeterminate provenance, but Najib is not known to worry himself to distraction over such small matters. He has made many of us happy. It has nothing to do with his 1 Malaysia vision that he seems incapable of articulating to save his life, let alone convincing Malaysians who have decided that half a century of untruths and specious, convoluted political and social arguments should be more than enough for even the most sanguine of them.

Najib has made us happy not because in a fit of mental aberration or misplaced exuberance he has added to his fantasy world the even a more preposterous 1 World vision that flashed across his mind. I bet it was a very brief moment in time. Najib has made us deliriously happy because he has just done something blatantly cynical to confirm what we have known all along about his attitude to corruption. Najib does not disappoint.

His choice of Tan Sri Mohd Isa Samad as the BN candidate for the Bagan Pinang by-election has left absolutely no doubt in our minds about Najib’s real attitude to corruption. He, ever the pragmatic, suave man about town leader of a country already systematically mired in corruption, sees it as nothing more that a necessary evil. If you cannot fight it, join it.

His matter of fact response that “Even those convicted by the courts get another chance” must surely single him out, like a sore thumb even among the corrupt leaders of 1 Malaysia, as someone totally devoid of ethical values. It also points to a complete lack of the political will to curb corrupt practices in our country. The gap between his rhetoric and constructive action against corruption is growing ever wider under Najib. Just in case he forgets, the Kuala Lumpur-based diplomatic corps and the wider international community are watching this development with some concern. Najib does not disappoint.

Bagan Pinang is a little backwater of a community on the Negri Sembilan coast. However, the choice of a candidate that even Umno, the party that sits well with corruption and takes it in its stride, was constrained to discipline marks a low point indeed. The much detested and reviled corruption-tainted and Isa has now been declared perfectly “kosher” to represent the country’s ruling coalition. Politics is indeed the art of the possible.

Can we trust a government that is prepared to trade integrity? And for a rural state assembly seat which, the winning or losing of which, is not going to have a material effect on the political fate of BN in overall terms? I, unlike Najib, do not subscribe to the second chance dispensation because political corruption will ravage national values and systems. Are we blind to the fact that it was Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s special brand of corrupt political stewardship, now still in place unfortunately, that has stifled our potential for dynamic growth, and kept us, in spite of the resources at our disposal, at the wrong end of the global competitiveness league table?

Political corruption if not dealt with decisively will destroy our nation because the national decision-making processes will be distorted and manipulated. “State capture” by corrupt elements will be the end result. We cannot allow the country’s future to be hijacked by unprincipled politicians, by default. Fighting corruption is our individual and collective responsibility as citizens. It cannot be left to the tender mercies of the corrupt in the corridors of power.

Now that Najib has dropped all pretence of queasiness about bedding down with corruption, he could do us all a big favour and save taxpayers a lot of money by closing down the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, the National Institute of Integrity and all the other related agencies because he has made his position on corruption so clear. They are of no use to man or beast.

And while we are about it, Najib may want to propose a general amnesty for all who have been convicted of corruption as well as those who have committed corrupt acts, but lucky enough not to be caught. This is totally consistent with his belief that the corrupt deserve a second chance, an official passport to Najib’s 1 Malaysia where anything goes and the devil looks after his own. Najib does not disappoint.

Malaysians are now being treated to a display of arrogance unprecedented in the history of BN administration, and the choice of Isa, in all the circumstances, flies in the face of what little is left that is decent and honourable in our national life, worth preserving. Even by Umno’s and, by extension, Najib’s own standards, this is a very low point, and that is putting it charitably. Najib does not disappoint.

Little Bagan Pinang will without a doubt deliver the seat that Najib so devoutly yearns to have. He needs it to prop his shaky leadership. Bagan Pinang will in the end be remembered in history as the place where Umno lost its moral bearing, credibility and legitimacy to lead the Malays. Umno’s ugly nakedness in surrendering ethical values and principles to political expediency is here for all to see: it will be its undoing. Najib does not disappoint. He never does!

The Javanese have done it again. They have burned our national flag.

Many years ago, I was interviewed in London by BBC Radio 2 as part of a series on the great languages of the world. I was asked about some significant differences between Bahasa Indonesia and our own Bahasa Melayu. I feigned ignorance about the existence of a language called Bahasa Indonesia. I said what Indonesia claimed as its language is really Bahasa Melayu.

They had no choice but to use Bahasa Melayu, the lingua franca of the Malay world to communicate among themselves because they never had a common language to begin with. Malay is undoubtedly the basis of their language. So, if we do what they in Indonesia do so well, we should be burning their flag every day because they have purloined our national language.

An excessive display of nationalistic zeal is generally considered “ugly” in civilised societies. The Indonesians by their actions have reduced themselves into sad figures of ridicule and fun. Their claim, and not for the first time, that we have infringed their “cultural copyrights” is totally absurd. They now have got it into their heads that we should stop singing our national anthem because the tune was Indonesian. What else next? Stop eating satay and wearing kain batik because these are Indonesian?

I remember the time when Indonesia took it upon themselves to rename the Indian Ocean as the Indonesian Ocean, and had the new name put on their official map. The Indians demurred, and Sukarno the regional bully boy realised that it was not such a clever thing to do, after all.

Last year we had Wahyu Susilo of Migrant Care, an influential labour organisation telling us “We also want Malaysia to legalise illegal workers and not simply deport them home.” Then, again last year we were reminded by Indonesian lawmakers that Malaysia-Indonesia relations were “at their worst since Sukarno’s days of Konfrontasi in the sixties.”

The reference to Konfrontasi is mischievous in the circumstances. It was a attempt to stampede us into submitting to their will. Indonesians should want to forget that disastrously miscalculated adventure which ended with a bloody nose for their country. On the positive side, it brought to an end the reign of the megalomaniac Sukarno only to be replaced by the rapacious Suharto. Perhaps we had a match in our own country, and we should not gloat over it too much. As a matter of interest, even the normally calm and staid Najib when Deputy Prime Minister was moved to refer to Malaysia as the “Whipping Boy” of the Indonesian media whenever they felt they had a grievance, real or imagined, against us.

I mention all this as a way of reminding ourselves that history provides important lessons for us all. Patterns of political behaviour are often deeply entrenched in the consciousness of a nation, and in the case of our big and unwieldy neighbour, this phenomenon is more marked than is good for them. We want to continue to maintain good neighbour relations with Indonesia, but Indonesia must remember that we are not a client state, and there is a limit to how far we are prepared to go to be nice. We have to think about protecting our national security interests and not putting them at risk. After all, our responsibility is to our own people, first and last.

I recall vividly the burning of our flag in 2002 in Jakarta, that very violent capital of Indonesia. Dr. Mahathir, the then Prime Minister responded in a statesmanlike manner to the crude officially orchestrated provocation in which the petulant Speaker of the People’s Consultative Council, Amein Rais played a big role. So, in the most recent incident, we were yet again treated to a pattern of behaviour that seems to have been well integrated into the great Indonesian cultural psyche, and that is part of their culture they can keep without any fear of copyright infringement by Malaysia.

It is obviously difficult for us to engage such a volatile country without causing offence and endless misunderstandings, but we must show patience and wisdom and do all we can to keep the relations on an even keel. Indonesia is still a country in transition and has yet to find its own realistic level in international relations. It seems to lack the confidence of a potentially rich and credible nation, and therefore occupies its time in the luxury of blaming others when things do not go their way. I suppose they will now want to take back all their nearly two million nationals, both legal and mostly illegal, working hard, and robbing hard, to keep body and soul together.

We are not your whipping boy. Grow up Indonesia.

Tunku Abdul Aziz

TV Antara

Tunku Abdul Aziz Ibrahim adalah bekas Pengerusi Transparency International (TI) Malaysia dan menyertai DAP pada Ogos tahun lalu sebelum diangkat sebagai Naib Pengerusi Kebangsaan DAP. Selain menganggotai Jawatankuasa Kerja Pusat parti itu, beliau juga dilantik sebagai Senator Julai lalu. Wartawan Suara Keadilan, Fazallah Pit dan wartawan TvAntara, Sharifah Azmawati cuba menyingkap pandangannya mengenai senario politik Malaysia.

Sejak mendapat mandat di beberapa negeri dan menafikan majoriti dua pertiga di Parlimen, sesetengah pihak menganggap pergolakan politik hasil serangan berterusan Barisan Nasional (BN) disebabkan faktor KEADILAN yang parti paling lemah dalam Pakatan Rakyat. Sejauh mana kebenarannya?

Saya tidak anggap KEADILAN sebagai parti paling lemah. Apabila ada tiga parti dengan tiga ideologi berbeza, bukan mudah untuk membawa persefahaman dan kerjasama serta menghasilkan gandingan mantap. Jika tidak bekerja keras, sentiasa akan ada bahaya menanti. Seperti kata Pengerusi DAP, Lim Kita Siang, jangan sampai Pakatan Rakyat hanya diberi peluang satu penggal sahaja.

Walaupun menerima banyak sokongan rakyat, mereka mahu lihat sama ada Pakatan Rakyat mampu menjadi sebuah kerajaan yang baik. Kita ada peluang untuk membuktikannya apabila berjaya menguasai lima negeri, seterusnya mencetus harapan supaya Ketua Umum KEADILAN, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim bakal menjadi Perdana Menteri apabila Pakatan Rakyat menguasai kerajaan Pusat.

Ia menunjukkan wujud sedikit kelonggaran dalam Pakatan Rakyat. Sebenarnya, apakah masalah utama dalam Pakatan Rakyat hingga mudah menjadi sasaran serangan BN? Dan, bagaimana mengelakkan situasi itu berterusan?

Kerap berlaku salah faham terutama antara parti. Sepatutnya, perlu ada satu penyelarasan membabitkan pemimpin utama dari ketiga-tiga parti berhubung strategi dan hal lain supaya dapat mengekalkan persefahaman.

Saya lihat, masalah paling besar ialah kurangnya kemahiran pengurusan komunikasi. Apabila banyak pemimpin membuat kenyataan, ia sepatutnya dibincangkan dulu supaya tidak menimbulkan rasa tidak senang rakan parti atau kenyataannya berlawanan dengan rakan parti.

Komuniskasi amat penting. Pemimpin perlu lebih banyak perbincangan pada masa depan. Ia akan membantu menjalinkan persefahaman lebih kukuh dengan memahami pendirian, cara kerja dan ideologi masing-masing.

Mungkin ia mengambil sedikit masa. Ini baru peringkat permulaan, tapi Pakatan Rakyat perlu mengenal pasti kelemahan dan kekuatan organisasi. Dalam isu arak di Selangor, ada orang parti ini kata begini tapi orang parti lain dalam Pakatan Rakyat buat perkara berbeza, seolah-olah mereka tidak tahu apa yang mereka lakukan. Jadi, macam mana rakyat mahu percaya kebolehan Pakatan Rakyat dalam mentadbir negara.

Sungguhpun ada sedikit pergeseran antara parti dalam Pakatan Rakyat tapi ia masih mendapat tempat di hati rakyat. Jadi, di manakah sebenarnya tunjang kekuatan Pakatan Rakyat dalam senario politik Malaysia?

Kekuatan utama Pakatan Rakyat adalah berlandaskan kepercayaan dalam memperjuang isu kebebasan bercakap untuk semua golongan, selain keyakinan dalam usaha membanteras rasuah dengan berkesan yang tiada dalam BN. Jika ia dilakukan dengan baik, rakyat akan terus meletakkan kepercayaan kepada Pakatan Rakyat.

Kerajaan BN dilihat tidak mengamalkan ketelusan dalam pemerintahannya sejak 52 tahun lalu. Kini, dengan Pakatan Rakyat memerintah beberapa negeri, bagaimanakan tahap ketelusan di negara ini.

Secara tuntas, PR memang lebih telus dari BN, tapi ia belum cukup. Pakatan Rakyat perlu mengamal dasar ketelusan secara total. Pakatan Rakyat mesti mengerti yang tanpa ketelusan, tidak akan ada akauntabiliti. Maknanya, ketelusan terlalu penting. Terlalu penting.

Setiap tindakan yang diambil Pakatan Rakyat perlu ada asas atau rakyat mungkin mempersoalkannya. Rakyat sentiasa mahukan jawapan dan mereka tidak akan mendapat jawapan jika tidak mengamal budaya ketelusan.

Dalam hal membuat keputusan pula, perlu ada keupayaan untuk menjawab dan mampu memberi penerangan mengapa sesuatu keputusan diambil. Jika tidak, rakyat tidak tahu apa sebenarnya berlaku. Ia akan memberi masalah. Kita kena jadi organisasi yang berpegang kuat kepada ketelusan.

Rakyat mendapati polis dan Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) tidak mengamalkan ketelusan dalam menjalankan siasatan. Bagaimana pula tahap ketidaktelusan mereka dalam mengendalikan sesuatu kes.

Setiap ada organiasasi ada tahap ketelusan berbeza. Ini menimbulkan masalah. Ketelusan penting supaya rakyat tahu apa yang berlaku. Tanpa ketelusan, kebanyakan mereka hanya meneka. Meneka mencetuskan khabar angin dan ia tentunya bukan sesuatu yang baik.

Rakyat mungkin membuat spekulasi berdasarkan khabar angin. Ini tidak baik dalam mengurus sesebuah organiasasi. Jangan harap mereka akan menaruh keyakinan terhadap organisasi kerana mereka tidak tahu apa-apa. Mereka cuma akan fikirkan banyak perkara yang mungkin tidak betul.

Inilah masalah dengan polis dan SPRM. Ia jadi begitu kerana disokong Akta Rahsia Rasmi (OSA). Apabila dipersoal, mudah mereka mengatakan ia adalah tertakluk kepada OSA. Jadi mereka boleh sorokkan apa-apa perkara yang mungkin salah. Sebab itu, OSA mesti dimansuh. Rakyat bukan mahu tahu rahsia mereka tapi mahu tahu perkara yang memberi kesan kepada kehidupan.

Salah satu senjata utama BN dalam mempertahan kelangsungan kuasa politik ialah menggunakan agensi kerajaan tertentu dan amalan ini sudah lama dipraktik apabila mereka dalam keadaan terdesak.

Agensi kerajaan sepatutnya tidak bersifat politik dan mempromosi polisi BN. Jika tidak, ia sebenarnya menjadi alat kepada parti pemerintah. Mereka mesti bergerak mengikut lunas undang-undang dan tidak boleh menerima arahan daripada ahli politik.

Peranan sebenar mereka ialah memberi perkhidmatan kepada rakyat, secara adil dan saksama tanpa memilih bulu supaya agensi kerajaan terus memperoleh keyakinan rakyat. Di Perak misalnya, kita dapat lihat polis diperalat untuk meneruskan aganda BN. Ia tidak seharusnya berlaku.

Kebelakangan ini, banyak serangan peribadi digunakan BN sebagai modal politik dengan Anwar menjadi sasaran utama apabila dilabel sebagai pengkhianat bangsa. Apakah senario ini amalan politik yang baik untuk negara?

Bukan tindakan bijak untuk seseorang ahli politik melakukan serangan peribadi kerana banyak aspek lain yang boleh dikritik atau dibahas. Serangan politik perlu berlandaskan isu dan prestasi, bukan berbentuk personaliti.

Jika tidak, isu politik tidak terarah kepada prestasi, sebaliknya menjurus kepada serangan peribadi. Ini tidak baik untuk proses kematangan politik sesebuah negara.

Naib Presiden Umno, Tan Sri Muhyiddin kebelakangan dianggap antara ahli politik paling galak melakukan serangan peribadi terhadap Anwar. Mengapa ini berlaku? Apakah mungkin ada agenda tertentu di sebalik kelantangannya itu?

Ramai tidak sedar yang Muhyiddin seakan-akan ‘melepaskan semua’ sedangkan Muhyiddin sendiri tidak sempurna. Tindakannya hanya mencetus persoalan sama ada corak permainan politiknya atas sebab ada pekung yang perlu disorok.

Sebaik-baiknya, Muhyiddin jika tiada apa-apa yang perlu dicakap, lebih baik jangan bercakap. Muhyiddin sepatutnya lebih banyak bercakap tentang prestasi, bukan isu peribadi.

Konsep 1Malaysia yang digagas Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak giat dipromosi pada masa ini. Pada pandangan Tunku apa pentingnya 1Malaysia dan bagaimana kesannya kepada rakyat secara langsung?

1Malaysia, ia tiada apa-apa kecuali slogan. Kosong. Sesiapapun boleh mencipta slogan demi slogan tapi ia tidak membawa sebarang makna. Untuk rakyat merasai semangat 1Malaysia, perlu ada polisi yang konkrit kepada rakyat.

Jika tidak, ia menimbulkan kekeliruan. Diskriminasi terhadap masyarakat bukan Melayu, misalnya. Bagaimana mereka mahu beri reaksi positif kerana ia tidak merangkumi semua pihak sedangkan semua orang sepatutnya menjadi sebahagian dari 1Malaysia.

Memang Najib ada membuat beberapa perubahan. Misalnya, memperkenal biasiswa kepada pelajar bukan Melayu tapi banyak lagi yang perlu dibuat. Dan, tidak boleh ada 1Malaysia jika masih ada Akta Keselamatan Dalam Negeri (ISA).

Ia undang-undang yang ketara mengongkong rakyat. Tidak boleh ada amalan tahan tanpa bicara. Kemudian, dengan mudah tangkap pemimpin pembangkang masuk ISA.

Memang benar, perlu ada undang-undang berkaitan anti-pengganas, tapi kita tidak boleh kata Anwar, Kit Siang sebagai pengganas. Sebab itu, saya katakan, 1Malaysia takkan berjaya.

Sempena sambutan ulang tahun kemerdekaan tanah air ke-52, bagaimana Tunku melihat Malaysia sebagai sebuah negara berdaulat dan merdeka.

Selama 52 tahun, Malaysia berdiri sebagai negara merdeka. Baik pemimpin mahupun rakyat, mereka sepatutnya mampu membuat keputusan sendiri tanpa dipengaruhi apa-apa. Kita ada sebahagian kebebasan itu tapi tidak menyeluruh.

Kerajaan juga perlu lebih bertanggungjawab dalam menyediakan aspek keselamatan, keselesaan dan perlindungan kepada segenap lapisan rakyat. Rakyat juga perlu dibebas dari pelbagai belenggu sedia ada.