Nine weeks have passed since the start of the semester or since I last updated here, so I’ve thought that this long overdue post would serve as a much needed brief update. Maybe you’ve figured that I have been busy with studies. Indeed I have been. The past nine weeks or so were pretty hectic at times to say the least. Classes, internship workshops, tests, preparation for assignments/presentations, and worship practice have taken up much of my time and having 20 hours of classes (plus a 3-hour workshop) every week for every semester is not something that I relish. The next two months will definitely not be a walk in the park so I’ll have to start bracing myself for what will be the most hectic and challenging period throughout my three years in university thus far.
Perhaps the highlight of the semester so far was the Melaka trip which I had during the first weekend of August with some of my Christian Fellowship mates (who just left to U.K. recently to continue their law degree). I guess it was just one of those trips that I will remember for many years to come, maybe partly because it was my first time to Melaka. The quaint atmosphere, old historical charm, Jonker Street, and pork satay were just some of the things I like about Melaka. Not to mention the beautiful old historical buildings in the city too. Will probably post up some photos here in the next update. Just as my friend Jon puts it, ‘Melaka is a treasure-trove of lovely shots’.
I will be required to undergo a compulsory 3-month internship at the end of the year from 12 December to 2 March and I have already gotten an offer from a flight attendant training school called ‘Inter-Excel Advisory Sdn. Bhd’ which is located inside Fahrenheit 88 in the Bukit Bintang shopping district after attending an interview. I’m not sure if I’m too keen on taking up the offer because the director who conducted the interview didn’t give me a specific job description which I felt was a little vague. It was a really poor decision on my part, overlooking the fact that I will need to travel over an hour to reach Bukit Bintang from Subang, get caught in a traffic jam everyday, incur high travelling costs, and work on Saturdays as well. I have also applied for an internship position in General Electric but have yet to get an interview, though I’m not getting my hopes too high on receiving an offer from the big multinational conglomerate.
I just turned 23 last Tuesday and am really thankful for friends who helped made it a memorable one. I don’t think I have much thoughts on turning another year older except for the fact that I’m fast approaching another phase of life but it will be great to reflect on the past year and be thankful for the blessings in front of me, which I feel most of us tend to overlook very often. The past year wasn’t anything monumental to begin with but one can only hope that the year ahead will be a better one with different perspectives, challenges, or events happening in life. I’m remaining optimistic that it will turn out good.
I was quite surprised by the fact that Malaysia has been ranked the 19th most peaceful country in the world on the Global Peace Index (GPI) 2011. Being skeptical about such positive revelation regarding the nation (I’m pretty sure most of you are guilty of that too sometimes), I decided to look up the internet for some information on the research methodology used in the survey done by the Institute for Economics and Peace. One can’t help but feel skeptical when we are ranked higher than our neighboring country, Singapore. But don’t get me wrong, of course it is good news when we are ranked the most peaceful country in South East Asia which is something to shout about, and ranking fourth among the Asia-Pacific region (behind New Zealand, Japan and Australia) is definitely a good thing.
Multinational corporations or foreign investors consider a variety of factors before setting up their businesses in a particular country. Some of them include the relative political risk within a country, potential terrorist threats, crime rates, etc. The GPI is composed of 23 indicators with the key ones being internal and international conflict, safety and security, and militarization in a country. So a high ranking in the GPI is a good sign because it will boost foreign investors’ confidence which would lead to an increase of foreign direct investment inflows into the country. The aim of the Malaysian government to be in the top 10 ranking is also an applaudable one though I feel that our ratings for ‘respect for human rights’ will definitely plummet next year due to the government’s mishandling of the recent Bersih rally.
It’s good to set a target for ourselves so we know where we’re heading. However we shouldn’t get too carried away with our ranking on the Global Peace Index because after all it’s just a statistic. And I wonder how a survey about the public worrying less of being victims of crime is actually relevant to the society. What we need to know is actual statistics on whether crime rates are decreasing in urban or rural areas and not whether we are afraid of falling prey to crime. What the rakyat desires is that the government constantly look for ways to improve safety and keep crime rate low in the country. It’s more important that the police force spend more time doing their job, reducing crimes, keeping the nation safe, and at the same time increase the public’s confidence in them.
According to Transparency International, Malaysia ranks 56th on the 2010 Corruption Perception’s Index. While we rank higher than most Southeast Asian countries (except for Singapore and Brunei), we’re still pretty average and I think most Malaysians would agree that corruption is still a rather pressing issue in the country. Corruption kills and needs to be eradicated, hence the establishment of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in January 2009 by the government with the hope of eradicating corruption and malpractices in the nation. While one might argue that it won’t be quite effective in curbing corruption at all levels, it is nevertheless a good starting point.
Unfortunately tragedy struck 7 months later, and someone died while in custody after falling from the 14th floor. So RCI came out with a report a couple of days ago, concluding that Teoh Beng Hock committed suicide after being subjected to ‘aggressive, relentless, oppressive, and unscrupulous’ interrogation by three senior investigation officers. Needless to say, someone dying in custody after being interrogated isn’t a small matter and definitely raised eyebrows. So is MACC to be blamed? Yes. Could the death be prevented? Yes. But just when you thought that MACC would have made some major improvements like installing more CCTVs around the building, enforcing stricter guidelines and ethical codes after someone has died during custody, nope. In April 2011, another person fell off the building and died during custody.
Opinions/beliefs regarding what is right or wrong (ethical or unethical) differs among different individuals. And for this reason, there are clear guidelines and regulations within organizations that clearly defines ethical and unethical behaviors. Ethical codes must be clear and leave no room for ambiguity, so that interrogation officers will be obligated to strictly adhere to the codes of conduct which are expected of them. So if you have a deputy director of Selangor’s MACC who doesn’t follow standard operating procedures, abuses his power or acts unethically when interrogating witnesses or suspects, what hope is there left for the other lower ranked officers within the state’s agency?
Well I guess it isn’t surprising then that RCI’s report also claimed that most of the officers in Selangor’s MACC are prone to lying. When someone at the top is unethical himself, you will have officers that adopts the same culture within the agency. What’s worse is that after the incident, the then deputy director of Selangor’s MACC went on to become the director of Negeri Sembilan’s MACC. So my question is whether MACC endorses unethical acts within its premise or they don’t give a hoot at all. We all know that abuses of power within organizations or agencies are dangerous, especially the government ones. Why? Because it might just lead to corruption. You can’t fight fire with fire in an interrogation process. Corruption is unethical, so is a draconian and unscrupulous interrogation process. Of course it would be an even bigger irony if graft exists within an anti-corruption agency. But I won’t be making any baseless assumptions like some local politicians. And I found out in Wikipedia that MACC was modeled after top anti-graft agencies such as the ICAC in Hong Kong and Australia. Obviously we still have a long way to go.
On another note, I also have a bone to pick with Utusan Malaysia for making such ridiculous claims like this, this and anti-Semitic remarks like this. I could care less if newspapers remain as partisan as they want but something is amiss if one chooses to play the race or religion card. If the goal of our nation is to promote integration, moderation, tolerance and harmony among people of all races, religion and culture, then Utusan Malaysia is definitely not doing anything to help at all other than tearing us apart. Obviously the journalism ethics and standards of Utusan Malaysia are questionable too and they are feeding the public with lies and nonsense. So my other question is, what kind of message are we conveying to our children and future generation if racist remarks and disrespectful behavior towards a particular religion are being tolerated? Do we allow injustices to happen in our society where we choose to cover up certain issues instead of addressing the problem? It seems that not only MACC needs a revamp, perhaps the editorial board in Utusan needs a revamp too.
It seems that most Malaysian politicians don’t seem to talk with much sense besides being good at party politicking and mudslinging to discredit their rivals. It’s either they don’t think twice before speaking, are indifferent to what others might think, or lack the intelligence. Take Najib’s recent comment for example, which only goes to show how insensitive he is to the Christians in the nation. With his popularity already hitting an all time low, I don’t really see how that helps at all.
With all the flak and bad press surrounding the government’s response to the Bersih rally by the international media, I guess it’s excepted of Najib and company to try to win back the rakyat’s support, that includes a little mudslinging here and there which is fine because much needs to be done if BN wants to come out strong in the next general election, especially after a recent interesting revelation that there would be an estimated increase of 32 million new voters by the first quarter of 2013.
And the recent detention of six Parti Sosialis Malaysia members under the Emergency Ordinance (EO) for promoting Bersih further taints the nation’s international image. To date, they still have not been released yet and are awaiting the hearing of their habeas corpus application on 5 August. Outdated, draconian laws such as the Emergency Ordinance and Internal Security Act should be done away with because most of the time they are either misused or irrelevant to the situation. Can someone from the Home Ministry or the prime minister speak out already?
While I will not comment on the recent absurd decision by PAS-led Kedah government to ban entertainment outlets from operating during Ramadan (ultimately the ban was revoked three days ago), I have much to say about Dr. Chua Soi Lek’s comment on the whole nightspot ban being just a drama and political gimmick, even going as far to claim that DAP is trying to win the hearts of the Chinese community by forcing the state government to reverse the ban.
It’s evident that he was playing the race card and engaging in some really cheap political mudslinging, now that the ban has been revoked. Such an assumption is unnecessary and ludicrous to an extent. I find it ironic that he mentioned that the whole fiasco was a drama. What he forgot was that all the politicking (including mudslinging) brought upon by politicians of different political parties in Malaysia is also a drama in itself, not to mention that it happens on a regular basis.
What’s even more interesting to note is that a couple of days before the ban was revoked, MCA’s Young Professional’s Bureau Chief, Mr Chua Tee Yong, and MCA’s vice-president, Datuk Chor Chee Hueng, had earlier criticized that DAP was “uncharacteristically silent” on the issue and should protect the interests of non-Muslims. Hence, it was only natural for DAP to respond on the issue soon. (Though I thought DAP went a little too far in threatening to take legal action because goodwill between the two parties might be affected)
So to assume that DAP is only putting up a show for the Chinese community is inconsistent, unsubstantial and only goes to show that he doesn’t quite think twice before speaking. Even if they had an intention to put up a show, the question is, does it really matter? Human rights must not be violated and all political parties (UMNO, MCA, Gerakan, DAP or PKR) must strive to protect the rights of the rakyat regardless of race and religion.
If there’s any lesson DAP can learn from this, it would be to have a more consultative approach with all Pakatan Rakyat states when it comes to decision making, as mentioned by Tony Pua. It’s vital that the component parties within Pakatan Rakyat work together to achieve a common goal that actually benefits the rakyat, instead of having disagreements at the end which will lead to problems in the future.
On another note, it is a good thing that the president of PAS, Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, has spoken out against the BN leaders and pro-UMNO bloggers who criticize the party’s involvement with Bersih. At least someone is speaking with some sense.
It all went downhill for Barisan Nasional the moment they deemed the Bersih rally illegal. The rakyat have the right to exercise freedom of speech and to brand a peaceful street demonstration as illegal and to simply discredit it means that the government has violated the citizens’ constitutional rights of freedom of expression. This shows that Malaysia is still pretty much a flawed democracy as far as human rights are concerned. Just when you thought that the BN must have learned from its past mistakes of handling the previous 2007 Bersih rally, they have yet done it again but this time leaving a bigger mark, in a not so positive way.
Bersih’s 8 demands are:
- to clean the electoral roll
- to reform postal ballot
- implementing the use of indelible ink
- a minimum campaign period of 21 days
- to be allowed free and fair access to mainstream media
- to strengthen public institutions
- to stop corruption and dirty politics
If you asked me, I would say that their demands are rather fair and square. After all, who would want to advocate for dirty and fraudulent electoral systems in a nation. It is an utterly wrong move by BN to declare the rally as illegal in the first place. Of course the strange acts of banning and confiscating yellow Bersih T-shirts as well as arresting people who were wearing them during the lead-up to the rally didn’t helped either and were beyond everyone’s understanding.
From Najib’s immature and tasteless mockery of Anwar Ibrahim who apparently injured himself during the rally, his indecisiveness and pushing responsibilities of whether to release detainees to the police, the police’s reluctance to grant a permit to Bersih to hold its rally, to the overreaction of the police force by using tear gas and water cannons to disperse the demonstrators all contributed to the public discontent of the BN-led government. Much damage has been done to Barisan Nasional’s image and most of them were hugely self-inflicted. They will have to reflect and ponder upon their own mistakes and perhaps start to ‘communicate better’ as suggested by BN’s deputy minister, Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah, if they want to have any chance of coming out strong in the next general election and win back the support that they need to remain in power.
Najib’s administration clearly underestimated the wonders of internet media and social networking which are so prevalent among the Generation Y especially teenagers and young adults. I feel that the government has further alienated a huge portion of that demography as young people nowadays spend most of their time going online, going on Facebook rather than reading physical newspapers or relying on partisan mainstream media that paints a rather negative image to opposition parties. A recent video called ‘Truth that Cannot Be Covered’ which shows police using excessive force towards demonstrators which became viral on YouTube clearly didn’t help either and made things a whole lot worse for BN. They should have just let Bersih have its rally at Merdeka Stadium.
The Bersih rally was supposed to be non-partisan and BN should have known better to cooperate with them in the first place to champion for clean and fair elections. While I do believe that the Bersih rally was hijacked by Anwar Ibrahim and gang to a great extent (which could proof a useful platform for Pakatan Rakyat’s own political agenda in the upcoming elections), I feel that Najib’s administration have been too busy playing the blame game and being obsessed with Anwar instead of being sincere in wanting to have any positive difference in bringing electoral reforms. To make matters worse, it’s obvious that the BN’s stubbornness and failure to deal properly with the Bersih issue has further polarized those who are pro-Barisan Nasional between those who are pro-Pakatan Rakyat.
As the famous quote goes, “If you can’t beat them, join them”.
