A New Beginning

A New Beginning

Political analysis is useful for providing the insights that flow from the more rounded appreciation of context such analysis allows for. Without context the significance of specific action will elude us. For instance, a statement by a politician could mean one thing in isolation but mean something completely different when considered against a backdrop of political intrigue. Anwar Ibrahim saying that he has six defectors from the Barisan Nasional is in itself suggestive of nothing more than an erosion of political support for the BN. However, when viewed against all else that Anwar Ibrahim has been involved in these past six months, the statement potentially takes on added resonance.

Post March-8th, there has been a sharp increase of political analysis on the Malaysian socio-political scene. The alternative media and blogs provide a veritable feast of information on a daily basis on a diverse range of subjects in the field. This has been a good thing for in setting out context, Malaysians have been more able to appreciate the many other ways of looking at things. They have also been able to see that free expression is something that does not harm our society as much as it does the politicians who hide their deficiencies behind such fears. Freer access to a range of diverse opinion has allowed for a maturing of the viewpoint of the Malaysian on the street.

There is however a downside, the root of which lies in the self-perception of the analyst that he and what he says is important. In their enthusiasm, analysts sometimes tend to forget that their analysis is not so much about their being able to do so but rather the truth of a given matter.

In an interview in 1993, the late Edward Said reflected that his meditations on politics and life had “always been a matter of exploration, of self-criticism and constant change in trying to surprise myself as well as my readers.” His reflection was prompted by a sense that public intellectuals tended to allow themselves to become “prisoners of their own language” and to be more concerned with “producing more work in fidelity to what they’d done before” at the expense of a truer perspective.

A noteworthy observation, it cautions against the very thing that seems to have occurred as the state of play between the BN and the Pakatan Rakyat intensifies. Analysis in these heightened times could be likened in many ways to commentary on a football league cup with many commentators having picked their side. Governance is however not about picking a side and sadly, more has been obscured than revealed by the parade of viewpoints and assessments.

In the run-up to the Kuala Trengganu by-election and its aftermath, we have been told what it all means for the BN, Abdullah Badawi, Najib Razak, the Pakatan Rakyat and Anwar Ibrahim. There are permutations upon permutations. We are asked to consider whether there was vote rigging, whether it is Abdullah Badawi that the people rejected or Najib or even the BN, whether it was the Chinese vote that swung the result or whether, as the MCA claims, the Chinese remained loyal to the MCA. We are told so many things in one form or the other, that in the end we are told very little.

For all this, nothing has been made clear and the question uppermost in mind is whether it really matters at all anymore who does what and how.

Whatever the spin or counter-spin, it is glaringly apparent that things are not as they should be in this country. Just as it is obvious that things should have been far better and could have been. It would not be incorrect to say that there are Malaysians who feel that they have come to be held hostage by an administration that is more concerned with protecting its own interests than those of the nation.

The state of flux points to many Malaysians having woken up to the fact. They want change in the most fundamental of ways: independence from a mindset that has left them colonized by an elite for its own benefit.

They are not fastidious as to who it is that becomes the Prime Minister of this country or who it is that forms the government. All they want is a government made up of men and women who believe in the ideals that the founders of this nation thought were a solid basis for a glorious future for all Malaysians. They want those men and women to believe in these ideals enough to get on with what needs to be done as a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. They want the respect that each and every one of them is entitled to as a citizen.

In one of the several speeches that President Barack Obama gave on his historic journey into Washington for his inauguration, he said: “What is required is a new declaration of independence, not just in our nation, but in our own lives.”

It is the same for us. We are in search of a new Malaysia. To find it, we must embrace the possibilities. To do that, our minds and hearts need to be liberated.

It is time for a new beginning.

(Malay Mail; 20th January 2009)

MIS

How To Be Happy

How to be happy

The idea of enacting a law that deals specifically with race relations in this country is a good one. It is evident that politics, tunnel vision and a lack of imagination have resulted in our society being a great deal more fractured than it should have been, all things considered.

Who would have thought in 1957 that fifty plus years down the line, there would still be a demand for supremacist rhetoric and the fruits of discrimination. But here we are; confused and frustrated, trapped in a labyrinth of our own making. So much so that we have lost sight of plain and obvious truths that could lead us into an age of miracles if rediscovered.

A long while ago, I was rummaging amongst a friend’s book collection and came across a little book by the current Dalai Lama entitled, I think, “How To Be Happy”. Wanting to be happy, I turned to the first line on the first page. If I remember correctly, it said something to this effect: in order to be happy, one had to be happy.

You can imagine how I was somewhat put out by this. If it were that simple, I mused somewhat cynically, we would all be a lot happier. There was surely more to it than that for how else was one to deal with the mysterious complexities of life, I grumbled. I put the book back where I had found it and moved on to a glossy magazine with great photographs.

In hindsight, I realized that I should have paid more attention to that drop in the ocean of wisdom.

Quite a few years later I suddenly realized that over time, life had compelled me to simplify how I dealt with it. It was either that or become victim to the stresses and turmoil that I seemed to have had a knack for subjecting myself to. More and more, I had learnt how to accept the obvious and to say ‘no’ when I needed to, distancing myself from distress, even as I found out how to accept what I did not understand with a more open heart. I saw then that though I had some way to go on my journey, I was relatively happy and that I had got there by, well, trying to be happy.

I tried to find that book again but it had moved on to illuminate someone else's life.

The most obvious truth about being a Malaysian is that all of us, regardless of our background and ethnicity, call this country home and share it with everyone else. We got together at independence because we all believed that we had a place here and that we could live together harmoniously and respectfully for all our benefit. That made us all fulfilled and each of us contributed to its, and each others’, growth.

Somewhere along the way however, we began to take that truth for granted and after a while it was left by the wayside, forgotten. In its place was a void that was soon filled by resentment with a deep, burning need for recognition and belonging that we sated with anything that offered immediate gratification. Race, religion, anything that gave us an identity, was soon being fed to that driving hunger. As with all gangs, those with stronger numbers and greater resource soon ruled the day and discrimination became a way of life.

It still is, and for being so interleaved with so many aspects of our life, is the single, biggest obstacle to our living together harmoniously. It is also the greatest cause of distress and for being that, is something that we must collectively distance ourselves from as we learn how to appreciate and embrace the self-evident truths of being Malaysian.

Discrimination has however become so entrenched that the way forward needs the careful guidance that only a structured policy can offer. A race-relations law, providing for the necessary structures such as a race-relations commission, is arguably the only effective way for such a policy to be introduced and implemented.

Worryingly though, those who have proposed such a law seem more focused on creating more strictures in an already hidebound existence rather than on creating a shared platform for sustainable and inclusive development. This is not the correct approach. We do not need more regulations on what we can or cannot say, we have too many already. What we need is a way to ensure that no Malaysian is sacrificed in whatever way to satisfy the need of another.

For that, a sustained effort must be made to fully eliminate any and all forms of discrimination in public life in this country. Where the race-relations law is concerned, the focus must be on racial discrimination. The law should aim at creating an environment in which the equality of all citizens can be promoted and fostered in the way that the Federal Constitution guarantees. The constitutional scheme aimed at protecting disadvantaged Malays and natives of Sabah and Sarawak through objectively applied affirmative action is not inconsistent with such a goal.

Can we be happy? I think so. It requires us to open our hearts and accept some truths. It needs a little creativity and a lot of trust.

I would like to think we are up to that challenge.

(Malay Mail; 23rd September 2008)

MIS

'Disquiet' On Paper

The editors of the new Malay Mail had very kindly asked me to write a weekly column in the new Malay Mail. I got the assurances I needed from the editors and am now writing 'Disquiet' for the Malay Mail every Tuesday. My arrangement with the newspaper allows me to post my article on this blog two days after the print version appears. My first article appeared on Tuesday, 6th May. Here it is.

(My article for next Tuesday is on the decision of the Penang Syariah Court on the apostasy application of Siti Fatimah)

The Fortress

March 8th brought with it a new landscape, one that to many, across the divides, offered a promise that had long been abandoned. Some dared venture a little further into a hope of a new beginning, tentatively at first but then with more conviction as they realized the full effect of what had transpired.

I was asked soon after how I saw things. I said that I thought that it was a good result, one that would show the politicians that Malaysians now took democracy more seriously, that we valued our freedoms that much more and were prepared to defend it. My inquisitor, who as it turned out shared my view, asked where I would start if I could rebuild things.

I gave it a thought and while it was tempting to point to a greater freedom of expression and assembly or even of religion or liberty, there were more fundamental problems that had to be tackled as a matter of priority.

One of the first insights gained when learning about human rights is how much of a cornerstone freedom from discrimination is. The right to equal treatment, regardless of race or religion or gender or any other factor, informs every aspect of the human condition. It is the right to be treated as equals that allows us to stand up and hold our heads up high, regardless of where we have come from, that protects our personal dignity. It gives meaning to a simple truth; that each of us wants to be able to live our lives to the fullest and achieve our dreams in a way that only each of us can.

No one has the right to tell us who we are, or to tell us how we should live our lives. No one has the right to tell us that we cannot reach for the stars. No one.

The right to equality, to equal protection, is a cornerstone of the constitutional framework of this nation. It is cast in stone, even though it was unnecessary to do so for it being so self-evident. Merdeka brought us together as one, the collective beating of our hearts setting the rhythm by which we would stride into the future.

And yet, it would seem that even the most sacred of truths are not spared when they stand in the way of ambition. Fifty plus years into our history and Malaysia does not have a culture of non-discrimination. Race politics, greed and the lust for power have trampled into near obscurity our path to the single thread that binds us all together, the freedom to be Malaysian.

It is so wrong when we separate our children into Malays, Indians, Chinese and Others. It is so wrong when we tell our young that they should be wary of their friends just because they are different. It is so wrong that some of us feel ourselves entitled to a better life at the expense of others. It is so wrong that we have been made to fear others, not for what it is they intend to do to us, but for what is we are told they will do.

And it is so wrong that the nation, and the futures of all that call it home, are held to ransom by a political vision whose driving purpose is to protect vested interests. For those who find divisions along racial and religious lines useful, a multi-racial Malaysia in which the energy and vision of all Malaysian are harnessed to a common and beneficial end, is threatening. It is in their interests to make it equally threatening for others.

The declining standards in the public service, from education to health care to the administration of justice, all stem from this sad state of affairs. In the fortress that has been built around the Malay community, it is trapped in a vicious cycle that prevents it from seeing the obvious and doing what is necessary. In the push to protect the Malays from perceived threats and enemies, Malays and non-Malays have suffered. The pain that has been caused is immeasurable, the extent of the injury unmapped.

What would I do, where would I start? I would start here.

MIS