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Undilah PAS : MENENTANG KEZALIMAN & MENEGAKKAN KEADILAN
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Assalamualaikum wrt
Clearly there is something very wrong with Malaysian's
Prime Minister.
Wassalam
Abdullah
--------------------------------------------------------
New Straits Times, 15 December 1999, p12:
CHANGING IN THINKING OF THE MALAYS
Dr Mahathir's World Analysis
Mainichi Daily News
I AM VERY GLAD THAT we achieved the target of a two-thirds
majority for
the National Front in the general election. But the
Government's
majority and the margins we won have been significantly reduced.
We
also failed to recapture one State and we lost another. For of
my
cabinet ministers lost in the election. The Opposition made
inroads
into Kedah, my home State. Selangor which had been an UMNO and
Barisan
Nasional stronghold lost a parliamentary seat to PAS (Parti
Islam
SeMalaysia or Pan Malaysian Islamic Party) for the first time.
Apparently quite a large proportion of Malays, the
indigenous
people of Malaysia, have turned against UMNO, their main
political
party. Ordinarily, a Governnment which had fended off a vicious
attack
on its economy and had turned around the economy so decisively
would
have gained the support of the people. In fact, it does among
the
ethnic Chinese who are more involved in business.
But the Malays did not really suffer from the currency and
economic
turmoil. There was no unemployment or shortages of supplies.
In fact,
the devaluation of the currency meant they earned more ringgit
from the
palmoil they produce and export. For the Malays the issues are
not
economic. They are based on the perceptions of the new educated
elite
who had been exposed both to Western liberalism while studying
abroad
and to the more extreme variety of Islam as preached by PAS.
The focus on Western liberalism was initiated by my former
deputy,
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. To get me to step down he and his
supporters
in the party condemn alleged cronyism, nepotism and lack of
transparency
in the Government. He expected the attack to be supported so
widely by
the grassroots leaders of the party, especially at the 1998 UMNO
general
assembly, that I would have to step down and he would take over
as the
annointed successor. Unfortunately for him the assembly ave
full
support to me. Nevertheless, the outcry against alleged
misdeeds of the
Government was picked up by opposition parties and by
non-governmental
organisations.
Later, when Anwar was removed from office following the
revelation
that he was involved in unacceptable immoral activities, and he
was
subsequently arrested and charged for abuse of his authority,
the
Opposition immediately whipped up popular support for him. His
followers inside and outside the party and the opportunistic
Opposition
took up his allegation that his removal was due to a conspiracy
to
prevent him from becoming the Prime Minister. His misbehaviour
and
breaches of the law were ignored even though he was tried in an
open
court. He succeeded in convincing his followers that the court
was
taking orders from the Prime Minister.
The educated elites, in particular the salaried
professionals,
assume that those in power and in a position to be corrupt must
be
corrupt. Proof of corruption is not necessary. Similarly, the
success
of anyone in business, whether they are friends or children of
the
leaders or not must be due to cronyism and nepotism. They
accordingly
became anti-Government. Many of the educated elites had been
cultivated
and even indoctrinated by PAS while they are still students.
They
became infused with anti-establishment sentiments. They
immediately
took up defence of Anwar when he launched a campaign against
alleged
Government corruption, etc, immediately after his removal from
office.
PAS and other opposition parties saw in the anti-Government
campaign by Anwar an opportunity to gather more votes. Whether
they
believe in his innocence or not, the Anwar affair brought the
opposition
parties together in a loose coalition which effectively made the
election a straight contest between two parties, the Barisan
Nasional
coalition versus the opposition coalition of four parties. PAS
benefitted the most from this opposition coalition. The
Democratic
Action Party of extremely chauvinistic Chinese lost popularity
because
of its association with PAS and its proclaimed desire to set up
an
Islamic state. Keadilan, the party formed by Anwar, won only
where PAS
was strong and supported it for tactical reasons. The urban
elites who
wanted to achieve political positions from exploiting the Anwar
issue
did not do well at all, although they did manage to reduce the
majority
of the Barisan Nasional candidates. The Barisan Nasionalwon
with a
convincing two-thirds majority but lost two states to PAS. All
the DAP
leaders lost for the first time. Unless Anwar can somehow keep
alive
the issue of his jailing, Keadilan is not likely to survive the
next
five years.
In a way the success of the Barisan Nasional's policies to
reduce
the economic disparity between the indigenous Malays and the
Chinese
contributed to its loss of Malay support. In 1969, race riots
broke out
in Kuala Lumpur after an election in which the Alliance, the
predecessor
of the Barisan Nasional, did not do so well. The riots were
sparked by
a Chinese party noisily celebrating its "victory" over the
Malays. This
provoked a similar celebration by the Malays. The two clashed
violently
with the Malays burning Chinese shophouses and motor vehicles.
For days
Kuala Lumpur was unsafe for either Malays or Chinese. The
Government
imposed a curfew and stopped the riots. But the bitterness of
the
Malays towards the Chinese and vice-versa appeared to be
permanent.
Everyone, Westerners in particular, predicted that Malaysia
would never
be peaceful again and that it would never develop. The
multiracial
leaders of the Alliance set out to repair the damage.
Tracing the cause of racial animosity to the extreme
disparity in
the distribution of wealth between the races, an affirmative
action
policy, the New Economic Policy, was formulated by which special
effort
would be made to help the Malays and the other indigenous people
catch
up with the Chinese in the economic field. This was to be
achieved by
stimulating economic growth so that from the growth portion a
greater
amount could be allocated to the indigenous peoples. There
would be no
expropriation of the wealth of the Chinese.
To implement this policy the Government created hundreds of
thousands of scholarships so that every Malay who has any
ability at all
would education up to university level. Tens of thousands were
sent
broad for further studies at tremendous cost. The universities
at home
accepted a higher proportion of Malays than non-Malays. Through
the
issuance of business licences, easy loans, contracts etc,
budding Malay
business men were given headstarts. Many failed of course but
some made
it and rose to become successful industrialists and top business
men
with interests worldwide. By the 1990s the extreme disparity
between
the Chinese and the Malays were greatly reduced.
When the Barisan Nasional Government initiated the New
Economic
Policy, UMNO naively believed that the mainly Malay
beneficiaries of
this policy would be grateful or at least appreciative of what
the
party, through the Barisan Nasional, had done for them. They
expect
that from among the new elites, there would be supporters and
leaders
who would carry on with the policy until the objectives are
fully
achieved. Unfortunately, any gratefulness and appreciation were
undermined by PS which got to the students early and taught them
that
any Government would have done the same for them. They need not
be
grateful and thank the Barisan Nasional Governmen. They need
feel
obliged to it in any way. They need only thank Allah (God) and
nobody
else, however instrumental they may be in creating and
distributing the
benefits.
That this is against the true teachings of Islam does not
bother
PAS. Once the sense of obligation towards a paternalistic
UMNO-led
Government is destroyed, PAS is able to gain unquestioned
support by
claiming that PAS is Islam and all Muslims must support PAS.
>From then
on, PAS could tell lied and even denigrate God and it would
still retain
the unstinted support of its members and followers. It is no
exaggeration to say that for its followers and supporters
believing in
PAS is a matter of faith, not political belief. The
collaboration
between PAS and the Chinese chauvinists of the DAP was also
accepted
without question by PAS followers. The Chinese on the other
hand
rejected DAP because its alliance with PAS is seen by them as
support
for Muslim extremists who advocate an Islamic state in which the
Chinese
would be second class citizens subjectedto Islamic laws.
There are other reasons for UMNO losing quite a
considerable amount
of support from the Malays. Definitely, there is the arrogance
of
power, not always confined to leaders in the Government but also
among
other party leaders and even members. Intra-party squabbles
caused by
personal rivalries and disappointment over being passed over as
candidates also weakened the party. There may be other reasons
which
need to be identified. Basically, after four decades of
prosperity the
Malays have come to believe that nothing can now diminish their
dominant
position in Malaysian politics. They believe that they need not
be
united any more nor do they need government patronage. Such is
their
confidence that even when PAS denounced the affirmative action
in favour
of the Malays, they remain loyal to PAS.
Under the British, very few Malays could get a university
education. I was one of the fortunate few. The non-Malay
students
outnumbered the Malays ten to one. Today, any Malay at all can
get a
scholarship to the university. If they are not qualified, the
Government provides special coaching that they can get into
university
with minimal qualifications. So, it is not a privilege any more
to get
a scholarship. It has become a right for them. If you feel
that it is
a right, then you don't feel grateful to the Government. Since
there is
no sense of obligation, they don't feel a need to study hard.
They get
deeply involved in partisan politics. They usually perform
badly in
their studies. It is not that Malays are not intelligent but
without
studying no one can perform well.
The Government will have to assess the situation, to see
whether
Malays are really competent to compete on their own. If they
are, of
course, the Government has to cease helping them. On the other
hand, if
the Malays are not, they need to continue to have Government
support.
It is possible that the Malays have become complacent beause
they are
doing well. It is possible that they only imagine that they are
capable. Personally, I don't think they are. They still need
to be
given handicaps, given headstarts. Once the affirmative action
is
abandoned, it cannot be brought back again.
Actually, I was planning to call the elections for January
2000,
after the Muslim fasting month. But then PAS is likely to use
the
various religious functions during that month to poison the
minds of the
Muslims against the Government. People will not be able to
perform
their religious duties in peace. I had to rethink. I had gone
around
the country and noted that our supporters' spirits were high and
they
were ready. I doubted I could improve it anymore. It didn't
take long
to decide. I didn't consult with anybody. Not even my wife
knew. She
was preparing to go to South Africa for the commonwealth Heads
of
Government Meeting which I was attending.
The Western Press, as expected, condemned the Malaysian
Government
for being unfair to the opposition parties, of not having
freedom of the
Press etc during the elections. Even the capture of two States
by PAs
and an increase in their number of elected representatives have
not
convinved the West that the elections is fair. The fact is that
the
Western Press can see nothing right about the Malaysian
Government. My
propensity to criticise them and Western countries has not
endeared me
to them. They like to have Asian leaders submit to Western
bullying.
It is not whether we are democratic or not or fair that they are
concerned about. They have been known to support dictators if
they are
aligned to the West. Their negative reaction is therefore only
to be
expected. I have long ago ceased to care about what the Western
media
says about our countries.
The fact that Malaysia has succeeded in maintaining peace
and
harmony in the multiracial country, the fact that we have
managed to
overcome the attacks by the currency traders on our own has
merely made
the Western media more angry. We will therefore continue to
draw
adverse comments from them.
Democracy is the best political system invented by man.
However,
it is far from perfect. Praties vying for elected seats often
abuse the
system. Religious faith can be misdirected inorder to gain
support.
Bribes are offered and in Malaysia Mulsims are promised heaven
in the
afterlife if they vote for the Islamic party. Unnecessary but
necessary
legislation have to be aborted for fear of losing support.
Sometimes,
in a two-party system a small majority can lead to an
ineffective
government due to the fear of defections. Strikes and riots can
stifle
progress. Instead of benefiting the people democracy can stunt
growth,
impoverish and even lead to dominating by neo-imperialists.
I am grateful that so far Malaysia has been able to
practice
democracy and remain peaceful and stable and to develop
reasonably fast.
I am sure this will always be so. The recent election shows
that lies
and bribes and empty promises for the afterlife can win seats
and put
unprincipled people in power.
(This is the 11th instalmentn of a monthly column of commentary
and
opinion by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamed which
appeared
in Japan's Mainichi Daily News. The copyright of the article is
held by
Mainichi.)
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