Ku Li Paints A Bleak Picture Of Malaysia
While first PM Tunku Abdul Rahman wanted a country where the separation of powers between the Executive, Judiciary and Legislative are practised, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah says Malaysia has been "badly let down" by the 3 branches of government.
By Sadho Ram — 16 Sep 2015, 05:53 PM
UMNO stalwart and Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah said that the sad truth about Malaysia is that we are not a nation
The Umno Gua Musang federal lawmaker said Malaysia's efforts to build a nation are "nothing to shout about" as political leaders keep on "parroting in a mantra-like manner" that Malaysia is a nation. "We are not, and that is the sad truth."
themalaysianinsider.com
The Kelantan prince, fondly known as Ku Li, in his keynote address at the National Unity Conference today, 16 September, said that we "make believe" that we are a nation. "The reality is that we are not."
"Our mismanagement of the sport has led to the drying up of talents. Gone are the days when such idols as Chandran, Mat Che Su, Soh Chin Aun, Mokhtar Dahari, Santokh Singh and Ghani Minhat struck fear in our opponents. The same goes for our field hockey.
We used to be in the top four in the sport, but now our hockey performances are just as lackadaisical as many other sports that we involve ourselves in. Given that sports are an effective tool to cultivate unity and, by extension, to build nations, this regression is a blow we can do without.
The other negative development that is sagging our morale is the indifferent economic performance and in particular, the value of the ringgit that continues to drop.
Countries that used to lag behind us such as Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar are now beginning to draw away foreign investments from our country."
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Furthermore, he remarked that Malaysia's first PM Tunku Abdul Rahman wanted a country where the separation of powers between the executive, judiciary and legislative were practised. However, with executive often been browbeaten by the head of government, and a weakened judiciary perceived to be less effective, the nation has been "badly let down" by the three branches of government.
"With regards to the legislature, it is not unknown that matters which are within the purview of the Dewan Rakyat had often been discussed by the executive committee of the ranking party within the coalition forming the government of the day,” he said in his keynote address at a conference on national unity in Kuala Lumpur today.
Later, Tengku Razaleigh told reporters that interference in the three branches of governance has been taking place quite often lately.
"It never happened last time, but now, we can see lots of it happening, repeatedly," he said without going into details. "I feel we should give serious attention to this and it should be discussed, but the decision should be made at the appropriate level."
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Commenting on increasing corruption in Malaysian politics, the Gua Musang MP said, "It would seem that honour has deserted our leaders and insatiable greed for wealth has taken over its place."
Additionally, he also said that Malaysians live a compartmentalised life and have a lackadaisical attitude towards the ethos and worldview of Malaysians who are not of the same ethnicity as them.
Much as we hate to admit it, we live a compartmentalised life. This is compounded by the pluralistic nature of our society and our lackadaisical attitude towards the ethos and worldview of Malaysians who are not of the same ethnicity as us.
In the end, unless we come from a family background that includes the presence of interracial marriage, we will not be able to understand their philosophy of life or their worldview or their attitudes and aspirations.
We will not be able to come as one and develop a Malaysian culture made up of the cultural traits of our various and diverse racial make-up. Our inability to evolve a Malaysian culture has a negative effect on nation building for culture is a key element in such a process.
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In his keynote address, the veteran UMNO leader also pointed out how the Malays have conveniently forgotten that other races in Malaysia have equally contributed to the country's development
Ladies and gentlemen, much as I hate to say this, I think the Malays must admit that they have a blinkered view regarding other Malaysian communities.
As Malays we are proud to think of ourselves as democrats; but we forget the very essence of democracy which promises equality to everyone. We forget that democracy is government by the people as a whole rather than by any section, class or interest within it.
In our desire to remain on top of things, we conveniently forget that our other Malaysians have contributed more than their fair share in the service of the country. We choose to forget that there are other Malaysians who, upon coming to these fair shores, adapted and assimilated themselves into the dominant native culture.
We choose to forget that there are other Malaysians who accepted the Malay hierarchical stacking order with the ruler at the apex; and that this harmony had convinced the British that we were ready for independence.
But the Malays, to my mind, are short on confidence and this makes us a scared lot especially in our relationship and interaction with other Malaysians.
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In a harsh assessment of the community which formed 50% of the country's 30 million population, Ku Li said the Malays are given to jealousy and are not above harbouring ill will among themselves
We are even given to jealousy and are not above harbouring ill will among ourselves. This has become a marked characteristic of the Malay psyche which, unfortunately, has found its way into politics.
It is quite normal for religion to be used in Malay politics in an effort to attract mass support. Given that Malay values are generally derived from Islamic values, this is not unusual.
The sad thing is that a religious issue is sometimes given different explanations by ulamas to suit their political leanings. These, more often than not, lead to confusion.
It does not help that these religious scholars sometimes do not fully explain the backgrounds to such issues which leave those who are not familiar with the intricacy of the religion having wrong ideas about it.
It is therefore time that the ulamas addressed issues of religious concern with clarity and avoid the confusion that befuddles the people.
More importantly, these ulamas cannot, willy-nilly, make religious pronouncements which are in effect fatwas. Such an authoritative ruling of Islamic law can only be made with the assent of the Sultan who is the head of Islam for his state.
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Meanwhile, the veteran Umno leader is mystified by today's 'Red Shirt' rally, which is supposedly held to unite the Malays against threats, saying he is in the dark over the nature of these threats
Umno stalwart and Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah said he does not know where the perceived threats to Malays are coming from.
This is a major rationale for the Himpunan Rakyat Bersatu rally today in Kuala Lumpur.
malaysiakini.com
Tengku Razaleigh pointed out that the Malay community holds senior positions in the government and civil service.
"You have got the government that is headed by a Malay, state governments headed by Malays with the exception of one in Penang. The civil service is mostly made up of Malays," he said.
"It's perceived threats, what threats (they are referring to) I do not know," he told reporters after delivering his keynote address at a conference on national unity in Kuala Lumpur today.
"Malaysia needs unity so that we can be successful."
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