Transition: The "Otais" Could Be Repeating Past Mistakes

 

A Kadir Jasin

 

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ

 

PREAMBLE: Views expressed herein are entirely mine. I am writing in my personal capacity as a blogger. It has nothing to do with whatever position I may hold.

Briefing the foreign diplomats on current issues

UNDERSTANDABLY, after having lived next door to Alice for almost 62 years, many felt a sense of disquiet when she left or, to be brutal about it, was booted out on May 9, 2018.

This was what I told foreign diplomats at Wisma Putra during a briefing session on the economy, politics and institutional reforms a few days ago.

But almost two years have passed. The skeletons she left hanging in her cupboards had mostly been discovered. She is facing the judge and the cleansing process is continuing.

We no longer live in fear of her dictatorial and kleptocratic ways. Freedom is flourishing, democratic boundaries are being expanded and the glass ceiling is being broken through.

The Malaysians did what they previously thought was impossible. Using the ballot boxes, they threw out the Barisan Nasional (BN).

Now we are institutionalizing these changes so that the monsters we banished to the dreadful “Laut Khalzum” (the Sea of Khalzum) would never be able to make a comeback.

We effected the change of government in less than one day. We voted starting at 8am and by late evening it was clear that the BN had been defeated. Not a drop of blood was shed.

But rehabilitating the systems and institutions wrecked by the Kleptocratic BN government would take longer.

This is where a combination of altruism, wisdom and knowledge is needed. 

Many of the things the PH is doing today is not to its own advantage. The freedom it gives the people is being used by irresponsible elements in the society to spread hatred and fake news. 

To stop freedom from being perverted, the government must come down hard on the spread of fake news and communal hatreds in the social media. 

Threat Within

Now some people are threatening to take to the street to hasten the transfer of power from the Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, to his anointed successor, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

They are the street people – the so-called “otai” of the Reformasi who are mostly from the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), a key member of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition.

These veterans first took to the street in late 1998 in support of Anwar who was sacked from the Cabinet and Umno for alleged sexual impropriety.

When Anwar was jailed for abuse of power and sodomy, the street protest morphed into a political movement known as Reformasi with the PKR as its vehicle. The court later reversed Anwar's sodomy sentence.

It succeeded in rallying the fractured oppositions but failed to unseat BN in four general elections. Lo and behold, in their fifth attempt under the leadership of their once sworn enemy, Dr Mahathir, they won.

Anwar, who received royal pardon soon after the PH victory, had said recently that he has been waiting for 20 years (to become Prime Minister) and he is not in a hurry.

But some of his “otais” apparently do not share his stand. They want him to be the numero uno by May – the second anniversary of the PH victory.

Perils of Forgetting History

History is always a good guide. It may be useful to re-screen the drama of 1997/98 plus the unseen cuts and to read the original script, beginning with the Ummi Hafilda letter of 1997.

I don’t think all the “otais” were in the gallery watching the Mahathir-Anwar drama unfolded. For most of them, their story of Brother Anwar started only at the Dataran Merdeka after he was sacked.

But history is older than that and is much more complicated than the shouts of “reformasi, refomasi, reformasi” and taking over city streets.

Dr Mahathir and Anwar know each other better than most “otais”. He did more than anybody else to make Anwar the politician that he is today.

As for changing the Prime Minister mid-term, it’s nothing new. The late Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra was forced to hand over the baton to late Tun Abdul Razak a year after winning the 1969 General Election.

Late Tun Hussein Onn handed over power to Dr Mahathir some three years into the parliamentary term.

Dr Mahathir passed the baton to Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi four years after the 1999 GE and Abdullah, in turn, handed power to Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Abdul Razak a year after winning the 2008 GE.

Even the composition of the government itself has never been as rigid as most people think. Coalition governments were formed in many states soon after the 1969 GE and the riots that followed.

This morphed into a new coalition – the Barisan Nasional – just before the 1974 GE with the participation of Pas, the Gerakan and several other states and national parties.

Hussein sacked Pas from the BN in 1977 following the crisis in Kelantan. Since then Pas had been involved in a series of unsuccessful marriages with a myriads of opposition parties. It is now collaborating with Umno in the so-called “Muafakat Nasional”.

Therefore, the talks that some Pas and Umno Members of the Dewan Rakyat are willing to support the case for Dr Mahathir to continue as Prime Minister beyond this year is worth watching.

Mahathir had repeatedly said he would keep his promise and hand over power to Anwar after the November APEC Summit which Malaysia is hosting.

So, we may see the democratic envelope being expanded and the parliamentary rights and privileges employed in determining Dr Mahathir’s term as Prime Minister and Anwar's ascent to the coveted seat.

Wallahuaklam. Thank you.

Panduan Membaca Oleh Tun Dr Mahathir

A Kadir Jasin

 

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ

 
MUKHADIMAH: Pandangan yang terkandung dalam tulisan ini adalah pandangan peribadi saya. Saya menulis dalam kapasiti saya sebagai seorang blogger. Ia tiada kena mengena dengan apa-apa jawatan yang mungkin saya pegang.

Bersama murid-murid selepas merasmikan Dekad Membaca Kebangsaan

NOTA KEPALA: Rencana ini dipadankan daripada kolum saya dalam Sinar Harian, Ahad 16 Februari.

TIDAK ada agama atau kepercayaan yang memberi keutamaan kepada membaca lebih daripada Islam. Justeru, barang siapa yang benar-benar mengamalkan perintah tersebut, dia akan menjadi manusia yang berpengetahuan tinggi.

Umat Islam sering diingatkan tentang ayat satu hingga lima surah al-Alaq menyeru manusia supaya membaca.

Malangnya, kajian akademik dan pemerhatian rambang tidak membuktikan hal itu. Sebaliknya tabiat dan kegemaran membaca di kalangan orang Malaysia makin menurun.

Malah, ada pakar mengatakan Malaysia adalah antara negara yang rakyatnya paling kurang membaca. Keadaan ini menjadi bertambah buruk berikutan ledakan teknologi maklumat dan komunikasi (ICT).

Ini amatlah merugikan kerana ledakan ICT sepatutnya memudahkan kebolehcapaian kepada maklumat dan ilmu dan negara kita adalah antara tang terawal menyediakan prasarana ICT.


Sebagai penulis yang turut terlibat dengan penerbitan, saya bimbang hal ini bukan andaian lagi tetapi sudah menjadi kenyataan. Bilangan yang membaca akhbar, majalah dan buku semakin kecil.

Benarlah seperti kata Perdana Menteri, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, ketika melancarkan Dekad Membaca Kebangsaan di Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia pada Khamis lalu bahawa pengaruh teknologi digital terhadap masyarakat begitu besar sehingga sumber bacaan tradisional seperti surat khabar dan buku semakin diketepikan.

Katanya, banyak syarikat akhbar gulung tikar kerana jualan yang merosot manakala buku tinggal mengumpul debu di perpustakaan atau di atas rak.

Namun demikian, Dr Mahathir yakin ini tidak bermakna rakyat Malaysia berhenti membaca.

Yang berubah ialah kaedah penyampaian bahan bacaan di mana hampir semua akhbar mempunyai versi digital dan buku juga diterbitkan dalam format itu.

Membaca=Berfikir


Setiap kali saya ditanya mengenai penulisan khususnya bagaimana menjadi wartawan, penulis dan pengucap yang baik, saya kata dengan banyak membaca.

Hakikatnya adalah mustahil seseorang itu boleh berfikir, menulis dan berucap dengan baik kalau dia tidak membaca. Membaca, berfikir dan menulis adalah kegiatan tiga serangkai.

Dalam kaitan itu, pandangan Dr Mahathir mengenai membaca daripada sudut sains adalah amat berguna kerana beliau bukan sahaja seorang doktor perubatan tetapi juga seorang pemikir dan penulis yang diiktiraf dunia.

Tidak keterlaluan jika dikatakan bahawa beliau adalah pemikir dan penulis ulung negara-negara membabangun dan dunia Islam dalam zaman selepas menjajahan.

Beliau mula menulis untuk bacaan umum sejak zaman penjajahan lagi. Sepanjang yang dirakamkan, tulisan pertama beliau terbit dalam akhbar Straits Times, Singapura, pada 20 Julai 1947, ketika beliau menuntut ilmu perubatan di negeri selat itu.

Saya bernasib baik menemui tulisan awal beliau ketika menjadi wartawan dan pengarang di New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Berhad (1976-2000). Saya kumpul dan terbitkan semula tulisan beliau itu dalam buku bertajuk “The Early Years 1947-1972”.

Sejak itu beliau menghasilkan tidak kurang daripada 20 buah buku dalam bahasa Melayu dan Inggeris mengenai pelbabagai tajuk, daripada politik kepada ekonomi, hal ehwal antarabangsa dan panduan berniaga.

Banyak karya beliau telah diterjemakahkan ke bahasa-bahasa lain seperti Arab, Cina, Perancis dan Jepun.

Jadi nasihat dan panduan beliau mengenai membaca amatlah sesuai dan berguna.

Dalam ucapan di UKM itu, Dr Mahathir, antara lain, berkata, amalan membaca menjadi salah satu kaedah senaman dan latihan minda yang berkesan.

Ia membantu memperkuat rangkaian otak dan merangsang pertumbuhan rangkaian saraf baru.

Jika seseorang itu membaca sesuatu berulang kali, apa yang dibacanya itu akan lebih melekat di ingatan. Dengan itu dia tidak mudah lupa.

Membaca dengan banyak juga boleh mempertingkatkan kecerdasan emosi (emotional intelligence atau EQ) dan kecerdasan intelektual (intelligence Quotient atau IQ) seseorang.

Kedua-dua unsur kecerdasan itu, kata Dr Mahathir, amat penting bagi membolehkan seseorang menangani pelbagai keadaan dan merebut peluang pembangunan diri.

Jadi marilah kita membaca supaya menjadi lebih bermaklumat, cerdas minda dan kuat tubuh badan.

Tidak salah kita menggunakan komunikasi digital, termasuk platform media sosial, untuk membaca, menimba ilmu dan berkongsi maklumat benar dan berguna.

Wallahuaklam.

"Malay-Only Government" Is Retrogressive

A Kadir Jasin

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ

PREAMBLE: Views expressed herein are entirely mine. I am writing in my personal capacity as a blogger. It has nothing to do with whatever position I may hold.

A simple meeting but sets the tongue wagging

PARDON me for saying from the outset that any idea about a Malay- or Bumiputera-only government is bad. It’s retrogressive and against the ideals of Malaysia Baru (New Malaysia).

As such I had not given much thought to the media frenzy about a new coalition of Malay-Bumiputera parties supposedly coalescing around the Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

This was not until a highly educated and successful young Malay man asked me, over a cup of teh tarik in Petaling Jaya recently, the question:

“Are we going to have a Malay-only government, Datuk?”

I don’t know how and when this idea cropped up. But if I’m not mistaken, it came about when a picture of Prime Minister, his wife Tun Dr Siti Hasmah, Pas President, Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, the Pas Menteri Besar of Terengganu, Datuk Seri Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar, and Dr Mahathir’s stalwart, Datuk Khairuddin Abu Hassan, having tea made its round in the media.

But that should not be a big deal. Dr Mahathir met all manner of people – friends and foes. He met Abdul Hadi several times before.

The meeting with Abdul Hadi was followed soon after by reports that the Umno Supreme Council had given an exclusive mandate to its President, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, to hold talks with Dr Mahathir.

The reports, among other things, allegedly quoted the OKT (the accused person) Ahmad Zahid as saying something to the effect that Umno had no choice but work with Dr Mahathir since Pas had done so.

But when I mentioned this to the Prime Minister sometime later, he quipped: “Dia (Ahmad Zahid) ada sokongan ka?” (Has Ahmad Zahid had the support?)

Since then, Umno has been hit by a crisis of sorts. Several members of its ruling council, the Majlis Tertinggi, had opposed the idea and said Ahmad Zahid was not the right person to be engaging in any talk with Dr Mahathir.

It pits Ahmad Zahid’s supporters against the diehards of former Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Abdul Razak, and those who are independent of the two.

Ahmad Zahid is facing more than 30 charges for accepting bribes amounting to over RM40 million from an Umno-linked company and for pocketing money meant for charity.

In that sense, Ahmad Zahid isn’t the best person to be leading any multi-party negotiation and it would be odd for the Prime Minister to be talking serious politics with an OKT.

In the latest development, a member of the council, Datuk Lokman Adam who is known in the social media as “Lobak Man” (Carrot Man), had been sacked from the party for calling Ahmad Zahid traitor.

Lokman is a self-proclaimed supporter of the former Prime Minister and OKT, Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Abdul Razak. He believes that Najib would be found innocent, exonerated and return to lead the country.

Malay Only?

For now, the so-called “Pakatan Nasional” (National Alliance) is nothing more than wild talks and social media feedstock. It is supposed to draw support from elements in Bersatu (the Prime Minister’s party), Umno, Pas, among the PKR rebels and Bumiputera parties from Sabah and Sarawak.

There a deafening silence about the position of the DAP, the biggest non-Bumiputera majority party in the PH government. Also not being spoken about is Amanah, another coalition party of PH. The latter is a sworn enemy of Pas.

But basing on the narratives of both Umno and Pas, the DAP seems to have no place in the alliance. That means there will be no meaningful non-Bumiputera representation.

Given its obvious Malay/Muslim-centric, the alliance, if ever it materializes, is not likely to get the automatic support of the Bumiputera parties in Sabah and Sarawak, bearing in mind that the majority of Bumiputeras in the two Borneo states are not Muslims.

Both Umno and Pas have taken to demonizing the DAP as anti-Malay and anti-Islam in their attempts to undermine the PH Government and to rally the support of the Malays and Muslims.

I have never bought into the mantra that the Malays and Muslims are threatened under then PH. Instead, the Malays and Muslims became weak and tainted because of the corruption of the former Umno-led Government.

Many of its leaders are being tried and many more are likely to be investigated. They need diversion and are lying to the people that they are poised to make a comeback. This is their way of trying to forget the haunting thoughts of going to jail.

Having said that, I will, however, not discount the possibility of the existence of a second window to the proposition, i.e the transfer of power from Dr Mahathir to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Thank you.