NGO's and political influence

I'm happy that the role of civil society in shaping policies in this country is improving. More often NGO's have use their own way, whether it be street demonstration, complaining through the proper channel or somewhere in between to forward their objectives. The days of government knows best is coming to a close. New politics( Politik Baru), here we come.

I made this remark in observing the recent trend in our political landscape. Firstly, the claim by Malay-rights group Perkasa that they will be ''Kingmakers" in the next general election and that candidates that don't support their agenda will be defeated with their help.

Whether the statement is true or not is secondary, but of primary interest to me is that the role of a NGO is finally understood. NGO's are suppose to be  pressure groups. Meaning that there are not suppose to bow down to the government when their agenda is at risk. Not just the government, any other parties for that matter. It is only by imposing their political clout that they can alter the political landscape favouring their agenda.

Any other ''weapons" at their disposal aside from political influence that can forward their agenda are welcomed. In the US, certain groups that are known to help in raising funds for politicians, use their financial clout in advancing their agendas. There are known as PAC( Public Action Committee) that at one time are used by the Republicans effectively. Now even President Obama is using it.

Even, PAGE( Parents Action Group for Education) and MTUC( Malaysia Trade Union Congress) have warned the government that they may lose votes if their demands are not met. PAGE is trying to convince the PM to change the policy regarding the teaching of Maths and Science in Malay to English whereas MTUC is fighting against government move to amened law(s) that they deemed as damaging to workers.

All of these organizations compromise the Rakyat but the only difference with others is that they are taking action in what they believe as good for the country or the groups they represent. This can only bring empowerment to the Rakyat in deciding their political fate.

Having said that however, some NGO's are still clueless about their role in society. I still think that the union for the civil servants, CUEPACS are not firm enough in fighting for civil servants. That they are perceived( at least by me) as kow towing to the government. They should have been more vocal on the death of Sarbani, a civil servant, and offer a helping hand for those who is fighting in his cause.

 Maybe their are tough behind the scenes. I don't know. But there are many ''weak" NGO's to pick from. That are afraid to fight for the people they represent or simply are not interested to do so. Therefore they are no justice for the Rakyat when the system failed them.

As for politicians, they job is simply to engage and try to understand their position. Shutting them up like what the governmnet did to Bersih won't do any good. It is important to note that they represent the Rakyat, at as the saying goes '' Suara Rakyat, Suara Keramat". So listening to them is important  to any government to remain close to the people. The same goes to the opposition. Try to engage Perkasa as they represent the Rakyat that are part of that NGO. Engaging doesn't mean compromising on your values. It just give you greater understanding of those who don't share your views.

 In Conclusion, new politics demand that NGO's assert their authorities to the government and any other parties that stand in the way of their agendas. This trend should be encouraged as a way for politicians to gather feedback from the Rakyat. It's a form of people empowerment. That people, can, if they are willing to take action, decide on their fate. Fighting for self-determination is a right of all citizens, as long as it is done in a manner that is acceptable. Malaysia belongs to Malaysians, thus we should play a part in how Malaysia is governed. Kudos to all the NGO's...:)

Middle Malaysia or 1Malaysia, a Win for All

I'm somewhat optimistic about the direction that we are heading now. The pressure from both sides of the political divide have been enormous but our politicians showed political will. They showed that they will not bow to the pressure and the interest of ordinary Malaysians will come first.

Firstly, our Prime Minister showed tremendous political will in announcing the end of repressive and restrictive laws like the ISA, the need for renewal of permit for media and so on. He chose a grand occasion in announcing the such move, his Malaysia Day address to fellow Malaysians.

Let us hope that he will fulfil his promise and that the laws replacing those outdated acts will not be the same or worse than the current acts. Despite certain groups within his party that are calling for continuation of such acts, he showed the cynics and sceptics that transformation is indeed his agenda for this country. Hopefully it is transformation for the better.

On the other hand, the opposition too, was under pressure from from politically strong pressure groups within their respective parties. The recent row over Hudud, where the hardcore secular and Islamist group clashed with bravado over their respective beliefs, to the extent of threats to leave Pakatan Rakyat by some was defeated by level-headed leaders of Pakatan Rakyat.

Together they stood their ground and say it's okay to disagree, but Pakatan Rakat will only move with the consensus of all parties. This is similar in relationships where a good relationship is not that there is no disagreement at all, rather the ability to move beyond the disagreement and build consensus. DAP had in the past talked about Middle Malaysia, this is a clear indication that indeed there are seriuos about it.

This proves that Pakatan Rakyat is more than a marriage of convenience, but rather a romantic marriage with all the twist and turns, conflict and drama not forgetting the I'm going to leave you threat that is commonplace in relationships. Where else can you see a marriage between secularists and Islamists that can last this long, this is truly a Malaysian story. Malaysia Boleh!

With Perkasa running around shouting racist rhetoric, pressuring the government to be ethnocentric, and the conservatives whether in PAS or DAP that is imposing their way of doing things in the opposition, one wonder whether change can happen in this country. But with the way these leaders from both the government and opposition handle these pressure groups, I can say we are headed towards the right direction, whether it is Middle Malaysia or 1Malaysia...:)

In Conclusion, we must remember that Malaysia is a country that is diverse, therefore we cannot be dogmatic in our thoughts and actions. This country is successful and will only continue to be successful if we follow the footsteps of our forefathers that used the melting pot approach rather than create hegemony in this country.

Malaysia is a "rojak nation", a mixture of a little bit of everything. The same goes to all of us Malaysians. It is important that we remember that. We, the people of Malaysia must defend this Malaysian way, because this is the only way, this is our way....:)

The Right of Assembly As A Weapon Against Tyranny And Injustice

Hey, sorry for not writing for quite sometime, been quite busy lately. Anyway, despite being busy with work and stuff, it is hard to ignore the heightened political tension now. The tension is caused by the BERSIH 2.0 rally not to mention Perkasa and UMNO Youth that will have similar counter-rally at the same place and time as BERSIH 2.0.

I'm not a fan of street demonstrations. I don't believe in demonstrating for the sake of demonstrating. However, I plan to take part in the BERSIH 2.0 rally. The reason being is that BERSIH 2.0 is a rally for democracy, a cause close to my heart.

However some quarters have demonise BERSIH to the extent of equating it to communism, foreign imperialism and what not. It is expected especially from the government seeking to continue their manipulation of the electoral system for the sake of their hold on power. It is not national security as much as it is maintaining political order and preservation of power. Draconian ways in the name of national security have been used to contain the rally including arresting those who are in any way associated with BERSIH ( eg wearing, selling or using BERSIH goods, promoting BERSIH).

It is funny how the ones accusing BERSIH of communism is practicing ways of the communist. Communism states are known to crash dissent using fear and torture and apparently, to a certain extent, the BN government seems keen to use the approach of communist states instead of the ones used in developed nation democracies that allow peaceful protests. We are behaving like a communist nation so much so that even wearing a BERSIH shirt warrants an arrest. Chin Peng must be laughing at us right now. Demokrasi acuan sendiri kan.

Despite the legitimacy of security issues, we must remember authoritarian nations tend to use this argument to crush dissent due to their own tyranny and unjust way of governing. I have seen it so many times. The Mubarak, Suharto, Mugabe and other autocratic regime have used the excuse of national security in legitimizing their unjust crackdown on those who are opposing them.

Even fear-gripped USA voted for Bush in 2004 due his national security agenda. Look what happened to the United States due to their decision, illegal detention of so called terrorist, the waging of expansive wars that resulted in lost of innocent human beings, cruel methods to gain information such as waterboarding and other atrocities never imagined possible, especially from the US. We must not lose our humanity in the presence of fear as the ultimate fear is losing our humanity. That is when injustice begun.

Finally, the use of assembly and demonstrations have brought down tyrant regimes like the regime of Suharto, Mubarak and many more throughout history.

The use of demonstrations also have managed to get the government to react in a positive manner. For example, in Malaysia, the last BERSIH rally managed to get the government to agree on few electoral reforms such as the use of transparent ballot box instead of the metal ones and the presence of independent officers during the counting of the ballot. The government even agreed on the indelible ink proposal but aborted in last minute due to technical issues. The election conducted by the government after BERSIH's first rally is cleaner compared to previous elections.

Even the Anti PPSMI( Pembelajaran dan pengajaran Sains dan Matematik dalam Bahasa Inggeris) movement managed to put pressure to the government to overturn the policy of teaching English in science and mathematics whether the move is right or wrong. The point is, sometimes the use of demonstrations are necessary to pressure the government to act accordingly and to bring down tyranny and unjust government.

In conclusion, the right of assembly in a peaceful manner should be protected as it can be used as a weapon by the people to ask the government to change their ways or to change the government itself. It is the manifestation of people power or Ketuanan Rakyat. Let me end this article with the famous quote in the movie V for Vendetta with the hope that we, malaysians demand the same from ourselves and our government '' The People Should Not Be Afraid of The Government, The Government Should be Afraid of The People".

Supporting Poltics of Merit and Values, Battling Slander Politics

In embracing technology as a device for social change, I have sign up to blogspot to communicate my ideas and views on the need for reform in this country.

However, the advancement of technology also has a big downside as we recently witnessed in the supposedly Anwar sex video scandal. Technology is misused to create slander and spread lies. This development is certainly unhealthy for our democracy as the ability to reach an informed decision on who is the best to lead is imperative to a functioning democracy. With lies and slander at the forefront of our political space, blinding the masses with incorrect facts, one wonder how can the people reach the correct informed decision.

Even in a better functioning democracies like in the US and UK, where lies and slander can be countered by disseminating the correct information( as media is free there, unlike here), forget about lies and slander, even the tampering of fact led to Americans and Brits in endorsing leaders that brought them to two costly wars that people from both sides later regretted( Bush won in the 2004 reelection and Blair's Labour Party also won at the 2005 General Election).

Malaysians irrespective of political affiliation must denounce this act and call for politics that are based on merit and values where one ability to lead and values like integrity and honesty be the measuring stick for potential office bearers. For this to happen, all Malaysians must reject any politics that can impair the ability to judge the candidates merit and values like slander politics, race politics and many more.

Having said that, doesn't mean that we should ignore the claims of "Datuk T", rather we incorporate in speech and deed in ourselves and others the principle of justice like innocent until proven guilty and everyone has a right to defend themselves from any accusation in a court of law( I will also add outside too). Not forgetting another Important principle of justice, the concept of supremacy and rule of law meaning the law is below no one including the opposition leader. If found guilty fairly, he should step down from any posts and face the punishment accorded by law.

In echoing the stand by controverisal blogger, Raja Petra, "Datuk T" must not be prosecuted either as it is important that whistle blowers be protected by law so that other whistle blowers will not fear for the legal consequences if they reveal discrepancies of whatever sort. However, if the allegation is proven to be a lie, then they should be punished for their action of making false accusation and fabricating evidence against Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. Hopefully that in doing so, it will deter others in engaging in such acts, so that the honour of individuals will be respected in this country.

In conclusion, we should not support nor engage in slander politics and embrace merit and values politics. Anwar is shall be presumed innocent until proven guilty. It's time we drop the kind of politics that are practice by third world countries an adopt the development world kind of politics, in line with our aspiration to be a develop nation. Hopefully we can achieve that in full, physically, mentally, emotionally( I might add spiritually) and not just partially. Only then we can truly prosper and excel in the long run. Sent by DiGi from my BlackBerry® Smartphone

The Failure of US Foreign Policy.

The recent upheaval in the Middle East recently that saw protests in that region especially Tunisia and Egypt are in part either partly caused and/or damaging to the US. The reason for that fact can be traced in US foreign policy towards nations in that region and the rest of the world.

Whether rightly or so, US world image has been further tarnished due to the protests as some people especially in that region have perceived that US somehow was involved in the streghtening of the unpopular dictators there like Egypt President Hosni Mubarak despite them being a contradiction to US values like freedom, democracy and so on.

The Middle East is obviously an important region to the US and the rest of the world. There lies most of the oil fields that if disrupted, can cause major economic unrest. Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran being the world top oil producers( Saudi is no1 followed by Iraq at no2 ) are only a few nations in the Middle East being major oil producers.

Besides that, the major trading route, The Suez canal( no1 trading route) is also located there. Any disruption there will lead to a standstill in international trade causing also economic unrest.

Finally, the nation of Israel which is influential and important to the US due to the strenght of Jewish lobbyists is also located there. So it isn't surprising for world powers to meddle and have leaders in that region being subservient to their demands as their interests lie on the region being stable despite the leaders poor humanitarian records.

The US, the British and the French and others have had a hand in the region affairs while nicely closing one eye or even supporting the brutality of the regimes there so that they can continue to have leaders who are supportive of them and can take care of their interests.

This approach to foreign policy while pragmatic, is always damaging in the end as the unpopular regime will further inflame anti-American sentiments among the people and give rise to an alternative that is hostile to the US( case in point Cuba, closer to the Middle East is Iran) and its values.

Human rights, democracy and other US imports are deemed as the evil western ideologies that must be fought against despite its advantage in uplifting the individuals in that country. Anti-American sentiments trumps these important people empowering values as it's advocated by the US even though the action that created the ill-feeling is actually is in direct contradiction to the values.

The result will be the rise of extremism and violence( Al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiah being the example) and the creation of nation-states that uphold such beliefs( Cuba can be used as an example with its many political prisoners, and the popular support garnered by assertive leaders advocating war and terror like Benjamin Netanyahu and his party in Isreal, Hamas in Palestine and Hezbollah in Lebanon, whether the call is justified or not) which will bring the region on a state of turmoil eventually thus creating the economic unrest the US and the west feared so much.

So, the US must now change its foreign policy from the pragmatic one to the one base on it's values so that there is a consistency and clear representation of what and why there are trying to persuade the world to follow their lead. The US must stop supporting dictators just because the dictators supported them and their interests.

Rather, US must influence and persuade the nations there to follow the values they are advocating and US must respect the outcome of such move.( US decision not to support Hamas and Hezbollah despite those two movement through the practice of democracy are representing a large section of the population will only benefit undemocratic leaders and the exremists) If US are not happy about certain outcome, their only way to redress is to have a dialog with the democratically elected leaders.

Another way is to support and give the right amount of power to international bodies like the UN, WTO and so on to be either mediator or arbitrator to the problems between nations be it US or others.The US must not use violence and regime change to benefit their interests as these will lead to oppression and the US and her people will eventually be the target of the people's anger. The fight for important values against extremists like the fight for human rights and democracy that can benefit everybody will also be negatively affected as they are seen as the US or the west ideology.

Finally, it is time for the US to learn and respect other people's beliefs in how the should be governed as long as it is done through the democratic process and are not harmful to its citizens as the govern is legitimate due to the attainment of the mandate from the people and disrespecting it will mean challenging the sovereignty of the country and her people( The government of Iran is a great example).

The US should engage with different groups like the Islamist movement and the Oriental movement and hopefully through the engagement both sides can benefit from one another either through exchanges of practices and value systems or simply through understanding how the different groups can work together despite their differences for the benefit of all parties.

That is what plurality and diversity truly means. The US and west and should advocate such dialog as they believe in plurality and diversity, unless that is another of their many values and actions contradictions where they disguise hegemony as plurality. If that is the case, the one at the losing end is the US and all the people that stand to benefit from its values. It is worth nothing that the end of cold war where US is the only world superpower is over. The US will do well to note that if they want to continue to lead the world or if they will lose that position to China. Only time will tell.