A New Dawn for Malaysia's War Against Corruption?

The PKFZ(Port Klang Free Trade Zone) project fiasco continues to dominate the headlines when former MCA President and Transport Minister, Tun Ling Liong Sik was charged in court for misleading the cabinet about the said project. Personally I'm shocked that the government is taking such action but obviously they did and congratulations to them in having the guts to do so. For the first time in a long time, a big wig is charged in court for something, by Malaysian standards, it's a revolution indeed( a Tun some more). We all know that corruption is Malaysia's number 1 enemy, so this is our biggest attempt in attacking this enemy.

However, before we jubilate and celebrate this milestone in the battle against corruption that, thus far has been won by the corrupt over the people of Malaysia until this happened, I would like to remind all of us that the battle is not over yet, let alone the war. Past battles had shown us that the corrupt are not so easily defeated to warrant a premature celebration. Memories of the Lingam and the judiciary case, Eric Chia and Pewaja case and many more that the prosecution and justice system failed to nail should remind us of how the battle is far from over.

Just like Napoleon in the Battle of Waterloo who mistook a group of army approaching the battlefield as his reinforcement, which in actual fact happened to be his enemy Blucher leading the Prussian army, we should also be wary and not be disillusioned by this case until it is truly over and those guilty is charged.

I would not like to think the government of BN-prosecution team as an ally in the war against graft until they prove that they are worthy of being so as they might be reinforcement for the corrupt to blind Malaysians into thinking that the war is turning in our favour when it's not, worst is the opposite,just look at what happened to Napoleon( with the help of Blucher, Wellington defeated Napoleon in that battle that completely ended Napoleon's career and his dream of conquering Europe).

Excuse me for being cynical but after so much hope are dashed in the past, one will naturally behave in that manner. Nonetheless, I'm still hopeful that this might not be the'' same old, same old" story, but until the outcome of the case is determined, let us focus on other battles in this war against corruption.

Firstly,they are many corrupt individuals in government as we speak. One good example is Malacca Chief Minister Ali Rustam who the UMNO Discipline Council found guilty of money politics in the last UMNO General Assembly Election. So while the trial of Ling proceeds, we the public should increase the pressure on the government to act against such people and not be satisfied until corruption is at the minimum level in this country(if possible zero-corruption).

Besides that, to ensure continuation and acceleration of such act against graft, the public should demand the MACC, the country graft busting agency, to be fully independent from the control of government to avoid the interference of political power in the war against graft.

It will be tough for the agency to fight graft effectively if the government can decide the fate of it's agents and bosses, so by doing what is said, the political constrains that the body faces will be lightened as they don't need to answer to anybody except the people, thus enabling them to arrest, prosecute and charged anybody involve in corruption despite their political power or influence.

Furthermore, Malaysians must also ensure that the system that this country uses such as the government way of awarding contracts are corruption prove as at this moment, there are still many discrepancies in the way they do so such as the Defense Ministry way of paying commissions on equipment purchases( I'm not asking the ministry to divulge the military intelligence, just the tender process and whether there is a need for a middle man, if so, the selection process of such middle man) and so on as according to the Auditors General Report on the government, more than a billion are lost in government operations that shouldn't be lost.

In conclusion, as we observe the outcome of this case, our mind must not lose it's focus on other corrupt activities at large irrespective of who is committing it and how large it is, as corruption is corruption no matter how large the sum involved. One must remember the wise word from scholar Syed Hussein Alatas that" corruption is the mother of all sins as it is the enabler of other sins",thus corruption shouldn't be taken lightly.

The battle rages on in this war against corruption, some have suffered in the war while others are still suffering but I call on Malaysians not to rest until the war is over and winning a battle is not winning the war, but winning the war itself.

There are many battles ahead that must be won in order for Malaysians to finally slay corruption and win the war against corruption for the sake of a just and fair Malaysia that corruption inhibits for us and the future generation. As one of the famous saying in World War 2
"Your Country Needs You", are Malaysians responsible enough to answer the call? Time will tell.

The Real Anwar Ibrahim

Of late, the blogersphere has been buzzing about the so called ''chameleon", on how he is an American agent, Islamist radical, martian and what not. I think that Anwar is missunderstood, locally and internationally, of course the local mainstream media bias against him is one factor, coupled with the western media cynicism about him due to his Islamist ties, what we have is a man with great intentions but missunderstood by many.

Firstly, Anwar is not an blind ally of the west, we can see it from his support of the western-perceived terrorist group Hamas. In the west, Hamas is labeled as a terrorist organization where as in the Muslim world, Hamas is seen as a group of freedom fighters fighting for their rights as Palestinians to reclaim their lost land that the Israeli regime occupies currently.

Besides that, respected counter-terrorist expert Ilan Weinglass claimed that Anwar has ties with the Muslim brotherhood which is said to have members like fame Ulama Yusof Qardhawi which of course is an Islamist. Anwar even supports Iranian nuclear ambitions which the west and the Isrealis are vehemently against.

Anwar is also a close friend and supports Turkish PM Erdrogran who himself has attacked Israel a few times recently. So, from the above arguments an many more, he is not a an American puppet or agent as some politician claimed as branding Anwar as such is only a political ploy by his detractors to cut his appeal among voters especially Malay Muslim.

Having said that however, he is not an Islamist cup of tea either, as he also has ties with a few ''non-friendly" to the Islamists allies in the west. The architect of the Iraq war, the neo-conservative Paul Wolfowitz is a good example that will send shivers to his Islamist allies. He worked with Wolfowitz as Chairman of the Foundation of the Future where he served as chairman. The foundation is created to promote democracy, transparency and popular political participation( I didn't like the sound of the last one) in the middle east.

He was also involved in other bodies like the NED( national endowment for democracy) and International Crisis Group which in some cases can be viewed by the Islamist conservatives as an attempt to realign the Islamic values that accept liberal western concepts like secularism, freedom and so on thus a treat to conservative Islam( in the west it can also be called extremist Islam or radical Islam). So calling him a radical or extremist wouldn't fit in the picture too, as his above work contradicts the extremist and radical beliefs thus how can one call him as such when obviously he clearly is not.

My analysis of Anwar and a sentiment shared by many including the Foreign Policy Magazine is that he is a unique moderate individual who is able to bridge the gap between Islam and the west, even the east and the west. Many leaders seemed to prefer to play it safe by choosing one side and demonising the other, as they say, those in the middle will only get trampled by two fighting sides, but Anwar showed courage in this case by trying to be the mediator of the two worlds.

Not many leaders in this world have an understanding of Islamic principles and Western principles or Western principles and eastern principles which Anwar has, so he is in a position to be the bridge between the two civilisations, thus creating not a world in which one dominates with hegemony, but a world with the two civilisation living side-by side enlightening each other, creating the best of both worlds so to speak.

Thus he is accorded a ranking in the 30s by the magazine of world thinkers that is shaping foreign policy and world affairs. A clash of the two civilisations will only create disasters for both sides as can be seen in Bush war on terror where innocent civilians end up becoming the victim, so Anwar has a unique leadership role in this world to prevent such clash from occurring.

That is why he continues to be courted by western leaders and Islamist leaders alike, despite what is said about him by people suspicious of him, from Western nations to eastern ones as he can offer them the other side of the story like how the Islamic countries should embrace democracy and how the west should not fear Islam( Islamophobia) as the religion is peaceful in nature.

In conclusion, while Anwar's work should be commended as a great commitment for the future of this planet, it must be noted that despite all that, some in the west and in the Islamic world might not be to fond of the two worlds co-existing thus he might end up failing to prevent the clash of civilisations. Worst than that, he might unknowingly be missused by some extremists and western imperialists for the race to create a new world order in which winner takes all.

Anwar must be cautious of such event occurring as failure to do so will lead to the sancity of Islam as religion and sovereignty of nations to be destroyed or it will lead to extremists elements taking over the moderates ones on this earth thus creating havoc to mankind. His success will lead to a greater world where as his failure will lead to a destroyed one.

I wish him the best in his pursuit and may Allah S.W.T guide him on his journey which filled with trials and tribulations at home and abroad, of course, all great struggles will involve such elements, but the task of a great leader is to lead fellow man through such trials and tribulations so that they can create a greater world for all man.

Links
Him being an extremist or a radical-http://newledger.com/2010/07/unholy-alliance/
Him being an American agent or involved in western activities-http://asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2596&Itemid=178
(ps, there are many such links, type Anwar and NED and googled it for example, I just picked a few that have been making headlines in the blogersphere.)

Malay Unity?

Recently, many quarters are calling for Malay unity among the largest race in Malaysia, citing failure to do so might lead to the Malays being weak and vulnerable, thus allowing ''others" to take advantage of them. This siege mentality, from my point of view, is the very reason why the Malays are left in the current state that they are suffering from. It is this mentality of the Malays, that they are under siege, that they justify the act of their''protector" despite it being unjust or unlawful.

First of all, for the sake of discussion, for Malay unity to come to fruition, they must be an underlying value(s) that unites and binds all of us, this value(s) must be able to precede other values including political ideologies and so on. With no doubt is better if it is a positive value rather than a negative one. Now in our present state, the Malays lack this much needed value. Assuming that PAS and UMNO unites and creates another entity, without values, the combined entity is useless as history had shown in the 70s when the two joined hands under the BN. It was a failure.

The secular nationalist and the Islamist values that UMNO and PAS holds respectively pitted one against another and that coupled with distrust and so on lead to the break up. Furthermore, their core voters consist of the same group, the Malays, thus fueling further competition.

A second assumption I would like to make is that if the two party joined hands again, it will create a political context in which the largely Malays( UMNO and PAS), VS the largely Non-Malays( PKR and DAP), this will only lead to a hegemony in our political space and extremist in both group will prosper which is not good for Malaysians in the long run. Malay supremacy can be pushed to an extent where is damaging for the country race relations as there is no way MCA or MIC can stand up to UMNO and PAS no matter how strong they are.

A hegemony political space will lead to the creation of a hegemony government that will implement policies that are hegemony in nature. Plural Malaysia will not prosper if a hegemony Malaysia emerges, rather the effect is rather destructive than a constructive if one is to use the Malaysia's point of view than a Malay one.

Furthermore, in an event that this new combination is not performing in the interest of the Malays as the propagators of Malay unity hope it would, they will no check and balance from the microscopic context of Malay politics. The Malays will be trapped and be forced to support this new entity irrespective of whether they are performing or not( look at the state of reliance of the Malays to UMNO now, the reliance will be bigger if the party will merge or join hands with PAS) with no alternative for the Malays.

To me it is not upliftement of the Malays if UMNO merges with PAS, rather it is the opposite. I would prefer the Malays unite not under a combination of political parties, rather unite under common values and principles irrespective of political inclination( like in the west how they unite in upholding principles of freedom, human rights and democracy).

The Malays will be better of that way as politicians can't misuse Malay unity for the sake of personal or political gain not to mention it will lead to a well served Malays as politicians from both side of the divide will compete to serve the Malays for votes thus leading to a better served Malays.

In conclusion, I would encourage for the Malays to dissemble the siege mentality and think progressively about this PAS-UMNO merger of sort as it will not really help the Malays, rather it will only make the problem worse. In my opinion, for the Malays to be uplifted, the Malays themselves must take action that uplift themselves, than the politicians will must likely follow suit.

As reminded many times here, real change happens from the bottom-up and not the other way around thus for the Malays to be better of, we must look at ourselves and make improvements on us rather than rely solely on the politicians who most of them have their own political agendas to fulfill.

Remember what history had taught us before, when the Malays rely solely on the the Sultans or other leaders, we end up losing more than we gain( many states in Malaysia were lost this way, just look at Perak) but when we as a people unite, even the mighty British concurred with us( the rejection of Malayan Union), please remember that when considering UMNO-PAS unity and Malay unity.