A lesson in Malaysian culture, for foreigners

A lesson in Malaysian culture, for foreigners
3 Apr, 2009

Today, we take a peek into a briefing session for the wives of foreign diplomats who have just set foot in Malaysia. This briefing session is to help these wives of foreign diplomats to better understand Malaysian culture and to avoid embarrassing situations or diplomatic booboos.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Ladies, ladies, ladies, let’s get down to business.

Welcome to Malaysia. You are going to be here for at least two years and to make your stay here enjoyable and free of sticky situations, we shall take you through a crash course in how to understand Malaysian culture.

First of all, there is no such thing as a Malaysian. What we have are four groupings labelled as Bumiputera, which is another word for Malay; Chinese, spelt C-I-N-A and pronounced Chee-Ner; Indians, sometimes referred to as Keling or Hindu by the Bumiputera; and the lain-lain or ‘others’. We, I’m afraid, do not fit into any of these four categories. The Bumiputeras call us ‘Mat Salleh’ while the Chinese refer to us as ‘Kwai Loh’.

Now, while I said there is no such thing as a Malaysian, the Indians and Chinese will insist you refer to them as Malaysians. The Indians, however, would argue that they are Indians and will talk about Indian rights and Indian interests. But, while they claim to be Indians, you must not call them Indians. They will get very offended. You must call them Malaysians. And the same goes for the Chinese.

For the Malays it is even more complicating. They insist they are Bumiputeras, which means ‘sons of the soil’. But they will demand you refer to them as Melayu and they will argue about things such as Ketuanan Melayu, which means Malays as Lords, and other such rhetoric. But never mind, over time you will begin to understand how Malaysians think, which will eventually give you the impression that they can’t really think.

Each grouping has its own culture when it comes to gatherings. Chinese culture is quite straightforward. They love lavish dinners and young half-naked women dancing and singing on stage while they eat. The Malaysian government has officially adopted this as Chinese culture and you will notice that all government-sponsored gatherings will be of the like.

Malay gatherings are not as sexy. They always start their gatherings by screaming ‘Ketuanan Melayu’ and which will end with the kissing of little curved knives that are called keris, pronounced ‘Chris’. Being Muslims, they are not allowed to have young half-naked women publicly singing and dancing on stage. Most of these things are done behind closed doors and away from the public eye.

Indian culture, when it comes to gatherings, is less sexy or militant. Normally, they will invite the President of the Malaysian Indian Congress to grace their gatherings and they will sing his praises, hug him, and kiss his hand. Sometimes, they go into frenzy and will wail and throw slippers at him. It, of course, depends on what time of the day it is to see which ritual the Indians would adopt.

You will never see a Chinese chauffeur. While most of the big and lavish cars are owned by the Chinese, their chauffeurs are always either Malays or Indians. The same goes for security guards. They are all either Indians, Malays or lain-lain, never Chinese. We assume this is because the Chinese do not trust their own kind to drive their cars or to handle their security.

When entering a Malaysian home you must take off your shoes. This appears to be the one and only thing that all four groupings share in common. When you invite Malaysians to your home you will notice that they will also take off their shoes before entering. So it is advisable to place a shoe rack outside your house in the event you wish to invite Malaysians over to your home.

Religious holidays are synonymous with the handing out of little packets that contain money. The Chinese will hand out red packets and the Malays green packets. The Indians do not appear to share this Chinese and Malay custom of handing out packets of money on religious holidays. However, they will never refuse receiving it if you offer them one, especially during an election.

The official language for Malaysia is not constant and keeps changing. It used to be Bahasa Kebangsaan and then was changed to Bahasa Melayu. Then, for a short while, the government adopted Bahasa Baku as the official language. Now, the official language is Bahasa Malaysia. Actually, all four are the same except for the spelling, which changes each time they switch over.

Therefore, there is no such thing as a Malaysian language per se. So, maybe this is the problem the government faces in establishing an official language for Malaysia. Most of the Malay vocabulary is borrowed from the Thai, Indian, Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch, Arabic and English languages. I was told there are only five or six words that can be regarded as originally Malay.

The federal government is led by three main political parties within the ruling coalition called Barisan Nasional. You will notice, however, that the names of all three of these parties -- Umno, MCA and MIC -- are in English. None are in the Malaysian national language. Nevertheless, all these three parties are very passionate about defending the Malaysian national language even though none of them use the Malaysian national language in their party names.

Okay, that ends our first lesson in how to understand Malaysian culture. Tomorrow, we shall talk about other aspects of Malaysian culture and traditions, such as the education and economic policies of this country and the quota system attached to these policies. The education quota system is actually quite easy to understand. In certain institutions of higher learning, 100% of the students are Malays and none of the other groupings are allowed places in these institutions.

We hope, by the end of this three-day crash course, you will be able to understand Malaysia better. Invariably, you will discover that Malaysians are quite difficult to comprehend. They say one thing but they mean the opposite. For example, when you invite them to join you for dinner, they will say ‘no thank you’. Actually, they mean ‘yes please’. And if you take that to literally mean ‘no thank you’ they will get very upset and consider you sombong or pompous.

NS deals led to RM110m loss

NS deals led to RM110m loss
1 Sept, 2008

(The Star) - National Service shirkers and a very “rigid” contract have caused the Government losses of up to RM110.1mil from 2004 to last year, the 2007 Auditor-General’s report said.

Over the four years, the audit found that 63,417 people failed to attend the programme for various reasons, which led to the Government having to fork out the money to camp operators due to the way the contract was set out.

The contract spelt out that the Government would pay rent for the use of equipment and facilities for between 690 and 890 trainees for 2004 and between 300 and 400 trainees for 2005 and beyond.

The fee, per trainee, worked out to RM30 in the peninsula and RM41 in Sabah and Sarawak for 2004. In 2005, it cost RM25 in peninsula and RM34.30 in Sabah and Sarawak.

This meant that the Government had to pay for the stated number of trainees in the contract even if the number of trainees turning up was less or more than the figure stipulated in the agreement.

“Every year, between 16% and 23% of those called up to join the programme did not turn up. The ministry must review the contract conditions regarding how many trainees are allocated to each camp,” the report said.

It added that the ministry should also have a backup name list as there had to be a stop to the losses due to people not turning up for training.

“The NS Training Department also has to double-check its name list with the relevant authorities before putting out the roll call,” it said.

Among the reasons those called up did not attend were: a change in address, still studying, sole bread-winners, disabled, did not receive notices, died, overseas, in the army, health problems or have attended NS before.

In its reply, the ministry said it was in the midst of reviewing the contracts, adding that the department would be increasing the number of trainees next year to 140,000 to make up for any shortfall.

The audit also found that RM57mil in arrears had yet to be collected from camp operators for advances they had taken to construct the camps.

The audit also checked on certain camps from various angles such as the suitability of its location, cleanliness, food quality and quality of equipment supplied.

It found that the Beringin Beach camp in Langkawi was unsuitable because high tides often flooded dormitories and left a classroom unusable.

For the Wawasan camp in Sabah, camp operators told the audit team that it was difficult to obtain fresh fish to cook for the trainees but the audit team found it otherwise at the Kota Kinabalu market.

The audit also found that T-shirts, track pants, baseball caps and sports shoes supplied under contracts worth RM41.12mil were of low quality.

Khairy: 'Anwar will sell the country'

2008/08/23

Khairy: 'Anwar will sell the country'

Khairy Jamaluddin

BUTTERWORTH: Umno Youth deputy chief Khairy Jamaluddin said the very first thing Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim would do if he was able to form the government on Sept 16 would be to finalise deals with his foreign financiers on what benefits they would enjoy.

He said Anwar would also immediately sign a Free Trade Agreement with the United States.

"He would also agree with US intentions to set up a naval base in Sabah. I obtained all this information from very reliable sources," said Khairy at a ceramah at the Barisan Nasional Youth operation centre near here.

"We would like to know how Anwar is obtaining huge funds for his by-election campaign. Just look at the posters. I'm sure it would have cost him millions. We do not want him to sell off the country.

"If PKR is in power for the next five years, I'm sure they can sell the country. Anwar is a hypocrite of the highest order."
Khairy also lambasted Parti Keadilan Rakyat for the way its members and supporters behaved on nomination day for the by-election.

"PKR claimed that Umno practises the samseng culture. However, they are the ones who resort to such methods as could be clearly seen on nomination day and in Anwar's campaigns."

Khairy said although he did not want to resort to personal attacks, he had to bring up certain issues regarding Anwar as it involved his credibility as a leader.

"We are talking about the future of the country and we want a leader who is credible and responsible to the people."

He said Anwar claimed corruption was practised by the BN leaders but it was during his time as finance minister that many of hiscronies had benefited.

Khairy said the BN government was committed to fighting corruption and this was obvious when, three years ago, Perak executive council member Datuk Azman Mahalan was charged with corruption although he was a good friend of the prime minister.

He also claimed he had been informed that Pas no longer trusted Anwar and did not want him as the prime minister.

"Pas is not here to campaign for Anwar. They have rejected him. It is just that they are reluctant to inform him of their decision."

Khairy said he was willing to resign as Umno Youth deputy head on Sept 16 if Anwar fulfils his promise of being able to form the new government.

"However, if he fails to do so, he must then be willing to resign as PKR de facto leader," he added.

KHAIRY CHALLENGES ANWAR TO EMULATE NAJIB IN SWEARING THE ISLAMIC WAY

Bernama - Saturday, August 23

BUKIT MERTAJAM, Aug 22 (Bernama) -- Umno Youth deputy chief Khairy Jamaluddin today challenged Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to swear the Islamic way to clear his name on a sodomy charge, in the manner that Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Tun Razak had done over allegations that he (Najib) had links with murdered Mongolian woman Altantuya Shaariibuu.

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He said the move by the deputy prime minister to swear at the Guar Perahu Jamek Mosque to deny he had known or was linked to Mongolian woman was made after repeated personal attacks by Anwar.

Khairy was speaking to reporters after attending a ceramah organised by Umno Youth at Permatang Pasir.

Earlier tonight, Najib had sworn at the mosque that he had neither known nor had any connection with Altantuya who was found murdered in 2006 in Puncak Alam, Selangor.

Khairy also challenged Anwar to resign as PKR adviser if he failed to become prime minister by Sept 16, saying he (Khairy) would quit as Umno Youth deputy chief if Anwar succeeded in forming the next government by then.

Also present at the ceramah were Anwar's former allies Ezam Mohd Noor and Datuk S. Nallakaruppan.

Earlier, while Khairy was giving a speech, Anwar's entourage coincidentally passed by and slowed down to hear what he and other Barisan Nasional leaders were saying, which led to a minor commotion.

-- BERNAMA

Monday July 21, 2008 MYT 5:37:36 PM

’50 Dalil’ publisher throws his hat into Umno ring

By ZULKIFLY MOHAMAD

BUTTERWORTH: The publisher of the book 50 Dalil Kenapa Anwar Tidak Boleh Menjadi Perdana Menteri has announced his interest to fight for the Batu Kawan Umno division chief post next month.

Datuk Khairuddin Abu Hassan, 46, said Umno needed to be reformed at all levels and he would take the challenge to restore the image of the party and make it relevant again to Malays.

Khairuddin published the book on Anwar in 1996, two years before the then Deputy Prime Minister was sacked.

At a press conference here on Monday, Khairuddin said there were too many kaki bodek (apple polishers) in Umno now, and the party had to get rid of the unhealthy culture that would erode the confidence of the Malays in Umno.

“I will speak my mind and I believe the Malays now need leaders with principles.

“I know many Umno leaders are just seat warmers who do nothing to safeguard their positions despite knowing the cry for change at the grassroots level.

“They do not take the March 8 political tsunami seriously and are not doing anything about it. Even until today, not much has been done to win the confidence of the Malays back to support Umno,” he said.

Khairuddin is the nephew of the former Umno information chief the late Tan Sri Sulaiman Palestine.

He is a member of the Umno Taman Murai branch. Former Penang deputy chief minister Datuk Seri Ibrahim Saad is the incumbent chief of the Batu Kawan division.

A three-corner fight is expected for the post as the division’s deputy chairman Datuk Nordin Kassim is also joining the fray. There are 31 branches in the division.

Malaysian Opposition Plans Rally; Stocks Fall on Political Risk

Malaysian Opposition Plans Rally; Stocks Fall on Political Risk

By Manirajan Ramasamy and Ranjeetha Pakiam

July 4 (Bloomberg) -- Malaysia's opposition said it would hold a peaceful mass rally on July 6, one week after their leader Anwar Ibrahim was accused of homosexual relations with a 23-year-old male aide, allegations he says were fabricated.

``We are expecting about 200,000 people,'' Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin, youth chief of Anwar's People's Justice Party, said in an interview. The rally, originally intended to protest against higher fuel prices, will also ``inform people'' about the latest political developments, he said.

Malaysia's benchmark stock index slumped to its lowest in more than a year today, the ringgit dropped to a five-month low and three-year government bonds fell for a ninth week, their longest losing streak since at least 1998, as political tension, slower growth and higher inflation worried investors. Anwar, who has said he can topple the government by September, has accused Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak of conspiring to frame him for sodomy.

While Najib said yesterday he had met the opposition leader's accuser, he otherwise denied involvement. Najib himself also rejected allegations he had an affair with a woman before she was killed two years ago.

``You have a difficult external environment and you have politics: not a very nice combination,'' said David Ng, who helps manage about $1 billion as a portfolio manager at Hwang-DBS Asset Management Sdn. in Kuala Lumpur. ``Foreigners have been the main sellers and locals have started to join in.''

New Rally Location

The police said they will allow the rally after organizers agreed to move it to a stadium outside the capital city.

``Since they have taken my offer to move from the original open space venue to an enclosed place, we will allow it,'' Khalid Abu Bakar, Selangor's police chief said in a phone interview today. ``If they follow the rules, they can gather there peacefully.''

Malaysian police in the past week confirmed investigations of Najib and Anwar. Both have called the claims against them fabrications intended to destroy their political careers.

``We call on Malaysians who support the movement for a more just and transparent government to join this Sunday's peaceful gathering,'' Anwar said in a joint statement today with the leaders of the two other parties in his alliance which made record gains in March elections. ``We also call upon Malaysians not to be influenced by outside provocation.''

Anwar has accused Najib of involvement in trumping up false sodomy charges against him, and yesterday held a press conference with a private investigator who alleged the deputy premier had an affair with Altantuya Shaariibuu, a Mongolian interpreter who was 28 years old when she was killed in a bombing in 2006.

The private investigator retracted his allegation today and replaced his lawyer, Americk Singh Siddhu, who told reporters he's not convinced that was done of ``his own free will.''

Anwar and Najib are vying to become Malaysia's next leader. Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, rejecting calls to resign, has said he'll hand power to Najib sometime after the ruling party's annual meeting in December. Anwar has predicted that he'll woo enough lawmakers to topple the government before then.

Prime Minister, can you tell the truth?

Military Intelligence chief still did not explain C4 explosives.

No, he did not explain how C4 explosives have been leaked to the Special Task Police for use to explode a human being. They should be accountable for such a terrible leak.

Looks like the monumental task of revealing the used C4, the missing immigration entry, the orders received by the accused Special Task Force policemen lies in the hands of the Malaysian Prime Minister. He is a very religious man. He is unhappy with the rumours and the slanderous statements thrown about recently. He should now be brave enough to put a stop to all these.

GIVE an ORDER for the Truth to be told.

Assure the informers that they will receive protection.

Truth must be told NOW.

Otherwise don't blame the natural process of human suspicion that will continue till the truth is out. Only then will rumours stop.

Prime Minister, Sir, can you do that?

***********************************************************************************

Military intelligence chief makes rare public appearance to dismiss reports on murder trial

By Shannon Teoh

Director of Military Intelligence Lt Gen Dato' Mohd Salleh Ismail

KUALA LUMPUR, July 4 -Malaysia's top military intelligence officer, Lt Gen Dato' Mohd Salleh Ismail, made a rare appearance at a press conference before he proceeded to dismiss the existence of any intelligence report originating from his agency with regards to the Altantuya murder or threats to Anwar's safety.

In light of the past week's escalating allegations and counter-allegations between the Datuk Seris Najib Razak and Anwar Ibrahim, seen as the two PMs-in-waiting, the public presence of the military intelligence chief is surely a sign that things are reaching some kind of breaking point.

Salleh went so far as to claim that the military had no intelligence with regards to these matters even though they involved not just top political figures in our country but the government's top executives as these were "criminal cases. The military looks at things related to security, e.g., militants and terrorists. Like you (the press), we are simply monitoring events."

"There are people who want to see this country in disarray by confusing the facts. People are getting bored by these allegations and counter-allegations," Salleh said to explain his coming out to set the record straight.

He described the act of parties that have cited the existence of military intelligence to back their claims as "immoral", that these acts would "lead to the detriment of the country's economy".

He was referring to the chain of events beginning with controversial blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin's statutory declaration that Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi had received a military intelligence report concerning the Altantuya murder and then passed it on to his son-in-law, Khairy Jamaluddin.

This was followed by Anwar seeking safe haven in the Turkish Embassy after an aide accused him of sodomy. It was reported that Anwar claimed he had sources from within the government and military intelligence both local and foreign advising him that certain agents from within BN leadership had initiated plots to cause harm to him, his family and/or his supporters.

"We, as an intelligence organization, did not get such reports. We're sure that if there are any they would go through the normal intelligence community to confirm this. It is also amazing that after the threat, Anwar stood in front of 10,000 people and came out without a scratch. That's quite unbelievable given the info he claimed was given to him - I think the info is not credible and I don't think any intelligence organisation will admit to giving it to him rather than the proper authorities -- especially the police," he added.

The press conference clearly sought to undermine the claims of those seeking to discredit the PM and his deputy, laying the burden of proof and evidence on them. The general further allayed fears of use of force and the possibility of a state of emergency being declared that was sparked after Wednesday's announcement of joint police-army exercises in the Klang Valley.

"It has been long-planned and not just because of the current situation. The police and military have not had a joint exercise for a long time. Because there are new procedures and laws regarding public order, we need to get together and see how we are to execute them. The old laws are from the 50s and now there are new procedures to handle demonstrators and public order. This is nothing to do with being worried about the current situation."

He laughed off suggestions that it was in anticipation of this Sunday's Pakatan Rakyat-backed anti-fuel hike demonstration which is aiming to see a million protestors turn up. But in explaining that it was police responsibility to handle demonstrations, Salleh seemed to be hitting home the message that the military want none of this and refuse to be implicated or involved in any of the intrigue surrounding current local politics.

Friday July 4, 2008 MYT 6:30:24 PM

Military Intel denies existence of any Altantuya report

By TEH ENG HOCK

KUALA LUMPUR: The military did not generate any reports related to the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu.

Military Intelligence director-general Lt Jen Datuk Mohd Salleh Ismail also dismissed claims by PKR adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim that his life was at risk.

"There is no military intelligence report on the murder case of Altantuya. This is strictly a matter for the police as it is a criminal case.

"I wish to reiterate that the statutory declaration made by Raja Petra Kamarudin on the military intelligence report is not true. Since I took over as director-general, it has not come to my attention that such a report exists," he said, denying that he passed the said report to the Prime Minister.

He said the Military Intelligence only monitored the chain of events as the military's role was to "keep tabs on security, especially militant and terrorist acts" while Altantuya's case was "just a murder case".

Lt Jen Salleh also dismissed reports of foreign military intelligence's involvement in plotting the downfall of the country's leadership, and said Anwar's claim that his life was at risk was untrue as well.

"We as an intelligence organisation did not get such reports. I am sure if there are (such reports), they would go through the normal intelligence community to get confirmation.

"What is amazing is, after saying his life was threatened, Anwar appeared in public (among) 10,000 people and nothing happened. He emerged unscratched," he said, adding that whoever tipped Anwar off was not credible.

"Maybe Anwar has other sources but it is not from my agency," he said.

Asked if the joint military and police training was due to the current turn of events, Lt Jen Salleh said the training was planned a long time ago to acclimatise to the new procedures and laws relating to public order.

"Whatever demonstrations held so far, the police had been able to keep them under control. Public order is under the police and not the military's responsibility," he said.

Asked if the closure of Bursa Malaysia had anything to do with security matters, he said: "I do not want to comment on this".

Malaysia's Drama

Malaysia's drama

Not too distant time ago, Malaysia's PM Abdullah wanted Malaysia to venture into the film industry in a big way as he sees potential in this direction. Little did he know, his wish materialises into a Hollywood action-packed high profile drama, tinkled with outrageous sex (male-male, mind you) revelations and accusations with bits of Bollywood twists and turns that might outdo the Bourne Ultimatum series.

Lies and accusations fly like nobody's business and they revolve around the highest ranking officials. The country's highest politicians are up against each other. It is either they are doing it just to get to the highest post of the country or they are sincerely doing it for the welfare of their beloved country and countrymen.

The head of the police force (IGP) and the Attorney-General has been accused in a plot of fabricating evidence against the second highest ranking politician (Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister) of that time.

An interpreter, a beautiful model, from a foreign country has been blown to bits and pieces using explosives only the military has access to, and her records of entry into Malaysia has been deleted from the immigration records.

The plot has not come to the scene whereby the military or the Defence Ministry come up with an explanation as to how its C4 explosives has come to being used. The Immigration and the Home Ministry (under which it is supposed to be answerable) has not and is not able to fabricate an explanation as to how immigration records could be so easily erased, especially after a person has been blown up and out from the surface of this world. The Defence and the Home Ministers are still sitting comfortably in their chairs.

The drama has now come to new stage where new 'old evidence' were produced and created shockwaves throughout the country and it 'checkmated Najib'. However, the checkmate move was retracted within 24 hours as it was done under 'duress'. Wow, no more checkmate.

Come Sunday, people's power might be employed. Those viewers following the drama could feel their emotions travelling on a roller coaster. And of course there is more coming. More proof, more arrests, more accusation and more defence.

Amidst the lies and accusations, there is the TRUTH. I saw a cartoon in Dr Rafick's blog

(http://rights2write.wordpress.com/) that indicates that people prefer to go for a reassuring lie than an inconvenient truth.

One in fact sometimes has to be brave enough to face a truth. To tell the truth, one has to be more than brave, one has to be courageous. There are of course certain professions whereby the employees are sworn to secrecy, however there is still a cry in their hearts and conscience to come out and tell the truth. This is necessary for the welfare of the country as a whole, for both short term but especially long term benefit.

The short-term effect will result in a climax to this whole series of events, but most importantly it will turn a new page quickly for the country to move on forward positively.

The long term benefit is of course the country do not want unscrupulous, selfish, corrupt dishonest, lying people to lead them.

Let's all turn inwards to our hearts and to our God. Wish and pray for the truth.

May all beings be calm and peaceful. May we be brave enough to fear God.

Abdulla is South-East Asia’s Gorbachev?

Malaysia

South-East Asia’s Gorbachev?

Jul 3rd 2008
From The Economist print edition

Abdullah Badawi certainly does not deserve that title. With boldness, he could yet do so

AP

DEFENDERS of Malaysia’s prime minister, Abdullah Badawi, liken him to Mikhail Gorbachev: a statesman who emerged from deep inside a declining, dysfunctional system and yet had the courage to carry out risky but badly needed political reforms. With Malaysians squabbling viciously over improbable new allegations against the opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim, and Mr Badawi’s own heir-apparent, Najib Razak, the system has never looked in more need of a reforming hero. But is Mr Badawi, who succeeded Mahathir Mohamad in 2003, really up to it?

His premiership has already had several twists and turns. At first, Mr Badawi’s laconic, laid-back style came as something of a relief after 22 long years of the combative Dr Mahathir. Soon, however, drift and decadence took over. That in turn helped bring a stunning electoral setback in March: the ruling coalition saw its majority slashed.

This was exciting in itself, because Malaysia has been, in effect, under one-party rule since independence from Britain in 1957. Mr Badawi’s United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), which dominates the ruling coalition, is probably, proportional to the population, the world’s biggest mass party, with more than 3m members, mostly Malays (just over half the country’s 25m people). More encouraging still, Mr Anwar’s supporters campaigned against the institutionalised racism of UMNO’s pro-Malay affirmative action policies and many voters agreed these policies had become a vehicle for corrupt patronage. It was not just ethnic-Chinese and Indian voters who deserted the government. So did many Malays.

But the election was also thrilling because the result (and Mr Anwar’s attempts to lure away Mr Badawi’s supporters since) have prodded the prime minister into new political boldness. Mr Badawi has started to clean up the legal system and repair some of the damage done to the independence of the country’s judiciary. Mr Badawi has also taken the risky decision to cut fuel subsidies, sending petrol prices soaring. The Gorbachev comparisons spring from these past few months.

The new Malay dilemma

Yet there are two problems with Malaysian glasnost. The immediate one is the scandals, which are depressingly like Malaysian politics as usual—only more so. Just as in 1998, Mr Anwar faces a charge of sodomy, a criminal offence in Malaysia. Now as then, he denies the charge (which on the previous occasion was eventually thrown out) and accuses the government of organising a smear campaign. Indeed he has said his accuser is closely linked to Mr Najib. The latter faces even more damaging questions about the murder of a female Mongolian translator: his political adviser is one of those charged.

The second, deeper problem is that the Gorbachev comparison is, on closer inspection, hardly comforting for Mr Badawi. The former Soviet leader thought he was reviving a system that still had some life in it. In fact it had to be destroyed so something new could be erected in its place (so Mr Gorbachev gets credit for managing the inexorable decline of a political system in a relatively peaceful way).

Malaysia is not in such a terminal mess. Compared with the old Soviet Union’s, its economy is a picture of vitality. Nor is it a totalitarian state; by Soviet standards it is an amicable federation. Its problem is that like other places where one party is so dominant, politics has become ossified and corrupt. It could still be reformed without having to start from scratch; but a lot depends on what Mr Badawi does now.

For Mr Badawi does indeed face a Gorbachev-style choice. He could try to shore up the old system. By discrediting the opposition and using the usual perks, threats and blandishments of incumbency, UMNO and its partners could yet cling to office, at least for a while. Or Mr Badawi could embrace reform, clean the system up and compete for power without the dirty tactics. If he does, he will indeed deserve an honourable mention in the history books.

In March Malaysian politics entered a new era. A transfer of political power, until then a remote possibility, has since begun to seem an inevitability—if not as soon as Mr Anwar would like. Whatever Mr Badawi’s merits or faults, preserving internal peace during such an unprecedented transition will take more than one man; the whole political class, including Mr Anwar, will have to share responsibility. Neither side is immune from a big populist temptation: to play on the fears of the Muslim Malay majority and convince them that their traditional privileges are at risk. At a time when political Islam (including some quite extreme strains of that ideology) is on the march, that could be disastrous.

Malaysia Safe, Don't Listen To Rumours, Says PM

Country Safe, Don't Listen To Rumours, Says PM

KUALA LUMPUR, July 3 (Bernama) -- Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, saying that Malaysia was peaceful and safe, advised the people not to be worried or be swayed by rumours that the country was in a state of emergency.

The prime minister said the country's economic and security situations were under control and people need not get overly excited about what was happening. "We are not in a state of emergency. This government is a stable government, please believe it. "The security of the country is still under control, and everything is under control. We know what is happening, and the country will remain peaceful and safe," he told reporters after chairing the first meeting of the implementing authority of the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) at his office at Parliament House, here.

Abdullah responded thus after he was asked about the economic and security situation in the country. Abdullah said the government would act if there were problems, including in the implementation of projects. However, currently, everything was proceeding smoothly, including the government administration and the implementation of projects, he said. Asked for his comment on the assumption that the ongoing police-military joint exercise was in anticipation of a state of emergency, Abdullah said it should not be seen as something which could spark anxiety in the people. "I don't think anybody should worry. I just want to say this. They (army and police) can have any joint exercise they want to. They want to coordinate. This is not to be treated and regarded as something that we need to worry about," he said.

Abdullah said slanderous statements were being hurled at one another freely and everyday there emerged news which could cause "sadness, fear, worry and lack of confidence" in the people. "What is this? A new politics? Perhaps, it is. I have been in politics for 35 years. I have never seen anything like this. So, the people are never at ease, and are hearing absurd stories. "They listen, and then they believe them, quite easily. Our people are very gullible. They listen to the stories and they are confused. They listen to the stories and they exaggerate. Then they make their own spin and then it becomes worse, not better. "There are too many rumours. There are all kinds of rumours. These shrewd people are making up the stories, to confuse the people... making slanderous statements," he said.

Abdullah also refuted assumptions that the country was in a state of prolonged instability. "Not prolonged. Not prolonged. Are you asking me to make an assumption?" he said. On political stability, Abdullah said he did not want to adopt an attitude of self denial, as though nothing was happening in Umno. However, he said, the "goings-on" in the party were not happening for the first time and that they would occur every time the Umno elections were held. "This is a normal happening. The second thing is the issues in parliament whereby parliament is active and lively, and the people are able to follow. That cannot be assumed as leading to political instability," he said.

Abdullah said the people get information on the rallies planned here and there by Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, which might cause uneasiness among some of the people. "But when this happens, people become fearful. I am also surprised why this is happening. I do not want to make assumptions and it would lead to interpretations unfavourable to the market sentiment. "However, I want to make it clear that the situation is peaceful and under control. I mean every word I say," he said. -- BERNAMA

Review NS programme, says Lam Thye

Review NS programme, says Lam Thye
KUALA LUMPUR, June 21 ─ Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye, who retires as National Service (NS) Training Council chairman when his three-year term ends tomorrow, has called for a thorough review of the programme.

In a statement today, he said the review was necessary after five years of the programme's implementation and it should cover all aspects including training modules, training quality, health and hygiene, food quality and camp management.

He said he brought up the matter to the council and NS Training Department at a meeting on June 3, at the end of third batch of NS training.

"I proposed that the review should be conducted without fear and favour, involving not only the Ministry of Defence, NS Training Department, Health Department but also other stakeholders such as non-governmental organisations, the private sector, former trainees, concerned parents and other experts interested to offer their views and suggestions.

"The council accepted my proposal which will be implemented by the director-general (Datuk Abdul Hadi Awang Kechil) during the NS training break between September and December," he said.

Lee also said he had decided not to seek reappointment as NS Training Council chairman, and Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who is Defence Minister, had accepted it.

"I do not wish for my service to be extended because I feel I have done more than my fair share of national service.

"After five years of offering my service to the National Service Training Programme, I feel that the time has come for me to vacate my position and leave it to the minister concerned to find a suitable successor who can provide sterling leadership to the council and bring the programme to greater heights," he said.

Lee became a member of the NS Training Council when the programme began in 2004.

He said his retirement from the chairmanship of the council came with a sense of fulfilment, knowing that he had served his best without any conflict of interest and had acted according to his conscience.

"As I leave I still maintain that the NS training is a good programme for our youths in terms of building character, confidence, discipline, voluntarism and inter-racial understanding.

"This has been testified by the vast majority of the more than 300,000 trainees who have successfully undergone the programme," he said.

Lee said the NS Training Department required a more caring approach and attitude, strong camp management as well as total commitment from all those involved to ensure success in the future.

"Hopefully the programme will be further improved after the proposed review with more inputs from the various stakeholders," he said. ─ Bernama

Saturday June 14, 2008 MYT 12:28:47 PM

NS cuts RM66m from its annual budget

By LISA GOH

KUALA LUMPUR: The National Service (NS) Training Department will play its part in reducing frills and cutting cost by slashing at least RM66mil from its annual budget.

Its director-general Datuk Abdul Hadi Awang Kechil said that he had informed the Defence Ministry that the department was returning the money to the Government.

"The money was initially allocated for purchase of vehicles in camps, such as four-wheel drives, but we have decided it is not necessary.

"Also, instead of holding courses for camp commandants in hotels, we will now hold them in the NS camps. This will save a lot," he told the press Saturday after seeing a new batch of NS trainees off at Stadium Bukit Jalil here.

However, Abdul Hadi reassured the public that this cost-cutting measure would not affect the effectiveness or the safety aspects of the camps and its activities.

"We will see how else we can save more money," he said, adding that the department still had RM600mil for the rest of the year, which he said "is sufficient".

A total of 36,378 trainees are being moved to 81 camps nationwide in two stages - 22,559 on Saturday and 13,819 on Sunday. He also said that in view of the recent fuel hike, the NS department had an alternative plan to ferry the trainees should the bus operators fail to run as scheduled, as their earlier contract was made prior to the fuel hike.

"We have gotten help from the army, and we have more than 200 army vehicles on standby but so far, everything is on schedule," he said.

The open day for this group of trainees is July 5 for camps in Kedah, Kelantan and Terenggenu, and July 6 for camps in other states, including Sabah and Sarawak.

He said there would also be a four-day break for the trainees from July 17 to July 20 when trainees could to return to their homes should they choose to.

Thursday June 5, 2008

Modify NS programme to protect trainees

COMMENT
By V.K. CHIN

THE Government should continue with the National Service training programme, which has brought many positive benefits to trainees.

The scheme has been criticised due to the deaths of several trainees during their three-month stint. It must be pointed out that some of them died while they were outside the camp.

Still, the Government cannot ignore such incidents as any death is unacceptable, and it is important to dispel the misgivings or the fear of sending loved ones to this character-building project.

The reminder from Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to camp commandants to be more hands-on in running them is therefore timely.

It cannot be denied that some of the deaths could have been avoided, especially those who succumbed due to medical reasons.

Najib, who is also Defence Minister, told those in charge, who are all military personnel, to tighten up procedures and to send the sick immediately for medical treatment.

A few trainees died because by the time they were sent to hospital, their condition had already become critical. Early action could have saved them.

This is good advice that all commandants should take to heart, and they must act quickly when facing such cases in future. If all precautions should be taken, then it would be possible to achieve a zero-death target.

Parents must have full confidence in the programme before allowing loved ones to participate. Apart from more stringent health checks, it may be necessary to review the training modules used.

While physical training is part of the itinerary, one important objective is to teach loyalty, discipline, understanding and interaction with fellow trainees who are from different communities.

There is a tendency to treat them as army recruits and subject them to tough physical assignments they are not ready for. The emphasis should be on soft skills and they should not be subject to strenuous excursions, such as jungle trekking or survival.

Perhaps the Government should allow commandants to be recruited from outside the army, since military personnel tend to be too tough with trainees.

In the early days, there used to be some civilian commandants but, unfortunately, this function has now been taken over by serving officers. In the process, some good trainers were taken off.

Caught in the crossfire is Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye, the first honorary chairman of the NS department. Since he has become the face of NS, he has borne the brunt of criticism, abuse and anger of parents whose children died or were injured.

Though he is the chairman, he has no executive authority and has no say over the running of the camps or control over the behaviour of the training staff.

This is quite unfair to him since he had agreed to head the department as a service to the nation. No one can blame him if he should refuse to serve another term if the present situation should continue.

Though he has tried his best to act as a go-between with parents of trainees and the trainers, he does not seem to be getting much support or sympathy from both.

M'sian NS trainee beaten up

M'sian NS trainee beaten up
3 June 2008
NST

PEKAN, MALAYSIA: A National Service trainee was allegedly assaulted by eight fellow trainees at the Tasik Chini camp here on Thursday.

The 17-year-old victim was allegedly attacked by the trainees in his dormitory about 11.40pm, leaving him with swellings and bruises all over his body. He was given outpatient treatment at the Pekan Hospital.

It is understood he was attacked for reporting the trainees' failure to attend a morning exercise session.

Police had recorded statements from the eight boys to facilitate investigations.

58 NS trainees down with high fever

58 NS trainees down with high fever

KOTA TINGGI, June 2 ─ Fifty-eight National Service (NS) trainees including 33 girls and a woman instructor at the Desaru Special Operations Force Camp, Bandar Penawar here came down with vomiting and high fever on Saturday night.

They were admitted to the Kota Tinggi Hospital at about 10pm after completing a Wirajaya training module.

Some trainees said they began to fall sick after returning from a two-day jungle trekking exercise on Wednesday and it became worse on Saturday night.

A trainee, Mohd Shahir Ali Pandi, 18, from Batu Pahat, said he became ill in the morning and informed a medical officer at the camp.

"My fever became worse at night, so too the others. We were sent to the hospital after informing the camp managenment. We were given medicine and told to rest," he said.

Sarina Matin, 18, from Ulu Tiram, said she had a headace and fever before realising that other trainees had also fallen ill.

"I am feeling better now although I still have a fever. The doctor said we had high fever but no other diseases including dengue fever. I will be discharged tomorrow (today)," she said.

Meanwhile, Johor Women, Family, Community Development and Health Committee chairman Dr Robia Kosai said the high fever affecting the trainees was not serious.

"The virus could have spread among the trainees," she said, adding that 36 of them were discharged yesterday while the others would be allowed to leave the hospital today. ─ Bernama

Thursday May 29, 2008 MYT 6:14:57 PM

NS trainees in Setiu camp hit by food poisoning again

By R.S.N. Murali

SETIU: Sixty-seven National Service trainees from the Barracuda camp in Setiu Agro resort, here, developed stomachaches believed to be caused by due to food poisoning on Thursday, barely a week after nine trainees from the same camp suffered the same ailment. Fourteen trainees were warded in the Setiu Hospital, while 53 received outpatient treatment. Four food handlers at the camp also received outpatient treatments at the same hospital.

A camp spokesman said the trainees ho complained of nausea and stomach pains, started vomiting between 12.15am to 1.30am.

The trainees were referred to the medical team at the camp and rushed to the hospital at 7am when their conditions worsened. It is learnt that the source of the food poisoning had been traced to the lunch ate on Wednesday.

The food was catered from outside, as the camp's canteen had been closed after the May 23 incident when four of the trainees were warded for food poisoning.

One trainee from Selangor said she believed that the chicken curry served during lunch was stale. ``The food served tasted bad but we too hungry after attending an exhausting community programme," said the 18-year-old who wanted to be identified only as Rosnah. It is also learnt that the chicken served during lunch was too spicy while the rice was not fully cooked.

The commandant of the camp could not be reached for comment.

DEWAN DISPATCHES: Punishing National Service dodgers with delicious irony

DEWAN DISPATCHES: Punishing National Service dodgers with delicious irony

By Azmi Anshar
DEWAN RAKYAT, 22 May, 2008

Just last week, a Dewan Rakyat lawmaking activity passed by with such perfunctory efficiency that it didn’t merit MPs’ hawk-like scrutiny: it referred to the first reading of a Bill seeking a minor amendment to Section 18 (1) the National Service Training Act, 2003 that softens punishment for the 20,000-odd and growing 18-year-olds who balked at attending the scheme, from a hefty RM3,000 fine and six-month jail sentence to an appeasingly malleable community service. The irony could not be more delicious.

Let’s ask this basic question: why are there 20,000-odd dodgers, 19,491 of them to be exact, who refused to turn up for NS in the years 2004, 2005 and 2006? What compelled them to circumvent NS despite the threat of punitive punishment? Why did they avoid NS like there was an infestation of a plague?

The reasons vary but the deaths of 19 trainees in varying degrees so far appear to be solid grounds. Certainly the most famous excuse came from a Kuala Perlis dropout who skipped the mandatory programme for a very fundamental non–capitulation – he had to work as a RM30 a day padi harvester to put food on the table for his family. The hard luck story was sympathised and accepted but punishment must still be seen to be served, so the kid was hauled up in court, pleaded guilty but forced to opt for incarceration because it was simply beyond him to raise the RM600 fine. A politician settled the kid’s fine after a hissy fit and with it came the predictable public outrage against a bureaucracy perceived as being pitiless.

What about other dodgers? It might be pertinent to point out that the choice to dodge NS wasn’t the dodger’s choice to begin with but that of the emotional fits of his or her parents, who dread the litany of woes afflicting the running of the camps, from bad hygiene, contaminated food, bad company (read gangsterism), lousy sleeping quarters (no air-condition), the prospect of drowning, alleged rape, amorous trainers, brawls to other nightmarish scenarios. The list is a stress test for parents.

So, what does the bureaucracy directly responsible for the programme’s organisation hope to achieve by softening punishment, from imposing a hefty fine/jail time to cajoling dodgers to collect trash, carry out charity work or visit homes of inmates of various infirmity? What will happen if dodgers who dodge the tough camp life also dodge community work? Do they get sentenced to “alternative” community work, which they will still dodge nonchalantly with ease? For the sake of sanity, let’s stop here. Let’s check whether dodgers will turn up at a designated camp and take part in the programme. What if they don’t? Because that is what they stubbornly wanted to avoid in the very first place. So, it would appear that the proposed amendment sets out a very silly vicious cycle, a merry-go-round of mindless endlessness.
(Here’s an alternative but hysterical scenario: if the National Service Training Programme is really serious about meting out punishments, don’t slap it on the kids but flog it on their parents, who will gladly absorb the chastisement until their dodging children beg the authorities to stop all castigation by agreeing to turn up at the camps. Then the melodrama begins all over again…)

It’s that simple: if parents develop this steely resolve that dodging that leads to punitive punishment is far charitable than endangering their kids after a perilous month in the camps, then the community camp penalty with its dainty inconveniences is absolutely no deterrent. In fact, it’s screamingly laughable. Which makes the amendment to Section 18 (1) superfluous, a backslide to the tackling the root of the dodging issue. Why don’t dodgers really want to go for all that fun and make new friends?

Following the bad press that NS had sustained in the last four years of operations, Opposition parties, some Government parties and distressed parents have made urgent calls to scrap the programme. They might have the last word if the current pro-Opposition political environment is applied as the bellwether, especially after the Defence Ministry, the parent body of the National Service, is seeking to extend the three-month stint to two years, according to reports.

Parents are no angels either, showering love on their kids but masking it with over-bearing discipline and over-protective supervision. Although their motive is understandable, given the slew of missing children, and sexual and paedophile assaults, once their precious teenagers are out of their sight and into the camps, their survival instincts don’t kick in because all those years of protective custody have robbed them of this instinctive evolution that compel many of them to get into trouble, some fatal. That too is a tragedy.

NS is seen as an extension of the Establishment’s regard for and treatment of Malaysian teenagers, especially the ones traversing through a difficult adolescent transition between childhood and adulthood. You hear and read the epithets and labels these youngsters have to endure, mouthed by the mass quantity of guardians of morality: mat rempit, bohsia, slacker, lepak, not ambitious, apathetic, lackadaisical, unpatriotic, selfish, and so on. It is no wonder then that these youngsters of the voting age abandoned the Establishment parties in mob fashion, preferring to throw their lot behind a political ideology that fit into their lifestyles and scheme of things, and that harnesses their energy, creativity and indulgence.

Nevertheless, National Service may still have its practical usefulness. There had been glowing reports that graduates of 2004 had enjoyed the programme and built a network of friendship and camaraderie that is expected to last a lifetime, despite all the negativity that surrounds the running of these camps. That’s all very nice. But if you articulate the rationale behind NS, you will hear lofty phrases like “instilling patriotism”, “fostering racial unity”, and “encouraging good values”, and a host of pamphlet-like rhetoric that passes off as a national integration agenda. But parents are not easily convinced. There are talks swirling in the blogs now that parents are insisting on “passive resistance” of not allowing their 18-year-olds to join NS, even at the risk of greater punitive punishments.

After the March 8 polls, a new thinking and understanding had evolved among parents who insist that the NS camps are not the place to instil these noble ideals. Most parents like the idea of summer camps but for that, they pay a princely fee and their kids enjoy their stay. In other words, parents are telling the NS to “get act your together first, clean up the camps of disease and unwanted propaganda before we send our beloved kids there.”

That would mean that MPs, especially those of the Opposition kind, may have to torpedo the Bill to amend Section 18 (1) because the last thing they have is the stomach to confront parents on a warpath. And a sick kid to boot.

National Service in breach of international human rights obligations

HRC Responds: Deaths and anguish unacceptable, National Service in breach of international human rights obligations Friday, 16 May 2008 08:25pm

Contributed by the Human Rights Committee The Committee refers to The Star’s reports on 8 May 2008 “Family wants to know why” and “Fever forces quarantine at Semanggol NS camp”. The death of Too Hui Min (picture) at the Geo Kosmo National Service Training Camp at Kuala Kubu Baru continues the alarming trend of unacceptable incidents which has been occurring in National Service (“NS”) camps since the programme commenced in 2004. It is reported that there have been 16 deaths, and this number averages 4 incidents per year. The quarantine in the Semanggol NS camp, after at least 10 of its 300 trainees were warded in hospital while 80 others treated for a yet-to-be-identified fever, is the latest in the string of concerns surrounding the NS programme which have even included allegations of sexual abuse and rape. Our response sets out several matters about the NS programme which require consideration, and our position on the same. National Service Training Act 2003 (“Act”) Under section 3 of the Act, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong may from time to time, by proclamation, direct that every person, who has attained a certain age (not being less than 16 years) but has not attained a certain age (not being more than 35 years) and is a citizen or permanent resident of Malaysia, shall be liable to undergo NS training under the Act. NS training is defined in section 2 as “the training which persons liable under this Act have to undergo having the aim particularly of preparing Malaysian youths for national service under the National Service Act 1952 and generally of creating a nation which is patriotic and resilient and imbued with the spirit of volunteerism guided by the principles of the Rukun Negara”. Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 (“CRC”) The spirit and vision of the CRC is to ensure that Governments will promote the survival, harmonious development and best interests of the child (defined as every person below 18 years old unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier). As such, four principles of children’s right theory are found within the framework of the CRC as follows: • the participation of children in decisions which affect their own destiny; • the protection of children against discrimination and all forms of neglect and exploitation; • the prevention of harm to children; and, • the provision of assistance for children’s basic needs (see Melinda Jones, http://www.aifs.gov.au/institute/afrc6papers/jones.html, quoting Geraldine Van Bueren) Malaysia has signed and ratified the CRC, subject to several reservations. Following this, our Government has accepted the following provisions and is obliged to implement the same: Article 3 1. In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration. 2. States Parties undertake to ensure the child such protection and care as is necessary for his or her well-being, taking into account the rights and duties of his or her parents, legal guardians, or other individuals legally responsible for him or her, and, to this end, shall take all appropriate legislative and administrative measures. 3. States Parties shall ensure that the institutions, services and facilities responsible for the care or protection of children shall conform with the standards established by competent authorities, particularly in the areas of safety, health, in the number and suitability of their staff, as well as competent supervision. Article 12 1. States Parties shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own views the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child, the views of the child being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child. 2. For this purpose, the child shall in particular be provided the opportunity to be heard in any judicial and administrative proceedings affecting the child, either directly, or through a representative or an appropriate body, in a manner consistent with the procedural rules of national law. Article 19 1. States Parties shall take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any other person who has the care of the child. 2. Such protective measures should, as appropriate, include effective procedures for the establishment of social programmes to provide necessary support for the child and for those who have the care of the child, as well as for other forms of prevention and for identification, reporting, referral, investigation, treatment and follow-up of instances of child maltreatment described heretofore, and, as appropriate, for judicial involvement. Article 24 1. States Parties recognize the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health and to facilities for the treatment of illness and rehabilitation of health. States Parties shall strive to ensure that no child is deprived of his or her right of access to such health care services. Our concerns Apart from the question whether the NS programme (which imposes a mandatory, temporary separation of parent from child) is legally valid in international human rights law, the Committee is of the view that children who are selected for the programme should be consulted and given the right to be heard to express their views freely on their participation in the programme. This process of consultation is important, and requires the administrators of the programme to take into consideration the views of those selected, as well as an opportunity to provide full information on the programme to the children and their parents. It is ideal if the participation of the child is genuinely voluntary, carried out with the informed consent of the child's parents or legal guardians and the child is fully informed of their duties and responsibilities, in addition to the activities involved in the programme. It appears that this process of consultation is currently lacking, and it is an apparent violation of the Government’s obligations under Article 12 of the CRC. Further, we are gravely concerned that that the best interests of the NS trainees in the camps does not appear to be given primary consideration particularly in the area of their health, treatment, protection and care in violation of Articles 3, 19 and 24 of the CRC. In particular, health is a fundamental human right on par with the right to life. Every person is entitled to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health conducive to living a life in dignity. Article 25(1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 states as follows: Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control. Article 12(1) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 1966 recognises the right of every person to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in its General Comment No. 14 (2000) extrapolates this clause as follows: The right to health is closely related to and dependent upon the realization of other human rights, as contained in the International Bill of Rights, including the rights to food, housing, work, education, human dignity, life, non-discrimination, equality, the prohibition against torture, privacy, access to information, and the freedoms of association, assembly and movement. These and other rights and freedoms address integral components of the right to health. … … the reference in article 12.1 of the Covenant to "the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health" is not confined to the right to health care. On the contrary, the drafting history and the express wording of article 12.2 acknowledge that the right to health embraces a wide range of socio-economic factors that promote conditions in which people can lead a healthy life, and extends to the underlying determinants of health, such as food and nutrition, housing, access to safe and potable water and adequate sanitation, safe and healthy working conditions, and a healthy environment. … The right to health is not to be understood as a right to be healthy. The right to health contains both freedoms and entitlements. The freedoms include the right to control one's health and body, including sexual and reproductive freedom, and the right to be free from interference, such as the right to be free from torture, non-consensual medical treatment and experimentation. By contrast, the entitlements include the right to a system of health protection which provides equality of opportunity for people to enjoy the highest attainable level of health. … The Committee interprets the right to health, as defined in article 12.1, as an inclusive right extending not only to timely and appropriate health care but also to the underlying determinants of health, such as access to safe and potable water and adequate sanitation, an adequate supply of safe food, nutrition and housing, healthy occupational and environmental conditions, and access to health-related education and information, including on sexual and reproductive health. A further important aspect is the participation of the population in all health-related decision-making at the community, national and international levels. … The right to health, like all human rights, imposes three types or levels of obligations on States parties: the obligations to respect, protect and fulfil. In turn, the obligation to fulfil contains obligations to facilitate, provide and promote. The obligation to respect requires States to refrain from interfering directly or indirectly with the enjoyment of the right to health. The obligation to protect requires States to take measures that prevent third parties from interfering with article 12 guarantees. Finally, the obligation to fulfil requires States to adopt appropriate legislative, administrative, budgetary, judicial, promotional and other measures towards the full realization of the right to health. Given this, Governments are obliged to ensure that within their jurisdictions, every person’s right to health is fully protected and free from threat. The parents of those selected, compelled by law to send their children to the NS camps, are in no position to fully control the destiny and lives of their children. It is incumbent on the administrators of the camps to ensure that the trainees are well-cared for, and will return safe and healthy as the day they arrived. It is a heavy and compelling responsibility which, thus far, has not been discharged satisfactorily. The recent reports add to the growing list of concerns which necessitate a second look at the NS programme. Recommendations The Committee calls for a Royal Commission of Inquiry to be immediately established to expeditiously investigate all deaths at the NS camps, and the NS programme itself. In the meantime, the programme must be suspended or terminated. The Government should offer and pay compensation to the families of the victims who have died or suffered at the NS camps without having the families resort to the vagaries of litigation. It is however noted that money will never be able to off-set the loss of a loved one, especially the loss of a child. The young people of our nation are our country’s hope for the future and they cannot be lost in the way we have witnessed through deaths at the NS camps. The Government must take stock of these incidents and feel the anguish of the parents. Prima facie, the NS programme is regrettably doing more harm than good. Dated this 16th day of May 2008 Human Rights Committee Bar Council

It's time to scrap the National Service.

It's time to scrap the National Service.

I'm not the only parent who will not entrust my children to this worthless cause. It has proven to be unsafe since it was initiated. How many have died in the camps already? How many more have fallen ill?

Why must we sacrifice our children ... for what? It was a hare-brained idea to begin with. And yet despite the public resistance, the Government has insisted on carrying on with it.

Some who have gone through NS may have got something out of it, but many more detest it. But the upshot of it all is this -- if there are going to be cases of people dying while serving NS, it simply does not justify having it. If the Government cannot guarantee the safety of each and everyone of those serving NS, it should feel shame and stop this unsafe scheme.

I call on our elected representatives to speak up and earnestly press for the abolition of National Service.

I urge all parents to resist -- by refusing to send their children when they are called up for the next round of NS. Let this be a form of conscientious objection.

We must be together in this -- so that if the Government wants to persecute us for it, they will find it harder to persecute a mass of people than if it were only a handful.

I call on civil society groups to pledge protection for parents who resist should they be hauled up for persecution. Such protection could be in the form of free legal representation.

Let us show solidarity in standing up against what we don't have faith and trust in.

Sincerely,

Kee Thuan Chye

Boot out those National Service boot camps!

Boot out those National Service boot camps!
12 May, 2008

Our youth are born gifted and talented. They should be turned into 'radical multi-culturalists' or 'Malaysian transcultural citizens' that will be "walking democracies in themselves". This should be the vision of our nation.

Dr. Azly Rahman

"We don't need no education....
We don't need no thought control"
-- from Pink Floyd, The Wall

"NS Training Department director-general Datuk Abdul Hadi Awang Kechil said Hui Min died on Wednesday at 10.45pm at the Slim River Hospital in Perak....The teenager and 177 other trainees had chicken rice for lunch while training at the shooting range in Jugra Banting, Selangor. They arrived at the range at 1.45pm.

...We are in a state of disbelief because she was an active and healthy 18-year-old," the distraught mother said. She has two other children....Chin said Hui Min, who scored 7As in her SPM examination last year, was to enter Form Six at SMK Bukit Kuda in Klang on Monday.

--- The Star, May 9, 2008.


My deepest condolences goes to the family of Hui Min. I feel for her loss and the lost of twenty other children in this camp called National Service. We need answers for this.

Previously I argued that the Biro Tata Negara training programs are working against national unity and breeding a dangerous form of ethnocentrism. Both, this program and the ill-conceived National Service camps are based on the philosophy of anti-humanism and one that does not value the multiculturalism of this country. They may not be teaching Malaysians to live as good citizens in a Malaysian Malaysia.

As in the case of the National Service, the public has not heard of an evaluation report on the effectiveness of the first session. We need a national report such as one produced in a developed nation. With the many deaths that has been reported, we need to stop the program immediately.

We are infusing militarism in education. Our youth wants to know what will become of them in a society governed by those who think that education is the process of shoving into their minds a certain form of nationalism. Our youth wants explanations why military leaders are running their lives in those camps of indoctrination. The parents of these children need to know that what the government is doing is actually wrong - anathema to the meaning of education. Most of all they want to also know why there are so many deaths in those camps.

What might our exit plan for the national service be if we educators conclude that it is creating more damage to the creative and critical minds? What might it be if it is based on a paradigm conceived by those who are not knowledgeable of or have been out of touch with cutting edge research in the art and science of human cognitive development, such as that explored in the Theory of Multiple Intelligences?

I propose that the national service be stopped immediately and the project be given to the universities specifically, schools of education and/or schools which deal with the development of youth cultures. I propose that the government's role should be to provide national standards for developing the Malaysian mind that would suggest the objectives of teaching thinking based on what has been established by the education ministry in courses such as Kursus Kemahiran Berfikir Secara Kritis dan Kreatif and Ilmu Futuristik.

I see great potential for expanding the minds of our future generation if we put a halt to the current programme of militarising our children and instead provide grant-based mind development programmes to develop them as transcultural thinkers. Malaysian professors of education and cultural change are the ones who know the Malaysian mind best. Let them do the job of educating our youth.

Let them spend the remaining millions of Ringgit of allocated funds to work in collaboration with youths, multi-cultural community leaders, parents, and progressive government leaders to craft a non-boot camp based mind expansion and cognitive development program.

Let them show their skills in grooming our youth into Rousseau's Emiles and liberated Sophies. In these ideals we train children to understand their natural rights and we look at human beings as subjects and active agents of history.

Mind development project

We need not create blind nationalists. We need to create transcultural citizens. We need not use indoctrination theories of the 1950s. We now have constructivist theories of the new millennium. Our aim for the Malaysian children of the future should be to help them create whatever ethical possibilities in their lifetime based on the ability to use the best of their critical, creative, ethical, and futuristic thinking skills.

Here are the objectives of the proposed program:

As cultural beings, they should learn how to create new artifacts to help humanity solve problems. They need to learn what it means to be self-sufficient and how to create 'cultural communities' that value the idea of 'self-help' as opposed to getting subsidies tied to patronage politics. They need to find alternative ways of living; to de-evolve from the hyper-ventilativity and complexity of a neo-colonised national economic system and to even perhaps 'de-urbanise' and 're-villagise'.

As economic beings, they should know the skills to create a society that value 'needs' more than 'wants' so that their generation will not have to be burdened with foreign debts passed down from their political leaders who designed economic conditions that create those debts.

As political beings, they should learn how not to be blind nationalists based on their strict interpretation of 'Malayness', 'Chinese-ness', 'Indian-ness', 'Iban-ness', 'Kadazan-ness', 'Murut-ness', or 'pan-Malaysian-ness', or 'pan Asian-ness'. They should learn how to create a new social order based on the re-envisioning and revising of the past as well as the restructuring of the confusing present.

They should be taught how to imagine what a new government might look like, instead of being made to anticipate which son, daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in law of past or current leaders will be installed as rulers. The children want to have 'ownership of democracy' not to be owned by political demagogues.

As philosophical beings, the children of a new Malaysia should learn from the varieties of religious and philosophical discourse that will incite and excite the brain cells into making the greatest number of connections that will turn them into intelligent multi-cultural beings able to come together in study circles that deconstruct any kind of 'arrogant' knowledge. They want to learn how to become 'radical multi-culturalists' who pay allegiance to philosophy and not to deformed politics.

As ethical beings, they should learn to be critical consumers of the 'mediated world' they live in. They should be taught to know why Malaysian television stations are producing mediated junk to capitalise on the libidinal and not the cerebral needs of the human self.

They should know what strategies these broadcast stations are using to invent and manipulate realities, to blow the minds of TV viewers, to mesmerise viewers into organised confusion, to glue them to the TV sets, and to sell dreams in order to gain as much profit as they can through the production of sophisticated junk. The youth of today should know how the government and private TV stations are contributing to making the few owners of satellites up in the sky rich, while the poor on the earth below are happy being poor as long as they have 100 channels as their intellectual diet. As the media critic Neil Postman once said, "Thanks to television, the children of tomorrow will have four eyes and no mouth."

As futuristic beings, they should know how to create a less and less corrupt world, by creating a government based on a good separation of powers, and based on the leaders' commitment to national projects that focus on national needs more than national greed. They should know if we actually need more national cars, if our privatised water system is robbing the basic needs of human beings, if university education will become freely accessible to all, if we are going to spend our leisure developing good reading habit than golfing in signature golf course that were once inhabited by the 'squatters' (popularly known among Johoreans as 'Sting Gardens a.k.a. Setinggan Gardens')

Our youth are born gifted and talented. They should be turned into 'radical multi-culturalists' or 'Malaysian transcultural citizens' that will be "walking democracies in themselves". This should be the vision of our nation.

We should create as much opportunities for them to work together regardless of any race they have been born into, They will learn a lot about each others' hopes and aspirations, fears and joys, and how to work out solutions to life's most complex problems. We will instill trust in them, dispel myths, and deconstruct ill-feelings and deep-rooted racism they learn from adults. This is no longer an age for them to continue the prejudices they have had to live with and suffer for --- for the last 50 years.

Youth empowerment

Once we have given the national service to the faculties such as the school of education in Malaysian public and private universities, we can design the programme based on the seven considerations below:

1. Involve representatives from youth themselves; those who can articulate what they need to know in order for them to create a society that is less corrupt and one that will be governed based on a strong sense of distributive and formative justice.

2. Involve representatives of the youth political parties in the redesigning of the national programme. We ought not to turn the project into a battleground for the hearts and minds of the youth but rather, in the tradition of conflict resolution and mediation, to give due respect to the youth to express their hope and wishes to be good Malaysian citizens that will chart their own political, intellectual and cultural destiny. We may discover that in the non-partisan dialogues a great deal can be achieved in the long run.

3. Involve educators from the different ethnic groups who understand the hopes and aspirations of our youth and who want to design a better future based on multi-cultural understanding in the most meaningful sense of the word. They are the best sources of cultural information and cultural leadership.

Invite educators who understand the best designs in curriculum and instruction to come up with engaging, student-centered, democratically-inspired, higher-order thinking skills-based daily lesson plans that will sustain the interest of the youth and make them understand the meaningfulness of the concepts and the skills we are attempting to impart.

Invite competent educators to work with the youth - those who have mastered the art and science of teaching and managing the youth. In short, get highly-qualified and certified teachers and trainers to be in the programme. Education is too precious an enterprise to be left to those who are good at killing the creativity of the learners.

4.Train the trainers to understand who they are working with and how best to develop the minds of those they are attempting to educate. Again, the idea that education is a gentle profession must be applied to the training programme that hopes to create thinking citizens who will value knowledge as a most powerful tool of nationalism as well as to understand the complexities of globalisation and cut-throat crony-corporate capitalism.

The trainers and educators should undergo a six-month university-offered course in Cross-Cultural Perspectives in order to equip themselves with enough concepts and skills to teach a multi-ethnic population that is diverse.

5. Create a 'voucher system', in which a youth will bring a certificate of educational funding, and choose which program at an institution of choice to attend in order to fulfill the requirement of a National Mind Development Service programme.

The money allocated for each participant is channeled to the proper organisation/university; one that can provide training based on a set of competency standards.

In other words, the youth are the customers of the quality service we provide. This should be better than treating them like juvenile delinquents and prospective inhabitants of our prison-industrial complexes.

Create an incentive such as college credits or Advance Placement courses (AP) for universities that will help youth transfer the earned credits to meet the needs of a university/university college foundation course.

The voucher system would also build into the programme the notion of accountability. The universities or service-provider institution, will have to market themselves well and follow the national standards closely.

6. Have universities managing this programme conduct sustained and cumulative action research projects that will document the success or concerns of this project. I am sure each institution, given adequate funding, can produce magnificent evaluation report as nationally and internationally significant to document the intellectual development of our precious youth.

Foundational questions

The Malaysian Mind Development Project, my proposal for an alternative to the current national service, should be based on several fundamental questions that will form the basis of this major undertaking. Following are the foundational ones:
- How has politics, economics, sociology, and psychology shape the Malay, Chinese, Indian, Iban, Kadazan, etc youth of today?

- What do they value? What are their hopes? How has tradition contributed to their identity? What is the nature of youth culture they are in at this point in history? How might we teach them to explore transcultural identities better?

-How can this information be used to create a good enough mind development project to effect the changes in thinking we wish to see? What kind of political, social, and cultural system would they desire as a utopia? How do we help our youth construct an ethical society that can regenerate itself through revolutionary and evolutionary changes based on the truth-force of transcultural philosophies?

Herein lies the importance of training in multi-cultural education that values conflict resolution more than indoctrination and military training. Knowledge is power. History is a subjective field of knowledge; a study of the creation of the possibilities of freedom out of cultural constraints and cultures that disable.

Approach the training from a neurolinguistic perspective of teaching; an approach which begins with respecting the child as a powerful, intelligent, loving, and wise human being, and designing curriculum and instruction that values the dialogical process more than dictatorial approaches.

Education is not about humiliating people in boot camps. This paradigm is only suitable for the creation of a society made up of masters and slaves.

A plethora of research into brain science and its application to the principles of learning points to the idea that when learning happens in a stressful, dictatorial, meaningless environment, the natural response of the brain will be to be in a 'fight and flight' mode. A positive environment will be one that will not have the children be talked down at or worse, yelled at. Poor curriculum design and incompetent educators add to the breakdown of the learning system.

We must create world-class youths that can think, argue, reason, rationalise and create ethical alternative futures from the ideological ruins of yesteryears - youth that will know the value of peace and inter-faith dialogues, inter-cultural understanding that breaks the shackles of ethnocentrism, parochialism, and greed.

What must we do?

I therefore address all of you:

Youth of today, would you agree to a newer design that is based on strategies to develop your cognitive and emotional intelligences? Even in the United States, research on the effectiveness of boot camps as a positive experience remain inconclusive.

Parents, ask questions of what is the meaning of education, instead of letting the state jail your children! The children will learn to hate learning and most likely end up being unpatriotic.

Military-leaders turn educators and professor in uniforms - you need to make way for liberal, humanistic educators to take charge of this process of social reproduction.

Leaders in government, rethink how we may create a better society. The future of our youth lies in your hands. We must begin releasing their imagination, by providing the tools of critical, creative, ethical, and futuristic thinking; we cannot impose our thinking that has run its course.

Teachers, your role essentially is to transform the next generation into 'radical multi-cultural and transcultural beings' These beings will be the next generation of leaders and informed citizens that can create a new government based on reason and reflection, not one based on the modern class and caste system nor on ethnocentrism or retrogressive religious extremism.

Professors of education, and professors in other fields, help the progressive teachers in our society to work out a collaborative plan to help bring our youth back to the field of cognitive development, not let their minds be played around with in some remote encampment.

Government executives, educate and liberate our youth to chart their own destiny, so that they may become makers of their own history. Trust them to build a better future than what we have; a future that celebrates peace, social justice, social equality, and tolerance. A future based on the rule of reason and virtue.

We must go back to the essence of things entire. We must de-evolve. We cannot afford any more deaths in our boot camps. The are not going to die with this brand of patriotism.