I have failed as Malays know no shame, says Dr M

By LEE SHI-IAN

Published: 11 September 2014

Dr Mahathir at the launch of the book 'Wahai Melayu' by Anas Zubedy (left) in Petaling Jaya today. The former PM feels that he has not achieved his goals for the Malays despite being in power for 22 years. - The Malaysian Insider pic by Najjua Zulkefli, September 11, 2014.Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad lamented that he failed in his 22 years in power as the Malays did not feel ashamed when they failed, whether in examinations or in life.

"I spent 22 years trying to change the Malays, trying to alter the perception that they were lazy, I failed," Malaysia's longest serving prime minister said today.

His comments came after the Education Ministry revealed that two examination papers for a national primary school test had been leaked, forcing nearly 500,000 pupils to resit the papers on September 30.

"In the past, when a Malay was sentenced to jail, the offender would hang his head in shame as it was not something to be proud of.

"But today, when a Malay is sentenced to jail, the offender will walk with his head proudly in the air, smiling as if he has achieved something."

The former prime minister was speaking at the launch of the book “Wahai Melayu” by author Anas Zubedy in Petaling Jaya today.

He cited Mat Rempit or members of Malay motorcycle gangs as an example of Malays who did not feel ashamed about not working hard.

If anyone asks me today, I would have to say Malays are lazy. - Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad

"When they fail, they say we will go and become Mat Rempit. Look at the gender breakdown in our public universities.

"Women make up 70% of the students while men are a mere 30%. What has happened? Is Malaysia lacking in males?

"No, the Malay men appear to feel proud to be Mat Rempit. They do not feel ashamed when they fail in their examinations."

Dr Mahathir said he spent 22 years as prime minister trying to change the mindset of the Malays and turn them around.

"I always tell non-Malays not to think that the Malays are lazy. If anyone asks me today, I would have to say Malays are lazy," Dr Mahathir said.

Another failing among the Malays, he said, was the lack of honesty and integrity, and their failure to handle money properly.

He spoke of his experience running a bakery after his retirement from politics.

"I am operating a bakery and have given many opportunities to Malays to hold management positions.

"Unfortunately, time and time again, honesty and integrity appear to be lacking as there have been staff who keep stealing.

"They do not seem to understand that it is wrong to take what is not theirs, they do not think of the big picture or the long term."

He said he had hoped to change the Malay mindset by introducing the Look East Policy in 1982 because he had high regard for the attitude and determination of the Japanese, to whom failure was “unacceptable”.

"Despite the massive setbacks they had suffered, the Japanese refused to yield. They were determined to rebuild their country (after World War II).

"Look at how Japan has risen from the ashes. Their economy is among the top five in the world. This was accomplished with blood and sweat.

"To redeem their honour, the Japanese united and strived to make their country's economy strong until it was among the top five in the world.

"The Japanese feel ashamed if they fail to accomplish what they have set out to do. They take everything seriously."

"In the old days, Japanese commit hara-kiri or seppuku (suicide) if they have failed. This is because failure is unacceptable."

Dr Mahathir also reminded Malays to repay their debts so that they would not be looked upon poorly.

"Unpaid debts not only affects us as individuals, but as a race as well. We do not want other people to look at us and assume we are bad paymasters.

"As Malaysia heads towards 2020, the Malays must work hard to ensure that they are not the poor people of Malaysia," Dr Mahathir said.

"If we fail, we should not blame anyone but ourselves. We have failed because we did not do what was right." – September 11, 2014.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu just made the following speech in front of the Knesset:

To Ismail Haniya, and the leaders and operatives of Hamas:

We, the people of Israel, owe you a huge debt of gratitude.  You have succeeded where we have failed.  Because never before, in the history of the modern State of Israel, has the Jewish people been so united, like one person with one heart.  You stole three of our most precious children, and slaughtered them in cold blood.  But before we could discover the horrible truth, we had 18 days of pain and anxiety while we searched for them, during
which our nation united as never before, in prayer, in hopes, in mutual support.

And now, as you continue to launch deadly missiles indiscriminately, intended to maim and murder as many civilians as possible, while you take cowardly refuge behind your own civilians - you continue to inspire us to hold strongly onto our newly discovered unity.  Whatever disputes we Jews may have with each other, we now know that we have one common goal: we will defeat you.

But we are offering you now one last chance.  Within 24 hours, all rocket fire - and I mean all rocket fire - will cease. Completely. Forever.

I give you formal notice that our tanks are massed at the Gaza border, with artillery and air support at the ready.  We have already dropped leaflets over the northern parts of the Gaza strip, warning civilians of our impending arrival, and that they should evacuate southward, forthwith.  If you fail to meet our ultimatum, we are coming in, and, with God's help, this time we will not leave.  Every centimeter of land that we conquer will be annexed to Israel, so that there will never be another attack launched at our civilians from there.

Even so, we will continue to keep the door open to allow you to surrender gracefully.  The moment you announce that you are laying down arms, we will halt our advance, and there we will draw our new borders.  If you continue to attack our citizens, we will continue to roll southwards, driving you out of territory that you will never again contaminate with your evil presence.

It pains me deeply that your civilians will be made homeless.  But we did not choose this war; you did.  And if our choice is between allowing our citizens to be targeted mercilessly by your genocidal savagery, versus turning your civilians into refugees, I regret that we must choose the latter.  If only you loved your people as much as you hate ours, this war would never have happened.

To the rest of the world: Israel has tired of your ceaseless chidings that we should "show restraint".  When you have your entire population under constant missile fire from an implacable enemy whose stated goal is the murder every man, woman and child in your land, then you may come and talk to us about "restraint".  Until then, we respectfully suggest that you keep your double standards to yourselves.  This time, Hamas has gone too far, and we will do whatever we have to in order to protect our population.

Hamas, once again, I thank you for bringing our people together with such clarity of mind and unity of purpose.  The people of Israel do not fear the long road ahead. 

Am Yisrael Chai.

Global economic report damns PM Najib for lacking will to reform

BY THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER

Published: 9 July 2014

A global economic report says Datuk Seri Najib Razak remains secure as the prime minister as there is no worthy successor.

A global economic report has painted a gloomy outlook for Malaysia, predicting failure for the second phase of Putrajaya's economic transformation plan due to Datuk Seri Najib Razak's lack of will but added the prime minister remained secure in his job as there is no worthy successor.

There are no serious challengers to Najib's presidency in Umno until party polls are held in 2018, the Asianomics Country Report said in its latest update for international investors.

Asianomics Ltd was founded by Dr Jim Walker, a leading economist in Asia, for investors to get alternative perspectives, expose underlying economic realities and provide unconflicted macroeconomic research and strategic investment advice, according to the company's website.

The report said Najib is hanging on as the PM only because potential challengers such as Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is “too volatile personally to be qualified for the job”, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein is just “the rather dull son of former Prime Minister Tun Hussein Onn” and Khairy Jamaluddin is too young for the job.

It added that Najib's position was also deemed safe because of a growing split in the opposition headed by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim who appeared to be distracted by an impending jail sentence for sodomy.

“A weakened prime minister heads up a political party called by one cynic 'a universe of its own' whose most ambitious goal appears to be for its members to continue to loot the treasury through rent-seeking, while the opposition troika pulls in different directions as its leader (Anwar Ibrahim) contemplates a potential five-year jail term that would finish his political career.

"It is not a pretty picture for a once-promising country,” the Asianomics Country Report said.

And yet, the report stated, the prime minister has displayed a puzzling inability to take action; content, it seems, just to stay in power after his Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition kept the government after GE13.

But it said there could be some trouble as the Sultan of Johor has begun flexing his muscles in the economic sector, setting a worrying precedent for the other eight sultanates in the Southeast Asian nation of 13 states.

The report noted that the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) had kept the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) on track, but the next phase of the transformation programme is doomed due to the PM's flailing leadership.

In other words, the report said, there appeared to be a likelihood for continued drift with the prospects of badly needed, innovative economic and social policies simply not on the cards.

It noted that the lack of leadership was made more obvious when Najib allowed former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to interfere and straighten issues out for him as well as for allowing neo-feudalism to creep in.

"Najib's lack of political will is already bearing down on policy execution to the detriment of the economy going forward... Prime Minister Najib has lost momentum; so too has policy execution,” said the Asianomics Country Report.

The report noted that despite an increased transparency on the award of smaller projects under the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP), other bigger projects continue to be awarded behind closed doors.

Najib was also lambasted for having “swung to the side of the Umno hardliners in appeasing ethnic Malays”, causing Pemandu to be “the biggest victim of his lack of gumption”.

"Najib’s position has not been helped by the re-emergence of Mahathir who has maintained influence among Umno’s hardliners and the civil service’s retired elite, who still have a say in civil service appointments through the Civil Commissions Board.”

The report also focused on the role played by Johor as the state has 30% of the ETP infrastructure projects.

“There is talk of companies relocating manufacturing out of expensive Singapore to cheaper Malaysia. Johor, which is investing heavily in infrastructure (including high-speed rail and road links to Singapore), is the prime destination for such investment.”

Despite the positive hopes for an economic boom in Johor under ETP, the report stated that there is cause for concern over creeping neo-feudalism.

“Mainland Chinese property companies are also deeply implicated, which could be one reason for the sudden pick-up in Chinese FDI.

"Among the most widely reported cases is the Sultan’s sale of 116 acres (47ha) of prime land in Johor to Chinese developer, Guangzhou R&F, last December. The deal allegedly earned the Sultan RM4.5 billion. Sentiment in Johor has been dented.

“Most troublingly, last month, the Johor state assembly (the Chief Minister was chosen and appointed by the Sultan) passed an amendment to the Housing and Property Board Enactment 2014, which gives the Sultan power to appoint four of the 11 board directors. The fact that the Sultan, whose position is ceremonial, is getting involved in executive duties, the exclusive realm of the elected state government, is the outcome of a weak leader at the centre,” the report said.

The report further warned that big projects such as the Karambunai Integrated Resort City, the Tanjong Agas Oil and Gas Logistics and Industrial Park and the Kuala Lumpur International Financial District were likely to be delayed, if not shelved, due to economic and cost viability.

Besides Johor, the report also stated that “Kuala Lumpur is already suffering from an oversupply of commercial property, which is only going to worsen.”

The report cautioned that companies will not be able to keep increasing capital expenditure (capex) and another year of low nett profit growth cannot be ruled out.

Increasing prices of goods with removal of subsidies on sugar and excises on tobacco products as well as the looming Goods and Services Tax mid of next year and increase in electricity tariffs will cause households to face considerable headwinds, according to the report.

“Malaysia, beset by continuing racial and religious tension, seems to have sunk into a political torpor from which escape seems close to impossible."

The report also blamed the antics of overzealous Muslim authorities, responsible for body snatching, wedding crashing and Bible confiscation over the “Allah” row, for sinking the country to the lows.

It further warned that the “threatening racial and religious atmosphere” would “spur persistent emigration by the minority Chinese, who provide the impetus for an estimated 70% of the economy and pay 90% of the income taxes.” – July 9, 2014.

PAS’ Hudud is not Divine Law

As published on The Malaysian Insider on 17 June 2014: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/sideviews/article/pass-hudud-is-not-divine-law-shafiqah-othman-Hamzah

In my blog post, “Why I Do Not Agree With Hudud In Malaysia”, I mentioned that I was not against Hudud law, but its implementation. One would think that such a simple statement would be straightforward and easy to understand, no? But apparently not.

I have received countless of messages and comments telling me that I do not understand Hudud, or that opposing its implementation meant I am against “divine” law. I’ve even had people telling me that I was a kafir or murtad for not believing in Hudud law. The amount of people who did not understand my post, and went on to comment about my faith, amazed me. Do Malaysian Muslims only see what they want to see? It would seem so.

Maybe that explains why they believe PAS, without doubt or caution, when they say that Hudud law is divine law, and its implementation would mean fulfilling all obligations as a Muslim. It’s like the moment someone mentions “divine”, all room for logic and thinking goes out the window and people surrender, saying “I cannot question this.”

While matters of faith does involve undying belief on your part, it does not mean that one should not be allowed to use your brain to think. In fact, what is the point of embracing something you do not understand? Islam is surely not a religion of blind faith. There is more to Islam than just literal interpretations or rituals and outward practices.

Now, I do not wish to stall any further.

Not only is PAS’ Hudud bill impossible to implement constitutionally, but most importantly, it is not as “divine” as PAS makes it out to be or as Malaysian Muslims believe it to be. It has a lot of conflicts with our Federal Constitution, and also has no attempts of ijtihad (independent reasoning) over new issues. But the reason why I am not going to concentrate on constitutional arguments is because, let’s face it, most of those in favour of PAS’ Hudud don’t care that we’re a secular country or that our Federal Constitution is the highest law of the land.

I have come to the conclusion that a lot of those who believe that implementing Hudud law will solve all societal ills, simply do not know what is written on the bill or they do not what is Hudud in the Qur’an. Maybe if they do, they would know that it isn’t the “divine” law they thought it was. In fact, does anyone even have the authority to define their interpretations as divine?

The formation of Islamic law took place over several centuries. During the Prophet PBUH’s lifetime, he was the judge of the community and interpreter of divine revelations. On his death, the responsibility of interpreting the Qur’an, and translating those interpretations into practical decisions fell on the four caliphs that succeeded him, Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali. Almost a century after the Prophet PBUH’s passing, the four schools of jurisprudence were founded by the four great imams, Abu Hanifa, Malik ibn Anas, Shafi’i and Hanbal. The systematic compilation of the hadith by the six scholar-jurists, Bukhari, Muslim, Dawud, Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah and Al-Nasai, took place even later in the 9th century. From here, it is safe to say that no one can claim exclusive right that their interpretation of Islam is the one and only truth.

While it is true that Hudud exists in the Qur’an (expressions that occurs 14 times in the Holy Book which represent moral standards or barriers between what is tolerable and not), it is not right to say that the Hudud law of PAS is divine revelation. More than anything, Hudud law of PAS is nothing but an imitative and literalist approach of the Al-Ahkam As-Sultaniyyah (The Laws Of Islamic Governance) that takes absolutely no approach in ijtihad or to even consider the social conditions and realities of contemporary Muslims today. Have they forgotten that we are not living in 7th century Arabia? Not only that, but they also do not take into consideration the opinions of other ulama who may not share the same interpretation as they do.

  

The right thing to say would be that Hudud law of PAS is derived from the Qur’an (or so they say), but is in no way “divine” law, for no human interpretation of divine revelation can claim for itself the same status as the revelation itself. 

Many Malaysian Muslims praise Brunei for their implementation of Hudud law, even though the Sultan has been exempted from it. If Hudud law is divine, does this make the Sultan higher than God? Not forgetting that PAS has also amended their Hudud bill before. So how “divine” is it actually when it can be changed? When Mat Sabu was caught for khalwat in 1995, this silenced PAS’ efforts to push for Hudud law in the 90s. If they were truly keen on implementing Hudud law, why don’t they implement it on our higher-ups first, or their own members, to set an example?

It is the duty of the Muslim ummah to ensure that the spirit of Hudud law as contained within the Bill do not contravene the ethical principles of justice and equality as required by the Qur’an. As long as something is open for interpretation, it can always be disputed, challenged and questioned. And as long as there is room for doubt, such severe punishments should not be carried out.

It is also important to note that the Hudud of Allah pertains to divorce, marriage, repentance and inheritance matters. But what about the Hudud of PAS? It does not mention any of those matters and only concentrates on criminal punishments, which is the Hudud that has been codified by man.

Yes, I am aware that Hudud law can be traced back to centuries ago. But Hudud law has been changed and amended in different societies depending on the authorities and lived realities of its citizens. My main point? Hudud law, what else Hudud of PAS, is not Hudud of Allah, which means it is not divine law. It was codified and amended by man, thus making it as man-made as criminal law. 

The example of the damage Hudud law can do to a nation is there for you to see. It is only up to the individual to realize this, or deny it forever. Yes, criminal law can be manipulated too, but manipulation in the name of religion creates worse damage. 

How can we expect justice to be carried out by the state when we have the Kelantan Deputy MB saying things like “If a woman cannot prove she was raped, she will be charged for zina.” Do Muslims have the heart to see the name of Allah being used and tarnished this way? As though terrorism by Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram and the likes are not enough already.

Many people are fooled into believing that establishing an Islamic state and implementing Hudud is the be-all and end-all to becoming a Muslim. Whatever happened to the importance of ethics and virtues within the Muslim community? I don’t know, but I hope it comes back.