An opposition parliamentarian told the Dewan Rakyat today that a divisive line still runs between the major races in the country and called for the abandonment of race-based policies.This was greeted by jeers from her Barisan Nasional (BN) counterparts.Fong Po Kuan (DAP-Batu Gajah) said the government’s Islam Hadhari or civilisational Islam concept was not functioning.

To illustrate her point, she cited cases of wastage in government expenditure.
“Why are we still divided into bumiputeras and non-bumiputeras?” she asked when debating the motion of thanks on the royal address.

“Although our ancestors came here hundreds of years ago, we are still categorised differently from bumiputeras,” she said.
She said students are given different examinations despite coming from the same school.
“The non-bumiputeras have to take the STPM (examination) while bumiputeras are able to take matriculation.

This (divisiveness) has gone into education,” she added.
Fong noted that although race-based policies were meant to eradicate poverty, this has threatened national unity.
She said government projects were only tendered to bumiputera contractors.

“These are just a few examples The colonialists practiced a policy of divide and rule how different really are the policies today? We are all anak (children of) Malaysia. We can march forward together, but the government must stop race-based politics.

“There is just too much politics nowadays. Everything is being politicised to the point where it has slowed progress,” she added.
Fong then proceeded to criticise BN MPs for ‘wasting’ taxpayers’ money.

“Parliamentary briefings by ministries are now conducted in , where each table is charged RM1,000. They (the MPs) get mobile phones,” she said, drawing jeers.
“Why is this waste going on?

It’s not that we are jealous. We ( the opposition) don’t mind if we eat nasi bungkus.
“This is a waste of money.

We can hold the briefings in Parliament. Where is Islam Hadhari?” she added.

She also criticised the giving out of gold jalur gemilang pins to BN Mps.
“This is an example of wastage. The money could have been spent on schools in Sarawak or in Kinabatangan (Sabah) where there is no electricity,” she pointed out.

Fong also lamented that non-bumiputeras are perceived to be constantly questioning the status of Islam in this country.
“I have the utmost respect for Islam. It’s status is protected by the Federal Constitution.

My argument is to practice the slogans that you preach,” she added.
Later, Mohamad Aziz (Sri Gading - BN) attacked the opposition MP.
“Why does DAP always waste time raising such trivial matters.

Can’t they see that the government has done much for the people,” he said.
“Let DAP mull over their complaints if they can form a government,” he added.
Renounce corruption and discard abuse of power- that s the clarion call made by His Majesty King to AAB and other government leaders in the country.

 These were precisely the roots of the problem we are facing with the current batch of Umno leaders.
I understand that in Islam, the sin of corruption is a very serious one. And abuse of power is cruel and unjust to the victims and their families.

AAB and other Umno top guns must heed the call and response positively and immediately, instead of turning a deaf ear.
ACA must be given a new life to fight corruption and ISA, OSA and other draconian laws which were vulnerable to abuse of power must be discarded now.
The King also emphasised on the importance of Muslims living harmoniously with people of other faith.

I hope all muftis and the various religious departments will listen to the King and response and react positively.
But would the promoter of the so-called Islam Hadhari and other Umno and BN leaders heed the call of our King? God bless Malaysia.

Renounce corruption and discard abuse of power, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Mizan Zainal Abidin told those in government circles today.In a speech at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil to commemorate the birth of Prophet Muhammad, Mizan called on those holding the trust of government to honour the mandate placed on them by the people.
He also said Islam taught and emphasised on the need to develop self-resilience, trust and transparency when discharging one’s duty, according to a Bernama report.

Present at the celebration were Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, his deputy Najib Razak, and other Muslim ministers.
Mizan also called on Muslims generally to unite while living harmoniously with people of other faiths.
“In the early age of Islam, the Prophet had forged good relations with the Jews and Christians and sealed treaties with non-Muslim governments.

In the message delivered to them, (the Prophet) expounded the goodness of Islam hence they accepted the fact that differences in religious beliefs and faiths were not a hindrance to harmonious living, the king said.
About 12,000 people participated in the parade that took place earlier at the Bukit Jalil National Sports Complex.
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said that Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has a RM60 million home in Perth, Australia.

According to what Malaysia Today found out, the home is in the exclusive and expensive residential area of Mosman Park, overlooking the serene Swan River, and close to the St Hilda s Anglican high-class all-girls school.
Mosman Park, Western Australia
Mosman Park is one of Perth’s most pleasant, and expensive, suburbs, on a narrow strip of land with Mosman Bay in the Swan River as its eastern border and the city beaches defining the western boundary. To the east of the Stirling Highway, about 14 kilometres south-west of Perth’s CBD, Mosman Park is characterised by expansive homes set in manicured gardens, many with delightful views over the river.

Neighbouring it is the equally-prestigious suburb of Peppermint Grove. Popular Cottesloe Beach is just a kilometre or so from the centre of Mosman Park and the great port city of Fremantle, with some of Australia’s most interesting restaurants and watering holes, is just 3 kilometres down the road. Mosman Park s largest industry could be said to be its education establishments.

Within the town council s narrow boundaries there are no less than six schools, three of which have boarding facilities. When settlers first came to this area in about 1835, the land was thickly wooded with tuarts, jarrahs, red gum, banksia, native pines, hollies and the beautiful peppermint trees which inspired the name of Mosman Park s neighbouring suburb. Brumbies roamed the area, along with native cats, wallabies and an abundance of birds.

Umno Youth deputy chief Khairy Jamaluddin today clarified the allegation that his father-in-law, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, owns a ‘RM60 million’ house in Australia.
According to him, the house belongs to Abdullah’s son and prominent businessman Kamaludin
However, Khairy is not certain about the price of the sprawling mansion located in an elite suburb in Perth.
“May be it (the price) does not reach RM60 million may be it is lower than that,” he told malaysiakini when met at Machap, Malacca.

Khairy was asked to respond to former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad who recently said a ‘top leader’ in Malaysia has a house worth RM60 million in Australia.
Mahathir, whose ties with Abdullah has been strained since last year, made the allegation during an Umno gathering in Johor last week.
Elaborating, Khairy said the former premier did not provide any proof to back his allegation.

The Umno Youth deputy chief denied another claim by Mahathir that Malaysian leaders are afraid of their counterparts in Singapore.
According to him, fear is not a factor and foreign policies are crafted with the interest of the nation taking precedence.
“Malaysia’s foreign policy is based on the principles of strictness and courage with all nations, including Singapore,” he said.

He added that the government cancelled the crooked bridge project, mooted by Mahathir, for the interest of the nation and not because of pressure from Singapore.
The former premier had lambasted Abdullah over this issue and accused his handpicked successor of pandering to the demands of the republic.
Meanwhile, Khairy also stressed that Umno Youth had taken into account the interest of the Malays in Johor in relation to the Iskandar Development Region (IDR) project.

“I have explained what we should be wary of about the IDR and the Free Trade Agreement with the United States,” he said.
“I presume he (Mahathir) did not read the articles, so he does not know,” he added.
Mahathir claimed that the IDR project will allow foreigners to come in and trample over the locals in Johor.

Asked to comment on the cooperation between DAP and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) for the Machap by-election, Khairy said the opposition parties are lying to each other.
He said in the 1999 general elections, DAP and PKR worked closely together but broke off in the 2004 polls and are now cooperating again.
“If they can lie to each other, they can also lie to the people.

They don’t have a formula for themselves, so how can they rule the country,” he added.
In a related development, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, who was also present in Machap, declined to comment on the RM60 million mansion allegation.
He said the issue has nothing to do with the by-election.

Merdekareview.com criticised AAB for using the dictatorial legacy of Dr M (such as OSA, ISA and other draconian acts) to silent the dissenting voices in the country.
OSA, ISA , Printing and Publication Act and Police Act were the usual governing tools of the Dr M era but AAB seems to be using them rather conveniently these days.

 
Merdekareview is right. As the Home Minister, he holds the power to release all ISA detainees including those who were put away by Dr M. If he is not prepared to do so, his spin doctors should stop putting the blame to Dr M.

As the prime minster , he also holds the power to get all toll concessionaires to review all toll agreements (or even buy up the highways on behalf of the government), instead of resorting to OSA to silent the dissenting voices.
Merdekareview also calls for the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act to be passed by the Parliament under the AAB administration.
Yes, all official data should be read with a pinch of salt .

The Umno-led BN government has not been honest about disclosing social and economic data in the past. The bumi equity fiasco was just one of the many glaring examples.Of late, the government has selectively released several economic data through the mainstream media.

Such cooked up data and figures seem to have an impact on boasting the confidence of the stock market investors and speculators. It appears now that the KLSE CI is set to break the all time high figure of 1,314 (before the Great Asian Crisis in 1997/98) in a matter of weeks.Khoo Kay Peng of SEDARIn today s Oreintal Daily, Gerakan leader (also the Deputy Minister of MITI) Ng Lip Yong criticised his colleague Khoo Kay Peng for giving negative comments on national economic situition without data and solid evidence .

Khoo is the executive director of SEDAR, a think-tank set up and controlled by Gerakan.Khoo has openly questioned the veracity and accuracy of such national economic data in his interview with Oriental Daily on Tuesady.Ng Lip Yong could easily take his colleague to task but could he also answer our questions with facts and figures, and also the full details and methodology used as suggested by Dr Lim Teck Ghee?

We challenge Ng to tell Malaysians on the real data and figures ( with full details and methodology) on issues like bumi equity, national debt, annual losses suffered by all GLCs, total profits made by Petronas and total amount spent in bailing out mega projects and GLCs, total profits made by all the 23 toll concessionaires, total taxes paid by the respective ethnic groups
Also recently, Tan Teng Boo, a reknown stock market specialist,  has cautioned the investors to be more circumspect rather than exploiting the current stock market rally. Tan has warned that the stock market rallies for all kinds of reasons and some times, the market rally can be self-deluding or what is worse, the rally generates comlacency among the politicians and policymakers and painful but necessary decisions are not made or postponed until it is too late.  
Tan s warning cannot be taken lightly.

The stock market, in the eyes of the punters and speculators, is like a huge gambling den. The ups and downs of the stock market, more often than not, has nothing to do with the real market situation. The stock market would just collapse before you know it.

 
PM cum Finance Minister AAB is certainly one such politician and policymaker described by Tan Teng Boo. He has irresponsibily opened his big mouth and say that the KLSE CI would hit the 1,350 mark this year.What AAB should have done is to carry out the necessary decisions and structural reforms to improve the national economy at the macro level.

Yesterday, the DAP Sec Gen Lim Guan Eng, an Australian-trained accountant, criticised the Prime Minister for making a forecast on the KLSE Composite Index. He said investors could sue AAB if the CI eventually do not reach the said level this year. Lim is right because AAB has no power to stop punters and speculators from leaving the KLSE.

They have no obligation to inform AAB. They can leave the stock market as and when they think is right. 
AAB has been wearing far too many hats.

They were signs everywhere that the man has not been able to cope with his jobs.To put on another hat as a stock punter certainly would not served him any good.As the prime minister cum Finance Minister, he should refrain from making such sensitive statements.

But if the man is thinking about holding a snap general elections, no one then could stop him from painting a rosy picture of the KLSE in particular and the national economy in general. After all, he cannot rely on portraying himself as the modern Justice Bao (corruption fighter) anymore. (BTW, AAB is now known as Bao Ka Leow (Sapu Semua, in Malay) to the former PM Dr Mahathir and many Malaysians out there).

Apart from ensuring the veracity and accuracy of national social and economic data, the government must also release the full details of the sources of the data, the methodology used and any other information that can throw light on the findings, said an academic.Dr Lim Lim Teck Ghee was responding to Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s reassurance that the government did not ‘cook up’ the economic indicators and figures.“A government that engages in deception, spinning or concealment of social, economic and other national data is one that is not only disrespectful to the public but it is also one that betrays the trust bestowed on those with the reins of power,” Lim said in a statement.

He said by making public the sources of data and methodology used will not only ensure public confidence, but also ensure the right conclusions and policy lessons and outcomes are drawn.“Otherwise, we will find that incomplete or unreliable data is being used to justify policies that would otherwise have little or no rational basis for adoption. Such a move is necessary for all official statistics - not just trade or selective economic data,” he added.

Strict measuresIn developed countries, he said, strict measures have been adopted to ensure that all official statistics and data are shielded from inappropriate political influence and from being compromised through professional defects, bias, corruption or falsification.“It is high time that the government takes the necessary steps to ensure the independence and integrity of our official statistics.
“ These steps should include the establishment of a scientific social statistical commission that would focus on the independence and integrity of official statistics and act as an independent guardian for public interest,” he added.

Lim said Malaysia is also lagging behind many countries in ensuring that its statistical system is accessible and transparent.
“Until these misgivings are addressed, there will continue to be concerns over the honesty and dependability of the official statistics provided to the public,” he said.
On Saturday, Najib said the economic indicators and figures disclosed by the government to show the country s economic achievements reflected the .

The deputy premier was asked to comment about speculations and accusations that the government drummed up the economic indicators to boost public confidence.
The figures are real. That s absolutely real.

You don t make wild accusations like that we have never cooked-up the figures.
Our books are very transparent. The people from the World Bank and the IMF (International Monetary Fund) come and examine our books on a regular basis there is absolutely no way we can cook-up the figures, he had said.

It is shocking how Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and the government of the day continue to keep ‘secrets’ from the people, your ‘bosses’. Responses like ‘we know what’s best’ when confronted with these concerns, no longer appeases the oppressed rakyat of Malaysia.Let us not forget that we are the rakyat and you are our elected representatives, elected to govern the nation on our behalf in a manner that will serve the best interest of all the rakyat.

This governing must be done in an open transparent and accountable manner.In fact all agreements, be it the highway building and toll agreements, the water agreements and all privatisation agreements must be made available to the rakyat. It should at the very least be available on the respective government websites for all to access and see.

Our government has also signed many memorandum of understanding and other treaties - and again they are not available for the concerned rakyat to peruse and be aware of our nation’s current obligations.
Once elected, our government behaves as though the rakyat has given them a ‘blank check’ to do anything and whatever it likes without the necessary obligation of transparency and accountability to the rakyat. Sadder still, is when these documents/agreements get revealed to the rakyat, the government goes after those who have revealed it.

As a nation, we are almost 50 years old and our government still treats the ‘rakyat’ like little children. We, the rakyat, are adults with intelligence and maturity, and we want to know everything the government has done (or is going to do) on our behalf - no more hiding things from the rakyat.
The time came long ago for greater transparency and accountability by our government.

The time has also come now for the immediate repeal of the Official Secrets Act, and the introduction of a Freedom of Information Act. Acknowledging that there may be military and police matters that may still have to be kept secret for security purposes but surely not all these privatisation agreements, MOUs and other treaties.
The deputy minister in the Prime Minister s Department Abdul Rahman Suliman, in Parliament, recently revealed that since 1983 when the privatisation scheme was launched, 490 projects had been privatised.

We have not seen the list of what these 490 privatised projects are and who got it, let alone have seen these relevant agreements. Does the government still have full control of the companies that got these privatised projects with regard to policy and priorities? Are these companies still wholly Malaysian, or have they been taken over by foreigners?

In December 2006, in the Dewan Rakyat, it was also revealed that the government spent more than failed privatisation projects. Of this RM11 billion, it was reported that RM3.256 billion was for Star LRT, RM4.

486 billion for Putra LRT. Now, apparently these two projects is under a new company, one Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd. 

RM142 million for Seremban-Port Dickson Highway by Projek Lebuhraya Utara Selatan Bhd.

RM135 million for Bandar Kuching Prison with the Public Works Department taking over from a private company.

RM192.54 million for the National Sewerage Scheme from its previous concessionaire, Indah Water Konsortium.

RM8.3 million for the Muslim Food and Consumer Goods Research Unit, which now comes under the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim).

We, the rakyat, do not want to just be informed about how much of our money has been paid out to certain companies - those that had been awarded privatised projects before.

We want to know what happened, and why is the government now paying out monies to ‘privatised’ projects and companies that were awarded these privatised projects.
The government, in the person of the prime minister and his cabinet, should be made accountable and responsible for the bad choices and the bad agreements they made which now costing the rakyat money. They should be made liable for the rakyat’s money that has now been used to bail out some of these projects and companies.

We want to also know whether the directors and these companies are being penalised for their failures.
I believe that it is most likely that some of the directors and shareholders of these affected companies have long ago made their money from these projects. They have probably managed these projects badly, knowing always that at the end of the day the government will happily inject more funds, if need be.

The very idea of injecting rakyat’s money into projects already privatised goes against the whole object and notion of privatisation.
It is sad that the government so easily spent RM11 billion on these already privatised projects that have failed, but when it comes to things that benefit all rakyat like petrol costs, toll charges, water and electrical rates, to name a few, the government seems not so bothered about increasing prices resulting in the increased suffering of the rakyat. This RM11 billion would have been better used to keep petrol, water and electrical charges low.

Now, when the suffering rakyat protest these hikes in prices, our government comes down hard with the police, water cannon and make arrests.
At one time, many Malaysians believed that when Abdullah became our new premier after the 22-year reign of Dr Mahathir Mohamad, things would get better. But alas our new prime minister has just been continuously increasing the burdens and sufferings of the rakyat as time goes by.

A good man he may have been but obviously the task of governing the nation for the benefit of the rakyat seems to be beyond him.
Many now feel that it maybe time for our prime minister, our deputy prime minister, our works minister and all those other members of the cabinet who are responsible for those ‘failing privatised projects’ and the increase of charges/rates should just honourably step down.
The prime minister should resign, and maybe the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong should just appoint some member of parliament and/or senator, whose name has not been linked to any scandals or ‘allegation of corruption’ and someone who is not in the present cabinet as our new prime minister.

This new prime minister must then appoint a totally new cabinet, and maybe then Malaysia and the rakyat may be able to come out from this mess that Malaysia is in now.
If this not happen, maybe we should all seriously consider voting out the Barisan Nasional in our upcoming general elections. Looking at the state of the nation, after 50 years of Barisan Nasional (before that the Alliance), under the leadership of Umno, MCA and MIC, maybe it may not be too bad an idea for us to consider a change.

An alternative government cannot do any worse that the present government - and perhaps it may even be able to bring Malaysia out of this rut we are in today.
In the year 2004, the nation was in a buoyant mood. The new administration’s election manifesto was well received by the people.

It had promised to bring the nation forward through a series of concerted programmes including a mindset shift i.e. from a third world to a first world mentality, to inculcate a new culture of excellence, combat corruption and implement tough reforms to enhance the public service delivery system.

In return, the Abdullah administration recorded a historic win in Parliament, sweeping 91 percent of the 219 seats. The new administration was given a huge mandate to implement the reforms it had promised.
Over the last three years, public sentiment has shifted from jubilant to despair.

On whether the sentiment is uniform throughout the country is arguable but this sense of hopelessness and helplessness is being felt in the urban areas. What went wrong?
This article intends to study the causes of the shift in public perception, to highlight some of the challenges faced by the country and to propose a way forward.

One of the biggest dilemmas faced by the new regime is the baggage of the old. While promising reforms, the new regime soon found that resistance to change within the system is great. Corruption which runs through the veins of the administration and ruling political parties has made the reform process frustratingly slow.

At times, the reaction from the system is detrimental even to the new leader.
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi found out the hard way. He called for a royal commission on the police force but was not able to implement the foremost important recommendation of the royal commission to establish an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC).

It was an open secret that the ruling politicians need the support of special branch officers during general elections to gather information on voter sentiment and grouses.
His failure to swiftly establish the IPCMC was the beginning of the credibility decline of his administration. His anti-corruption campaign was seen as more of a PR stunt than a steely action to eradicate corruption at all levels of the government.

The fact that Rafidah Aziz, Zakaria Mat Deros and Jasin MP Mohd Said Yusof are still around showed that Abdullah is not willing to antagonise the warlords in his party.
To his credit, Abdullah tried to correct some of the excesses of the last administration. Some of the public projects and government-linked companies he inherited were not in the best of shape or even relevant at present.

The building of the crooked scenic bridge would have been an international relations disaster for both Malaysia and Singapore. The national car company Proton is facing sagging sales and sloppy management. The faulty national car policy has not only limited the choices to consumers but promoted private car ownership to the extent of neglecting the public transport system.

In the end, it’s penny wise pound foolish. The oil subsidy of RM15 billion paid annually could have been used for better developments.
When commenting on the higher toll rates, Dr Mahathir Mohamad admitted that toll concession agreements were not very well negotiated between the government and operators.

This is not an isolated case but previous privatisation agreements involving independent power producers and Tenaga Nasional were similarly one-sided. Hence, Abdullah is partly a victim of the old baggage.
When his predecessor sensed that Abdullah was trying to define his own path, a war was waged against him.

To survive, Abdullah had to shift his direction and focus from the reforms he promised to pure power consolidation within his party. The shift has worsened his public perception especially among the non-Malay Malaysians. In order to solidify his Malay support base, Abdullah reignited the revival of the New Economic Policy which emphasises narrowly on the percentage share of bumiputera corporate equity.

This brings us directly to the second cause of his erosion of popularity - inconsistent paradigm shifts. He started promisingly by promoting a first world mentality. To many in the developed world, a first world mentality is synonymous with a merit-based system.

By reintroducing the old NEP into the national socio-economic development blueprints - the Ninth Malaysia Plan and the Industrial Master Plan 3 - Abdullah made a quantum leap backward to the days of communal centric affirmative action.
To his detriment, his deputy Najib Abdul Razak even trumpeted that the 400 years of marginalisation the Malay community suffered in the face of colonialism cannot be repaid in merely 30 years. Overnight, the NEP became a Never Ending Policy.

Abdullah is painted as a flip-flop prime minister.
Some forward thinking Malay politicians and businessmen have distanced themselves from the NEP. Kota Bahru MP Zaid Ibrahim and prominent banker Nazir Razak have both questioned the relevance of the NEP.

I argue that the original objectives of the 1970 NEP are not adequate in today’s context.
Eradication of poverty regardless of race and the eradication of identification of an economic function to a race may still be required but additional thoughts have to be given to issues concerning competitiveness, capacity building and forces of globalisation. In short, the NEP has to be restructured or even ditched in order to introduce a more comprehensive and forward looking strategy to manage our socio-economic development.

The second dilemma leads us to a third one, the lack of a national vision or direction. Due to the divergence in public policy and political paradigm, a lot of Malaysians are at a lost as to where the nation is heading. While Abdullah said that the era of privatisation, big projects and generous government contracts are over, he recently announced a spate of big projects and generous handouts to lower class contractors.

The icing on the cake is the RM47 billion Iskandar Development Region which could yet turn out to be the biggest white elephant in the history of the country.
On the push to become a first world nation by the year 2020, many analysts would have preferred the government to focus its resources on processes, programmes and institutions which can help enhance the capacity and knowledge of our human capital. At present, the education system is in a mess.

Meanwhile the bloated bureaucracy has sucked out our competitiveness and efficiency. Our economy is becoming the region’s laggards. Many joked that our economy is similar to our football team.

Both receive a lot of attention and resources but do not have much success to show.
Brain drain is happening at an alarming rate. In the month of November 2006 alone, more than 6,550 applicants have applied or enquired to leave the country.

Our brain gain programme paled in comparison whereby a ministry statistics showed that less than 970 applicants have applied to come back since 2001. Half were successful in their application but many have since left the country again.
For whatever it is worth, Vision 2020 provided a good rough guide to where we should head in the future.

Abdullah should have stayed away from being too inwardly focused just because he felt that his political position and grip on the leadership is being threatened. By not giving enough emphasis to the last mile of Vision 2020, we have lost our general essence and a sense of commitment to push forward. As Thomas Friedman said in his book, The World is Flat, if a community is made to think that it is entitled to the wealth of the nation it will not work hard to improve, to change and to compete.

By politicising the NEP for political gains, we are bound to lose more than we thought we could have gained. It is not even a zero sum game. The society generally will become poorer and more polarised if we choose to focus on wealth distribution instead of wealth creation.

All the newly emerging developing countries with high economic growth and a lion s share of foreign investments are focused on wealth creation and growing the economic pie.
By the year 2050, China’s economy is expected to register US$44.45 trillion and India’s US$27.

8 trillion, effectively the largest and third largest economies in the world. Indonesia’s FDI in 2005 has grown by 177 percent by embracing a more open and inclusive political model. After decades of racial violence and marginalisation, the Indonesian constitution was amended to recognise Chinese Indonesians as equals.

One of the most serious challenges faced by the country is our government’s propensity to look backward than to look forward. Rather than focusing on how Malaysians can unite to face the globalisation onslaught, the ruling elites are preaching about our divisive and communal past and about how to preserve the 1957 status quo. A nation that spends its time looking backward will not have the time to think about the future.

We need to lose our sense of denial that things are going ahead as planned and by the year 2020 we will instantly become a developed nation. There is no magic in the slogan, Malaysia Boleh! Unless Malaysians of all races wake up and come to their senses soon that we need to work as a nation and society, the downward spiral will continue.

In the year 1990, we were the fourth most attractive destination for FDI and we are now ranked 62nd. The economy used to grow above eight percent per annum and can still grow up to eight percent but we are growing at a mere five percent presently. We must realise that our failure is not due to another fellow citizen but of our own wrong doing.

Politics is an important catalyst to enable us to move forward. Good policies and effective policy implementation can contribute positively to our overall well-being and bring necessary progress to society. Unfortunately, good policies are made by responsible and high quality politicians.

To our dismay, leadership quality has not been proven to be genetically inheritable.
We have a few classic cases in Malaysia. A leader can be farsighted, open and honest but down his lineage his grandson can be the most vicious communalist.

Our political system is feudalistic apart from being both dynastic and ritualistic. Public and political positions can be inherited and this has become an acceptable norm in our society. It works like a pension system, a son can reap the reward of his father s contribution and services rendered in politics.

Due to this, many of the sons act like princes in political parties which are supposed to be accountable to the people. Like feudal lords, it is a taboo to criticise our political leaders.
Moving forward, we must decide our destiny.

The outcome of keeping the existing communal political model is clear and the consequences are catastrophic. We need the openness and magnanimity of forward looking Malay leaders to bring back the minorities and embrace them as equals in our multiracial society with the Malay community forming its core.
Our future can be best protected only when Malaysians can unite on the desire to create a better nation and better home for all of us.

Towering Malaysians are not skin deep but personalities who can contribute the most to the nation and society.

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KHOO KAY PENG is is a political analyst. He advocates a non-racial Malaysian society.