Enough is just too much, Barisan (of Malaysia)

http://www.aliran.com/content/view/490/40/

Enough is just too much
(Aliran monthly)
Saturday, 08 March 2008

Barisan, you told me before and you keep telling me again and again that you are the best party to rule this country. You have always coaxed the electorate to give you a two-thirds majority in Parliament. You keep telling us that you will transform Malaysia into “negara cemerlang”. The electorate has believed you and trusted you.

You promised ...
* to defend the Federal Constitution but it has proved to be an empty promise. The Barisan has treated the Constitution as a mere piece of paper to be trampled upon. Just imagine, in the last fifty years the Constitution has been amended six hundred times, resulting in the loss of many precious provisions safeguarding the country’s secular democratic status, civil rights and liberties, religious freedom, rule of law, independence of the judiciary etc. You have converted a secular democracy into an “Islamic” state though the Constitution does not mention the word “Muslim” even once! You trampled upon the 20-point Sabah Agreement. Frankly, would Sabah and Sarawak have joined Malaysia if it was an “Islamic” state?

* to build a participatory democracy and yet local council elections remain suspended — the main reason being the fear that non-Malays will gain control of town and city councils. This in actual fact means that non-Malays are seen fit to vote in the general elections but not in local government elections. The lopsided rural/urban weightage in terms of voter strength ensures your unfair grip on paper. The Election Commission’s method of delineating constituencies ensures your political survival. Just ask what happened to the many Kadazan-majority constituencies in Sabah?

* to wipe out corruption - but corruption at all levels of the civil service and government is forever galloping. The ACA, under the control of the government, is a joke! Just imagine the ACA cleared Muhammad Taib, the currency smuggler, Judge Eusoff Chin and Zakaria of Klang of any wrong-doing. And now it is alleged that the ACA indulged in a serious corrupt practice by buying the silence of a clerk to close a criminal case because political bigwigs were involved. The Auditor-General’s Report contains many examples of corrupt practices like the set of RM40 screwdrivers supplied at RM224! Negotiated contracts at absurdly inflated prices — to ensure lucrative kickbacks — have enriched contract-awarding authorities at all levels of government. In 2007, our Transparency Index (TI) stood at 44; Corruption Perception Index (CPI) stood at 30. You are not serious about fighting corruption. You have refused to appoint an Ombudsman. Why? Neither have you set up a public register for civil servants and politicians to declare their income and assets.

* to ensure national unity but your actions go contrary to what is required to build a united nation. Islamo-fascism has permeated every level of government — only one ethnic group and one religion is important. Every objection, however trivial, by Muslims holds sway. The Kuan Yim statue in Ayer Itam, Penang, was shortened. The Catholic Church in Shah Alam, though approved by the Council, was given a stop-work order. Hindu temples and churches for Orang Asli have been destroyed on the grounds that they were illegal constructions. (What about Zakaria’s mansion in Klang?). The Hindu temple in Kg. Rawa, Penang, was relocated. You talk of respecting the sensitivities of various ethnic groups. You allow the slaughter of cows in the compound of Parliament House. You talk of give-and-take but who is giving and who is taking?

* to be fair to all ethnic groups in your recruitment policies for the civil service but Islamo-fascism has ensured mono-ethnic control of the civil service — education, police, the army, navy and air force, town and city councils etc. You give the reason that the non-Malays are not interested to join the civil service, army etc. Letters in the media of unsuccessful applicants speak otherwise.

* for a start, to recruit people based on merit — the mere mention of this word is bound to drive recruiters into a paroxym of fear and epilepsy! Constitute interview boards which comprise 50 per cent non-Malays. If the criteria for selection for the police and armed forces is rotten, the country is in danger of having low calibre men with high calibre weapons. A non-Malay applicant for a civil service job was asked to name the first Agong together with his full awards! It has not occurred to both the MCA and MIC to set up a database and encourage every applicant for a government job, scholarships, promotion posts to punch in so that they will have correct statistics of applicants, the success rate, the failure rate etc. The MCA and MIC claim to look after the interests of the community they represent but their failure is patent to all.


* to ensure that our education system is dynamic, liberal and progressive. The quality of education provided at all levels — primary, secondary and university is very low. Policies coloured by Islamo-fascism has ensured literally, total mono-ethnic control of education. The non-Malays have all been wiped out in important jobs — no non-Malay directors in the various divisions of the Ministry of Education, no non-Malay Vice-Chancellors in any of the 23 public universities, out of 92 deputy Vice-Chancellors only one is a non-Malay, no non-Malay is a State Director of Education, the same of District Education Officers. Zaid Ibrahim, UMNO MP for Kota Baru, in a recent interview said that “education is an absolute disaster” in Malaysia. He further commented that racism runs deep in our country and this is clearly the case with the Ministry of Education. The UN Report on education clearly expresses a serious concern of the poor quality of education in Malaysia, which is bound to be sidelined in a highly competitive globalised world. The public universities keep crowing that they are centres of education excellence and demand better grants. Keris-kisser Hishamuddin believes that more money pumped into education at all levels will improve quality. A Malay academic at the public university where I worked exclaimed in bitter frustration that one cannot turn donkeys into race horses. The THES-QS World University Rankings tell the truth: UM stands at 246, UKM at 309, UPM at 364 and USM at 307.

* to create a safe environment but the crime rates — murder, rape, kidnap, robbery, snatch-thefts, burglary etc. — are frighteningly high. The government statistics are just the tip of the iceberg as people do not bother to report crimes because of the “tidak apa”and “macam biasa” attitude of the police. A correspondent to a local newspaper made an impassioned plea not to deny her a normal life. Women are frightened to walk on our streets. They dare not carry handbags or even wear ear-rings, let alone chains and bangles.

The price of food has risen dramatically and petrol price hikes and increased tolls have further burdened the people and damaged the quality of life.

* to protect the environment but the Mentris Besar/Chief Ministers together with their Excos have destroyed the environment in the name of so-called progress and development. They in actual fact have severely harmed our survival. Under the slightest excuse of a threat to national security, people have been locked up under the ISA. National survival is more important than national security because if you do not survive there would be no need for national security. Out of 141 countries surveyed, Malaysia’s position with regard to the following is thus:

Air quality 79, water 47, environmental health 40. Overall 54.

* to build a caring society. Look at the problems experienced by senior citizens with health problems. They are denied the drugs they need to survive and the indignity and suffering they go through are pitiable. In Australia, a senior citizen gets a month’s supply of Zocor at $A3.70 cents (about RM11). That is a caring society.

* The youth who commence work are in an unenviable position. A rotten public transport system and malfunctioning public telephones force them to buy a car and a handphone. Prices of cars in Malaysia are the second highest in the world! In addition to this they need a credit card. Board and lodging costs are high. So they fall into the credit card trap. Many young people have been declared bankrupt. When will these people be able to save enough to buy a flat, get married and start a family? Does anybody care for them?

Dear Barisan, I am thinking whether any other political party could have done worse. The people of Malaysia I hope will be thinking too.
Enough.