Sunday, July 26, 2020

The FUTURE is NOW!


Today I feature a friend, blogger, renowned columnist and civil rights activist NATHANIEL TAN with his splendid view/wish/dream of a better Government in our beloved Malaysia.
Now if only someone can translate this post to Bahasa Malaysia, that would be great! A long post perhaps, but a must read for all agents of change for a better future for all Malaysians.
The future is now.It's time to throw out all the old ways of doing politics – and spearhead a new democratic movement driven by next-generation ideas.https://www.thestar.com.my/opinion/columnists/all-the-pieces-matter/2020/07/26/the-future-is-nowIT'S happening.I don't think there'll be any announcements around the corner, but it feels like things are cooking. Last week I wrote that Malaysia's future hinges on breaking with our past. Today, I hope to describe more carefully exactly what that might look like. I believe that the many problems with government stem from the way existing political parties are structured, and prevailing political culture. I for one am tired of trying to influence politicians from the outside. They don't listen. The older generation seldom does. It's not something either of us should lose sleep over. Significantly changing the way the government behaves requires being in government, but changing political culture can be done by founding our own democratic movement. I use the terms “democratic movement” and “movers” in this article to describe a movement and organisation that intends to contest in elections under a common logo, but otherwise leaves behind many, many aspects and characteristics of political parties and politicians as we know them. I'm certain many will say these ideas are hopelessly naive and impractical, but to paraphrase The Man of La Mancha, perhaps madness is seeing the world as it is, and not how it should be. To say ideals are impossible to reach is to give up before starting, and to hand Malaysia back to those who have bled it dry. We are all fallible humans, but that is no excuse to avoid building a strong moral compass – one that we can turn back to, even when we go astray. Coming back to the question at hand. If political culture and structures are indeed the root of the problem, then we must be clear about exactly how, and how we can do things differently. For today, I will sketch out three main areas: the role of core values ​​and ideology; internal structures; and replacing the zero sum approach to elections.
Old: Current major political parties here are effectively built around race, religion, individuals, or some combination thereof. In the era where Umno and the Barisan Nasional model were dominant, racial narratives driven by race-based parties were like a massive center of gravity which reshaped other political parties around them. Even parties that were not founded on racial ideology like DAP and Gerakan started being shaped fundamentally by the race game. This has become coded into their DNA to the point where changing how these parties operate and are perceived is fast becoming near impossible. If a party exists for the wrong reasons, it can never go in the right direction.
New: A democratic movement should be founded on clearly articulated shared principles and values. It should be a movement where the slogans are not just slogans, but something felt deep in each mover's heart. A democratic movement is not about'defending the rights' of any one particular subset of Malaysians; it must be about defending all our rights together. A democratic movement is not about making person X or person Y Prime Minister. People will come and go, but the quest is not about individuals; it is about ideals-and ideals endure. The first task then is to gather the right group of movers, and to sit down to hammer out exactly what those shared ideals are-no matter how long and difficult the process.
Old: Almost all political parties have similar structures. There are Presidents, Deputy Presidents, Vice Presidents, Women's and Youth Wings, and so on. People invest a lot of money into winning these'lucrative' posts because a Deputy or Vice President of a political party can claim that their seniority entitles them to become say Education or Defense Minister. Such ministers control massive budgets, which they often use to feed a patronage network within their parties, in order to ensure that they have the internal support to remain Deputy or Vice President. This is an extremely toxic cycle of money politics and feudal patronage that ensures that the Education or Defense minister is expert in neither Education nor Defense, but an expert in playing party politics. This single phenomenon and the ripples it creates may in fact be the biggest problem in our current system and structure of politics.
New: A democratic movement should only have functional posts, where internal competition is minimised. Instead of posts that are generally non-functional and exist to unproductively indicate rank and hierarchy, there should only be posts with specific, necessary functions and portfolios. The central committee that decides most day to day operations of a democratic movement can consist of a small group of individuals of essentially the same'rank', who have clear SOPs for resolving differences of opinion. Should these be designed well, then in the context of contesting elections, the only question that remains is to identify a candidate for Prime Minister (since this is unavoidable in our current electoral system). On this note, in a democratic movement driven by individuals that have bonded and built enough trust in one another over time by struggling for the same ideals, it won't matter whether person A or person B is chosen to be the leader, because we all are committed to the same goals. Besides functional portfolios such as communications, finance, and so on, another innovative idea is to found a movement that has something akin to a shadow cabinet right from the start. Shadow ministries need not be led by individuals alone, but can be led by committees of competent experts, from which the movement will commit to selecting future ministers from. The idea is to demonstrate a seriousness about new ideas for governance, rather than treating ministerships as political rewards to be doled out by the Prime Minister alone in a last minute process devoid of any transparency.
Old: In our current system, politicians are incentivised to tear down and demonise their political opponents at every turn, no matter what. This creates a toxic, adversarial, and most importantly, counterproductive zero-sum political atmosphere, where it is always a free for all season to'whack' one another. Indeed, the words 'partisan' and 'party' appear most likely to be related to the word “apart” – cementing the notion that old politics is in essence about divisiveness. Does it always have to be that way?
New: A democratic movement should recognise that everyone in Malaysia has a part to play. Yes, we may compete against one another in elections, but that does not mean we should spend every waking hour trying to 'kill off' one another. We could instead use that time and energy to talk about how all involved can do their part in contributing to a better Malaysia. I expect politicians will scoff and laugh, believing this to be impossible. As the saying goes, however, (wrongly attributed to Nelson Mandela)-it is always impossible, until it is done. I believe a young, fresh breed of democratic movers can move beyond this blind partisanship that overrides everything else, and practice a new way of doing things – one that doesn't involve tearing down future electoral opponents at every opportunity. All the above ideas will strike many as hopelessly naive. As the saying goes (correctly attributed to John Lennon), you may say I'm a dreamer. Whether or not those of us working on these ideas are in fact the only ones will pretty much depend on you.
NATHANIEL TAN is a strategic communications consultant. He hopes the human rights of Md Rayhan Kabir will be fully respected, and can be reached at nat@engage.my. The views expressed here are solely his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Sunday Star .




Saturday, July 25, 2020

What morals are you bitching about?

Sometimes when I hear speeches that begin with the recital of words and texts taken out of holy books or famous literature by mere men and women who portray to be ever so "holy" in dressing and sinless in speech and intelligent in position, I just want to puke! Not because of what they recite but how far away from the truth of what they utter they are, in their actions and in reality. In other words its utter lies that come out of the lips of these people. Such persons would claim to address everything that's to their advantage and may convert to more popular votes for the future. That's all. 2 things are never promised with absolute conviction. Corruption and Education. 

Now this post is not about politics or politicians alone although they are the real reason for everything wrong in our society but its about Education. A good emphatic  education on civics, morals and personal hygiene without including religious related studies of any one particular religion would make better human beings of us all first before better politicians. 
It is education about the fundamental core values of humankind that has to be studied and respected in order to evolve into better citizens. Not religion, not race not ethnicity. I know I sound like an idealistic prick but hey, if you don't start with honesty and morals you're doomed as the human race from the onset.
What gives rise to the many social ills in our society? From drug addiction to snatch thieves to gangsterism to baby dumping and for a more serious analysis read here. Its all in the education.  

For better effect the chart (courtesy of Raman KK) below is one brutally shocking reality you might still want to deny that occurred over a short period of about 3 months of "lockdown" and 4 cases this month alone!   

                                        
What about the future of our next generation, you ask? Who gives a damn about their future beyond their term of office?..... they answer secretly. Can we continue to be ignorant of such social ills?...you ask again. They tell themselves secretly, it does not concern their children and their position in government now, so that's your problem! That's how a politician's mind works, you  simpleton! Its ALL in the education my friend and only in education.

All these crimes mentioned in the hyperlinks above makes drink driving a juvenile crime and YET the focus is misguided by shewed and corrupt politicians who divert our attention from reality and crave for some cheap publicity instead! Go educate yourself.  

Saturday, July 18, 2020

Tonight I drink to that arse-lick, Wee!

In Malaysia when you rape your own daughter or mother or sister, the courts will sentence you to a jail term of not less the 10 years and not more the 30 years in addition to whipping. The terms rape and incest are also used interchangeably and this confuses everyone. At times families out of shame and reputation (whatever that is!) change the rape charge to consenting sex if the victim is over the age of 16 to save a family member a long jail sentence. Most times the perpetrator is also high on drugs and pleads for leniency. Perhaps a lawyer may be consulted for details.
Why are we talking about rape and incest, which incidentally  is very common in the PAS held east coast states of Kelantan and Terengganu wherein the numbers are perhaps on par with as many as their porn-hub viewers and drug users! 

Now picture this. A matured guy (read, like you or me!) goes out for a drink with his buddies and has a few rounds of his favourite "poison" at the end of a trying week. Has a great time playing pool or darts,  jokes and laughs about good times. Does not pick a fight with anyone and pays his bill and leaves the pub and drives his car, a little intoxicated maybe but steady enough behind the wheel and on his way home and is met with a road-block. Here he is told to take a breatherlizer test and the reading is a wee (that idiot Wee comes to mind!) bit above the permitted limit. 


Now remember he has not killed anyone yet neither has he raped his mother nor daughter nor sister but going home to his lovely family but instead he is dragged to the police lock-up to sober-up and the next day (if it is NOT a weekend) to court to be charged for 10 or 20 years jail and a RM150,000 fine, depending on the mood and the political leanings of the presiding judge!  
                                                   
Which idiot can come up with such a stupid law, you may want to ask, no? Which is a bigger menace? Drug users on motor-cycles (aka mat-rempits) or happy adult drunk drivers or rapists who fuck their own family members whilst high on drugs? 

Well, only an attention-seeking arse-lick from an irrelevant political party like MCA  called Wee Kah Siong can! And in pushing for this law to be implemented, this moron Wee has also up-the-ante of the "boleh settle kah" line, which will in turn create more competition among the greedy and corrupt (if any) within the uniformed forces.  



*all images are nicked from Google images without permission and bears no relevance to any one dead or alive.