M. Bakri Musa
By right Malaysians should still be relishing the afterglow of their 50th
Merdeka anniversary celebrations. Alas, the much-anticipated euphoria
was short lived; the grim realities of Malaysian life quickly intruded.
Even the mainstream media carry daily headlines of gory
crimes. If those were not scary enough, residents now live in fear that
their basic freedom is being threatened, not by some external enemy
rather by their very own government. Malaysian leaders mistook their
electoral mandate for a license to trample on citizens' basic rights, as
in the rights to free assembly and the freedom of conscience.
Those breaches of course did not grab the headlines in the
mainstream media; you have to read the alternative media or international
publications to get the real news. The mainstream media instead
highlighted Prime Minister Abdullah's "small" wedding to his "downstairs
lady."
The images of Malaysia projected onto the world stage towards
the end of the year were not of a modern nation poised for Vision 2020,
rather the typical backward Third World state with a stubbornly bumbling
warden as its leader.
The scenes on Al Jazeera and CNN were of the police wildly
tear-gassing and firing water cannons upon thousands of peaceful citizens
who dared exercise their basic rights to a free assembly. If those images
were not ugly enough, there was Minister of Information Zam in a fit of
latah in front of the television cameras for the whole world to see.
Zam is a poor imitation of Saddam Hussein's Information
Minister "Comical Ali." At least Ali entertained us with his outlandish
bravadoes; Zam nauseated us with his blabber.
Just as we thougt it could not get worse seeing that it was
already November when Zam was blabbering in front of an international
audience, there was Deputy Internal Security Minister Johari Baharum
declaring that only Muslims are entitled to use the word "Allah" (God).
He threatened banning the Malay version of the Catholic Church
publication that dared use the word "Allah."
The startling observation was that this moron of a minister
could get way with such idiocies. By his silence, Abdullah reveals that
he is equally moronic.
How did a nation that was so full of bubbly confidence as
encapsulated in its "Malaysia boleh!" spirit only a few years ago
descended so fast and so far, and with so few of the elite class
protesting?
To be sure, Malaysia is still far ahead of Pakistan or
Zimbabwe. Unfortunately, far too many, especially the leaders, take
comfort in this.
Annus Horribilis
Malaysians had premonitions for this long Annus Horribilis.
It began ominously with the southern part of the peninsula being flooded,
with hundreds of thousands displaced. It was the worst flooding in
decades.
Where was Prime Minister Abdullah in the hour of need? Off to
Australia for his scheduled sailing vacation and the opening his brother's
nasi kandar restaurant!
His "bright" young advisors did not see fit to advise their
man to cancel his vacation in the face of a national emergency. The old
man was of course clueless.
The floods soon receded and the residents went back to their
daily grind, helped by many generous fellow citizens and non-governmental
bodies. When you see your fellow Malaysians in need, you pitched in.
That comes way ahead of your holidays. Unfortunately you cannot really
teach these things, not even at Oxford. You either have the sense of
human decency or you do not. Fortunately many Malaysians do have it; we
just do not see it in the leaders.
Allah (if I am permitted to use that word here) must have
known that our leaders are slow learners, for a few months later there
was yet another massive flood, this time in the heart of Kuala Lumpur,
paralyzing it.
As for that grease spot whose opening was graced by the Prime
Minister, it closed soon after.
Horrible In Between
Between the terrible beginning and the horrible ending to the year, there
were plenty of hideous fillers in between.
The tenures of the Director of the Anti Corruption Agency
Zulkipli and the Chief Justice Ahmad Feiruz were not renewed. Both left
under a cloud. That should be a feather in Abdullah's cap, except that
Abdullah was intent on keeping them both! Unrelenting public pressures
forced him to back off. Abdullah may not have wanted the people to
challenge him, but they did anyway.
Ahmad Feiruz was again the "off stage" star attraction later
in the year in the infamous "Lingam tape." Again you would not find that
in the headlines of the mainstream media. Thanks to former Deputy Prime
Minister Anwar Ibrahim, we had a sniff of the filth that is the Malaysian
judiciary.
Weakened by his endless displays of ineptitude, Abdullah was
in no position to brave public opposition. A few weeks after the Johore
floods, Raja Petra Kamarudin's Malaysia-Today carried a detailed expose
of the Prime Minister acquiring a luxurious corporate jet, at public
expense of course. Raja Petra had the details nailed down; right to the
jet's tail number.
Malaysia-Today's phenomenal success is the one rare bright
spot. No wonder World Business named Raja Petra, together with Bank
Negara's Governor Zeti Aziz and former Prime Minister Mahathir among
Asia's Top 20 Progressives. Meanwhile Tokoh Wartawan Negara Zam remains
a jagoh kampong (village champion). He and those who honor him belong
there.
Raja Petra made other headlines. The police questioned him
and his wife Marina separately over some activities purported to be
harmful to the state. Presumably one of those could be his release of
the sordid details of the messy divorce settlement of one double
Muhammad, a senior UMNO operative. Raja Petra went further; he
challenged this double Muhammad to a public debate to expose this
discredited politician, but the latter chickened out.
The police interrogations went nowhere; the police were
flummoxed. Marina in particular refused to answer questions claiming
that as a Muslim she is entitled to have her husband present beside her.
Isn't it great to be a Muslim!
Lina Joy however, did not think so. Her celebrated case, a
simple and routine administrative matter of changing the religious
designation on her identity card, attracted worldwide attention when
Malaysia's top court ruled that, the norms of civilized society
notwithstanding, there is no freedom of conscience in the country.
Malaysians cannot change their religion on a whim, according to the
wisdom of Chief Justice Ahmad Feiruz.
Pursuing this theme, the religious authorities in Perak
charged a young Malay mother for "encouraging immoral activities" while
singing in her sleeveless blouse in a nightclub.
And pursuing the moronic theme again, some well-meaning
supporters ("arse lickers" would be the more appropriate though crude
term) of Abdullah nominated his late wife Endon as Anak Gemilang Malaysia
(Illustrious Malaysians). Mercifully, they withdrew her name, but not
before some very unkind jabs by bloggers. I do not blame them; instead
rap the knuckles of the idiots who set her up.
I am uncertain which was more idiotic, that or the hysterical
reactions among the leaders to a student's sophomoric rap rendition of
Negara Ku. Or that character Mat Zakaria Derus and his mansion amidst
the slums of Klang.
The annual Auditor General's Report too made headlines, again!
There was the RM 4.2 billion Port Klang Free Zone development project
debacle, and the Sports Ministry's spending sprees. The list goes on.
I am certain that the theme will be repeated next year; only
the players, projects, and price tags would vary. Well at least we can
be comforted by the fact that those boondoggles still make the headlines.
The day may come when they won't. With Abdullah in charge, that will not
be too far off.
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