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Sakmongkol ak 47

ariff.sabri@gmail.com

Wednesday 15 April 2009

A Grassroots Democracy?


 

In the last article I wrote, I cited the potential hurdle to Dato Najib's abandoning the concept of a government knows what's best for the people. Once again, I say, given the social background from which the PM comes and the traditional psyche of Malay society in general, his buzzwords may fall flat.

The biggest hurdle is the mental setting of Malay society. It is essentially one that is shaped by feudal social values. Chief among the values is exactly what Dato Najib seeks to dismantle which is a social setting in which the Malay majority looks up to the minority elite for all round succour. The ruling elite which finds its modern expression in the form of government exemplifies acceptance of the idea that it IS the government that knows best.

What Dato Najib is averring to and I hope this is truly what he meant, is the creation of a real grassroots society. How can Dato Najib succeed? Dato Najib can succeed dismantling this mental structure by not compromising on setting up talented and good leadership at all levels. We have talked about this in the last article. More importantly, educational attainment across all levels necessary for the attainment of social consciousness must be raised.

I fear this is a long term agenda and it would be unprofitable and politically risky for Dato Najib to set it up as a leading agenda. Khir Toyo has already hinted at the futility of the government making promises that will be difficult for it to attain.

It will be futile to commit energy and resources to an esoteric and metaphysical political idea. So right from this early on, Dato Najib must state that abandoning the idea of government knows best is but a collateral agenda, achievable when more important issues such as economic progress is resolved. I hope Dato Najib will not entangle himself with unnecessary philosophical idea which at once reminds us of the equally fuzzy idea of an Islam Hadhari.

Unless these two requirements are at least met, we can't have the beginning of a grassroots democracy- which is what Dato Najib alludes to. Otherwise, it will be treated just as mere sloganeering and a hastily hatched up phase to instil a feel-good feeling.

We don' have to go far to cite an example of a representation of opposition to Dato Najib's grand democracy idea than the response to Dato Najib's dismantling the Ministry of Entrepreneurial and Cooperative Development. (MECD). Abolition of the Ministry sends shock signals to Malay leaders. They take it as an indication that preferential treatment and care for Malays (which is exactly the embodiment of the idea of a government that knows best) will be withdrawn.

See how much emotion is invested to an institutional structure? And here, Dato Najib wants to dismantle an even entrenched institutional idea that is associated with government. Bad idea. Shoot the advisers.

23 comments:

Quantum Metal Consultant 15 April 2009 at 09:15  

Saya gembira Sak di antara yang mengakui kepentingan MECD dan tersentak bila ditiadakan.

Kita cepat merasa hambar atas apa yang tersedia ada tetapi menjadi perungut bila tiada.

Atas situ saya tidak percaya Najib musnahkan MECD sebaliknya dia hanya mahu rebranding dan sekaligus menarik perhatian rakyat bahawa kerajaan akan melakukan sesuatu yang lebih besar dari MECD itu.

Anonymous,  15 April 2009 at 09:21  

Dato’

‘….a social setting in which the Malay majority looks up to the minority elite for all round succour.’

Such a description about the administrative perception of a group of people IS not isolated to the psyche of Malay M’sian alone.

Longing back to history of all cultures on Gaia, almost all the other tribes, inhabited on mother Earth, displayed such an chronic dependency!

These can be due mainly to;

1)Not all people have the ‘stomach’ to lead & govern. By ’stomach’ – that includes all the good & bad Machiavellian moves for either personal &/or national gains. In another word, many r NOT born to be leader, they just want to be live & let live!

2)Not many have the knowledge that’s an essential part of good/bad government. Knowledge was monopolised during those feudalistic time! Only the elites has assess.

Human nature is altruistic. Evil man is not born, they r been trained – either by circumstances &/or indoctrinations.

There r more! But suffice just for now!

Back to the Malay psyche – time has just arrived for the ground shaking change. It just needs a spark, so that those feudalistic & religious bondages can be relooked & reworked, just like ALL the other cultures have done before.

So back to those ‘true’ Malay intellectuals!

gwlnet

Anonymous,  15 April 2009 at 09:30  

WHY IS NAJIB STILL KEEPING OMAR ONG???

Omar just appointed two more special officers from the old sickly administration to beef up the advicing body circling najib.

OMAR, whom we all know developed the malignant national automotive policy in 2006 (which made proton to sell MV Agusta for 1 euro) as well as divesting the FELDA, is the one that came up with all these PR exercise on Najib these days.

THIS GUY MANA TAU BENDA PASAL MALAYSIA SOCIAL AND POLITICAL STRUCTURE... MAIN BELASAH / BULLDOZE JE.

Anonymous,  15 April 2009 at 11:51  

Time and again I see this gwlnet fellow telling the Malays what to do and what not to do. Who is he to think that he knows the "Malay psyche"?

Now he says "Back to the Malay psyche .. time for the ground breaking change .. so that those feudalistic and religious bondages can be relooked and reworked, just like ALL other cultures have done before". What a bloody kurang ajar.

He thinks his culture is superior to Malay culture and the Malays should follow.

He should go to Demi Negara blog and try to teach the Malays there. Or has he gone there and got a thorough bashing, ran away, and now want to irritate a normally non-bashing, non-smashing Malay readership in this blog?

Anonymous,  15 April 2009 at 12:17  

anon11:51,

So u r a follower of dn! Yr true colour?

Those who have followed my write-ups (thx u!, that include u) will know that I've had a few rounds with dn, until he just blocked me! (My word vs his words!)

Anyway, I'll ignore u as u advice, since THIS is Dato's blog.

Strong/weak culture? My foot! Bloody bodoh sombong!

gwlnet

Anonymous,  15 April 2009 at 15:18  

ya..glwnet should go and save his own soul...still a bloody kafir sticking to crappy falsampah trying to appear pandai by quoting some so-called "intellectual" garbage he hafal and then spout out here.

We dont need all these man-made stupid ideas and ideals.

macam la cina bagus sangat...all they think of is MONEY.

PRAY,IT WORKS. joe's blog 15 April 2009 at 15:21  

The affairs of the nation reflects the GOVT. its has...READ on from the STAR.14/04/09 Tuesday April 14, 2009
No house, but forced to pay the bank


ABOUT 165 families who paid their deposits to purchase houses at Taman Genting Raya, near Chemor, Ipoh five years ago are suffering because their houses have not been completed, Tamil Nesan reported.

About 45% of the affected families are Indians and many have been forced to service monthly interest payments of RM110 to the bank.

A couple, S. Logeswaran and P. Tamarai said they signed a RM45,000 sales and purchase agreement for their house in 2004 and the project was expected to be completed in 2006.

Logeswaran said they were forced to service the payments as they had been threatened with legal action if they failed to pay up, adding that they were told to refer to the housing developer for clarification.

The developer has closed its offices and could not be reached.

> The daily also reported that Indian organisations in Selangor had been urged to play a more active role in getting their members to apply for places in industrial training institutes in the state.

Selangor state executive councillor Dr. Xavier Jeyakumar said the state government was willing to help them obtain places in the institutes.

> Other News & Views is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a sub-heading, it denotes a separate news item

Anonymous,  15 April 2009 at 17:27  
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous,  15 April 2009 at 17:31  
This comment has been removed by the author.
Donplaypuks® 15 April 2009 at 18:07  

Maybe the MECD was abandoned because the billions spent have shown no appreciable acceptable results (even by UMNO's low standards) and many loans given out freely have not been serviced and repaid.

If all this adds up to some $10 billion and more with nothing to show for except pasar malam type 'entrepreneurialship', would you not also abandon MECD pronto before the PAC or some whistle blower exposes another huge series of fraud and mismanagement?
http://donplaypuks.blogspot.com

Anonymous,  16 April 2009 at 06:29  

HKM, it's good to want to clean up the country. However, beware that vengeance does not consume oneself. I do agree that MV Asgusta sale should be reviewed and the decision to sell it off for 1 euro should be explained to the country. It should be done because as a country we need answers. It should not be done as part of a witch-hunt to find individual to burn at the stake.

Anonymous,  16 April 2009 at 08:12  

You comments are rite anon, 15:18

They are Gog & Magog.

Anonymous,  16 April 2009 at 09:54  

r u sure about this omar ong guy?is our pm emulating mr badawi by having a fourth floor?trouble brewing...

Anonymous,  16 April 2009 at 12:34  

Dato Sak

First of all you are belabouring the point that the Malay psyche. Essentially, your argument is that the ordinary Malay wants to be led all the time.

I disagree. No human being likes to be told what to do. Put him on an island and he will learn to swim, fish and maybe build a boat. Put him in the jungle and he will clear the jungle and plant something and also hunt. God made us that way. We do have to fea anyone except God and his bounties are there for us to use.

Secondly, you appear undwilling top give credit to DSN to be hw own man. the worth of any leader can only be be judged by his future actions and what he does for society now, not by what he did or didnt do earlier! i believe DSN has made a decent start and is doing the right things. I am sure he understands the times and values and the psyche of the Malaysians. It is UMNO that wants to be "led" that is given the goodies for saying "yes" to the leadership.

Leadership can only be judged after he has left the stage, both the good and the bad, as we are now doing with both TDM and Pa'Lah. DSN needs the space and our constructive and critical support to show what he can achieve. And given the present times, he has a tough job ahead of him. I am sure he will welcome constructive criticism if it is well intentioned. Why are you trying to pre-empt his options?

Anonymous,  16 April 2009 at 23:44  

Gwlnet (15 April 2009 12:17) said ...
“… I've had a few rounds with dn, until he just blocked me! (My word vs his words!)”

Sorry man, but I don’t believe you. DN would never block intelligent comments. Blogger Kijangmas thrives in matching wits, and he has intellectually demolished EVERY SINGLE dissenting soul that has turned up there. Every one. And these are a Who’s Who of the Dark Side, a list which you'll never ever make.

Now, for all of us here, can you please lead us to your comments in DN, yes, your “I've had a few rounds with dn.” Just go back to DN and find and give us the link. Where? And also, he “blocked” you in which post? Which one? When?

I think you just lied to us. And nobody likes freaking liars. Especially of the “holier than thou” variety. I give you until tomorrow same time to give us the links to your “I've had a few rounds with dn” AND the specific posts of the comments you sent that Kijangmas “blocked.”

I go to all blogs. Pro-BN, pro-Pakatan, pro-this and pro-that. And from my study of his style and approach, Kijangmas would LOVE to spar with the likes of you. There’s no way he will block your comments. People, go see DN's comments section. Look at the venom of the dissenters, the people who attack him. And they all got thru and kijangmas engages them fair and square. So I don’t think you’re telling us the truth, gwlnet.

One more thing. To prove your point, I dare you to go post a comment in DN right now. If Kijangmas blocked it, and you can show proof of your “blocked” comment (just copy before your sent it and paste it here), then you may have a case. But if Kijangmas published your comment there, then you better pray to your lord for mercy. We all will be watching your performance with the big boys. You got balls right?

Your call.

By tomorrow this time, we’ll know whether you are legit or a pathological liar.

Have a nice day, sir.


John C.

Anonymous,  17 April 2009 at 00:07  

Support John C fully. This gwlnet often say things thru his nose. Anything he want to say he say. Dont care other people feel
No good to have in ur cuntry.

Pendekarlara,  17 April 2009 at 02:11  

gwlnet exposed! Finally.

This scum got it coming. No more credibility now. kaput.

Anonymous,  17 April 2009 at 09:48  

Dato, sorry again post at the wrong title page.

Hope U can bear with this. This is my LAST reply to those choir boys of dn, who like to sing its chorus.

When dn uploaded V.T. Sambanthan & Tan Siew Sin's speeches way back during his singsong day (not the current one), I wrote to his site;

The MIC & MCA politicians were playing to the audiences. MIC & MCA's political relevancy was hanging on the line. They had lost their base supports & knowing that they would be decimated in the coming '69 election. They needed the Malay electorates for their members to be elected. Thus the speeches.

Keeping in mind that these speeches were quoted by a third party & NOT in their OWN biographies! Misquoted? I don't know! They r just politikus to the extreme!

..................

I can do a dn by quoting T Dr Ismail's speech about the 'purpose' of NEP & its proposed limited duration. This record is official & in HIS own writings. Do refer to the records that now kept in ISEA Singapore.

Now who is not grateful?

.................

The last I visited USA, during Obama's election tours, many of his speeches were translated into Hispanic, Mandarin(?) for the other minorities to understand.

BTW, many of the US govt official documents have multiple languages too!

What takes?

My god, US of A has been overrun by pendatang!

.................

U read & write history like yr own creation. Nothing wrong with that.

History is written by the victors. Yet there r also a lot of third sources which r not officially censored. That doesn't mean that all these sources r irrelevant!

The truth is lying in between these sources. As a reader (r u?) one MUST use the brain to analyse these sources & filter out the craps.

If one takes to the one-sided facts like dry sponge to the water, then GIGO. Just like yr interpretations of that two speeches.

This is yr site for u to do yr own singing. If I don't like it DO tell me to f**k off.

And NO ad hominem arguments, please. It seems that u like to do that a lots. What takes?

Someone said that there r four types of people in this world; 1st class - with intelligence & principle, 2nd class - with principle & no intelligence, 3rd class - not intelligent & no principle, & the MOST despicable 4th class - intelligent BUT totally not principle.

Or u have a VERY difference interpretation of what PRINCIPLE is?

........

gwlnet

Anonymous,  17 April 2009 at 10:51  

Dear Dato

With due respect, particularly when he has now asked you, may I suggest you tell this gwlnet fellow politely or, in his own words, "to f..k off". Sad, but he can't even use polite words when offering to sign off.

With John C and two others expressing their disgust at him, many also doing so in the past, he still tak sedar diri, continues to irritate, making insensitive statements, in the past putting his own version of Malay and Malaysian history, statements that appear to be trying to teach the Malays, and distracting your readers from the issues being discussed.

Sometimes I wonder whether the reduced frequency of comments by the regular, highly respected commentators has been due to the distraction by fellows like this. They do clutter your blog.

He clearly projects the so-called "Malaysian Malaysia", DAP and vernacular schools lines of argument. He and his kind should be shouting these at the MT, RPK, LKS blogs.

This is a sincere suggestion. I hope you agree with me.

Ron Jeremy, Jr.,  17 April 2009 at 13:57  

gwlnet said ...
"When dn uploaded V.T. Sambanthan & Tan Siew Sin's speeches way back during his singsong day (not the current one), I wrote to his site ..."

What "way back during his singsong day" BS are you eluding here? What blog? When?

Why you like to BELIT BELIT BELIT PUTAR BELIT all the time?

The original commenter (John) asked you about your claimed "I've had a few rounds with dn" thing.

Where? Where in Demi Negara? Why are you BELITing us with some crap "way back during his singsong day (not the current one)" delusion? What other "singsong day" blog he has? What name?

And we don't see you taking up John's challenge: Go send a comment to Demi Negara RIGHT NOW.

Just do it. NOW!

I'm sure the folks there would love to hear from you.

Anonymous,  17 April 2009 at 14:02  

Mungkin dia dah ketandusan idea untuk mematahkan cakap kita2 semua, maka dia gunakan isu2 yg menyakitkan hati utk membangkitkan kemarahan.

Dia telah percaya dengan label2 kepada melayu utk sekian lama. Walhal Melayu2 itu banyak yg pandai malah lebih pandai dari cina, beradab dan tidak suka mencari gaduh. Tetapi kesederhaan dan kerendahan hati melayu telah diambil kesempatan dengan sewenang2nya oleh golongan2 sprt gwlnet.

Bila dia telah hidup dalam dunia perasan nya sendiri, itulah tidak boleh menerima hakikat tentang kelebihan org lain.

Aku rasa bahasa2 kesat menunjukkan hatinya yg tak pernah aman. Biarlah dia menerima kifarah allah. Balasan allah buat org2 yg penuh hasad dengki.Maka teruslah dia menggila dan aku harap dia benar2 gila selepas ini.

Aku rasa org tua ni pun dah nak dekat gila, sebab itu org malas lagi komen. Biar dia menyalak sapa pun usah peduli.

Anonymous,  17 April 2009 at 14:10  

Can someone pls copy gwlnet's claimed comment in DN and post it in DN -- for real this time, not the tipu tipu ada post claim by this snake gwlnet?

Anonymous,  17 April 2009 at 16:25  

Sak, we want you to come up with an article all the unnecssary things happen during bedawi and KJ play a role in this country during the last 5 years.

This is to be fair to TDM and DN. I hope they are not malaikats, coz malaikat don't make mistake.

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