Misplaced pride and charity
I have said and written it before- the present administration will be in deeper trouble when Dr. Mahathir steps up his criticisms on the government and leadership. In lambasting those Malays who support meritocracy, he categorizes them as people with misplaced pride.
Well, it has gone up a notch higher. The Najib administration and Najib's UMNO have better watch out.
I am not sure whether anyone who supports a system that rewards a person according to his ability and contribution has a misplaced pride. If this system is rejected, what do we have? A system that rewards someone based on the personal discretion of another? Or someone is rewarded because he is somebody's son or daughter, or someone is rewarded because he cuts corners and cheats? Then we have a system where someone rises to the top because he is a tricky fellow, he is adept at intrigues and so on. The lazy and the incompetent are rewarded the same as the efficient and competent. In that system, why should be the more resourceful, cleverer and more competent work harder than the layabout and lazy bone? What do we call that system- intentional hypocrisy? Misplaced charity?
But I am sure, that is not what Dr Mahathir means. He must have meant this present leadership, in pursuit of any policies, if its minimises or reduces the Malay-ness quotient is bound for failure. Put it simply, has Najib got the right Malay-ness quotient in him?
I am not sure if the PM hears this or not- certainly not from the PR groups who are beholden to him nor from his kitchen advisors- that people are seeing him and his cousin Hishamudin as having less Malayness content in them. This, notwithstanding his occasional and widely publicised forays via his walkabouts into the territories inhabited by the downtrodden masses of humanity.
Where does the NEM fit into Dr Mahathir Malay-ness quotient worldview? Mind you, Dr. Mahathir is not alone in this world. It can be bigger that the world presided over by PM Najib.
As we know, the NEM is a plan for a new affirmative action policy based on needs and merits, market-friendly, "consider all ethnic groups fairly and equally as long as they are in the low income 40% of the households", eliminating rent-seeking and market-distorting features.
These pronouncements are sending antagonistic signals to the world influenced by Dr. Mahathir. 
53 comments:
"As we know, the NEM is a plan for a new affirmative action policy based on needs and merits, market-friendly, "consider all ethnic groups fairly and equally as long as they are in the low income 40% of the households", .."
The cold words contained in any policy are immaterial. It's the implementation of a policy that matters.
Merit does not necessarily mean Malays against non-Malays. It could also be elite (UMNO) Malays against the country-bumpkin-Malays.
The poor will still lose out.
Yang terbaik adalah ikut jalan tengah. Bukan 100% meritokrasi dan buka 0% meritokrasi. 50-50 sudah cukup baik buat permulaan. Ini bermakna pertimbangan berlandaskan budibicara dan keihsanan masih diperlukan. Sekadar cadangan.
This month, reflection.
Our Malays should cut with the past. It has too much baggage on their minds.
Take one - "british gave the country away to pendatangs".
This is a constant preying on the minds of those who only choose to see us as Malays versus Non-Malays. Because they choose to see only that, it creates a sense of being wronged and therefore it creates a 'justification' to make claims for 'rights'.
The latest phrase used by the Malay automotive AP holders group is 'native rights'.
Which comes to the question - if Malays think the Non-Malays are pendatangs, why should the Orang Asli's not think the Malays are also pendatangs?
And if our Malays are also pendatangs, the only 'natives' are the Orang Asli's. And if we want to say we are also natives, then our Non-Malays in our midst today and for as long as we can remember are also natives.
Saying our Malays have 'native rights' does not make our Malays more original as natives than our Orang Asli's. Neither does it make our Non-Malays less original as natives than our Malays.
If our Malays think it's not fair what the British had done, then they should respect it was even less fair what they had done to the Orang Asli's who would have even greater right to the country.
After all, isn't it like a usurper drawing up a tenancy agreement between two groups of tenants to the exclusion of the original owner landlords?
And there's another - 'affirmative policies like the NEP are to set a level-playing field'.
What's really happening here is institutionalising social welfare exclusively for one race.
If it is really to set a level-playing field, the poor and needy Indians, Chinese, Orang Asli's and other Non-Malays should also be called bumiputras to benefit from the policies. What is so bad about the Non-Malays as human beings that our Malays should be treated with special kids-gloves?
Furthermore, if we want to think about it, which human being is ever born into the world in a level playing field?
Should one born to a particular race automatically qualify one to special treatment in order to level the field one will be playing in? If yes, what about others also born in the same maternity ward from other races? What is so genetically deficient in our Malays that they should be given preferential treatment over others also born on the same land to which they are expected to automatically treat as their own country to serve, defend and support?
A playing field is leveled by walking on it.
Knowledge, effort, skills, self-determination and cooperation are the only ingredients of success.
Walking is an effort. It requires the brain to tell the leg to move. If the mindset is also about wanting security from a stationary status quo, then one should be ready to accept the consequences today of standing still.
When one is standing still in a world moving forward, one is going backwards in the same frame of reference.
No one in life is born with predetermined conditions for success. Even those born with silver spoons can lose everything before they die. Brains and brawns were given to be used.
2/2
Now, let's go to the third - 'those who advance meritocracy can also be labeled racists'.
I have a problem with this notion. Because if it is true, then the affirmative policies that the author of that piece wants to defend exclusively for one race have also been created by racists.
After all, what was the intention again for those policies? To help the needy and challenged be more enabled to fish for themselves. Why learn how to fish for oneself? To improve oneself. What is improvement? The intrinsic process towards meritocracy. So it seems the person saying meritocracy is advanced by racists is just confirming that he is a racist.
In addition, it is also sly to try and twist a plain and universal truth about how to make progress into a racially-inclined demand that underserves another particular racial interest.
Let me give you (and him) two simple examples.
The Indians are renown for mathematics. The most famous Indian mathematician was Ramanujan. Like Einstein, he was also working as a lowly clerk when he made his discoveries. Some said they were so brilliant they were like gifts from their gods. Now, why can't we set up a real mathematics program to create meritocratic tracks to develop interest and ability in mathematics in this country? Maybe some of our poor Indian children who slog in rubber estates like their forefathers who had helped develop this nation could benefit from such a program. Who knows, we may even be having a few Ramanujan's of our own. After all, the program can't be costing too much. Just a waft and a fleet of Cayennes.
How about another example? Our Chinese are said to be good negotiators. Why not chase national meritocracy for all by setting up a negotiators workshop open to all races and benefiting from the latest from the world guru's on how to negotiate better in the 21st century?
As we can see, our own Malays can benefit immediately from this meritocratic but 'racist' program. Maybe enough to do a better job with our Indon neighbors to whom they aspire to cohere in some archipelagic cultural arrangement for strength in numbers. Only to lose out in substance and global relevance.
.....................................
What happens to a nation if taking the first two introductory points as backdrop, we now advance the notion that meritocracy should also take a backseat?
There will be three whammies. After all, three wrongs don't make a right.
First, the policies will continue to be hijacked. Second, the notion of level-playing field will be racialized. Third, the reason for both will be denuded.
The end-result will be status quo in a morally deficient position where maruah continues to be sacrificed, a land lie continues to be lived through, motivation to self-improve gets underdeveloped, and wrongs to others of the same pendatang mold are paraded before the rest of the world to which one still needs to be integrated with in order to sustain an economy to continue the three wrongs.
Meritocracy is not a zero-sum game. It doesn't mean when one champions meritocracy, adequate measures to help the challenged and needy are canceled. They can continue but it must be clearly said upfront that they are independent of race, they are part of social enablement, they are not a lifelong force-feed easy-crutch program, and there has to be collective shame and gratitude, shame for taking what others also need, gratitude for making others lose so that one can come up.
So far, none of this has been shown. And since the government has no more money to continue this type of scheme, the investors won't come to invest and create jobs the longer it continues, the other Malaysians have had enough-is-enough of it, all will go their own way.
If our Malays don't wake up to reality, reality will walk away from them. If they continue to be unquestioning of what their past leaders say, they will continue to reap the same result.
Our Malays must make a break with their past to help create a better future for all.
Well, why there are reserved seats for senior citizens, pregnant women, in public transport?
(yeah.. your next argument is, "are you weak, incapable etc?")
What about those who was denied eyesight by a certain event not his doing? That man is same like you, except his has lost his eyesight. Do you give up your seat to him?
And what about that kid who scored 3A whose parent could not afford to buy even a pack of color pencils? Do you admit the 9A kid with a laptop to higher education and deny the 3A kid?
Why do you give up your seat to women or kids or someone with many things to carry?
Don't you step on the bus first? They pay the fare, so do you?
Kalau meritokrasi akan digunapakai, apakah parti politik dari kedua belah pagar mahu menerimanya? Tanyalah mereka, Dato'.
Contohnya apakah parti politik berkaitan rela melepaskan pegangan ladang pasir di Selangor yang dibuat atas dasar kekronian kepada golongan meritokrat?
Anon 07:49
And I might add:
It could also be elite Chinese against the country-bumpkin-Malays.
It could also be elite Indians against the country-bumpkin-Malays.
It could also be elite DLLs against the country-bumpkin-Malays.
You mean there are no country-bumpkin Cinapeks, and Mutusamies?
Dato',
TDM advocates ketuanan melayu must be the highest priority and it should over ride meritocracy to ensure the malays will forever remain in power. So what if the government is made up of a bunch of idiots and morons, the education system is stuffed with racist principals and teachers without any idea of educating the young, the hospitals are filled with doctors and nurses with degrees and diplomas obtained from local mediocre standard universities so long as the ketuanan is maintained. I wonder how one values his self pride and self esteem knowing that his "achievements" are not due to his ability or merit but handed over to him on a silver platter as if he is handicapped and mentally challenged.
TDM is inferring that malays are mentally challenged and are unable to compete on level playing field in the globalized world today. This is really the jaguh kampong mentality and if malaysia intends to be like taliban afghanistan and shut itself out from the rest of the world, then perhaps this is the way to go.
Dato Sak
Mahathir has up the ante to position his son Mukhriz for the UMNO hierarchy.
Within UMNO, Mahathir is using that silly fool Muhyiddin to achieve his ambition to over step other more senior UMNO members, and outside UMNO, Mahathir is surreptitiously breeding anti-Najib sentiments within Perkasa, whose members are mainly UMNO people.
This mamak is smarter than those who criticised him. He will one day take one step forward to praise Najib's Govt and the next day he takes three steps back to condemn Najib indirectly by attacking his 1Malaysia, NEM and other policies to unite Malaysians.
This is a classic Mahathir's destabilisation tactic he had used in the past.
UMNO members will be hit with a left hook from Mahathir. And Mahathir has his cronies in the mainstream media to push his hidden agenda, ie the head honcho of Malay Malay ( Ahiruddin Atan), Nuraina Samad in NST, Kadir Jasin and the the Bigdog blogger.
Mahathir is killing three birds with one stone, knock out Khairy, take out Najib and then totally marginalise the other senior UMNO members.
Mahathir is using his so-called senior UMNO status to push his agenda to make Mukhriz as DEPUTY UMNO President before he departs permanently from the scene.
Mahathir knows that if he is gone, Mukhriz is cooked and will be out of the wilderness because he will bear the sins of his father for years to come.
If Khairy does not make his move to neutralize Mukhriz, Khairy might as well say goodbye to his position in UMNO.
And Khairy needs Najib, (not Muhyiddin), and Khairy needs Nazri Aziz to neutralize Mahathir.
And Najib needs Rosmah's bomohs to get out of Mahathir's hantus. And Najib needs his siblings in the private sector to mobilise support from the Malay entrepeneurs and the non Malay capitalists to marginalise Mahathir's political scheme for his son, Mukhriz.
All this pro Malay, anti meritocracy, and Melayu akan hilang rhetoric are red herrings from Mahathir and his political cronies.
We are in interesting times. The show is not in Pakatan, the show is in UMNO in the next few months.
Salam Dato'
We know the cronies and PERKASA types are dead set against any change to UMNO way of business as usual. The Malays who have never been depending on UMNO's largesse to get on are together with Malaysians all over for 100% meritocracy.
And most of us are past caring whether PM Najib is still looking for TDM's blessing to go beyond the meritocracy sloganeering.
Essentially we are just not confident that PM Najib would ever get started to drive this new course!
Mahathir is irked by one fact, all the other UMNO leaders left behind a dynasty and a legacy for their families.
Tun Razak and Tun Hussein Onn left a political dynasty. Even his nemesis, Tun Badawi left behind a dynasty through his son in law.
How could a longest serving President of UMNO NOT leaving behind a political dynasty. That is not a nature of an Indian Muslim in politics, as seen in the politics in Kerala state in India.
Mahathir is running out of time to put in place a dynasty for his family, and his only hope is Mukhriz while his other son is making good in the private sector. Mahathir has to put one of his children into political power in UMNO to protect the wealth of the son. Otherwise, when he is gone, which is not too faraway, age wise, the pandora box will be open and worms will start crawling out.
So Mahathir WILL step up the campaign to take out Najbi.
People wondered why he supported Badawi as PM and then destabilised him, followed by supporting Najib and now destabilised the present Prime Minister ?
Mahathir is a schemer, and a good one at that. See now he marginalised the Malay rulers and the judiciary so that he could do what he wanted based on his whims and fancies to the country?
Mahathir knows the weakness of Badawi and Najib. Badawi lacks political acumen which Mahathir exploited to the hilt. Mahathir knows Najib is too ambitious for his own good and that Najib's rise to power is founded on the name of his father, and Najib is not his own man when the fight is on his front door.
Mahathir knows he could have both men for lunch when the time comes. Mahathir had his first lunch on Badawi and Najib is next.
The other weakling in UMNO leadership which Mahathir has in sight to destabilise at an appropriate time in future is Muhyiddin in order to put his scheme for Mukhriz fully in place.
Muhyiddin does not know he is a disposable puppet used by Mahathir and his cronies for Mukhriz's rise to power in UMNO.
What do other UMNO members do? They do nothing because they are too absorbed with Mahathir's pro-Malay, anti meritocracy and ketuanan melayu speeches and clapping hands. Melayu mudah lupa??
Anon 09:05
"Do you admit the 9A kid with a laptop to higher education and deny the 3A kid?"
So admission is based on the performance of their parents? Are you paid a salary inversely to your parent's material wealth?
As per your line of thinking...I was born into a dirt poor family...can I have 50% of Mahathir's son's riches?
So what's the leveler?
Anonymous@26 August 2010 09:05,
‘Don't you step on the bus first? They pay the fare, so do you?’
Yes, we’r all paying the same fare (iff that's the case in the first place). The sequence of boarding the bus is also of no consequential.
But yr argument is twisted!
For yr sake, let just argue about the 3A vs 9A case.
1st what about the other case that u missed – 3A with laptop & 9A cant even afford a pack of color pencils?
See yr logic? U only wanted to identify that the 3A is always the one with color pencil while the 9A lives with laptop! Academic ace cannot be classified into race. Its all yr own effort!
Then, u might want to put forwards the often-quoted hypothesis of poor social environment of that 3A, thus leading to a lesser aces than the better 9A kid’s study environment. Come on, can u get real as REAL? See the reply above.
The 3A class IS NOT monopolized by just one class alone. Some more after 40+ yrs of affirmative action, there is still ZILCH self-help chapters to help yr own kindred?
Must u people always feed on the govt (Others)? Just compare with the OTHERS-lah. Have some Maruah & put yr pride at the right places, pls!
BTW, why cant the others exclusive set-ups, like MARA, do something about that 3A u mentioned?
Oh…oh, I know, those r reserved for the special privilege class among yr kind! If that’s the case DON’T u think u r jumping on the wrong clauses? U should fight to remove those 'caste' within yr own kindred!
Pariah.
u r rite datuk.
Mahathir wasnt talking about preferential treatment or cronyism or awarding something to someone who wasnt deserving.
he was talking about blatant meritocracy which will only benefit the strongest and the fittest.
Since the ones that is string economically, and fittest in education are the chinese, imposing meritocracy now will only make them stronger while the malays, which is now lagging behind will remain further weakened.
I think he was saying something like - a malay who is qualified to go to university for engineering but has slightly lower marks, must be given scholarships as well although above him there are dozens of chinese with higher marks.
If he is qualified to enter university but not given scholarships because scholarship placements are limited, then he wont have the opportunity to enter (cant afford to pay the fees).
Multiply this effect a thousand times and the gap between the malays and chinese will be greater. This is what happened during the 40's and 60's. The huge gap can be seen by 1969.
Sure people will say, hey you should work doubly hard to attain that good results.
But then, the playing field is not level. If meritocracy is imposed, the rural malay kids will forever stuck in their kampung while the major cities will be field with professional chinese with good jobs.
It is a predicament. NEP was implemented to address this situation. Back in the 70's kids in Grade 1 MCE/SPM can go overseas eventhough they have lower marks than their chinese counterparts.
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But they were still qualified to study overseas. These bunch were given scholarships because opportunities were given to them to study further in undergraduate programs.
Imagine if meritocracy was implemented back then. Kids from Pekan or Pagoh can never study overseas with those kind of results they were having. All the scholarships will be given to majority chinese.
That is why, if meritocracy is imposed blatantly, it is a form or racism because only ONE race benefits the most.
This is what Mahathir was talking about.
In early 2000, he imposed 10% meritocracy in all university placements. To encourage competition. Gradual implementation of meritocracy is okay at the back of stable inter ethnic relations and very high economic growth. This is important. The population was generally happy and was at ease with each other.
To shout out loud about meritocracy by some liberal malays at the back of an unstable inter racial relations is suicidal. No wonder these malays are called traitors and kacang lupakan kulit.
Najib should understand the situation and the general sentiment of his people. He is after all, and Umno president. the letter 'M' in Umno means something.
Now Malays vs Malays with Cinapeks and Muthusamies as bogeymen.
People say when two elephants fight the ants/grass get trampled... but in our case it is the ants fighting themselves and the elephants got bitten.
Meanwhile most of these elephants shit and fertise in foreign countries without the risk of being bitten while the local grass gets smaller and less green for lack of elephant sized shit.
Then like outside the "tempurung", these elephants find that the grass are really greener , taller and free for everyone. They work for what they want freely. No NEP or NEM or whatever. No irritating little ants' bites too (Ibrahim Alis kind).
They stayed and shit forever there while the local grass without the elephants depended only on ant shits withered and died.
The local ants then needed to go to where the elephants are in the end to cari makan. Local grass and elephants that stayed behind all too died or are skinny and half dead. Grass without shit cannot grow.
...........................
Now children.
Anwer the following questions .
1. Who is the major losers in the end? _____
a. ants b. elephants c. grass
2. when the elephants shit in foreign land, whose grass would be taller?
a. local b. foreign c. none at all.
3. What is the moral of the story?
a. We should fight each other
b. We should work together
c. we should help other countries to get rich and be 1st world countries
d. none of the above.
Yes, children do this questions and send your answers to 1malaysia@Malaysia.com
Meanwhile these two Cinapek and Muthusamies just wait and eat grass from another area while the two groups of ants fight.
Anon 26 August 2010 09:37
'You mean there are no country-bumpkin Cinapeks, and Mutusamies?'
There are but, guess who is the one complaining when they are the ones who have all the privileges and hold all the powers ? So, no need to have meritocracy among the Class F contractors or MARA students as well ? Get real.
F
What is the gap between parity income of the Bumi & d nonBumi 2day?
What is the no of Bumi students studying in critical courses vs the non-Bumi?
Wht is the no of Bumi participation in professional careers vs non Bumi?
Wht is d no of Public Listed companies which majority shares are owned by d Bumi vs nonBumi?
Is our economy dominated by single race or there already equality in economy in business?
I m sure like bfore (ur idea abt gvg land 2 Malays & they can b equally dominant wt d chinese only by hvg land) - ur article doesnt gv meaning 2 those who understand the reality. It may 2 d naive :)
Why do people have to be obsessed with the mamak? He is a pendatang from Kerala.
He has done a lot of damage than good to this country during his 22 years administration.
The effect is being felt now - corruption, cronies, leakages, wastages, money politics, patronage, creating warlords, increased racial polarization, ketuanan melayu, declining in education standards, expensive cars, increased inequalities among the have and have nots, mediocrity, etc, etc are are part of Mahathir's legacy.
Yet many still "puja" this mamak. I say enough of listening to him. He is not as good as many people thinks. Analyse what he says against his actions and you will get the answer.
Dato'
I hope someone has done a comprehensive study on the brain drain problem in Malaysia for the past 20 years.
I think the lack of meritocracy is the core reason behind the brain drain.
Can the objectives of NEM be achieved if this critical problem is not addressed ?
Tun Faisal,
Your questions should be better directed to TDM. After 22 years of running the country, how has he done, vis-a-vis the questions which you posed ?
How has NEP benefited the petani, nelayan and penoreh getah ? Why is it after so many MARA colleges, UiTM set-up and overseas scholarships given, TDM still feels deficient compared to Ah Chong ? Of course some Ah Chongs had help from Ali, who were invariably connected in some way to your party ? No ?
Y
For Anonymous@26 August 2010 09:05
How about giving 20% discount for the parents of the 9A student with laptop while the 3A student's parents have to pay full price for a house?
The true spirit of NEP is to help all 3A students and not only a special group of 3A students.
I think George Orwell's Animal Farm famous quote is most suitable for today's NEP - all are equal but some are more equal than others
Dato'
Obviously the old Man has Lost It.
Eons Ago he was for Hard Work and Promoted the "Look East" Policy.. Purporting that Malays should follow the example of the Japanese where Success is to be earned by Hard Work..Isn't that Meritocracy?
Now he is promoting Get what you can even if its the Easy Way via Ketuanan Melayu!!
Phooiiiii Or or more rightly in his Language Pudahhhhh
Joe Black
Actually if you put aside the moralistic argument, what should be noted is Mahathir thinking is just starkly limited.
Forget all the accusation that Mahathirist stole the NEP from the poor Malays. In the end, I don't believe Mahathir the egotist that he is ,does not want to favour 40% of the lower income, which are mostly Malays, as NEM propose
His problem is that he think that UMNO/BN will not survive if there is no cronyism for UMNO/BN to steal from. The man do believe in elitism - but only those who side with him.
The problem with his thinking is this - the elites that side with him won't do it without special favours then something is already very wrong. The system he envision is not only corrupt, its corrupting. The very elitist system he think is necessary, need to be destroyed or it will destroy everything. That is where he so limited in his thinking and so wrong as a matter of fact, not point of view.
Meritocracy can be view from many aspects depending on the KPI. If the KPI measures how well you connect with the powers that be or how swift you stab your comrade in the back, how quick you can amass illegal wealth from your public office, then the biggest crook will be amply rewarded via meritocracy.
Dr. Mahathir will definitely leave a legacy when he passes on. He will be known as the leader who splits the nation and ruin the future of Malaysia ... "Bapa Kemerosotan Malaysia" ... or "Bapa Keruntuhan Malaysia".
Dato',
It is indeed misplaced pride when you think that politics can solve socio-cultural issues.
The Malays are more successful than the Orang Aslis, why is that?
It is also the same reason why the world is not fair and certain groups of people are just better than others.
Australian aborigines were thousands of years 'behind' when Europeans arrived.
Why was that, is it because in the land of the blind, the one-eyed is king?
I agree fully with Tun M on this score.
Racists and meritocracy are the two misused, abused and over-used buzz-words right now.
The word racist is labelled only to the Malays, not the rest. That tag is always used for those who still want the DEB, not those who want it to be dismantled.
Let us discuss meritocracy in education which is my favorite topic.
Ali's, Muthu's and Chong's kids in affluent urban areas with all the benefits of tuition, special classes, seminars and such for high-performance in exams,can vie for meritocracy in getting scholarships.
They should be getting the 10As with all the knowledge that money can buy.
But Pak Nik the fisherman's son should not be judged on meritocracy. He should be judged on the family income.
Like other poor rural kids, they have no means for tuition, no exposure to knowledge and they have to help the father tap rubber or take care of the siblings, with no time for study.
So if Pak Nik's son with 6As get a scholarship, there should not be affirmative action envy.
There is never a level playing field for kids from poor families and kids from wealthy families.
It's only right the poor boy gets JPA scholarship. If you deprived him, he can never afford to study in PTA, let alone study abroad.
It will be a vicious circle where he will end up a fisherman like his dad. The livelihood of his family can never be uograded.
Rich man's children can always study in private colleges and later study abroad..
The rich kids have other sources for scholarships in private entities like YTL, Genting, Sime Darby,Bank Negara etc etc which are normally offered to urban kids.
The poor knows the existence of only JPA and MARA scholarships since they have no access to newspapers.
And forms for privste institutions scholarships are only issued to residential and urban schools.
I know a teacher (Non-Malay) in a residential school who forced a kid who is a pure science student to apply for JPA scholarship to do economics instead of medicine. What is her motive?
Despite poverty and knowledge disadvantaged, at a fisherman's daughter two years ago got the best results and was offered Bank Negara, Mara and JPA scholarships among others.
She chose the Bank Negara award which gave her the options of studying medicine in Jordan which she felt most comfortable with.
When she was offrered the scholarships, there were letters to the papers undermining her like can she cope studying in a foreign country or foreign shock as she is an Islamic school student from a fishing village!
Then there was the case of Amalina, the first girl who scored the most As some years back.
Rumours were abuzzed in the internet that she failed in her admission to study medicine in Oxford.
Why is that the Malays who do the nation proud are subjected to such undermining of their confidences?
I have heard of a kid who was offered Bank Negara scholarship being jibed by pals as "meet the future Governor. "Sure what, you are a Malay'
How long must this go on?
And the same trivialising of Najib or his brother whom some think will not go far if their father is not the Prime Minister.
Tun M used to ask, are my kids who are qualified, only allowed to sell nasi lemak or goreng pisang to avoid me being accused of nepootism.
Let's all put a stop to this jeering of Malays as not able but privileged because of the DEB.
You want meritcracy. But if Malays earned that meritocracy, there is still the insinuations that we are the beneficiaries of the NEP.
That is the hurftful dilemmas which Malays are still subjected to.
Quiet Despair,
"Why is that the Malays who do the nation proud are subjected to such undermining of their confidences?"
I think Tun Mahathir has the answer to your question.
He has made 'meritocracy' into a four letters word.
Tun Faisal,
You're so obsessed with the bumi vs non-bumi that you completely missed Dato Sak's points.
My friend, it's time to look beyond the bumi vs non-bumi for a better Malaysia.
Thank God for the true Malaysians like Dato Sak, Walla and many more readers of this blog.
May God bless Malaysia !
To Anon @09.05 and Quiet Despairado,
Excuses, excuses, excuses....that's all you are giving to defend your arguments. For once why don't you face the reality that a person's intelligence (and hence his abilities) has nothing to do with whether he came from a kampung or from the city and whether he is a from a rich or poor family.
When a person has the will and determination to succeed, he will do what it takes (without breaking any laws or requiring handouts) to succeed with his pride and dignity intact. I have malaysian malay friends in the 60's & 70's who came from poor families and have to help their families in their gerais but they still succeeded in their studies despite the difficulties. The same goes for my malaysian chinese friends who stop school after form 6 to work and save money while continuing to burn the midnight oil on long distance learning courses before proceeding for their final year overseas to earn their degrees with their hard earned money.
So stop giving excuses and silly examples that the chinese and indians can afford to give their kids tuition classes so their kids can score better in the exams compared to those kids from the kampungs. Instead you should examine why the school kids needs to have extra tution classes outside the school. Is it because the education system is down the drain since your beloved Tun took over the education ministry in the 70's and destroyed the education system?
Did your beloved Tun practice the "keep the masses stupid, ignorant and helpless" via the education system so that the UMNO elites can continue to rule and lord over the ignorant masses? Open up your eyes for once and stop giving excuses. A day will come when all malaysians, irrespective of race, will have to stand on their own two feet and run with the rest of the world OR are you going to tell the rest of the world to stop progressing because those on permanent crutches are still unable to wean off their crutches after 52 years? I can guess your answer would be to ask for affirmative action for the permanent "handicapped" from the United Nations, huh?
Quiet Despair,
Your despair about not others not able to give credit where credit is due is real.
You have a bucket of pristine pure water. Just one drop of longkang water is enough to condemn the entire bucket. You just cannot separate the longkang from the pure anymore.
This is the end results of what you sow.
Just look around and not be blind to what you see and happening.
The short sightedness of ensuring container loads of new graduates to fill the ranks of the job market to create a class of professionals cannot be done overnight through paper qualifications.
The rest you know.
quiet despair
You always seem to come out with this notion of malays are being not being fairly judged.Is that so?
Well only someone who is in a absolute state of denial would come out with this kind of a crap.Its got nothing to do with race lah mr.quiet.Its all about the good against evil.Plus a friendly reminder, when someone leaves this world and goes 6 feet under,if i am not mistaken,none of the questions posed by the angels seem to touch about the race.fikir-fikir.slmt berpuasa.
Quote Quiet Despair: "Ali's, Muthu's and Chong's kids in affluent urban areas with all the benefits of tuition, special classes, seminars and such for high-performance in exams,can vie for meritocracy in getting scholarships."
I agree most if not all the Chinese send their kids to private tuitions. Yes, they're not cheap BUT most of the parents are not rich either like you implied. It's just that Chinese place a big emphasis on their children's education. They are willing to toil and sweat to do so. That is why you don't find many Chinese family with more than 2 kids. Penat.
These families understand they cannot be too dependent on the Govt education scheme. Their children need to do well to at least get scholarship from our South neighbour, Singapore. This is the reality. Non-bumis know we don't have a safety net in the form of a Govt sector kerani post to fall back on if they screwed up.
This aside, I do not believe poverty is an excuse for ditching meritocracy. On the contrary, pro-meritocracy favors the poor and unconnected folks you talked about much more than the rich and affluent.
Houndini
Dato'
Just like to share this from Datuk Zaid.
“Misplaced pride for a Malay is when he gets to be a minister because his father fixes it; or he has a few hundred millions in his coffers because he has the right Chinese partner to enrich him,”
Selamat berbuka puasa !
Quiet Despair,
Racist diarrhea! Why r u still hiding behind twisted logics?
U talk as if there r no ‘underclass’ Others M’sian living in poverty! All Others M’sian r living the lives of opulent likes those umnoputras?
1st - Scholarship should ONLY be awarded based on academic MERITS. Otherwise IT IS NOT a scholarship.
‘So if Pak Nik's son with 6As get a scholarship, there should not be affirmative action envy.’
No he shouldn’t get a scholarship if there r better candidates! He should instead get some other affirmative help, deserving of his particular background. And there r plenty of this type of affirmative helps offered by the govt. Heard of Mara scheme? Or was/is Mara scheme falls under a separate definition of affirmative helps?
Pak Nik the fisherman's son is NOT the only M’sian that has no means for tuition, no exposure to knowledge and they have to help the father tap rubber or take care of the siblings, with no time for study. There r rice grower - Ah Chong’s & rubber tapper - Mutu’s children too. They, too r poor kids who need to face the non-level playing field! & yet many of them manage to give the boys/girls from the city a run for the academic aces. What takes for them & what gives in the case of Pak Nik’s son? Or r u indirectly suggesting that Malay M’sian r just good at 2nd best?
Yet, in additional to their economic handicap, the Others r facing a political handicap, ie there is NO Mara alternative for them. & their kindred can only help the best, with their little resources. Many a time these ‘the bests’ in turn help the similar kids after their whatever achievements & the circle continues.
Looking for the govt help? Pls-lah, 1st u got to overcome their pendatang university admission definition, ie the required racial quota, after that u don’t get into yr choice of study, bcoz the field of studies has a racial quota too, even when, in both counts, u r more than qualified than Pak Nik’s son.
Izznt that a waste of human resources in the name of affirmative action for the poor?
cont 2
cont 2of2
By all means give help BUT not in the expense of the gifted. All nations r hunting for the gifted to further advance their socio-economical advantages, while M'sia looks the other way. No wonder we r trapped in a middle-income loop & going nowhere!
BTW, what a load of craps – ‘..other sources for scholarships in private entities like YTL, Genting, Sime Darby,Bank Negara etc etc which are normally offered to urban kids.’ R u not high on some substance abuse?
See these examples of misused of the scholarship - a fisherman's daughter chosen the options of studying medicine in Jordan which she felt most comfortable with. Amalina failed in her admission to study medicine in Oxford.
As mentioned before, scholarship should be given to the top academic aces so that they can COMPETE with the best from the other countries, with a little financial help on a non-level playing field (as so eloquently mis-used by u) in a top grade university. See the key words – compete, the best, & top grade university?
‘I have heard of a kid who was offered Bank Negara scholarship being jibed by pals as "meet the future Governor. "Sure what, you are a Malay'’
The truth nurts, izznt it? Come on admit it – the best r always bypassed while the 2nd best &/or the borderline r been selected for high executive govt posts bcoz of the NEP race ceiling.
‘You want meritcracy. But if Malays earned that meritocracy, there is still the insinuations that we are the beneficiaries of the NEP.’
Fair – then show some backbone & compete & work hard. Don’t just keep shouting & mis-using yr special positions as enshrined in the Fed Constitution to demand this & that.
U only encourage people to treat u as a jellyfish the moment u do that – FAHAM?
Datuk AK,
Warga malaysia perlu belajar melihat meritokrasi dalam konteks yang betul yakni meritokrasi dalam konteks keseluruhan dan diamalkan secara berhemah dan berpada-pada.
Sebaik mana sekalipun sesuatu sistem itu ia bukanlah seumpama lampu Aladdin yang mampu memenuhi semua hajat dan tuntutan.
Seikhlas mana kepercayaan kita terhadap kebaikan, ketelusan dan keintegritian meritokrasi, ia (meritokrasi) tetap perlu dipantau dan dikawalselia agar tidak timbul penyelewengan dan penyalahgunaan.
ATAS PAGAR
PH CHIN..
your utmost hate towards mahathir made your reply to 'quite depair' a ridiculous one.
HAHAHAHAHAH
Seven of Nine...
"Since the ones that is string economically, and fittest in education are the chinese, imposing meritocracy now will only make them stronger while the malays, which is now lagging behind will remain further weakened."
This is where one can get very wrong.
Not imposing meritocracy will make your bogeyman DOUBLY STRONGER.
Can a spoiled brat compete with his real world peers? Not rocket science. Even with benefit of hindsight if one cont. flogging the same dead horse, one obviously is planning to fail.
To all my bashers
I do not want to go on a long pointless argument with you all. Why should I nit-pick just because you all are.
But you missed my point that all the Malays who got the scholarships be it JPA or others are based on MERITOCRACY.
Don't just think you guys are the meritorious race and the smartest one like many of you boasted.
I would also like to say that I am a proud parent whose kids qualify for any scholarships even if Kit Siang is the PM.
We did not rely on scholarships anymore. And so are many Malays I know.
To us priority for JPA scholarships should be for those in the lower income and whose parents served the government.
We dont go begging for scholarships so much so Najib has to lower the bar to 9As to appease your race.
We are not kuasus that just because Malays get it, we must also get it though we can afford to go overseas with own own money.
There are two instances of Chinese girls who got Asean scholarhip and already studying in Singapore, took the JPA scholarship.
Isn't Asean scholarship a prestigious one too? She's depriving of another who could have got either the Asean scholarship she abandoned or the JPA scholarship which she took.
That is GREED.
There's another who is already in Taylor's college and could have gone overaseas with her own money but took the JPA scholarship.
Malays will not do such thing because we are by nature not greedy
P.S. Amalina is doing well in Oxford. The fisherman's girl has the choive to go to the UK or England but she opt for medicine in Jordan.
Again you guys are looking down at them.
Isnt that racist of the first degree?
Anon 21.12:
Seven of Nine...
"Since the ones that is string economically, and fittest in education are the chinese, imposing meritocracy now will only make them stronger while the malays, which is now lagging behind will remain further weakened."
This is where one can get very wrong.
Not imposing meritocracy will make your bogeyman DOUBLY STRONGER.
Can a spoiled brat compete with his real world peers? Not rocket science. Even with benefit of hindsight if one cont. flogging the same dead horse, one obviously is planning to fail.
OH PLS TELL ME HOW WITHOUT EVEN HAVING THE AFFIRMATIVE ACTION BUT WITH MERITOCRACY THAT FAVORS THE CHINESE CAN MAKE THE PEOPLE WITHOUT THE OPPORTUNITIES TO BE STRONGER?
SO THOSE WHO HAVE SLIGHTLY LESSER RESULTS ARE NOW SPOILT BRATS?
HOW ON EARTH WITH AFFIRMATIVE ACTION FOR THE MALAYS, THE CHINESE WILL BE DOUBLY STRONGER? NOT LOGIC AT ALL! SO R U SAYING THAT WITHOUT MERITOCRACY, CHINESE WILL BE DOUBLY STRONGER YET WITH MERITOCRACY THE MALAYS CAN BE AT PAR WITH THE CHINESE ECONOMICALLY?
HOW? SHARE WITH US THE DETAILED STEP BY STEP ACTION PLANS U HAVE ENVISAGED.
JANGAN CUMA PANDAI CAKAP AJE. CAKAP AJE LEBIH TAPI TAKDE SUBSTANCE FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL...
Hakiman,
Your observation about Dr.Mahathir is self-contradictory. Acknowledging his intellectual maverick and later insinuate he has hidden agenda of putting his son Mukhriz to replace Khairy, doesn't seems too clever on your thinking. Dr.Mahathir knows very well, putting his personal agenda is meaningless if UMNO and the Malays are losing. What's the point of winning a battle at the expense of losing a war. Mahathir is way way way too smart for BABI, LKS, KS, N.Ajis (of course Najib too), combined. Even the Emperor of Singapore, LKY dare not steps in Malaysia when Dr.Mahathir was the helm.
Dr.Mahathir is going for the war. And he knows the Malays are behind him.
Bravo Tun!
PH CHIN,
and did you ever ask Zaid how he accumulated his wealth? Is it not through the bastardised NEP. Zaid is a Malay bastard? Dia sapu kiri kanan, enjoy the privilege of NEP bestowed upon him, become opportunist and penipu like chinese, live the life of Indian (kalau tak mabuk bukan Indian), breakfast pun dengan arak. The only place he is allergic is the mosque. I pray he'll be next president of PKR and see what PAS, has got to say about him. Zaid, a truly Malaysian!
Quiet Despair,
How predictable is yr reply!
Ya-loh, u can send yr children to university on yr own, good-lah. But pls in the deep of night in this holy month, think, THINK, how u get the money & fortune to do that. NEP? Yr efforts? Ali-babaism? Cronyism? Or syok-sendirism?
Then think about what u yrself said about yr son’s physiological changes after study in US – could that be what the Almighty response to yr deeds?
‘Amalina is doing well in Oxford. The fisherman's girl has the choive to go to the UK or England but she opt for medicine in Jordan.’
Amalina in Oxford? Or could it be in Edinburgh? Or could it be somewhere in Europe? Pls-lah, verified yr source before u shot, bloody pariah!
Then the girl in Jordan? Why not US/UK/anywhere where the teaching of medicine is top class? Could it be bcoz deep down she knew that she would be no match, mentally & academically, in these top universities?
Remind me of the old 60 & 70 govt practices of sending Malay students to 3rd class/no class ‘wild-chicken’ colleges/universities in US/UK to get their tertiary degrees. Even then many didn’t managed to complete, despite many repeats.
Tell me izznt this the waste of scholarship which is the country's investment into the well-being of the nation's future?
BTW u want people to look up on u? Then like I said before - then show some backbone & compete & work hard. Don’t just keep shouting & mis-using yr special positions as enshrined in the Fed Constitution to demand this & that.
U only encourage people to treat u as a jellyfish the moment u do that – FAHAM?
1. Scholarship can be either merit or need based. Unless the criteria are properly defined, otherwise the argument leads us to nowhere. However, I would say that need based require more transparency and thorough scrutinized, and today, not many were convinced that many Malays who get scholarship is poor and from rural area.
2. “That is the hurftful dilemmas which Malays are still subjected to” Look at the reaction when some praised Nazir for his competency, is that not a Malay dilemma created by Malays?
HuaYong
Quiet Despair,
"Don't just think you guys are the meritorious race and the smartest one like many of you boasted."
Sorry to disappoint you, meritocracy knows no race or creed or religion.
Quiet Despair, spot on...very very true..
Anon 27 August 2010 00:09
Let me state at the outset..I write cos I care...with the oil drying up, this is the last kopek.
1 word answer to your question on my assertion...COMPETITION either against a competitor or against institutionalised discrimination.
"MAKE THE PEOPLE WITHOUT THE OPPORTUNITIES TO BE STRONGER?"
Get real, they were all there for the asking for the last 30 years or were our Malays sitting on their hands, waiting to be asked? If we didn't screw up so royally, genuine entrepreneurs would have started appearing 10 years back standing shoulder to shoulder with the rest, chasing, attaining our rightly place in the world instead of still chasing our tails within the tempurung.
Seeing Dato's liking for Thai boxing.. there are boxers and good boxers.
Does not capitalism breeds different classes of people? Taxes is a way to alleviate somewhat the disparity. Don't go dreaming of making every last one a Bill Gates. God's blessing cuts across race and not a monopoly. Stop this nonsense of insisting our Malays are infirmed.
As for what I envisage the proper way to progress this..the gist on this post is my favourite
Anon's comments 24 August 2010 14:02 on this same blog, the following article
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1604477176521753208&postID=2213054707920437325
someone else's more lucid thoughts (and much better written) on the same matter.
http://epolicy.blogspot.com/2010/08/meritocracy-racism-philosophy-politics.html
Quiet Despair 26 August 2010 14:53
Why lament the results of the very system that you try so hard to defend?
Calling each other racist?
Why, that's expected. The Agenda demands that, a requisite else the system will fail.
Until enuff of us wake up from the stupor, it will be BAU. I can almost picture all those 'successful' politicians (as Dato described) smiling with satisfaction when they see all these mud slinging here.
When you want the country to rejoin our rightful place in the world is in our Malay's hands.
A racist against another Malay.
Dear friend, unfortunately I do not have the opportunity to ask Datuk Zaid where he got his money.
Furthermore it's not my concern and I'm not in the moral high ground to judge him. It's between him and his God.
I appreciate Datuk Zaid's charity work for the poor in Kelantan and he is truly a 'cakap serupa bikin' politician.
I pray that he'll lead Malaysia someday.
Selamat berpuasa.
Wallup, you said.."Acknowledging his intellectual maverick and later insinuate he has hidden agenda of putting his son Mukhriz to replace Khairy, doesn't seems too clever on your thinking....Mahathir is way way way too smart for BABI, LKS, KS, N.Ajis "
You cannot be that stupid to say that. Mahathir is NOT stupid, and because of that, he makes people like you look hopelessly stupid.
I am giving Mahathir full credit for his cunning and deceptive methods of hoodwinking brainless UMNO lovers like you. Do you think he is going to tell UMNO he is fast tracking his son Mukhriz to the top of the UMNO hierarchy before he meets his Maker??
Mahathir needs UMNO... then why do you think he re-started UMNO baru when the court ruled UMNO illegal???
By your comments using derogatory name calling such as" BABI" and "N. Ajis" to fellow Malays and fellow Muslims, just show you belong to those type of scumbags now in UMNO . who, as Dato Sak was saying in other postings, UMNO need to get rid off quickly , if UMNO has to reform itself. People like you are what make other Malays turn away from UMNO.
HAKIMAN, kalau Mahathir nak buat camtu, kenapa dia tak buat dulu2 lagi, masa dia tengah berkuasa, kenapa baru skrg dia nak kena bersusah2.
Jika mahathir seorang yg pandai berstrategi, tindakan yg HAKIMI cadangkan atau teori kan, adalah satu cara yg paling tidak strategist yg mungkin dilahirkan dari fikiran Mahathir. Bermakna ia strategi HAKIMI seorang diri.
Fitnah terancang nampaknya HAKIMI nak menjatuhkan dan menghuru-hara kan negara, semua atas nama teori atau fitnah.
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