By Stephen Ng
Do not expect Malaysians to be
stupid.
This message has been ringing
loud and clear since Malaysia was under the old regime.
Post GE14, we now have a new government at Putrajaya, helmed by Dr Mahathir Mohamad, which comprises both newbies, with a few more seasoned politicians.
Imperfect as it may be, the new cabinet has certainly brought about some much desired and progressive changes compared to the 61 years of rule under the BN regime.
At least we now have the world’s oldest prime minister, a woman as deputy prime minister, an Indian constitutional expert who is Attorney-General and a Kadazandusun who has risen to the highest judicial post in the country.
Malaysians have also waited a long time to see both former Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and his wife, Rosmah Mansor charged in court. Others who were involved in the 1MDB scandal have also been hauled up by both the police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.
We should also celebrate a first female president of Seberang Perai Municipal Council, and later mayor of Penang Island City Council, Maimunah Mohd Sharif, who became the first Asian woman and Malaysian to be appointed as the executive director and under-secretary-general of the UN Human Settlements Programme.
This is New Malaysia.
On record, Lim Guan Eng may not be the first Malaysian Chinese finance minister, but his experience in turning around Penang has certainly boost the confidence of Malaysians in the new Pakatan government in moving Malaysia forward albeit challenging economic conditions.
However, not everything is rosy.
Lim will surely receive a lot of brickbats when he comes up with a shoestring
budget. Even those who voted for Pakatan Harapan would also feel disappointed.
This is all part of life.
All things said, the Pakatan
government is not perfect. To ensure that it is kept in check and balance, its
leaders even to be prepared to receive brickbats from the voters, including its
most ardent supporters. Any explanation that does not appear plausible will
surely be ostracised.
This is a fact in today’s
political landscape.
For that reason, newly-minted ministers
cannot expect Malaysians to buy excuses as justifications for the wrong
decisions. After all, Malaysians are not stupid.
Of late, I have also been
critical of the new government for some very good reasons. Perhaps, for the
state election, I may vote for the Opposition, but where I am concerned,
Putrajaya still needs to remain under the Pakatan government.
If tomorrow Putrajaya falls into
the hands of Barisan Nasional, all the efforts to go after the culprits in the 1MDB scandal would have gone to waste. Public funds will continue to be plundered. In my
opinion, the Opposition with its current batch of leaders, is not ready yet to
take over the federal government.
Therefore, whatever criticisms
that I make does not necessarily mean that I want the PH government to be
overthrown. As rakyat, we have an obligation to speak up and keep the country’s
leaders in check.
I quote two examples.
The first one is about Dr
Mahathir’s decision not to deport controversial fugitive Muslim preacher Zakir
Naik back to India to face charges of spreading terrorism and money laundering.
Dr Mahathir said that as long as
Zakir behaves himself, he can remain in Malaysia. But did Zakir not advise
Muslim voters to vote for “a corrupt Muslim leader” than one that joins hands
with non-Muslim kafirs? We heard him loud and clear.
Now that Dr Mahathir’s cabinet is
made up of several kafirs, when Zakir actually said that Allah would not be
pleased with a Muslim leader, who in the context of new Malaysia, is referring
to Dr Mahathir.
Since Dr Mahathir’s cabinet
comprises of non-Muslim kafirs to run the nation, can we therefore afford to
have such a hypocrite who now tells us that he is indebted to the Dr Mahathir’s
government?
Even Anwar Ibrahim had to face
the sodomy charges and despite knowing that he would not get a fair trial,
Anwar did not apply for political asylum. There is no reason for Zakir to be
treated differently, especially when he has hurt the feelings of non-Muslim
religious groups by running down on their scriptures.
As Minister in the Prime
Minister's Department P Waythamoorthy
puts it, “I agree with Mujahid's statement on Zakir, as it can affect the
racial unity and harmony in the country.”
Mujahid Yusof Rawa has
said that “the combative style of propagating Islam, which puts down other
beliefs, as practised by Dr Zakir Naik, is not suitable for Malaysia.”
Malaysians are waiting to see what
actions the Pakatan Government would take after the two cabinet ministers
agreed that someone like Naik should not be allowed to destroy our social
fabrics. Would the government decide to deport Naik, or would it just close an
eye on Naik’s style of preaching until some untoward incident happened?
The other observation that I made
is the flip flop decision by the Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik in recognising
the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC). After his deputy, Teo Nie Ching
announced that the UEC would be recognised by November this year, Maszlee made
the U-turn, saying that more studies have to be carried out before the UEC is
recognised.
What study is required? Hasn’t
the former government already conducted its study and was willing to recognise
the UEC? Barisan Nasional in its election manifesto promised that the UEC would
be recognised. I wonder why Maszlee does not have the gut to make the right
decision.
Didn’t the election manifesto promise
recognition for UEC? Why the need to drag his feet? When over 1000
international universities and local private universities have no qualms in recognising
the qualification as equivalent to a pre-university programme, why does it take
so long for the UEC to be officially recognised?
All it takes is to learn how
these international universities assess the UEC qualification and adopt it for
Malaysian public universities. Period.
Where English is the medium of instruction for these universities, the students only have to sit for English competency tests such as IELTS or TOEF as compared to doing Bahasa Malaysia as a subject for UEC students to qualify for entry into public universities.
The same arguments used by Umno in the past are still being used to delay the UEC recognition. If the Chinese private schools do not emphasise enough of the national language and the national curriculum, then, why allow international schools to be set up? Maszlee might as well close these schools down.
Fellow Malaysians who read my articles in Malaysiakini for the past five years, you should take my views as constructive criticisms, not as an effort to derail the PH Government’s efforts to bring the country together again.
My criticisms written from the heart may be hard-hitting but they are meant to put the government in check. We want a government that performs even better for the sake of the nation.
Until Barisan Nasional can put its act together again, we do not want to be under Pakatan Harapan for another 61 years. For this same reason, we are watching BN component parties to see if they will undergo reforms and prove themselves to be a better alternative, or else there is no turning back to the old regime.
STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen
with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since
2008. Now, he is contributing towards nation building.
