MH17; Who Shot It Down?

Russians are worse off now, especially after the “phase-three” economic sanctions by the United States and European Union are now unleashed.  The purported “phase-one” started after the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and the most recent sanctions were induced by the downing of MH17, a Malaysia-based civilian airliner allegedly by pro-Russian rebels. However rather surprisingly, Russia’s oil industry is be subjected to any sanctions directly. Surprised? Well, since one-third of Europe’s consumed oil comes from Russia, European Union has no guts to sanction the Russian oil industry as it will pose systemic risk to EU’s already struggling economy. How opportunistic!

Whilst the initial exercise of economic sanctions could be justified, the reason for the latest sanction is very much doubted. Before I even start, I wish to stress that I am neither a Russian apologist nor a supporter of Putinism. But looking at the pace where Russia is made a scapegoat before a full-scale investigation concludes, creates suspicion whether the US and European Union are trying to engage in a “zero-sum game”.

The international team tasked with the thorough investigation at the crash site has barely started its work. Theories and speculations are running wild on the possible causes that have killed almost 300 innocent lives on their flight en route to Kuala Lumpur. Any interested souls can have a simple browse on the Net regarding MH17, only to find almost 90% of articles in international news portal pointing their finger to Russia and its brutal honchos, the rebels in eastern Ukraine.

The fact that these sources of information, may it be by news portal or even from the “official sources” are mostly Western-backed or pro-Western mediums. Thus, by reading such sources, readers can be easily fooled into believing that the Russians are the ones behind this mishap. I am not suggesting that the Western news sources are all bad, but the question is “how reliable is their reporting?”. The Ukrainian intelligence unit has released a purported leak conversation between the rebels and a Russian military officer. The validity of the “leaked tape” has since been debunked by a group of international experts. How true the “finding” of this group is, too is questionable. Similarly, a video showing a surface-to-air missile being transferred to the rebel-stronghold from the borders of Russia has also been declared as doctored.

Okay, so it seems that the Western forces are unleashing their propaganda machineries to out-win their arch-nemesis, the Russian Federation. But, Vladimir Putin does not just stand by and watch. He too, has engaged the Russian propaganda tools to influence the Russians that it is indeed Ukraine, which is responsible in shooting down the MAS airliner. A research by the Lezada Centre shows that 82% of Russians feel that the Ukrainian force is the black sheep behind the mishap.

Both sides are busy influencing the world that their rivals are actually responsible for the tragedy. But as always, the United States and its backers are winning the race. As expected, none is and never will be, accepting the blame as it would only lead to international condemnation. To all the ordinary men and women hoping for justice to be done for the victims, do not ever fall into the traps of these propagandists.

In this case, the biggest propaganda comes from the United States. Let’s just admit it; most of us have huge admiration for the Uncle Sam’s nation, making us easily believing whatever it says. For me, taking a retrospective view, the United States is one of the biggest spin-doctors the world has ever met. The previous governments of the United States, be it under the leadership of Democrat or Republican presidents, have frequently used false claims and fabricated news to make the Congress and the civilians agree on the need to enter into a war.

Remember Vietnam War? In order to combat and defeat the Communist forces of North Vietnam, the Lyndon Johnson administration fabricated a false mishap called the Gulf of Tonkin incident, in which it was claimed that the Communist North Viet Nam force has attacked the US’s sea destroyer. It was because of this lie, a resolution was passed in the Congress allowing the United States to fight the communist force.

Remember the First Gulf War and US’s Operation Desert Storm? Iraq pursued on a mission to annex Kuwait, only to be stopped by the United States’ interference. Ironically, the US has aided Iraq when the latter fought against the newly founded Islamic Republic of Iran from 1980 till 1988. To obtain approval from the Congress and the public to attack the Iraqi forces, the George Bush Sr. administration fabricated rumours by broadcasting a “revelation” by a nurse who claimed to work in a hospital in Kuwait. She alleged that the Iraqi forces brutally remove babies from incubators and threw them onto the floor, leaving them to tragic death. This was also later proven untrue.

Remember Operation Desert Fox in 1998? The Democrat Clinton-government initiated this CIA-led operation by attacking Iraq by making false claim that the freshly-defeated Saddam regime from the First Gulf War has been hiding its clandestine nuclear programme and not cooperating closely with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to dismantle its nuclear facilities. This fabricated claim helped to “legitimise” the airstrikes on Iraq by the Clinton government. This claim was later repudiated by Mohamed El Baradei, the Director General of IAEA, saying instead, the Iraqi government and its scientists have cooperated in bringing Iraq’s nuclear capacity within United Nation’s requirements. This was even mentioned in his book, “The Age of Deception”. The lie fabricated by United States has created distrust among Iraqis and Saddam himself, making it difficult or even impossible to verify Iraq’s nuclear capacity after the Operation.

Remember the invasion of Iraq in 2003 or the “Purple Revolution”? George Bush Jr. fabricated a claim that the Saddam regime was developing Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) programme and this will endanger the Western and worldwide population. This was the basic reason to topple the dictator Saddam. Although Saddam is not a public figure to be valued due to his atrocities, the actions of US to intrude a country by basing on false lies should never be supported.

I am not a US hater, but I urge the laypeople not to simply believe the information by the news providers, even if it is the CNN or BBC. Let us all wait for the end-result of the on-going international investigation (hopefully a neutral one). By the way, the Malaysian Premier, Mr. Najib Razak deserves plaudits for securing a deal with the separatists for a smooth investigation and return of the bodies and black boxes.

Who’s At Fault for Terrorism? We are!

Well, not every one of us is guilty of terrorism, of course since we don’t carry Kalashnikovs wherever we go. But, by only blaming the militants and religious extremists will not ever help us in combating ruthless atrocities. In fact, we are also at fault for the acts of these perpetrators of militancy.

Whenever the word “terrorists” are mentioned, we are quick to pinpoint at the Muslims. For us, they relish blood and they know no mercy. These are the people, whom we think, goes around assassinating anyone who goes against their will.

But, before moving on, what is actually terrorism? In laymen’s words, terrorism can be associated with any act that seeks to cause terror and fear amongst the population. The terrorists prioritize their agenda and for them, the lives of the people are worth nothing. So, are the Muslims alone, militants and terrorists? Of course not!

Remember Anders Behring Breivik? The man who massacred many innocent youths and civilians in the peaceful city of Oslo, Norway. He was a Christian, not a Muslim. How about Bodu Bala Sena? A Buddhist movement of Sri Lanka comprising of Buddhist monks and devotees that called for attacks on Muslim-owned businesses and pursued militancy activities. This group preaches about Buddhism, not Islam. Remember the “Saffron terror” in India? This series of violence was associated with the some Hindus, especially the nationalist-minded ones. They are not Muslims as well.

 It is wrong to equate a religion with acts of terrorism. Islam should never be linked to atrocities and so do other religions. As this article has clearly stated that terrorist alone are not to be blamed, let us now see how we or the governments contribute to terrorism.

IRAQ

Recently, the ruthless Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) group comprising of Sunni Muslims has launched military offensives against the majority Shiite population of Iraq in order to establish a Sunni Islamic caliphate, in hope for the continuation of Pan-Islamism which halted after the downfall of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of the Great War. ISIL has proclaimed the establishment of an Islamic caliphate with Caliph Ibrahim as its leader.

Sunni and Shia Islam are two major denominations of Islam. Although both belief in Allah and the revered Quran, they differ in many other aspects especially in accepting a Prophet. Sunnis believe that Muhammad is the last prophet whilst the Shiites believe in Ali bin Abd Talib being the last messenger. Members of both denominations have long engaged in offensives against each other especially in the Middle East region.

After the downfall of Dictator Saddam, the US government left a democratic governance system in place for the “new Iraq”. While this sounds noble, one should note that it was the US that destroyed the state under its more than USD 1 trillion War on Terror in Iraq alone.

The new government has been predominantly Shiite in composition and with the Sunnis being sidelined. The lack of an inclusive law has caused feelings of discriminations. Organisation for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has called for an end to “sectarian policies” and to include everyone regardless of faith and belief. If such idea is adhered to in Iraq, possibilities for the backlash of the Sunni Muslim community might drop significantly. Although the Shiites are the majority, it should never mean that the minorities should be left in the lurch. Apart from this, it is commonly believed that ISIL is funded by the Saudi’s monarchy to retain its control as the de facto regional leader of Middle East. Such support, if it is true, should be subject to condemnations and international sanctions.

 While funding a militant group for political expediency may be seen viable now, it will definitely backfire in future.

XINJIANG, PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

Xinjiang has been in the limelight recently for bad reasons. Recently in May, an act of suicide bombing has killed 39 civilians in Urumqi, Xinjiang’s capital. Barely two months before the mishap, 29 people were killed and 140 injured when eight knife-wielding assailants attacked the main train station in the south western city of Kunming. The perpetrators were recognised as the members of the Uighur Muslims ethnic group.

Uighur Muslims, an indigenous population of Xinjiang that used to be predominant one time ago. Of course, they still form the largest single ethnic group there but have seen their population share threatened as the influx of Han Chinese has become more inevitable in the past few years. The discriminatory action of the Communist Chinese government that gives economic preference to the Han Chinese has further caused unease amongst the Uighur Muslims. Restrictions have been imposed upon the Muslims and this includes prohibitions on fulfilling religious obligations such as visiting the mosque for Friday prayers and recently, the ban on fasting during the month of Ramadan as per the Islamic calendar.

Xinjiang has seen many brutal uprisings for decades against the authorities and efforts to establish an independent East Turkestan has been on-going. But this did not stop the atheist communist party from pursuing its control over Xinjiang. This is because Xinjiang is a vast area, rich in hydrocarbon wealth and it is also the largest province of mainland China. People’s Republic of China which is engaging in expansion of its influence overseas will surely would not let Xinjiang to be separated and lose a huge area with full of economic promises.

Ruthless incidents in Xinjiang are reflections of the discriminatory actions and policies of the Communist government. Indeed, such problems would not have arisen if equal and inclusive policies were introduced in the first place. Diplomacy should be given priority in solving the dispute between the two conflicting sides.  Plans to exert more authoritarian control will only seek to worsen the conflict.

PAKISTAN

Tehreek e-Taliban (TTP) has been making headlines recently for engaging in military offensive against the Nawaz Sharif government especially when the coalition of militants attacked the Karachi airport. This is the same group that shot Malala Yusoufzai in the past, TTP is also infamously known for its efforts to halt the polio vaccination programmes conducted by international medical organisations. To one’s horror, since December 2012 until now, around 30 health officers and policemen involved in the vaccination programme have been assassinated.

Vaccinations should be allowed to prevent any health-debilitating disease. Why on earth does this TTP want to stop it?

Blame it on the international intelligence groups especially the United States’ Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Such intelligence arms have engaged in covert espionage agendas through the vaccination programmes. In fact, the CIA used a Hepatitis B vaccination programme as disguise to collect the DNA of the population in the neighbourhood to locate Osama bin Laden. Recently, CIA has openly admitted the usage of vaccination programmes to infiltrate into local population and pursue spying activities.

It is by the CIA that has caused the locals, especially the militants to lose faith and trust in foreign peacekeeping and medical teams. Central Intelligence Agency and other intelligence group are to be blamed for the growing atrocities of the TTP.

SRI LANKA

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam gained prominence for its struggle to establish self-rule in north and east regions of Sri Lanka, which predominantly comprise of the Tamils. LTTE as it is commonly called, has engaged in asymmetric warfare against the Buddhist-majority government since 1973. It is only in 2009 when the Sri Lankan civil war ended after a major government offensive killing many members of LTTE, including its much revered leader Vellupillay Prabakaran.

Sri Lanka; a land blessed with myriad ethnicities and religions. It is also the place where Lord Rama fought the monstrous Ravanan in the Ramayana epic. Since its independence in 1948, the minorities such as the Tamils and the Muslims have been targeted under discriminating policies especially after Solomon Bandaranaike came to power. Under the name of affirmative action for the Sinhalese, the Sri Lankan government sought to alienate the minorities despite their struggle in helping the country to gain independence.

As the condition worsens, LTTE has tried establishing self-rule in the areas where the Tamils are majority. The government retaliated through military actions and in the process, massacred many innocent Tamils and raped many Tamil women, leaving them to die bare naked. Prior to the last few months before the end of the civil war, the government established “No Fire Zones” in certain regions, providing fresh promises to the civilians that they would be left unharmed there. However, the government broke their promise when the military force conducted airstrikes in these zones and killed many Tamils. The reactionary force even shelled hospitals in these areas, violating the prohibition under the Geneva Conventions.

LTTE is no better than the reactionary force as testimonies have shown that they have prevented the Tamils from leaving the no-fire zone although it is attacked. LTTE is also accused of using the civilians as human shields.

If the government of Sri Lanka has resorted to a more inclusive social policing and pursued diplomacy to negotiate with the LTTE, such terrorist risings may not have happened.

CHECHNYA, RUSSIAN FEDERATION

The Winter Olympics of 2014 in Sochi, Russia was marred by a series of attacks and violence. Most of the rebels are from Chechnya, a federal subject of Russia. The Chechen rebels are known for their time-to-time armed offensive against Kremlin. Vladimir Putin certainly made a wrong decision when he approved the location for the Winter Olympics at Sochi, a region close to Chechnya.

The Muslim Chechen rebels have been made to look like terrorists that threaten national security. Judging from their actions, they should be categorised as terrorists, no doubt. But, is the rebels are only to be blamed? I beg to differ.

Taking a retrospective view, the ancestors of the Chechen population used to subscribe to paganism. However, most of them chose to convert into Islam as to gain help from the Ottoman Empire from the encroachment of Russia. Later on, Chechnya was forcibly annexed by the Tsarist Kingdom of Russia and has since tried to gain independence until Vladimir Lenin promised religious freedom and independence under the October Revolution of 1917. This has induced the Muslim Chechens to fight together with the Bolsheviks (Red Army) and to dethrone Tsar Nicholas II. Lenin’s force succeeded and within few years, he died only to be succeeded by Joseph Stalin. It was during his reign that Chechen faced severe persecution and major deportation from their homeland due to claims of abetting the Germans.

Although the Chechens were allowed to return after the “fall of the Iron Curtain”, their attempt of forming an independent nation was foiled through the Second Chechnya War when Kremlin launched military offensive and annexed the region.

Persecutions that they have faced and an unachieved dream of independence caused by the Soviet Union previously and the current government of Russian Federation have certainly fuelled the urge of the Muslim Chechens to launch offensive against the government and its forces. Blaming only the Chechens will never help.

EGYPT

Sayyid Qutb, a famous Islamic scholar whose authorship has influenced many Islamic movements, scholars and terrorists. Many of us readily know about Muslim Brotherhood, al-Qaeda and its affiliates but I believe very few have even heard of Qutb’s name. Sayyid Qutb has authored many prominent books that will later on influence the fledgling Muslim Brotherhood. His offensive jihad-based opinions would later “help” to create future worldwide-known terrorists such as Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri and Ayman al-Awlaki. Osama was the founder of the infamous al-Qaeda that was linked to the 9/11 attack, Ayman Zawahiri is currently his successor and late Ayman Awlaki is the top head of al-Qaeda’s branch in Yemen. Looking at this alone shows the negative influence sparked by a man called Sayyid Qutub.

Sayyid in his younger times was an ordinary young man and believed in secularism. It was the Egypt Revolution of 1952 under the lead of Gamal Abd Nasser that shaped his radical mindset. Gamal Abd Nasser was the first President of Republic of Egypt after dismantling the monarchy of Egypt and Sudan and under his leadership dissidents of his leadership were caught and tortured as well as humiliated in prison. Sayyid Qutb was one of those nabbed and tortured in the prison cell. It is believed that this is where his radical mindset evolved. After released from detention, Sayyid preached and wrote about offensive jihad based on Sharia law to be pursued. It was through his insistence for offensive jihad that future militants like Bin Laden was shaped.

This part of history shows us that when a regime like that of Abd Nasser’s tortures and humiliates its dissident, the affected one can turn into the state’s worst nemesis. Gamal Abd Nasser and his generals are the ones to be blamed for the change in Sayyid Qutb.

TIBET

The case of Tibet is quite different compared to other examples highlighted by this article. While the people’s struggle in other regions and nations are seen as acts of terrorism, in Tibet, the restricted population resorts to immolate one’s own self. However, People’s Republic of China argues that this is akin terrorism and epitomise the oppressed Tibetans to foreign militants.

Ever since the Communist Party of China started to assert its influence over Tibet after the end of the Chinese Civil War, especially in 1951 when it took over Tibet through military means under Chairman Mao Zedong, Tibet has seen a never-ending struggle. The 14^th Dalai Lama has exiled himself to India and countless lives were lost due to self-immolations of the Tibetan who wants to see Tibet as an independent and self-ruling nation.

The Tibetans face almost similar problems in comparison to the Muslim Uighurs; an influx of Han Chinese and discriminatory policies both socially and economically that threaten the livelihood of the indigenous Tibetan communities. Again, the repressive regime of mainland China fails to implement inclusive policies that seek to govern Tibet equally. Also, the intention of the Tibetans for self-governance has been ignored to be suppressed by brutal force. Such actions will only exacerbate the status quo.

CONCLUSION

Governments throughout the globe should change the way they look at these terrorist groups. Always pursue inclusive policies and engage in diplomacy. Even if one is nabbed under the law, he or she should be tried legally and should not be tortured or humiliated to prevent any aggravation of the militancy. Stop using any humanitarian effort as a mechanism to engage with espionage-related activities. Politicians should stop making a hero out of these terrorists group. For example, Malaysia’s Prime Minister recently urged the members of his party to follow the spirit of ISIL fighters. He said that their spirit is never-ending and is full or courage as even the Iraqi government’s 30,000 soldiers ran away when confronted by mere 800 ISIL fighters. Such faux pas should be avoided. Never epitomise good values through dictating acts of terrorism.

Most importantly, we as the people should send out a message that peace is what we seek for. Criticise openly any politicians or governments that condone terrorism. As I’ve said earlier, the blame is not only on the militants. Everything starts from us.

A New Mechanism To Pay Our Sultans

Malaysians are paying their Yang di-Pertuan Agong a whopping RM 5,075,232 every year! In addition to that, a similar sum can be expected to be paid to the Sultan of each state on an annual basis. But despite this, should the Rulers be allowed to involve in commercial businesses?

This article seeks to suggest a mechanism that can allow the involvement of the Ruler of the State in the business field as well as allocate payments to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong in a transparent manner.

Lately, there have been on-going discussions in the public sphere regarding the role of the Rulers of the States (Sultans) in business sector. Many, including the former Prime Minister, Tun Dr.Mahathir have spoken against the Sultans involving in commercial businesses as this will jeopardise the role of constitutional monarchy of Malaysia. Many also fear that involvement of Sultans in the business sector will diminish the opportunities for the commoners to attain success in the corporate field. One of the active Sultans in the business field is Sultan Ibrahim, the Ruler of Johor. Sultan Ibrahim is well-known in real estate businesses and most recently, through his involvement in the Project 4A, an electricity power plant project that drew public contention.

Before going into the debate whether the Sultans should be allowed to do business, it is only appropriate to understand the Highnesses’ financial wealth and income every year. For the purpose of simplifying this article, let us look into the income of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong alone, which comes from the Federal Consolidated Fund. To the uninitiated, this fund accumulates the revenue of the Federal Government, contributed by the direct and indirect taxes, hydrocarbon receipts, profits from the other sources and etc. Most importantly, this is an accumulation fund which rightfully belongs to all fellow Malaysians.

Each and every year, huge amount of money is being paid to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong alone as “royal allowance” and “palace up-keeping costs”. This payment is mentioned through the Civil List Act 1982 with its recent amendment in 2006.

The Civil List Act 1982 contains four schedules. Under the First Schedule, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is paid RM 1,054,560 per annum. Out of this, RM 608,400 is paid in the form of Privy Purse. However, this amount could be higher based on the Privy Purse received by the King when His Majesty served as the ruler of His state.

The Second Schedule allocates a total of RM 3,823,800 and should be spent on the expenses of the Royal Palace and the salaries of the palace staffs. The Third Schedule provides allocation for the Royal Consort of the King, amounting to RM 196,872. And the last schedule provides for any special (additional) allocation deemed appropriate by the Honourable Prime Minister and the Cabinet. The sum of the first three schedules brings the total amount to a whopping RM 5,075,232 per year.

It has to be reminded that this is merely a conservative estimate of the payment to the King. It is not rocket science to decipher that the actual payment could be a lot higher. The whole idea does not stop here. We have nine Sultans in Malaysia and allocations to their Highnesses every year could reach as much as tens of millions of ringgit! Not only that, the Civil List Act has undergone amendments for a total of six (6) times. And I believe the allocation for the Yang di-Pertuan Agong has been increased under each amendment.

My intention is not to oppose the benefits enjoyed by the Royal institution in Malaysia and definitely not to provoke anyone, especially the republican-minded ones to act against the Rulers. Instead it is my hope that the respect for the constitutional monarchy to be preserved. For this to happen, the subjects of the Rulers have to be made to understand that they are not “squeezed” for the Rulers to enrich themselves. Otherwise, protests like in Spain for the constitutional monarchy system to be dismantled may take place even in Malaysia. It should be taken into concern that in 2008, the monarch of the former Hindu Kingdom of Nepal was dethroned by public protest as the respect for the Ruler has disappeared.

Malaysians are now facing a more financially-tight situation especially when the Najib administration engages in fiscal consolidation measure through subsidy rationalisation and improvement to the taxation regime by introducing the Goods and Services Tax. These measures are even acknowledged and praised by ratings agencies such as Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s. Thus, we need a stronger Consolidated Fund that can spur developments domestically without incurring a budget deficit. For that, a new mechanism to pay the King ought to be introduced.

Establish the Royal Revenue Fund

The Government should establish the Royal Revenue Fund (RRF) with a one-off seed funding by using the Federal Consolidated Fund. The value of this seed funding should be decided by the bicameral Parliament. The authority to administer the RRF should be vested under the Conference of Rulers (Majlis Raja-Raja Melayu). This fund should act in a way that the income for the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and his royal consort and payments to defray the up-keeping costs of the royal palace come from this RRF. The Conference of Rulers can appoint the Sultans or their representatives as the board of directors of RRF.

Out of the revenue from this fund, a 20% (or any percentage deemed appropriate) should be used to pay for the Privy Purse and royal household expenses, instead of taking from the Consolidated Fund. The remaining 80% should be transferred to the Federal Consolidated Fund. This shows that whilst the subjects contribute to their Rulers, the Rulers also contribute to the welfare of the people. If the 20% is not spent by year-end, the balance should be transferred to the Royal Revenue (Reserve) Fund, RRRF. Should the RRF faces financial losses through business transactions and investments and subsequently registers deficits, the amount accumulated in the reserve fund should be used for the King’s royal household expenditure.

This model should be emulated and replicated in all states level. This mechanism enables the Rulers to engage in businesses (their right to participate in commercial businesses should not be denied) and sustain their royal expenditures through their own effort. However, the Rulers should be considered as equal players in the free-market orientation. Thus, no other person can turn disrespect against the Rulers as through this mechanism, the Rulers will contribute to welfare of the rakyat economically. It will also create sustainable mutual respect between the Rulers and the subjects. However, this RRF should be prohibited from competing for government tenders and projects. RRF should only be STRICTLY allowed to deal in private commercial businesses.

In addition to this, the Auditor General’s office should establish a Royal Audit unit which should be empowered to audit the RRF. The audit report should be made public and debated in Parliament. Any discrepancy found in the handling of the RRF should be subject to parliamentary censure and intervention to press the Conference of Rulers to expel the board of directors. Such actions can lead to the building of a strong democracy and constitutional monarchy.

This mechanism is modelled after the 2011 Sovereign Grant concept of the British constitutional monarchy but has been altered accordingly. The Rulers’ right to partake in commercial businesses should never be denied, however, it should never be done at the expense of the Malaysians. 

Vernacular Schools Need to be Abolished; Why and When?

Establishing a single national education system for primary and secondary schools has always been a contentious affair. Whilst such idea may seem idealistic to many, but realistically, it is deemed to be sensitive in nature to the Malaysian Chinese and Malaysian Indian communities. After all, to many proponents of vernacular schools in Malaysia, a discussion into abolishing the “national-type” schools is akin interfering and disturbing their racial identities. Taking a glance into history, the creation of a single national education system has been opposed ever since pre-independence 1951 Barnes Report. While this article may seem provocative to many, let us view this from a neutral stand for the betterment of the nation.

Why are vernacular schools important to many Malaysian Chinese and Malaysian Indians?

Vernacular schools i.e. Tamil and Chinese schools have played intrinsically significant role in the past and also in the present in making sure the survival of Mandarin and Tamil languages in Malaysia. Malaysia is seen unique in the international eyes not merely because this nation is multi-racial, but due to the ability of each race to hold tight to their racial identity and customs, and at the same time, maintain national stability.

Tamil and Chinese schools, especially the long-standing schools, are close to the communities’ hearts. After all, such schools are built independently without any external financial help, despite all hardships. According to the still-living old Indians, some Tamil schools are built, mixed with soil brought from India during colonial times. This shows the sentimental value that these schools treasure for the communities.

It is undeniable, while Malaysian Indians and Malaysian Chinese still celebrate their festival and consume traditional delicacies, more and more people are losing good grasp of their mother-tongue language in speaking and worse, in writing. Why, even the writer is bad in writing in Tamil, notwithstanding the futile attempts taken to improve his skills.

Vernacular schools help in giving Tamil and Mandarin languages a lengthened lease of time. Younger generations are taught to write and converse fluently in their native languages. Not only this, students of vernacular schools are brought closer to their culture through activities and teachings. For example, “Ponggal” is three-day auspicious celebration for the Indians. This festival is akin “Pesta Menuai” and is given holiday in Tamil schools to allow the students to celebrate the festival with their families. Apart from this, the festival is also celebrated in schools. I believe, in Chinese schools, such traditional celebrations are also given due importance. Indirectly, through these celebrations and activities, students will be closely-knit to their culture and tradition.

While some sceptics may claim that national schools also organise such events and provides holidays, my question is, to what extent?

WHY should Vernacular Schools be Abolished?

In a country like Malaysia which constitutes of diverse races, languages and religions, unity or national solidarity is mandatory. Without it which will spell an undesired disaster of instability and racial tensions. Education is the best platform to bring everyone together, regardless of religion and skin complexion, since a young age, to create a non-withering bond called the Malaysian inclusiveness. In pre-independence days, the colonial masters cared less about creating such unity, thus preferring to divide and rule. Existence of Tamil, Chinese and ”agama” schools was never an issue.

But now, it is no longer feasible for separation of education system. A child studying in Chinese and Sekolah Menengah Agama (SMA) primary and secondary schools for example, will stand very small chance in getting to know in detail about other races, what more of having friends of a different ethnicity. Not only that, despite many pushing for better command of English language lately, the need to master the Malay language will never erode.

1    Like it or not, many students in Chinese and Tamil schools in the past, have shown mediocre fluency in this language. While students whom enter national secondary schools may improve their conversing ability, those who remain in the vernacular schools, stand less chance in speaking good Malay language as they have very less opportunity to practice. Yes, I do admit that my examples may not suit all students in vernacular schools, but it is unfortunate that many of them do face such problems. I, myself have seen many instances.

2    Besides that, creation of a single education system allows the usage optimisation of educational resources in Malaysia. It is a no brainer to note that many Tamil schools are under-utilisation. Just imagine, some schools having merely 5-10 students in a single intake. Isn’t this a waste of resource? If a single education system comes into realisation, Blue Ocean Strategy can be deployed. Students in an under-utilised school can be transferred to a bigger school, providing them better amenities and surrounding. With more students in a single school, students’ competitiveness will escalate and induce them to work harder.

Not only that, the Government could save a huge chunk of taxpayers’ monies as the need to up-keep these under-utilised schools is eliminated.

    Furthermore, the Education Ministry is constantly struggling in placing new teachers into the schools and the fact is glaring, that more and more teachers are currently unemployed due to lack of teaching positions in schools. Paradoxically, Chinese schools are facing insufficient supply of teachers. This is simply because, the teachers in Chinese schools are demanded to be in Mandarin even for those teaching English and Malay languages. With the creation of a single system, such problems can be eventually pre-empted.

WHEN Should Vernacular Schools be Abolished?

While the abolishment of vernacular schools should be the ultimately aim, I firmly believe, it is implausible to be achieved in near future. For this objective to materialise, the government and all related stakeholders need to:-

1.    Establish compulsory trilingual education system in national schools.

-       The Malaysian Government needs to emulate the Singaporean Government in introducing mother-tongue languages to the students. Students in Malaysian national schools should be made compulsory to take mother-tongue language apart from Malay and English Languages, from Standard One. Malay students should be made to take and pass Jawi, Indian students to take Tamil and Chinese students to take Mandarin. For students of other languages, such as Punjabis, special arrangement should be made.

2.    Improve education quality in national schools.

-       This needs special attention from the Education Ministry. The quality of education has to be improved. This means the teachers in national schools need to regularly monitored and should be subjected to penalties if they are found to be unproductive. Coming from a national primary school and listening to complaints by my friends and even my teachers, it is evident that some national school teachers (not all) are showing lackadaisical attitude in teaching. Some resort to chatting with their colleagues while leaving their class unattended. Some even has the audacity to be racially-biased when interacting with their students. Such situations, are however rare in national-type schools although I do agree there are also unproductive teachers there as well. Perhaps, having students of the same ethnicity makes the teachers to perform better and avoid making racial statements. Maybe.

3.    Allow students to take leave for their festivals.

-       While major festivals such as Deepavali and Lunar New Year are granted public holiday, other festivals such as Ponggal and Mooncake Festival should be granted school holidays for the relevant ethnicities. The state and school administration should also consult all relevant stakeholders before deciding on monthly and final examination dates. Having examination for the school-children on Thaipusam and Chap Goh Mei’s eve, for instance, is simply unwarranted and insensitive.

4.    Abolish Sekolah Menengah Agama (SMA) as well.

-       The existence of SMA is also akin to the existence of Tamil and Chinese schools. The students of SMA have very less opportunity to get to know with students from other races and religions, thus confining them into silos. Some students from SMAs, as I have seen, do not even know that Hindus are prohibited from consuming beef. This inevitably shows the detrimental gap in unity that is created due to having parallel education system. If vernacular schools are to be abolished, the same should be done to SMA for better inclusivity and avoid talks of racial discrimination.

Conclusion

We, Malaysians need a single and good education system for the upcoming generations. Politicising education issues for one’s political expediency is highly unwarranted. The Education Ministry needs to come up with comprehensive reforms to improve national schools. Only after such tangible improvements, racial parties such as MIC, MCA and also other political parties need to reach out to people explaining the crucial need of a single national education system. I hope that MIC and MCA will not just keep tacit regarding this issue, with the intention to win votes from the race they are representing. Apart from these, NGOs such as Dong Zong and Jiao Zong need to be more understanding on the significance of an inclusive single national education system and play their role to disseminate justifications to abolish vernacular school system.

We need serious change. Stop being apologists like our Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyidin Yassin who claims that our education system is better than the developed nations’. Wake up, Tan Sri!

P/S: We need Education Ministers who are educationists and have experienced teaching kids in the past. The current ones have degrees in economics and social science. How ironic!

Is Malaysia’s poverty rate really low?

On March 20, I attended a public lecture by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in University of Malaya organised by its Faculty of Economics and Administration.

Speaking about poverty in Malaysia, the 89-year-old former prime minister was eager to emphasise that Malaysia's hardcore poverty rate is below 1% and the overall poverty rate stands at 1.7%. That's a huge "success" from the New Economic Policy and other policies pursued by the country.

But, is it really true?

After independence, Malaysia’s journey in economic growth and development has been mesmerising.From an agrarian economy to an economy which is now thriving on services (almost 58%), Malaysian policymakers have delivered much in uplifting the economic standards of the rest of “Anak Malaysia”. But,to what extent?

Now back to the core issue.

In Malaysia, our poverty line income (PLI) is set around RM860. This is the national average although it tends to vary according to regions, that is, the peninsula, Sabah & Sarawak.At RM860, it means anyone earning less than that is considered to be under the poverty cluster. That's what the government's data says. But is the RM860 threshold appropriate?

No. Why?

The United Nations defines poverty as income below 50% of the national mean monthly income.The OECD, on the other hand, says that it should be below 60% of the median monthly income.

Let us just take the benchmark by the UN.

In 2012, Malaysia's mean monthly income was RM5,000. This inevitably means that those earning below RM2,500 should be categorised under the poverty group and not under RM860.

To our horror, if the benchmark is RM2,500, this brings the poverty percentage in comparison to the Malaysian households to around a whopping 40%.

This shows that a huge proportion of Malaysian households fall under the poverty group and no doubt, with the rising cost of living in recent times, more Malaysians are bound to struggle financially.This compels the government to alter its methodology of drawing a benchmark to identify the poor so that appropriate government aid can be channelled to them.

While some might deny that Malaysians are better off since the number of billionaire and millionaire Malaysians is growing (for example, Datuk Mokhzani Mahathir has just entered the top 10 billionaires' club and Tun Mahathir insists that his son is not a crony), the top 20% of wealthy Malaysians control 65% of the mean monthly household income.

Alas, the rest of us (80%) have to be contended with the 35% of mean monthly household income. – March 25, 2014.

Malaysia’s Islamisation; Good or Bad?

For me, the recent co-announcement by Malaysia’s Islamic Development Department (JAKIM) and the Home Ministry pertaining to the establishment of “Syariah police” is seen as detrimental and unconstitutional. As relayed by the Ministry, these would-be formed Syariah cops will “help to facilitate the incumbent police system vis-à-vis Syariah law’s implementation in Malaysia”.

This matter particularly needs attention from each and every Malaysian, and not only Muslims per se. The Malaysian Government is intentionally trying to bring another enforcement agency into the national picture to further fortify security and objectives of Syariah laws. Constitutionally, Islamic affairs, as dictated by the Ninth Schedule of Federal Constitution, fall under the jurisdiction of the states. Establishing Syariah cops, will only infringe on this provision of the Constitution as this Syariah police will be placed under JAKIM (which is a federal department) and will have its status in par with the existing police system. Plus, JAKIM not being an enforcement authority cannot train and hold power over an enforcement agency.

Enforcement of Islamic affairs is best and ought to be left at the hands of the State Governments. Enough already the “intrusion” of the Federal Government in the matters of Islam through the establishment of JAKIM and National Fatwa Council (which are not under the control of the State Governments). And now, Syariah Police?

Concerns on the Constitution aside, will the formation of Syariah police be significant to the process of Malaysia’s Islamisation? It will be extremely, like it or not. These Syariah cops will be powered to enforce their authority on anyone who offends the state from the Syariah perspective. And let just say, the Allah term imbroglio is re-ignited or it could just be any other case, concerning to Islam and other religions, these Syariah police will be tasked to intervene and this could apparently trouble the non-Muslims in practising their freedom of religion. Even without these “religious police”, we already had an issue in Selangor where the Bible Society of Malaysia was raided with the help of ordinary police. Do we want to see a repetition, perhaps a more severe one?

MALAYSIA’S ISLAMISATION

Contrary to the popular belief, Malaysia is NOT an Islamic state. Proponents of the “Islamic Malaysia” often cite Article 3 of the Constitution which proclaims Islam as the official religion of the administration. However, these people fail to understand that there are three solid points to deny the “hopeful hope”:

11. A “White Paper” titled Constitutional Proposal for The Federation of Malaya which acts as precedent to the Constitution after negotiations with various stakeholder, clearly dictates Malaysia to be a SECULAR STATE.

22.  Islam’s role in Malaysia is only to be ceremonial i.e. in the solemnisation of the King.

33. The first three Prime Ministers of Malaysia have referred to Malaysia as secular state in their public statements until the fourth PM “declares” Malaysia as an Islamic state “illegally” in September 2001.

The process of Islamising Malaysia has taken us into the job of creating two systems in many areas; one for the Muslims and another for the non-Muslims. For this article, let me just touch on the Syariah Law system. Since the genesis of a parallel Syariah Legal System in 1988, this has inevitably created disparity amongst the Muslims and non-Muslims.

Non-Muslims cannot be represented in Syariah courts as it is exclusive to our Muslim brothers and sisters only. Therefore, this has created confusion and many on-going complexities in our judiciary system, and leaving the non-Muslims in most situations, troubled.

For example, the case of Shyamala Sathiaseelan. Following her husband’s conversion into Islam, he sought for the religion conversion and custodial rights of the children. Poor Shyamala who could not be represented in the Syariah Court, has been denied for a fair legal service. In the end, the court has given her husband the rights to take the children into care. This is certainly lop-sided, in which judgement is meted out only by hearing from one side.

Second, the case of M.Moorthy, a crew member of the first two Malaysians who scaled Mt. Everest. After his death, Syariah officers came to “seize” his body, claiming that late Moorthy has converted into Islam previously. No thanks to the Syariah legal system, once again, Moorthy’s family was denied a fair trial and like anyone could guess, late Moorthy was given an Islamic burial.

Thirdly, the case of M. Indira which is an on-going case. After her husband’s conversion, he managed to get custodial rights and religion conversion for his children through the Syariah Court. However, as Indira filed a suit in the civil court, she was given the custodial rights by the High Court judge. This has led to contradicting judgements from the two legal systems. From one point, the husband is the victor and from the another, M.Indira is the victor. The fact that Article 121 says that Civil Courts cannot interfere into the jurisdictions of the Syariah Courts, further aggravates the fiasco.

HUDUD LAW?

Then, there are proponents of a Syariah-based punishment system in Malaysia. Ruling coalition and oppositions alike, have both supported and denied the establishment of hudud law in Malaysia. The supporters, like always ambitious, claim that Hudud will be exclusive to the Muslims only, and the non-Muslims will not be subjected to this Islamic law. My question, while Syariah legal system is meant to be exclusive to Muslims only, didn’t it cause trouble in the lives of the non-Muslims?

CONCLUSION

Malaysia is best to be left as a secular state. Yes, Muslims are the majority (60%), but it doesn’t mean that the nation has to be conferred with an Islamic status. Let us all, Muslims and non-Muslims alike, strive to create a fair and equal Malaysia for everyone.

Say NO to Syariah police and any other system that seeks to differentiate the brothers and sisters of Malaysia.