William Leong

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国阵政府每年从国油抽走数百亿令吉的石油税收，却尽数挥霍在没有生产力的领域以滋养巫统朋党的做法，昨晚继续成为民联领袖围剿的目标。

公正党总财政兼士拉央国会议员梁自坚（左图）强调，我国目前已经染上“荷兰症”（Dutch disease），尽管国内拥有丰富的天然资源，最终却可能变成一个贫穷国家。最明显的征兆，就是充斥的政治贪污和寻租行径（rent seeking）。

“荷兰症“是指荷兰当年因发现原油而增加收入，但是国人的个人生产力却没有因为石油收入而同步提升，导致荷兰的国际价格竞争力下降，因此也被视为“丰富天然资源的诅咒”。

他昨晚是在行动党2010年财政预算案讲座会上如此表示。这场于隆雪华堂讲堂举行的讲座会也获得民众热烈的反应，获得约200人出席聆听。

其他主讲人还包括行动党秘书长兼槟州首席部长林冠英、巴生国会议员查尔斯圣地亚哥、灵北区国会议员潘俭伟、行动党升旗山国会议员刘镇东，以及回教党瓜拉雪兰莪国会议员祖基菲阿末。

天然收入滋养庞大公共领域

梁自坚指出，我国40%的收入是来自天然资源，包括石油、天然气和棕油。这笔横财滋养了出世上其中一个最大的公共领域经济，占国民总产值的37%。

“这些钱都被用来进行私营化计划，并导致了两个严重的后果，第一是政治贪污，因为私营化计划都发给拥有政治关系的人物；至于第二则是寻租行径，因为你有特权，所以可以借此赚取暴利。”

不过，他表示，政府却没有提出具体的方案，来解决这些问题。

“当我们讨论预算案时，解决方案到底在哪里？政治意愿到底在哪里？纳吉做（前首相）马哈迪、阿都拉没有做到的事情，反抗巫统诸侯的勇气到底在哪里？”

全党争夺合约如日本自民党

刘镇东（左图）也分析2010年财政预算案下，各政府部门所获得的拨款数目，揭露巫统仍然维持着党国一体的结构。他指出，巫统基本上是如同日本最近刚刚输掉垄断近50年政权的自由民主党，上上下下讲究的都是建筑合约。

他通过照片出示预算案内的数据，指首相署在2009年和2010年的拨款总额就高达140亿和120亿令吉，其中发展开销分别是10亿令吉和8亿令吉，大多数预算都是建筑工程，包括皇宫工程、沙巴、砂拉越和吉隆坡的道路工程。

“大多数钱会用在建筑工程，因为首相必须让巫统领袖和诸侯开兴。”

他表示，前首相阿都拉去年也特地将首相署的发展拨款，从前年的3亿令吉提高至去年的10亿令吉，大多数是用在沙巴和砂拉越，目的就是应对民联916变天的威胁，避免两州国阵议员跳槽。

相比之下，作为国内最高立法议会的国会，今年却只是获得区区6600万令吉，差距高达200倍。

行动党预算案限用国油财富

潘俭伟也批评说，纳吉在这次预算案中并没有提出制度改革，来保护我国的石油财富。他表示，这次削减行政开销13%，其实并非是他们的本意，而是因为政府已经没有钱。

“国油收入从2004年的190亿令吉至今年的700亿令吉。政府不只是拿走国油所有的收入，甚至以国油的收入来借贷和花光。因此，当他们要增加开销刺激经济时，就面对捉衿见肘的问题。”

负责草拟行动党替代预算案的潘俭伟（右图）说，该党和政府预算案最大的差别，他们提出数个政策来保护石油财富，避免政府因为本身的利益而滥用这笔收入。

他重申，政府应该设下只能抽取国油收入50%的顶限，而且其中20%必须注入国家振兴基金、20%用在再生工艺资源，以及20%投资人力资源。

“如果我们有一天组织政府，这些政策都会纳入制度里面。就算是国阵政府重新执政，这些机制都会继续保留，人民的财富也会获得保护。”

5%产业盈利税没年限不公平

林冠英也提及政府重新提出5%产业盈利税，以增加政府收入的问题。他表示，我国出现财政赤字的关键问题其实是政府缺乏效率，出现浪费和贪污。

“政府其实不需要征收产业盈利税，政府只是需要铲除贪污就能铲除赤字。根据星报报道，我国一年的贪污成本就高达280亿令吉。”

林冠英（左图）也批评，政府重新征收5%产业盈利税，并且没有设下房屋购买日期的年限，是不公平和不合法，因为这已经逾越法律仅能追究6年发生的事情的规定。

“如果你在70年代购买产业，然后在40年后的现在售卖，赚取20万令吉盈利，政府就会抽取5%税率。你怎么能向40年前购买的产业征税？”

Pump priming : Wrong Diagnosis

Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak announced that the government will prime the economy with an additional RM1 billion monthly till the end of 2010 in a bid to bolster the country’s economy. Unfortunately, allocating RM200 billion under the 2010 budget or pump priming the economy will not return Malaysia to economic competitiveness. Malaysia’s economy was ill long before the sub-prime implosion and the consequent global financial crisis. Najib Tun Razak will not be able to redress Malaysia’s economic woes unless and until he and the Barisan Nasional Government has the honesty and courage to deal with the Malaysian Resource Curse and have the political will to carry out the necessary fundamental structural reforms.

The Dutch Disease

Malaysia has exhibited the classical symptoms of the “Dutch Disease” or “the Resource Curse”. The term “Dutch Disease” was coined in 1977 by the Economist to describe the decline of the manufacturing sector in the Netherlands after the discovery of a large natural gas field in 1959, culminating in the world’s biggest public-private partnership, N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie between Esso (now ExxonMobil) Shell and the Dutch government in 1963 only to see the rest of its economy shrinking. It refers to the paradox that countries with an abundance of natural resources specifically resources like minerals and fuels, tend to have less economic growth and worse development than countries with fewer natural resources. The Dutch Resource Curse is an economic concept to explain the relationship between the exploitation of natural resources and a decline in the manufacturing sector combined with moral fallout. The concept explains that an increase in revenues from natural resources will de-industrialize a nation’s economy by raising the exchange rate, which makes the manufacturing sector less competitive. It also leads to the public administrators getting entangled with business interests.

Political Corruption

One of the negative effects of the Dutch Disease is that it is often easier for a natural resource rich government to maintain authority through allocating resources to favoured constituents than through growth-oriented economic policies and a level, well regulated playing field. Huge flows of money from natural resources fuel this political corruption. The government has less need to build up the institutional infrastructure to regulate and tax a productive economy so the economy remains undeveloped.

Rent Seeking Behavior

Another negative effect is the creation of rent seeking behavior. “Rent seeking” in this sense does not mean the usual payment of a lease but stems from Adam Smith’s division of income into profit, wage and rent. Rent seeking behavior is distinguished from profit seeking behavior in that in profit seeking behavior, entities seek to extract value by engaging in mutually beneficial transaction. On the other hand, in rent seeking behavior, entities seek to extract uncompensated value from others without making any contribution to productivity through manipulation and exploitation such as by gaining control of land and other pre-existing natural resource or by imposing burdensome regulations or other governmental decisions that may affect consumers or businesses.

Loss of Entrepreneurial Skills

The rationale for identifying rent seeking as the problem in economies suffering from the Dutch Resource Curse is that resource revenues constitutes vast wealth and when individuals or groups of individuals attempt to take control over it, they become less entrepreneurial. Rent seeking activity involves several detrimental aspects. First, the attempts themselves are time consuming and draw valuable labour hours from productive, innovative activities. Talent is wasted in the pursuit of existing wealth instead of being employed at producing new growth. Second, when the activities are successful, the wealth may be disposed of in ways that are not conductive to growth. If the wealth is spent for personal consumption abroad for the successful rent seeker and it is not invested in domestic technological progress and human capital, growth suffers. Few individuals acquire wealth to act for the common good. The country’s resource rent is converted to luxury items, not research and development. So growth stagnates. Rent seeking degenerates into corruption which discourages investment and limits growth.

Rich become Richer

Think of Ghana and Zambia, countries abundantly endowed with minerals or oil and gas has swung from booms to busts and back again. Their politics are hopelessly corrupt. The central government, far from being an effective regulator, serves as the handmaiden to a group of powerful oligarchs, making it easier for the rich to become richer while the poor become poorer. Now think of Malaysia.

The Malaysian Resource Curse

Malaysia’s economic growth is a three legged growth model based on:

• Manufacturing trade
• Commodity trade
• Public sector economy

Petroleum and natural resources provides 40% of the Malaysian government’s revenues. This in turn supports the largest public sector economy in Asia with 27% of the GDP. Malaysian manufacturing exports are under structural pressures and are losing competitiveness. The real effective exchange rate (REER) appreciated 11% between 2005 and 2008. This has led to competitiveness erosion of the manufacturing sector. The natural resources sector provided the revenues to allow the Government to sustain economic growth through government spending. This has reduced the urgency to increase productivity and allowed marked inefficiencies to set in; the erosion of education standards, distortion and suppression of the labour market and sustaining unprofitable and ineffective affirmative action policy projects. The end result is the erosion of manufacturing exports and a fall in inward FDI that will undermine the economy.

Underperformance in Education Standards

The oil and gas revenue driven economic growth lulled UMNO and the Barisan Nasional Government to misconstrue the importance of maintaining excellence in our education system. This allowed misguided and mismanaged policies to turn our schools and universities into factories churning out unemployed and unemployable graduates. This has resulted in our nation suffering a severe underperformance of our education standards. Malaysia tertiary enrolment and completion ratio has lagged that of some of our Asian counterparts. At 28.6% and 15%, Malaysia’s gross tertiary enroll ratio and completion ratio are 7% and 6% lower than the average expected of economies with similar level of GDP per capital. This means Malaysia is having a tertiary skills shortage. This point to Malaysia lacking the necessary skills and knowledge human capital essential to move the Malaysian economy up the value added chain.

Skills Mismatch

With the labour force growing, unemployment rate has stayed range bound at around 3% and with the skills shortage, graduates surprisingly continues to make up an increasing proportion of the unemployed group from 15.2% in 2000 to 25.1% in 2007. The Government in answer to a question I posed in Parliament gave the following breakdown of unemployed graduates:-

• In 2004, there were 4,594 unemployed graduates of which 163 were Chinese, 207 were Indians and 4,060 were Malays;
• In 2005, there were 2,413 unemployed graduates of which 31 were Chinese, 70 were Indians and 2,186 were Malays;
• In 2006, there were 56,750 unemployed graduates of which 1,110 were Chinese, 1,346 were Indians and 50,594 were Malays.
• In 2007, there were 56,322 unemployed graduates of which 1,348 were Chinese, 1,401 were Indians and 49,075 were Malays.
• In 2008 (as of June) there were 47,910 unemployed graduates of which 1,403 Chinese, 1,569 Indians and 49,075 were Malays.

This suggests that we have a problem of graduate skills mismatch.

Singapore in comparison has its universities design their curriculum in collaboration with the industry players. The majority of the students are offered jobs before they graduate and 82% are employed within 3 months of their graduation.

Labour force a key business constrain

The education gaps have led to skills shortage and skills mismatch. 42% of Malaysian businesses rate the unavailability of a skilled labour force as the most severe business constraint compared to 37% in East Asia and 35% globally. The shortage of skilled labour is compounded by shortsighted and misconceived immigration policies. These policies instead of attracting the talented and the best and the brightest, discourages and prevents them from working in the country. The rejection of Vijay Singh’s citizenship application and the resulting loss to the nation of a world golf champion is one example. The thousands of tertiary graduate and professional foreign spouses of Malaysians being consigned by these immigration policies to become housewives is another. These same policies are the causes for the severe brain drain suffered by our nation. Due to the skills shortage, we will be unable to move the economy up the value added chain.

Falling FDI

The net inward FDI in Malaysia has been in decline. As net FDI in the region, China, India, Singapore and Thailand) continues to climb, Malaysia has experienced a downward trend from the peak in the early 1990s and is now in negative territory. The net FDI stood at -3.8% of GDP in June 2009 from +2.4% of GDP in June 2004. Malaysia has fallen from 67^th in the Inward FDI Index in 2006 to 71^st in 2008. The outward FDI has exceeded the inward FDI for the past 3 years and this trend is expected to continue and increase in the future.

Loss of Manufacturing Trade Surplus

Malaysia manufacturing trade surplus of machinery and transport equipment fell from USD10.5 Billion in 2000 (11.2% of GDP) to USD9 Billion in 2008 (4.1% of GDP). In comparison China had a trade surplus for the same period from USD9.3 Billion to USD231.3 Billion, Korea USD41.2 Billion to USD 119.1 Billion, Taiwan USD19 Billion to USD 45.1 Billion and Singapore from USD11.2 Billion to USD22.9 Billion.

Suffering in Silence

We are in the throes of the Malaysian Resource Curse. The rent seekers have privatized and created monopolies of every conceivable resource and amenity in the country from roads, to bridges, water, electricity, disposal of rubbish and sewerage. Petronas revenues have been used to pay for mega personal enhancing projects such as the Petronas Twin Towers where USD1.6 Billion (RM5.6 Billion) was spent to enjoy the brief moment of fame in owning the tallest building in the world. Petronas money was again used through 40% equity in Putrajaya Holdings to pay the total costs of building the new Federal administrative capital of Putrajaya amounting to RM11.831 Billion. There many more of such project in the past decade. The public have been suffering in silence as the Malaysian Resource Curse takes its toll.

Prescription

Malaysia no doubt is affected by the global financial crisis but its problems have a deeper underlying cause. It is this underlying cause that has to be addressed. The Malaysia Resource Curse must be exorcised. There are many resource rich countries that have escaped and avoided the disease.

The key is governance. Well governed countries find ways to insulate their economies from the down side of commodities and natural resources trade. Resource rich countries such as Norway has shown that this can be done by adopting straight forward economic fundamentals, sound monetary policies, and having open trading and investment regimes. The enforcement of laws against corruption is a basic requirement. The strengthening of political and economic institutions by giving effect to the democratic institutions and constitutional guaranteed fundamental liberties is another. Investing in education and infrastructure will increase competitiveness of the manufacturing sector. Sadly these have been ignored by the Prime Minister in his push for pump priming.

A global investor said that if Najib and Barisan Nasional do not recognize the Malaysian Resource Curse and do not have the political will to address it, neither he nor any other investor is going to put money into Malaysia. Without the structural reforms, pouring RM1 Billion a month into the rent seeking economy is just pouring good money into the drain. How long can the Malaysian public continue to suffer in silence?

William Leong Jee Keen

Member of Parliament Selayang

Date: 7^th October 2009

作者／本刊黄书琪 Oct 23, 2009 10:07:47 pm

http://www.merdekareview.com/news/n/11165.html

【本刊黄书琪撰述】“这 不是一个马来西亚，而是‘一国两制’！”民主行动党秘书长林冠英批评，纳吉仅向柔佛州依斯干达经济特区的知识型员工征收15%所得税的政策并不公平。国会 在野党领袖安华则认为，即使纳吉雄心壮志欲将我国提升成为高收入经济体，但是，却他却没有在他的首份财政预算案当中，提出解决问题的根本方法。

安华指出，我国外资直接投资（FDI）从去年同期1970亿元锐减至36亿元，实在是令人惊疑、需要深究的一个数字。同时，他也表明：“收入减少，开支也下降，这只表示我国无法达到预期（经济）增长。”

他认为预算案或许提出了一些利惠人民的蝇头小利，但却没有解决实际根本问题。“首相公布他要将现有的赤字7.4%拉低，但却没有看到他提出任何直接解决方案。”

安华：首次没提国防开销

同时，安华也点到国防预算问题，“我很惊讶，这份预算案竟然完全没有提到国防领域，看来峇眼槟榔补选过了，军队也就被遗忘了。”安华透露，据其印象，这可能是首次没有提到任何关于国防开销的预算案。

安华（左图）在记者追问其他意见时表示，他将在周一进一步阐明详情。

与此同时，与安华一同召开记者会的回教党署理主席纳沙鲁丁则认为，这份预算案无法让人看到政府想要积极栽培人力资源的决心，感觉上，“商业发展比人力资源更重要。”

纳沙鲁丁和安华有志一同，认为政府虽然想要吸引外资，增加外资直接投资金额，但是从这份预算案来看，政府根本无法提出新的机制与办法吸引外资前来我国。

另外，纳沙鲁丁显然也对我国宽频覆盖率之低感到吃惊，根据纳吉在预算案中所提，邻国新加坡拥有高达88%的宽频覆盖率，日本为64%，南韩为90%，但是我国只有25%。

迟到记者会现场的民主行动党秘书长林冠英则批评纳吉首份预算案“只惠及特定地区及特定人士”。

梁自坚：没有改革影子

以个人所得税为例，纳吉今日在公布2010年财政预算案当中虽然全民减税1%，但在柔佛州依斯干达经济特区工作的知识型员工却可享有15%的低所得税，独步全国。因此，林冠英借用纳吉的口号，反批说：“这不是一个马来西亚，而是‘一国两制’！”

也是槟州首席部长的林冠英认为，这项政策极不公平，与纳吉在今日讲词提到的“一个马来西亚，共富共荣”不符，也是漠视经济特区外人民进步、繁荣的权益，因为即便是首相家乡彭亨的人民都无法享有如此优惠的个人所得税。

除了三党最高领导人的意见之外，人民公正党总财政梁自坚也在接受记者访问时提到，我国财政当前最重要的是制度性改革，例如如何对抗贪污腐败，但在这份预算案当中，他却完全看不到丝毫制度性改革的影子，只有一些减税糖果。

梁自坚也表示，东马沙、砂两州的发展问题完全没有受到正视；峇都区国会议员蔡添强则批评这份预算案显然无意拉近东、西马的经济发展差距，尤有甚者，预算案拨款发展的基础建设只集中在某些地区，根本没有任何全面提升沙巴、砂拉越二州人民生产力、经济发展的政策。

回教党瓜拉雪兰莪国会议员则认为，纵使纳吉表明要朝高收入国家目标发展，但是我国整体经济却显然正在走老路，他说：“这（预算案）看起来我们正在走回依靠天然资源如石油、棕油、橡胶、矿产的发展模式，高收入经济体是关于服务业，即使是制造业也是高收益、高价值产品。”

 

 

What Independence?

 

On this August 31^st, we shall celebrate the 52^nd anniversary of the British leaving our country. I did not say we are celebrating the 52^nd anniversary of our independence. This is because our people have not enjoyed real liberty, democracy or justice. Without liberty, democracy or justice there is no independence. 

 

In these 52 years the oppressive rule of a foreign colonial master has been replaced by the oppressive rule of a local master. They rule with an iron fist. They use the same instruments of oppression as the British did. They use the ISA, the Sedition Act, the Printing Press & Publications Act and detention without trial. The freedom of assembly, the freedom of expression and the freedom to live a life of dignity free from fear and oppression are illusions.

 

In these 52 years the yoke of a foreign colonial master has been replaced by the yoke of a local master. They use the same policy of “divide and rule”. They survive by feeding off racialism. They survive by fostering divisiveness. They survive by preaching religious intolerance.

 

What Teoh Beng Hock died for

 

Malaysians will not know real independence, will not be free and will not enjoy democracy unless this oppressive regime is thrown out. They must be thrown out just like Teoh Beng Hock was thrown out from the 14^th floor of the MACC office. We must not forget Teoh Beng Hock. We must not forget what he stood for. More importantly, we must not forget what he died for. He lived to help Malaysians in the struggle against corruption and oppression. He died so that our struggle can live. He died fighting for justice.

 

What Justice?

 

Without justice we cannot say we have liberty or democracy or equal rights. We cannot say we have liberty or freedom when Tamil schools have no tables and chairs. When in Sabah and Sarawak, schools have no electricity. A child that is illiterate is not free. We cannot say we have democracy or equal rights for women, when a Chinese girl with 9A1s cannot enter a university. A girl without a job has no rights. We cannot say we have freedom of choice when a man cannot feed his family. A starving man has no choice.

 

Liberty, democracy and freedom are meaningless words when there is no justice. Justice is political liberty. Justice is economic independence. Justice is equality. There is no political liberty when you vote out of fear. There is no economic independence when you give your support out of fear your son’s scholarship will be withdrawn or your license will be withdrawn. There is no freedom of choice when you elect a party out of fear for your contract or your business. This is what has been happening in these 52 years and this will continue if we do not act. There will be many more Teoh Beng Hocks and many more Port Klang Free Zones if we do not stop them.

 

What One Malaysia?

 

Najib says he wants One Malaysia. Teoh Beng Hock’s death has shocked us back to reality. We cannot just listen to rhetoric. We must look at the deeds. When we look, we see what has been done, is a far cry from what has been said. The Perak government has been stolen from its people. Najib has now declared his intention to grab the Selangor government.

 

The MACC is a tool. It is used to de-stabilize the Pakatan Rakyat government. Teoh Beng Hock was interrogated throughout the night. He was grilled for buying RM2,400 worth of Malaysian flags. No one has been   grilled when PKFZ loss RM12.6 billion. The MACC officers are raiding the Pakatan Exco members’ office so often they are becoming fixtures. Cars and cows and Malaysian flags have become a fixation of the MACC. MACC has not shown the same enthusiasm when it comes to BN assemblymen who used up their annual allocation of RM500,000 in 2 months before the general elections. The MACC has also not shown any interest in the trips by the former chief minister and his family to study the river system in Disney Land. There is no investigation into how the former chief minister can afford to purchase a multi-million ringgit mansion that is beyond the means of a chief minister’s salary.     

 

Barisan Nasional machinery is now on the move. Books attacking Anwar Ibrahim and Khalid Ibrahim are being distributed. The authors of these books are sowing the seeds of hatred and contempt. They desecrate the Hindu’s sacred cow in a protest filled with bigotry. They protest against a Hindu temple built 150 years ago when the area was a plantation that today, just like its devotees, the estate workers, had been left behind by development. They have forgotten Muslims were invited to practice their religion amongst the people of Yathrib. They are beating the drums of race and religion and the tone is becoming harsher with each beat.

 

The people must now decide. There cannot be any fence sitters. There is no middle ground.

 

When Teoh Beng Hock was thrown out, the people of Malaysia was thrown together with him into the sea of political troubles. Whether Malaysia will sink or swim is now up to the people. The people must decide once and for all what is right and what is wrong. There cannot be a neutral ground.

 

Dante said:

 

“ The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of moral crisis.”

 

Today in Malaysia there is no place for neutrality. Malaysians must make their choice now.

 

If we want to know what is evil and what is right, we must use our moral compass. It is only when we know the direction where justice lies can we know where we must stand. Do we want to choose liberty and justice which are always right or do we want to choose corruption, hatred, arrogance and oppression which are always wrong? The choice is clear. Every Malaysian must make his stand.

 

When you stand for liberty we stand with you.

 

I want to tell you that when you stand for liberty, we will stand with you. When you defend democracy, we will be your shield. When you fight for justice, we will be your sword. We will always be with you.

 

They assaulted Anwar Ibrahim. They threw him in jail for 6 long years. They call him a traitor and worse. But Anwar will always be here to fight for you.

 

They hounded and harassed Lim Kit Siang. They detained him in Kamunting. But Lim Kit Siang will always be here to stand by you.

 

They attacked Tok Guru Nik Aziz and try to humiliate him. But Tok Guru Nik Aziz will always be here to protect you.

 

We have been tested. They have thrown everything they have at us but we are still standing and we are still here.

 

We were here in November 2007 when a sea of yellow marched for a free and fair election. This was BERSIH. We were here in December when thousands in orange marched for equality. This was Makal Sakthi. This was the ripple that started the tsunami. Barisan Nasional was swept out of 5 states. Since then Barisan Nasional has become more extreme in their policies. They have become more brutal with the people.

 

When we Hope

 

So on 1^st August, the lovers of justice and liberty marched again. Again Barisan Nasional responded with violence and brutality. 638 people including women and children were arrested. Despite the police shutting down the city, despite the many road blocks and barricades, despite the arrest of those wearing black, the number who succeeded in gathering far exceeded my expectations. But the size of the gathering cannot be bigger than my hope for Malaysia. My hope is for every one that braved the tear gas and water cannons there will be many thousands more. We want hundreds of thousands to march with us. We will march from under the shadow of fear into the light of justice. My hope is that the flame burning in each who gathered that day will kindle the hearts and minds of many thousands more. Malaysians will find the courage to stand up for principles and convictions. We must stand up for what is right.

 

This is my hope and this is the hope of all Malaysians. Truth, love and justice will prevail over the forces of hate and oppression. This will only happen when the silent majority refuses to remain silent anymore. This will only happen when the voice of the majority is finally heard. We must be confident that oppression and corruption cannot endure. We must take comfort that truth and justice will always prevail. But this can only be achieved if we fight for it. We must fight today for a better tomorrow.

 

Looking Back in the Future

 

Do not let our children look back and say that these are dark days. Let them say that these are great days. These are the most glorious days that our country ever had. These days will be remembered as the days when we were called, we answered. We stood up. We stood together shoulder to shoulder irrespective of race or religion. We fought and we prevailed. Each of us played our part according to our strengths. Our children and their children will look back on these days and celebrate it as the days we became ONE NATION.  These days will be etched in our Nation’s history as the days we won over injustice and oppression. These will be the days we celebrate THE TRUE MERDEKA.

 

Thank you, Xie xie , vanakam.

 

William Leong Jee Keen

29^th August 2009.

      

              

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            

 

 

 

            

STORM IN A BEER CUP AND THE NEED FOR A MALAYSIAN RENAISSANCE

 

Poisoned Minds

Racism and religious intolerance have been fed into the blood stream of Malaysians for so long that all of us are so poisoned in our thinking that even those acting with the best of intentions find it difficult to see the woods from the trees; between law enforcement and law making, between legislative policies and social or religious concerns.

The recent comments by the Selangor State Executive Council member Hassan Ali of his fellow Pakatan Rakyat Executive Council member, Ronnie Liu on Shah Alam Municipal Council enforcement personnel seizing and confiscating beer sold by a convenience store is a case in point. Hassan Ali said that PAS Selangor supported banning the sale of alcoholic drinks in convenience stores in Muslim areas especially Shah Alam.  He also said PAS would come out with its draft by-laws governing alcohol sales in the State.

The statements show the urgent need for us Malaysians to be aware of this sub-conscious racial discrimination and religious intolerance poison in Malaysians and the dire need for Malaysians to cleanse and detoxify ourselves so as to stop looking at every issue from the perspective of race and religion, imagined or otherwise.  There is a need for a Malaysian renaissance of our views, our values and our mindset.   

 

Law Making and Law Enforcement

There are clear laws relating to the manufacture, distribution and selling of beer and liquor. Alcohol abuse like smoking cigarettes are valid social concerns. Undoubtedly they are religious concerns because all religions teach us to respect our own bodies and take care of our health. However, not all laws and not all concerns are due to race or religion.

The laws governing the powers of the Local Government Agencies are clear. There is no law prohibiting the sale of beer by convenience stores. There are laws governing the sale of alcohol and liquor but the sale of beer is not included as the alcoholic content of beer is lower than the prescribed limit of alcohol.

The enforcement unit of the Shah Alam Municipal Council is not empowered to make laws and regulations. They only have the power to enforce the existing laws and regulations. There is no law prohibiting the convenience stores from selling beer.  There are however, Syariah law governing Muslims from consuming alcohol.  However, the enforcement officers of Local Councils do not have jurisdiction to enforce Syariah law and certainly not against non-Muslims.  Therefore, the Shah Alam Municipal Council was wrong to confiscate the beer from the convenience stores.    

 

Legislative Policies and Social Religious Concerns

Hassan Ali in saying that PAS supported the banning of alcoholic drinks in convenience stores in Muslim majority areas ought to have also mentioned that he has been elected not only to represent Muslims but also all Malaysians irrespective of race or religion.  There are many other quarters, Christians, Buddhists, Hindus and social organizations that are concerned about the ill effects of beer drinking and he should have sought their views and give voice to their concerns.  Hassan Ali ought to have articulated their concerns also.

There is a difference between concerns and laws. For concerns to be turned into law, the laws should be amended before enforcement agencies act to prohibit convenience stores from selling beer. Whether alcohol should be banned should be debated by all Malaysians, by those who drink and those who do not. In doing so, we should not reinvent the wheel because Selangor is not the first and certainly not going to be the last society having to deal with alcohol.  We can look and learn from history of other societies and countries.     

 

Prohibition

The first half of the 20^th century saw periods of prohibition of alcoholic beverages in several countries:

·        1900 to 1948 in Prince Edward Island and for shorter periods in Canada

·        1914 to 1925 in Russia and Soviet Union

·        1915 to 1922 in Iceland (though beer was still prohibited until 1989)

·        1916 to 1927 in Norway (fortified wine and beer also prohibited from 1917 to 1923)

·        1919 in Hungary

·        1919 to 1932 in Finland

·        1920 to 1933 in United States of America

In the United States the manufacture, sale and transportation of liquor was made illegal on 16 January 1920 pursuant to the 18^th Amendment to the US Constitution and clarified by the Volstead Act that stated beer, wine or other intoxicating malt or vinous liquor meant any beverage that was more than 0.5% alcohol. The Act stated that owning any item designed to manufacture alcohol was illegal and it set specific fines and jail sentences for violating Prohibition. Prohibition was meant to reduce the consumption of alcohol to curb crime and corruption, solve social problems, poverty and improve the economy.

The Prohibition was ineffective. It caused an explosive growth in crime and increased the amount of alcohol consumption. Drinking went underground and illegal “speak-easies” mushroomed all over the country. Bootleggers smuggled liquor from overseas, stole it from government warehouses and produced their own. The illegal liquor business fell into the control of organized crime. Al Capone was perhaps the most infamous Bootlegger during the period known as the Roaring 1920s.

Instead of reducing crime, Prohibition saw the crime rate skyrocketing with a nearly 78% increase. It saw serious crimes such as homicides, assault and battery increased by 13 %. There were gruesome shoot-outs as gangs fought for control over the profitable illegal business. The number of Federal convicts increased 561%. Consumption of liquor instead of reducing increased. Seldom had a law been more flagrantly violated. Not only did Americans continue to manufacture, barter and possess alcohol, they drank more of it.

Prohibition was a dismal failure and it was repealed on 5 December 1933 by the 21^st Amendment to the US Constitution repealing the 18^th Amendment. It was the first and only time in US history that an Amendment has been repealed.

 These countries that have experimented with Prohibition have now come to realize that not all social concerns and society’s ills can be solved by making them illegal.   These societies learnt that education and voluntary temperance are more effective measures to counter alcohol abuse than by making the consumption of alcohol illegal. 

 

The Religious Looking Glasses

It is unfortunate that Hassan Ali looked at the problem solely through a pair of Muslim’s spectacles.  The problem is wider than that and the evils of alcohol abuse affect all races, followers of all the various faiths, and even the atheists and agnostics.   His statement has caused a perception that has turned the problem from a social concern to a struggle between Muslims and non-Muslims.  It has raised the mistaken belief by non-Muslims that Islam does not tolerate the existence of other religions.  Based on what I know of Islam, this is not true.   Allah decreed in the Quran, Surah 2 verse 256:

“Let there be no compulsion in religion;

Truth stands out clear from Error;

Whoever rejects Evil and believes in Allah;

Hath grasped the most trustworthy handhold, that never breaks.

And Allah heareth and knoweth all things.”

 

According to the notes to this verse, compulsion is incompatible with religion because (1) religion depends upon faith and will, and this would be meaningless if induced by force, (2) Truth and Error have been so clearly shown by the mercy of Allah that there should be no doubts in the minds of any person of goodwill as to the fundamentals of faith, (3) Allah’s protection is continuous and His Plan is always to lead us from the depths of darkness into the clearest light. 

There are many examples during the lifetime of the Prophet that shows the tolerance of Islam for other religions.  Islam recognizes that there is a plurality of religions on this earth and give the right to individuals to choose the path which they believe to be true.   Religion is not to be and was never forced upon any individual against his own will and there are many examples of this in the life of the Prophet and in the verses of the Quran.

Under the present oppressive and repressive rule of UMNO, it is important for Malaysians to resist oppression and repression. It has always been the central approach of Islam to resist all forms of oppression. It is this approach that is the foundation of Islamic religious tolerance.  To succeed in this struggle against oppression, mere tolerance by Muslims of other religions is not enough. Muslims must unite with Malaysians of all religions and work towards the common goal of justice, mutual respect, equal treatment and robust pluralism.

 

Malaysian Renaissance

After 52 years of the myth of racial inferiority of the Malays, used as a leverage for special privileges which in actual fact are enjoyed by a select few, the Malays, instead of enjoying God’s gift of a life to be lived with dignity, are trapped in the bondage of a dependency on UMNO chained by subsidies, loans, scholarships and handouts. Those brave enough to dissent and dare to be independent are punished by having these forcibly taken away. We, Malaysians of all races must standup to liberate our fellow brothers from this bondage. To do so we need to combine into one the common strands of our different racial descent and to use the unique strengths of our diversity to forge a stronger bond.

In doing so, it is imperative that we Malaysians accept that the Islamic concept of Man and the concept of Man founded on the religions and traditions of Confucianism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity and the major religions practiced in this country share the basic fundamental ideas of the virtues and morality of mankind.  It is time to have a Malaysian renaissance where the growth, development and flowering of our Malaysian society is to be based on the common vision of the perfection for Mankind, imbued with truth and the love of learning, justice and compensation, mutual respect and forbearance and freedom with responsibility.  There is a need for the renewal of our faith and the assertion of our multiculturality as a Malaysian phenomenon not to be hidden away in shame but to be shown off to the rest of the world in pride. 

It is prayed that all Malaysians and in particular our Pakatan Rakyat state executive members will heed the call for a renewal of our values and to steel ourselves with the conviction that only a Malaysian renaissance will set us free.

 

William JK Leong
Ahli Parlimen Selayang

6 August 2009