Kash’s World

Shah Rukh Khan is a Datuk! So says Malaysiakini, which also goes on to say that there is an uproar over him getting a Daukship.

Apparently many people are asking what he did for Melaka to deserve this award. I’m sorry but they have got it all wrong. Where does it ever say that you must do something for the state to get an award? Puhleeeze, who are you guys kidding? Since when have Datukships been given out purely for service to the nation, state or the people?

Just take a look at the people who get Datukships from say Pahang and tell me what some of those fresh Datuks whose pictures appear in the papers in congratulatory messages (usually wannabes tycoons) have done for Pahang? Or whichever state handed them the Datukship. I bet Genting was the only place in Pahang some of them had visited prior to receiveing the Datukship. So who cares if Shah Rukh has never heard of Melaka.

Here are the correct points that will determine if Shah Rukh Khan deserves the Datukship.

1. There’s RM50K less in his account

2. He was able to get a Malaysian Prime Minister to do a Bollywood number during a private performance at a time when the rest of were stuck in a currency crisis.

3. He managed to win a medal for Malaysia at some event.

4. He is pals with an ex Finance Minister who has influence in the State Awards List.

5. He has links with the Underworld

Any one of these criteria makes you eligible for a Datukship in Malaysia and Shah Rukh can tick at least two. So stop complaining and just treat him like how we treat other Datuks in Malaysia … as in don’t lend him any money, keep your daughters / wives away from him etc.

By the way, anyone still have that nice pic of Dr Mahathir and Shah Rukh Khan jiggling away on a stage? I regret not saving that picture. it must be priceless now.

In mid July this year, I wrote a letter to Malaysiakini. The letter is reproduced below. It was a quick comment on the subjects of education and Tamil schools.

I meant to make my points and add to the debate there. What I didn’t know for some time was that a blogger had commented on my letter in his blog. This is what I love about the Internet as you never know where something you start can land up.

But because it was the Internet, that writer did not know me personally and therefore did not know where I was coming from when I made the points. That led him to make many erroneous conclusions. What he did was that he generally decided my world view and launched an attack on my views. Obviously the chances of him misunderstanding me were high and so he did just that.

Anyway, now that I have some free time, I am able to make a response. That will follow in the next post but rest assured I’m far from upset. Along with the many advantages of the Internet, you have to accept some of its failings. It also gives me a chance to clarify my position.

Read more

When I was about to enter Form 4, my father was transferred from Pahang to Melaka. That landed me in Malacca High School where I ended up as a member of the kumpulan jahat. Of course in those days (the seventies) what we did as budak jahat would probably still enable us to become prefects in schools today but I am digressing. This post is not about the state of discipline among students in Malaysian schools these days.

This is about one man who was my form mate in Malacca until Form 5. We hardly knew each other then and I am sure he won’t even remember me. But it has been my personal pleasure to see this man take his place in the national scene.

Despite what the media used to write about him back in the days when the DAP were portrayed as being closet communists, I had no doubt by then that he wasn’t a budak jahat.

I felt proud when he stood up for a 15 year old Malay girl and I cheered when he became the Chief Minister of Penang. Lim Guan Eng has gone on to become a people’s hero and yesterday, at Kelana Jaya Stadium, I finally heard him speak in public.

All the other speakers before Anwar spoke very well but Lim Guan Eng managed to outshine them all. He even held hisnown against Anwar. He has the style of the father but with the added command of Bahasa Malaysia. It’s an almost unbeatable combination and I am certain that he will conquer even greater heights in days to come.

Ordinary Malaysians must be wondering what the heck is going on. I’m not sure exactly who’s calling the shots in this administration but the sheer amount of flip-flops happening recently appears to confirm the widely held belief that a power struggle is in full blaze.

Or could it be that something unbelievable in Malaysia may have taken place? That some elements of our administrative and security forces may actually be out of control? And that they could be following the orders of some other group?

Consider the evidence

1. The order goes out to ban Malaysia-Today (a not so smart move if I may be the millionth person to say so). Anyway, the minister concerned who should have at least been in the know if he did not actually initiate this move did not know of the ban.
2. Then the order came to lift the ban which was a shock to RPK himself.
3. In between somewhere came advice so rare that no Malaysian appears to know when something similar had happened before. The Malaysian armed forces chief, someone normally so low profile that I bet nine out of ten Malaysians wouldn’t even know his name, weighs in with a dire warning that action was overdue to cool the situation down (my understanding of what he said).
4. The came the arrest of RPK; very deplorable but at least no one can say that it was unexpected given that some people just couldn’t figure out what to do with him. But Theresa Kok & the Sin Chew journalist? That was unbelievable and almost textbook stuff if someone wanted to stir things up instead of cooling the situation. I mean just what good can be achieved by holding them under ISA?
5. Already so confusing but wait, the situation becomes even more surreal. The Sin Chew paper’s reporter Tan Hoon Cheng’s release after less than 24 hours custody is very good news but, excuse me, you don’t arrest someone under the ISA for only 16 hours.
6. It‘s the reason given for Tan’s detention that really makes me wonder just what the heck is going on. Apparently she was arrested for her own safety. I’m not making this up, Malaysiakini reports our Home Minister as saying this. Tan must be the first person ever to be arrested under the ISA ‘for her own safety’. This makes me wonder why the Saiful guy was not arrested under the ISA. After all the police did say he was under police protection.

Sigh. I shiver to think of the reports that must be appearing in the international media. Luckily (for us I mean) Hurricane Ike is taking up lot’s of media time. Otherwise it would be worse, I tell you.

How most Malaysians want the overall situation to end is very easy to guess. But guessing how all this will really end up is much much more tricky.

I think however that it’s going to be the ordinary Malaysians that will decide how it pans out. If everyone stays calm but determined and continues to value harmony above selfish interests, nothing anyone can do will bring us back to the bad days of sixty nine.

No sir, we won’t play that game again. We’ve been down that road for forty years now and see where it got us. It’s time to try something different and radical. Like ‘Ketuanan Rakyat, for instance.

Until the day Anwar Ibrahim changed from being the Prime Minister in Waiting (that’s what a DPM is in Malaysia) to Malaysia’s number one criminal, I had never attended a people’s march.

But the injustice perpetuated against him was just too great to remain silent and that led me to attend Reformasi gatherings back then including the famous Kesas Highway mammoth rally and the infamous Black 14 one when Anwar was sentenced to jail.

So there was no way I could ‘close off’ this decade without attending the gathering last night (read Malaysiakini’s report) at Kampung Baru to mark the return of Anwar to active politics after the expiry of his ban which arose from that unjust convictions and subsequent jailing.

And it was there that I heard last night for the first time the term that I hope will put for rest once and for all the curse of racist policies that prevents Malaysia from moving forward in a meaningful way.

That term is ‘Ketuanan Rakyat’ (People’s Supremacy) and it is the bedrock of the new vision that Anwar espouses to bring to Malaysia.

He had to undergo severe beatings, be jailed for years and lose all his powerful positions before he could throw away his earlier principles and forge this new vision.

Welcome back Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, you’re now the Prime Minister In Waiting once again!

Back to the bad old days or a new dawn for Malaysia? I guess the Royals are struggling with this issue just as much as us commoners.

Take One

(Via Malaysiakini and Malaysia-Today)

Tengku Faris: Non-Malays should not seek equality

Kelantan Crown Prince Tengku Faris Petra said today that Malays had given into granting non-Malays citizenship and the latter should therefore not seek equality or special treatment.

He said this during his keynote speech at a forum titled “Malay unity is the core of national unity” organised by the newly formed Barisan Bertindak Perpaduan Melayu in Kuala Lumpur today.

Speaking to a crowd of about 1,000 people, Tengku Faris said the Malay rulers would be an umbrella to foster unity among all Malaysians, based on the Federal Constitution and the Rukun Negara.

“Therefore, the rakyat must unite and never raise issues regarding Malay rights and special privileges because it is a quid pro quo in gratitude for the giving in of citizenship (beri-paksa kerakyatan) to 2.7 million non-Malays into the Tanah Melayu federation.

“Thus, it is not appropriate for these other ethnic groups to have citizenship, only (later) to seek equality and privileges,” said Tengku Faris, who read from a 11-page prepared text.

However, the crown prince stressed that in an effort to unite the Malays, non-Malays also have rights that must be protected, such as in areas of religion.

As an example, Tengku Faris said non-Malays are allowed to practice their respective religions in peace. They must however do so in accordance with the law and “not be provocative towards Islam”.

“The Malay rulers are the head of the Islamic religion and Malaysia is a Islamic country (negara Islam), not secular. We have our own formula (as a country) which is different from others,” he added, drawing thunderous applause from the crowd.

‘Dominance’

He added that the effort to instil Malay unity and defend Malay special rights does not mean that other races would be ignored.

“In fact, if Malay rights and special privileges are taken care of and is not disturbed, it would ensure national harmony. It does not just benefit the Malays but all ethnic groups,” he said.

In his speech, Tengku Faris said the 12th General Election results have shown that the Malays are being “challenged” and thus Malays unity is of the outmost priority.

“The election results have shown that the Malays are disunited and facing other ethnic groups who are more dominant politically and economically,” he said.

As the constitution provides that the Malays are the natives (penduduk asal) of Malaysia, Tengku Faris said every Malay must defend the constitution and Islam and this can only be achieved through Malay unity.

“We have to make an effort to unite. Don’t spilt up. Avoid polemics that can distance us. Ideology (and) having different interpretations does not contribute to Malay unity.

“Discussing about polemics such as Islamic state, secular state, welfare state… confuses the people… Resulting from this confusion, Malays are becoming more disillusioned,” he added. – Malaysiakini, 12 April 2008

Take 2

His Royal Highness the Regent of Perak, Raja Nazrin :

“Malaysians of all races and religions need to believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that they have a place under the Malaysian sun.”

…sigh..

This is turning out to be a big year for democracy. Political tsunami is the perfect description of this phenomenon.

First it was Kenya but things got very messy there when the will of the prople was thwarted. Still, that did not stop Pakistanis from voting against an authoritarian government. The wave got even stronger by the time it reached our shores.

It now appears as if our ‘good friends’ the Zimbabweans (see some nice pics here) have found the moral courage to vote against one of the most despicable leader in the world: Robert Mugabe.

The opposition there had even more obstacles stacked against them. But I guess when things get bad enough, people will rise above their fears and say, “enough is enough.”

The final outcome is still not clear because victory is one thing. Getting a dictator to give up power requires a bit more than that as the Burmese learnt some years ago.

Let’s hope that things work out well there.

Robert Mugabe is runoured to have properties and business interests here. I hope he doesn’t come seeking refuge here if leaves Zimbabwe. Not unless he brings that timber back.

I’m sure you’ve noticed that people seem to smile more easily since last week. A friend swore the other day that everyone is behaving nicer. Drivers give way; they have happy faces and are more polite. It’s like a new country, he said.

My nephew turned up in my house for dinner a few nights ago and I was surprised to see him arrive with a cake box. For one moment I thought he had decided to get married or something.

Turned out he had come to celebrate the election results.

Suddenly Malaysia has become a wonderful place to live in. My friend thinks it’s a new country. Actually, it’s not. This is the Malaysia we once had many years ago. It’s finally back.

And I don’t want it to go away ever again. So please, can the new people we put in power please set aside petty issues and get down to work quickly?

Haris Ibrahim believes that the election results are a victory for the Bangsa Malaysia concept. I agree.

But there are some who don’t quite understand the concept. Like the person who sent me a message on Facebook.

Some months ago I created a ‘Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia!’ group on Facebook and I guess the person joined the group without quite realising what it was. Anyway the person wised up around election time and sent me the message below. My reply is lower down.  

MESSAGE FROM A MALAYSIAN

Hi,

Therefore, please stop creating racial tension, and please let us live in peaceful harmony. We have come this far and don’t destroy Malaysia just to prove a point.

MY REPLY

Thank you for your comments and views. I have always believed that consultation and open discussion will lead to better understanding.

While I respect your views and understand where they are coming from, I must say that I have a different understanding.

We may have been an example of racial tolerance a long time ago when the world was very different. Back then, most nations had people from one ethnic background or religion. If you were to look around today, you will see that the world has changed a lot since then. Many countries offer far better examples of harmony and peace among people of differing backgrounds.

Countries like UK and US and many other countries have welcomed peoples of different backgrounds into their lands. Today, Obama is running for president and even Malaysians who have migrated elsewhere have reached the top of government posts in their adopted lands. An Indian who migrated from India is today the governor of Louisiana.

With warmest regards and respect for your views

Raja Petra Kamarudin, the champion of justice in this country and the man most responsible, after Anwar Ibrahim, for creating the tempest that shook Malaysia on March 8, 2008 has issued a caution to the wining parties.

“So remember who put you where you are today. Remember who gave you your job. The rakyat can hire and the rakyat can fire. We, the rakyat, made you and we, the rakyat, can break you. Just remember that and with God as our witness we shall not fail to do that if you fail to do what you promised to do.“

His call will resonate with a lot of people. I’m pretty sure that many people were stunned by what they pulled off on Saturday and may understandably worry whether they had pushed too far into the unknown by handing four state governments to a new coalition. There’s also no denying that even the victors were not prepared for the scale of victory

In that respect, his advice is well meant and timely.

Even more so is his call for an Ombudsmen committee to oversee the governance in Barisan Rakyat territories. I fully support his call. Personally, I also feel that RPK should be on that committee.

But even if he is not, I have no doubt that he will be keeping a very close eye on those in power there. That should keep them on their toes. By now they would have seen ample proof that RPK will not close one eye or look the other way, no matter who is involved.