Posts filed under 'General'
Malaysia, not truly Asia?
9 Dec 2007, 0306 hrs IST,Ketan Tanna,TNN
Last year, the Indian High Commission in Guyana published an advert in a local newspaper offering scholarships to ‘Children of the Diaspora’. An angry reader wrote in that the Indian government should surely know that while assistance to Guyana was welcome it should be on non-discriminatory grounds, regardless of ethnic origin. The spark ignited by so innocuous an offer of help illustrates how combustible is the race vs nation debate. Most recently, India was delivered a stinging slap in the face when it spoke up on behalf of the 1.8 million-strong ethnic Indian population in Malaysia and was told to Lay Off.
India has the third largest Diaspora in the world after Britain and China. These two countries have never fought shy of taking up cudgels on behalf of their scattered brood. When Indonesia under Suharto banned public displays of Chinese culture and asked its Chinese population to change their names to Indonesian ones to get citizenship, China broke off diplomatic ties for years. “The English too take care of their own across the globe, including in Australia,” says Jamia Millia vice-chancellor Mushirul Hasan. “India has taken the correct stand on Malaysia. Persons of Indian origin are culturally bound to us. We cannot wash our hands of them simply because they do not have Indian passports.”
In the past, too, India has spoken up–when Mahendra Chowdhary was deposed as prime minister in Fiji in 2000, New Delhi expressed its concern. But, equally, it has always worried about crossing the thin red line from concern to interference. A dithering that angers the Indian Malay. “If India does not protest against the unfair treatment of Malaysians of Indian origin do you expect Mongolia and China to do so on our behalf?” asks an indignant P Uthayakumar, legal adviser to the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) which is leading the movement. “For God’s sake, we in Malaysia have the closest links with India. If a wife is unfairly treated by her husband, she can only go to her parents. India must intervene because human rights have no boundaries.”
G Parthasarthy, former Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan points out that whenever there has been a massive violation of human rights of Indians, such as in Fiji, the Indian government has taken cognisance. “This has been our policy since the time of Jawaharlal Nehru,” he says. “The problem is that if we start making statements other countries can do so too when there are communal riots here. Therefore, we have to be objective.”
India’s early Diaspora has its roots in colonial oppression. In the 19th century, boatloads of indentured labour were forcibly transported to work on the rubber plantations of Malay. Today, the descendants of the boat people may not be watering rubber fields but their lot is still very much that of the marginalised migrant, they claim. Since its independence in 1957, Malaysia has powered ahead and is often held up as the exemplar of Muslim development. But for the Indians who make up a little less than 10 per cent of the population, prosperity has stayed stubbornly out of bounds.
Hindraf says that the job reservations for ethnic Malays effectively cut the Indians out leaving them to be “labourers, industrial workers, office boys, sweepers, beggars and squatters”. The only index on which ethnic Indians lead is suicides. The crime rate of the group is also shockingly high. The Tamil schools are largely dysfunctional. “The conduct of the Malaysian authorities has been particularly offensive,” says India’s former external affairs minister, Yeshwant Sinha. “Even the country’s official history starts with the 14th century after the last Hindu king converted to Islam. They want to obliterate their past.”
On November 25, nearly 8,000 Malaysians of Indian origin gathered in the shadow of Kuala Lumpur’s iconic Petronas Towers to demand equality. Instead they were brutally beaten with batons, bombed with tear gas and flung into jail. An anguished Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi wrote to Manmohan Singh urging him to intervene diplomatically. He did. Malaysia reacted swiftly. “This is Malaysia. We’ll deal with our problems and issues according to our laws. Other countries should be mindful of our rights,” said Syed Hamid Albar, Malaysia’s foreign minister.
“I can turn around and ask, what business was it of Malaysia’s to protest the Babri Masjid demolition or even the Danish cartoons of Prophet Mohammed,” rebuts Dr Subramanian Swamy, known for his efforts to improve Indo-Chinese relations in the Eighties. “Malaysia should be the last country to tell India to lay off.”
Those who advocate caution say that India cannot take on the burdens of its Diaspora, and that fighting for Malaysians of Indian origin will only open a Pandora’s box. After all, there are millions of Indians in Fiji, South Africa, and the Caribbean Islands. Others say that since India is quick to tom-tom the achievements of its Diaspora–V S Naipaul, Bobby Jindal, Sunita Williams –it should also look out for them. Moreover, since they are victims of colonialism, the government owes them the support of the mother country, says Ormila Bhoopaul, an activist lawyer of Indian origin from Guyana, who now lives in Canada. “What first needs to be acknowledged is that these PIOs were forced to leave, they were tricked into going by the British,” she says. “Why didn’t they all return? The reasons are many and when examined, they are not to be blamed for not returning. And the British must take some responsibility too.”
Hindraf still hopes that old blood ties will move the mother country. “Every few weeks a temple is being razed. Last year, 79 temples were demolished or faced legal action,” says Uthayakumar. “We are grateful that India has expressed concern. We hope now for more concrete action. India is a growing power. Malaysia is bound to listen.”
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Malaysia_not_truly_Asia/
articleshow/2607764.cms
Add comment December 9, 2007
An Indian thing
December 9, 2007
The rest of the world knows us from that great tourism tagline, ‘Malaysia, Truly Asia’. So why haven’t we truly embraced it ourselves?
CULTURE CUL DE SAC
By JACQUELINE PEREIRA
IT was a blazing hot day. I passed a truck parked by the roadside, and watched two busy cendol-men doling out ice-cold bowls to sweaty, thirsty people impatiently gathering around the truck. I was tempted, too.
After I had ordered a special with pulut, I watched as one of the two Indian men – the older one with short greying hair and a kindly face – pull up a stool near my table and begin to wash the growing pile of used bowls. His fingers were gnarled and, from the perspiration pouring down his face, you could see that he was well and truly wilting in the heat. Yet he diligently continued with his task of fulfilling his customers’ demands, without a moment’s respite.
Then a thought crossed my mind. Could he have been one of the thousands that gathered at the Hindraf rally, the peaceful demonstration-that-turned-violent? And rocked our nation once again. He was an Indian man, so I could not help but wonder…. I’m certain many Malaysians, after Nov 25, have looked at Indians from that day onwards with the same thought. That Sunday could be named, if one is in the mood for jokes, “The Day They Began to Watch the Indians”.
For years I have ardently avoided stereotypes: whether of gender, race or religion. Though they influence who we are, a person is surely so much more than a mere convenient categorisation. But you know the drill in our country. Every festival, the feel-good advertisements flood the print and TV media. A return to nostalgia is in order to whip up unity, and the three races are filmed living in picture-perfect frames. Every August, a row of pretty Malay, Chinese and Indian girls front magazine covers, putting forward a version of unity that most people consciously don’t feel or think about any more – if they ever did.
Much as the choice is ours to switch to another channel or pick up another magazine, the inescapable official tick boxes (and sometimes unofficial) never fail to remind us once of who we are in terms of race, religion, and gender.
Even after 50 years of nation building, much as we loathe to admit it, this country’s citizens remain divided. All well-meaning efforts to integrate seem to have reached an impasse. From a common binding language to an outfit that best represents our nation, we still can’t agree on a commonality that will bind us as one.
Once a young scion of a revered Italian fashion house, just before the brand’s fashion show in Florence, picked me out of a group of journalists and enquired, ever so politely, if I was from India. When I said I was from Malaysia, he burst into a spirited “Malaysia, Truly Asia”.
In my last column, I shared the journey of a 30-year-old friendship. I did not think it was necessary to mention my friend’s race, but she is not Indian. Browsing through quirky shops in one of Cochin’s atmospheric alleys, a fabric shop proprietor had this to say, when we divulged that we were from Malaysia: “Wow! You two are truly Asia.”
So, we have got a great tagline. Known around the world, and embedded in everyone’s mind – almost – when they think of Malaysia. Whether it is inadvertently or by design, I think it is the most honest appraisal of Malaysia. We are a nation made up of Asians. We are three very distinctive races living in one country. But, in the same way that the British and the Americans are separated by a “common” language, as they say, we are segregated by a “common” culture.
Perhaps what is required is to finally let go of our race and religious hang-ups, and genuinely celebrate our unity in diversity. We are, after all, Truly Asia. The tagline readily trips off the traveller’s tongue, so perhaps we Malaysians should finally embrace it, too.
I have always thought of myself as more Malaysian than Indian. My tastes vary and I readily delve into books, movies and music from around the world. Sure, I like my glittery saris, jasmine flowers and spicy curries. But I have never thought my race was a crucial part of my make-up.
But recent events, even if they were not meant to, have brought something else into focus – what it means to be an Indian in Malaysia (if you’re Indian) and how you see an Indian (if you’re not).
# People, places and perceptions inspire writer Jacqueline Pereira. In this column, she rummages through cultural differences and revels in discovering similarities.
Source: http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/
2007/12/9/lifefocus/19694609&sec=lifefocus
Add comment December 9, 2007
Hindraf fails to make headway
December 9, 2007
NEW DELHI: India has cold-shouldered the Hindu Rights Action Force by refusing to meet its leader P. Waytha Moorthy.
Indo-Asian News Service said Waytha Moorthy had to leave India without meeting any minister or official.
“There was no meeting with anybody from the External Affairs Ministry or anybody from the government,” an official source said.
Waytha Moorthy was in India before he headed to Geneva and Washington to drum up support from the international community on his claims that Indians in Malaysia were being ill-treated.
He only met senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L.K. Advani, who promised to lobby the Indian government to take up the issue.
he report said the Indian government has become more cautious after accusations by Malaysian authorities that Hindraf was linked to Sri Lanka’s Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a terrorist organisation that is banned in India and other countries.
Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee, when asked by journalists whether the Indian government was planning to take up the issue of the alleged link with LTTE, said on Friday: “A terrorist is a terrorist. He has no religion and his origins do not matter.”
Mukherjee said there were international conventions that governed how the issue of terrorism was tackled, and every government was committed to supporting it.
Mukherjee told the Indian Parliament last week: “We have friendly relations with Malaysia and we are in touch with the Malaysian authorities in the related matter.”
The minister stressed that the people of Indian origin in Malaysia are citizens of that country.
Waytha Moorthy had told the Times of India that the Indian bureaucracy made it difficult to meet the leadership.
He said he was looking for Indian support and India to pressure Malaysia to give them a better deal.
The newspaper said India was not going to give the protesting Malaysians more traction.
“This is clear from the recent actions of the government that they consider the protests to be part of an internal matter of Malaysia, because these were all Malaysian citizens.
“India will not place its relations with Malaysia on the line for them. This is a clear message. So even though there will be expressions of support for the protesters, the government will not be seen to be backing any group that might have sympathies with the LTTE.
“This will complicate its relations, not merely with Malaysia and Sri Lanka, but could prove to be a legal hot potato because LTTE is banned in India,” the newspaper said.
Source: http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Sunday/
Frontpage/20071209142956/Article/index_html
Add comment December 9, 2007
Samy Vellu: Indian community doing well
December 9, 2007
KUALA LUMPUR: The MIC president quoted hard figures yesterday to show that contrary to what Hindraf says, the Indian community is doing well.
Works Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said that close to 12 per cent of the working Indian population are professionals or are in managerial positions. And many more could join them, as 2,447 Indians have enrolled in public universities this year.
Samy Vellu was responding to questions on the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), and its allegations that Indians in the country were facing ethnic cleansing, after the opening of the International Convention of Nagarathars.
Some 650 Chettiars are attending the three-day conference.
Pressed to comment on whether he had made any effort towards a dialogue with the Hindraf leaders, Samy Vellu said: “I attempted on a few occasions to ask them to sit down and talk with us, but they do not want to. They have an agenda that is only known to them.”
Samy Vellu said that Malaysian Indians could gauge for themselves how far they have come with the support of the government.
He added that the Indian students who got placements in local universities this year represent six per cent of the 40,116 students who were enrolled this year.
Currently, Indians make up about eight per cent of the population.
And of the 847,900 Indians in the workforce, 46,054, or 5.12 per cent, are in the civil service. The unemployment rate among Indians is at 3.1 per cent. The national average is about 3.4 per cent.
“We are also getting some help from the government for the AIMST Medical College in Sungai Petani. Many schools have been built for the community and funds are continuously allocated to upgrade the older schools,” he said.
He added that the government’s commitment to the Indian community is clear from the fact that under the microcredit scheme RM40 million has been budgeted for loans to Indians.
“The aim is to create at least 5,000 Indian small businessmen under the Ninth Malaysia Plan,” he said, adding that many squatter families are now housed in government flats.
He explained that the decision was made to rent out the units for five to six years, rather than sell them immediately to the occupants, to prevent those eligible for the homes selling for a quick gain. After that, a decision will be made as to whether the occupants can buy the unit.
Commenting on the convention, he said Malaysians could learn a lot about entrepreneurship from the Chettiar community, as they are known to be business savvy.
The chairman of the Law Commission of India Dr Justice A.R. Lakshmanan and Indian High Commissioner to Malaysia Ashok Kantha also attended the opening of the convention.
Source: http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/
Sunday/National/20071209151959/Article/index_html
Add comment December 9, 2007
Malaysia’s industrial output grows most in 10 months
December 8, 2007
Malaysia’s industrial production grew at the fastest pace in 10 months in October as rising exports and domestic demand boosted manufacturing and electricity output.
Overall production at factories, utilities and mines increased 4.7 percent from a year earlier, accelerating from a revised 3.1 percent gain in September, the Putrajaya-based Statistics Department said in a statement Friday. Economists were expecting a 5 percent increase.
“The export figure was pretty encouraging,” said Chua Hak Bin, an economist at Citigroup Inc. in Singapore. “There also are signs the economy is picking up. Consumption investment remains pretty strong. It looks like the economy is weathering the threat of a U.S. slowdown pretty well.”
Southeast Asia’s third-largest economy expanded 6.7 percent in the third quarter, the fastest pace in three years, after the government raised spending and cut corporate tax to bolster consumption and investment. Malaysia is also counting on commodities and other shipments to Asian economies such as China to drive growth amid weaker electronics sales to the U.S.
China’s appetite for Asian exports has helped the region’s economies withstand a slowdown in the U.S., where the worst housing recession since 1991 is crimping demand.
Chinese demand
Malaysia’s exports expanded 14.3 percent in October as sales of palm oil and chemicals to China made up for a 12 percent drop in shipments to the U.S. Sales of electrical and electronics goods, which made up 43 percent of total exports in October, grew just 0.4 percent, the first increase in at least nine months.
Factory output by companies including Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd. and Unisem (M) Bhd. grew 4.6 percent in October, the biggest gain since December 2006.
Manufacturing accounts for more than 30 percent of Malaysia’s $149 billion economy, and manufactured goods make up almost four-fifths of the country’s overseas sales.
Higher manufacturing output was led by increased production of office and computing machinery and electronic valves and other components, the statistics department said.
Mining increased 3.8 percent, while electricity production gained 7.4 percent, the biggest increase in nine months.
Production rose 1.9 percent in the first 10 months of 2007 from a year earlier, as electricity output by Tenaga Nasional Bhd. and other power producers gained 4.1 percent, mining increased 3.2 percent, and manufacturing climbed 1.4 percent.
(Source: Bloomberg)
Source: http://www.tehrantimes.com/
index_View.asp?code=158721
Add comment December 9, 2007
Anti-govt. protest in Malaysian capital, nine held
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Kuala Lumpur (PTI): The Malaysian police on Sunday arrested nine people after protesters gathered here demanding “freedom of assembly” and accusing the government of rights abuses, a fortnight after the police crackdown on thousands of ethnic Indians who staged a rally against alleged mariginalisation.
A group of 50 people, including lawyers and activists, wearing surgical masks, staged a “Peace Walk” past Kuala Lumpur’s landmark Independence Square, to mark World Human Rights Day tomorrow but were stopped by over 300 policemen.
Local police chief Che Hamzah Che Ismail said eight people, including four lawyers, were detained for illegal assembly after defying an order to disperse, the state-run Bernama agency reported.
The protesters, who held banners that read “freedom of assembly” and “Government that abuses human rights is terrorist”, gathered in front of the Sogo Shopping Complex before walking to the Bar Council building, about 2km away.
The Bar Council, which represent some 12,000 lawyers, had earlier called of a planned march after it was denied permission by the police.
Another lawyer was detained when he tried to stop the police from tearing down banners at the Bar Council’s building. Accusing the police of high-handedness and of resorting to “bullying tactics,” Bar Council President Ambiga Sreenevasan told reporters: “This is a sad day for human rights in Malaysia.”
Justifying the police action, Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, who is also Internal Security Minister, said the Government does not practise double standard when taking action against law breakers even if they are lawyers.
“Even today I’ve been informed that police have arrested eight people. Even though they are lawyers, if they break the law, definitely action will be taken against them. “There is no favouritism whatsoever on this matter,” he told reporters after giving away prizes to golfers here.
Former deputy prime minister Anwar Irahim, who had criticised the Nov 25 crackdown on ethnic Indians, condemned the arrests as “scare tactics”.
“The law is being used in Malaysia to subvert freedom and to suppress the people’s fundamental democratic right to peaceful assembly,” he said in a statement.
Malaysia’s government as been shaken by recent street rallies, including one in early November when 30,000 demonstrators converged here calling for electoral reforms.
Thousands of ethnic Indians held a rally against alleged discrimination against the community that makes up eight percent of the population in the Muslim-majority country.
Source: http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/
000200712091865.htm
Add comment December 9, 2007
Hindraf not voice of majority, say prominent Malaysian Indians
Indo-Asian News Service
Kuala Lumpur, December 09, 2007
Prominent Malaysian leaders and lawmakers of Indian origin have disputed claims by the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) that it represents the ethnic Indians and have expressed fears that its campaign could hurt the community’s long-term interests.
One Indian origin leader has questioned Hindraf’s claims of leading a Gandhian protest on Nov 25, pointing out that stones were thrown during its protest rally that the police forcibly dispersed.
The Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), the oldest political party led by Samy Vellu, who is Minister for Works in Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi’s government, has said that it had been championing the cause of Indians while staying within the Malaysian system.
The Hindraf does not represent the views of the majority of Indians, said Social Strategic Foundation executive director Denison Jayasooria, adding that the organisation wanted to “trigger religious sensitivities by using words like ethnic cleansing”, The New Straits Times said.
“This is simply wrong. Their ploy will diminish the status of Indians,” Jayasooria said, alleging that the Hindraf’s motives were “far from the truth and questionable”.
He said Indians had to be cautious and not be exploited by these claims, which were “baseless”.
“I believe that Indians can distinguish between what is true and what is not.”
Jayasooria said the government had helped many Indians become successful through various opportunities.
“This clearly indicates that there are opportunities for Indians to progress in the country. This has been achieved by addressing problems through democratic principles.”
Asked how Hindraf’s claims had affected the Indian community, he said the government had responded by investigating its claims through organisations like the police and MIC.
“If Hindraf leaders claim to be followers of Gandhian principles, the act of throwing stones and opposing authority would not have happened.”
He said Malaysia was a proven model of a multi-racial democratic society that applied the due process of law and parliament to formulate laws and policies for its citizens.
“The Hindraf can destroy this process by taking the law into its own hands,” Jayasooria said, adding that the country had “no room for extremists”.
Indians in Malaysia, comprising mainly Tamil Hindus, form eight percent of the country’s 27 million population.
The MIC’s national co-ordinator P. Kamalanathan echoed Jayasooria’s sentiments that Hindraf’s motives were unfounded.
“Its leaders have disgraced Indians and the country. They have been ungrateful to our forefathers who worked hard to develop peace and unity in the nation.”
The Indian immigrants’ views have come forth even as Sultan of Selangor, member of the Malaysian royalty that assumes the Head of the State office by rotation, said he was “upset and angry” at the Hindraf’s campaign and its followers for carrying the portraits of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II.
The Hindraf staged a rally on Nov 25 to press for a lawsuit before the British court alleging that the present “discrimination” of the Malaysian Indians was because of the way they were brought to Malaysia during the British era.
Voicing his unhappiness at the actions of the Hindraf, the Sultan of Selangor said the rights body has incited hatred and damaged the country’s image by taking its campaign overseas.
“I am disappointed with what the Hindraf has done. I am upset. There are better ways of doing things,” said Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah.
He said he was “upset and angry” at the Hindraf for holding its “illegal” protest in defiance of the police and causing disruption to many in Kuala Lumpur.
On Hindraf supporters carrying banners and pictures of Queen Elizabeth II during the protest, he said: “Why were they displaying her pictures and asking her to intervene in Malaysia? They can always bring their case to the government,” he was quoted as saying in The Star.
Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com
Add comment December 9, 2007
Raja Nazrin’s keynote address at the National Economic Outlook Conference 2008/2009
KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY RAJA MUDA OF PERAK, RAJA NAZRIN SHAH
AT THE NATIONAL ECONOMIC OUTLOOK CONFERENCE 2008/2009
DATE: 28 NOVEMBER 2007 (WEDNESDAY), TIME: 10.00 AM
VENUE: HOTEL HILTON KL
“Fifty Years of Development: Lessons Learnt”
Ladies and Gentlemen:
1. I am delighted to be here this morning to speak at this National Outlook Conference, an event that is one of the high points in the nation’s economic calendar. The Malaysian Institute of Economic Research has served the nation well for over twenty years with its independent research, and it is only fitting that we recognise its many contributions. Independent research institutes have a very important role to play in modern societies. Their analyses and conclusions may not always receive universal agreement but divergent viewpoints can be useful in provoking healthy debate about issues of national importance They force us to think more deeply, more clearly and more creatively. They help us avoid the dangers of “groupthink”.
2. It is in this spirit that I turn to the subject at hand. Today, I want to exercise speaker’s licence and focus my address on issues of development and nationhood. I do this for the obvious reason that whether we can achieve our development goals hangs critically on whether we can remain one united and cohesive nation. The latter is a mantra that is constantly repeated but quite often construed and implemented in narrow and self-serving ways. I am of the view that we urgently need to re-evaluate our existing stereotypes and notions about development. I will draw attention to some concepts from the recent development literature that I believe are very relevant to us, with the hope that these can take root in discussions among scholars and policy-makers.
3. Let me start with the present state of development and then proceed to deconstruct it into its component parts. Malaysia today runs with the pack of middle income countries. With a 2006 GDP per capita measured in purchasing power terms of almost US$11,000, the country has a figure that is higher than Mexico and Turkey, two countries that are members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. At independence in 1957, Malaya was comparable with Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Ghana, Morocco and Senegal in terms of per capita income. Fifty years on, the country’s per capita income had increased six fold, to reach a level that is double that of Sri Lanka, three times that of the Philippines and Morocco and six times that of Ghana and Senegal. More importantly, there have been marked improvements in life expectancy, infant mortality, literacy, access to education, health services and in the incidence of poverty. The country has surpassed most of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals and, while there remains a great deal to be done, the UNDP accords the country a High Development Index.
4. All of this point to Malaysia being a development success story, and, not just from the viewpoint of our own policymakers but also from the international community. The standard reasons for this are an open economy, liberal foreign investment policies, high savings and investment rates, prudent macroeconomic management, pro-private sector policies, and high public investments in education, infrastructure and rural development. These days it also seems relevant to point out an often taken-for-granted fact: Malaysia has always had a civilian government and no military presence in domestic politics or the economy. If nothing else, this alone should be a strong selling point for the country. Overarching all of these reasons is the fact that development has taken centre place on the national agenda for the greater part of the last half-century and produced undeniable results. The relative lack of civil conflict has enabled the focus on development to take place, while development has, in turn, had a generally calming effect on the various social groups.
5. The question as to why some countries grow rapidly while others grow slowly or not at all constitutes one of the most important in all of economics. It is a question that has kept economists busy for decades, and, I expect, will continue to do so for some time yet. It is now a cliché to talk about the growth performance of the East Asian economies during the post-Second World War period, first that of Japan then those of the newly-industrialising tiger economies, namely South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. These countries had grown at an average of 6% per annum in per capita terms over a sustained period. To put things in perspective, compare this with the growth records of the leading economies during the Industrial Revolution in the late eighteenth and nineteenth century (around 1-1.5%) or the growth records of the advanced capitalist economies during the first three decades of the post-Second World War period (around 3%). These East Asian countries underwent the fastest economic transformation in human history, to be surpassed only by developments in China and India in recent years. The spectacular economic performance of these countries naturally generated a lot of interest in the so-called East Asian model of development, and in particular on the extent to which this model could be replicated in other countries.
6. In two very important respects, Malaysia is a more suitable model for other developing countries than the East Asian tiger economies. This is because Malaysia shares features with many countries in Asia, Africa and, to a lesser extent, Latin America that makes it an ideal case study.
7. First, Malaysia is a resource-rich country, in contrast to the East Asian tiger economies that are resource-poor. It might seem intuitive to some that Malaysia’s success was a forgone conclusion given its rich resource base. But other countries have large resource endowments as well and they have not enjoyed the same result. Many resource-rich developing countries have found natural resources to be a curse rather than a blessing. They have experienced little more than short-lived resource booms, their economies expanding rapidly while resources last, but contracting once these have been exhausted. Some have succumbed to Dutch disease, with its attendant ills of accelerating inflation, declining export of manufactures and rising unemployment. Many have squandered their resource riches on wasteful expenditures. Malaysia remains one of the few that have managed to transform its rich natural resource base into sustainable development. Resource rents were productively invested in primary and manufactured exports, in improving infrastructure and in strengthening the human capital base. Within a span of 50 years, the economy underwent significant structural transformation, from one that was heavily dependent on primary commodity exports to one that is more broad-based. Gaining a better understanding of how this was achieved is not only of academic interest to scholars but should be of relevance to policy-makers in other countries.
8. Second, Malaysia shares with many countries in the developing world in having a multi-ethnic, multi-religious population. This is in contrast to the East Asian societies that are largely homogenous. Governing a country that is multi-ethnic and multi-religious is very different from governing one that is homogeneous, particularly in a society like Malaysia’s where ethnic groups differ sharply in occupational pattern, income level, geographic location, culture, language and appearance. This makes promoting national unity of utmost importance for continued political stability and economic progress. The Malaysian experience is a classic illustration that development in multi-ethnic societies consists of more than just unleashing market forces. It demands economic growth that is broadly shared among all citizens, as well as the necessary institutional environment to help bring that about. In such a situation, the state has an important role to play in ensuring an equitable distribution of wealth and income between people, between groups of people and between regions. In countries where it has worked well, the result has been a developmental state that has promoted industrial transformation and stimulated economic development. When it has not worked well, state intervention has verged on the predatory, extracting resources and providing nothing much of value in return.
9. History seems to have had a very pervasive hold over some countries by trapping them in an endless cycle of recrimination and violence. Certainly, colonialism, foreign invasion and occupation have had an extremely negative impact on development in much of the Third World. It would take a brave soul to argue otherwise. I cannot, however, come to terms with – and, indeed, I am not convinced at all about – the idea of historical inevitability. As bad as it may have been, colonialism has not held back economic progress in all cases. We forget that both Korea and Taiwan were also colonised, but they still managed to make significant economic leaps. In Malaysia, the colonial legacy left the country with some very strong positives, including the legal system, an efficient civil administration and the English language.
10. If development is not a random occurrence but the result of direct human intervention, it becomes of critical importance to find out why some countries have been able to pursue sound economic policies with greater success than others. Since humans are involved, culture would seem to be a natural candidate. Culture has many definitions but can be seen as the shared values, norms, meanings and behaviours that characterise a society. It can affect development through its impact on organisations and production, on attitudes towards consumption and work, on the ability to create and manage institutions, and on creating bonds of trust through social networks. I will expand on the last of these shortly. But exactly how important culture is to the development process is a question with many answers. Much depends on how it is thought to function. Some subscribe to the functionalist or consensus school. Others prefer Marxist conflict-driven interpretations of culture. Yet others adopt a post-modern view of culture that sees society as the product of open, negotiable and changeable social interactions.
11. The problem with culture is that some elements of it change over time, while others can remain firmly entrenched. In many respects, there can be no economic change without there being at least some degree of cultural change. Take as an example the multinational companies that located themselves in Malaysia’s free trade zones in the mid-1970s and began the process of industrial transformation. These depended on large numbers of young Malay females many of whom were from rural villages and thus traditional social structures. This required breaking strong social values that favoured marriage and household work and disapproved of the unsupervised movement of females to and from the workplace. That this occurred to a significant extent – at its height, females accounted for 75% of electronics, and over 90% of textile, employment – meant a measure of social adaptability and dynamism. This, in turn, allowed rural families to enjoy lessened dependency, higher productivity and additional source of incomes.
12. Many middle-income countries are now focused on human capital development, entrepreneurship and scientific and technological innovation, and Malaysia is no different. The question, however, is whether these can be standalone propositions. Can entrepreneurs, scientists and technologists be nurtured without an enabling political, social, economic and cultural environment? Can they flourish in the presence of perverse incentives and disincentives? The answer is obvious: they cannot. They cannot be removed from how society functions, from the societal norms and values at play, and from how state and private institutions counteract or reinforce these norms and values. Human capital development without the right environment is futility in itself. There are countries today whose citizens are highly educated and whose scientists and engineers are at the leading edge in their fields but who want nothing more than to leave their countries. Countries must change in line with the aspirations of their citizens or they risk losing their best and brightest.
13. It is time that we reunite these disparate parts into our development story. Until we merge the economic discourse of development with the socio-political setting in which societies are embedded, we will tend to underestimate what needs to be done and overestimate our capacity to do it. We will develop selective memory, remembering only results but not causes, only gains but not costs. The inability to reduce the development process to a neat set of propositions or equations will no doubt put some off. Academic journals might be reluctant to publish cross-disciplinary studies. But unless we are prepared to step outside of the boundaries of traditional academic disciplines, it is unlikely that that we will be able to conceive a clear and undistorted picture of development’s prerequisites.
14. In earliest development thinking, physical capital was seen to be the catalyst for development. The Harrod-Domar model, for example, saw growth as simply the function of savings (which was equal to investment), multiplied by the productivity of capital. There has therefore been a central preoccupation with securing the financial resources to develop. Notwithstanding the fact that it was introduced as early as Adam Smith, human capital then became the centrepiece of development. Practice though may differ from principle and some countries loudly and proudly trumpet their human capital policies but still exhibit strong physical investment-bias. With the far-reaching work of sociologists such as James Coleman, Robert Putnam and others, there has been another quantum leap in our understanding of the software of development, and that element is social capital.
15. Social capital refers to the organisations, networks and institutions that allow citizens of different backgrounds to act collectively in the national interest. As Putnam nicely puts it, “Just as a screwdriver (that is, physical capital) or a college education (that is, human capital) can increase productivity (both individual and collective), so too social contacts affect the productivity of individuals and groups”. It fosters trust and cooperation and is essential to all kinds of economic transactions, especially long-term investments and efforts to raise human capital and productivity. Researchers have found other significant positive externalities, such as lower crime rates, improved child welfare, better public health, and lower rates of corruption and abuse of power. Thus, the economic benefits of social capital, and, conversely, the costs of social division, can thus be much higher than anyone expects or believes.
16. Social capital manifests itself in four ways. First, it can take the form of organisations such as associations, clubs and community groups. These promote collective action and esprit d’corps based on common goals and objectives. Much care is needed to ensure that social institutions do not, wittingly or unwittingly, promote social exclusion and discrimination rather than social cohesion. The unwavering aim should be to establish organisations that transcend ethnic, religious and cultural boundaries, promote social contacts and create conditions for reciprocity and trust.
17. Second, social capital is represented by the vertical and horizontal networks of relationships among and within citizens of different ethnic, religious and territorial groups. These networks are supposed to lead to bonding and bridging but they may again defeat the purpose if they are not inclusive in nature and are instead used to pursue narrow sectarian interests. The emphasis must therefore be on increasing opportunities for bonding and bridging in residential neighbourhoods, classrooms and the workplaces, all with the understanding that more cultural mix is better.
18. Third, social capital is embodied in official institutions such as political parties, the legislature, judiciary and civil service. Douglass North, Dani Rodrik and William Easterly have all argued that institutions determine the capacity of countries to pursue their collective interests. They are responsible for formulating and implementing policies and laws that affect all groups and these can either promote or penalise good socio-economic behaviour.
19. Fourth, social capital takes the form of synergism or co-operation between state institutions and non-governmental networks. There can probably be no higher expression of trust and confidence than governments working alongside community groups to reach target groups in the population.
20. Physical capital, human capital and social capital constitute the three prerequisites of development. At the end of the day, the difference between a fully functional state and a fully dysfunctional one may lie in nothing more than the quantity and quality of its social capital. How else do we account for economies that, in their early stages, had little physical infrastructure and not even skilled labour to speak of but which have demonstrated great economic dynamism? What would account for landlocked and/or otherwise isolated economies with widespread poverty but able to make the transition to high productivity and incomes? Good fortune? Maybe. I believe that shaping the right socio-economic environment is a very important task and that this does not lie entirely, or perhaps even mainly, in the economic domain.
21. We, in Malaysia, must seek to refine our development thinking. The development community should make social capital an integral part of its discourse. Interestingly, there are studies that show that social capital and institutional quality are related. A recent study by Easterly, Ritzen and Woolcock demonstrates that it is social cohesion that determines how effective institutions are and this, in turn, impacts the formulation and implementation of development policies. Together, social capital and institutional quality may determine our development headroom or how high we will be able to climb.
22. Malaysia has accomplished a great deal over the past 50 years. The next 50 years will be equally, if not more, challenging. Policies that have served us well in the past are unlikely to work in the future. Malaysia today finds itself squeezed between the low-cost economies of China and Vietnam and the high-technology economies of Japan and South Korea. Malaysia’s comparative advantage in the export of manufactured labour-intensive products is fast eroding. Nothing less than the most competitive, innovative and flexible responses are required. To keep internationally competitive, the country needs to take a big step up the technological ladder by moving into high-technology and knowledge-intensive industries. It is well understood that Malaysia’s past growth was driven mainly by large increases in the use of labour and capital inputs. Future growth will have to come from productivity gains and technological breakthroughs. This in turn requires the country to vastly improve its human capital base by investing heavily in training and education, and promoting research and development. Economic policies must be aimed at nothing less than performance. Economic management must be driven by nothing less than competence. In this environment, the lack of social capital and cohesion will be ever costlier to nations.
23. Throughout history it has been crises that have most often driven change. I believe this will not be the case for Malaysia. I believe that in facing future challenges we will demonstrate both pragmatism and fairness.
Updated: 04:02PM Wed, 28 Nov 2007
Source: http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=20094
Add comment November 29, 2007
The broom blunder
Radzuan Halim
To make punishments efficacious, two things are necessary; they must never be disproportioned to the offence, and they must be certain. – Simms
The recent “award” of brooms to two local council heads had raised a right royal ruckus. The ordinary-looking brooms were handed over by Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo to two heads of district councils in Selangor which had failed to fulfil set financial targets.
The picture of Khir presenting a broom to the president of the Hulu Selangor District Council, an officer of the Malaysian Civil Service (MCS), created a furore. Public opinion was mostly against such awards. But there was a spirited defence of it as well.
Those against view the award as going against local traditions and beliefs. A broom supposedly symbolises a “sial” (accursed) instrument which can only bring bad luck and humiliation for the recipient. The contra view is that officers in government agencies had been getting the cushy treatment for too long, had not been performing to par and needed harsher treatment from their bosses.
The award apparently did not go down well with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who uncharacteristically stated his views in no uncertain terms. He was quoted as saying, “It should not have happened at all. Use more effective methods to enhance the performance of agencies.” He also regarded such awards as “demeaning… undignified… humiliating… (and) should be scrapped”. By the looks of it, that would be the first and the last of such broom awards in Malaysia. It may be noted that our prime minister was a senior MCS officer prior to his entry into full-time politics.
Some friends regarded the award as reflective of more important issues. A retired civil servant told me that he was deeply disturbed and had a sleepless night over it. He felt that such an award reflected the low status and esteem currently faced by the inner civil service, at least in the eyes of some senior politicians. According to him, in the old days MCS officers, even junior ones, were accorded great deference by the highest in the land.
Another friend, a Second World War buff, was of the view that dishing out such “punishment” to one’s own officers and men could spell trouble for the giver. He gave the example of General George S. Patton, commander of the US Third Army in France, a war hero and military strategist, who met his downfall after striking a combat-shocked soldier with his gloves.
Yet another friend, a lawyer with human-rights leanings regarded such awards to be contrary to the norms of common law. He asked me to look up the US Constitutional Amendment Article VIII, which reads, “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” Personally, I find describing the broom award as “cruel and unusual punishment” to be somewhat excessive.
From the above discussion, you can see that there is a lot more to the broom award than meets the eye. Let me share with you some of my research findings.
English: There are several expressions involving brooms. There’s the popularly used proverb “New brooms sweep clean”. This is a somewhat sarcastic description of newly appointed office-holders who start off enthusiastically. In time they become no better than their predecessors. “Swept her off her feet” refers to those whirlwind romances in which the girl is thoroughly impressed with a beau she’s only just met. “To sweep under the carpet” is to hide problems while keeping up appearances. Which reminds you of Enron and the subprime debacles – two financial disasters which were successfully kept hidden for extended periods.
Apart from the broom being used by English witches to fly about, the broom does not signify any real taboo nor an object of condemnation for Englishmen. William Shakespeare made only one mention of broom in his plays. It was uttered by Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
“… not a mouse
Shall disturb this hallow’d house.
I am sent with broom before
To sweep the dust behind the door”.
Chinese: I was told early in life that the Chinese do not sweep their houses on the first day of the Lunar New Year. This “pantang” is observed in order to avoid sweeping away the good luck coming with the onset of the new year.
One morning I accompanied a Chinese colleague, a senior executive, up the lift to his office. He was known to enjoy a flutter or two at the race course and this was a Saturday. At the lift, a cleaner was sweeping the floor and the broom ends just barely touched my friend’s well-polished shoes. His face turned slightly red and his steps became more brisk. When he reached the office he immediately called the building supervisor to issue a terse reprimand, “Why do you have to clean when people are walking in? Why do you not use vacuum cleaners? Out of date to use brooms!” It is clear that for the Chinese, the broom is not associated with good luck.
Malay: The controversial award involved Malays and so Malay cultural underpinnings are highly relevant here. It is common for Malays to refer to “broom” as a term of rebuke or worse. A married lady would confide to a female friend, Kalau dia berani kahwin lagi, aku kejar dengan penyapu! (“If that hubby of mine dares to take a young wife, I will chase him with the broom stick.”) Or an unwanted visitor is forewarned, Jangan tunjok muka, nanti kena penyapu. (“Don’t come around, you’ll get the broom treatment.”)
Given such invocation of “broom” in everyday language, it is not surprising for many Malays to regard the use of the broom as a source of humiliation and an affront to personal dignity for the recipient.
In looking up literary sources, I found many references to perahu (boats) but very little on penyapu. However, I managed to find a gem in MBRAS’ (Malaysia Branch Royal Asiatic Society) collection of Malay Proverbs and Sayings by E.S. Hose of the Malayan Civil Service (1933 ).
Penyapu diikat benang sutera (A broom tied up in silk). Explanation by author, “A beggar in finery.”
There you have it. One does not present a symbol of beggary to one’s own officer, what more to a senior officer of the crown.
Radzuan Halim, a former banker, teaches MBA and law students. Comments: feedback@thesundaily.com
Updated: 11:42AM Thu, 29 Nov 2007
Source: http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=20102
Add comment November 29, 2007
