Assalaamu'alaikum Warahmatullaahi Warabarakaatuh.
Dalam lawatan saya ke United Kingdom baru-baru ini saya berkesempatan bertemu dan menyampaikan ucapan kepada pelajar-pelajar Malaysia di London di dalam majlis anjuran UKEC pada 9hb April, 2011. Ucapan penuhnya telah saya paparkan dalam pos blog sebelum ini.
Pada keesokan harinya, 10hb April, 2011, saya telah bertemu dengan pelajar-pelajar Melayu yang sedang mengadakan mesyuarat perwakilan KELAB UMNO bahagian United Kingdom dan Eire yang dihadiri oleh wakil-wakil dari cawangan-cawangan KELAB UMNO di sana.
Dalam perjumpaan saya dengan UKEC hanya 2 soalan telah dikemukakan oleh seorang pelajar dan seorang dewasa yang bekerja di London yang turut hadir dalam majlis itu. Saya diberitahu banyak soalan mengenai ekonomi, rasuah dan perlembagaan telah dikemukan kepada penceramah-penceramah dan peserta majlis dialog yang turut dihadiri oleh tokoh-tokoh dari ISIS, MACC, Parti-Parti Pembangkang dan Mantan Hakim Mahkamah Tinggi.
Dalam pertemuan saya dengan ahli-ahli Kelab UMNO yang berkumpul di Sheffield banyak soalan telah ditanya setelah saya selesai berucap.
Sebelum berangkat pulang saya telah diberi beberapa helai kertas yang mengandungi soalan-soalan berikut, dan saya turunkan di bawah ini jawapan saya bagi soalan-soalan itu.
Oleh kerana soalannya dalam bahasa Inggeris maka jawapannya juga saya berikan dalam bahasa Inggeris.
Saya dapati soalan-soalan ini sering diketengahkan oleh para pelajar kepada tokoh-tokoh parti politik pembangkang yang sering bertemu dengan pelajar apabila mereka berada di United Kingdom.
Saya difahamkan Kelab UMNO telah dinasihatkan oleh pemimpin-pemimpin UMNO supaya tidak berpolitik. Walau bagaimana saya berpendapat ahli-ahli Kelab UMNO hendaklah mampu menjawab semua soalan yang diketengahkan oleh pembangkang waktu berjumpa dengan pelajar-pelajar.
TRANSPARENCY IN ELECTIONS
1) How transparent is our elections?
LOSER'S PASTIME
The question of transparency in any election, General Election or By-Election, is always raised by non-Barisan Nasional losers in the election. A winning BN candidate will always defend the transparency or sarcastically say that if it is more transparent then the margin of his or her victory will be bigger.
The opposition party at the Federal level will not question the transparency of an election in Kelantan, Kedah, Penang or Selangor where they won the election.
Therefore this suspicion on transparency is not genuine.
MATSUSHITA ON DEMOCRACY
When losers in any election complain about transparency or malpractices I am always reminded of what Tan Sri Konosuke Matsushita ( Born November 27, 1894, died April 27, 1989 and conferred Tan Sri in February 1979 ) the Founder of National Panasonic Electric company, wrote on the practice of democracy.
Tan Sri Matsushita said in his writing that a society can greatly benefit and practice democracy peacefully if its voters have the 'susyi' and 'sunao' attitude.
'SUSYI'
'Susyi' is an attitude whereby a winner, even if with only a one vote majority, will accept the responsibility, of a winner, as if he had obtained all the votes and serve all the voters in the constituency without prejudice. A loser on the other hand, even if with only one vote majority, should regard himself as having lost all the votes to the winner.
The winner with one vote need not go around annoyingly trying to impress the voters that even if by one vote it is still a victory.
The loser with one vote defeat should also not brag around that one vote victory is not real victory.
'SUNAO'
'Sunao' on the other hand is the ability of the winner and the loser, in an election, to see the goodness in his or her rival after the contest.
This attitude is glaringly shown by Tun Dr. Mahathir when he kept on appointing Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah to ministerial posts after Tengku Razaleigh lost twice to Tun Musa Hitam in the contest for the UMNO Deputy Presidency.
Tun Musa was annoyed with these appointments.
But Tun Dr. Mahathir also did not remove Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah from the cabinet when the Tengku challenged him for the post of UMNO President with the intention of ousting Tun Dr Mahathir from his premier seat.
After Tun Musa Hitam resigned and supported Tengku Razaleigh in the Tengku's effort to dethrone Tun Dr. Mahathir, Tun Musa was still appointed by Tun Dr. Mahathir to represent Malaysia at the United Nations.
Later, when another of those who opposed and tried to topple Tun Mahathir from the premiership, becomes the Prime Minister, Tun Abdullah was able to appoint Tun Musa to become the chairman of Sime Darby, with exorbitantly big salaries and allowance, probably more than what a Prime Minister earns, to rule over an oil palm empire the total acreage of which is bigger than the size of Singapore.
But of course Sime Darby incurred a big loss, though it is also recovering well.
Had Mahathir not have the 'susyi' and 'sunao' attitude he would have dumped Tun Musa Hitam, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Tengku Razaleigh into oblivion.
WILL UMNO AND PAS UNITE?
2) Is there any possibility for UMNO and PAS to unite? A brief about unity talk that has taken place (if any) then what's next?
Before the introduction of Malayan Union in 1946 there were many Malay organisations in the various states of Malaya.
The more religious organisations appeared in rice-growing states where there are many pondok which were dependant on the zakat paid by the padi farmers.
Some organisations are nationalistic in nature while others are either functional or socialistic.
Some members of the royal families on the other hand were quite pally with the foreigners.
All organisations went their own separate ways.
But, when Malayan Union was proposed and the position of the Malay Rulers were down-graded to the level of the 'penghulus' then the Malays forget about their differences, and the differing orientation of their organisations, and unite to oppose the humiliating proposal for a Malayan Union.
In other words we were united not because of having the same level of religious or nationalistic consciousness, the same ideologies or for the same activities, but in order to safeguard our dignity or 'maruah' or face.
It was the gathering, in 1946, to oppose the formation of Malayan Union which led to the formation of UMNO.
All organisations decided to dissolve themselves and the members were to be members of UMNO.
But when UMNO decided to go for independence then the Malays who were members of PKMM decided to cancel their decision to dissolve their organisation. With the continuing existence of PKMM then the Malays were split into two organisations - UMNO and PKMM.
PKMM which was formed on 17th October, 1945 by Mokhtaruddin Lasso and Ahmad Boestamam opposed UMNO's type of independence as they wanted Malaya to be independent within the Republic of Indonesia. The leaders of PKMM such as Ahmad Boestamam, Burhanuddin Al Helmi, Ishak Haji Muhammad, Mokhtaruddin Lasso, Shamsiah Fakeh and Ibrahim Yaacob were all of Indonesian descent.
PKMM was eventually banned on 18th Jun, 1948 by the British government, for being leftist, when the British declared a state of emergency in Malaya.
The leaders of PKMM eventually reappeared as leaders of four political parties.
Ahmad Boestamam led Parti Buruh Rakyat Malaysia which was a socialist party whereas Shamsiah Fakeh went straight to become one of the leaders of the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM).
Bung Kahar and Bung Isa, who were members of PKMM led Peninsular Malay Party (PMP) as President and Secretary General.
In 1951, when Dato' Onn Jaafar left UMNO Tengku Abdul Rahman, C. M. Eusoff and Hj. Ahmad Fuad contested for the UMNO leadership. When Tengku Abdul Rahman won and Hj. Ahmad Fuad lost in the contest Hj. Ahmad Fuad initiated the formation of PAS of which he was not a member but handed the leadership to Dr. Burhanudddin Al Helmi, one of the former leaders of PKMM.
The unity that was brought about in 1946 by the opposition to the Malayan Union lasted for only 5 years until the formation of PAS after Hj. Ahmad Fuad loss to Tengku for the UMNO Presidency.
The rivalry between UMNO and PAS reached its peak in 1962 when PAS declared members of UMNO as kafir or infidels for being friends with non-Muslims from the MCA and the MIC. Coupled with the dissatisfaction with the economic condition of the Malays, UMNO and BN lost many seats in the Parliamentary General Election of 1969.
It was the rude, unbecoming and humiliating behaviour of the DAP that led to the May 13th, 1969 tragedy.
With this second humiliation UMNO and PAS were united again in the Barisan Nasional despite UMNO not becoming more Islamic and PAS not becoming more nationalistic after having declared UMNO as infidels 7 years ago in 1962.
This unity did not last for long as PAS quit Barisan National in 1978 after having been together for 5 years since 1973.
It seems that UMNO and PAS could only be together for 5 years from 1946 to 1951 and another 5 years from 1973 to 1978.
Definitely, UMNO and PAS might unite again, especially if the position of the Malays is again felt, by both sides, to be threatened.
Let us hope that this will happen before it is too late.
It appears that one of the biggest problems of the Malays is complacency.
SPECIAL RIGHTS OF THE MALAYS
3) What is the difference between UMNO and PAS' position on the Special Rights of the Malays? To what extent does UMNO fight for these rights and how does UMNO defend it.
UMNO's stand on the special rights of the Malays is as in the constitution.
Section 153 of the constitution which provides for the special rights of the Malays also gives the special rights to the non-Malays by protecting what rights that the non-Malays have as upheld in sub-section 7 of section 153.
The special rights of the Malays and Bumiputras are guarded by the King or the Yang Di Pertuan Agung who the constitution states as being a Malay.
Besides the special rights of the Malays UMNO had also successfully put Islam as the religion of the Federation, Malay as the national language of Malaysia or Bahasa Malaysia, besides dignifying the Malay Sultanates in the constitution and establishing a system of Constitutional Monarchy.
In addition UMNO has made the Constitution to define a Malay as one who is –
a) a Muslim,
b) speaks the Malay Language, and
c) adopts the Malay culture.
A non-Muslim, in Malaysia, cannot be a Malay.
PAS can only fight for the rights of the Malays by supporting the constitution.
REVISION OF THE CONSTITUTION
4) In order to treat all the races fairly, is it necessary for the constitution to be revised?
If the opponents of UMNO think that the Constitution should be revised I personally have some ideas on how it should be done.
However, no one should ever believe that only the parts that make it appear that the Malays are 'tuan' that should be changed.
The Malays also have the right to submit their suggestions.
For example, if one talks about fairness what is so fair about the Malays and the indigenous people of Sabah and Sarawak with a majority in population accepting 30% equity ownership in the Malaysian economy. I think it is only fair to have the percentage ownership in wealth in proportion to the percentage in the population.
I would also suggest that before a foreign wife or husband be given a permanent resident status they must sit for the Bahasa Malaysia examination in order to ensure that the couple will not be breeding citizens who are ignorant of the national language. You might also wish to add that these foreign wives and husbands should also be proficient in Tamil and Mandarin so that they don't participate in future efforts at trying to reduce the role of Bahasa Malaysia.
In order to strengthen the Muslim's understanding of Islam Arabic should be made compulsory to all Muslims including new converts so that they will not be diverted by pseudo-religionists who are only interested in issues surrounding the Muslims and the Muslim world without really knowing what Islam really is from its source, which is in Arabic.
The non-Malays and non-Bumiputras might think it fair to reduce the scholarships for the Malays and Bumiputras to which I have no objection if the end results of all the scholarships would mean that the graduates in all fields should also be in proportion to the population. In that way the number of Malay and Bumiputra doctors, lawyers, accountants, architects and the professionals and academics be in proportion to the population. Private and Public universities must have proportionate number of Malays, Chinese and Indian students.
If anyone thinks that my suggestions are too extreme then I suggest that we stop harping on changing the Constitution unnecessarily.
TRANSFORMATION OF THE ELITIST UMNO
5) What is the real problem faced by the government to transform the elitist behaviour/practice in Malaysia's political scenario? ( meant for UMNO )
Malaysia's political scenario is determined by the positioning of personalities in political offices either in the government or GLCs.
You might object to children of ex-Prime Ministers, Deputy Prime Ministers, Ministers, elected representatives or even rich and super-rich Bumiputras inheriting their parents positions, at different levels in political positions and the GLCs.
You should not be afraid if these inheritors become elected in bye-elections or general elections. They would have to adjust to political realities when they are wakil rakyat.
Their voters will shape them to be good.
The annoyance are brought by those who do not participate in elections but occupy positions through appointments to the Senate or being political secretaries or bosses in the GLCs. Their arrogance, inexperience and lack of PR become a source of problems to UMNO in the eyes of the public.
It is important for UMNO and the government to facilitate and encourage the activities of youth clubs in the country to enable the young to be exposed to the challenges of leadership which is so essential in the shaping of future leaders.
With the existence of youth clubs and other NGOs future leaders need not depend so much on patronage.
NEED FOR 1MALAYSIA POLICY
6) Does Malaysia need the 1Malaysia policcy? Will the policy succeed in uniting the people?
Yes it does and it will succeed in uniting the people.
However, while politics is one way of uniting the people it is not the only way.
We must start early from schools and later on through activities in multiracial youth clubs like the earlier days of the Malaysian Association of Youth Clubs (MAYC).
MAYC was the first 1Malaysia youth organisation in the country.
SHIFTING OF POWER TO THE OPPOSITION
7) What can the government learn from the power shifting scenario in Penang, Selangor and Kedah. Why do Kelantan people choose to be under PAS?
The MBs of Kedah and Kelantan are from PAS.
The Chief Minister of Penang is from DAP and the MB of Selangor is from Parti Keadilan Rakyat.
They are members of Pakatan Rakyat.
They would like to believe that they won the state governments because the voters need a change in the government's philosophy and methodology with a new sense of justice.
This type of believe is common among the victors in all elections.
But we know, from detail and honest analysis, that the defeat of UMNO and BN candidates during the 12th General Election was because leaders and members of UMNO were out to punish BN for the corruption, nepotism and their disillusionment with the top leadership of UMNO, his relatives and cronies.
The disrespect shown to more than 50 divisional heads who were not consulted on candidates for the constituencies was paid for by the defeat.
In such states as Johor where UMNO members in each constituency are more than half of the total number of voters the defeats were all due to previous UMNO members and supporters destroying their voting papers.
The Indian voters were disillusioned with the MIC leadership who ignored the grievances put up by their community on the plight of the Indians.
This resulted in the Hindraf being popular.
Malays and Chinese voters on whom the Indian candidates depend were also not supporting MIC candidates representing the BN.
There is no parliamentary or state constituency in Malaysia which have Indian voters in the majority on whom an Indian candidate can win without the support of voters from the other races..
Many better informed Chinese voters also avoided the BN.
The 12th General Election in 2008 served as a message to UMNO and BN leaders that the real power in a democracy is with the people.
Barisan Nasional's responds to this message is the slogan 'Rakyat Didahulukan; Pencapaian Diutamakan.' With this slogan goes all subsequent government policies.
KELANTAN
As far as Kelantan is concerned they are very jealous of non-Kelantanese penetrating the Kelantan economy. In Kelantan even Malays from outside Kelantan, who are married to Kelantanese women or men, are not allowed to buy Malay reservation land in their own names.
The Kelantanese know that under a Barisan Nasional Government the non-Malays will exert themselves in Kelantan and play more glaring role in the Kelantan economy..
Kelantanese, like the New Zealanders, are quite happy doing business outside Kelantan or, in the case of the New Zealanders, in Australia particularly in Queensland. Like the Yemenite being active businessmen outside Yemen, the Kelantanese are doing big businesses outside Kelantan.
One of the differences between the rich Kelantanese and the rich Kedahans is that the rich Kelantanese do build multi-storey buildings in Kelantan, Kota Bharu in particular, whereas the rich Kedahans, besides Tan Sri Syed Mukhtar Al Bukhary, do not invest in Kedah.
From my observation the Kelantanese are quite comfortable under PAS.
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
8) What is the government policy regarding the capital punishment for treachery?
Capital punishment in Malaysia applies to murder, drug trafficking, treason, and waging war against Yang Di Pertuan Agong (the King). Recently, the law has been extended to include acts of terrorism.
Any terrorist, and anyone who aids terrorists, financially or otherwise, are liable to face the death penalty.
Only those who are pro-murder, pro-drug and pro-terrorism will oppose this law.
TREACHERY
In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more serious acts of betrayal of one's sovereign or nation. Treason against the King ( as waging war against Yang Di Pertuan Agong ) was known as high treason and treason against a lesser superior was petit treason. A person who commits treason is known in law as a traitor.
I think that the capital punishment against murderers, drug traffickers and terrorists is meant to protect the people; whereas the capital punishment for treason and waging war against Yang Di Pertuan Agong is to protect the constitution and the nation.
UNFAIRNESS TOWARDS THE INDIANS
9) What is the government's views on the allegations of unfair treatments to Indians in Malaysia? Are Indians really getting unfair treatment?
Not only the Indians but also the Chinese, and even the Malays, are feeling that they are being treated unfairly in Malaysia.
SOME GRIEVANCES OF THE CHINESE
Some Chinese think that despite their dominance in the economy, and the guarantee in Section 153 sub-section 7 in the constitution of protection and non-interference with their rights. they are still being unfairly treated.
Actually, in Section 153 of the constitution, the Malays and Bumiputras are given privileges which they never had, as the Chinese had, under the British.
Some Chinese are even unhappy with the Malays being called Bumiputras as there are the aborigines, though they are quite prepared to be called the immigrants when they reside in Australia, New Zealand or the United States.
Over there they do not question whether the Australians, New Zealanders or Americans are indigenous despite having the aborigines, the Maoris or the Red Indians.
GRIEVANCES OF THE MALAYS
The Malays and Bumiputras are still unhappy as, despite being left behind in the economy and having eventually to accept the limit of 30% in the economic cake of the country although they are more than 60% in population.
The Malays and Bumiputras accept this humiliating limit because, as Muslims, they believe that economics is not everything in life.
But the status of the Malays as Bumiputras is also being questioned despite the only Rulers or Sultans and Rajas in South East Asia are Malays and the Malays' legitimacy as Bumiputra is unquestionable as compared to the time frame of the Australians, New Zealanders and Americans claim to ownership of their countries.
The Malays are also unhappy with a reduction in their scholarships quota from the government when the scholarships from the private sector, which has all this while more than balance those given by the government to Malays, have no provision for Malays and Bumiputras.
GRIEVANCES OF THE INDIANS
In fact the Indians have to thank the Malays and the Chinese for voting them in elections as they do not have even one parliamentary or state constituency which they could win on their own.
The Indians should also be happy with so many prominent lawyers and doctors from among them who are dominating the legal and medical scene.. They are disproportionately represented.
And the second richest man in Malaysia is an Indian and his wealth is 3 times more than the sum owned by the 7 richest Malays in Malaysia put together.
There enough money for scholarships from this rich Indian alone
The Indians also have one of the biggest and most successful land owning cooperatives in Malaysia by the name National Land Finance Cooperatives Bhd. The cooperative had problems which were not caused by the Malays.
I helped in the acquisition of land and the license for the establishment of a Medical College in Merbok, Kedah. It is the only medical school initiated by a political party.
Of course the Indians have a problem of leadership. But this is being corrected now.
I am aware that, in the past, the peoples who are now involved in the Hindraf organisation have been trying to communicate their problems to the previous Prime Minister, but instead of tackling the problem himself it was handed to the very person the Hindraf leaders were complaining about. This resulted in bad blood.
But certainly you do not blame the colonial masters for bringing your descendants to Malaysia just as you cannot blame the Almighty for choosing a poor pair of parents for you.
BALANCE OF UNHAPPINESS
During Tun Mahathir's era we were quite happy when every race is equally unhappy as it is impossible to make everyone happy. It is easier to balance unhappiness than to achieve total happiness for all.
PERKASA
10) Is the existence of PERKASA a challenge to UMNO? Between the two who is really defending the Malays?
UMNO is a political party with executive powers through Barisan Nasional which rules the country. Perkasa is not a political party. UMNO can do things but can only voice the conscience of the Malays discreetly.
Perkasa on the other hand can loudly and freely voice the grievances of the Malays without having to fear the reaction as they have no partners in any coalition.
In the past when PAS was not in partnership with the non-Malay based parties in any coalition they were performing the role of Perkasa in competition with UMNO in voicing the frustrations of the Malays and Islam.
Now that PAS is just like UMNO, having to care for the feelings of the non-Malay members of the component parties of the Pakatan Rakyat they have to leave their previous role to Perkasa..
Perkasa is a product of UMNO's and PAS's current activities in luring non-Malay votes with concessions in allocation and compromises in religious interpretations.
During future elections Perkasa has the role of campaigning against any candidate, Malays and non-Malays in its effort at weeding out candidates who appear to be liabilities to Malay interests and the welfare of Malaysia, as anyone trying to diminish Malay interest is a future threat to national security.
Perkasa is relevant but, as it is, not a threat to UMNO.
Many UMNO members and some recognisable PAS supporters are also members of Perkasa.
THE ALTANTUYA MURDER CASE
11) The effects of Mongolian murder case and Malaysia sub-marine's commission to the popularity of the Prime Minister, voters' trend and the next general election.
The murder has nothing to do with the Prime Minister, neither the existence nor the murder of Altantuya has any effect on the voters' welfare. It therefore does not effect the election.
Leaders of parties opposed to Barisan National are more concerned about Altantuya than the people of Mongolian. The opposition are not concerned with the more painful death undergone by Sosilawati in Morib when she, and her associates were brutally tortured, murdered and burnt.
It is the opposition's hope that the case can be linked and therefore reduce the popularity of the Prime Minister.
It does not.
As to the commission on the purchase of sub-marine for the Malaysian navy, it is normal to expect the opposition to throw in the accusation of corruption. It is of course more sensational to link it to the murder case. But an accusation of corruption is not tantamount to being proven corrupt.
Singapore is the biggest purchaser of weapons and war vehicles in South East Asia. Such accusation will definitely land the accusers into Singapore prison.
NO ULAMA IN POLITICAL PARTIES
12) The differences between PAS and UMNO's clerics (ulama) and whether there is any cooperation between them regarding Islamic issues?
My opinion is that there is no ulama either in UMNO or in PAS. An ulama in my understanding is not only one who knows about Islam, as there are even well-known Jews, Christians, Buddhists and other non-Muslims who are very knowledgeable on Islam but are not called ulama.
An ulama must be someone who believes in Islam being the correct faith and must be prepared to say the truth even if it hurts.
That is not possible and never have been done by the so-called ulama of UMNO or PAS..
They are all biased in favour of their parties.
If they are ulama then, guided by one Allah, one prophet and one Quran there won't be conflict between UMNO and PAS, and even if there are differences between UMNO and PAS it is just because Islam allows differences of opinion so long as the differences do not contradict the teachings and fundamentals of Islam.
Guided by the ulama UMNO and PAS would be different from what they are now.
13) What Malaysian High Commission or Embassy have to do to attract the students abroad participating in mission's activities especially those who are not aligned to the current government's political views?
The Malaysian High Commission, and not Embassy, as Embassy is used for the offices of Malaysian representatives in countries outside the Commonwealth.
When I arrived in London, having joined UMNO in 1963 in Seremban, I was chosen to be the Information Officer of the Alliance Club led by Prof. Kahar Bador.
I began speaking at Hyde Park Speakers Corner when I was in contact with The Black Dwarf Club which preaches a world without money as money is the root of all evil.
That was at a time when Bro. Tariq Ali was also speaking at Hyde Park Speakers Corner.
My speeches against money did not endear me to my sponsor The Chartered Bank.
As I already had the necessary requirements to be a banker I was allowed by Mr. Strutter the Personnel Manager to study anywhere during my stay in London provided I report at the bank on Monday and Friday for one hour
It was Prof. Joan Robinson at the London School of Economics who taught me that socialism is the transitional bridge between a feudal capitalist society and communism. Prof. Robinson was regarded by communist leaders of the world as one of the world's top communist theoretician.
Prof. Joan encouraged me to visit the Hyde Park Speakers Corner.
Before I began speaking on the stools provided by Martin for ￡1 per week I attended one gathering at Malaysia Hall when Dato' Ahmad Nordin, the Information Attache brought the Minister of Education Tan Sri Mohd Khir Johari to meet the students.
I was biased against the Minister of Education for not getting the scholarship I wanted though he did not even know about my application for any scholarship.
As such I and my leftist friends were thinking of what questions to ask so that the Minister will find them difficult to answer or would not be able to answer satisfactorily.
Among leftist friends we appointed two students to ask rather nasty questions.
To our surprise Pak Khir, as the Minister was called, answered the questions impressively and quite cleverly, and we were very disappointed.
The next student was not only more disappointing but very annoying when he began his questioning by a preamble which praised the government followed by a leading question which makes it easier for the Minister to elaborate on the government's achievements.
When asked, later on, he just replied, ' Don't you see that they brought in two beautiful daughters sitting at the back. How can I ask stupid questions in front of beauties.'
We later found out that Ehsan, the brother of a Kedah's prominent businessman Dato' Ahmad Fatan, was from the same Kedah state where Dato' Ahmad Nordin and Pak Khir Johari came from.
When Tun Dr. Mahathir was sacked from UMNO my tune at Hyde Park Speakers Corner changed, I began to attack the UMNO leadership.
About 12 so called socialists, although I am not even a member of any socialist club, waited at the Heathrow Airport for the arrival of Tunku Abdul Rahman, the Prime Minister of Malaysia.
We brought a few placards with bold writings 'Tunku Go Home'.
When the Tunku saw the placards, as he was about to leave the airport, he came out of his car smiling and waved to Ehsan who was the tallest of all of us. Ehsan went to meet the Tunku who gave him about ￡240-00 as pocket money, so the Tunku said, for us to gamble with ￡20-00 each at the Greyhounds.
Before the Tunku went into his car he waved at us again and with his hand curled at his mouth he yelled at us 'Tomorrow' as if telling us that 'He will go home tomorrow'.
We could only guess what Ehsan told the Tunku. But the Tunku must have known of our real purpose in being at the airport but was smart enough to interpret our gestures positively.
He made us feel very small as if we were at the airport welcoming him, while the placards were enquiring as to when the Tunku was going home, in the hope that he would give some pocket money for gambling.
When we found out that the Tunku knows Ehsan's family in Alor Setar we never invited Ehsan to our activities any more.
There was no attempt by the High Commission to win over people like me to the governments point of view of things, events and issues but instead I was banned from entry into The Malaysia Hall.
What the High Commission should do is to produce pamphlets and booklets in reply to all issues which had brought doubts and unhappiness among the students and their friends in foreign countries.
Students want answers to their questions and pocket money is not enough to satisfy their inquisitive minds. If it does than we have failed as we have corrupted the students.
NEED FOR FOREIGN WORKERS
14) Does Malaysia really need another 45,000 foreign workers as published in mainstream media recently? How about the unemployment situation in Malaysia?
Not just 45,000 but even 100,000 might be needed depending in which area the shortages take place.
The importation of foreign workers have no direct relationship to the unemployment situation in the country.
Malaysians are very choosy in the jobs that they are willing to undertake. You do not find many toilet maintenance workers at supermarkets and department stores in Malaysia. Malaysians avoid this type of jobs even if they are jobless. If you visit neighbouring countries like Indonesia you will find that the toilets are very clean and their workers are all Indonesians.
There are specialist workers such as in the field of High Technology which probably needs foreign workers.
IS DSAI A THREAT TO MALAYSIA'S SECURITY
15) Why does the government of Malaysia regard DSAI as a threat to the country? Is he really a threat?
The only threat that I can think of is if he becomes a Prime Minister with a very Islamic image, which he intends to preserve despite being suspect of him being involved in other hidden and unIslamic activities. If those suspicious activities really happened, and is known to any foreign power, then it could be used for purposes of blackmail against the national interest.
As it is that threat no longer exist.
Even if he has a true weird private life, against a virtuous public image, with the incessant and continuous turbulent legal proceedings, that he is going through, any possible mystery that he might want to keep from public is already well known.
Even a legal conviction will not deter his supporters who are immune to any exposure of his other activities whom his supporters will not accept even if it is proven true.
After all is said and done, in the final analysis, only Allah knows and decides on all matters in life and death.
MALAYSIA'S IMAGE ABROAD
16) What is the consequence of DSAI's speeches abroad to Malaysia's image, taking into account that DSAI himself does not possess a good image?
Irrespective of DSAI's ability in making slanderous speeches against Malaysia and the good or bad image of DSAI Malaysia is quite used to its citizens or students and lecturers making criticisms and has been developing progressively over the years despite the criticisms.
Even before DSAI Malaysia students, including Malay students, have been criticising government policies to the extent that professors in foreign universities are also criticising Malaysian government policies despite the policies, such as scholarships, are benefitting the universities.
Before Tun Malathir's era non-Malay students will always mention their ethnicity as Indians or Chinese before they tell that they are Malaysian citizens. This changed when Malaysia's image improve overseas and the students began to mention that they are Malaysian first before they tell about their ethnic origins.
When a student is proud of Malaysia he or she will then identify with his own country; otherwise he or she will hide behind his ethnicity.
CRITICISMS IN MANY LANGUAGES
Criticisms against Malaysia comes in different languages and are better spread than criticisms against other nations.
For example books written in Tamil, by Malaysian Tamils, are also read in Tamil Nadu, those written in Mandarin, by Malaysian Chinese, are also read in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and China; and books written in Arabic, by Malaysians, are read in all the Arab speaking countries.
Books written in English, against Malaysia, are available throughout the Commonwealth and the United States, and books written in Malay are read in Brunei and Indonesia.
Whereas books written by Japanese or non-Japanese, in the Japanese language, against Japan, are only read in Japan and books written in German against Germany are only read by Germans, Austrians and the Swiss, and so are books written against Turkey, in the Turkish language, by the Turks, are only read by the Turks.
Not many people speak the Japanese, German and Turkish languages besides those whose mother tongues are in those languages.
Our country has always been widely exposed, and we are immune and quite used, to all types of criticisms.
So long as those criticisms are untrue we should not be unduly worried in the long run.
PROSPECT OF WINNING WITH 2/3 MAJORITY FOR UMNO AND BN
17) The prospect of UMNO/BN to win 2/3 majority parliamentary seats in the next election?
You will find that in the next General Election there will not be a repeat of 2008 performance by the BN. The BN leadership has learnt a lesson from the results of 2008 and BN divisional heads, hopefully, will respect the decision of the BN leadership in choosing the candidates in as much as the BN divisional leaderships of all component parties must reciprocate the respect that they receive from their leaders.
The BN need to convince all the voters that they will deliver on their promises in the manifesto.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN NEM AND NEP
18) What is the difference between the New Economic Model (NEM) and the New Economic Policy (NEP) in terms of Malay survival?
The policy is the same and at the same time different.
It is the same in that it will arrive at the same objectives with different method of presentation with new priorities and emphasis.
It is different because of its larger scale in a new era.
One must realise that Dato' Seri Najib is the first Prime Minister that Malaysia has who is an economist from the prestigious University of Nottingham.
The first 3 Prime Ministers were all lawyers, the fourth Prime Minister was a medical doctor and his predecessor was a graduate in Islamic Studies.
He has the advantage of being able to witness, analyse and compare. as an economist, of how Tun Dr. Mahathir run the country.
We were lucky to have Tun Dr. Mahathir during the monetary crisis because his unorthodox approach was only possible because he was not an economist and therefore not tied to all the predictable theories of those economists occupying the seats at the IMF and the World Bank.
Tun Dr. Mahathir is a good listener and he listened to all economists, businessmen, accountants and bankers before he made or change any decision.
Tun Dr. Mahathir's pragmatism has proven the IMF and the World Bank wrong.
They admitted it.
Coupled with his academic training and exposure, at close range, to Tun Dr. Mahathir's method Dato' Seri Najib has devised an approach of his own to push Malaysia to be a developed nation.
VISION 2020
19) Is Vision 2020 achievable or not? Reasons? Is it achievable or not?
First of all we have to know what Vision 2020 really means.
It is a perfect vision. It does not matter in which year we are called a developed nation so long as our vision on our objectives is clear.
That is why we say with Vision 2020 Selangor can achieve developed status by 2005.
After the cabinet meeting in 1991 when Vision 2020 was mentioned I was asked by Tun Dr. Mahathir whether I knew what it meant.
I said 'yes, spectacless'.
Tun then directed me as the Chairman of Merdeka Day Celebration to make sure that the logo shows that it is 'twenty-twenty' (20 20) and not 'two thousand and twenty' (2020).
As I listened to Tun describing Vision 2020 as a 'perfect vision' I remembered, while sitting at side table in Grand Continental Coffee House in Alor Seter I could see the label "20 20' on the shop selling spectacles, besides Tun Dr. Mahathir's MAHA Clinic.
As a person who wears spectacles I know that if your eye reading is 20 and 20 on both sides you do not need a pair of spectacles as your vision is very clear.
Vision 20 20 is therefore a necessary vision which is required to drive the country to be a developed nation.
The year 2020 is merely a convenient target.
DATO' SERI NAJIB'S PERFORMANCE
20) What do you think of Dato' Seri Najib's performance compared to his predecessor? Where he's leading at? Where would Malaysia be under his reign/leadership?
As I have said when answering an earlier question Dato' Seri Najib's predecessor was a graduate of Islamic studies.
Unfortunately he introduced 'Islam Hadhari' which became one of the reasons for the measurable performance of UMNO in the 2008 General Election.
It is the opinion of most observers that on economics he depended on his son-in-law and his own family
It is not possible to compare.
I think Dato' Seri Najib will be able to fast-forward Malaysia's development where Tun Dr. Mahathir left just as Tun Dr. Mahathir had sped-off where Tun Abdul Razak left.
I am optimistic.
WEALTH OF TAN SRI TAIB MAHMUD
21) There are accusations related to Sarawak Chief Minister's wealth overseas. Will this situation jeopardised BN's chances to win the Sarawak election, which is just around the corner?
Tan Sri Taib Mahmud was a lawyer before he joined politics. He had been around in politics for a long time, since the first Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman.
Even from his savings and snowballing the investments from those savings, he would be quite wealthy by now.
He is not among the top 40 richest men of Malaysia.
I do not know the details. But I do know of some friends who were accused of being very wealthy while in politics have died almost a bankrupt.
I hope that we will win with 2/3 majority in the Sarawak state election.
