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Take steps to mend dented international image

Of late, Malaysia seems to be facing one adverse publicity-generating episode after another. The glare of the international spotlight had been turned on Malaysia ever since the uncanny and yet unresolved disappearance of the Malaysian Airlines MH370 jetliner.

The world had hardly come to terms with the bungling attempts and conflicting statements of the Malaysian authorities on the missing aircraft when it was confirmed that a Malaysian suicide bomber had died. Malaysian Ahmad Tarmimi Malik had volunteered for a suicide bombing mission in Iraq earlier.

Malaysians have long been painfully aware of what the world had just come to know. Whenever the Umno-led government is taken to task on any matter, the criticism is always deflected and the defence is always centred on the twin issues of race and religion. Of late, the royalty is also a factor and in the near future Umno will also be beyond reproach if its leaders have their way. DAP lawmaker RSN Rayer’s impending sedition case would be the starting point.

The government has been oblivious and in a state of denial on the many warnings that should have alerted it to buck up. For years, we have had a dismal record in combatting human trafficking. We are also a poor performance on the annual corruption indexes of numerous international parties. And not to forget, our very own annual Auditor-General’s Report.

The case of Malaysia’s first suspected suicide bomber has caused the authorities to admit that another 20-30 Malaysians could be involved. Others put the figure at almost 100. The police, especially the Special Branch, which enjoys a disproportionate allocation of manpower and resources, should have alerted the nation earlier on the phenomenon of locals enlisting themselves for militant and suicide missions overseas.

It speaks volumes of the capability and professionalism of our police force when a problem is acknowledged only when the whole world has come to know of it.

The ‘kid glove’ approach used on junior diplomat Muhammed Rizalman Ismail, of the Malaysian High Commission in New Zealand, shows that our authorities prefer to sweep matters under the carpet to avoid negative publicity even to the point of forsaking justice. To compound the matter further, BN politicians and the BN-controlled media cast aspersions on the New Zealand justice system and whether Rizalman would get a fair trial.

A similar reaction greeted the news of the arrest and subsequent trial of the Malaysian couple for child abuse in Sweden.

Famiiar trait

Indeed it has become a familiar trait for these morally bankrupt politicians and their sycophants to blame everyone and anyone else, except the perpetrators for crimes committed by Malaysians overseas.

The repeated armed incursions and kidnappings on Sabah’s east coast have also dented Malaysia’s image on the international scene, chief of which was the protracted handling of the Lahad Datu incursion by a ragtag army claiming territory for the purported heir to the sultanate of Sulu.

Underlying all these episodes is a failure of the authorities to come to terms with the gradual but persistent decline in the state of our public institutions, Ever since the dictatorial premiership of Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the integrity and independence of our public institutions have been compromised and made to bend to the whims of the executive.

The executive, controlled by Umno and supported by a monoracial civil service, thrives on pandering to the twin issues of race and religion.

The nation’s leadership has fed the conservative rural Malays and the ultra nationalists which form the core support for Umno, with the false belief of entitlement. It has peddled the philosophy of Malay Muslim superiority and that Malays are entitled to everything in this country. So long as you are Malay Muslim, you are brought up with the belief that things will come your way.

And their belief unfortunately has found traction with large segments of the Malay society.

For instance, if you don't achieve the required grades for university entrance, then the entry levels are adjusted accordingly. Or if the teachers have difficulty teaching in English, the authorities would switch the medium back to Bahasa Melayu. In the case of Malaysian Airlines, it was more important for the government to pander to the Malay-dominated MAS Employees Union and the crony suppliers rather than to the shareholders or the taxpayers funding the airline.

Is it small wonder that we have tens of thousands of unemployable Malay graduates?

The patronage system in business extends from the very top to the petty hawker. Sweetheart multi-million deals are reserved for the well-connected Umnoputras and at the bottom, the Umno-linked petty trader enjoys leeway in local government enforcement.

The failure to instil the right values in the people and our public institutions is the cause and the unfortunate incidents that have brought us international ridicule are the symptoms and just rewards.

Blurred line between right and wrong

The line between right and wrong has long been blurred in this country. ‘Establishment-correct’ court judgments especially in politically-sensitive cases encourage those who err to continue to do so, as long as they are on the ‘right side’. A glaring example is how the government chose to wait till public pressure forced its hand to charge the husband of a former high ranking Umno minister with abuse of a RM 250million loan. Even then it was a half-hearted measure.

Shouldn’t the government make it a standard to operate at a very high moral and ethical level at all times? For far too long, the authorities have been making excuses for those aligned with it but meteing out the harshest of sentences to those opposing it. And this attitude has trickled down and become all-pervasive at every level of our public institutions.

Moving forward, let us make it our struggle to confront mediocrity, inefficiency as well as the racial and religious bigotry that has taken root in our national mindset, on our way to instilling the highest of standards in the people manning our public institutions. And only then, can we bring back the shine to our beloved nation.


M MANOHARAN is the former state assemblyperson for Kota Alam Shah.

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