The dizzying world of Malaysian politics

I saw an excellent article in the New York Times today on Malaysian politics. There was another one in the Wall Street Journal too. All eyes are turning to Malaysia for UMNO's general assembly this week. Malaysian experts have not been kind, arguing that Malaysian democracy has "not fully matured, in the sense that those who lost the elections are unwilling to accept the results." They also warn that we will be a "failed state within a decade" if things continue in this fashion. Of course these expert opinions never appear in the local papers. Freedom of speech, like freedom of religion for the majority of the population, is rather doubtful. Is there hope for my country?

The New York Times article is reproduced below:

March 24, 2009

Scandals Cloud Succession in Newly Unsure Malaysia

By THOMAS FULLER

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — A slew of political scandals gripping Malaysia and a transfer of power fraught with uncertainty have shaken the elite here, with exquisitely poor timing.

As a major trading nation, Malaysia has been slammed by the global downturn. Its exports have collapsed by nearly one-third, and current projections show that its economy will shrink by as much as 5 percent this year.

Yet the main preoccupation of the government and opposition parties appears to be what analysts say is an increasingly dysfunctional political system. The man in line to become prime minister has been linked to the murder of a Mongolian woman whose body was obliterated with military-grade explosives.

The leader of the main opposition party awaits trial on sodomy charges, in a highly politicized case. The government is using draconian laws to prosecute other opposition figures, and last week it suspended a member of Parliament for one year after he called the prime-minister-in-waiting a murderer. And a state legislature has been paralyzed for six weeks by a dispute over who should govern.

“At the rate things are going, we’re going to be a failed state within a decade,” said Salehuddin Hashim, secretary general of the People’s Justice Party, the largest opposition party.

For Malaysia, an oil-rich country with a large, well-educated middle class, the pessimism may seem hyperbolic. But analysts say the current political woes strike at the heart of the functioning of government, damaging institutions like the royalty, the judiciary and the police.

“I see a rough ride ahead for the country,” said Zaid Ibrahim, the founder of Malaysia’s largest law firm, who resigned as law minister in September over the government’s practice of detaining its critics without trial. “The institutions of government have become so one-sided it will take years to restore professionalism and integrity.”

Much of the anxiety is focused on the rise of Najib Razak, a veteran politician in line to become prime minister sometime after the governing party’s annual general assembly, which starts Tuesday. No date for his ascension has been set, and some Malaysians speculate that the incumbent, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, will hold on to power, though he has said he will step down.

Mr. Najib’s supporters say he will reverse the sagging fortunes of the governing party, the United Malays National Organization, and offer decisive leadership, a contrast to the languid style of Mr. Abdullah. But Mr. Najib lacks popular support, and many expect further crackdowns on his opponents if he becomes prime minister. The government already seems to be taking a harder line, shutting two opposition newspapers on Monday while the police used tear gas to break up a rally by opposition leaders in the northern state of Kedah.

In a speech on Wednesday, Mr. Zaid called on the king, Mizan Zainal Abidin, to reject Mr. Najib if the party puts him forward as prime minister, and to appoint someone who would “bring us back from the brink.”

Mr. Najib declined to comment for this article.

The highest-profile scandal to tarnish his reputation is the murder of the Mongolian, Altantuya Shaariibuu, the mistress of Mr. Najib’s foreign policy adviser.

Prosecutors say Ms. Shaariibuu was killed in October 2006 by government commandos who also serve as bodyguards to the country’s top leaders.

Mr. Najib has not been charged with any crime, and he denies having known Ms. Shaariibuu or ever having met her.

According to news accounts, Ms. Shaariibuu had been seeking her share of a commission — the opposition calls it a bribe — worth about $155 million, paid by a French company as part of a deal reached by the government to buy submarines. Mr. Najib, who is defense minister as well as deputy prime minister, handled the submarine purchase.

The huge size of the commission — about 10 percent of the total cost of the submarines — is not being investigated, despite an official acknowledgment by the Malaysian government that it was made to a company linked to Mr. Najib’s aide, who was acquitted in connection with Ms. Shaariibuu’s murder.

Lawyers say the handling of the case has been irregular, and they criticize the prosecution for failing to call Mr. Najib to testify at his aide’s trial.

Perhaps more worrying for the country is the standoff in Perak, a state where since early February the police have barred lawmakers who oppose the governing party from entering government buildings.

Mr. Najib spearheaded an effort to install a new chief minister in Perak by claiming that he had enough defectors from the opposition coalition, the Pakatan Rakyat, which last year took control of the State Assembly for the first time since the country won independence from Britain in 1957.

Both sides remain at an impasse, and the sultan of Perak has rejected a plea by the speaker of the Assembly for a new election, which polls indicate would probably restore the opposition coalition to power.

Ibrahim Suffian, director of the Merdeka Center, an independent polling agency, said that as the governing party’s popularity wanes, Malaysia is failing a key test of any democracy: the peaceful transfer of power.

“Malaysian democracy hasn’t fully matured, in the sense that those who lost the elections are unwilling to accept the results,” he said. The United Malays National Organization has governed the country since independence but nearly lost power in elections last March, a watershed that put into question Malaysia’s ethnic-based party system.

Mr. Zaid, the former law minister, traces Malaysia’s current troubles to the privileges given to the country’s dominant ethnic group, the Malays. Governments led by the United Malays National Organization have provided contracts, discounts and special quotas to Malays through a far-reaching program of preferences. “We have sacrificed democracy for the supremacy of one race,” said Mr. Zaid, who himself is Malay. “It’s a political hegemony.”

The other two major ethnic groups, Chinese and Indian, have withdrawn support for the governing party in recent years and now largely back the opposition.

Declining support for the governing party has heightened the personal rivalry between Mr. Najib and Anwar Ibrahim, the opposition leader facing sodomy charges. In a measure of the political nature of the case, Mr. Anwar’s accuser met with Mr. Najib before going to the police.

“Our position vis-à-vis Najib is clear,” Mr. Anwar said in an interview. “He has become so repressive and crude in his methods.”

Mr. Anwar added, “There’s no way we will have any dealing or respect for him.”

Six weeks in

I'm six weeks into my new job and loving it so far. Some parts are better - like having awesome teammates and getting foot massages in Bangkok - and some parts are worse - like working all weekend in Bangkok when I had a friend in town and wanted to go exploring - but on the whole, it's challenging, exciting, and above all, worthwhile because I can see the difference we are making to the client.

I've spent four weeks in Bangkok now and really haven't had the time to see much except the road between the office and the hotel. It's quite ironic really, since we've been with this client on multiple projects and they're typially known as a more relaxed, decent working hours kind of client. Still, not too many complaints so far, as long as I get to catch up on sleep during the weekends.

A sign I spotted on the way to Pratunam on the 2-hour shopping spree I managed to fit in on Sunday morning:

Alien marriages - signed, sealed and delivered in 20 minutes

Some impressions of Thailand:

1. The service is great, if you're grading on eagerness to help. If you're looking at effectiveness, though, it's a different story. One of my teammates left the key to our office in an envelope at the reception because he was going on leave. It took the staff 15 minutes to find it again. They even tried offering my job manager an empty envelope from the business center, at which point he very nearly lost his cool. They were running up and down like headless chickens and the whole time, the envelope was right there on the desk in front of them. The same thing happened when I tried to leave my room key for my friend who was visiting. I ended up having to go back to the hotel to open the door for her. If you're trying to leave anything other than an envelope, however, your chances are much higher - a USB stick was handed over with no fuss at all.

Moral of the story: Don't leave anything in an envelope at the reception. Stick it in a stuffed toy if you have to, just don't use envelopes!

2. I'm always hungry in Bangkok. Well, now I've learned my lesson, but the first week I was there, I was eating Malaysian-sized portions and I was hungry all the time. I think it's because of the spicy and sour food. The spiciness makes my tummy feel fuller than it actually is while the sourness aids digestion so within about two hours of a meal, I'm hungry again. Now I just make sure to eat more rice and eat more than I normally would at home. Oh and I also try to eat whenever possible, because meal times are rather haphazard on this project. I skipped a McDonalds "snack" at 6pm but that ended up being dinner for the team so I only got to eat at 1am when I got back to the hotel.

3. The weather is very much like Malaysian weather - hot and humid. The forecast always says it's going to rain but so far, I've only seen it rain once.

4. The traffic jams in Bangkok are horrendous. It took me half an hour just to get to the end of my street once. And since I was on the way to the airport, I was not happy. But ever since I've learned I only need to get to the airport 40 minutes before my flight leaves, I'm a much happier camper.

5. I think I'm allergic to tom yum. Or it could be the prawns. Whatever it is, my lower lip swells like a balloon every time I've had the dish. I'm devastated. Tom yum goong is one of my favourite foods :(

Protectionist tendancies

I've been getting a lot of conflicting messages from the world at large recently. On the one hand, everyone has been saying how bad protectionism is, except maybe for Paul Krugman, who argues (just to be intellectually honest, he claims) that there is an economic case for it, although even he doesn't recommend that route, given the current political economy. Everyone was up in arms when the American stimulus bill included a "Buy American" policy, forcing the Senate to water down their stance to state that those provisions should be "applied in a manner consistent with United States obligations under international agreements."

It seems like everyone agrees that in theory, no one should engage in beggar thy neighbour policies or engage in a race to the bottom. In practice, however, it's a different story. Sarkozy was caught out when he criticized French automakers for outsourcing production to the Czech Republic. Europe is now taxing American biodisel, and right here in Malaysia, we have the PM and MCA, among others, urging us to Buy Malaysian. Seems like it's alright to protest protectionism when others are threatening to implement it, and when it affects you and your exports directly, but it's ok to protect your own lot. The ironic thing is, Asean countries recently reaffirmed their commitment to anti-protectionism at the last Summit.

All these conflicting messages are giving me a headache. All I can say is, treat others like you would like to be treated yourself. It's the golden rule for a reason.

On another related note, Malaysian companies were told to retrench foreign workers first in an effort to protect Malaysian jobs. But what of Malaysians working overseas? Won't the same policies implemented overseas affect us? That kind of major job reshuffling isn't going to help anyone. It's not exactly protectionism, but the same principles apply, don't you think?

Muslim or not?

The score stands at:

Muslims: 990
Others: 1

Congratulations to Mr. Gilbert Freeman, who, on Friday, managed to change his religion from Islam to Christian. In a country that professes to have freedom of religion, there sure isn't a lot of it if you happen to be born into the wrong one. Interestingly enough, the reason the Shariah court gave for approving the change:

The Shariah court ruled that he is not a Muslim. He is not practicing Islam, and he hasn't applied to be a Muslim.

I'm not sure whether being born and brought up in a religion constitutes applying to be in that religion, but I, for one, am definitely happy that neither my parents, nor my government is forcing me to be in any religion.

From the IHT:

Malaysian wins court battle to become Christian

The Associated Press

Published: March 6, 2000

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: An Islamic court in Malaysia ruled Friday that a man given an Islamic name at birth was a Christian, a rare victory for religious minorities in this Muslim-majority nation.

The man — whose original identity card listed his name as "Mohammad Shah alias Gilbert Freeman" — brought his case to the Shariah court in southern Negeri Sembilan state after the National Registration Department refused to accept he was a Christian and allow him to drop his Islamic name when he applied for a new identity card.

Lawyer Hanif Hassan said his client, who is 61, was raised as a Christian by his mother, and his Islamic name came from his Muslim father, who left the family when he was only 2-months-old. Freeman is married according to Christian rites and has three children who are Christians.

"The Shariah court ruled that he is not a Muslim. He is not practicing Islam, and he hasn't applied to be a Muslim," Hanif told The Associated Press.

He said his client was happy with the Shariah court's decision.

"This is a rare case but it shows that the Shariah courts are not rigid and are able to help resolve inter-religious disputes," he said.

Malaysia has a dual court system. Muslims are governed by the Islamic Shariah courts while civil courts have jurisdiction over non-Muslims. But inter-religious disputes usually end up in Shariah courts, and end in favor of Muslims.

Religious issues are extremely sensitive in Malaysia, where about 60 percent of the 27 million people are Muslims. Buddhist, Christian and Hindu minorities have accepted Islam's dominance but in recent years voiced fears that courts are unfairly asserting the supremacy of Islam, which is Malaysia's official religion.

Freeman sought the court's help because he said he was getting old and he didn't want any confusion over whether he should receive a Christian burial after, Hanif said.

There have been several cases of Islamic authorities claiming the bodies of people they say converted secretly to Islam.