The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion

Posted: 19 Dec 2011 04:09 PM PST

DEC 20 — If our politicians are to be believed, the Malays are under threat these days. Our religion, culture and power are steadily under attack from all and sundry. Everyone has it in for us, from Christians to the Chinese. We are even warned about a so-called "Malaysian Spring" being orchestrated by "anasir-anasir Barat" (and quite possibly, the Jews, who of course, have always had it in for us).

"We won't surrender an inch," said the Melayu champion-in-chief (who also finds the time to be our prime minister) during a speech to Pekida recently. Malays, we were told, will never be oppressed in our own land so long as Umno is in power.

Well, glory be. I'm sure there are many others who can sleep more soundly at night knowing that there are so many out there making sure we Malays are not stripped of our position and power in our land.

But ... hang on a minute.

The last time I checked we Malays, along with the other Bumiputeras, make up about 60-odd per cent of our country's population. Islam is not just our country's official religion, it is also the religion professed by about 60 per cent of our people. Not only are we and our religion in the majority, but let's see, we Malays also make up most of, oh, the civil service, police, army, ruling class and politicians.

Of course, you can say that there are plenty of Malays who still need help. This, I don't dispute. I've seen rural poverty in our country, where people still live without basic amenities like constant water supply and proper toilets. I've also seen urban poverty, with families living in small, low-cost flats in the outskirts of KL making do with the little that they earn.

Yet poor Malays aren't the only ones who need help. There are also plenty of poor people, non-Malays, who deserve help. My brother was once approached by a young Indian man late one evening. He had just arrived from Kulai and asked my brother for help; my brother pointed him in the direction of the nearest kedai mamak.

I've said this before, and I'll say it again: not all Malays deserve to get the help that the NEP brings. I would hazard a guess that most Malays who live in exclusive neighbourhoods in KL do not need the Bumiputera housing discount, or government scholarships for their offspring.

Are we really throwing away our "power" and "position" if we amended the NEP so that it excluded rich Malays and was open to all of our country's poor, regardless of their race? Yes, Datuk Najib, we've "willingly shared power with the non-Malays" since Merdeka, but why keep harping on the past? Why not share with us your vision for the future?

I should have expected it, but I'm disappointed all the same. Is this what Malay leadership is about? Is there such a dearth of good Malay leaders in Umno that only scare tactics will do? Where is the vision about what the Malays can achieve? Why is no one inspiring us to be better? Why, in fact, is there no Malay leader out there who has the guts to say enough is enough, we Malays will never reach our full potential if we keep harping on about the help that we need? Why is no one honest enough to say that not all Malays are equal, and the haves should no longer receive a handout?

Instead of leaders who inspire us and show us how it is possible for all of us — Malay or otherwise — to have a stake in this country, we have leaders like Datuk Shahrizat Jalil. The pity of it all is that I felt that Shahrizat had not done a bad job as the minister for Women, Family and Community Development. Yet the NFC controversy has made her position untenable and shown the ugly face of Umno and our government.

Why are our ministers allowed to run family businesses that are subsidised by the government? Even if ministers are not actively involved in running such businesses, how is it that businesses run by members of a minister's family can qualify for government assistance? Why are the people who govern our country in our name not required to declare their interests in such companies, and the assets they hold?

There is also a failure of leadership over the whole NFC debacle. Najib should have taken decisive action when it first erupted, and demanded Shahrizat's resignation. Not doing so would mean that he condoned what she did, no?

This was our PM's chance to show that he meant business; that even the slightest whiff of misconduct would not be tolerated, be it at ministerial level or otherwise. Well, he's flunked the test. What this shows us is that our PM and Umno as a whole are prepared to turn a blind eye to such things. Why? I don't know. Is it because she's "one of us"? Or perhaps because she's a Malay?

Is this what Najib means when he tells us to choose wisely in the next general election? Is this what Umno means when it claims to be the only political party that can safeguard Malay interests? For shame, Umno. Out of all its members, only two leaders have called on Shahrizat to do the right thing, and recognised the damage the whole affair is doing to the party.

Let me remind you what Najib said at Pekida: Umno would not allow the Malays to be oppressed in their own land. Well, the vast amounts of money that have been reportedly spent buying expensive properties and cars could have been spent improving the lives of poorer Malays, so who's oppressing who now?

* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

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Troubled Villa heading for relegation battle?

Posted: 19 Dec 2011 03:53 PM PST

DEC 20 — Sunday's Premier League fixtures all ended with the expected conclusions as Liverpool (2-0 at Aston Villa), Manchester United (2-0 at QPR), Manchester City (1-0 over Arsenal) and Tottenham (1-0 against Sunderland) all gained victories without conceding.

The latter three of that quartet are, I believe, the only teams with a realistic chance of challenging for the league title this season — and Tottenham's chances are only slim due to the lack of depth in their squad and the fact they are already seven points behind leaders City (albeit with a game in hand).

Having said that, the previously forgotten Roman Pavlyuchenko showed there's more to life at White Hart Lane than the usual suspects by stepping off the bench to win the game with his first goal of the season in only his third appearance.

If the Russian veteran can start to exert a regular goalscoring impact in support of Emanuel Adebayor, Jermain Defoe and Rafael van der Vaart, maybe the north Londoners will be able to sustain their excellent recent form for another four months — especially if Harry Redknapp can pull off another piece of transfer market magic by bringing a striker of the calibre of Carlos Tevez to White Hart Lane when the January transfer window opens.

But in the end, I suspect the points lost by Spurs at the start of the season — when they were soundly beaten by both Manchester clubs — will rule them out of challenging for the ultimate honour. Instead, with Chelsea and Arsenal already too far adrift and Liverpool not consistent enough, I expect City and United to be slugging it out between now and May.

United were good value for their 2-0 win at Loftus Road, putting their injury woes and their European exit behind them with a dominant performance. Going ahead in the opening minute of the match through Wayne Rooney helped their cause, and from that moment onwards Rangers never really looked like getting anything from the game.

City had a far tougher task in seeing off the challenge of Arsenal, but I felt Roberto Mancini's team were good value for their victory. There was also an appropriate goalscorer as the magnificent David Silva rounded off another superb personal performance with the kind of poacher's strike you would more commonly expect to see from his team-mate Sergio Aguero. Silva must be the Premier League's player of the season so far — I certainly can't think of any more worthy candidates.

Away from the title race, the main conclusions I drew from this weekend's action were an ever-deepening sense that the unfortunate Steve Kean's tenure at Blackburn is doomed (as I discussed in my last article) and that another Scottish manager, Alex McLeish, might be dragged into a relegation battle at Aston Villa.

The nature of Blackburn's defeat at home against West Brom — conceding a goal in the last minute — showed that when some things are going against you, everything tends to go against you.

Much as I don't like to see managers getting sacked — especially when the root of Blackburn's problem is the ownership rather than the management — I feel Rovers' only chance of avoiding relegation (apart from a change of ownership) is for the Venky's to swallow their pride and sack Kean, appoint an experienced replacement, provide him with a significant transfer budget in January and then stay well out of the way. If their team loses at home against Bolton tonight, they may be forced into taking that action.

Villa, meanwhile, were dreadful in their 2-0 home defeat against Liverpool. The Reds should have won by a far more comfortable margin as they squandered a series of second-half chances — including two shots against the woodwork from the excellent Luis Suarez — and Villa simply looked clueless.

There was no discernible structure or method to their play: no pattern, no purpose, no conviction. Beyond banging the ball up towards Emile Heskey and hoping to win the second phase of play, it looked like they didn't know how they were trying to score goals.

Of course, it's only fair to acknowledge that Villa were without their two most potent players — Darren Bent through injury and Gabby Agbonlahor through suspension — and their restored presence could transform the team's attacking outlook.

But the January transfer window is just around the corner and Villa are vulnerable to losing Bent, in particular, if a moneyed club such as Arsenal, Tottenham or even Manchester United decides to enhance their attacking options.

Villa have stated their intention to keep Bent, and I have no doubt they are sincere in that belief. However, we all know that the wishes of a club only count for so much due to the player power that prevails in modern football, and Bent would quite probably be able to force through a move if the opportunity arose in January.

Storm clouds seem to be gathering at Villa Park, where the home fans are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with McLeish's management. They were unhappy to see him arrive at the club in the first place — more than something to do with the fact that his previous club was hated local rivals Birmingham City — and there's a distinct impression that many Villa fans are just waiting for a reason to break into outright revolt against their manager and make McLeish the next Steve Kean.

Another home defeat against Arsenal tomorrow night could provide just the excuse.

* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

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Selasa, 20 Disember 2011

The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion

The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion

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