The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion
The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion |
| Posted: 02 Sep 2013 06:38 PM PDT Shukur mempunyai lebih 30 tahun pengalaman sebagai wartawan dan bekerja dengan pelbagai media. Beliau kini pencen tetapi menjadi pemerhati politik yang tegar. Sering terdengar rungutan generasi lama, atau dalam istilah terkini, 'orang veteran' mengenai perlakuan, pemikiran, citarasa dan style hidup anak muda zaman kini. Kata mereka, golongan ini, malah, ada yang kurang ajar, sering menolak fikiran 'orang lama', lupa sejarah, lupa kesusahan masa lalu ketika orang tua membesarkan mereka dalam dalam suasana serba susah, baru saja lepas menghadapi Perang Jepun, datang ancaman komunis pula. Waktu itu belum ada pembangunan. Untuk menyeberang sungai menggunakan jambatan gantung, atau feri kecil di kawasan pedalaman . Belum ada lebuh raya, kenderaan utama basikal dan motorsikal. Kalau ada mereka yang lebih sedikit memakai kereta Moris Mainor, Fiat atau Ford, sementara peluang kerja sangat terbatas. Mandi air hujan dalam tempayan, pakai lampu pam. Berjalan di kampung memakai lampu pam atau andang kelapa. Benar, ini suatu zaman yang serba sukar dan di zaman inilah ibu bapa membesarkan anak cucu mereka yang ada sekarang, yang hidup di zaman moden ini, penuh dengan segala kemudahan, peluang kerja banyak, mendiami rumah batu, boleh makan di McDonald atau di KFC atau di mana-mana café, menggunakan internet dan alat perhubungan serba canggih. Sementara itu, ramai yang berpeluang belajar di luar negara. Generasi lama yang masih hidup sekarang bertemu dengan generasi baru ini, termasuk anak cucu mereka. Di sinilah sering bertembung jurang pemikiran yang berbeza menyebabkan kadang-kadang menjadi tegang. Ini sebuah dilema sangat ketara, menarik untuk diperkatakan kerana ia membabitkan soal emosi, psikologi, persepsi, perlakuan, tutur kata, malah menyentuh soal kemanusiaan. Saya sendiri adalah daripada golongan generasi lama sebelum merdeka. Tetapi daripada pengalaman sebagai wartawan/penulis kreatif, pembacaan, pendedahan kepada pelbagai golongan masyarakat puluhan tahun serta merenung kehidupan ini, saya merasakan memang sangat ketara jurang generasi antara golongan lama dan baru ini. Oleh itu, dengan pendedahan itu mendorong saya untuk berusaha memahami citarasa, persepsi, jalur pemikiran generasi baru dan mengapa mereka 'meninggalkan' aliran pemikiran generasi lama. Dalam masa yang sama saya sangat bersimpati dengan generasi lama, kerana saya sendiri datang dari generasi itu. Namun demikian, ini tidak mengurangkan minat saya untuk memahami generasi baru ini. Saya berusaha memahami persepsi generasi baru ini dalam pelbagai aspek, khususnya di segi aliran pemikiran politik mereka yang dijangka akan mendominasi aliran politik negara ini di masa depan. Ketika berlangsung PRU Ke-13 pada 5 Mei lalu, kita menyaksikan kempen dan keputusan PRU Ke-13 itu, Kita melihat, pertamanya, generasi baru ini menolak kempen perkauman atau apa saja kata-kata dan tindakan yang berbau perkauman. Ini sangat berbeza dengan kaedah berfikir generasi lama, yang masih mengelus-ngelus fahaman kebangsaan, melayani nostalgia masa lampau - perjuangan orang Melayu mendapatkan kemerdekaan tanah airnya, menurunkan bendera Union Jeck (simbol penjajah), meneriakkan Merdeka! Merdeka! di mana-mana dan sebagainya. Memanglah perjuangan menuntut kemerdekaan itu patut dihargai oleh sesiapa pun. Walaupun perjuangan kemerdekaan itu tidak menumpahkan darah, kerana ia diperoleh melalui 'dulang emas' seperti apa yang digelar oleh sesetengah pihak, tetapi disebabkan keadaaan pada masa itu, kita terima hakikat yang ada justeru ia menjadi 'hak' sejarah masa lampau. Yang hendak saya perkatakan di sini ialah persepsi generasi baru yang cuba saya fahami. Seperti diketahui, mereka ini hidup dalam suasana dan keadaan yang sangat jauh berbeza dengan suasana sekarang. Melalui pendidikan, pededahan, pergaulan dan pembacaan, mereka terdedah kepada nilai baru, mengenal erti demokrasi, perjuangan menuntut hak-hak asasi manusia, kesamarataan, kebebasan bersuara, keterbukaan dan sebagainya. Mereka beraksi di medan baru ini dangan meninggalkan nilai lama, perjuangan kebangsaan yang mereka anggap sudah tidak releven lagi dengan suasana dan keperluan masa kini. Malah, mereka berpendapat, fahaman perkauman bukan datang dari Islam di mana generasi baru ini percaya bahawa asas perjuangan Islam ialah memertabatkan insan, tidak kira warna kulit, bangsa dan keturunan. Sebab itu kebanyakan generasi baru ini menerima pendekatan Islam, bukan pendekatan melalui bangsa, untuk menyelesaikan masalah. Mereka sedar, untuk seseorang itu maju bukan dengan menjeritkan emosi perkauman dan nostalgia masa lampau, tetapi berusaha sungguh-sungguh, menambah ilmu, cerdik, rajin, kreatif dan tidak mengharapkan bantuan mana-mana pihak. Bagi mereka, kejayaan yang dicapai oleh seseorang berdasarkan kaedah berdikari ini jauh lebih mulia dan tidak terjebak menjadi hamba politik mereka yang berkuasa, malah inilah yang dituntut oleh Islam, bahawa 'kamu makan dari rezeki yang halal, hasil titik peluh kamu sendiri' – bukan datang dari sumber yang salah atau meragukan. Dalam PRU yang lalu, dilihat jelas pertembungan antara perjuangan berasaskan fahaman perkauman dengan perjuangan menegakkan demokrasi serta hak-hak asasi manusia dan bebebasan bersuara. Pemikiran generasi lama kelihatan masih bertapak kukuh di luar bandar di mana Umno yang masih mewakili generasi lama ini, saya percaya, akan berubah akhirnya walaupun memakan masa lama. Dalam PRU lalu, sangat menyerlah pertembungan pemikiran dan persepsi antara generasi lama dengan generasi baru. Saya percaya, sudah ramai pakar sains sosial mengkaji fenomena ini, justeru ia suatu perkembangan yang sangat menarik. Pada pendapat saya, walau apa pun alasan, generasi lama tidak wajar 'marah' dengan sikap dan persepsi generasi baru ini. Seperti saya katakan tadi, generasi baru berada dalam suasana dan keadaan yang sangat berlainan. Apa yang penting ialah kita berusaha memahami mereka, justeru mereka adalah anak cucu kita dan mereka adalah generasi masa depan negara, bukan lagi kita kerana zaman kita telah berlalu. Seperti dalam pertandingan lumba lari, mereka adalah pemegang button yang kita hulurkan. Mereka yang akan sampai ke garis penamat, bukan kita kerana kita hanya memulakan dan jasa generasi lama tetap dikenang. Oleh itu, teguran dan kritikan kepada generasi baru boleh dilakukan, tetapi kita jangan memaksa mereka supaya berfikir seperti kita. Apa yang lebih penting selain dari berusaha memahami mereka, tetapi juga kita wajar terus membina hubungan dengan mereka. – 3 September, 2013. * Ini adalah pendapat peribadi penulis dan tidak semestinya mewakili pandangan The Malaysian Insider. | |
| Posted: 02 Sep 2013 05:44 PM PDT
The Deputy Prime Minister has called on UDA Holdings Berhad to return to its original aim of helping urban Bumiputera households and traders acquire properties. Good, but unfortunately we have heard such exhortations and reminders countless times before. UDA was established in 1971. According to its charter, it had the noble aim of promoting and carrying out urban development projects including improvements to the environment, services, amenities, traffic, parking, recreational and community facilities as well as "other public improvements for the promotion of national unity, health, safety, convenience and welfare". The immediate policy goal of urban development was to achieve "the distribution of opportunities among the various races in the field of commerce and industries, housing and other activities". We must remember that all this took place in the aftermath of 13 May 1969 and UDA's mandate was a very important part of the New Economic Policy to address the socioeconomic imbalances that had put the nation in jeopardy. UDA had several excellent successes. Many of us know Bukit Bintang Plaza and Dayabumi, of course, but how many are aware that UDA was also instrumental in the development of Taman Tun Dr Ismail (including its iconic market), Bandar Subang Jaya, Bangsar Utama and Dataran Maybank, Puduraya (now Pudu Sentral) and Sinar Kota, Plaza Angsana in Johor and the Kuala Terengganu Golf Resort, to name a few. And lest we get too chauvinistic, let us remember that UDA was a multiracial firm that worked with other multiracial firms. So what went wrong? How was it that, in December 2011, then-Chairman of UDA Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed told Bernama that UDA was "facing problems implementing the Bumiputera Agenda"? Why did UDA cave in so quickly to the demands of the MRT Corporation on its home ground in Bukit Bintang? Why were there problems with the balance sheet (so said the UDA managing director in June last year)? As it turns out, UDA no longer builds any urban public housing today. That responsibility-a major part of the company's social responsibility-is now in the hands of Projek Perumahan Rakyat 1 Malaysia (PR1MA). Nur Jazlan went so far as to say that UDA needed "a new direction" to stay in business but here we have the call from the Deputy Prime Minister to go back to the original mission. Why hasn't UDA succeeded in the 21st century in the area of providing the Malays the same access to urban residential property ownership? This was one of its main strengths just a few decades ago. And what about commercial property? I have alluded to some of these problems in a previous article. In the suburbs of Kuala Lumpur, I wrote, one can't help but notice the glaring disparity in commercial property ownership among the races. Even in smaller townships, the Chinese presence is clearly more dominant. UDA will have a lot to do to restore some balance to this, if it wants to remain true to its aims. To make UDA really effective, however, the Deputy Prime Minister must be willing to try new- and maybe even radical-ways to get things done. Serving "reminders" to UDA will be futile even if they are repeated every week. I have three solutions for the Deputy Prime Minister to consider. These measures haven't been tried and I think that this is probably why they are worth considering. Winston Churchill remarked that doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is the mark of insanity. My solutions might not necessarily work but no one can call such an effort insane. The first step is to appoint a Chairman who is (preferably) Chinese and politically independent. I don't mean to denigrate the Malays, many of whom are competent and can do the job equally well. The advantage of having an independent Chinese head of UDA, however, is that he (or, indeed, she) will not therefore be a high-ranking Umno politician as has been the case with UDA chiefs recently. Such a person will have no duty or obligation to help fellow Umno-members and comrades and will not be afraid to upset other "pressure groups" who will always use the Malay cause to get things for themselves. This new Chairman will not be bound by pre-existing "deals" to enrich his own coffers. True, any other non-Malay can do just as good a job, but a Chinese will also have good contacts with other property developers (most of whom are Chinese), and with sufficient funds from the Government, he should be able to get optimum results for UDA. He or she will of course have to be an honest person whose sole responsibility and duty is to implement UDA's aims and objectives. It goes without saying that, if this approach is to be adopted, the current war between Utusan Malaysia and the Chinese community must cease. Cooperation and the spirit of helping one another must be restored. The second step is to make UDA answerable to Parliament not to a Minister, as is the current practice. UDA is an important agency of the government and its success is critical to the continued business presence of Malays in the cities, as well as to the overall health of the economy. Special effort is needed if UDA is to transform and elevate itself to national prominence (as has been achieved by Felda). As such, what UDA needs most today is professional-not political-management. Indeed, it must be insulated completely from political operatives looking for business opportunities to feed the party machinery. One way will be to form a Parliamentary Select Committee to oversee the management and operation of UDA. Most of the Members of Parliament are Bumiputera anyway and so they should be able to take a special interest in how UDA is managed. When UDA is free from political interference, it will once again be a successful organisation and no longer a vehicle for some politicians or their supporters to make money. In time, it will be able to shed its ethnic approach and become a truly effective, world-class urban development authority comparable to many successful housing boards around the world. Indeed, the final and most difficult step for the Deputy Prime Minister is to abandon the idea that UDA must give "special favours" to the Malays. UDA will not be viable if Malays get their properties cheaper than the market price or if they are allowed to pay lower rent than everybody else. It is one thing to help Malays get shoplots and commercial units; it is quite another to "subsidise" their purchases. The simple truth is that when you "subsidise" a property, someone else pays for it and the scheme will not last. It is also true that when you get things cheaply, you will be tempted to sell it for a fast buck. If this mindset is permitted to fester, the Malays will never ever form a business community that takes a long-term view to holding commercial properties as core assets. There is no easy way out. Leaders must abandon the tactic of preaching special prices for special people. They must cease dishing out false hope, causing Malay traders to expect lower rents and purchase prices. This is pure fantasy. Leaders should tell Malays that more loans can be made available or that repayment periods can be longer, and so the solution for them is to engage in businesses where the returns are higher. Rents and property prices are always expensive in big cities and Malays (particularly their leaders) must accept this reality. The solution is for Malays to adopt the Chinese mindset when it comes to trade and commerce. As such, the government will be doing the Malays a terrible disservice if it prevents them from doing business on religious or moral grounds. So, for example, don't condemn Malays perpetually to the ubiquitous tom yam or laksa Johor shops. Let them become four-digit franchisees if they wish. UDA and DBKL should not prohibit a Malay-Muslim entrepreneur if he chooses to enter the gaming business. Similarly, if an upmarket restaurateur wants to rent a property belonging to a Malay in order to open a French bistro, then he should be given the permission to do so even if wine is on the menu. The rent for this kind of establishment can be astronomical. At the moment, the permitted business activities for Malays are more restrictive compared with the Chinese. The Malay businessman will not be given a licence to operate a bar or nightclub, or to import many kinds of foodstuff not certified as halal. Even operating a snooker centre might be construed as "having a gambling element". Indeed, Malays can't go into joint ventures in which there is even a faint suspicion of the non-halal. This is the kind of restriction the government imposes on Malays. How then should we expect them to be competitive and acquire urban properties and excel in business like everybody else? The unfortunate thing about this is the obvious hypocrisy of it all. Malaysia Airlines can do a non-halal business - but only in the air. Even the investments of Lembaga Tabung Haji in properties overseas are not subject to the strict restrictions we impose on local Malay property owners. The government must decide what it can do for the Malays and then leave the rest of the decision-making to them. UDA exists to help Malays acquire properties; so, for now, it should just do that and nothing else. But if the government insists on deciding for the Malays what businesses they can engage in, what sins are big or small, and what moral observation is mandatory, then the Government will end up failing in its own observation of the rules and the Malays will end up with nothing. * This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider. |
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