America/Malaysia - Hope, Expectations, Race
I write this before the counting is done, but I’m absolutely confident about the result.
I wanted to talk about America and Malaysia, in terms of the politics of hope, the expectations incumbent on the new President, and of race.
My first fascination with Obama came when he decided to focus on politics of hope, and brand his entire campaign around the concept.
It’s fresh, sometimes perceived as naive, but it is something I have taken a great interest in. I was pleased that Pakatan ran on that same platform this last elections, and I think it paid off - as it did for Obama.
I like to see the triumph of hope over fear - the ascendency of the belief that we can be better than what we are, that we need not fear the unknown and the unfamiliar.
I have very little doubt that Obama will not do as well as he is expected to. Like Anwar, the amount of hope that is riding on him - the degree to which these men sometimes carry an entire nation’s hope for total redemption from dark days - is almost impossible to live up to.
The last thing this means is that Obama or Anwar will be bad leaders. It’s just that they won’t be as good as some people hope. I rather doubt any human can.
The good news though, is that I believe that they will try. That they will work hard and try sincerely to live up to that dream.
Naive? Yeah, so was the idea of a black president to some.
Which brings me to my last point.
Now all the non-Malays will want to ask: how about a non-Malay Prime Minister?
I will state unequivocally that I feel that this is the wrong question.
Observe how very little Obama made race an issue in his campaign. Of course, it was *always* there; but his campaign wisely avoided any focus or harping on the issue.
I think what Malaysia needs is good leadership. I really don’t care all that much if Malaysia is ruled by a Malay for eternity, as long as those leaders are good leaders.
I’m perfectly happy to have non-Malay leaders as well, but I think an obsession with putting non-Malays in higher and higher positions is sometimes done at the expense of focusing on quality of leadership.
So I think we should reject an MCA-style thinking about going on and on about a Chinese PM or whatever, and concentrate on getting a *good* PM.
Congrats Mr. Obama - bring good things.
Yes. I agree that we should reject an MCA-style thinking about going on and on about a Chinese PM or whatever, and concentrate on getting a *good* PM.
Fantastic! You have articulated it well. That should be the new politics: while we should not and cannot forget our skin colour, it should not in any way form the core of any politics. And using politics of hope, we can transcend beyond skin colour to a greater height for the future.
To be fair, MCA should not be the ‘monopoly’ fitting your description. DAP in general, with marked exceptions in recent times, is in the same category. It is time newer generation in DAP takes charge of its destiny before it’s too late.
We must dream harder because meritocracy is not readily acceptable in Malaysia. Look at Low of PKNS so many protest against her race but was quiet all the while when a Malay who runs PKNS and loses hundreds of million……and gave contracts to mostly chinese as well.
Look at the signages issue. The Malay NGO’s taking legal action against state Gov on languages. Just imagine if that is successful…..all indian, chinese, kadazan, dayak schools have to be imprisoned under ISA as an insult to Bahasa Malaysia. Huh, talking about the PM being non malay. Very Sorry even a bumiputra from Sabah and sarawak is also not allowed if he/she is not muslim. OK. TAlking about equaality….meritocracy all longkang talk or talk cock.
Tears rolled down my eyes when i watched the Obama victory speech. You can see hope shining in the peoples’ eyes. Will Malaysians have the opportunity to feel the same? We are waiting…….
Nat, I share the same sentiment as well. I hope to live to the day that race is not an issue in Malaysia.
Color blind,
UmiQ
When an MB appointed a non-malay as acting GM of PKNS, the umno racists made a big issue of it. What if it is a permanent one? Do we still think of race instead of a capable person to push our country forward. Given this mindset of the radical minority, another 50 years on, Malaysia will be further behind our asean neghbours if others subscribe to their racist mindset.
he like made an awesome concession speech. and he dealt with it with like going all there will be setbacks but we’ll get there!!
Watch Apacet II Conference “Unruly scenes unfold in video clip”
Youtube link:-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmBzfCr9X6k
Don’t miss to see.. current…Deputy FT Minister in action !!!
Well said Nat. The important thing is that we should not bother whether the cat is black, white, brown or yellow - so long as it can catch mice. I think this is essentially what Obama fights for - good governance to benefit all Americans irrespective of whites, blacks, asiatics, hispanics, etc. It is time that our leaders fight for ALL MALAYSIANS instead of only Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans, Ibans, etc. And the first step we can do this is to dismantile racial parties - which means that UMNO, MCA, MIC must go go go!
The US Presidential election campaign has opened a new chapter for US imperialism. The overwhelming opposition to the policies of the Bush regime and the onset of a deep and serious recession has seen a mass demand for ‘change’. Massive enthusiasm and high expectations have been aroused, especially among young people and Afro-Americans in the Democratic candidate, Barak Obama. The enthusiasm and hopes of what his presidency will mean goes beyond the USA. In poll after poll in Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa, Obama is by far the favoured candidate. While the outcome of the election to the Congress and scale of the Democrat majority, especially in the House of Representatives, will be important factors in determining what Obama actually does in some spheres of US intervention, one thing is clear: Obama is coming to power in an entirely different world situation than when Bush and the neo-cons took power in 2000. The question of US foreign policy in the post-Bush era is being posed sharply.
THE ‘US EMPIRE’ AFTER BUSH—> http://asocialistmalaysia.blogspot.com/2008/10/world-relation-us-empire-after-bush.html
kenapa tidak Anuar Ibrahin jadi PM - dari 16 September hingga kini - pembohong paling besar sama dgn Amrika.
not concession. acceptance. but mccain’s conceding speech was also really good.
Read his speech as President, very charismatic, focusing like John F. Kennedy on the American people. How well he will deliver will be another matter altogether. Like you, I agree that he probably won’t deliver the huge expectations people have of him. In fact, the sense of political messianism that people see in him seems deliriously unreal…But, at the same time, unlike Anwar, he has a strong sense of political realism, when noting the obstacles and the limitations, which I think is both humble and sincere. For Americans, I think he probably will come good for them, but for the rest of the world, I’m not too sure…
“Now all the non-Malays will want to ask: how about a non-Malay Prime Minister?”
Maybe, we can? :)
Yes! We should do what well-run corporations do: put partisan views aside and hire the best person for the job.
it is an interesting discussion here….being colour blind in Malaysia is i belive not in the near Malaysia…..
Blacks in the Us has totally adopted the ways of life on the White’s. They are not as their predecessor in the african…in other words…even if they originated from africa, they are certainly not living their ancestoral culture….they are american i suppose….american culture…
however in Malaysia, we are not integrated be it culturally, via language or even religion…..
so, tell me….how easy it suppose to be?
Dr M once said, if Malaysia is like australia for example, where the majority of the population is about 90%, the min0rity has to assimilate into the majority….
in malaysia, it is not that easy. the majority population is about the same as the minority, only by a few percents…..so one refuses to assimilate into the other….
the problem is not assimilation, Baba and Nyoya manage to live in a Malay culture, but the willingness of people to integrate….i talk about this in my blog….
here is the link
http://opendebate.wordpress.com/2008/08/05/are-we-willing-to-become-bangsa-malaysia/
ash037,
I think what you say is true. Malaysia’s multiculturalism makes things complicated - even more complicated than in Indonesia, where even having a clearly secular constitution is no problem. It’s no problem because Muslims don’t feel their identity threatened at all. Malaysia, on the other hand, is a more difficult nut to crack.
Let’s examine what a pro-multicultaralism opposition party had tried to do decades ago.
In the 1960’s, DAP adopted Switzerland as the model to immitate (though of course augmented for local history and circumstances). The rationale was that Switzerland, like Malaysia at the time, had no single race that was not outnumbered by all the others; e.g. chinese+indian>malay, malay+indian>chinese etc. There were also several other economic and geopolitical similarities between Switzerland and Malaysia. Hence the DAP informally adopted the Swiss model, and made suggestions such as land reform to distribute wealth (instead of the “trickle down” style of the Alliance), and perhaps most controversially, DAP proposed that Malaysia maintain strong mother tongue tradition. Note that Switzerland has four national languages. This was the genesis of what is DAP’s strong Chinese education position today… it started off having nothing whatsoever to do with Chinese chauvinism, it was a genuine nation-building strategy, based on what was perceived to be a success story; it worked for the Swiss, they reckoned it would have worked for us too. Today lain cerita la, some Chinese chauvinists do exist.
So the question is… what model for multiculturalism could work for Malaysia today? The Swiss model is out, no longer relevant I think. So what next?
As for what you suggest in your blog entry (I had a look at the link you provided), I will respond point-by-point:
1) “Are you willing to put off your race’s culture, norms, language, heritage, ancestry and historical background and truly embrace the totality of becoming BANGSA MALAYSIA?”
Did Khoo Kay Peng actually lead the audience down to that line of thinking? If that’s your own thought, then I respectfully disagree that this should be our aspiration. But if that’s Khoo Kay Peng’s thoughts then no wonder Gerakan is in the crapper today…
2) “Are the Malays / Bumiputeras ready to abundant their Hak Istimewa?”
Special privilliges or historical acknowledgement? The latter is fine I think. But economic handicap? That certainly has to go.
3) “Are the Chinese willing to hire other races to work in their heavily Chinese-populated companies?”
Absolutely, we must have zero tolerance for this attitude. ‘Prefer Chinese’ be damned.
4) “Are the Indians willing to pass their Tamil language and embrace the national language?”
We all speak the national language, especially the younger (and therefore better educated) generation. Nothing wrong speaking some other languages as well. And btw, not all Indians in Malaysia speak Tamil; Hindi, Malayalam, and others are also very popular. India is a federation (unlike China), so there is greater cultural and linguistic diversity. It’s just that under the ‘Formula Perikatan’ it becomes convenient to lump all Indians inside one bucket. (And then put the bucket in the back of the house and forget about it.)
Americans have this tradition of self-correcting their mistakes which I find totally lacking in Malaysia. The young Americans are always leading the chance which we don’t see happening in Malausia. Young Malaysia seem to be a docile group. The only glimpse of this was the voting in the general election held earlier this year.
My view of the American election:
http://novice101.wordpress.com/2008/11/05/i-salute-you-americans
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No real excuse to post this here except to get the money from CNN to give to someone who is deserving. Hope you don’t mind.
Help someone to help others, at the same time give recognition to one who have been selflessly helping others.
http://novice101.wordpress.com/2008/11/06/help-give-away-us100,000/
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