When Malay Leaders Feel Threatened

When Malay Leaders Feel Threatened 

M. Bakri Musa

 

A sure sign of a wily, corrupt and incompetent leader is when he tries to portray his personal and political problems as that of the nation’s. On the flip side, a good indicator of a wise and mature society is how fast citizens would see through that ruse.

 

            When South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol tried recently to consolidate his position by declaring martial law using imagined North Korean infiltrates as a ploy, South Koreans saw through that charade right away. Yoon was chased out of office and now faces impeachment.

 

            Former Prime Ministers Tun Mahathir and Muhyiddin Yassin both face serious personal, legal, and political problems. Mahathir is under threat of prosecution, as per the recently released Royal Commission, for his mishandling of the Batu Puteh case that saw the rocky outcrop in the Strait of Johore being awarded to Singapore by the International Court Commission. A possible high demeanor crime. More immediate and much closer to his ailing heart is that Mahathir’s adult sons now face serious scrutiny by the Anti-Corruption Agency. 

 

As for his current political standing, Mahathir lost his electoral deposit in the general election of November 2022 when he led yet another new party. His hometown voters finally saw Mahathir’s true character. 

 

            Muhyiddin also faces serious criminal corruption charges now slowly meandering through the sluggish Malaysian courts. His more immediate threat however, is personal bankruptcy for failure to pay libel damages to a fellow politician. That would directly threaten his Parliamentary seat, and thus political power.

 

            Hence the current antics of the desperate duo of Malay politics. Add to that, both are old and ailing, Mahathir with serious heart problems, Muhyiddin crippled with fatal pancreatic cancer. What a load as you stare at the end of your life! Call that Providence, or Allah being All-Just. 

 

            No surprise then that the desperate duo has concocted yet another presumed national (or specifically Malay) crisis. Make no mistake. Despite the duo’s desperate claims, the status of Malays vis a vis non-Malays (the so-called crisis) is today no different than when both men were in power, Mahathir for over two decades at the end of the last century, Muhyiddin a merciful brief couple of years beginning in 2020. 

 

In the tradition of endless meaningless “kongresses” when Malay leaders are bereft of credible or workable solutions to the community’s myriad problems, these discredited has-been Malay leaders have predictably concocted yet another grandiose scheme, the “Majlis Meja Bulat Melayu Terancam” (Round Table Council) to address–what else–the “endangered position of Malays in ‘our own land.’”  

 

There he was, like the Eveready Bunny that never seems to run out of battery, Mahathir giving yet another press conference to declare what he had imagined to be an epoch announcement, but for the reception he received. Beside him was Muhyiddin, flanked by a few low-level representatives from the Islamic Party as well as some discredited disgruntled UMNO members whom Prime Minister Anwar had skipped over in his new ruling coalition. There was for example, former Minister and Senate Speaker Rais Yatim desperate to make himself relevant again, or at least feel self-important.  

 

Nor did Mahathir sense the incongruity that in an audience of Malays to address a specifically Malay problem, he chose to speak in English. Only towards the end did he sprinkle in a few Malay phrases. Never mind, no one saw the hypocrisy or absurdity of that either. 

 

            No, Mahathir did not present any new or credible ideas on how to meet contemporary Malay challenges. He was bereft of them, just as he was during his long tenure as Prime Minister. All he did was announce the formation of the Meja Bulat and its Secretariat. No mention of its possible head or key personnel.   

 

            With that this ailing has-been politician asserted his claim to bring Malays to our promised land. A tie-up between comical and pathetic, or perhaps both. When Mahathir ended his press conference, he asked for questions, anticipating a flood of them. Alas except for a solitary soul asking for a brief clarification, there were none. A fitting end to a futile if not laughable spectacle.

 

            It was obvious that Mahathir and those others had missed the recent subtle but seismic change in the Malay mindset. This is best articulated by an academic at the Islamic International University of Malaysia, one Abu Hafiz Saleh. Malaysian academics are politically docile, the consequence of all those intrusive rules governing their conduct and utterances. That makes Hafiz’s words that much more courageous and significant.

 

            In his latest social media podcast soon after Mahathir announced his Meja Bulat Secretariat, Hafiz had, among others, this to say, “Sidang Meja bulat kuasa dan maruah Melayu adalah polemik setiap kali rasa diri tergugat.” (This Round Table for Malays is but the polemics of has-been Malay leaders whenever they feel threatened.)

 

            Apt and sharp observation. Hafiz’s podcast has not yet gone viral but he has already received hundreds of favorable comments. There is hope for the Malay masses long deprived of competent and honest leadership.

Malaysian Universities' Futile Chase For Ranking

 Malaysian Universities’ Futile Chase For Ranking

M. Bakri Musa

 

“You’re UM-Believable” blared the headline of a Malaysian daily last month, referring to the improved ranking of the country’s oldest university. As per the QS World University Rankings: Asia (QS-AUR) 2024, the University of Malaya (UM) now ranks 12^th in Asia and remains the nation’s top. 

 

“With our new tagline, home of the bright, land of the brave, UM will continue to strive for excellence into the future,” its head triumphantly added. 

 

This obsession with ranking, now a global phenomenon, is a recent preoccupation. The good news is that this might soon be passe, but not before consuming scarce valuable resources from its victims–the universities. This burden is especially heavy with already poorly-funded campuses in the Third World, Malaysia included. While American universities can afford those extra expenses, many top ones have already opted out of these meaningless exercises.

 

US News & World Report, the publisher of the most widely read “Best US Colleges” series, had long ago gone out of business with its newsweekly magazine. It is now reduced to publishing the “Best Of This and That,” reflecting the growing industry of ranking. 

 

Ranking exercises are but parasites on universities, consuming precious resources meant for their students, institution, and community. Nothing demonstrates this silly misplaced obsession with ranking than when a Malaysian campus goes hog wild celebrating its “improvement” from 469^th to 463^rd position! 

 

More pernicious with this obsession with ranking is the explosive growth of predatory journals. That is a major distraction for Third World academics for even the most “junk” article requires some effort to produce. That energy could be more productively expended elsewhere.  

 

A metaphor best illustrates the futility of such global ranking exercises. If you are already a suave dresser, then it would be appropriate to compare yourself with others similarly well-dressed, contrasting their choice of color, style, and type of material. However, if you are just emerging from the jungle or still living in it, your concerns are more basic, like the durability of the material and its ability to provide coverage and warmth. Style, fittings, and color schemes are not your priorities.

 

Accept the reality that no Malaysian university will ever make it to the top decile globally or within Asia in the foreseeable future. Having accepted that, focus on your basic mission – your primary responsibility towards your students, institution, and community. 

 

The critical measures of the quality of a university are its students, faculty, and contributions to the community. Improve those and you are well on your way to improving your institution. Develop your own matrix, one that can be used over time. 

 

A good place to start would be improving your input – your incoming students. Establish standards and criteria for your entering students that can be used for comparison over time, such as language (both Malay and English) competency as well as science and mathematical proficiency. A university is an expensive undertaking; it should not be used to provide remedial or matriculation classes that can be provided better and cheaper elsewhere.

 

For example, accept students with a minimum score of IV out of V in both English and Malay, using the current Malaysian Universities English Test (MUET) as a template. That would be an excellent start. Malaysian undergraduates should be fluent in both Malay and English, as well have some minimum competency in the sciences and mathematics regardless of their majors. 

 

With the glut of PhDs in the country now, the minimum qualification for new academics should be at least two years of post-doctoral experience, with demonstrated productivity as well as capability of conducting independent research.

 

As for the irrelevance of much local research, consider this. Despite the glut of business schools in Malaysia, no one has studied such spectacular debacles as Bank Bumiputra, Perwaja Steel, or the latest, One Malaysia Berhad. Malaysian academics are not curious? Likewise, the ratio of coastline to landmass in Malaysia is one of the highest. Yet few local universities have a marine biology department.

 

Paying attention to those areas critical to the nation is far better than gloating over your presumed ranking improvement.

 

Malaysia And South Korea - What Different Trajectories!

  

Malaysia And South Korea – What Different Trajectories!

M. Bakri Musa

 

 

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s meeting with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on November 24, 2024 in Seoul reminded me of the visit to Malaysia in 1966 by President Park Chong Hee. Park received an exceptionally grand royal reception. Of particular interest was his visit to then Deputy Prime Minister Tun Razak’s famous “National Operations Room” where Razak directed Malaysia’s massive and ambitious rural development schemes.

 

            Park was so impressed and inspired by Razak’s initiative that on returning home Park commenced his own community development scheme, Saemaul Undong (SU – New Village Movement). That would be the genesis of the later “Miracle of the Han River,” with South Korea becoming one of the fastest growing economies and a leader in many sectors.

 

The trajectories of the two countries could not be more different. Today it is Malaysia’s turn to learn from South Korea. Let us hope that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who was still in secondary school when President Park visited Malaysia, would be as eager and diligent a student as Park was earlier. 

 

South Korea’s success is even more impressive considering that it has been in a continuous state of war since the 1950s. By contrast, Malaysia’s last conflict was konfrantasi with Indonesia in 1963 and the even more deadly 1969 race riot. Both are now distant memories. Wars and conflicts are the greatest impediments to development. That makes South Korea’s achievements that much more impressive.

 

Malaysia’s GDP and per capita GDP in 1966 were US$3.14 billion and $337 respectively; South Korea’s, US$9 billion and $279 (all nominal figures). A significant chunk of the South Korean figures came from American military spending. Even American soldiers employing local maids contributed to the local GDP! By 2023, Malaysia’s GDP was US$400 billion and per capita GDP of $11.7K to South Korea’s US$9 trillion and $279K respectively, both about eight times higher than Malaysia’s.

 

Both nations share many similarities as well as significant differences. Unlike Malaysia, South Korea is a homogenous society. As for similarities, both nations had been colonized; Malaysia relatively benign by Britain, Korea more brutally by Japan. 

 

The reactions of the two nations to their former colonizers could not be more different. While Park was eager to learn and emulate the successful Japanese, Malaysian leaders went out of their way to demonize and avoid everything English, including and especially the language. That is a major self-imposed handicap as English is now the language of science and commerce. Then there was the silly and counterproductive “Buy British Last” campaign of the 1980s.

 

Both Malaysia and South Korea are committed to heavy state involvement in business. South Korea’s family-owned chaebol, modelled after the Japanese pre-war zaibutsu and post-war keirotsu, spearheaded the nation’s entry into the global market with substantive government help.

 

Malaysia too spawned many government-owned corporations to spur development as well as increase Malay participation in commerce. The key assignment for Prime Minister Anwar is to learn from South Korea why their chaebols do not suffer the ignoble fate of our Perwajas and Bank Bumiputras.

 

Then consider the South Koreans’ attitude to learning English. Malaysia had a significant advantage on that front, being a former British colony and with widespread English schools and heightened language proficiency. The modern Malay roman script is also a significant advantage over hangeul in this Internet Age. Perversely, instead of leveraging those advantages, we have treated them as impediments! Malay language nationalists would now have us revert to jawi.

 

The South Koreans do not consider themselves as disrespecting their mother tongue by learning English. The 2024 Nobel Laureate in Literature, Han Kang, writes in her native Korean but she is also crisp in English, as with most South Koreans.

 

Contrast Han Kang’s posture to Malaysia’s National Laureate, Muhammad Haji Salleh. Although educated in English, he has since decided not to write in that language in order to “decolonize his craft,” whatever that means. He is not alone. One cannot minimize the significant negative impact of such gestures on the younger set. Imagine the good he would have done if he were to instead encourage Malays to be bilingual and not consider writing or speaking in English as disrespecting Bahasa.

 

As for those Mahathir types who attribute the success of East Asian societies to their mysterious Confucius values or superior genetic stock, and by implication the success of non-Malays vis a vis Malays in Malaysia, the current fate of North Korea should disabuse them of that delusion; likewise earlier China under Mao.

 

Saemaul Undong catapulted South Korea into the First World while Malaysia’s rural development policies and institutions like MARA floundered. It is instructive to revisit President Park’s original message to the villagers:

 

"Those peasants who complain as if their poverty is due to the fault of others, believing that they are in poverty since the government does not support them and lamenting that poverty is their fate, cannot stand up on themselves even if several hundred years pass by. It is a waste of money to support those without motivation. For lazy people, even the government cannot help them."

 

That may sound harsh but is the essence of “tough love.” Park’s insight was to help only those who needed help and not those who demanded it based on some presumed rights. You are more likely to succeed with the former, and also earn their gratitude. With the latter, expect only scorn when they do not succeed.

 

That is the crucial lesson from South Korea. Success resides with us as individuals as well as collectively; blaming “them” is not productive and creates only frustrations as well as resentments.