The Malaysian Malaise: Last Excerpt: On The Title And Added Features

The Malaysian Malaise:  Corrupt Leadership, Failing Institutions, And Intolerant Islamism

M. Bakri Musa © 2023

 

Excerpt #6 (Final):  On The Title And Added Features

 

The phrase “The Malaysian Malaise” was the title of an Op-Ed piece in the New York Times September 20, 1990, by its conservative commentator Wllliam Safire. He was castigating then Prime Minister Mahathir (as well as other Asian autocrats) for their super sensitivity and intolerance to criticism. This was soon after Mahathir had jailed his erstwhile Deputy Anwar Ibrahim and later, the conviction in Malaysia of long-time Asia correspondent Murray Hiebert of the now-defunct Far Eastern Economic Review. That was the malaise Safire referred to, not only Malaysians’ tolerance of these autocrats but also the acquiescence of their Western enablers in London and Washington, DC. The same title (and theme) was repeated in a subsequent commentary by his colleague, also long-time Asia hand, Phillip Bowring on April 12, 2006.

 

            The shift in content but with the same title appeared later with Elizabeth Segram’s “Letter From Asia” (Foreign Affairs, October 2013). She was commenting on the general political malaise following the 13^th General Elections of May 2013. The Najib-led coalition then won the majority of Parliamentary seats, but the opposition Pakatan Harapan garnered the majority of the popular votes.  The malaise there was the huge letdown with the unfairness of the electoral process.

 

            On April 22, 1915, Global Gaming Business magazine used the same title for its editorial on Malaysia’s affirmative action programs favoring Malays. Why such a topic would appear in such a magazine beats me. Presumably because affirmative action and Malay Special Privileges was a huge and ultimately losing bet. A few more subsequent commentaries amplified on the same theme but with slightly altered title, such as Kuala Lumpur-based freelance journalist E H Imrantski’s “The Malaise of Malaysian Malays” (Newnaratif.com, March 8, 2018) and Chandra Nair’s in The Diplomat (“Malaysia’s ‘Malay-First’ Malaise,” March 4, 2020).

 

            Imrantski’s piece would be closer in theme and content considering that most of my commentaries deal with Malay leadership and Islam, the Malay version. With demographic and thus political dominance of Malays, the malaise of Malays is also that of Malaysia. Hence my title. The pun is intentional. 

 

I have added two new features in this collection. One, a brief introductory background material (in parenthesis) preceding each essay to put it in perspective, time and content-wise. Two, I have included readers’ ratings and a sampling of their comments. 

 

Based on the responses on my Facebook and elsewhere, I assign one point for “Like,” two for each comment, three for sharing my article, four if the essay were to be picked up by other outlets (print or virtual), and five if I were to receive direct personal comments from readers. The five-star articles would have over 500 points; one-star, under 100. Unlike in my freshman class scoring, there is no Bell curve distribution to the ratings. The highest-ranking articles were those on corruption among Malay leaders; the lowest, religion. Within each section I have arranged the essays in a sequence that would make sense instead of chronologically.

 

I have included the four video conferences that I had participated in, rendering my oral presentations as essays. One was in Malay (Isu dan Cabaran ke Arah Kesetaraan Dalam Pendidikan). I have put the English translation (“Issues and Challenges Towards A More Equitable Education”) in the main body while the original transcript appears in the Appendix.

 

            I thank my California friend Amir Razelan for introducing me on-line to Dr. Rozhan Othman of LeadUS Malaysia for the invitation to be on a panel with Professor Tajuddin Rasdi on the webinar “Does The Malay Mind Need To Be Liberated?” An American-trained architect and thus the beneficiary of Western liberal education, Tajuddin has not been afraid to swim against the current socio-political trends. He has given his erudite and contrarian views on fields far outside his profession, in the best tradition of a public intellectual. 

 

            Beyond his American liberal education, Tajuddin had attended a Chinese school in Malaysia. That was a rare phenomenon at the time. 

 

I am also indebted to another public intellectual, the academic cardiac surgeon Dr. Ahmad Farouk Musa of the Islamic Renaissance Front (IRF), for inviting me to the other three virtual seminars. His active involvement in affairs outside of medicine reflects the modern “T” intellectual, deep involvement in a narrow discipline (he is the still-rare, at least in Malaysia, MD-PhD surgeon) combined with a broad interest as reflected by his leadership of IRF. 

 

I treasure the exchanges with my fellow panelists Dr. Sharifah Munirah Alatas of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia; Dato Dr. Madeline Berma, Fellow Akademi Sains Malaysia; and Prof. Zaharom Naim of University of Nottingham Malaysia, together with moderators “Uncle” Shamshir Alam and Nageeb Gounjaria, IRF’s Senior Research Fellow.

 

            Again, a big thank you to husband-and-wife team Jason and Su Pittam for the wonderful cover design. Su is a graphic arts graduate; Jason an IT wizard. They have designed the covers of almost all my books. Jason was indispensable and a balm to my nerves as I negotiated yet the latest quirks and updates of modern publishing software. To my wife Karen, my first and very critical reader, I thank Allah for blessing me with her.

 

January 2023

Morgan Hill, California  

 

Kaum Islamis Sonya Tanpa Mengulas Belanjawan Negara

  

Kaum Islamis Senyap Tanpa Mengulas Belanjawan Negara

M. Bakri Musa

 

Belanjawan Negara 2024-2025 yang di kemukakan pada minggu lepas (18 Oktober 2024) mendapat berbagai sambutan. Yang hairannya ialah kebisuan dari pihak Islamis. Mereka tidak berminat langsung untuk memberi pandangan dan nilaian mereka. 

 

Mungkin mereka senyap dan senang hati sebab peruntukkan yang amat besar di beri ke Jabatan Islam, meningkat daripada RM1.9 bilion untuk tahun yang sedia kepada RM2.2 bilion yang di cadangkan untuk tahun depan. Angka itu tidak mencerminkan tahap perbelanjaan yang sebenarnya kerana ia tidak mengira birokrasi agama di pelbagai kementerian. Maklumlah setiap kedutaan mempunyai Imam pemastautin sendiri. Kemudian pula perbelanjaan sekolah Agama yang di bawah Kementerian Pendidikan.

 

  Cendekiawan Islam sepatutnya menyuarakan pendirian serta pandangan mereka ke atas belanjawan negara. Itu adalah satu aspek tadbir urus negara yang paling utama.

 

Al-Quran mengenalkan zakat dengan kadar rata 2.5 peratus. Cukai pendapatan moden berdasarkan pendapatan dan kadarnya progresif, yakni meningkatkan dengan pendapatan. Zakat dikenakan hanya pada aset cair dan yang tidak boleh di alih anjak. Umpamanya, nilai rumah dikecualikan zakat. Itu tidak saksama; bandingkan antara istana mewah sultan dengan rumah sederhana seorang guru. Kadar rata zakat juga bermakna syeikh bilionair membayar kadar yang sama seperti guru sekolah. Itu tidak seimbang, jauh daripada saksama dan keadilan. Kedua nilai itu adalah teras asas Islam. Dari sudut itu, cukai pendapatan lebih dekat ke nilai Islam.

 

Zakat, atau cukai harta, bukan berasal dari Islam. Orang Yunani purba mempunyai “eisphora,” cukai harta yang dikenakan hanya kepada mereka yang paling kaya. Dua ribu tahun kemudian, ahli ekonomi Perancis Thomas Piketty mencadangkan cukai kekayaan global yang progresif sehingga kadar 2.5 peratus (kadar zakat) untuk mengatasi ketidaksamaan global dan perubahan iklim. Pada tahun 2020 “Millionaires For Humanity” (Jutawan Untuk Kemanusiaan) mencadangkan cukai kekayaan yang serupa untuk memerangi kemiskinan, Covid-19, perubahan iklim dan memenuhi Matlamat Lestari PBB.

 

Mengenakan cukai kekayaan ke atas semua harta – dalam dan luar negeri – akan menjana lebih banyak hasil daripada mengubah cara cukai semasa. Dengan kadarnya yang rendah (seperti zakat - 2.5 peratus), itu akan memudahkan mentadbirnya dan juga tidak menggalakkan kita menipu.

 

Al-Quran juga mentakrifkan bagaimana dana zakat harus dibelanjakan. Dengan tafsiran yang moden dan tidak terikat kepada zaman, semua aktiviti kerajaan moden termasuk perbelanjaan ketenteraan boleh diletakkan di bawah satu daripada lapan kategori dalam Al-Quran.

 

Perbelanjaan untuk kaum fakir dan miskin sudah tentu jelas. Begitu juga pembinaan infrastruktur seperti jalan raya dan pasar. Dengan adanya jalan raya, penduduk luar bandar yang miskin boleh membawa hasil mereka untuk dijual di bandar serta membawa keluarga mereka yang sakit ke hospital. 

 

Antara perkara pertama yang dilakukan oleh Nabi s.a.w. ketika menubuhkan komuniti Islam pertama di Madinah ialah membina pasar supaya orang ramai boleh berdagang antara satu sama lain. Sebelum menerima kenabiannya, Mohammad, s.a.w., adalah seorang peniaga. Oleh sebab itu dia faham bahawa berjual beli adalah cara untuk meningkatkan ikatan sosial. Seorang ahli perniagaan perlu melayan orang lain bukan sebagai "mereka" sebaliknya sebagai bakal pelanggan dan rakan kongsi perniagaan. Itu membawa perspektif baharu dan bermanfaat serta produktif pada hubungan antara manusia. 

 

Satu lagi peruntukan zakat ialah membebaskan mereka yang berada dalam keadaan perhambaan. Itu mungkin dilihat sebagai aneh atau tidak relevan dalam dunia hari ini tanpa perhambaan. Namun, meregangkan konsep itu, perhambaan terbesar yang dihadapi oleh ramai umat hari ini ialah kejahilan dan kemiskinan. Itu tidak kurang ikatannya untuk melumpuhkan jiwa seseorang. Kurangkan kemiskinan dan kejahilan, dan rakyat akan bebas serta menikmati kemerdekaan diri yang tulen. 

 

Zakat juga mewajibkan tidak lebih daripada 1/8 (12.5 peratus) daripada kutipan dibelanjakan untuk pentadbiran. Menterjemahkan itu kepada kerajaan moden, itu bermakna perbelanjaan perkhidmatan awam patut juga tidak melebihi 12.5 peratus. Dalam Bajet 2024-25, emolumen (atau gaji perkhidmatan awam) ialah 24.3 peratus daripada jumlah keseluruhan, dua kali ganda yang di hadkan pada zakat. Berita baiknya ialah penurunan yang ketara daripada 31.5 peratus tahun lepas. 

 

Kegagalan mengawal emolumen akan mengakibatkan apa yang disebutkan dalam pepatah Minangkabau “Habih dek orang pangkar!” Maknanya, pelayan tuan rumah memakan semua hidangan dan meninggalkan sedikit sahaja untuk tetamu.

 

 

“Perbelanjaan untuk jalan Allah” meliputi apa sahaja yang boleh memberi manfaat kepada ummah, daripada membina sekolah hingga membersihkan jalan serta membuka longkang dan mengorek sungai untuk mengelakkan banjir. 

 

Orang Islam purba mengakui bahawa kekayaan, seperti air, patut beredar. Jika bertakung, banyak bahayanya. Zakat mengatasi masalah ini. Konsep ekonomi moden "halaju peralihan wang," (velocity of money) sebagai petunjuk kehebatan sesuatu ekonomi mencerminkan kebijaksanaan ini. 

 

Islam menganggap bunga, dan dengan itu hutang, haram. Walau bagaimanapun, hutang adalah satu mekanisme tuas atau jongket (leverage) yang memberi banyak manfaat. Hutang membolehkan saya membeli rumah pada awal kerjaya semasa anak saya kecil; untuk orang lain, untuk mendapatkan pendidikan tinggi mereka. Kedua-dua akibat itu adalah baik dan manfaat. Oleh sebab itu mestilah halal. Dari segi tingginya hutang negara, Jepun mempunyai nisbah hutang kepada KDNK tertinggi dalam dunia, namun rakyatnya makmur. Masalah hanya timbul jika hutang dengan mata wang asing dan dana hutang digunakan untuk membina projek megah seperti istana dan bukannya infrastruktur yang produktif seperti sekolah dan hospital. 

 

Kaum Islamis harus mendesak kerajaan supaya mengenakan cukai atas semua harta dan pendapatan dan tidak mengecualikan yang berasal dari luar negeri seperti amalan semasa. Itu hanya akan menggalakkan rakyat Malaysia meletakkan (bermaksud, menyembunyikan) kekayaan mereka di luar negara. Itu bukan sahaja tidak menguntungkan negara, malah menggalakkan rasuah. Seperti yang didedahkan oleh Pandora Papers, Menteri Kewangan pun mempunyai aset mewah di luar negara dan tidak dikenakan cukai. Munafik betul! 

 

Di Malaysia bayaran zakat dianggap sebagai kredit untuk cukai pendapatan dan bukan hanya sebagai satu perbelanjaan yang boleh ditolak dari jumlah yang dikenakan cukai seperti di Amerika. Sebaliknya, zakat hanya memberi manfaat kepada orang Islam sahaja manakala orang bukan Islam membayar sebahagian besar cukai pendapatan negara yang memberi manfaat kepada semua rakyat, Islam dan bukan Islam. Adakah itu adil? Selanjutnya, mengikut Dasar Ekonomi Baru, kebanyakan program kerajaan memberi manfaat kepada orang Melayu sahaja. 

 

Masalah kesaksamaan dan keadilan ini harus dipertimbangkan dengan teliti oleh semua rakyat Malaysia, lebih-lebih lagi orang Islam. Kesaksamaan dan keadilan adalah teras agama kita.

 

The Curious Silence of the Islamists on the National Budget

The Curious Silence Of The Islamists On The National Budget

M. Bakri Musa

 

The record 2024-2025 National Budget presented last week (October 18, 2024) elicited many responses from various groups, except for one. The Islamists were conspicuous by their collective silence. 

 

Perhaps they were content with the generous funding they received, from the already massive RM1.9 billion for the outgoing year to the proposed RM2.2 billion for the next. That figure grossly understates the true level of expenditure as it excludes the religious bureaucracies in the various ministries. Consider that each embassy has its own resident Imam. Then there are the Islamic schools under the Ministry of Education.

 

            With Islamic scholars fixated on their Islamization-of-everything fad, their silence on the national budget is not only conspicuous but also unfathomable. One expects them to have substantive views on this most critical aspect of governance. 

 

The Qur’an mentions zakat, tax on wealth with a flat rate of 2.5 percent. Modern income tax is based on income and is progressive, with increasing marginal rates. Zakat is levied only on liquid and movable assets. Homes are thus exempt. That is not equitable; consider the difference between a sultan’s magnificent palace and a teacher’s modest bungalow. Zakat’s flat rate also means that a billionaire sheik pays the same rate as a school teacher. Again, little equity there, and equity is the core of Islam. From that angle, income tax is more “Islamic.”

 

Islam cannot claim originality with zakat. The ancient Greeks had their eisphora, asset tax levied on the super-rich. Two millennia later, French economist Thomas Piketty suggested a progressive global wealth surtax of up to 2.5 percent (zakat rate) to combat global inequality and climate change. In 2020 “Millionaires For Humanity” advocated a similar wealth tax to combat poverty, Covid-19, climate change, and meeting the UN Sustainable Goals. 

 

Imposing a wealth tax on all assets both local and abroad would generate far more revenue than tinkering with the current tax code. It would also be far easier to assess and administer. Its low rate (as with zakat 2.5 percent) discourages cheating.

 

The Quran also defines how zakat funds should be spent. With creative interpretations, all activities of a modern government including military spending could be placed under any one of the eight Qur’anic categories. 

 

The first two, spending on the poor and needy, are self-evident. Less appreciated is the building of infrastructures like roads and marketplaces. With roads, poor rural dwellers could bring their produce to sell in town as well as bring their sick to hospital. 

 

The first thing the Prophet, s.a.w., did when establishing his first Muslim community in Medinah was to build a marketplace so people could trade with one another. A trader before receiving his prophethood, Mohammad, s.a.w., knew the value of trading in enhancing social bonds. A businessman has to treat others not as “them” rather as potential clients, customers, and business partners. That brings a whole new and productive perspective on your relationships. 

 

Another zakat provision is freeing those in bondage. That may seem quaint or irrelevant in today’s world sans slavery and indentured servitude. However, stretching the concept, the greatest bondage faced by the ummah today is ignorance and poverty, no less crippling than physical bondage. Alleviate poverty and ignorance, and you liberate your people. 

 

Zakat mandates not more than 1/8 (12.5 percent) of the collections be spent on administration. Translating that to modern governance, that should be the limit for civil service emoluments. In the 2024-25 Budget, emoluments constituted 24.3 percent of the total, double zakat’s limit. The good news is that it is a substantial decrease from last year’s 31.5 percent. 

 

Failure to control emoluments would result in what my Minangkabau wisdom calls “Habih dek orang pangkar!” Translated, the host’s servants gobbling up all the food leaving little for the guests.

 

Zakat’s “spending in the cause of Allah” should cover anything that would benefit the ummah, from building schools to cleaning streets as well as unclogging drains and dredging rivers to avoid floodings. 

 

Ancient Muslims recognized that wealth, like water, is best kept circulating. Zakat achieves this. The concept of “velocity of money,” a measure of an economy’s vigor, also reflects this wisdom. 

 

Islam considers interests, and by extension debts, haram. Debt however, is a powerful leveraging mechanism. It enabled me to provide a house early in my career for my young family; for others, to secure their higher education. Both are good, and thus halal. As for the size of the national debt, Japan has the highest debt-to-GDP ratio and yet her people are prosperous. Problems arise when debts are foreign-denominated and the proceeds are used to build grandiose projects rather than productive infrastructures or investing in citizens.

 

Islamists should push for taxing all assets and incomes. Exempting foreign ones, the current practice, only encourages Malaysians to park (meaning, hide) their wealth abroad. Not only does that not benefit the nation, it also encourages corruption. As the Pandora Papers revealed, even the Minister of Finance has significant assets abroad. Such hypocrisy! 

 

Zakat is treated as tax credit in Malaysia instead of only being tax deductible as in America. However, zakat benefits only Muslims while non-Muslims pay the bulk of the income tax that benefits all Malaysians. Is that just? Further, as per the New Economic Policy, most government programs benefit Malays. 

 

This issue of equity and justice should concern all Malaysians, more so Muslims. Equity and justice are Islam’s core.

 

 

The Malaysian Malaise Excerpt # 5: On My Commentaries

 The Malaysian Malaise:  Corrupt Leadership, Failing Institutions, And Intolerant Islamism

M. Bakri Musa © 2023

 

Excerpt #5:  On My Commentaries

This collection of essays covers the period from January 2020 to December 2022. That was also the era of the Covid-19 pandemic. Also included here are the transcripts of my four video conferences in 2021.

 

I began writing about contemporary Malaysian affairs during my first summer holidays in Canada back in 1964. Freed from the pressure of studies, I had time to reflect and write about my native land, stimulated by my fresh novel experience of studying and living in a more developed country.

 

            My first essay was on education, reflecting on my undergraduate experience, in particular how much more productive I was in my studying and how intellectually exhilarating was my freshman year. I attributed the first to the fact that the whole country was cool, conducive to intellectual pursuits. In hot humid Malaysia I had difficulty concentrating in the stifling heat. Air-conditioned rooms then were a scarce commodity. 

 

I must be on to something for decades later in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew attributed the success of his city-state to air-conditioning. It enables those in the stifling tropics to compete with their counterparts in the temperate zone.

 

Six centuries earlier Ibn Khaldun wrote in his Muqaddimah (An Introduction . . . [To the Study of Civilization]) that human societies thrived only in the mid-latitude zones, as in the Mediterranean, which happens to be where Ibn Khaldun was born (Tunis). Khaldun was of the pre-Columbus era; thus he knew nothing of the Aztec and Khymer civilizations, both spawned in the tropics. 

 

            My intellectually exhilarating freshman year was forced upon me. I initially argued with my faculty adviser about having to take the humanities, in particular English Literature. My fear was that those courses would lower my grades, thus jeopardizing my acceptance into medical school, a common anxiety among would-be medical students. I could not be more wrong!

 

            At the end of that first summer, I wrote an article and mailed it to one Dr. Mahathir, then a backbencher Member of Parliament from Kubang Pasu, Kedah, in his capacity as Chairman of the Higher Education Commission. I urged him to set up a university in cool Cameron Highlands and to introduce American-style liberal education so others back in Malaysia could benefit from and experience what I had. 

 

Bless the man, he did reply. However, he did not comment on the merit of my ideas. Instead, perhaps concerned about my future, he suggested that I focus on my studies so I could return as a physician and be of greater use to Malaysia. He must had seen too many Malays sent abroad getting distracted and flunking out.

 

            The second summer I worked in a dairy farm operated by a co-operative entity. That prompted me to write the Chairman of MARA (the Malay acronym for the agency tasked with developing rural Malays) with copies to some big wigs in UMNO, the party purportedly championing Malay causes, describing the cooperative movement (of which Canada was a leader) as well as other government-sponsored entities to help rural farmers. Unlike Mahathir earlier, that head of MARA and those other characters did not even bother to reply.

 

            My non-academic writing took a hiatus for the next two decades, consumed during the first with medical school and preparing to be a surgeon; the second, establishing my professional career.

 

Then in the late 1980s, seeing so many government-sponsored students here in America attending third-rate universities and flunking out, that prompted me to write an extended commentary on how to better prepare these students for top-quality institutions. I sent that piece to both the Chairman of MARA and the Public Services Commission, the two main agencies that sponsored those students. 

 

After waiting for a response (none came of course), I submitted it to the New Straits Times. My gratitude to its then Editor-in-Chief Kadir Jassin for publishing that series and also my other subsequent essays. He was also kind enough to have a review of my first book, The Malay Dilemma Revisited:  Race Dynamics In Modern Malaysia(1999). Later, the newer The Sun Daily also carried many of my commentaries.

 

            The late 1990s saw the emergence of the Internet, and with that, on-line media outlets. Stephen Gans of Malaysiakini.com was kind enough to give me a column, “Seeing It My Way.” I also have my own blog (bakrimusa.blogspot.com) to serve both as an outlet as well as a repository for my commentaries. I am also indebted to Raja Petra Kamarudin and his wildly popular and controversial Malaysia Today website (mt.m2day.org), and the Honorable Member of Parliament Lim Kit Siang for carrying many of my essays on his blog. Raja Petra’s portal had gone through many iterations to keep ahead of Malaysian censors. I thank the publishers of “The Malaysian Insight” and “Free Malaysia Today” for publishing some of my commentaries.

 

            Later in 2013 through the efforts of Umar Zain and his colleagues at Suaris website (now defunct) I started writing in Malay. Writing and thinking out the whole exercise in Malay produces a far different result both in tone as well as meaning than merely translating into Malay my existing essays. However, as the Internet penetration among Malays was not high, I did not receive much feedback from readers to make the effort worthwhile. Besides, no Malay publications would accept my submissions.

 

            Back to my original proposal of a university in Cameron Highlands, when Mahathir became Prime Minister, this self-styled champion of Islam and Malay causes, instead approved the building of a casino there, the largest in the region!

 

            I have been blessed to have had such rich and unique experiences and I thank Allah for that. As per the teachings of my faith, a way to express that syukor (gratitude) is to share them. Writing is my way of doing that. 

 

            The triple blights of Malaysia today are corrupt, ineffective leadership; unbridled, oppressive Islamism; and deteriorating education system. Most of my essays are subsumed under the first two topics. I have only two on education, as I had earlier published two books exclusively on that topic:  An Education System Worthy of Malaysia (2003) and The Rot In Malaysian Education (2020).

 

Next:  Excerpt #6 (Last and Final):  Added Elements

The Malaysian Malaise: Excerpt #4: Time span Of These Commentaries

 The Malaysian Malaise: Corrupt Leadership, Failing Institutions, And Intolerant Islamism

M. Bakri Musa © 2023

 

Excerpt #4: Time Span Of These Commentaries

 

These essays, written between January 2020 to December 2022, cover the dangerous and politically uncertain period that also coincided with the lethal Covid-19 pandemic. With the better understanding of the virus and with that, effective interventions, the menace is now manageable. Not so for the other Malaysian malaise and maladies.

 

The season began auspicious enough when the long-ruling Barisan coalition was booted out in the 14th General Elections of May 2018. Then in an absurdity difficult to comprehend, the new coalition picked the 93-year-old Mahathir to lead. Nobody gave thought that it was this wily old man who was instrumental for the corrupt Najib Razak becoming Prime Minister in the first place. Instead, everyone now praised Mahathir, giving him full credit for defeating Najib. Nor did anyone ponder the incredulity that if Mahathir could not achieve what he wanted for Malaysia in his earlier 23 years as Prime Minister and when he was much younger, what hope would there be now that he was in his mid 90s, and ailing.

 

Mahathir’s failure during his first tenure was of omission as well as commission. As leader he failed in his fundamental responsibility of grooming the next generation of capable leaders. The abysmal failure of Abdullah Badawi, egregious corruption of Najib, abject incompetence of Muhyiddin, and the bumbling vacuity of Ismail Sabri reflect as much on them as on Mahathir.

 

As for Mahathir’s sins of commission, three stand out. And what a triple whammy! One, he was responsible for the entrenched culture of corruption in UMNO, and thus Malay leaders. He led the party for over two decades, and it bore all his dark traits. Two, he was responsible for the rise of political Islam, and with that, the deepening polarization of Malaysians as well as the degradation of the faith among Malays. Three, he weakened institutions as with the current rotting education system. He deemphasized English together with the concomitant emphasis on religion in national schools. The burden of both is borne by poor Malays.

 

Mahathir’s failure to groom honest, competent Malay leaders has resulted in their being consumed in one intrigue after another to grab and retain power, not to serve the nation as they are clueless in matters of statehood, but for personal gains. Ismail Sabri maintained his support among Members of Parliament only by bribing them with ministerial posts, Ambassadorships-At-Large, and chairmanships of the various government-linked corporations. 

 

The only positive development was the jailing of former Prime Minister Najib Razak for his massive pilfering of One Malaysia Berhad (1MDB–a government-linked company), the greatest (money-wise as well as global reach) scandal that began over a decade ago.

 

As a parenthesis, the United States Department of Justice first filed its civil money laundering charges against Najib (diplomatically dubbed as Malaysian Official 1) back in June 2016. It would be unnecessary to add that Najib’s own Attorney-General, one Apandi Ali, an UMNO operative, had earlier cleared Najib of any wrong doing!

 

Mahathir’s redeeming act during his second term was to co-opt a few outside talents, specifically Latheefa Koya as the new Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Chief and Tommy Thomas, Attorney-General. Latheefa endeared herself to Malaysians by releasing intercepted phone calls between one Dzulkifli Ahmad, Koya’s immediate predecessor as MACC Chief, and Prime Minster Najib while the former was then a prosecutor in the Attorney-General’s office. Dzulkifli was tipping then-Prime Minister Najib of impending criminal investigations against him in connection with the 1MDB scandal. It was painful as well as deeply embarrassing to hear those tapes. 

 

Thomas recruited outside lawyers to prosecute Najib. That was the right call even though not flattering to those mainly Malay career public prosecutors.

 

Earlier, Najib had forced the early retirement of both MACC Chief Abu Kassim and Attorney-General Gani Patail as the 1MDB crisis was about to blow open. Those two went away quietly. Now that Najib is secure in jail, I hope they will reveal what and when they knew about 1MDB. They owe Malaysians that duty.

 

Mahathir’s one good deed in appointing Latheefa and Thomas was later overshadowed by his aggressively promoting that semburit (anal) character, one Azmin Ali.  Azmin trumpeted having an economics degree from the University of Minnesota, a major public university, but coyly neglected to mention that his was not from its flagship and prestigious Minneapolis campus rather one of its “ulu” branches. His major, economics education, is more a degree in education. “Economics education,” like “industrial economics” (Najib’s major) and “economic history,” is for those unable to handle the rigorous mathematics of the “real” discipline. 

 

In championing Azmin, Mahathir again demonstrated his singular inability to assess talent. Thank goodness, Mahathir’s resignation spared Malaysia the possible leadership of this semburit character.  Mahathir learned nothing from his earlier blunders with Abdullah Badawi and Najib Razak. 

 

 

Mahathir later regretted having appointed Thomas. That in turn exposes a far greater flaw in Mahathir’s character beyond his inability to recognize talents. He considers them threats rather than assets.

 

Next: Excerpt # 5: On My Commentaries

Perfect Poster Boy For Term Limits

The Malaysian Malaise: Corrupt Leadership, Failing Institutions, And Intolerant Islamism

M. Bakri Musa © 2023

Excerpt #3: Perfect Poster Boy For Term Limits

Leaders like Mahathir, together with his ilk like Indonesia’s Sukarno and later Suharto, as well as the Philippines’ Marcos, Sr., show the wisdom of having term limits. Even America, despite the spectacular success of Franklin D Roosevelt and his New Deal, saw the wisdom of the 22nd Amendment - limiting her President to two consecutive terms.

The angst in China today is that Chairman Xi, without doubt a far more effective leader than Mahathir was or could ever hope to be, is now amending the Chinese Communist Party’s constitution to allow for his serving beyond two terms. To the Chinese, memories and evidence of the follies of the Great Helmsman Mao are still fresh on their minds. If Indonesia had not imposed term limits post-Suharto, the republic would not today be blessed with her Jokowi.

The world has seen far too many leaders who have overstayed their welcome, with the Muslim world having a glut of them. Mahathir should have been impeached, investigated, or resigned for his role in the Asian economic contagion of 1997. More to the point, had term limits been operative in Malaysia then, she would have been spared at least the worst of the Asian contagion. In jailing Anwar Ibrahim post-Asian Contagion, Malaysia punished the wrong leader.

Much has been written on the obscene greed and egregious corruption of Najib in his pilfering of 1MDB and other sordid deeds. Less acknowledged is that Najib is the product of Mahathir’s tutelage, his political son. More directly, Mahathir was also responsible for the 2008 removal of Abdullah Badawi and making Najib the Prime Minister.

Najib learned well from his mentor, but not well enough. The only and crucial difference between the two is this. Najib lost the election and was pushed out. With that his many sins were exposed. Mahathir won all his elections, thus his sins and blunders remained hidden. Consider such debacles as the massive foreign exchange loss prior and contributing to the Asian contagion, as well as the earlier equally massive London Tin loss when Mahathir thought that he was smarter than those professional commodity traders and thus could outsmart them. The magnitude of that loss has yet to be accounted. Likewise with the Bank Bumiputra collapse, and many others yet unacknowledged, much less accounted for under his watch.

Economist K S Jomo in one of his many books enumerated Mahathir’s innumerable economic blunders pre-Asian Contagion. Fast forward to two decades later, Jomo was co-opted into Mahathir’s Council of Eminent Persons. So we cannot blame ordinary, less sophisticated Malaysians for having been enamored and taken in by Mahathir this second time around. If Malaysia had term limits back then, she would have been spared these burdens. In short, Mahathir is the perfect poster boy for the campaign for term limits for Malaysia.

Having term limits for leaders is no panacea. For one, Singapore would have been deprived of her Lee Kuan Yew. For another, Indonesia could have benefitted from another term with her Jokowi had there not been term limits.

The American term limits provision has effectively, and unfairly in my view, reduced a single-term president as a “failed one.” Consequently the moment someone is elected , he or she would be consumed with getting re-elected instead of focusing on being an effective leader. Thus the better part of the first year would be consumed with assembling his team; the second, distracted by the midterm elections, and then the final fourth year obsessed with campaigning for re-election. That is the major flaw with the present American system.

One-term President Carter is today revered by Americans, surpassing many of his colleagues who had served two terms. More pertinent, he remains the only President in my lifetime to have kept America from meddling in wars in other countries.

Those considerations notwithstanding, term limits would have spared Malaysia many grand debacles during Mahathir’s second decade and tenure of leadership.

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Next: Excerpt #4: Time Span Of These Commentaries

Downside To Increasing Civil Service Pay

 Downside To Increasing Civil Service Pay

M. Bakri Musa

 

The recent increase in civil servants’ pay, though long overdue, carries significant but less appreciated downside for Malays. Likewise, the much earlier decision to raise the mandatory retirement age to over 60. As the civil service is overwhelmingly Malay, both moves are seen as yet another manifestation of preferential treatment. I see it as otherwise if not downright counterproductive.

 

This salary raise increases the cost of running the government. As a nation’s finance is finite and a zero-sum exercise, more money for the public sector means a corresponding reduction for the private. However, it is the latter that contributes to economic growth and thus an expanding tax base. 

 

Controlling the cost of government lies less with emoluments, more with rationalizing its role and functions. Government has for example no business running a business. Leave that to the entrepreneurs. Eliminating the Ministry of Public Enterprises would cut government spending considerably while at the same time making it more effective and efficient. America won the most Olympic medals, yet she does not have a Sports Ministry.

 

 Likewise the government’s involvement in religion; faith is a private matter. Besides, Islam does not need defenders. It survived the Mongol invasion; it can do without JAKIM (the Malay acronym for the agency in charge of Islam). Ponder that more mosques are being built in America today and the faith fast expanding, yet she does not have any department of religion, much less that of Islam.

 

JAKIM and similar agencies at the state level and elsewhere are but massive and expensive public works programs for otherwise unemployable Malays. Expanding such agencies would only encourage more Malays to pursue the already glutted Islamic Studies.

 

Ponder the good it would do if those saved funds were instead diverted to providing internet access and equipping science laboratories in rural schools where the students are overwhelmingly Malays. Also, imagine if those JAKIM personnel were deployed to clean parks and roads. That would do society more good, and garner more pahala (good deeds) for the individuals.

 

As income tax rates are progressive, the cost of government is disproportionately borne by the rich, and rightly so. In Malaysia, that means non-Malays. Likewise with tax on goods and services. Meanwhile, increasing civil service pay and having government-linked enterprises both benefit mainly Malays.

 

            Those considerations aside, less appreciated is the negative impact on Malays. In the late 1950s, Tun Razak lowered the civil service optional retirement age to 40 so as to encourage Malay civil servants to leave and enter the private sector. That emboldened young Hanafiah, Raslan, and Mohamad to leave government service to start their accounting firm (HRM) that would later become a major global player. Italy did something similar after the war. In both instances, with the security of a pension, those young retired civil servants could take risks. 

Subsequently many Malay professionals trained under public scholarships would follow suit. 

 

            In the late 1980s when the government could not employ many newly graduated Malays on scholarships because of the economic downturn, that had an unexpected positive consequence. Those young Malays were then forced to enter the private sector.

 

            It is significant that the first Malaysian legal firm to have a major presence outside the country was Zaico, started by Zaid Ibrahim. He was later seduced by politics, an all-too-common weakness of young Malays, and sold his equity in the company. Today he rues that decision! Being an equity partner of a major law firm is far more rewarding (not just money-wise) than being a cabinet minister.

 

            In a recent posting, Zaid suggested that Malays be “forced” into business. Reducing the number of Malays in the civil service would achieve that end; conversely, increasing the pay would increase their inertia to remain in government. The experience of the late 1980s seemed to indicate that Zaid may be on to something. At that time because of economic constraints, the government was forced to break its promise to employ every Malay who had graduated on government scholarship. That resulted in an infusion of Malays into the private sector. That was good for Malays and Malaysia.

 

A slight twice. Many years ago a smart Malay graduate of an elite American university related to me how he had schemed to “bomb” his job interview with the Public Service Commission. He succeeded. Thus freed of his scholarship bonds, he returned to America to land a job with a leading technology company, and no scholarship penalty to pay back! 

 

            You need superior pay to attract talent. You can achieve that without increasing the total cost of government.  Canada’s population is comparable to Malaysia and she has a much larger territory to boot. Yet her Ministry of Finance (edifice as well as personnel) dwarfs that of Malaysia. While Malaysia was crippled by the 1997 Asian economic contagion, Canada withstood the 2008 economic storm that shook America. Yes, Canadian civil servants are very well paid and entry into it highly competitive. 

 

            Raising the mandatory retirement age also carries its own drawbacks, again not much appreciated. By the time they retire, those old civil servants are already set in their ways. Coupled with a generous pension, they have little incentive to venture out. More pernicious, their last year would be consumed lobbying for positions in the many government-linked companies. 

 

            America has for the most part done away with mandatory retirement age, deeming it “age discrimination.” It saddens me to see so many still productive Malaysians years my junior now retired, doing nothing. With Malaysia short of STEM teachers and professors for example, that is a crying shame and a colossal waste of precious talent. Malaysia, in particular the Malay community, cannot afford that.