Politik Wang Yang Menghakis Malaysia

  

Politik Wang Yang Menghakis Malaysia

M. Bakri Musa

 

Tun Daim Zainuddin, yang meninggal dunia pada 13 November 2024, mewakili era di mana wang dan politik berkait rapat dalam hubungan yang legap, sangat peribadi, dan sering sumbang mahram. Hasilnya adalah, seperti di tempat lain, rasuah yang berleluasa dalam skala besar.

 

Politik wang Malaysia juga diracuni, seperti yang lain, dengan sentimen perkauman. Itulah tambahan yang lebih bahaya dan terbesar yang mungkin menjahanamkan negara. Pemimpin UMNO (United Malay National Organization), khususnya Mahathir, Daim, dan Najib Razak, berjaya menipu pengikut mereka dan juga orang Melayu umumnya bahawa kepentingan peribadi pemimpin adalah sejajar dengan parti, bangsa, dan negara. Mereka mungkin juga berjaya menggambarkan diri mereka juga sebagai juara Islam kalau tidak pihak Parti Islam Se Malaysia (PAS) menggagalkan usaha mereka.

 

Mahathir dan Najib pernah menjadi Presiden UMNO berlamaan manakala Daim pula ialah pemegang dana parti. Daim telah meninggal dunia, Najib dipenjarakan kerana rasuah, dan Mahathir yang sekarang uzur terpaksa melihat anak lelakinya diheret ke Badan Pencegah Rasuah. Mahathir juga terlibat dalam pelbagai saman mahkamah. Mahathir bersama Daim keluar daripada UMNO pada 2016. Mahathir dan juga UMNO dikebas pada Pilihan Raya Umum 2022.

 

Politik wang UMNO bermula apabila Mahathir menjadi presidennya pada 1981, dan dengan itu Perdana Menteri negara. Perbelanjaan pilihan raya mahal. Oleh sebab itu Mahathir kecewa kerana terpaksa meminta dana daripada pemimpin parti lain dalam pakatan Barisan Nasional. Saya masih ingat Tengku Abdul Rahman berkempen di kampung saya pada pilihan raya 1955 dan 1959. Dia terpaksa tidur di rumah salah seorang ahli UMNO dan meminjam kereta ahli UMNO. Mahathir tidak sudi berbuat demikian. Dia mempunyai kebanggaan diri serta bangsa.

 

Dengan itu bermulalah "iri hati jutawan" UMNO yang mengakibatkan penglibatan parti dalam dunia perniagaan. Pada mulanya ia hanya permit import/eksport yang mudah. Jika itu mengakibatkan kelahiran satu kelas keusahawanan Melayu yang tulen dan berjaya, perbuatan itu mungkin boleh dipertahankan dan juga dipuji. Malangnya itu tidak menjadi. Sebaliknya, UMNOPutra yang kaya raya itu mengukuhkan diri mereka menjadi kelas penyewa yang kekal, berkembang pesat, dan rakus. Maka lahirlah kapitalisme kroni, gaya Malaysia, dengan syarikat berkaitan kerajaan muncul seperti lipas selepas hujan. Ramai yang mempunyai jangka hayat yang sama. Tanah perkuburan korporat Malaysia sekarang dipenuhi dengan rangka seperti Syarikat Maminco (bijih timah), Perwaja Steel, dan Bank Bumiputra.  

 

Bagi beberapa perusahaan berjaya yang di bawah nama pemimpin UMNO, ternyata mereka merasai kekayaan durian runtuh yang tidak di jangka. Yakni, apabila UMNO diisytiharkan haram pada tahun 1988 kerana penyelewengan pilihan rayanya, hakim yang bijaksana itu tidak menyatakan apa yang perlu dilakukan dengan aset lumayan yang disimpan secara rahsia oleh calon parti itu.

 

Hari ini mereka yang bertuah itu, atau “jutaan menenggek" seperti Halim Saad dan Tajuddin Ramil, menyaman Mahathir. Hempedu tulen atau ketinggian tidak bersyukur, pilihlah sendiri.   

 

Pada awal tahun 1980-an Mahathir cuba mencekam pasaran bijih timah. Akibat kebodohan itu merugikan Malaysia lebih RM 1.2 bilion (angka 1980, dianggarkan oleh Agensi Perisikan Pusat Amerika). Lebih teruk lagi, perbuatan itu memusnahkan industri bijih timah. Malaysia merupakan pengeluar bijih timah terkemuka ketika itu. Mahathir menganggap dia lebih bijak daripada adik beradik Hunts di Texas yang cuba mencekam pasaran perak. Mereka menggunakan dana mereka sendiri; Mahathir berjudi dengan duit rakyat yang sepatutnya digunakan untuk memperbaiki sekolah.

 

Bank Bumiputra runtuh akibat pinjaman berlebihan kepada George Tan di Hong Kong yang juga mengakibatkan pengorbanan seorang ahli bank Melayu muda yang bijak dan jujur. Jalil Ibrahim dibunuh dengan kejam apabila dia sedang menyiasat penipuan di sana. George Tan dan Mahathir adalah versi terdahulu dan sedikit lebih murah harganya daripada Jho Low dan Najib yang kemudian. Cerita kedua ini kini diputar sebagai satu lagi Cina menipu seorang pemimpin Melayu yang jujur. Itu juga sesuai dengan naratif bangsa kita.

 

Bekas Menteri Undang-undang Zaid Ibrahim mendedahkan dalam podcastnya baru-baru ini bahawa beliau pernah menyediakan kertas untuk menyaman Daim kerana dia tidak membayar pinjaman dari Bank Bumiputra. Zaid terpaksa menarik balik saman itu kerana arahan pada saat terakhir. Saya berharap demi integriti profesional Zaid bahawa arahan untuk menarik saman itu datang daripada anak guamnya.

 

Dalam salah satu buku saya, saya menyenaraikan panjang "barangan" yang menguntungkan yang diperolehi oleh Daim dari negeri itu, termasuklah perusahaan pertamanya, pembuatan garam, yang akhirnya gagal. Saya juga mengucapkan tahniah kepada beliau kerana banyak amalnya. Daim menulis kepada saya mengatakan bahawa saya telah mencirikannya secara tidak adil. Saya menjawab bahawa jika dia boleh menunjukkan sebarang kesilapan dalam fakta yang saya sebutkan, maka saya akan meneliti semula kesimpulan saya dan juga memohon maaf secara terbuka kepadanya. Tidak pernah mendengar kembali daripadanya! 

 

Mahathir mendakwa kemenangan dengan apa yang dipanggil Dawn Raid di Bursa Saham London merampas kawalan Guthrie Plantations. Beratus-ratus juta pound sterling (yakni wang rakyat) telah dibelanjakan, namun tiada satu pokok getah baru pun yang ditanam. Lebih buruk lagi, "kemenangan" itu telah mengalihkan perhatian orang Melayu ke dalam industri matahari terbenam seperti bijih timah dan getah, meninggalkan sektor-sektor baru muncul seperti pelancongan dan teknologi kepada bukan Melayu.

 

Pertimbangkan pula kos peluang, atau “opportunity cost.” Sekiranya dana itu dibelanjakan bukan untuk membeli saham Guthrie tetapi untuk membersihkan ladang baharu, itu sekurang-kurangnya akan menambah kapasiti produktif negara. Lebih baik lagi, gunakan dana tersebut untuk membaiki sekolah luar bandar. London Dawn Raid itu hanya menguntungkan broker asing, bank pelaburan, dan pemegang saham institusi seperti dana Kuwait yang menjual saham mereka kepada Malaysia dengan harga yang sudah tentunya lebih mahal daripada pasaran sedia ada. 

 

Hanya Allah sahaja yang tahu atas nasib Daim di Akhirat, atau apa yang akan menanti Najib dan Mahathir. Tetapi yang sudah pasti ialah ini. Daim dan keluarganya menanggung Neraka mereka menjelang akhir hayatnya, sama seperti Najib dan Mahathir kini menderita.

Malaysia's Corrosive Nexus Of Politics And Business

  

 

Malaysia’s Corrosive Nexus Of Politics And Business

M. Bakri Musa

 

Tun Daim Zainuddin, who died on November 13, 2024, represented the era where money and politics were closely intertwined in an opaque, very personal, and often incestuous relationship. The result was (and is), as elsewhere, pervasive corruption on a grand scale.

 

Malaysian money politics is also overshadowed by, as with everything else, race. Hence the incendiary element. UMNO (United Malay National Organization) leaders, specifically Mahathir, Daim, and Najib Razak, successfully hoodwinked their followers as well as Malays generally that these leaders’ personal interests were aligned with the party, race, and nation. They would have portrayed themselves as also the champions of Islam but for the Islamic Party (PAS) thwarting their efforts.

 

Mahathir and Najib were longtime Presidents of UMNO while Daim, its perennial money bag holder. Daim has died, Najib is in jail for corruption, and Mahathir, ailing, watches helplessly as his adult sons are being hauled before the Anti-Corruption Agency. He is also enmeshed in multiple civil litigations. Mahathir, who together with Daim quit UMNO in 2016, was politically castrated during the 2022 General Elections, as was UMNO.

 

UMNO’s money politics began when Mahathir became its president in 1981, and with that the country’s leadership. Elections are expensive and unlike his predecessors, Mahathir chafed at having to beg the leaders of his ruling coalition partners for election funds. I remember Tengku Abdul Rahman campaigning in my village in the 1955 and 1959 elections. He had to sleep in the house of one of the UMNO members and be driven around by volunteers. Mahathir would have none of that. He had his pride, self as well as racial.

 

Thus began UMNO’s “millionaire envy” that led to its heavy involvement in business. Initially they were simple import/export permits. If those had spawned the blossoming of a genuine Malay entrepreneurial class, then they could have been defended and indeed applauded. Alas that was not to be. Instead, those nouveau riche UMNOPutras solidified themselves into a permanent, fast expanding, and ever voracious rentier class. Thus was born crony capitalism, Malaysian style, with government-linked companies emerging like gnats after a downpour. Many had about the same lifespan. The graveyard of corporate Malaysia is filled with the likes of Maminco (tin mining), Perwaja Steel, and Bank Bumiputra.   

 

As for the few successful enterprises held by UMNO nominees, as things turned out they had an unexpected bonanza. When UMNO was declared illegal in 1988 because of its election irregularities, the learned judge did not in his wisdom specify what to do with those lucrative assets held in secret by the party’s nominees. 

 

Perversely today those lucky UMNO “menengek (anointed) millionaires” like Halim Saad and Tajuddin Ramil are suing Mahathir. Pure gall or height of ingratitude, take your pick.   

 

In the early 1980s Mahathir tried to corner the tin market. That folly cost Malaysia over RM 1.2 billion (1980 figures, estimated by the American Central Intelligence Agency). Worse, that destroyed the tin industry. Malaysia was the top tin producer then. Mahathir thought he was smarter than the Hunts brothers who earlier tried to control the silver market. The Hunts used their own money; Mahathir gambled with funds that rightly should have gone to schools.

 

Bank Bumiputra collapsed following excessive exposure to Hongkong’s George Tan, but not before a smart, honest young Malay banker, Jalil Ibrahim, was murdered in cold blood. He was investigating the shenanigans there. Mahathir’s George Tan was an earlier and slightly less expensive version of Najib’s later Jho Low. Perversely, both are now spun as yet another crooked Chinese hoodwinking an honest Malay leader. That also fits Malaysia’s race narrative.

 

Former Law Minister Zaid Ibrahim revealed in his recent podcast that he once prepared papers to sue Daim for non-payment of his Bank Bumiputra loan. Zaid withdrew that lawsuit because of last minute instructions. I hope for the sake of Zaid’s professional integrity that instruction to withdraw came from his client.

 

In one of my books, I enumerated the long list of favorable “goodies” Daim obtained from the state, including his very first enterprise, salt-making, that eventually failed. I also congratulated him for his many charities. Daim wrote to me saying that I had unfairly characterized him. I replied that if he could point to any error in the facts that I had cited, then I would reexamine my conclusion and also publicly apologize to him. Never heard back! 

 

Mahathir claimed victory with the so-called Dawn Raid on the London Stock Exchange wresting control of Guthrie Plantations. Hundreds of millions of pound sterling (of public money) were spent, yet not a single rubber tree was planted. Worse, that “victory” distracted Malays into sunset-industries like tin and rubber, leaving emerging sectors like tourism and technology to non-Malays.

 

Then consider the opportunity costs. Had the funds been spent not on buying Guthrie but to clear new plantations, that would have at least added to the nation’s productive capacity. Better yet, use those funds to improve rural schools. That Dawn Raid benefited only the foreign brokers, investment bankers, and institutional shareholders like the Kuwaiti fund who sold their shares to the Malaysian entity, at a premium of course. 

 

Only Allah knows Daim’s fate in the Hereafter, or what will await Najib and Mahathir. This much is certain. Daim and his loved ones endured Hell towards the end of his life, just as Najib and Mahathir are now suffering theirs.

 

 

Heads Must Fall!

 Heads Must Fall !

M. Bakri Musa

 

The death of a young doctor in Sabah as a result of workplace bullying, the brutal fatal “ragging” at the National Defense University (NDU), and students at a MARA Junior College afflicted with food poisoning. Those grabbed the national headlines, and rightly so. All are but manifestations of a common underlying persistent pathology that has long been ignored. Ignored and thus not remedied. As such, expect more, and worse. 

 

The Agung felt compelled to comment on the death of our would-be warriors at NDU. As for the doctor’s fatal bullying, the Minister of Health is “closely monitoring all findings, accurate facts, and information.” Not to be outdone, Syraf Wajdi Dusuki, MARA Chairman, reduced himself to ketua mandul (foreman) when he visited MARA Junior College in Langkawi. There he was, banging on broken lavatory doors, wiping dirty trays, and hearing the students’ litany of complaints, with the camera rolling as he displayed the appropriate look of disgust.

 

All full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. As for solutions, continuing with Shakespeare, “tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow.” A local wit would put it as NATO–No action, talk only. That does not work with a young man pursuing his girl, and will not for a leader trying to make his administration crisp.  

 

The late Lee Kuan Yew was once asked how he made his team the model of efficiency. His answer? Make the top guy responsible and be answerable. “Heads must fall,” he famously added.

 

Had the director of that hospital where the young bullied doctor been fired, then all the other hospital directors would have taken note and initiated appropriate measures. The successor to the fired chief too would be more diligent in taking care of those under him or her. Little need for the Minister of Health’s press conference, except to announce the firing and naming the successor. 

 

Likewise, the head of NDU or MARA College should have acted decisively and fired the responsible personnel. As that was not done, the Minister of Defense should have fired NDU’s Vice-Chancellor (its chief executive), and MARA Chairman, the headmaster. Even if they were to file grievances or sue, that would not detract from the impact of your message and actions.

 

Syraf Dasuki should have taken a different approach. Have a private meeting with the headmaster and his senior staff following the inspection. Enquire how he, Dasuki, could help. If he were to receive the typical “More money!” response, then scrutinize past expenditures. How much were spent on ornate graduation ceremonies or entertaining visiting VIPs. Explore ideas on fundraising with affluent parents, or reducing costs through eliminating lower grades. 

 

Alas, Malaysian leaders and officers have not demonstrated their eagerness or ability to learn from others.

 

There is a glimmer of hope. The Agung in his previous capacity as the Sultan of Johore is close to the current crop of able post-Lee Kuan Yew Singapore leaders. It is significant that his first “foreign” royal tour was to that Republic. More symbolically, in 2015 at the funeral of Sultan’s son there was a huge contingent of top Singapore officials, reflecting the deep respect those second and third generation leaders had (and still have) for him. 

 

Sultan Ibrahim was a young man and off the royal succession radar screen when Lee was in his prime. As such I doubted whether he had any familiarity with Lee and his crisp management style. However, Lee had written much and had expressed his views on statehood administration in various media, all now readily available. 

 

Even the late Deng Xiaoping, the leader most responsible for transforming China and making young Chinese turn away from endlessly waving their Mao’s Red Book to instead learn science and technology, acknowledged his huge debt of gratitude to Lee. 

 

The Agung would do well to tell his ministers that “heads must fall” if they fail to solve the nation’s myriad intractable problems. That would be more effective than a thousand titah (royal lectures).

 

He also has a powerful tool. The constitution mandates that top federal appointments require royal assent. Have those nominees as well as ministers read Lee’s memoirs and many papers. Then hope some of Lee’s wisdom would trickle down to them. 

 

Regardless, Malaysian leaders and officials, from ministers down to the local police must be held responsible when they and those under them fail to perform. 

Bahasa Inggeris Bukan Lagi Bahasa Penjajah

  

 

 

Bahasa Inggeris Bukan Lagi Bahasa Penjajah

M. Bakri Musa

 

Kejayaan kaum pendatang ditanah ayir kita bukan disebabkan oleh nilai-nilai budaya atau pusaka genetik mereka yang mulia seperti apa yang difahamkan oleh Mahathir, sebaliknya kerana mereka berkebolehan dwibahasa. Begitu juga dengan keturunan mereka sekarang. Ramai antara mereka memahami dan fasih dalam tiga bahasa–bahasa atau dialek ibunda, Bahasa Melayu (BM), dan Bahasa Inggeris (BI). Apek di kampung dulu tidak mungkin berjaya menjaja sayurnya jika ia hanya boleh bertutur dalam bahasa Hokkien.

 

Pendatang semasa seperti mereka dari Bangladesh faham tentang kebijaksanaan ini. Bahkan mereka melebihi diri mereka dengan terus mengahwini gadis tempatan. Mereka tidak mungkin boleh berbuat demikian tanpa mengetahui bahasa tempatan, yakni BM. 

 

Kemunduran masyarakat Melayu di tanah air sendiri bukanlah kerana kita malas, kurang motivasi, atau taksub dengan agama. Tetapi sebaliknya disebabkan oleh kebanyakan orang kita fasih hanya dalam bahasa BM. Malangnya pemimpin kita mahu keadaan itu berkekalan. Dalam fahaman sesat mereka, itu menunjukkan semangat kebangsaan yang memuliakan bahasa serta kebanggaan budaya. Tetapi itu hanyalah kepura-puraan sahaja kerana ramai pemimpin Melayu sendiri fasih dalam Bahasa Inggeris (BI) dan terdidik dalam jurusan itu, bahkan mungkin di Britain. 

 

Contoh yang paling jelas ialah Allahyarham Tun Razak. Sebagai Menteri Pendidikan pertama pada tahun lima puluhan, beliau menggesa ibu bapa Melayu menghantar anak mereka ke sekolah Melayu sementara dia dengan secara sembunyi menghantar kelima-lima anaknya ke sekolah Inggeris, dan di Britain pula! Bagaimana dia mampu membiayanya dengan gajinya yang berdasarkan mata wang ringgit tidak di persoalkan. Mungkin perangai anaknya Najib Razak dengan dana 1MDB ialah satu penunjuk. Pura pura pemimpin kita yang jelas terang ini terlepas dari pandangan masyarakat Melayu, dulu adan sekarang. 

 

 

Ilmuan BM Nik Safiah Ismail menegaskan bahawa murid Melayu tidak perlu belajar BI. Hanya lima peratus sahaja orang Melayu yang patut fasih berbahasa Inggeris. Yang lainnya boleh bergantung pada terjemahan. Maklumlah ini Tanah Melayu, dia mengingatkan kita. Yang tidak disebutnya ialah diantara mereka yang lima peratus bertuah itu mestilah meliputi anak saudara Nik Safiah. 

 

Ramai yang bersama fikiran dengan Nik Safiah, termasuklah pemimpin Melayu dan mereka di bandar yang sepatutnya lebih mengetahui. Tetapi walaupun pun para pemimpin kita menolak kepentingan BI, mereka dan anak-anak mereka terus belajar di institusi bahasa Inggeris. Terus terang kemunafikan mereka. Bukan itu sahaja, dengan cara demikian mereka menunjukkan fikiran kuno atau feudal mereka. Kami adalah pemimpin; kami perlu fasih berbahasa Inggeris. Kamu kaum marhaen dan petani, tak payahlah! Apa kau nak berhajat tinggi?

 

            Begitu juga pandangan masyarakat kita. Mereka yang cerah sedikit dan faham tentang mustahaknya BI di anggap sebagai petualang bangsa atau lebih teruk lagi, pengkhianat negara. Kemudian pemimpin kita hairan dan mustahil mengapa masyarakat Melayu masih mundur. 

 

Persefahaman ilmiah kita sekarang telah jauh majunya daripada ungkapan hipotesis Sapir-Whorf yang lama. Yakni, bahasa ibunda adalah seperti cermin atau kaca mata bagaimana kita akan melihat dan berfikir tentang dunia luas. Dari segi neurosains moden, banyak kelebihan kognitif dan lain-lain yang ketara bila seseorang itu fasih dalam berbilang bahasa. Antaranya ialah kelebihan daya saing yang jelas dalam pasaran. Dan lebih awal kita memperoleh keupayaan ini lebih baik.

 

Belajar BI bukanlah ungkapan rindu zaman penjajah dahulu atau ke negeri England. Sebaliknya, ia adalah realiti zaman moden yang perlu serta pragmatik. Pemimpin yang tidak mengendahkan itu dengan tidak sedar mencacatkan dan melemahkan rakyat khasnya pengikut mereka.

 

English No Longer The Language Of The Colonizer

 English No Longer The Language Of The Colonizer

M. Bakri Musa

 

When Hong Kong reverted to China in 1997, that effectively ended Britain as a colonial power. Effectively because she still has nominal sovereignty over its so-called 14 Overseas Territories, mostly in the Caribbean. When Bermuda, off the coast of North Carolina, held an independent referendum in 1995, over 75 percent of the voters rejected it. That was significant and may seem perverse as the majority were descendants of slaves brought in by earlier British colonizers. The descendants of those slaves were wise in refusing to be chained by history.

 

            Meanwhile back in mother Britain, she had seen pendatangs (non-natives) becoming Prime Minister, Chief Executive of Scotland, and Mayor of London.

 

            English as a language by contrast is on a very different trajectory. Even in China, a super power and with Mandarin already a major language, there are over 400 million English language learners and a million teachers of that language. Even though the 2024 Nobel Laureate in Literature Han Kang writes in her native Korean, she is fluent in English. There are no fewer than half a dozen non-native English-speaking Nobel Prize winners in Literature writing in English. Rabindranath Tagore, an Indian, was the first (1913), followed by Wole Soyinka, Nigerian (1986), Kazuo Ishiguro, Japanese (2017), and Abdulrazak Gurnah, East African of Arab descent, (2021). 

 

English is now the language of aviation, diplomacy, business, and most important, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). It is also the dominant language in cyberspace. 

 

Today the most advantaged intellectually, economically, and in so many other ways are those who are proficient in more than one language, with English being one of them. The most disadvantaged are those who are monolingual, and their language is other than English. Most Malays belong to this latter category.

 

I posit that the successes of earlier pendatangs were not due to their mysterious oriental cultural values or genetic make-up as per Mahathir’s half-baked theories, rather that they were bilingual, many trilingual; likewise, their current descendants. With enlightened educational policies Malays too could be trilingual, with Malay, English, and (most likely) Arabic. The old apek would not have been successful peddling his wares in the kampung if all he could speak was Hokkien.

 

More recent pendatangs from Bangladesh have discovered this wisdom too. They go beyond, to marry locals. They cannot do that if all they can speak is their native language.

 

The current relative backwardness of Malays in our Tanah Melayu vis a vis non-Malays is that we are handicapped by being monolingual. Perversely, Malay leaders would like their followers to remain that way in their misguided notion of language nationalism. That is also pure parochialism as well as misplaced cultural pride. It is blatant hypocrisy that those Malay leaders who dismiss the importance of English are themselves educated in English, many in England. 

 

Prime exhibit was the late Tun Razak. As Minister of Education in the 1950s he exhorted Malay parents to send their children to Malay schools while surreptitiously sending his (all five) to English schools, and in Britain to boot. Hypocrisy aside, there is the matter of how he could afford that on his modest ministerial ringgit-based salary. Just a thought; I wonder where his son Najib Razak learned the idea that the loot heobtained from 1MDB was but a generous gift. Current Malay leaders are no different. Their blatant double standard escapes them and their followers. 

 

That queen of Malay language, Nik Safiah Ismail, asserted that Malays need at most only five percent of us to be proficient in English. The rest could rely on translations. This is Tanah Melayu (land of the Malays), she reminded us, and often. Left unsaid is that her children and grandchildren would be in that select small group. 

 

Many Malay leaders, even urbane sophisticated ones who should know better, share Nik Safiah’s language parochialism. Hypocrisy would be a more accurate term to describe their stand. Or a condescending feudal mentality. We are leaders; we need to know English. The rest of you peasants need not.

 

The few who recognize the importance of English are denigrated as petualang bangsa (national obstructionists), just a step before pengkhianat bangsa (traitor). Then these leaders bewail why we are still behind despite the ever-generous largesse of affirmative action. 

 

Although my parents were ardent admirers of the late Tun, my siblings and I are forever grateful that they had sacrificed a lot to send us all to English-medium schools in town, even though that put a severe strain on their modest income. Being Malay school teachers, that also took a lot of courage to buck the national trend. 

 

We have advanced far beyond the old simplistic Sapir-Whorf hypothesis of linguistic relativity, that is, our language influences how we view and think about the cosmos. Insights on modern neuroscience have shown the many significant cognitive and other advantages of being multilingual, quite apart from the obvious competitive edge in the marketplace. And the earlier we acquire this ability, the better.

 

Learning English is not an expression of nostalgia for the old colonial ways or of good old ye England. Rather, it is a pragmatic and necessary modern-day reality. Leaders who ignore this are unnecessarily handicapping their people.

 

Candu Dalam Belanjawan Negara 2024-25

  

 

 

 

Candu Dalam Belanjawan Negara 2024-25

M. Bakri Musa

 

Saya kagum atas kebolehan Britain, sebuah negara yang kecil, menguasai negeri China dalam masa sepanjangnya pada pertengahan abad ke-19. 

 

            Tujuan Britain di China dan juga di tempat lain ketika itu, seperti semua kuasa penjajah, ialah (sekurangnya pada pendahuluan) hanya untuk berdagang. Kemudiannya oleh sebab tidak upaya membayar dengan mas dan perak untuk mengisi selera Inggeris yang semakin meningkat untuk teh, sutera, dan porselin Cina, kaum British mencipta sistem pertukaran dengan menggunakan candu dari India. India semasa itu di jajah oleh mereka. Akibatnya amat nyata. Dalam masa satu dua keturunan sahaja, masyarakat Cina roboh.

 

            Saya akan mengetepikan bagaimana Britain dengan hanya mengadakan berapa ribu sahaja pentadbirnya boleh mengawal ratusan juta rakyat India yang berbagai suku dan agama, atau bagaimana pihak British berjaya menjauhkan candu daripada orang India.

 

            Renungan ini terlintas kepada saya semasa menyemak angka belanjawan negara tahun depan dengan peruntukan yang semakin meningkat untuk kegiatan Islam. Sebelum itu terdapat keputusan untuk menempatkan pegawai Islam di setiap jabatan kerajaan.

 

            Angka belanjawan itu tidak mengira pembiayaan di peringkat negeri dan juga kutipan zakat. Negeri Selangor sahaja mengutip lebih RM1.15 bilion bayaran zakat pada tahun lepas, manakala jumlah bagi 2022 pada semua ketiga belas negeri melebihi RM 2.2 bilion. Zakat di Malaysia adalah kredit cukai, bukan bayaran yang boleh ditolak ke atas penyata cukai pendapatan. Dalam lain kata, zakat menggantikan bayaran cukai pendapatan.

 

            Ahli falsafah Jerman Karl Marx (dia dikenali hari ini kurang sebagai itu) pernah menulis bahawa agama adalah "candu rakyat." Yakni, satu cara mereka yang berkuasa untuk "bukan sahaja menindas pekerja, tetapi menyebabkan mereka berasa lebih selesa apabila ditindas." Dan agama lebih murah daripada candu!

 

            Orang bukan Melayu merungut tentang pemberian yang berterusan mewah khas untuk kaum Melayu. Rakyat bukan Melayu patut melihat perkara ini dari sudut yang cerah dan mungkin mengguntung mereka. Dari pandangan sebaliknya, orang Melayu bernasib baik kerana orang bukan Melayu tidak seberapa cerdik seperti orang Inggeris dengan candu mereka di negeri China dahulu. 

 

            Maklumlah dengan lebih ramai orang Melayu mengejar jurusan Pengajian Islam, peluang untuk memasuki jurusan perubatan dan undang-undang akan menjadi lebih luas dan senang untuk penuntut bukan Melayu walaupun ada kuota. Dengan orang Melayu asyik di surau dan bersolat tahajud, orang bukan Melayu berpeluang berniaga tanpa tentangan untuk membaiki kereta dan alat rumah. Begitu juga peluang menjual nasi lemak selepas solat Jumaat. Adakan papan “halal” yang besar, sewa remaja wanita Melayu berpurdah untuk menjualnya, dan ambil seorang Melayu Ali Baba sebagai pemilik perusahaan atas nama sahaja, dengan syarat bayaran tertentu.

 

Perbezaan antara orang Melayu hari ini dan orang Cina semasa "Abad Penghinaan" mereka ialah ini. Candu Cina ketika itu adalah fizikal dan di jaja oleh syaitan kulit putih dengan niat yang paling jahat. Sebaliknya candu Melayu ini di jaja oleh pemimpin kita sendiri, dan dengan niat yang bernas, yakni dari sangkaan mereka dan pengikutnya. Kita puji pemimpin kita hingga ke awan tinggi dan mereka pula percaya bersungguh-sungguh bahawa apa yang mereka lakukan adalah kehendak Allah.

 

Walaupun rakyat Cina biasa dulu berpuas hati dengan candu mereka, tetapi para pemimpin dan intelektual mereka menyedari masalah dan petualang sosial yang terbesar ini. Tetapi mereka tidak berdaya menentangnya oleh sebab kuasa British yang jauh lebih unggul. Pemimpin dan cendekiawan Melayu sebaliknya masih tidak sedar atas bahaya candu metafora yang di jaja oleh pemimpin kita sendiri.

 

Jangan dikhuatirkan, candu Melayu ini tidak kurang bahayanya. Tak hairanlah bahawa negeri yang paling mundur di Malaysia adalah di mana golongan Islamis yang berkuasa dan berkawalan penuh. Begitu juga dengan pelbagai petunjuk kemerosotan nilai masyarakat seperti perceraian, anak yatim, penyakit HIV, dan buang bayi adalah tertinggi di sana. Walaupun ini nyata, pemimpin Melayu di tempat lain dan di dalam parti lain berlumba-lumba untuk mengayakan diri mereka “Lebih Islam” daripada pemimpin Parti Islam PAS. 

 

Peruntukan yang semakin mewah atas nama “perjuangan Islam” dalam belanjawan negara mencerminkan usaha hodoh ini.

 

Tidak kurang pula ialah isyarat simbolik yang lain. Terbaru ialah upacara gemilang yang di sertai oleh Yang Di Pertuan Agung untuk menganugerahkan kehormatan Professor Diraja kepada Dr. Syed Naquib Al-Attas. Syed adalah juara “Mengislamkan Ilmu” (Islamization of Knowledge-IOK) yang kini sudah basi dan diketepikan oleh sarjana semasa terutamanya di Barat. Malah ilmuwan tempatan juga sudah mengalihkan tumpuan mereka secara halus kepada "Integrasi Ilmu" (IOK – Integration of Knowledge). Singkatan (IOK) yang sama, dan usaha yang sama sia-sianya. Ilmu adalah ilmu; semuanya berasal dari Allah dan tidak ada corak keislaman atau kesetanan. Samada ilmu itu digunakan untuk membaiki keadaan manusia atau sebaliknya tergantung bukan pada Tuhan tetapi kepada umat Nya.  

 

Pemimpin Islam taksub untuk mencontohi Nabi Muhammad, s.a.w., sebagaimana diperintahkan oleh Qur’an kepada semua umat Islam. Walau bagaimanapun, mereka melupakan satu fakta unik. Yakni, Muhammad, s.a.w., dikurniakan oleh Allah secara unggul sebagai pemimpin rohaniah serta duniawi.  Allah tidak lagi memberi keistimewaan itu kepada sesiapa. 

 

Setiap pemimpin Islam termasuk empat khalifah, rah, menganggap diri mereka menerima petunjuk yang sama dan mencuba menjadi kedua-dua, yakni pemimpin duniawi serta untuk akhirat. Akibatnya? Banyak kerosakan kepada akidah dan ummah. Renungkan bahawa tiga daripada empat khalifah, r.a.h., telah dibunuh. 

 

Pemimpin Melayu taksub bahawa mereka dan pengikut mereka masuk ke Syurga. Mulianya niat ini! Tetapi mereka lupa bahawa itu tergantung hanya kepada Allah, dan hanya Dia yang boleh menentukannya. Pemimpin Melayu sebaliknya harus berusaha dan berpuas hati bahawa pengikut mereka tidak menanggung neraka mereka di bumi Allah ini. Renungkan kebijaksanaan Ibn ‘Ata Allah Al Iskandari: “Jika kamu ingin mengetahui kedudukanmu di sisi-Nya, lihatlah keadaan yang telah Dia letakkan kepadamu sekarang.”

 

Dari segi itu, Almarhum Tengku Abdul Rahman adalah pemimpin Islam yang paling hebat dan faham maknanya nilai murni agama kita. Dia membawa berkat terbesar–kebebasan (Merdeka)–kepada rakyat dan kemudiannya "membina sekolah dan bukan berek."

 

Beri rakyat keamanan serta pendidikan yang murni, kurangkan kemiskinan serta jaga kesihatan mereka. Itu adalah tanggungjawab dan beban seorang pemimpin, termasuklah pemimpin Islam. Oleh itu, belanjawan negara harus mengutamakan perkara tersebut. Jangan beri rakyat kamu candu. 

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 inequity 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 Opium In The 2024-25 Malaysian Budget

 The Opium In The 2024-25 Malaysian Budget

M. Bakri Musa

 

I marvel at how Britain, a small island nation, could control China for a very long time in the mid 19^thCentury. 

 

            The British motive then (and elsewhere) was, as with all colonial powers, primarily economic, at least initially. Unable to pay with silver for the increasing English appetite for Chinese tea, silk, and porcelain, the British concocted a barter system using Indian opium. The rest is, well, history. Within a generation or two Chinese society disintegrated, their zombie citizens high on opium. 

 

            I dispense with the side issue of how Britain with only a few thousand civil servants could control hundreds of millions of cantankerous natives in that sub-continent, or how the British managed to keep opium away from the Indians.

 

            These thoughts come to mind as I reviewed the latest Malaysian budget with its ever-increasing allocation for Islamic-related activities. The figure of RM 2.2 billion in the budget does not include major expenses under other categories, as for Islamic schools in the Ministry of Education, or the earlier decision to place Islamic officers in every government department.

 

            Add to that the funding at state level as well as zakat collections. Selangor alone collected over RM1.15 billion in zakat last year, while the total for 2022 for all thirteen states was over RM 2.2 billion. Zakat payments are tax credits, not simply tax deductible.  

 

            The German philosopher Karl Marx (he is known today less as that) famously called religion the “opium of the people.” It is a security blanket used by those in power to “not only oppress the workers, but also make them feel better about being oppressed.” Religion is also cheaper than opium.

 

            Non-Malays again complained about this latest largesse for Malays. It would be more productive (and also enhance peace in the country) if non-Malays were to look at the brighter side. Malays should also be grateful that non-Malays are not like the Brits in China of yore. 

 

            Consider that with more Malays pursuing revealed knowledge and prophetic traditions, the competition for entry into law and medical schools is that much less, quotas notwithstanding. With Malays spending their time in solat tahujud, the market for car and home repair services is wide open. Or selling nasi lemak after Friday prayers. Have “halal” signs, a few Malay girls in purdah peddling it, and an Ali Baba Malay as the nominal owner of your enterprise, for a fee of course. 

 

The difference between contemporary Malay society and that of the Chinese during their “Century of Humiliation” is that with the latter, the opium was peddled by white foreign devils with the most-evil of intentions. The modern metaphorical Malay variety is pushed by our own leaders, and with the best of intentions, as perceived by both leaders and followers. We praise our leaders sky high for doing that; they in turn believe fervently that they are doing God’s work.

 

While the Chinese peasants of yore were content with their opium, their leaders and intellectuals were very much aware of this social blight but were helpless in the face of much superior Western power. On the other hand, Malay leaders and intellectuals, still trapped in their collective euphoria, are oblivious of the dangers of the social opium they are peddling.

 

Make no mistake. This opium is no less destructive. It is not coincidental that the most backward states in Malaysia are where the Islamists are in full control. Likewise, the various indices of social dysfunction like divorces, HIV infections, and abandoned babies are also highest there. Rest assured that little of that budgetary largesse would be spent solving those problems. Each entry in those horrifying statistics reflects the tragedy of not only the present generation but also the next, and possibly subsequent ones. Malay leaders, intoxicated with their glittering edifices, and Islamic leaders using private jets undertaking their umrah, remain oblivious.

 

Those stark realities notwithstanding, Malay leaders elsewhere and in the other parties are vying hard to “out-Islam” those in the Islamic Party. The ever-increasing spending for presumed Islamic causes reflect this foolish pursuit.

 

Equally distracting and non-productive are other symbolic gestures. The latest, the elaborate ceremony honoring nonagenarian Dr. Syed Naquib Al-Attas with a Royal Professorship. Syed was the champion of the “Islamization of Knowledge” (IOK) fad, now dismissed except by local scholars. Even they have subtly shifted to “Integration of Knowledge.” Same initials, same futile effort. Knowledge is knowledge, and it all originates from Allah, with no Islamic or satanic variant.  

 

Muslim leaders are obsessed in emulating Prophet Muhammad, s.a.w., as the Qur’an commanded every Muslim to do. However, these later prophet wannabes forget this unique attribute of Muhammad, s.a.w. He was singularly blessed by Allah to be both spiritual as well as secular leader. Allah has not seen fit to ordain another. 

 

Every Muslim leader from the Rightly Guided Caliphs who tried to be both ended up inflicting much damage to the faith as well as the ummah. Consider that three of the first four caliphs had untimely deaths. 

 

Malay leaders are obsessed that they and their followers end up in Heaven. Touching! However, that is the exclusive prerogative of Allah, and only His. Malay leaders should instead strive that their followers not endure Hell right here on earth. Heed the wisdom of Ibn ‘Ata Allah Al Iskandari: “If you want to know your standing with Him, look at the state He has put you in now.”

 

The late Tengku Abdul Rahman was the greatest Muslim leader in that respect. He brought the greatest gift – freedom (Merdeka) – to his people and then “built schools instead of barracks.” 

 

Bring peace, alleviate poverty, educate your citizens, and keep them healthy. Those efforts would spare them from a hellish existence here on earth. Those are the primary burdens and responsibilities of a leader, Muslim ones included. As such the national budget should reflect that. Do not narcotize your people.