Monday, May 12, 2008

The Politics Of Federalism

Hantu Laut

Sabahans have always had an ambivalent relationship with the central government. This love and hate relationship goes as far back as the time of the USNO (United Sabah National Organisation) government under Tun Dato Mustapha Harun, a flamboyant, unmanagable and most feared Chief Minister Sabah ever had. The only leader of a state who had 2 stated-owned private jets (Grumman 2) and purchased another 2 customised Boeing 707 for his private use.At that time even the Prime Minister have to take commercial flights.

Mustapha, a tin-pot dictator was given wide-ranging power by the then Federal government under first Prime Minister Tengku Abdul Rahman. His wide ranging power included the power to arrest political opponents and throw them in prison without trail.

Desirous of perpetuating Malay power in Sabah, the Federal government allowed Mustapha to do as he pleases and was assigned a special aide dispatched from Kuala Lumpur to be his special adviser. A lawyer by profession, Syed Kechik eventually became the most powerful man in Sabah, as powerful as the Chief Minister if not more.

He was also the most hated and was practically running the state on behalf of Mustapha, who spent most of his time in the play grounds of Europe and the Middle East.Mustapha spent most of his time in casinos in Beirut and London.

Mustapha not only collected private planes but also collected overseas properties, wives and mistresses at the expense of state resources. He was also responsible for opening the back door and allowed illegal immigrants to come in from southern Philippines to increase the Muslim population in the state and was notoriously responsible for mass conversion to Islam of some indigenous tribes in the state.

When Tun Razak took over as Prime Minister, Mustapha had become too powerful, completely out of control and was planning to take Sabah out of Malaysia and install himself as sultan. The authenticity and the truth of this story had not been established till today.

His refusal to sign the Petroleum Act agreement giving the Federal government and Petronas full power over oil resources and giving the state only 5 % in oil revenue angered the central government.Despite repeated attempts by the Federal government to get him to agree, Mustapha refused to negotiate any further. Razak was on the horns of a dilemma on how to deal with him.The Federal have to find an excuse to get Mustapha out of the way. The only way is to topple him democratically using his own men.

In 1975 the Federal urged Harris Salleh to leave USNO and form a new political party. Harris formed Berjaya with full blessing of the Federal government.Harris was later joined by Tun Fuad Stephen who resigned his head of state position and along with other Mustapha's trusted men ditched USNO for Berjaya. The machinery to topple Mustapha was launched and massive defections from USNO and other political parties to Berjaya followed.Election was held the following year and Mustapha was ousted.

The Federal backed Berjaya won the elections and formed the state government with Tun Fuad Stephen as Chief Minister. Unfortunately, Stephen, his son and some of his ministers died in a mysterious plane crash soon after his appointment. A tragic loss of Sabah's most colorful, amiable and down to earth leader. Harris took over the helm.

His first task as Chief Minister was to salvage the extensive damage to the state economy under Mustapha. He embarked on massive public expenditure to rebuild the shattered economy and made Sabah one of the most prosperous states at that time.His relationship with the Federal was excellent and helped in bringing more federal expenditure to the state. After a massive landslide victory for the second term of office and more than cordial relationship with the Federal, Harris got an illusion of invincibility and made some very unpopular decisions.

In spite of his success as a leader of a multi-racial party and outstanding performance as Chief Minister, there is a dark side to Harris Salleh, only known to those close to him.He can be very temperamental, aggressive and profoundly unreasonable.

The sacking of Joseph Pairin Kitingan, abrogation of Tambunan as a district, the giving away of Labuan to the Federal without any compensation to the state and erosion of state rights embodied under the 20 points was the straw that broke the camel back and one that brought him nemesis at the state elections in 1985.The election was won by PBS (Parti Bersatu Sabah) led by the estranged Joseph Pairin. USNO led by Mustapha took significant number of seats and was later accepted into the BN.He later brought UMNO into Sabah and almost all members of USNO automatically became members of UMNO.

Having obtained a simple majority PBS reneged on its promise of a coalition with USNO and formed the government on it own but not before overcoming the cloak and dagger antics of Berjaya and USNO and attempted coup.

The thumping defeat of Berjaya must have shocked Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad who had promised Harris to sink or swim with him.Sink or swim ? Harris soon realised there was no such thing in federal politics, there is no love and affection only desertion if you failed.

The defeat at the polls did not stop them from staging an Istana coup to swear in Mustapha as Chief Minister in spite of the fact USNO and Berjaya didn't have simple majority to form the government.They almost got away with it if not for the interference of Deputy Prime Minister Musa Hitam who still have respect for the democratic process and avoided an incident that could have given Malaysia a bad name internationally.Prime Minister Mahathir was away overseas and Musa was acting on his behalf.

Sabah had two chief ministers for a while until the case went to court and Mustapha lost. The incident also brought violent street demonstration in Kota Kinabalu organised by leaders of Berjaya and USNO and purportedly supported by a few federal leaders.

Sabahans have always felt marginalised and remained at the lowest rung in term of economic development.

When it was in the opposition under the PBS government it received very little developmental expenditure from the Federal government.All development funds from the Federal were channelled through JPPS (Jabatan Pembangunan Persekutuan Sabah), which was specifically formed to avoid channelling funds through the state government. Trengganu got the same treatment when PAS took over the state in 1999.The double standard and undemocratic actions of the federal government is unbelievable in a country that practises democracy and a Westminster-styled parliamentary system. It is a brand of politics called Mahatirism.

In Sabah the federal development expenditure which used to go through the state before the PBS era is still being channelled through JPPS.Many Sabah members of parliament had complained about the way these funds have been administered and that many big federal projects were given to companies from the Peninsula with Sabah contractors only getting the crumbs, if they are lucky to get any. Most federal departments also deployed their senior officers from the Peninsula to the ire of Sabahans who felt they are as much qualified if not better. To make matters worse some officers were abhorrent and treat Sabah more like a colony rather
than as an integral part of Malaysia.

Sarawak didn't have this problem as most things agreed upon when it joined Malaysia are still intact and under state control.

In the 1994 Elections, PBS won the election with a simple majority of 25 seats against BN (Barisan Nasional) 23 seats. Joseph Pairin had to wait 36 hours outside the istana (palace) gate before he was sworn in as the Chief Minister.The PBS government only lasted two weeks before it was ousted by undemocratic menouvering of the BN. Majority of its assemblymen defected to BN parties with some of its leaders forming new Kadazan-based parties.Pairin resigned as Chief Minister on 17 March 1994 and handed over the government to the BN who won the government through manipulations and undemocratic menouvering. The then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad introduced the rotational system of chief minister among the major races in the state, which many Sabahans deemed as unconstitutional and an attempt to divide and rule.

Now, without two-thirds majority the BN government can hang in the balance if there were defections to PR ( Pakatan Rakyat) of dissatisfied BN members of parliament.The irony is the BN or particularly UMNO is contemplating passing an anti-hop law when it had in the past abolished a legislation by a 1992 High Court ruling on anti-hop in the 'Sabah State Constitution' that was passed by the PBS government on the excuse that it was ultra vires the 'Federal Constitution' and are,therefore, illegal and that it contravened the freedom of association enshrined in the Constitution.

What about freedom of speech, isn't it part and parcel? If the Federal Constitution allows freedom of association than it must also allow freedom of speech in totality, without any restriction,hindrance and persecution.

In March 1999 State Elections PBS still managed to get 17 seats against the might of the BN and got 213,432 total votes against the combined BN total votes of 240,110.It showed that the PBS had maintained its popularity.

On 22 April 2000, six PBS Assemblymen led by Jeffery Kitingan(brother of Pairin) defected to PBRS, a BN component party.In January 2002 PBS was re-admitted into the BN.In April 2002 five PBS Assemblymen who defected to PBRS returned to PBS.

The KDM politics has for a long time strive more on self interest rather than interests of the community.There are three predominantly KDM-based parties for a community of less than 500,000 people. It definitely does not believe in "united we stand, divided we fall".

A Kadazan friend once opined to me and said "the biggest enemy of the Kadazan community is Jeffery Kitingan, all he does is bring infamy and disgrace to the community for his selfish act, and the sad thing is many of our people think he is fighting for them tooth and nail"

In 2004 General Elections the BN won the biggest landslide victory under the new leadership of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and delivered a crushing blow to the oppositions. It was Abdullah glorious moment and the beginning of his soured relationship with his predecessor, former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad.

The bitter falling out of these two men would eventually weaken UMNO and the BN, partly due to Abdullah own faults and boosted by Mahathir incessant "remove Abdullah" campaign which has effectively divided UMNO into two camps.

The consequence of Abdullah's failure to keep his promise of reforms and Mahathir's unrelenting attacks on him are shown in the results of the 8 March 2008 Elections.

In the March 2008 Elections, Sabah and Sarawak outstanding performance were nothing less than admirable especially Sabah, which held both its parliamentary and state elections simultaneously, while Sarawak only had its parliamentary.Unlike Sabah, Sarawak stills control its state election and does not need Puterajaya's consent.

The was huge outcry of unfair treatment from politicians and ordinary Sabahans soon after Prime Minister Abdullah announced his cabinet line up. It didn't reflect the contributions of Sabah and Sarawak and gratitude for saving the BN from biting the dust.Without Sabah and Sarawak delivering almost all of the parliament seats, UMNO would, today, be seating on the opposition bench. MCA, MIC and Gerakan with whatever seats they have won would have abandoned the BN if they can't form the government.

The first to express dissatisfaction over the unfair treatment was the MP for Kimanis Anifah Aman (brother of Musa Aman) who turned down the offer of deputy minister and subsequently followed by the MP for Merotai Ghaffur Salleh who had accepted a deputy minister post but resigned two weeks later.

Ghaffur Salleh was initially dropped by Chief Minister Musa Aman but was later included in the list of candidates upon his appeal to Abdullah.It must have made Abdullah see red for someone he had helped to embarrass him in such a way.

At a recent Parliament sitting Kimanis MP Anifah Aman spoke his mind after being taunted by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi whether Sabah backbenchers were tempted to crossover to the oppositions.

This is another example of stupid politician asking stupid question and forgot if not for Sabah and Sarawak he wouldn't be in the cabinet and so are the rest of his colleages.There seems to be plenty of them in the Federal cabinet who think they are smarter but came out sounding pathetically stupid.

Anifah response was most appropriate and the most serious note so far coming from a Sabah politician.He said if there were no more room in the big bungalow what's is wrong to move to a smaller house.If you are ignored, marginalised and treated like a stepchild what's the point of staying.You can read "Anifah speaks his mind" here.

What Anifah brought up in Parliament has reverberated throughout the state with many politicians and the people of Sabah starting to speak up. Former Chief Ministers Harris Salleh and Yong Tat Lee have thrown their supports behind Anifah and described his speech as worthy of praise and support.

Harris said he hopes the Federal will take heed and seriously implement some of the ideas presented by Anifah for the two East Malaysian states.

The voters in Peninsula Malaysia had shown their displeasure at the arrogance and antics of those in power and there is strong possibility that Sabah and Sarawak would be tempted to change even before the next general election if nothing palatable coming out from the Federal government.

Sabah has lost its decision-making autonomy since UMNO assumed power in the state.It has lost the power to administer the state independently. The basic functions of government embodied in the State constitution are no longer the authority of the Chief Minister and the cabinet. Unlike Sarawak, it has lost its independence to dissolve its Assembly and call for elections.

The BN is safe at the moment but the picture might change once Anwar Ibrahim is elected to Parliament.

The kataks (frogs) waiting at the front gate at the moment may decide to change ponds when Anwar enters Parliament.

Friday, May 9, 2008

Gallup Poll:Malaysian Bloggers

Hantu Laut

The findings of Gallup Poll on the state of the internet, blogging and government aversion to the popularity of blogging in the country.

Click on video.

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Another One Bite The Dust

Hantu Laut

I have always been sceptical about the so-called national service from the day it was launched.Was it done in sincerity for the benefits of our young generation and the nation or was it just another exercise to fill the pockets of those in power? There are millions to be made from this anomalous national service. Supply of uniforms, shoes, food, drinks,transport, campsites and many other things that can bring megabucks.

There are many camps given to bumiputras but ended up in the hands of Chinamen who supplied almost everything the camp needs.Might as well give it direct to the Chinamen, at least you can reduce the cost to the government by eliminating the bumiputra as a middleman or Ali Baba.

What kind of discipline and skill can you instill in those young minds in a short span of three months? Do you have sufficient skilled, responsible and disciplined trainers and camp commandants to guide this young and impressionable minds.

Going by the number of deaths so far it is obviously clear those entrusted with the responsibility are useless, irresponsible and should have been sent to the loony bin instead of national service camps. We should be ashamed to call it national service.It is more a holiday camp run by morons.

The government should come down hard on those responsible for the death of so many of those young people.Thorough investigation should be conducted in every death to ascertain whether there is case of negligence by the camp commandant or those entrusted with the job.Those guilty should be punished according to the law.

There were too many deaths and it can only happened through negligence and couldn't care less attitude of those entrusted to do the job.

Read it here.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Malaysian Philharmonic: An Oxymoron

http://www.soloviolinmusic.com/
Hantu Laut

I received the article or more appropriate I would say a letter in my email box two days ago. I believe there are undeniable truths to the writer's claims.

Being a fan of classical music myself I would certainly prefer local musicians in our philharmonic orchestra.Calling it a Malaysian Philharmonic and with 0ver 90 % foreign fiddlers is certainly an oxymoron.

It is absolutely ridiculous that after a decade we still couldn't find local musicians to take over from those costly foreigners.We all know we are not spared from all those ill-conceived and costly ideas by none others than our equally ridiculous leaders who seemed not to care how taxpayers' money are spent. Petronas money belong to the people of Malaysia and should be prudently managed and not spent at the whims and fancies of politicians.

There is no exiguous supply of local musicians if they really care to look around.The only problem is you may find them heavily concentrated in one racial group.They may not be top-notch but with proper training they would have acquired the skill by now if serious effort had been taken from the very beginning.

The other appalling thing is local musician of the same standing as their foreign counterpart would be paid a miserly amount, even the better ones would be paid less than the mediocre foreign musicians.

Maybe, we should send Mozart, Chopin, Bach and the rest of the gang back to the graves and go back to the kompang, anklong, gambus and kampong where we are better suited and stop pretending that we actually appreciate western classical music, a bought culture and social elitism at the expense of the Malaysian people.

Below is the letter:

Dear friends,
There can be no smoke without fire. Perhaps we should all stop going for these musical concerts just to teach these people a lesson.
Is this how we waste our money pretending to be social elite? In this case the kompang and anklong will sound better.Talk about corruption and mismanagement in Malaysia, we get it every which way we turn.

Much as we like to encourage appreciation of Western Music in Malaysia why is it that Petronas sees it fit to finance the 'Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra' which is a misnomer because 95% of its 105 musicians are foreign and mainly European.

Each musician is paid between Rm 16,000- RM28,000 per month. They are given 2 months paid holiday and working conditions which are second to none in the world. They have not one but 3 European conductors.


The Chief Conductor is paid RM130,000 per month and the Associate Conductor gets paid RM50,000 per month.

The total Monthly budget for this orchestra is RM 3.5 million.


The Malaysian Conductor Ooi Chean See resigned because it was widely known she was being undermined and not allowed to develop in her career. During her time with the orchestra, her concert scehdule decreased gradually to the point she was doing only a couple 'Children's Concerts' per year.


The orchestra has been in existence for 10 years now and the total amount spent on this orchestra has been staggering RM 500 million.


Yes, Petronas does not have money for bridges for Malaysians but it has money to splash on foreign musicians. Petronas does not appear to have real desire to train or give opportunity to locals Musicians.


They promised to set up an
Academy of Music to train local musicians with the tutors drawn from the orchestra but this sadly has not materialised.


Since its inception, the Malaysian Philharmonic orchestra has not increased its Malaysian participation which still stands at a shameful 4%. They have cosmetic programs like 'outreach' to supposedly encourage the love of western classical music to local Malaysians but these are essentially self serving publicity stunts.


Even the newly formed 'Malaysian Philharmonic Youth Orchestra' is a publicity stunt with no serious commitment to develop Malaysian talent. It is poorly organised and its musicians meet about twice a year only!


The previous founding CEO of the orchestra Mr Hamid Abu Bakar was clueless about music and left the artistic decisions to IMG, an international music agency who have successfully milked Petronas for tens of millions of dollars.


The current CEO Juniwati Hussin is a chemist by training and is a slight improvement because she does actually attend the concerts and is not averse to learning to appreciate western classical music. But the overall artisitc planning and direction in controlled by the Europeans who have a vested interest telling Petronas that there is no talent in
Malaysia and the ignorant management of Petronas are happy to maintain the status quo. It would appear that they prefer foreign participation in this 'Malaysian Orchestra' rather than to have Malaysians. What a pathetic mindset.


I hope issues like this will be brought up in parliament. Why can't Petronas train local musicians, provide scholarships for locals to study abroad if need be, and then employ them in the orchestra. In a matter of a few years we can have an orchestra consisting of Malaysians true to the name Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra and good enough to rival the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. There is an abundance of talent in Malaysia. The sad fact is, Malaysian talent is usually recognised overseas.