Borneo Blu

The state government has not said anything about our former Chief Minister, Tun Mustapha’s house in Tanjung Aru , which had been bought over by a West Malaysian buyer with the intention of turning it into a restaurant.

There have been many suggestions in the local press whether the State Government should do something about it.

Some people think the State Government should let it be, because they still hold grudges against the late Mustapha for some of his policies.

Some are quite open to the idea of saving the house.

UPKO Putatan Member of Parliament, Dr Marcus Mojigoh, was quoted as saying the house is worth saving as Mustapha played an important role in the early days of independence.

“If nothing is done, the intrinsic historical value related to Tun Mustapha and his heydays as among the earliest leaders and independent Sabah would be lost forever,” he said.

Those who grew up during the Mustapha’s era would remember the house as a hive of activities. The same could be said of the other Chief Minister, Fuad Stephens’ residence in Kampung Likas.

Simply put, Mustapha’s house is so rich in historical value that it will be a waste to let it turn into a restaurant.

By restoring it, the future generations will have some understanding and a sense of their own early history .

Countries abroad generally preserve former homes of their famous historical figures to honour their contributions or to educate their people.

When Cory Aquino was the President of the Philippines, she opened to public a section of the Malacanang Palace to show the world the extravagant life styles of the Marcos family. Imelda Marcos’ shoes were a big hit with the visitors!

England is so full of history that it is virtually a living museum. Everywhere you go, you are reminded of their great historical figures.

Even little Brunei has a Churchill museum!

The current Sabah administration must have a sense of history, and take the necessary action to preserve not only Mustapha’s house, but other assets associated with the early politicians like Stephens and many others and convert them into living museums.

Sabah Museum must be the driver in preserving our political heritage now that Rais Yatim, the Federal Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage has said in collaboration with the National Heritage Department will be submitting a proposal to the state government to consider setting up mini museums in several strategic areas.

If Agnes Keith house in Sandakan can be restored by the Musuem in collaboration with the Federal Department of Museums and Antiquities, and considered as a heritage house and a tourist product, why not Mustapha’s house?

I might not agree with some of his policies, but, Mustapha was a native son who played a crucial role in our history.

They don’t make politicians like him any more.

Besides making money, there are two other things that can get Malaysians all worked up-politics and football.

In this soccer crazy nation, it is ironical that the Malaysian national team can’t play the beautiful game that can bring glory and pride to the nation. what gives?

Corruption, cronyism,and nepotism many fans will tell you. Ha, that mantra again. The cynics will tell you it’s part of our general malaise, the standard of English, the quality of our local graduates and now, football, everything is going south. What’s new? they ask.

The jury is out, as far as the angry fans are concerned all the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) officials should be hanged, drawn and quartered.

The drubbing by China (5-1), Uzbekistan (5-0) and Iran (2-0) in the qualifying rounds of the current Asian Cup competition have even got the cabinet worked up calling it a” national disaster”, and they have demanded for an explanation from FAM for the pathetic performances by the national team.

You don’t need a degree in soccer studies to know that it has been a disaster waiting to happen.

The current FAM headed by the Sultan of Pahang has failed miserably for over the last 20 years to lift up the standard of soccer in the country. In fact the standard has gone way down beyond the expected level. To be fair to them ,they have achieved many things like introducing the professional league and bringing funds to the coffers of the FAM. But, are these enough?

They have failed one thing every Malaysian soccer fan has been hungry for,success at the regional and international level competitions .

In terms of world rankings we are even behind Singapore! Neighbours like Thailand, Indonesia and even Vietnam can hold their heads high, while we have to keep our tail between our legs. Just imagine we are in the same league as Laos and the Philppines now!

Way back we used to be one of the top teams in Asia having qualified for two Olympics,and as for Korea and Japan, they used to fear us.

I remember my visit to Korea a long time ago, the immigration officer at the airport counter could even name all our national players then, like James Wong, Hassan Sani, Mokhtar Dahari, Santokh Singh, Soh Chin Aun and the rest . Was I proud to be a Malaysian!

Now,you name me the current national players?

I think what we have neglected is the development aspects of the game. For a river to flow to the sea with the necessary volume of water, you need many tributaries. Build the infrastructure nationwide and get the young people involved, many people suggest.

The Deputy President, Tengku Abdullah, the Sultan’s son, has resigned , and even the Secretary General Dr. Ibrahim Saad, is said not to be renewing his contract which is due to expire in September.What about the rest? The Sultan himself has said that he would stay on.

To the fans , many think that as long as the Sultan stays on, they don’t believe that further progress can be made to improve the standard of soccer because of our culture of respect and deference especially to members of the royalty.

One fan told me he couldn’t imagine anyone saying “no” to the Sultan.

“I remember a consultant group recommended that the FAM should be run professionally sometime back, and the Secretary-General post should be opened to the best candidate in the country. Half way through the interviewing process, a decision was made to appoint the current officer”, he said.”And, everybody went along without a murmur”, he added disappointed.

“Furthermore, must politicians be involved? he asked. They are supposed to be running the country,do they have time to run football associations as well? If they can’t run a football organisation well, they have no business running the country either”.he opined.

What is the way out,then? I asked.

“We have many football talents, be more inclusive. Turn the team into a real multi racial unit, play to the racial strengths of the players.The Chinese are strategic in their thinking, they make good mid-fielders. The Indians are generally taller and have good work ethics on the field, use them wisely, the Bumis like to dribble, use them as goal poachers. I am merely suggesting that our football officials should think strategically . I am not saying this is the end all approach.

“Why can’t we get people like Paul Mony, Prof Khoo Kay Kim, Shebby Singh and other ex-national players to be involved in FAM? Pick their brains, I am sure we will improve soon enough.

“The players also need to be motivated to show self-belief and aggression, they look too pampered now, I don’t think they can even last two days in the National Service programme! And, do you think only politicians have all the answers?” he asked again.

Everyone will have their own take on the state of our football. While FAM is waiting for reports and all that, the Education Ministry says they will start a programme at the school level to bring back glory to the sport.

Earlier the coach,Norizan Bakar was reported to have been sacked, and another report said he was still the coach until his report comes in explaining the debacle. Are you confused?

And who makes the decision on the fate of the FAM council itself?

This is exactly the state of our soccer, one big ball of direction-less confusion!

To get back on the right track, FAM must stop the blame game, take the punch in the chin like a real man, and make way for professional people to run the show and chop off all the politicians and others who should be focusing on other urgent matters of the country. Tell me, which politicians or Lord Mayors run successful English or European football clubs?

For the fans, they have no choice but to keep rooting for the English club teams, and at the same time they can only pray that there is a silver lining somewhere.

Amen.

There is life after politics after all. Al Gore, the former American Vice President ,has proved by moving on, you can make a new life and contribute to the world in a significant way too.

By re- inventing himself, he is now the environmentalist icon. Not bad, for a guy who came here and caused a stir by publicly supporting Anwar Ibrahim and his “reformasi” movement, which went nowhere.Of course, Al Gore got all of Malaysia upset. Then, that was in the past.

The recent Al Gore’s Live Earth concerts in some major cities of the world to remind the world of the climate change was a good move, superstar Madonna who provided the finale at the concert was quoted as saying”let’s hope the concerts are not just about entertainment but about starting a revolution”.

How far these concerts will have an impact to revolutionize our daily lives remain to be seen. How genuine are some of the players? Questions have been asked if the performers at the concerts were suitable climate change activists.

Madonna herself has been accused of hypocrisy after allegations were made that she has financial links to some of the world’s biggest polluters like the giant American aluminium plant, Alcoa, the Ford Motor Company and Weyerhaeuser,an international forest products company.

A British act Arctic Monkeys when asked why they were not on the bill at any of the concerts explained that the whole thing was hypocritical as the power used for stage lighting alone enough to power ten houses, and their bass player said ,” we are always jetting off on aeroplanes”.

To save the world, we actually need to get rid of the system or at least modify the system that is in place now. A system that is based on the exploitation of countries, human beings and natural resources in order to maximise profits spells destruction.

A system that works on human greed is bound to destroy everything in its path. As long as the world’s economy is driven by oil, we can do precious little in saving the environment.

While Bush and his neo-conservatives tell you that they invade Iraq because of weapons of mass destruction, the real reason is oil. Iraq has some of the world’s biggest oil reserves, for America , she needs to control these reserves.

With their oil royalties, these countries will have to buy American financial instruments, with interests accrued from these investments, the American companies will then get paid for work modernising these countries. America and the rest of the world can then live happily ever after.

Whether these countries really need all these modern, glittering “toys” is not the issue here. The whole exercise is to maintain this capitalistic-imperialistic system, no matter how destructive or even at the expense of the climatic health of the planet, the show must go on.

Here, in Sabah, it was reported that the rhino population is declining . The exploitation of their natural habitat is obviously the cause. Land alienation for agriculture and other purposes is creating pocket areas and rhinos by nature are solitary animals are definitely affected by all these activities. For them to mate is next to impossible.

We will never agree if international reports say that Malaysia is “the nature destroyer”. Officially we are not, 52 per cent of our land in Sabah is protected. According to the Deputy Director of Wildlife Department, Laurentius Ambu ,we are not destroying our forests, the problem is that the rhinos are at the wrong place at the wrong time?!

Of course, it is never our fault, blame it on the rhinos, even though they have been in the forests longer than us.They cannot talk back, can they?

As long as we cannot control our greed,the planet is hurtling itself towards self destruction. What can we do? Maybe, we need to adopt the middle path development model where Schumacher says” small is beautiful”. We can also adopt the indigenous ways in preserving the environment,then, we do not want it to be too Penan like either. A little bit of country and a little bit of rock and roll, a little bit of native and a little bit of modern approach , that will do fine.

I am entitled to dream, right? Otherwise,what sort of world will we be leaving for our future generations?

.

Thierry Rommel touched the sacred cow, as a foreign diplomat he was supposed to be more than polished in his approach . He’d so incensed some of the local politicians that a government backbencher had asked him to leave and be barred from the country.

Does he care? He will be leaving the country for good in September anyway, maybe, he saw this was the right time for him to speak .

His sin was to criticise the affirmative action policy of the Malaysian government, generally referred to as the New Economic Policy(NEP)..

The head of the European Commission in Malaysia, was alleged to have said that at a luncheon talk to ambassadors and foreign diplomats that Malaysia should roll back its 37 year old policy.He was quoted as saying that the NEP was discriminatory and amounted to protectionism against foreign companies.

My guess is he wants to go down in history as a straight speaking diplomat, you know, if you have a name like Rommel, it is not easy to match The Rommel of the Desert Fox fame, consciously or subconsciously this Rommel needs to be remembered, if not by the world at least by Malaysians.Or is it just an attitude problem as claimed by Minister For International Trade and Industry Rafidah Aziz? Why then become a diplomat? I suppose we will never know.

By the way, this is the same Rommel in the course of his tour with his Malaysian based European colleagues two years ago,met with an accident in Sabah . He escaped unscathed although several others were injured.

The NEP was created after the bloody Malay-Chinese riots in 1969 with two basic primary goals,to reduce and eventually eradicate poverty and to eliminate racial identification with economic functions.

The policy has been a success in restructuring an inequitable society where the Bumi (indigenious) corporate wealth at that time stood only at 1.5% , in the process a Bumi commercial class was created to spearhead more participation in business .However, the 30% target of Bumi corporate equity ownership has yet to be met. The policy has also been successful in producing more Bumi professionals and entrepreneurs, thus expanding the middle class.

Many critics see the failure of the NEP is in its implementation where certain people close to the ruling party are said to be the main beneficiaries.These UMNOputras got rich beyond their wildest dreams, while many people especially in the rural areas still live without basic amenities.In other words, a few benefit at the expense of the many.

While the policy looks discriminatory to the other non-native races, the policy has also benefited them as it is not a question of robbing Ah Chong to pay Ah mad.Seen as the greatest social engineering ever to restructure society, the defenders of the policy say the idea is to make the cake grow bigger for everyone, in fact, Malaysia’s economic growth has been steady except for some glitches here and there.Generally, Malaysians on the whole have benefited. The NEP is acknowledged and even copied by South Africa .

However,open criticisms of the policy by any quarters are not tolerated, a recent research done by an ethnic Chinese Malaysian for a local think tank ASLI arguing that the NEP goals have been achieved was not taken too kindly by the ruling party.

The reaction over Rommel’s remark must be seen in this defensive posture. Of course, Rommel later explained that he had no intention to meddle in Malaysia’s domestic affairs and that the issue had been blown out of proportion.

Many native groups in Borneo call for the NEP to be maintained, Leo Moggie the Tenaga Nasional Bhd(TNB) chairman was reported to have said at the recent inaugural joint Gawai-Kaamatan Festival in Kota Kinabalu that the Dayak and Kadazandusun communities need special attention in order to give them a fair start in economic development.

This prompted the Secretary General of the United Sabah Bajau Organisation (USBO), Pandikar Mulia to declare that the Bajaus should not be lumped together with the Malays even if they are Muslims , they too need help as they are still poor and lagging in the economic race.Some of these people still live on boats out in the open seas.

While we can agree that the NEP has some good and some bad points depending where you are coming from, maybe, it is time for the government to re- look at the policy and do some soul searching. It’s no fun for any group of people to be labeled as ” handicapped “. At the same time, the different stages of economic development of the various races in the country are real.

The government can, for example, look at how the policy can be better implemented to prevent abuse and corruption and also to examine to what extent the target groups have benefited instead of just focusing on the equity ownership. The discriminatory clause which favours Malays and other native groups which many object to can be modified by including all Malaysians regardless of race and religion as long as they deserve help.

Every Malaysian needs to be looked after as this will bring stability to the country,nobody should feel marginalised. New mechanisms must also be worked out to see who really deserve help.

An example is to use the median incomes of the family as a yardstick and extend the necessary help if they deserve it, be it scholarship for further studies or business opportunities.

Politicians from the ruling party should not be too emotional when other parties criticise the policy, the spirit of NEP which is based on the moral doctrine of utilitarianism, that is, we should always act to produce the greatest possible of good over bad for everyone is worth defending in a sophisticated and rational manner.

On the other hand, it must be remembered that the longer the policy is allowed to stay, the more the targeted groups will remain complacent which in turn will kill their desire to compete .

Therefore, a balance approach must be adopted,even with our own children, once they reach a certain age, we have to let them go. So, a new look and time line must be drawn up for this policy.
.
We do not want the NEP to be called the never ending party, do we?

I have not been to Singapore for quite sometime, my last trip there taught me never to assume anything . Like they say anything is possible in life.

Singapore has done well, it’s a first world metropolis, clean, green and well organised. Even the arts are flourishing there, once you have money, you want to buy culture, right?

Malaysians will always tell you that Singapore is so small, it is easy to manage and furthermore it’s not multi-racial enough because you have one dominant culture . Say what you want, Singapore has evolved into an efficient and dynamic city state.That’s the reality.

Had they stayed in the third world mode, they would have sunk and disappeared in the Straits of Malacca a long time ago.Their achievement is something we can proud of too, after all, we were once in the same family.Their people are our people.

Our rivalry is actually healthy as long as we don’t go overboard, throw in some humour , you can’t go wrong. We Asians tend to take ourselves too seriously, we must laugh at ourselves more. Life is not a zero sum game, you win some and you lose some.

The clearance at Changi was a breeze, on the way to the hotel, the 50 something Chinese taxi driver asked where I came from.

Sabah.

I thought you came from Malaysia.

Sabah is part of Malaysia.And, you happy with young Lee ?

Ok,we are developing casinos and other tourist attractions,many tourists will come and more money for us. Our government is smart what!

Ya lah, instead of one casino, now, you are going to have two, isn’t that kiasu ?And, Chinese people like to gamble, no social problems later?

Never mind, good as long as money comes and government knows how to control things one.

There was silence, then out of the blue he said,actually Singapore is very expensive,we have to work hard to make ends meet. Everything is Pay And Pay (PAP)here.Water bills are expensive, if you have no money, you cannot survive here.

Can you survive anywhere without money?

He continued, actually my wife is from Penang, last time she wanted to become a citizen, then she changed her mind. Good decision, in a few years time, I will be moving back there with her.As I get older, Singapore is too hectic and expensive for me.

What are you going to do in Penang?

My wife has a piece of land, we are already building a house there. We will run a small shop to keep ourselves occupied. Malaysia is more affordable, you need millions to buy a small piece of land in Singapore.

Children?

All grown up already, they do what they want.

Would you still move to Malaysia if your wife had come from somewhere else?

Yes, I think I would, more opportunities there. Can always come back here mah.

Later in the evening I was introduced to a Malay businessman in his early 40s, let’s call him Jeffrey. Singaporean Malays are a different breed, fluent in English and being urbanised, they have different perspectives of the world.

I like the fact that Jeffrey said that nobody owed him a living. It’s up to you to work towards your goals, he said.

I asked him whether with a little help from the government the local Malays would have done much better?

Maybe, he agreed, however, you must learn how to survive on your own, it will develop some kind of resilience in you. You must have the hunger lah.The satisfaction is greater if you make it on your own, he said.

Jeffrey like many other Singaporean Malays I met think that the government preference policy for Malaysian Bumiputras will only stunt their growth.

Drugs and dysfunctional families are some of the social problems faced by the Malays in Singapore amidst rapid development, Jeffrey admitted, and also the lack of confidence, he added.

Jeffrey continued , it is your life , do what you want, at the end of the day if you don’t help yourself,nobody else will, the choice is yours.

Would you move to Malaysia?

No way, this is home. And, there is too much religion over there he said without elaborating.

Walking along Orchard Road the next day, a young lady tried to hassle me into buying some products. From her accent, I knew she was not a local.

I am from China, my husband is Singaporean.

You like Singapore?

I prefer Malaysia.

Huh?

Singaporeans are kiasu people and they look down on China people because our English is not so good, and we also work harder than them.

Why Malaysia?

More opportunities and more people . My husband is starting something and I look forward to moving up there soon.

Hi hi,bye bye Singapura.

He came, he saw, he didn’t conquer.He stirred up the pot instead.

Malacca Chief Minister, Ali Rustam’s pronouncement that it was easy to become a Malay didn’t go down well with some sections of our Sabah people, especially with the non-Muslims.

When he made the speech at the recent Malay-Muslim conference in Kota Kinabalu, he actually didn’t say anything new. Infact, he stated the obvious.

Article 160 of the Federal Malaysian constitution states that a Malay is Muslim, who speaks the Malay language and practises Malay adat or customs.

Ali Rustam was right on that score, the question people want to know is whether he was encouraging people to convert? To some people it looked like he was doing exactly that, hence the brickbrats thrown at him.

In Malaysia, there is nothing that is not politicised, be it race, religion, business, education, you name it, there is always a hint of politics in everything. Nothing will be accepted at face value here, because there is none in this country . People are programmed to read in between the lines, especially statements made by politicians.

Now, the constitutional definition of Malay itself is flawed. When the definition was drafted, I wonder whether it was given much thought, because fifty years down the road, it looks like the constitutional experts responsible decided to play God themselves.

Maybe we should forgive them, if we scrutinize the definition closely ,doesn’t it reflect the sociological “masuk melayu”(enter malay) concept? If you become a Muslim in this country, you are said to “masuk melayu” and not a convert to Islam. A way of life is more important than one’s bloodline or a commitment to the religion?! With new information available, surely we can do better.

The first thing you ask is how do you equate religion with race? Race is God given by virtue of genes, language and evolution.One can always change one’s religion, but, can one do that with one’s race?

A person of Malay origin belongs to the Austronesian group of peoples which include the Polynesians. Tagalogs, Bisayas in the Philippines and even Dusuns or Dayaks are all Malays in the wider sense, since they are not generally Muslim, does that make them lesser Malays? The Malagasy people whose language has many similarities with the Maanyan Dayaks in south-east Kalimantan, are they lesser Malays by virtue of the fact that they are overwhelmingly Christian ? Or for that matter, Hindu Balinese?

If we go by our constitution, of course, they are not Malays. But, if an Indian, Pakistani, Arab, a Chinese or an Englishman who is a citizen and a Muslim, speaks Malay habitually, and follows the Malay customs, he is a Malay! It does not make sense, does it?

Some people are happy with this classification, some might not be too pleased. To me, if the person has Malay blood in him because he is the product of a mixed marriage, it is all right to be classified as such.Those who have none and don’t look like one physically but want to be considered as one because the constitution says so,that’s another story.

Can someone tell me must Malaysians alone monopolise the term Malay?.Who gives us the God-given right to limit the term Malay to ourselves, when there are Malay stock people all over the world who are not Muslim who have Malay genes but are deprived of this association ?

This is not an easy matter to resolve,there are many Islamised native races in Sabah who would rather be acknowledged by their ethnic names, rather than being called Malay. While, this umbrella term is politically useful in this country, but, it is time for us to look at it from a more wider and sober perspective.

A narrow definition gives rise to narrow minded interpretation, in the light of progress made in the field of DNA by the scientists it would be magnanimous on our part to rephrase the definition of Malays to its truer meaning. Remember, as we evolve, nothing that is man made is ever cast in stone. As it now stands , we don’t look that enlightened, do we?

So, will the real Malays please stand up?

Sometime back they shut the door on each other, now, they are talking again. Malaysian national car maker, Proton, is holding desperate talks with Volkswagen AG (VW)in order to save itself from the funeral parlour.

A brainchild of the former Prime Minister,Dr.Mahathir, Proton was conceptualised to fast track Malaysia into the ranks of the industrialised nations, the saga of this company has all of Malaysia intrigued worthy of the best soap operas on TV.

When the idea was first mooted in the 80s, many Malaysians were skeptical, and even the then Deputy Prime Minister, Musa Hitam, cited Proton as one of the reasons for him wanting to resign from the post .He didn’t see how it could be a success.

Dr. Mahathir was persistent and he personally saw the idea through. Many Malaysians saw him as the CEO of the company, even overriding the board, but, he was the strong-willed Prime Minister, wasn’t he?

Proton went through some good times initially as Malaysians came around to support the home -made car backed by the war cry of “Malaysia Boleh” (Malaysia Can). Dr. Mahathir showed everything was possible with dedication and hard work.

Proton started off with the play on technology transfer from Japan’s Mitsubishi , later, it flirted with France’s Citroen and Proton even bought into Lotus to try to get the best technological hook-up available. Malaysians cheered, while visiting the United Kingdom, many used to feel extra proud when they saw many Protons on the road there.

There was even a hugely popular Kadazandusun song called “Proton Saga Kalabu” (The grey Proton Saga), this cheeky song tells of a young divorcee who would only show interest in would be suitors if they drove grey Proton Saga. The song was later made into a VCD movie. Our national car has really made a great impression on the people and it has even become a part of our pop culture.

Then, many also asked where the national car-maker was going with the eclectic approach. Where was the technical focus?

Like the wise say all things must pass, and Proton was no exception. As soon as Dr.Mahathir retired, Proton CEO, Tengku Mahaleel was sacked, of course Dr. Mahathir was livid even though he was still Proton’s advisor. Without the political clout, Dr. Mahathir was ignored by the ambitious and repressed people in the company.

Leadership changes were made, left on its own, Proton lost its direction and apathy set in. From a cash rich company, now, it’s bleeding to death.

For the recent fiscal year which ended March 31(FY07), we see revenue dropped 37% to RM4.9billion from RM7.8billion in FY06. Proton posted a whopping net loss of RM591.4 million against a profit of RM46.7million previously. Loss per share stood at 107.7 sen compared with earnings per share of 8.4 sen in FY06.

Many reasons were given for this woeful performance, it was attributed to a challenging operating environment,which saw intense competition compounded by lower used cars value and stringent loan application screening that put credit squeeze on prospective buyers.

Managing director Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin explained that the losses were due to lower sales volume and other factors including one-off expenses and provisions.To put it on the right track, Proton will focus on operational efficiency, cost competitiveness, introduction of new models and more aggressive marketing campaigns, he said.

While all these standard attempts will take time to bear fruits, many are not convinced that Proton, which is owned by the Government’s investment wing, Khazanah, will see the light at the end of the tunnel unless the company is run more professionally.

The government must act fast and do what needs to be done to stem the bleeding. If Proton has to be sold to foreign parties, so be it. One can argue about nation’s interests until the cows come home, at the end of the day it is the bottom line, unless, the government is contemplating a bail-out again.

Nissan was a sick car-maker, by teaming up with Renault, the man sent to sort out the mess, Ghosn, managed to turn it around. If the extra nationalistic and proud Japanese could accept this reality, Malaysians had better do the same.

Proton needs an experienced outsider to run it, a local person tends to spend time pleasing the various political factions, this will not get us anywhere.Tough decisions on factors such as quality and efficiency need to be made. In other words, go the commercial way, you either shape up or ship out.

VW is keen to establish a foothold in South East Asia through Proton, among its numerous strengths, it has the track record of turning ailing Czech based Skoda around. With the famous German clockwork efficiency , hopefully, Proton can look forward to better times once again.

Little has been made in the local media of this Malaysian journalist who won the Pulitzer prize, the most prestigious journalistic prize there is. Imagine what this means to your own curriculum vitae.

I hope our local hacks are not envious of her. Fong Foong Mei has only been in the game for ten years, and she has managed to bag this coveted prize.

This 34 year old former Kuala Lumpur’s Bukit Bintang Girls school student writes under the byline of Mei Fong, and she is one of the seven members of Wall Street Journal team that won the 2007 Pulitzer international award announced on April 16 for a series of articles on capitalism in China last year.

Fong had written about the terrible conditions of migrant construction workers in Beijing.According to her it took her two months to find someone who would talk, and the workers were so happy that someone was interested in their story.

She co-authored a second piece on a Chinese doctor who was inspired by the”Erin Brokovich” movie starring Julia Roberts,he fought to save his village from environmental pollution in the eastern Fujian province. When doing the story on the doctor,it was difficult as her freedom to travel was restricted and interviews required permission from local officials.

The migrant workers story also earned Fong a first prize in the 2006 Human Rights Press Award given out by the Hong Kong Correspondance Club and Amnesty International earlier this year.

Fong studied at the University of Singapore under a Singapore Press Holdings bursary.She worked with the New Paper there for three years.

Later, she completed her masters in international relations at Columbia University in the United States. When she graduated in 2001 Fong undertook a three month internship with the Wall Street Journal which led to a job offer in the organisation.

There were hardly any commentaries by our local journalists on this world class achievement.I wonder why? Is it because she didn’t go through our system that she only deserves a passing mention in the form of news item?

We must ask ourselves how is that our system is not producing achievers like her? She is after all a local girl. Something is missing somewhere, I think the answer is obvious , our journalists are trained to be the best self-censors in the world , investigative journalism hardly exists in this country. When some of our people make the grade overseas, Malaysia does not get acknowledged, after all their training and the exposure which bring the glory cannot be attributed to us. We make our own bed, so we lie on it .

We have great journalistic talents in this country,we simply have to do more by encouraging them to write the truth.Without the freedom to write, we can’t produce world class achievers to call our own.

Congratulations to Mei Fong, and don’t forget your roots.

As many have expected the Malaysian Federal court’s 2-1 decision on Lina Joy’s case is a no brainer, after almost six years of legal wrangling Lina Joy@Azlina Jailani , a born Malay Muslim cannot delete the word Islam from her Malaysian identity(IC) card.

The most famous Christian convert in the country, now 43, converted to Christianity at the age of 26 ,to marry her Christian cook boyfriend and she’d followed the various legal steps to delete the word Islam from her IC card after her conversion.

While the National Registration Department allowed her the name change, they were not too sure whether they could delete the religion she was born into from the IC, hence the basis of this court case.To add more to the confusion, Malaysian legal system runs on a parallel path, Syariah courts are for Muslims especially on matters pertaining to family law and religion and Civil Courts for the non-Muslims.

It is fine if all parties involved in a family dispute, for example, are of the same faith, in a multi-cultural and multi-religious society such as ours, things get complicated when one party is Muslim and the other is not.Which court system has the precedence over which to the satisfaction of all parties concerned?

The Federal Constitution says a Malay must be a Muslim, speak Malay, and habitually follow Malay customs.It never talks about ethnicity so, a person of Indian origins can qualifiy if the above conditions are met. But an ethnic Malay,meaning a native of the archipelago,who is not a Muslim is not a Malay. While the contradictions on this definition are obvious, but, the intentions are very clear.

This definition has more to do with politics rather than with religion per se. Malaysia is just about half Muslim, this is rather precarious , as the balance can tilt either way if the Muslim component of the country is allowed to be loose and fluid. Any perceived challenge to this status quo is seen as a threat by the powers that be as they seek to maintain the early Malay-Muslim character of the land. Islam is also made the official religion and there can be no propagation of other religions among Malays either.The control is rather tight.

If you wish to leave the Muslim religion you must get the green light from the Syariah Courts. It does not count that it is your free choice, even if the Koran talks about no complusion in religion, it does not matter. The people in charge will put you away and try to rehabilitate you. Lina Joy probably thought it would be nice to test the system in respect of her human rights. Now, it is clear that the Syariah courts are supreme to the Civil courts in matters such as this. Is this constitutionally right? The debate has yet to stop.

The minority judgement of chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Richard Malanjun that no court or authority should be easily allowed to have implied powers to curtail rights that are constitutionally granted is a food for thought for all freedom loving Malaysians.

If Lina still insists on the deletion, she has to start all over with the Syariah Courts to get them to declare that she is no longer a Muslim. This is the law of the country and this is her only option.

It is very obvious for Muslims if they wish to leave their religion,they have do it quietly. If they still want to stay in the country after changing their religion, they have to be a closet Buddhist, a closet Christian whatever, but, they know they will never have peace until the day they die . Is that so? some of you may snigger, look at the bodies that have been dug up for being buried in the ‘wrong’ cemetery you ‘d say. You are dead right, the best option is to pack up and leave the country.

It is strange, Lina’s photo has never been published in the local papers. Many do not know how she looks like. Is there such a person? Maybe, this is for her own good,there are too many intolerant people out there .

I understand Lina is overseas now,this is the best option for her considering the circumstances. As a Malaysian, I can’t say I am proud that she has to leave the country to live with her own conscience. Free as a bird somewhere else, but not in her own country!??

This is not the first case of Muslims changing their religion in this country and it won’t be the last either.

The top two richest men in the country, Robert Kouk and Ananda Krishnan (AK) have decided to take their listed firms private.

The question is why? Being heavyweight players on our local bourse, should not they be propping up the market with their quality companies? In case they forget, they owe the country everything especially in giving them the opportunities to make their vast fortunes here.So, they must share their good luck with the public by allowing them to hold shares in their companies. This is the least they could do.

Kuok has shifted his domicile assets worth RM15.5 billion from Malaysia to Singapore by selling his controlling stakes in PBB Berhad to his Singaporean nephew through Singapore-listed Wilmar International Ltd. Many market players will tell you that nothing is happening here, it is a matter of shifting your marbles from the right to the left pocket. In fact, it has incest written all over this deal. Granted Kuok is in his eighties, time is running out and he has to sort out his assets, many want to know if there is more that meets the eye?

As for AK, the Astro and Maxis King, the rationale put forward is that he wants to penetrate further into India and Indonesia, therefore, he does not wish to be constrained by regulatory requirements and as heavy capital expenditure is involved, it will be sometime before we can see the return on investment. This will also prevent a dampening effect on the share price from occuring .

As the spin goes, it is a win-win situation for all, especially for the minority shareholders as they will benefit tremendously from this exercise. AK is willing to pay RM15.60 a share in cash, which is pitched at 20% premium to Maxis’ closing price of RM13 on April 27. The whole deal to take the company private is valued at RM39.9 billion.

We can see that it is going to be exciting times for Maxis, unfortunately, for the local equity market, it is going to be deprived of a blue chip with a fantastic track record and sound management.The KL Composite Index will also be losing one of its major component stocks.

Those who are not happy with this move are saying Maxis is the holder of a government licence as part of an earlier privatisation programme, so why should AK be given the green light to do what he wants. It looks like a double privilege for him.

Many also worry that there will be lesser quality stocks to attract players to the market if more blue chips are allowed to be taken private.

The more cynical of the market watchers are asking whether these two players know something that we don’t. Are there highwaymen lurking somewhere? Sometimes, they say the best way to vote is with your feet, and what does this look like to you.?