In the aftermath of May 5th (part 11) (UPDATED with Chinese Translation)
They recently did a poll in Pakistan and 11% voted in favour of a democracy, 22% in favour of military rule, and 53% in favour of the Khalifah system. The Khalifah system would basically mean a Monarch as the head of religion plus head of the nation. “What has Pakistan got to do with Malaysia or the Malays?” you may ask. Well, many Malay ulama’ (religious scholars) received their education in India/Pakistan (Nik Aziz Nik Mat included).
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin
Umno relying more on rural Malay support, says writer
(The Malaysian Insider, 14 May 2013) – The results of the recent general election show that Umno is as strong as ever despite Barisan Nasional losing the popular vote, according to a Straits Times report today.
Writing in the Singapore daily, James Chin, a senior visiting research fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (Iseas), argued that many Malaysians are misreading the situation and think that Umno is weak.
He said Umno today is as strong as it was in 1971, adding that it is BN that is dying, not Umno.
“The Malay heartland, all in rural areas, backed Umno and that is why it increased its number of parliamentary seats and why there is an Umno-alone government in Kuala Lumpur today,” he wrote.
In his article, he gave a rundown of the evolution of Umno from its formation in 1946 under various leaders including Datuk Onn Jaafar, Tun Abdul Razak and Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, and how the party has changed over the years.
Chin wrote that the flaw in Dr Mahathir’s Malay state building was the scourge of money politics. “With so much money flowing out of the government into selected Umno elite, the competition became so intense that the only way to get support was to ‘buy’ support.”
He said money politics in Umno was tolerated because it did not contradict Malay or Islamic dominance of the system. As long as the money did not threaten Umno or Ketuanan Melayu, it was seen as a necessary evil for the functioning of Umno.
Chin also wrote that despite losing the two-thirds parliamentary majority in the 2008 general election, Umno failed to tackle the corruption issue or move to the middle ground. It cared only about control over Malay minds and control of the federal government.
He argued that reforms undertaken after 2009 were mainly cosmetic and in the economic arena; real political reforms did not take place and that is why the urban polity rejected Umno this year.
“For example, on the issue of Ketuanan Melayu, rather than deal with it, the party simply ‘subcontracted’ the work to Perkasa, a Malay right-wing organisation established after 2008.”
He said the urban public did not buy the argument that Umno had reformed when Perkasa’s president and deputy president became BN candidates this year. It became clear that Umno would not change its political leanings.
Chin said it has become increasingly clear in the past two decades that Umno is now BN and BN is Umno. Umno accounts for just less than half of Cabinet ministers. In Parliament, the overwhelming bloc within BN is always Umno. In 2008, Umno won 79 seats out of BN’s 140. This year, Umno won 88 out of BN’s 133 seats. In percentage terms, this translates to 56 per cent and 66 per cent respectively.
“Today after 56 years of independence, Umno still controls the rural Malay mind. Yes, it is true Umno has lost control over large sections of the Malay community in urban areas. Under Malaysia’s electoral system, it is the rural seats that decide the federal government, not urban seats. Urban seats account for less than a quarter of Malaysia’s 222 parliamentary seats while about 150 seats are Malay/Bumiputera-majority seats,” he wrote.
Chin argued that Umno is unlikely to reform in time for the 14th GE, and does not need to. “As long as the first-past-the-post system continues to allot disproportionate weight to rural voters, all Umno has to do is to keep the fire of Ketuanan Melayu and Ketuanan Islam burning brightly in rural Malaysia,” he said.
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Najib to have an audience with Agong tomorrow for approval on new cabinet line-up
(Bernama, 14 May 2013) – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak is scheduled to have an audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah at Istana Negara here at noon tomorrow to get approval for his new Cabinet line-up.
According to the statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Department today, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong had agreed that ceremony to present letters of appointment, as well as for the appointed ministers and deputy ministers to take the Oath of Office, Loyalty and Secrecy be held at the palace at 9.30am on Thursday.
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Well, there you have it. Khalid Ibrahim has been sworn in as the Menteri Besar of Selangor for a second term and Azmin Ali, who called Khalid a lame duck (mainly because Khalid tunduk or kowtow too much to DAP and PAS), has openly supported Khalid (not that he has any choice in the matter).
What Azmin is not happy about, according to him, is that Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail did not check with him first before replying to His Highness the Sultan’s letter when he (Azmin) is the Director of Elections for Selangor. After all, the candidates contesting the general election are within his (Azmin’s) authority so he should have the final say as to who amongst the winners go where.
Khalid was very coy about his list of EXCO Members, though. He would not reveal whom he is going to propose as EXCO Members, only saying that his list is ready. The issue is, Khalid first needs to get the Sultan’s approval before he makes his announcement. Most likely His Highness will approve the list, unlike in Kelantan where the Sultan wanted some names removed, Husam Musa amongst them.
The question is, the Sultan is merely a Constitutional Monarch, so does the Menteri Besar need to get the Sultan’s approval? Can’t the Menteri Besar announce it first and, as a formality, just inform the Sultan as to what has already been decided? And if the Sultan is not happy or does not approve the EXCO list, can the Menteri Besar go ahead anyway even if this meets the Sultan’s displeasure?
A lawyer such as Malik Imtiaz Sarwar or Tommy Thomas would probably argue that it is within the Menteri Besar’s power and authority to appoint the EXCO Members of his choice and the Sultan does not have the power and authority to interfere in the running of the government. Furthermore, the Sultan must swear in the Menteri Besar that has been decided by the party with the most number of seats in the State Assembly and His Highness cannot reject this candidate.
On point of law plus according to the Constitution this would most likely be very true. The Ruler must take the advise of the Menteri Besar (or the Agong the advise of the Prime Minister). Remember what the First Agong, His Majesty Tuanku Abdul Rahman said: the Prime Minister (Tunku Abdul Rahman) can remove me but I can’t remove the Prime Minister.
Hence that sums up the ‘relationship’ between the Rulers and the Chief Executives. However, we are not just talking about the law or the Constitution here. We are talking about Malay tradition/culture and Islam as well. And that is what many non-Malays do not seem to understand about the Malay psyche. The law/Constitution takes second place to adat dan agama (tradition and religion).
And we have to understand that the Menteris Besar (in those states that have Monarchs) are Malays/Muslims first and politicians second. Hence they just cannot sidestep adat and agama even if doing so would be sidestepping the law and the Constitution instead. After all, the Monarchs are what the Malays would call Raja-Raja Melayu (Rulers of the Malays) and Ketua Agama (Head of Religion).
Bernama reported, “Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak is scheduled to have an audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah at Istana Negara here at noon tomorrow to get approval for his new Cabinet line-up.”
So, it seems the Prime Minister, too, needs the ‘approval’ of His Majesty the Agong before announcing the Cabinet line-up. So, again, the Prime Minister has to be Malay/Muslim first and politician second. And he needs the ‘nod’ of His Majesty the Agong before doing something or else he would not do it.
Malaysian politics is a very complicated animal. Malay politics is an even stranger animal. Malay politics does not follow ‘rules’. It follows sentiments, emotions, adat and agama. And this is what one needs to understand to be able to win the battle of the hearts and minds of the Malays.
They recently did a poll in Pakistan and 11% voted in favour of a democracy, 22% in favour of military rule, and 53% in favour of the Khalifah system. The Khalifah system would basically mean a Monarch as the head of religion plus head of the nation.
“What has Pakistan got to do with Malaysia or the Malays?” you may ask. Well, many Malay ulama’ (religious scholars) received their education in India/Pakistan (Nik Aziz Nik Mat included). Hence they are indoctrinated or influenced by the Indian Continent’s brand of Islam. People like Hadi Awang, of course, received his education from Medina and Cairo. Nevertheless, they still subscribe to the Khalifah system and aspire to one day see Malaysia become a Caliphate (although they agree that would not be something you can see now but must be a plan for the future).
If you were to poll, say, 10,000 Malays, you will find that 60% regard themselves as Muslims first, 30% as Malays first, and just 10% will say they are Malaysians first. So how do you handle these types of people?
The fallacy is those ultra-Muslims are mainly people from the rural areas or from the Malay heartland. In other words, these are kampong Malays who are less educated than the urban Malays.
That is where you are wrong. There are more ultra-Muslims amongst the professionals living in Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Damanasara, Bangsar, etc., than you thought. This may surprise you but most of my Malay friends living in the ‘up-market’ residential areas in the big towns and cities have ‘disowned’ me because of my ‘liberal’ views. They cannot accept the fact that I propagate the rights of apostates and gays.
So, Malays living in multi-million ringgit homes in gated communities and driving BMWs are not as ‘modern’ as you may think. In fact, they are even more intolerant of liberalism compared to the Malays in the rural areas. And the more affluent the Malays become, the more religious they become as well, and the more intolerant they are of liberalism. And most of them vote for PAS, not for Umno.
Does that surprise you? Well, how then do you explain why PAS can win in a place like Shah Alam, a city that is predominantly ‘wealthy’ Malay, while Umno can win in a ‘backward’ place like Gua Musang? And I will bet you RM10,000, if Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah contests in Shah Alam against Khalid Samad, PAS will still win.
Hah! You thought you understood the Malays, did you? The ‘upper crust’ Malays are not as anti-corruption as you thought. They are more pro-Islam.
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5月5之後（十一）
他們最近在巴基斯坦做了個民調，發現有11%的受訪人士想要民主制，22%的想要軍人制，而有53%的人則想要卡利法Khalifah制。卡利法制指的就是由一位君主成爲國家與宗教首領。“巴基斯坦跟馬來西亞或馬來人又有什麽關係呢？”你可能會問。有很多馬來Ulama（宗教師）都是在印度或巴基斯坦接受教育的（聶阿玆就是其中一個）。
原文：Raja Petra Kamarudin
譯文：方宙
好，你看到啦，卡立已宣誓成爲雪蘭莪大臣，而之前把他稱爲‘跛腳鴨’的阿玆敏（因阿玆敏認爲他軟弱，經常向伊黨和行動黨磕頭）則公開地表示支持（阿玆敏根本沒有其他選擇吧）。
根據阿玆敏的説法，他不高興的是黨主席旺姐沒有向他説明就直接跟蘇丹回信，再怎麽講，他也是雪州的選舉總監，是他委派那些候選人上陣的，所以他應該擁有決定哪個候選人能上位的決定權。
卡立呢則是很保密他的行政議員名單。他對名單上的名字只字不提，只講說他已準備好了但必須先得到蘇丹的批准才能公開。雪州蘇丹有很大機會會照單全收，不像吉蘭丹蘇丹般會把某些名字刪除掉，Husam Musa就是被刪的其中一個。
問題是，蘇丹只是一個憲法制君主，大臣需要先得到他的准許嗎？大臣難道不能先對外作出公告，然後在出於形式地向蘇丹報告他的決定嗎？而如果蘇丹不高興的話，那大臣又能否照著原本的意願走呢？
律師們如Malik Imtiaz Sarwar或Tommy Thomas可能會爭辯說委任行政議員是大臣的權利而蘇丹沒有干涉政府的權力。再者，蘇丹必須承認贏得多數州席的政黨所推薦的人選為大臣，他不能拒絕這個人選。
從法律上和憲法上來講，這很有可能是對的。州蘇丹/元首必須取納大臣的建議（最高元首則是首相的）。第一位最高元首曾經說過：首相（當時的東姑阿都拉曼）可以罷免我的我不可以罷免首相。
以上説明了君主們和首席行政員們的關係。無論如何，我們談到的不只是法律或憲法而已，我們談到的還涉及馬來傳統文化和回教教法。這就是很多非馬來人不懂得，就馬來人的觀念來講，法律或憲法是排在adat dan agama(傳統與宗教)後面的。
我們也必須了解，那些大臣們也是穆斯林身份為先而政客身份為后的，所以即使他們需要偏離法律和憲法他們也不會偏離他們的adat和agama。終究到底，那些君主們還是馬來人心目中的Raja-Raja Melayu（馬來人的統治者）和Ketua Agama(宗教領導人)。
Bernama早前報道：“首相納吉明早會在皇宮會見最高元首已取得同意來組織他的新内閣。”
所以你看，就連首相也必須獲得元首的‘同意’才能向外界宣佈他的新内閣成員。在此你就能看到首相也必須是穆斯林身份為先而政客身份為后。他必須事先得到元首的‘點頭’不然他不會去做某些事情。
大馬政治文化是個很奇怪的異种，而馬來政治文化則更爲奇特。馬來政治文化不是跟隨‘統治者’的，而是跟隨情緒，情感，adat和agama的。這就是那些想要贏得馬來人心的政客所必需了解的。
他們最近在巴基斯坦做了個民調，發現有11%的受訪人士想要民主制，22%的想要軍人制，而有53%的人則想要卡利法Khalifah制。卡利法制指的就是由一位君主成爲國家與宗教的首領。
“巴基斯坦跟馬來西亞或馬來人又有什麽關係呢？”你可能會問。有很多馬來Ulama（宗教師）都是在印度或巴基斯坦接受教育的（聶阿玆就是其中一個），所以他們是受到南亞伊斯蘭文化的熏陶的。當然其他人都是在開羅或莫地那等地接受教育，如哈迪阿旺，但他們還是很相信卡利法制且希望有朝一日馬來西亞可以變成一個卡立法制的國家（雖然他們都同意這不是現在你會看到的情況而是需要長久計議）。
如果你現在針對1万個馬來人做個民調的話，你會發現60%都會認爲他們是穆斯林為先，30%馬來人為先，只有10%才會以馬來西亞人爲先。請問你應該怎樣應付這些人呢？
這裡有個錯誤的觀點，那就是那些‘超馬來人’都是來自鄉區或馬來心臟地帶的；換句話來説，這些人都是些生活在鄉間地區，教育程度不高的馬來人。這就是你出錯的地方；那些住在Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Damanasara, Bangsar等等的馬來知識分子都是些‘超馬來人’。你可能會覺得很驚訝，但我有很多住在市内高級住宅區的馬來朋友都因我的‘開通’想法而‘疏遠’我。他們對我宣揚同性戀自由和離教自由一事都很不能接受。
所以說，住在價值百萬豪宅和駕寳馬的馬來人並沒有你想象中的摩登，事實上，他們比住在鄉區的馬來人還抗拒開放主義。儅一個馬來人變得越富裕時，他就會變得越篤信宗教，進而也變得很抗拒開放主義，而且他們投的都是伊黨而不是巫統。
怎樣，覺得很驚訝吧？不然你要如何解釋爲什麽伊黨能夠在‘很富有的馬來人’選區如沙亞南勝出而巫統能夠在‘很落後的地方’如 Gua Musang勝出呢？我敢跟你打賭1万塊錢，如果東姑拉扎利在沙亞南上陣對壘Khalid Samad的話，伊黨還是照樣會勝出。
哈哈，你以爲你很明白馬來人？那些馬來‘上等人’並沒有你想象中的反貪污，他們更多的是親回教。
（敬請期待下一篇文章）
