Malayasia Matters Podcast

Yes, or they are at least a threat to do so, says Neville Spykerman:

Datuk Seri Najib Razak is betting on his Government Transformation Programme (GTP) and the recovering economy to win his Barisan Nasional (BN) enough votes to win the next general elections.

But commentators and analysts say that such a strategy can work only if he is not sidetracked by race rows and other controversies.

And with yesterday’s racist comments by a senior aide severely embarrassing the prime minister and the ongoing “Allah” row not going away, it remains a “big if.”

As we have been arguing, the reforms will have the most impact when they begin to impact regular Malaysians:

Prof Dr Mohammad Agus Yusoff agreed that the GTP and economy were steps in the right direction to win over the public.

However he said transforming policies into real benefits would be key to the GTP’s success.

“The people must experience real impact,” he said.

And Najib is clearly seeking to get the country focused back on unity and tolerance:

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak (picture) today called on Muslims in the country to respect people of other religions in accordance with the teachings of the Quran and the life of Prophet Muhammad.

He said Islamic teachings accorded great importance to good relationship among people, whether it was among Muslims or between Muslims and non-Muslims, and cited the example of Prophet Muhammad who had always respected people of other religions.

“The Quran contains text which specifically prohibits the spurning or sabotage of other religions, including their houses of worship.

“If we (Muslims) torch the places of worship of other religions, for example, those people (of other religions) will also do that to Muslim houses of worship,” he said when opening the Asy-Syuja’ah Mosque in Merlimau Utara in Jasin here.

Najib said that when individuals practised Islam in its fullness by respecting people of other religions, the people of other religions will also respect them.

Only time will tell whether these controversies continue to roil Malaysia and distract from the larger goals Najib has outlined or whether they will begin to fade and the PM can gain ground using these reforms and the economic growth that will result.

Najib Razak has launched a ‘bold and unprecedented’ approach to reform the government of Malaysia:

IN the face of plunging private investments and stagnant economic growth, Prime Minister Najib Razak is banking on a new ‘target specific’ delivery approach to win over Malaysians and investors.

Called the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) Roadmap, the ‘bold and unprecedented’ approach to reform the government acknowledges that financial and human capital are increasingly mobile and crucial in pursuing growth. Hence, new strategies are necessary to attract and retain capital which has been moving out.

In launching the GTP yesterday, Mr Najib said the approach would ‘first and foremost focus on the priorities that matter most to the rakyat (people)’.

If targets set for the six key priority areas - crime, corruption, education, rural basic infrastructure, public transport, and low- income households - are achieved, it would help reduce rich-poor, urban-rural disparities.

This is the kind of move Razak and his ruling party know is neccesary both for their success and the good of the country but it won’t be easy:

The GTP made it clear that ‘we face a dilemma. There is an urgent need to reduce spending and yet deliver big economic and social outcomes fast’.

[...]

Mr Najib conceded transforming the government would not be easy and there would be setbacks along the way, including missed targets, resistance from some to change, and new challenges not foreseen. But he promised that the government would persevere, as ‘only progress that the people can see, feel and touch will matter’.

All of this honest and transparency means it is impossible to hide the nature of the challenge:

FOR once, Kuala Lumpur told it like it was and the reality that the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) Roadmap, launched yesterday by Prime Minister Najib Razak, laid out was sobering.

[...]

The no-punches-pulled roadmap illustrates the monumental challenges facing Mr Najib as he tries to steer Malaysia out of the so-called middle-income trap - where a country is not competitive enough for low-wage industry and yet lacks the skills needed to haul it up the next rung of the value chain.

The roadmap document outlines the problems facing the country and is a prelude to Mr Najib’s new economic model, a plan outlining the way forward for Malaysia to be released next month. The key will be execution, and here Mr Najib might have to use the big stick.

As is typical with discussion on Malaysia, there is good an bad involved:

Since Independence in 1957, Malaysia has performed extraordinarily well in a great many socio-economic indicators. Indeed, it is on par with the developed countries in things like infant mortality and adult literacy rates. Poverty has also been clawed back.

But new problems have emerged, which the roadmap document concedes: rising crime rates and an overdependence on cheap imported labour. Also, corruption has grown alarmingly. The report sets targets for its reduction, which again highlights the need for execution.

Obviously the proof will be in the execution but this is the sort of plan and vision that is needed if Malaysia is to become the regional leader and international power it seeks to become.  If investments are to be made then political and economic reforms have to be made. And if the country is to take advantage of those investments then the structure and effectiveness of government will have to be reformed and improved. This is more than just GDP.

By putting out targets and benchmarks Razak leaves himself open to criticism when they are not reached. But the status quo was untenable and with these sort of risks come greater rewards as well - and not just politically. The Prime Minister has a vision for where he wants the country to go and a path for getting there. Malaysians can now judge his leadership both on the vision he has laid out but also on the progress made as he seeks to achieve the goals.

Of course, a big question will be whether the ruling coalition will go along with such change and how patient the public will be in seeing these changes instituted. But in charting this course, Najib has clearly broken away from a status quo risk-averse strategy. Now it will be up to him to lead the government in these changes and for the people of Malaysia to respond to the challenge ahead.

Farish A. Noor has an interesting opinion piece on the Allah issue and its impact on the future of Malaysia.

Malaysia has been making international headlines over the past few weeks for all the wrong reasons, yet again. The spate of arson attacks on Churches, Temples and Mosques is a worrying sign that the fragile social contract — if there ever was one — that underlies the Malaysian multicultural project is in danger of falling apart if centrifugal forces aligned to communitarian groups and lobbies are not kept in check.

He argues that “How the government appeals to these groups will determine the future outcome of the “Allah controversy”, but also the future development of Malaysia.”

After outlining some history and the choices being offered he notes:

Yet the irony is this: Since the time of former prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to the present, no Malaysian politician (be they of the ruling government or opposition) has had the courage and common sense to note that Malaysia is a complex country and like all complex nations there are bound to be contradictions that can never be resolved. No politician (from the government or opposition) has suggested that perhaps the only way out is for Malaysians to grow up to be a mature nation that can live with discomfort, complexities and ambiguities; not least the complexities of multiculturalism. The constant calls for national unity belie the simple belief that complex nations can be rendered homogeneous and unified, but perhaps at the expense of the loss of particular identity. This would be a high cost for communities who feel that they have more to lose than to gain by being part of such a project. For instance: would East Malaysians have to deny or erase their history and their historical use of the word Allah just to be part of 1 Malaysia? Perhaps that is simply too high a price to pay for them.

In the long run however what the country needs now is cold reason and a return to real concrete political-economic and structural issues, such as the desperate need for Malaysia to re-engineer its economy in time to meet the demands of an accelerated economic race in Asia.

The answer?

Malaysians need to live with complexity and diversity and learn to accept differences among themselves. In the meanwhile, other pressing economic and structural matters need our attention. The world is not going to stop or slow down to give Malaysia a chance to catch up. In fact the world is not going to give Malaysia a second chance at all. We either resolve our differences and accept that we are a complex nation and move on; or we can continue to play the game of narrow communal kampung politics and commit collective economic suicide while the world walks past Malaysia, passing us off as yet another basket-case failed state embroiled in infantile communitarian politics. The choice, my friends, is as simple as that.

This strikes me as true.  And furthermore I think it is a good description of the knife’s edge Najib Razak is trying to walk. He wants to navigate through these difficult issues without creating the kind of instability and rancor that would undermine the political and economic reforms and gains he is seeking. After all, Malaysia won’t become a regional, and international, leader without changing the way its citizens see themselves and their country.  In order to thrive in the globalized world cultural, political, and economic reforms are necessary.

But these types of changes are hard and Razak has always feared moving too fast. But moving too slow is also a danger. As we have noted on a number of occasions, Razak’s bold goals set expectations high and therefor involve risk. But if Noor is correct, moving forward and addressing these issues is the only way to succeed.

Some of the anti-corruption efforts seem to be paying off:

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has detained 34 people in five states, including two politicians and civil servants, for allegedly being bribed with cash and sexual favours, in a major crackdown on illegal sand-mining activities.

The 34 arrested are expected to be charged in court tomorrow.

With the arrests, the MACC said today that it believed it had dismantled a syndicate involved in the smuggling of sand to a neighbouring country. The anti-graft agency has not named the country.

This crackdown might have international and internal repercussions:

The issue of the export of sand to Singapore is politically sensitive because it involves bilateral ties between the two countries which have been testy in the past because of disputes over the sale of sand and water.

“We have arrested 34 suspects. Twenty-four are from the government sector, three from the private sector and five are members of the the public.

“We also arrested one special officer and one private secretary of a politician,” MACC Deputy Chief Commissioner Datuk Mohd Shukri Abdull told a press conference here this afternoon.

He did not, however, say which states the suspects were detained in.

Earlier today, a senior aide to a PKR politician in the Selangor Pakatan Rakyat state government was arrested.

Malaysia’s economic success, particularly when it comes to investment and development, depends on anti-corruption efforts improving the country’s reputation.  And of course corruption and abuse of power is a powerful political issue as well. If MACC is proved to have real power and those guilty of these crimes are brought to justice, however, it would be good for all of Malaysia regardless of political party.

That is the title of a piece in the Wall Street Journal by Karim Raslan. The subtitle is “The recent church bombings are a symptom of lagging reform.” Writes Raslan:

The fire-bombing of a number of suburban Kuala Lumpur churches over the past few days have highlighted the delicate balance of ethnic and religious interests in this generally peaceful, Muslim-majority nation. But just as importantly, the incidents have focused attention on Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s leadership. After only nine months in office, he is facing a major challenge to his authority.

Raslan paints a picture of a Prime Minister and party leader caught between his moves to the center and a part pulling him in the other direction:

This is all the more unfortunate given Mr. Najib’s well-meaning—if ineffectual—attempts to move his party back to the center. His record since his accession to power in April last year has generally been positive. Understanding the extent of popular disenchantment with the Umno-led, National Front government after their drubbing in the March 2008 national polls, the prime minister has launched a number of reform initiatives, especially on the economic front.

In anticipation of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations Free Trade Agreement, Mr. Najib, who is also Finance Minister, announced a major service-sector liberalization in April 2009 that centered around scrapping certain provisions of the pro-Malay, affirmative-action New Economic Policy. The NEP, a mainstay of Malaysia for decades, was long seen as an impediment to foreign and local investment.

The prime minister is also embarking on a major reformulation of the Malaysian economy, recognizing the need to push the country into more innovation-driven, high-value industries and sectors. Moreover, to tackle the perennial problem of red-tape, Mr. Najib’s administration is slated to deliver a series of “National Key Result Areas” directives to various ministries this year, which will ostensibly guide reforms and ensure better delivery of public services. Malaysians have responded positively to these initiatives. The prime minister’s fondness for fancy abbreviations, such as the 1Malaysia slogan, is ridiculed by detractors, but it reflects his results-oriented approach.

We have touched on this balance here in the past. Najib is seeking to making some rather significant changes with both economic and political reforms. Deep down his party seems to understand that these changes are needed both for political success but also for the good of the country’s long term interest. But tensions run deep and controversies like the Allah one now roiling the country intensify those tensions and concerns. The questions is whether Najib can lead through this type of crisis without losing momentum or support.

Raslan believes Najib is at a critical juncture in that process:

Mr. Najib is at a critical juncture. He must overcome Umno’s right-wing constituency, which represents a serious threat to his government’s success, to say nothing of his own personal legacy. To do that, he must take charge of the racial and religious agenda personally. Nor can he continue to ignore Malaysia’s lagging civil liberties. Instead, he must display the same determination and courage that he brought to economic arena and steer his country back to calmer waters.

In fact, the Wall Street Journal ties them together:

Malaysia’s High Court on Wednesday suspended its decision to let Roman Catholics use the word Allah in their local, Malay-language newspaper, giving the government breathing space to prepare its appeal against a ruling that has stirred unrest among some of the country’s majority-Muslim population.

Another Malaysian court, meanwhile, on Wednesday charged an air force sergeant and a local businessman for the theft of two military jet engines in the latest corruption allegation hitting the country’s government.

And the two stories are the top headlines in Malaysia papers as well. The Attorney General has declared recovering the jet engines the top priority:

Attorney General Tan Sri Gani Patail today placed getting back the two jet engines stolen two years ago from a military base at the top of his to-do list.

“As far as we are concerned, what is very important for us is the recovery of the engines,” Abdul Gani told reporters this afternoon after winning a bid to freeze a High Court ruling over the controversial use of the word “Allah” in Catholic paper, Herald.

Two men were charged this morning in the Petaling Jaya Sessions Court in connection with the theft and disposal of two F-5E jet engines which left Malaysian military officials red-faced.

Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) officer, Sgt N. Tharmendran, 42, was charged with having conspired to steal the jet engines from the Material Processing Shed at the RMAF Base in Sungai Besi on Dec 2007.

Businessman Rajandran Prasad , 37,was charged with disposing of the engines.

Some in the government are striking a conciliatory tone regarding the Allah controversy:

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon today supported the use of the word “Allah” by Christians but said the Muslims’ concern over the abuse must also be addressed.

“I understand that the Christian Bumiputeras in Sabah and Sarawak have been using the term ‘Allah’ to refer to God even before independence and so have the Sikh community in their holy book. Hence, it is not a recent phenomenon or even an intentional attempt to confuse or convert Muslims,” said Koh (picture) in a statement today.

He is the second member of the Cabinet to back the use of Allah by Christians. Yesterday Plantations Industry and Commodities Minister Tan Sri Bernard Dompok said the use of the word “Allah” to refer to God is caused by the widespread usage of the Malay language among the younger generation.

But the issues is not an easy one to handle. Protests are planed and the government plans to allow them to take place:

The Home Ministry will allow a public demonstration against the “Allah” ruling, planned by Muslim groups this Friday at the Kampung Baru mosque here, to proceed and will only take action if “things get out of hand.”

Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein Onn (pic) told a press conference here at a post-Cabinet meeting that the developments will be monitored and that action will only be taken if the need arises.

“There is a balance that needs to be addressed. We (the Home Ministry) have faced this situation before. Right now, if you do not allow the protest, it will cause a lot of emotional reaction. But if you also allow it, it might turn into a security threat,” explained Hishammuddin.

The Home Minister asserted that the core issue was the issue of safety of the country, and that the group had already been advised against the protest.

Early 2010 is shapping up to be a test of leadership for Najib Razak as these controversies dominate the headlines:

The fiery “Allah” debate has become a major road-bump to Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1 Malaysia campaign, three months shy of its first anniversary.

Opinions in the multiracial country have been sharply divided in the aftermath of the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s Dec 31 ruling that Catholic weekly Herald may use the term “Allah”.

The government has just won a stay of execution of the ruling after the Roman Catholic Church agreed not to object out of “national interest”.

“This issue is becoming a major challenge to the prime minister,” said Dr Ahmad Nizamuddin Sulaiman, who is Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Political Science and Strategic Studies senior lecturer.

“This is why, while he has said the government will appeal the court decision, he himself has been non-committal.

“He is obviously looking for a solution which does not upset or discomfort any party,” the academician said when contacted by The Malaysian Insider.

If Razak can navigate through these controversies while keeping the country together while keeping focused on the reforms he wants to institute he will have shown himself to be a formidable leader.  This is the challenge of Malaysia, keeping a diverse country united and at the same time moving forward economically and politically without destabilizing things to the point that unrest disrupts the reform process.

Move too fast and you can lose the popular and political support neccesary from large scale reforms.  Move too slow, however, and people will lose faith in your ability to bring the type of change that has been promised and is needed for economic and political development.  Razak has often emphasized the need for balance and caution but his sense of timing and pace for reform will be tested as these issues continue to play out.

No fresh MCA polls this month

There will be no MCA fresh election this month because insufficient elected members of its Central Committee (CC) have submitted resignations.

Under the party constitution, a fresh poll must be held within 30 days if 21 of the 31 elected CC members resign.

However the number of undated resignation letters from elected CC members remained at 13 so far, MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek said on Tuesday.

He said the elected CC members had been given until Dec 25, 2009 to resign but they could still submit their resignations.

Court dismisses Anwar’s leave application for judicial review

The High Court has dismissed Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s leave application for judicial review over a written statement signed by a depupty public prosecutor (DPP) for his upcoming sodomy trial.

High Court (Appellate and Special Powers) judge Datuk Aziah Ali in her decision ruled that the application was frivolous and vexatious and an abuse of the court process.

Aziah dismmised the application with costs.

Aziah said she agreed with Senior Federal Counsel Datin Azizah Nawawi’s submission that it was an abuse of the court process to seek the aid of the civil court to review the written statement and to direct the first respondent (DPP Mohamad Hanafiah Zakaria) to issue a new written statement.

Islamist party of Malaysia favours use of word ‘Allah’ by Christians

Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS), which is an Islamist political party in Malaysia, has said that the use of “Allah” is permitted among people of the Abrahamic faiths such as Christianity and Judaism.

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang made the statement that also supported the High Court’s decision that allowed the Christian weekly newsletter The Herald to use the word.

The PAS also urged the public not to misuse the word “Allah” for cheap politicking to gain mass support.

Malaysia to mull over foreign hypermart rules

The Cabinet will mull over the long-awaited new rules that will govern the lucrative business of foreign hypermarkets in the country, as early as today, sources say

The new rules would be crucial because the government froze licences for new stores for foreign retailers like Tesco, Giant and Carrefour last year.

Foreign retailers make up about 13 per cent of the total retail industry revenue, collectively posting about RM9 billion sales a year.

“It is not certain if the recommendations will be approved in totality by the Cabinet,” the source told Business Times. The Ministry of Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism will present the revised guidelines to the Cabinet.

He was unable to reveal the changes and recommendations, but said that the 30 per cent Bumiputera equity for foreign hypermarkets remains.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s leadership seems to be paying off; at least within his own party:

Datuk Seri Najib Razak appears to have won overwhelming support from his own party, with a recent poll showing 93 per cent of Umno delegates saying the country was headed in the right direction, largely because of the “quality of national leadership” and “good administration”.

A total of 95 per cent of Umno delegates surveyed also expressed satisfaction with Najib since he took over as party president. Notably, 66 per cent of party delegates polled felt that Umno had recovered from the problems that led to its poor performance in the last general election.

The results of the survey by the independent Merdeka Center, commissioned by a local research house, suggest Najib is on a much stronger footing compared with his predecessor Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi prior to Election 2008 as he prepares plans to go to the polls, most likely either in 2011 or 2012.

The good news for Najib is that his party supports his policies as well:

The poll also showed strong backing from party delegates for Najib’s policies and ideas, including his 1 Malaysia concept and moves to liberalise the economy.

A total of 83 per cent supported moves to liberalise the economy while 94 per cent backed the 1 Malaysia concept.

Overwhelming backing for Najib in his policies suggests that the prime minister will not have to watch his back in pursuing reforms in government and in his party.

This is important as it is much more likely that necessary but difficult steps will be taken if Najib knows his party is behind him.

Perhaps with this in mind, Najib is focused on 2010 as the year to take concrete steps:

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak wants 2010 to be an action-mode year where the government implements its promises to the people.
“The coming year will be thebexecution year for us, in which we implement everything that were promised to the people.

“Our NKRA (National Key Result Areas) is our akujanji to the people,” Najib said after opening Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah’s 14th congress here.

“The people will monitor how effective we are in implementing our promises. That is why the government machinery must focus on implementing the NKRAs and other development agendas set by ministries.”

It will be interesting to see how the implementation of this agenda plays out in 2010; both in terms of the economy and the politics.

A few articles on Malaysia’s economy, outlook and policies worth reading today:

- Malaysia Studies Strong Ringgit Policy to Boost National Income

Malaysia’s economic planners are weighing up the benefits of a “strong ringgit” policy to bolster spending power, though currently favor letting market forces set the exchange rate, a government adviser said.

Malaysia is studying the policy as part of plans to transform the economy into a high-income developed nation over the next 10 years, Zainal Aznam Yusof, a member of the National Economic Advisory Council in Kuala Lumpur said in a phone interview yesterday. A stronger currency’s impact on exports, which rose for the first time in a year in October, will be looked into, he said.

“The exchange rate has been taken into account as it can affect the pace and pattern of economic growth,” he said. “For now, there is no decision yet on using the exchange rate as a policy instrument. The current policy is to allow market forces to determine the exchange rate.”

- Five political risks to watch in Malaysia

ECONOMIC REFORM

The government has promised further economic reform to
attract increased foreign investment. Najib has rolled back
elements of a four-decades old Malay affirmative policy,
relaxing the rule that companies must offer stakes to
indigenous ethnic Malays. Despite the moves, Najib is wary of
upsetting the Malays, a critical vote bank, and treads
carefully on economic reform. This may cause him to dilute or
abandon his plans as he attempts to remain in power.

Key issues to watch:

—Government policy implentation and announcements. A
further set of liberalisation has been trailed by the
government, although while investors have greeted positively
measures so far, little money has flowed into Malaysia’s
markets as they are wary over implementation.

- Malaysia Favors Net Neutrality Principles

Malaysia’s national news agency reported Monday that the country’s government is committed to Net neutrality principles and plans to continue to take steps to ensure internet service providers do not restrict a user’s access to content or ability to use various applications.

Deputy Information Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Joseph Salang Gandum said the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission has been applying open access or Net neutrality principles to those with telecommunication licenses under a 1998 communications law.

Malaysia’s move demonstrates the principle of Net neutrality, or what it means to ensure that the internet remains open in the years to come, is something many countries are grappling with outside of the United States.

Selangor rejected today an emergency motion to drop all charges against Dr. Mohd Asri. The New Straits Times reports:

Speaker DUN Teng Chang Khim rejected the motion tabled by Saari Sungib (PAS-Hulu Klang) on grounds that although the issue was of public interest, there was no necessity to expedite it.

Saari also called on the government to immediately review provisions in the state’‘s Islamic religious administration enactment which were not in line with dakwah requirement and against the principles of justice, freedom and human right.

Saari said he saw for himself how Jais officials treated Dr Mohd Asri like a criminal when they detained him on Nov 1 for conducting a religious ceramah without a certificate of authorisation in Taman Seri Ukay.

He also questioned the treatment given to the former mufti whom he described as an intellectual man.

The story of Dr. Asri continues to captivate the attention of Malaysians and observers worldwide. An editorial at the Star today gets right to the point, arguing the absurdity of labeling moderate reformist Asri an “extremist”. In blogs, you find both Islamic bloggers and self-proclaimed Islamic extremism watchers finding common ground.

Religious freedom is essential. Not merely to democracy, but to the healthy function of a nation, of a people. Each man must be allowed, under the law and within reason, to answer to his conscience. The yearning for that liberty is as universal as it is fundamental. In the case of Dr. Asri, those fundamental needs are coming to the surface among otherwise highly disparate groups of individuals. There’s a lesson in that.