| New Economic Plutocracy? |  |  |  |
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| Monday, 17 March 2008 16:45 | |
| The newly unveiled NEP is such as case in point - it is still based on a utilitarian view of human nature and still crunches humanity by the numbers. Our 'developmental' path continues to head in the wrong direction. Dr. Azly Rahman http://azlyrahman-illuminations.blogspot.com ( I wrote this in March 2006. Comments welcome.) We have authored yet another Malaysia Plan. This is one is based on plutocracy, or the rule of the wealthy. Race-based political-economy will still guide us till 2020, the year we achieve clear vision in a world of the blind in which many one-eyed men want to become king. Robust growth, inspired by Sun Tze's maxim of the art of war, guided by economic liberalism of a newer version of race-based policy, synthesised with a new keris-wielding philosophy of globalisation, and finally graced with the language of love and care and benevolence of a religiously-puritanic government - this is the new Malaysian deal of which Roosevelt's America of the 1950s would have envied. The global economy is a mahabharatha or the great war into which we want to be sucked. What are the assumptions of human nature on which the new deal of the 9th Malaysia Plan is based? How is race crystallised as a newer dynamics? Where is this government taking us in this turbulent economic waves of an oligopolic-capitalistic globalised world? Will we become happier and more sophisticated slaves in the global economy? Will we be able to get out of this new madness of a new economic piracy? Will this nation - in its race to compete globally with the global economic giants - speed up the throttle of the human conveyer belt so that its citizen-slaves will work harder and faster until it suffers a massive heart attack borne out of the stresses of wanting to emerge triumphant as a global player? Who will benefit from all these then? Is this the final solution to the pain we have inflicted upon ourselves from the liberal economic polices base on race-based ideology not longer in synchrony with the refreshing view of the anti-globalisation movement? "Utilitarian view" The newly unveiled NEP is such as case in point - it is still based on a utilitarian view of human nature and still crunches humanity by the numbers. Our 'developmental' path continues to head in the wrong direction. We need to gostan as the old Johoreans would say - 'go as you turn' to de-evolve. Our notion of progress continue to be uni-linear and emphasises this poorly-misunderstood notion of human capital. See...we cannot even escape from using the word 'capital' to stay in tune and in perpetual confusion of what 'capitalism' entails. Like our misconstrued notion of 'feminism', it is all a linguistic game. We will be continually trapped in this prison-house of language. It is a mélange and microbe of confusion based on a poor understanding of the philology of developmentalism. We have been so bought over by the shibboleth of developmentalism that we now only speak the language of cut-throat competition laced 'confusingly' with terminology such as Islam Hadhari. Must we compete, among ethnic groups, among nations? Or is there a better lens we can use to craft a more liberating philosophy of development; one based on the development of the people, by the people, for the people, and one based on social-democratic principles of co-operation? This is our national dilemma which will continue to plague us as long as those who speak the language of national development have the mind of a parochialism unable to see the larger picture of dehumanisation unfolding. Cui bono - who benefits? - will be the guiding question in this NEP as a philosophy we borrow perhaps from Stalinism. "Counter-ideology needed" What a pity that the academicians in the nation cannot even agree to get together to craft a comprehensive counter-ideology of developmentalism or to even mount a good philosophical argument to guide us through this 'feel-good-for-the-good-life guaranteed national philosophy of economic development' crafted by our own mind's enshacklement of neo-Rostowian ideology; one that is married to a McClelland notion of human development and achievement. Perhaps our academics have turned into the much scorned intelligentsia and have become a post-modern caste and have been impoverished by the closing of the Malaysian mind that have undergone a systematic process of natural selection of what to teach and what to hide. We are too much schooled in 'the developmentalist agenda' borrowed from perhaps Adam Smith-Friedmanian economics borrowed from classical liberal theories of economic development that bury human beings alive under mountain of numbers. Hence we still see words like '30 percent ownership', 'competitive economy', 'robust economy', and 'engines of growth' that string the manifesto of Malaysian national development that will guide the construction and installation of institution that will further cleverly discriminate and devastate human beings into race and classes and the modern caste system. Our philosophy of economic is this: Produce and keep on producing for the world market until we become slaves in this precarious international system. Produce and keep on producing things that human beings don't need. Create needs out of the things that people do not want - more televisions, satellites, cell phones, luxury cars, highways, multimedia products or whatever informational capitalism dictates. Or better still for us - create a bio-tech nation, even if we do not understand what this means. As long as policy makers profit from the creation of these 'needs' that will also spell 'progress'. Aren't we all now doomed and have we long ago planted the seeds of destruction? De-evolve or be destroyed Who owns the machinery of production that is linking us to the oppressive global and technocratic production system couched under the addictive ideology called 'globalisation'? In all sectors of our economy, we continue to reply upon the advice of the International Advisory panel who have become another addiction itself for a neo-colonialist nation like ours. What we need is a stronger system of check and balance. In other words, we need a strong Opposition/Alternative/Social-Democratic/Socialistic front that will mediate the contradiction of our economic growth. We have 9MP that is still authored, inscribed, installed and institutionalised by the very ruling coalition front that is becoming more and more totalitarian. We can never know the hidden curriculum behind the scope and sequence of our developmentalist agenda. We have somewhat a parallel government running; one carrying our the agenda with perceived benevolence, and one working behind closed doors strategising the perfection of the instruments of domination. We need to de-evolve from our philosophy of hyper-modernity that is bringing us into a Formula One track of unchecked capitalist expansion, using the technical, manual, and intellectual labour of the nation to further enrich the few mandarins and kshatriya and the bangsawan of Malaysia's newer economic piracy. We must look back and if we are all going to be subjected to a massive national heart attack if we continue to speed up the inner workings of a cut-throat, competitive economy that continues to sell junk to the citizens. Slow down - we're moving too fast dancing with giants. We will have a heart attack right here on our Formula One track to a 'developed status'. We need a counter-philosophy of development - one based on aristocracy of the many. Comments (19)  ... written by penang1, March 17, 2008 17:29:30 NEP in the present form is obscene. It only benefits the filthy rich, the cronies and the elites. I pity the ordinary people who still support NEP in the present form. I pity them not because they are stupid - that's a given - but I pity them for their children's and their grandchildren's future would inevitably be harmed. report abuse disagree 0 agree 9 ... written by speakofthemind, March 17, 2008 18:27:22 Well said ! What is all these % of development reported every year by every country and how does this translate to development of people in that country ? Philosophy of Development of most of the countries need to be re-looked. We are stuck in this vicious cycle of development, that will only bring destruction in the long run. It is not sustainable. On NEP, NDP or any policies discriminating based on race, religion, gender, nationality, will only bring more problems than solutions. report abuse disagree 0 agree 10 ... written by Chuang Tze, March 17, 2008 18:57:17 The solution lies in the education of the people, and developing our human capital (brain power in value creation) to the most optimal level, in all fields; Science, Engineering, Economics, Administration, etc.etc. This is an on-going process, and a national culture we need to develop in order to maximize our Total Factor Productivity so that we can make the most of whatever inputs we have put into the Malaysian economy equation into the largest output year after year. This is a value-creation mindset that we need to inculcate in our people to bring out their hidden potential within them! Race, religion, age and gender should have no bearing on this initiative. report abuse disagree 0 agree 7 ... written by Milo, March 17, 2008 21:04:37 We need more thinker like Dr. Azly Rahman to guide the nation. I am impress with his thoughts. report abuse disagree 0 agree 6 ... written by cancan, March 17, 2008 22:04:12 It is indeed very sad for us to keep on indulging in the NEP as if we depend solely for our survival,especially the Umnoputras,without which they seemed doom to fail. The Umnoputras still refuse to move away from the rhetoric of politics and to learn and adapt. The world is moving so fast economically that it takes more then the NEP to compete and survive. I sincerely hope the Umnioputras will wake-up now from a state of consciously incompetence to unconsciously competence before it is too late and start blaming the other races. Link: http://www.kingsmary.blogspot.com/ report abuse disagree 0 agree 4 ... written by oster, March 17, 2008 22:05:36 The NEP is only nominally Utilitarian, but not in practice. Its Executors after all, intended it only to be perceived as such and we all know that in an environment in which information is regulated, what's on the surface, what's in a name, matters. Economic liberalism is indeed the way forward, but who should be the banner-bearer? There is not a single political party that dares even to mention the words "Small Government". We are far to enamored with the concept of the nation-state as one huge inorganic corporation in the mould of Japan Inc., that we attempt to do so ourselves. Yet, we so freely forget that it was this inorganic entity that met inflexibility as Japan faltered under the recessions of the 90s, even when all the warning signs of an impending unceremonious pop of the 80s bubble seemed imminent. Academia is clearly a reflection of Malaysian society. It is a purely top-down construct, in which the subjective definitions of life is essentially imposed by the top to the bottom. There are strict delineation between what university life means (getting a degree) and what it doesn't (involvement in politics). Academics in Malaysia are trained to adhere to absolutes, to observe in absolutes, to bask in absolutes and to impose these absolutes on those they've defined as their social lessers. Government, is another clear illustration of this fact. Local authorities and state governments have been neutered for concentration of power in the federal government. Within this, power is further concentrated within the Executive, leaving the Legislature a mere shadow under the larger shadow of the Executive. More top-down impositions. You are certainly correct, that we must delegate, we must devolve authority. A centralised state is like a hauberk, rigid in construction, and although tough, once its structure is undermined, it no longer forms a comprehensive piece of armour. A liberalised state is like chain-mail, where while less tough, is far more flexible, and the failure of one part of the chain-mail does not invalidate the rest of it. A centralised state is like putting all your eggs in one basket to be broken when just one basket falls. It is like concentrating all responsibilities of Thought into one man, when two heads are better than one. Bearing in mind that the owners of Production and Labour are the cultural elites, we must therefore venture to devolve. cheers report abuse disagree 0 agree 4 ... written by HARIMAU BIN ABDULLAH, March 18, 2008 08:08:49 Many of them are born without "legs" and depend on clutches to move around. Yet they are so blind to reality, and still insist to be "spoon-fed" forever. The last GE is a wake-up call for them to change for the better, and if they still think the country belongs to them, and continue to demand for special rights, it is a matter of time before they all become real beggars. “Replace the kris with a book” report abuse disagree 0 agree 3 ... written by mimag2005, March 18, 2008 08:20:50 ......Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind..... ......Albert Einstein.... report abuse disagree 0 agree 2 ... written by Dr Azly Rahman, March 18, 2008 09:12:54 Great profound comments, folks. Glad you still have the energy after the tsunami. Here are some thoughts: This country belongs to the children of the next generation. They deserve a government that gives them a good moral compass, environment that is jealously protected, a sound economy, a tolerant society, a strengthener of family values, a world-class education system that teaches them based on their diverse needs, free education to the level of the university, one that closes the gap between the filthy rich and the abject poor, an uncompromising system of check and balance, safe streets, a philosophy of development that teaches them to prioritize needs more than wants, a promoter of a nation of readers and writers, a discourager of the culture of 500-channel-TV, a promoter of strong local government, a breed of politicians who know when to leave when the time comes, and a nation that continue to create its own history-- one based on the struggles of the poor of all races, not history that glorifies the aristocrats, robber barons, and dictators. Can the next government prepare our children with such a future? As vigilantes, we'll see. report abuse disagree 0 agree 4 ... written by brancha, March 18, 2008 11:18:30 The Malay Dilemma. Hey, Melayu.. stop being apologetic about DEB. It is just another affirmative action. It wasnn’t borne out of wedlock of racism! It is meant to restructure the society! It was done in a good spirit! So we have not achieved the objectives coz of some greedy, kampong-mentality umno pak pandirs. We removed some of them yesterday. We should weed out the rest. Why, we shd have kicked them out long ago! That’s all. Hindraf not withstanding , the household income of the Indians are now higher than the Malays. That’s okay. Of coz, we shouldn’t exclude any race. If the Chinese are miserably poor then why not, they also deserve to be helped. But you know the state of the malays now. Quite pathetic, wouldn’t you say. So stop acting like as if we are okay. We are not! report abuse disagree 2 agree 1 ... written by brancha, March 18, 2008 15:35:33 Dear Dr Azly, Big words dont disguise that kind of outdated marxist analysis. Aristocracy of the many..konon! What is that? Why don’t you directly say ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’?. Correct me… Hey, I am not against yr implied misgiving abt ‘rule of the wealthy’. I am indeed totally against the rule of the wealthy. Be it ananda, francis yeoh, vincent tan or syed mokhtar. If their wealth is used to perpetuate domination in the capitalistic, exploitative and feudalistic sense – then we are all against it, that goes without saying. Nothing wrong with wealth though. Wealth is good..in the hands of a benefactor. But you going around in circles and ‘gostan’ing to something sounding like words coming out of the mouths of hegel and marx worries me. Havent we been lucky you and me. We are borne muslims. We have in our possession the “manual for the human life” – the al-Quran. So use yr intellectual capacity to good use, dear Dr Azly. Jangan jadi pak kadok promoting some spruced-up obsolete, human-excreted ideological garbage where even in the western dumpsite they came from –been proven worthless! I am so so tired also of this NEP-bashing, Malay-bashing…that is going on now. The malays are already in a relative economic dire straits. They are already existing in their own homeland like the red Indians – earning their livelihoods selling goods in marginal ‘reservation’ markets – like carparks and roadsides, and on carts in some dead corners of shopping complexes. Seldom at the mainstream markets and shops. What does a trillion ringgit annual trade volume means to the malays? If it is the pak pandir umnoputera and Indian and Chinese cronies that we want to get rid off, so be it and say so. Bash them right. I don’t know how, not many wak salleh here in blogsphere. But to gostan and effectively want malaysia to be like Indonesia where there are no affirmative or corrective programmes (totally laisez faire!) and let the ‘many’ live like how we know they live – is that something that the Chinese community and a professor like you wish of the malays. I share with you on yr concerns about our obsession in economic development. And on the globalization trap. Just what is your counter-philosophy of development? Perhaps you should come down from yr American-based ivory tower and dirty yr feet a little in the ‘lumpoh’ of Malaysia. Ahlan wa sahlan. report abuse disagree 3 agree 4 ... written by Dr Azly Rahman, March 19, 2008 05:58:44 Dear "brancha", I think you presented us a deep, profound, and thought provoking analysis of the piece. I certainly learned a lot from how you relate the NEP with radical theories of sociology.You seem to be a student of political-economy and historical-materialism. Thanks for sharing. I am not aware of the "marxist" and "hegelian" dimension of the argument/article. This interest me -- the assumptions you made on where the article is coming from. I want to learn more of what you have written. I think you have a lot to offer us in terms of how things can be looked at. Help me answer a few of these questions: 1. What would Marx and Hegel say about the last General Election? 2. What would theories of revolution say about the destruction that's happening in our country? 3. What paradigm of thinking helped sped up the fall of Barisan Nasional and what is the future of the NEP in relation to this? 4. How is Islam compatible or not compatible with contemporary radical theories of society? Did not the holy scriptures talk about "hegelian" phenomena in history? How do we deconstruct our view of religious texts, take their content apart, dissect them, and see if they are compatible with ancient, modern, or postmodern philosophical discourses? I want to learn more from the answers to these questions. I think you have opened up a new frontier in the way we understand the issue of "NEP bashing". You have also elevated this discussion to a different theoretical plane. I look forward to others commenting on the 4 questions as well :-) report abuse disagree 0 agree 1 ... written by brancha, March 19, 2008 15:29:36 Dr Azly, My concern was more on yr idea of ‘aristocracy of the many’. You could have meant the simple definition of ‘western democracy’ or conversely you could have meant ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’ in the Marxist context. I noted that you’re against the American brand of globalization and liberal economic policies – therefore you’re not a fan of the American ways and practices. So if it’s not the western mode of ‘aristocracy of the many’, then what? No, I am not a student of political-economy. I am a civil engineer. And as a civil engineer, I can build buildings,bridges, etc; as a muslim, it is duty-bound upon me to be able to build a civil society. If political economy is yr turf, then I am not your equal. That however does not mean that I am totally incapable of detecting flaws in any well-presented and ‘impressive’ gibberish. Marx and Hegel are dead. So have most of their ideas. I maintained their ideas are irrelevant and repugnant. Repugnant especially because of their belief that man is so superior and do not need any divine intervention. Okay, man is a wonderful creation, but he is just man! But that wd take another discourse, don’t you think? As regards the current political phenomena in Malaysia – it is certainly not a revolution! As it would not be a revolution in the usa if obama were to become president. It’s just a change of the guards. Revolution in my definition entails not only regime-change, but also the embracing of a new value-system by the new regime as well by people at large. But what happened or is happening in Malaysia right now, is certainly welcomed! Robespiere and the Jacobins may not be the nicest of people but they did led the overthrow of the corrupt French monarchy and nobilities. No, I am not suggesting the PKR/PAS/DAP coalition are like the Jacobins. No at all! There is however a parallel in how they rode the wave of people’s anger which inched the castle’s gate ajar. My dear Dr Azly, Islam don’t have to be compatible with any man-made inventions or ideas. Aren’t we so consumed with having to rationalize everything in relation to some latest, contemporary theories and forgot that we are just a tiny dot in the vast universe. And that even the best of man we have or had, now or in the past is/was just like you and me in terms of strength and weaknesses in whatever faculties. And that he (the best of man) comes from the same tiny dot. Does he know that much more. Imagine if we were abducted by the extra-terrestrials and brought back to their planet xeon in galaxy no. 28,530,554,787. And there we witnessed their advance technologies and their flourishing socio-political culture – so alien to us and of totally different dimensions and logic. But our awe of their superiority will make us regard they must be okay! though they don’t make any sense in relation to all our political and human theories. report abuse disagree 1 agree 3 ... written by JJFoo, March 19, 2008 17:39:26 When the original NEP was formulated BUMIputra: (unofficially 1st class) Non-Bumi  unofficially 2nd class or worse)After 30 years of evolution, ELITE UMNOputra unofficially 1st class)UMNOputra unofficially 2nd class)BUMIputra = common BUMIputra unofficially 3rd class)Non-Bumi unofficially 4th class or worse)See any reason for 3rd class not to revolt? They too have been cheated big–time in the name of helping them. report abuse disagree 0 agree 2 ... written by brancha, March 20, 2008 07:57:26 The Creator says in Chapter: Al Baqara Verse:251 "And thereupon, by God's leave, they routed them. And David slew Goliath; and God bestowed upon him dominion, and wisdom, and imparted to him the knowledge of whatever He willed. And if God had not enabled people to defend themselves against one another, [242] corruption would surely overwhelm the earth: but God is limitless in His bounty unto all the worlds." report abuse disagree 3 agree 0 ... written by Chuang Tze, March 21, 2008 23:13:16 Nice discourse going on between brancha and Dr. Azly. I certainly don't see how Dr. Azly's remarks in the first instance could be linked with Marx or Hegel in any way. I certainly don't agree with brancha that Marx and Hegel's ideas were repugnant and irrelevant. Certainly they were dreaming of a Utopia where people could be noble enough to be altruistic and bear the burden of his fellow "comrades", and the rejection of western capitalism, encouraging the desires of an individual, and the satisfaction of these desires that drive the western economy forward. Western capitalism seems to have won, as it mirrors the natural instincts of the survival of the fittest, whereas Marxism required the sacrifice of the individual for the good of the many. Religion had no place in Marxism not because man is such a perfect creature, but, marx did not want his Utopian people to need any such "crutch" as religion or God. Perhaps the phrase "Pray to God sailor, but row for the shore" would have been a more realistic target for Marxism. In this New Age of western consumerism, the world is going to run out of resources very soon, and only the rich will be able to afford to survive in the long term. These western excesses is not what we want for Malaysia. Let me attemot to answer your 4 questions:- 1. Marx & Hegel, would have thought that the result of the last GE was the culmination of the last 50 years of mis-governance and mismanagement, and the unashamed plundering of Malaysia by the few BNputras at the expense of the RAKYAT of Malaysia. It had to happen as people found out what sort of a ride they were taken for all this while. 2. That this is the modern day result of the "storming of the Bastille" by the citizens, overthrowing a corrupt govt. that has become totally irrelevant to the people of Malaysia. The destructive path on which the BN has placed Malaysia was one of divide and rule. Divide using racial polarisation and rule through fear. 3. What sped up the fall of the BN was the realization of the people that Malaysians did not have even the fundamentals of a democratic system although we followed the motions of a democracy. That the Executive controlled all facets of our lives and that ordinary people whatever the race, had no place to turn for justice when they were wronged. The Govt. of the day, the BN controlled everything, the MSM, the Judiciary, the police, the ACA, the army, ... everything. It was the awakening of the people of Malaysia that has been long in the coming !! The only future the NEP has is to be race-less, and should be affirmative action to help those who need to be helped, the poor, regardless of race, religion, culture, age, or gender, without fear or favour. And it should be remembered that we should teach the poor to fish rather than give them fish to eat everyday. What the Grameen bank did with micro-credit should be emulated here, but customized more for Malaysia than Bangladesh. 4. This I shall leave it with egg-heads such as yourself to answer, Dr. Azly ! report abuse disagree 0 agree 5 ... written by DontPlayGod, March 22, 2008 09:51:41 Well said, Kamal(March 17). Unfortunately, Malays like you are 1 in a thousand in this country. And that is why UMNO still rules. report abuse disagree 0 agree 0 Write comment This content has been locked. You can no longer post any comment. You must be logged in to a comment. Please register if you do not have an account yet. |
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Now they claim its a national policy.
Its time for the UMNO grassroot members to voice their grievances and let their leader know what they feel about these issues that should benefit them and the country.
Until and unless UMNO and BN are made reduntant, these things will never die.
The poor will remain poor, irrespective of their racial composite. The UMNOputras who are close buddies of leaders will keep enjoying the privilege of getting everything and become rich.
Read my blog KAMAL-TALKS http://kamal-talksmalaysia.blogspot.com