Malaysia's Silicon Valley has a problem: success

Malaysia's only ethnic Chinese chief minister has a political headache -- the state he governs is too much of an economic success.

The northern state of Penang, Asia's first Silicon Valley, is the country's biggest magnet for foreign direct investment this year and has its lowest poverty rate, the envy of other states.

But for Chief Minister Koh Tsu Koon, there is a racial tinge to the envy surrounding Penang, a state where ethnic Chinese form a very slim majority in a country dominated by majority Malays.

"Such occasions reflect that we have not arrived in complete harmony about race," Koh, a smartly dressed Princeton graduate, told Reuters in his usual understatement in a recent interview.

He was referring to attacks on his record as chief minister by members of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the dominant party that represents the interests of Malays, who have a centuries-old history of racial tension with ethnic Chinese.

Malays, who see themselves as the native people of the Malaysian peninsula, dominate political power but are generally poorer than the Chinese, who have come to dominate business.

Koh's UMNO critics say his 16-year-old administration favours ethnic Chinese firms and that economic benefits have not flowed strongly enough to Malay businesses, which rely heavily on state contracts.

Penang, manufacturing hub for high-tech giants such as Intel , Motorola and Dell , drew 3.1 billion ringgit ($871 million) in foreign direct investment in the first nine months of 2006 -- just over a fifth of Malaysia's total.

Koh expects Penang to bring in 4 billion ringgit for all of this year, similar to the 3.9 billion ringgit for 2005.

These are dream numbers for any politician, but Koh is on the defensive. Under fire from Malay critics, he has sought to discuss the issue of more balanced development with UMNO leaders and set up panels to thrash out solutions.

"We should not react. We should look at this coolly. If the criticism is constructive, then it's valid," he said.

'FAMILY QUARREL'

Koh looks and speaks much more like an up-and-coming chief executive than a Malaysian politician, wearing sharply tailored suits, looking younger than his 57 years and lapsing into corporate-style understatement when asked about racial tensions.

"We have maintained a safe, democratic space to talk about this," he said of the racial debate at his office in Bayan Baru, an industrial area offering views of busy highways and factories.

"In the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s such political statements would have been more fiery and the reaction, worse."

Koh was alluding to racial violence that erupted in 1969 when Chinese-backed opposition parties performed well in general elections. Officially, hundreds died in riots between Malays and Chinese, but unofficial estimates run into the thousands.

Koh's own mainly Chinese-backed party, Parti Gerakan Malaysia, was one of the then opposition parties that performed well that year, winning control of Penang state and then opening it up to the West in the 1970s as a low-cost manufacturing base.

Now, Gerakan is part of the national ruling coalition, Barisan Nasional, which is led by UMNO.

Koh likened the present dispute to a family quarrel.

"In a family, brother and sister, husband and wife will quarrel," Koh said. "There will be differences in opinion within this family but the family should not forget that they have come together for the good of this nation."

But the quarrel highlights an area of policy that has become an increasing turn-off for foreign investors, who would prefer state contracts to be awarded by competitive tender rather than handed out to unknown Malay businesses by affirmative action.

"The decrease in investor interest is the danger and trade-off that officials might have to consider if Penang hands out contracts to Malay firms. But this is the perennial tension in the Malaysian economy," said Singapore-based regional economist David Cohen of Action Economics. ($1 = 3.546 Malaysian ringgit)

(Source: REUTERS via Yahoo! news alert)

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Restoring the 1957 Merdeka Constitution to forge one Negara Malaysia, Bangsa Malaysia with pelbagai agama or diverse religions
( Speech during the DAP Puchong 14 miles Branch 40th Anniversary Dinner by Lim Guan Eng)

DAP’s nation building vision revolves around putting Malaysians First by establishing negara bangsa dan agama as the prime vehicle of national unity. This contrasts with BN’s BN practice of stressing on race first and the nation last in their slogan “bangsa, agama dan negara”.

The recent inflammatory speeches at the UMNO General Assembly threatening racial hatred and violence against non-Malays and their property as well as the attempt by Majlis Agama Islam Selangor to claim the body of a Catholic man for Islamic burial has distressed moderate Malaysians. There is a need to step back from this racial and religious abyss created by the BN government by reminding ourselves of the 1957 social contract that gave us Merdeka and restore the Merdeka Constitution that respects the rights of minorities, make Bangsa Malaysia and a multi-religious society a part of national policy.

Malaysians who love our country must be prepared to stand up for our rights if we want Malaysia to become more prosperous, more caring, and fairer to all. The time has come to look not from a religious and racial perspective but from a Malaysian identity.

The 1957 Merdeka Constitution did discriminate Malaysians into bumis and non-bumis, which effectively divided Malaysians into first and second-class citizens. Nothing was mentioned about racial dominance or ketuanan Melayu which UMNO has made a part of national policy. Instead equality before the law was a constitutional right under Article 8 of the Federal Constitution.

However all that changed when Article 8 was either ignored or its constitutional effect amended away by BN MPs until many Malaysians who are fifth generation Malaysians are still considered non-bumis. For instance, Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Mohd Khir Toyo’s father was an Indonesian from Jawa whilst his mother a Malaysian citizen. However Mohd Khir is now a bumiputera superior to all Malays whose grandparents were born in Malaysia. Is this fair and just?

Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad defined it succinctly in an Asiaweek’s 6/10/1995 issue as "people being able to identify themselves with the country, speak Bahasa Malaysia and accept the Constitution”. This definition of Bangsa Malaysia similar to DAP’s Malaysian Malaysia, with no race as the pivotal race over other races have been accepted by most Malaysians.

Only Bangsa Malaysia can unite Malaysians to take on the world

Deputy UMNO President Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on 17 November 2006 overturned what was national policy for over 10 years when he said that “Bangsa Malaysia” was not part of national policy but only a general concept. Malaysians must not allow UMNO to continue to divide us but must stand up together to loudly and clearly oppose the language of racial division hatred and violence in the UMNO General Assembly.

If Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi wants all Malaysians to unite to take on the world, then he must restore Bangsa Malaysia as part of national policy. Further, the 1957 social contract giving rise to Merdeka must be restored to change the present emphasis of bangsa, agama negara to negara, bangsa dan agama based on Malaysia, Malaysian Race and a multi-religious society. No other country would put race and religion above the nation. The nation must always come first. Only then can we attain genuine national unity and identity based on one common vision, interest and community.

The failure to respect the secular basis of the 1957 Merdeka Constitution and the social contract was highlighted by the constitutional amendment of Article 121(1A) in 1988 and former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed unilateral declaration that Malaysia was an Islamic state on September 29, 2001. The ramifications of this constitutional amendment and Islamic state declaration was clearly demonstrated in the dispute over the right to bury according to Muslim or Hindu rites in the M. Moorthy’s and A.Rayappan’s case.

The civil High Court in deciding that only the Syariah Court had a right to decide his religion, non-Muslims were shocked to be told that in cases involving a Muslim, a non-Muslim has no legal remedy nor a right to be heard. Whereas Article 8 of the Federal Constitution provides for freedom of religion, Article 121(A) effectively locks non-Muslims out of the Syariah Court and prevents them from pursuing their rights through the Islamic legal system.

I wish to commend DAP’s lawyers for their courage and perseverance, especially Sdr A. Sivanesan and M Manoharan for succeeding in Rayappan’s case. This case was conducted with the full backing of the DAP leadership in line with DAP’s stand that only if both parties are Muslim or their Islamic faith is not in dispute, the syariah courts has full authority.

However if one of the parties is a non-Muslim then the civil courts should decide. Natural justice demands that every citizen should have a right of legal representation in court. Non-Muslims have a right to refuse to submit to the Syariah courts as non-Muslims and it is also unlikely that they would enjoy full legal representation.

This clearly goes against the social contract and the original 1957 Merdeka Constitution which allowed for such disputes to be decided by civil courts. DAP calls for a full restoration of the 1957 social contract and the Merdeka Constitution that gave birth to a nation based on a shared sense of values of a secular democracy and justice for all Malaysians.

(10/12/2006)


Lim Kit Siang and Teresa Kok’s blog are been offline for about 12 hours now because, apparently, her host’s servers were under attack and the host took them offline until things cool down, or may be it’s being hacked again.


Malaysia Bangsa Malaysia Lim Kit Siang Teresa Kok Dap Penang Silicon valley