MGG Pillai Commentary View

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Casting pearls before swine

THE SELANGOR GOVERNMENT ONCE gave laptop computers to state assemblymen. It had no practical purpose or use. It did not matter. The then mentri besar, Tan Sri Mohamed Taib, believed that the state assemblymen must be at the cutting edge of technology. What better way than give them laptop computers with which they could be connected at all times with the state government and their constituents. It did not matter that perhaps nine-tenths of their constituents did not care for, nor know how to use a, computer. More important, as many state assemblymen did not either. But how could the premier state in the country be so blind to the wonders of technology? It must be remedied. So each National Front (BN) state assemblyman was given a laptop computer, and ordered to make use of it. The miniscule Opposition, of course, should not enjoy the wonders of modern technology at state expense; they can buy their own. Besides, if you gave it to them, they could well use it to advance their cause, and perhaps defeat a few sitting BN members at the next election.

Half the BN state assemblymen did not know what to do with it. Even if they did use it, they could not get the information they wanted from the government departments, which have cleverly turned the cutting edge of technology into a chopping block. Several used it in the only way they knew how: as expensive paperweights. Today, no one talks of the laptop computers. The state does not hand out laptops now. For a good reason. Tan Sri Mohamed Taib found fame by being arrested in Australia with a shopping bag full of cash, about RM2.5 million worth in foreign currency, which he had not declared, nor has he explained why, as a trendsetter in modern technology, he did not believe in the usual high-tech methods of transferring money like bank transfers and drafts and other negotiate currency. He resigned. His successor did not care for it. It is up to the mentri besar of the day to decide how to alter the format of the state government and its priorities. So one is never surprised when the new man comes up with outlandish ideas, the only rationale for it is that it gives a crony a nice line in commissions to provide a useless gadget or embark on a policy that is at best half-baked.

This is not confined to the states. The federal government jumps into the fray. The latest is this half-baked plan to force Malaysian youths to undergo national service. A properly conducted national service is a good thing. But the government had three decades ago decided against it. Included in the programme is of course weapons training. Those who would be in the scheme would include Chinese and Indians. Giving them weapons training, it was argued in UMNO and in the civil service was tantamount to racial conflict. The reasons were as usual cock-eyed. But it did not matter. The prevailing view then, as it is now now, is that the non-Malays are dangerous and had to be kept on a tight leash. This national service now has only one aim: a few cronies of the establishment would conduct it, siphon a large chunk of the funds into their pockets, and carry on as usual. The wellbeing of the national servicemen is incidental. The scheme has just started, and it is a collosal failure. We know it is when cabinet ministers try too hard to convince the people, but more often only they believe it, that it is an unqualified successs. It is in one respect. The wife of a cabinet minister has the contract to provide the uniforms and she, I am told, is doing well out of that small scam. The smart schools project was implemented for no reason that one cabinet wife promised to provide the computers and the software. It is as dead as the dodo. Why do we buy expensive weapons? Not for its use in defence, but for cronies to make money out of it.

So, no one is surprised when the BN mentri besar of Trengganu, Dato' Idris Jusoh, decided that all 32 state assemblymen would be paid a book allowance of RM250 a month, and be signed up as members of the State Library "with immediate effect". Let him tell you why? "The objective is to develop a knowledge culture among the elected representatives and to encourage the people to read." I do not know what this means, so I suppose neither you. Let him explain: "When we talk about knowledge culture, it must be practiced and it is the responsibility of the elected representatives to lead their constituents by showing good examples." I still do not know what he means. So I presume you too. Let him give you a few practical examples: "The State Government will also beef up the State Library and the libraries in villages with more books and computers." Why? "These libraries now lack content to attract members." There is more. In addition, all gifts and souvenirs to State officials invited to officiate at events should be in the form of books and other "reading materials", instead of brassware, songket or handicrafts, the New Straits Times breathlessly reports today (20 May 2004). But he has more to say: "The allowance may not be much, but the books will expand their knowledge."

When a leader has an idea he is unclear of, he explains it in gobbledygook. Dato' Idris Jusoh is no different. What I think he says is that state assemblymen should lead by example, and to encourage reading, they would given an allowance of RM250 a month, and be forced to join the State Library. and implausibly suggest this would encourage people to read. What books should he read? He does not say? Would Penthouse, Playboy and pornography count? Could coffee table books, full of pictures and nothing else to inculcate this mythical "knowledge culture"? More important, can you dictate and forcefeed policies like these? The former prime minister, Tun Mahathir Mohamed, a great reader, would force his cabinet to read books he thinks they ought to, and then run tutorials about them during cabinet meetings. Did it inculcate a reading habit amongs them? Not by a long shot. Those who read voraciously would. Most in the cabinet and the state assemblies do not read. The prime minister and the foreign minister do not. As almost every cabinet minister.

The two former cabinet ministers with enviable libraries are the former foreign minister, Tan Sri Ghazali Shafie, and the former agriculture minister (and former mentri besar of Kedah), Tan Sri Sanusi Junid, whose library in Bangsar occupies two houses besides an extensive collection in his house in Damansara Heights. The books I want to read I cannot get them in Malaysia. But one of them would invariably have it, and I have for years borrowed books from them to read. They do not need RM250 a month to get into the habit of reading. Schools do not teach pupils to read. The school libraries does not have enough books. Political correctness dictates what one should read. Publishing in Malaysia is a political occupation, the aim to provide school text books. The curriculum does not encourage pupils to read and think. The man who gets into the habit of reading is a rare bird, who has overcome all official obstacles to keep him illiterate. In other words, the damage is done in school. What Dato' Idris Jusoh plans is no more than casting pearls before swine.

M.G.G. Pillai
pillai@streamyx.com