MGG Pillai Commentary View

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Two prime ministers as different as chalk and cheese

PAK LAH SAID HIS syle is different from Tun Mahathir's. There is no doubt about that. He said this in Bangkok, a statement meant for Malaysians. Tun Mahathir would have done that in office, but not before he had said it locally. Pak Lah is more interested, in his speeches and statements, in keeping the foreigner informed of his intentions, than Malaysians. Bernama, in carrying the report, gave it prominent on its web page, making it the top story of the day, in Malay and English. But the two men are as different as chalk and cheese. Tun Mahathir had asked to see Pak Lah, and as usual arrived early. But Pak Lah was still in his bed, though it was mid-morning. Tun Mahathir saw him two hours later. This would not have happened when he was prime minister. He was probably less than a week behind in his work. Normally he arrives in his office well before it is open, and catches up on his work while his staff has just left for the office. He attends to his work as prime minister, then stays behind cloistered with his work, takes it home what he cannot finish, which is often, and works at his papers or speeches late into the night. He gets up early, works again before he leaves for office. Compare that with Pak Lah, who is weeks behind his work normally.

Pak Lah does not believe in a council of advisers, which Tun Mahathir did, for he has no one is better than his son-in-law, Mr Khairy Jamaluddin, who has 'brilliant' people around the world who can be relied upon to give impartial advice. But Mr Khairy has his own political agenda to be prime minister, and has UMNO factions other than his father-in-law's against him, some of whom think he will sell the country to foreigners. Pak Lah is afraid a council of advisers would make his life difficult by asking for projects in return. He does not see his son-in-law as falling in that category. But this is probably why he makes important statements meant for Malaysians overseas. He does not address Malaysians, issues statements through Bernama, and the mainstream newspapers sing praises of him nevertheless. He has allowed a degree of freedom of the press under duress, but this is partly because of opposition within UMNO. He agreed to make Islam Hadhari – his version of Islam – his rallying cry, but did not. PAS was already too strong with Islam, and the rural folk, especially in Kelantan and Trengganu, believe in it, not Islam Hadhari.

He gives contracts long promised as compensation for land seized, but it is given in secret for, otherwise, his son or son-in-law or daughter would have their own candidates. In the byelections in Kelantan, three UMNO state assemblymen may have to vacate their seats on account of illness, he is in a dilemma: his son-in-law is regarded as too intelligent for his own good, and he is joined by a former cabinet minister, UMNO chief, who is hated in Kelantan. If both are active in the byelections, PAS has a better than even chance in the byelections. After all it was the postal ballots that saved UMNO there. But if Mr Khairy is not involved in the runup to the byelections, UMNO's star would necessarily fall. Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, the MP for Gua Musang, is, whether the leadership in the centre likes it or not, the man who could defeat PAS in the state. But in a public speech recently he was supportive of PAS. He is older than Pak Lah, and would never become prime minister. But he is still a figure whose support is essential. In the Pengkalen Pasir byelection in Kelantan, he did not take part. There were attempts to move against him as a candidate in Gua Musang, but the opposition to that proposal from UMNO, and what could happen in the constituency, kept him as MP for the constituency.

While the prime minister is, to the outsider, lord of all he surveys, he has to balance his cabinet and state chief ministers. He has to take the advise on the ground in the states, or face rebellion. Even Tun Mahathir was careful in going against them. He only reshuffled his cabinet, during the 22 years, after cabinet ministers resigned or were otherwise forced out. His cabinet reshuffles were therefore consequential. The mainstream papers and Bernama told the world it was a major reshuffle, when it was not. But he did not have the opposition in the that Pak Lah has. Anyone dropped from the cabinet did go into opposition in UMNO. He is unwell – the Malaysian papers say he is in excellent health – and that palls his opposition to Pak Lah. On Wednesday afternoons, many ministers meet at Tun Mahathir's office at the Petronas Towers, when he is in torn, to discuss what was said that morning in the Cabinet. It was this opposition that prevented Pak Lah reshuffling his cabinet earlier. There are other considerations of course: he son-in-law wants his men in the cabinet while telling his father-in-law to drop those who still support the former prime minister.

There has been rumours of a crackdown of dissidents and critics. This is heard while Malaysians are told that Pak Lah has allowed freedom of expression more than his predecessor. Party, as it turns out, the Malaysian government makes mistakes, when it is out of its hands. The Inspector-General of Police beat the former deputy prime minister, Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim, to a pulp, while the police insisted he was safe and sound. The police told the truth only to a royal commission of inquiry. The home minister went to Beijing to apologise for a Malay girl forced to do the nude squat. The nude squat is illegal, but that is not addressed. Several police commissions, have been held after police abuse came to light, but the only result is a salary increase. Pak Lah makes trite comments in the meanwhile, not realising that the system has all collapsed. A headmaster tells a Sikh boy to shave; instead of throwing the book at him for breaching government policy, the official statement from Kuala Lumpur is for him to make peace with the boy. There is the question of amendments to laws that have not been initiated into law. Muslim women are given lower status than men; the Lower House of Parliament passed it, but the women senators raised such a ruckus that three cabinet ministers were needed to promise them an amendment removing what they did not like soon afterwords. And religious conversions that only the religious departments know of.

After making sure, in deed and kind, that non-Malays, which means in Malaysia non-Muslims, are in inferior to the Malay. The government allows this in practice, but tell the world it is not so. But it is the government, through its officials, which degrade the Malay. The government is afraid to confront the people it employs who do this, and keep quiet when this is done. This is why the Chinese tourists, who look like Malaysian China. are harassed by the police, and government departments. The Chinese tourists, on returning, tell their home town newspapers of their targetting in Malaysia, and tell their compatriots not to the country. But this means fewer Chinese tourists are coming to Malaysia, and affect government revenues, and hotels built to cater for the tourists. But people in Malaysia, especially in Sarawak and Sabah, can rise in revolt. Peace is kept there by bribing the opposition into the government. Just like in East Bengal in the 1950s; which by 1971 had become independent Bangladesh. It was not religion there – both East and West Pakistan are Muslims – but East Malaysia it is religion and race.

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