Tag: Malaysia

Malkuta di Elaha


That is the Aramaic phrase for “Kingdom of God“. If you know Malay, and bearing in mind Kingdom of God often imports threads of throne of God, doesnt this strike you an amazing web of connections that is language? It also beggars belief why the Malaysian government thinks Allah is an exclusively Islamic word.

Mahkuta di Elaga or malkut shemayim means Kingdom of God, emphasising God’s activity of reigning.

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Zarzis to Lampedusa and Medan to Penang


The distance from the town of Zarzis in Tunisia to Lampedusa in Italy is about 260km. It is just a touch shorter than that between Medan in Indonesia and Penang in Malaysia. The parallel between the two pairs of cities struck me when I was reading an article about young men running away from the current north-African/Arab world chaos and seeking refuge in places like Italy and France.

Young men in North African countries have for years, crept into southern Europe in search of economic freedom and a better life. I think Zinedine Zidane was one of such people – he and his family had left Algeria searching a better life in France. Just as North Africans stole into Europe, Indonesians have gone to Malaysia for years.

The similarity between the Gibraltar and Malacca straits must however, end there surely. When Kiddo was born, Tress and I sought out an Indonesian maid and was referred to an agency in Port Klang. The office was within the office premises of a local UMNO divisional office. UMNO is of course, the dominant ruling party which is the bane of Malaysia. It struck me as curious that a maid agency had its office within the local UMNO premises and I didn’t like it one bit.

About a year after employing the maid, when I wanted to renew the contract and work permit, my worst fears were realised. The maid’s passport was a fake, and all paperwork produced out of that local UMNO office were forgeries. I could not renew the work permit except through the same local UMNO office.

It was systemic and institutionalised corruption. The local politicians were the local warlords controlling this illegal trafficking of Indonesian women. The machineries of government were exploited to line the coffers of the party and its members and as usual, it is the people – the maids and their employers – who were the victims.

Years down the track and we continue to hear of illegal immigrants from Indonesia going through the borders of Malaysia with little or no impediments. The corruption is systemic and widespread. Indonesians can become naturalised as Malaysians, as long as they can pay. They are encouraged and become supporters and voters of the ruling government in return.

Whereas the Italians of Lampedusa accepted the Tunisians from Zarrziz out of humanitarian ground, in Malaysia it was the almighty moolah which drove matters and determined outcomes. The distance between Tunisia and Italy may be similar to the distance between Indonesia and Malaysia but in many other aspects, the difference is probably gaping as the bald patch on Zidane’s head.

 

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Malaysia’s Ever Growing Cesspool


Just caught up with some Malaysian news and frankly, I am embarrassed by it all. I thought Gillard and Abbot were disappointing but the make-up, the mentality, the tools, the whole cesspool of a pig sty in which Malaysian politics dwell is revolting. The press – what is it doing by playing along? It should just pull up stumps and focus its pages and airwaves on anything but politics. Is there no hope for Malaysia?



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Long Term Planning – Really Long Term


I was at the Victoria University on Flinders Street this morning, for a seminar run by my department. During a break I stepped onto a balcony and took in some beautiful scenes along the Yarra River with Flinders Street Station in the foreground, the Eureka and Langham Hotel buildings in the background and the train running in between alongside the Yarra. It was quite picturesque. I went to the seminar with a colleague who is a young Malaysian lady. This was her first job fresh out of law school in Monash University. Her family want her back in Malaysia but she appears to be enjoying her life here and she likes her job – she works hard and is very pleasant and gets on well with everyone. Privately I was wishing just for a little while, that Kiddo is already at that stage in her life. If she was Tress and I should pack up and head for some rural areas in the outskirts, perhaps even as far as Ballarat. I don’t know what we’d do there but who knows. I guess with recent events like the Libyan war, the Japan earthquakes, tsunami and nuclear plant meltdowns, and with recent news of continuing protests in Yemen, Bahrain and even against the Syrian Bath regime, the tendency is to be more reflective of life and its meanings. I had lunch with an old colleague recently and raised this matter and I think it made him think too. I mentioned to this old colleague how while working in a superannuation related industry (our previous employer provided life risk products to super funds) we constantly talked about planning for our future. That future to many is a 20-30 year period. In the context of eternity, it is but a speck. That however takes up so much time, effort and angst for people to plan for. If 20-30 years took virtually a lifetime to plan, why is it we spend next to no time planning for eternity?

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Oz Tax $ v Malaysian


There is a National Medicines Policy Document. The aim of the policy is to improve positive health outcomes for all Australians through their access to and use of medicines. It has four objectives – timely access and affordable, appropriate quality, safety and efficacy, quality use and maintenance of a responsible and viable industry.

The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, Therapeutic Goods Administration and National Strategy for Quality Use of Medicines are frameworks which facilitates the fleshing out of these objectives.

I came across this policy document while working on a file concerning a regional (Victorian) support group for health practitioners. They were working with me on state revenue compliance issues and I was seeking to understand the context of their set up. The extent and details of frameworks put in place as a result of Commonwealth and State government initiatives which support delivery of health services was a very pleasant surprise for yours truly. I could go on for weeks looking up the scores of websites, policy documents, program write ups, reports, findings etc – all serious work done to better the health and delivery of healthcare services.

Just a few days ago we had a few families over for dinner and we were talking about paying taxes and where our tax dollars went. Barry one of my mates said he could see our tax dollars in the remote road networks out in the country area. I mentioned how I didn’t mind paying higher taxes in this country precisely because we could, to a large extent, see delivery of services.

In Malaysia, our taxes went largely to things like religious causes – huge and expensive mosques, salaries of Imam’s and Islamic clergies, Quran reading events and worst of all, our tax dollars often find their way into corrupt politicians’ retirement funds. Frustrated Malaysians often use throwaway lines like “Samy Vellu has a few billion dollars stashed away” and the common belief is that politicians over the years have stolen tens of billions of dollars from public purses – our tax dollars. There are commentators who suggest as much as USD300 billion have been squandered – with no doubt a big slice going into politicians’ pockets – over the years as a result of mismanagement and leakages in the Malaysian economy.

I wonder if there is a Malaysian equivalent of the National Medicines Policy and the extent of work done to flesh out the policy and give it the tools and resources to work.

We may spend our free time bemoaning our Aussie politicians but actually they have – by and large – done good work. It is at least much better work than the rubbish dished out by the Malaysian counterparts. There is a much weaker case of not seeing our tax dollars work better for us here.

Regards,Ian

Sent from my iPigeon

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NUS and Uni Malaya


The National University of Singapore was once University Malaya. It now ranks No. 4 in Asia and No. 34 in the world. University Malaya on the other hand is buried somewhere deep under the pile. Many of its graduates can’t even speak English properly. So who had it right? UMNO and the pro-Malay policies will only continue to go down the gurgler.

See the Times Higher Education university ranking here:  http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2010-2011/top-200.html

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Gay Church in Malaysia? My Gay Thoughts Revisited


Gay Church? (Re-publishing in light of current interests in Malaysia…)

I have friends whom I think may be offended by what I’m about to write in this entry. It concerns homosexual practice. If you are one of these people, I hope you know by now that I believe God is real and He cares about us. He has great plans for us and I trust Him enough to know these plans are great ones. There is only one condition – that I must let Him be God and not try to play His role for Him. So, whatever my personal views may be about homosexual practice, they are secondary to what God has said in the Bible about the matter.

Personally, I don’t have any problems with homosexual practice. I am not one, have no such tendencies, and am prepared to accept that there are many with homosexual tendencies or preferences. To many, these tendencies and preferences are so strong they do not want to keep fighting them. They think perhaps life is to be lived, not fought against. They think a relationship is about commitment and sacrifice and building something together and there is nothing in a homosexual relationship which inherently precludes these virtues. I agree with these views. I would have subscribed wholly with them and would have supported same sex union as a logical consequence of these views. These however, are my personal views. As a Christian, I believe my personal views are not always the right ones. They can’t be. To insist that my personal views must prevail is to breach the condition set out above. His (perfect) plans wont work, and mine, which are no where near His (perfect ones) would kick in. My views really are a distant second to His, which is perfect.

I honestly do not know what to make of claims that homosexuality is a natural thing. It’s like someone who prefers one food to another, or has the natural tendency to use his left arm instead of his right. How can preference for one food over another or using one arm over another, be such a bad thing? Honestly, I don’t know. I dont know what harm there would be if say, half the world is gay. Maybe the world population would go down. The nucleus family would no longer be the norm. Is that a bad thing? I don’t know. If homosexuality becomes as common as a heterosexual union, it would be the first time since time immemorial, that the issue of parenthood becomes re-examined and the accepted convention of 2-sex parents is no longer. I don’t know what that does to the psyche of a child and how that affects his or her development and what sort of adult that child eventually becomes. It is such a vexed issue. It would certainly mean discarding what has worked for centuries, in favour of/exchange for acceptance of certain sexual preferences. Assuming the gays are right and it is perfectly “natural”. It is still only our way, not God’s. In fact, God wants us to subrogate our natural ways to His ways. The Bible speaks of dying to self in order to live. There are in any event, lots of things we naturally want to do but don’t, because they aren’t good for us. We wont go there for now however.

There is a Malaysian pastor who is now contemplating a gay church. This is just a bit whacky. Not that homosexual practice is whacky. It isn’t. It’s quite cool actually. It is however, against God’s ways. Jesus preached love and forgiveness and acceptance. That is true. He also however, preached obedience, repentance and judgment. These aren’t cool. They are however, core teachings of Jesus. To start a gay church would be like starting a church for any other perpetrators of any other practice which is against God’s ways.

We don’t for example, even think for a moment about say, a paedophile church. Before you scream murder, I’m not equating paedophilia with homosexuality. The obvious argument that one damages innocent young children while the other is between consenting adults is a familiar one with which I agree. However, again those are my views. They don’t matter. God’s views do. In fact they are the only ones that do. One doesn’t even have to proffer any arguments which a paedophile may put forward to justify the practice. You don’t need for example, to produce scientific evidence to show maybe some children aren’t damaged and may even acquire some life lessons. I know that is repulsive. I know society simply does not find paedophilia acceptable. My point is there will always be subjective views. Expert opinions change. Community rejection or acceptance of any matter is subjective. What is now unacceptable may be acceptable at different times, just as what was previously unacceptable may now be acceptable. The only objective standard is God’s. Okay, that is my belief. I know that to be true, because it is right there in the Bible (eg 1 Corinthians 6:9).

You know why the church today has credibility issues when they shout and thump their chests against homosexual practice? It is the issue of consistency. Homosexual practice is a sin, as is theft, lying, killing, jealousy, covetousness, and all the other practices listed in Exodus somewhere as well as in other parts of the Bible. In fact, remember Billy Graham’s 7 deadly sins? You hardly hear the church condemning these anymore. Why condemn homosexual practice but keep silent on theft for example? Why no word against murder? Why has the church not examined for example, the actions of people like George W and Robert M to see if they have perhaps committed murder? I know I know. George was defending his country, you may say. Really? From what? Terrorism? I thought that was in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and maybe Afghanistan? From oil drought? Ah…maybe he was then guilty of covetousness? Or did he not remember that and the other stuff in Exodus 20:15ff? If in lying and coveting Iraq’s oil he let his own view prevail over God’s that is as much a sin as homosexual practice is. Why didn’t the church condemn it but pretty much cover its head with ashes over homosexual practice?

So to the Malaysian pastors and churches crying out against that gay pastor, I say well done. However to sound a bit more credible, you should also take a stand against other practices which are against God’s ways. How many church goers in Malaysian churches today are guilty of sharp business practices (theft, lies, coveting)? How many have mistresses? How many overtly support regimes which condone murder (I have in mind the Malaysian police which the general public in Malaysia believes have committed murder in the summary execution of suspects in shootouts, pushing addicts off buildings, bashings in lock-ups and prisons leading to deaths)? Why does the church single out homosexual practice as a sin to condemn and leave the other iniquities alone?

So back to that gay church – no it wont work. I believe gay people in Malaysia aren’t Christians. If they turn up, it wont be because they are Christians – it would be because they are gay. It would be just another gay club. You cant for example preach on godliness because to be godly you need to well, subscribe to His ways. A homosexual practitioner has chosen to choose his own way over God’s. If however the intention of that church is to help practising gays get rid of that practice then that would be a great thing. That pastor could set an example and say homosexual practice is a sin in that it goes against God’s ways. It wont be a cool or popular thing to do, but godly.

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Najib Involvement in Altantuuya Murder – Further Evidence?


From Malaysiakini 4 MayEnough evidence to launch Scorpene probe
Susan Loone | May 4, 10 1:40pm
Was the 114 million euro (RM534.8 million) paid to Perimekar a “commission”?The Malaysia government has argued that the huge sum was not a commission but for the provisions of “support services” to the RM3.7 billion Scorpene submarines bought from France.

That’s the crux of an on-going Parisian investigation as under French and international laws, giving commissions on such deals are illegal.

According to French lawyer Joseph Breham, who is part of a team investigating the scandal, there was enough “prima facie evidence” to justify a probe.

“How did this company suddenly obtain 114 million euro (RM482 million) in their bank account?” he asked in an interview with Malaysiakini last week.

“Also, the main shareholder of this company, is the wife (Maslinda) of a close associate (Abdul Razak Baginda) to the (then) minister of defence (Najib Razak).”

Breham’s team hopes to unearth enough evidence to convince the French court to institute corruption charges.

Excerpts from the interview follow:

Malaysiakini: You said in media reports that you have sufficient evidence to proceed in the case. Can you reveal what kind of evidence you have?

Breham: We have Perimekar’s account statement in 2001 and 2002. And between these years, they have lost about RM75,000. How can a company lose RM75,000 when the only thing the company did was related to some administrative cost? There was no income, and it was just renting an office.

How did this company suddenly obtain 114 million euro in their bank account? This is the basis for suspicion. Also, the main shareholder of this company is the wife (Maslinda) of a close associate (Abdul Razak Baginda) to the (then) minister of defence (Najib Razak).

These are strong elements (for suspicion) and if you add to this the fact that Altantuya Shaariibuu was killed by the bodyguards of the prime minister, and if you add to this the fact that the immigration records of Altantuya’s entry into the country have disappeared, there is proof that a high official did not want any evidence of her entering the country.

And the fact that the two policemen blew her up with C4 (explosives), it appears as if they completely do not want anything of her to appear.

So, we have the proof that someone who is a high official is involved in this case. We have the proof that the wife of one of the close friends of the PM is involved – (he or she may have) nothing to do with the Altantuya case, but in the issuing of commissions.

I am saying that there is enough evidence, enough prima facie evidence, based on all these elements to make an enquiry.

You are saying that the French prosecutors have accepted your arguments to proceed with the case?

Yes, and there is an key argument that each time (French state-owned shipbuilder) DCN makes a deal in a foreign country, there is corruption. Of course, this does not prove anything but they are not ‘white knights’ either.

How similar is the Malaysian case to the Taiwanese and Pakistani cases that you mentioned in recent media reports?

I am not the lawyer for the Taiwanese or the Pakistani side. However, the Taiwan and Pakistan cases began the other way around. They both started because there were dissension in the French political parties. For example, the Pakistani case started because there were factions in the conservative party.

One of the factions was running for president in the presidential elections. So, the one in power stopped the other from getting kickbacks. In the end, the Pakistanis were not getting their money from the French.

The Taiwanese case came exactly the same way. It was related to a former French minister involved in another case with the company, and they proved that one of his mistresses bought him very expensive shoes.

They inquired where the money came from, and by tracing the money, they found that it came from a bank account in Switzerland. They also managed to prove that the money came from someone involved in the Taiwanese contract.

The reason why it went to such a high level was because of a provision in the contract that stated that there should be no commission paid and that the French government could ask DCN to pay back the commission.

Taiwan lost a lot of money because of this. They filed a civil case against DCN to make them pay back the commission and they won. So the French judicial system could not just ignore the evidence.

If those involved in the DCN case were found to be giving out commissions, can action be taken against them? Is there a law in France against giving out commissions?

There are three laws against giving out commissions. They are the 2002 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Anti-Bribery Convention, 2003 United Nations Convention against Corruption, and the French national law.

[Malaysia is not party to the OECD Convention but it ratified the United Nations Convention against Corruption on Sept 24, 2008.]

These conventions are interesting: they have a mechanism to monitor whether a country respects the conventions. In the French system, when there is risk of corruption among prosecutors, OECD can ask the French government to act against these prosecutors.

In France, there is a written instruction that a decision not to prosecute a case of corruption is not only based on technical criteria, but (also on) either quality of fact or consistency of proof.

A decision not to prosecute could not be motivated based on quality of person, or by consideration of national economic interest. A courageous prosecutor can ask in writing if he was instructed not to prosecute a person for corruption. He can say, “Excuse me, you give me instructions against the convention, please tell me which to follow.” This, too, he should ask in writing.

What happens if you cannot obtain any information from the Malaysian side to help you with your investigation?

Once a judge decides, he can issue an instruction called ‘the international warrant of search’ and this warrant of search will be sent to the Malaysian side, saying, “We, the French judiciary, want this company to disclose to us this, and this, and this (information). According to the UNCAC, you are obliged to cooperate with me”.

If Malaysia does not deal with the situation, it will at least prove that the government has something to hide. Moreover, if we can find elements showing that Perimekar has parked its accounts somewhere else, the solution in corruption cases is always to follow the money. If we can find the money somewhere else other than Malaysia, then we have some chances.

I, as a lawyer, can ask (apply to) the (French) judge to make such an instruction. It is up to him to decide. If he decides against my application, I can appeal.

If DCN were indicted, you of course expect the Malaysian public or NGOs like Suaram to take up the case against the government.

I am a lawyer and I look for proof. So, if corruption happens involving any of its official in Malaysia, we hope the Malaysian justice system will take care of it. It is not up to the French justice system to do this. It would not be logical. So, for now France must do something against DCN corrupting people outside of France.

But I hope that as soon as – and if we have proof – that Malaysian officials have received the commissions, the Malaysia justice system must then do its work.

If nothing happens, the only thing that could be done – but this is very theoretical, as far as I know it had never been done before – is that there is an application that is called ‘either you extradite or you prosecute’ in the UNCAC.

If a country considers that there is a huge problem, that there is such a (corrupted) person in another country, it can ask for extradition and that it is a duty of the other country either to extradite or prosecute.

Can a country refuse to do either?

No, it cannot say ‘no’ since it is international law. Of course, Malaysia will not be invaded if they decide to do neither. However, there is a way for them (Malaysia) to circumvent this, and that is to prosecute.

But in this case, there is a theoretical possibility – although it has never been used – that France may consider that the inquiry (on the Malaysian side) was such a false one. If they can show enough proof that the Malaysian inquiry was not valid, then it (France) can apply for an ‘international binding judgment’.

For example, this applies to an official who must be sentenced to jail. If the official goes out of the country, he can be taken into custody (based on international laws).
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Leave Malaysia If You Can


Someone emailed me this letter I wrote to Malaysiakini more than 3 years ago:

Leaving Malaysia because I had to
Ian Teh | Feb 10, 06 2:18pm

MCPX
Smita Elena Sharma may have re-affirmed what many Malaysians have experienced for so long. My family and I left Malaysia more than a year ago. Smita was right – we left Malaysia reluctantly, especially me. My wife and I had well-paid jobs, were debt-free and had only one child. We had great friends, wonderful relatives and a strong network of social circles to make life a thoroughly enjoyable journey. We could see however, that it was a fast eroding paradise.

Our employers were successful only because of political patronage. Our child remained a second-class citizen as far as education was concerned, and this was going to be only the first of many more discriminations to come. The public institutions could not be relied upon to do the right things. In fact, few bothered with doing the right thing. Malaysian society was disintegrating because the leadership was distracted in all sorts of ways.
We have been here in Melbourne, Australia for more than a year now. We had to start all over again. Re-build our careers. Start new relationships. Find and build our home. We bump into Malaysians all the time. They are all here for the same reason – to give their future generations a fairer go. They are here to raise their children in a place where work ethics, intelligence and industry count for more than skin colour and political patronage. They are here where wrongdoings are highlighted and challenged and their perpetrators are put under the spotlight. They are here to give and take in a fair exchange.

Do we miss anything in Malaysia? Absolutely. We miss our family and friends. We miss, just as Smita wrote, the wonderful food. We miss the familiarity our previous home gave us. We were reluctant leavers.

Yet we were a lot more fortunate than many. Poor Malaysian’s Emigration not an option, stuck here for example, rightly pointed out that many simply can’t leave. Traditional destinations are not open to them as they don’t meet the criteria. There are also many who, by default, remain in Malaysia. They cannot bear to sacrifice the life they have in Malaysia. Lifestyles many more times more opulent than the one my family and I enjoyed.

Some of these people have accused us of running away. Some say we are armed and equipped to fight for the less fortunate in Malaysia, to help bring about a more just and equitable country. By running away, so we have been accused, we have not discharged our moral responsibility to help bring about this change.
YMM in his letter Not giving up hope on Malaysia echoes this tune. It is an admirable tune. I hope one day it becomes a battle cry to bring down this racial and religious barricade. Such lofty aspirations were mine too, some 15 years ago. When I first returned to Malaysia after studying in Australia, I vowed not to follow the steps of those who left the country. I decided to stay and make Malaysia my home, and try to make it a better home for my fellow Malaysians as well.

Soon however, this decision was faced with the harsh reality of being a victim of discrimination. Let us not mince words, the vast majority if not all of us who are not bumiputeras are victims of discrimination. We put up with being victims because the scraps are always enough to fill our coffers.
In spite of such discrimination, most stayed on because there is money to be made. It wasn’t to fight for equality that those who could leave decided not to. It was the fact that there was material wealth to be accumulated and it was also due to inertia. Our lives have simply continued without us pausing to think and plan ahead and, if necessary, make major changes. If we do, I cannot imagine anyone seriously believing that Malaysia offers a better chance of a better future for our children than many other countries.

The one thing which would swing my assessment is the total abolishment of the current pro-bumiputera policies, in toto. I don’t see this happening, no matter what I do. Was it I who tucked tail and left, or have those who, recognising such a change would not come about, be the ones who tucked tail in remaining?

I decided I had not put up a sufficient fight after 15 years. I decided I was not about to spend another 15 years trying, while my child foregoes an opportunity to go and fight her battles elsewhere, where there is a fairer go for her.

Do I miss Malaysia? Only the people there. My family, relatives and friends. I remain a reluctant leaver. There are many things we do in life not because we want to, but because we need to. Leaving Malaysia was one of them.

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Malaysia Loses – More Brain Drain


Last Saturday we had dinner in Alex and Li Har’s home with a family who arrived as migrants just a week earlier. This family represents a classic case of brain drain that has been plaguing Malaysia. The man is a neurologist and his wife is a dental surgeon.

The wife was offered a job back in April, with the RoyalDentalHospital in Melbourne. She had to ask for a later start as they weren’t ready to leave Malaysia in April. The man was also offered a job with the Footscray Health Group. He is contemplating holding out for a role closer to home – they live in the eastern suburbs and in any event Footscray isn’t exactly the sort of suburb you’d want to work odd hours, which will be required of this highly talented doctor.

Also at the dinner was a family with a child suffering from a very rare condition called Alagilles syndrome. While the neurologist did not seem familiar with this condition (it is very rare) he could intimately describe all the attendant symptoms and alternative but consequential treatments in the most coherent and intelligible manner. I can easily picture a patient being totally at ease with a doctor who obviously knows what he is talking about and can easily engage queries without pretending to know everything.

The couple was very engaging but was at the same time, very unassuming and humble. We enjoyed their company and we believe this family (they have 2 bright and very well behaved children) is an indictment on the racist and bigoted government who stupidly, is too happy to see the backs of such people simply because they aren’t Malays. He is only 41 years of age – at the height of a very bright career. Assuming his wife is a touch younger than him, she too has so many years of fantastic service left to offer. Malaysia loses, again, and it doesn’t seem to care.

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