Category: ASEAN

Categories
ASEAN Conflict & disaster Environment Liberty

[1642] Of for humanity’s sake, Myanmar must open up

The attitude of the junta government of Myanmar does not make the situation in the Irrawandy delta any better for the country. While the government has appealed for aid from the United Nations,[1] its reluctance in accepting aids from any side is a huge impediment to relief efforts. The reluctance of the government of Myanmar is exemplified by the string attached to its request: they prefer government-to-government aids only and has refused aids from some groups.[2][3][4] Under pressure of time, Myanmar does not have the luxury to be a chooser; it has to be more open in this matter.

The reluctance to allow relief groups to enter into Myanmar is politically comprehensible. Presence of foreigners in the country could potentially expose the locals to ideas hostile to the military junta. If the junta indiscriminately allows all foreigners to access the country, not all of these foreigners would be aid workers. Some would be journalists reporting news that the junta government would want to censor while other may simply be pro-democratic activists hoping to campaign for the upcoming referendum on the new constitution of the country.

From humanitarian point of view however, the reluctance is confounding and angering. How could a government think of its power first above the people?

In answering the question, the junta government is an authoritarian government. Of course it is more concerned for its welfare than that the people the junta rules upon. An authoritarian government is unaccountable to its people and it is no wonder why the junta government places the welfare of the people down in its list.

As the world learns more of the true impact of the horrible disaster, the more unacceptable the action of the junta becomes. If the junta continues with its decision, if there is a government that deserves to be toppled, the junta government has to be the one.

In Myanmar where communication infrastructure is much left to be desired,[5] the provision of aids will be a great challenge. As a result, the action of dispensing aids to those in great need will require time. The government of Myanmar’s reluctance in accepting aidswill only lengthen the time required to get food, blanket and medicine to the victims of Cyclone Nargis. If the United States government performed miserably in New Orleans, the government of Myanmar with its policy centered on isolationism may potentially redefine the term government failure to a new low.

In times like this, it is best for Myanmar to be more open. In the name of humanity, it must open its border.

Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved

[1] — The government of Burma formally appealed to the United Nations for assistance, which is quite a breakthrough. That allows us to work now with the government to decide how we can mobilize assistance. Now the question on the ground is about capacity: do we have enough capacity for the U.N. agents to carry out assistance and provide assistance? I can tell you right now: no. Current capacity there now is for normal situations. What we have now is a tragic situation, so the capacity should be commensurate to the level of the crisis. [Some aid delivered in cyclone-ravaged Myanmar. CNN. May 6 2008]

[2] — The government of Myanmar has not officially endorsed international assistance, the UNJLC added, but said Myanmar “is willing to accept international assistance, preferably bilateral, government to government.” [‘A tragic situation’. Newsweek. May 5 2008]

[3] — YANGON, Myanmar – Myanmar’s isolationist regime blocked United Nations efforts Thursday to airlift urgently needed high-energy biscuits to survivors of a cyclone that may have killed more than 100,000 people, U.N. officials said. [Myanmar blocks U.N. airlift for cyclone victims. Associated Press via MSNBC. May 8 2008]

[4] — The government is demonstrating its reluctance now by its slow acceptance of the aid it requested, complicating visa procedures for international donors and apparently seeking to limit the access of foreign relief workers. [A crack in Myanmar’s wall. Seth Mydans. International Herald Tribune. May 7 2008]

[5] — Before we do anything, one has to take into account the specific damage that has been waged. The roads have been blocked, communications [are] down, and the area is not the most advanced in terms of communication capabilities. So it’s very difficult to assess the damage at this point. [‘A tragic situation’. Newsweek. May 5 2008]

Categories
ASEAN

[1557] Of the issue with the Malaysian recognition of Kosovo

Kosovo is an interesting case not just because of the false moral dilemma presented within the framework of statehood to libertarians. With Kosovo finally declared itself as an independent state, Malaysia faces a diplomatic dilemma on whether to recognize Kosovo.

The issue of recognition has split the European Union into two in part due to fear that a recognition may affect the integrity of various states in Europe. Two of these states are Spain and Belgium. To be certain, EU member states are not the only ones facing the question of Kosovo.

Southeast Asia has a recent history of violent separatist movements. The most successful took place in East Timor. Invaded and occupied by Indonesia for about a quarter of a century, East Timor became only truly free in 1999. Aceh was another area which Indonesia had trouble with. Armed conflicts were common there until both sides agreed to a peace deal where Aceh was granted with autonomy power. Irian Jaya is yet another province with notable separatist movement in Indonesia. At one time in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis, the balkanization of Indonesia seemed like a real concern.

Slightly up north lay Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago with active separatist groups. In Pattani, a movement was awaken after being dormant for decades. Other less known and weaker movements exist in Myanmar.

Being situated at the heart of Southeast Asia, Malaysia is physically close to most hot spots. At one time or another, neighboring countries facing armed separatism had accused Malaysia of aiding the rebellions.

Kosovo was a province of Serbia and its situation is quite different from the breakup of Yugoslavian federation where the basic unit of the federation were states such as Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia. In the case of Kosovo, it is part of a unitary state, of Serbia, where the most basic unit itself is Serbia.

Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines, like Serbia, are unitary states. And like Serbia, the 3 Southeast Asian countries face real separatism issues. A Malaysian recognition of Kosovo sets a potentially problematic precedent to follow given the scenario in 3 Malaysian neighbors.

Both Indonesia and the Philippines are aware how recognition of Kosovo would affect them. This is why the two countries have decided to postpone decision-making on Kosovo at the moment. I believe the two will remain neutral on the matter. I also believe that the logical step for Thailand is to oppose the Kosovar declaration. Two other countries beside which expressed position are Vietnam and Singapore. The former has decided to not recognize Kosovo while the island state is studying the matter.[1]

Unlike other Southeast Asian countries, Malaysia was fast in recognizing Kosovo.[2] In fact, Malaysia is the only country in Southeast Asia that has done so, so far. The only way to make this not awkward is to have Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines to willingly recognize Kosovo. With recognition from these countries, Malaysia could escape the burden of being consistent. I would imagine the Badawi administration with its incoherent policies would love that.

Perhaps, Malaysian recognition is inevitable. As the chair of the OIC, Malaysia may be under pressure to recognize Kosovo by the Muslim world.

Be as it may, I would have preferred Malaysia to adopt a more calculated move. We should have waited for Indonesia and the Philippines to make a decision first. It is only courteous to both. The question of Kosovo, after all, is not so pressing to Malaysians. Besides, how many Malaysians can find Kosovo on the map, anyway?

Before I end, I have a question. Since we only have a care-taker government at the moment, does the government have the power to recognize a state?

Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved

[1] — Read [International reaction to the 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence at Wikipedia. Accessed February 20 2008][↩]

[2] — Malaysia said Wednesday it welcomed Kosovo’s independence from Serbia which was unilaterally announced Sunday.
[Malaysia welcomes Kosovo’s independence. Kyodo. February 2008] [↩]

Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved

p/s — Apparently, as I found out over 6 months later, the recognition has yet to be granted.

Pristina – Malaysia is still assessing the case of Kosovo’s recognition and has not made up its mind one way or the other. [Malaysia Still Mulling Kosovo Recognition. BalkanInsight.com. August 14 2008

Categories
ASEAN Photography

[1487] Of a monument at the Tugu Negara complex

One of those lesser known monuments outside the gated compound of the Tugu Negara complex:

Some rights reserved. By Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams.

Besides the statue, the Pavilion and the Cenotaph, there are a couple of monuments with ASEAN-based theme. This is one of two monuments which I like best. The sad thing however is that, the monuments are breaking apart. Though it may not be visible here, a visitor could observe big cracks on those monuments without much effort.

Categories
ASEAN Economics Politics & government

[1447] Of aww, crap

SINGAPORE/MANILA (Reuters) – Myanmar should commit to democracy and release its opposition leader if it signs the new ASEAN Charter, or risk the Philippines not ratifying it, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said on Monday. [Myanmar needs democracy for ASEAN charter: Manila. Reuters. November 20 2007]

I hope that does not derail the planned regional-wide economic integration in 2015.

If it does, we, as in ASEAN, need to kick Myanmar off the tightrope and continue a step towards freer trade. I do not support kicking the country out of ASEAN for such move reduces ASEAN’s say over the country but if Myanmar is dragging the rest of ASEAN member states from achieving freer trade (okay, okay; I know it is regionalism, a slightly perverted idea of free trade but given the pace of the Doha Round, regionalism free trade is the next best thing), we might as well cut Myanmar lose. We may have responsibilities to the people of Myanmar but we also have responsibilities to ourselves. Myanmar must not be that wall that prevents ASEAN from moving forward.

We have waited long enough and I do not want to wait much longer than necessary.

Categories
ASEAN Earthly Strip Politics & government

[1437] Of UMNO versus Batu Puteh

Between Malaysia and UMNO, I do not believe those influential in the party care for Malaysia more than UMNO. I have recently alluded to that idea but it was done in jest, perhaps unwittingly referring to the upcoming rally demanding for fairer electoral process. After observing development in the past few days, the jest is increasingly becoming a legitimate stance. As Malaysia goes to the International Court of Justice to settle a dispute with Singapore regarding Batu Puteh, UMNO is holding its general assembly in Kuala Lumpur. All mainstream media are reporting on the assembly heavily while there is scant mention — in some media not at all — of the development of the hearing at The Hague.

Some rights reserved. By Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams

This is most telling is how Utusan Malaysia treats the two events today and yesterday, which is full of UMNO related news. For these two days, reporting on the dispute should be heaviest as Singapore presents its case in the Court. Yet, the printed media, especially Utusan Malaysia, are dedicating most of its pages to the UMNO assembly, including its front pages. Batu Puteh on the other hand receives a mere back page treatment for today. For yesterday, none at all but the assembly continues to dominate the pages of Utusan Malaysia.

The same case is applicable for Bernama, The Star and the New Straits Times though the stress on UMNO is noticeably less. But the point, the hearing on Batu Puteh receives only passing mention unlike the UMNO assembly which involved deep analysis and spin that pain this assembly remarkably in contrast to those in the recent past, as late as last year, which were jingoistic and filled with deep communal sentiments, to put it politely.

The same trend is observable on television and radio. I dare say, half of the air time is dedicated to the assembly. I am unsure if the same case is observable in media of languages other than Malay and English.

Therefore, the case suffers from limited coverage and due to that, I am forced to rely on Wikipedia, Singaporean media which understandably biased to the Singaporean side and international media.

But perhaps, this lack of reporting from Malaysian sources is due to the fact that this round of hearing is reserved for Singapore. Malaysia will only present its case next week. Still, surely, whatever Singapore, or Malaysia, brings forth as points greatly affects the course of the case. Or, maybe, it is just a little rock in the middle of the sea. Or maybe, Malaysian sovereignty is of little importance.

There is no need to remind everybody that UMNO controls the media in this country, directly or by proxy. Meanwhile, it is clear that those in the media place UMNO higher than the sovereignty of Malaysia in its list. You are welcome to make a conclusion following the two premises.

Such is the sad state of our country.