Categories
Society

[1180] Of racism does not solve the Rohingya issue

Gross generalization is easy to do because it does not require rigorous thinking. For a simpleton, this is a preferable style of thinking, or lack of. We as a society unfortunately are so simple-minded that we fall for that trap. Not too long ago, a survey claims that we as a society generalize Malays as lazy, Chinese as greedy and Indians as drunk. After that, foreign labors have been blamed for the increase of crime rate, despite the fact that the locals commit more crime than foreign workers. As if that is not enough, our legislature even considered of passing a xenophobic bill. Now, we see claim that all Rohingyas in Malaysia are beggars or criminals, the people as a whole creates “a sort of a beggar ridden country.”

It all started with a missing kid. In two weeks, the parents with the help of local community joined hand in hand for a search effort. The effort bore fruit in the end and the parents were, I believe, overjoyed.

Initially, the media reported that the kid had been living with a Rohingya family. The kid was lost and upon seeing him all alone, the family decided to take care of him. Later however, the police suspected that the kid was kidnapped by the family and used for begging purpose. There are those that seem to be turning onto the family, passing judgment based on mere suspicion while the court of law has not been given the opportunity to rule over the case. Some courageously indulge a hasty generalization and assumed guilty charge on the family. As if that is not enough, he audaciously takes the next leap and claims that all Rohingyas are beggars or criminals; either way, parasites.

Imagine, a couple’s alleged — not convicted — crime is enough to condemn a whole people. Such hasty generalization borders racism, if it is not racism by itself.

There are people that hold the same thinking. Though the actors differ, the storyline essentially remains the same. Switch Rohingyas for Arabs and Malaysians for French, you would have what racist far right in France are thinking. Switch Rohingyas for Turks and Malaysians for Germans, you would have what the racist far right in Germany are thinking. Switch Rohingyas for Jews and Malaysians for Nazi Germans, you would have what the Nazi on aggregate were thinking.

Issue regarding the Rohingyas, specifically, their status in Malaysia needs to be addressed and there is no doubt of that. But turning to hasty generalization or racism is not a solution. For a solution to be found, we need to sit back and think a little harder.

Categories
Photography

[1179] Of slow down and think

There are many of us that love to speak out our mind but it would be wise sometimes to slow down and think. The same goes to those that love to drive too fast. We all only live once.

By Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved.

Go, sit by the table, take a sip of that coffee, relax and watch the world goes by. And think.

Categories
Politics & government

[1178] Of Sarkozy at The Economist

The cover of the current issue of The Economist:

Copyrights by The Economist. Fair use.

How do the candidates measure up? Only three of the 12 are serious runners… A fourth who may shape the outcome is Mr Le Pen, the veteran leader of the racist National Front, who shamed France by edging past the Socialist candidate into the run-off against Mr Chirac in 2002. Mr Le Pen’s poll numbers are better now than they were at the equivalent stage then. It is vital for France and its image that Mr Le Pen be kept out of the second round this time.

Ms Royal would be an asset in the second round, turning it into a satisfyingly direct left-right contest. She has other attractions: the first woman to be a serious contender, the boldness to push past the elephants in her party to win the nomination, a willingness to break with Socialist taboos by praising Britain’s Tony Blair and criticising the French state’s imposition of a maximum 35-hour working week. Unfortunately her policies are woolly even by modern standards. And in economics, she stands squarely behind all the old left-wing shibboleths: state intervention, rigid labour protection and high taxes.

On the face of it, the centrist Mr Bayrou is more promising. His pledge to curb the public debt is more credible than Ms Royal’s and even Mr Sarkozy’s. But he has failed to promote a free-market agenda—he is distressingly fond of farm subsidies and state intervention. Nor is it clear how he would form a government: his centrist party is tiny, and his vague musings of drawing in like-minded leaders from left and right smack of the lowest common denominator.

[…]

Which leaves Mr Sarkozy as the best of the bunch. Unlike the others, and despite his long service as a minister under Mr Chirac, he makes no bones of admitting that France needs radical change. He is an outsider, born to an aristocratic Hungarian émigré father; he openly admires America; he is enthusiastic about the economic renaissance of Britain. He plans an early legislative blitz to take on hitherto untouchable issues such as labour-market liberalisation, cutting corporate and income taxes and trimming public-sector pensions. [France’s chance. The Economist. April 12 2007]

For a libertarian, he might be the best credible candidate that is worth considering, despite his shortcomings.

Categories
Politics & government

[1177] Of do away with those divisions

Apart from being known for its communal nature, Malaysian politics suffers another division. While its communal division is observable at the inter-party level, the other division occurs at the intra-party level.

If one is to scan through the Malaysian political landscape, to the best of my knowledge, each and every one of Malaysian political party is divided into the main branch, the women branch (Wanita) and a branch for young men (Pemuda) and women (Puteri) each. The main branch is dominated by veteran males and these veterans are the de facto heads of the party.

I do not favor this kind of division. It heavily biased to the incumbents, especially old male incumbents. This results in young politicians receiving limited exposure to real policy making processes. On top of that, the current system is heavily biased to the males as women are expected to be active in their own branch rather than the whole party. Given its male-biased setup, the situation is the worst for aspiring young female politicians. As insulting as it sounds, this system seems to suggest that those not in the main branch are incapable of providing leadership.

Further, this setup is a major reason why Malaysia will not see a woman prime minister. As long as the system stays favored by the majority, men will dominate the national political scene.

This division, at risk of making myself redundant, separates each segment of the party’s population and strongly discourages interaction, or rather competition among, for the lack of better term, biological based groups. This active discouragement directly increases security for incumbents and veterans in the main branch of the party. Women, young men and young women are expected to be active in their own branches instead of the the party all over and thus, the lack of challenges to those in power. While there are individuals in the three groups that exert influence over the whole party, the number is fairly limited and is more of an exception rather than a rule.

I do not hesitate to venture that the restriction to competition is one possible reason why there is a lack of high quality politicians among political parties in Malaysia. The effectiveness of good democracy in guaranteeing meritocracy is blunted by the current system. Those with the best qualification are bogged down to relatively useless functions in a party that typically engage in emotional rhetoric and nothing else.

Yet, there is a benefit of having these various branches; it creates training opportunities for young newcomers. That training provides valuable experience that could be utilized once the time is right. But surely, similar training could be obtained through active participation in the main branch.

Further, I am in the opinion that those positions in inferior divisions are redundant. Perhaps, limited proper posts in the party in the face of the need to satisfy followers, these redundant positions become an important tool to garnering and maintain support. In way or another, the system reinforces Malaysian feudalistic politics.

For all the points stated and more, a real reformist party needs to eliminating these divisions. Bring down the walls, create a competitive atmosphere inside the political party and trust me, the party will come out stronger. Apologies to Mr. Friedman but the political parties of the future is flat.

Categories
Economics

[1176] Of appreciating ringgit to slow down export too

In November 2006, I mentioned how the Mundell-Fleming model works by applying it to the then-current economic situation in Malaysia. Among many points that were mentioned in that post is the connection between government spending and net export. The rationale is, greater government spending drives up the interest rate and encourage capital inflow, which later, appreciates the Malaysia ringgit. The appreciation hurts export as local good become relatively more expensive compared to foreign goods.

For the past two or so weeks, the issues of too much net capital inflow to Malaysia as well as increasingly large foreign reserve are popping up and has fueled rumor on further liberalization of the Malaysian ringgit. Though the current appreciation is definitely not exclusively caused by government spending, I have no doubt that the thumb prints of government spending through the Ninth Malaysia Plan is somewhere the Malaysia economy.

Further, about a month ago, the executive director of Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER), Mohamed Ariff criticized the idea of having too big foreign exchange reserve:

THE size of foreign exchange reserves held by central banks the world over is often viewed by analysts, investors and policy-makers as a key indicator of macroeconomic strength. This notion is pitifully assailable, not only because inter-country comparisons are fraught with pitfalls, but also because the bigger-the-better argument does not hold water.

[…]

A robust domestic economy would also shift the focus from preoccupation with exports, current account surpluses and large reserves to internal dynamics that would drive imports closer to exports and the balance of payments closer to equilibrium with current account balance and stable external reserves. [When larger reserves may not really be good. NST. February 9 2007]

It would be interesting to observe the Malaysian export trend in the next few months if the ringgit appreciates further. I however am convinced that export will slow down, induced, in part, by both stronger currency and weaker demand in the US.

Another thing is, at the Wall Street Journal Asia:

A mild slowdown in the U.S. could actually further the government’s efforts to rein in growth. It might also encourage Chinese companies to focus more on serving domestic consumers than overseas ones—another shift China’s leaders are trying to promote. [China’s export engine survive a U.S. slump. WSJ Asia. April 10 2007]

In other words, China might actually look forward for a slowdown in the United States to cool down its economy. But admittedly, the article suggests that a minor slowdown in the US would not hurt China too much. That however does not change my mind that China could not be Malaysia’s savior if an US slowdown occurs, for reasons stated here.

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

p/s — on Saturday morning, I came across this:

PETALING JAYA: The year-on-year slide in Malaysian exports for the month of February cannot be attributed to the strengthening trend of the ringgit, said Second Finance Minister Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop.

Nor Mohamed was reiterating economists’ view at the beginning of the month that the weakening in exports was due partly to shorter working days and a decrease in overseas purchase of items such as electrical and electronic products, transport equipment as well as petroleum products. [Minister: Drop in February exports not due to strengthening ringgit. The Star. April 13 2007]

Fair enough.