The House of the Rising Sons
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PP3739/12/2004 ISSN 0127 - 5127 / RM3.00 / 2004:Vol.24No.9 Aliran Monthly : Vol.24(9) Page 1 COVER STORY TheThe HouseHouse ofof thethe RisingRising SonsSons What they didn’t debate at the UMNO General Assembly by Khoo Boo Teik n the old BBC TV series, II Yes Minister, the wily but III likeable mandarin, Sir Humphrey Appleby, ex- plained the ‘Law of Inverse Rel- evance’ in government thus: The less you intend to do about something, the more you have to keep talking about it. Or, as Barisan Nasional politicos so cheaply love to taunt their crit- ics and the opposition with it, ‘NATO’ – ‘No Action Talk Only’, except the BN types wouldn’t dare to apply it to UMNO’s first Gen- eral Assembly to be held in 22 years without Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s presiding influence. But look at what transpired, or didn’t, during the Assembly. UMNO endorsed its new Presi- dent, Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, and his deputy, Datuk Najib Tun Razak, without any fuss. That, however, was a foregone conclu- sion after the Mahathir-Abdullah transition and the March general election. There being no genuine excite- ment over serious issues, a bit of Predictably, ‘Inverse Relevance’ Failure Baru B-Grade drama was provided by took over, followed by … ‘NATO’: Or Ubat Lama? some complaints that ‘money poli- those complaints were raised and tics’ had influenced the results of dropped with no evidence that For that matter, there was a lot of the party elections at the Vice- real offenders will be identified talk about ‘the Malay agenda’ and President and Supreme Council and real action taken against the New Economic Policy, matters levels. them. that supposedly define UMNO’s Aliran Monthly : Vol.24(9) Page 2 EDITOR'S NOTE All who followed the UMNO General Assembly must have been disappointed that nothing exciting CONTENTS happened. Nor were important issues debated. In this month’s lead story, Khoo Boo Teik looks into COVER STORY what was debated and what wasn’t. Most signifi- ••• The House of the Rising Sons 222 cant - yet not debated - was the emergence of the ••• UMNO: Maturity or Mutation? 777 four rising sons and the probable making of an oli- garchy on the one hand and another bout of infight- ing on the other. Could we be glimpsing UMNO’s FEATURES future dilemma, he asks. ••• Towards a New Politics of Ideas? 999 The accompanying story by Martin Jalleh highlights ••• Rice Issues 111111 the principal contradictions that emerged during the ••• Malaysia's Misfortunes and Assembly. For example Abdullah’s call to observe eth- Misery Part 2 131313 ics and discipline was roundly applauded even as ••• A Claimant's Ordeal 161616 the party was mired in serious money politics. ••• Just-Do-It-Yourself 191919 ••• Browsing Through Book Fairs 232323 Don’t miss our culture and arts centre-spread by ••• Furore Over Marital Rape 252525 Khoo Gaik Cheng, who introduces us to the world ••• A View on Infant Conversions of independent filmmaking in Malaysia. She pro- vides info on websites and places to catch some of to IslamIslamto 282828 these films. ••• Restore Democracy on Campuses 33 ••• Reformasi: Human Rights Issues We carry Part 2 of Malaysia’s Misfortunes and Mis- for President Susilo 353535 ery by K George, a reminder of the scandals and ••• When the Virus Comes abuses that plagued the country during the Knocking on Heaven's Door 404040 Mahathir era. Salbiah Ahmad continues our discussion on the civil-syariah conflict in relation to infant conversions OTHERSOTHERSOTHERS while Prema Devaraj zeroes in on the furore sur- ••• Subscription Form 181818 rounding marital rape. In our back-cover story, Gustri Ayuka provides im- portant background info on the avian flu outbreak, which has arrived at our doorstep in Kelantan. The government must be totally transparent in handling this epidemic if it expects full cooperation, she says. Published by Aliran Kesedaran Negara (ALIRAN) 103, Medan Penaga, 11600 Jelutong, ALIRANALIRANALIRAN is a Reform Movement dedicated to Penang, Malaysia. Justice, Freedom & Solidarity and listed on the Tel : (04) 658 5251 Fax : (04) 658 5197 roster of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. Founded in 1977, Aliran welcomes Homepage : http://www.aliran.com all Malaysians above 21 to be members. Contact the Hon. Secretary or visit our webpage. Printed by Percetakan Tujuh Lapan Enam Sdn. Bhd. No. 16, Lengkangan Brunei, 55100 Pudu, Kuala Lumpur. Aliran Monthly : Vol.24(9) Page 3 unfulfilled mission. been 40–50 per cent today. Only action to that end can truly support an accountability-driven Exhortation came after exhorta- and disclosure-oriented move by tion but no speaker offered any- Abdullah Badawi’s ‘anti-corrup- thing more refreshing than old tion’ and ‘good governance’ ad- refrains. Change the ‘Malay ministration to resolve this mindset’ (whatever this can pos- longstanding ‘debate’ over sibly mean)! Imbibe new values to unachieved targets. stay competitive (as if no one had read or heard Dr Mahathir before)! Until or unless action of that sort is seen, Abdullah Badawi’s policy Now that we’re living in the era initiatives should be seen as of Wawasan 2020 and the National quick-fix responses to Reformasi’s Development Plan, what did the demands for clean government in Assembly offer for public debate a post- Reformasi milieu disap- besides the ubat lama of the proving of ‘corruption, cronyism Revolusi Mental type? Is the NEP and nepotism’. Abdullah’s lim- just beginning instead of its hav- Mahathir: ‘Malay share of the economy’ ited measures of ‘transparency’ ing been implemented for over 30 would have been 40–50 per cent today were credible and effective be- years? cause the public had wearied of mega projects, corporate arro- Judging by the drift and tone of Back to Reformasi gance and a disdain for popular the Assembly proceedings, concerns. UMNO’s presentation of its Of course, Dr Mahathir has re- ‘Malay agenda’ couldn’t answer tired, and, before that, he’d de- What’s New About a major riddle that bedevils not spaired that he’d failed the Islam Hadhari? simply the ‘Malay share of the Malays, or perhaps the Malays economy’ but the national had failed him. Maybe no one lis- Other than that, has any new vi- economy itself. How did the tens to him any more. sion emerged after Dr Mahathir’s Melayu Baru, so confident before departure except perhaps ‘Islam the East Asian crisis of 1997, be- Yet, shouldn’t so frank a criticism Hadhari’? come non-competitive after the from the NEP’s best known de- crisis? fender and most dedicated prac- At the March general election, PAS titioner have altered the complex- was UMNO’s only serious target, Lest anyone accuse me of stirring ion of UMNO debates over re- and PAS had staked its electoral a hornet’s nest, hear this response structuring targets and quotas? fortunes on its ‘Islamic State’ goal. from Dr Mahathir. He said sim- Or are we condemned to listen to Thus, UMNO could logically ply that if the Malays kept selling ‘debates’ that spar inconclusively credit its victory to a vision of Is- off their assets, the restructuring around metaphors – crutches, lam that was more reassuring for targets couldn’t be met even if wheelchairs, and hornet’s nest – most voters than PAS’s ‘Islamic NEP were to be extended ‘a thou- or speak vaguely but at times State Document’. sand years’. alarmingly about the ‘dangers’ facing an entire race? Even so, it’s doubtful UMNO’s Dr Mahathir wasn’t just being victory over PAS in the East Coast rhetorical. He added a point not If someone genuinely wants to do owed much to religious appeals publicised by any political figure something other than exhort oth- per se. While some PAS quarters before. Had the Malay beneficiar- ers, why isn’t there an earnest re- have reacted negatively toward ies of government projects and assessment of past and present Islam Hadhari, other observers contracts held onto their assets, practices and a full-scale audit of have remarked that Islam Hadhari Dr Mahathir observed, the ‘Malay corporate and government fail- contained ‘nothing new’, concep- share of the economy’ would have ures in privatization? tually or substantively. Aliran Monthly : Vol.24(9) Page 4 Whether or not that’s true, Islam civil liberties and human rights at which very little has been written, Hadhari was politically ‘new’ in home when around the world let alone debated. at least three ways. people have been repelled by the Abu Ghraib torture of untried pris- Had Anwar succeeded Dr First, Islam Hadhari replaced, or oners? Mahathir, the transition in UMNO was seen to replace, Dr leadership would have involved Mahathir’s Islamisation policies Once again nothing was debated a clear generational change. that had worn rather thin during along those lines. Smooth as it has been, the the 1998–99 crisis. Mahathir-Abdullah transition is Was that because there had to be something of a half-generational Second, Islam Hadhari offered a a pause in UMNO’s discussions change, waiting for Abdullah’s ‘moderate’ and ‘progressive’ Is- of matters Islamic after Dr succession by someone younger lam in a time of heightened global Mahathir’s slashing attacks on to complete the process. suspicion of anything ‘Islamist’. ‘international Jewry’ and ‘Islamic terrorism’ during the 2003 Gen- Here, the ‘hidden text’ of the 2004 And, third, with Malaysia presid- eral Assembly? UMNO General Assembly comes ing over the Organization of the into its own. Islamic Conference, Islam Or was it because Islam Hadhari, Hadhari allowed Abdullah to in- for UMNO delegates, only means The party elections resulted in the ternationalise UMNO’s religious the party should be taken to be unexpected rise, return or defeat credentials beyond their former more acceptable than PAS in mat- of several UMNO veterans.