We must stick together to face challenges of the new year. Malaysia needs us.

IT’S wishful thinking, perhaps, but then it’s still a wish that many Malaysians, we are sure, would cherish for Malaysia.

Wouldn’t it be nice if some of our politicians would stop talking about mono-ethnicity and in some cases, openly saying the community, which they claim to represent, should just disregard the interests of other races?

When these politicians sow distrust and suspicion among Malaysians, using race and religion, it can only spell trouble.

Worse, when low-level party apparatchiks stir these racial rants, and actually get away with it, without even a slap on the wrist, then we know that the wrong signals have been sent.

Something is fundamentally flawed when we cannot differentiate between right and wrong.

When public institutions of higher learning are allowed to hold seminars questioning the faiths of other Malaysians and no convincing explanations are forthcoming, can we be blamed if we feel there is a sense of injustice, and for that matter, lack of protection for the minorities?

For sure, we can do without such issues in the coming months when Malaysians need to come together, as one nation and one people, more than ever.

Malaysia needs the reconciliation of all races, all religions and all cultures. We need to pull back and ponder the meaning of power sharing – the very basic political principle that has glued this wonderful nation together.

The majority community has to reaffirm the plural fabric of Malaysia and to reemphasise that a multi-racial society is an asset. The continued push for mono-ethnicity and mono-religion will destroy this nation.

On the flip side, the minority Malaysians have to appreciate that power sharing is two-way. They have to accept the political reality. The fact is that the Chinese and Indian communities are shrinking fast while the Malays have grown swiftly.

To put it bluntly, the day will come when the Chinese community drops to 20% and less. When this country achieved independence, the number stood at over 35%.

With 222 parliamentary seats, there are only 35-38 Chinese-majority seats, and no Chinese tsunami is sufficient to overthrow the ruling party.

Without Malay support, any plan to dump Umno will never work, and anyone harbouring that hope should just wake up.

That could be clearly seen at the Bersih 4 rally when the majority of Malays stayed away. Those who strenuously pointed out the presence of Malays were merely lying to themselves, with their unconvincing spin.

Without PAS, the harsh reality is that PKR and Amanah could not rally the Malays. That is certainly telling how these parties would fare, except perhaps for Selangor and Penang, in the coming year.

And when the Chinese voters chose PAS candidates, including even personalities with extreme stands, they probably did not expect PAS and Umno top leaders to sit together on the same stage.

How can Chinese leaders in the Barisan Nasional now tell Umno not to work with PAS when in the 2013 general election, a huge number of Chinese voters supported PAS, at the behest of the DAP?

After kicking PAS out of the now defunct Pakatan Rakyat, PKR is scrambling to woo PAS in the presence of DAP.

Both Umno and PAS are now looking inward at their core supporters, and the other communities are now perceived as being less impactful in the numbers game where Muslim voters will increase in the coming years.

The country could well become more conservative and Islamic, let’s be frank, and certainly for liberal and progressive Malaysians, it is a disturbing trend.

The moderate forces have to step up to push back the waves of right-wing nationalism and religious forces.

It may seem like a paradox but Umno leaders are saying they have no choice but to look for alternate political support elsewhere, if they are spurned, and this can only lead to a more fragmented plural Malaysia.

If the political trend is gloomy, many of us are looking at the coming economic year with some apprehension. After all, we have been cautioned that the challenges for 2016 would be even tougher.

The price of oil has already dropped below US$40 and this certainly spells trouble. The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Wahid Omar has said the Government will review Budget 2016 if oil prices continue to stay low.

The Government had planned for the Budget based on the assumption that Brent Crude would average at US$48 per barrel for next year but at midday on Thursday, it was trading around US$37 per barrel.

“The Government will need to optimise the country’s expansion plans if oil prices continue to stay low,” Wahid said. That includes reviewing some of the projects it has announced.

I remember asking a top official in October when Malaysia would be in trouble, and he said, if the price of oil reached US$43. Well, we have now gone below that.

To put it simply, if you are the head of the household, you now have less money to spend. Obviously, you have to review your family needs and that is precisely what the nation is going through. We cannot live like we used to, whether at the level of a family or as a nation.

Malaysia won’t suffer an economic crisis but we are in for a tough time as we face the impact of the continuing oil price slide and its effect on the value of our ringgit.

Most companies in Malaysia have remained operational and people continue to have jobs but operating costs have to be cut as revenue and profits tumble.

Employees can help to keep their jobs by postponing demands and being more productive. We all need to help ourselves.

All this may sound gloomy, as we celebrate this holiday season, but we need to keep our wishes in check.

Bangladeshi and Yemeni Americans join supporters to protest against Islamic State and political and religious extremism during a rally in the Detroit suburb of Hamtramck, Michigan December 11, 2015. – REUTERS

DONALD Trump is a serious mental case. It will not be wrong to label the front-runner Republican presidential hopeful as an extremist.

He is no different from the other religious extremists, whether Muslim, Hindu or Christian, who use religion, fear and ignorance to pursue their political ambitions.

His call to ban Muslims from entering the United States of America is the most outrageous suggestion I have ever heard.

It is one thing to be racist but how on earth is the United States – should Trump, God forbid, become the president – going to enforce such a ruling?

Since religion is not stated on the passport, is he going to ban travellers on the basis of their Arab sounding names? Trump would be surprised to know that most West Asians have similar sounding names, even if they are not Muslims.

Or he is going to identify the Muslims by the way they are dressed, with their headgear and robes, or simply because they keep a beard or goatee?

It may be news to him but many Arab Christians do wear traditional garbs. They cover up themselves for simple practical reasons – to protect themselves from the sand in the desert as well as to follow the dictates of a conservative society.

I have travelled extensively to Arab countries and even to Jerusalem and as such, I am able to share some educated opinion from my observations and conversations with the people.

And let’s not even talk about Muslims from other parts of the world who do not fit into the typical Muslim image of the West. China has an estimated Muslim population of more than 20 million and the US immigration will surely have a headache if even a fraction of them decide to go to the US for a holiday.

And what about the Western-educated, English-speaking Muslims, who can easily fit into US society?

Last week, Trump became a global news item when he called for the barring of all Muslims from entering the United States.

“Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on,” a campaign press release said.

Trump, who has previously called for surveillance on mosques and reportedly said he was open to establishing a database for all Muslims living in the US, made his latest controversial call in a news release.

His message comes in the wake of a deadly mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, by suspected IS sympathisers and the day after President Barack Obama asked the country not to “turn against one another out of fear”.

The problem with the likes of extremist politicians like Trump is that each time the IS terrorists carry out a brutal campaign, such remarks are a form of oxygen to these people. It is the kind of reaction that they are looking for, which gives their campaign a far wider reach than they could hope from a localised attack.

The coordinated Paris attacks in Novem­ber involving three suicide bombers saw 130 people killed and 368 others injured. IS has claimed responsibility.

The attacks, which saw seven attackers killed, have been described as the deadliest on France since World War Two. In January, also in Paris, 17 people were killed in an attack by terrorist groups.

The saddest part of these IS attacks is that they give rise to Islamophobia, which leads to anger and suspicions against innocent Muslims.

It also provides right-wing politicians a fresh voice to pursue their campaigns while moderates find themselves losing their appeal as the latter would be perceived as being too ready to compromise and accommodate.

Individuals in Europe who have been sympathetic to the refugees have suddenly found that their citizens want the borders closed and that the refugees are no longer welcomed.

This may be something that IS wants. An analyst in the Wall Street Journal said IS’s objective is clear: to try to bait Western societies into an indiscriminate backlash against millions of Muslims living in Europe and the US. It is a backlash that, if successfully provoked, would disrupt these Muslims’ bonds with their countries of citizenship and residence and – as is it happened with Iraq’s Sunnis – validate the Islamic State’s claim to be their only protector.

“IS thrives on polarisation,” Hassan Hassan, an expert on the group at the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London, was quoted as saying.

“They want people to say they hate us, and so we hate them. This is the foundation of their success.”

If Trump’s call has gained traction, in France, the far-right National Front has reportedly received a major boost following the Paris attack, becoming the country’s ­largest party in regional elections. Reports have said that it is no longer beyond the realm of possibility that the Front’s leader, Marine Le Pen, may become president in 2017. Some opinion polls have placed her ahead of the incumbent.

The emergence of such rightist leaders in Europe against equally Islamist groups in West Asian and other Muslim countries can only spell trouble for the world.

If the IS succeeds in carrying out more attacks in the West in the coming months, something that terrorism experts and counter-terrorism officials say is a near-certainty, such polarisation is only likely to intensify, the report pointed out.

Extremist Western groups and individuals will become more popular while the moderates will find themselves discredited, and that will be sad for the world.

The voices of reason and compromise will be drowned out if Western countries conti­nue to be targeted by IS.

The saddest victims will also include Muslims who have assimilated into these Western countries and have accepted the Western way of life.

IS does not help Islam and Muslims one single bit.

We need to give credit where credit is due. And when good leaders shine, we should acknowledge it.

A GENTLEMAN politician – that is what International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed is – and is certainly an exemplary one, too.

Not many of our politicians are prepared to apologise when they make a mistake, thinking an admittance of a flaw is a weakness.

The ability to say sorry, unknown to some politicians with inflated egos, is a strength.

Instead, they prefer to go on the defensive, and often blame the media for purportedly being misquoted. Of late, some of them even play the racial card, claiming they are being targeted because of their ethnicity.

But our salute to Mustapa, or Tok Pa, as he is affectionately known, for apologising after coming under fire for making certain remarks on Tuesday that were considered sexist.

At the first official function held at the new MITI building, the minister reportedly described the new building as an “inexperienced virgin” when compared to the old building – home to the ministry for the past 30 years – as an old wife who is no longer exciting and who deserves to be discarded.

The off-colour joke amused some people but others did not find it funny. Like a true gentleman, which even the opposition readily declared, Mustapa issued an apology and expressed regret for his indiscretion.

“I humbly apologise for offending anyone, including women, with my inappropriate analogy at the event,” he said in a press statement.

“As head of staff, a husband and a father, I always respect women’s contributions to the country and to myself and I hold them in high regard. I regret what happened and this will be a lesson for me. I hope the matter will not be prolonged.”

Even DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang, who is ever ready to pounce on Barisan Nasional MPs, issued a statement acknowledging the swift stand taken by Mustapa.

“Kudos to Mustapa for admitting his fault and having the courage to apologise. We only wish that all of his colleagues in Umno and BN had his gentlemanly qualities,” he said.

“However, if we were to search for someone who this week exhibited an attitude that contrasted with Mustapa’s, we would have to look towards the opposition.”

PKR vice-president Tian Chua, despite being embroiled in the Nurul Izzah-Jacel Kiram controversy, has refused to acknow­ledge that the issue is indeed serious.

It has been reported that Tian Chua alleged­ly arranged the meeting between the two. Tian Chua outraged Malaysians when he said that members of the Kiram clan were not terrorists.

This is despite a statement by the late Sultan of Sulu, Jamalul Kiram III, that he ordered the Lahad Datu intrusion in 2013, which saw 10 Malaysians killed.

But back to Mustapa, who would have learned by now that telling jokes is not his forte. He should leave it to the professionals like Harith Iskandar and Douglas Lim.

It was during Mustapa’s time as the Higher Education Minister that Tan Sri Dr Rafiah Salim was appointed as vice-chancellor at Universiti Malaya, making her the first female vice-chancellor in this country.

He also appointed non-Malays to key positions in universities, such as Prof Dr Khaw Lake Tee, a woman, and Prof Dr Tai Shzee Yew as the deputy vice-chancellors for Universiti Malaya and Universiti Sains Malaysia respectively. There is also Prof Dr Saran Kaur Gill, a deputy vice-chancellor at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.

Mustapa, a believer in meritocracy, pushed for these appointments when he took office, believing talent should be recognised, regardless of gender and race.

It has to be pointed out that the current secretary-general in his ministry, Tan Sri Rebecca Fatima Sta Maria, is certainly one of the most respected civil servants.

But what sets Mustapa apart from many politicians is his preference to be low-key, preferring not to be accompanied by an entourage of officials.

It is well known that he often takes the ERL from Sentral to the airport alone. Don’t expect him to buy expensive meals for you, as he is well known for his thriftiness. He has consistently proven that he can get himself elected into Parliament and in the party leadership by being a “no frills” politician.

In a state like Kelantan, where the voters hate smug politicians who show off their power and wealth, Mustapa is regarded as Barisan’s most effective opposition leader to PAS despite his lack of religious credentials.

At his Jeli parliamentary constituency, he makes it a point to personally teach students at the weekly English classes whenever he can find time.

Mustapa also does not believe in spewing racist remarks to win votes, preferring to let the voters judge his work. Affable and well-liked, Umno certainly can do with more politicians like Mustapa.

There is another one that comes to mind and that would be Datuk Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah, another gentleman politician.

At a time when taking an anti-establishment stand is popular, we should give credit where credit is due and certainly when there are good ministers who stand out, we must be prepared to acknowledge these gentlemen.

They are human beings with strengths and weaknesses, and they, too, like to be encouraged and inspired, so they can do better.

Whatever our political allegiance, Malaysians must remember our men in blue who died for us.

SERIOUSLY, what was PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar thinking when she met up with Jacel Kiram, the daughter of the self-proclaimed Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, who orchestrated the 2013 intrusion into Sabah.

In that attack, an armed force of more than 200 men raided Lahad Datu in support of a separatist movement led by Jamalul Kiram, which claims Sabah as part of the Sulu Sultanate.

Two Malaysian civilians and 10 members of our armed forces were killed during a two-week-long military campaign against the raiders.

The MP for Lembah Pantai, in defending herself, has said that Jacel was one of the 15 guests invited to a meeting hosted by the Council on Philippine affairs and the Asian Institute for Democracy, the office of the City Mayor of Manila and the office of the Vice-President of the Philippines.

Nurul has now said that she had not sought out any meeting with Jacel and had not made her acquaintance before.

But here’s where we detect the holes in her story – there were only 15 people in the meeting and surely everyone would have an idea of everyone in the room. We are talking 15 people, not 150 people here.

It is almost a standard practice, at such meetings, that the participants would be formally introduced to one another and a short resume of the participants would be distri­buted to all ahead of the meeting.

But of course, if we are to accept the excuses put up by Nurul and her PKR colleague Tian Chua, everyone had no idea about anyone else in the room.

We are expected to believe they were two blur Members of Parliament from Malaysia, who kept to themselves and were only interested in talking about freeing Anwar Ibrahim and nothing else.

If that be the case, the least Nurul could have done was to snub Jacel, or at least avoid her. Then the controversial photographs of the two of them together would not have emerged.

Jacel is a known face in the Philippines, having the distinction of being among the first senatorial aspirants from the United Nationalist Alliance to file their certificates of candidacy for next year’s national elections.

At the height of the Lahad Datu intrusion, she was the spokesperson to the media and even opened a Twitter account to discuss the intrusion with her opening tweet statement – “Long Live the Sultanate of Sulu!”

By now, we have seen the pictures taken of Nurul and Jacel, both smiling, and the latter, seemingly star-struck, or seeking to score a political point, uploading the pictures on her Facebook.

Tian Chua has expressed regret that they had caused uneasiness among the people, pointing out that Nurul had already apologised to the families of the victims, but he also reportedly asked, “So why are we playing up this issue?”

I was there in Lahad Datu when our men put their lives on the line to defend the sovereignty of our land. They died fighting for Malaysians and Malaysia.

I can still remember clearly the day I arrived at Kampung Simunul, the sprawling village on stilts, on the outskirts of Semporna. It is the largest of the squatter colonies scattered around the coastline with its maze of rickety walkways,

I had taken a one-and-a-half hour journey by road from Lahad Datu to Semporna, a distance of some 140km – it was here that six intruders and six of our policemen were killed in a fierce shootout.

Their bodies had been left untouched for three days. When I arrived, the dried splattered blood, close to where the bodies were found, was still very visible.

Walking towards the abandoned home where a policeman was beheaded, I saw what appeared to be remains of human tissue on the wooden entrance.

The thought that two of our men in blue were beheaded while another had his eyes gouged out sent shivers down my spine.

Walking inside the house, I thought of the horrible and cruel acts that were carried out by these heartless militants. I felt angry and sad at the same time. I wondered how human beings could carry out such acts.

The television set had clear traces of blood, which horrified me. The walls of the home were adorned with family photographs, like most ordinary homes, except that something extraordinarily evil had taken place within.

What I saw has remained etched on my mind and for sure, I remain bitter and angry that such blatant intrusion could actually take place.

We are supposed not to make an issue out of this? We are supposed to keep quiet when our law makers get chummy with a leader of a group who attacked us?

Now, try explaining to the families of these policemen who strayed into the village and never walked out alive.

There’s something personal here too. My colleague Normimie Dun, a photographer, was in fact shot at by the intruders in the course of carrying out her duties. Fortunately for her, she managed to escape uninjured.

Surely, whatever our political allegiance, we cannot accept this. The expression of regret does not seem genuine when threats of legal action are subsequently made against those who have expressed their displeasure.

Malaysia must not forget her heroes who were killed and, for sure, we won’t forget those who staged the attack in Lahad Datu.

Raining on their parade: Malaysian artistic gymnast Tan Ing Yueh (centre) together with silver medallist Ava Lorein Verdeflor of the Philippines and bronze medalist Farah Ann posing with their medals for the women’s uneven bars category. It’s mind-boggling that some of our Members of Parliament can actually suggest that certain sports attire worn by our national athletes are too sexy and could lead to promiscuity.

Malaysia wants to host big international sporting events but it’s sad that some of us are more interested in our athletes’ attire.

IT’S mind-boggling that some of our Members of Parliament can actually suggest that certain sports attire worn by our ­national athletes are too sexy and could lead to promiscuity.

Most Malaysians have never heard of the PKR MP for Lumut, Mohamad Imran Abdul Hamid, until last week.

The MP said, in the august House itself, that when athletes wear “sexy and arousing clothes” in the company of both sexes, it could lead to illicit sex.

Needless to say, the same line of reasoning was made by Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff, the PAS MP for Rantau Panjang, who urged the Government to mandate a syariah-compliant dress code for female Muslim athletes.

Her colleague, Nik Mohamad Abduh Nik Abdul Aziz (PAS-Pasir Mas), also urged the Government to take bolder steps in regula­ting the attire of athletes.

The last time the sports attire of our ­athletes became an issue was in June when national gymnast Farah Ann Abdul Hadi won the gold medal at the SEA Games.

Instead of congratulating her for bringing glory to the country, there were critics who were more interested in condemning her attire.

But most Malaysians came out to support her, including Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

“In gymnastics, Farah wowed the judges and brought home gold. In her deeds, only the Almighty judges her. Not you. Leave our athletes alone,” wrote Khairy on his Twitter account then.

True to his consistency, Khairy replied in the Dewan Rakyat last week that athletes can choose what they want to wear, as long as it complies with sports regulations.

“As long as it does not contravene the ­federal sport bodies (regulations), we allow them to modify their attire (to their needs). We leave it to them,” he said.

It’s a quick way for these MPs to get themselves into the news but the statistics are there to show that in the supposedly conservative east coast states, especially Kelantan, sex offences and drug abuse cases continue to be the among the highest in the country.

Many of these rape cases usually involved offenders who were known to the victims and certainly not due to how the victims were dressed.

In Kelantan, a staggering 91 rape cases were reported in the state in the first five months of 2014 of which 88 have been solved, said Kelantan police.

Kelantan police chief Datuk Jalaluddin Abdul Rahman reportedly said 90 indivi­duals were detained in connection with the cases.

He said that during the corresponding period in 2013, 92 rape cases were reported.

Jalaluddin pointed out that the police had resolved 214 of the 225 rape cases throughout 2013 with the detention of 161 indivi­duals.

In fact, Bernama reported that rape cases in Kelantan had been climbing steadily each year. Two hundred and twenty-eight cases were filed in 2007, rising to 563 in 2008, and 656 in 2010.

This is not even taking into account the unreported cases. To make matters worse, many victims were children as young as 12 years old.

For rational Malaysians, what has been happening in Kelantan is a symptom of the deteriorating status of women and gender relations in Kelantan.

Beyond religious puritanism, which PAS MPs want to project, the party needs to ask itself why besides the high rape reports for the past five years, statistics show that Kelantan repeatedly scores the highest incidence of rape, drug abuse and HIV positive cases in the country.

As one columnist correctly wrote, “The imposition of a religious edict that, among other things, has called for gender segregation in public places, has demonised ancient cultural traditions like the wayang kulit and mak yong, and even tried to forbid female hairdressers from attending to male clients, only serves to underscore the incongruence between the sanctimonious genuflections of morality politics and the dynamics of real community life.”

Can our politicians please leave our sports personalities alone?

Today, sadly, the sports environment is in danger of being destroyed by those whose minds seem forever fixated on race, religion and sex.

Malaysia is playing host to the 2017 Sea Games and the Sports Minister has already declared that “We are the Champions”. It is a clarion call for us, as a host nation, to emerge at the top.

The last time Malaysia played host and was at the top was in 2001.

Khairy told the athletes who are about to start the first phase of training, “Believe in yourself. Behave like a champion.”

It is commendable for Khairy to make a motivational speech like this.

But his other challenge is to stop those people who seem bent on getting Malaysia in the news for all the wrong reasons, even in the sports arena.

How can we even think of hosting bigger international sporting events when we allow these people to create an impression that Malaysians are more interested in the attire than in the performance of the athletes?

Various kinds of mods with different specifications are available in Vape stores. – Filepic

We should do what’s right for the country – not because we fear losing votes or agitating a section of businessmen.

LET’S face it – it is almost impossible to ban vaping. Don’t even think of it, so there’s really no point in passing yet another law that cannot be enforced.

Likewise, we all know that we cannot stop people from smoking. They know it is hazardous to their health and the people around them, including their family members, who end up being passive smokers because of their habit.

They have seen the horrendous pictures of the effects of smoking, and their habit is also increasingly expensive. Do they even care? Of course, no.

Although smoking has been declared “forbidden” by some religious authorities, it still does not work.

The bottom line is banning vaping is not the answer because those involved in the trade would just go underground or ply their trade online.

The substance would probably be delivered to the homes of customers if outlets continued to be raided or worse, closed.

The only sensible move is to regulate these outlets so that they are subjected to health and local government regulations.

It will also enable the authorities to have a record of how many people are involved in the business.

According to reports, vaping is defined as the act of inhaling water vapour through a personal vaporiser (the vaper’s tobacco-free version of the traditional cigarette).

It is regarded as an alternative to smoking, supposedly without several of the adverse effects of the latter: no bad smell and bad breath, no cigarette burns, no more dirty ashtrays, less likelihood of getting cancer and other smoking-affiliated illnesses.

A report said that vaping is simply the name given to the use of a vaporiser. The process involves applying heat to a liquid which generates vapour.

The user, called a vaper (smoker in traditional cigarette circles) gets their nicotine hit through inhaling the almost odourless vapour (smoking equivalent of ‘smoke’).

The dispute in Malaysia is clear – nicotine is used in vaping, as it is found in e-cigarettes, and the law is clear in giving the Health Ministry the power to act under the 1952 Poisons Act and 1983 Food Act.

Vape shops are currently not licensed to sell any products which contain nicotine, and like it or not the Health Ministry has the powers to act against those selling nicotine without a licence.

From the Health Ministry’s point of view, while the health risks of smoking are well established, the dangers involved in using e-cigarettes have not been conclusively determined.

The more apparent risk comes from users rigging their own vaporisers using diverse components and without proper research, as seen from incidents involving exploding e-cigarettes, it is said.

Last week, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam announced a new committee to address controversies arising from vaping and its effects on users, which include young people and reportedly, school children.

I am always wary of committees and more sub-committees, which would come up with voluminous reports that no one is sure would be read or just left to gather dust. It looks like a move to delay making a decision because the Government is not sure what it should do.

Like many things in this country, which quickly becomes politicised, even vaping has become a political hot potato.

One would have expected the Government to make a decision based on facts, like there is no conclusive evidence that vaping is harmful, or that nicotine is not allowed to be sold by vape shops.

But no – Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob has happily announced that young entrepreneurs would be encouraged to expand their vape business, and spur vape brewers to be creative in developing new flavours without resorting to the use of banned substances.

“I want to see vape products from Malaysia being recognised worldwide, and what is more pleasing is seeing results from the creativity of young Malays and bumiputras.”

The Umno minister’s comment came after several bumiputra groups lodged a police report yesterday warning that the crackdown on vape could cost Barisan Nasional over a million votes in the next general election. The group also demanded for Dr Subramaniam’s resignation over the raids that have taken place so far.

It is baffling – that a simple vaping controversy has to be seen from a racial perspective. Well, if one is looking for a scapegoat, there is one – a Chinaman, too.

Vaping, according to reports, was invented by Hon Lik, a Chinese pharmacist from Shenyang, north east China, who took inspiration from the death of his father from cancer, as a result of excessive smoking.

He called this device a Ruyan, which loosely translated means “like smoke” and made US$73mil in 2013 after he sold off the patent rights to a UK company.

Sabri is right in suggesting that instead of calling for a ban, the industry should be regulated. That should be what a committee comprising various groups should do. Let’s look at how other nations are handling this issue.

But please, it is totally unnecessary to use the racial undertone. Do study the issue at hand in a rational manner.

If more and more people are giving up smoking for vaping, then it’s a notch lower and anything that is regarded as less harmful should certainly be seen in a positive light.

If you can’t get rid of cigarette companies, then why would we want to ban vaping? Surely, cigarettes are a bigger killer.

Let’s do what is right for the country, Malaysians and businesses – and not because we fear losing a million votes or agitating the Malay businessmen. As they said, don’t let the smoke get in your eyes.

Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH) chairman Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim at press conference. – Filepic

We may have gotten off from different ships but we are in the same boat now. We need to row in the same direction together or we sink together.

LIKE most journalists, I laughed loudly at the “balik tongsan” remark made by Baling MP Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim against an opposition MP in the Dewan Rakyat last week.

His words were not funny. In fact, the remark could be construed as racist and derogatory, but it was humorous to many because it was made by of all persons, Abdul Azeez himself.

Abdul Azeez speaks excellent Tamil, and it is no secret that his ancestors came from India. Not much difference from the ancestors of the MPs he insulted. His forefathers also landed in Malaya by boat.

In fact, he is Indian but of course, the Federal Constitution defines a Malay as a person who professes the religion of Islam, habitually speaks the Malay language, and who conforms to Malay customs.

Malay citizens who convert out of Islam, for example, are no longer considered Malay under the law and hence lose the bumiputra privileges afforded to Malays.

So Abdul Azeez is a Malay, technically and legally, but no one, including Abdul Azeez, can erase one’s roots with regard ethnicity and ancestry. Well, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is open about his ancestry, acknowledging it could be traced to Kerala in India.

Until now, most of us wondered what led Abdul Azeez to lose his cool and make the “go back to China” remark he shouldn’t have made because he is actually a very affable person with very good public relations skills.

Most of us find it hard to turn down his regular personal phone calls to editors requesting for coverage for his humanitarian work.

Even when no reporter turns up because of logistical reasons, as his efforts are mostly in the rural areas, Abdul Azeez continues to make his calls.

That’s Abdul Azeez for you. He lacks the finesse that some politicians have, and even his Masters in Business Administration degree from the unrecognised Preston University USA has earned him some sniggers.

The university’s office is said to be registered in Pakistan but Azeez said he studied in Wyoming. Even as the status of his degree is questioned and laughed at, no one can question his organisational and management skills. There’s really no need for Preston University to appear on his resume.

Earlier last week, he strangely described a woman MP as pondan (transvestite) when the latter was speaking on the deaths of the orang asli children in Gua Musang and raising concerns on the subject matter when Abdul Azeez interrupted. It’s baffling.

Then, Abdul Azeez, who is the Tabung Haji chairman, went on to insult an MP by calling him apek or old man and told him to balik tongsan (go back to China). It’s no different, really, from calling the person a pendatang or immigrant.

He may have been upset with the antics of the DAP MPs, and out of frustration, he must have thrown caution to the wind and blasted the opposition MPs.

Let’s not think that the DAP MPs are angels as they have made equally uncouth remarks in the Dewan Rakyat.

But two wrongs don’t make a right. Such use of derogatory words by people within and outside the political system should be viewed very strongly by the leadership. When no action is taken, the leadership is sending very wrong signals to the people.

It gives rise to accusations of selective prosecution and double standards. Something is terribly wrong when MPs still call fifth and sixth generation Chinese and Indians in Malaysia, who are rightful citizens, pendatang or ask them to go back to China and India.

It cannot be denied that race relations have taken a sharp dip following the 2013 general election when the majority of Chinese voted for the opposition.

There is still a deep sense of hurt among many Umno politicians who found it hard to accept that Chinese voters would vote for PAS. They could accept the Chinese voting for the DAP but to back the Islamist party, they are still shaking their heads in disbelief.

So, many have asked that if the Chinese were prepared to back PAS in 2013, at the behest of the DAP, then what is wrong if Umno works with PAS now?

The 2013 polls showed that the shrinking Chinese electorate, even with the return of many overseas voters, could not result in any change of government. The Bersih 4 protest also showed that if PAS stayed out, as it did, PKR could not rally the Malay crowd.

The reality is that the Chinese cannot change the equation. With only about 38 Chinese majority seats among the 222 parliament seats, the community ought to come to terms with the political reality and perhaps be more politically strategic.

It will take some time before we stop seeing everything from a racial and religious perspective, as the nation still does. It has gone worse, in fact.

Malaysians must come together as a people. For this to happen, the moderates must work harder to emphasise the relevance and importance of commonality. We must not allow the extremists to derail moderation.

Perhaps, those who still talk of balik tongsan should be reminded of what Martin Luther King Jr said – “We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.”

And certainly as Malaysia navigates through the current choppy economic currents, we need to remind ourselves even more that we are all in the same boat. We either row in the same direction together, or we sink together.

The greatest enemies of Malaysia are out there and not within. We must watch what we say and what we do to win back plus points for the country. The real fight is at the capital markets.

SOME politicians are known to suffer from the delusion of grandeur. They have the fixed, false belief that they possess superior qualities such as genius, fame, omnipotence or wealth.

Psychologists say people with a delusion of grandeur often have the conviction of having some great but unrecognised talent or insight.

In Malaysia, not only do we have such politicians, but they also get into the news when they talk about the so-called “imaginary enemies” who are out to create havoc in the country.

These has-been politicians create a potent brew in seeking to make a comeback by waving the racist card.

Last week, National Silat Federation chairman and red shirt rally organiser Tan Sri Mohd Ali Rustam warned that the martial arts group is “ready to go to war” if ever challenged.

The former Malacca chief minister and a former Umno vice-president reminded the Malays that they must live with “dignity” and that “we want to send out a statement that Malays with the art of silat are still in Kuala Lumpur”.

“We do not want to go to war, but if they want war, we will go to war,” he was quoted as saying, adding that Malays were “insulted”, referring to the four Bersih rallies since 2007, which had all called for electoral reforms.

Pesaka was one of the main organisers of the red shirt rally on Sept 16, which was held to counter the Bersih 4 rally as it had suppo­sedly insulted the integrity of the Malay race.

If the warning was meant to get himself into the news, the veteran politician has surely succeeded but it surely didn’t do any good for unity in this country.

The last time he got himself into the headlines was in 2009, when he ran for deputy president and was disqualified after being found guilty of money politics.

Two years later, he celebrated his son’s marriage in front of 130,000 guests in a sports centre, which lasted eight hours, and generated a hefty food bill. It became a controversy naturally.

It must have been challenging for Rustam to try to claw himself back to the national limelight but again, we are not sure if it’s for the right reason.

For one, nobody is challenging anyone. Ordinary Malaysians are too busy trying to earn a living, paying off our bills in an increasingly inflationary environment, and coping with the depreciating ringgit.

Even those who have not bothered to check the daily prices of crude oil are doing so now as they know it has the biggest impact on our ringgit.

All Malaysians, regardless of our race and religion, are in this together, facing the choppy economic waters ahead.

Wake up, stop dreaming and stop imagining things. The greatest enemies are outside Malaysia, not fellow Malaysians.

We should be worried that our rivals, particularly our neighbours, are telling investors that they should stop investing in Malaysia because of our unstable economic and political environment. Any form of racial rhetoric, such as what Rustam said, isn’t helping us.

If it helps, I hope the organisers of InvestMalaysia, the annual Bursa Malaysia Berhad event for the global investing audience, will give Rustam the platform to make the keynote address.

Many people are working hard to showcase the diversity of Malaysia’s capital market and getting key multinational companies and global champions to drive economic growth within the Asean region.

At business gatherings, we all use our networking to impress upon our listeners that Malaysia is relevant and a prime attraction. We stress that we are not a banana republic with tribal and sectarian issues and that we are not doing the war dance and clubbing each other.

Malaysia has a sophisticated economic structure and whatever our weaknesses and failings, we need to move on next year.

The price of oil will be unstable over the next few years and we need to look at new sources of revenue to fill up our coffers. We cannot operate like we used to before.

If we have committed ourselves to taking up moderation to the international platform, we also need to practise it at the local level.

It will be seen as mere empty talk, if not double talk, if we preach moderation to the world, showcasing ourselves as a moderate Muslim country status, but allow those who preach racism locally to go untouched. In fact, they do not even get a slap on the wrist.

Malaysians of all races have been politically critical and, for sure, have been insulting each other for decades.

Umno and PAS politicians have gone for each other’s throats, in much more hostile situations. Fights and scuffles have even broken out.

Likewise, MCA-Gerakan and DAP have been slugging each other, simply because they can’t see eye to eye on many issues, and they also need to score political points.

Let’s admit it – political finesse and the ability to articulate the fine debating points have been never been the qualities of our politicians. Most times, they just shout at each other and, seriously, insult each other in Parliament. Westminster-style debates don’t exist at the Dewan Rakyat.

In my time covering Parliament, I have heard MPs making uncouth remarks, from calling fellow MPs “animals” to outrageous sexist remarks, forgetting that they, too, have mothers, wives and daughters.

Some opposition lawyer-politicians, after hurling insults, just want to get kicked out of Parliament so they can go to the courts next door to handle their cases.

Malaysians have spent too much unproductive hours on politics.

There are some political issues that we cannot resolve. This reality has to be accepted, if not managed realistically, so we can all move on next year.

We also need to stop being insecure, seeing shadows when there are none. It is also crucial that our leadership should be confident enough not to rely on these fringe groups that are taking advantage of the situa­tion.

Putting on silat or kung fu clothes, and waving the keris and sword, are only good for action movies. In modern life, the real fight is waged at the capital markets with traders, in jackets and ties, looking at their monitors.

Let us all get real – we have no time for a costume party.

Let’s face the tough times ahead as a nation. It’s going to be a rough ride, so please don’t make things worse.

THE Prime Minister, who is also Finance Minister, has always made it a point to meet journalists to give the outline of his Budget speech a day before he delivers it.

It is an off-the-record session where he emphasises the salient points and allows free flow of questions and answers after that.

This year, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak started the session with a straightforward comment. Looking at the journalists, he said 2016 would be a challenging year. Then, he corrected himself, saying that would be an understatement. It would be a tough year.

The country’s economic fundamentals may still be strong but the reality is that the prices of oil and commodities have taken a beating while the advanced economies, including China, have slowed down.

No one would have expected the collapse of the oil market a year ago. The Budget then was made on the assumption that the price of crude oil would be US$100 a barrel but as it dropped, adjustments were made.

But the price of crude oil has continued to be unstable. Late Friday evening, after the PM had delivered his speech, the United States had an upbeat report that the price of oil was holding steady, reportedly finding support from brighter economic data and a global stock market rally after the European Central Bank signalled more stimulus ­measures.

A report said the positive tone has offset persistent concerns over a glut in global crude oil and refined product supplies that have battered the energy market for over a year.

Benchmark Brent crude oil was 8 cents higher at US$48.16 a barrel by 0700 ET after settling up 23 cents in the previous session. US crude for December was down 10 cents at US$45.28 a barrel, having risen 18 cents on Thursday.

The ringgit, having plummeted to 17-year lows in recent weeks, rallied to 4.222 ringgit against the dollar on Friday after the Budget was presented, it was reported, while the stock market ended 0.34% higher before Najib finished his speech. But not many are convinced the price of oil will hold in the short term, or even long term. There is also pessimism of the local stock market, given the coming economic outlook.

It has not been an easy Budget to table, and surely it must be the most difficult in his career, as Najib admitted to the media on Thursday. He had to balance the need to mitigate the increased cost of living and, at the same time, keep a tight hold on the purse.

There are some realities that Malaysians have to face – the price of oil has an impact on our ringgit, as we rely heavily on oil for our revenue, and the depreciation of the ringgit has hit us badly.

It is beyond Malaysia’s control and if we think that 2016 is bad, then we have not been realistic as many expect the difficulties to drag until 2017 and even 2018.

There’s no point in blaming the PM for the depreciation of the ringgit and, for that matter, the decision to increase the toll rates which is part of the deals that were inked long before his term. We can be critical of Najib’s administration but we have to be fair. Admittedly, the current domestic political issues have not helped.

The private sector is struggling to keep down its operating expenses as revenue takes a beating. Already employers, including banks, have started to rationalise their work staff, offering mutual separation schemes.

A business magazine reported that our banks have discovered that it is no easy task to achieve the headcount reduction, given the soft job market and economic uncertainty.

One financial firm’s recent exit scheme for its 17,500 workers could not meet its target of 15% or about 2,600 employees, the report said, after the offer closed last month.

Another bank, which announced its MSS in May, also could not achieve its target as only 11% of the staff responded.

The market sentiments have been poor this year and the hugely unpopular Goods and Services Tax (GST), which was introduced in April, has not helped.

But Najib has said that without the GST, the Government would be hard-pressed to pay the salaries of its 1.6 million civil service.

If sales and services tax was retained, collection would have been only RM18bil compared with GST revenue of RM39bil.

The rating agencies would have also downgraded Malaysia’s credit standing, resulting in more costly borrowings for the country and even individual loans, Najib explained.

From the Government’s point of view, the GST has been a saviour although the large majority of Malaysians would probably disagree.

There is also another political reality – the civil service remains the backbone of the administration and has strongly backed the ruling party. Najib on Friday announced an allocation of RM1.1bil for the civil servants’ salary increases.

The faithful rural voters were also rewarded as more funds were given to the rural areas, with money to improve infrastructure in villages, including building houses, water supply and other projects.

Several infrastructure and social incentives were given to Sabah and Sarawak, two states crucial to the Barisan Nasional.

No toll will be collected when the Pan-Borneo Highway is completed in 2021 while an interest-free loan of RM50,000 would be extended to the building of every longhouse unit.

For the middle class, though they would like to have more goodies, the higher tax relief for their children in college as well as for medical expenses of their parents should go down well.

In planning this Budget, the Government has the uncomfortable task of helping the huge rural base, bolster economic growth in the face of a weak global market, and having to raise money to bring down the fiscal deficit.

Malaysians, in general, understand the difficulties ahead. As loyal and patriotic citizens, we would want to play our part but we also want to see financial leakages and wastage be reduced, if not eliminated.

There should be zero tolerance for corruption, which has made doing business more expensive and, worse, inflate the cost of development, especially projects meant for the people.

We want to see Malaysia recover quicker and for sure, we must stop racist politicians, especially those who appear to have the carte blanche to instigate racial sentiments.

They do not help to make Malaysia be seen as a moderate and stable country, which is essential to attract investors. To put it bluntly, they are a complete disgrace to all of us and surely a political liability.

Let’s face the tough times ahead together. It’s going to be a rough ride and we need all the help to go through the choppy waters.

File pic

CALL me old-school if you want, but I was brought up in a generation where I am expected to address somebody older than me as “sir” or “tuan”. If it is a lady, then it has to be “madam” or “puan”, “cik” or “kak”.

If the person happens to be your boss, then it will definitely be “sir” or “boss”. Our teachers too retain their formal titles and continue to be addressed as such long after we leave school. I remain in touch with some of my teachers who have since become friends and although they want me to call them by their names, I still address them as Sir or Mister.

Fast forward to the present and we get the feeling that the young generation of today do not care too much about how they address their elders. Some of us can sense a lack of civility, respect and reverence, which these youths probably consider unimportant values in today’s fast-moving world.

I do not know if it is just poor upbringing, indifference, apathy or just plain laziness. But one contributory factor, especially among the urban young, must surely be the handphone. They seem totally incapable of disconnecting themselves from their mobile devices for even just a minute. Well, to be fair, some mature adults also fall into this category.

We often come across scenarios, in the workplace for example, when young workers simply ignore the presence of their bosses as they remain fixated on their phones. The older colleagues will normally put on a smile and exchange greetings with one another.

So if you are caught in the lift with them, you can forget about them even looking up, let alone wishing you a good morning. And from conversations with friends at different management and corporate levels in various companies, one can conclude that such behaviour is fairly widespread.

I doubt that this is something they pick up only when they start work. Our character development begins much earlier, during our most formative years at home and in school. That is why a common term we use in Malaysia is kurang ajar, which basically means that we have not been taught properly from young.

Some of the more colourful individuals in Malaysia have shown us their true colours in the public sphere in the way they treat their elders and authority. The moment they speak, we begin to wonder if their parents ever taught them anything right.

Maybe my expectations are too high, but I have been advised that the days of according respect to authority are over.

It’s the same with the politicians, I am told. They no longer debate with one another with a certain degree of decorum like the politicians of the past.

Many do not fear our men in blue, the police, and this happens every day on the roads when motorists ignore traffic rules and motorcyclists ride with impunity without helmets and even licences. When I was young, the mere mention of the word mata-mata was enough to get us to behave.

Back to the working world – at the risk of sounding like an old fart, which is a term no longer used that much, the young are simply not worried about losing their jobs. In fact, many do not even want to get a job!

After all, many of these middle-class, urban kids know that their parents will take care of their expenses.

Even before they earn their own money, they already have a car to drive to college. Their parents probably had to borrow money just to afford the downpayment for their first motorcycle or car, and it was usually a used car. The popular Malaysian phrase is second-hand and even third-hand.

When we moved to the Klang Valley to start our careers, we would share a rented house or even a room to keep our expenses down. Some of us would still faithfully send back a small sum of money each month from our pay cheques to our parents back in our hometowns.

I had a former boss who told me he never had a room of his own all his life. Coming from a big family, he had to share his room with his siblings.

At university he had to share a room in the hostel and when he started work, he shared a room to reduce the expenses. When he got married, he had to share the room with his wife, of course. He never had his own bedroom – and when he was away on work, alone, he was in heaven with his rare moment of privacy.

Keeping our jobs has always remained our obsession from the day we walked out of campuses. I have stayed in my job with the same employer for 32 years. No, I don’t work at Jurassic World and neither am I a fossil specimen.

I believe in loyalty and commitment to my employer and these days, such values are rare and maybe even odd. No one stays in the same job for more than two or three years. In fact, my younger colleagues say it’s actually bad for their resumes!

Many young graduates also prefer to take a year or at least three months off before they begin their first job.

Studying in a local university, there was no such thing as a gap year where one takes time off, usually for a year, from classes.

But the local graduates also have their own version of the gap year, which is to take a year off before they start looking for a job. Their parents are very understanding, I am told.

The usual excuse is that they need to find space or explore themselves first before committing themselves to full time employment. It’s some Zen kind of thing.

People used to leave their jobs for greener pastures, as they put it, which may sometimes be nothing more than a slight increment in their salaries. But these days, it is not unusual for longer serving staff to leave even without an alternative job in hand. They simply want to head to places like Tibet or Bhutan to think about their future.

I am all for the young seeking out alternative careers, but I am stumped when just about every young person I meet wants to be chef. They have never cooked a single meal in their lives. In fact, they don’t even bother to put their plates in the kitchen sink after a meal, assuming it is what the maid is paid to do.

Many also tell me that they want to be online entrepreneurs. “Hello uncle, nobody goes to the office anymore,” they say.

But I don’t know if anything has actually been sold online. I have never seen any real revenue or profits from such geniuses as they lock themselves in their rooms. After all, why worry about a regular income when all their needs are taken care of?

I suppose these are new challenges that today’s employers, apart from worrying about running their company, have to face as they look at how their workforce is being transformed.