Harking after a home: Officials have acknowledged that the lack of affordable housing is one of the issues that sparked the unrest in Hong Kong, which has been going on for months. — AFP

Owning a house is the standard ambition of any individual, however, getting there is increasingly becoming not only a local, but global struggle.

THERE’S a lesson to be learnt from the protests in Hong Kong – politics is about selling hope. So if the young people living in a depressing environment feel they have no future, then the alarm bells should ring loudly.

In the case of Hong Kong, the leaders – mostly technocrats and government officials – didn’t see it coming, or maybe they were just indifferent.

Many young people in Hong Kong feel they stand no chance of becoming a homeowner in their lifetime, and officials have acknowledged that the issue is one of the causes that sparked off the unrest.

The controversial Extradition Bill, which allows a Hong Kong resident to be sent to mainland China to face trial, was merely a catalyst. Those protesters couldn’t all possibly believe they’d fall on the wrong side of the law and face the consequences, could they?

Last week, former Hong Kong chief executive Leong Chun-ying was in Kuala Lumpur for appointments with businessmen, opinion leaders and officials, to update them on developments on the island.

I was among the lucky Malaysians picked to hear his thoughts and views on Hong Kong, while he, too, listened to our concerns during the two-hour closed-door meeting.

My co-host and meeting organiser, Datuk Seri Azman Ujang, and I both feel that of all the problems faced by any country in nation-building, none deserves greater priority than housing the people.

What expectation could be more basic than having a roof over our heads, and with it being a decent and affordable one at that? And when we talk about affordable, it should be truly attainable by the low-income people who form the bulk of the population in most countries.

Azman, the Bernama chairman, rightly outlined the consequences of the failure that stems from a lack of will in resolving the housing problem of the masses. And as he said, this could easily lead to people pouring into the streets protesting issues not even directly related to housing.

It’s a fact that many poor Hong Kong people live in a room less than 75sq ft, and millions live in deplorable conditions.

More recently, “nano” flats – tiny apartments less than 200sq ft – have fast become the norm in overcrowded Hong Kong.

According to a South China Morning Post report, the cost began at HK$2.85mil (RM1.52mil) for an apartment no bigger than an average Hong Kong car park space, but the lack of interest forced a rethink by the developer.

But what’s mind-boggling is that while there are plenty of poor people in Hong Kong, or many who feel poor, Hong Kong’s fiscal reserves stood at HK$1.16tril (RM620bil) as at the end of January.

In a report, Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau said there was a surplus of HK$86.8bil (RM46.2bil), bringing the cumulative year-to-date surplus up to HK$59bil (RM31bil).

All this wealth belongs to Hong Kong and not mainland China, so a lot can be done with that money for a population of just seven million people, especially low-cost housing!

In comparison, Malaysia’s official reserve assets amounted to US$102.03bil (RM425bil) as at end November 2018, while other foreign currency assets stood at US$51.6mil (RM215mil) for the same period, Bank Negara said. Malaysia has a population of 32 million.

It can’t be denied that Singapore has done well in housing its population, with over 90% of the seven million population reportedly living in homes of their own, and the home-ownership ratio is said to be the world’s highest.

The Singapore Housing Development Board (HDB) deserves global recognition for its feat in solving the housing problem of the people, especially the poor.

The middle-class and poor must be able to have a roof over their heads. That’s an essential human need. No country can have peace and stability if the poor are not able to own a home in their lifetime.

A prosperous and satisfied middle-class will lead to political stability. A huge middle class will also mean greater purchasing power, and this will lead to a better economy with spillover effects for everyone.

When there are angry citizens protesting everything from the escalating food prices to housing, then even the elite (including politicians and businessmen) will not feel safe. In South Africa, the rich live in houses with high walls and electric fences to protect themselves, but that’s not the best way to live. It’s living dangerously.

Malaysian politicians who still wield the race and religion card will realise that at some point, these will be “dead issues”.

With well-documented shrinking numbers, the Chinese and Indian population will no longer be the proverbial bogeymen in the future. Instead, it is class stratification that will be a matter of concern.

Last year, it was reported that the gap in income between the rich, middle class and poor in Malaysia had widened since 2008, according to a study by Khazanah Research Institute (KRI).

In its “The State of Households 2018” report, the research outfit of sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd noted that the gap in the real average income between the top 20% households (T20) and the middle 40% (M40) and bottom 40% (B40) households had almost doubled, compared to two decades ago.

The report, titled Different Realities, pointed out that while previous economic crises, in 1987 and the 1997/98 Asian Financial Crisis, saw a reduction in the income gap between the T20 and B40/M40, post-2008/09 Global Financial Crisis (GFC), those disparities had not reduced.

But the Gini coefficient, which measures income inequality in the country, had declined from 0.513 in 1970 to 0.399 in 2016, denoting improvement in income inequality in Malaysia over the past 46 years.

Explaining the phenomenon, Allen Ng, who is the lead author of the KRI report, said income of the T20 households had continued to grow, albeit at a slower pace than that of the M40 and B40 since 2010.

“However, because they (the T20) started at a higher base, the income gap between the T20 and M40/B40 had continued to grow despite the fact that the relative (income growth) is actually narrowing post-GFC, ” Ng explained at a press conference after the launch of the report yesterday.

In his bestselling book The Colour Of Inequality: Ethnicity, Class, Income And Wealth In Malaysia (2014), economist Dr Muhammed Abdul Khalid wrote that “the future does not look rosy for Malaysia; the current policies are encouraging wealth disparity between rich and poor, and between ethnicities.

“Unless bold and drastic actions are taken urgently, a harmonious future for Malaysia is uncertain. There must be an urgency to give every Malaysian economic security, a better and sustainable future.”

Muhammed, the managing director of the research and consulting firm DM Analytics Malaysia, said last year that contrary to popular belief, most Chinese (70%) are wage-earners, as are most Malays (72%). In fact, the poverty gap between races has dropped compared to 40 years ago, though the disparity remains.

And what about Malaysia? We have a disastrous, if not scandalous, record, particularly the pathetic business activities, dealings and performance of the 1Malaysia People’s Housing Programme’s (PR1MA) set up to build affordable homes.

More than RM8bil has gone up in smoke because PR1MA’s management failed to meet its targets, despite all the assistance and facilities accorded to their projects by the previous federal government and most state governments.

PR1MA reportedly built only 11,000 homes, compared with its target of half a million residential units to be delivered by the end of 2018. That’s less than 5% of the original plan.

PR1MA Malaysia was set up to plan, develop, construct and maintain high-quality housing with lifestyle concepts for middle-income households in key urban centres. Its homes are priced between RM100,000 and RM400,000.

PR1MA is open to all Malaysians with a monthly household income of RM2,500 to RM15,000.

A total of 1.42 million people registered for PR1MA, a promise of one million homes by 2020, but only 16,682 units, or 1.6%, of the target, were completed between 2013 and 2018, costing the government billions in public funds.

Poor management, exorbitant land acquisition costs and unsuitable sites have turned the people’s housing project into a major financial flop. PR1MA’s failure, which could cost the new government billions, is apparently already saddled with ballooning debts, rendering the loss-making company untenable.

It’s the responsibility of the government to build affordable homes – not the private developers. Private developers, especially those who helm public listed companies, have profits and dividends to answer for to shareholders. They are in the business of making money, and with the expensive land bank they have acquired, they need to build expensive homes, too.

Even if there are requirements with the obligated mixed homes for social housing needs, it still won’t resolve the problems.

Our politicians shouldn’t pass their responsibilities to them. They just need to have qualified and competent professionals with integrity to run a set-up like HDB. Obviously, the people who ran PR1MA didn’t do their jobs. We can help Malaysians own homes, or at least rent them at affordable rates, if we’re truly committed. The question is, are we?

As for Hong Kong, there is another lesson the young protesters need to learn: a full democracy doesn’t guarantee you a home and a decent job. Just ask the homeless in the United States and Britain.

Forest fire in Palangka Raya, Central Kalimantan province, Indonesia on September 14, 2019. -Reuters

IT’S now decades into this rinse and repeat story, and miraculously, little has changed. The familiar sound bites of promised action are as hazy as the sickening weather this region continues to suffer from every year.

Honestly, it’s disgraceful that people in these parts have to put up with the smoke from the forest fires in Indonesia’s Kalimantan and Sumatra.

Since 1997, the slash-and-burn practices there have led to debilitating haze problems in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and the surrounding region.

Last week, Malaysia had to close more than 400 schools, as smoke and ash spread to more areas, stretching from Thailand to the Philippines, plunging air quality to unhealthy levels in their wake.

This annual transboundary problem has environmental, health and business implications. The difference now is that, incredibly, Indonesia has the audacity to blame Malaysia for the smoggy hazard.

And this time, the situation is more worrying because reports indicate the number of blazes in Indonesia’s rainforests has jumped sharply, as satellite data showed last week.

As the fires rage on, spreading toxic fumes across South-East Asia, concerns are arising about the impact increasing worldwide wildfire outbreaks have on global warming.

This has happened at a time when huge blazes are also singeing their way through the Amazon in South America because of the same reason – clearing jungle land for agriculture.

Slash-and-burn is the cheapest and fastest way to prepare land for cultivation, but it produces haze which is harmful to humans and wildlife.

Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Minister Yeo Bee Yin has rightly said that her Indonesian counterpart, Siti Nurbaya Bakar, is “in denial” after Jakarta insisted fires in Malaysia had caused the smog there.

“Let the data speak for itself,” Yeo said in a Facebook post, sharing figures from the Asean centre which showed only a handful of hotspots in Malaysia compared to the hundreds in Indonesia.

The number of “hotspots” – areas of intense heat susceptible to fire that’s detected by satellite – jumped sharply in Indonesia on Wednesday, according to the Singapore-based Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre.

Reports reveal that there were 1,619 hotspots detected on the Indonesian part of Borneo and in Sumatra, up from 861 a day earlier, according to a tally from the centre which monitors forest fires and smog outbreaks.

In 2002, Asean members devised and settled on a transboundary haze agreement – which Indonesia is part of – in response to the catastrophes of 1997 and 1998.

At that time, fires burned some 45,000sq km of forests in Kalimantan and Sumatra, and like today, the wind reportedly swept the acrid smoke across the region, polluting the air in Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand in the process.

What was even worse was the timing of the haze crisis, with it happening during the devastating Asian Financial Crisis. Many of us can recall how the gloomy skies mirrored the sombre mood of Malaysians, with barely any optimism in sight.

It took 11 years after the treaty came into effect for Indonesia to ratify the agreement in 2014, but has our neighbour effectively enforced or enacted regulations at the national and local levels?

The problem with agreements, laws and rules is that they mean nothing if there is no proper enforcement. The voluminous agreement merely ended up a useless stack of papers which no one has paid serious attention to.

If this pact was properly executed, we wouldn’t be here choking our lungs away, and wearing those fiddly face masks which are more Hong Kong protester gear than ours.

I am not an expert on Indonesian law, and I could be wrong, but I have been told that none of Indonesia’s national laws make special reference to haze or pollution resulting from slash-and-burn activities.

In fact, Indonesia doesn’t categorise the spread of haze from forest burning as a disaster, say the media outlets there.

A news report said that for Indonesia, haze is merely the result of forest burning, especially when it’s manmade. Not categorising haze as a disaster prevents the country’s national and local disaster agencies from either responding accordingly or effectively.

Astonishing as it may sound, Asean has set a goal for a haze-free region by 2020 – that’s next year – as part of the agreement. No one can be blamed for thinking this a lofty goal. Truth be told, it’s even laughable.

Rightly or wrongly, the perception is that Indonesia has not been serious in its efforts to curb the problem. Many feel the country has maintained a “noncompliant” stance, and with the burning continuing every year, Indonesia has no one to blame but itself. It shouldn’t get overly sensitive because it deserves a dressing down.

“Local administrations throughout Indonesia should be informed about the policy. Only this way can we ensure that policies are synchronised and implemented effectively at national and local level,” reads academic portal The Conversation.

The writer, Dio Herdiawan Tobing, a research associate at the Asean Studies Centre at Universitas Gadjah Mada, detailed his trip with his research team to Palangka Raya, Central Kalimantan, one of Indonesia’s hotspots for land and forest fires.

“We wanted to know how local administrations view an agreement between ASEAN countries on haze pollution that Indonesia ratified two years ago.

“We were surprised to hear that the acting head of Central Kalimantan Environmental Agency, Humala Pontas, admitted he didn’t know much about the agreement. He asked: ‘What is contained in the agreement? Which part of the haze does it regulate? Are there any provisions that contain economic or other means?’”

He wrote about how the Environment and Forestry Ministry – the government body responsible for tackling threats to the environment – barely seems interested in enforcing the Asean haze agreement. It’s more focused on “project- based” action, such as distributing firefighting pump machines to the community.

“It was the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in charge of international agreements, that actively supported Indonesia’s ratification of the haze treaty.

“As a consequence of the discord between the two ministries, two years into Indonesia’s ratification of the agreement, and local administrations are still not aware of it.”

But this isn’t the time for finger -pointing, and if Indonesia feels that it can put out the fires with its thousands of soldiers, then we must just place our faith in them. It’s very unlikely they will accept assistance from other Asean countries, including Malaysia.

The Indonesian government may also wish to consider an incentive programme to help discourage the slash-and-burn practise because penalties alone may be insufficient in nipping this once and for all.

More importantly, it’s not good enough putting out the fires. Asean wants a sustainable solution to this. We don’t want to go through this time and again. We’ve just had enough!

REGARDLESS of their nationality, race and religion, it’s irrational and impractical for anyone to still talk about boycott in the age of global economy.

Wake up, the world has changed! So, there’s no need to pretend or pose as defenders and champions of your race or religion.

Boycotts along racial, religious and nationalistic lines are not just unviable, but hypocritical in the modern-day economy, given that we use products from all over the world. It doesn’t matter if you are Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu or atheist, because ultimately, the products we use are likely to involve someone from another faith along the assembly line or supply chain.

The compliance, involving religious and health requirements, would probably be met, since any rational businessman would want to live up to the demands of their customers. That’s how businesses work.

From clothing to food, or technology to transport, almost every single item we use or consume can be traced back to producers, manufacturers and suppliers of various races, religions and nationalities.

It would be naïve for anyone to think otherwise.

So, the Muslims who initiate a boycott against non-Muslim companies obviously aren’t thinking hard enough and are oblivious to reality, or just ignoring the facts.

The minority Muslims involved in this campaign are likely doing this more for political reasons, and it’s apparent the targets are the Chinese and Indians – the euphemism for non-Muslims. Maybe I don’t know better, but somehow, I don’t think they ever mean the Americans, Japanese, Koreans or Thais.

That’s very unfortunate because their actions only hurt our fellow Malaysians, and we all know that in plural Malaysia, the staff of these companies include Muslims, especially in manufacturing. Often, most of the staff are Muslim.

Just count the number of Muslims who work in our hotels and restaurants, or even those in Genting Highlands.

Even in road accidents, or road rage incidents, Malaysians can’t pick their victims because this is a multi-racial and multi-religious country.

All it takes is a little spark of ethnic indifference, and with tempers fraying, such incidents are recorded and quickly make their social media rounds. And like clockwork, the accusatory finger of racial marginalisation is waved, with another purported example made of a race under siege.

But every day, we have Malaysians helping each other, in all forms, yet we take this good grace for granted. Instead, we let racial bigots hijack the agenda and allow them to amplify isolated cases.

We use and buy a product based on its quality, price and availability – that’s our consumer behaviour. So, it would be strange to expect us to buy a product simply because they are produced by someone from our race or religion.

Supermarkets and grocery stores said to belong to Muslims have appeared on a list in various towns – as has been actively circulated on social media – implying Malays should buy from these outlets.

That’s well and fine, but ultimately, the products sold in these supermarkets or grocers can’t entirely be manufactured by Muslims, so, the purpose of the move is a head-scratcher.

Of course, the products will be halal compliant, but they could be made by non-Muslim companies, yet would most likely involve Muslim staff, too.

Let’s take the argument further. Many of us, Muslim or otherwise, feel strongly about the treatment of Palestinians.

As someone who has visited Jerusalem on a pilgrimage, I have listened first-hand to the grievances of Christian Arabs living there. I saw the injustices Palestinians are subjected to in their daily lives.

My fellow travellers have also learnt to differentiate between secular Jews, atheists Jews, and Zionists, and are aware that we can’t lump everyone under the “Jew” category because many Israelites sympathise with Palestinians.

But can any of us honestly think it’s possible to boycott products created or manufactured by Israelis, or Jews?

Let’s start with Waze, a software developed by an Israeli company. I am sure it is widely used by many Muslims around the world, including Muslim politicians with the loudest rhetoric.

Then, there’s Intel Pentium and Celeron computer processor chips in personal computers (desktops, laptops and notebooks), which are either developed or manufactured in Israel. Likewise, the Windows XT operating system. All current Microsoft operating systems are heavily reliant on its Israel R&D centre.

Most anti-virus software and personal firewalls originate from Israel, and the algorithm (code) that’s used today for sending e-mails, was reportedly made by an Israeli who worked at the Ben-Gurion University in Be’er-Sheva in 1980. Many in-built and add-on applications on Facebook are Israeli developed.

The list is endless, ranging from medical equipment to life-saving drugs, and they are used by many of us.

Airlines operated by the Arab states, such as Qatar and Emirates, are surely among the best in the world now, and it will be silly for non-Muslim travellers to overlook these options because of religious prejudices.

And what about the choice of our transportation? Most of the cars we use are products of non-Muslims, and even if they include a national car, like Proton, most of the components and applications are the handiwork of non-Muslims.

Likewise, China-made mobile devices also rely on Western technology, and if their business with these tech companies ceases, the impact is great, as exemplified by the recent Huawei debacle. Without the Google search engine, YouTube and Gmail, and other applications, modern-day telecommunication loses its lustre.

It says a lot when American companies want to continue selling telecom equipment to Huawei, because the Chinese company is an important customer for many US tech firms, including Qualcomm, Intel and Micron.

It has been reported that from the US$70bil (RM293bil) in parts it bought last year, US$11bil (RM46bil) went to US suppliers. None of them have been convinced by their government that the Chinese tech giant is a national risk, a charge Huawei has repeatedly denied with no real evidence forthcoming.

Even the burqa and other religious items are now made in China and readily available for online shopping, and that’s a fact!

The bottom line is that the economy has changed dramatically with its layers of inter-connectivity, which could only increase in the digital age.

Malaysians will be labelled myopic and narrow-minded if the narrative of some politicians continues to be on race and religion.

And when global leaders address trade, artificial intelligence, digital enhancement and climate change, many of our politicians are instead still harping on divisive and unproductive issues, which is just lame and pathetic.

Spirit of Malaysia: Good friends (from left) Aimi Nurjannah Ahmad Fadilah, 10; N. Bhagawathy, 11; and Ong Chui Juang, 10; chatting by a Jalur Gemilang hung up at their school, Sekolah Kebangsaan Sultan Abdullah. — Bernama

THERE is a certain degree of apprehension, even uneasiness, this year as we celebrate National Day. Race relations in this country isn’t anything to be proud of, what with manufactured fears fuelled by groups with political interests.

There is a deliberate attempt to instil the perception that the Malay race and Islam are being challenged.

That belief is accepted not just by segments of the community in the lower leagues but, surprisingly, even in the upper echelons – by people we assumed would know better.

However, the ethnic equation of authority hasn’t shifted, and the Malays still constitute the anchor of power.

But the new government, a year into its service, must now grapple with this fear and is being forced to re-instil assurances that it remains the protector of the Malays and Islam, as well as other Malaysians.

It’s easy to be in the Opposition but much harder to be in the government of plural Malaysia, as many ministers are now starting to realise.

But Malaysia isn’t on the verge of breaking up. Far from it, in fact, because Malaysia is a middle-class country, with most of its people moderate and rational.

Sure, the weak economic sentiments haven’t helped, and when people have less money to spend, they have less patience, and perhaps, become easier to exploit.

This malaise has been so amplified over social media that some of us have been consumed by hate remarks spewed by unknown people and those served by political and religious platforms.

And they cut across all races and religions.

But there are many, many Malaysians out there helping each other regardless of race and religion every day. They include the police, army and firemen – service men and women who put their lives on the line every day to protect us.

We often take this for granted, assuming it’s their job to do so, since that’s what they get paid for, but they have families too, and their job really isn’t easy.

Let’s hope their wellbeing becomes one of the more positive narratives to look forward to.

This National Day 2019, I wish to pay tribute to my fellow Malaysians, who I believe are inherently sharing, giving and colour blind.

This has been in our DNA since our nation was born in 1957 as the Federation of Malaya, and reborn as Malaysia in 1963. I urge Malaysians not to be baited by divisive forces, and instead, safeguard the diversity that defines us.

Our founding father Tunku Abdul Rahman understood the importance of all races coming together. The delegation that went to London to seek independence comprised all races, and Malaysia wouldn’t have been possible without Sabah and Sarawak.

And to reiterate, Sabah and Sarawak didn’t join Malaysia – those states helped form Malaysia!

Malaysia is a product of all races coming together to make diversity a reality, with Malay leaders steering the ship.

Sixty years later, and this beautiful land remains one of the best countries to live in. This is our home. To put it into context, most of us would be itching to reach home after an overseas assignment, or even a holiday trip. It’s telling when those who emigrated can’t even give up Malaysia.

Many are so often here one wonders if they truly ever left, and their many postings on their tanah air in social media on various issues indicate their hearts have never really left the country.

Malaysia is crying out for an upturn, because there are many good people around us, who have been doing good things.

We have many good examples to take from, so why be derailed by people who don’t matter, and by things that shouldn’t either?

Tunku laid the foundation of our great culturally diverse nation based on the spirit of compromise.

He may have faltered at times, but he did things for the greater good, and that can’t be denied. Much has been written about his contributions, most notably in The Star, where he was a columnist penning his thoughts well into his twilight years.

I had the privilege of meeting him when I was a reporter in Penang, where he stayed. He was also once the chairman of our company.

He always strove to buy hardware materials from my father’s stall – not even a shop – at Cheapside, off Chulia Street, because he could talk to my father in the Kedah accent. My 95-year-old dad was born in Kuah, Langkawi.

His aides preferred him shopping in more comfortable places, but he always insisted on returning to my father’s humble roadside stall. That was our Tunku.

Then, there is our prime minister twice over, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, whose tryst with destiny means Malaysia has been given a second chance to become a model nation.

Love him or loathe him, Dr Mahathir’s role as nation builder is well-documented and his legacy will remain.

Then, there is the silent majority doing wondrous things in Malaysia and internationally. Many of them are Merdeka babies who grew up with the nation and witnessed its ups and downs.

Another Kedahan, Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary, is surely one of the most reclusive Malaysian businessmen.

He avoids social functions, even his own corporate events. He is more comfortable in his long sleeve batik shirt and sandals than his suit, which explains why he’s one of the most misunderstood tycoons.

He shuns the limelight and seldom speaks to the media, and much of his charity work also goes under the radar.

Syed Mokhtar couldn’t care less what people say about him. He has often found himself in the unenviable position of responding to unsavoury remarks made by those who have never even met him.

His critics say he has too many business interests, but none of the rich in Malaysia can match the magnitude of his charitable clout.

He grew up in a kampung with a Malay neighbour on one side, and a Chinese one on the other.

“We came from many places in different boats, but we are now in the same boat. We have to keep going to stay on course. We are all in the same tongkang (a native boat used in the East Indies in fishing and in local trading), ” he would often tell younger Malaysians.

He went to school in 1958, the first post-Merdeka batch of students who represented the breadth of Malaysian society.

He started his business when the New Economic Policy was launched in 1971, seizing all the economic opportunities it presented. Syed Mokhtar feels his country has been good to him, and he still has much to give.

The donations underscore his personal philosophy rooted in the Muslim values of taqwa (submission to God) and Ihsan (compassion).

I met the media-shy Syed Mokhtar for the first time some years ago, and was struck by his simplicity, charitable spirit and positivity.

He dropped out of school to work and support, not only his family, but also several poor neighbours. Many of us give when we have plenty, but he did it when he barely had anything. This became the starting point of the Albukhary Foundation.

His parents taught him to provide for the poor, with those lessons bearing fruit through his philanthropic values at 23, when he started a small business dealing in rice.

When he received his first monthly pay packet of RM1,500, his mother urged him to share half his earnings with the poor.

“So, I kept half for my family while the other half was donated to 15 needy families in my village,” he revealed in an interview.

When looking for Malaysians to list in the inaugural philanthropy issue in 2008, Forbes Asia selected Syed Mokhtar, and again and again thereafter.

By then, Syed Mokhtar was a business tycoon whose charitable contributions were felt across five continents.

As at end 2018, he had contributed over RM4bil, mainly to various education, health and welfare projects that have benefited hundreds of thousands of Malaysians

He has donated huge amounts of money to Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, the Asian Institute of Medicine, Science and Technology University and Wawasan University, for example – and these universities have high non-Malay enrolment.

Earlier this month, the Albukhary Foundation came to the rescue of a bright young Sarawakian who had gained admission to study medicine in Cambridge, where each year, only 21 places are offered to international students to study medicine.

His father, a site supervisor, is the sole breadwinner, and with his mother a homemaker, the family simply couldn’t afford to accept the offer. Also, there was a 33% slash in government scholarships, which surely reduced his chances of being selected.

At school, when his friends enjoyed their holidays, he had work to pay his school fees, but he knew it would help reduce his parents’ burden.

Then he applied to private foundations for a scholarship. Despite his Cambridge offer, his application was rejected by 10 different foundations in Malaysia and abroad. He even wrote to Warren Buffet, one of the richest men in the world, never to hear from him. But he caught the attention of Syed Mokhtar.

The applicant is a Chinese boy from Kuching, but for Syed Mokhtar, he is a Malaysian who deserves a helping hand.

To benefit from these initiatives, the Foundation sets one main condition: you must be poor.

For example, when he found out that poor kidney patients in his home state Kedah couldn’t afford dialysis treatment, he built the full-fledged Albukhary Dialysis Centre, with medical and nursing staff to provide free medical treatment for them.

Located in the Sharifah Rokiah Centre of Excellence in Alor Setar, the dialysis centre has 18 machines and 40 patients, mainly rubber tappers and casual workers with no fixed income. Future plans include acquiring more machines and increasing patient capacity.

The Sharifah Rokiah Centre of Excellence, named after his beloved mother, is best known for its Albukhary International University.

Baby boomer Syed Mokhtar knows the future belongs to the youth. And he wants to pass on to them values that have stood by him through good times and bad. He calls them the 5As: Adab (good manners), Akhlaq (ethical), Aqidah (faith), Amanah (trust) and Amalan (practice). The 5As have become the core values of the Albukhary International University. They are also values he has shared with his children, who are set to follow in their father’s footsteps.

Flag fest: The Jalur Gemilang is flown everywhere in the country during National Day as Malaysians celebrate together as one.

COME Merdeka Day every year, the national flag is automatically raised in my neighbourhood.

They are the everyday people of different races and religions, who see themselves as nothing more than Malaysians. They are proud to be born here. They will even say that they consider themselves fortunate to be Malaysians, in this very blessed nation.

One expatriate, who lives a few doors away, has always hoisted the Jalur Gemilang, joining in the celebrations. There are millions of other Malaysians who do the same all over the country, regardless of them living in the cities, new villages or rubber estates.

But instead, what has been amplified on social media are a few isolated cases of people who have displayed the flag wrongly, or worse, printed it wrongly.

It doesn’t help that there are those who pushed the race and religion agenda, unwittingly or intentionally. In their suspicious minds, they’d like to believe there’s an orchestrated plan to plant these national flags upside down all over the country.

In one case, it was revealed that the national flag was flown wrongly because of the ignorance of a foreign worker. I am sure such blunders have happened in previous national day celebrations, but this time, there is a greater sense of misgiving.

Every day, Malaysians of all races help each other. I’m sure we have come together to help victims of a road accident even, but these kind acts largely go unnoticed. What’s more tragic is, some of us choose to shout about isolated tensions involving Malaysians of all races.

There is an implied narrative at play here, that since the new government came to power, there are non-Malays who have dared question and challenge the Malay institutions. Likewise, there are Chinese who can’t appreciate the beauty of Malay culture and practices, the national language and positive values of Islam.

Even more embarrassing, some can’t even communicate with their fellow Malaysians in Bahasa Malaysia effectively. I always find it strange that migrant workers can speak better. They know they must speak Bahasa Malaysia, at least serviceably, because it’s a matter of survival.

However, I need to point out that many Chinese signed up for Malay Literature at school and university, too, including this writer, and there are many other Chinese who teach the Bahasa Malaysia subject in school.

Basically, Malaysia is a country of 32 million people, yet we can celebrate National Day collectively after six decades, because we have been able to hold the nation together as one.

Ours is a complex, plural society. It can’t compare with countries that are homogenous in their racial composition, or where the minority race is too small, because that only means there really isn’t much political impact. There will always be those with more extreme views within each community, but we shouldn’t be consumed by them because that will only legitimise their purported mainstream leanings. We must always treat them as the minority and highlight the moderate majority instead.

They have become more visible and louder, simply because they can get heard through the social media platform. Many put themselves on Facebook and YouTube, ignorantly assuming they are just talking to their own community, without realising such things can reach a global audience in minutes.

In the process, they find themselves getting arrested, and often, their bravado ends when they find themselves in a lock-up. A three-day remand can do wonders for self-reflection, and most walk out meekly and feel remorseful.

It doesn’t matter whether they express their hate speeches in English, Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese or Tamil, thinking it will only reach their intended audience, because in the digital age, it will reach others. So, these hate mongers must face the consequences of their toxic content.

But there are reasons to be concerned in such free-for-all exchanges, because racism around us and on social media has never been this rife. This is made worse by those who occupy political and religious platforms, who propagate race dominance and supremacy.

Their connotations and down-right dismissal of other races are dangerous, to put it mildly. Such a narrative is divisive, sows the seeds of discontent and drives a bigger wedge between races.

Then there are those who have put the blame entirely on the new government, suggesting that since they came to power, the Malays and Islam are under siege.

None of these assumptions, or agenda, considered the Malays being the most populous race, especially against the shrinking Chinese and Indian communities.

The Malays form and dominate all aspects of society, including Rulers, the official religion, armed forces, police, civil service, and the Bumiputera affirmative action policy. It’s impossible for non-Malays to mess with the status quo, or for that matter, dare challenge for a change.

Besides the emotional response, not many have come out with racist remarks about the looting of billions of ringgit from institutions involving mainly Malays.

In Malaysia, we must choose to highlight the best among us, the moderate majority from all ethnic groups and religious beliefs – and never give credence to the few who peddle exclusive, extreme and hurtful views. We must accept that we can never be the same. None of us can choose our race or birthplace. Like it or not, we were born here, live here and will most likely die here, too. Regardless of us being Malay, Chinese, Indian, Iban or Kadazan, we are stuck with each other.

It might be news to some, but I can’t go back to China. I don’t have relatives there. None that I know of, at least. And contrary to many who think every Chinese speaks Mandarin, I don’t.

And China certainly doesn’t need another mouth to feed. They have more than a billion people, and don’t be duped by the fake news that China is issuing green cards to overseas Chinese.

It has been discredited and dismissed. Yet, it seems to have resurfaced again, and non-credible and unethical news sites are not helping. The mood in the country isn’t downbeat. Most Malaysians are rational people — they are too busy earning a living to be immersed in racist chatter.

None of us can choose the race of our customers, our Grab and taxi drivers, our doctors and nurses, our blood donors and our colleagues.

Politicians are squarely to blame for this, because in their desperation to win votes, the easiest way, unfortunately, is to play the race and religion cards. It’s sad that some of us aren’t thinking straight, and have allowed ourselves to be influenced and exploited.

And not wanting to have their thunder stolen, there are those who use the religion platform to preach hatred. It’s no surprise that none of our holy texts promote pride or prejudice, so it’s surprising that these leaders, claiming to be men of peace and experts in their field, don’t realise the adverse effects of their actions. It hasn’t brought Malaysians together, but divided us further.

The worst of human nature is on full parade now on social media. Where is the good and uplifting that exist in all of us?

Leave the people alone, because most of us can co-exist and respect each other together.

Those of us who live in a more diverse atmosphere, take a much broader view of issues, because we understand and respect race relations better.

Talk of a dominant race is unhealthy and unnecessary. Look at the flipside for a bit – Malays who live in Europe and United States are surely uncomfortable with the hurtful remarks by white supremacists.

Many ignorant Westerners like to equate Islam with terrorism because they choose to validate groups like Islamic State and al-Qaeda – who are the extreme minority – as representing Islam, instead of the majority 1.6 billion Muslims who are peace-loving individuals.

Superfluous assumptions, like casting prejudice on Muslim women who wear the hijab as being Muslim extremists, reflect such shallow minds.

It’s common for Arab Christians, for example, to dress like their Muslim sisters, because of cultural and local conditions and customs.

Likewise, it’s ridiculous to accuse women who wear skirts and don’t cover their heads of enticing men to commit sex crimes.

A plural Malaysia is an asset for Malaysia. The ability of Malaysians to communicate in many languages is a prize to be proud of, and surely, we want to tell the world that we can handle race and religious relations well after six decades.

The independence story is about the major races coming together and working towards it. That is the historical fact, and Tunku Abdul Rahman understood it.

The Malaysia success story today, 62 years on from its birth, is about all races playing their roles by binding this blessed nation together. It’s not about dominance or supremacy at all.

This rhetoric and religious talk won’t help uplift Malaysia. And there couldn’t be a better time for us to need the Malaysia Forward story.

Malaysia is home to all Malaysians, which not only includes the Malays, Chinese and Indians, but also the people of Sabah and Sarawak, and other minorities, too. Without our Malaysians, there is no Malaysia. It’s that simple, and we should never forget that.

Difficult guest: Zakir should get the message by now, says the writer, and drive straight to the airport.

LET’S make this easy for controversial preacher Zakir Naik to understand better – he is a guest in Malaysia, but his presence is making his host family very uncomfortable.

The family members are squabbling daily over whether he should be allowed to continue staying in their house. The disputes are tearing at the host family, and in some ways, have forced them to take a stand. His stay here has been divisive and has led to much unhappiness.

There have been numerous unnecessary flareups and, consequently, sad and angry faces. And all this fuss because of a foreigner. Some want him to stay, while others feel he has done enough damage and, so, should just leave.

Zakir must surely be within earshot of this bickering, but he has chosen to ignore the family’s predicament, putting on his arrogant smirk instead.

Adding insult to injury, he has now even declared to the family that he has a right to be a guest in their home now, lecturing them on family roots and history.

He has selfishly and obstinately refused to move, insisting he has done no wrong and has questioned why he should leave the family house, forgetting through it all that he’s merely a guest.

Meanwhile, there are others – those with political interests, specifically – who are egging him on to stay put.

They have assured him of their backing, in the hopes the home will collapse and its family members will end up in a bitter feud with harmful consequences.

That deviant thought has been planted in his head, and it might even encourage him further to put up a fight and even cross the line again.

Instead of just talking about religion, his area of expertise, Zakir has gone on to give a discourse on Malaysian history and politics, according to his warped interpretations, of course.

Conveniently, though, he has overlooked the fundamental point of the house being built by family members of various races and faiths.

The house turns 62 years old on Aug 31, and all its family members are looking forward to that celebration.

In setting up that home, some members have had to look for money to build and maintain it, while others put their lives on the line to safeguard everyone’s interest and wellbeing. Then there are those who work on the economy so there’s food on the table for the entire household.

Every member has a role and part to play, and all regard the house which they built as their home – forevermore.

Everyone accepts one another as brothers and sisters, and as is with every family, we have our differences and quarrels, but we remain together.

Zakir, please make it easy for everyone. It will much easier for the Prime Minister – as head of the family – if you would just leave the home.

Despite your offensive and divisive ways, he has defended you. But surely it must have pained him to see the family members quarrel over you. The PM has not spoken, but his daughter has.

Malaysians are very nice people, and we are often neither very direct nor confrontational. I guess pantun, puisi and peribahasa, are foreign to you, so we’ll leave that alone.

But you should get the message by now. You have chosen Saudi Arabia as your permanent residence, so please book your ticket home. A full citizenship in Saudi Arabia is better than being a mere guest in Malaysia.

And also, in your quiet moments, you should perhaps ask yourself and reflect why is it that so many countries – including those in the Middle East, presumably – don’t want you.

No country, to our informed knowledge, has offered you a place in their land.

If offers do come in, please share the good news with us Malaysians, so we may rejoice and celebrate the prospect of, not only you leaving, but of having host nations clamouring to offer you a home.

There will be another Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, when we can let our ministers deliberate more pressing matters such as the economy and strengthening our ringgit. We could also do well by allowing the Education Minister to unveil his plan for coding lessons for our kids. This must surely be our priority, instead of wasting time on inconsequential issues and individuals.

By the way, there are at least four airlines which fly from Kuala Lumpur to Jeddah.

This is how bad plastic waste on tourist-favourite Tioman Island can get. – Reef Check Malaysia

THE Kinabatangan river in Sabah is one of the best places to view wildlife in Asia, what with its dense population of animals such as orang utan, hornbills, proboscis monkeys, pygmy elephants, langurs, wild cats, crocodiles and other amazing creatures.

My maiden trip to the interiors of Borneo, on the eve of National Day in 2017, changed my life immensely and permanently. Initially, I was reluctant to make that trip because going into the jungle with bare-bones accommodation was not my idea of a well-deserved vacation.

But being ahead of the General Election in 2018, and driven by my desire to find out more about the parliamentary constituency of the infamous and controversial Kinabatangan MP Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin, I grabbed the opportunity with both hands.

I fell in love with the place immediately. From that moment on, the city boy in me decided that the jungle and sea – with their flora and fauna – make better destination options than banal and homogeneous shopping malls.

From Kinabatangan, I went to the incredible ancient rainforests of the Danum Valley, one of the last untouched pieces of land on earth.

I lost track of the number of orang utan I saw each day while trekking deep in the jungle. I also couldn’t remember the number of blood-sucking leeches that feasted on me – ecotourism at its best!

But here’s the sad story – I also lost track of the amount of plastic debris floating in the Kinabatangan, drifting with the river’s current.

It was painfully embarrassing for me because, apart from a Malaysian couple, I was the only other Malaysian on the boat cruise and just before that, we had been proudly promoting Malaysia to the others, some of whom had come from as far as Chile and Italy.

Lo and behold, we saw plastic items like bottles, food wrappers and even beer bottles floating by us. Surely this shouldn’t be happening in one of the world’s most beautiful and biodiverse areas.

As I made my complaints known to the local lodge operator, I learned that the villagers living along the river were just as guilty of littering.

It never dawned on them that their indiscriminate practice of dumping all this plastic would hurt them economically, as many of them have profited from the ecotourism there.

It was a different story in the Danum Valley though, where its inaccessibility and the restriction of visitors have kept the jungles clean. In fact, I don’t recall stumbling on any plastic refuse on my treks there.

The plastic horror surfaced once more on my trip to some isolated islands in East Kalimantan. I travelled for three hours on an uncovered boat from the small Indonesian town of Tarakan (an hour’s flight from Tawau) to Derawan.

The Derawan Islands comprise 31 islands, including Maratua, Sangalaki and Kakaban, which has numerous submerged reefs and islets. Located in the Sulawesi Sea, these islands are so rich in marine life I could see rays, sharks, turtles and barracuda from my room! And out in the deep sea, whale sharks and manta rays are aplenty.

Only simple hotel facilities exist on these islands and it’s certainly not a place for well-heeled luxury seekers. This is not the Maldives.

The air-conditioning in my room wasn’t working, and there was absolutely no Wifi, not even in the reception area. Meals comprised just three items and rice.

Most of the time on these islands, I felt like Robinson Crusoe, from the story of an 18th century traveller who was marooned on an island, because a few villagers apart, there were just no tourists – the place was largely desolate.

But despite the acute isolation, it was heart-wrenching to still see plastics, of all kinds, washing up on the shores of these beautiful locales.

They were an eyesore, but I was more concerned about the sea creatures mistaking some of the plastic for food. That now-renowned image of a straw sticking out of a turtle’s nose must now surely be burned into our brains.

For a multitude of known and unknown reasons, we seem to be losing the battle against the plastic menace. Last December, I trekked up the volcanic mountains of Rwanda in Africa in search of gorillas, and despite the wilderness, I still stumbled upon discarded plastic bottles.

Unfortunately, plastic isn’t the only thing damaging our oceans, but it’s by far the worst offender.

According to a report, experts estimated that some eight million metric tonnes of plastic waste enter our oceans annually.

“Some micro-plastics – bits of plastic that are less than five millimetres long – also find their way to the sea and these end up getting ingested by fish and other marine animals.

“Experts say if things don’t change, there will be more plastic than fish by 2050. This isn’t inevitable. A change in public opinion about single-use plastic and various initiatives and technologies are trying to repair the harm done thus far and turn the tide on plastics in the ocean, ” it was reported.

We are in a crisis. It’s something that concerns ecotourists and adventurers because Malaysians don’t care about plastic pollution, and we are a major contributor without many of us knowing it.

According to a 2015 study in Science Magazine, Malaysia is the eighth worst country worldwide for plastic waste.

The study, which named China, Indonesia and the Philippines as the top polluters, estimated Malaysia produced almost one million tonnes of mismanaged plastic waste (waste not recycled or properly disposed of) in 2010.

This must stop. And the time to act is now.

Protesters in protective gear holding up a symbolic yellow umbrella and an American flag while marching through the Sha Tin District in Hong Kong earlier in the month. Sights such as these are fuelling speculation about foreign involvement in the ongoing protests. — AP

There’s no such thing as a free lunch, and likewise, in the pursuit of democracy, there will always be casualties.

ONE of the most avid speculations about the Hong Kong protests is whether the CIA is involved, and this talk is fuelled, no less, by warnings from the Chinese to the US to keep out of Hong Kong’s affairs.

Last week, former HK chief executive Tung Chee-hwa was more ominous, openly accusing the US and Taiwan of orchestrating “well-organised” recent protests.

The first retaliatory strike from China on Taiwan was the ban on solo travellers, involving 47 mainland cities to Taiwan, which will cost the island state US$900mil (RM3.75bil) in tourism dollars by January.

Let’s look at these accusations rationally, though. It’s impossible for the CIA to hire such a massive crowd in Hong Kong.

The anger is real, though, and the spontaneity of the protests speaks for itself.

There has been growing frustration among the people, especially the younger generation, over what they see as the decline in living standards, and many now don’t see a future in the city.

The amendment to the Extradition Law has touched a nerve among HK citizens because many perceive they would not get justice or due legal rights under China’s mainland rule.

Let’s put it this way, the judicial independence in China isn’t ranked highly by international standards, and even Chinese nationals complain about it.

HK citizens are concerned that their city will be like any other mainland Chinese city, where the citizens’ freedom could be compromised, although one wonders how many of these protesters truly believe they would ever get extradited to China in the first place.

The Bill is, essentially, a manifestation of the frustrations that have built up, and its timing allowed for that volcanic eruption of anger.

It’s unlikely the young protesters were aware that HK has, in fact, extradition agreements with 20 countries, including Britain and the United States. From China’s point of view, why can’t there be one with the mainland?

Against this backdrop, with students on summer holidays, the perfect concoction was created, building up a massive protest for an international audience.

The timing couldn’t have been worse for HK chief executive Carrie Lam to push the Bill through – this is the season of protests, coinciding with the anniversaries of the Tiananmen Square incident and British handover of HK to China on July 1, 1997.

By now, it’s clear that Lam is a technocrat who isn’t politically savvy, and her lack of learned leadership during a crisis shows her shortcomings in being the best person to helm HK, even though China continues to back her.

The Bill has been suspended since June 15 until further notice, but not withdrawn. She has said the legislation process was a complete failure and that “the Bill is dead”, but she hasn’t enacted any legislative process to withdraw the proposal either.

So protests will likely continue, but nothing is free, and that includes the business of organising well-planned weekly protests.

Over the past month, the media has been reporting that groups involved in the protests have received significant funding from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), “a CIA soft-power cut-out that has played a critical role in innumerable US regime-change operations, ” according to writer Alexander Rubinstein.

The report claimed that the NED has four main branches, at least two of which are active in Hong Kong: the Solidarity Center (SC) and National Democratic Institute (NDI).

“The latter has been active in Hong Kong since 1997, and NED funding for Hong Kong-based groups has been consistent, ” Louisa Greve, vice president of programmes for Asia, Middle East and North Africa, was quoted.

While NED funding for groups in Hong Kong goes back to 1994, 1997 was when the British returned the territory to China, it was reported.

The report said in 2018, NED granted US$155, 000 (RM645, 885) to SC and US$200, 000 (RM833, 400) to NDI for work in Hong Kong, and US$90, 000 (RM375, 000) to Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor (HKHRM), which isn’t a branch of NED, but a partner in Hong Kong. Between 1995 and 2013, HKHRM received more than US$1.9mil (RM7.9mil) in funds from the NED.

This isn’t the first time the NED’s name has cropped up either.

During the 2014 Occupy protests, the spectre of NED in the protests and the foreign philosophies it represented also came up.

The NED was set up in 1983 to channel grants for “promoting democracy” and it’s said that it receives US$100mil (RM416mil) annually from the relevant agencies.

Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai has also been accused of funding the protests. He has taken it a step further by meeting US Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Washington DC to discuss the Bill and the city’s situation.

Lai is the owner of Next Digital, which publishes both the pro-democracy Apple Daily and Next Magazine, among others.

Predictably, the Chinese Foreign Ministry in Hong Kong issued a statement saying it has lodged a solemn representation at the US Consulate General in Hong Kong to ask the US to stop its “mistaken words and deeds”.

A spokesperson for the local Commissioner’s Office said that it strongly opposed foreign forces interfering in Hong Kong’s affairs.

“The US side clearly knows who Jimmy Lai is, what his stance is, and what his role is in Hong Kong society. Top US government officials have ulterior motives and sent a seriously wrong signal when they queued up to meet such a person at this sensitive time of Hong Kong – we express our strong discontent and opposition, ” it said.

In 2014, the South China Morning Post reported that Lai spent millions funding the Occupy Central protests.

The SCMP reported that Lai’s group offered extensive advice – including propaganda material – to the Occupy Central organisers, whom Lai dismissed in private as “idealist scholars” who “couldn’t make the cut without help”.

The emails were leaked by the same person who sent documents detailing the Next Media chairman’s political donations to various pan-democrats two weeks ago. It isn’t clear how the documents were obtained, though.

One of the exchanges between Lai and his top aide, Mark Simon, indicates that Lai spent some HK$3mil (RM1.6mil) to HK$3.5mil (RM1.8mil) to help the plebiscite. The email did not detail how the money was spent, only mentioning that the costs included “advertisements and billboards”.

In a rebuttal, Lai said that while he had donated large sums of money to politicians in the pro-democracy camp, he had not given a cent to the co-founders of Occupy Central. His newspaper, though, had given the movement discounts for advertisements.

China cannot be faulted for seeing shadows of foreign influence in the protests. It doesn’t help that protesters, pressing for independence, are waving colonial British and US flags, and what began as peaceful protests has now degenerated into riots, a term the demonstrators have also challenged and protested.

There is much irony in the HK protests. The late kung fu legend, Bruce Lee, has become an icon in the protests because of his philosophical advice to “be formless, shapeless, like water, ” in his role as Li Tsung, a martial-arts instructor in Longstreet, a US TV series.

Basically, the protesters should take on the HK police with a new tactic: formless, shapeless protests in scattered parts of the territory, aimed at wearing the authorities down.

But older folks like me would probably remember a better scene in the movie Fist Of Fury, where he kicked and smashed a sign at the gate of Huangpu Park which read, “No dogs and Chinese allowed”. The park in Shanghai was closed to the Chinese between 1890 and 1928.

It has been said, according to some reports, period photographs show a sign listing 10 regulations, the first of which was that “The Gardens are reserved for the Foreign Community”, with the fourth being “Dogs and bicycles are not admitted”. Any way you cut it; the Chinese weren’t allowed in the foreign settlement.

What has happened in HK is that the protests’ demands have grown exponentially, bordering on calls to be independent and free from China. Tragically, it has also become more violent by the day.

In calling for freedom of speech, citizens who disagreed with the protesters have found themselves beaten up, which seems to go against the grain.

When violence committed on the police and those who disagree are embraced or encouraged as part of a democratic process, and the destruction of public properties is accepted as a minor price for freedom, then something has gone badly wrong.