IT’S become a soul-sapping experience. Most of us can only cringe because some of our politicians are so adept at putting our country in a spot because of their absurd comments.

They seem to continually suffer from the dreaded foot-in-mouth disease.

Most Malaysians have already gotten used to these personalities and the political fatigue they inflict.

There’s an unending sense of hopelessness. Most of us have simply thrown our hands up in despair.

And because we haven’t given up on our beloved country, we still get upset when these politicians put us in the international news for all the wrong reasons.

Obviously, we still care about the image of our country, which explains our distress since some of these inane politicians persist with their tomfoolery.

Dubiously, silly comments made in 2017 have returned with a vengeance to haunt Tasik Gelugor MP Datuk Shabudin Yahaya. Well, that’s how social media works and seldom do people verify what they forward.

The Bersatu politician had said that rape victims can have the opportunity to lead a healthy and good life if they marry their rapists, saying girls aged between nine and 12 years old are “physically and spiritually” ready for marriage.

“For a wife who was raped, if she can marry (the rapist), she would not go through a bleak future. At least she has someone who can become her husband,” he was quoted in the media at the Dewan Rakyat in 2017.

For some reason, the address by the former Penang Bersatu chairman has resurfaced. He isn’t exactly a household name, so most of us can be forgiven for his anonymity.

Still, his only speech engrained in our psyche about child rape victims has reminded us of his contribution to Parliament debates.

Then, there’s Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, with his endless tirades against Singapore.

The cause of his deep-rooted resentment for the island republic remains a mystery. Maybe only a shrink can give us a good psychoanalysis.

The media had earlier quoted him saying Johor should reclaim Singapore and Riau islands. Perhaps reporters unfamiliar with his trademark sarcasm had taken it too literally.

Or it was simply a Freudian slip. Either way, the next day, he issued a statement of clarification, saying that he wasn’t asking Malaysia to reclaim the land it had lost.

“I am trying to point out that we are so concerned over losing a table-size rock Pulau Batu Puteh, but never about bigger parts of Malaysia when they were taken from us,” he explained.

That’s the trouble with some Malaysian leaders. They love to resurrect old issues which have been buried. After all, giving these dead issues a fresh perspective provides little benefit in bringing them up in the first place.

Maybe Dr Mahathir would ask for the return of Brunei next.

That’s why we’re still talking about unnecessary and contentious issues relating to race, religion and language that were resolved before our independence in 1957, and doggedly pursuing them.

The world doesn’t care if we want to use Bahasa Malaysia, or Bahasa Melayu, or whether we should allow Chinese vernacular schools to exist, or even if we should attend Bon Odori. In the bigger picture, these are all inconsequential, hair-splitting issues that do nothing else than to frame our nation in a bad light.

Honestly, does the world really give two hoots? However, investors do care about pumping money into Malaysia when our neighbours, especially Singapore and now, Vietnam and Indonesia, are making great strides.

Malaysia is looking like a nation in decline because of our politicians who simply lack judgement, intelligence, or even common sense.

They never seem to think through what they say to reporters and barely realise they make Malaysia a global laughingstock and source of ridicule.

Picture this: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaacob led a delegation to Japan in May to promote Malaysia as an ideal investment country. There, he met top Japanese businessmen including leaders from Mitsubishi Power Ltd, the Japan-Malaysia Economic Association and Rohm Wako Co Ltd.

But a month later, our minister in charge of religion, Datuk Idris Ahmad, literally put the entire effort on a bonfire with his comments on Bon Odori, the biggest Japanese summer festival of the expatriate community in Malaysia.

It has caught the Japanese community by surprise and many Malaysians, in their personal capacity, have had to smooth ruffled feathers.

The timing couldn’t be worse, but it’s unlikely that Idris was even reprimanded because this is a weak federal government struggling to stay intact.

PAS only has 18 Members of Parliament in the 222 seat Dewan Rakyat and yet, almost all its lawmakers are ministers, deputies and at least one, a special envoy to the Middle East.

Well, ambassadors who have called on these PAS lawmakers have plenty to share, diplomatically and cautiously, about their competence – or rather, the lack of it.

On the flip side, there’s former Tourism Minister Datuk Sri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz. He is a polished, urbane, and senior Member of Parliament. With his impeccable English and social skills, he’s the type of minister who can make us proud internationally.

Yet, he too, fumbled last week. He came under fire over his suggestion that floods in Malaysia could be used to promote “voluntourism” or volunteer tourism.

In an interview with Sinar Daily, he said that instead of crying over the flooding situation getting out of control, Malaysia should seek opportunities by promoting volunteer tourism.

After getting battered by netizens, he clarified that voluntourism is a recognised branch of tourism by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation.

The only problem is he wasn’t convincing. His idea has been, well, flooded with cynical and angry comments and is unlikely to attract tourists to Malaysia hoping to see our rising water levels.

Besides, Malaysia has serious competitors like Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, which have one thing in common with us – we can’t resolve flood problems which occur every year, especially during the monsoon season.

It’s a disgrace, and great injustice to the people of the East Coast that they are inundated by flood problems and the level of preparation by our authorities seems to only be about rescue boats and personnel.

Permanent flood mitigation plans with engineering solutions should be the answer. But chances are, we’ll now hear them blame climate change for the inadequacies and incompetence over flood controls.

But that has not stopped PAS vice-president Datuk Nik Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah from proclaiming that his party is the only political group in Malaysia that has a complete roadmap for Malaysia’s future via its “Wawasan Induk Negara Sejathera” blueprint.

The 30-year-old roadmap, he reportedly said, would resolve Malaysia’s woes in all aspects, proving that PAS is a forward-looking party.

I guess he said all this with a straight face. His party can barely resolve the water woes in Kelantan – the lack of decent piped water and floods.

Politicians should stick to what they do best. Don’t try to be stand-up comics who certainly get more respect from an audience which pays to be entertained.

Cultural event: Bon Odori has been organised in Malaysia since 1977 by Japanese expatriates. — ZHAFARAN NASIB/The Star

The Rulers have spoken, so there’s no chance for Malaysians to be denied a cultural experience.

WHEN Datuk Idris Ahmad, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs), made the announcement that Muslims should stay away from the Bon Odori festival in Selangor, the PAS leader obviously had no idea how far he had overstepped his authority.

For some time now, the Malay Rulers have been unhappy about certain politicians and religious figures making statements on Islam without recognising that the real authority on religious matters is the Rulers.

The nine Rulers are the heads of Islam and Malay customs in their respective states.

As for the states without a monarch, the Federal Constitution provides for the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to assume the role of the head of Islam.

So, despite holding the position of a federal minister of Islamic affairs, Idris has no real authority to dictate rules in the various states.

When he claimed the Japanese summer festival, which has been celebrated in Malaysia for nearly 45 years, was “influenced by elements of other religions,” it hit a raw nerve.

After all, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah – the head of Islamic affairs in Selangor – had previously attended the event in the state.

Idris crossed the line, and the Selangor palace would not allow that.

The PAS leader alleged that based on a study conducted by the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim), the festival contains rituals of other religions.

His remarks upset the Selangor palace as the Bon Odori festival is scheduled to be held at the Shah Alam National Sports Complex on July 16.

In a rebuke, His Royal Highness decreed the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais), the Shah Alam City Council (MBSA) and Idris attend the festival to learn the difference between culture and religion.

But while Idris has chosen to remain silent following the Sultan of Selangor’s statement, the Islamist party hasn’t helped its cause by openly going against the Ruler’s decree.

A series of defiant statements by PAS leaders appear to be an attempt by the party leaders to coax Idris to exert his authority as the federal minister of religious affairs.

Last week, Selangor PAS commissioner Datuk Dr Ahmad Yunus Hairi was summoned by his Royal Highness to a meeting at Istana Bukit Kayangan.

But the matter has been aggravated by a statement by Selangor PAS secretary Roslan Shahir Mohd Shahir – who wasn’t present at the meeting.

The same week, the Selangor palace issued another statement denying that Tuanku had sought PAS’ opinion during an audience on Bon Odori.

Instead, the palace said the monarch only stated his views regarding the Japanese event during the meeting.

The denial was in response to a New Straits Times article on Wednesday, which cited Roslan Shahir saying that His Royal Highness wanted to know the party’s position on Bon Odori.

But the latest incident seems to give the impression that PAS, and by extension, Idris, has not been happy with the authority bestowed on Sultan Sharafuddin by the Conference of Rulers to head the National Council of Islamic Affairs (MKI) in April.

The Ruler, as the council’s chairman, had decreed that Jakim could not issue any statement regarding decisions made by the council since this was now under the jurisdiction of the Muzakarah committee, the MKI and the Conference of Rulers.

It was also announced that Jakim would only act as the secretariat to the Muzakarah committee and MKI.

The decision of the Rulers was significant – the authority of Islamic affairs lies with the respective Sultans and His Majesty.

In 2015, Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar asked Jakim to explain its expenditure and justify its demand for RM1bil in annual allocations and reminded it that the Conference of Rulers was the highest authority on Islamic affairs and the agency’s function was only advisory.

“We are the heads of religion in our own states. Jakim can give advice or propose guidelines, but it is up to us whether we want to accept it or not,” he had said.

Last week, the Sultan of Perak also made an important statement – that Malaysia must aim to maintain the values that have brought post-independence to all its communities despite the challenge it faces.

Sultan Nazrin Shah said Malaysia must champion and remain an exemplar of multiculturalism.

The statements and actions of the two Rulers are a beacon of hope at a time when political figures, using the veil of religion, appear to wield their clout with impunity.

Personal interpretations of religious matters have become laws, without any thought on the consequences for the multiracial fabric of Malaysia.

The silence of many politicians on the Bon Odori issue and failure to back Sultan Sharafuddin smacks of political expediency and reluctance to defend the role of the Rulers, which is clearly defined in the Federal Constitution.

But beyond that, it’s disturbing and tragic that Bon Odori, which has been organised in Malaysia since 1977 by Japanese expatriates, has become a religious and political controversy.

The event in Selangor – touted as the largest outside Japan – is jointly organised by the Japan Club of Kuala Lumpur, the Japanese School of Kuala Lumpur, and the Japanese Embassy, with support from the state government. The event is also held in Penang, the home of many Japanese investors, with the support of the Penang state government.

Ironically, the Mufti of Penang, Datuk Seri Wan Salim Wan Mohd Noor, who had earlier said Muslims should avoid the event, has made a U-turn, and now says Muslims are not barred from taking part in cultural events like the Bon Odori festival, seemingly backtracking on his earlier stance.

It doesn’t look like Malaysians, who believe in a moderate Malaysia that aspires to embrace diversity, can depend on our politicians.

Daulat Tuanku!

Big impact: Malaysia was the first country in the world to introduce and scrap the GST. – AZMAN GHANI/The Star

THE Barisan Nasional’s 60-year reign came to a grinding halt when it was toppled in the 2018 general election because of two primary reasons – the unpopular goods and services tax (GST) and the 1MDB scandal.

So, it came as a surprise to many, including those in Umno’s leadership, when Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob suddenly said that the government hasn’t ruled out the possibility of reinstating the GST.

Some Barisan Nasional leaders privately felt that his remarks were untimely given that the general election would be called soon.

In an interview with Nikkei Asia in Tokyo, published May 31, Ismail Sabri opined that the GST could widen the country’s revenue, but on June 5, the PM quickly clarified that the government was still studying its reintroduction and has not made any decision yet.

He cleared the air by saying he didn’t announce the government would reinstate GST soon, but merely that it was looking into the possibility.

His revelation has, however, re-ignited discussions on the GST and its replacement, the SST (sales and service tax), which was introduced by the Pakatan Harapan government when it took over.

The reality is that after nearly five years, and under three PMs, the SST has not been able to fulfil its objective.

Pakatan made many electoral promises, oblivious to having to fulfil them because the party never thought it would win, in the words of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, but it did by playing the populist card.

The 6% GST first introduced on April 1, 2015, by Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak came under fire because it was regarded as too high in comparison to Singapore’s, which began with 3% GST taxation in 1994 and presently is at 7%.

But the island republic has announced that it will raise that figure to 9% in two stages, 1% each time, on Jan 1, 2023, and Jan 1, 2024.

The current rate for sales tax in Malaysia is 5-10% while service tax is 6%. But studies now indicate that there is an average shortfall of RM30bil a year following the shift to SST.

The GST was seen as a method to offset the budget deficit and reduce dependence on revenue from Petronas, as it’s not sustainable in the future. However, despite exemptions on many items, including many domestically consumed items such as fresh food, water and electricity, education and health services, it generated much anger.

Malaysia became the first country in the world to introduce and scrap the GST – and now, we’re seeing the impact of that decision.

The GST is viewed as a wider tax net, especially on consumption because only 16.5% of Malaysia’s 15 million workforce is subjected to individual income tax.

That works out to only 2.475 million individual taxpayers contributing to the projected RM37.36bil in total income tax, according to the Fiscal Outlook 2020 report, revealed The Edge.

Another report said that personal income tax in Malaysia averaged 27.29% from 2004 until 2020, reaching an all-time high of 30% in 2020 and a record low of 25% in 2015.

The GST would have been one way of broadening the tax base or risk overburdening the small pool of tax paying individuals and businesses that contribute 45% of the revenue, the report added.

During Pakatan’s administration, many individual taxpayers were hounded by the Inland Revenue Department for expenses spent over the last seven years under the so-called “capital statement” investigations.

Basically, it required a person to produce every single receipt, in hard copy, for every transaction over the previous seven years to justify that it matches their income, and that spread fear like wildfire.

Under normal circumstances, it’s near impossible to produce receipts for the last seven years – even though the law stipulates that one, in fact, should keep them. But many felt they were mere victims to fill up the coffers.

Dr Mahathir revealed in his book about the many complaints that reached him regarding certain figures in the Finance Ministry.

Many businessmen felt that they were being singled out by the Pakatan government – although they were already paying top taxes – to make up for the SST targets, which could never realistically be met.

So, if the present system continues, the 15% of the country’s workforce would have to bear the burden. Personal income taxes contributed only about 15% of federal government revenue in 2019 – about half of the corporate tax haul.

The cash cow – Petronas – has found its resources depleting drastically since 2014, and despite the recent hike in oil prices, much has gone to paying off our subsidised petrol consumption.

In fact, the subsidies bill could more than double to RM28bil this year if crude oil prices rise with the continuing war in Ukraine.

To put it simply, a return of the GST would generate a stable and predictable tax income because it is an efficient tax system, but it needs plenty of education and must be done gradually since everything in Malaysia is put through the political wringer.

Not enough Malaysians are paying taxes to shoulder the burden of running this country while living in one of the most subsidised nations.

According to Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz, Malaysia needs to fork out RM71bil in subsidies this year to keep inflation and the cost of living down.

Basically, we must think of ways to find the money to retain the status quo, including casting a wider tax net.

But Malaysians also want to see that their taxes are being properly spent.

KHAIRY Jamaluddin was dressed in a traditional baju Melayu when he addressed the World Health Organisation meeting in Geneva recently. The handsome Health Minister certainly chose the right forum to dress up.

After all, he was elected as one of the five vice-presidents of the United Nations agency responsible for international public health.

He made Malaysia even prouder when he spoke in impeccable English. KJ, as he is popularly known, also cleverly answered questions from journalists.

Khairy reminded me of Tan Sri Razali Ismail, who also wore the baju Melayu when he addressed the UN as the president of its general assembly in 1996.

The charming and suave diplomat, as most of us old enough would remember, delivered his speeches in English.

Both these gentlemen – KJ and Razali – are true Malay heroes. They topped the hierarchy of international organisations because of their leadership abilities, and certainly not because of affirmative actions.

It’s likely Khairy earned the attention of the audience because he spoke in English.

But Razali and KJ’s proficiency in the language didn’t make them any less Malay. Ironically, the nationalistic politicians praised them for their attire but chose to keep mum about them speaking in English.

In Khairy’s case, it wasn’t just English but good, crisp English – the result of his sound education.

Had they spoken in Malay, the impact of their speeches might have been lost, particularly if they had injected British or American humour.

No doubt, the essence and substance of their speeches matter more than the language used, but those of us who must listen to translations would know the monotonous, deadpan voice of the translators can’t match the impact of the delivered language.

It would be lost in translation, as the saying goes. To put it simply, we’d be gobsmacked if we could hear the horrendous errors made.

For the written word, we know different languages have unique grammar and syntax rules, besides differences in spelling, subject-object verb agreement and sentence construction.

Honestly, there’s nothing wrong with our Malaysian politicians speaking in Bahasa Malaysia at international forums. After all, their counterparts from Thailand, Indonesia, South Korea, Vietnam and Japan would probably do so in their national languages.

In fact, it would be better for them to speak in Bahasa Malaysia – and save Malaysia from international embarrassment – if their English is atrocious. We cringe in horror when we hear their poor delivery, and I think they know who they are.

The saving grace is that at least they tried to speak in English, and they could be forgiven since English isn’t their mother tongue.

It has been erroneously pointed out that Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong speaks English at international meetings because the republic’s national language is English.

Correction: Malay is Singapore’s official language while English is the working language.

So, advocates of the Malay language as an Asean official language will be pleased to know that they can add Singapore to the list.

But Lee understands that English is the most used international language. There are only six officially recognised international languages in the world and we can argue till the cows come home, but nothing is going to change that. Our national linguistic pride is hardly a concern on the international stage.

No one in his or her right mind can argue the importance of Bahasa Malaysia. Bahasa Melayu is the correct term as it is a Malay language. Likewise, it is the Chinese language – not China or Taiwan language.

While Bahasa Melayu is factually correct, we should try as much as we can to use the linguistic term Bahasa Malaysia, just like our neighbour which sticks to using Bahasa Indonesia. We seemed to interchange too often.

Bahasa Malaysia is used to denote that it’s a unifying language. That will perhaps make some of us understand that Indonesia will always use the term Bahasa Indonesia and not Malay, as it has over 1,000 ethnic groups in the sprawling archipelago.

English has always been an asset to Malaysia. When tourists come to Malaysia, they are relieved that they can comfortably converse with us.

Likewise, investors who pour millions, if not billions, into Malaysia, feel at ease and assured dealing with us because of our English proficiency. Having an established legal system also helps.

So, it’s bizarre when we hear of punitive actions against government officials who use English. Imagine, if you’re from the Foreign Affairs, Tourism, Arts and Culture, or International Trade and Industry Ministries, and you’ve been instructed to use only Bahasa Malaysia.

It defies logic and even puts Malaysia out of reaping its due benefits. English is our competitive edge, and we choose to ignore it.

There is little to gain by politicising the Malay language and proving our Malay-ness because it’s not going to help Malaysia. Instead, other nations will close their doors on us.

Malaysians are beginning to perceive that there is a sudden push for our leaders and officials to use only Bahasa Malaysia because these advocates, in fact, lack the command or confidence in speaking in English.

These leaders have a poor sense of self-esteem, or fail in standing on the global platform, as aptly put by Free Malaysia Today columnist Adzhar Ibrahim.

Their poor command of English scares them as they risk being outshined by the likes of Khairy, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz and Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, who are comfortable with the language.

Relegating English won’t help our university students one bit. It’s already well known that employers are looking for job seekers who can read and write proper English. Our myopic and selfish politicians are sending the wrong message to these young people.

The public sector is no longer able to absorb more staff into the bloated civil service, where the use of BM can be enforced. But no such rule exists for the private sector.

Even government linked corporations continue to use English. It’s such a waste of time going through this discourse again when our leaders need to attend to more urgent issues such as inflation, cost of living, economic recovery and the weak ringgit. Let’s get our priorities right.

There’s obviously a generational gap as our previous leaders or civil servants were British-trained or studied in MCKK (Malay College Kuala Kangsar) before entering Universiti Malaya.

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim studied Malay in UM but as a Penangite, he was exposed to a diverse society.

But we have come to this now. It’s mind boggling that the Foreign Ministry has been directed to set up a special language and culture unit in every mission abroad to teach the staff’s children Malay. They could, instead, focus on improving the linguistic skills of our diplomats, especially English, when given every opportunity and the resources to do so. To punish civil servants for using English is incredulous.

This should not be a zero-sum game. We live in a multiracial country where Malay, Chinese and Tamil are widely spoken and yet, most of us can only converse in one or two languages.

If Malay is the national language, English is an international language. We should learn Chinese, Bahasa Indonesia and Arabic because we know how important these countries are to us economically.

And here’s the irony – London remains a popular destination for Malaysians, especially our politicians and officials, because they find themselves comfortable in Britain.

The elite happily send their children to private schools and universities, so they can be above the B40 group who are trapped in our politicised institutions and systems.

Britain still retains its charm, and visiting London remains a draw. Obviously, the use of English is one reason. Never mind many of these regular Malaysian political elite visitors choose to remain silent when it comes to the never ending discourse on the use of English or Bahasa Malaysia. As the Britons would say, cor blimey!