This
was written 6 years ago when LKY is still alive. This article is still very
relevant today after the recent passing of LKY.
How
a nephew of Tun Mahathir's sees Lee Kuan Yew
IF
ONLY THEY ABSORB WHAT IS WRITTEN, MALAYSIA WILL PROSPER BY 2020!
LEE
KUAN YEW : AT 85 , THE FIRE STILL BURNS
BY
*AHMAD MUSTAPHA
*The
writer is a nephew of Dr Mahathir.
Singapore's
Minister Mentor, Lee Kuan Yew,
who was Singapore's founding father,
has always been very direct in his
comments. This was the man who
outsmarted the communists in Singapore
(with the innocent help of Malaya then
and the willing help of the British)
and who later outwitted the British
and outpaced Malaysia in all spheres.
Singapore
practices corrupt-free
meritocracy and Malaysia affirmative
action. The former attracted all the
best brains and the latter chased
out all the brains. The Singapore
cabinet consists of dedicated and
intelligent technocrats whereas Malaysia
has one of the most unwieldy
cabinets.
Not only that, brain wise it was below
par not even good for the kampong.
With
that kind of composition, one
that is very brainy, naturally
Singapore,
with no natural resources could
outstrip Malaysia in every
aspect of development.
Malaysia,
on the other hand, was
too much preoccupied with its Malayness
and the illusory 'Ketuanan Melayu'
and was also more interested in
useless mega iconic development rather
than real social and economic development.
Whenever
Kuan Yew utters anything
that was deemed to be a slight on
Malaysia, voices were raised admonishing
him. Malaysia would never dare to
face reality. That Singapore had
shown that it could survive was a
slap on those who believed that
Singapore would fold up once it
left Malaysia. Therefore it was natural
that these doomsayers would
try to rationalise their utterances to be in
their favour to combat on whatever
Singapore
achieved its development
status without any fanfare. But
here in Malaysia, a development that
was deceptive was proclaimed as
having achieved development status.
It was trumpeted as an achievement
that befits first world status. This
was self delusion.Malaysians are led
to believe into a make believe
world, a dream world. The leaders who
themselves tend to believe in
their own fabricated world did not realise
the people were not taken in by
this kind of illusion.
Lee
Kuan Yew believed in calling
a spade a spade. I was there in
Singapore when the People's Action Party won
the elections in 1959. He was forthright
in his briefing to party members
as to what was expected of them
and what Singapore would face
in the future.
Ideologically,
I did not agree with
him. We in the University of Malaya
Socialist Club had a different interpretation
of socialist reconstruction. But he
was a pragmatist and wanted to bring
development and welfare to the
Singaporeans. Well! He succeeded.
Malaysia
was so much embroiled
in racial politics and due to the fear
of losing political power, all actions
taken by the main party in power
was never targeted towards bringing
wealth to all. Wealth was distributed
to the chosen few only. They were
the cronies and the backers of the
party leadership to perpetuate their
own selfish ends.
Seeing
the efficiency and the progress
achieved by Singapore caused the
Malaysian leadership to suffer from
an inferiority complex.That Malaysia
should suffer from this complex
was of its own making.
In
a recent interview, Kuan Yew
said that Malaysia could have done
better if only it treated its minority
Chinese and Indian population
fairly.
Instead they were completely marginalised
and many of the best brains left
the country in droves. He added
that Singapore was a standing indictment
to what Malaysia could have done
differently. He just hit the nail right
there on the head.
Malaysia
recently celebrated its
50th year of independence with a
bagful of uncertainties. The racial
divide has become more acute.
The number of Malay graduates
unemployed is on the increase. And
this aspect can be very explosive.
But sad to see that no positive actions
have been taken to address these
social ills.
Various
excuses were given by Malaysia
leaders why Singapore had far outstripped
Malaysia in all aspects of social
and economic advancement. Singapore was small, they rationalised
and therefore easy to manage. Singapore
was not a state but merely an island.
There
was one other aspect that
Malaysia practises and that is to
politicise all aspects of life. All government
organs and machinery were
'UMNO-ised'. This was to ensure
that the party will remain in power.
Thus there was this misconception
by the instruments of government as
to what national interest is and what UMNO vested interest is.
UMNO
vested interest only benefited
a few and not the whole nation.
But
due to the UMNO-isation of
the various instruments of government,
the country under the present administration
had equated UMNO vested interest
as being that of national interest.
Thus development became an avenue
of making money and not for the
benefit of the people.The fight against
corruption took a back seat.
Transparency was put on
hold.
And the instruments of government
took it to be of national interest
to cater to the vested interest of
UMNO. Enforcement of various enactments
and laws was selective. Thus a
'palace' in Kelang, APs cronies and
close-one-eye Umno MPs could
exist without proper procedure.
Corruption infested all govt departments,
the worst is the police and lately
even in the judiciary.
Singapore
did not politicise its instruments
of government. If ever politicisation
took place, it is guided by national
interest. To be efficient and to be
the best in the region was of paramount
importance. Thus all the elements
like corruption, lackadaisical attitude
towards work and other black elements,
which would retard such an aim,
were eliminated.
Singapore
naturally had placed
the right priority in it's pursuit to
achieve what is best for its people.
This is the major difference between
these two independent countries.
Malaysia
in its various attempts
to cover up its failures embarked on
several diversions. It wanted its
citizens to be proud that the country
had the tallest twin-tower in the
world, although the structure was
designed and built by foreigners.
It's now a white-elephant wasting
away. It achieved in sending a man
into space at an exorbitant price.
For what purpose? These are what
the Malays of old would say "menang
sorak" (hollow victories).
It
should be realised that administering
a country can be likened to managing
a corporate entity. If the management
is efficient and dedicated and know
what they are doing, the company
will prosper. The reverse will be
if the management is poor and bad.
The company will go bust.
There
are five countries around
this region. There is Malaysia and
then Indonesia. To the east there
is the Philippines and then there is
that small enclave called the Sultanate
of Brunei. All these four countries
have abundance of natural resources
but none can lay claim to have used
all these resources to benefit the
people. Poverty was rampant and
independence had not brought in
any significant benefits to the people.
But
tiny Singapore without any resources
at all managed to bring development
to its citizens. It had one of the best
public MRT transport systems and
airlines in the world and it is a very
clean City State. Their universities,
health care, ports are among the
best in the world.
It
is impossible to compare what
Singapore has achieved to what
all these four countries had so far
achieved. It was actually poor
management and corruption, and nothing more.
Everything is done for the vested
interest of the few.
Malaysia,
Indonesia and the Philippines
and the Sultanate of Brunei
need good management teams.
They
would not be able to do this
on their own steam. I would advise
that they call on Kuan Yew to show
them what good governance is.
Why look East to Japan when it
is just next door across the causeway.
Attach yourself to Him who is free from all attachments. Bind yourself to that bond so all other bonds may be broken. - Tirukkural 350
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