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'Twas the night before Deepavali 'Cept for Malaysian PM Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who took the opportunity afforded by the eve of the annual Indian Festival of Lights to serve up a fairy tale to all "good" Malaysians. It could well have been mistaken by many as an example of the unique Malaysian sense of humour, until Deputy fairy story teller Abdullah stepped in and said the kiddies were very arrogant for not listening. The message was headlined over most Malaysian newspapers that continued to publish through Deepavali, the English language Sun as usual taking their usual long 3 day vacation whenever a religious festival threatens. The leading (and government owned) English language rag the New Straits Times, however ran the front page headline on Sunday - "Join BN - PM to Opposition", summarising the PM's moral of the fairy tale from the night before. Basically Mahathir appealed to opposition parties to join the BN. Emboldened by the increasing return of prodigal sons from opposition parties back to the BN in recent months, and using the same rhetoric as US President Bush but shoved up a notch or ten, the argument was that in the face of enemies we have to work together. No worries about having slightly different views, he went on in this particularly Grimm fairy tale, BN is made up of good Malaysians who can accommodate. But hang on a moment... fair shake of the snake... Drawn to it's natural conclusion that means no opposition right? Well yes... but if you accept Dr Mahathir's view of leadership and government, it all makes sense. For to Dr Mahathir, Malaysians solve problems by not arguing in public. Consensus is achieved in cosy little groups where every one knows each other. We cant show our faults to outsiders. That's why we ban air quality readings from publication and complain when the newspapers front page headlines about water quality in Kuala Lumpur. Once the small élite class decides on the right way, then it is up to us to convince the peasants by our great PR and communication skills. Let them have their say in the coffee houses, but once anybody starts listening to them, shut them up. Speak softly, but carry a big sedition/ISA/personal attack stick. And this may well be the Malaysian way as well. Decisions tend to be made in small groups and in secret, far more than is usual in other democracies. On the other hand, having a one party/coalition state inevitably centralizes decision making to a small group, discourages competition ("What ever happened to Her Majesty's Opposition?"), and sends out an example to business that the Malaysian business culture is to monopolize, control, and protect. Great for a very under developed country, but unsustainable for the international business competitiveness of a developed confident nation. Yesterday, opposition parties declined. Today the deputy fairy story-teller Abdullah slammed opposition parties for being arrogant in "not accepting Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad's open invitation for them to join Barisan Nasional". To those who are not acquainted with Malaysian politics, "BN" stands for "Barisan Nasional" (National Front), the coalition of aligned political parties who make-up the Malaysian government - including the predominant Malay and moderate Islamic party UMNO, of which Mahathir is president, as well as minority Chinese, Indian and Sabah/Sarawak parties. Major opposition parties make up the rest of parliament, including the more fundamentalist Islamic PAS with strongholds in the rural Malay majority North-Eastern states, the major Chinese opposition party DAP, and the major mainstream but still Malay majority opposition party Keadilan (Justice Party). The political landscape of Malaysia differs from that of major developed Western and other Asian democracies in that major political party players are differentiated by race and religion rather than the left/liberal/right political ideology trilogy. A close shave with communism 30 years ago banished left ideology and anything even sniffing of socialism in any of its forms to the peripheral of Malaysian politics, leaving Mahathir and UMNO free to develop Malaysia on the basis of a paternal benevolent authoritarian political culture that relied on a small élite for policy making and a low critical thinking skills/politically conscious electorate nurtured by a didactic education system and the lack of any real threat since. Even though the new Keadilan party, borne from the political upheavals of the Mahathir/Anwar set-to in the mid 1990s, failed in large part to build a multi-racial party based on political ideology, and were forced to go into coalition "Barisan Alternatif" (Alternative Front) with the Chinese DAP and fundamentalist Islam PAS. PAS was formed from a splinter group of UMNO many years back, who objected to the secularism in government championed by UMNO. To this day the overriding PAS platform is to turn Malaysia into an Islam state, a model already developed in the two Northern PAS governed states. The internal power base of Keadilan was made up mainly of the more courageous and ideological of the former Anwar power base in UMNO. It was a credit to these strange bedfellows that they overcame a BN élite controlled broadcast and print media that focused on the politics of fear of division and violence, a media campaign that painted BN opponents and fellow travelers as being seditious and anti-Malaysian and a slow registration process that disenfranchised new and young voters, that they came so close to snatching power from the BN in the first subsequent election to Anwar and Mahathir going amok. That's not to say that some components of the BA pulled their own dirty political tricks too - but their channels of communication were not as advanced as the former's, apart from a early entry competitive advantage with the Internet and a more passionate and ideological grassroots personal appeal compared to BN's and UMNO's more arrogant kampung (rural village) campaign. Since that election however, the strains of competing against an entrenched é, the cooling off of the immediate rage over the treatment of Anwar, and continued (though not startling) economic well-being at least relative to neighbouring economies, were already starting to show. Political opportunists who shifted to Keadilan started to drift back to UMNO to re-assert their darstadly political careers in the bosom of the mother and were welcome with open armed delight. Political squabbles resulted in member disaffection in Keadilan, and DAP - the major loser in the election with their Chinese constituency lost to the BN fear campaign - were left in a shambles. The real nail in the coffin however came about with the September 11th attacks on US targets by militant terrorist groups, presumably master planned by al-qaeda. The atmosphere of this "contrived" war and insecurity entrenched the power of established sitting governments from Australia to Europe, often returning tired and establishment governments undeservedly back into power. Mahathir, always quick to seize on political and propaganda opportunities, this time played it uncharacteristically cool. It was a perfect strategy, because voters did not need to be bashed over the head repeatedly as usual to drive the point home, and Mahathir need not run any risk of being accused or opportunism. He had said it all before. Politically motivated Muslims were bad. PAS was bad. Anybody who dealt with PAS was bad. The government was right all along that PAS had links with terrorist para-military cells. It was now OK to arrest suspects and detain them with no evidence, because, heh... even your great hero the USA was doing it... During the past few months fringe independent parties, political careerists and their rank and file followers increasingly followed the trend of going back to the comfortable womb of BN and UMNO. There reasons as given by the BN controlled press? ...Almost always it was that they "...didn't feel they could achieve much outside government..." Now we know the good Doctor does not publicly imbibe, even though informal sources swear on the Koran or Bible that he does enjoy a private relaxed nightcap of sweet sherry from time to time. Let's just say it may have taken just a little shot of Kickapoo Joy Juice to give Dr M. the Dutch courage together with the joyful sight of rats increasingly desert sinking ships to tip the scales to make this Deepavali eve's statement of triumph or arrogance. Now as gran'pa Rat would say as he told me his own more rational bedtime stories - (he was a dedicated rational, pragmatic, testy, atheistic character, completely different from my flock-tending pastor-of-the-kirk pop) - you are only as good as the opposition... Indeed, Mahathir will never admit it, (unless he's drunk the whole can of the Kickapoo stuff or gone for a second sly glass of the sherry concoction), but the rise of Keadilan did have it's good points for the good Doc - and that had everything to do with what my gran'pa used to tell me. Basically UMNO was, (and still is despite the great efforts of Dr M. of recent past) mired in political patronage, incompetence, and massive internal power struggles and personal vindictiveness. If you think I'm getting personal, let me recount some personal experiences. In my 10 years of visiting Malaysia I have attended a mass of dinner and lunch functions, and in Malaysia it is de-rigeur to invite a leading cabinet minister to make a speech. Inevitably these speeches are rambling discourses, though punctuated thankfully by the natural joviality for which BN, especially UMNO party ministers are well known, which is the only thing that stops you falling asleep face down in your rojak. Almost always they promise they will finish in 2 minutes, but as their ego inflates so does their perception of time. But that's not the point... In (and I kid you not) ALL, of at least 40 functions like this I have attended, the minister is late. Sometimes 20 minutes. Mostly around 45 minutes. The worst was 2 and a half hours. Guests in their best suits, black tie or traditional Malaysian dress sit around staring at the vacant pristine round table at the front of the podium, wondering whether they are ever going to get around to the free gift draw. Food cools and starts to rot on their own tables. They get argumentative. Husbands and wives squabble. Kids cry. I have one exception. Dr Mahathir on all 5 occasions that I have had the honour to eat in the same room as him - is never late. Not once. Unlike the tenor of his public statements, in person or in smaller groups Dr M. is a paragon of modesty and respect for his audience. Having a mate in UMNO is almost a prerequisite for doing business in Malaysia, because you know they can always move things. A less competitive bid than your fellow bidders? No problem, get on the blower to your mate from UMNO. BN and UMNO reward, like Malaysia as a whole, formality, political correctness, and personal relationships far more than competence. There is a clear career path in government. It involves learning, understanding and playing "the game". It involves a lot of kowtowing, earning and giving or "credits" and some other methods which I can't talk about. A long period in government cushioned by a highly competent leader and the almost complete amalgamation of powers (legal-media-justice) has made UMNO lazy. It took the shock of the Mahathir/Anwar bust up to create some dust, but not enough to really reform this monolith which yet again, has only to be as good as it's opposition. ...Which is virtually none... It's great propaganda to boast that your party is the only political power in a country. And it's a bold claim. It is a dangerous road however. It leaves a sector of society feeling dis-enfranchised. And that can well lead to the very things that such a plea is trying to prevent. So no more fairy tales please. Malaysia will become great by developing competitive skills, not by monopolizing or protecting either political or business élites. Email the Chao Phraya River Rat
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© Asian Business Strategy & Street Intelligence Ezine 2002
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