Syndicated Column
Written by Farish A. Noor
Wednesday, 17 September 2008
Recently I found myself in an open discussion with some of my students in the university I am based at in Indonesia. At the tender age of 18, this first-year student demonstrated both the intellectual acumen and political commitment I have come to expect from those twice his age, yet he was just one of the many students whom I am proud to say have come under my care and tutelage. After ten years of teaching experience, I have come to the simple conclusion that my Indonesian students are by far the smartest, gutsiest, honest and dedicated compared to the students I have taught in Malaysia, Singapore, Germany, France and Holland. Why?
That an 18 year old can begin his university life equipped with enough political knowledge and commitment is a testimony to the success of a primary and secondary educational system that got it right. This boy is the product of the post-Suharto educational system of Indonesia, and living proof that the reformasi (reform) movement of the 1990s in Indonesia has succeeded.
Yet the success of reformasi in Indonesia depended upon the quiet dedication of a legion of activist-academics who toiled day and night to dismantle the hegemonic structures of power and knowledge that were developed and consolidated during the three decades of Suharto's rule. This meant that they had to confront not only the hegemony of the old regime, but also replace much of the human and ideological resources that had been put in place between 1970 to 1998. Ten years later, the results are only beginning to show and it has proven to be a worthwhile endeavor after all.
Malaysia today is at a similar crossroads where Indonesia was a decade ago. With the febrile grip of the Badawi government growing weaker by the day, there is much speculation that Malaysia's former Deputy Prime Minister and now de facto leader of the opposition, Anwar Ibrahim, is poised to take over the reins of power. It is widely speculated that Anwar now has more than forty members of Parliament who are prepared to leave the ruling UMNO party and join his People's Alliance to take over from the unpopular and discredited government of Badawi. Anwar has written to Badawi and called for a dialogue between the two to discuss a peaceful transition of power: something that has never happened in the course of Malaysia's 51-year history.
Should such a transition happen, however, it would only mark the beginning of what must be a long and difficult process of reform and reconstruction. Like Indonesia, Malaysia has lived under half a century of hegemonic rule by one party – UMNO – and the ruling coalition it leads. Five decades of UMNO rule translates into five decades of pro-UMNO propaganda that has been normalised as news in the press, official history in school textbooks, official discourse in the workings of the state. This also means that the entire apparatus of the state – from the police and the armed forces to the bureaucracy, educational institutions, economic sector, etc. - have all been stamped with the lingering imprint of UMNO and UMNO's brand of racialised ethno-nationalist politics.
Taking over the government of Malaysia is just the first step to reforming the country. What many Malaysians do not perhaps realise is how difficult and long the process of reconstruction will take. For instance, the task of re-writing the country's official history, that has so long borne the bias and slant of UMNO's ideologues, will be a herculean task in itself. Malaysia's communally fragmented society will demand representation on all levels in the new curriculum of the national educational system. The Muslims, for instance, may insist on a re-writing of Malaysian history primarily from their Islamist perspective. Other ethnic and cultural minorities may likewise call for an equally sectarian interpretation of history as well. And even if such a comprehensive history could be written, would a new government have the will to see to it that it is taught in schools? Decades of UMNO hegemony has also ensured that a pro-UMNO bias remains in many institutions of the state and to some extent the official ideology of UMNO has been internalised by many members of the bureaucracy. One can anticipate many rounds of furious polemics, protests and counter-protests, and not to mention countless efforts to sabotage the reform process in Malaysia before it even gets off the ground.
Compared to the long road ahead and the obstacles that are bound to be put up in the face of reform, winning power and taking over the government will seem a relatively easy task. Much more difficult will be having to dismantle the structures of power and knowledge that have grown sedimented for so long, and overturning the dominant culture of racialised politics that has divided Malaysian society thus far.
What is required therefore is a spirit of universal citizenship and a commitment to a non-racialised and non-communitarian Malaysia: a task that the present opposition alliance itself is not perhaps ready to take on considering its own communalist make-up, divided as it is between communitarian Islamists and left-leaning democrats. The first and enduring task therefore has to be the inculcation of the value of universal citizenship and civic commitment to Malaysia. Until today Malaysians see themselves as members of the Malay, Chinese or Indian races first, or place their religious identity before citizenship. Yet the creation of a democratic and equal Malaysia relies on that intangible quality known as Malaysian citizenship, a quality that is hard to quantify or define but crucial nonetheless for nation-building. Are there enough of such Malaysian-minded Malaysians who can build a new non-racialised non-sectarian Malaysia? Time alone will tell, but for now the prospect of an unprecedented change of government is the first of many long and difficult steps that has to be taken in the slow birth of a reformed Malaysia.
波士顿人口３百８０万，其中２百万人是天主教徒，这是全美最多天主教徒的城市。丑闻揭发后，许多人大惊失声，原来自１９９０年起，至少有１３０个投诉在过去３０年间，约翰盖恩神父（John
Geoghan）性侵犯与骚扰他们，这些人３０多年前许多还是小学生，最年幼的受害人只有４岁！可是当时的主教波纳德逻尔（Cardinal Bernard F. Law）原来不是毫不知情，而是一次又一次的包庇，当有人投诉时，从没认真应对，只是努力遮掩，以教会声誉要求受害人家庭委曲沉默，然后把性骚扰别人的神父调到另一间教堂。再有人投诉
，再如法泡制，结果该神父巡回犯罪，受害人最后高达至少１３０人！
由於女性在父权社会没有具体的差异与独立人格，只是被视为一种定型化的对像（taking someone as a quasi-grammatical object），她只是被观看的对像，而不是爱或关怀的对像，这是一种把人当物来看待的态度。这不是说我们认为女人没有性格，而是社会对女人的认识是一种主观与偏见的投射。许多人会对受害女人说「不要那么敏啦！」，以为女人敏感，以为女人小题大作，甚至还会对男人说「怎么那么小气，像女人一样？」。我们对女性有许多负面的刻板印象。
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发表于 24-5-2008 06:55 PM
城市策划专家吴木炎形容，用深奥的专业术语堆切成的
吴木炎指出，四大册大蓝图报告并非普通市民所能了解的，既使是专业人士，也只能了解特定部份。
百多名来自蕉赖各地的市民前来参与了该项由民主行动党蕉赖区国会议员陈国伟举办的“吉隆坡地方蓝图讲解和居民对话”。来自六里村、老街场、国大医院附近的居民纷纷向吴木炎（右二）和陈国伟表达了他们的不安；包括六里村的新村命运、老街场三山国王庙的存亡、国大医院附境的居住环境素质的改变和威胁。
吴木炎说，“该蓝图称吉隆坡将成为年轻人集中之地，约30%市民将为受高等教育者，相比之下，全国受高等教育者比例则只有16.7%。经济上活跃的22岁至50岁人口将高达50%，而20岁至45岁的年轻人口则大约42%，超过65岁者则只有4%。换言之，2020年时，吉隆坡将成为年轻而充满活力的城市”。
陈国伟表示，早在12年前已有重建陆佑路组屋的计划，该计划还建议将循人中学迁校，后来因校方反对才没有进行。
安华（左图）是在7月1日
他随后陆续会见拉欣诺和时任首相马哈迪（右图）。两人分别指示他展开彻底的调查，不能拥有任何的隐瞒。马哈迪更警告说，如果有任何隐瞒，政府将准备成立一个皇家委员会来调查此案，届时势必打击警方的信誉。
（一）安华的伤势与“攻击”（assault）是一致的；
末再因更揭露，慕沙（右图）曾在12月13日联络他，表示阿都干尼想要见他。当天他就与阿都干尼和慕沙在武吉阿曼会面，而阿都拉曼也在场。当时阿都干尼指示他陪同阿都拉曼去巡视扣押安华的牢房。虽然当时他百般不愿，但是在阿都干尼的恳求，以及慕沙安排下终于妥协。
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