By (the Token of) Time (through the Ages), Verily Man is in loss, Except such as have Faith, and do righteous deeds, and (join together) in the mutual teaching of Truth, and of Patience and Constancy.
The meaning of Surah al-’Asr (103) verse 1-3.
Forward February 2008
February 2008· Issue 20
Ag INTERNATIONAL: The world holds it breath while pakistan sorts out the aftermath of Bhutto’s killing.
Departments News: Indonesia wades over
the treatment of its legions of workers................................................. 4
Your Say: In true Islamic tradition,
themosqueismorethanjustaplacefor worship.AmericanMuslimswanttoplay ping-pong in their mosques........
Kicking Back: When it comes
to sun and sea in the Caribbean, few placesbeatBermuda.Thereismoreto this island than the infamousTriangle
Cover Story Tun Dr Siti Hasmah has always been the woman behind her man, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. A formidable woman in her own right, Siti Hasmah is content to walk in Tun’s shadow. She talks to Forward about the trying last few months. 4
6 7 Forward February 008
enda NATIONAL: Why should a Malaysian car company hold on to an exotic Brit like Lotus? We tell you why...........................62
Inside
the Story: Malaysians are still horrified by what happened to little Nurin Jazlin who was kidnapped and murdered last year. Is there a just ending to her story?.................................48
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FOCUS: Malaysia is widely expected to hold its General Elections very soon. Can the present administration rely on its performance to maintain its popularity?
64 SOUL BEAT: Sami Yusof is the reluctant superstar of the Muslim world. He talks about the common ground between belief and art.
Landmarks: If a bridge can be called beautiful, then the Akashii-Kaikyo in Japan is certainly one of them
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Other Departments: This Month, Look West, Inside The Story, Living Islam, Review, International, Gadget, Landmarks, Last Word
FOCUS
18
They’re Everywhere: Malaysians rely on foreigners to do everything from sweeping the streets to taking care of their children. Are there now too many of them? Tell us what you think. We promise to read everything you send, really. Write to: The Editor, Forward Magazine, No. 68-B, Jalan Kampung Attap, 50460 Kuala Lumpur or email us at zul@mmpcommunications.com
A Member of:
from the editor
foreword
what’s news
Top US soldier wants Guanta
I
f you haven’t noticed it yet, Muslims are very prominent in the news. All over the world. Even in countries where there are no Muslims, Allah’s faithful make up the news.Muslimsaresometimesportrayed as killing people but most of the time they are portrayed as being killed by M- 6s, by F- 6s, by cruise missiles and suicide bombs. It is small wonder then that people of other religion tend to think Muslims are a violent bunch, even though they are no more belligerent than the next Hindu Tamil Tiger in Ceylon or the Christian Serb in Bosnia. With all this gloom and doom, it was refreshing to receive a letter from Romania written by a reader who said he was glad to discover that Muslims are not all about violence. You can read his letter in the letters page. I agree totally with the reader that the whole worldcoulddowithmoreunderstandingandin some small way Forward is contributing to that.
Zulkifli Othman
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GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAvAL BASE , Cuba, The top U.S. military officer said on Jan he would like to see the Guantanamo detention centre closed because its image has damaged America’s international standing. “I’d like to see it shut down,” said Adm. Mike Mullen. “I believe that from the standpoint of how it reflects on us that it’s been pretty damaging.” But Mullen, the chairman of the U.S. military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said closing the prison posed major legal problems. “There are enormous challenges associated with that,” he said. “There are enor-
mouslycomplex,complicating legal issues that are way out of my purview.” Many governments, including close U.S. allies, have urgedWashington to shut the detentioncentreforterrorism suspects, which took in its firstinmatesalmostexactlysix years ago. Since then, only one prisoner has been convicted through the system of war crimes tribunals set up to try Guantanamoinmates,andthatwas the result of a plea bargain. president George W. Bush and other top U.S. officials have said they would like to close the camp but only when they have found a satisfactory way to do so.
Kanoute saves Spanis MADRID — Malian Muslim footballer Frederic Kanoute, the striker of Spain’s Seville FC, has saved the only mosque in the southern Spanish city of Seville from closure. Kanoute has paid 0,860 euros so that fellow Muslims in Seville would not find themselveswithoutamosque, reported Agence Francepresse (AFp) on December . The privately owned mosque was due to be sold after a contract to use the premises by the local Muslim population had expired. But Kanoute stepped in to purchase the building. The 0-year-old striker has not made any comment on the matter. But city authorities have confirmed that the property has been registered in Kanoute’s name, according to the BBC Sport. It is estimated that Kanoute has spent almost a year’s salary to buy the mosque.
Kanoute, one of the finalists for the 007 BBC African Footballer of the Year award, moved in 00 from French champion Lyon to Seville FC, the 006-07 Spanish league’s third and the holder of last season’s cup championship. Spanish Muslims said they really appreciate Kanoute’s moving gesture. “If it had not been for Kanoute then we would not have had a mosque on Fridays, which is the most holy day of the week for Muslims,” a spokesman for the Islamic Community of Spain was quotedassayingbyBBCSport. Kanoute, who has also created a foundation in his motherland Mali to help orphans, reverted to Islam 0 years ago. Last Ramadan, he impressed Spanish football fans by his unique performance though he was fasting. Kanoute was crowned last year the league’s top scorer with 0 goals, outperforming Forward February 008
anamo prison closed On his first visit to the jail on Cuba since taking up his post in October, Mullen toured Guantanamofacilitiesincluding the construction site of a new high-security courtroom that U.S. officials say should speed up inmate trials. Human rights groups and foreign governments have said holdingsuspectsforyearswithout trial violates basic international legal standards. U.S. officials say some governments will not take custody of their citizens held at Guantanamo, others would not treat theircitizens humanelyand still othersarenotwillingtoprovide securityguaranteesWashington believes are necessary. Mullen said there were some
“really, really bad people”detained at Guantanamo who had committed “extraordinary crimes.” Among those detained is Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-confessed mastermind of the Sept. , 00 , attacks. Mullen also said steps had been taken to reduce the F population at the camp, which now stood at 77.
sh mosque
football legends such as Brazilian Ronaldinho. Kanoute, a practising Muslim who regularly performs his prayers even in the locker room, refused last season to wear a jersey advertising for
aninternetgamblingsite,becausegambling is forbidden in Islam. His team had to give him a brandfree jersey until he accepted wearing the sponsored jersey in return for money to an Islamic charity. F
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this month Monday, September Saturday, February 9
SUNDAY
Monday, February
0
7
Friday, February
4
MONDAY
1943: During World War II in the Pacific, U.S. troops captured Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands after six months of battle, with 9,000 Japanese and 2,000 Americans killed.
TUESDAY
THURSDAY
2003: Sixteen minutes before it was scheduled
to land, the Space Shuttle Columbia broke apart in flight over west Texas, killing all seven crew members. The accident may have resulted from damage caused during liftoff when a piece of insulating foam from the external fuel tank broke FRIDAY off, piercing a hole in the shuttle’s left wing that allowed hot gases to penetrate the wing upon re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere. This was the second space shuttle lost in flight. In January 1986, Challenger exploded during liftoff.
SATURDAY
GROUP EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
EDITOR
Sunday, February
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Tuesday, February 9
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Datuk Jamaluddin Mansor jamal@mmpcommunications.com
ZAKIAH KOYA FARIZA UZMAT, SHAHFIZAL MUSA SHAMSUL YUNOS, SULAIMAN DUFFORD, HASSAN ALEXANDER, HALIZA AHMAD, NORLIN WAN MUSA, KAMAL HASAN,SHARIFAH NURULHANAN SYED SOFI HALIMATON SAADIAH, YUSRI SHAKJEE, JAZTINA ALIAS jazz@mmpcommunications.com
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Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens, wins damages from two UK newspapers which falsely claimed he supported terrorism.
JOURNALISTS CONTRIBUTORS
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2005: The singer Yusuf
ASST. EDITOR
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ZULKIFLI OTHMAN zul@mmpcommunications.com
PHOTOGRAPHER GRAPHIC DESIGNER
1990: In South Africa, Nelson Mandela, at age 71, was released from prison after serving 27 years of a life sentence on charges of attempting to overthrow the apartheid government.
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Forward February 008
Wednesday, February 6
1989: The Soviets
completed their military withdrawal from Afghanistan after nine years of unsuccessful involvement in the civil war between Muslim rebel groups and the Soviet backed government, with over 15,000 Soviet soldiers killed.
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Friday, February
Quotes
When a law enforcement officer apprehends an illegal immigrant, it makes no sense to simply release that individual who has been breaking our laws with no threat of sanction or penalty. —Bobby Jindal
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. —Albert Einstein 1915: The Singapore Mutiny occurs as British Muslim Indian sepoys rose up against the British.
Nobody could dare to think of breaking the country or doing terror and extremist acts when the people’s party was in power. The country had to suffer whenever a dictator took over. —Benazir Bhutto
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letters Dear Editor, I agree with you there was a time when proton cars were desirable not because the styling or the technology (January 007). Almost all Malaysians wanted to have one proton car at their homes because they were proud of it. It was produced by Malaysia. It was our national car. But now the feeling has slowly gone. When prime minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi took over, proton seems to fight the battle on its own compared to former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir’s time. I believe many will agree that proton’s glorious days were under Tun’s leadership. But it does not mean proton cannot be successful under any other premiers. perhaps it is just a matter of time. And cost for sure. There would be no national car without proton. We made it. So we must understand it better than anyone else. When something is wrong we should correct it ourselves, not calling others to correct. I believe this national car brand will rise again but it will be a long battle, as one of your headings said. Whatever the plan will be, whether by the proton management or the Government, let us pray that the national car company will not go to any foreign hands, even for assistance, because we have to believe with our own people, our own ability, not others. A patriot Kuala Lumpur Dear Editor, My name is Laurentiu Faighel and I live in Romania. Having a few years ago met a very gentle person from your country, and then corresponded with him, It happened to become much interested about Malaysia and the Malay people. So, when I accidentally got a copy of your Forward magazine, I read it. And I can say that I like it, its modern style and its large pallete of subjects, so, despite the fact that it is an Islamic magazine, it was a real pleasure to read it back to back. And I wondered why we, the Christian Europeans, are so ignorant about the true aspect of your religion. In fact, we just gather some information about Islam and Muslims from the daily massacres in Iraq, pakistan or other unhappy Muslim countries, where violence and bloodshed are common. My opinion is that if there would be more rational voice, as your magazine, proved, the world would have much to learn and the horrifying image of people blowing themselves into the air in the name of a religion would become an extreme rarity. We also have a Muslim minority in Romania, I have friends among them. We never argued about whose religion is truer or better, we never bothered about the other customs and practices, we just shared the same joys and hardships of life. All my Muslim friends say that the Islam is a religion of peace, and I believe
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them. Maybe if there are more people to affirm it not only by words, but also by facts, many things can change in better. If we don’t consider the others as enemies, but humans like as, the world probably would have had already colonies on Mars. Another interesting thing I noticed is the concern your magazine shows to the unions and union movement. I met Mr. Zainal Rampak once, at a meeting in London, but I did not know much about him. His portrait, as it was drawn in your magazine, made me to regret I did not spending more time with such a man. Hoping that I did not bother you too much, please receive my sincere congratulations for your work. God bless Malaysia and the Malay people. Laurentiu Faighel Romania
Dear Editor Hi there! I have been following your issues since October 007. Congratulations for the good articles on the highlighted issues. I love your January cover. The robot idea is great. Keep up the good work. Yen Yen Kubang pasu, Kedah
Forward February 008
news
Israel kills three palestinians, including woman WEST BANK - In the northern West Bank, Israeli soldiers opened fire and killed a palestinian activist who had approached one of their positions near the town of Jenin, the army said. The Islamic Jihad group said the man was one of its members. Meanwhile, the palestinians had called on US president George W Bush to press Israel to freeze settlement activity during his visit last month. “president Abbas considers president Bush’s visit as historic and important and one that will advance the peace process,”a spokesman for palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas told AFp. “We are expecting that president Bush will get Israel to freeze settlement activity and that he will insist on the need to put an end to the Israeli occupation so as to lead to the creation of two states in line with his vision,” said Nabil Abu Rudeina. Israeli settlementsonArab land captured in the 967 Six Day War—all considered illegalbytheinternationalcommunity—are one of the most contentious issues of the decades-old Middle East conflict. They have been a key source of discord between the two sides since they relaunched peace talks in late November at a US conference after a break of nearly seven years and were expected to figure prominently in discussions during the Bush visit. Abbas has repeatedly said that nego-
tiations cannot succeed unless Israel halts settlement activity and Bush has described them as a “problem” in one interview given ahead of his trip. The president arrived on Wednesday for a three-day stay—his first since entering the Oval Office and the first by a sitting US president in nine years—at the start of a regional tour that took him to a number of allied Arab states. Israeli-palestinian tensions were running high ahead of his visit over increased Israeli army incursions against palestinian territories. palestinian prime Minister Salam Fayyad protestedthatIsraeliincursions,whichhave included a 6-hour operation in Nablus, were “sabotaging” recent efforts by the pA to reassert its authority in the West Bank and clamp down on law and order. But speaking with army chief in the West Bank, Livni said Israel had no intention of halting its operations against activists “even during peace negotiations with the palestinians.” Meantime, the vast majority of palestinians expect the revived peace talks with Israelis to fail, according to a poll released ahead of US president George W Bush’s visit. A total of 69. per cent of those polled said the peace talks relaunched at a US conference in November will “certainly fail” or “fail,” according to the survey by the palestinian Centre for policy and Survey Research (pSR). F
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your say
We should play ping pong in mosques too
T
n By Hesham A Hassaballa he recent report of the Institute for Social policy and UnderstandingonAmerican Muslims was long, long overdue. It should forever silence and dismiss those voices in the wilderness of America that claim “80% of America’s mosques are controlled by extremists”. The report found that only a small fraction of American Muslims in the Detroit area, taken as a microcosm of thebroaderAmerican Muslim community, prefer to follow a strictly conservative (labeled “extremist” by some) brand of
The majority of mosque participants, 8%, see the mosque as a place of ritual and increasing faith, while 4 % view the mosque as primarily a centre of activities and learning
Islam. In fact, radicalism and isolationism are not evident in Detroit mosques. I believe this to hold true for the rest of America’s Muslims. One of the most intriguing findings of the report is how American Muslims view the mosque. The majority of mosque participants, 8%, see the mosque as a place of ritual and increasing faith, while 4 % view the mosque as primarily a centre of activities and learning. This is a very interesting dichotomy. I am of the minority position on this issue. The mosque is more than simply a place Forward February 008
of prostration. It is part community centre, townhall,voterregistrationcentre,banquet hall, and youth centre. At least that is what it should be. This last function, youth centre, should and must be the priority for American Muslims if we are to progress in the st century. Too many of our brothers and sisters have made the mosque“youth-unfriendly” to say the least. I have lost count of the number of times congregants have loudly and publicly shown their distaste for small children running around in the mosque – inevitably making noise, as children often do – during the prayer. It is striking to me howseeminglylittletoleranceandpatience there is for our children at the mosque. This is not our tradition. prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) welcomed children in the mosque. Once, he even descended from his pulpit during a sermon, picked up his two grandsons, Hassan and Hussein, and carried them in his arms while he continued speaking to the faithful. Another time, the prophet was prostrating in prayer and his two grandsons climbed upon his back to play. The prophet stayed in prostration for a very long time so that he would not cut short his grandsons’ play time. Yet another time, the prophet was leading the Dawn prayer, and he suddenly hurried to finish praying with the faithful. When asked why, theprophetrespondedthatheheardachild crying, and thus he did not want to agitate thechild’smotherbyprolongingtheprayer. Mercy and tolerance, sadly, are long gone from our community. I have heard mosque leaders, to my utter shock and horror, tell the faithful that if their young children can not behave in the mosque, they should not bring them to the mosque. Not bring them to the mosque? If our children are not raised to love the mosque, they will grow up loving other institutions: the club, the bar, and other places. If our children do not love the mosque; if they do not feel welcome as they walk through the front door of the mosque, then they will walk out through the back door and leave the faith. Now, I agree that teenagers should not be allowed to lounge around outside of the prayer hall while the congregational prayer is being conducted: they should be among the ranks of the worshippers. Nevertheless, we must be patient if and when a small child makes a little noise in the mosque during the prayers. If the prophet was willing to hasten one of the obligatory prayers out of mercy for a crying child’s mother, then surely we can be tolerant of the laughter and play of small children in our mosques.
WORSHIp: Terrorist or the face of innocence?
Yet, our accommodation for the youth must go beyond small children. I believe every mosque should have several ping pong and pool tables. The crisp sounds of ping pong and billiard balls crashing on the floor should echo throughout the mosques of this country. If feasible, the mosque should have a few video games (non-violent ones, of course). Heck, it can help raise money for mosque activities. There should not be a Muslim house of worship without a basketball hoop, and volleyball net, and a tennis court, and – which is my dream – a swimming pool. We should make the mosque a fun place for our youth to hang out. When the time for prayer comes, all basketballs, volleyballs, tennis balls, billiard cues, and ping pong paddles must be put down so that everyone can attend the congregational prayer. Faith and fun can mix homogeneously; it just has to be done right. Youth and adolescence is both an exciting and confusing time. It is exciting to be in a period of immense change, a welcome period of transition from childhood to adulthood. Yet, for Muslims growing up in America, that period of transition is rife with immense confusion. There is confusion over national identity. Throughout my adolescence, I asked myself, “Am I American or Egyptian?” There is confusion over which culturoreligious identityshouldbepre-eminent: the Muslim identity or the American one? Unfortunately,sometimesthesetwoidentities are at odds with one another, and many non-Muslim Americans demand of their Muslim compatriots to choose.
Adolescence is probably the most difficult period of a young Muslim’s life growing up in America. Consequently, there should be a sanctuary, a place where they can feel at home. For me, that was my very large extended family. But many, if not most, are not that fortunate. The mosque--with its ping pong tables, basketball hoops, tennis courts, swimming pools, volleyball courts, pool tables, and prayer halls--should be that sanctuary. What better place to hang out than the house of God? The only thing is, we Muslims have to do a much better job at making the house of God home. (Thewriter,HeshamA.Hassaballaisa Chicagophysicianandwriter.Heisauthor of“WhyILovetheTenCommandments,” publishedinthebookTakingBackIslam: American Muslims Reclaim Their Faith (Rodalepress),winneroftheprestigious WilburAwardfor 00 BestReligionBook oftheYearbytheReligionCommunicators Council.)F
There should not be a Muslim house of worship without a basketball hoop, and volleyball net, and a tennis court, and – which is my dream – a swimming pool.
what’s news JUSTICE FOR ABUSED WORKERS - SUSILO
KUALA LUMpUR: Indonesia’s president called for justice for his country’s workers who have been abused by their Malaysian employers, after a string of cases has soured relations between the neighbours. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said so after talks with Malaysia’s prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, during a visit on January that has been dominated by the issue of mistreatment of Indonesian workers here. “Our aim is justice must be upheld, and we also need to work together and get help from Malaysia for Indonesian workers who are working here,” Yudhoyono told a joint press conference. “We must determine that their safety, security and rights are protected well,”he said.“Whenever there is a case, whoever is in the wrong must be prosecuted.” Malaysia is home to some . million
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documentedIndonesianworkers,aswell as an illegal workforce estimated to take the figure up to million. Relations have been dogged by a series of spats including the labour issue as well as the beating of an Indonesian referee here, and a row over the origins of a folk song popular in both countries. Several cases of serious assault and murder of maids are currently before Malaysian courts, but critics say progress is too slow and employers rarely face punishment. Andreas pareira, a member of the Indonesian parliament’s foreign affairs commission, said this week that bilateral ties were “at the worst point” in the past four decades, the Antara state-run news agency reported. Abdullah said the two countries would establish a high-level committee of 4 “eminent persons” to address trouble-
some issues including foreign workers as well as culture, the economy and religion. “The group will be able to raise issues within their body and give views to their own countries so that we can determine what needs to be done and can act on it,” he said. He also called for a mechanism for media representatives from the two countries to meet regularly, to avoid “sensational reporting” that he said had whipped up public anger. “If both sides get a better understanding and background to the situation... there will be... more moderate reporting that will not affect the good relations between Indonesia and Malaysia,” he said. During the talks, the countries agreed to form a joint commission tasked with seeking ways to promote trade and investment.F
Forward February 008
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news KLCI hits all-time high on polls talk
STOCK MARKET : A bechmark to predict economic sentiment
pETALING JAYA : Talk of an impending general election boosted market sentiment and sent the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) to close at an all-time high of ,489.74 early January on frenzied buying of government-linked counters and selected stocks, especially those involved in the Iskandar Development Region (IDR). Riding on expectation of an early general election, possibly in the first quarter of this year, the KLCI jumped 8.97 points or . 9%. This is the third straight day of gains, with the KLCI up 4.49 points during this period. Other factors contributing to the positive sentiment was the high crude palm oil prices and investors restructuring portfolios with interest likely centred on plantation and construction sectors. Turnoverwas . 6billionsharesvalued at over RM billion. Gainers outnumbered losers 97 to 4 . Based on the surge in the share prices of Malayan Banking Bhd, Bursa Malaysia BhdandBumiputra-CommerceHoldings Bhd, analysts said foreign funds were mostly behind the buying spree. Analysts said it was a liquidity-driven market and they expected the buying to be sustained up to Chinese New Year, unless the US economy entered a recession. There were also some portfolio adjustments. “As long as the elections have not happened yet, people still want to play on the election theme,” said Citi Investment head of Malaysia research Choong Wai Kee. His conservative target for the
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KLCI is , 00 by the first quarter. Aseambankers Equity Research head vincent Khoo said he was surprised by the intensity of the buying, especially for heavyweights, which could have been driven by some foreign funds. However, the sustainability would hinge on externalitiesincludingprospectsofarecession in the US. Maybank surged 80 sen to RM .70, Bursa was 70 sen higher at RM 4.60 and BCHB added 60 sen to RM .40. Maybank and BCHB accounted for 9. points of the gain in the KLCI. WCT Engineering Bhd and Boustead Holdings Bhd each gained 60 sen to RM8.8 and RM7. 0 respectively, while DiGi.Com Bhd added 0 sen to RM 4.60. Companies linked to the IDR project also surged, with actively traded MalaysianResourcesCorporationBhdjumping
sen to RM .87 on talk that it could have been awarded the penang monorail job. UEM World added 0 sen to RM4. 0, UEM Builders Bhd gained sen to RM . 8 and Tebrau Teguh Bhd was sen up to RM . 9. Gamuda Bhd, which is involved in the RM . billionelectrifieddouble-tracking project from Ipoh to padang Besar, rose 40 sen to RM .70. Choong’s conservative estimate is that the KLCI may reach , 00 by March as investors chase defensive plantation and telecommunicationsstocks,andspeculate on Malaysia’s impending elections. The head of fund management company KumpulanSentiasa CemerlangSdn Bhd, Choong Khuat Hock, said the rally on Bursa Malaysia was due to talk of preelection rally. “There is also a spillover effect from the plantation stocks, as investors consolidate their gains. There was also a large interest in key blue chips such as Maybank and Telekom Malaysia,”he said. Choong said the outlook for the near term was still volatile until after the election and the government revealed how much oil subsidy it wanted to reduce. Insider Asia said the strong performance on Bursa was partly due to its more defensivequalitiesandexpectationsofan early general election. “High commodity prices and infrastructure spending should help mitigate the impact of a potentially sharp slowdown in the US economy, while the start of withdrawals from the EpF (Employees provident Fund) for housing instalments this year will also help cushion the impact of rising inflation for consumers,” it said. F
Forward February 008
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focus
In fairness to pak Lah’s leadership n By Shafizal Musa
M
alaysians will go to the polls soon. No matter when it will be held, prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi, or pak Lah, has a different leadership style than his predecessor Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Abdullah became prime Minister by default in 00 when Tun Mahathir resigned but Malaysians endorsed his leadership when the Barisan Nasional won a landslide victory in the 004 general elections. It is argued that the victory had been largely attributed to his image as “Mr Clean” and to the promises that he made. However Abdullah faces increasing criticisms both from the opposition and members of his own party. He has been called names such as Mr Dreamland for dozing off during meetings and functions. The rumour goesthatCabinetministersoncecaught him sleeping during the weekly Cabinet meeting in putrajaya. Whatever is said about his leadership by his friends and foes alike, some foreignanalystssayheisunder-appreciated by Malaysians. “The prime Minister Abdullah Badawi is often criticised for being too slow, indecisive and deferring to consensus too often. We believe his new style of leadershipmaybeexactlywhatthecountry needs to rejuvenate the economy’s long-term growth prospects, especially in the face of rapid globalisation,” said merchant bankers Merrill Lynch in a recent report. This lack of appreciation is caused by the lack of understanding of Abdullah’sadministrationandtheunflattering comparison to Tun Mahathir’s style of governing. Abdullah’s leadership
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style can be divided into three elements: consensus, consultation and participation. Although this approach is a breath of fresh air for many, his critics say it is a weak way to lead. In a seminar on Abdullah’s leadership three years ago in putrajaya, Dr Sivamurugan pandian from the Social Science Faculty of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) said it would be difficult to say that after three years of leading the nation, there had been drastic changes to previous policies as several of them were rather solid and did not require further improvements. “This somehow has causedamisperceptionwithsomeseeing him (Abdullah) as a weak leader,”he said. Abdullah is often accused of being too slow in handling urgent matters, with aides often having to “get the prime Minister’s signature on his way out”. This was done to get approval on certain issues so he had no time to read every word of the document and some have taken advantage of this. Thus Abdullah was implicated in the oil for food scandal. The Iraqi government is said to have abused the programme by demanding kickbacks from companies. One of the namesimplicatedduringtheinvestigation was Ahmad Abdullah Badawi. Abdullah was accused of knowingly supporting his family members in securing the contract in the oil for food programme. His only defence was he signed a lot of letters of support and he was not aware that his sister-in-law was involved. A news report fromThe Australiansaidinvestigationsfoundnoevidence that Abdullahbenefitedpersonallyinthe oil for food programme but his signature showed that he was not diligent. Abdullah is accused of being too slow on handling urgent matters that those
who need his approval have perfected the skill of “getting the prime Minister’s signature on his way out” Abdullah’s critics have also said that he is a man who has limited knowledge on certain issues which caused him to rely on unofficial advisers who are not subject to accountability. This gives him the image of being an uninformed prime Minister who is unable to give a clear answer when asked on certain matters. Abdullah is perceived as ill-prepared and ill-informed when compared to other politicians. Another criticism on Abdullah is that he over-delegates a lot of his duties. Abdullah has said that while he believes in responsiblegovernment,urgentmatters canbeattendedbytherelevantministries anddecidedwithoutconveningaministerial meeting. This is an attempt to cut bureaucracy. It hasallowedhiscabinetmemberstoshine as individuals in dispensing their responsibility efficiently and expediently. This non-interference approach in order to serve the people better has caused certain ministers to make decisions that have caused controversy. One of them was the granting of Approved permits (Ap) for individuals to import motor vehicles. Although he is known for his soft approach, Abdullah is not a person who isincapableofmakingcontroversialdecisions if the situation calls for it. This was seen in December This non-interference approach in order to serve the people better has caused certain ministers to make decisions liberally which lead to controversy last year when he invoked the Internal Security Act to contain a troublesome demonstration by the so-called Hindu
Abdullah is accused of being too slow on handling urgent matters that those who need his approval have perfected the skill of “getting the prime Minister’s signature on his way out” Forward February 008
Abdullah Badawi: An unappreciated Prime Minister
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focus How popular is pak Lah?
D
atuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi still enjoys popular support despite public dissatisfaction over the country’ssluggisheconomy, according to a survey conducted by the Merdeka Centre. Abdullah’s approval rating remains high, with 86 per cent of Malay Malaysians, 7 percent of Indian Malaysians while only 4 per cent the Chinese Malaysians, supporting the administration. When compared with initial stages of his leadership Abdullah’s approval rating has dropped from 9 percent in November 004 to 7 percent in last year, according to the survey. Abdullah’s two major dips in his approval were in March 006 (68 per cent) when the oil price hike was announced and in September 006 (6 percent),andwhenformer premierDrMahathirMohamadsteppedup his criticisms of the prime minister. His approval rating climbed to 70 per cent the following month and 7 per cent in November when Umno held its annual general assembly. It was also during this time when Mahathir was hospitalised after a heart attack.F
Abdullah Badawi’s approval rating Malay
86 % 12 % 54 %
Chinese
34 % 71 %
Indian 25 %
MERDEKA CENTRE FOR OpINION RESEARCH
0
Approve Disapprove
CURBING MEGA pROJECT: Many projects planned during his predecessor was shelved to reduce mounting deficit
Rights Action Force (Hindraf). Abdullah’s restraint in handling the Hindraf issue has been seen as a plus for his leadership skills. His supporters say that Abdullah waited for the right time when the mainstream Indian community publicly disassociated themselves from Hindraf. Whatever is said about his lethargic attitude in making a decision, Abdullah’s response to the Times on his indecisiveattitudeclearlyreflectedhis wisdom in leadership. For him, the substance in the decisions that one actually makes must be just and fair. Every leader who comes to power has shortcomings, accompanied by criticswhoscrutiniseeverythingfrom personality to sleeping habits. When no longer in power, the former leader is remembered as a better leader than the present one. Whether mentioned or not, Abdullah has done tremendously well on the international level. During a time when Islam is equated with terrorism, he has to some level changed the perception of the world about Islam by promoting Islam Hadhari. This approach had earned him respect from other world leaders who were happy that Abdullah could play an important role in bridging the gap between the Islamic world and the West. What should be applauded is that for once we have a leader who does
not care about approval rating or votes, and who always says “I have a job to do”. Through his leadership style of openness and moderation, Abdullah has proven to the world he could administer and lead Malaysia to greater heights. This steadfast approach of doing what is right regardless of what others think or say has caused the downfall of many leaders in the past. The difference here is Abdullah’s sincerity becomes his best defence in times of crisis. What is certain is Abdullah is one who discharges his duty using fairness as a yardstick. It is very difficult to equate him with corruption and using his position forpersonalbenefitthoughthosecloseto him have manipulated their relationship for personal gain. No wonder most of his critics attack his personal habits, like F sleeping through functions. Forward February 008
MR CLEAN : Abdullah was elected on his clean personality and his strong views against corruption
Malaysia’s fight against corruption without fear or favour?
I
t was the ruling party’s highest ever domination of Malaysian parliament. In 2004 the Barisan Nasional won 90.4 per cent of all the seats in parliament. The landslide win was seen by Abdullah as a new mandate from the people and a genuine endorsement of his leadership – he was not just inheriting the post by default. His victory is largely attributed to a combination of his virtuous image and his election promises. One of them was to continue the crackdown against corruption without fear and favour. Abdullah did introduce significant changes in the short time that he had been in office. He proclaimed that he would focus on the “software” part ratherthanthehardwarepartofdevelopment and on developing a “first-class mentality”among Malaysians to accompany the first-class infrastructure that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad left behind.
These changes pertained to improving governance, delivering services by the civil service and fighting corruption styled on “work with me and not work for me” politics. How successful has he been in his war against corruption which is supposed to be without fear or favour? His critics argue that his war on graft is only targeting the small fries while the big fish are left undisturbed. The arrest of a Minister, Datuk Kasitah Gadam, and a prominent business tycoon, Tan Sri Eric Chia on separate corruptioncharges,sentapowerfulsignal thatAbdullahwasseriousaboutchanging thecountry’sfree-wheelingbusinessand political culture. Soon after the two prominent arrests, former Federal Territories Minister Tan Sri Isa Samad was suspended over UMNO’s disciplinary board for money politics. The Prime Minister’s Depart-
ment basically gave a mandate to the Anti Corruption Agency to investigate any UMNO member if there were allegations reported against them. The ACA had then said it would investigate any UMNO leader found to have been involved in money politics, even without an official report from the party. Whether an investigation would result in arrest or conviction is a different issue. As a result, Malaysians were, and still are,demandingmorecorruption-related arrests, and this time they are calling for the arrests of more prominent figures in the cabinet and the business world associated with the administration of former prime minister Tun Mahathir. They are calling for heads to roll, especially of several of Tun Mahathir’s senior cabinet ministers who now serve in Abdullah’s cabinet. One of them, Selangor Menteri Besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo, tops the list of 25 high-profile corruption cases in the country, and has the highest number of reports lodged with the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) against him, accordingtoareportbyMalaysiakini.com on April 13, 2005 In fact Abdullah started his tenure by revealing that 18 high profile men and womenwouldbechargedforcorruption. So far there were one cabinet minister and one crony-cum-businessman who were put on the dock. Abdullah then insisted that what he really meant was 18 sectors of the economy, not individuals. After the first few arrests of high profile individuals, the enthusiasm in pursuing high profile figures has lost steam. Of late Abdullah’s image as ‘Mr Clean’ has to a certain extent diminished followingallegationsrelatingtohispersonal possessions. He was in hot water when his department ordered a RM50 million jet, apparently for the use of the Prime
The arrest of a Minister, Datuk Kasitah Gadam, and a prominent business tycoon, Tan Sri Eric Chia on separate corruption charges, sent a powerful signal that Abdullah was serious about changing the country’s free-wheeling business and political culture 21
expected for the 006 arrest.
GOOD ON THE SCREEN : Abdullah is said to have been able to reach the masses and the elite with his personal charm on and off the screen
Minister at a time when the Government was cutting costs. He tried to explain it away by saying that the Government did not buy the jet but it was leased from a Governmentowned company for use by top officials, including the king. In another case a Turkish newspaper, Hurriyet, reported that Abdullah was visiting the country to inspect his luxury yacht costing some RM 0 million. This drew condemnation on various blogs on the net, blasting him as corrupt. However in the Australian it was later reported that a Turkish yachting and tourism company has denied that the prime Minister had inspected a RM 0 million yacht, nor has he placed any order for such a vessel. Another factor that keeps sullying Abdullah’s clean image was his family members. His son Kamaluddin’s business activities, including his position as a leading shareholder of Scomi Group have become a point of controversy. Scomi’s share price skyrocketed 88 per cent four months after listing on the local bourse in May 00 . Although the energy industry was experiencing a growth at that time and Kamaluddin’s
relationship with Abdullah did contribute in inflating the share value, it is unusually rare for shares of a company to increase at such a rate. Questions were also raised when it was revealed that Scomi had been awarded about RM billion worth of government contracts. These factors are bound to create controversy and raise issues of transparency and integrity. In the last three years there has been a record increase in the number of arrests made by the ACA, from a total of 9 arrests in 00 , to 46 in 006; the number of successful convictions has also substantially increased. A highly commendable 7 per cent conviction rate is
Questions were also raised when it was revealed that Scomi had been awarded about RM billion worth of government contracts
Further, the ACA was also beefed up, a National Integrity Institute was established, and a clear strategy to curb corruption is in place. The public howeverhasremainedgenerallyunconvinced despitethissignificantprogress.The 006 Corruption perception Index released by Transparency International appeared to reinforce negative perceptions. Malaysia slipped five places in the global survey of 6 countries, from 9 in 00 to 44 in 006, though in terms of score there was hardly any difference (from . to .0). The CpI is not entirely factual. On the other side of the coin is the argument that Malaysia is being perceived more corrupt now because of an increase in newsreportsaboutcorruptpracticesand arrests. Almost every week some government officials are being investigated for corruption. This in a way shapes the public perception that Malaysia is sliding corruption-wise, thanks to many cases being out in the open rather than swept under the carpet. The lack of any big names in Abdullah’s graft target list is seen as a lack of seriousness in fighting corruption. Another aspect we should look at is the political will of fighting corruption. Abdullah is only one man. Does he have the backing from his own supporters? His noble cause is chipping away the income of those who have grown accustomed to thelifestylestheycannotrightfullyafford. In a web blog Malaysian Alternative voice, it is reported, “A turning point in Abdullah’s premiership arguably came last October ( 006) in the run-up to the UMNO general assembly. At the time, Abdullah’s promise to battle corruption ‘without fear or favour’ was meeting resistanceamongtheconservativeparty’s old guard. Then, on the eve of the assembly,inanapparentlyunprecedentedmove by a Malaysian prime minister, Abdullah reportedly distributed RM million to each division chief for ‘development’ purposes.” Althoughstraightforwardvote-buying and political corruption may be easier to detect and stamp out, a deeper problem lies in the intricate intertwining of business and political interests that is so prevalentinMalaysiaandeverywhereelse. Some ambitious individuals join politics in the hope that political positions will make it easier for them to secure contracts and business concessions. This can be seen in the privatisation Forward February 008
deals,lucrativeconcessionsandcontracts awarded over the years - often without competitive tender or bidding - to politically well-connected business interests. Many have argued that the ACA is operating with a legal defect which prevents it from being independent. Currently under the Prime Minister’s Department, it should be made truly independent and given more power to press charges. Abdullah started a few commendable initiatives such as setting up the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the operations of the police that found the police to be corrupt and abusive. Now that the report has been concluded, the real test is whether the government has the political will to implement the recommendations Meanwhile, Malaysians continue to wait. While the general feeling has been that Abdullah should be commended for taking action against high-profile figures, many people will not be satisfied unless they see more such heads rolling. However this is unrealistic since we cannot expect every big fish to be prosecuted and convicted. The best that a nation can hope for is there is no more big fish in the making. It is still doubtful whether Abdullah’s idealistic vision has the full backing from the rest of his men. The fight against corruption is still on but whether it will be without fear or favour, or has been without fear or favour, remains doubtful. Abdullah must convince the Malaysian public that he has not lost his integrity to the very system he is trying to change. Governments, even that of the most developed country, are not free from corruption; a realistic view is that in a democracycorruptionisprevalent.Nevertheless the highest standard of integrity must be upheld regardless of reality of circumstances. As the legal maxim goes,“Justice must not only be done but it must be seen to be done”. The fight against corruption must not only be without fear or favour, but it must be seen to be so.F
The fight against corruption is still on but whether it will be without fear or favour, or has been without fear or favour, remains doubtful
SINGAPOREAN CONNECTION : The curved bridge to Johor to provide alternative to Tambak Johor was a major thorn during Abdullah’s first term
CRYING MINISTER : Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz was in tears when accused of the proliferation of APs.
23
focus
Reversal of economic policy or economic commonsense? to pay for it after having it cancelled out of necessity. Abdullah’s economic vision includes the redistribution of wealth to the rural areas by focusing on agriculture and related technology such as biotechnology. Although this may seem like a step backward in Malaysia’s industrialisation, Abdullah may be thinking about self-sufficiency. It is an effort to become self-sufficient in food and reduce dependence on imports. The fact is that once Abdullah took over, the economy expanded even faster than the forecast by the Asian Development Outlook. For the year 00 as a whole, the economy grew at 7. per cent. But at the same time rising stock of official external debt, which reached 48. per cent of GDp at the year ending 00 , has made fiscal balance one of the Government’s priorities. This resulted in Abdullah’s decision of moving away from huge and prestigious projects that could add to Malaysia’s external debt. Instead he diverted the focus todevelopingsmallerprojectsthathavea higher multiplying effect. In other words it was to concentrate on projects that would generate higher revenue. It is also putting greater emphasis on diversifying sources of growth into sectors such as services and agriculture. Reducing Debt As a result of the tightened fiscal
A
t the 7th UMNO General Assembly in 006, UMNO president and prime Minister Dato’ Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi declared an end to the economic legacy and grandiose projects of his predecessor. “In the past, wealth was generated not by innovation and creativity, but by foreigninvestment,governmentcontracts and privatization,” said Abdullah. Abdullah does have a legacy to protect in order not to be overshadowed by his predecessor Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. However most of Abdullah’s economic decisions were warranted by economic circumstances and not the ego of differentiating himself from the previous prime minister.
4
His move to cancel mega projects has drawn support from international merchant bank Merrill Lynch. “This move has played a critical role in re-attracting foreign capital and investment. The decision to reduce fuel subsidies and cancel mega projects like a new bridge linking Malaysia to Singapore and the crosscountrydouble-trackingrailwaylinehighlightedthefactthatAbdullahunderstood the importance of fiscal discipline and keeping the overall level of public debt in check,” said Merrill Lynch in an analysis undertaken by its Hong Kong-based economist, Arthur Woo. Though the double-tracking project was revived in March 007, supporters of Abdullah said this was done because there was now money in the state coffers
Abdullah’s vision is for Malaysia to depend less on foreign direct investment due to the mobile nature of foreign investors which in turn makes them unreliable. For cheaper costs, they will be willing to move out and do so at the expense of workers’ rights Forward February 008
policy, the budget deficit as a share of GDP narrowed to a 5-year low of 4.1 per cent, or below the official target of 4.5 per cent in 2004. To reduce external debt exposure, the bulk of the Government’s fundingrequirementwassourceddomestically, which did not crowd out private investment because liquidity remained ample.Total outstanding federal government debt came down marginally to the equivalent of 46.6 per cent of GDP at end-September, from 47.8 per cent in 2004. This strict adherence of fiscal consolidation pushed the fiscal deficit even further down to only 3.8 per cent of GDP in 2005. Total outstanding federal government debt also came down, to 46.2 per cent of GDP at end of 2005, reversing an uptrend since 2001. The deficit reduction was being carried out in two fronts, by cutting spending and by improving revenue collection through improved compliance. Other steps include a gradual reduction of subsidies on petrol and diesel fuels, and in the longer term, changes to the tax structure. A goods and services tax was introduced in January 2007 to broaden the tax base. Abdullah’s success in reducing the government’s debt was not well received by certain quarters that thrive on government spending; they even go so far as to accuse the government of not having funds due to liberal spending of his predecessors. This is of course not true because Abdullah needed a solid reserve in order to launch the Ninth Malaysia Plan (RMK-9). The government has pledged to spend up to RM200 billion under the RMK-9, its five-year developmentblueprintwhichrunsthrough 2010.
Sustained Economic Growth Led by vigorous expansion in consumptionspending,Malaysianeconomy accelerated at 7.1 percent in 2004. This is due to a combination of strong external and domestic demand outweighing a reduction in fiscal consideration. In the following year of Abdullah’s leadership, the economy expanded at a rate of 5.3 percent which is more sustainable. The pace is slower approximately 2 percent less than the figure of the preceding year 2004. This is due to global factors affecting the United States. This affected the country’s export of electronic goods to the United States which account for almost 30 per cent of total export. In 2006 the pace started to pick up
again: the economy grew by 5.9 percent which is attributed to favourable terms of trade for agricultural exports and rising rural income. This is again attributed to Abdullah’s focus on developing agriculture for the benefit of the rural areas. For 2007 the growth is expected to be maintained between 5.7 to 5.9 per cent of GDP. The Economic Intelligence Unit expects the rate to hover at an average of 5.5 per cent of GDP from 2008 to 2012. Abdullah’seconomicpoliciesarealsosaid to enable Malaysia to take advantage of China’s economic growth rather than as a competitor.
Inflation One of Abdullah’s economic priorities is to keep inflation as low as possible. Inflation has been kept at a low level in recent years at 1.4 per cent for 2004. Yet, the rate seemed to have been going up since 2005 when world oil prices rose steadily. In 2005, the country’s inflation in January stoodat 2.4percent,butclimbed to 3.5 per cent in December before it reached the peak of 4.8 per cent in March 2006. At the beginning of 2007, Malaysia still saw significantly high inflation rate, at 3.2 per cent in February, following the trend of the previous year. Critics began to conclude that Abdullah’s move to reduce the subsidies on petrol was the cause. In a way they are right but the timing for removing subsidies had been carefully calculated. By studying the fluctuation of oil marketsandseveralotherfactors,thegovernment expected inflation to go down. The forecast was proven correct, when inflation sank to 1.5 per cent in March 2007. This opportunity was taken by imposing compulsory price ceiling policies on certain key commodities and services in thecountry,especiallyfoodpricesduring the festive seasons, ranging from garlic to flour, as well as steel products. This brought down the inflation rate to only 2.5 per cent for the whole of 2007. This is a milestone for Abdullah after lifting subsidies on oil prices which burdened the government’s fund. This will almost definitely result in high inflation but Abdullah has managed to tie it down to 2.5 per cent. Reducing Dependency on Foreign Direct Investment Abdullah’s vision is for Malaysia to depend less on foreign direct investment due to the mobile nature of foreign
investors which in turn makes them unreliable. For cheaper costs, they will be willing to move out and do so at the expense of workers’ rights. Since coming to power, though not expressed publicly, the value of FDI in Malaysiadecreasedby 14percentin 2005 although there was a 45 per cent increase in FDI in Southeast Asia. Critics might saythatAbdullahfailedtokeepMalaysia’s competitiveness in the region. Judging from the steady reduction in fiscal deficit, Malaysia has become more self-reliant domestically. Abdullah is also creating economic regions to ensure wealth enjoyed from economic progress can be distributed evenly even in rural areas. Up until now there is high concentration of employment opportunities in three main areas in Peninsular Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Johor. As a result Abdullah has initiated the Northern Corridor Economic Region and East Coast Economic Region. The NCER is a government initiative to accelerate economic growth and elevate income levels in the north of Peninsular Malaysia which encompasses Perlis, Kedah, Pulau Pinang and the north of Perak, while the ECER is for the east coast states of Kelantan,Terengganu and Pahang. The NCER initiative will span from 2007 to the end of the 12th Malaysia Plan in 2025. “We want to ensure that no Malaysian is left behind in the national developmentmainstream,wewanttheprosperity achieved to be clearly and fairly reflected,” said Abdullah. In terms of economic leadership Abdullah has performed courageously by cutting back on public spending and lifting the subsidies on petrol.These have been used by his critics and the opposition to discredit him. Economically he has reduced the fiscal deficit, at times out-performing the government’s own estimate,andgeneratedrevenuedomestically and redistributed wealth to the rural areas. In the process, his government has managed to keep inflation low by raising interestrateyetkeepingtheconfidencein the capital market.F
Abdullah does have a legacy to protect in order not to be overshadowed by his predecessor Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad 25
cover story
If I could, I would get a court injunction or slap ISA on him to keep him still,” jokes Siti Hasmah who said her husband had dared her to “try” that idea!
6
Forward February 008
27
cover story
“
I am not photogenic”, says former First Lady Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali as the camera bulb flashed on her. True indeed, the photographs do no justice to her. The woman in person looks much sweeter and younger than her 8 years in person. Siti Hasmah obviously loves company as she comes from “a big family whose house was always full of people”. Siti Hasmah made news when she graduated as one of the first Malay woman doctors in the early 9 0’s. She came into the public eye when her husband Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed entered politics and went on to become the country’s longest serving prime Minister for years. In her capacity as a pM’s wife, she was well known for her efforts to campaign tirelessly for women’shealth,familyplanning,drugabusecontroland adult literacy. Siti Hasmah was one of the first Malay women to enroll for a medical course at the King Edward vII College of Medicine in Singapore after the war. In 9 she graduated as a medical doctor from the Faculty of “I am happy to see Medicine, University of Malaya more and more in Singapore, and then joined the government health service. In women at work 96 ,shebecamethefirstwoman but the problem is who to be appointed Medical Officer takes care of the in the Maternal and Child Health Department, and in 974 she was children? the first woman to be appointed
STILL FULLY ALERT : Siti Hasmah is a woman of many roles at an age she is supposed to enjoy retirement.
8
the State Maternal and Child Health Officer. Despite these achievements, there was always a perceptionthatshealwaysremainedhiddenbehind her husband as the pM then, despite coming out in the occassional media interviews. “It is not that I want to stay behind. But my husband tends to walk very fast and I am always left running after him. The photographers will be waiting and when they see him, they always start clicking, not knowing that I am steps behind him. That is one reason you do not see me in many of the photographs”, quips Siti Hasmah about her husband’s endless energy. To the question whether she was the “woman behindherman’ssuccess”,shestatesstoisticallythat she was “not behind” but always “by his side”. “A few steps behind,” she adds again. “He does not like me to be involved in politics. This is also one reason.” “Tun is still so energetic and that too at his age. Only now he is slowing down a bit. Especially after that bout when we nearly lost him,” she refers to the time he was warded at the National Heart Institute (IJN) for a second coronary bypass surgery and soon after for another surgery last September. She then goes on to recall those long days she had to spend at IJN all alone to accompany him and praying with all her might that he would not leave her so soon. “Now I look back at that time, I can laugh. When he gets admitted, I get admitted along with him. “One time, he told me he cannot fight anymore, I said he should make the‘zikir’(words remembering God). “And he said ‘What do you think I have been doingallthiswhile?Justmassagemyhandandkeep quiet’. “He probably thought I was asking him to say his final prayers,” Siti Hasmah laughed. “If I could, I would get a court injunction or slap ISA on him to keep him still,” jokes Siti Hasmah who said her husband had dared her to that idea! All that being said in jest, Siti Hasmah admires her husband deeply for his knowledge and ideas. “He is such an avid reader and is very knowledgable. Furthermore, he can plan anything and ensure that it comes out as planned.Also, he is very consistent. When he goes overseas, he records everything in his small notebooks.” Husband aside, Siti Hasmah is a remarkable woman in her own right. At an age when most retirees would be happy to sit back and enjoy family life, this mother of seven grown-up children and grandmother of fifteen is keeping her hands full with many public roles. She is the vice Chancellor of Malaysia Multimedia University (MMU) and the chairman of the Lembaga Bangunan of BAKTI (the Association of Wives of Ministers, Deputy Ministers and parliamentary Secretaries). Besides that, she also has her office in perdana Leadership Foundation in putrajaya (where Dr Mahathir’s office is on the right Forward February 008
and hers on the left), contributing to the Foundation’s many programmes. Not a single day is free for her and her days are divided mainly between these three main roles. On top of all that, she has to cater time for her children and her grandchildren. She also used to be an internet addict (more like an email addict) but now she says that with the mobile phone, she is more of an SMS fan. “I even get those weird SMS from strangers,” she confides. Siti Hasmah, famous for her permanent motherly smile, says that she thinks of happy moments in her life to keep her going. “When I see my friends, I smile. I love people, children especially.” Unknown to many, Siti Hasmah also plays piano by ear and used to play the violin and unkulele. “I stopped playing after I lost it during my university days. My husband used to play the trumpet and my daughter Maizurah played the drums. When we did get together, in those days, it was a joyous occasion to have fun.” An internet buff, she says she has had a good life but there are a number of things that will always get her down. “It is the news on papers every morning that gets me down. I get very angry when I read of cases of young children being left on their own. How can they just leave them wandering on their own? How can they leave the toddlers in the car? “ an exasperasted Siti Hasmah says. Sheblamestheelectronic media for forcing ideas into children’s heads. “The television stations should take more care when airing shows with violence and sex as children get influenced easily.” Siti Hasmah’s lessons in life have always been from the poor and the marginalised of the society. She did her housemanship at the Kuala Lumpur General Hospital, and as a Medical Health Officer in Alor Star in the 1950s when healthcare and sanitation were almost unheard of, she was serving in the most rural areas. “I learnt a lot from these rural people. Selangor, where I come from, was more developed compared to Kedah. In Kedah, I learnt so much of life from the rural people. They taught me how to be myself.” Siti Hasmah states this is one reason she and her husband prefer to be informal. Even during the prime ministerial days, Siti Hasmah says they did not mind pushing their own trolley and walking amongstthepeople,shoppinginpublicplacesdespitebeing advised not to do so. “I have been blessed with everything I could want and I thank God for the good health He has given me. After all the ordeals I had gone through, I realise there is no point in being ‘kaya-raya’ if there is no good health and no ‘iman’ (faith in God). “I have a lot of things I have yet to do, though. However, I cannot do them alone. I only want to be able to contribute tomakethiscountrycontinuetobepeaceful,multiracialand prosperous.” Siti Hasmah prays that Malaysians will always cherish the peace that they have.F
FULLy blessed : Truly thankful is Siti Hasmah for all that God has bestowed on her.
29
cover story Women and children first...
T
I wanted to be a paeditrician. But it did not work out, as I was then based in Alor Star and my husband wanted to do surgery.”
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un Dr Siti Hasmah Haji Mohd Ali feels very strongly when it comes to issues of children and women, whether they are local or international. And she feels even more strongly to the fact that many plans get drawn up for the women and children in Malaysia but only a small number are fully implemented. Siti Hasmah, seeing the poor healthcare among the women and children in the rural areas of Kedah, wanted to take up paediatrics. However, she had to put aside her ambitions after her marriage to classmate Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the country’s longest serving prime minister. “As a doctor, I have been focusing my duties on women and children, so naturally when I graduated, I wanted to be a paeditrician. But it did not work out, as I was then based in Alor Star and my husband wanted to do surgery.” Having literally seen the country develop from its infancy after independence, she recalls the time when she was only a houseman in Kuala Lumpur General Hospital and in charge of Ward 8. “You see all these children come into emergency with diphteria and spinal tuberculosis. We would wrap the child and also I had to do the trachea where the child would hang his head down from the desk and I have to clear the throats with the mother holding them tight. It was horrible. “And I also had to do the lumbar puncture (inserting a needle into the spines to clear the fluid) on two-year and three year olds.” Shudderingatthememoriesofhavingperformed these without the proper equipment then, she is thankful the number of cases has dropped drasticallywiththeaggressiveimmunisationprogramme. Siti Hasmah states that she concerned herself with women and children as this was then, and still is, the most vulnerable group . “At that time ( 9 0s) you will go all out to help them as they were the most ignorant, the poor and the sick. Worst of all is their sad attitude towards modern medicine. At times, getting them to understand the need for healthcare is hearbreaking and frustrating. “At that time, however, I was supported by the vision of the newly formed Malaysian government. We have made giant steps since then in bringing modern healthcare to the people.” Siti Hasmah states that the independence was really a blessing. She explains that the three core problems of the rural areas are poverty, illiteracy and empathy. With independence, these three problems were focused on by the government. On another related issue, Siti Hasmah is worried Forward February 008
that people are “regressing” where education is concerned. “The uneducated people are marginalised when development comes. The urban migrants who are uneducated are sitting guns when they go to towns seeking jobs and finding none. And this is not the case with only Malays but also the Indians. I have not really studied the Chinese.” Although there is so much more to be done to better the plight of the rural people, Siti Hasmah feels that she has done her part as a civil servant – she witnessed that healthcare condition of the rural people back in Alor Star where she worked before is so much better now compared to the 1950s. It is hard to veer Siti Hasmah away from the people’s problems. Even when asked what are her views on national politics, she relates it back to the people, despite being the wife of a long-serving former PM. “When we make a certain policy, we have to ensure the parties involved will work with each other and coordinate. Also policies should be studied first before endorsing them. For example, in healthcare facilities, it is not only the Ministry of Health which is involved. So when the Ministry carries out a policy, it should work together with the Works Department and the other agencies. “In my time, when we want to even propose something, we really work it out before forming the policy. Now, I do not know what is stopping all the policies passed from being implemented. The budget is there but all these policies for the betterment of the people are not being implemented. I think it is mainly due to no coordination between the various agencies and ministries.” Siti Hasmah, getting passionate, feels sad that we are one of the few countries with a ministry dedicated to women and family but whose policies do not get implemented due to non-coordination. (Malaysia has a ministry for Women, Family and Community Development.) “The key ministry should coordinate with the rest of agencies. Politics should not come into this. Politiciansshouldformthepoliciesbuttheimplementation should be left to the civil servants.” On the fact that Malaysian women have progressed but are still lacking way behind the men, Siti
In my time, when we want to even propose something, we really work it out before forming the policy. Now, I do not know what is stopping all the policies passed from being implemented
HasmahsaysthatMalaysianwomen could and should have done better. “I am happy to see more and more women at work but the problem is who takes care of the children? It is indeed a big price to pay when we have problems with theadolescentswhenbothparents are working outside the home.” Siti Hasmah says that the educated women are left in a dilemma. “We marry as soon as we graduate and then we have to make a family. By then, we have to ensure that we are still wanted by the job market. Take me for example, I graduated at 29 (due to Japanese occupation, I had to hold my studies). I got married at 30 and then my husband and I were in a hurry to start a family because age was catching up with us. “The government should take up the creche plan and emphasise on it. When my husband was the PM, we advocated it, but there was no follow up done. Breastfeeding is important. “Many women are up there holding major positions. In neurology, cardiology and ophtamology, all the heads are women. However, we should have more women in judiciary and foreign affairs sections, especially those dealing with women. There should not be any gender bias. There should be quality and not just to fulfil the quota. And there must be continuation. Siti Hasmah spills her worries that they might put a quota on the women entering the universities. “Now, they are talking of too many women in universities. We have workedhard.Wewereoncelagging behind, and now we are advanced. The men should not try to pull us back.” “True, there are certain jobs that only men can do but if women are capable, why not?” she reveals her intensity for the women to succeed in life. Coming back to the decline of seriousnessineducationamongthe Malays in particular, Siti Hasmah says that 20 to 30 years ago, parents – without the interference of governmentpolicies–realisedtheneed to educate their daughters. “My parents saw the need then. Today, however, parents tend to
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cover story leave everything to the teachers and there is a lack of motivation from the parents for the children to succeed in school. I am sad that family planning is not taken seriously. There are those with six and seven children and when there is no breadwinner,theyhave to appear on the newspapers asking for handouts.” She laments again that authorities with portfolios taking care of women and children should do much more and be more serious in ensuring the welfare of single mothers and poor families is taken care of. “Wetendtorelyonnon-governmentorganisations (NGOs) to get the work done. Also, for the disabled people, we are not doing enough.” Another issue that irks Siti Hasmah is that Malaysia is a signatory to many United Nations conventions with regard to children, such as Conventions on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and Convention on the Elimination of All Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and yet, many of the ministries have yet
to adopt fully these conventions. She is also concerned with the increasing heinous crime cases involving young children in the country. “This should not be the price we have to pay. parents should be more vigilant.” Talking about the recent cruel murder of eightyear old Nurin Jazlin, Siti Hasmah says it is true that better housing is needed to give more security for children of lower income groups. Nevertheless, the responsibility falls on the parents to know where the children are, all the time. Stating that Malaysia has come far from the days of nothingness to a modern country, Siti Hasmah says that her main wish remains to see that the rural areas are provided better healthcare. “We have come far but there is a lot more for us to do,” says this woman who had made women and children the main issues during her tenure as the First Lady. F
Another issue that irks Siti Hasmah is that Malaysia is a signatory to many United Nations conventions with regard to children, such as Conventions on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and Convention on the Elimination of All Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and yet, many of the ministries have yet to adopt fully these conventions
Forward February 008
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ONE MIGRANT TOO
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MANY ? Malaysia’s over-reliance on foreign workers may come home to roost one day. What can we do to prevent that? By Zakiah Koya
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aking care of our children are Indonesians, Filipinos and Sri Lankans, building our houses are Bangladeshis, manufacturing our goods are Bangladeshis and Indonesians, cleaning our drains are Indians, guarding our doorsteps are Nepalis, teachingusathighereducationinstitutions are Indians, entertaining us are Chinese, Thai and European women, while disco bouncers are Africans. The list is endless. As a matter of fact, there is no sector where foreigners are not employed in Malaysia. Of that, 0,66 are domestic workers, 66,809 are in construction, 64 , 4 in manufacturing, 66,8 9 in services and , 7 in agriculture. These are the legal numbers. There are manymoreillegalmigrant workers not in the statistics. Now, with nearly two million legal migrantworkersandunaccountedillegal migrant workers in the country, the government is saying that it is becoming “increasingly concerned”. Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Fong Chan Onn said that Malaysia would be looking at reducing the number of migrant workers by going into automation and prefabrication
building system to reduce manual labourers. Non-governmental organisation Tenaganita director Irene Fernandez says that the very reason that the country has an influx of migrant workers is Malaysia has no clear labour strategy policy. Ireneblamesthesteadilyworseningsituation of migrant workers on the outsourcing companies, as well as government policies which are inconsistent and lacks any clear direction. The current practice of outsourcing has all the elements of human trafficking, says Irene. “Workers are brought, their passports taken away, held in captivity, beaten and
The outsourcing companies then started to bring in workers without any principal employers and then these workers are sold to recruiting agents
HELp AT HAND : NGOs become the place for migrant workers to complain the abuses and cheating by employers.
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abused with no employment. “Soon after the announcement that there will be outsourcing, in less than a year, there were 40 outsourcing companies asking for 00,000 Bangladeshi workers.The outsourcing companies then started to bring in workers without any principalemployersandthentheseworkers are sold to recruiting agents. The scenario we get therefore is that thousands are brought in the quick way but no employment,” says Irene. The thousands of Bangladeshi workers stranded in Kuala Lumpur International Airport was the case in point. Bangladesh was the first country to be experimented with the outsourcing system by Malaysia. Outsourcing company people Source managing director Shahul Hameed Dawoodagreesthatunscrupulousagentsand outsourcing companies are the main culprits contributing to the influx of migrant workers. However, Shahul states that being a fast developing country, Malaysia would naturally need migrant labour and it would be a far-fetched scenario if we were to become the next United Arab Emirates. (In UAE, guest workers, as they call them there, make up about 8 per cent of the population and 99 per cent of the private work force.) Shahul says that the UAE economy and situation are very different from Malaysia’s. “The UAE scene is a different one altogether.There,thebusinessesareowned by the foreigners and the workers are foreigners.Here,ourbusinessesareowned by locals but they had to resort to foreign workers due to lack of talent and interested manpower,” says Shahul. Referring to the laments by the government that Malaysia is being deluged by migrant workers, Shahul opines there is no need to be alarmed when migrant workers take up a piece of the job market. It is all a part of growing pain, he says. “Malaysia is developing fast and companiesneedworkers.Theyneedtalents,some of which locals do not possess - such as high technology skills and drilling skills. Employers have to pay more for these foreigners with such skills. Then, there is the need for unskilled labour but locals are not interested,” says Shahul. Shahul explains that employers would always prefer locals to foreigners as there is allthispaperworkhasslewhentheyemploy migrants. “And if their workers get caught in raids, the employers would have to go through the authorities which can be another hasForward February 008
z Shahul Hameed Dawood
always start somewhere and learn from the skilled migrants. In the long run, he says, eventually the migrants will return home and the locals would have to take over, anyway. Cynthia Gabriel of NGO CARAM Asia also states that the outsourcing policy has contributedmuchtomoremigrantworkers coming in but without any guarantee of employment. Yet, she agrees with Shahul that there is no need for anyone to be alarmed that migrants are taking over at the cost of the locals’ opportunities. “Migrant workers are the ones doing the 3D jobs – dirty, dangerous and demanding, which the locals do not want to take up,” says Cynthia, who heads an NGO working to protect foreign workers in destination countries. “These jobs are not attractive to the locals as they do not provide much security
and not much safety benefits. The wages for these jobs are also depressed. “The jobs that migrant workers take up are not the ones locals want,” Cynthia puts it aptly. Cynthia explains that the middle men involved in the demand and supply of migrant workers from poorer countries and the wage disparity open the room for abuse. Many come into the country after paying thousands of ringgit to the agents back home and then end up not getting their salaries for months to pay off the middle men here. That being notenough,manygetemployedonlyto find that wages paid are not as high as promised earlier. Cynthia says that she is more concerned for the many female migrant workers employed as domestic helpers in the country. Under the employment
sle,” says Shahul. The fact is, Shahul explains, locals are reluctant to get their hands dirty on the job. When locals do get employed in non-skilled jobs, they are found to be lazy or just not motivated enough. “This is why employers resort to foreigners, because they have to get their businesses going. If there are no migrant workers, these companies will face issues,” says Shahul. Shahul states that while the government should better manage the labour policy, the need for migrant workers will always be there. “If the locals cannot get a job and find that there are so many jobs that migrants are employed in, then the localsshouldstepbackandassessthemselves.Theyshouldupgradethemselves with the necessary skills the job market wants,” Shahul reacts to the blame on foreigners taking over the locals’ jobs. He explains further that instead of being unduly concerned, the locals can
“If the locals cannot get a job and find that there are so many jobs that migrants are employed in, then the locals should step back and assess themselves
rewarding job? : Migrant workers in Malaysia are employed in almost all factories.
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z CYNTHIA GABRIEL
act, Cynthia says that they are not entitled to the benefits of migrant workers except for wages. These are the most vulnerable of migrant workers as their workplace – the private homes – is isolated. “These domestic helpers cannot claim leave or medical leave, unlike other migrant workers in other sectors,” says Cynthia. She explains that most domestic helpers work 6 days a year without a single day of leave and are at the mercy of their employers. “The rights of migrant workers are clearly enshrined in the labour laws but this big group of domestic helpers – which are in almost every city household – is not protected,” says Cynthia. She also pointed out that the Foreign Workers’ Bill has yet to be tabled in parliament to protect the migrant worker’s right because the different ministries are bickering as to who should do what. “Malaysia always views migrant workers as a security threat.They (the migrant workers) are always the first to be blamed for increasing crime rate, bringing in diseases and endangering public safety. There has been no evidence of all thisandyettheyhavealwaysbeenfingerpointed at,” says Cynthia. The very fact that the immigration laws reignsupremewhenitcomestothestatus of migrant workers makes it difficult during raids by police, immigration and the volunteer corps RELA. Cynthia explains that almost immediately, the migrant workers’ documents
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are held in the “safekeep of agents and then employers MIGRANT FACTS in 006 upon arrival. The onus, however, is for the migrant worker to proMalaysia has .8 millionregduce his legality during raids. istered migrant workers This causes the problem where they are kept at detenHong Kong has over tion centres and deported even though they are legal. ,000 foreign domestic In many cases, corruption workers registered comes into the system when releasing those caught. South Korea has over Shahul states that there are 468,000 registered mostly in cases where employers are factories willingtopayhigherwagesto locals but the locals are just not interested. Dubai and UAE respectiveThe petroleum and gas ly have 04,900 and 00,000 drilling is one sector, where migrant workers in construclocals just do not want to tion spend long hours offshore. Irene argues that one Thailand estimates only cannot blame the locals for 600,000 of the two million not wanting to take up the D jobs. She states that local migrant workers are regisemployers want to impose tered the same exploitative labour system that they impose on USD . Billion was sent as the migrant workers onto the remittances to Bangladesh locals. She explains that migrants Indonesia received USD 4.4 have no choice but to work the long hours and submit to Billion as remittances the employers. Many have borrowed a lot philippines received USD of money to come here and .8 Billion as remittances then they find that the wages paid, if at all paid, are much Remittances comprised lower than promised back % of Sri Lanka’s GNp home. “The locals would not be a part of this exploitative laRemittances comprised bour system – low wages and % of Nepal’s GNp submitting to the long hours. Locals would not fall for that. It is not to say locals are lazy but they would not stand for the same low wages paid to migrant workers. “This is why such employers resort to foreign workers, where they can bring them in at lower wages and at times do not even pay them. Then when the workers ask for their wages, they are then arrested and deported for not havingtheirproperdocumentsbecause the very papers are being held by the unscrupulous employers,” says Irene. Further, states Irene, when the employers hire migrant workers, they do not have to contribute to the Employee provident Fund. z IRENE FERNANDEZ Forward February 008
“There is less responsibility, unlike when they hire locals,” says Irene. On the complaint that migrant workers are the cause of increasing crime and social problem in the country, Shahul states that there will always be bad apples. He prefers to look at the brighter side, where many local businesses are flourishing because there are migrant workers. “The instant noodles and some comic magazines depend on these migrant workers’ spending habits,” says Shahul, recalling that at one time when the government decided to freeze migrant workers, these industries suffer Irene states that the migrants are in fact not a problem. “But if you bring in migrants without employment, there will be social and economic implications. The root cause of it all is the government policies. A developing country in need of migrant workers must have a clear labour strategy policy,” says Irene. Irene states that as long as Malaysia does not have such a clear labour policy, migrant workers will continue to pour in and the demographic imbalance will continue, giving rise to human trafficking and abuse of migrant workers which we hear daily.F
EASY prey : Authorities such as RELA, police and the Immigration are forever keeping an eye on the foreign workers on Malaysian soil. violators of law : Migrant workers often bear the brunt of being whisked off to the deportation centre for not carrying their documentations.
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EDUCATION SYSTEM SHOULD HONE SKILLS – MOTHER MANGALAM
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p
ure Life Society president Mother Mangalam Iyaswamy Iyer blames the attitude of Malaysian job seekers today in not being able to secure jobs due to the sudden affluence Malaysians saw during the 80’s and 90’s. She is referring to the fact that nowadays many are picky about choosing jobs upon graduation. Mother Mangalam should know of all people - for she was conferred the honorary title of “Mother” by the pure Life Society board in 986. For more than fifty years, she has been a mother to more than two thousand orphans and underprivileged children. “All of a sudden, Malaysians saw affluence – sudden setting up of industries and privatization of various sectors. This sort of expanded the gap between the rich and the poor although it was not the intention to do so,” says this octogenarian who still comes to her office on a daily basis. She states that privatisation was to distribute and spread the wealth but the poor became poorer and the rich became richer. “The poor saw the flashy cars and the grandeur of living. Cosmetics came into the consciousness of womenandthingsstartedtobecome branded. “When people see all these, they naturally wanted to have all these and more, but they were not patient enough to go slow.” Mangalam states that even at that time, the houses of the rich were palatial,morethanwhattheyneeded. “When the poor saw this, they did not have the patience to get that, so the crime rate went up and they rob and plunder.” She laments the absence of role models. “Theleadersthemselveswhowere supposed to lead the government and corporate bodies did not set an example.Theycomeinlate and leave early. My observation is that they were not hands on.” She explains that corruption has become a norm and indolence at the top encouraged the lower levels to do the same. “When you ask the youngsters at that time, all they wanted to be were
lawyers,accountants,engineers and IT specialists. All they wanted was easy money and they did not want to soil their hands.” An educator for decades, Mangalam believes that the graduates produced by the present education system are lacking in skills. “In the education system, the skills-honing is not there and this is a very important aspect in life. This factor seemed to have been realised a little bit too late by the government. “There should have been greater importance placed on skills, yet it was sidelined. The system was completely examoriented. Mangalam says that it is best to stream children after the Standard Six level. “If children at that age are not goodacademically,booksmean nothing. At that age, the brains are a bit slow and the muscles and the physicals develop. It is best to nurture the physical side of the brain and the adolescents get to see the quick results. “When they take up skills and turn out something creative, they are happy and motivated. Instead,wepressurisethemwith academicsalthoughtheydonot have any inclination. “Once they go to the regular school, they go with the peer groupandoutsidetheschool,all theseinfluencesawaitthem.We come to a stage where we cannot IMpORTANT SKILLS : Workers must be skilled to ensure their work is done well and they are paid lucratively. influence them with the good.” Mangalam says that it is also during the affluent period of Malaysia that Malaysians came to know of the dignity of labour. Therefore, the pittance Therefore, the pittance paid to migrant workers will not go down with the locals. paid to migrant workers The wage system has to be looked into to will not go down with ensure that labour commensurates with the locals. The wage dignity. “For example, those who come in as system has to be looked housemaids are paid sufficiently so that into to ensure that lathey can lead a quite comfortable life. bour commensurates “However, no one should grudge of starting from the beginning. Even with dignity. babysitting is a skill by itself. One can become highly qualified babysitter – a governess,” explains Mangalam. Commenting on the fact that things
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NEpALI LABOUR : Nepalis make up the a percentage of the statistics of migrant labour in Malaysia (above and below)
have moved too fast, Mangalam points out that the influx of foreigners would indeed place Malaysians at a lower end when it comes to the job market, if the mindset of the locals and the education system is not changed. “It is not that Malaysians lack talent but it is more (to do with) the attitude. “I find that the young people nowadays do not even help the parents with the daily chores. “So many only think of a life outside. Togetherness comes from a good family rapport and unless children care for their parents, they cannot care for their
“The government should pour funds in training skills such as gardening. Should the country have problems, this will be the greatest skill needed.
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nation.” Mangalam states that the youngsters today want to work but they expect immediate rewards, immediate luxury and fast money. patience is not in their vocabulary. “The government has introduced National Service but what is it all about if it wasnotsetuptoencouragevoluntarism? But three months is not enough.” She relates how volunteers from the National Service had come to help out at the pure Life Society home for orphans and the underprivileged children, but before half of the day was out, they were exhausted. “I strongly suggest that the education system look at making the students all rounder. Boys are trained (with) skills of a manly nature and girls are taught skills of womanly nature. Of course, in between there will be those who can do skills of each other. The Rs – reading writing and arithmetic – is important, but improve their skills. “The government should pour funds in training skills such as gardening. Should the country have problems, this will be the greatest skill needed. “If they know gardening, they will be able to cultivate and eat and survive as we did during the war. “The mindset of the people and the attitudeshouldchange.Thoseemployed as educators should be the best and truly dedicated. Management of schools should be separated from the teaching staff and teaching staff should be able to concentrate on teaching and imparting values and skills, and not bogged down with clerical work. “If the government is truly concerned and want the best output, this should be the way – to ensure skill training in the education system.” Mangalamstatesthatthereisnoreason to complain about locals not getting jobs and employers choosing foreigners over locals. The government should re-look at the education system and ensure the stress is onproducingroundedskilled graduates. The people, on the other hand, should raisetheirstandardsandnotpampertheir childrenwithtoomuchmaterial comfort. “A little poverty – but not poverty of the soul – will not do any harm and in fact will give the children the impetus to come up with ideas, hone their human skills and values of charity and giving,” says Mangalam.F
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A Nightmare on Foreign Soil: A migrant worker’s perspective n By Hana Sham Ahmed A group of young men boarded the Biman Bangladesh flight to Malaysia hoping for a better life for themselves andtheirlovedones.Theywerepromised high-paying jobs and were happy to sell off the last piece of asset they owned to realise their dream job. Within a few months they were boarding another flight back to Bangladesh. Cheated by their recruiting agency, traumatised by the maltreatment from outsourcing agents, empty-handed and humiliated, now they do not know how they are going to go back to their villages and face their families. Al Amin, a 4-year-old Honours student,wasstudyinginRajshahiCollege SocialSciencesdepartmentwhenhewas approached by an acquaintance with a job offer he just couldn’t refuse. This man assured Amin that he could get him a job at a Japanese electronics company in Malaysia where he would get a salary 44
equivalent to at least 0,000 tikkas and all he would have to do was give an initial processing fee of Tk 0,000 to the recruiting agency. For a hard-up farmer’s son it was like a dream come true. He decided to stop his studies and take up the job offer. Coming up with the processing money was not easy though. Amin’s father sold off all the land that they owned. The broker, who happened to be Amin’s friend, said that apart from the processing fee, a further Tk 80,000 would be needed to secure the job. Amin’s family had no way of coming up with this extra amount, so they ended up borrowing from relatives. It was a good job, they thought, and they would be able to pay back the amount within a very short time. Twenty-five-year-old Joynal Abedin who was supposed to appear for his degree final exams has a similar story to tell. Joynal who used to live in Naogaon
worked for Unilever Bangladesh for two and a half years. The youngest of four brothers, Joynal wanted to make it big as a businessman. But he knew that he could never save up enough money for a computer business with his Tk , 00 salary, so he discussed with his parents and decided to sell off their family land for a start-up. When one of Joynal’s acquaintances came to know about his plans, he convinced him not to invest in a business right then and go to Malaysia instead. He would be able to earn a lot more there and would be able to come back to Bangladesh after three years with a much higher start-up capital. He could arrange everything for Tk 0,000, he said. But after a few days, the sub-agent of the recruiting agency said that for anotherTk 80,000 he could manage a very high-paying job at Sony Electronics as a computer operator. Joynal’s parents were happy to sell off the last bit of their land for their son if the agent could manage a respectable job for him. But the Malaysian saga for Al Amin, JoynalAbedinandthe 6othermigrants who travelled together was anything but a dream. The nightmare started at the recruitment agency Golden Arrow office in Banani on the day of their flight. The electricity went off and the migrants were asked to sign their contract forms by candlelight, although Amin swears that there was electricity in the rest of the neighbourhood. Even then they weren’t allowed to read through the form very thoroughly. The agents kept rushing them saying that they were getting late and would miss their flight if they delayed any further. The agents leafed through the contract forms themselves and just showed everyone where to sign. It was finally at the Zia International Airport that they could thoroughly read the forms themselves and found out that the actual job description was not in fact
Cheated by their recruiting agency, traumatised by the maltreatment from outsourcing agents, empty-handed and humiliated, now they do not know how they are going to go back to their villages and face their families Forward February 008
for computer operators but for service workers instead. The second blow came when they arrived at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). For two days no one from the Malaysian outsourcing agency PTC Asia Pacific came to receive them fromtheairport.Exhaustedanddeprived of food the group of 128 finally showed their contract forms to the airport police and got in touch with the company through them. On the third day two women from PTC came and received the migrant workers from the airport and took them to Klang and put all the 128 men in one single room which according to the workers was a ‘godown’. There was no sleeping or any other arrangements, only a single toilet for everyone. The 128 people had to live on 10 kg of rice for two days. They were given vegetables to cook for themselves. There was no work available for months. PTC Asia Pacific, which is an outsourcing agency stocked up on people and sent groups of five or 10 men when something became available. “I worked for four months,” says Joynal, “the first two as a cleaner in a computer company and the next two as a cleaner in a shopping mall.” He never received a penny. “I lived in Malaysia for seven months without a visa, medical certificate or work permit,” says Amin, “I cut down forest trees for two months and never received any salary.” Amin was shifted to 18 different locationsinMalaysiaandeverywherethe living conditions were the same. “There were two people with beards in our group and they were forced to cut off their beards and were forced to do sit-ups holding their ears when they resisted,” says Amin, recounting the humiliating and inhuman treatment they received from the PTC employees. “We also had to go to jail several times because we didn’t have work permits.” In the contract form it said that they would be receiving RM546 per month for working eight hours a day with holidays and overtime. “We had to work for 14-16 hours at most times.” When they showed the contract forms and demanded that the conditions be met, the PTC officials tore them [the contract forms] off in front of them. Any complaints about the living conditions were met with threats and sometimes even beatings. At one point 144 workers living in the same conditions got together and went to the Bangladesh High Commission in
Kuala Lumpur to demand their rights. After three days the high commission promised that the workers would be transferred to another company from PTC within 15 days. “The Labour Counsellor told us to get into the car of the Bangladeshi agent and go back to where we came from and threatened to get us all arrested by the police,” says Joynal. The workers refused and asked to be taken somewhere near the high commission. But they were instead taken to another infamous Bangladeshi boarding in Port Dickson, which according to Joynal, is the worst in Malaysia. “When we refused to go there,” says Joynal, “we were taken to two different places and then an NGO took our responsibility.”This human rights organization,Tenaganita, said that it would take at least a month to transfer them to another company. But since there were no direct companies to hire staff, all of them being outsourcingcompanies,Tenaganitacould not ensure that the workers would get any permanent jobs. “We didn’t want to work in such an uncertain manner,” says Joynal, “we demanded that we all be sent back to Bangladesh and the money we paid to the recruiting agencies be returned to us.” The workers also filed a case with the labour court and asked that their six months salary also be paid to them.
The workers said that if their demands weren’tmetwithinsevendaystheywould go on a hunger strike till death. “Our trip to Malaysia had already killed us anyway,” says Joynal, “and we didn’t want to live like this any longer.” At midnight on September 14 the middlemen from the recruiting agencies got together and attacked the workers on hunger strike while they were asleep, according to the workers. Thirty of them were forcefully taken away from there. Police were sent to arrest the rest of the 80 striking workers. The police told them that the workers would be sent back to Bangladesh in a couple of days but they would be moved out from there and taken to Penang. “There we found about 150 more
“Our trip to Malaysia had already killed us anyway,” says Joynal, “and we didn’t want to live like this any longer.” 45
focus Bangladeshi workers hired by Golden Arrow locked up in a room,” says Joynal. “They were crying through the windows and saying that they had also been promised jobs by Golden Arrow but were now trapped there with no work.” The workers were terrified and begged and cried to be taken away from there.“A Golden Arrow representative suddenly came out of nowhere and said that they had fixed jobs for us and were going to take us in groups to different places but we cried and refused to go anywhere,” said a worker.
The immigration police came and rescued them from there and the workers were then taken to a church where they stayed for some time. Secretary of the Expatriates’ Welfare Ministry Abdul Matin Chowdhury met with the workers there and promised to arrange their returntoBangladeshinthreephaseswithin days with a full refund of the money taken from them. After coming back to Bangladesh the workers refused to leave the airport for two days until they got their full payment back. Till the filing of this report only 0 workers have come
back to Dhaka and they have only been given cheques for the official Tk 84,000 that Golden Arrow claims they received. -year-old Mahesh Sarker of Tangail died of cardiac arrest while waiting to return to his family. Joynal Abedin, Al Amin and the 8 others who came back are living with their relatives in Dhaka waiting for the full payment of their dues so that they can go back to their families. Although they were supposed to receive the money by October , it seems very unlikely that they will be able to do so any time soon. F
MAIDS IN HELL
SHATTERED DREAMS : Nirmala Bonat came to Malaysia in search of a dream and ended up scarred and abusedchallenge her faith
Indonesia ‘exports’ about . million maids to a number of countries in Asia and the Middle East. Thousands of Asian women leave their homes each year to seek better jobs abroad as domestic workers. Many of them are treated well, but some – subjected to physical and mental abuse – endure a living hell. Most who venture abroad as domestic workers come from Indonesia and the philippines, with Indonesia alone recording . million workers, some of them as young as . These women earn a wage of US$ 00 a month, but the combined worth of their remittances adds up to an estimated US$ .4 billion a year.
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The jobs take the workers to other Asian countries and to the Middle East, where they often find themselves unprotected by local labour laws, leaving the women open to exploitation. At a school for maids near the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, women take the first step to escape from unemployment and poverty by enrolling on courses in housework. They are among an estimated 700,000 Indonesians, 80 per cent of them women, who embark on a journey abroad each yearleavingbehindpartnersandchildren. But their journey ends in Terminal – specially designated for returning migrant workers – at Jakarta’s international airport.
Indonesian officials say an increasing number of domestic workers are returning home without having been paid, or much worse. One case is that of a 0-year-old woman, her name withdrawn to protect her identity, who worked as a maid in Kuwait. She claimed the father and son of the household had raped her. She said her hands were black from exposure to chlorine used to clean toilets without gloves. The worst cases of maid abuse can be found at Jakarta’s police hospital, such as a woman with scars she claims were inflicted by her female employer in Kuwait because she worked too slowly. “My arm and my buttock were ironed. Then my head was hit with a metal bar, my hair was cut, and my eyes were poked,” she told Al Jazeera. The Migrant Care organisation in Jakarta says such reports are becoming all too familiar, and are quickly filling up their database of abuse claims. Anis Hidayah, the executive director of Migrant Care, said a domestic worker in Indonesia and most other countries is not protected by labour laws as they are not considered to be formal workers. In some cases, the women can work up to hours a day, seven days a week, are sometimes starved and not paid, and are confined in homes indefinitely. Recently an Indonesian maid in Malaysiatiedsheetstogetherandclimbeddown the ledge of a high-rise apartment in an attempt to escape an abusive employer. Last year, 0 maids killed their employers, a figure that could rise this year.F Forward February 008
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inside the story
A nation won’t forget Nurin and other lost little girls
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Forward February 008
Nurin’s Case
n By Fariza Uzmat
O
n August 20, 2007, eightyear-old Nurin Jazlin went out of her apartment block to the night market to buy a RM2 hair clip just fifty metres away. She was not supposed to go out alone, but she had always gone to the night market. In fact, that was the second time Nurin ventured out to the market that night. She had gone before with her nine-yearold sister to buy murtabak for the family dinner. It was 8.30 pm and Nurin was never seen alive again. What followed is a story of confusion, bungledinvestigationsandcluesthatlead only to dead ends. When Nurin, a Year Two pupil of Desa Setapak primary school, failed to come home after one hour, her taxi-driver father Jazimin Abdul Jalil, 33, drove around for several hours in the neighbourhood hoping to spot her. Jazimin and his wife were worried because Nurin had a kidney condition that neededdailymedication.Theyeventually filed a missing person report at the nearest police station. Frustrated at the lack of progress, the familywenttothenewspapersthreedays later. “If the parents had not gone to the newspapers and TV stations, no one
would probably heard of Nurin’s missing,” says Jasni Abdul Jalil, Nurin’s uncle. In the search for Nurin, her family and relatives did not wait for police information. They did their own search by distributing Nurin’s pictures and contact numbers everywhere –posters, emails and blogs – hoping somebody might find her or know of her whereabouts and call one of the numbers. Some hope was raised when one of Nurin’s friends came forward and said she actually witnessed the girl’s abduction. She said she saw a man pull a protesting Nurin into a white van. Police then reclassified the case from missing person to kidnapping. Numerous sightings of Nurin were reported in Penang, Perak and Pahang but they all proved false. On September 17, 2007 Nurin Jazlin’s naked body was found stuffed in a sports bag in Petaling Utama. She had been brutally assaulted. Police arrested several people in connection with the case; some of them were people in a car that was seen at the place where Nurin’s body was dumped. Several others became suspects when they made calls claiming to have Nurin. However, the case is still open with no new arrests. Nurin’s ongoing case highlights the
rising crime rate and the helplessness of Malaysians in countering it. It seems that perpetrators act with impunity while ordinary citizens look on helplessly. This fear was again highlighted when two young children went missing in January. On January 9, Sharlinie Mohd Nashar, five, was abducted in broad daylight. She was playing with her sister at a playground just 200 metres from their house in Taman Medan. Witnesses said a woman in a black car came and took her away at about 11.30 am. Justtwodaysearlier,anothergirl,six-yearold Nur Fatiha Zaidi, was grabbed by a man on a motorcycle as she was playing alone near her house at 5.00 pm, also in Taman Medan. The man had told her that he was looking for a lost cat. Three hours later, Nur Fatiha was found wandering several kilometres away but was unharmed. The proximity of these locations raises the possibility that both cases could be connected. Even Nurin’s body was found in Petaling Utama, which is adjacent toTaman Medan. The prime suspect in these cases is the so-called Kampung Baru molester. He was thought to have also been involved in two other molest cases of girls aged five and six. In those cases he had lured the girls with stories about a missing cat and the reward of ice cream if the girls helped him find it. No child is safe until the murderer – or murderers – is caught. The question on everybody’s mind is what the police are do-
On September 17, 2007 Nurin Jazlin’s naked body was found stuffed in a sports bag in Petaling Utama. She had been brutally assaulted.
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inside the story ing about it. In the public outcry after Nurin was found, Inspector General of police Tan Sri Musa Hassan asked the public not to speculate as it would put the investigation at stake. Federal police Crime Investigation Department director Datuk Christopher Wan Soo Kee – who has since retired – had said that the special probe team he headedcouldnotrevealanyinformation as the suspect might escape. protect and Save the Children director Madeleine Yong agrees with Wan. “Too much publicity that sensationalises the case with gory details and her photographsnotonlywilljeopardisethe investigation,itinfringesintotheprivacy of the family and the dead girl. It doesn’t leave the child with the right for her dignity and respect,” Madeleine says. Yet, the public has a right to know. In early January this year, deputy director of the Federal police Crime Investigation Department Datuk Acyrl Sani, who replaces Wan, said he was under orders not to disclose information on Nurin’s investigations. He said that police had not stopped
investigation on the cases of Nurin and preesheenavarshinyalthoughpolicehave notreleasedanystatementsonbothcases lately. presheena,agednine,wasraped,sodomised and her body thrown down from her apartment late last year. “In fact, the task force set up to monitor Nurin’s case is still active and police are analysing information received from the public.” Acryl said that it is not practical to keep on updating the case every time new informationisreceived.Investigationsover both cases are in progress and the victims are not forgotten, he said. The parents, Jazimin Abdul Jalil and NorazianBistamanhaveacceptedthefact theireight-yearoldhadbeenmurdered,in a manner no civilised human being could think of. The year 007 has ended and the new year has begun. Yet since the day Nurin’s brutalised body was found till today, the investigation has borne no fruit. police played the catch-and-release game soon after. One by one, suspects were released. Nothing led to the murderer.
REMEMBERING THE ONE GONE : Nurin’s mother holds Nurin’s uniform in remembering the daughter she lost.
0 0
z Jazimin Abdul Jalil
Inspector General of police Tan Sri Musa Hassan asked the public not to speculate as it would put the investigation at stake All this despite the fact the whole incident of someone placing the sports bag containing Nurin’s body was caught on closed circuit television (CCTv). That clip has been viewed and even the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the US was roped in to help identify the person in the video. Nurin’s parents are bitter that police did not bother to inform them of any progress in the investigation. “Everything that I know now, I’ve only just learnt from all of you (media),” said Jazimin. “In the early days of the case, the policecameorcontactedusregularlybut now they no longer get in touch with us. Now, we have to call the police for updates,” Norazian said in frustration. What is reported by media to the public is about all what they knew. Jazimin is frustrated that none of the leads that police found over her daughter’s murder was informed to him. Theinvestigationprogressseemstobe either on the crawl or has stopped completely since then. police keeps saying the case is still under investigation, not forgotten until it is resolved, but progress there hasn’t been any.F Forward February 008
Nurin’s Case
NURIN Alert –
Stop another Nurin tragedy
A
s of April last year, there were 303 children missing on the police list and yet to be found. Eight year old Nurin Jazimin Jazlin was one who was found but it was too late. Shewas torturedandkilled, and dumped in a sports bag, by her murderers. If there was an alert system for immediate action, she might have been saved. Or so, thinks a group of people who is pushing the idea for a Nationwide Urgent Response Information Network (NURIN) Alert. The name itself was coined by blogger
Jasni says the NURIN Alert is based on a similar service called the AMBER Alert which has been implemented in the United States, Australia, South Korea and European countries such as Belgium and Greece.
Ahirudin Attan (Rocky) of Rocky’s Bru and set up by a group calling itself Citizens For Nurin Alert (CFNA). The group include local bloggers Jasni Abdul Jalil (who is Nurin’s uncle), Nuraina A Samad, Hanizah Hashim and Nik A Farez. When five year old Sharlinie Mohd Nashar went missing, NURIN Alert was tested,althoughunofficially,bythebloggers and the media. Jasni says the NURIN Alert is based on a similar service called the AMBER Alertwhichhasbeenimplementedinthe United States, Australia, South Korea and European countries such as Belgium and Greece. The basic idea of AMBER Alert initiative is speeding up the issuance of alerts or announcements to the general public when a child is reported missing or abducted. Implemented in all the 50 states in the US, AMBER Alerts are issued only after police confirmed the report that a particular child is abducted, and then widely spread through commercial media – satellite radio, television stations and cable TV by the Emergency Alert System called Child Abduction Emergency. E-mails, electronic traffic billboards and short message service are also used to issue the alerts. The widespread alerts consist of the name and description of the abductee, a description of the suspected abductor, and a description and license plate number of the abductor’s vehicle, if available. A child can go missing anywhere at any time. The case of Muhammad Nazrin Shamsul Ghazali who went missing from Kuala Lumpur’s Sogo shopping complex on March 31 last year, is a typical example. His father claimed he was trying
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inside the story on some clothes when the boy disappeared. Fortunately, he was found after a nationwide search. A Myanmar couple apparently saw his ‘Missing Boy’ poster, called a number listed on the poster and returned him to parents after two weeks. Like the AMBER Alert, NURIN Alert intends to turn the public into instant investigators when a child is abducted. If everythinggoesaccordingtoplan,natural adversaries, law enforcement and media will come together on their inherent strengths. An effective time-critical response to kidnappers who can disappear with children at the rate of a mile per minute, it sends a powerful message to potential kidnappers that the community cares about and protects children. Most importantly, NURIN Alert is to save lives. In South Korea, the police adopted the AMBER Alert system right after the abduction of nine-year-old elementary school girl, Yang Ji-seung. The police found Yang’s body double-wrapped in vinyl in a trash next to a public toilet, 40 days after she had gone missing since March 6 007. prior to AMBER Alert, the South Korean police managed to find a missing 4-year-old girl using the short messaging system, initiated by the SK Telecom in May 004, that sent out photos and descriptions of missing children to its 6. million registered users. The new NURIN Alert will work on the same lines of AMBER but with the Malaysian context in mind. The purpose is to avoid another Nurin tragedy. Jasni said the NURIN Alert idea came about on a suggestion by a Malaysian blogger based in the US. “She came to know about this missing child and said the US have experience in handling missing children. She wrote about it saying that if only we had an emergency alert like AMBER Alert in
WHERE IS SHARLINIE? : Her posters are everywhere for now,will she return one day?
The new NURIN Alert will work on the same lines of AMBER but with the Malaysian context in mind. The purpose is to avoid another Nurin tragedy. Forward February 008
Malaysia, Nurin could have been found at a much earlier stage.” The woman blogger, Farina of princessJournals, resides in Orange, California. Jasni, as an uncle of Nurin, is thankful to bloggers Nuraina and Hanizah, for their sense of urgency to start pushing the idea and make it necessary in Malaysia. Nuraina, on her blog, says there was no way to prevent the abduction of Nurin when it happened. “prevention is better than cure, they said. But in cases of child abduction, it is way past prevention because a child has been abducted. Have we not learnt anything from Nurin’s abduction and brutal murder? It is about preventing a child who has been abducted from being brutalisedandmurderedbyputtingpressure on the perpetrators to release him or her. “What the Ministry of Women and Family Development should be recommending is a device akin to AMBER Alert,” writes Nuraina. “Nuraina has taken up the idea and talked about it in her blog. Hanizah is more aggressive talking about it and disseminating the AMBER Alert idea to
all other bloggers, including me. She keeps sending me emails asking me to work on this AMBER Alert thing in Malaysia,” says Jasni. According to Nuraina and Hanizah, the idea of pushing for NURIN Alert became crucial when the Inspector General police Tan Sri Musa Hassan, Datuk Nazri Aziz, and the Minister of Women and Family Development Datuk Seri Sharizat Abdul Jalil said they might use the Child Act 00 to charge Nurin’s parents of negligence. The authorities announced that Nurin’s parents - Jazimin Abdul Jalil and Norazian Bistaman – might have been negligent and contributed to her brutal death. Blogger Ahirudin says that parenting is not the issue in an abduction case. “Let us not forget that Nurin Jazlin’s abduction, torture and murder are NOT about parenting; it is about abduction, torture and murder. We need a plan of action to guide all of us - the parents, the police, the community, the media, the bloggers, the kids, the teachers, the politicians - on what each of us need to do to ensure
that the next time a child is abducted, we will be empowered to tell the abductors that they will be wise to let the child go, unharmed,” writes Ahirudin in his blog Rocky’s Bru. Jasni says that the paper work on NURIN Alert has been submitted to the ministry concerned. “We believe that in the case of missing children, the earlier we take action is the better. It is difficult to find missing children after second week, third week,” he says. The time factor is very important when a child goes missing. And the parents cannot simply approach all the mediainMalaysiaandstartdistributing posters telling their loved one is missing, all in one day. But NURIN Alert can do that if put in place. “If a child is missing, parents just lodge a police report and police will verify that it is the case of missing child, the information will be circulated by the NURIN Alert centre to all broadcast and print media. That is what the basic idea of NURIN alert is all about. The alert meaning the public know what is happening,” Jasni says. The alert will focus on the search for missing children, whose are not more
We believe that in the case of missing children, the earlier we take action is the better. It is difficult to find missing children after second week, third week
z JASNI ABDUL JALIL: NURIN’S UNCLE
inside the story than years old. “We believe children up to the age years old could easily be kidnapped or abducted. Above years old, we will subject the case to police discretion.” “These are the ideas we have highlighted to the Minister (Sharizat) and she likes it very much. She said the Ministry will incorporate the proposed alert idea into the Child protection policy. Later we had another meeting with the Social Welfare Department director general (Meme Zainal Rashid) and it might be incorporated into the department’s standard procedure.” All said, NURIN Alert needs an immediate implementation.There is no time to wait for bureaucracy before it is official. This has prompted the CFNA committee to implement it on their own first. “Basically on NURIN Alert, we have managed to progress quite steadily. We have passed the relevant info to the Government to act. At the same time, we are in the process of legalising our entity (CFNA) into an association to be able to operate our own NURIN Alert centre as an interim action,” says Jasni. “There is also a company, under its owncorporatesocialresponsibility,interested to contribute in the setting up of this particular centre. “Alhamdulillah, these people want to help us create this particular centre before the Government implements it. After the government implements the NURIN Alert mechanism, we can modify our private organisation into a centre for
missing children,” says Jasni.F For now, Jasni and CFNA team do their part by keeping Malaysians informed on missing children through their own blogs. “Nurin was not the only missing person in this country. There are over hundreds of children still missing and who is following up on their cases? Nobody is following up. So this is where NURIN Alert can play its part,” says Jasni. F
Nurin was not the only missing person in this country. There are over hundreds of children still missing and who is following up on their cases?
WHAT IS AMBER ALERT?
T
he AMBER Alert plan created in 996 is a result of the brutal death of nine-yearold Amber Rene Hagerman who was abducted by an unknown.Shehadlefthergrandparents’s house in Arlington, Texas, US on January 996, to take a bicycle ride with her little brother, five-year-old Ricky. Her brother came back but not Amber. A witness saw a man pulling Amber into a pickup truck and called police but only her bicycle was found. Amber’s body was found by a resident in a drainage ditch in North Arlington four days later. The Amber abduction and murder remain
4
unsolved. The AMBER Alert was automated in 998 by a non profit organisation Child Alert Foundation. It first saved Arlington’s eight weeks old baby - now ten years old - Rae Leigh Bradbury who was abducted by her own baby sitter also a drug addict, Sandra Joyce Fallis, in November 998, police discovered Rae less than an hour after a man heard the Amber Alert aired by KRLD radio, spotted the abductor driving in front of him and called the radio station. Fallis was found guilty and received 0 years probation. AMBER Alert has save more than 00 children since then. F
z Amber Rene Hagerman
Forward February 008
international
REFUGEES:
Asylum and Islam Conference
S n By Shahfizal Musa
S
he and her husband were doctors in Iraq. Fearing the volatile violence that was escalating she persuaded her husband to leave the country. Her husband told her they had nothing to worry about since they only provided medical assistance to those who needed it. Until one unfortunate day, there was a commotion in the streets. Somebody had knocked on her door and told her that her husband had been shot. Her immediate concern was keeping her ten-year old son from seeing his father in that condition. Rushing to the scene, he stood besides his father’s dead body, lying in a pool of blood. He had been shot in the head and died instantly. Fearing for her son’s life she left her home and everything she had. For two years, she lived in a refugee camp in Rafah before she became a speaker for the United Nations High Commission For Refugees. This is a real life story of
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a person who becomes a refugee but treated like beggars living on the fringe of uncertainty. The word refugee itself dehumanises the gravity of the situations and makes us forget that these people are actual persons with emotions, like us. In view of this the United Nations held a conference on Asylum and Islam in conjunction with Human Rights Day on December 0 last year. The conference was organised by UNHCR in collaboration with the Harun M. Hashim Law Centre, International Islamic University. The one-day conference provided an opportunity for experts, researchers and interested parties to share experiences and knowledge on the tradition of asylum-seeking in Islam. Several international and national experts on Islam and in the field of asylum addressed audience under
three broad themes: the ethics of asylum in Islam, responses of the Muslim Ummah towardsrefugeesandtheneedforlong-term solutions. It must be mentioned that the majority of the world’s refugees are Muslims. Today there are more than one million Iraqis in Syria and up to 7 0,000 in Jordan. In addition, there are over 00,000 Iraqi refugees in Egypt, 40,000 in Lebanon, 0,000 in Iran, over ,000 inTurkey, and varying numbers in manyothercountries.Muslimcountrieshost an estimated 9.4 million of the 0.8 million refugeesworldwide(excludingpalestinians). Among the speakers were Richard Leete of the United Nations, resident professor Dr. Muddathir Abdel-Rahim, professor of political Science and Islamic Studies, International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization (ISTAC); Dr. Susan M. Akram, professor of Law, Boston University School of Law; Rustam Shah, member of the peace Jirga between pakistan and Afghanistan; Forward February 008
Datuk Dr. Jemilah Mahmood, President of MERCY Malaysia, and Dr. Hany Abdel Gawad El Banna, President of Islamic Relief. Richard Leete in his opening speech said the granting of asylum in Islam is not an act of mercy, but is a contract between the asylum-seeker and the provider of asylum, linking the rights of the first with the duties of the second. A community’s moral duty and behaviour must be assessed on how it responds to appeals for asylum. Islam and its tradition of generosity of spirit provide an invaluable framework for meeting the needs of asylum-seekers. The conference began by examining the ethics of asylum in Islam. Dr Muddathir, the first speaker, examined the historical perspective of asylum. The religion itself is integrally connected with refugees pointing out that Prophet Muhammad was once a refugee in the momentouseventcalled Hijrah or migration when Muslims were persecuted in Mecca and sought refuge in Medina. Apart from that, in Islamic jurisprudencethereisaconceptofaman(granting of protection) which is well established. The international refugee law has much in common with the Islamic principles in dealing with displaced persons. Islamic law and tradition include all the norms thatprovideavaluablefoundationforthe legalframeworkthecommissionoperates with. In addition, looking back through history, the most direct line between traditionandcontemporaryrefugeelawis found in Islam. From its very beginning, through the Qur’an and the examples of
the Prophet, Islamic law has considered the question of asylum at length and has given the asylum seeker (“Mustamin”) prominence, dignity and respect. A community’s moral duty and behaviour must alwaysincludehowitrespondstoappeals for asylum. The concept of granting of protection in Islam goes as far as to say that even if an enemy combatant is seeking protection,hemustbegrantedsafetyand escorted to a place where he feels safe. It is clearly established that the granting of asylum is incumbent upon Muslims. Dr Susan M. Akram, who was unable to travel due to back injury, sent a video taped presentation of her paper. She howeverpointedoutthatwhilethegranting of asylum is important, promoting it for to those in power to do something about it is virtually ineffective or as she put it bluntly, “The UNCHR is wasting its breath”. She then pointed out the other end of asylum which is the right of return to the country of origin, such as the case when Israel denies the right of return to evicted Palestinians but gave asylum to Jews from all over. Rustam Shah from Pakistan who gave thegovernmentresponsetothequestion of asylum illustrates the reality of granting asylum in an Islamic country with the event which took place in 2004. In that year, Pakistan opened its borders to Afghanrefugeesandabsorbedtheminto the country. However when responding to a question from the audience, he admitted that it was only done by the governmentbecauseofnationalinterest. HoweverthePakistanipeoplewelcomed
themandgavesupporttotherefugees to lead a normal if not a better life, in the spirit of Islamic solidarity. This leads to the solution of the problem of asylum which was the subject of a paper by Dr. Hany Abdel Gawad El Banna of Islamic Relief, who argued that the Islamic perspective of granting asylum can become a reality. The solution is a strong civil society movement which will persuade the government to implement asylum laws. Dr Hany and Datuk Dr Jemilah were tackling the reality of the refugee problembygoingdowntotheground, in refugee camps, and giving humanitarian assistance instead of just attending conferences in lavish five star hotels.They presented a more realistic approach and ‘walked the talk’. According to Dr Hany, the mistake that one normally makes when fighting a cause was criticising the government. “If you criticise the government they will never listen to you, you should workwiththegovernment,diplomacy is our strongest weapon,” he said. He later stressed that the media was an important tool of getting the voice of refugees heard. The role of the media is very important in shaping the views of society; it is a bridge to a strong civil movement. Sadly some Malaysian media, for the sake of sensationalising, are guilty of nurturing the insecurity of citizens of a host country towards refugees. For most of us, refugees are products of accidents which we read in papers and which happen far away from us. Among those who live in a refugee camp in Rafah are doctors, lawyers, engineers and even PhD holders. How certain are we that it will never happen to us? F
The concept of granting of protection in Islam goes as far as to say that even if an enemy combatant is seeking protection, he must be granted safety and escorted to a place where he feels safe an unknown future: The children are the most affected of refugees.
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international
Benazir Bhutto: A pakistani Tragedy
n By M. Shahid Alam n December 7, a little more than two months after her return to pakistan from years of exile, Benazir Bhutto was killed while leaving the grounds of Liaquat Bagh after addressing a rally of party faithfuls. Daughter of the charismatic Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, with no inconsiderable charisma of her own, driven, talented,
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distinguished, the career of pakistan’s best-loved political leader had been cut short by unknown assassins. She was still young at . Did Benazir Bhutto’s life have to end this way? Benazir Bhutto had entered politics to ‘avenge’ her father’s hanging in April 979 by Zia-ul-Haq, pakistan’s third military dictator. Having twice avenged her
father’s murder – by assuming the office of pakistan’s prime minister in April 988 and October 99 – she has now paid with her life trying to reach that office a third time. Sadly, the truth is that her violent end could have been foretold with near certainty.Whatarethecircumstancesthat made her violent end very nearly a certainty? She did not have the military secuForward February 008
rity – and luck, one must add – that has shielded General Parvez Musharraf from severalassassinationattempts.Withsome expense and planning, Benazir Bhutto too could have made better security arrangements,but,fatefully,sheseemedto be in too much of a haste to be slowed down even by 150 deaths during the first attack on her life in Karachi. Immediately after her death, a spokesman for Al-Qa’ida operations in Afghanistan claimed that this was their work. “Weterminated,”thespokesmanclaimed ominously,“the most precious American assetwhichvowedtodefeatmujahideen.” That Benazir Bhutto was a ‘precious American asset’ – perhaps, even the ‘most precious’ – few anywhere would deny, least of all the Americans. It is widely known that her return to Pakistan was brokered by the United States. She could return to Pakistan’s politics – and, most likely, to the prime minister’s office – by dropping her opposition to another term of five years for President Musharraf. Indeed, Benazir Bhutto instructed the members of her party not to resign from their seats in the national assembly but abstain from voting. This defeated the opposition’s plan to deny the quorum necessaryforthedeeplyflawedpresidential elections. One of the most remarkable developments in Pakistani politics since the events of 9-11 is the transparency – shall we say, daring – with which the United StatesnowintervenesinPakistan’saffairs. Conversely, Pakistani leaders also work
openly to advance American interests in Pakistan. In an earlier era, the Americans generally took care to conceal their meddling in Pakistani politics. As a result, onlythepoliticallyastuteunderstoodthe depth of their influence over Pakistan. Now, this knowledge has become commonplace. Although greatly weakened since the protests that erupted over his firing of Pakistan’s Chief Justice in March 2007, the Americans believe that General Parvez Musharraf is still the best person to lead their war against the militants in Pakistan. However, they were now convinced that the General’s badly battered reputation had to be salvaged: and a partnership with the pro-American Benazir Bhutto would do just that. In turn, the General, under duress, had accepted a partnership with Bhutto as the price he must pay or lose US support. A tripartite deal was brokered involving the US, General Musharraf and Benazir Bhutto. This deal freed Bhutto from the corruption cases pending against her in Pakistani courts. She was also allowed to return to Pakistan to lead her party to – she was convinced – a nearly certain electoral victory: and a third term as Pakistan’s prime minister. The elections would give the General the democratic veneer that he now so badly needed. As the New York Times reveals in a recent article, “How Bhutto won Washington,” Benazir Bhutto’s dealmaking with the Americans has a long
history.She had decided quite early that she would return her party to power by trolling the corridors of power in Washington. In the words of her friend from Oxford days, Peter Galbraith, who was on the staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at the time, Benazir Bhutto first began her campaign in Washington in the spring of 1984. She was on a mission to persuade the Reagan administration that“she would much better serve American interest in Afghanistan than Zia.” Under the tutelage of Galbraith and his friend, Mark Siegel – formerly executive director of the Democratic National Convention – she cultivated the friendship of important power brokers in Washington. These Washington contacts paid off handsomely. In the parliamentary elections of November 1988 Benazir Bhutto’s party gained only a plurality of seats.SincePakistan’smilitaryestablishmentlookeduponherwithconsiderable distrust, they could easily have pulled strings to deny her the right to form the government. US pressure, however, persuaded Ghulam Ishaq Khan, the President at the time, to invite Benazir Bhutto to form the government. Benazir Bhutto never gave up on this winning strategy. As the NYT writes, “she kept up her visits to Washington, usually several a year.”She continued to cultivate friends amongst theWashingtonelite,includingtheCongressandthe media. In the first six months of 2007 alone, Benazir Bhutto spent $250,000 in lobbyingfeestogainaccesstoWashington insiders. Once again, to win American backing for her return to Pakistan in 2007, which could only happen with US pressure on General Musharraf, Benazir Bhutto used the same strategy that had worked before: she would promise to do better than General Musharraf in advancing
She was on a mission to persuade the Reagan administration that “she would much better serve American interest in Afghanistan than Zia.” 59
international
She kept up her visits to Washington - usually several a year - winning her the support of United States but it proved to be fatal.”
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American interests in pakistan. Over the past year, Benazir Bhutto has repeatedly pointed out that General Musharraf’s war against terrorism in pakistan was failing. Instead of curbing terrorism,themilitantshadbecomemore daring during the General’s tenure. She promised to do better. She would wipe out the“religious extremists,”shut down “extremist” madrasas, and even hand over Dr. Qadeer Khan – the architect of pakistan’s nuclear program – to the US for questioning. Insistently, and loudly, Benazir Bhutto was seeking to assure the United States that she would do a lot better than their General. This strategy won her the support of the United States, but it was fatally flawed. If Musharraf had not acted more vigorously against the militants that was not because he had gone soft in his commitment to America’s plan. Instead, it was because he faces restraints on three fronts: the opposition within the army, especially from its lower ranks; the very real fear that stronger measures against the militants would provoke a domestic outcry and, worse, a more determined response from those militants; and, there are concerns too that defeating the Taliban would entrench Indian influence over Afghanistan. Would these constraints be any different for Benazir Bhutto? In presenting herself as the only pakistani politician to openly challenge the militants, wasn’t Benazir Bhutto – in effect – also daring them to target her? Since these Islamists were regularly targeting the pakistan military itself – even inside the security of their cantonments – would they hold back from attacking a politician who threatened to take even stronger actions against them than General Musharraf? General Musharraf’s decision to make pakistan the leading partner in America’s war against terrorism had already revealed its deep flaws. Most ominously, it had provoked the Islamists into targeting the pakistani military. Already there were defections from the army, and if the clashes continued, there could be rebellion in the ranks of the army: or clashes between pukhtoons and the punjabis within the army. In pushing Benazir Bhutto into this dangerous corner, a corner in which she could not have survived, the US too has shown its gross ineptitude. By openly anointing her as the American candidate, the US had effectively hastened the
violent end that she has now met. The US helped to bring about the untimely death of the ‘Daughter of the East’ by transforming her into the ‘Daughter of the West. In the process, pakistan too has lost a flawed but charismatic leader, who might have risen to the occasion at a time of crisis. Benazir Bhutto crafted her political career by embracing her father’s populism, but decisively rejected what was itsnaturalcomplement:hisindependent foreign policy. Could she have followed a different path? Was she free to claim the legacyofherfather’sindependentforeign policy? Benazir Bhutto’s embrace of her father’s populism was indispensable: without it, she could not lay claim to his charismaticfollowingamongstpakistan’s largely illiterate masses. On the other hand,byrejectinganindependentforeign policy, she opened a path to the centers of American power without losing any of her popularity. The mostly poor and illiterate pakistanis could not have cared much for the arcana of foreign politics. Benazir Bhutto saw her courting of the US as necessary to her ascent to power? The Americans have long cultivated pakistan’s military as the best vehicle for subordinating pakistan to its ends: first, pakistan’smilitarybecameaUSpartnerin the Cold War, and since 9- it has been drafted as a leading ally in the‘global war
Forward February 008
against terror.’ The 1990s – the interim between the two wars – was a window of opportunity for Pakistan’s politicians. But Benazir Bhutto first had to neutralize the Pakistani generals – whose power had been challenged only once by her father,and,who,therefore,wereopposed to the return of his populist party to power. She had used this strategy to neutralize Pakistan’s military establishment before. Now, with the generals in trouble, she struck the same bargain. Tragically, this time, it was fatal mistake. Benazir Bhutto was binding herself to a strategy – waging America’s war against the militants – that had already pushed Pakistan to the brink of a civil war and disintegration.Inherimpetuousquestfor power, she had acted in blind disregard of realities. But did Benazir Bhutto have an alternative? Perhaps she did. Pakistan has a chance of averting a civil war, but only by distancing itself from the United States. This distancing is now vital for Pakistan: and one could argue, for the United States too. Only by distancing itself from the United States does any Pakistani government now have a chance of preventing themilitantsfromoverwhelmingPakistan itself. No government that cleaves to the United States and Israel has a chance of winning popular support in its efforts to contain the spread of the Islamist insur-
A prayer for benazir : Activists of slain former Pakistani prime minister Benazir’s Pakistan People’s Party hold vigil in front of her portrait at the headquarters of her party in the eastern city of Lahore.
gency. Sadly, Benazir Bhutto too – like Musharraf – has cultivated the Israeli lobby in the United States. It is perhaps unrealistic to expect that Benazir Bhutto, had she had wanted to, could have done this on her own. However, if she had joined a pro-democracy and nationalist partnership with Nawaz Sharif – and perhaps some of the other parties in the opposition – together they had a fair chance of sending the Pakistani generals back to the barracks. It would not take Hazrat ‘Ali’s oratory to convince the Pakistanis that this partnership – and an independent foreign policy – were at this juncture indispensable for the integrity of Pakistan. Sadly, this was an option that Benazir Bhutto rebuffed. She did not want to remove the generals: she sought to join their fight against the Islamist militants as a civilian cheerleader. Perhaps, she could not think of another option, given how much of her political capital she had invested in gaining the support of the United States. Trapped in her myopia, she saw this as the easier option, the only option. Sadly, she had chosen to enter a blind alley. Worse it was a death trap. That is what makes her death a Paki-
stani tragedy. It is a tragedy because she was the only political figure in Pakistan who commanded the charisma to try to galvanize Pakistanis into a vital coalition that could reverse the damage done by the military generals. But, instead, she chose to outdo the failed generals. That was Benazir Bhutto’s fatal flaw; but it was not only a personal flaw. Behind this fatal flaw lay the a sad history of a country whose elites time and again chose to prostitute the state, to compromise national interests, and sacrifice the lives of Pakistanis for their personal gains. That is what makes Benazir Bhutto’s murder a Pakistani tragedy. In a single tragicevent,itcrystallizesthemalfeasance of Pakistan’s political classes and the failure of Pakistanis to bring them to account for their treasonous crimes.F M. Shahid Alam is Professor of Economics at Northeastern University, Boston. He is the author of Challenging the New Orientalism (North Haledon, NJ: IPI, 2007). He may be reached at alqalam02760@yahoo. com.
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national proton must fight to keep British engineering consultancy
p
n By Shamsul Yunos roton is hitting a series of right notes in the past few months, first with the well received persona and now with the new Saga, which is proving to be just the medicine that the constipated Malaysian automotive industry needs. With more than ,000 orders in the first five days of bookings, the car is shaping up to be the booster that proton needs to rocket it past their perennial rival perodua. Amidst the cheer of revival, there is one off-tune note being hit in background and it is the rumour of the impendingsaleoffabledBritishautomotive engineering consultancy and sportscar manufacturer, Lotus. Lotus was bought by proton in the early 990s and over the same period the national carmaker has benefited
tremendously from the association with the company, which works on the cutting edge of automotive technology. The most obvious reward of the association is seen in the ride and handling characteristics of proton cars. It would be unfair to expect them to be on par with the driving dynamics of cars from BMW, porsche or Lotus but it is certainly one of the better handling family saloon in the market and definitely the best handling cars in their price range. Obviously we are talking about homegrown cars such as the Waja, Gen. persona, Satria Neo and Savvy. The only Mitsubishi sourced car that enjoyed the
Lotus touch was the original Satria GTI. With such an obvious bank of automotive technology knowledge, Lotus is a very good partner for proton and more than ever, the national car company cannot afford to lose this advantage. During the launch of the new Saga teaser campaign, the head of engineering,AbdulWahabMohamedsaidthatthe companywasseekingnewtechnologyto improve its product quality and this process would certainly be made a lot easier with Lotus as a partner. For the new Saga, the company is using tailored blanks for the first time as part of their effort to reduce bodyweight and help improve fuel economy. Tailored blanks are specially prepared sheets of steel with different thickness throughoutthepieceandtheyareusually used to improve the strength of a particular stamped metal component. Since the blanks already incorporate differentthicknessandstrengthsneeded,
With such an obvious bank of automotive technology knowledge, Lotus is a very good partner for proton and more than ever, the national car company cannot afford to lose this advantage 6
Forward February 008
manufacturers do not have to use additionalbracingorstrengtheningtoachieve their rigidity and stiffness targets. Also on the way to proton are hydroformed aluminium parts. Hydroforming was first used in a big scale by Lotus which made almost the entire Elise chassis out of the lightweight metal. Hydroforming means that the metal componentisformedusinghighpressure water to obtain the final shape either through extrusion, bending or other processes. When aluminium tubes are bent using the hydroforming method, they are first pressurised with water to ensure that the bent parts do not deform and weaken. Lotus is also acknowledged as one of the pioneers in engine technology research although the firm no longer produces their own engine out of economical consideration.Their low volume production targets make it economically impractical for them to invest in very expensive engine production. Together with porsche, Lotus is probably the most influential automotive engineeringcompanyandbetweenthem they can count almost all carmakers in the world as clients. Now that proton has decided to stay independent, sources say that they will have to continue life with two basic platforms, one of which is being used in the new Saga while another one is under development for use in larger models. It is said that the larger platform will also be the basis of a Multi purpose ve-
hicle and it is modular enough to be used for a Sports Utility vehicle or SUv. While the two modular platforms may be able to spawn many models, they will probably be more compromised compared to versions that sit on a dedicated base and this illustrates the resource constraint that proton is staring at. Having Lotus at their disposal will probably help the company find more and better solutions within the limited room that they have to manoeuvre. The rumoured sale of Lotus has promptedsomeobserverstodrawparallels between the British company and Italian bike maker Mv Agusta. Mv Agusta is a revered name in highend motorcycles and it was bought by proton for around EUR60 million to help boost its image and technical knowhow. The previous proton management hinted at the possibility of producing carsbearingthehighly-prizedMvAgusta badge. It never materialised and the company was sold for a nominal EUR to Gevi SpA, an unknown entity in the automotive business. Earlier this year Gevi had sold off the Husqvarna brand,which was part of the Mv Agusta stable, for millions to BMW as the German carmaker sought small engine and lightweight technology for their Motorrad two-wheel division. This brought up some serious questions about the wisdom of giving away Mv Agusta when it is clear that the
components of the company are worth a lot more. For many years Lotus Cars struggled to make ends meet but right now they appear to have found their footing and are makingheadwayintheworld’slargestcar market, the United States. Although Lotus Cars’ profit is not going to be big, compared to a mass manufacturer,theyenjoyahealthiermargin and it is not impossible for them to grow from strength to strength. porsche is a small family owned company that has grown from a small specialist manufacturer into a major force. Last year it took control of the world’s fifth largest carmaker volkswagen and now controls many premium and mass market brands. In short Lotus is not just a good engineering partner but it is also a potential world beater and proton is better off holding on to it. F
Lotus is also acknowledged as one of the pioneers in engine technology research although the firm no longer produces their own engine out of economical consideration 6
soul beat
Sami: Muslim Superstar n By Aida Edemariam
I
t’s a nondescript place, where Sami Yusuf is staying, a muted Quality Hotel in a west London suburb, but its neighbour rather makes up for it - Wembley Stadium, arching silver into clear, cold autumn air. And next to it, Wembley Arena, which Yusuf filled, a few nights ago. His concert, organised by Islamic Relief in aid of Darfur, was sold out: 0,000 people came to hear him sing. “It was amazing,” he says. He is courtly, friendly,butobviouslyentirelystrungout on sleeplessness and adrenaline. “Really amazing. I mean, I’ve performed for big crowds - ,000 people in Cologne Arena, 00,000 people in Istanbul. It’s not about crowds. Wembley is very symbolic.” Here, I think he’s going to say that it’s because finally he was at home, singing in London, where he grew up, but he doesn’t. “It symbolised the true spirit of the British public, and among them the British Muslims.” Unless you’re a British Muslim, or you live in the Middle East, or, say, Bosnia, you probably won’t have heard of him, but Sami Yusuf has good claim to being the most famous British Muslim in the world. He has sold more than m albums, though, “if you consider the bootlegging - no, really, because in the
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Muslim world copyright has no meaning - it’s millions. Dozens of millions.” His team was expecting only about 0,000 at that concert in Istanbul, and was taken aback when 00,000 came. He gets red-carpet welcomes when he lands in countries across the Middle East, must give press conferences to 0-odd journalists before he’s allowed even to leave the airport(whereguardsoftenlethimbypass security checks, because they know who he is). A 0-minute walk down the street in Cairo, where he now lives part of the time, can take two hours, so many people want to talk to him and shake his hand. Much of this adulation, in the letters he receives, from those who call in with questions when he is interviewed on, for example, al-Jazeera, is tinged with gratefulness. Yusuf really can sing - in swooping ballads, in the note-filigree of Arabic maqamat, against violins and rousing male choruses - but it is his subjects, and the modern-ancient hybrid with which he treats them, that seem really to strike a chord. So, for example, Hasbi Rabbi, his latest hit (and, incidentally, a ringtone heard everywhere from Cairo to Damascus) begins, jauntily, “Oh Allah the Almighty/protect me and guide me/To your love and mercy.” The video shows him in a suit, walking down a London
street, giving up his seat for an old lady on a bus, then, when the lyrics switch to Hindi, strolling around the Taj Mahal. My Ummah, the title song of his second album (Ummah means nation, and in this context, nation of believers) is a call to praise and pride:“Let’s become whole again/proud again/’Cause I swear with firm belief in our hearts/We can bring back the glory of our past.” He is unafraid to be baldly political, to sing about Aids, about Beslan (“Would he [the prophet Muhammad] allow the murder of an innocent child? Oh no”), about the right to wear the headscarf. There is nothing subtle or particularly poetic about it, but it’s defiant and addresses the now: “Time and time again/ You speak of democracy/Yet you rob me of my liberty.” It has been suggested that much of his popularity stems from recognition - from young Muslims seeing, finally, a role model they understand and who speaks to their own situation, but he’s defiant about this, too, for the understandable reason that it belittles his skill. “possibly. But I do have to say that a lot of the time when I perform concerts, I get people coming, in huge numbers, who are perhaps nominally Muslim. It’s not about faith, it’s not because they like me because of faith. And then again, my second album isn’t that religious. My supporters - my fans, if you like - they don’t see me as a munshid, or in Arabic they call it a nasheed, a religious figure, they don’t see me as that, and in the Arab world they call me an international artist. Because they appreciate the fact that I play most of my own instruments, I compose my own music, I arrange my own music. What I’m trying to get at is, they like my music.” Fine, but there’s something else going on there as well, isn’t there, apart from simple music appreciation? “Recognition. I think it does apply, but again, I think, quite frankly, what it boils down to is quality and music and the art. Because in the end everything else dies away. You know, I went to Azerbaijan, and in Azerbaijan - I mean, it’s a Muslim country, but they’re not particularly - I had 0,000 people in the stadium. And four of them were covered, wearing hijab. The niqab - that scares me.” Has he performed in Saudi Arabia? “I have. It was,” and he pauses, pointedly, “a veryinterestingexperience.Buttheystill knew my songs, and sang all my songs.” Recognition and representation, he does point out, go both ways, and if Forward February 008
there is something he would like to stand for it’s moderation, tolerance and antiextremism. “Mecca and Medina are holy for Muslims. Saudi Arabia isn’t. They’ve got their own problems and their own issues and they need to deal with them. They don’t represent Muslims.” As for the Abu Hamzas of the world - they’re why he thought his Wembley gig so symbolic. “Just contextualise it, just for a second, the situation with Muslims in the UK. I think it was about time that they had something like this. Because Abu Hamza, and Abu this and Abu that - they don’t represent us. They can go back to wherever they came from, frankly. I’m serious. They really don’t represent us. I’m just sick and tired of seeing those ugly-andtheyareugly,reallythey’reugly. I’m scared of the guy with the hook - I mean, who is he? I’ve hardly come across people like that. It’s just in the media. And it scares me.” He is as scornful of Muslims he sees as being on the other end of the spectrum, “opportunists” such as Dutch writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali: “She doesn’t attack extremism - she attacks Islam. And these people - they make money. They sell out halls. And this is sad. The world we’re living in wants to hear this kind of thing. What we need, in my opinion, are people to bring back everything and say, ‘Look, chill out. Cool down.’ That’s what I’m about.” Yusuf was born to Azerbaijani parents, in Tehran. They moved to Britain when he was three, and he grew up in west London. (His parents now live in Stockport, where he also lives with his wife, some of the time.) “And this is the thing -” he turns vociferous again “- when I grew up, in school, we had Janet and Jack and Ahmed and Mohammed and Dipesh and Meninder - and we were just chilling together. Now you’ve got, ‘Oh, he’s a Muslim, and he’s a that, and he’s a this.’ D’you know what I mean? This is not what London’s about! This is not what I grew up with. And it’s scary! I don’t wanna see that.” The majority of his friendswereEnglish,“middle-class,white guys”, and even when, at 6, he went through a period of deepening spirituality and became a much more committed Muslim, he says there were no issues with peer pressure, no feeling that he was being left out because everyone else was experimenting with drink, for example; it’sdiscriminationagainst them to expect that, he argues, and anyway, “they were good people, they were good guys. They weren’t naughty.”
He started learning music from his father, a music teacher, and became an omnivorous student: he plays piano and violin, “from the western instruments. Eastern - most of the persian instruments: santoor, taab, tombak, katar, daff - and the Arabic instruments - tabla, dufoof - and of course the Turkish instruments ...” He says, “I used to be an addict of Classic FM. I used to listen to it from 4 to 6, every night it was on in my room. It’s a bit sad, but - I love classical music.” And though he always knew his future lay in music, he thought it would be in composition and arranging, not in singing. He didn’t even know he could sing, until his father heard him crooning in the bathroom one day and suggested he look after his voice. The Royal Academy accepted him as a composition student,buthewasn’tthere for long. “I left.” Why? “You’re making me feel really uncomfortable,” he says, laughing. “There’s an interrogation element.” As interrogation goes, “Why?” is not exactly being Jeremy paxman, but Yusuf, his manager tells me later, is used to a very different interviewing style: more fawning, by fans who more often than not want an autograph, or have brought along a nephew to meet him.“It was kind of snobby,” he adds. “I felt a bit uncomfortable. And I had some personal problems at the time. And they were personal, so don’t ask me what they were - they were personal.” I try but no elaboration is forthcoming, so why uncomfortable? “I think classical music has been hijacked by - certainly in my day - by a kind of upper-middle-class white-oriented population, whereas in fact classical music was the music of the people in Mozart’s time, in Beethoven’s time - opera, for example, would be like the movies. I felt a bit uncomfortable, but I think mainly I really had some ... I just didn’t want to be there.” His first album was accidental, selfproduced, arising out of a personal need to sing praise songs, and no one was as surprised as he was when it sold out in its first week. He has been famous ever since, which has brought its own uncomfortablenesses. Yusuf has come in for criticism from other Muslims about the fact that he sings at all (the issue seems to be the atmosphere that surrounds singing, rather than the singing itself); and about his celebrity - something he himselfsometimesfeelsuneasyabout.At Wembley, as oneaudiencememberputit on YouTube, “The concert was gud and bad as all the girls were screaming wen he
came bak as they all fancied him it was lyk get ova him. the atmosphea was great tho”, but he is quick to dissociate himself from, say, the likes of Robbie Williams (though, it must be said, he wouldn’t mind competing on similar turf: “I’m an artist, I wouldn’t mind getting a Grammy or an MTv award. That’s how I see myself”). “The reason I never wanted to be a pop star was because of a lot of the things they get up to after concerts,” he says.“My father noticed something in me from a very early age and groomed me. But I just didn’t want to get involved in the pop industry. I was scared of it. I’ve seen what it can do and I didn’t want to get involved. I’m really glad that I’ve got this huge niche, if you like.” And though he may slightly shrug off the suggestion, he knows it’s a niche that gives him power. He’s hoping to record a Christmas single, with an as yet unnamed artist, to raise money for Darfur, and in the new year he and his record label, Awakening, will be launching a foundation called Exploring Islam, the aim of which will be to shatter, through ambitiousnationalmediacampaigns,the misconceptions and stereotypes currently surrounding Islam here. They’ll be commissioning polls, by YouGov, for example, to discover the top five misconceptions about Islam, and then tackle them head-on. “We’ll treat it like a product that has a bad name,”says Sharif Banna, co-founder of Awakening, “and then market it. We don’t want people to convert, necessarily, just not to be afraid of it.” The tag is to be “mainstreaming Islam” ; the intent to drive home the message that Muslims are as normal as everyone else. Yusuf is posing for the photographer when he calls over to me to make one thing absolutely clear. “You know something? I love human beings, I absolutely love human beings. It might sound a bit cheesy and corny, but I do. I love people, irrespective of their race and background. When people incite hate, it just gets to me, whether they be Muslims, or Christians.” And then he has to be off, racing to catch a plane to Cairo. “God bless you,” he says. F Sami Yusuf is perhaps the most famous British Muslim in the world. Adored in the Middle East, his records sell millions and he has just sold out Wembley Arena. He talks to Aida Edemariam.
6
international INDIA: Let’s not export saffron
mischief to Malaysia!
n By Sampathkumar Iyangar
M
alaysia has been one of the very few countries with which India can be said to be enjoying consistently friendly relationship. Bilateral trade volumes, currently at USD 4. billion, are growing. The relationship has been marked by mutual respect and has been mutually beneficial. There has been no talk of one of them taking advantage of the other. Yet in December 007, India was at the receiving end of a humiliating insult from Malaysia. An angry outburst from Malaysia’s de facto justice minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, directed at Tamil Nadu state’s chief minister, M Karunanidhi, soured the ties significantly. Tragic as it may be, the insult had been invited upon itself by India, due to the naivety of its politicians. The Indian media called Aziz’s remark too undiplomatic and harsh; but a dispassionate observer
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will not fault the Malaysian minister. Even Karunanidhi realised his blunder within a couple of days and retracted his earlier position. Nazri Aziz was reacting to reports that Karunanidhi had written to Indian prime MinisterManmohanSinghonallegeduse of excessive force by Malaysian authorities at a protest march by Tamil-speaking
Tragic as it may be, the insult had been invited upon itself by India, due to the naivety of its politicians
Malaysians on November in Kuala Lumpur. Nazri blurted out, “This is Malaysia, not Tamil Nadu. . . lay off!” The CM had drawn the pM’s attention to “sufferings and bad treatment” of Tamils in that country and asked New Delhi to “take immediate and appropriate action to end the sufferings”. The Malaysian governmentconsidereditasmeddlingin its internal affairs. The protest in Kuala Lumpur will show that it was orchestrated by a band of Malaysian lawyers under the guise of an organisation called HINDRAF (Hindu Rights Action Force). The lawyers filed a class action suit of USD 4 trillion (Rs 8 lakh crore) against the British government in London and wanted to hand over a petition to the British High Commissioner. The petition asks Queen Elizabeth II to appoint a Queen’s Counsel to represent the Indian community in its suit against her Government. They are claiming a compensation of USD . million from the UK government to be paid to each of the .8 million persons of Indian origin in Malaysia. HINDRAF says that their ancestors were brought as indentured labourers to the then Malaya and were exploited by thewhitesettlerstocreaterubberplantations. It holds the present UK government liable for compensation for the marginalisationsufferedbythepeopleof Indian origin in Malaysia. The group was refused a permit to gather a large crowd to mark the occasion of handing over the petition. Yet, it managed to mobilise a crowd of few thousands (different estimates ranging from ,000 by BBC and 0,000byAp)Tamil-speakingMalaysians. The crowd, probably day-dreaming of a million dollar fortune, carried pictures of Queen Elizabeth II and Indian independence leader Gandhi. Some of the demonstratorscarriedplacardsdemanding ‘equal rights’ and against demolition of temples erected on government and private lands. Malaysia is a country that believes in discipline and wants its people to sort out their problems in a systematic way by followingcorrectprocedures.There,road blockades are taken as serious cases of hooliganism, unlike in places like India. Forward February 008
MALAYSIAN INDIANS : Hindraf protesters getting drenched by the police during the rally.
People are not allowed to take to the streets,inconvenienceothersanddamage public property for pressing their demands. It is only through such discipline thatMalaysiahasovertakenIndiainmany fields,althoughitgotindependenceonly ten years after India. A strong police force of 5,000 officers carried out a routine crowd control exercise,usingteargasandwatercannons to disperse the protesters. While the ‘success’ of rallies is measured in terms of number of deaths, rounds of bullets fired,lathisbrokenandhospitalisationsin countries like India, this was not the case with Malaysian protesters. Ignorant of these basic facts, Tamil Nadu MPs of all hues came to the rescue of the Malaysian citizens. Their ‘concern’ was put in perspective by Dr Subramaniam Swamy: “It seems as if the parties have not really understood the problem at all. It’s not a Tamil issue. The Tamil Muslimsarenotparticipatingintheagitation.” Malaysia was furious at the lawyers for petitioning British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, fifty years after the country’s independence from Britain. The petition tells of a genocide taking place there, with the Indian community being forced into violence like in Sri Lanka if their cause was ignored. Nazri Aziz stressed that the demonstrators had violated the law as no permit was issued. He had labeled the demonstrators as thugs, adding:“It’s not
the Indian community that’s involved. Only some gangsters.” He fumed, “The HINDRAF memorandum is also a matter of concern because its contents are seditious. I’m sure these matters will also create animosity between the Indians, the Malays and the Government.” Asked if the authorities, accused of excessive action,willbereprimanded,hecompared to the French police, who “used tear gas and even rubber bullets when a demonstration occurred there”. The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister realised his blunder instantly and clarified that he was not supposed to criticise the Malaysian government. “I don’t want to reply to Aziz’s remarks. I don’t want to get into a tit-for-tat. It is my duty to defend Tamils.” Saffron bosses of India have however been quick to jump into the fray to fish in troubled waters. After all, Malaysia accountsforthesecondhighestnumbers of ‘people of Indian origin’ after the US, a cash cow for saffron outfits. The BJP insistedthatthecentralgovernmentmust report to UN the “the ill-treatment being given to Hindus” in Malaysia. Its leader VK Malhotra said in parliament, “The Hindus are being treated in such an inhuman fashion, the government must go to the Commonwealth.” External affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee said in Rajya Sabha, “There is a large community of Indians living in Malaysia who are citizens of that country. We have friendly relations with India and
are in touch with the authority there. We are aware of remarks made by a Malaysian minister against the respectedTamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi.” Manmohan Singh joined the fray, commenting, “There is concern whenever Indians or people of Indian origins are affected.” To put it mildly, New Delhi has put its foot in the mouth by reacting without ascertainingthefacts.Itsfollyhasactually put people of Indian origin and Indians doing business with Malaysia in an awkward situation.Their image has been tarnishedandtheyhavebeenmadeasubject of ridicule among peers. “What happened involves Malaysian citizens. If they break any law, it is our right to deal with them in accordance with Malaysian laws,” reacted Syed Hamid Albar, Malaysia’s foreign minister. Malaysian PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi obliquely referred to India’s records on communal riots, “In Malaysia, there has been no conflict between the Muslims and Indians or Islam and Hinduism. This country has rules and laws. We have a constitution and we are successful . We abide by it and hold firmly to the Rukun Negara.” Malaysia’s position may still not be a utopia. There are positive discriminations and preferences to help the locals assertthemselves,whichputcertainracial groups at a disadvantage. Abdullah admitted frankly, “There are weaknesses and there is still work to be done. . . There is no country in the world or any leader who can say he has done everything and there are no more poor people in his country. We still need to bring them out of poverty. We have to strengthen ties between the races and religions.” The authorities do wield sticks to silence suspected troublemakers, when necessary. However, to call the rulers as bigots and the affirmative actions taken in their national interests as “ethnic cleansing” can only be termed as unconscious vilification of the worst sort. Records prove that Malaysia has been moving rapidly in the direction of social justice, while being extremely successful in seeking prosperity. Abdullah has every reason to term as “blatant lie”the charges of ethnic cleansing and Malay-Muslim authoritarianism. He demanded of his Indian critics, “Causing racial conflict in the country, especially between the Indians and Malays. Is this what we want?” Abdullah
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international
z M KARUNAIDHI
does seem to have got at the root of the conspiracy. The meticulously organised smear campaign against his country is obviously aimed at employing the Hindu front to destabilise ‘Muslim’ Malaysia. The activities of Waytha Moorthy, one of the lawyers deputed by HINDRAF to garner support from India and other governments, provide ample indication of the involvement of India’s fundamentalist saffron elements in the movement. When in Tamil Nadu, he established contacts with former ministervaiko, who is currently in alliance with Karunanidhi’s bête noire, Jayalalithaa. Hers is the only TN regional party to have any truck with the BJp. It is no secret that BJp advocates a barbaric brand of Hindutva and wants to establish an Akhand Bharat Hindu Rashtra (Greater Hindustan), lording over the region as a nuke-armed superpower. In fact, the only leader to meet Waytha Moorthy in New Delhi was BJp chieftain LK Advani. No minister or official in New Delhi was prepared to meet him. HINDRAF has been a non-entity so far and had started off as a small lawyers’ practice. It was engaged in representing uneducated and poor labourers pitted against authorities. Its clientele includes descendentsofTamil-speakinglabourers, who had put up several shrines indiscriminately. They now stand on government land as well as private land owned by others. About 80 per cent of Malaysians of Indian origin profess Hinduism and are at the bottom rungs of the economic ladder. When the government seeks to dismantle the structures to make way
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for public projects like roads, after giving notice and alternate land elsewhere, HINDRAF incites these people to resist. Advocates Ganapathy Rao, brothers p Waytha Moorthy and p Uthaya Kumar would then make a big din and file court cases, alleging humiliation, emotional trauma and insensitivity to ‘Hindu’ sentiments by a ‘Muslim’ government. The Hindu rights outfit’s campaign plank is that ethnic Indians control just . per cent of Malaysia’s economy while constituting 7-plus per cent population. This must be seen in historic perspective. About 80 per cent of ‘people of Indian origin’ whom HINDRAF claims to representareTamil-speakingdescendentsof unskilled migrants brought in essentially for brawn. Their economic condition cannot be compared with the status of the Indian diaspora in the US, which filters in only people with highest skills and capabilities. Despite that, the ‘most marginalised’ section of Tamil-speaking Malaysians enjoys definitely a much better living standard than an average citizen of Tamil Nadu. According to a WIDER (World Institute of Development Economics Research) survey of India, the richest 0 per cent of the population earns on an average 7. times the average earnings of the poorest 0 per cent. At this Indian yardstick, ethnic Indians should be happy to have just under per cent of the GDp! Added to that, Malaysia has becomemuchmorewealthierthanIndia. Although India’s GDp may be . times that of Malaysia, the latter’s population is under . per cent of India’s. An average Malaysian holds five-and-a-half times as many dollars as an average Indian.
More important, the 0 per cent ethnic Indians outside the HINDRAF influence – skilled Malayalis from Kerala, Sikhs brought in as policemen, Sindhis who came as businessmen and Sri Lankan Tamils brought in as clerks – have all done much better. In fact, most foreignqualifiedMalaysiandoctorshappentobe from this segment. Incidentally, the richest Malaysian, Ananda Krishnan, is from the Tamil-speaking community. Affirmative action, favouring indigenouspeopleinpreferencetomigrants,is anacceptedphenomenonofresponsible governance. Before frowning at that, Indian leaders must introspect the status of discrimination in India against the minorities who can by no means be termed as emigrants. Secondly, accepting HINDRAF’s characterisation of demolitions of illegal shrine structures with improper ownership titles to land as a symptom of Talibanisation of Malay government will simply amount to exporting India’s gravest bane, saffron mischief, to Malaysia. WhetherManmohanSinghandpranab Mukherjee stick to the groundless accusationsaboutMalaysia,orwhetherthey keep quiet after realising their blunder, they will be doing great disservice to their countrymen as well as to millions of persons of Indian origin in other countries. The Indian government must apologise to Malaysia to minimise the harm their blunder can cause to Indians living abroad, such as prejudice from their present co-habitants. Accepting a blunder should not be taken as a slur in diplomacy. In fact, it will enhance the stature. Source: The Milli Gazette, Jan - , 008. F
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gadgets n Compiled by Jaztina Alias
t Dell’s Latitude XT Tablet PC
t Slick Astro A40 Gaming Headset
Dell has brought in their Latitude XT Tablet p, which they claim is the thinnest and one of the lightest . -inch convertible tablets available. Dell also claim that it is the brightest in its category with an optional daylight viewing panel. The Latitude XT is a .6 kg (starting weight) convertible tablet with pen and capacitive touchcapability.TheLatitudeXTusesCapacitivetechnologythatsensesthetouch of a finger with no pressure required for the system to recognise input. According to Dell, it is the forerunner to emerging multi-touch capabilities that allow the use of more than one finger for tasks such as zoom and repositioning a picture, to name a few. The Dell Latitude XT starts at RM7,880.
t
Called the Astro A40, it combines crystalclear voice communication with pinpointaccurate . Dolby Digital and Dolby Headphone surround utilizing the most user-configurable headset on the planet. The A40 Headset attaches speaker tags to either side, or removes completely for solo gaming and music sessions. The A40 Audio System includes the external A40 MixAmp, providing Xbox and and Xbox 60 users with combined voice and game sound. Combine multiple A40 MixAmps and you’ll be provided a private, hands-free, full-duplex voicecommunicationchannel-muchhigherquality than voIp systems, with zero network and system lag.
ViewSonic VX2835WM 28”
The viewSonic vX 8 WM. 8” Iismonster of an LCD gave me some trouble when I had to lug it all the way up to my apartment. Of course being that big the vX 8 WM does more than just hook up to your pC as it can also act as your Tv (that is if you don’t mind your Tv not getting terrestrial Tv signals). The vX 8 WM comes in a stylish black. The speakers are located at the bottom of the screen.
t
Luxurious RAZR2 V8
Motorola has launched it RAZR v8 Luxury Edition at their MOTOSTORE in Suria KLCC. The phone itself comes with 8k and 4k gold plated accents as well as a soft-touch back, embossed with a snakeskin effect. On top of that, the Luxury Edition will also come with a black slate Motorola H680 headset with 8K gold accents and a patent leather carrying case. The MOTORAZR v8 Luxury Edition incorporates a large .0” interactive colour external screen as well as touch sensitive music keys that provide users with feedback in the form of rhythmic vibrations in response to their finger tips - all without opening the flip. It also comes with up to GB of on-board storage for up to ,000 songs, a powerhouse processor for fast over-the-air downloads andWindows Media player ,enablingaccesstoover 00onlinemusicstores,includingfavouritessuchas MTv Urge, Yahoo and Napster. The MOTORAZR v8 Luxury Edition is retailing at RM ,999 and is only exclusively available in the MOTOSTORE in Suria KLCC.
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kicking back
U
n By Fadly Rahman nder the sunset, the sand is like dust of gold. The water is turquoise. They say it’s like a tiny chunk of England that floated away in search of better weather. The most beautiful beaches, golf coursesandsceneryonehaseverimagine Bermuda, a sub-tropical Atlantic archipelago north of the Caribbean, was once a refuge for pirates. Now it’s a haven for 600,000holidaymakerseveryyear,including many Americans and Canadians. Most have always gone for the peace and quiet,secludedbeaches,crystal-clearwaters,manicuredlandscapes,andaholiday destination that is old-fashioned, formal and genteel. But Bermuda’s appeal is not limited to this; it’s a favorite destination for a mix of visitors. There are many boats for hire on the island, to sail yourself or enjoy a leisurely trip exploring the coastline. Your captain will drop anchor to allow you to picnic on a secluded beach or dine onboard by candlelight and moonlight. The island is perfect for snorkeling and 7
bermuda diving, with the clear waters allowing magnificent views of sparkling coral and a multitude of sea life. You can even take in the underwater scene in a glass-bottomed boat. Come and see why Bermuda has been a port of call for over 00 years. In Bermuda the golf course is beyond compare. The same goes for the beaches, windsurfing and relaxing climate. Bermuda or The Somers Isles is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic ocean. It is located off the east coast of the United States. It is theoldestandmostpopulousremaining British overseas territory, settled by England a century before the Act of Union that created the British Empire. When one talks about Bermuda island, one just have to imagine how beautiful the beach is with the blue sea and the smooth sand. There are manybeacheswhereyoucanrelaxlike Astwood Cove, Warwick Long Bay, St.Catherine’s and Cool beach. One can swim or go snorkeling and marvel
at the corals under the sea. Another beautiful place in the Bermuda is Crystal Cave. It is located in Hamilton parish, close to Castle Harbor. The Crystal caves were discovered by two -year old friends in 90 . Carl Gibbons and Edgar Hollis were searching for their lost cricket ball. They explored the caves with lanterns and very long ropes. The island of Bermuda is a fossilized coral formation built atop an extinct underwater volcano, and the caves feature many coral formations mixed with stalagmites and stalactites. Stalagmites cannot form underwater, so since the water in the caves is at sea level,thisunderwaterstalagmitedatesfroma time when the Atlantic was much lower.
ART AND CULTURE IN BERMUDA
The inhabitants of Bermuda have their distinct art and culture. Their culture is a mixture of the various peoples though little trace remains of the various Native American, Spanish-Caribbean, African, Irish or Scotculturesthatwouldhavebeenevidentin the seventeenth century, with Anglo-Saxon culture becoming dominant. Forward February 008
corporatedintoBermudianculture.Many non-Bermudian writers have also made Bermuda their home, or have had homes here, including A.J. Cronin and F. van Wyck Mason, who wrote on Bermudian subjects. Dance and music are important in Bermuda. The dances of the colourful Gombey Dancers, seen at many events, were influenced by imported Native American and African slaves.
BERMUDIAN ARCHITECTURE
Other than English, the only language spoken by any substantial part of the populationisactuallyportuguese,following one hundred and sixty years of immigration from portuguese Atlantic islands (primarily the Azores, as well as from Madeira and the Cape verde Islands). There are strong British influences, together with Afro-Caribbean. A second wave of immigration from the West Indies had been sustained throughout the twentieth century, although, unlike the Africans who immigrated from that area as indentured servants (or who were imported as slaves) in the seventeenth century, the more recent arrivals have mostly come from English speaking countries (most of the West Indianislandswhosepopulationsnowspeak English were then part of the Spanish Empire). This new infusion of West Indians has both accelerated social and political change,anddiversifiedBermuda’sculture. WestIndianmusiciansintroducedcalypso music when Bermuda’s tourist industry
was expanded with the increase of visitors brought by post-Second World War aviation. While calypso music appealed more to the visitors than to the locals, Reggae has been embraced since the 970s with the influx of Jamaican immigration. Bermuda’s literary history is largely limited to non-Bermudian writers commenting on the island. In the twentieth century, a large number of books were written and published locally, though few were aimed at a wider market than Bermuda (most of these being scholarly reference books, rather than creative writing). One Bermudian novelist, Brian Burland, has achieved a degree of success and acclaim internationally, although the first (and undoubtedly the most important, historically) notable book credited to a Bermudian was the History of Mary prince, a slave narrative by a Bermudian woman, Mary prince, which helped to end slavery in the British Empire. Bermuda’s proximity to the United States means that many aspects of American culture are reflected or in-
Bermuda has developed its own unique architecture, which helps it overcome two of its greatest adversities: hurricanes and the islands’ complete lack of natural fresh water supplies. Traditional Bermudian structures are notable for their thick stone walls – now required by law to be able to resist winds of at least 7 mph. These walls are typically painted a solid pastelcolour,makingthebuildingsbright and welcoming. The roofs are exclusively white, their stepped slopes having been made out of limestone, and then white-washed. This limestone removes impurities from rain water, which is then funnelled into undergroundwatertanksthatsupplythe household water. As such, there is little in the way of government-supplied water. To overcome small tank sizes, many Bermudians dig wells to supply their toilets – the water that is produced from these wells is now too contaminated with salt for any other purpose. Other notable traits of traditional Bermudian houses include prominent eavesandgreen-paintedwoodenshutters on every window (closed to protect the
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kicking back Whether the occasion is romance, corporateeventorbanquet,thelivepianist, soft candlelight and superb cuisine combine to make a meal at Fourways a truly memorable experience. The highstandards of the service team, trained in theleadingfivestarhotelsandrestaurants of Europe and Asia, are complemented by friendliness apparent from the moment one arrives at the Inn. Even though smokingisprohibitedindoorsbylaw,you can still enjoy a good Cuban cigar on one of its charming porches. Anotherbeautifulrestaurantwhereyou can enjoy your meal in good setting amid fresh seaside breeze is Blu, a premier bar and grill restaurant located in the scenic beauty of the Belmont Hills Golf Course with spectacular views overlooking the Great Sound. They are open for lunch and dinner. Fine steak, fish and others fare from the grill. Blu is a light steak house with a south western flavour to please any palette. Whether it is for business lunch with an important client or an upscale meal with the family in the early evening, you will find it at Blu. If you like Italian food, my suggestion is at Little venice. Little venice is Bermuda’s first and most famous Italian restaurant, celebrating over 0 years of
fabulous service and fine food. This is Hamilton’s must stop for meticulously prepared classic and contemporary regional Italian specialties. The restaurant is dedicated to the authentic taste of Italy and has been mentioned by the New York Times as the best restaurant in Bermuda. In fine weather, the outside terrazzo is a cocoon to enjoy the charm of downtown Hamilton. The staffs are fun and friendly, and cater to business clientele, family groups and couples.Whatever the occasion, you will want to visit over and over again. Now, if anybody asks me where is the best place to go and experience a beautiful view, my answer is Bermuda.F
Bermudian houses have historically eschewed complex decorations, leading to a very severe and restrained style
glass from flying objects during hurricanes). Since the local limestone is very soft, Bermudian houses have historically eschewedcomplexdecorations,leading to a very severe and restrained style. Beyond the housing, a traditional object of Bermudian architecture is the moongate, a symbolic stone ring that looks like a door-less doorway in walls.
RESTAURANT AND DINNING
In Bermuda, there are many restaurants with variety of concepts and serving a variety of food, from tapas to fine dinning. Imagine having dinner facing the sunset and the sound of waves giving romantic environment. Or you can choose to have your meal in the traditional British style. The Four Ways Inn, the most popular cottage and restaurant in Bermuda, is a large yet wonderfullyintimaterestaurantandapremier fine dining location. You can also enjoy dinner amid the warm tones of the 7 7 restaurant, or outdoors in the romantically-covered palm Garden, resplendent with a rock pond, palms and an abundance of local fauna.
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landmarks
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n By Fadly Rahman
n 998,Japaneseengineers stretched the limits of bridgeengineeringwiththe completion of the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge. Currently the longest spanning suspension bridge in the world, the Akashi Kaiko Bridge stretches ,8 8 feet across the Akashi Strait to link the city of Kobe with Awaji-shima Island. It would take four Brooklyn Bridges to span the same distance! The Akashi Kaikyo Bridge isn’t just long -- it’s also extremely tall. Its two towers, at 9 8 feet, soar higher than any other bridge towers in the world. The Akashi Strait is a busy shipping port, so engineers had to design a bridge that would not block shipping traffic. They also hadtoconsidertheweather.Japan
TOWER
Towertheverticalstructurein asuspensionbridgeorcablestayed bridge from which cables are hung; also used loosely as a synonym for the term skyscraper.
experiences some of the worst weather on the planet. Gale winds whip through the Strait. Rain pours down at a rate of 7 inches per year. Hurricanes, tsunamis, and earthquakes rattle and thrash the island almost annually. Disaster struck on January 7, 99 at :46 in the form of the Great Hanshin Earthquake. Notonlydidtheearthquakedeliveraterrible blow to the city of Kobe, but it moved the main towers of the Akashi bridge approximately80cmapartaswellasshifting them horizontaly and causing one to sink and the other to rise a small amount. However, the bridge was designed to withstand earthquakes of magnitude 8. . At the same time, we were fortunate that the stiffening girder had yet to be erected. Without the girder in place, the strcture was lighter and more flexible. F
TunnelBoringMachine(TBM)-amechanical device that tunnels through the ground
FOUNDATION
Thetwotowersstandontwo large circular foundations. The moulds for the two foundationswerebuiltindry dockweighing 000tonnes and 60 metres in height.
MAIN CABEL
A structural element formed fromsteelwireboundinstrands; the suspending element in a bridge;thesupportingelement in some dome roofs.
FAST FACT
* The bridge is so long, it would take eight Sears Towers laid end to end to span the same distance. * The length of the cables used in the bridge totals 00,000 kilometers. That’s enough to circle the earth 7. times! *The bridge was originally designed to be ,8 feet. But on January 7, 99 , the Great Hanshin Earthquake stretched the bridge an additional three feet. * The bridge holds three records: it is thelongest,tallest,andmostexpensive suspension bridge ever built.
DECK/ROADWAY
Deck supported roadway on a bridge.
ARCH BRIDGE
Acurvedstructurethatconverts the downward force of its own weight, and of any weight pressingdownontopofit,into anoutwardforcealongitssides and base DOWNSTREAM FACE
The side of the dam that is not against the water.
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last word By Jamaluddin Mansor
T
here is now a proposal to put cameras on our streets so that police, and presumably other authorities, can keep an eye on people in public places. The proposal has even got a budget to the tune of RM7 0 million, to install these cameras. On top of that, some building owners will also be required to install high-quality surveillance cameras on their premises that are open to the public. A new law is being drafted to ensure their cooperation. All these cameras are going to be put in place for one thing – to curb crime against the people. The initiative is largely due to the cases of children being abducted in broad daylight. Some like Nurin Jazlin Jazimin, , have been found dead while some like Sharlinie Mohd Nashar, , are still missing. I would be the first to support any initiatives that would deter crimes against children, even if I will have the feeling that someone is watching over me. One the one hand, anything that would curb crime in general would be a positive development in our crime-ridden country. However, I have this nagging feeling that this CCTv initiative is following the route that Malaysian authorities have travelled down in the past. Take the case of the “black box� on public transport to curb speeding. Or that of traffic cameras. Or even that of bus lanes. All these past initiatives were implemented swiftly in response to the need of the day, and many of them are not working now. The implementation of cameras should be thought out thoroughly first before implementation, at the very least to ensure that they will still be working 0 years from now.The question must also be asked whether the cameras could be abused to spy on innocent citizens. In the case of Nurin Jazlin, no new leads were forthcoming until Sharlinie went missing under similar circumstances. Why? Why is it that no credible witnesses have come forward in her case? Why did we let a pervert in Kampung Baru prey on little children time and time again without anyone noticing him? When we see someone in trouble, do we come to their aid? We have many cases where people are beaten up in broad daylight without anyone come to their aid. perhaps putting cameras all over the place is less of a priority than ensuring Malaysians to be more concerned about other Malaysians. Wassalam
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Allah’s Messenger s.a.w.said,
“All of you will enter Paradise except for those who refuse. ‘They said, ‘O Allah’s Messenger s.a.w who refuses? He said, ‘Whoever obeys me enters Paradise. And whoever disobeys me has refused.”
Recorded by Al-Bukhari
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