What you described inequity is absolutely true however at the 2/3 citizenry level, doing the right thing is offering substitution of quackery with true health care, and education for proper daily healthy living, immunization are still the fundamental ‘catch up’ opportunities.
Nobody has said Burmese are White-haters and Chinese-lovers. If anyone has a B&W view of things it has got to be Marayu/tocharian – dare I say very pro-West and rabidly anti-Chinese.
To spell it out for you, the point is Burma in danger of becoming the battlefield for US-China rivalry, like it did once upon a time for Anglo-French rivalry.
A well-written and accurate assessment of SBY. I think the title says it all. “A mixed bag”…..the first term exceeding the drift of the second term, not at all different from
Jokowi, starting off ahead of the pack, and rather quickly falling behind in the 100 meter race. Of course, Jokowi was just a former mayor (Surakarta) and Governor (Jakarta) and not a military man. Indonesia remains divided on whether the nation needs a (former) military man or a civilian administrator to best run the nation. My view is it won’t make that much difference.
Well, if Burmese hate the “whites” and love the Chinese, what are all these Burmese dissidents and migrants applying for refugee status and living in places like the UK, USA, Norway, Canada, Australia, … Why don’t they all go live under the rule of their beloved Chinese masters (lots of Burmese in Singapore though!)
Westerners (HRW?) should also be careful of these “asylum seekers” who speak with a “forked tongue” and exploit the “white man’s colonial guilt”.
By the way, I know tons of Chinese students who want to study and live in the West. Ivy league Universities in the US are very popular. Chinese, like many Asians are damned proud of their Western degrees.
It’s hypocrisy that I can’t stand.
The search for lebensraum is hardly confined to the Chinese, a glaring example being the Bengali migration both west and east. The difference is tacit approval for sheer numbers splitting at the seams versus official strategy if you will.
Hegemony is a fairly new game for China versus the old hand US red in tooth and claw, hence the Great Game now moving south. White man speak with forked tongue, Chinese with RMB and USD. Same difference at the end of the day.
When his time came going to Singapore, as they do (and the bulge mostly to Bangkok), did not help Aung Thaung. Couldn’t agree more that basic necessities such as health (clean water and sanitation for starters) and education for the majority must be the top priorities with public transport next.
Unfortunately the ruling generals powerful as they are have been all too busy looking out for number one all these decades. To set an example the first artificial kidney machine wasn’t acquired until Ne Win’s wife developed kidney failure.
Worse still the agenda remains unchanged. What has changed is the means, and globalisation couldn’t have come too soon for the successors of Ne Win, enriching themselves further exponentially as they tap into the gravy train of global capitalism that must curry favour with the ruling elites. What chance the citizenry?
May be Babu-kalar-gyi or is it Babu-gyi-kalay or any combination may be more acceptable?
Get off this useless careless racial stance of the PC west.
‘Kalar’ is derogatory but ‘Labenstraum” a repugnant reminder of Nazism is OK!
Both the Tayoke and Kalar are effecting expansion not Labenstraum! One successfully with the deepest pocket and the other for free/by invasion.
The former thanks to the useless careless policy of the west the latter is just the continuation through HRW org and their false assertions that you are still championing.
If all the $$ are used by the west for the Kalar instead of the useless careless HRW org, every one of the Kalar will be a millionaire.
Like it or not Myanmar has more in common than China so is the whole SE Asia.
In fact there are more words describing Chinese than Indo-European, such as:
Tayoke, Pout-phaw, Chinamen and Chine-knees.
Have you ever hear any tai=pan complaint about their nomenclature/ designate derogatory?
You used “Kalar”, a rather derogatary Burmese word for Indians, 6 times in your comment. Why don’t you just say: “I don’t like Indians, but Chinese are nice people” if that’s what you mean. It’s your opinion, but based on my knowledge and experiences (not just in Burma), I have the right to have my own views about “global Chinese expansionism”. The Chinese “Weltanschauung” (world view) is based partly on political ideology but mainly on the belief that Han Chinese culture, Confucian or otherwise, is superior to that of other Asian cultures. This is what Jinping Xi calls “The Chinese Dream”. All these propaganda words like “Maritime Silk Road”, “String of Pearls”, “One Belt One Road”, etc. etc. are based on this sense of Chinese superiority over smaller countries, especially of the “barbaric periphery”. Burma is just a piece, albeit a strategically important one, in this Chinese search for Lebensraum and Hegemony. Of course, this is just an opinion, but I am sure many people would agree with me, except that they don’t think it is politically correct to say these things so explicitly, especially on campuses in the West.
Experience the absolutely unique “roller Coaster/bumper Car” combination effect of 1st Class as well as inhumane conditions of the 3rd Class of Yangon to Mandalay overnight train b/f it is gone.
If Zay Cho of MAndalay the quintessential must visit market is any indication of a middle class:
1) There are as much Muslim Kalar shop owner as Chinese/part Chinese and Burmese combined.
2) All enjoy the bulges as well as prosperity that you are maligning the Chinese with.
3) The Chinese and Kalar always have very good work ethics and connection. The difference is the Muslim Kalar are absolutely nepotistic in trades and otherwise. One will almost never see a Kalar with a Bama employee.
I am quite sure western tourists already experience “Price Fixing” among Muslim Kalat shops.
4) What does Confucian work ethics has to do with Chinese success in spite of being infidels in Muslim Kalar eyes?
Rohingya live matters …little. One, Malaysia is the most likely nation to drop out of TPP. Two, Najib is vulnerable entrenching in the 1mdb mess. The timing is right for Obama to get Najib to commit to sign up Malaysia. Just imagine Obama offering Najib exile to Obamaland (aka Hawaii), both retired as golfing buddies.
The biggest outcast is Malaysia’s supreme intellectual, Kassim Ahmad, charged with a bogus Terengganu Fatwa (Kassim never lived in Terengganu) and a silly and absurd heresy charge. Kassim was dragged from his home in Kedah, with no writ or subpoena, shuttled between Civil Court and Shari’a Court, like an punching bag, His family disgraced. Luckily, he has one of the few honest, competent and sincere lawyers, Mr Dahlan (Surendran would be the other decent lawyer).
Mahathir used Kassim to trash the Muslim clergy, which he very well could do himself (and has done repeatedly), the result being PAS is stronger than ever. Once Mahathir saw Kassim falling and subject to legal jurisdiction, Mahathir did what Mahathir always does, like Judas he stabbed Kassim in the back and dropped him like a hot pisang
goreng. Kassim has been treated like an animal, but the Press remains obsessive-compulsive about the vain chameleon, Anwar, who has done very little for Malaysia other than talk endlessly at Malay Ceramahs (where he says things that are 180 degrees from what he says to the NYT, WSJ, Forbes and the Asia Society in New York).
This is how Malay politicians treat one another, with venality, corpulence, corruption, obnoxiousness, petty bickering,
and the favourite Malay Sandiwara of the week. If you are lucky, and there is a large
supply of C-4 and lead, they may kill you, which in the end, is quite possibly the best outcome.
I have seen Malaya from 1950s until Malaysia today, and very little of the British tradition exists, totally replaced by faux Malay Royal pomp and circumstance, phony Daulat, and a judicial system that could be run better and more objectively, by baboons.
Most of the money went to pay off those who know Najib’s involvement with Altantuyaa and
the murder or Karpal Singh. Probably, about 2 million RM. The rest did go to UMNO lackeys, many in Sabah (buddies of FM Anifah Amin) and Sarawak. East Malaysia is worrisome to UMNO, as the Kadazan and Dayak that UMNO bought earlier are not so readily bought now; “Twice bitten, third time, shy”.
Malaysia has been ruined by a Malay class that has no empathy for anyone but themselves. For the 44 years, I have spent in Malaysia, over the course of 56 years, I have seen a promising nation, with a proud citizenry and a superlative leader, Tunku, go down hill very fast, especially since 1982. It is repugnant, reprehensible and, mostly, just sad.
As for Mukhriz and Marina; the durian never falls far from the tree. I would say interview Marina’s ex-husbands, but it probably isn’t worth the time.
A monk with a smart phone? That says it all about the break-neck speed rapid development back in my home land. Even ten years ago in 2005 expensive iPhones are basically luxury items but nowadays every Burmese seems to have one.
Thanks for the excellent article and all-telling photos. FYI, Thanakhar really works and every Burmese female here in Aus I know of still uses Thanakhar in-house. And it is the best selling imported item in Sydney Burmese shops. I don’t know how these shops get the stuff from Burma here as Customs at Sydney Airport always confiscated Thanakhar bottles once you told them it is a plant-based produce.
At least we are on the same page when it comes to Mahathir.
In Farida’s lifetime, it won’t happen. That’s why its a pipe dream. Its too far away from reality.
I agree, though, that things need to change with accepting women as leaders.
Personally, I feel Marina Mahathir is shirking her duty and natural power as daughter of the most influential PM in the Malay mindset. Suu Kyi showed the way in Myanmar with her strength over decades, and Marina is content with just writing her occasional blasts against the administration, along with Nazir Razak, who can be equally influential if he took up the mantel.
The only people who can change the country are the forward-thinking liberal Malays. We have seen Farish Noor and Dina Zaman being outcasts among the common Malay due to their liberal views and perceived isolation from communal reality. Dr Asri of Perlis is a forward-thinking mufti who rejects many uniquely Malay-Malaysian Islamic norms and calls for reform in Malaysian Shariah; all of these people are silenced by mainstream Malay media. Which brings about the argument that mainstream Malay media is intrinsically popular media in the form of Mastika, Harian Metro, Kosmo, and the like.
Nazir and Marina are the only two I can think of who are young enough to connect with mainstream Malay minds and hearts, with the natural power brought by the legacy of their parents. Tunku Abidin Muhriz, a Negeri Sembilan prince, leads IDEAS and is very liberal in speaking out against protectionism and unjustifiable affirmative action policies.
The commonality between Nazir, Marina and Abidin Muhriz is that they write almost exclusively in English (Nazir just does Instagram, I suppose), which keeps them isolated from mainstream Malay thought. They are shirking their responsibilities and the role they could play in changing the Malay.
By mainstream Malay, I’m referring to the 70% of Malays who hold strongly to uniquely Malaysian-Malay Islamic beliefs (such as the role of women in society, moral policing, usage of words, fear-mongering).
On money going to silence informers, RM 10 mil would be more than enough to cover all of them, accounting for the fact that most of them are no longer alive. I stand by my assertion that the money was given to UMNO lackeys as they have done in the past. In the past, much less was needed, hundreds of millions would have won an election. Now, more than RM 2 bil. That is systemic and institutional; UMNO could be considered a segment of the economy, purely on the amount of money spent on patronage and entitlements. Have you seen a middle-class Datuk from UMNO, any division leader in charge of a 30,000 people constituency who’s not endowed with Mercs and Class-C construction contracts? This needs to change, and it would cause a shakeup in the structure of the Malaysian non-urban economy.
I am from Malaysia. I never said Noor Farida would be PM, I said she SHOULD BE PM. It is not just the way Malaysia works, women are forbidden by Shari’a Law from running for Prime Minister and some in PAS even want to prohibit women, like Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, from even running for Parliament. Nothing you wrote is new to me, I was born in Singapore in 1959, before confederation with North Borneo (Sabah) and Sarawak. I know Mahathir, as did my cousin, who treated him for kidney stones (unfortunately) in Singapore. Noor Farida becoming PM is not a dreamer’s world at all; it is a failure of the male Malay world to tolerate diversity and the creeping Wahhabi Islamisation of Malaysia. The money from Najib went to buy off informants who knew about the Altantuyaa and (you heard me correctly) Karpal MURDERS.
Malaysians think it all went into UMNO pockets; that’s not technically true. Najib’s first task was to keep anybody away who might have information about Altantuyaa and Karpal. Interesting, both Bala and the lorry driver that “accidentally” hit Karpal’s car have long disappeared. Until Mahathir dies, nothing is going to change. Najib and Pak Lah are mere viruses, but Mahathir is the host and he has parasitized Malaysia for more than 30 years. He has also made Malaysia psychotic and distraught. Najib only worsened what was already a major national problem. Things have been bad before, but certainly took a grave turn for the worse, after Tun Hussein Onn stepped down. You may think Noor Farida is a pipe dream, but there are a lot of open-minded Malaysians (still) who very much think otherwise. Or would you prefer being led by the Fascist Zahid or the young and inexperienced (yet, honest) Rafizi ?
There’s no way Farida will be PM. Its a dreamer’s idea, way off from reality. Not attacking you, but that’s the way Malaysia works. Ability will get you somewhere, but not anywhere.
UMNO is the patron saint of corruption in Malaysia. The machine needs to keep going. Few realise that the RM 2.6 bil in Najib’s account went straight to the pockets of division heads and trickled down to buy rural votes.
The system has not changed since Mahathir created it and will not change because it provides for too many; thousands of division heads rely on this, and indirectly it bring rural infrastructure in the form of bridges, roads, gov offices and services; albeit with about 70% of the money vanishing.
Malaysia has kept a Malay-educated rural populace, cowering in the UMNO-generated fear of athreat from non-Muslims,that can only survive through election handouts, gov jobs and political patronage. Its systemic and institutional, and until we tackle this very issue, nothing’s gonna change.
About the tigers and other endangered species in Burma: Chinese like tiger parts, not to mention pangolins, geckos, snakes, bears, rhinos, elephants, …
Just go check out the market in Mongla in Wa State which in reality is the Chinese Crimea in Miandian. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xqbw_7Vo_eA
KFC and the shiny malls of Rangoon are more for the noveau-riche Chinese “immigrants” in Burma (middle-class bulge?) rather than for the down-trodden Burmese masses living along the circular railway line of Rangoon with kids washing and playing in the “water among their homes full of litter and sewage”. I say this because I used to live very close to that circular railway line when I was growing up in Rangoon (there were fewer Chinese in those days though!)
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Myanmar’s middle-class bulge
Ko Moe Aung
What you described inequity is absolutely true however at the 2/3 citizenry level, doing the right thing is offering substitution of quackery with true health care, and education for proper daily healthy living, immunization are still the fundamental ‘catch up’ opportunities.
Myanmar’s middle-class bulge
Nobody has said Burmese are White-haters and Chinese-lovers. If anyone has a B&W view of things it has got to be Marayu/tocharian – dare I say very pro-West and rabidly anti-Chinese.
To spell it out for you, the point is Burma in danger of becoming the battlefield for US-China rivalry, like it did once upon a time for Anglo-French rivalry.
Stability and stagnation under SBY
A well-written and accurate assessment of SBY. I think the title says it all. “A mixed bag”…..the first term exceeding the drift of the second term, not at all different from
Jokowi, starting off ahead of the pack, and rather quickly falling behind in the 100 meter race. Of course, Jokowi was just a former mayor (Surakarta) and Governor (Jakarta) and not a military man. Indonesia remains divided on whether the nation needs a (former) military man or a civilian administrator to best run the nation. My view is it won’t make that much difference.
Myanmar’s middle-class bulge
Well, if Burmese hate the “whites” and love the Chinese, what are all these Burmese dissidents and migrants applying for refugee status and living in places like the UK, USA, Norway, Canada, Australia, … Why don’t they all go live under the rule of their beloved Chinese masters (lots of Burmese in Singapore though!)
Westerners (HRW?) should also be careful of these “asylum seekers” who speak with a “forked tongue” and exploit the “white man’s colonial guilt”.
By the way, I know tons of Chinese students who want to study and live in the West. Ivy league Universities in the US are very popular. Chinese, like many Asians are damned proud of their Western degrees.
It’s hypocrisy that I can’t stand.
Myanmar’s middle-class bulge
The search for lebensraum is hardly confined to the Chinese, a glaring example being the Bengali migration both west and east. The difference is tacit approval for sheer numbers splitting at the seams versus official strategy if you will.
Hegemony is a fairly new game for China versus the old hand US red in tooth and claw, hence the Great Game now moving south. White man speak with forked tongue, Chinese with RMB and USD. Same difference at the end of the day.
Myanmar’s middle-class bulge
When his time came going to Singapore, as they do (and the bulge mostly to Bangkok), did not help Aung Thaung. Couldn’t agree more that basic necessities such as health (clean water and sanitation for starters) and education for the majority must be the top priorities with public transport next.
Unfortunately the ruling generals powerful as they are have been all too busy looking out for number one all these decades. To set an example the first artificial kidney machine wasn’t acquired until Ne Win’s wife developed kidney failure.
Worse still the agenda remains unchanged. What has changed is the means, and globalisation couldn’t have come too soon for the successors of Ne Win, enriching themselves further exponentially as they tap into the gravy train of global capitalism that must curry favour with the ruling elites. What chance the citizenry?
Myanmar’s middle-class bulge
May be Babu-kalar-gyi or is it Babu-gyi-kalay or any combination may be more acceptable?
Get off this useless careless racial stance of the PC west.
‘Kalar’ is derogatory but ‘Labenstraum” a repugnant reminder of Nazism is OK!
Both the Tayoke and Kalar are effecting expansion not Labenstraum! One successfully with the deepest pocket and the other for free/by invasion.
The former thanks to the useless careless policy of the west the latter is just the continuation through HRW org and their false assertions that you are still championing.
If all the $$ are used by the west for the Kalar instead of the useless careless HRW org, every one of the Kalar will be a millionaire.
Like it or not Myanmar has more in common than China so is the whole SE Asia.
In fact there are more words describing Chinese than Indo-European, such as:
Tayoke, Pout-phaw, Chinamen and Chine-knees.
Have you ever hear any tai=pan complaint about their nomenclature/ designate derogatory?
Myanmar’s middle-class bulge
You used “Kalar”, a rather derogatary Burmese word for Indians, 6 times in your comment. Why don’t you just say: “I don’t like Indians, but Chinese are nice people” if that’s what you mean. It’s your opinion, but based on my knowledge and experiences (not just in Burma), I have the right to have my own views about “global Chinese expansionism”. The Chinese “Weltanschauung” (world view) is based partly on political ideology but mainly on the belief that Han Chinese culture, Confucian or otherwise, is superior to that of other Asian cultures. This is what Jinping Xi calls “The Chinese Dream”. All these propaganda words like “Maritime Silk Road”, “String of Pearls”, “One Belt One Road”, etc. etc. are based on this sense of Chinese superiority over smaller countries, especially of the “barbaric periphery”. Burma is just a piece, albeit a strategically important one, in this Chinese search for Lebensraum and Hegemony. Of course, this is just an opinion, but I am sure many people would agree with me, except that they don’t think it is politically correct to say these things so explicitly, especially on campuses in the West.
Tourism and Myanmar’s missed opportunity
Experience the absolutely unique “roller Coaster/bumper Car” combination effect of 1st Class as well as inhumane conditions of the 3rd Class of Yangon to Mandalay overnight train b/f it is gone.
Myanmar’s middle-class bulge
If Zay Cho of MAndalay the quintessential must visit market is any indication of a middle class:
1) There are as much Muslim Kalar shop owner as Chinese/part Chinese and Burmese combined.
2) All enjoy the bulges as well as prosperity that you are maligning the Chinese with.
3) The Chinese and Kalar always have very good work ethics and connection. The difference is the Muslim Kalar are absolutely nepotistic in trades and otherwise. One will almost never see a Kalar with a Bama employee.
I am quite sure western tourists already experience “Price Fixing” among Muslim Kalat shops.
4) What does Confucian work ethics has to do with Chinese success in spite of being infidels in Muslim Kalar eyes?
Visions of Myanmar, old and new
Thank you very much Mr Walsh. Hope to see and hear more from your group perspective.
Presently half of Myanmar is flooded.
Malaysia’s deadly connection
Rohingya live matters …little. One, Malaysia is the most likely nation to drop out of TPP. Two, Najib is vulnerable entrenching in the 1mdb mess. The timing is right for Obama to get Najib to commit to sign up Malaysia. Just imagine Obama offering Najib exile to Obamaland (aka Hawaii), both retired as golfing buddies.
Dear Malaysia: Mahathir is no messiah
The biggest outcast is Malaysia’s supreme intellectual, Kassim Ahmad, charged with a bogus Terengganu Fatwa (Kassim never lived in Terengganu) and a silly and absurd heresy charge. Kassim was dragged from his home in Kedah, with no writ or subpoena, shuttled between Civil Court and Shari’a Court, like an punching bag, His family disgraced. Luckily, he has one of the few honest, competent and sincere lawyers, Mr Dahlan (Surendran would be the other decent lawyer).
Mahathir used Kassim to trash the Muslim clergy, which he very well could do himself (and has done repeatedly), the result being PAS is stronger than ever. Once Mahathir saw Kassim falling and subject to legal jurisdiction, Mahathir did what Mahathir always does, like Judas he stabbed Kassim in the back and dropped him like a hot pisang
goreng. Kassim has been treated like an animal, but the Press remains obsessive-compulsive about the vain chameleon, Anwar, who has done very little for Malaysia other than talk endlessly at Malay Ceramahs (where he says things that are 180 degrees from what he says to the NYT, WSJ, Forbes and the Asia Society in New York).
This is how Malay politicians treat one another, with venality, corpulence, corruption, obnoxiousness, petty bickering,
and the favourite Malay Sandiwara of the week. If you are lucky, and there is a large
supply of C-4 and lead, they may kill you, which in the end, is quite possibly the best outcome.
I have seen Malaya from 1950s until Malaysia today, and very little of the British tradition exists, totally replaced by faux Malay Royal pomp and circumstance, phony Daulat, and a judicial system that could be run better and more objectively, by baboons.
Most of the money went to pay off those who know Najib’s involvement with Altantuyaa and
the murder or Karpal Singh. Probably, about 2 million RM. The rest did go to UMNO lackeys, many in Sabah (buddies of FM Anifah Amin) and Sarawak. East Malaysia is worrisome to UMNO, as the Kadazan and Dayak that UMNO bought earlier are not so readily bought now; “Twice bitten, third time, shy”.
Malaysia has been ruined by a Malay class that has no empathy for anyone but themselves. For the 44 years, I have spent in Malaysia, over the course of 56 years, I have seen a promising nation, with a proud citizenry and a superlative leader, Tunku, go down hill very fast, especially since 1982. It is repugnant, reprehensible and, mostly, just sad.
As for Mukhriz and Marina; the durian never falls far from the tree. I would say interview Marina’s ex-husbands, but it probably isn’t worth the time.
Visions of Myanmar, old and new
A monk with a smart phone? That says it all about the break-neck speed rapid development back in my home land. Even ten years ago in 2005 expensive iPhones are basically luxury items but nowadays every Burmese seems to have one.
Thanks for the excellent article and all-telling photos. FYI, Thanakhar really works and every Burmese female here in Aus I know of still uses Thanakhar in-house. And it is the best selling imported item in Sydney Burmese shops. I don’t know how these shops get the stuff from Burma here as Customs at Sydney Airport always confiscated Thanakhar bottles once you told them it is a plant-based produce.
Dear Malaysia: Mahathir is no messiah
At least we are on the same page when it comes to Mahathir.
In Farida’s lifetime, it won’t happen. That’s why its a pipe dream. Its too far away from reality.
I agree, though, that things need to change with accepting women as leaders.
Personally, I feel Marina Mahathir is shirking her duty and natural power as daughter of the most influential PM in the Malay mindset. Suu Kyi showed the way in Myanmar with her strength over decades, and Marina is content with just writing her occasional blasts against the administration, along with Nazir Razak, who can be equally influential if he took up the mantel.
The only people who can change the country are the forward-thinking liberal Malays. We have seen Farish Noor and Dina Zaman being outcasts among the common Malay due to their liberal views and perceived isolation from communal reality. Dr Asri of Perlis is a forward-thinking mufti who rejects many uniquely Malay-Malaysian Islamic norms and calls for reform in Malaysian Shariah; all of these people are silenced by mainstream Malay media. Which brings about the argument that mainstream Malay media is intrinsically popular media in the form of Mastika, Harian Metro, Kosmo, and the like.
Nazir and Marina are the only two I can think of who are young enough to connect with mainstream Malay minds and hearts, with the natural power brought by the legacy of their parents. Tunku Abidin Muhriz, a Negeri Sembilan prince, leads IDEAS and is very liberal in speaking out against protectionism and unjustifiable affirmative action policies.
The commonality between Nazir, Marina and Abidin Muhriz is that they write almost exclusively in English (Nazir just does Instagram, I suppose), which keeps them isolated from mainstream Malay thought. They are shirking their responsibilities and the role they could play in changing the Malay.
By mainstream Malay, I’m referring to the 70% of Malays who hold strongly to uniquely Malaysian-Malay Islamic beliefs (such as the role of women in society, moral policing, usage of words, fear-mongering).
On money going to silence informers, RM 10 mil would be more than enough to cover all of them, accounting for the fact that most of them are no longer alive. I stand by my assertion that the money was given to UMNO lackeys as they have done in the past. In the past, much less was needed, hundreds of millions would have won an election. Now, more than RM 2 bil. That is systemic and institutional; UMNO could be considered a segment of the economy, purely on the amount of money spent on patronage and entitlements. Have you seen a middle-class Datuk from UMNO, any division leader in charge of a 30,000 people constituency who’s not endowed with Mercs and Class-C construction contracts? This needs to change, and it would cause a shakeup in the structure of the Malaysian non-urban economy.
Dear Malaysia: Mahathir is no messiah
Ollie,
I am from Malaysia. I never said Noor Farida would be PM, I said she SHOULD BE PM. It is not just the way Malaysia works, women are forbidden by Shari’a Law from running for Prime Minister and some in PAS even want to prohibit women, like Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, from even running for Parliament. Nothing you wrote is new to me, I was born in Singapore in 1959, before confederation with North Borneo (Sabah) and Sarawak. I know Mahathir, as did my cousin, who treated him for kidney stones (unfortunately) in Singapore. Noor Farida becoming PM is not a dreamer’s world at all; it is a failure of the male Malay world to tolerate diversity and the creeping Wahhabi Islamisation of Malaysia. The money from Najib went to buy off informants who knew about the Altantuyaa and (you heard me correctly) Karpal MURDERS.
Malaysians think it all went into UMNO pockets; that’s not technically true. Najib’s first task was to keep anybody away who might have information about Altantuyaa and Karpal. Interesting, both Bala and the lorry driver that “accidentally” hit Karpal’s car have long disappeared. Until Mahathir dies, nothing is going to change. Najib and Pak Lah are mere viruses, but Mahathir is the host and he has parasitized Malaysia for more than 30 years. He has also made Malaysia psychotic and distraught. Najib only worsened what was already a major national problem. Things have been bad before, but certainly took a grave turn for the worse, after Tun Hussein Onn stepped down. You may think Noor Farida is a pipe dream, but there are a lot of open-minded Malaysians (still) who very much think otherwise. Or would you prefer being led by the Fascist Zahid or the young and inexperienced (yet, honest) Rafizi ?
Celebrating 50 years of Indonesia research at ANU
Would like to be informed via email re events similar to this one and Xanana Gusmao’s visit to Australia etc
Dear Malaysia: Mahathir is no messiah
There’s no way Farida will be PM. Its a dreamer’s idea, way off from reality. Not attacking you, but that’s the way Malaysia works. Ability will get you somewhere, but not anywhere.
UMNO is the patron saint of corruption in Malaysia. The machine needs to keep going. Few realise that the RM 2.6 bil in Najib’s account went straight to the pockets of division heads and trickled down to buy rural votes.
The system has not changed since Mahathir created it and will not change because it provides for too many; thousands of division heads rely on this, and indirectly it bring rural infrastructure in the form of bridges, roads, gov offices and services; albeit with about 70% of the money vanishing.
Malaysia has kept a Malay-educated rural populace, cowering in the UMNO-generated fear of athreat from non-Muslims,that can only survive through election handouts, gov jobs and political patronage. Its systemic and institutional, and until we tackle this very issue, nothing’s gonna change.
Visions of Myanmar, old and new
Excellent photos and fascinating insight!!!
Visions of Myanmar, old and new
About the tigers and other endangered species in Burma: Chinese like tiger parts, not to mention pangolins, geckos, snakes, bears, rhinos, elephants, …
Just go check out the market in Mongla in Wa State which in reality is the Chinese Crimea in Miandian.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xqbw_7Vo_eA
KFC and the shiny malls of Rangoon are more for the noveau-riche Chinese “immigrants” in Burma (middle-class bulge?) rather than for the down-trodden Burmese masses living along the circular railway line of Rangoon with kids washing and playing in the “water among their homes full of litter and sewage”. I say this because I used to live very close to that circular railway line when I was growing up in Rangoon (there were fewer Chinese in those days though!)