I am not sure all of UMNO are Nazis; the jury
is still out on that. But Zahid certainly reminds me of the KKK and drawing an analogy between Perkasa and the Nazis in the sense
of racism against minorities (Chinese and
Indians in the former and Jews in the latter)
is valid. Moreover, Mahathir has made so many anti-Chinese and anti-Semitic remarks
that it would constitute a thesis by itself.
Harakah, the PAS mouthpiece, is usually vitriolic yet the paper is popular in Kelantan. The main Nazi ideologue, Alfred Rosenberg, would be welcome (were he alive)
in Perkasa. I think UMNO will still use MCA
as a business connection, but support for
UMNO among non-Malays and pro-Anwar Malays has certainly dropped. I am not so sure the
Bumiputeras in Sarawak and Sabah, excluding
Taib and Aman and their cohorts, are enamoured of UMNO. Some in East Malaysia even
talk (again) of secession from Malaysia. That
includes Iban, Kadazan and Malays.
The German system also has a cutoff at 5%, which means any political party getting less than 5% of the total vote (like the FDP in the last election) will not be represented at all! If one would apply the German rules to the 1990 election in Burma, there would only be 2 parties represented in parliament (NLD and NUP) and none of the ethnic groups (Shan, Rakhine etc.) would get in. Well so “ethnic representation” in Burma has to be solved differently!
Germany is a Federal Republic, but the different “L├дnder” are not divided along purely ethnic lines (the Bavarians might think that’s the case, since they have their own party CSU which counts as CDU in “Bayern”). In Burma, one could have Federal Parties with local provincial branches, but that’s not the way the ethnic groups interpret the “Panglong agreement”. They are looking for a lot more autonomy and there are very few countries left in the world where the individual states have a lot of autonomy and are defined by ethnic divisions. In that sense, Burma’s constitutional problems cannot be solved by just copying the German voting system. Besides, it is ridiculous in a modern democracy to have military officers two-timing as MP’s not to mention this anti-SuuKyi clause about being married or related to “foreigners”. Anyway, Burma wants to be a “special place” wit “special rules” for “special people” and so I’m not surprised that Westerners either just don’t “get it” or get frustrated.
By the way, I do know the German voting system reasonably well. In fact, the first time I voted there was in the late 70’s (before Mr. Marston was born?)
It has very much a continuity in Malaysian history. Your expertise is supposedly
Thailand. I think you should refrain from
derogatory and inaccurate comments and focus
on Bangkok and not a place you did not grow up in. Your knowledge of Islam in pre-colonial Malaysia, not to mention, in the period when Islam arrived in Southeast Asia, is scant. This back-and-forth is over.
If the “British was right in repatriating these people back to where they came from in the 1950s” it follows also I guess that the Malayans were right in kicking the British out back to the little island they came from, and not wait another thirteen years for Merdeka.
In this information age no one has a monopoly on historical ‘facts’ or propaganda. Hurray for the Internet!
Nich was not wrong in saying “it’s not a good idea to clog up New Mandala threads with multiple, repetitive comments.” You don’t need a lecture but you do need impulse management.
“CP motive was to serve himself. His team used to terrorise people to pay the monthly tithe. That was the main modus operandi. With the blood money, he acquired for himself huge properties and plantations…”
Accurate and not widely acknowledged…
Anak Malaysia is correct in his analysis, reiterating what I have been saying. Full stop.
The PTB (Power Than Be) in Myanmar has been so far removed from the influences of the West since Ne Win time( even then minimal at best) that presently the concept of ANY Western/European model of Parliamentary/Democratic System of governance is-wishful at best.
Considering the Military:
1)Mostly trained in Russia or under the Russian institutions now in Pyin-U-Lwin.
2)Naturally unsympathetic to ANY basic HR principles.
Basic HR principles?
Leaving already poverty stricken Citizenry alone, instead of High Mighty Western commercialized concept of HR by the like of HRW
3) As recent Laiza operations shown that the Tamadaw is willing to ‘slug it to the end’, no matter what with tremendous losses.
Hopefully this will make the comment on Mr Marston well intended articles above less dismissive as it sound.
Great question. The UEC (Union Electoral Commission) appears open to suggestions. I’ve talked to elections advisors inside the country who were surprised at the UEC’s amenability to change. Furthermore, the incumbent USDP (who should favor changing the rules) has the ear of the UEC, as the chairman of the UEC is a former USDA (predecessor to the USDP) member (read: crony).
“Dr Cohen” has lived in Malaya/Malaysia a good portion of his life. He does not need a lecture, Michael. I know history well. Chin Peng and the CPM relied on working-class Chinese as their base of support with few Malays supporting them. This is fact. There
were a few Malays in the CPM and a few on the
Central Committee of CPM. The use of the term “narrow” refers to the fact that Chin Peng did not have a broad base of support throughout Malaya. I make no negative comment on the contribution working-class Chinese made to Malaya; I made a demographic and historical comment only. Please refrain
from personalizing this discussion. Thank you.
Peter
I know history well. I need no lessons from you. Narrow does not mean invaluable, it means (as I have said many times) that Chin Peng’s base of support was not widespread among the Malay and Indian communities but was largely restricted to working-class Chinese. There were a few Malay members of CPM and on the Central Committee, but very few Malay supporters in Malaya. Working-class Chinese were a subset of all of Malayan citizenry. You infer a subjective judgement when I made none; I made a demographic and historical comment.
Please do not lecture me. I have lived in
Malaya and Malaysia for innumerable years
and know the country and history well.
To say that he is a freedom fighter and has contributed in hastening the independence of Malaya is nonsense. If anyone has followed Jeremy Paxton documentary of the British Empire, one would realised that it was based on the premises of bluff. Merdeka may not be in August 31, 1957, it would still be before 1970. After 1980, does UK still has a significant colony?
There are always some who try to make it a political issue. One will immediately realise that these people usually do not have any substance. If they do have a mandate, why would they stoop so low to cheat for votes. It is like McCarthyism who used Communism to duped the US for a long time.
Australia sent in its troops during the Malaya Emergency with no string attach. For that, during our fledging years, we Malaysians will never forget.
As for those who idolised CP with their hearts and minds, you are Malaysia’s enemies. Although you have escaped Malaysia Security Instruments, you have just exposed your true face in broad daylight. The British was right in repatriating these people back to where they came from in the 1950s. So, Malaysia have every right to do the same.
CP motive was to serve himself. His team used to terrorise people to pay the monthly tithe. That was the main modus operandi. With the blood money, he acquired for himself huge properties and plantations.
I suspected that China kicked him out after Tun Razak attended the formalities. If China had kept him, she would have offended me deeply although my ancestors originate from there. She would also have created a great injustice to all those who have suffered under his bloody hands.
In this information age, people should move the era where no one can be cheated by those who conspire for their own ends any more.
Are both Allan and Nick saying that Yingluck was actually talking pure b/s about Thai prostitutes at Davos 2 years ago? Could Yingluck then be talking also b/s about other Thai issues – like the flood control and the bullshit . . . et the bullet trains for Isan?
And who says that working-class Chinese were a “narrow constituency” in the Malaya of sixty-five years ago, anyway? Dr Cohen needs to learn more history.
Thanks Nick but my point is that I think Issarn women still dominate the red light districts, and relative poverty is still part of the picture. One social determinant of poverty is not having a spouse, and as I pointed out there are many, many single mothers in sex work from Issarn. I think in the analysis of today we need to define relative poverty levels which can be explored through disparities of wealth. There are levels of poverty in Issarn, one area I know of quite desparate poverty is the Cambodian border, among Khmer and Suay populations as well as some ethnic Lao. And I believe Surin and Buri Ram continue to provide a lot of women in sex work. Most villagers are dependent on rain fed crops and sticky rice is their sustenance crop. But the main income source is probably remittances which tend to reduce productivity. I take your point on a reduction of marginalization but it is still there for some.
Social, historical and cultural analysis is important too, you are probably familiar with Mary Beth Mills on aspects of empowerment of women over men in Issarn through migration. Much has been written on northern Thailand and why northern women and girls were predominant in brothels of Bangkok. Such analysis relates to skin colour, relations of the north and south, women’s traditional role and religion etc. Skin colour is a factor in Issarn in that caucasion men have an attraction to dark-skin women. At least they are not turned off by them, and so what does this say for the rapid expansion of Asian tourism in Thailand? So yes it may be more cultural than economic but they are sometimes indivisible, and yes everyday life changes more readily than do ‘official social norms’.
Thanks. Looks like the German system may be very welcome to the USDP.
The ethnic parties tried to propose PR even though it remains a divisive issue and got rejected pretty sharpish by the Speaker of the House. The USDP has kept schtum so far keeping the powder dry, perhaps literally too.
Still short of scrapping the 75% amendment rule and the 25% guaranteed seats for the military, the opposition will carry on passing in the wind in the post 2015 parliament. Barring high political office to those married to a foreigner (ASSK was)or with immediate members of the family who carry foreign passports (she has)has not been mentioned specifically for amendment either, only vague implications to that.
I agree the British were just a tad better at leaving compared to the French. But the great Winston Churchill did not think the Burmese were ready for self rule when they had a millennium old history of that before the white man appeared on the scene with open arms to grab.
Facebook 
Twitter 
Soundcloud 
Youtube 
Rss
UMNO and Nazi Germany
Greg,
I am not sure all of UMNO are Nazis; the jury
is still out on that. But Zahid certainly reminds me of the KKK and drawing an analogy between Perkasa and the Nazis in the sense
of racism against minorities (Chinese and
Indians in the former and Jews in the latter)
is valid. Moreover, Mahathir has made so many anti-Chinese and anti-Semitic remarks
that it would constitute a thesis by itself.
Harakah, the PAS mouthpiece, is usually vitriolic yet the paper is popular in Kelantan. The main Nazi ideologue, Alfred Rosenberg, would be welcome (were he alive)
in Perkasa. I think UMNO will still use MCA
as a business connection, but support for
UMNO among non-Malays and pro-Anwar Malays has certainly dropped. I am not so sure the
Bumiputeras in Sarawak and Sabah, excluding
Taib and Aman and their cohorts, are enamoured of UMNO. Some in East Malaysia even
talk (again) of secession from Malaysia. That
includes Iban, Kadazan and Malays.
Myanmar could learn from Germany
The German system also has a cutoff at 5%, which means any political party getting less than 5% of the total vote (like the FDP in the last election) will not be represented at all! If one would apply the German rules to the 1990 election in Burma, there would only be 2 parties represented in parliament (NLD and NUP) and none of the ethnic groups (Shan, Rakhine etc.) would get in. Well so “ethnic representation” in Burma has to be solved differently!
Germany is a Federal Republic, but the different “L├дnder” are not divided along purely ethnic lines (the Bavarians might think that’s the case, since they have their own party CSU which counts as CDU in “Bayern”). In Burma, one could have Federal Parties with local provincial branches, but that’s not the way the ethnic groups interpret the “Panglong agreement”. They are looking for a lot more autonomy and there are very few countries left in the world where the individual states have a lot of autonomy and are defined by ethnic divisions. In that sense, Burma’s constitutional problems cannot be solved by just copying the German voting system. Besides, it is ridiculous in a modern democracy to have military officers two-timing as MP’s not to mention this anti-SuuKyi clause about being married or related to “foreigners”. Anyway, Burma wants to be a “special place” wit “special rules” for “special people” and so I’m not surprised that Westerners either just don’t “get it” or get frustrated.
By the way, I do know the German voting system reasonably well. In fact, the first time I voted there was in the late 70’s (before Mr. Marston was born?)
Chin Peng, an obituary
It has very much a continuity in Malaysian history. Your expertise is supposedly
Thailand. I think you should refrain from
derogatory and inaccurate comments and focus
on Bangkok and not a place you did not grow up in. Your knowledge of Islam in pre-colonial Malaysia, not to mention, in the period when Islam arrived in Southeast Asia, is scant. This back-and-forth is over.
Chin Peng, an obituary
Again, Dr Cohen, it is the conservative Islam of today that has little continuous history in Malaysia. In a little over our heads, are we?
Chin Peng and cleavages in Malaysian society
If the “British was right in repatriating these people back to where they came from in the 1950s” it follows also I guess that the Malayans were right in kicking the British out back to the little island they came from, and not wait another thirteen years for Merdeka.
In this information age no one has a monopoly on historical ‘facts’ or propaganda. Hurray for the Internet!
Chin Peng and cleavages in Malaysian society
Nich was not wrong in saying “it’s not a good idea to clog up New Mandala threads with multiple, repetitive comments.” You don’t need a lecture but you do need impulse management.
Chin Peng and cleavages in Malaysian society
“CP motive was to serve himself. His team used to terrorise people to pay the monthly tithe. That was the main modus operandi. With the blood money, he acquired for himself huge properties and plantations…”
Accurate and not widely acknowledged…
Anak Malaysia is correct in his analysis, reiterating what I have been saying. Full stop.
Myanmar could learn from Germany
The PTB (Power Than Be) in Myanmar has been so far removed from the influences of the West since Ne Win time( even then minimal at best) that presently the concept of ANY Western/European model of Parliamentary/Democratic System of governance is-wishful at best.
Considering the Military:
1)Mostly trained in Russia or under the Russian institutions now in Pyin-U-Lwin.
2)Naturally unsympathetic to ANY basic HR principles.
Basic HR principles?
Leaving already poverty stricken Citizenry alone, instead of High Mighty Western commercialized concept of HR by the like of HRW
3) As recent Laiza operations shown that the Tamadaw is willing to ‘slug it to the end’, no matter what with tremendous losses.
Hopefully this will make the comment on Mr Marston well intended articles above less dismissive as it sound.
Myanmar could learn from Germany
Alex of Jnymen,
Great question. The UEC (Union Electoral Commission) appears open to suggestions. I’ve talked to elections advisors inside the country who were surprised at the UEC’s amenability to change. Furthermore, the incumbent USDP (who should favor changing the rules) has the ear of the UEC, as the chairman of the UEC is a former USDA (predecessor to the USDP) member (read: crony).
Chin Peng and cleavages in Malaysian society
“Dr Cohen” has lived in Malaya/Malaysia a good portion of his life. He does not need a lecture, Michael. I know history well. Chin Peng and the CPM relied on working-class Chinese as their base of support with few Malays supporting them. This is fact. There
were a few Malays in the CPM and a few on the
Central Committee of CPM. The use of the term “narrow” refers to the fact that Chin Peng did not have a broad base of support throughout Malaya. I make no negative comment on the contribution working-class Chinese made to Malaya; I made a demographic and historical comment only. Please refrain
from personalizing this discussion. Thank you.
Peter
Chin Peng and cleavages in Malaysian society
Michael,
I know history well. I need no lessons from you. Narrow does not mean invaluable, it means (as I have said many times) that Chin Peng’s base of support was not widespread among the Malay and Indian communities but was largely restricted to working-class Chinese. There were a few Malay members of CPM and on the Central Committee, but very few Malay supporters in Malaya. Working-class Chinese were a subset of all of Malayan citizenry. You infer a subjective judgement when I made none; I made a demographic and historical comment.
Please do not lecture me. I have lived in
Malaya and Malaysia for innumerable years
and know the country and history well.
Kareoke and opportunity?
I guess both Allan and Nick are not as obsessive compulsive over Yingluck as you seem to be…
…one might get the impression that you could be in love with her 😉
Chin Peng and cleavages in Malaysian society
CP is a terrorist and nothing more.
To say that he is a freedom fighter and has contributed in hastening the independence of Malaya is nonsense. If anyone has followed Jeremy Paxton documentary of the British Empire, one would realised that it was based on the premises of bluff. Merdeka may not be in August 31, 1957, it would still be before 1970. After 1980, does UK still has a significant colony?
There are always some who try to make it a political issue. One will immediately realise that these people usually do not have any substance. If they do have a mandate, why would they stoop so low to cheat for votes. It is like McCarthyism who used Communism to duped the US for a long time.
Australia sent in its troops during the Malaya Emergency with no string attach. For that, during our fledging years, we Malaysians will never forget.
As for those who idolised CP with their hearts and minds, you are Malaysia’s enemies. Although you have escaped Malaysia Security Instruments, you have just exposed your true face in broad daylight. The British was right in repatriating these people back to where they came from in the 1950s. So, Malaysia have every right to do the same.
CP motive was to serve himself. His team used to terrorise people to pay the monthly tithe. That was the main modus operandi. With the blood money, he acquired for himself huge properties and plantations.
I suspected that China kicked him out after Tun Razak attended the formalities. If China had kept him, she would have offended me deeply although my ancestors originate from there. She would also have created a great injustice to all those who have suffered under his bloody hands.
In this information age, people should move the era where no one can be cheated by those who conspire for their own ends any more.
Kareoke and opportunity?
Are both Allan and Nick saying that Yingluck was actually talking pure b/s about Thai prostitutes at Davos 2 years ago? Could Yingluck then be talking also b/s about other Thai issues – like the flood control and the bullshit . . . et the bullet trains for Isan?
Chin Peng and cleavages in Malaysian society
And who says that working-class Chinese were a “narrow constituency” in the Malaya of sixty-five years ago, anyway? Dr Cohen needs to learn more history.
Kareoke and opportunity?
Thanks Nick but my point is that I think Issarn women still dominate the red light districts, and relative poverty is still part of the picture. One social determinant of poverty is not having a spouse, and as I pointed out there are many, many single mothers in sex work from Issarn. I think in the analysis of today we need to define relative poverty levels which can be explored through disparities of wealth. There are levels of poverty in Issarn, one area I know of quite desparate poverty is the Cambodian border, among Khmer and Suay populations as well as some ethnic Lao. And I believe Surin and Buri Ram continue to provide a lot of women in sex work. Most villagers are dependent on rain fed crops and sticky rice is their sustenance crop. But the main income source is probably remittances which tend to reduce productivity. I take your point on a reduction of marginalization but it is still there for some.
Social, historical and cultural analysis is important too, you are probably familiar with Mary Beth Mills on aspects of empowerment of women over men in Issarn through migration. Much has been written on northern Thailand and why northern women and girls were predominant in brothels of Bangkok. Such analysis relates to skin colour, relations of the north and south, women’s traditional role and religion etc. Skin colour is a factor in Issarn in that caucasion men have an attraction to dark-skin women. At least they are not turned off by them, and so what does this say for the rapid expansion of Asian tourism in Thailand? So yes it may be more cultural than economic but they are sometimes indivisible, and yes everyday life changes more readily than do ‘official social norms’.
Adjusting to Myanmar’s reform mood
Doesn’t the 7th step plus look uncannily like Suharto’s New Order? Even if it’s fifty years behind. We may then have an intelligent guesstimate of what’s in store for Burma even as long as twenty years after the fall of Suharto.
Adjusting to Myanmar’s reform mood
I thought like you Wine was circle/round (long vowel sound) but no, it’s like in wine from grapes, only the Burmese will say it differently though.
Myanmar could learn from Germany
Thanks. Looks like the German system may be very welcome to the USDP.
The ethnic parties tried to propose PR even though it remains a divisive issue and got rejected pretty sharpish by the Speaker of the House. The USDP has kept schtum so far keeping the powder dry, perhaps literally too.
Still short of scrapping the 75% amendment rule and the 25% guaranteed seats for the military, the opposition will carry on passing in the wind in the post 2015 parliament. Barring high political office to those married to a foreigner (ASSK was)or with immediate members of the family who carry foreign passports (she has)has not been mentioned specifically for amendment either, only vague implications to that.
Chin Peng, an obituary
I agree the British were just a tad better at leaving compared to the French. But the great Winston Churchill did not think the Burmese were ready for self rule when they had a millennium old history of that before the white man appeared on the scene with open arms to grab.