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M. Bakri Musa

Seeing Malaysia My Way

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Location: Morgan Hill, California, United States

Malaysian-born Bakri Musa writes frequently on issues affecting his native land. His essays have appeared in the Far Eastern Economic Review, Asiaweek, International Herald Tribune, Education Quarterly, SIngapore's Straits Times, and The New Straits Times. His commentary has aired on National Public Radio's Marketplace. His regular column Seeing It My Way appears in Malaysiakini. Bakri is also a regular contributor to th eSun (Malaysia). He has previously written "The Malay Dilemma Revisited: Race Dynamics in Modern Malaysia" as well as "Malaysia in the Era of Globalization," "An Education System Worthy of Malaysia," "Seeing Malaysia My Way," and "With Love, From Malaysia." Bakri's day job (and frequently night time too!) is as a surgeon in private practice in Silicon Valley, California. He and his wife Karen live on a ranch in Morgan Hill. This website is updated twice a week on Sundays and Wednesdays at 5 PM California time.

Sunday, March 17, 2024

A Would-Be Caliph's (As Well As Ummah's) Double Challenges

 A Would-Be Caliph’s (As Well As The Ummah’s) Double Challenges

M. Bakri Musa

 

In his last Friday sermon before Ramadan, our Imam Ilyas facetiously challenged any aspiring Caliph to solve two perennial problems facing the ummah. One, the endless conundrum of moon sighting versus scientific calculations for determining Ramadan and Eid. Two, have congregants arrange their shoes neatly. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was once seen stumbling over some shoes as he emerged from a mosque. I wonder how many hips have been broken from tripping over shoes.

 

            Malaysian mosques have another problem. Wear nice shoes and they would be swiped as surely as soon as the Imam utters his “Ameen!”

 

            We handled the messy shoe problem by having someone stand at the entrance. That solved it only partially as when the service begins that individual would have to come in. Despite seeing all those other shoes already neatly lined up, late comers would invariably ignore that in their rush.

 

            Once during his sermon, our Imam saw an expensive sedan blocking the driveway. He interrupted his service to ask that the owner to please leave immediately and remove his car. Our Imam reminded us that removing the danger imposed by the car blocking the driveway far outweighs any potential pahala (religious merits) the owner would gain from praying. In Malaysia during Friday prayers, neighborhood streets would be blocked by haphazardly parked cars. Imagine if an ambulance had to pass through.

 

            Cars and shoes are not the only problem. While it is gratifying to see kids attending mosques, that vanishes if they were to misbehave. Once during his sermon, the children began running around disturbing the service. Our Imam quietly folded his prepared text and asked the parents to take care of their children. That was far more important than to pray. Eminently sensible! You do not have to quote hadith or Qur’anic verse to justify that. Besides, it is never too early to teach your children mosque etiquette. Likewise when I was a surgeon in Kuala Lumpur back in the 1970s, I once had to reprimand my medical officer for abandoning his patient while he was off for his Friday prayers. His promised future salvation came ahead of his patient’s current welfare.

 

            During this Ramadan I am seeing videos of another disturbing trend of people grabbing food and gorging themselves at iftar. The spirit of generosity and plain good manners are conspicuously absent.

 

            Back to moonsighting, our community had long ago resolved that issue. We used to book a facility for two consecutive days in case the moon would not be sighted the first time. Then someone pointed out the wastage. The money could have been better spent on the poor.

 

            We still pay deference to the sunnah of moon sightings. However, instead of mindlessly going through the ritual, we have turned it into an educational experience. We have someone explain the movements of celestial bodies and the various factors determining visibility.

 

            Ancient Muslims saw no incompatibility between scientific observations versus revealed knowledge. It was this wisdom that ushered them into their Golden Era of Islam. Another of their wonderful traits worthy of our emulation was their openness to new ideas. They had no hesitation learning from others, even those who did not believe in God, as with the ancient Greeks.

 

            Back to moonsighting, imagine the headache and waste of resources if one were to be in charge of flight schedules or even simple mail delivery!

 

            A Malay lady professor once suggested that we should quit “aping” the West and instead start our new day at sunset. Starting the day at sunset is an Arabic tradition, not a Muslim one. We can appreciate knowing their climate. Their day begins only after the hot blistering sun is gone and life becomes bearable. 

 

            The “Western” choice of midnight makes practical sense as most of us would be asleep at that time. Thus variations of a few minutes or even hours as between summer and winter would not matter. Consider midwinter in the Tundra. Your new “day” could last for weeks. Adopting that professor’s suggestion would unnecessarily add another layer of complexity, for in addition to the time changes with the Meridien we would now have to add latitude. Bangkok which today has the same time as Kuala Lumpur would now be different as it is further north, if the professor were to have her way.

 

            What she considered as aping the West reflects more her ignorance combined with arrogance–a particularly destructive pairing. The Chinese also go by the lunar calendar yet they have no qualms adopting an alien “Western” system. The West also had no hesitation in dumping their cumbersome Latin letters for the much superior Arabic numerals. This conceit of “Ours being best” and the associated destructive mindset of unwillingness to learn from others is a severe handicap.

 

            As for the challenges of our would-be Caliph, I would prefer that he focus on important issues such as how to get along with our fellow human beings, especially those who do not share our beliefs, and how together we could make this world a better place. Believers or non-believers, we are all hamba Allah (God’s creations) and have to share this world together.

Sunday, March 10, 2024

Fasting: Where Religion Meets Evolution

 Fasting:  Where Religion Meets Evolution

M. Bakri Musa

 

 

The Qur’an exhorts us to fast as “ . . . it was decreed for those before you, that you may attain salvation.” (2:183; approximate translation.)

 

            Taking a much broader or stretching the meaning of “those before you” to include our hunter-gatherer ancestors, extending the meaning of fasting to mean sustained periods without food, and interpreting salvation to mean survival, the essence of that ayat is one of the few certitudes that both faith and science share.

 

            The signal difference between the fasting (or periods without food) of our hunter-gatherer ancestors versus the current practices of many faiths, as well as health enthusiasts, is the factor of volition. Unlike our ancestors who had to endure periods without food because of the environment, as with poor hunting seasons, today’s faithful and health enthusiasts choose to forego food for specified periods of time.

 

            Our biology however does not appreciate such differences. The net effect of food deprivation, whether intentional or otherwise, on our metabolism is the same. The evolutionary energetics (the study of energy and its transformation) of our hunter-gatherer ancestors to cope with periods without food are still operative and called upon today in those who fast. Principally this is the “metabolic switching,” of using glucose as the principal source of energy in times of plenty versus relying on stored body fats during fasting or periods without food.

 

            In the last few decades biologists have used this insight to help elucidate the dynamics of our evolutionary pathways, supplementing in very major and revolutionary ways the evidence garnered through such traditional sources as fossil studies of bone (in particular skull) sizes and shapes. For this we owe a huge debt of gratitude to our contemporary fellow humans who still retain our ancestral hunter-gatherer lifestyle, the Hadza tribe of Central Africa.

 

            Using doubly-labeled water, 2H218O (DLW–where the hydrogen has an extra proton and the carbon, an extra pair), for their subjects to drink, biologists could estimate the “free-living energy expenditure” of an individual. Energy is and reflects life; no energy, no life. Incidentally these experiments with DLW were first done on the military.

 

            The major consumption of energy for our ancestor hunter-gatherers, as extrapolated from studies on the Hadzas, is directed towards the twin purposes of brain function and reproductive capacities. That makes teleological sense as the former is for immediate self-survival; the latter, species survival.

 

            For our ancestors, periods of food deprivation were the norm. It was only much later when they discovered agriculture that they settled on the land, their foods now assured through farming. While they had plants as food earlier as with their fruits and leaves, those too were seasonal.

 

            Beyond that, their discovery of metals that could be fashioned as killing tools, as well as the utility of fire beyond keeping themselves warm, as with cooking and preserving their hunted meat, were consequential. Dried meat buffered their hunting droughts. With cooked meat they could dispense with huge jaws, thus preserving precious skull space for the brain.

 

            Beyond those visible anatomical changes, deep in our cellular innards were even more consequential changes with our basic metabolism, specifically energy production. In times of plenty we burn glucose and store the excess as fat. Glucose is what powered our muscles as well as the brain. In times of scarcity we burn fat, the by-products being ketone bodies which the brain could use but not muscles. We could burn muscles to produce glucose (gluconeogenesis), but that would be self-destructive, akin to depleting our capital. We need muscles to hunt. Weak muscles equal no kill and thus no food.

 

            The ability of the brain to use ketones, and very effectively too, again makes teleological sense. When times are tough we need our cognitive ability more than ever to strategize and hunt smarter. No surprise that ketogenic diet is now used to enhance cognitive ability. It has long been the mainstay to prevent convulsions of childhood epilepsy. The spiritual enhancements of ascetics as well as the heightened spirituality of Muslims during Ramadan reflect this. Their commonality with marathon runners who fast before major races may be mediated through the effects of these ketone bodies on the brain.

 

            In contrast to the positive evolutionary changes with fasting through the ensuing ketogenic diet, starvation is destructive. With the latter, with fat being depleted, you start burning muscles. That undermines your strength and physical integrity. You need muscles to hunt or even to breathe. The vicious cycle continues until you die. The clinical manifestation of this is anorexia nervosa, a condition where the individual loses any desire to eat.

 

            We should leverage this role of ketosis during fasting. It is no surprise that mosques are full during Ramadan because of this enhanced spirituality. Ramadan is my most productive time intellectually. During lunch hours I can work uninterrupted. The hour before the breaking of fast, being too tired to do any physical work, is spent reading; likewise the early hours after suhor (the predawn breakfast). I enjoy a quantum leap in my reading during Ramadan.

 

            Rumi encapsulated it best:  Fasting blinds the body in order to open the eyes of the soul. In modern biological parlance, that would be enhancing our central neuronal connections. Or as per my Imam Ilyas, Ramadan is the time for us to get closer to Allah. May this Ramadan achieve this as well as bring peace and prosperity to all.

Thursday, March 07, 2024

Takdir Anwar Ibrahim Untuk Membawa Kita Mengarah Qiblat yang Tulen

 Dilema Melayu Masa Kini

M. Bakri Musa

 

Terakhir dari Tiga Bahagian: Takdir Perdana Menteri Anwar Ibrahim Untuk Membawa Kita Mengarah Qiblat Yang Tulen

 

[Dalam bahagian pertama saya menarik perhatian atas kebodohan dan kemusnahan budaya kita yang asyik berperaga. Perangai demikian mengakibatkan masyarakat kita mundur dan tidak setanding dengan bangsa lain walaupun negara maju. Dalam Bahagian Kedua saya mengesa agar orang Melayu mencontohi penganut Katolik Ireland pada tahun 1950-an untuk mengatasi dilema semasa. Dalam bahagian ketiga dan penutup ini, saya percaya bahawa Perdana Menteri Anwar Ibrahim adalah pemimpin yang boleh melaksanakannya matlamat ini. Takdir dia untuk mengarah kita ke Qiblat yang tulen.

 

 

Ranjau terbesar yang menghala kemajuan negara ialah rasuah. Walaupun akibat burutnya menghampa semua kaum, tetapi bebannya tidak sama dan lebih berat lagi di tangung oleh masyarakat Melayu. Itu adalah akibat kaum kita lebih bergantung kepada kerajaan. Walau pun Perdana Menteri Anwar teguh memerangi rasuah tetapi itu masih belum berkesan.

 

            Sebaliknya petualang besar yang membantutkan kemajuan kaum Melayu ialah golongan Islamis yang berfikiran kuno dan nasionalis bahasa yang terlaluan. Orang bukan Melayu sudah tentunya tidak dapat mereka pengaruhi. Golongan Islamis dan nasionalis ini mempunyai pengaruh yang tidak wajar terhadap kerajaan dan orang Melayu. Apa yang dikatakan sebagai dilema Melayu bukanlah, seperti yang disangkai ramai, musuh hantu seperti Barat dan kaum pendatang. Menyalahi mereka mungkin boleh memenangi undi Melayu dan melonjakkan kerjaya politik seseorang, malangnya itu tidak akan membaiki nasib orang Melayu. Pendatang atau tidak dan Islam atau tidak, kita semua mahklok Allah.

 

            Para Islamis yang berfikiran kuno ini tidah kesah atas kemunduran kaum kita. Sebaliknya mereka memperlekehkan dan dengan terus terang menolak pencapaian duniawi. Dengan itu mereka, sengaja atau tidak, mengiatkan orang Melayu supaya tikak berusaha untuk maju. Renungkan. Tidak mungkin ada zaman kegemilangan Islam dan agama kita yang murni ini tidak tersebar luas seandainya umat Islam zaman kuno dulu hanya taksub kepada akhirat.

 

            Kemiskinan mendekati kekufuran. Kita tidak patut bermegah dengan kemunduran serta kebangsatan kaum kita atas alasan syurga akan menunggu kita. Nyawa kita serta dunia ini adalah anugerah Allah teragung. Kita patut bersyukur dan menujukkan kesyukuran kita dengan berusaha untuk membaiki ke dua dua. 

 

            Pada abad ke-8, Si Rabi’a Al Adawiyya pada satu ketika terlihat berlari di bandar Basra membawa baldi air di tangan kanan dan obor di tangan kiri. Bila ditanya, dia menjawab bahawa dia ingin memadamkan api Neraka dan membakar pintu syurga supaya manusia akan mengabdi kepada Tuhan hanya kerana Dia dan bukan kerana ingin masuk syurga atau takut Neraka. Berbuat baik kepada satu dan lain serta manusia amnya ialah cara kita menyembah Allah. Itulah pengajaran utama. Ketaksuban kepada Akhirat itu hanyalah gangguan.

 

            Penganut Islam hari ini meremehkan kitab suci kita dengan menyifatkannya sebagai azimat ajaib. Baca sahajalah ayat tertentu dan dengan ajaib hajat anda dimakbulkan atau penyakit tersembuh. Begitu juga jika hendak cemerlang di sekolah. Tidak payahlah belajar bersungguh atau mendengar guru tetapi hanya beratib dan bersolat Tahajut yang tidak bersudahan. Tambahan pula, hanya Allah yang boleh menguji kita, bukan hambanya seperti guru. Kononnya!

 

            Ranjau terbesar kaum Melayu ialah apabila kerajaan dan pemerentah merestui dan memberi kuasa kepada kaum Islamis. Bahkan mereka sekarang berani mencaci sultan dengan lela serta mengkafirkan mereka yang berpandagan berlainan. Akibatnya buruk bagi orang yang beriman serta akidah dan masyarakat kita. Presiden Turki Erdogan enggan menamai parti atau kerajaannya sebagai Islamik. Dia takut jika kelalaian serta kegagalannya akan di anggap sebagai kekurangan agama Islam. Malangnya, dan ini amat menyedihkan, hikmah dan kewajaran ini tidak terfikir pun oleh pemimpin Melayu.

 

            Sementara itu kaum nasionalis bahasa itu telah menanamkan sentimen yang menjehanamkan masyarakat serta anak kita. Kepada mereka, mempelajari Bahasa Inggeris ialah satu pengkhianatan kepada atau tidak menghormati Bahasa Melayu. Lebih aneh lagi, Bahasa Inggeris disifatkan sebagai satu alat untuk "penjajahan fikiran."

 

            Ada petunjuk bahawa sinar terang mungkin memuncul. Pengaruh nasionalis bahasa sudah bermula tipis dan mungkin terus hapus. Menghormati bahasa ibunda atau tidak, bilangan murid Melayu di sekolah Cina semakin meningkat. Keputusan Mahkamah Persekutuan baru-baru ini bahawa sekolah vernakular dilindungi oleh perlembagaan adalah satu kemenangan bukan sahaja bagi orang bukan Melayu bahkan juga untuk kaum Melayu. Sementara itu orang Cina sudah lama memilih aluran “sekolah antarabangsa.” “Antarabangsa” itu hanyalah tirai melindungi keadaan sebenar, yakni sekolah Bahasa Inggeris.

 

            Walau bagaimana pun sinar harapan ini (bilangan anak Melayu meningkat di sekolah Cina) mungkin dikaburkan oleh perkembangan yang jauh lebih aneh. Yakni bilangan penuntut Melayu yang memilih aliran agama, dari peringkat prasekolah hingga pasca siswazah. Sistem itu mengindoktrinasi dan jauh sekali daripada mendidik. Renungkan, guru Inggeris tidak fasih berbahasa Inggeris dan ulama buta huruf Bahasa Arab. Itu hanyalah petanda keburukan yang ternampak. Inti yang busuk dan robok maseh tersuruk.

 

            Perdana Menteri Anwar sedar akan kelemahan ini. Pada satu masa dahulu dia juara nasionalis bahasa dan Islamis politik. Kini dia sudah jauh lebih bijak, telah diuji dan dipukul tetapi masih tidak patah. Sebaliknya, dan agak ironis serta sentuhan karma, si penyeksanya terdahulu yang kini terseksa.

 

            Anwar peminat Nelson Mandela. Contoh yang lebih bermakna untuk Anwar ialah penulis Pramoedya Ananta Toe. Dia juga lama di penjara dan di seksa tetapi itu tidak mematahkan jiwanya. Sebaliknya dia menjadi penulis yang lebih hebat. Begitu juga, ketidakadilan teruk yang dihimpakan ke atas Anwar hanya menjadikan ia pemimpin yang lebih baik, bijak, dan tegas. Nyata sudah menjadi takdir untuk Anwar sebagai pemimpin negara, khususnya orang Melayu, untuk mengarah kita menghadapi ke arah kiblat yang tulen. Hanya dengan cara demikian kita boleh memberi sumbangan yang bermakna kepada masyarakat dan negara.

 

            Nyata Anwar tidak boleh menyekat aliran agama atau peranan Bahasa Melayu. Tetapi dia boleh mengubah supaya sekolah agama lebih bertanggungjawab keatas keperluan negara dan masyarakat kita. Contohilah sekolah agama Kristian di Amerika. Ia menghasilkan lebih ramai cerdik pandai serta tokoh saintis, usahawan dan profesional. Hanya sebahagian kecil daripada graduan mereka yang menjadi paderi. Oleh sebab itu, sekolah tersebut menarik ramai murid yang bukan Kristian termasuk anak Islam. Harvard bermula sebagai tajaan gereja tetapi hari ini bahagian agamanya amat kecil. Yang lebih penting, ramai ulama Islam yang telah dididik oleh Harvard.

 

            Universiti Amerika di Beirut, yang ditubuhkan oleh mubaligh Kristian, kekal sebagai permata mahkota intelektual dunia Arab walaupun dia menggunakan Bahasa Inggeris dan kedaan kacau di sekelilingnya. Begitu juga Universiti Amerika di Kaherah. Ditubuhkan hanya pada tahun 1919 tetapi ia telah lama mengatasi Al Azhar yang berusia ribuan tahun.

 

            Jika sultan Melayu menggesa penjajah dahulu menubuhkan rangkaian Sekolah Melayu Anglo, seperti yang mereka lakukan dengan Kolej Melayu, bayangkan betapa tingginya pencapaian kaum kita! Begitu juga jika sultan menentang pandangan jahil ulama bahawa menghadiri sekolah Inggeris adalah sama dengan menjadi seorang Kristian! Bahkan ramai anak raja belajar di sekolah tersebut. Isteri Perdana Menteri kedua dan ketiga menghadiri Sekolah Convent! Kesalan terbesar dan tanpa habis Pendita Za'aba ialah apabila bapanya memancung putusan keluarga bila dia masuk sekolah Inggeris. Kemunafikan dan muka dua yang terus terang pemimpin Melayu pada masa dahulu dan juga sekarang inilah yang meruntuhkan masyarakat kita.

 

            Ranjau pendidikan anak Melayu ialah sikap negatif terhadap belajar Bahasa Inggeris. Itu diselubungi di bawah tuduhan tidak memartabatkan dan menghormati bahasa kebangsaan. Sebaliknya kita patut berusaha supaya murid kita fasih dalam dua–Melayu dan Inggeris, serta menambah masa untuk pengajian sains. Bagi sekolah agama pula, lebihkan masa untuk mata pelajaran sekular supaya mereka boleh menghasilkan bakal doktor, jurutera, ahli sains, dan para usahawan.

 

            Semua ini langkah mudah, berkesan, dan amat diperlukan. Ia tidak memerlukan dana dan jawatankuasa besar untuk melaksanakannya, hanya kemahuan untuk memulakannya. Anwar Ibrahim sahajalah yang mempunyai kebijaksanaan pimpinan serta kemahuan dan kemampuan untuk melaksanakannya.

Monday, March 04, 2024

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's Manifest Destiny

 Part Three:  Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s Manifest Destiny

M. Bakri Musa

Last of Three Parts

 

[In Part One I discussed the folly and destructiveness of our culture’s penchant for peraga (showing off) and the consequent discomfiting reality that a developed Malaysia has not resulted in a comparable status for Malays. In Part Two I suggested that Malays emulate the Irish Catholics of the 1950s in overcoming our current dilemma. In this third concluding piece, I posit that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is just the leader who could execute that for Malays. It is his manifest destiny to lead us to face our true qiblat (lit., direction for Muslim prayer; fig. new destiny).]

 

The greatest obstacle to Malaysia’s advancement is corruption. While its corrosiveness affects all, the burden falls disproportionately on those dependent on the government, meaning Malays. Prime Minister Anwar is making progress in fighting corruption but he still has a long way to go.

 

            Unlike corruption, the stifling stunting influence of the literalist medieval-minded Islamists and chauvinistic language nationalists falls exclusively on Malays. Non-Malays are of course insulated. Malay backwardness is in large part the consequence of the Islamists and language nationalists having undue influence on the government and on Malays. The so-called Malay problem is not, as many would have it, with phantom enemies like the West and pendatangs(immigrants). Blaming them may win Malay votes and advance one’s political career, alas that would not improve the condition of Malays. Pendatang or not and Muslim or not, we are all mahklok Allah (Allah’s creations).

 

            The Islamists’ answer to Malay backwardness is to belittle or dismiss worldly achievements. In one grand sweep they effectively disincentivized Malays. They forget that there would not have been the Golden Age of Islam and the faith spread far and wide had ancient Muslims been obsessed with the Hereafter. Heed the Malay wisdom:  Kemiskinan mendekati kekufuran (Poverty invites impiety). Our life and this world are Allah’s unique precious gifts. Embrace both and strive to make them better.

 

            The 8th Century Sufi Rabi’a Al Adawiyya was once seen running on the streets of Basra with a bucket of water in one hand and a torch in the other. When asked, she replied that she wanted to douse the fire of Hell and burn the Gates of Heaven so people will serve God only for His sake and not for fear of Hell or desiring Heaven. Serving humanity is serving God; obsession with the Hereafter is but a distraction.

 

            Today’s Islamists have also degraded our holy book by turning it into a magical amulet. Recite this verse and “Abracadabra!” your wishes would be granted or illness cured. To them, to excel in school is not by studying or listening to your teachers but by endless ratib and Tahajut prayers. Besides, they claim, only Allah can test you, not mere mortals like your teachers.

 

            The most consequential and detrimental effect on Malays and our faith is the state’s stamping its imprimatur on Islam. Whenever that happens, it is bad for the faithful, the faith, and society. It is this insight that led Turkey’s President Erdogan not to label his party or government as Islamic. This wisdom eludes Malay leaders.

 

            The language nationalists meanwhile have planted the destructive mindset that to learn English is to disrespect Malay. Worse, English is seen as but an instrument for “mental re-colonization.”

 

            The good news is that the language nationalists are fast losing their influence. Disrespecting our mother tongue or not, the number of Malays enrolling in Chinese schools is soaring. The recent Federal Court ruling that vernacular schools are constitutionally protected was as much a victory for non-Malays as for Malays. Meanwhile the Chinese are opting for “international schools,” a cover for English-medium instruction.

 

            That ray of hope (increasing Malay enrolment in Chinese schools) is eclipsed by a much bigger and more sinister development–the escalating number of Malays opting for the religious stream, from preschool to post-graduate level. That system indoctrinates rather than educates. English teachers not fluent in the language and ulama illiterate in Arabic are but the visible manifestations of a rotten system.

 

            Prime Minister Anwar is aware of these shortcomings. He is also the only leader who can “handle” these language nationalists and political Islamists, having himself earlier espoused those sentiments. He is now much wiser, having been tested and even battered, though not broken. Like well-tempered steel, Anwar is now stronger and more resilient.

 

            Anwar is an ardent admirer of the late Nelson Mandela. I suggest that a better model would be the late Pramoedya Ananta Toe whose long imprisonment made him an even better writer. Likewise, the gross injustices perpetrated upon Anwar have only made him better, wiser, and more determined. It is his manifest destiny to lead Malaysia, Malays in particular, to face our true qiblat. Only then could we make our rightful contributions to the nation.

 

            It would be political suicide for Anwar to curtail the religious stream or the role of Bahasa. However, he can make the former more responsive to the nation’s needs by emulating its counterparts in America. Church-affiliated schools there produce more than their share of scientists, entrepreneurs, and professionals. Only a tiny fraction of their graduates end up in the clergy class. As such those schools attract many non-Christians. Harvard started out as church-affiliated but today its Divinity School is but a tiny component. More to the point, many Muslim scholars have gone through its portals.

 

            Despite being started by Christian missionaries and not using Arabic, the American University in Beirut remains the intellectual crown jewel of the Arab world, the surrounding chaos notwithstanding. Likewise, the American University in Cairo; established in 1919 has long eclipsed the thousand-year-old Al Azhar.

 

            Ponder this. Had Malay sultans urged the colonials to set up a string of Anglo Malay Schools back then, as they did with Malay College, imagine the heights of our achievements! Likewise, had the sultans countered the ulama’s destructive take that attending English schools was tantamount to becoming a Christian! After all, many a royal scion attended those schools. The wives of the second and third Prime Ministers attended Convent Schools. Pendita Za’aba’s greatest lament was his father’s disowning him for attending an English school. It is this blatant hypocrisy of Malay leaders then and now that is the undoing of our community. 

 

            Today this destructive sentiment towards modern education, specifically learning English, is subsumed under the guise of not mentarbatkan (respecting) our national language. Imagine if we were to make national school graduates fluent in both Bahasa and English while at the same time increase the hours for STEM subjects! As for religious schools, ponder had the curriculum included more secular subjects, these schools could produce their share of the nation’s doctors, scientists, and engineers.

 

            These simple, effective, and much-needed measures do not need grand committees to implement them, only the will to initiate and competence to execute them. In Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysia has just that leader.

Thursday, February 29, 2024

Dilema Melayu Masa Kini

 Dilema Melayu Masa Kini

 

M. Bakri Musa

Kedua Daripada Tiga Bahagian:  Contohi Ireland Dan Quebec

 

[Dalam Bahagian Pertama saya mengutuk budaya kita yang asyik dengan peraga. Akibatnya ialah keadaan semasa yang memalukan di mana negara maju tetapi kaum Melayu tidak ikut bersama makmur. Dalam bahagian ke dua ini saya mendorongkan supaya masyarakat kita mencontohi rakyat Ireland pada tahun 1950-an dan Quebec pada tahun 1960-an untuk mengatasi cabaran semasa.]

 

            Malaysia hari ini mengingatkan saya kepada keadaan negeri Ireland pada 1950-an dan provinsi Quebec, Canada, pada 60-an. Orang Melayu hari ini, seperti orang Ireland dan Perancis-Kanada ketika dulu, berada di dalam cengkaman ketat para nasionalis dan seagama kita. Anak Melayu berpusu-pusu belajar Bahasa Arab, hadis, dan ilmu wahyu hingga mengabaikan Bahasa Inggeris, sains, dan matematik. Orang Ireland dan Perancis-Kanadi dahulu juga sibuk dengan tasbih dan katekismus (catechism) mereka; kita Melayu sekarang dengan ratib dan zikir.

 

            Orang Ireland dulu heboh untuk menghidupkan semula bahasa mereka yang sudah lama mati, yakni Gaelic. Orang Melayu hari ini tidak mahu kanak kanak kita belajar bahasa lain. Belajar Bahasa Inggeris disifatkan sebagai menghina bahasa ibunda dan bukan seperti yang sepatutnya, yakni mencari satu kemahiran yang berharga serta diperlukan.

 

            Perusahaan besar di Malaysia sekarang berada di tangan orang bukan Melayu manakala orang Melayu heboh dengan politik sahaja. Di Ireland ketika dulu, perniagaan utama berada dalam genggaman Inggeris manakala orang Ireland sibuk untuk menyatukan semula dengan kerabat mereka ke Utara. Orang Quebec pula sibuk hendak berpisah dari Kanada.

 

            Oleh sebab sistem pendidikan Ireland di masa dulu ketat di bawah kawalan gereja, dengan mata pelajaran penuh dengan unsur agama sahaja, pusat pengajian yang terkemuka ialah yang berkaitan dengan Protestan Inggeris. Jika ada ibu bapa orang Katolik Ireland yang bercita tinggi untuk masa depan anak mereka dan ingin mendaftarkan anak mereka di institusi Inggeris, mereka di anggap murtad. Pada tahun 1960-an, Mary Robinson, yang kemudiannya menjadi Presiden perempuan Ireland yang pertama, terpaksa mengambil kebenaran khas daripada paderinya untuk belajar di Trinity College, satu institusi kemuka Inggeris.

 

            Sean Lemass, Perdana Menteri Ireland dari 1959 hingga 1966, berjaya mengubah nasib rakyatnya. Dia bermula dengan menyingkat kuasa dan pengaruh Gereja dengan melucutkan kawalannya ke atas dasar sosial dan pendidikan. Dengan itu anak Irish kini boleh meninggalkan sekolah dan kolej Katolik mereka yang bermutu rendah untuk menghadiri sekolah Inggeris yang lebih unggul tanpa rasa takut bahawa mereka akan dilihat sebagai berdosa. Begitu juga mereka kini boleh menggunakan kontraseptif tanpa rasa takut akan azab abadi.

 

            Lemass membebaskan akhbar serta media am, termasuklah yang di miliki oleh kerajaan. Dengan sekali gus dia mendedahkan rakyat kepada dunia yang lebih luas dan perbagai pandangan. Beliau juga menggalakkan kritikan terhadap kepimpinan dan dasar beliau, mencerminkan keyakinan dan kecekapan beliau. Dan sunggoh pun orang Irish bersikap benci kepada orang Inggeris termasuk kepada bahasanya, Lemass mengistiharkan supaya bahasa Inggeris, bukan Gaelik, menjadi Bahasa resmi Ireland. Orang Irish sekarang tanpa segan silu memuji pengarang mereka dalam Bahasa Inggeris seperti James Joyce. Sementara itu merentasi Atlantik Utara dan sadekat kemudian, Jean Lesage dari Quebec melakukan serupa kepada kaum Perancis-Kanadien di wilayah mundur itu. 

 

            Disebaliknya renungkan sedikit tangkah laku Sasterawan Negara kita Muhammad Haji Salleh. Dia tidak lagi ingin menulis dalam Bajasa Inggeris sebab itu kononnya ialah satu perbuatan derhaka atau menunjokkan tidak percaya kepada bangsa dan bahasa. Tetapi dia sendiri fasih dalam duibahasa. 

 

            Pilihan atau jalan masa depan untuk Malaysia khasnya kaum Melayu ialah untuk mengikuti cara orang Ireland dan Quebec supaya kaum kita boleh dianggap dalam kalangan masyarakat yang maju.

 

            “Melayu malas,” “Melayu mudah lupa” dan stereotaip pemusnah lain yang menyamar sebagai ‘penjelasan’ dan ‘penyelesaian’ lebih mencerminkan kebodohan mereka yang mengucapkannya. Bandingkan dengan apa yang ditulis oleh orang Inggeris dahulu tentang orang Cina dan candu mereka, orang India sistem kasta mereka, dan orang Ireland agama mereka. Lihat di mana mereka sekarang.

 

            Jika orang Melayu malas, soalan seterusnya dan segera kita tanya ialah, kenapa dan mengapa? Mungkin mereka mendapat pampasan dan hasil yang rendah untuk usaha mereka. Petani Amerika tidak "malas" kerana mereka mempunyai sokongan harga untuk produk mereka, walaupun ianya negara kapitalisme. Selain daripada itu petani di Amerika mendapat pinjaman subsidi untuk membeli jentera lading yang membolehkan mereka dengan sekali gus meningkatkan produktiviti dan keluaran mereka. Renungkan sedikit. Semasa Perentah Jepun dahulu tiada orang Melayu yang malas! Malas dan engkau akan di kerah atau di hantar berkerja di “kerata api mati” di Burma.

 

            Renungkan pencapaian akademik dan lain-lain yang rendah antara murid Melayu. Pada tahun 1950-an pakar ekonomi Ungku Aziz mencadangkan untuk mengukur tinggi dan menimbang berat serta melakukan ujian darah ke atas anak-anak kampung. Penyelidikan yang mudah itu, jika dilakukan dengan teliti akan memberikan data yang tidak ternilai harganya dan akan boleh memperbaiki nasib kanak-kanak luar bandar. Allahyarham Ungku tahu bahawa kemiskinan dan kekurangan zat makanan yang berkaitan adalah akibat dan bukannya punca prestasi mereka yang kurang berkebolehan. Begitu juga dengan kemalasan dan kurang motivasi mereka.

 

            Setengah abad kemudian, penyelidik ekonomi suami-isteri di MIT, Abhijit Banerjee dan Esther Duflo, dianugerahi Hadiah Nobel atas kajian mereka tentang prestasi buruk pelajar sekolah Afrika luar bandar. Dari kajian mereka, initiatif yang paling berkesan bukanlah sekolah yang lebih baik, guru yang mahir, atau makanan sekolah diberi percuma, tetapi sebaliknya . . . memberi murid murid itu pil cacing! Kanak-kanak itu tidak malas atau bodoh; perut mereka penuh dengan cacing membuat mereka lesu oleh sebab kurang darah! Bapa saya tahu sedikit tentang perkara ini. Semasa kecil dahulu saya pernah diberi pil cacing.

 

            Sebagai seorang pakar bedah di Malaysia pada penghujung 1970-an, seorang perempuan Melayu ternama kecewa kerana dia di rawatkan oleh saya dan bukan oleh pakar bedah yang lebih tua dan bergelaran Datuk pula. Perempuan itu tidak puas hati sebab saya memberatkan kiraan darahnya yang rendah. Doktor lain, dia mengadu kepada jururawat saya, boleh mengesan anemianya sejauh satu batu dan tidak membuat kesah. Sebaliknya si perempuan ini suka dengan keadaan anemianya kerana itu membuat rupanya "lebih putih." Begitu juga dia tidak peduli kalau rasa malas akibat anemianya sebab dia mempunyai ramai pembantu rumah.

 

            Saya terdengar keluhan dia. Saya jelaskan bahawa saya lebih ingin mengetahui apa sebab dia kurang darah. Mungkin dia berdarah dalam badan atau mengalami penyakit yang jarang berlaku di mana perutnya tidak dapat menyerap Vitamin 12, penting untuk pembentukan darah baru. Penyakit itu amat berbahaya kerana selain menyebabkan darah rendah, ia juga berkait dengan satu jenis barah perut yang sangat ganas. Itu memeranjatkan dia. Selpas itu dia tidak lagi memperlekehkan nasihat saya.

 

            Fakta dengan sendirinya tidak bermakna. Lebih dasyat lagi, seperti yang dinyatakan oleh pengarang Arthur Conan Doyle "Tiada yang lebih menipu daripada fakta yang jelas."

 

            Fakta yang jelas seperti “Melayu malas” dan “Tidak pandai berniaga” telah menipu dan terus memperdayakan ramai orang Melayu termasuk pemimpin seperti Mahathir. 'Fakta' seperti itu sepatutnya harus menjadi rangsangan untuk siasatan selanjutnya dan bukan untuk digunakan untuk memburukan masyarakat.

 

Seterusnya: Terakhir dari Tiga Bahagian: Takdir Perdana Menteri Anwar Ibrahim Mengarah Kita Ke Qiblat Yang Benar

 

Tuesday, February 27, 2024

The Malay Dilemma Today Part II: The Lessons From Ireland And Quebec

 The Malay Dilemma Today

 

Part Two:  The Lessons From Ireland And Quebec

M. Bakri Musa

Second of Three Parts

 

[In Part One I related the folly of our culture’s penchant for peraga (showing off) and the consequent stark as well as embarrassing reality that a developed Malaysia has not translated into a corresponding prosperous Malay society. In this second part I suggest that Malays emulate the Irish of the 1950s and Quebecois of the 1960s in overcoming our current challenges.]

 

            Today’s Malaysia reminds me of Ireland of the 1950s and Quebec of the 60s. Malays today, like the Irish and French-Canadiens then, are in the tight clutches of our nationalists and co-religionists, with our young flocking to study Arabic, hadith, and revealed knowledge instead of English, science, and mathematics. The Irish and French-Canadiens of yore were consumed with their rosaries and catechisms; Malays today, ratib and zikir.

            The Irish then were obsessed with resurrecting their dead language, Gaelic. Malays today would have our young not study any other language but Malay. Learning English is seen as showing contempt for our mother tongue instead of, as it should be, acquiring a much-needed added skill.

            Major enterprises in Malaysia are in the hands of non-Malays while Malays are consumed with politics. In Ireland then, major businesses were in English control while the Irish were obsessed with endless dreams of reunification with the North; the Quebecois, separation from Canada.

            With Irish education under tight church control and consumed with religious instructions, the leading educational institutions were thus the English-affiliated ones. If there were to be any ambitious Irish parents who dared dream of a better future for their children by enrolling them there, they risked being excommunicated. “Murtad” in local lingo. In early 1960s Mary Robinson, later to be Ireland’s first female President, had to get a special dispensation from her Archbishop to attend Trinity College.

            It took the enlightened Sean Lemass, Prime Minister from 1959-66, to clip the powers and influences of the Church by stripping its control over education and social policies. Freed from the suffocating controls of the church, the Irish could now abandon their inferior Catholic schools and colleges to attend the much superior English ones. 

            Lemass also liberalized the media, including state-owned ones, thus exposing citizens to the wider world and the consequent diversity of viewpoints. He not only tolerated but encouraged criticisms of his leadership and policies, a reflection of his confidence and competence. And despite the then Irish antipathy towards things English, he made English, not Gaelic, the language of Ireland. The Irish unabashedly celebrate their James Joyces. By contrast, our National Laureate Muhammad Haji Salleh feels that writing in English is a disservice to his race and nation. He of course is fluent in both languages.

            A decade later across the North Atlantic, Quebec’s Jean Lesage did likewise for the French-Canadiens.

            The choice for Malays is to emulate the Irish and Quebecois so we too could be counted to be among the developed. Curtail the influence of religion on education and social policies. Separate state from faith. That is Malaysia’s greatest challenge. Besides, as per American scholar Abdullahi An Naim, Islam thrives when it is free from the state. A faith coerced is no faith.

            The Qur’an is divine guidance to a life along the straight path. Reading the guide alone no matter how diligent or exquisite, will not do it. You have to live the message.

            “Malays are lazy,” “Melayu mudah lupa” (Malays forget easily) and other stereotypes that pass for ‘explanations’ and ‘solutions’ reflect intellectual shallowness. If indeed Malays are lazy, the next and immediate question should be, “Why?” Perhaps because they had so little to show for their efforts. American farmers are not “lazy” because they have price support for their products, the country’s commitment to capitalism notwithstanding. Beyond that they get subsidized loans and tax advantages to buy farm machinery, thus enhancing their productivity. As a parenthesis, there were no lazy Malays during the Japanese Occupation. The occupiers made sure of that!

 

            As for academic and other under-achievements, back in the 1950s economist Ungku Aziz suggested doing simple blood tests as well as measuring the heights and weights of kampung kids. Those are indicators of health. Done diligently it would provide invaluable insights that could lead to effective remedies. The late Ungku intuitively knew that their ‘laziness,’ underperformance, and lack of motivation were the consequences and not the cause of their poverty. 

 

            Half a century later the MIT husband-and-wife team of economists Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo won the Nobel Prize for their insights on underperforming poor rural African schoolchildren. The pair found that the most effective intervention was not better schools, skilled teachers, or free lunches rather . . . dispensing regular deworming pills! Those kids were not lazy or stupid; they were lethargic because there were infested with worms! My parents knew something about that as a child I used to take those pills.

 

            As a young surgeon in Malaysia in the late 1970s, a Malay socialite was upset that she was assigned to me instead of the other much older and more senior surgeons with Datuks to their names. I aggravated her disappointment when I made a fuss over her low blood count. The other doctors, she complained to my nurse, could spot her anemia a mile away. Besides, she likes it as that made her look “more white.” As for being lazy, she had maids galore.

 

            I overheard her conversation and explained that I was more into finding out why she was anemic. She could be bleeding internally or have a rare condition where her stomach could not absorb Vitamin B12, essential for blood formation. That particular malady is especially sinister, for apart from causing profound anemia it could also be associated with a virulent form of stomach cancer. That grabbed her attention.

 

            Facts by themselves are meaningless. Or as per Arthur Conan Doyle, “There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact.”

 

            ‘Obvious facts’ like “Malays are lazy” and “Not good at business” have deceived and continue to dupe many Malays including leaders like Mahathir.

 

Next:  Last of Three Parts:  Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s Manifest Destiny

Monday, February 26, 2024

A Refreshing Royal Address!

 A Refreshing Royal Address

M. Bakri Musa

February 27, 2024

 

The 17th Agung’s Inaugural Royal Address to Parliament on Monday, February 26, 2024 was a refreshing departure from the norm. In tone and style, as well as demeanor and substance, it was low-key, far from the usual embellished royal speeches. Yet there was no mistaking the gravity of his message to the nation’s leaders and lawmakers. And through them, Malaysians.

 

            First, a necessary note of caution. There are significant differences between the official transcript as posted on Parliament’s website versus the live speech. Those changes go beyond the necessary editorial changes needed to make oral presentations readable.

 

            What struck me with this Royal Address was His Majesty’s very first sentence after his obligatory and very brief traditional Islamic salutation. The uncustomary and much-welcomed brevity of his religious greetings aside, what surprised and impressed me was the ending of his very first sentence. “. . . [S]audara saudari yang Saya hormati sekalian.” (lit. Ladies and gentlemen whom I respect; fig. Respected ladies and gentlemen!)

 

            He used the uncustomary “Saya” first person pronoun, not the traditional feudal “Beta!” The capitalized “S” of “Saya” was in the official transcript but in his speech it sounded as but a simple modest “saya.” He used “saya” many more times. In tandem he referred to Members of Parliament (MPs) as plain “Saudari saudari.” In the transcript however, they are “Ahli-ahli Yang Berhormat sekalian” (Honorable Members all).

 

            There are more and very substantive differences between the speech and transcript. Third-way into his address, the Agung let go his first shot. He wants MPs to be decorous and treat each other with civility, avoiding rude language and uncouth behavior. That they have to be reminded of this elementary courtesy reveals much. Noting what had transpired in the House during the past few years, His Majesty admitted that he felt embarrassed to enter Parliament. That drew loud applause. The camera angle did not permit me to see the response from the Opposition side. 

 

            The Agung added that he had given the “Green Light” to the Speaker to suspend any uncouth MP for two weeks. Again, loud applause, and again this segment together with his preceding remarks on rude MPs were also absent from the transcript.

 

            From the MPs’ past behavior it would be appropriate to call them Monkeys of Parliament, all jockeying to reach the top branches to get the juiciest fruits, never mind how much damage they inflict on the branches and ultimately the tree.

 

            The Agung went further. Again, this critical segment was missing from the official transcript. His Majesty asked MPs to respect the current Unity Government, and added, “If MPs want to play politics, wait till the next election.” Again, great applause. I would have loved to have seen the faces of the likes of Muhyiddin Yassin, Azmin Ali, Hishamuddin Hussein, and Hamzah Zainuddin at that very moment. These are characters associated with the Sheraton and Dubai Moves infamy. As for the other leading culprit, Leader of the Opposition Islamic Party PAS, Hadi Awang, he was absent from Parliament.

 

            Towards the end of the address His Majesty urged the Anti Corruption Commission to be more aggressive in pursuing the corrupt, and for the court system to expedite its processes. Yes, this portion of the speech too was missing from the transcript.

 

            Seeing His Majesty reading his speech, the parts that were missing in the transcripts did not appear to have been adlibbed. He was diligently reading the document in front of him.

 

            I had intimations earlier that Sultan Ibrahim is cut from a very different cloth literally and figuratively. He came in not dressed in the traditional Malay sultan attire of embroidered songket and samping complete with a towering tanjak. Instead he opted for the ceremonial white military garb complete with a green beret. His was a commanding officer moving his quarters to the front of the war zone, not in the comfort of the protected rear.

 

            In tone and content this Agung means business. He is precisely the King Malaysia needs today. Perhaps being in Johore and seeing how they do it so crisp and well across the causeway, Sultan Ibrahim is intolerant of what his fellow citizens had endured for the past generation or two. He wants change, radical and now. May he have great success, for with that, the success of Malaysia.

 

            As for the significant discrepancy between the official transcript and the actual Royal Speech, that is emblematic of the vast gulf between reality and what the government’s documents report.