Thesun 2009-06-23 Page14 Of Mentors And Lecturers

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Of mentors and lecturers » Scene: Dome, KLCC CHONG: So Lee Kuan Yew is back in Singapore after that high profile eight-day visit to see how we are surviving up here. Wish I was a journalist like Azman. Zain: Careful what you wish for. Chong: Just for the chance to meet old Harry Lee. Azman and a few other journalists were invited to meet the Singapore mentor minister when he arrived here about a fortnight ago. Mohan: Wow! What a privilege! So, Azman, you met the founding father of independent Singapore. He must be quite old by now. Azman: He is about three months shy of 86. He may look frail and speaks slowly and softly but his mind is as razor sharp as ever. And he looks like he is still in command. Maybe he hasn’t actually relinquished control since he took over the reins of power in 1959, became prime minister of independent Singapore in 1965 and even after he stepped down in 1990. Instead, he remained in the cabinet first as senior minister and then as mentor minister. A remarkable fellow I must say. Mohan: As remarkable as our Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Azman? Azman: Both of them are remarkable. Kuan Yew is mentoring Singapore and his son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, and others who will rule Singapore after he is gone. Mohan: And Mahathir? Azman: Well, as you can see he – he is about three years younger than Kuan Yew – is not mentoring anyone. But he is advising. And he also lectures. Chong: And sometimes he scolds. Zain: I agree with you Azman, both are remarkable people. Kuan Yew developed an old colonial outpost into a thriving first world city state. And you can say that much of the Malaysia you see today is Mahathir’s doing. The country is on the threshold of being a developed nation. Zain: But they did it their way. Mohan: Yes, Cikgu. But not universally popular ways. Many people have a lot of things to say about their ways. Wonder if Kuan Yew too sings Mahathir’s favourite song My Way. Chong: Some people – I am not one of them – say why bother about the means as long as you get there. Some people wonder whether they did actually compare notes on how to do what they did. Mohan: I am told that they have many things in common. For instance Kuan Yew agrees with many of the things Mahathir said in his book The Malay Dilemma.

| TUESDAY JUNE 23 2009

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Not by the law alone WhatTheySay by Zainon Ahmad

Zain: Well, one thing I know for sure. Sure because I was told so by some reliable friends close to the two octogenarians. They used to meet and discuss things – civilly of course. Some say they chatted while some say they “sparred”. For instance, when Kuan Yew was in Beijing for a seminar or something and heard that Mahathir was in town, he would find time to call on him. Same with Mahathir. Chong: Probably, they won’t do that anymore. When Kuan Yew was here recently Mahathir told the media that he was not going to meet the Singapore leader. He probably surprised and disappointed his old “sparring partner”. Not that they are friends. The animosity they have towards each other is legendary. And it hasn’t decreased even as they age. Mohan: But what many people are wondering about is why the sudden chill. Why the name calling. If you remember Mahathir called the visitor “little emperor from a tiny middle kingdom”. Maybe he knows something about Kuan Yew that we don’t know about. For sure he is still angry with Singapore for refusing to pay more than 3 sen a 1,000-gallon of raw Johor water. Even Malacca is paying 30 sen. Azman: Maybe because of that he isn’t pleased that his enemy is getting a lot of attention and facilities to visit some sultans and mentris besar and a chief minister. Maybe that’s why he said he would not meet Kuan Yew as he is “a nobody”. Chong: But, really, why was Kuan Yew here. For an old man he had a punishing schedule in Negri Sembilan, Perak, Penang, Kelantan and Selangor. Cikgu? Zain: Not too difficult to guess. You all know that in Singapore he is regarded as Father of the Nation. As a father, and like all fathers, he must ensure the future well-being of his children. With the BN and Umno dominant Singapore leaders feel secure even though they take pot shots at each other sometimes. They didn’t have to worry about the opposition parties. What worries them now is that BN and Umno are no longer dominant. So they have no choice now but to wink at others. Make new acquaintances. Chong: I think you are right. Maybe the Singaporeans, like the rest of us, did not quite expect the results of March 8 last year to be like that. To them a secure and stable Malaysia is good for them. Mohan: Maybe that’s why Mahathir said that Kuan Yew was here to lecture Malaysian leaders on how to do their thing. Chong: What a strange thing to say? Zain: Did he lecture you and your friends, Azman?

I REFER to “Set up task force to address human trafficking issues” (June 19) and agree that “active implementation of the anti-trafficking law” would help give the country a good image. The law alone, however, no matter how strict and well-enforced cannot make people do the right thing. In the case of human rights, the common law alone is bound to fail in giving the desired results. One reason for this is that observing human rights, and that is being kind, just and helpful to others, is much more a matter of understanding than following rules. It is possible to read, study and memorise the rules of the law from a book, but understanding is from within the individual and cannot be controlled by humans. Religious people believe that understanding is the true application of knowledge and that it is given by God. Although all the communities of Malaysia formally have their religion to fall back to, there is plenty of evidence that they have forgotten the tenets of their religion and are therefore unable to abide by them. Because the things one does for God and his religion often have delayed or unseen gratification, many people prefer to work for that which offers immediate result and pay. For the Muslims, God says that “whomsoever forgets Him, He also will forget them.” It follows that if God forgets a people, the people whom He has forgotten will not have true understanding. A lack of understanding will in turn cause them to make the wrong decisions and opt for wrong choices which will ultimately be their downfall. The pettiness of many issues Malaysians struggle with at present shows their lack of religious knowledge and subsequent lack of understanding. There is an indication that people place more importance in the reward given by man than in that given by God. The issue of the foreign maids is typical.

When a weekly day off was proposed for the maids, the concern of most employers was that the maids would go out and make undesirable acquaintances, or get into trouble. It seems surreal that these employers would trust the maid with their own flesh and blood, ie their children, but they would not trust her to behave in a responsible manner during her day off. The swelling number of foreign workers who are enticed to come here because they are willing to accept a lower pay than the locals, is testimony of the small value Malaysians place on work in spite of the fact that it is only through work that concrete results are obtained. The very fact that the home minister’s call for stricter enforcement of the human anti-trafficking law was prompted by utilitarian concerns rather than piety for the unspeakable suffering of those who fall prey to the human trade, is a demonstration of how little Malaysians have come to care for God and His creatures. The victims are taken from their homes and their families, loaded one on the top of the other on lorries and ferries in a fashion not even suitable for animals, and given little or no food for days, taken to a foreign country where they are then treated like slaves and made to work without rights and without pay. There is no doubt then that the average Malaysian lacks understanding. He pays no heed to his heart and even fails to observe the basic obligation of piety every human being must have towards another. Malaysia has become a house where everyone stomps their feet to get what they want, and the one who stomps the loudest gets what he wants. The issue of human trafficking can only be resolved by a return to religion. It is said that God doesn’t punish a people for wrong belief, but he punishes them for wrong behaviour. Marisa Demori Ipoh

Refugees want to move on ON the occasion of World Refugee Day on June 20, we wish to make the following statement. We are Iraqi Palestinians who have lived in Iraq since 1948. We lived in Iraq and went through thick and thin and shared everything with the Iraqi people, but after the invasion of Iraq by the coalition forces, our situation changed completely. We were arrested, kidnapped, tortured and imprisoned. Some just disappeared. Because of that, we decided to leave Iraq with our families and travel to Malaysia to register with UNHCR as refugees in the hope to find safety. Contrary to our expectations, we were surprised that UNHCR in Malaysia could not give us anything, not even safety. We can be detained at any time because our refugee status is not recognised in Malaysia. This happened to some of us last March and UNHCR was not able to help us. Those detained were released with the help of the Palestinian Embassy.

Furthermore, the UNHCR does not give us financial support. As we are not allowed to work, how are we to support our families? In our present insecure situation, there is not much difference to the situation we had to face in Iraq after the war; we are subject to arrest in both places. Our children are also not allowed to attend school. The UNHCR must quickly process our applications to be resettled in third countries. Some of us have been here for more than two years and are still waiting for our registration card. There are also Palestinians here from the Gaza Strip and United Arab Emirates. They face the same problems. Some of them are disabled and cannot earn a living. We need a future. Please give it to us. Group of Iraqi Palestinians Kuala Lumpur