Teach us to fish, dont give us the fish
July 29, 2011
http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com
Teach us to fish, dont give us the fish
Written by Maclean Patrick, Malaysia Chronicle (July 28, 2011)
In an interview with Malaysia Chronicle, Malott had explained what he meant by US leadership and stressed that US concerns did not lie in who formed the government of Malaysia but about the continuation of and support for democracy in the Southeast Asian nation.
I called for US leadership. By that I mean, we need to be more visible and vocal in expressing our concerns about developments in Malaysia. We need to be more supportive moral support and encouragement of those members of civil society in Malaysia who want Malaysia to become a true democracy and have the same freedom that we and others have. We should support the call for electoral reform. It is not up to America who forms the government in Malaysia. But we should be concerned whether the playing field is level, Malott had said.
Help civil society, pressure the Najib Administration
Yes, the US should not take it upon themselves to be the mastermind of change in Malaysia, but rather stand by the Malaysian people in supporting the drive for reform and a better Malaysia. Teach us to fish, dont give us the fish.
Help the civil movement in Malaysia by bein! g the pa rtner that highlights our plight on the international scene. And continue to exert pressure on the current administration to push for reforms in every aspect of government.
Pressure on the Najib administration has been stiff in the aftermath of the high-handed tactics 
Yet, despite the scare-mongering, everyday Malaysians still turned out in droves to support a cause they believe in. 50,000 people did not get it wrong when they sent a message that reforms are needed to clean up the elections process in Malaysia. And though the Najib administration and the Election Commission continue to deny the truth, Malaysians know better and the time for change has come.
I dont believe that the situation is near the boiling point. Malaysians dont boil. They are a very patient people. That is why July 9 was such a remarkable event. The temperature went up, but it is nowhere near the boiling point. But if people dont follow through if the leaders of civil society, the opposition and others dont follow through, the temperature will go down. If the government carves out more space for those who dont agree with them, they also could lower the temperature, said Malott.
Greatest Resistance to come from UMNO
Mr Malott is right in his assessment here. Malaysias civil societies need to keep the pressure on. The follow-through has to be strong and decisive. It still remains the prerogative of the everyday Malaysian to engineer and strive for democratic reforms in Malaysia.
However, there is bound to be resistance against Mr Malotts call for mo! re atten tion from the US administration firstly from Barisan Nasional and specifically from UMNO.
Indeed, the greatest resistance would come from the present day government that is not afraid to place the blame on its people first than its own poor administration.
The detention of opposition leaders in the 1987 Ops Lalang accomplished more than just arresting vocal and critical politicians under ISA. The incident provided Mahathirs government with the excuse to further tighten the executive branch of the governments stranglehold on politics. In the following year, the Printing Presses and Publications Act was amended so that it would be more difficult for printers and publishers to retain printing licenses eliminating the renewal process. They would have to annually re-apply. In addition if any license is revoked, it could not be challenged in court. A prison term was added for publication of false news, jail sentence for up to three years.
Amendments were also made to the Police Act making it practically impossible to hold any political meeting, including a partys annual general meeting, without a police permit. A conviction could mean a fine of RM10,000 and a jail term of one year. Even an assembly of more than five people in a public area is considered an illegal assembly and could not be held without a police permit. This law was inten! tionally made to be so restrictive in order to give the police arbitrary rights to detain any group in public by citing it is an illegal assembly.
Awakened Generation
Such restrictions on civil liberties contravene the rights of the citizens as stated in the Federal
Against this backdrop, Bersih has awakened a generation that has long been conditioned to believe that they cannot make a difference. It is an intelligent generation that sees beyond the smokescreen and intimidation tactics of the establishment, and realises their true potential as Malaysians.
The actions of the government, before and after July 9, backfired against them. Matthias Chang wrote that they acted with sheer stupidity. The Government still has a chance to turn this around, but that would require them to give more political space to those who dont agree with them, and to make sure that the people get to enjoy the rights that the constitution guarantees them. Will they? I have my doubts. This is a government even though they have spent millions on PR firms and management consultants that keeps shooting itself in the foot. The deportation of the French lawyer is only the latest example. Now, for the first time, all the juicy details of that scandal including the model who was murdered by the PMs bodyguards have appeared in the Washington Post. It just adds to the confusion among people here what kind of a country is Malaysia, anyhow? And is Najib really the person that he has portrayed himself to be? Malott added.
Interview with Ambassador John. Malott:
The US and Malaysias Political Awakening
Malaysia Chronicle appends below the unedited full-text of the interview with John R. Malott, 
Chronicle: In your article, you mentioned that the Malaysian people showed they would no longer be intimidated by their government. Given the severity of the pre-rally crackdown and the Police scare-mongering and yet tens of thousands defied the ban, would you say this feeling of defiance so to speak is deep-seated, has been growing and is reaching boiling point? And why?
Malott: I think that this discontent has been growing for sometime. But the heavy hand of the government in the days leading up to the July 9 rally, and their strange statements and actions like saying that Bersih was trying to overthrow the government and banning the color yellow caused many more Malaysians to wake up and pay attention.
Chronicle: If you agree that the feelings of discontent or unhappiness so to! speak a re deep-seated, does this imply that the political or living conditions in Malaysia have been and are repressive and do not encourage the truth to be openly raised or discussed. And why?
Malott: I dont know how deep-seated or widespread these feelings are in Malaysia. Thats why I wrote in my analysis that the question for the future is whether the momentum can be sustained. Will an increasing number of Malaysians wake up and understand the status of democracy and political freedom in their country, or will it go back to business as usual, where it is just activists in civil society and the opposition who are vocal. As I said, the actions of the government, before and after July 9, backfired against them.
Matthias Chang wrote that they acted with sheer stupidity. The Government still has a chance to turn this around, but that would require them to give more political space to those who dont agree with them, and to make sure that the people get to enjoy the rights that the constitution guarantees them. Will they? I have my doubts. This is a government even though they have spent millions on PR firms and management consultants that keeps shooting itself in the foot.
Chronicle: If you agree that the defiance so to speak is not an overnight or sudden swell-up but has been building up through the years, does this imply the p! olicies both social and economic adopted by the BN federal government have not been appropriate, in the sense that they did not treat the wants and needs of the people? And why?
Malott: When I was Ambassador, we always believed that as long as the economy was booming, a lot of the underlying racial and social tensions could be contained. Plus people were willing to grant Mahathir the right to wield his political iron hand in exchange for the economic benefits that the country was getting. Despite the occasional scandals and the cronyism, the Malaysian man in the street thought that he had benefited greatly from Malaysias growth, and he was right. But now for over a decade the economy has slowed, and investment is down. Many college grads are unemployed. And the Government has removed subsidies on everyday items. So I think the man in the street the Malaysian middle class, the people who live in the cities dont have the same feeling they had before. They dont see the same level of economic progress for themselves. They dont see the government delivering on all the promises it has made. Meanwhile, they read about diamond rings and fancy yachts and $27 million condos in New York. It seems like it is business as usual at the top. One of the articles in your website today (Sunday) said something like Malaysia is now being run not for the benefit of the people or even the Malays. It is being run for the benefit of the UMNO elite.
Chronicle: Do you think these feelings of resentment so to speak are anywhere near boling point, close to boiling point or have already boiled over and what are the implications for the ruling BN coalition, the opposition, long-term investors and the people? And why? For example, is this a wake-up call for the BN, opportunity knocking at the door for the Pakatan, a stay-away call for investors? As for the people, do you foresee the start of a new trend for peaceful assemblies, protests ala Thailand? Or in your words ! a politi cal awakening but in what shape and form will this likely take?
Malott: I dont believe that the situation is near the boiling point. Malaysians dont boil. They are a very patient people. That is why July 9 was such a remarkable event. The temperature went up, but it is nowhere near the boiling point. But if people dont follow through if the leaders of civil society, the opposition and others dont follow through, the temperature will go down. If the government carves out more space for those who dont agree with them, they also could lower the temperature.
On foreign investment, I think that foreign businessmen are smart. They will not be scared away from Malaysia because of one demonstration. What concerns them most is corruption, the lack of transparency in awarding government contracts, the ease and cost of doing business in Malaysia compared to other locations, whether Malaysias market is growing fast, its competitiveness, the independence of its courts, the availability of skilled employees, and so on. It is those kinds of practical questions that mean the most to them. As the statistics show, over the last decade or so, Malaysias share of all the foreign investment coming into ASEAN has been declining. From the point of view of a foreign investor, they have many choices. There are many countries they can invest in. So the question for the Malaysian government is, what do we need to do to increase our attractiveness to foreign investors, compared to our neighbors?
Chronicle: You quoted another expert who used the term most fluid and dangerous to 
You also mentioned in your article, the Economist Intelligence Unit says Malaysia is a flawed democracy. If this is so, then if in the swing towards a full democracy, Malaysia collapses into a police regime to many who have been following the situation closely, this would not be surprising or be an unlikly possibility at all. But for those who still see the country as per its postcards of sunny skies and ideal racial harmony, this would come as a rude shock. Do you agree and what sort of odds would you give to the worst scenario happening? And why? What other scenarios do you seen? And why?
Malott: Clive Kessler, who knows infinitely more about Malaysia than I do, wrote an analysis recently (which you had on your website) in which he raised the prospect that rather than lose an election, UMNO would declare an emergency and not hold elections. As a former State Department official, I dont want to comment on Wikileaks. But when I read the latest leaked cable, in which our Embassy said three years ago, in effect, that UMNO would do whatever it takes to remain in power, including subverting the institutions of state power to its own purposes, including the police and the courts. Malaysia has seen Operasi Lalang, it has seen the Sedition Act and ISA used liberally, and more recently it has seen denial of service attacks on the alternative media to keep people from reading what the Government doesnt want them to know. I hope it doesnt come to that. I am not Clive Ke! ssler, a nd I dont want to make a prediction. But I would not rule out the possibility that something like that might happen. What is the probability of it happening? I dont know. But if it does happen, then as you said, it will come as a great shock to everyone who has been holding a very different image of Malaysia. That is why I wrote my piece. I think the American people need to wake up and understand what is happening in Malaysia today, and to express our concern.
Chronicle: From your article, it looks like the United States is still in the postcards-and-sunny-skies group? Is this view still very entrenched or have there been significant shifts of late? Given the very sizeable investments the US has in Malaysia, should not American foreign policy makers make better efforts to assess the situation? Should they not take some action or send stronger signals to help keep democracy alive in Malaysia? In other words, has not the time come to take sides? What are the things that US bodies could do?
Malott: I think to the extent American think or know about Malaysia, most of them are still in the picture postcard stage of awareness. So that is why I sent my wake-up call. Lets see what happens. Some of us all friends of Malaysia will continue to do everything we can to keep up awareness. Amnesty International said America should not be a spectator, and I agree. I called for US leadership. By that I mean, we need to be more visible and vocal in expressing our concerns about developments in Malaysia. We need to be more supportive moral support and encouragement of those members of civil society in Malaysia who want Malaysia to become a true democracy and have the same freedom that we and others have. We should support the call for electoral reform. It is not up to America who forms the government in Malaysia. But we should be concerned whether the playing field is level, and whether all the parties have an equal chance to access the media, and ! so on. R TM and Bernama belong to all the people of Malaysia, not to UMNO. They are paid for by all the people of Malaysia, not just those who voted for UMNO. Bersihs demands all seemed quite reasonable to me. When Najib arrived home from Rome the other day, he held an airport press conference and said that Malaysias elections already are free and fair, and that UMNO has never cheated in an election. Does he really believe that? That is not what all the independent academic studies have to say. And then he went out to meet the people, and according to an article in Malaysiakini, he proceeded to pass out white envelopes with 200 ringgit inside to the people who were there.
Chronicle: Cleaning the Malaysian electoral system and making sure it reflects accurately the wishes the majority seems to be the best way or one the best ways to ensure human rights, cvil liberties and democratic practises prevail. Do you agree and how can the US help to promote such a practise in Malaysia given that the existing BN federal government is insistent that nothing is wrong and is likely to resist efforts to revamp?
Malott: I read that the European Union Office in KL is going to recommend that the EU send observer missions to the next election. That is good. That is leadership. I think that some of our organizations the National Democratic Institute, the International Republic Institute, the Carter Center should prepare to do the same. The Vice Chair of the Elections Commission said that foreigners would never understand Malaysias election laws. That was an offensive statement. And it also was strange, since his boss the EC chairman was at that very moment in Bangkok, monitoring the Thai elections.
I am sure that the Government will resist this. But we should not give in. They can resist, and we should insist.
Chronicle: Do you see any similarity between what is happening in Malaysia and the so-called Arab Spring?
Malott: Well, Malaysia is certainly not Libya or Syria or Yemen. Najib is not a Qaddafi. But still, I was surprised to see that Najib is still saying that the Bersih movement is a veiled attempt to topple his administration through street demonstrations, like those that are now claiming Middle Eastern despots. He said, Its not so much about electoral reform. They want to show us as though were like the Arab Spring governments in the Middle East.
Well, if that is Bersihs goal, then why did Najib act like an Arab Spring government? Its only a question of degree. The Malaysian police did not use lethal force! , but th e mentality is the same. Suppress whoever disagrees with you. Maybe you dont use tanks, but you use water cannon. Its not bullets, its tear gas. But the authoritarian mindset is exactly the same as the leaders of the Arab Spring governments. Just because you use non-lethal force doesnt mean its OK. ENDS
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