01/08: Raja Nazrin: Allow only honest officials to serve nation

People without integrity, honesty and morality should be prevented from holding public office.

The Raja Muda of Perak Raja Dr Nazrin Shah said the fight against corruption should see good governance with figures in authority being qualified for such positions.

He said the corrupt should be held in contempt by society.

"Those with a chequered past or clear evidence of questionable morality should be prevented from taking office.

"There should be zero tolerance for corrupt practices," he said in his lecture entitled "Towards a Decent Social Order for All Malaysians" at the Islamic Arts Museum yesterday.

The lecture centred on the works of the late Prof Datuk Dr Syed Hussein Alatas, with special focus on three themes that he felt most compelled to write about.

These were religion as a positive force in development, mental liberation from colonial and western patterns of thinking, and creating conditions for good governance, particularly the eradication of corruption.

Raja Nazrin said Syed Hussein had fought tirelessly to elevate integrity and justice in society and to correct social ills, of which the battle against corruption was his top priority.

"Values and principles based on integrity and social justice, as enunciated by Syed Hussein, are crucial as mental attitudes and values are what shape a nation’s development.

"There must also be concrete anti-corruption measures and management practices based on efficiency, transparency and accountability.

"Syed Hussein also placed great store on the power of public outrage. He believed that if you awakened society’s consciousness to the ills of corruption and gave such cases widespread publicity, it would generate an adverse reaction that would force the government to take action."

Raja Nazrin outlined five traits needed for a decent social order which would produce social norms and behaviour that were fundamentally efficient, productive and just. They were:

• A social order that led to cohesion within and among communities and called for horizontal equity whereby all Malaysians in equal circumstances were treated in exactly the same way;

• Malaysians of all races and religions engaging one another with absolute civility and respect;

• Malaysians feeling a deep-seated sense of ownership over the problems of the country and being motivated to take decisive action and make whatever sacrifices necessary for the good of the country;

• Only Malaysians who were capable, hard working, bold and scrupulously honest being allowed to serve in positions of responsibility; and,

• The public having a high degree of trust in the pillars of state, the executive, judiciary and legislature, as well as the civil service and police.

"In short, a decent Malaysian social order would be one that is based on inclusiveness and accommodation as opposed to marginalisation and discrimination.

"Indeed, if Malaysia professes to be an advanced country, it had better be prepared to meet a higher standard of behaviour and morality. Anything less and it runs the risk of being declared a shameless sham," Raja Nazrin said.

The lecture was part of the Albukhary Lecture Series organised by the Albukhary Foundation and was attended by over 300 people.

The Raja Puan Besar of Perak Tuanku Zara Salim and Syed Hussein’s wife Datin Zahara Alatas were also present.

Syed Hussein’s son Assoc Prof Syed Farid Alatas read a citation on his late father’s works prior to the lecture.

Comment:

Your Highness,

If the incorrigibly corrupt UMNOputras and their cronies are banned from walking through the Corridors of Power, then Malaysia will indeed be on the path to being an advanced country.That is the only way towards a better and progressive Malaysia and a TRUE multi-racial people living in harmony. The rest of the world could learn from us.

You are indeed a man of wisdom Sir.

Can anyone dare doubt the TRUTH in Raja Nazrin's speech?

HRH is a very highly educated man and has had enough of seeing this country with its multi-racial people unhappy with the way the RACIST regime is running the country.

• These people in the regime are the ones who are inciting racial hatred.

• Waving a keris and threats of a bloodbath are just a couple of examples.

• Demeaning women by MPs is another despicable act.

• Calling this country an Islamic state is yet another act of challenging the Malaysian Constitution.

• Not putting these racists in their places again is another example of aiding and abetting such racists.

• Instead of snoozing this person should have put an end to all these atrocities. Now he and his cronies have achieved their objective - to spread ill-will and plant racial hatred among the races.

• Having his SIL to run the country shows his incompetence.

The kampong Malays are being made to look like idiots by this UMNOputras. I cannot blame them as the mainstream media is their only source of information.

To quote HRH Raja Nazrin:

Malaysia needs a future generation of leaders with unquestionable integrity. Only those who are capable, responsible and scrupulously honest should be allowed to serve in positions of leadership. Those who are inefficient, incompetent and, most importantly, corrupt, should be held in absolute contempt.

Comment:

I am personally trying to get these pragmatic words onto a car sticker and place it where all can see and read and .... digest.

To refute me, in my opinion, tantamounts to opposing HRH Raja Nazrin’s wisdom and foresight for a truly multi-racial Malaysia.

What HRH said is a benchmark for all and should be pasted in ALL government offices, the first place being Putra Jaya.

On behalf of the people of Malaysia, THANK YOU YRH RAJA NAZRIN SIR.

THANK YOU RPK SIR. You have I believe you exposed all these inefficient, incompetent and above all, corrupt and racist leaders.

Finally, a MAN of CALIBRE has publicly voiced the the peoples' thoughts which all of us so badly needed to hear and now see some light after hearing and reading what HRH Raja Nazrin had to say, much to the chagrin of some above-the-law defiant ones who walk tall through the Corridors of Power.

These people and their kampong cronies in who act as morons and thugs in Parliament should take heed to this undoubtedly inspiring speech par excellence.

To these ethnocentric and autocratic Musuh-Linis - read and digest this sublime speech.

Brothers and sisters of all races, we are Malaysians and we support HRH Raja Nazrin and YM RPK.

HRH Raja Nazrin and YM RPK are our last bastions of JUSTICE for all.

When Did Bloggers Get So Powerful?

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

A few years ago, the TV programme that Lina Tan and I co-produce, 3R-Respect,relax and Respond, had one episode banned from being broadcast by the Censor Board. That particular episode was about young women who were being discriminated on the basis of sexual orientation. It wasn't so much the fact that we were talking about lesbians that got the censors' knickers in a twist but that in interviews with two women, they both mentioned that their families continued to give them love and support. Apparently, telling the world that families continue to love their children or siblings despite them being gay was a truly radical notion, one which, in the words of our wise scissor-happy people, 'would bring down society'.

My colleagues at 3R and I were truly astounded by this. For one thing, nobody who had seen the episode could find much that was controversial. Secondly, the idea that families should discard their own kin seemed to go completely against the whole family-values thing. And thirdly, we never knew that a 30-minute TV programme for young women could have so much power that it could actually bring down the whole of Malaysian society. Perhaps I should thank the Censor Board for bestowing on us that power!

The furore over bloggers these days reminded me very much of that 3R incident. So much noise and angst over three or four blogs, albeit hugely popular ones. On the one hand, blogs are supposed to be 'not that popular' read only by the urban elite while the rural masses are completely oblivious to it. What's more, all they do is,apparently, lie. So if they are a bunch of liars who are only read by a small number of people sipping vanilla lattes, why worry?

But worry they do, to the extent of making police reports and calling for all sorts of bolts of legal lightning to be rained down on their heads, accusing them of 'cyber' crimes. And what are these ? Saying nasty things about people. Giving the country a bad image. Tut-tutting the government and its leaders. Gee whiz, these are the sorts of things that bring down our society? Give me a break!

I never knew that a handful of bloggers could be so powerful. So okay, they are writing about people in positions of authority, such as cops, doing things they shouldn't, like take money for um...services rendered. Or, they are reminding people who read blogs that there are a heck of a lot of pots in Parliament calling kettles black. Some are just reporting on the truly imbecilic things that our allegedly esteemed leaders insist on saying. Some of these, especially the idiocies, are in the mainstream media anyway. While others are noticeably absent, or are, shall we say, spun in such a way that they sound better than they are.

But just because some bloggers talk about these, life the Malaysian way will go down the tubes? Such faith we have in ourselves! If this was true, Raja Petra would be the most powerful man in Malaysia.

Unless of course, among those alleged 'lies', there is the tiniest grain of truth. And when people are feeling guilty, not even such tiny grains can be allowed to come out. Siapa makan cili and all that. So let's bring the mother of all hammers down on that tiny grain because otherwise, oh lor', it might just grow!

I don't have to reiterate it here but if we do have to worry about our image in the eyes of the world, it is the politicians we should be pointing accusing fingers at. Idiots like Bung Mokhtar and his 'bocor' remarks, Badaruddin Whatshisface and Jo B, both unfortunately from my home state, Zam, our Minister of Propaganda and of course , our 'favourite' nazi Nazri. Yes it's all politics but does politics have to be so stupid? (Did anyone see the US Democratic Presidential candidate debate the other night? Can you imagine any of our lunkheads doing that?)

And this is the thing...how did we get to a point when we are embarassed by our own leaders, when we feel ashamed to own up to them? Can we even name one of them that we even admire these days? Even if we don't agree with them but we can still admire them for their principles at least? What examples do they set for our children, for God's sake? Is it any wonder that in that survey not too long ago, our politicians came out last when people were asked who they trusted? Who in their right minds would trust Nazri?

(Lest anyone think I only consider Government politicians untrustworthy, let me state that I wouldn't lend money to any of the rest either.)

And we wonder why our young are disinterested in politics? Who can blame them? Rockstars and actors sound far more intelligent than our politicians any time. I'd rather tune in to Bono than Bung , no contest.

Maybe that's it. They know they have nothing to offer. They know they're skating on thin ice in the brain stakes. They know we can see through them. They don't mind us thinking it but they sure as hell would rather we didn't say it. Or worse still, say it and then give a cynical laugh. They think we're making them look like idiots, without once thinking that they're doing a pretty good job of it themselves. That's what they find unforgiveable.

Hey you know, if any little thing I say makes Nazri foam at the mouth and gives him ulcers, well I don't mind that. If Zam's eyes pop out every time I call him out on any of his nonsense, that would give me a real kick. I could really get off on making any of these guys (and the occasional girl) burst a vessel or two.In fact, I might start thinking I do have some power after all.

Posted by MarinaM at 11:39 PM

Comment:

Hi there Marina,

Really good to see your post in here. I saw your post and gave my comments in your blog but I personally think that this is an excellent article ( you have many just as good ones ) and I shall post my comments here again.

Thank you Marina and keep up the good work. I have utmost respect for you, your blog, your articles and what you stand up for. Unfortunately, many have yet to understand and appreciate YOU. I know I do.

Here's my comment:

Dear Marina,

An excellent article.

Yes, pea-brained racist MPs like that 'bocor' moron has a 'bocor' in his head when he passed that disgusting racist remark. I have commented at length about this in M-T. What can you expect from wild monkey who has escaped from a cage? And these are the ignoramuses that sit in Parliament. These are the ones who indulge in lurid behavior and put on a mask when they get home.

As for your 3R, did you really think it was going to be aired? There are male chauvinist who would never air such programs simply because they believe it’s a ‘Man’s world’ but let’s look beyond that, they are basically insecure.

Rural folks are certainly oblivious to sites like yours and M-T. The ruling party will ensure that it stays that way. If the rural folks have access to M-T they know that all hell might break loose. I personally know of many rural folks who actually believe that they are being helped. Can you blame them? Years of propaganda, brainwashing, indoctrination, call it what you like, has seeped into their innocent heads and they now believe that the pittance they get is a huge bonus.

Raja Petra is indeed the most powerful man in this country – the idiots without realizing it have made him so. And I might add, rightly so.

You said:
And we wonder why our young are disinterested in politics? Who can blame them? Rockstars and actors sound far more intelligent than our politicians any time. I'd rather tune in to Bono than Bung , no contest.

I say:
Absolutely!

Look at that ex-Menteri Besar with two Muhamads in his name. He is nothing but a corrupt liar and worse, a stooge. Educated in MU ( UM) but pleads that he is illiterate in the English language! I detest such low life reprobates like him. People like him and those two hole-in-the-head duo should be personae non gratae not just in this country but in every society. They have absolutely nothing to contribute but what’s in their head and that is precisely what they proudly blurted out in Parliament.

Marina, you too have a lot of clout as what you say and do is respected by a whole lot of people.
Btw, I like that pic of the three stooges.

Cheers.