Farish Noor: What is Abdullah Ahmad Badawi doing with extremism in UMNO?

A Racist Start to Ramadhan

By Farish A. Noor

It is not often that I sermonise in my articles, and it has been a month since the OtherMalaysia.org research project was brought to a close. Yet despite everything the tone and tenor of Malaysia's convoluted politics and the country's slide into decline forces us to take stock of how far Malaysia has travelled over the past 50 years of its independence, or hasn't.

With the feeble administration of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi teetering on the verge of implosion and collapse, Malaysians are preparing themselves for the worst to come. Since 2004 Malaysia has in fact been running on autopilot, a point made clear to me by a European diplomat who once asked me "Is anyone running this country and does Badawi even know what is going on?" Coccooned from the realities of a society that has experienced large scale and even traumatic changes, the Badawi government proved itself to be totally dislocated and clueless over what was happening.

In time, historians like myself will have to take up our pens and write the political obituary of Prime Minister Badawi. The portrait will not be a pretty one: While this 'man of the people' was surrounded by a closed circle of relatives and family friends who were his confidants, Badawi seemed totally oblivious to the fate of millions of ordinary Malaysians who had to endure five years of his lacklustre non-leadership. Badawi claimed to be the 'Prime Minister of all Malaysians', but showed scant concern for the plight of dozens of Hindu temples that were being demolished in the country. And when Malaysia's Hindu community begged and pleaded for his intervention to save their cherished places of worship, this 'leader of all Malaysians' chose to look the other way and was cowed into submission by the more vocal, communitarian and sectarian bigots of his own right-wing ethno-nationalist party.

Time and again Badawi could and should have done the right thing, to control the extremists in the ranks of his own party. But he chose instead to let them play to the gallery to shore up his own flaccid personality and lagging popularity. On two occassions - at his UMNO party's general assembly - the leader of the Youth Wing of UMNO brandished a weapon in public (Keris-muddin) while professing that the Malays were the community that deserved a special position and privileges in Malaysia. Such hot-headed right-wing rantings are befit for a demagogue of a fascist party, but once again Badawi did nothing to curb the excesses of the extremists of his own party UMNO.

The most recent outrage came when yet another UMNO leader (small-time party warlord)- Ahmad Ismail - caused a ruckus in the state of Penang when he and his followers openly threatened and insulted Malaysians of non-Malay origin at a press conference. In a statement calculated to inflame tempers, the UMNO members called on the Malays to unite and warned the Malaysian Chinese community not to behave like American Jews. A photo of a Malaysian Chinese politician was torn and tempers flared as expected.

Again the Malaysian public is asking: What is Badawi going to do?

For decades Malaysians of all walks of life have had to live by the propaganda of the UMNO party and the coalition it has led. Malaysians have been warned about the dangers of communism, socialism, class-based workers and student movements; and even taught to fear a free and independent media. Yet the vile and poisonous racist outbursts that have emanated and echoed across the corridors of power in the country have by and large come from UMNO and its band of vociferous sabre-rattling leaders, whose only recourse to an intelligent argument has been vile racist remarks, sexist jokes and abuse.

How many times must Malaysians have to tolerate this party whose leaders and members remain the most brazen and vocally racist in the country? And how much longer do Malaysians have to wait before the present Prime Minister, whose impotence and inability to act and speak decisively has been one of the root causes of Malaysia's social fragmentation?

It is doubly ironic that Ahmad Ismail's racist remarks came just as the fasting month of Ramadhan was beginning. This, being a holy month where patience and forebearance are lauded above all, made the timing of his press conference and abusive remarks all the more pointed and bitter. At the rate things are going in Malaysia - and Malaysia's Central Bank has reported a capital flight of 1.1 Billion US dollars in August alone - the fall of Badawi and the UMNO-led government may come sooner than later. Historians will no doubt have ample time to write and ruminate about the manifold failings of Badawi, but his fall will serve as a benchmark in the country's history as it signifies the moment when Malaysians have had enough of the most ineffective governance the country has had for five decades, and were willing to accept anything else instead, whatever the cost.

Ahmad Ismail's ancestors migrated from India?

Some interesting views from a constitutionally-defined Malay that I came across in the blogsphere.

Antara penumpang dan pendatang

By Syed Imran

Pada mulanya saya agak keberatan nak ulas kekecohan yang berpunca ekoran daripada kenyataan ketua UMNO bahagian Bukit Bendera, Pulau Pinang bernama Ahmad bin Ismail. Sama ada benar atau tidak apa yang didakwa dikatakan olehnya mengenai rakyat Malaysia keturunan Cina bukan persoalannya kerana isu tersebut sudahpun merebak dan mengapi-apikan keadaan.

Jika tidak ditangani dengan cermat, teliti dan bijak, isu itu boleh ditangguk dalam air yang keruh oleh anasir-anasir yang ingin melihat negara ini hancur serta mengundang campur tangan kuasa asing. Dalam zaman dunia tanpa sempadan dan liputan meluas dan segera oleh media elektronik antarabangsa, apa yang berlaku di sesebuah negara itu tidak dapat disembunyi atau dinafikan.

Isu pokok yang dibangkitkan oleh Ahmad Ismail membabitkan persoalan "menumpang" iaitu rakyat Malaysia keturunan Cina adalah penumpang di negara ini. Beliau menjelaskan bahawa ia merujuk kepada zaman pra-Merdeka. Bagaimanapun, sensitiviti rakyat Malaysia keturunan Cina telah terguris.

Saya tidak mengenali secara peribadi Ahmad Ismail, tetapi kenal agak rapat dengan Allahyarham abangnya, Abdul Rahim Ismail, pemilik Syarikat Pembinaan Rahim yang pada satu ketika dahulu agak terkenal sebagai sebuah firma pembinaan Bumiputera yang unggul di Pulau Pinang. Saya tidak tahu apa dah jadi dengan syarikat itu selepas Abdul Rahim meninggal dunia.

Secara peribadi, saya tidak setuju dengan apa yang didakwa dikata oleh Ahmad Ismail atas beberapa sebab.

Bagi saya, hampir 90 peratus rakyat Malaysia, khususnya di Semenanjung, adalah pendatang dan kita semua sebenarnya menumpang hidup di bumi Allah. Kita bukan pemilik kekal tetapi hanya menumpang.

Sebagai contoh, saya sendiri adalah keturunan pendatang yang menumpang hidup di bumi bertuah ini. Datuk nenek di sebelah bapa saya berhijrah dari Makkah dan dari Brunei ke sini manakala di sebelah ibu pula dari Hadhramut, Yaman. Kami adalah pendatang dan penumpang sama seperti hampir semua penduduk negara ini khususnya di Pulau Pinang.

Bagi Ahmad Ismail, dia juga datang dari keluarga pendatang dan menumpang hidup di negara ini. Ahmad Ismail tidak boleh menafikan hakikat bahawa datuk neneknya adalah pendatang dari India untuk menerokai penghidupan yang lebih baik dan selesa di bumi bertuah ini.

Perdana Menteri Abdullah bin Ahmad juga tergolong dalam kategori yang sama. Datuknya di sebelah ibu adalah pendatang dari wilayah Guandong, China. Pendek kata, datuk Pak Lah iaitu bapa Allahyarhamah Kailan bernama Hassan Salleh atau Hah Su Chiang adalah seorang pendatang. Beliau berhijrah ke Tanah Melayu dari wilayah Guandong (Kwantung) pada pertengahan abad ke-19 dan menetap di Bayan Lepas sebagai pekebun getah, pesawah padi dan kemudian saudagar intan berlian.

Najib Tun Razak, Timbalan PM juga berasal daripada keluarga pendatang iaitu dari Sulawesi, Indonesia atau lebih senang disebut orang Bugis manakala sepupunya Hishamudin Hussein tidak terlepas daripada darah keturunan Turki.

Datuk nenek mantan PM Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad juga pendatang dari Kerala, India manakala ibu Almarhum Tunku Abul Rahman berasal dari negeri Siam (Thailand).

Kesultanan Melayu Melaka pun dibuka oleh orang pendatang dari Sumatra bernama Parameswara, seorang anak raja atau bangsawan beragama Hindu.

Dalam sejarah kesultanan Melayu, kita dapati ada yang ditubuh oleh pendatang dari Bugis dan ada pula dari Hadhramut selain dari Minangkabau.

Hampir semua orang Melayu di sini berasal dari luar Tanah Melayu tetapi diiktiraf sebagai "bangsa Melayu" oleh Perlembagaan Persekutuan. Kita adalah "Melayu mengikut takrifan Perlembagaan" iaitu beragama Islam, mengamalkan adat resam Melayu dan bertutur dalam bahasa Melayu. Malangnya, bahasa Melayu nampaknya dimatikan oleh orang Melayu (UMNO) sendiri apabila dinamakan sebagai bahasa Malaysia.

Oleh itu, orang Arab seperti Syed Hamid Albar dan saya, orang Aceh seperti Sanusi Junid, orang India seperti Kader Sheikh Fadzir dan Nor Mohamed Yakcop, orang Bugis seperti Najib, orang Minang seperti Rais Yatim, orang Jawa seperti Mohamad Rahmat dan yang lain seperti dari Madura, Pulau Boyan, Siam, Burma, Yunnan (China) dan selatan Filipina dengan mudah boleh diiktiraf sebagai "Melayu".

Mereka diterima sebagai orang Melayu tidak kira sama ada mereka bertutur bahasa Melayu atau tidak di rumah umpamanya si Arab berbahasa Arab, si Jawa berbahasa Jawa dan si Minang berbahasa Minang atupun si Mamak berbahasa Tamil.

Bahasa-bahasa yang disebut itu bukan bahasa Melayu dan jika dilihat dari sudut Perlembagaan Persekutuan, tidak boleh diterima atau diiktiraf sebagai bangsa Melayu. Walau bagaimanapun, atas kepentingan dan faktor politik, semuanya diterima sebagai Melayu dan Bumiputera.

Oleh itu, adalah tidak adil untuk menuding jari kepada orang Cina yang juga kaum pendatang sama seperti orang Arab, India, Aceh, Minang, Batak, Mandailing, Jawa, Madura mahupun Bugis, sebagai menumpang di negeri ini. Kita tidak boleh menafikan bahawa sebilangan besar datuk nenek orang Cina telah berhijrah ke negeri ini semasa Kesultanan Melayu Melaka, bahkan kesultanan-kesultanan terdahulu di Kedah mahupun Terengganu dan Kelantan serta semasa Francis Light berjaya menipu Sultan Kedah untuk menduduki Pulau Pinang pada 1786.

Kita adalah kaum pendatang yang menumpang hidup di negeri ini. Golongan yang boleh diiktiraf sebagai orang asal atau anak bumi tulen adalah mereka yang kita kenali sebagai Negrito, Jakun, Semang, Jahut, Orang Laut, Orang Darat, Senoi dan suku kaum masyarakat Asli lain yang masih menjadi penghuni belantara.

Kita tidak harus lupa akan sumbangan dan pengorbanan semua kaum dan suku kaum untuk membangunkan Malaysia sama ada dari sudut ekonomi, kemasyarakatan, keselamatan dan yang paling penting kesepakatan dan perpaduan. Semua orang yang kena dan seharusnya membayar cukai, berbuat demikian tanpa mengira kaum atau asal keturunan, sama ada pendatang atau penumpang.

Kita semua adalah rakyat Malaysia.

Cheaper, but is it more cost-effective?

In treatment of venous thromboembolism (VTE), low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) has been proven to be equally effective, safe (if not safer), requires less monitoring but is said to be more expensive.

Is it really the case?

This inquisitive young medical officer went to find out.

Say a patient requires a single bolus IV heparin 5000u followed by 1000u infusion per hour, an average patient requires 5-6 ampoules of 5ml heparin (1000u/ml) per day. With each ampoule costing ~ RM 5, the daily cost comes to RM 25-30.

How much does LMWH cost?

Daily cost of enoxaparin (2 pre-filled syringes of 60mg each) is ~ RM 48. Therefore, using enoxaparin instead of unfractionated heparin will result in extra drug expenditure of ~ RM 18-23/day.

However, is it more expensive?

LMWH requires less monitoring, is administered via subcutaneous route twice daily (OD for certain LMWH).

What have we saved here?

Tangible saving :
4 times of PTT per day

Intangible saving :
Avoidance of pricking the patient, needle-prick injury for HCWs
Doing away with infusion pump, setting branulas
Do not irritate MLTs (by insisting them on doing PTT stat, then calling them 15 minutes later to trace the result, only to be told it takes at least ½ hour to be processed!)

How much does it mean in ringgit and sen?
Each PTT test costs ~RM 7. Daily cost = RM 7 x 4 = RM 28

If the source of origin of the medication is not an issue, should we consider LMWH as first line in treatment of VTE?

Conflict of interest:
No sponsored conferences, certainly not monetary incentive. Guilty of going out for lunch with medical representatives, though can’t remember anyone of them from manufacturers of LMWH. Vulnerable to free meals by HOs/JMOs too, if this saves them from doing 6-hourly PTT :-)