There is no harm in giving in to desire once in a while, but are you fooling yourself by demanding ‘wants’ as ‘needs’ you are entitled to? Realpolitik will push  one malaysia into a new social contract. This will not be achieved by moral lectures to politicians. Rather, a new equilibrium will evolve that enables business to be done honestly in many more areas, while devising alternative ways for politicians to still make big money. This equilibrium cannot be created by any one party or power centre. It will evolve government by government and state by state, just as the old contract did. It is neither a good omen nor a good start for Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s post-13 GE Cabinet. Already Najib’s new Cabinet labours under a cloud of legitimacy for the simple reason that Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s Prime Ministership is under a cloud of legitimacy – not only because Najib and Barisan Nasional got 47% popular vote as compared to Anwar Ibrahim and Pakatan Rakyat’s 51% popular vote, but also because the 13GE was the most unfair and dirtiest general elections in the nation’s history. If the 13th GE had been clean, free and fair, with a level playing field for both coalitions, Anwar and PR would not only have an increased popular vote over 60 per cent or even exceeding 65 per cent, but would also have won a majority of the 222 parliamentary seats in the country. Awareness and exposure have widened our horizons, which in turn have expanded our list of needs — and there is no going back. Living the life I do, I do not define my cellphone, laptop, a decent wardrobe, books and car as ‘wants’; they are very much needs as I cannot function without them. And an indulgence gives me the high that makes me feel better about life, so why not? Having established that, it is up to each individual to decide towards which end of the stick he likes to lean — between asceticism and overindulgence. I need a phone, sure, but do I really need a top-end contraption? The same goes for the car, the house and the wardrobe. Each of us needs to set our limitations at both ends as per our comfort and proceed within these set parameters, without guilt. Today’s self-assertive culture is all about stating clearly your desires and wants, and expecting to fulfill them. We have allowed ourselves to imagine we have a right to get whatever we want; this creates a sense of entitlement that makes us selfish and self-centred, blurring needs from wants. It is important to define the tipping point at which a want becomes a need and to understand well the reasons for allowing this walkover. We all wish to cater to our needs, but it is essential that we understand what they are and how important these are to us. Sadly, most of our needs are dictated by someone else. We wish to acquire that bigger mansion, that fancy car or those expensive trinkets all in an attempt to outdo others and prove we are no less than anybody else. What a waste! These are precisely the ‘wants’ that masquerade as ‘needs’. For a need to be genuine, it has to rise from within, be a growl within the system, something that is a must for inner happiness, our very growth, or maybe a one-off that fuels the rest of life! Need is not about others, it is about one’s own self. So whereas it is acceptable that many of yesterday’s ‘wants’ are today’s ‘needs’, one has to be cautious and alert enough to recognise the difference. What are the requirements to satisfy, to complete one’s own self? These are the additional needs of each individual over and above food, shelter, clothes and sex. We need to keep redefining and adding new ‘needs’ because life demands that we pull ourselves up from the level of bare essentials to a level where we can start thinking of individual development and progress — physical, mental and spiritual. True, no hungry, unsheltered, unclothed man has the bandwidth to think of these realms, but once basic needs are met, we owe it to ourselves and to life to acquire and use the tools that make life and the world a better place for us to live in. But beware of convincing yourself that every selfish want is a need you have to cater to! Do not fight the wants, just filter them before you let them enter the exclusive “Needs Club”! There are 10 Ministers in the Prime Minister’s Department, the PM, DPM and eight Ministers in the Prime Minister’s Department, more than the four Ministers in the Prime Minister’s Department in the last Cabinet. Now, Najib’s post-13GE Cabinet has also become a farce and even a joke as it has two illegal Ministers and three illegal Deputy Ministers although they have gone through an unlawful oath-taking ceremony before the Yang di Pertuan Agong on May 17, 2013. It is sad and shocking that the Prime Minister’s Department and the various government departments involved have become so careless, negligent and remiss that the fullest compliance with the proper laws, regulations, proprieties and protocols have been ignored or even violated – which should never have happened in a 56-year-old parliamentary democracy under six Prime Ministers. Even the Transparency International-Malaysia Election Integrity Pledge signed by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak on February 20 to comply and observe four principles of good governance had been disregarded, the four principles being:

why wast there no Emotional Intelligence test forNajib’s new cabinet
This is the new politics of Malaysia. One way to be in the Malaysian cabinet is to do it the Waytha Way.By putting your life on the line and compromising your health, you get the attention of the Prime Minister. And presto, you find your way to Putrajaya. You become a senator and almost simultaneously you get to be a Deputy Minister. You do not have to be a candidate in an election. One of a kind.I can’t blame James Masing and the Sarawakians especially the Dayaks for getting upset. They delivered GE-13 to UMNO-BN but are marginalised when it came to be in the seat of government in Putrajaya.

The other way is to use a NGO like Transparency International via its Malaysian Chapter, make a lot of noise about good governance, corruption and abuse of power. Having achieved some prominence in civil society as champion, you will be invited by the Prime Minister to be in the Cabinet as a Minister. Then immediately after your appointment, you speak to the media like Malaysiakini and the Malaysian Insider and then tell us and the rest of the world that you are actually powerless to do anything about the things you stood up for and need to use the stature of the Prime Minister accomplish your duties as Transparency Minister.

Which way is better? Obviously

When do you things in a hurry, you are bound to overlook procedures and ignore past practices. But this “oversight” is more serious than that. The appointments of Wahid and Paul Low as Ministers and Loga and Ahmad Bashah as Deputy Ministers are in violation of Article 43 (1) (b) and Article 43A(1) of the Federal Constitution. Unless they are formally sworn in as Senators, they cannot take up their ministerial posts.

One would have thought that the Attorney-General would have been consulted before these appointments were made. Of course, our public officials think that this “glitch” is a technical issue that can be easily rectified by swearing them in as members of Dewan Negara. In truth, a violation is a violation.

What an inauspicious start for the Prime Minister. Perhaps, the Chief Secretary to the Government, Dr Ali Hamsa, should take rap for failing to ensure that all ministerial appointments as in this instance comply with the provisions of our constitution. His job is to ensure that our Prime Minister is NOT put in a very awkward position.

Dr Ali should know that Government is serious business. Maybe, Caesar’s wife can teach him a thing or two about good housekeeping. Always do the right thing. –Din Merican

A Constitutional Farce and an Inauspicious Start for Premier Najib

What a constitutional farce – Paul Low and Abdul Wahid Omarnot legally Ministers and Waytha, Loga and Ahmad Bashah not legally Deputy Ministers as they have not been sworn in as Senators

• Truth, integrity, ethical conduct and accountability, including not accepting or giving bribes or being involved in corrupt practices in any way;
• Upholding and giving priority to the interests of the rakyat as a whole;
• Good governance and transparency; and
• Compliance with all the applicable laws and regulations of Malaysia.

It cannot be more ironical that Paul Low, President of TI-M who witnessed Najib’s signing of the Election Integrity Pledge is himself party to the violation of the Pledge on his appointment as Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department. Yesterday, after the swearing-in ceremony for Ministers and Deputy Ministers before the Yang di Pertuan Agong Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah at Istana Negara, Najib convened a two-hour Cabinet session at the Cabinet Room in Putrajaya. However, a dark cloud hanged over both proceedings – as up to the present moment, Datuk Paul Low and Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar (both Prime Minister’s Department) are not legally Ministers and Waytha Moorthy (PM’s Office), Dr. J. Loga Bala Mohan (Federal Territories) and Datuk Ahmad Bashah Md Hanipah (Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism) are not legally Deputy Ministers as they have not been sworn in as Senators. Was the two-hour first Cabinet meeting yesterday tainted by illegality because of the attendance of two illegal Ministers, Paul Low and Abdul Wahid. Today, Paul Low is already giving interviews as Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, which he is not entitled to, as his Ministerial appointment can only take effect when he is sworn in as Senator – which is very clear from Article 43 (1) (b) in the case of Ministers and Article 43A(1) in the case of Deputy Ministers. I am given to understand that up to now, there has been no swearing in of the five for them to take up the two Ministerial and three Deputy Ministerial appointments. The general election is over. An allegedly fraudulent electoral system and a highly tainted electoral roll has once again ensured a BN victory, albeit a hollow one with less than 48% of the popular vote. Over a long period of 56 years, Umno has played havoc with the Malay mind through crippling political and religious propaganda. In this election, the educated, intelligent and well-informed Malay in the urban and semi-urban areas have toppled the proverbial coconut shell that Umno kept them trapped under and come out to realise that there is a wondrous political world outside! As predicted by well-known surgeon and writer Dr M Bakri Musa in his book ‘Liberating the Malay mind’, Umno needs a scapegoat. The “hantu” pendatang, the Chinese bogeyman, has been resurrected once again to serve their purpose. No one has analysed the Malay dilemma more clearly and expressed it more succinctly than Dr M Bakri Musa. I quote below a few excepts from his book about what Umno has done to the Malay mind: 1 Malays have been addicted to the comfort of life underneath the coconut shell for far too long. Now with the shell breached by globalisation and the digital waves, it is dawning upon us that our “comfort” is anything but. There is a far greater, more open, and definitely wondrous universe out there that we have been missing. Life under the coconut shell is no longer sustainable; for many it is already intolerable. We can either topple this shell ourselves or risk having it done by external forces. With the former we would be in command of our destiny; we could purposely choose the timing, manner, and consequently the outcome. With the latter, we would be at the mercy of events and circumstances beyond our control; we would effectively become victims. 2 The metaphorical Malay coconut shell – our closed minds – cannot be destroyed physically. Besides, with the huge pores already created by globalisation and the digital revolution, many have already successfully emerged from underneath it, with only the mushrooms to sustain us. This would be the fate that awaits those with a closed mind. Perhaps we could rationalise that by adopting a “leave us alone” philosophy. Such an option, however, is not for us to choose but for others to impose. The colonials imposed upon the world and us their narrative of “the lazy native”. With our closed minds we readily accepted that and then lived up to it. Only centuries later did we manage to escape (though). 3 In an ironic twist, we have now substituted our own equally fictional narrative of ourselves. This one, not surprisingly, puts us at the opposite end of the scale, that of the privileged “son of the soil” (Bumiputra). With that we declare our inherent superiority, taking a leaf from the colonials. The latest incarnation of this new narrative is Ketuanan Melayu. Alas, while we may have changed our story, the reality remains the same; we are merely trading one mental coconut shell for another. That is no liberation. 4 In this capitalistic world we would not be far wrong if we were to, as the pundits put it, follow the money. Just as those divine novels and soap operas make tons of money for their publishers and producers, so too our narrative of Ketuanan Melayu for its perpetrators. Thus it is not a surprise that those who shouted the loudest and shrillest about it are also among the most privileged of Malays – the Umnoputras. They live in palatial bungalows, have children attend expensive English schools, acquire multiple trophy wives, and own fleets of luxury cars, all made possible through political patronage, “Approved Permits” and outright corruption. 5 The perpetrators of Ketuanan Melayu already sense this impending implosion; hence their preoccupation with creating new myths. We are now led to believe that our problems are the results of the conspiracies of various hantus (ghost or devils). First there is the hantu of globalisation with its associated hantu of capitalism and secularism, and then hantu pendatang (of immigrants). If those were not enough, there is also the added hantu of religious extremism. We are currently totally bewitched, if one is to believe this new narrative. Again, the majority with their trapped minds have willingly accepted this new version of reality. 6 There is another feature of the brain that rivals its ability to edit non-conforming information, and that is its tendency to see the whole instead of the parts. This gives rise to the dominance of “framing.” 7 Society too can be imprisoned by this framing effect. We Malays, or specically our leaders, have framed our dilemmas as one of Ketuanan Melayu instead of our lack of competitiveness, as it should be. All of our actions are thus “framed” by our mindset. This preoccupation with Ketuanan Melayu and obsession with the various hantus distract us from recognising the real existential threats we face. We are all familiar with our laggardness in economics, education and other arenas, as our leaders never tire of reminding us. Those are bad enough, but there are other far greater and indeed more immediate threats we are oblivious to because of all these other distractions. One immediate threat is the deepening polarisation and increasing inequities within our Malay community. This is a far greater threat than the more familiar inter-racial variety. I worry less about another interracial conflict ala May 1969 and fear more a Malay civil war. 8 The other threat is that we risk being left behind by emerging global trends. 9 Finally, our increasing obsession with religion puts us right in the target of its extremist elements. Once they get hold of our institutions and power structure, it would be very difficult to dislodge them. Iran and Afghanistan are ready examples, soon to be joined by Pakistan and, if we are not careful, Malaysia. It is time to craft another narrative, one that better reflects us and the world we are part of more accurately, with much less fanciful artistic licence. Were we to do that, our actions would more likely be productive and less disruptive. Even if our new chronicle were to have some less-than-truthful elements, with an open mind and the associated humility and willingness to learn, we could at least tweak and re-edit to make our story conform more to reality. That is what a free mind bestows upon its owner. With a closed mind our narrative would calcify, and with time it would become far detached from reality. Then we would willingly distort new information to make it conform to our increasingly warped view. Liberate the Malay mind, Merdeka minda Melayu, and we effectively topple our coconut shell. Information (freer access to it), education (liberal and broad-based, with competence in science and mathematics), and engagement in trade and commerce (capitalism – the genuine, not the ersatz or rent-seeking variety) are proven effective tools not only in toppling our mental coconut shell but also in preparing us for the wonderful open world. Liberate the Malay mind and those various hantus would be exposed for that they are, figments of our rich imagination. With a free mind, we would turn those crises into opportunities. Liberate the Malay mind and we will re-frame our dilemmas. Liberate our minds and we liberate our world. 10 Before we can even begin to comtemplate freeing the Malay mind, we must first acknowledge the forces that have kept and are keeping it closed. Foremost are the myriad of intrusive and repressive rules, the mother of which is the Internal Security Act. Those are meant less for security, more for repression. Then there are our schools and universities, intent on indoctrinating rather than educating our young. More entrenched is the corruption of our cultural values where respect for leaders is mistaken as a licence for them to indulge at our expense. If those were not enough, then there is our particularly myopic interpretation of our faith. P/S I urge every Malaysian to read the excellent book ‘Liberating the Malay mind’ by M Bakri Musa. Tota is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to Aliran’s Thinking Allowed Online section.Evolving out of  Najib’s inefficient corruption government   Cynics say politics is a costly business in any democracy. Jesse Unruh in the USA once said that money was mother’s milk to politics. Other countries have devised legal ways of businesses and other lobbies making large contributions to parties and politicians. India, however, has devised extralegal … Read more