Malaysia paying homage to the 'Clash of Civilizations'

A political debate between Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek (MCA) dan Lim Guan Eng (DAP) will take place tomorrow at about 5pm at
the Berjaya Time Square, K.L. The debate is organized by the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute (Asli)on the theme of
'Chinese at the crossroads: Is two-party system becoming a two-race system?


How can the organizer deny that this is not an ethnic issue at all when the title is 'Chinese at the crossroads'? Weird as
it is, it would be interesting to watch. Somehow I wonder whether persons of non-Chinese descent would feel inclusive in such debate. Whatever it is we must admit that ours is a politics of ethnic division, of group ideologies embedded in ethnic
ties, kinship and network. We have come to a point where we are happy to conclude that 'culture' is the problem and therefore almost every political decision we make, we address it in the name of 'culture'.

We categorize people according to cultural stereotypes, beliefs, practices, down to their personal habits in the bathroom. Put them into groups and objectify them for the purpose of political control, thus losing sight of the more substantive issues that we should be focusing, i.e. hospital services, quality of teaching in schools, and other public services. We've become a nation obsessed with blaming. Blame this group for the socio-economic marginalization of this or other group. Blaming the leisure habits of one group for the moral deterioration of another group. To be crude, that's the simplest understanding of Huntington's thesis.

So, denying that there's no ethnic or racial element in this debate is futile. Let's face it, we're no good at being politically correct, so why bother? Why set up debates between two Chinese politicians? Why not make it inter-ethnic?

901 to the Rescue?

Enter the Dragon, the year of 2012 may just be the end of injustices and inequalities if we are serious about transforming the Malaysian public. But then the 'we' may not be that inclusive after all because we have been brought up to think in ethno-religious mental blocks. We are socially conditioned to accept the hierarchy of rights, of one community above the rest where jobs, educational opportunities, training and business licences are concerned. The hierarchy of rights did not just emerge 5 decades ago, in fact, the whole concept of protection dates back at least to a century old colonial government practices. This is history that nobody is that interested because it involves dissecting the various stages of legislative processes that made this hierarchy of rights a significant part of our Constitutional essentials. I think we are one of the remaining feudalistic society that still accepts historical facts as the political 'truth' in guiding social progress. One tends to forget the fact that we were colonized then, and we are carriers of colonial legacies until today.
Whilst I won't get myself down and dirty with what I'm not supposed to mention, i.e. the hierarchy of rights, I just want to shed light on another ancient penal code that we have inherited from the British. Penal code 377, now becoming ever so popular thanks to the Malaysian sodomy trial no.2, and not forgetting Saiful and infamous bottle. Whilst I applaud the court for Anwar's acquittal, I still find it shocking the way the Malaysian authority had to spend the time, the money and the effort to orchestrate the unpalatable scene of Saiful's rectum to the whole nation. Where did moral decay come from? Surely the pious and those emissaries of God representing the government cannot really blame the West for this...no?
Coming back to the number 377, I wonder whether the enlightened politicians from the other side would blast this code into oblivion. Frankly speaking, if this code was not around, the leader of the opposition would not have been in the pickle in the first place. But then I can only hope, that one day we can learn and understand from the lessons of other countries. http://www.stonewall.org.uk/at_home/history_of_lesbian_gay_and_bisexual_equality/default.asp