Liberating the Malay Mind

Liberating the Malay Mind PDF Author: Mohammad Bakri Musa
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789675266294
Category : Malays (Asian people)
Languages : en
Pages : 534

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Book Description

Liberating the Malay Mind

Liberating the Malay Mind PDF Author: Mohammad Bakri Musa
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789675266294
Category : Malays (Asian people)
Languages : en
Pages : 534

Get Book Here

Book Description


Liberating the Malay Mind

Liberating the Malay Mind PDF Author: M Bakri Musa
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781726415965
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 394

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Book Description
It would be a great tragedy for Malaysia if it were to progress but for Malays, the majority and very visible group, to be left trailing. Yet despite over sixty years of independence, with the government in Malay control and Malays granted special privileges, that is the imminent and pathetic reality facing the nation.Liberating The Malay Mind dissects this perversity.This failure to leverage special privileges to enhance Malay competitiveness contributes to this. Malays are obsessed with those concessions as their rights as Bumiputras (natives). This fixation hinders Malay progress. The Malay mind must be liberated from this shackle.Many, Malays included, argue for dispensing with these race-based policies in the belief that such preferences breed a culture of dependency. That view cannot be more wrong.For one, the now much-maligned initiative has been remarkably effective in its first decade or two. It transformed a rural, agrarian, and traditional Malay society to one with greater urban presence and increased participation in the modern sectors.It is the later corruption and lack of refinement that degenerated the program to benefit the privileged few. The elite

Race, Religion, And Royalty

Race, Religion, And Royalty PDF Author: M Bakri Musa
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 284

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Book Description
Race, religion, and royalty are the toxic triad of Malaysian identity politics; a combustible combination for a multiracial nation. No surprise that contemporary commentators focus on this. Less noticed but far more consequential is that race, religion, and royalty are also the barnacles encrusting on Malay society, impeding its progress and undermining the culture. There cannot be stability in Malaysia if Malays, her majority population, were to be fractured or left behind. This collection of the author's commentaries examines this second far more critical preposition, tracing the deterioration of Malaysia's race relations, the oppressive as well as pernicious rise of Islamism, and the increasing assertiveness of Malay Sultans. "Ketuanan Melayu" (Malay Hegemony), the rallying cry of the hitherto ruling party, United Malay National Organization (UMNO), is a manifestation of this racism. It distracts Malays from facing their most daunting challenge - of being competitive and productive. This Ketuanan Melayu chauvinism poisons race relations. As for religion, Malays are increasingly preoccupied and obsessed with Islam. The faith is being exploited crudely but effectively by the other major Malay political party, Parti Al Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS). The Islamic cachet sells with Malays. Islam, the variation approved and propagated in Malaysia, exerts its most destructive influence in politics, economics, and education. Islamism is now deeply rooted in all institutions and the public sphere. Increasing Islamization has turned Malaysian national schools from being less educational institutions and more indoctrination centers. Non-Malays have long abandoned the system. Now they are being joined by an ever increasing number of Malays, to the chagrin of the Islamists and champions of Ketuanan Melayu. Perversely, Malaysian schools which once played a major role in integrating the young are today being exploited to be instruments to divide and segregate Malaysians. With royalty, Malaysia is cursed to be burdened by not one but nine hereditary Sultans, with each taking turns to be King for the whole Federation. At least his tenure is restricted to five years, the only monarch in the world with term limits! Then there are the four non-hereditary governors who are no less regal and expensive in their tastes and demands, all at taxpayers' expense. Instead of acting as a buffer and mediator of conflicts among Malaysians, especially Malays, these Sultans aggravate them through their sly engagement in the old tried and true triangulation scheming. Today the Sultans align themselves with the ulama against the nation's secular leaders. Earlier, the Sultans were in cahoots with the politicians against the religious class to exploit business opportunities and to be able to frolic at their favorite casinos. These critical essays are descriptive as well as prescriptive. The writer advocates focusing on making Malays competitive through improving the schools and other educational institutions. Curtail if not remove the influence of Islamism, and emphasize English and STEM subjects. Reducing the oppressive role of Islam in the public sphere would also be a positive development; likewise with reining in the ruling class and the Sultans with respect to their corruption and rent-seeking activities. It is difficult to wean Malays of their special privileges crutch when Malay Sultans squat at the very top of the special privileges heap, and swagger with their most golden of crutches. Reining in that would be a good first step. Improving national schools by focusing on making young Malaysians fluently bilingual in Malay and English, as well as competent in science and mathematics would be another. The changes advocated here are small and incremental in nature to avoid being disruptive and destabilizing, but cumulatively they would be transformative and revolutionary.

An Education System Worthy of Malaysia

An Education System Worthy of Malaysia PDF Author: M. Bakri Musa
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 1469778130
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description
Malaysia's highly centralized and tightly controlled system of education fails in educating and integrating the young. It is also ill suited for a plural society. Instead of the present rigid and uniform system, the writer calls for one that is flexible and diverse, but with a core of commonality. There should also be private sector participation to provide competition and spur innovation. Achieving this requires radically changing the ministry of education from one obsessed with strict top-down command, to a more democratized model with power and responsibilities delegated to the periphery. The minister is less a drill sergeant barking out orders to his raw recruits but more of a symphony conductor coaxing the best out of his skilled musicians. The reforms suggested here will make Malaysians fluently bilingual in Malay and English, science literate, and mathematically competent, as well as foster a common Malaysian identity.

Concept of a Hero in Malay Society

Concept of a Hero in Malay Society PDF Author: Shaharuddin Maaruf
Publisher: Strategic Information and Research Development Centre
ISBN: 9672464703
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 128

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Book Description
"The author of this book attempts to study the Malay conception of the hero as projected by the ruling class… The readers would benefit greatly from the book. They would attain a better understanding of Malay politics and cultural life. This is the first attempt made to study the conception of the hero in Malay society… the way the author tackles the problem makes interesting reading. Anyone aspiring to have a better understanding of Malay society cannot afford to neglect the book" - Foreword by Syed Hussein Alatas. "[A] constant response [to this book] had been to place the burden of anointing heroes on the book, grudging it for its criticisms of socially or popularly acknowledged heroes. The writer is often chided ‘who do you think then should be Malay heroes?’. Such retort always impressed me how the process of social evaluation remain closed to many, hence their lack of self-introspection. They feel it is a question of finding and installing heroes in a detached manner, little realizing their values, ideals and humanity is very much bound with the process. "This book is not so much on heroes as on hero worshippers. It studies heroes to the extent they reflect the values and ideals of their worshippers themselves. It is not really addressed towards resolving the debate which personality should be heralded as Malay heroes, be it Hang Tuah, Hang Jebat or anybody else for that matter. The interest of the book remains primarily an examination of Malay values and ideals, the sense of cultural identity. The book examines the social-historical forces that had shaped those values and ideals, as reflected in group dynamics and ideologies, as well as the vested interests involved" - Preface by Shaharuddin Maaroof.

Malayland

Malayland PDF Author: Dina Zaman
Publisher: Faction Press
ISBN: 9819407273
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 157

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Book Description
What does it mean to be Malay in the 21st century? Especially in a country like Malaysia where identity politics is questioned on an almost daily basis, and policed by the state. 16 years later after the publication of I Am Muslim, Dina Zaman returns to write a memoir, writing about what it means to be Malay, and Muslim in the 21st century. The writer embarked on Malayland during the Covid pandemic, to understand the anger and frustrations of her fellow ethnic Malays who were fighting against (imagined) enemies and a new world order impacted by a virus that killed over seven million people globally. She grew up in a Malaysia that was seething with anger, bubbling underneath the many nightclubs Malaysia was famed for in the 1980s, that witnessed how secularism killed its Malay Muslim heritage. The 1998 Reformasi movement changed Malaysia and whether for the better, is left up to Malaysians to decide. Today race and faith are discussed and embraced frenetically, where hateful extremism is hidden under the guise of nationalism. Young Malaysians are asserting their political and birth identities through social media. And along the way, the sense of irony and humour that Malaysia is known for, has lost its way. Malayland is a reflective book: memories and flashbacks of a childhood filled with earthquakes, spooks and a sense of wonderment and curiosity about a country that is fighting for a desired identity.

Cast from the Herd

Cast from the Herd PDF Author: Mohammad Bakri Musa
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781532871962
Category : Malaysia
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Cast From The Herd is a cultural memoir of a young Minangkabau boy, later to become a surgeon in Silicon Valley, California, in rural Malaysia during the late 1940s to the early 60s. The Minangkabaus are the largest matriarchal society, if we include those in neighboring Indonesia. It is an account of the many seminal events, beginning with the horrors of the Japanese Occupation and the subsequent brief but equally brutal three-week reign of terror by the Chinese Communists just before the British re-established its authority immediately after the war. The two hitherto World War II allies against the Japanese became mortal enemies as each tried to gain exclusive control of Malaya, as the country was then called. That brief Chinese communist rule had a profound impact on the native Malays that still reverberates and colors Sino-Malay race relations to this day. That communist insurrection degenerated into a long guerilla warfare, euphemistically referred to as "The Emergency." It was not over till four decades later. During its early years that war was as lethal and vicious as the preceding Japanese Occupation. Malaysia remains unique in having prevailed over the communists sans any foreign help, military or otherwise, a noteworthy achievement considering that it happened at the height of the Cold War. Across the South China Sea in Vietnam, the communists prevailed over a vastly more powerful adversary. This memoir gives a ground level view of Malaysia's counterintuitive but remarkably successful strategy against the communists. While Robert McNamara and the Pentagon were consumed with "body counts" as a measure of progress in the war against the communists in Vietnam, Malaysia opted for the very opposite tactic. Its philosophy and modus of operation were simple yet effective; in fighting terrorists, first create no new ones. Every terrorist killed was a missed opportunity. Malaysian authorities saw immense propaganda value, and exploited it to the maximum, in having former comrades recant their past and lead productive lives in society. The Malaysia of the writer's childhood was also a society transiting from a feudal agrarian colony to a modern democratic independent state. It had its first general elections in 1955. Electing leaders was a novel phenomenon for a hitherto feudal society where leaders were anointed and the peasants had to obey them. In a democracy, leaders had to seek citizens' votes. That 1955 election paved the way for Malaysia's independence that came in 1957. The electoral dynamics of that first free election forced leaders and citizens alike to address the harsh reality of Malaysia's race dynamics. The last transformative event was in 1963 when Malaya expanded to form greater Malaysia through union with the other remaining British colonies of Sabah and Sarawak. That triggered an ugly diplomatic tiff with one neighbor, Philippines, and a bloody konfrontasi with another, Indonesia. Being brought up in a matriarchal society where women play major and decisive roles gave the writer a unique perspective on feminist issues. Consider the 19th Amendment to the American constitution (allowing women to vote). To someone brought up in a matriarchal society, that amendment seems quaint. Had the Framers of the Constitution been brought up in a similar society, the need for such an amendment would not have even arisen. The book chronicles the writer's experience in a colonial English school in rural Malaysia and later at a boarding school modeled after a proper English grammar school, dubbed "Eton of the East." The book ends with the writer's brief teaching career before leaving for Canada to pursue medicine, and the inevitable culture shock. Besides giving a glimpse of recent Malaysian history, this memoir shines a different perspective on feminist issues, one not appreciated by those brought up in a male-dominated society. The title is from the Indonesian Chairul Anwar's poem "Aku" (Me!).

The Son Has Not Returned

The Son Has Not Returned PDF Author: M. Musa
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781983709647
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 296

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Book Description
The Son Has Not Returned: A Surgeon in His Native Malaysia is a memoir of a Malaysian-born and Canadian-trained surgeon's tenure in his native Malaysia from January 1976 to May 1978, and at a time when the term "brain drain" had not yet entered the popular lexicon. When he left Canada to return home, it was to be a permanent move. Alas, that was only intention; other factors soon intruded. Policymakers may expound on the dynamics of the brain drain, but in the end what makes an individual leave his country of birth is unique unto himself. To adapt Tolstoy's line, families who stay put are all the same; those who emigrate do so for their own special reasons. This is one such story. The writer is blessed to have been spared dramatic escapes from tyrant rulers, encounters with natural calamities, or surviving meaningless wars. Instead, the "push factors" chronicled here are the cumulative effects of rigid bureaucracies, obstinate civil servants, and widespread incompetence. Those are at least potentially remediable. More problematic is the pernicious culture of deteriorating institutions, endemic corruption, and entrenched feudalism masked by a veneer of pseudo modernity. The deterioration of institutions ranged from the physical ones, as with operating rooms shuttered for months because of contamination to inept management that resulted in droves of physicians leaving the service and country. The corruption ranges from shenanigans in the hospital's kitchen that resulted in patients having only watery soup to relatives of the dead having to pay 'tolls' to claim the remains of their loved ones. The entrenched feudalism led to a dedicated senior colleague being banished out of state within 24 hours for having unintentionally transgressed some feudal rituals. During the thirteen years the writer was away training to be a surgeon, both Malaysian and the writer had changed, but in opposite directions. Parting ways early spared him many dashed hopes, unpleasant emotions, and bitter recollections. As such the memories recalled here are for the most part fond, sweet and pleasureable. This is a recollection of small and not-so-small events that in their totality make some other place in this blessed God's planet more attractive to bring up his family and pursue his career than the land where he was born and raised. For those inclined to use the constraints of family, culture, geography, or anything else as reasons for not pursuing their dreams, the writer reminds them of the Koranic verse. "When the angels take the souls of those who wronged themselves, [the angels] say, 'In what state were you?' They say, 'We were weak and oppressed.' [The angels] would reply, 'Was not God's earth vast enough that you might have migrated elsewhere?'" (Surah An-Nisa 4:97) Bakri Musa was far from being weak or oppressed while in Malaysia and the land was neither barren nor chaotic, but Allah's universe elsewhere was far more promising. The title is a line from Sitor Situmorang's poem, "Si Anak Hilang" (The Lost Son). The writer's first memoir, Cast From The Herd: Memories of a Matriarchal Malaysia, recalls his growing up in the world's largest matrilineal society, the Minangkabau.

Decolonising the Mind

Decolonising the Mind PDF Author: Ngugi wa Thiong'o
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
ISBN: 0852555016
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 126

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Book Description
Ngugi wrote his first novels and plays in English but was determined, even before his detention without trial in 1978, to move to writing in Gikuyu.

The Third Door

The Third Door PDF Author: Alex Banayan
Publisher: Crown Currency
ISBN: 080413667X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description
FORBES #1 CAREER BOOK TO READ IN 2018 The larger-than-life journey of an 18-year-old college freshman who set out from his dorm room to track down Bill Gates, Lady Gaga, and dozens more of the world’s most successful people to uncover how they broke through and launched their careers. The Third Door takes readers on an unprecedented adventure—from hacking Warren Buffett’s shareholders meeting to chasing Larry King through a grocery store to celebrating in a nightclub with Lady Gaga—as Alex Banayan travels from icon to icon, decoding their success. After remarkable one-on-one interviews with Bill Gates, Maya Angelou, Steve Wozniak, Jane Goodall, Larry King, Jessica Alba, Pitbull, Tim Ferriss, Quincy Jones, and many more, Alex discovered the one key they have in common: they all took the Third Door. Life, business, success… it’s just like a nightclub. There are always three ways in. There’s the First Door: the main entrance, where ninety-nine percent of people wait in line, hoping to get in. The Second Door: the VIP entrance, where the billionaires and celebrities slip through. But what no one tells you is that there is always, always… the Third Door. It’s the entrance where you have to jump out of line, run down the alley, bang on the door a hundred times, climb over the dumpster, crack open the window, sneak through the kitchen—there’s always a way in. Whether it’s how Bill Gates sold his first piece of software or how Steven Spielberg became the youngest studio director in Hollywood history, they all took the Third Door.