Thursday, February 10, 2011

Mallot Malice and Little Malotts

Azmi's Facebook status

It is my opinion that the New Straits Times has in its posession one of the sharpest pens of our time. I'm talking about Azmi Anshar the political commentator, music critic, trade union expert, instant dad. His piece below, published in the NST today, is a gem. Incidentally, in my weekly column in the Malay Mail today, I write about Little Malotts. While Azmi responds to Malotts' article in the WSJ, I am using the former ambassador as a tool to promote a new book on Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Another able columnist will also be dealing with Malott this Sunday in the New Sunday Times.


Malott trying to distract us from Anwar's woes

2011/02/10
By Azmi Anshar
mishar@nst.com.my

FORMER United States ambassador to Malaysia John R. Malott has penned a sweeping but disingenuous indictment of Malaysia in the Wall Street Journal's Asian opinion page, alleging that "racial and religious tensions are higher today than when Mr Najib took office in 2009".
Referring to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's handling of prickly race relations issues in that period, Malott mischievously characterised the tensions as "worse than at any time since 1969, when at least 200 people died in racial clashes between the majority Malay and minority Chinese communities".

Malott went on to accuse Malay-sia's leadership of "tolerating and, in some cases, provoking ethnic factionalism through words and actions".

His 1,100-word missive had two obvious but odious slants:
- The so-called racial tensions he misdirected are perpetrated exclusively by the Malay leadership against what he deemed as helpless and hapless non-Malays; and,

- a deep-seated revulsion for the Najib administration, matched only by his consistently unabashed public relations pitch for opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, which makes his vitriol a simple sales promotion for Anwar.

Let's see. By cleverly deploying the noun, "tensions", against the May 13, 1969 trajectory, he is implying that racial clashes are a regular feature in Malaysian race relations since 1969.

The real question is, where are the worsening tensions that could trigger fatal racial clashes as terrible as those incited on May 13, 1969, as Malott slyly claims?

Malott asserted that the Malaysian leadership "is tolerating and provoking ethnic factionalism through words and actions". He can't be more flat on that.

What Malott perceived to be a malevolent circumstance can be seen in a more enlightened prism; it is Najib's willingness to engage all aggrieved parties -- Malays, Chinese and Indians alike -- by encouraging them to say their piece, even if it is unpleasant.

That's several notches up for free speech when previous administrations had curtailed debate on race relations, restricting them only to Parliament and special closed-door councils.

Now, the debate is so open that websites, blogs and social media networks are abuzz with the freedom to discuss what had been a taboo topic.

The downside? You'd think Malaysia is reeling in a perfect storm of racism, given the rancidness of many comments from all sides.

From Hindraf's exaggerated claims of genocide to the Chinese community's leverage of precious votes (some would call it blackmail) to get more Chinese schools to the Malays' defensive posture against shrill demands that their special position is irrelevant and obscured by historical skewering, the multi-pronged debate is boisterous and healthy.

These are strong, passionate stances made possible by an administration that accepts such sentiments as a fact of life and does not fear them from surfacing aloud, only if it allows Najib to formulate pragmatic solutions which may or may not appease the aggrieved parties.

Malott doesn't get this but, to be fair, he makes no mention of the word "racism" in his opinion piece but he, whether he likes it or not, is party to the loaded WSJ heading "The price of Malaysia's racism", which implies that Malaysia is drowning in a toxic cesspool of racism.

That's not what Malaysians are experiencing now though the WSJ appears to have no misgivings in branding that label on Malaysia.

Here's an alternative perspective to Malott's blinkered observation: Malaysians are no more capable of institutional racism (read apartheid and the US' pre-civil rights segregation) than Malott can be in his personal dealings with other races.

Malott might like to consider Malaysia's plus point as a burgeoning plural society that goes way back to 1957 when the first multiracial government was formed. In comparison, developed Western countries can't even place a non-white high up in their respective administrations.

The tensions Malott mischaracterised are what Malaysians get tangled up constantly -- seemingly irreconcilable social, cultural, economical and political disputes on how best to prod the country towards a promising future of prosperity and creation of new wealth.

A lot of harsh words and comments have and will be exchanged, but a prime outcome is the nature of its civility -- and none of that bloodletting innuendo. Everyone, naturally, wants a bountiful share but no one is willing to budge, compromise or lose pertinent benefits gained over decades of political struggle.

So, the logical step is to continue negotiating, bargaining and bartering, even if the outcome is a full-blown civilised war of words.

Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had a barometer on gauging disenchantment among the races: he would ask representatives of each race if they were satisfied with their lot and the immediate response would be a "no".

Since nobody was satisfied, then the cogent conclusion was that the government had been fair in its treatment of all races.

Conversely, had one race stated that they were satisfied, then something would be wrong somewhere.

It's obvious that Malott based his thinking on the advisement of the opposition crowd which puts the blame squarely on the Malay leadership and certain Malay non-governmental organisations when the reality is that every ethnic community is shouting and screaming, jockeying and jostling for the best possible position to capitalise on the goodies promised under the New Economic Transformation Programme.

It comes to this: Malott has a very big axe to grind in manipulating Malaysia's political machinations. But his objective, since the time he was last ambassador in 1998, had always been to blacken Dr Mahathir to shore up Anwar's political doldrums.

Interestingly, Malott conducts his sorties on Malaysia when trouble fixates on Anwar, from his troublesome sodomy trial to his tribulations in dealing with the growing army of PKR rebels and dissidents.

This latest sortie fits into Anwar's scheme of things and, being a close associate, Malott would have no qualms disparaging Najib as long it can help distract Malaysians from a very beleaguered Anwar

Read more: Malott trying to distract us from Anwar's woes http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles//3racc/Article/#ixzz1DXRqGCmN

34 comments:

  1. Anonymous4:25 pm

    What rhymes with Malott?

    Faggot.

    lol.

    Wooooooo..

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous5:00 pm

    Sudah lah mallot oi.....kau tunggeng depan anwar tu sudah....baru 'tension' pulak buntut kau !

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous6:48 pm

    Yang Berbahagia Dato,

    Apa nak dirisaukan,just get APCO to spin the story. Macam kawan baik Dato, Tun Mahathir Kutty selalu berkata ada ramai "Doktor Putar".

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous10:32 pm

    This is not the first time John Malott has voiced his displeasure on the Malaysian government. And on every occasion he tried to dictate how the government should be run. John, we the true Malaysians who love our country knows your real intention. You can keep on howling John until the cows come home but your good friend Anwar Ibrahim will never be the PM of Malaysia. If you can still understand the Malay language, hear this, "Pergi berambus" or should I simply put it as "Get lost". - AkuMelayu

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous10:35 pm

    Congratulations Bro.
    - AkuMelayu

    ReplyDelete
  6. ...and we know the angle the NST is coming from.... Yawn...
    Does anyone read the NST any more???

    ReplyDelete
  7. The pen is indeed mightier than the sword. I have never missed Azmi's Dewan Dispatches..all his enthralling articles should be reproduced in a book by the NST.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous11:12 pm

    Why so defensive? I think what John Mallot said is true.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous11:16 pm

    Maybe you should read the article again in a different light - let me explain. Most people in this country are unprepared to voice their opinions due to harsh laws designed to prevent free speech. If you read the article again with the point of view that this writer agrees with Malott (on the racism angle)then you can see that he uses Malotts words to express sentiments that might otherwise be buried. It should come as no surprise to find a NST journo who is not pro government, nor paid to write what he thinks they want.
    Anyway thanks for posting this as I like many people never read NST, I go to the internet - and like most people do not look for pro government as it hardly exists.

    ReplyDelete
  10. man on da street3:22 am

    Mallot represents the most racist governments throught the entire universe. Lets see their own country in handling of the blacks, the chicanos, the indians(red)and the own down trodden whites. They practiced double standards when engaging with the wests asians , asians as a whole, and colored ethnicity, unless and until theres oil/ petroleum n minerals to be plundered.Arrogantly as a peacock dictating others that we are inferior to them ,my foot. Does he realised that he lives in a brankcrupt country relying on the rests of the world to trade in US dollars.Their debts alone is in trillions lagi mau campaign sama orang lain. Their own morale is decaying , crime rate , is on the high and current unemployment rate is not at all pleasing to their own citizens, yet he wants to comments on us. Stop cleaning that butt of yours with the tissue paper will you Mallot the Faggot! While you were here I did not here any comments from you , are you chicken at that time? No balls eh mate? Its so convenient to comment while youre out in oblivion, have guts man, you faggot! Youre banking on the wrong lame horse here, I wonder wether your president approve of your supports towards that anti jewish of a guy , then went crawling to apologise for his mistakes to the jewish community. You know who man! I thought your tenure here should teach you about our culture and the willingness of us to accomodate your "cowboy" culture, but it seems that you never learn. Maybe you be posted somewhere in Somalia where they treat you like dirt , maybe then you will realise us Malaysian as a civil, learned society

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous1:17 pm

    John Mallot attempting to distract people from the woes of Anwar ?

    What about Mamakthir trying to distract the people from the excesses of this government ?

    Godfather

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous2:00 pm

    I am rolling down on the floor, having a good laugh at the thought of Mallot defending Anwar Ibrahim.

    If indeed this country is besotted with such intense racialism problem, then he should know that Anwar had a huge hand in it.

    Surely, he would have known that Anwar was in trouble during his university days for fighting for the MALAY farmers surpressed up North.

    If Mallot had cared to be unbiased (but how can he when he obviously is always behind Anwar (excuse the pun), he would have easily labelled Anwar an ultra-Malay. He set up many organisations that are Malay and Muslim-based. Did he set up anything for the non-Malays? Heck, not even for Nalakaruppan, his ex tennis buddy turned, in his word, turncoat. He would not have allowed Chandra Muzaffar to enter ABIM - Angkatan Belakang Inject Mari...

    Don't talk about Anwar being clean. He had his hand in so many jars (and other areas, apparently), and yet, preaching transparency, honesty.

    People whack KJ (and rightly so) for allegedly being the richest unemployed in Malaysia) and yet, many turn a blind eye to another rich, unemployed.

    Saudara Anwar is also unemployed, and can afford a posh lifestyle and sponsor his army of phonies.

    Wonder why Kit Siang, Karpal and Nik Aziz never ask him where he got his tonnes of money from...Certainly, it cannot come from selling Levi's underwears or KY gel.

    Maybe he is selling some American products and doing very well...I don't know. Nobody knows. Nobody cares that he was part of this system that he helped to propagate.

    It is fact that he had practised nepotism and cronyism when he was in power. It was a fact that he didn't like people close to him to be too clever, and "killed" them off if they posed a threat to him.

    I say good luck to those people who believe that Anwar would not practise the same policies should he get into power.

    You already see it in PKR....Err...any non-Malays in high positions?

    Anwar, Azizah, Azmin, Nurul Izzah...Racism? Nepotism? Cronyism?


    No lah. That is a sweeping statement. Very un-American...

    -Perakian-

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous2:06 pm

    Stop playing victim la- its becoming a big yawn.Those Malayu, Cina, India who feel victimised in this country, migrate lah to greener pastures.We're sick of your whining and whingeing. We want to get on with our lives and we're tired of all the bickering. And this Malott twit, why should we care about him. Hes not even well known in the U.S. And I can bet you, if he had the chance to come back here as ambassador he would welcome it with open arms and open legs. Pah!!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Sdr Rocky,

    En Azmi menganggapkan kesedian Najib untuk membenarkan lebih kebebasan suara sebagai suatu kelebihan (dan kerana mu) Najib, sedangkan hakikatnya debat yg lebih terbuka dalam laman sesawang, blog dan media rangkaian sosial ialah kerana kewujudan Internet yg tidak dapat dikawal atau diharamkan oleh sesiapapun, walaupun Najib sedang mencuba mendakwa pihak2 tertentu (yakni pembangkang) kerana melanggar undang2 hasutan. Itulah kebebasan suara ala Najib yg hakiki!

    Berkenaan hujah En Azmi - yakni Malott telah salaharahkan tuduhan bahawa punca ketegangan perkaum (“so-called”) ada lah pemimpin2 Melayu dan mangsa keadaan sedemikian ialah orang bukan Melayu - saya ada dua soalan untuk beliau:

    (1) adakah benar ketengangan perkauman tidak wujud di Malaysia pada masa kini (bukan kah sebab itu perkataan “so-called” digunakan?)?; dan

    (2) adakah tidak realiti dalam Malaysia semenjak Merdeka, dan khususnya selepas 1969, sedikit demi sedikit hak2 orang bukan Melayu dan bukan Islam telah diserpihkan oleh suatu kerajaan, yang diterajui oleh UMNO, yang rakus, angkuh, rasis dan bersifat melampau dalam bidang agama?

    Berkenaan soalan pertama, saya berpendapat (hanya jikalau seseorang itu telah bermukim di bawah satu batu besar selama ini, ia akan tidak tahu) ketengangan perkauman lebih ketara dan lebih tajam, bukan kerana laporan lebih luas tetapi ekoran rakyat jelata yg lebih berpendidikan yg tidak takut berdepan elit Melayu/UMNO yg menggemuk dan kembung dari pendapatan haram.

    Berkenaan soalan kedua, saya berpendapat bahawa sebab utama warganegara2 bukan Melayu (yg mendapat segala hak2 mereka dari Perlembagaan Persekutuan dan bukan dari suatu “Kontrak Sosial” yg tidak wujud dan hanya suatu mitos & khayalan) sedia membuat suatu pendirian (a stand) kukuh untuk menentang pendekatan dan amalan yang sedia ada yang meraih and merampas hak2 orang bukan Melayu dan bukan Islam, bukan kerana kebebasan suara yg dikurniakan oleh YAB Najib, tetapi kerana masa sudah tiba (dengan sokongan Melayu, Cina & India dalam gagasan pembangkang) untuk mereka menuntut hak2 mereka dengan kebenaran dan keberanian!

    Dalam konteks sedemikian kupasan Duta Besar Malott sungguh tepat pada waktunya.

    Salam,

    LJ

    ReplyDelete
  15. Skilgannon10664:05 pm

    mods 3:22 AM

    Yet the same country produced the likes of Microsoft, Amazon.com, Apple, Google, Facebook, Twitter, Cisco, Dell, Boeing, IBM etc etc.

    And hosts universities like Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Columbia, Yale, UCLA, Princeton.....you get the picture?

    And when push comes to shove, it's the US Navy that rides to the rescue.

    Why not ask the Asian Americans who have risen to the top ranks in the US corporate world, in US financial institutions, law firms and consultancies how they feel about life and prospects in the US?

    Heck, you could even ask the expatriate Malaysians who work in Wall Street or Silicon Valley!

    Or employ what passes for your brain to figure out why the US Dollar, in spite of it's travails, is still worth north of RM2.30, or why the Malaysian government is still chasing after FDI from the US?

    Get a grip, oy!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous4:07 pm

    Some Malays are blindly loyal to UMNO led BN Govt. too much pride and sometimes its pride that kills a person.

    Zachary

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous4:21 pm

    Have been reading New Sraits Times daily since 1976. Stopped reading New Shit Times since 1998. NST now is no more a piece of toilet paper. WTF is Malay Mail?

    ReplyDelete
  18. PooJabber5:58 pm

    Godfather,

    Come again? Mahathir distracting people from the excess of this government?

    BODOHNYA KAU NI...

    How many times we hear Tun M lambasting Najib over the excesses of NEP? Many times lah idiot.

    Since your arguments is faggoty, we should not rely on the rest of your limp comments.

    ReplyDelete
  19. warisan6:11 pm

    way to go Azmi Anshar!

    Malott has the right to say all that, and yes, so do you...you have the right to say what you think of him.

    Is what Malott say the truth? I see some commenters who are really anti-Najib, anti-govt saying that Malott was speaking truth???


    first and foremost, Malott is Anwar's lackey. that is a fact.

    and all that he said about Malaysia is a load of bull. he has misrepresented the facts.

    Great writing, Azmi.

    and to you Nik (commenter at 10.39pm), you are the prejudiced one.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous8:04 pm

    Waa, ini Mat Mallot, he commented about others discriminating the very people they once took as their Coolies and Labourers/ slaves/Comfort Women. Abandon their Bastard kids wherever they go.

    What about Guatamelon Bay?

    Otak generasi pendatang tak sedar diri..

    PERWIRA

    ReplyDelete
  21. This Mallot fella...'melalut saja' or just another 'Melaun' of one of those "Pain in Arse-hole" kind of..!!!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Charlie Oscar10:47 pm

    Dato',
    Have only this to say to John Mallot.
    John, Butt-off!!!
    Go and play with your Bum-chum, Al-Juburi!!!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Salam Bro,

    1.The melancholy of judas priest

    what else...

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anonymous12:24 pm

    Masaalah dengan UMNO ialah sindrom Syok Sendiri, dulu masa Anwar Ibrahim jadi DPM, bukan main bodek dia. Sekarang pula bodek Najib/Rosmah, kritikan yang jujur dan ikhlas tidak boleh diterima.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Bloody warmongers, all of them.

    ReplyDelete
  26. compliment1:47 am

    I think its a compliment that a mat salleh take the trouble to run down Malaysia.

    To be a world beater you have got to get used to be beaten.

    The Malays culture of being a friend to everyone is amazing. On facebooks, Malays have the most numbers of friends in the world!!! So naive and trusting.

    Like football, to be a world cup champion Malaysia's team got to beat Lionel Messi's team etc. You cannot cheer Rooney. We have got to beat them.

    Mahathir thinks its a Malay Dilemma for the Malays, how to be nice while standing up for their right at the same time. Its more of a dilemma for Mahathir as his father is from India, Kerala,so obviously he cannot find anything wrong being an ultra Malay while making Ananda a 20 billionaire or that china man kuok 20 multibillionaire.

    But Malays are being noticed more and more often now. So we better get used to the attention.

    The Arabs are hoping to get out of their middle ages lifestyles by following modern Malay islamic style something not lost on Obama.

    Islamic banking is the invention of the faithful Malays foisting no interest loans over conventional banking.

    How about a casino resort long before Singapore had one? How about celebrating all religious festivals under the sun with no guilt?

    But the Malays cannot be nice all the time. Curbing the Chinese greed at home, let loose by Mahathir, must be the biggest KPI for the Government.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Anonymous4:16 pm

    Mat Mallot should spend his twilight years researching on the mental instability of displaced, abandoned, sad and bitter generations of immigrants left abandoned and scattered all over the world by them, people the likes of Skillyannon...

    Floating souls neither here nor there trying so hard to make themselves finally heard and noticed.

    Look at the poor Monsterball, 78years old and still flashing his KEMALUAN to anyone for free.

    Often wondered what Mallot's kind did to poor Monsterball's and Skillyannon's momma. I am sure same way treated the Afriican slaves!

    Mallot, you better tidy up the mess you people left behind, those poor hopeful and hardup souls really need you..

    I P T U

    PERWIRA

    ReplyDelete
  28. Anonymous7:37 pm

    Regardless of Malott's article, I would like to respectfully disagree with Rocky's description of this article as a "gem". Unless he means to propose it as a shining example of the mediocre journalism and editorial standards that characterise the newspapers in Malaysia, thanks to government interference and lap-dog journalism.

    Here are a few reasons why.

    * "From Hindraf's exaggerated claims of genocide to the Chinese community's leverage of precious votes (some would call it blackmail) to get more Chinese schools to the Malays' defensive posture against shrill demands that their special position is irrelevant and obscured by historical skewering, the multi-pronged debate is boisterous and healthy."
    --> This is an example of how the unhealthy biased debate promoted by the government controlled media is anything but "boisterous and healthy".
    While selected Indian and Chinese demands are described as "exaggerated" and "blackmail", the Malay position is described as "defensive" and a reaction to "shrill" demands. In other words, Malays (i.e. UMNO) are right and the others are wrong.
    * "Malaysians are no more capable of institutional racism [...] than Malott can be in his personal dealings with other races." --> What does this mean?? First, "institutional racism" and "personal dealings" are by definition not directly comparable; "Malaysians" can never be "institutionally racist", only an institution (such as the Malaysian government, for example) can be. Secondly, this sentence does not make sense - if we ignore the 'institutional' part, what the sentence means is that Malott is just as capable of racism as Malaysians are, which is a bland and pointless truism. Everyone is capable of racism, though most people choose not to be.
    * "In comparison, developed Western countries can't even place a non-white high up in their respective administrations." --> Ahem, Obama? And what would the author think of a non-Malay PM?

    The editing is also unprofessional, for example:
    * "does not fear them from surfacing aloud" --> this is incorrectly written, 'from' is not needed.
    * "The so-called racial tensions he misdirected" --> is Mallot directing racial tensions? Incorrect use of the subject and verb.
    * "to shore up Anwar's political doldrums." --> The metaphor is 'to be down in the doldrums', i.e. in a bad state. The implication here, in this bizarre use of the metaphor, is that Mallott is making Anwar's postion worse. Which is obviously not what the author intends to say.
    * "The tensions Malott mischaracterised are what Malaysians get tangled up constantly" --> missing 'in',
    i.e. 'tangled up *in* constantly'

    To conclude: unclear arguments, shoddy writing, and incorrect grammar. Barely good enough for a journalism undergraduate.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Skilgannon10662:24 pm

    Heh, heh - Perwira's asinine logic is on display, again.

    Instead of dissecting Malott's analysis point by point, he resorts to innuendo and vilification.

    I posted the question in another blog: why not ask the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Malaysia if it's members support Malott's views or disassociate themselves from what he wrote?

    I think that AmCham Malaysia is one group that people dare not piss off!

    And that must piss off the likes of Perwira no end!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Anonymous2:29 am

    Skillyannon,

    Still wagging your tails at the very twitch of your MASTERS praises?

    For once, shake off your COOLIE mentality.. it has been over 50years..MOVE ON...

    PERWIRA

    ReplyDelete
  31. Skilgannon10663:41 pm

    Perwira 2:29 AM

    Yup, and it's been 40+ years since Merdeka, and there's still a claimed need for quotas, special rights and privileges to continue ad infinitum.

    Can we move on from this too?

    Just saying.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Anonymous11:38 pm

    Skillyannon,

    Haiya,

    Ebelything we help you wan, in Petronas mostly Bumis working, we work hard ebelyday to help give you subsidies, evelything cheap cheap cheap wan,

    Haiyaa, tamau banyiak bising la Aso.. Why so geleeedy wan.

    PERWIRA

    ReplyDelete
  33. Anonymous6:43 pm

    mr rocky, if you wants to say someone is wrong, reply them by fact and figure. he said hishamuddin giving speech with cow head protestor and defend them. how do you going to justify that?

    ReplyDelete
  34. ....first and foremost, the shit is his! and that is a fact....!That is the way you (mostly all) start off with. Then comes your ransacking ability to table up the waste to the right serving order to get approve of. Yea....some smell it...but it getting less today.
    How could you..the one who... been called 'one of the sharpest pen in the region' has to confiscate this primeval way of arguing. no more man!

    Common! the pot and kettle are no more black...even in the deep here...the native utensils are all shine.

    to say Mallot Shit...Mallot 'F....' 'Mallot Malice ...they'r just nothing...but a not pass blast!

    ReplyDelete