The Malays,Chinese and Indians of Malaysia

You never stood in that man's shoes or saw things through his eyes
Or stood and watched with helpless hands while the heart inside you dies
So help your brother along the way no matter where he starts
For the same God that made you made him too
these men with broken hearts

A Scientist is an Ulama too !

Let me start by saying that this is in no way intended to disrespect anyone. Whilst I am a scientist by profession, this is not meant to insinuate that i am an ulama.. However i do feel that there is a lot of confusion in the word ulama and how it is currently being perceived. A scientist, by definition, is also an ulama...but then again, this is an academic excercise which has no bearing on anything! So here goes nonetheless....

1) In Arabic the word Ulama is the plural form of the word Alim, which has been derived from the word Ilmu. An Arabic dictionary will show you that the meaning of Ulama and Alim are as follows:

- Alim : expert, know all, past master, pundit, scholar, scientist…
(Ref: http://translation.babylon.com/arabic/to-english/#)

- Ulama: Scientist
(Ref 1: http://translation.babylon.com/arabic/to-english/)
(Ref 2: http://www.arabicenglishdictionary.org/)

It is very clear here that ulama or alim refers to someone knowledgeable and learned…the references I have quoted above specifically refers to scientists as the English equivalent to the word ulama…and besides, the word science itself is derived from the Latin word Scientia, which means knowledge.

2) So what does the Quran say about ulama? I have only been able to find the word Ulama once in the Quran, but I am not ruling out the possibility that it has appeared more than once.
Have a look at Surah 35, ayat 28, but for completeness please refer to 35 (27-28).
(Ref: http://www.searchtruth.com/chapter_display_all.php?chapter=35)

27
أَلَمْ تَرَ أَنَّ اللَّهَ أَنزَلَ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَاءً فَأَخْرَجْنَا بِهِ ثَمَرَاتٍ مُّخْتَلِفًا أَلْوَانُهَا ۚ وَمِنَ الْجِبَالِ جُدَدٌ بِيضٌ وَحُمْرٌ مُّخْتَلِفٌ أَلْوَانُهَا وَغَرَابِيبُ سُودٌ

28
وَمِنَ النَّاسِ وَالدَّوَابِّ وَالْأَنْعَامِ مُخْتَلِفٌ أَلْوَانُهُ كَذَ‌ٰلِكَ ۗ إِنَّمَا يَخْشَى اللَّهَ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ الْعُلَمَاءُ ۗ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزِيزٌ غَفُورٌ

Seest thou not that Allah sends down rain from the sky? With it We then bring out produce of various colours. And in the mountains are tracts white and red, of various shades of colour, and black intense in hue (27). And so amongst men and crawling creatures and cattle, are they of various colours. Those truly fear Allah, among His Servants, who have knowledge: for Allah is Exalted in Might, Oft-Forgiving (28)-
Translation by Yusuf Ali

See you not that Allah sends down water (rain) from the sky, and We produce therewith fruits of various colours, and among the mountains are streaks white and red, of varying colours and (others) very black (27). And likewise of men and Ad-Dawabb [moving (living) creatures, beasts], and cattle, are of various colours. It is only those who have knowledge among His slaves that fear Allah. Verily, Allah is All-Mighty, Oft-Forgiving (28)
Translation by Mohsin Khan

Tidakkah engkau melihat bahawa Allah menurunkan hujan dari langit, lalu Kami keluarkan dengan air hujan itu buah-buahan yang berlainan jenis dan rupanya; dan di antara gunung-ganang pula ada yang mempunyai jalur-jalur serta lorong-lorong putih dan merah, yang berlainan warnanya (tua dan muda) dan ada juga yang hitam legam (27). Dan demikian pula di antara manusia dan binatang-binatang yang melata serta binatang-binatang ternak, ada yang berlainan jenis dan warnanya? Sebenarnya yang menaruh bimbang dan takut (melanggar perintah) Allah dari kalangan hamba-hambaNya hanyalah orang-orang yang berilmu. Sesungguhnya Allah Maha Kuasa, lagi Maha Pengampun (28)
Translation in Bahasa Melayu

So what does the Quran say?
In ayat 28, the Quran says that only those with knowledge (ulama) would fear Allah.

And how do you become someone knowledgeable? The Quran says in 35 (27-28):

Don't you see (alam taraa):
- The creation of rain
- Production of fruits with a variety of colours
- Mountains with differing shades of colours
- The study of human beings
- The study of other animals and creatures

The above are descriptions of:
-Meteorologists
-Agriculturist/plant scientist/botanist
-Geologists
-Biologists/doctors
-Ecologists/ biologists/zoologists

These are descriptions of a scientist, which supports point number 1 above.

3) Now let us look at history… the ulama during medieval Islam were also successful scientists…Ibnu Sina, Ibnu Khaldun, Al-Khawarizmi , Al-Zarqali. etc….so I am not gonna spend much time explaining point number 3.

I am sure some people may disagree with me so please check your own references (Quran, dictionary etc) for more clarity and as always I stand to be corrected.

OWC - Enabler for a high income nation. Stop Whining People!

Whiners are loser. The Obedient Wives Club (OWC) is not all bad. People sometimes complain without knowing the finer details. You see, the OWC was actually introduced as an effort to boost the country’s economic standing. So open your hearts and minds my friends for I am about to share with you an important discovery.

You see…when Pemandu first came up with the Economic Transformation Plan (ETP), they identified 12 national key economic areas (NKEAs) that can have material contribution to the country’s economy. These 12 areas are the focus areas that will help transform the country into a high-income nation by 2015. But unfortunately, Pemandu has actually missed out on another key economic sector….an economic activity that has been in existence for the longest time known to mankind…. Prostitution…the trade of human flesh.

To make up for the lost of time, the OWC has been entrusted with the responsibility to train more women to be first class expert in engineering bedtime fun for men. The OWC will mass produce word-class talents with skills necessary to compete globally. And I have not the slightest doubt that with the determination and support of OWC, we will produce first class prostitutes. Indeed, we are already looking to expand into Singapore, so buckle up fellow Malaysian, or we may lose out to our kiasu neighbor. We need to make sure that there will be a high demand for our domestic goods!

Some of you may be having doubts right about now. Well keep reading for your benefits. You will need to be prepared for what is coming our way.

Malaysia has had a number of good and perhaps less good finance ministers. Let’s face facts. Of all these finance ministers, there is one that stands out. One that has been heralded by many for his extraordinary competencies. One that has led Malaysia through the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. Yes, that's him my friend. We are talking about the one and only brader Anwar. Brader Anwar is known for his foresight ability. A prophetic ability that has allowed us to outsmart the IMF and to outcompete other developing economies. So for once my fellow friends, let’s just put our differences aside and take heed of his expert opinion on this.

...and what has he said so far, I hear you ask?

Come on, think people…think …remember China Dolls? You see…he has indeed shown us the way…China dolls is the way of the future. He sacrificed his political career, his family, all just to show us the way into the future. China dolls will be the next trading currency. He had long foreseen the slowing down of the US currency, and he knows that the Euro-zone debt is no where close to being resolved. So we can’t rely on the USD…we can’t rely on Euros…and the Dinar emas hasn't really taken off…so we need, desperately if I may add, a new currency…and seeing that China has been heralded as the next economic super power, it only makes sense to use China dolls. Smart eh?! And you people say that the poor brader Anwar is only into it for the kinky-fun. Shame on you!

But you know… Malaysians are really a bunch of smart people…think about it... even the Chinese don't realize it yet. We Malaysians are so advanced that we have not only recognized the importance of human-flesh trade as a key economic activity, we have also established a new and legal training institution to provide the necessary education to up-skill our women in preparation for the imminent economic revolution. In fact, I believe we are soooo very well planned that this will tie in very well with the halal-industry idea that was started not too long ago. The one and only first-class halal Malaysia-dolls! Bravo Malaysia!

We saw a gap in the global economy, and we have taken a very bold step to be in the forerunner. We are creating a new market space and making competition irrelevant. Harvard strategists will call this a blue-ocean strategy indeed. And with this Mr Prime Minister, you have my confidence that we are on track towards achieving a high income nation by 2015. Brilliant!

p.s. No malice or offence intended. The above writing is not true. This is purely satirical.

Policy Failures in Malaysia

There was an article I read on Jahamy’s blog about the increasingly unpleasant predictions of Malaysia, which i wish to build upon here in this article. You can read Jahamy's post by clicking here.

I personally believe that Malaysia has rather good and commendable policies. I really do believe that we have many well-intentioned policies in place. However I do feel that a lot of the policies are not achieving their intended objectives, or in some cases are causing unintended adverse effects, both of which are classic definitions of a policy failure. In many of the cases that I have looked at, and pointed out by many, the crux of the problem lies not in the design of the policies, but instead are a consequent of a lack of a robust implementation plan, or an absence of an appropriate measures for achieving these policy goals.

Take the following as examples:

1) Malaysia designed the National Biofuel Policy in 2006 as means to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels and to enhance prosperity and well being of all stakeholders within the commodities’ based industry. The policy aims to ensure the use of environmentally friendly, sustainable and viable energy sources. In support of these, the parliament in 2007 ratified Act 666 which provides detailed provision of the biofuel mandate. For starters, Act 666 does not even define what it means by "sustainable" or "environmentally friendly" energy sources. How can you then guarantee that we are not potentially replacing fossil with an inferior energy sources, i.e. one that is worse than fossil from an environmental perspective? Many scientific studies have shown that not all biofuels are better than fossil, there is a wider consideration that has to be taken into account and so the very least Act 666 should provide a set of criteria that biofuels have to comply with for it to be considered sustainable...whatever we choose sustainable to mean.. I shall not give the technical details here but suffice to know that most other biofuel mandates globally have sustainability definitions, such as those in Europe and the US. Soon we will be implementing the mandatory use of palm-biodiesel at 5% blend in regular diesel. The use of palm oil at 5% blend into diesel will not reduce our dependency on fossil simply because the Malaysian market rely more on petrol, and diesel is a smaller consumption sector. My calculation shows that effectively we will only reduce our dependency by about 2-3%. This is negligible. On top of that, we cant use palm oil more than 7% in current conventional cars because it can cause harm and void OEM warranties. Personally I think this is the wrong way to go. Why mandate the use of ONLY palm oil? Why specify the exact chemistry that is allowed? From a cost perspective, at current palm oil commodity price, it only makes sense to use palm oil as transport fuel if the price of crude oil is about 100-120 USD per barrel, otherwise it would mean more subsidy for the government. Many other countries have introduced biofuel policies long time ago and so many international oil and gas companies have had the experiences that they can share with Malaysia. But because our mandate seeks to “enhance prosperity and well being of the palm industry”, we risk not achieving our biofuel policy goals. There are other biofuel chemistries that you can use at 100% in conventional cars without causing any harm, and on top of that we can still produce it from our domestic agriculture. Malaysia is stifling innovation by prescribing a solution to our common problem. What the country should be doing instead is to set the end-game vision and allow for the free competitive market to decide the least cost solutions. And by doing so we create a demand pull for new technologies and the transfer of advanced capabilities from other countries into Malaysia, potentially leading to more FDIs.

2) Our automotive policy is yet another example that we all know too well about. The policy is designed to protect our local players, and in doing so we come up with many measures to lock-out competition and newer technologies. I fully understand the need to groom local industries, I honestly do. But the way we have gone about doing it is not very right. China’s automotive strategy has been quite successful at developing domestic players whilst at the same time bringing in more innovative products. Their policy measures are simple and effective. International companies are free to come in and compete…and they do so by bringing in new technologies. But there is only one caveat…you need a local company as partner. So what we have seen in China over the years is an influx of many international automotive companies coming in and partnering with the local players, and after several years, the local companies establish spin-offs of their own to come up with their truly local brands based on international best-practices. This is just splendid, a very effective and fast way to learn on best practices and develop local industry whilst not losing out on leading edge technologies. And please don't say that “made in China” brands are not good enough…..for your information, the automotive technology in China is now being catered for the European and American market, and thus they must at least comply with the strict quality, emissions and fuel economy standards of these more advanced countries. China-made cars are gaining market share globally and they are doing so at a very fast pace. Where is our local brand in the global arena? We lag far behind in our so-called effort of growing our domestic players, but in reality are still unable to compete glocally, i.e. fail locally and fail globally. In the domestic market the only competitive advantage that our local players have in our very own country is their artificially lower prices...it has nothing to do with brand loyalty or brand preference. This is the case with the latest Proton Inspira. Consumers buy it at the price of a "proton", and change the badge back to a Mitsubishi Lancer, explicitly showing preference for non-proton brands. How much longer will this continue?

The role of government is to come up with policies that provide a vision of the strategic future and direction for the country. The role of government is not prescriptive. Government is to govern and provide administrative support to the country. Let the free market compete and decide on the least cost option.