[ Laman Ehwal Semasa ReformIS ]
Date: 09 Sep 1999
Time: 00:58:31
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[the-malaysian] Thursday's Issue Of The MALAYSIAN (Attached Also)
Early elections cat-and-mouse September 7, Bernama reported Dr Mahathir pooh-poohing the idea of early elections. It reported him as saying in Pahang that an early vote was unlikely because he was traveling to New York for the U.N. General Assembly later this month and then to South Africa. Last night, after the UMNO Supreme Council meeting, he was quoted as saying the good response he is receiving from the people during his visits to the states may prompt him to call for an early general election. “From the faces of the people who attended the gatherings, they appear to be sincere and they were rushing to shake hands. We are very happy with such reception,” he said. But he also said he would make another one or two rounds of visit to the states after completing the first round. At the same time, the agreement to invite Tengku Razaleigh and the MB of Pahang into future Supreme Council meetings as part of the electoral preparations possibly indicates some concern over the situation in those two states.
Is admitting error and saying sorry so difficult? The Minister of Health Chua Jui Meng continues to insist that the epidemic which killed more than a hundred persons and caused massive loss of livelihood is a combination JE/Nipah outbreak, that it started out as JE, then somehow Nipah came into the picture -- the so-called dual infection theory. He was wrong then, and he is wrong now. It was a costly error, directly contributing to the extent and spread of the epidemic and therefore elevating the number of fatalities. But he persists in his error -- because the government cannot be wrong -- as witness his statement of Sept 12. Yet, the only way forward is to admit error and to proceed from there. To the credit of the professionals in the veterinary and, to a lesser extent, health services, they have quietly dropped any mention or reference to JE and are treating the epidemic for what it was -- a Nipah virus outbreak from the beginning, plain and simple, if painful, costly and deadly, potentially even more deadly than previously thought. This is how it is presented in the final report on the epidemic. This is also what emerged from the half-day seminar organised by the Veterinary Services in Melaka last Sunday. Not a mention of JE; it was Nipah all the way. At the seminar, Director-General Dr Mohd Nordin Mohd Nor of the Veterinary Services Department revealed that thirteen employees from the department had tested positive for Nipah virus contracted during efforts to contain the viral outbreak. These employees come from different levels of the department including those working in laboratories and overseeing the pig culling operations. Apparently, they contracted the virus in the early stages of the outbreak. The director-general added that they were initially inoculated against Japanese encephalitis (JE) virus before carrying out their duties. “It was only after further research that the department discovered and realised that we were actually facing the Nipah virus and not JE. That is why staff from the department were infected by the Nipah virus,” he added. One very clear lesson of this outbreak: civil service professionals have to be freed from political pressure and be encouraged to act as professionals in the public interest, not to save anyone’s, not especially politicians’, ‘face’. They must be made to answer to their professional conscience and to the public, not the prejudices and arrogance of ministers and politicians. Another lesson: Although BN leaders allege that the Barisan Alternatif cannot govern, it is evident the BN leaders and members can’t even keep the arrogance of one of their ministers in check, leading to the disaster whose cost is counted not just in terms of ringgit and sen, or the KLCI dropping, but in lives lost, children orphaned, livelihoods and communities devastated, not to mention a whole industry.
Lambasting APEC, or say one thing, do another In fine form, Dr Mahathir has again lambasted APEC as a tool of the US, Australia and New Zealand. Quite a few Malaysians, including members of the Barisan Alternatif, will agree with him to some extent. Although such a broadside against APEC is not new, what remains a puzzle is who the BN government chooses to consort with. Even more puzzling is the fact that many ‘influentials’ in Washington will be no more disturbed by this latest ourburst as by previous ones, and will continue to consort with the BN government, indeed provide fulsome support and praise for it. Washington has always made it clear it supports its friends; by this criteria, clearly Dr Mahathir’s BN is seen as a friend, even a very good friend. But perhaps there is no puzzle really. Just a shadow play by a master puppeteer out to bedazzle a sceptical electorate, but also one who craves foreign approval and laps up every bit of it. Who then really consorts with the foreign powers -- the opposition, or Dr Mahathir’s BN. Look at the facts. Even as Dr Mahathir, Daim and company are busy portraying themselves as victims of unfounded criticism from ‘the west’, the BN-controlled papers and other media daily publish stories of support and praise from western ‘influentials’ -- individuals, investment firms, organisations. Surely their papers are not lying and trying to hoodwink us? Why would they want to do that when the idea is to project to the electorate, especially the Malay grassroots, a regime under foreign siege, facing the challenge of an opposition which is backed by foreigners? Other than Krugman’s mild praise for Anwar Ibrahim, one can scan the media for any support or praise for the opposition. What one will find are echoes of the BN regarding the alleged disunity of the opposition, Islamic fundamentalism, organisational weakness and so forth. On the other hand is praise heaped upon praise for the BN government, some from quite dubious sources. Further, contrary to what Dr M and company claim, this support and praise is not such a recent thing. After the early period of the crisis in 1997, when Dr M was actually making things worse by extravagant statements, there has been the usual quota of support and praise from some circles, as well as criticisms from others. The imposition of capital controls did draw criticisms, but much of it was actually more of the regretful sort, sort of ‘you shouldn’t have done it, but we can sympathise; still you shouldn’t have done it’ kind of thing. The greatest flak arose from the sacking of Anwar Ibrahim, especially with the manner of his arrest and his appearance with a black eye. But shortly after, the support and praise resumed, especially when it seemed that the opposition might actually get the upper hand. On September 3, the Asian Wall Street Journal reported that many fund managers would actually vote for Dr Mahathir if they could vote. Yes -- fund managers, the very people whom Dr Mahathir is always condemning to us. This report has now been reported on, a little garbled, in today’s Business Times with the headlines “‘Dominant win’ for BN better for market: WSJ”. Obviously, there won’t be any accusations of interfering in the domestic affairs and politics of Malaysia, although of course this will have influence with at least some people in the country. So, what’s going on?
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