Speak up or forever remain silent?

Based on my reading of Article 57 of the Malaysian Constitution, the Speaker's position (and indeed, his deputies'...except that in this case, the House Leader is seeking to remove the Speaker and 1 deputy. The other deputy, his party member, is to remain) becomes vacant only when one (or more) of these happens:

1) if the Speaker quits in writing,
2) a fresh election is called - ie reset to "zero",
3) when the Speaker does something against the law,
4) if the House takes a vote to remove him, or
5) he's deemed mad or mentally/physically incapacitated

Looking at the above scenarios, I agree that there are "ways to make him talk"....like making him walk the gangplank as the Skipper may say. I'm informed that the current Speaker doesn't have a closetful of bones as those before him. So it won't be easy to persuade him to resign. But then again, don't forget the Shameful Boss' mantra...cash is king.

Option (4) may be the easiest if the Skipper has control over the majority MPs in the house. Note: It's the MPs who actually turn up to vote and not the 112 heads. So this may be difficult as even now, nobody knows who actually has majority control - so the Skipper may not test this embarrassing criterion?

But then again, we must also be aware that in Perak before, they carried the legal Speaker out of Parliament and deemed the position "vacant" and then elected the new Speaker. In Malacca recently, they majority MPs held another "sitting" outside the Parliament without the incumbent Speaker's presence and elected a "new" Speaker.

We can scream and shout but in Malaysia, Malay-sians mudah lupa! I think even God cannot save us from the whims of the politicians.

The Ugly Chinaman?

The Ugly Chinaman?

There's so much showmanship between 2 world powers now, that we are sometimes forced to "choose" sides. But that doesn't mean that we agree fully with the chosen side's arguments. Here's an example. There's a book written about "The Ugly Chinaman".

I read this book in my late 20's, and re-read it recently. I highly recommend this title to people who want to really understand the Chinese personality even if they are from China, or even of Chinese origin. Pardon me but I'll borrow (afterall, didn’t someone say copying was the best form of flattery?) some words from another narrative on the book and here goes.

Judging by the cover, it looks like the book is an attack on Chinese culture. But when read in full, it’s not that way at all. The writer, Bo Yang (many times jailed by Taiwan, died in 2008) deeply understood why the majority of China's people (and those of Chinese origin) behave the way they do - being influenced, moulded，and programmed by thousands of years of China's dynastic histories, a rigid unforgiving authoritarian government system, and psychological "isolation" from social and emotional interaction with the Western culture, until after 1857. The Boxer rebellion's dousing was an insult never forgotten.

Bo Yang was an exceptionally brave and honest man - a societal thinker way ahead of his time. The Chinese culture (even now) needs more people like him - people who tell it like it is, as opposed to wearing the proverbial "smart" Chinese mask and everyone else is a "devil". The latter attribute is what gives the West (and some here) the feeling that the Chinese are insidious and scheming....Trump is a great example of one who says that outright.

Because of my affinity to the people (I was married to a half-Chinese before, and a full one now), I've spent my life observing and studying how Chinese people think and act - not only based on my circle of family (half my family was/is Chinese) and friends, but from the political and cultural aspects in mainland China - I also lived there for almost a year from late 1994, in then a little village near Chengdu. I had a Chinese girlfriend (who spoke fluent English) who took me around the villages in southern China. 12 years later, while I was in the shipping business, 90% of my dealings were in/related to China and I spent many weeks there till 2011. The Chinese people are far from being inscrutable or egregious. They are a proud race and may not like being taught or usurped by "outsiders".

In all anecdotes, one has to tell a personal story to bring home the point:

One shipbuilder, was a very proud old "Chinaman", maybe in his late 70's, maybe even early 80’s. He was already a billionaire (this was in 2009) then. He was unbeaten in drinking Mao-tai's (a potent Chinese wine, maybe 2 - 3 times stronger than normal wines). There was a deal where my company couldn't agree on and it looked like it would collapse. So he invited me over to Tianjin, China for a final meeting but his officers (he couldn't speak English so he had the contracts translated) and mine, also couldn't agree. To make it easy to understand, my side wanted to trade an apple for one of his oranges. He was only willing to part with his orange for 2 of my apples. It was deadlocked. He invited me for dinner for a final negotiation. Of course, I knew, it was to throw down the gauntlet.

After dinner, he started by saying "I have 4 of my guys here. You have ONE man and yourself. Let me make you a deal. Each side will drink an equal amount and the party that collapses first, loses. You get your deal if you win. So it was 5:2 (meaning for every 2 shots his side drank, we had to drink 5 - his idea of "equal"). Mind you, this was 5 burly (oh, he came prepared….I didnt expect less) mainland Chinese vs 2 Indian Malaysians (my officer was one). Since a US$ 20 mil deal was on the table, I had to give it my best shot. Besides, I enjoy a tipple or two, to speak.

Within 3 hours or so, all 4 of his men and my guy, had all passed out. It was him vs me left at the stable. It was now to decide, who would be the proverbial last man standing. I could see clearly that he had not faced a "challenge" like this since he claimed the title, maybe 30 years ago. He was the champion Mao-tai drinker in town. It would be a MAJOR insult to lose - on home territory. At what must have been my 20th shot (or felt like that) and his 8th, I could see that he was about to crash. I had maybe another 2 shots before I too collapsed. This was a US$20 mil deal that I will win for the company, if he passed out before me. But I also knew what honour was all about in China (I had read the book).

So I told him I was going faint and asked if he could send me back to my hotel as I was in no condition to find my way back. (Oh, and also lug along my teammate who was totally passed out). I took one last shot and told him, he "won" and we clicked the tiny glasses. (I heard he too passed out as soon as I was "carried" out of the restaurant).

Next afternoon (of course we missed our morning flight because of the hangover), at about 4pm, he arranged for a car to send us to the airport (he booked the air-tickets too at his cost). The flight back, I was very sad as I had an opportunity to clinch the deal but blew it to save his "face". This was Sunday I think.

On Monday morning, my CFO came rushing into the room to say "Congrats boss, you did it. And Mr.X signed off for US$100 mil instead of cancelling the $ 20mil contract. “WTF” did you do there to make this deal 5 times larger?" Till today, he has NEVER called me to explain why he traded 5x more than we had asked for. And I could never explain to the Board the real reason either - they will not believe me anyway. But I KNOW why….The Ugly Chinaman?

The truth is indeed painful, which is the reason for the patently unflattering title of the book. I urge people to read it, especially in these times of “whose dick is longer”. It will open your minds to how our upbringing, leads us to perceive things in a parochial manner rather than judiciously. It was my reading of the book that prompted me to write a 2015 article publicly, on why Chinese succeed in Malaysia.

I hope it’s a mind opener for all who think along selfish or parochial lines.

10 reasons why 'puak Cina' succeed in M'sia

Ramesh Rajaratnam

Published 4 Feb 2015, 8:59 am

Modified 4 Feb 2015, 9:43 pm

SATIRE Since the Chinese in Malaysia have no testicles to decisively reprimand a certain minister for his racist rants, let me, an Indian Malaysian, remind them what being a Chinese is about.

At the outset, I got help for this article from one originally written by Dr Chan Lui Lee of Melbourne so 90 percent of the wisdom is his but 100 percent of the sarcasm is mine.

This is also meant to be a wake-up call for those who threaten everyone else (by using state machinery) and think that the country owes them a living and everyone else is a threat.

Just to get the readers into the mood, here's a famous song as a teaser.

Twenty years of crawling were bottled up inside him.

He wasn't holding nothing back - he let 'em have it all.

When Tommy left the bar room, not a Gatlin boy was standing.

He said, "This one's for Becky, as he watched the last one fall.

(And I heard him say,)

I promised you, Dad, not to do the things you've done

I walk away from trouble when I can

Now please don't think I'm weak, I didn't turn the other cheek,

And papa, I should hope you understand

Sometimes you gotta fight when you're a man.

- Kenny Rogers

Chinese people don't go about bombing, terrorising others and creating religious hatred. They don't enter into a country on the pretext of humanitarian reasons and then, try to take over the country by applying warped ideologies.

They don't impose "no go zones" for their hosts and don't demand separate laws for themselves. They don't hatch plots to kill non-believers nor do they harbour or finance such attempts.

They live peacefully with everyone on Earth and if you sent them to Mars, they will make it very liveable too. Take along the Indians too, then it would be a thriving technology-spurred economy.

Why do Chinese succeed in life?

Here is why the Chinese are welcomed almost anywhere:

1. There are over 1.4 billion Chinese on this earth. They are like (after all, all look the same) carbon copies of each other. You get rid of one, five magically appears (like ballot boxes in some countries).

They acknowledge that they are replaceable, they are not particularly 'special'. If you think they are smart, there are a few thousand more people smarter than them. If you think they are strong, there are a few thousand people stronger than them.

2. They have been crawling all over this earth for far more centuries that most (except for the other hardy people, the Indians) civilisations. Their DNA is designed for survival. They are like cockroaches. Put them anywhere on earth and they will make a colony and thrive.

They survive on anything around and make the best of it. In Klang, they threw pig parts into a broth to feed their coolie lot a 100 years ago and today it's a delicacy. Some keep migrating but others will stay and multiply.

3. Nobody cares if they succeed as individuals or not. But their families take pride in knowing they have succeeded. Yes, some will fail. They take nothing for granted. They don't expect privileges to fall on their laps. No one owes them anything.

4. They know they have nothing to lose if they try to succeed. They have no fear in trying. That is why Chinese are attracted to gambling. They thrive on taking risks. Winner takes all.

5. From young they are taught to count every cent. What they take for granted like money management, is not something other cultures practice at home with their children. (It didn't surprise me as I was like them too - some say I'm more Chinese than most Chinese).

But the truth is not all societies or cultures teach their young this set of survival skills because it is considered rude.

Yes, most of them can count wonderfully because they are forced to and the logic of money is pounded into them from the beginning of time (when mama tells them how much she has spent on milk and diapers). Nobody lowers the benchmark to allow them to "pass" Mathematics.

6. They acknowledge life cycles. They accept that wealth in a family stays for three generations. That, every fourth generation will have to work from scratch. That is, the first generation earns the money from scratch, second generation spends the money on education, third generation gets spoiled and wastes all the inheritance. Then they are back to square one.

Some families hang on to their wealth a little longer than most. I'm not sure where Yap Ah Loy's wealth is now but I sure hope his descendants are benefitting from it.

7. It is their culture to pressure the next generation to do better than the last. Be smarter. Be stronger. Be faster. Be more righteous. Be more pious. Be more innovative. Be more creative. Be richer. Be everything that you can be in this lifetime. And if you have some money, take it to the next life when you go.

8. Their society judges them by their achievements... and they have no choice but to do something worthwhile because Chinese New Year comes around every year and Chinese relatives have no qualms about asking them straight in their face - how much are you making? When was your last promotion? How big is your office? What car do you drive? Where do you stay?

You have boyfriend? You have girlfriend? When are you getting married? When are you having children? When is the next child? When you getting a boy? Got maid yet? Does your company send you overseas?

It never ends... so, they can't stop chasing the illusive train - they are damned to a materialistic society. If you are not Chinese, consider yourself unlucky.

9. They have been taught from young that if you have two hands, two feet, two eyes, and a mouth, what are you really doing with them? "People with no hands can do better than you!"

Chinese people never beg, they earn their living. They don't expect government contracts, they get it... well, with their hard-earned money. They sometimes buy it but that's economics.

10. Ironically, the Chinese also believe in giving back to save their rather materialistic souls. Balance is needed. The more their children succeed in life, the more their parents will give back to society as gratitude for the good fortune bestowed on their children.

Yes, that is true. See the Vincent Tans in Malaysia. And that is why Chinese society progresses in all environments.

Nobody pities them and they accept that. No one owes them anything and they know that. There are too many of them for charity to reach all of them and they acknowledge that. But that does not stop them from making a better life. Opportunity is as we make of it.

So, pardon them if they feel obliged to make a better place for themselves in this country we call home. They are not ‘puak pendatang’ and it is the same home as you and me. It is in their DNA to seek a more comfortable life. In whichever country they reside in.

But if history were to be our teacher, look around this globe. Almost every country has a Chinatown but how many government/countries are 'taken' over by the Chinese people.

Don't be afraid of them overwhelming your majority, they are not looking to conquer. China is probably the only major power (besides India) that didn't go on a crusade to further its boundaries and religion.

I think their real religion is money and there's no harm in that. The more money they make, the more to go around. Win-win for all.

If they have moved away from China and Chinese-governed countries, they are not looking for another country to administer. They are more interested in making money than to run a country, seriously.

Their representatives are only there to look after their collective welfare. I don't think a Chinese wants to be prime minister in Malaysia. He'll be better off being a business tycoon for sure.

They prefer to blend in and enjoy the fruits of their labour. They enjoy the company of like-minded people of all races. After all, just like you and me, they are only passing through a small period in the history of time... so, use their skills and we can all progress forward together.

Calling for a boycott of Chinese-owned business is not only foolish but in the end, self-destructive.