4/11/10 HOW TO BUILD A NATION

Couple of years ago, YB Datuk Adnan Hj Satem sent me a book: The Singapore Malay Dilema. It was a book about the Singaporean Malays struggle to get themselves through with better education in the hike of the modernization push made by Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew (LKY). The book also gave me the refelection of the Singapore Malays plight to catchup with the ever affluent non-Malays citizens be they originally Singaporean or those educated and skilled neutralised immigrants. The book, makes me worries to this day on the possible ill fate of the Malays domestically, if we as the people that had been given the trust to secure their future, never realise such a responsibility or worst ignoring such possibilities.

(2) Malaysia is not Singapore. That is true, and surely that statement is a mere Escapism. Mahathir Mohammed produced the book: The Malay Dilema, which in fact signified my worries on the average Malay future fate. Nonetheless, that is not the issue that I want to dwell on in this article.

(3) Yesterday, I receieved a book title: Giant of Asia, Lee Kuan Yew. Citizen Singapore: How To Build A Nation written by Tom Plate from YB Datuk Daud Abdul Rahman, and surely last night and early this morning I sacrificed my whole resting day going through the book.

(4) The idea presented by the author is not easy to digest. Firstly, one needs to have broad ideas about all those olden phylosophies of the Greek and Roman, the Confucian and of course being an American the author tries to potray the good deeds of the American be the presidents or the State Secretaries. I would say, the book is good for the Big Boys or those whom are well verse with international socio-political arena.

(5) The book in fact is not a good reference if one really want to know the step-to-step on How To Build A Nation. The saying: Don't judge the book by the cover is a perfect application for this book, just like as what I have said about the book: Think Like Mahathir!

(6) But one for sure, there are lots of hints how LKY succeed in turning Singapura (originally Temasik) to Singapore! Firstly, I believe, since he experienced the bad treatment of the British colonalization, then the brutal treatment of the Japanese invasion, those experiences made up his early characters, fearsom and worrisom. Nonetheless, with his Cambridge Law Degree, he turned those personal fears and worrisom into the strategy of being the best! He want to be the best to be secured. That is, what I believe, his real ambition. To be the best (my proponent on this is To be and For the Best)!

(7) Secondly, though in all historical books saying, the Japanese invasion had opened up the Asians to the fact that the White-West were not as superior and undefeated as what they used to believe, but I believe, LKY learned other thing: Asian region, and particularly ASEAN are natural resources rich. Thus, I believe he dreamt to be big, he dreamt to be the best. Mahathir saying, he want to be Asian leader! Basically he has a big dream. He saw, Malay Peninsula which is very shakky socio-economically, was the first foot step to his dream. Thus, when Tunku Abdul Rahman invited Singapore to form Malaysia, he responded positively fast: sudah mengantuk disorong bantal! And surely later, history had recorded how he wanted PAP, his Singapore-based political party to contest nation-wide to pursue the Malaysia-Malaysia ideology just as sounded by DAP and PKR lately. He planned and pushed hard to be the Malaysia Prime Minister, by taking advantage of the majority Chinese-urban based easy voting demography of the Malaysian population structure at that point in time.

(8) The Big Dream of LKY is closely associated with his fear and worries of the fate of his Chinese community. He feared and worried, without all the natural resources, his tiny Island Singapura would easily fall prey to the next invasion that was the Communist of China! In 1886, his parent migrated out of China due to hardship. Thus, if Singapura doesn't gain super strength, by making itself big, China would has no problem to conquer Singapore. If that happen, he feared his people welbeing would be at stake, so he must conquer Malaysia democratically. But Tunku and the Malays, though on average they were not as educated, they knew their fate as well. Malaysia kicked him out of the Federation.

(9) In fact, LKY was very scared and worried of the spread of Communnism beyond the Mainland China. That I would believe, why Singapore was the fanatic dam supporter to American incasion of Vietnam in 1972 war. To curtail the domino theory of Kissinger-Nixon!

(10) The author keep potraying LKY as an intelectual leader. I would agree with such statement. In fact I would see he is smart. He turned his fear and worrisom into strength. He immediately recollect himself out of the frustration being kicked out of Malaysia (killed his dream). He began to search for new friends. That the reason, in months after being ousted, Singapore managed to be installed as member of the United Nation. He immediately see the American as his mentor. He choose to study detail of the supremecy of the Jews.

(11) Let me rephraise his view of the Jews: "The Jews are smart people. Their rabi (priest) are highly educated in multi-diciplines and languages, discipline people. They marry, they educate their kids well. The offsprings of the rabi are well sort for in marriage. The Jews breed the best among themselves as contradict to priest of the Christian churches!"....to this point my mind in fact settled among the kids of the Muslim scholars, did they follow the same trend? Did not Muhammad remind the Muslim to learn to their graveyard and as far as China? Did the Muslim especially the Muslim scholars complied? I wonder!

(12) The Jews gave LKY the idea of Building the Nation through having Elite-leadership in all aspect be it in politic, administration, industries, technologies, international affairs, etc. Even the Singapore army are considered elite-well-Israeled-based trained, of which not only they are the army, but they are also the nation back-bone of expertise! LKY definition of elite is expert and discipline (I used to advocate, the term, special and unique)!

(13) Reading a comment by one of my blog follower which says: mudah-mudahan sdra mendapat hidayah, I would say, my sacrificed to stay late and woke up early today, by reading this book, I got this hidayah-ilham from Allah the Al-mighty:

(a) Let me quote from the book on page 130:

A prince...ought not mind the reproach of cruelty; because with few examples he will be more merciful than those who, through too much mercy, allow disorders to arise, from which follow murders or robberies; for these are wont to injure the whole people; while those executions which originate with a prince offend the individual only.....Upon this a question arises: whether it be better to be loved than feared or feared than loved? It may be answered that one should wish both, but, because it is difficult to unite them in one person, it is much be dispensed with.... Nevetheless a prince ought to inspire fear in such a way that, if he does not win love, he avoid hatred; because he can endure very well being feared whilst he is not hated....the saying of Niccolo Michiavelli in The Prince

As a leader, one must practice No Fear No Favor, and a leader is to lead, as the Malay saying: Suami itu Imam. Imam itu pemimpin.

(b) LKY keep looking down at the Malays. He has to look down at the Malays. The Malays spread from Southern Thailand to Southern Philippines encircling him. Psychologically, he must look down at his threat. The Malays supremecy is his immediate threat. That is a military tectic. But, in reality, do the Malays (Malays, Javanese, Pattani, Champa, Tagalog, Kedazan, Bugis, etc) have the supremecy? The Muslim-Malays in particular, why are we being look down? Is it we are not Muslim? What has Allah promised us for being a Muslim? Did He not promised us glorry and success? But why we keep being look down? Did we ever asked ourselves, do we really practice Islam the way Allah wants Islam must be practiced? Did we not forget too many while focus on some! How did Muhammad practiced Islamic teaching for being a prophet and a citizen?

(c) LKY build elities in the fast transformation of Singapore. Did we build ourselve hard enough to be better person?

(d) LKY pick up the good deed of the Jews, but Al-Quran condemned the Jews to hell. Is there a contradiction? Surely not. I figured out (may be a hidayah? to me), that's the way Allah, testing whether we (Muslim -Malays) are a thinker or not. When Allah condemned the Jews, do we have the authority to say that Allah really condemned the Jews? To me ecologically, the existence of the Jews is just like the existence of the snakes, frogs, pigs, lizards among the halal animals such as cats, chickens, ducks, cattles, bufalloes, etc. Allah sustain the existence of the Jews for His greater purpose or else they should just perished like the dinosaurs!

(e) My simple readings of the Islamic Texts now cross my mind, that purposely Allah created Angels, to do nothing but only good deeds. The characters of the angels are well documented in the Al-Quran for us to emulate. Through angels, Allah makes it clear to us what are good deed that we must adhered. Allah do also created the Satan, who do nothing but the bad thing. Thus Allah makes it clear to us what are the bad satanic acts. But both angel and satan has their loophole, thus he created human being through Adam and Eve. And purposely He made Adam and Eve a fragile character of which was easily being influenced by both angels and satan. But, Allah gave us the brain and heart to guide our independent decission. And we must remember, the Jews, they are also human being. They know what are good and what are bad for their survival. They are smart to see and practice good deed for their course. Thus, to me, Allah puposely sustain the existence of the Jews for our good deed if we care to study, think and practice. But we must remember, what are the bad deeds of the Jews that Allah dislikes, to keep us from being condemn such as the Jews. That is the smartness of LKY, he read and understand the meaning of Allah condemnation of the Jews for his survival!

(f) I love to dwell on the Jews as my living and down to earth example. Angel and satan are too far off our sight. The Quran had stated that the Jews look down at the Arabs because they have the Taurah given by god, while the Arabs has nothing. The Taurah was the Jews guidance for their civilization supremecy far ahead of the Arabs. Thus they have all the reason, to reject the Arabs into their community, though Muhammad through Islam means to bring greater civilization to the whole human being. Basically, the gift of the Taurah had made the Jews head hard-big-egoistic.

(g) If the Arabs had adhered to the true teaching of Islam especially with regard to the used of the wealth for the good deeds of humankinds be they in Arabs or the distress Africa rather spending those in Las Vegas or Monte Carlo, I would believe, the Arabs and Islam would gain high respect of the world. Nontheless, let put that aside. In the case of LKY, he sustained to look down at the Malays because, from my interpretation of the author views that many times stressing that LKY being a Confucian, whom the founder was the Chinese Civilization Gurus, thus he must has kept deep in his soul that the Chinese are much supreme than the Malays because the Chinese has 5,000 years of historical civilization to be proud of. The Malays has nothing comparatively. The point is the same as the Jews judged the Arabs in the early spread of Islam.

(h) It is the Malays-Muslim challenge now to really to keep to the real course of Islam. To do this let look at the conflict that I have with a friend who visited me at my place in Matang Jaya dan Kampung.

As he entered my home, he was amazed with my collections of books. At Matang Jaya, he said, I don't see any serious Islamic readings out of the piles of those secularly books. When he reached my kampung, as he entered my guest room, he again repeat: "I don't see the Al-Quran among all your books".

Though I was annoyed, I try to answer him intelectually: " Al-Quran is about 1+1. Specific answer is not granted for everything being said. Thus, those books gives me the answers to 1+1 be it 2, 1, 0, or even more. Thus the sum of those books makes my quran!

(13) So how to Build A Nation? The answers are be A Leader and understand the meaning of being a leader with Great Sight, Values and Governance. The Babylon, Eygptian, Indian, Chinese, Greek, Roman and even the Othmaniah and Abassiyah Islamic Empayer had shown those. Mao Tze Dung studied the Chinese civilization systems to guide him to unite the whole of China. So do LKY. So do the American to this day, studying and keep digging the Pyramids to uncover the greatness of the Pharaoh technologies. The issue now, how much research do we as a group and individual Muslim do for the good course of Islam and our community. I fear, I worry, we do noting much. We love to copy, just like Proton with Mitsubishi! Or the Punk Malays on the Street just like the Punk Amo in LA! Apa susah-susah. Ikut sajalah!


Note:
Thanks to YB Datuk Daud Abdul Rahman for the book.

Matang Jaya, Kuching
17 Nov., 2010