Michael Backman is at it again … This time on Pak Lah!
Friday, October 26th, 2007 | 3:55 am @ SK
November 2006, Michael Backman, an author, analyst and columnist who specializes in Asian culture and corporate practices wrote an article about Malaysia on The Age.
Subsequently, due to overwhelming response, he published an article on his space in which he explained a few big problems in Malaysia, namely transparency, corruption, education, etc.
"Malaysia also has a big problem with transparency. Too little account is made of how other people’s money is spent. The police too are way too corrupt for a country as developed as Malaysia. The rote learning that is practiced in the schools also needs to be done away with. Generations of Malaysian children are missing out on an education that should teach them how to be creative and critical - this is what a truly modern, boleh country needs," he said.
In merely a year’s time, he writes another article on Malaysia in which he reviews Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s performance after been in office for four years.
He said Pak Lah has achieved a remarkable feat none of his predecessors could, which is he has united most of his country’s elder statesmen, established businessmen and intellectuals.
And, behold, here comes the catch!
They are united in their utter dismay at his performance, a point that many such individuals made to me on a recent visit to Malaysia.
The despair is compounded by the near impossibility of getting rid of Abdullah.
"Is Pak Lah really that bad?" blogger Unspun asked.
You tell him.
October 26th, 2007 at 6:29 am
October 26th, 2007 at 6:49 am
this was how former pm set things to be - to ensure the regime’s grip on power at all cost. he fertilized the soil for badawi and family to plow on it.
October 26th, 2007 at 5:41 pm
A very true version of the Malaysian situation, of course the culprits will all cry foul, and in their usual xenophobic way will curse the foreigners for daring to comment on the affairs of their beloved cash cow.
The truth is nevertheless the truth, and as much as those hypocrites who plunderer the nations wealth would like it to, the truth will always prevail.
Prepare for the ballot box revolution, mark you voting papers wisely this time, shake the BN devils.
October 27th, 2007 at 10:55 am
i’d agree with him wholeheartedly about the education system (i spend a great deal of time in malaysian schools).
there is a lot of truth in what he say, sadly, and i feel a sense of malaysia sliding backwards. corruption is absolutely endemic and these values are beginning to trickle right down to the ordinary guy …
i’d like to see things get better …
October 27th, 2007 at 4:15 pm
I don’t think Pak Lah is that bad. He is just not good and this allows the people around him to maximise their abuse of his authority.
October 28th, 2007 at 1:03 am
I think AAB wants to well liked as compared with the Tun but he has neither the historical asset, integrity and clout to achieve that. He isn’t his own man and is, no less, a part of the problem. His "humility" easily turns into a sanctimonious show of religiosity.
October 29th, 2007 at 2:55 am
February 29th, 2008 at 11:02 am
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