China’s Arduous Journey, End of the Tunnel at Last?

Readers might have read my book China’s Arduous Journey to Earn Its Place, From Mr Q to President Xi Jinping. Much of it was about the humiliation suffered by the civilisation as a whole – from the decline of the Qing dynasty in the mid-1800s to the 2017, when Donald Trump paid a state visit to China.

Even though it is generally believed that Sun Yat-sen was not an effective leader, his name stands tall in Chinese history, for he was the one who helped overthrow the feudal Manchu court. But many Chinese were still very Ah-Q in psyche. Mao made China stood up, but he was not really a leader that could bring China and Chinese to face the West eyes-to-eyes. China was still inferior to the West in many areas, even in etiquettes. Xi changed that. He literally makes the West fear China! Good or bad, let us talk later.

After reading my recent book, an acquaintance wrote to me to suggest that for my narrative to be complete, I need to tell readers what I think the outcome will be. I thought the “outcome” has already been subtly discussed in my book. As a matter of fact, the last sentence in the above paragraph is also an outcome, even though it is not the intention of Xi. But I suppose he wants me to be more exact. Where is exact place that China is heading to – Politically, Economically, Culturally and Scientifically/Technologically speaking?

It is a big topic. In fact, I am actually working on a sequel which I hope will serve as a complete painting for me to share with friends.

I was very concerned about Xi’s wherewithal in the wake of the actions that are being taken by the West against Russia in its effort to subdue Ukraine, and the various measures that the US are taking to deprive China of chips. Happenings in the last couple of weeks did raise my spirits.

Malaysia held its 15^th General Elections on November 19. After the results were officially confirmed, I was all apprehensive, thinking that Perikatan Nasional would be asked to form the government. It was not Muhyiddin whom I feared, rather, it was the fact that PAS would be the real power behind the coalition if a PN government was formed. To my happy surprise, Anwar was sworn in as the 10^th Prime Minister of the country. Although he is able to rein in UMNO and Sarawakian and Sabahan coalitions to support him, his sustainability is going to be a big question mark, given the fact that his very own party only commands 31 seats. But I am hopeful, since Anwar is a very charismatic leader and is capable of rallying the masses to his cause. Hope he can offer more than Harapan (Hope)!

There are several rays of light that are finally piercing through the Biden curtain. The first was the visit by the German chancellor Olaf Scholz on November 5, just before the G7 meeting in Bali. Most younger politicians in Europe have swerved right – thanks to the unrelentless indoctrinations of liberal democracy by the West’s media, and surprisingly, by their own laziness to find out things themselves. Scholz’s own ministers in Economics and Foreign Affairs are as anti-China as Liz Truss. Notwithstanding, he made the trip. Of course, few political leaders in Europe are strong enough to last very long, but at least, he knows what is good for Germany. Uncoupling with China is not an option.

The second is the meeting between Xi and Biden in Bali. If I were Xi, I would have declined to meet Biden. Time and again the latter has shown that he cannot be trusted. But the meeting did give the world the opportunity to see who is the stateman and who is the Mickey Mouse amongst the two.

Xi’s programmes in G7 in Bali and APEC in Bangkok were packed with meetings with attending heads of governments. From the clips I watched on CCTVs, it was clear to be that Xi had won many over, maybe not on issues, but at least on genuineness. Justin Trudeau and Rishi Sunak are perhaps the only two sour grapes left. One must give Wang Yi credit; he truly deserves the promotion after the conclusion of CPC’s 20^th National Congress.

The fourth ray came from the results of Taiwan’s mayoral elections last Saturday. Tsai Ing-wen had the decency to resign as the chairperson of her Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the wake of the party’s poor showings in the elections. It is time for Taiwanese to throw out DPP and live under China’s one-country-two-systems. I suspect the US Intelligence must have foreseen this outcome which may be the anxiousness to force TSMC to relocate its high-end chip-making facilities or capabilities to the US. Tsai has been increasingly understood to be a huge liability for the Taiwanese. She does not even have the character to be a decent academic, let alone the national leader.

Biden’s clay mask is cracking up; people can take a better look at his face now. He is ugly, soul-wise, of course!

You pity the Ukrainians for the sufferings that are being inflicted day-in-and-day-out now. Of course, it is the Russian army that is causing their pains. But had the hitherto comedian T-shirts wearing president been wise, he should have just assured Vladimir Putin that Ukraine would keep to its promise in not joining NATO. He would have the best of all worlds! And the person who is egging him on is none other than the present godfather of the Deep State. The war has destroyed much of Ukraine. It is also draining Russia economically. Most amazingly, the Europeans are happy to allow Uncle Sam to help train their pistols to shoot their own feet! The cold is coming, and their economies are tanking. I suppose we have to thank NATO’s trigger-happy Jen Stoltenberg and EU’s pseudo-bosses Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel. And as all already know, the only part that is laughing all the way to the bank is the US.

In August, Biden signed off the Chips and Science Act. Everyone knew it was aimed to kill China in chips. Before the ink could dry, and just days before he had requested to meet Xi, America rolled out a very extensive list of new restrictions on China’s access to advanced semiconductors and equipment used to make them. It seeks to deprive China of the computing power it needs. Of course, China will be handicapped in the short- to the medium-term, but from the recent rumblings heard from the major chip equipment makers, like ASML in the Netherlands and a couple of others in Korea and Japan, you can bet to your last dollar that the US will not be able to achieve its evil intention. It is too late to rein in the Chinese horse.

China is about to blast off another crewed spaceship in the name of Shenzhou-15. Three new astronauts will join the existing three in Tiangong Space Station. And the recent Zhuhai air show was meant to send America this message: Hi, Yankees, come with all your carrier groups if you want, we are happy to send them to rest in peace in the deep East and South China Seas. And this message to the rest of the clear-headed world: Hi Friends, do not be afraid of bullies. We are happy to supply you with the most advanced missiles and drones to protect yourself!

The next thing is for the world to unite to bring down the USD! Deprived of cheap dollars and ability to sell arms, America’s military-industrial complex will also wither in no time.

Hypocrisy and Hegemony Never Pay!

Sayonara to the Sad State of Malaysia's Politics?

Anwar Ibrahim has finally been sworn in as the 10^th Prime Minister of the country. Can we say sayonara to corruption, rent-seeking, racial divide, and religious radicalism?

The results of GE15 reveal the true extent of racial polarization in the country. Anwar’s own party could only garner 31 seats; his politically very promising daughter Nurul Izzah even lost the family turf of Permatang Pauh to a hardly heard-of PAS preacher.

Of course, the greatest loser is UMNO, which under Zahid Hamidi, could only claim 26 seats. The biggest winner of all is PAS, which has helped Perikatan Nasional (PN) swept the northern and eastern states of the Peninsula. With 49 seats, PAS will be the biggest party in the Malaysian Parliament. However, its supposedly senior partner, Bersatu, could only secure 24 seats. Regardless, the results are very alarming to non-Malays.

The Palace has tasked Anwar to stitch a unity government. At the point of writing, how this will take shape is still largely anybody’s guess.

There is one more hurdle for Anwar to hold on to the trophy. He must be able to survive a motion of confidence in Dewan Rakyat. But I believe this is not difficult, given the fact that lesser parties tend to scramble to align with the anointed one.

Although PN has declared that they would like to remain as Opposition, Sarawak’s GPS-PBB and Sabah’s GPS and Warisan support have expressed their preparedness to throw in their support to Anwar. Some are saying that PN may be able to spring a surprise, but I think they are unlikely able to succeed.

But we must accept this uncomfortable fact: The next government of Malaysia is going to be very unwieldy – a coalition of coalitions-plus, several leaders amongst them are hitherto either-you-die-or-I-die enemies (especially those from the UMNO ranks in BN towards DAP. MCA and MIC’s voices are quite inconsequential, despite their hostility with DAP.)

Absurd as it may be, save for the PN supporter, Malaysians are sighing a big relief with the installation of Anwar. The twists and turns before this happened were so mind-boggling and disheartening!

Two extremely uncomfortable facts that I would like to discuss here: the new strength of PAS, which won 49 seats out of 70 contested and DAP, which now commands 40.

The easy one first: the status of DAP.

The main reason for Bersatu and PAS to pull out of the Harapan government formed after GE14 was their intolerance for DAP. Riding on the tide, Lim Guan Eng lost his humility and common sense. In his overzealous effort to clean up the previous government’s acts, he frightened the Malays who have yet to wean themselves from the affirmative action handouts. And his loose tongue also caused hurt to the proud Sarawakians. He was so thoughtless to the extent that even Chinese were upset with his Tunku Abdul Rahman University College (TARUC) fund allocation decision. But Chinese only have two choices: DAP and MCA. Under Wee Kah Siong, MCA has managed to repair its image a little, but its affiliation to a corruption tainted UMNO is fatal to constituencies which are non-Malay majority. Until today, it is still unable to get rid of this unwanted baggage.

DAP is therefore their Hobson’s choice.

Anthony Loke is a grassroots leader. From his pronouncements, he is not a concept man; however, he can relate well to the masses. And he understands egos, prides, and sensitivities. One of his first acts was to tone down euphoria. No celebrations! (He had a big do in Seremban after his GE14 win!) And the second, which is crucial – was to publicly apologise to the premier of Sarawak Abang Johari for Guan Eng’s uncalled-for remark about the state of Sarawak’s finances a couple of years ago.

DAP has learned a hard lesson. Despite its numbers, it cannot hope to play a commanding role in Anwar’s government. But the journey to make it acceptable to the Malay masses is going to be a long and arduous one.

Now, my second point on PN in general and PAS in particular:

PN without PAS is quite toothless. Personally, I harbour no adverse feelings towards Muhyiddin Yassin. He was a reasonably competent minister. He was prepared to be sacked after he disagreed with Najib, even though he was already the deputy president of UMNO. I was more uncomfortable with those frogs that had jumped from PKR and UMNO into Bersatu’s fold; fortunately, the more notable ones, including Azmin Ali, failed to make the grade this time. Azmin Ali, who was a prime driver in the Sheraton Move. But I am extremely concerned about the emergence of PAS as the most dominant force in the new parliament. PAS under Hadi Awang is no longer the PAS that Tok Guru Aziz used to head. It is openly quite intolerant of anything non-Islamic and non-Malay. As an ethnic Chinese, it is just natural for me to feel concerned. For the same reason, PAS is no-no to many Sarawakians and Sabahans.

Anwar in his earlier political career had also been deemed somewhat an extremist by people like me. He was a year or two my senior in the same university. We actually feared him, especially in the aftermath of the May 13 riots in 1969. Of course, people change. After so many trials and tribulations, including two stints in jail, he has gained a lot of wisdom and seems capable of statesmanship. He was supposed to take over from Dr Mahathir Mohammad after the latter had served two years after their GE14 victory. But the Malaysian Machiavelli would not let him have it. It was all down the hopeless ravine for Anwar after that – until Zahid, in the wake of some by-election successes, made the wrong call.

The Muslim young in the northern and eastern states have largely thrown their support to PAS in this General Elections. (Many would also remember Anwar was the man who zealously promoted religious education for the Muslim young during his earlier ministerial career. Much of PAS’s success this time can be attributed to Anwar’s earlier efforts.) Economically, the northern and eastern states are generally the laggards in the country. PN has successfully sold them the “No Anwar, No DAP” ticket. But in their takes, what have Anwar and DAP done that makes them hate these two so much?

I am reminded of something I read recently about Pope Francis. Apparently, he is said to have responded to someone who was trying to demonise China by posing some silly questions on China this way: What has China done to you to make you hate China so much? I am not sure if this is true, but it certainly sounds logical and can possibly come from this incredibly wise religious leader,

Faith versus Prejudices

When my children were young, their more-or-less-the-same-age cousins attended Sunday schools. I have been a born-again freethinker since I started work and even though my wife was more Christian inclined at the earlier part of our marriage life, we thought it was not wise for us to expose them to religions during their formative years. When I was growing up, my parents were firm believers of the Ru-Fuo-Dao practices. I cultivated many prejudices and even today, I still hold latent superstition in respect of some of the things I encounter. I know the fear or the prejudice is nonsensical, yet it still sticks with me many a time. (But there is also the positive part of this aspect of superstition: The fear of retribution, which makes one to refrain from doing things that are ethically or morally unacceptable.) My two children, who are already in their 40s, are totally areligious.

The point I want to make is: There is nothing unacceptable about most religions. They are moral and spiritual compasses that help to rein in bad desires. But humans are humans, we build prejudices and we act out on them – because we have difficulty accepting or tolerating beliefs or acts that are weird to us. It is usually the mine-is-superior-to-yours-or holier-than-thou kind. From many of his pronouncements, I feel Hadi Awang is one who holds many such prejudices against non-Malays and non-Muslims.

The Way Forward

To make inroads, less enlightened politicians sell on racial and religious prejudices. This is frightening in a country that needs all the races to work together to make the country prosper in the increasingly challenging world. Indonesia under Jokowi understands this and are steering the country in a very inclusive manner. He should be a good example for politicians in our country to follow. (Anwar can forget about Paul Wolfowitz!)

We may be sick of the image the previous government seemed to have given to the world, i.e., a country where corruption is rampant, but vulnerabilities in certain cultures are a fact. Pushing hard to eliminate corruption and rent-seeking-ness at this juncture will turn the country into another “majority fearing the minority” situation for race- or religious-based politicians to exploit. Anwar must bear with this cancer for some time.

If Lim Guan Eng’s time as Finance Minister is a lesson to be had, then affirmative actions, unwelcome as they may to many, have also to be tolerated. The focus of the new government should therefore be on the economy of the country and the livelihood of the men-in-the-street. The new government should also take a leaf from China’s campaigns to eliminate poverty and create a moderately prosperous society. Maybe someone should on a full-time basis be made to watch CCTV4 and prepare pointers and findings for the government to emulate.

I have come to know an unsung philosopher. His name is AB Sulaiman. Even though he has published three books, he is not quite known in the literary world. I happened to be introduced to him by a mutual friend. He has given me his books. He writes about the fallacy of religion-based truths. He advocates Science-based thinking and reasoning. But I suppose he is too ahead of his time in Malaysia and not many Muslims or fellow Malays will take kindly to his revelation about the Malay psyche. He is a rare gem. Unfortunately, there are not may AB Sulaimans in Malaysia.

A good, enlightened education policy that is capable of preparing our young for the 21st century is the only right answer to all this. Does Anwar have the wherewithal to embark on this journey? Or can he survive another Sheraton coup?

Only If...

There are two subjects that I do not usually want to write about: Religion and Malaysian politics. This does not mean I do not have any opinions about them, especially on issues that are unfolding in respect of the latter.

First, about religions. I was brought up in a Ru-Fuo-Dao [儒佛道] background. None in any pure form. This is basically Chinese men-in-the-street’s ethos. The three schools are not mutually exclusive; there are always “you-in-me, and me-in-you” beliefs and practices.

However, my late father was a firm believer in the superstitious form of Dao, especially in deities and metaphysics like fengshui, fate, physiognomy, divination etc. After overcoming my childhood fears of “retributions if don’t follow or behave like this and like that,” I became a rebel in my father's eyes. And our relationship had never been easy because of this. I was a little ambivalent about Fuo but had no serious aversion to it. As for Ru, it has been the basis of my Chineseness since my formative years. Its philosophy is still the beacon to the way I am conducting myself today. 

My wife Hwa and I started young – when I was in my Lower Six and she, Form Five. She went to Gospel Hall every Saturday. I followed her. But somehow, Christianity never appealed to me; instead, I veered further to Fuo and Dao in their philosophical forms, besides my steadfast subscription of Ru.

Whilst believers of Fuo are generally less championing when it comes to exerting or converting, Christians are more evangelical. Hwa’s sisters would always “pray” for us, even though they know we are non-believers. I always feel a little awkward when friends say GBU to me. But I will always observe this: They mean well, and regardless of my non-belief, I must not allow them to feel slighted. Similarly, I would also feel a little awkward when Muslim friends say “Thank God” to me. I do not feel good to tell everyone that I have yet to convince myself that there is a Supreme Being that manifests himself (or herself) in all things in this universe.

Because of this, I have consciously avoided writing about religions for fear of upsetting the sensitivities of friends.

The same goes to my decision on Malaysian politics. I have many Malay and Indian friends. All of us are proud of our culture. Writing about the politics in Malaysia will invariably involve my giving some takes about their mindsets and cultures. Few view these opinions kindly. But the results of the 15^th General Elections which have just been concluded rouse my itchiness to write something!

The country is heading towards a more polarized time. Although Pakatan Harapan (HP) has won the biggest number of seats (82), it is unlikely able to garner enough support to achieve a simple majority of 112, given the sentiment of the kingmaker Gabungan Parti Sarawak (PBS), which carries 22 seats. Chances are that Perikatan Nasional (PN), which has captured 73 seats, will succeed in forming a government. Muhyiddin Yassin, who was one year my senior at Muar High School, will again be the Prime Minister. However, his own party (Bersatu) has only 24 seats, and its partner PAS, an Islamic party, holds 49 seats. Invariably, most of the key ministries will be helmed by PAS. I shudder to imagine what is going to lie ahead for the country in policies relating to Economy and Education.

If only we can turn the clock back…

When I look at this man in the image above, he immediately reminds me of two figures that I detest: Biden and Pelosi.

I used to hold Dr Mahathir Mohamad in high esteem. I thought he was one of the most visionary men one could see in Southeast Asia. I thought greatly of his Look East advocations. When he once again donned his armour and succeeded in helping to bring down the corrupts in GE14 in 2018, I happened to serve in a foundation in Singapore at that time. I was so elated that I treated my colleagues to a meal – to celebrate that Malaysia was at least ushering itself into a more open society. Race and religion in this culturally diverse country would henceforth be managed in a more balanced manner.

Most Chinese were happy that the Democratic Action Party’s (DAP) leader Lim Guan Eng was appointed Finance Minister in the new Cabinet, although the position was somewhat diminished by the creation of a minister responsible for Economics (Keadilan’s Azmin Ali). Lim was hardworking, but he did not have the type of wisdom to make his role acceptable to the Malay community. He was too anxious to save pennies, and this upset the Malays, many of whom had yet to be weaned off the country’s affirmative policy and practices. Lim was also vengeful towards the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) and of all things, he sought to cut out one of the few things MCA had done well for the Chinese community – Tunku Abdul Rahman University College (TARUC). Of course, the latter action only created some unhappiness amongst the Chinese community, most of us were prepared to live with such occasional lapses. And although MCA’s image has improved somewhat over the last couple of years, Chinese have by and large happy to give DAP another chance. Hence its score during GE15.

But the former action was No-No to the Malay community. Mahathir’s decision to organise a Malay Dignity Congress in October 2019 sent an unmistakable message to the non-Malays: Time for the Malays to take back power! The Sheraton Move followed. Mahathir can go on denying, but few would disagree that he was the Machiavelli-extraordinaire in this whole scheme of things.

I do not believe in prayers, but maybe I should now change my mind.

Let’s pray!