Tuesday, April 20, 2010

ON LEADERSHIP & NATIONAL INTEREST

Salaam. Dear ANB et.al. Below are the three papers we talked about which, as i understand it (based on the conversation I had with paul the other day), very much relevant with the Institute's future event. Papers for the month of May (Laos; Manila & Jakarta) are not included since they are all centralised on totally different perspectives. I think the best brain would be Prof Omar Farouk. He can be reached at Kyoto U, Japan. Cheers! <Nasrudin>  

SEMINAR ON NATIONAL RESILIENCE:
POLITICAL MANAGEMENTS & POLICIES IN MALAYSIA
13-15 JULY 2010, LANGKAWI, MALAYSIA
Institut Pemikiran Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad
[NASRUDIN MOHAMMED]

Abstract
"AN APPRAISAL OF MALAYSIAN POLITICAL LEADERS THOUGHTS & WRITINGS ON NATIONALISM”
The main objective of the paper is to examine the concept and state of nationalism as propagated by political leaders of Malaysia. Specifically, the paper tries to focus on how the writings and thoughts of all Prime Ministers – Tunku Abdul Rahman; Tun Abd Razak; Tun Hussein Onn; Tun Abdullah, and Tun Dr. Mahathir have been negotiated and how their works have affected, in general, two general phenomena of nationalism, which include: (1) the attitude that the members of a nation have when they care about their national identity; and (2) the actions that the members of a nation take when seeking to achieve (or sustain) self-determination. The paper begins with a discussion of the Malay World polity system which shaped the political culture of Malaysia today. Subsequently, the nature of political culture in post 1957 Malaya/Malaysia will be analysed. It will be obvious in the paper that the role of nationalism in Malaysia has been very much determined by the leadership style of each of the Prime Ministers. This, coupled with a few more variables – which may include religion, ethnic and cultural differences as well – will be the subject of analyses and theories in approaching the subject further.
-------------------------------------
PERSIDANGAN ANTARABANGSA WARISAN MELAYU DI INDOCHINA
24-26 JUN 2010 PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA
[NASRUDIN MOHAMMED]

Abstract
POLITICS, POLICY & THE SOCIETY: A BRIEF LOOK AT THE CHAMS IN THE MALAY WORLD

The paper looks at three main objectives with regards to the Malay World in general, and Indochina in particular: First, to outline and summarise the configuration of forces responsible for setting the policy agenda in each of the areas identified by the author; Two, to explain why the policy agenda has taken shape it has now and also to discuss the implications of this for the Chams, especially the Muslim Chams in Indochina; and Three, to illustrate issues and problems faced by the Chams in view of the current polity and political system of the Malay World in general. Some perspectives of social change will be discussed in view of the Chams with further emphasis given to leadership aspect of the Malay World. Thus, the linkage, or rather the missing link, as some believe it, between the Chams and other societies in the Malay World will be observed and explored further by the author.
----------------------------------
PERSIDANGAN ANTARABANGSA WARISAN MELAYU DI INDOCHINA
24-26 JUN 2010 PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA
[DATUK PROF. DR. HAJJAH RAMLAH ADAM & NASRUDIN MOHAMMED]

Abstrak
KEPEMIMPINAN DALAM KEPULAUAN MELAYU/INDOCHINA – SATU PENELITIAN

Secara umumnya, kertas ini meneliti aspek kepemimpinan dalam sistem politi dan politik dunia Melayu. Legasi yang ditinggalkan oleh kerajaan-kerajaan Melayu, khususnya mulai era Empayar Melaka, mewariskan kepada generasi masa kini dan masa hadapan pelbagai fakta sejarah yang sangat menarik untuk dihayati dan dimanfaatkan demi mengembalikan kehebatan dan kecemerlangan orang-orang Melayu khususnya dalam soal-soal urus tadbir (governans) dan politik. Secara lebih khusus pula, kertas ini bertujuan untuk menumpukan perhatian kepada kajian mengenai aspek sejarah yang mencorakkan sifat dan suasana dunia Melayu itu dalam konteks kepemimpinan dalam ketamadunan lingkungan Indochina. Dengan menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif, aspek kepemimpinan Melayu itu akan diteliti melalui kaedah pengolahan peristiwa dan fakta sejarah serta digarap dengan pengkisahan aspek-aspek kepemimpinan pemimpin-pemimpin tempatan masa lampau. Selain itu, aspek-aspek budaya serta agama turut ditekankan untuk memperlihat bagaimana segi-segi sosio-politik orang-orang Melayu tempatan diubah atau berubah sehingga menimbulkan persoalan identiti dalam kalangan orang-orang Melayu, khususnya beragama Islam, di Asia Tenggara umumnya dan lingkungan Indochina khususnya.
------------------------------------

Sunday, April 18, 2010

REFLECTION 1

IT'S ALL IN THE healthy MINDs
Holistically, politics is not all about power. The ugly part of it - which more often than not overshadows the positive force of it - lies somewhere between the stereotype that has been indoctrinated and thereafter generalised as long as as I can ever remember since I read for the first time the much controversial piece of work by George Orwell (the Animal Farm) and smeared further by Shahnon Ahmad's Taik: that, politics is dirty. In fact, that is actually the issue/question raised by many the moment I had my first meeting either with students or people in workshops/courses that I frequently ran. It occurs each and every academic semester where I would be normally asked whether or not politics is indeed dirty. It came to my mind then - while driving along the North-South hiway, heading towards Taiping, with the auto-cruise navigation on; hence I got plenty of time thinking! - wondering the reasons why many people think or at least thought that way. It must be the personalities more than anything else. A day before, I was talking to a professor from a foreign country. We were looking at possibilities of having more linkages not confined to joint-seminar alone; applied research and faculty exchange could be one. In the middle of the conversation, we arrived to a conclusion that politics is actually a game of minds - healthy and unhealthy minds. A proposition offered by one perhaps very much relevant here. Kotter suggested two category of people, or to put it simply, two groups of people with distinctive minds: the "Scattered: and "abundant" minds. The former always look for negativity while the later opt for 'U win, I win'. This is what I have in mind now, the Hulu Selangor's by-election. It is ugly, yes. In the meantime, I opt to look at it using my car rear mirror - moving ahead while appreciating history.        

Saturday, April 10, 2010

SPORTS, SPORTING & SPORTMANSHIP

Conflict is part and parcel of life; its natural, it should and must be managed somehow. The fact is, people differ, so they see things differently, need different things, and they have different thinking styles. Sometimes they agree and perhaps more often than not, they disagree - on so many things and issues. Different personalities, with different socio-economic status produced ideological and philosophical differences. With different goals and approaches, they are exposed to various influences - fear, force, fairness and even funds. Issues then transformed into problems. At the end of the day, they resort to either collaborating, compromising, accomodating, competing, or maybe avoiding.

These were what I shared with them a few hours ago, in a course on conflict management for sports organisation here, in Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan. Held in one of the resorts here, the course, organised by the Sports Commissioner of Malaysia & Youth & Sports Offices, focuses on the issues & challenges faced by sports bodies in Malaysia; and conflict management is one of the themes addressed by the organiser. Met a few of my ex-students here - Siti Normaznie, Naziah, Hartyny, and a few others who are all assistant sports commissioner.

During the post-event late nite supper at the resort lobby, the Commissioner, Dato' Nik Mahmud Nik Yusuf had a lot of sidestories which we enjoyed so much.

I urged myself for a walk along the beach soon after the supper was over. Too bad I didnt bring my fishing rod. It was raining heavily until morning. But it sure was a nice and cool night for me, standing there, alone, watching the raindrops from the resort. Ah! The manuscript was always there for me!

Wednesday, April 07, 2010

NEW ECONOMIC MODEL

"We need a marketing approach", so says Dato' Mohd Salleh Majid, who was responding to a question posed by the audience in a luncheon talk organised by the Inmind (Institut Perkembangan Minda) held at the Holiday Inn Glenmarie's Ballroom this afternoon (April 7th 2010).

Identifying problematic sections within the sectors, then segmentised them so that problems could be tackled more easily by the authorities concerned were some of the suggestions offered by the reknown speaker who is also a consultant for various agencies and organisations. He also stressed on the importance of having a 'clear political perspective' so that people will understand Malaysian economic development better. In essence, Dato' Salleh was focusing on how various unexplored and uncommercialised resources can actually be transformed into economic opportunities simply by acknowledging and recognizing the very basic of economic advantages that we have. Agriculture and services are two of the sectors with potential economic advantages. 

Towards the end, the New Economic Model issue seemed to have been covertly addressed by many, including Dato Salleh himself, probably due to insufficient information and data that were yet to be released by the PM. I did ask Dato Salleh whether or not he was willing to state if the NEM could offer more and better compared to the previous models ever since the General Development Plan was introduced back in 1956. There are too many issues that need to be addressed - (i) ideological shift - socialism/dualism - capitalism/globalisation; (ii) approaches - ideal-typical index/dependency theories - KRAs etc; (iii) ethnic-based (before the NEM) vs non-ethnic based (NEM); (iv) the role of GLCs in not too-distant-a-time; (v) the role of private and public sectors etc.

To that, Dato' Salleh summed it all up as "its a very political perspective!" 

The session lasted for hours! But it sure was a productive discourse. Thank you Norizan (Nobisha), thank you Inmind!