St. Joseph’s School Rally
Sons of St. Joseph a voice is resounding,
Promptly respond to your duty’s sweet call;
Answer you all for the trumpet is sounding,
Your mater’s proclaiming her watchwords to all.
Forward her children dear,
Ever with hearts sincere,
Render with joy to your mater her due;
All that is vile reject,
Heaven will e’er protect,
Sons of St. Joseph’s valiant and true.
Prayer and labour your motto still bearing,
Forward with courage in ways that are just;
True to your standard be doing and daring,
As faithful Josephians in Heaven will trust.
“Once a Josephian, Always a Josephian!”
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
MALAYSIANS, LOOK EAST THIS AUGUST 31ST. !
Francis H. H. Ngu , Kuching, 31st August, 2009.
It has been some two decades since Malaysia under Mahathir adopted a Look East Policy, using Japan as the model for the development of Malaysia. On a historic day of political change in Japan, the Look East Policy is revisited for its broader ramifications to Malaysia.
The diligence of Japanese workers, work ethics and the team spirit are indeed worth emulating, but then these are the product of hundreds of years of culture. The backdrop of that culture includes hardships resulting from natural calamities, and sparse natural resources, against which Malaya and Borneo were and still are in sharp advantage as compared to Japan. The Japanese is also a culture where the prominent influence of Chinese civilization stares in your eyes. From tea-drinking and Buddhism, to chinaware and painting, and to lexicon and calligraphy, the creative Japanese have brought the Chinese influences into their unique own.
On to their own rich culture too, were grafted the science and technology of the Western industrial revolution through the process of the Meiji Renewal, and western concepts of democracy and Human Rights, particularly after WW II.
From the start, Malaysia looks a vastly different substrate from Japan. It has a culture on which Indian, Arabic, Chinese and later Western colonial cultures were preeminently grafted on to the indigenous cultures of the Malay archipelago. The foreign input into Malaysian culture may thus be said to be more sustained, direct and diverse than is the case of Japan. The strong infusion of the English language through colonial government and the growth of Chinese language education through sheer commitment of the sizable Chinese ethnic minority are also distinguishing features. The legacy of the British judicial system and the structured civil service, also puts Malaya and former British Borneo in comparative advantage. The Constitution and Westminister styled parliamentary were to be the basis of the healthy growth of a young nation.
Why then did Japan rise as Pheonix from the atomic holocaust of WWII to become the second largest economy in the World, and Malaysia rose to the Second World, but is now under threat to slip towards the Third World again ?
At first glance, Malaysia appeared open to positive foreign influences, from including its once aggressor, Japan; and Malaysia even promised to take a lead in the ICT age through the Multi-Media Supercorridor. But did it even ever Looked East to Japan ?
Japan was and is not shy of foreign influences, East or West, while Malaysia in great but unintelligent nationalist zest, jettisoned the English language from the education system, thus shut itself from an invaluable comparative advantage asset of learning and communication. The Chinese language education was softly suppressed, thus depriving Malaysia leverage of what is emerging as an increasingly important international language.
Japan kept corruption and crony-capitalism at bay through a robust criminal justice system; from the 1989 Judicial Crises, the Malaysian executive branch has controlled the Judicial branch, subverting the separation of Powers so essential to the healthy functioning of democracy. What is a great strength of Japan was not taken on board, but what functioning judicial infrastructure Malaysia had was slaughtered.
Japanese enjoy civil and political rights little different from any liberal western country; Malaysians are to be cowered by repressive legislation governing behaviour of academics and higher education students, the print media and rights of assembly and expression. Is it so difficult to understand that the free intellect and the free individual is the basis of a creative community and nation?
Malaysians are not allowed to learn the art of accountable local government from Japan or anywhere else. Grass-roots democracy or participatory democracy are remote concepts in Malaysian lexicon. Why deprive the Malaysians a vital instrument of social commitment and engagement? Are these latter not the accompaniments of the Japanese work culture about which Malaysians were exhorted to emulate ?
Look East or even look anywhere, has thus been mere rhetoric mired in the broader Malaysian ruling National Front agenda of the political and economic supremacy of a monoculture; as incitefully coined Ketuanan Melayu, this a mere pretence for the political survival of an unpopular ruling elite class.
The rejection of English may have had the effect of shutting out western ideas of civil and political rights, egalitarianism, feminist ideas and possibly religions deemed Western. Thus English language was temporarily brought back for Science and Mathematics education, but not for the liberal Arts subjects, if there is anything Liberal in Malaysian education. The refusal to promote the Chinese language education is to be understood from the ruling perspective and priority about monocultural hegemony over broader national competitiveness issues.
The Malaysian crony-capitalism, corruption, and political hegemony founded on race rhetorics meant that the worst aspects of the free market far supercede the its better strengths in its impacts on Malaysian economy. Distortion to labour, prices and incomes becomes further bugbear to progress and social stability. Investors leave Malaysian shores.
The political change of the largest world economy, USA, and now the second largest, Japan, puts Malaysia and the world on notice. On the heels of China, the new Democratic Party government of Japan will be using social welfare spending as one of the tools of stimulating its long ailing economy. Will both China and Japan be building a social security system to match those of western social democratic systems?
One can look East, South, North and West, the message is unmistakenly clear every where; CHANGE WE MUST ! Look to Japan for a smooth transition of power in a mature democratic Land of the Rising Sun. Looking East this season for Malaysians is as good as looking anywhere else, and look East really hard this time round.
It has been some two decades since Malaysia under Mahathir adopted a Look East Policy, using Japan as the model for the development of Malaysia. On a historic day of political change in Japan, the Look East Policy is revisited for its broader ramifications to Malaysia.
The diligence of Japanese workers, work ethics and the team spirit are indeed worth emulating, but then these are the product of hundreds of years of culture. The backdrop of that culture includes hardships resulting from natural calamities, and sparse natural resources, against which Malaya and Borneo were and still are in sharp advantage as compared to Japan. The Japanese is also a culture where the prominent influence of Chinese civilization stares in your eyes. From tea-drinking and Buddhism, to chinaware and painting, and to lexicon and calligraphy, the creative Japanese have brought the Chinese influences into their unique own.
On to their own rich culture too, were grafted the science and technology of the Western industrial revolution through the process of the Meiji Renewal, and western concepts of democracy and Human Rights, particularly after WW II.
From the start, Malaysia looks a vastly different substrate from Japan. It has a culture on which Indian, Arabic, Chinese and later Western colonial cultures were preeminently grafted on to the indigenous cultures of the Malay archipelago. The foreign input into Malaysian culture may thus be said to be more sustained, direct and diverse than is the case of Japan. The strong infusion of the English language through colonial government and the growth of Chinese language education through sheer commitment of the sizable Chinese ethnic minority are also distinguishing features. The legacy of the British judicial system and the structured civil service, also puts Malaya and former British Borneo in comparative advantage. The Constitution and Westminister styled parliamentary were to be the basis of the healthy growth of a young nation.
Why then did Japan rise as Pheonix from the atomic holocaust of WWII to become the second largest economy in the World, and Malaysia rose to the Second World, but is now under threat to slip towards the Third World again ?
At first glance, Malaysia appeared open to positive foreign influences, from including its once aggressor, Japan; and Malaysia even promised to take a lead in the ICT age through the Multi-Media Supercorridor. But did it even ever Looked East to Japan ?
Japan was and is not shy of foreign influences, East or West, while Malaysia in great but unintelligent nationalist zest, jettisoned the English language from the education system, thus shut itself from an invaluable comparative advantage asset of learning and communication. The Chinese language education was softly suppressed, thus depriving Malaysia leverage of what is emerging as an increasingly important international language.
Japan kept corruption and crony-capitalism at bay through a robust criminal justice system; from the 1989 Judicial Crises, the Malaysian executive branch has controlled the Judicial branch, subverting the separation of Powers so essential to the healthy functioning of democracy. What is a great strength of Japan was not taken on board, but what functioning judicial infrastructure Malaysia had was slaughtered.
Japanese enjoy civil and political rights little different from any liberal western country; Malaysians are to be cowered by repressive legislation governing behaviour of academics and higher education students, the print media and rights of assembly and expression. Is it so difficult to understand that the free intellect and the free individual is the basis of a creative community and nation?
Malaysians are not allowed to learn the art of accountable local government from Japan or anywhere else. Grass-roots democracy or participatory democracy are remote concepts in Malaysian lexicon. Why deprive the Malaysians a vital instrument of social commitment and engagement? Are these latter not the accompaniments of the Japanese work culture about which Malaysians were exhorted to emulate ?
Look East or even look anywhere, has thus been mere rhetoric mired in the broader Malaysian ruling National Front agenda of the political and economic supremacy of a monoculture; as incitefully coined Ketuanan Melayu, this a mere pretence for the political survival of an unpopular ruling elite class.
The rejection of English may have had the effect of shutting out western ideas of civil and political rights, egalitarianism, feminist ideas and possibly religions deemed Western. Thus English language was temporarily brought back for Science and Mathematics education, but not for the liberal Arts subjects, if there is anything Liberal in Malaysian education. The refusal to promote the Chinese language education is to be understood from the ruling perspective and priority about monocultural hegemony over broader national competitiveness issues.
The Malaysian crony-capitalism, corruption, and political hegemony founded on race rhetorics meant that the worst aspects of the free market far supercede the its better strengths in its impacts on Malaysian economy. Distortion to labour, prices and incomes becomes further bugbear to progress and social stability. Investors leave Malaysian shores.
The political change of the largest world economy, USA, and now the second largest, Japan, puts Malaysia and the world on notice. On the heels of China, the new Democratic Party government of Japan will be using social welfare spending as one of the tools of stimulating its long ailing economy. Will both China and Japan be building a social security system to match those of western social democratic systems?
One can look East, South, North and West, the message is unmistakenly clear every where; CHANGE WE MUST ! Look to Japan for a smooth transition of power in a mature democratic Land of the Rising Sun. Looking East this season for Malaysians is as good as looking anywhere else, and look East really hard this time round.
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