Sensitive Truths In Malaysia
Author: AB Sulaiman
Publisher: SIRD
ISBN: 9789675832741
Pages: 382pp
Price: RM45.00
Weight: 0.600kg
AB Sulaiman has been an observer of human traits and foibles
ever since he could remember.
In this book, Sulaiman notes that post-independent Malaysia
has been governed by leaders who harbour a traditional mentality which has not
been fully synchronised with the modern world. They are unprepared for this
role. In other words, they have allowed the Malay society to hibernate in the
cave of its traditional thinking. The sense of the individual is not there, nor
the universal understanding of democracy, human rights and the rule of law. The
government is being run by a singularity format where the legislators,
executors and judiciary are all lumped into one single entity – the government.
There is no trias politica, or check and balance. In an era where a country or
state has no friends but national interests, it is run by those with personal
not national interests. In a nutshell the leaders have not been able to manage
change.
The country is not doing well as evidenced by its laggard performance in social, economic and political arenas. Most of its comparative indices indicate that it is slowly but surely sliding down the slope of mediocrity. Along the way there has been the breaking down of institutions, like law and education, followed by a rise in racism and religious extremism.