Kartika caning reveals deep irony of Malaysia

Today's Straits Times has a great quote from Clive Kessler, the veteran Australian sociologist, about one of the fundamental ironies of Malaysia, which seems particularly insightful given the Kartika caning furore.

"If you're not a Malay or Muslim, you've diminished rights but a great deal of freedom. If you're on the Malay side of the equation, you've got lots of rights but very little freedom." (A version of the interview is online here.)

So poor old Kartika can get a guaranteed place at university and a scholarship to boot, buy a cheap condo and nab a seat on the board of a government-linked company but she can't crack open a beer in peace.

Meanwhile, her fellow citizens of Indian and Chinese origin can drink to their heart's content but have to go overseas to get a place at university (perhaps not such a bad thing, after all...), shell out more for property and pay off Malays in order to get ahead in business.

In the interview, Kessler also suggests that UMNO, the Malaysian ruling party, has been slow to change because "it has wanted to keep the political world of deference, obedience, favour-seeking and gratitude".

He's right, of course. Furthermore, I'd argue that even those within UMNO who want change are unable to deliver it because, as another academic put it to me recently, "UMNO is corrupted to its core, like India's Congress Party".

UPDATE: Beer-drinking Malayisan mother spared the cane...for now

UPDATED - Apparently it's just a delay for Ramadan and the sentence will still be carried out.

So, as predicted, the saga still has some way to run.

Caning of beer-drinking model a sign of true equality in Malaysia

Now that the Malaysian government has retained the services of a global PR firm, APCO, surely the spinners will be able to come up with some innovative communication strategies to limit the damage to the country's international reputation caused by the decision to cane Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, a woman who was caught drinking?

Here are some suggested approaches to assuage the outrage of the international media:

1. "It's part of our new equal opportunities drive". Men are routinely caned in Malaysia for a variety of criminal and religious offences so, in a forward-thinking, egalitarian society such as this, why shouldn't women have the same opportunity? 1Malaysia, 1Cane.

2. "It's part of our crack-down on binge drinking". International journalists, particularly those in Britain, will know what a scourge binge drinking can be, wreaking havoc in town centres every weekend.

As part of Malaysia's responsible drinking framework, there will be fewer happy hours, higher tax on alcohol, a ban on alco-pops and, of course, caning for any women caught drinking.

3. "It's proof that Malaysia is a truly multi-racial society". The government is keen to ensure that racist (sorry, I mean racial) harmony is maintained in the cultural melting pot that is Malaysia. And it understands racial sensitivities.

Therefore, Chinese or Indians are free to drink until their livers pack up, as alcoholism is a fundamental part of their wanton cultures. But in order to uphold the dignity of the true sons and daughters of this nation, Malays cannot drink (unless they are rich enough to do it in private clubs and/or pay off the religious police).

4. "Kartika is actually being treated very leniently in a sign of Malaysia's deep compassion". While judicial canings are pretty brutal, as this video (not for the faint hearted) shows, Kartika is getting off pretty lightly.

She will be caned while fully clothed and kneeling down, using a thin little stick that's just designed to cause a mildly unpleasant sensation - akin to being tickled, some say.

As Harussani Zakaria, one of Malaysia's most-eminent religious scholars put it, this caning is just designed to "shame her and educate her", rather than tear her flesh irreparably to pieces like normal caning sessions.

"Even if a person is caned 40 times, it won't cause death," he explained. And if that doesn't reassure you about Malaysian compassion, then nothing will.

Welcome to Malaysia, Truly Asia.

Kampung spirit alive in Singapore

Last night, I was strolling in the East Coast Park, a breezy, six-kilometre stretch of palm-fringed beach that arcs all the way from just outside central Singapore to Changi Airport on the eastern tip of the island.

It’s frequented by joggers, roller-bladers and cyclists and is also a popular camping spot, especially among Singapore’s minority Malay community, who are generally less well-off than their countrymen of Chinese origin.

While washing my hands in one of the many public conveniences that are scattered along the beach, I was rather shocked to see the guy next to me, a young Malay Singaporean, gutting and disemboweling a Stingray.

Blood coursed down the sides of the gleaming white sink as he slit the fish down the middle and pulled out its innards, washing the Ray thoroughly once he’d removed its guts.

“I caught this one earlier,” he remarked after noticing my attentive gaze.

“There are some more fishes over there,” he added, pointing to the rest of his family, who were busily washing some other freshly-caught fish in another sink.

The fish were destined for the barbecue, after which the family would retire to their huddle of tents on the edge of the imported-sand beach.

So, despite the transformation of Singapore from a collection of sleepy villages or kampungs into an all-encompassing high-rise housing estate, the old way of life clings on to the coattails of economic development.

Hemmed in between the unending line of HDB flats just across the road from the beach and the scores of unemployed shipping tankers moored just offshore, the kampung spirit lives on.

This blog was brought to you courtesy of the free if unreliable Wifi at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, where I’m currently en route to Bangladesh