Truth of 100 years

Lets go back more than 100 years ago and look at how an author from the colonialist, Britain described the people in Malaysia (it was still Malaya then).

In 1907, Britain occupied Malaya with a 'divide and rule' tactic. British divided the 3 major races in Malaya and compartmentalized them in their respective racial group. Inter-racial communications were restricted. British was the 'boss' and played the central roles to 'safeguard' welfare of each race. British further branded or stereotyped each race with a degrading 'weakness', and manipulated it to stoke strong dislikes or contempt of one race towards another.

Hence, there was a common branding of a Malay was idler. Chinaman or Chinese was known as a thief. Indian was deemed a drunkard. This was part of the British tactic of 'divide and rule' in Malaya.

Lets fast-forward 107 years to the present day in 2014. Malaya gained independence in 1957 and Malaysia was formed in 1963. One would have thought that this British 'divide and rule' tactic should only be part of history since Malaysia is now an independent country for more than 50 years. Should you think so, you would have been misled.

In 2014, the ruling regime in Malaysia, formed by Barisan Nasional (BN) coallition, which is dominated by United Malays National Organisation (Umno), pretty much practise the same governance by using the same racial divisive branding for Malay, Chinese and Indian. Seriously?!?

Idler

Mahathir, the former prime minister of Malaysia but still an active Umno member, openly say Malays are lazy in 2014. Idler branding for Malay has been around all along and is still widespread today. An idler mean a lazy person.

Thief 

Branding for Chinese has progressed from thief into gambler, greedy person and even Pendatang (foreign immigrant). A Malaysian of Chinese ethnic can be called a Pendatang by NGOs linked to Umno even though he or she is born in Malaysia as a full-fledged Malaysian citizen.

Drunkard

The drunkard connotation for Indian has not changed for the past 100 years. Indian is still branded as 'kaki botol' today. It is a Malay phrase for drunkard. Government agency of this ruling regime is reported to be still using 'kaki botol' to describe Indian.

The key question is why should the ruling regime in Malaysia still be practicing this irresponsible colonialist governance of 'divide and rule'? Multi-racial Malaysians have evolved over time to live happily with each other. Malaysians in general love their neighbours and disdain racial extremists. Here lies the problem with Umno. Umno started and continued to exist on the self proclaimed purpose of 'safeguarding' Malays. Now that Malays do not need the so called 'safeguard' anymore, Umno has lost its purpose of existence.

It is clear that this ruling regime is not interested in racial harmony and civil peace in Malaysia. It is more interested in prolonging its firm hold on power in disregard for the interest of overall Malaysians. Umno dominated government in Malaysia is still behaving like a colonialist in its very own country. This is puzzling.

The ruling regime, which effectively controlled by Umno, seems to be uncomfortable with this in fear of losing grip on power. Its dated 'divide and rule' tactic has not been working as well as before. The government itself is known to be in many occasions provoking racial discontent among its own people to justify its existence and support from Malays. Should Malays or Malaysians allow this to happen? Malaysia is at its critical crossroad. Share your views.

Art of Distraction

In Transformers movie, there were Decepticons

In 'transformational' Malaysia, there are Distracticons

Malaysians are constantly overwhelmed by many issues in their lives. In addition to escalating costs of living, high crime rate, and deteriorating quality of lives, they have to face all kind of unproductive issues raised by 'agent provocateurs' of the ruling regime. People who favor the current ruling regime regularly and repeatedly raised these unproductive issues or topics to distract or divert the attention of the people from the core problems of the country.

What are the unproductive issues or topics that are so good at distracting the  people?

I can off-hand list out a few typical topics to distract Malaysians from the core problems:

• Touching Dog. A well intended event in accordance to religious precautions was senselessly attacked by people who 'ignore' the religious precautions followed in the event.
• The consequence of numerous attacks and the people's angry responses against such senseless attacks totally distracted Malaysians from the discontent resulted from the 20 sen increase in petrol price.

• Some politicians and so called social activists endlessly debate the issues on Pendatang and Perantau. Why is there a need to distinguish between Pendatang and Perantau among fellow Malaysians? We do not see Americans questioning if President Obama is Pendatang or Perantau. This topic is used to portray as if the status of Malays in Malaysia is being threatened by Pendatang. Malays are then called upon to support United Malays National Organisation (Umno), the leading party of the ruling regime, to fight for their rights. Seriously, after more than 50 years of safeguarding and advancing Ketuanan Melayu (Malay Supremacy) and yet this very status is still 'insecure'. Umno is either incompetent or just 'cakap tak serupa bikin' (hypocrite).

• This topic of distraction is frequently used when there are corruption or abuse of power cases against the ruling regime or its agencies. For instance, 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). 1MDB is known for abuse of government funds and corruptions.

• Oktoberfest is becoming more popular for wrong reasons in Malaysia. It is an evening gathering mainly to consume beer that has been practised for many years. It is also named as Oktoberfest to coincide with the well-known German festival. The ferocious condemnation seems to erroneously imply that beer drinking in Malaysia is 'illegal'. This is untrue. Malaysian laws allow alcohol consuption and alcoholic products are tax-free in several tourist spots. Consuming alcohol however is not allowed for Muslims.
• This alcoholic topic is recently used to distract the people from discussing the inflationary pressure as a result of the imposition of 6% goods and services tax (GST). This topic is also useful to distract people from a public discussion on any revelation of this ruling regime's corrupt practices.

• Halloween celebration has been practised by expatriates and some Malaysians for decades but it is now ruled as against Islam in Malaysia. They talk as if it is now illegal to celebrate Halloween, which is again untrue. However, the ruling regime has made approvals of venue very difficult for anyone to organize Halloween party. 
• This topic of distraction is new and it is used for the same purpose as Oktoberfest.

• Use of the word Allah by Christians and Sikhs has existed in Malaysia before the country gained independence in 1957. It was never an issue for more than 50 years but it is a controversy now. It looks like the use of the word Allah is now exclusive to Malaysian Muslims. This is the classic topic used again and again to foster Muslims support for Umno. It goes on the basis that use of the word Allah by non-Muslims would threaten the position of Muslims in Malaysia.
• This topic has never failed to harness heated discussion or even legal actions by Muslims and non Muslims. It has been successful in strengthening Muslim support for Umno. This topic is particularly useful in times of general election, by election and to distract people from the wrongdoing or abusive practices of the ruling regime.

• Ibrahim Ali. He is a key 'agent provocateur' for Umno. Rumour has it that he can be anyone's agent as long as the amount of money is right. Ibrahim is himself a topic to distract Malaysians from core problems. He should be a symbol of Umno that has failed in its Ketuanan Melayu cause. On the contrary, he constantly reminds Malays how 'insecure' their status is today. Hence, they must continue to support Umno.
• Ibrahim would get much publicity from  government controlled media when there is an uncovering of a major corruption case against Umno, or before general election or by-election.

• Every now and then there would be a cow-head thrown into an Indian temple or a pig-head thrown into a mosque. Red coloured paint would also be unexpectedly slashed at some religious venues. Heated protests and emotional outbursts from supporters of this ruling regime would then follow suit. These silly events objected by all Malaysians usually happen just before elections.

The next question is why does the ruling regime require these unproductive issues or topics to distract the people?

The ruling regime in Malaysia, Barisan Nasional is led by Umno, and has been in power for 57 years. This regime is plagued by its internal conflicts and is incapable of reinventing itself. It is corrupt, abusive and, in many areas, incompetent. One thing is sure. Umno still wants to hang on to power and continue to reap benefits from the country.

It seems to have gone on to manage Malaysia by way of distraction. Umno leaders are happy as long as Malaysians are distracted from the core problems faced by the people. While Malaysians are distracted, these leaders continue their corrupt and abusive practices to benefit themselves, their families and cronies. There is no political will to advance the country. The only will is to plunder as much as possible before the country is absolutely bankrupt. That is probably the point that they will stop or leave the country.

What are the core problems challenging Malaysian livelihood?

Cost of living in Malaysia has been escalating rapidly. Inflation has been high despite government released numbers. People on the streets are feeling this. Inflation may be partially caused by the world commodity prices but it is made much worse by 'Cronies first, Cash now' corrupt practices. Most of the contracts given out by Malaysian government or its government linked companies tend to be overpriced to ridiculous level. Look at the cost of constructing Malaysian budget air terminal, Klia2. It was no surprise that Malaysia was top in the world in illegal capital outflows on per capita basis, even though China has a higher absolute outflow amount. Why? I suppose all the corrupt money must go somewhere deemed safe.

Malaysia has been among the top in the world when it comes to illegal capital outflows. No country in ASEAN can come close. Not Thailand, not Philippines, not Vietnam and not even Indonesia.

Petrol price increased by 20 sen recently and it looks set to increase further. Coupled with the imposition of 6% GST in April 2015, cost of living will be escalating further. Malaysians are increasingly frustrated with lower and middle income trap. Income improvement is way below the rate of escalating cost of living.

Incapable of or Unwilling to rejuvenate Malaysian economy, the ruling regime resorted to manage the country by way of distraction. In Malaysia, there are 'endless possibilities' to the tricks used by this ruling regime to prolong its life-span. Malaysians will be better off focused on the core problems and not get carried away by unproductive topics raised and sensationalised by Umno. Beware of Umno's Art of Distraction!

"I DO IT FOR MY CHILDREN"

I met up with a few friends recently. We have known each other for a long time . We were having a good time talking about our past and what is going to happen in the future. It came to my amazement when one of them asked about the best way to donate some money to opposition parties in Malaysia. That man was of a wealthy background. He did well in his career. He held a senior position of a listed company in Malaysia. I suspected that the company he worked for must have benefited one way or another from the government. I could not be sure and would not ask such a question.

I did ask why would he want to donate some money to opposition parties? His answer was simple. "I do it for my children," he said. He explained that it was his choice to send his children overseas for tertiary education. He had no qualm that he had to spend extra money to send them overseas. He was however unhappy with the limited job opportunities in the country. One of his child opted to work in another country. The other child who is still in Malaysia is currently unemployed. This child is also contemplating a job opportunity overseas.

One of the reason why my friend's children prefer to work overseas is the remuneration package. The remuneration in Malaysia is low but the cost of living is high and keeps rising. Costs of vehicle and shelter have become very high to newly graduated professionals. Young professional are not able to have a decent living standard despite their high education level. They still have to look to their parents for financial support.

One big dilemma to my friend is that he cannot have his children staying near him or at least in the country. He does not have the chance to spend more time with his children once they decide to work overseas. Yet, he cannot force them to work locally if that would compromise their income and career prospect. Life will not be easy either for the children to live away from home and parents.

My friend's children are fortunate that their parents can afford to send them overseas for education and they have international qualifications. They can find a job overseas when the job opportunity in Malaysia is undesirable. Many younger generations in the country may not be as fortunate

My friend further emphasized, "Our government is either running out of ideas to continue building this country or it is simply incapable of doing so. Malaysia is losing to neighboring countries in terms of improving living standard. What we see is that our government talks a lot more than what it actually does. It spends more publicity money on newspapers, TVs and billboards than ever before. Perception seems to be more than the real situation."

I am inclined to agree with this friend. It is painful to not be able to spend time with our loved ones. It is like we are being separated away from our children by force. What have we done wrong to suffer this kind of separation from our children? We are law abiding. We pay taxes without delay. What is the good of a government that cannot take care of the welfare of its own citizens?  No one will enjoy this feeling.

UNITED We Stand

In the dark moments of losing 2 Malaysian commercial airplanes, MH370 and MH17, it was understandable that Malaysians felt frustrated and fear. A simple question: What was going on? This simple question could barely be answered by the government in Malaysia. Their answers would go round and round in many circles. If you were straighten the circles, they may match the length of Great Wall of China.

In that difficult time, it was understandable that Malaysian Prime Minister, Najib Razak called upon Malaysians to stay united.

• Malaysians could understand when the victims in MH17 were given full state honors.
• Malaysians applauded the decision to mark 22 August 2014 as a mourning day.
• Malaysians observed minute of silence throughout the nation in grief for loss of lives in MH17.

The question is whether Malaysians should stay united backing Najib Razak due the loss of lives in relation to MH17 and possibly MH370.

Loss of lives is hence used as a cause for Malaysians to remain united; and they are to be united backing Najib.

I wonder if the loss of lives of the following should also be a reason for Malaysians to stay united backing Najib:

1. Ahmad Sabarni
2. Teoh Beng Hock
3. A. Kugan
4. C. Sugurman
5. Altantuya Shaariibuu
6. Koay Soon Guan
7. Kamarulnizam Ismail
8. Chew Siang Giap
9. A. Punniyanathan
10. Nobuhiro Matsushita
11. N Dharmendran
12. Aminulrasyid Amzah
13. Chin Te
14. Dinesh Darmasena Wijemanna
15. Pua Bee Chun

Teoh Beng Hock

Aminulrasyid Amzah

The list can go on but it is sufficient to prove a point. You can google for details of each case. This list only includes victims who were in the hands of an agency controlled by the Government under the leadership of Najib Razak. This list excludes those murdered due to armed attacks, gunned downs, snatch-thieves, robberies, break-ins and other crimes.

In Malaysia, there can be so many murders but no murderer. Should the Malaysians not stand united for the loss of lives of these victims?

• Can these victims be given full state honors?
• Will there be a day that is marked as mourning day for these victims?
• Should Malaysians observe minute of silence in grief for loss of lives in Government custody?

Is life not equal in Malaysia? Is life only of value if there is political expediency? You can probably guess the answer for this simple question.

I submit that Malaysians must stay united for loss of lives. These innocent loss of lives must be stopped. It is crime against humanity. Understandably, Malaysians must not possibly stay united under a leadership that has caused them.

Police report on death of Kamarulnizam Ismail in Tapah Police Lockup

Press Conference on death of Dinesh Darmasena Wijemanna

C. Sugurman

Cheer or Cry for this Country?

Malaysia is a wonderful tropical country that has produced many world class talents and personalities. At the same time, Malaysia has produced some who can either be genius or idiot, depending on how you see it. The 'beauty' is really in the eyes of beholder.

All the Malaysians were still feeling the sorrow after losing badminton championship Thomas Cup to Japan in May earlier this year. Out of a sudden, Prof Dr Ridhuan Tee who was supposedly a learned person in Malaysia claimed that the Chinese ethnic Malaysian audience would have supported a Chinese player from China should the Chinese player be playing against a Malay ethnic Malaysian player.

Multiracial team winning Thomas Cup 1992

Misbun and Chong Wei

Malaysians of all races have been cheering and supporting Lee Chong Wei, Razif, Jalani, Misbun, Cheah Soon Kit, Rashid, etc for years if not all their lives, without taking into account their ethnicity. Many in Malaysia were wondering if Ridhuan was someone like Captain America who had just been revived from a frozen form. It is not my intention to demean Captain America's author. It is even suspected that Ridhuan must have consumed Dimensi 108, pills that make a person smart. You can certainly read many of this Prof Dr Ridhuan's irrelevant views that are really not worth being quoted here.

Malaysia has a another man called Abdullah Zaik who is the president of Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (ISMA) or Malaysian Muslim Solidarity. One would have thought that he would articulate on Islam and Muslim. No, he has not been at all. His 2 infamous claims were neither Islam nor religious:

1. Chinese, Indian and other ethnicity in Malaysia must pay taxes but leave their welfare in the country to Malay leaders like Abdullah Zaik. A talk on taxes (money) clearly has nothing to do with Islam or Muslim. Money is a form of materialism.
2. The Chinese ethnic people in Malaysia are intruders to the country. This claim on intrusion has nothing to do with Islam or Muslim. Intrusion is about national security.

In fact, he indirectly criticized the Malaysian Government, under the leadership of United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), for failing to stop the intrusion of Chinese ethnic people for the last 50 years. He highlighted the weakness of UMNO that he is covertly trying to support. Abdullah Zaik was possibly not aware that these Chinese intruders held Malaysian citizenship and went to schools with Malay, Indian and other ethic groups for more than 50 years in Malaysia. The Barisan Nasional (BN) government, which is dominated by UMNO, must have been ineffective or blind not to have noticed this. Abdulah Zaik might have come back to life from another frozen form.

To laugh or to cry, there is Ibrahim Ali who is the president of PERKASA, a NGO pursuing Malay supremacy. He claimed to represent Malay and fight for their supremacy. However, Ibrahim Ali lost badly during the last general election in his very own constituency, Pasir Mas, which he was once a member of parliament. The Malay community in Pasir Mas clearly did not think that he was capable or suitable to represent them or any Malay. Ibrahim Ali has not done anything to advance the welfare of Malay community so far. Unsurprisingly, he has only been constantly insulting or bad-mouthing other ethic communities in Malaysia to the distaste of many Malays. Those comments did not advance the Malay community in anyway. 

Ibrahim Ali was once a member of parliament in Malaysia

It is amazing how these people can get maximum national media time for whatever they say. On closer observation, they have not done anything serious but said many things that hurt some other ethnic groups. The BN government is in full control of the media channels in Malaysia. One wonder if 1 or more leaders in UMNO are backing these people like Ridhuan Tee, Abdullah Zaik and Ibrahim Ali to advance their personal political gain as opposed to striving for the interest of Malay community.

Deny, Deny. Blame Others!

"Malaysia downgraded in US human trafficking report 

The United States has downgraded Malaysia to the lowest ranking in its annual human trafficking report, to the same category as Zimbabwe, North Korea and Saudi Arabia." 

This was the headline and first paragraph of a report in the Star news online, which is widely known as a pro-government media, that was published on June 21, 2014. I was sad to hear that Malaysia had gotten worse in its work to reduce "this heinous crime" of human trafficking. I immediately asked myself what would the response be from this Malaysian government. My guess was 'Deny, deny. Blame others'. I was not surprised to see the following denials from Malaysian government:

1. Malaysian government claimed that information used by the Trafficking in Persons Report 2013 was “flawed, inaccurate” and “provided by dubious organisations”.
2. Malaysia has taken substantive measures and the work by Malaysian government to combat human trafficking was “still a work in progress”. In this light, the US State Department should reconsider its assessment on Malaysia.

Since the denials were serious yet rather typical of this government, I went to the internet to search for more information. I managed to gather the following details for both of the above denials .

Denial 1

Phil Robertson, the deputy Asia director of the New York-based watchdog, Human Rights Watch, said the following:

"The US, UK and Australia and even UN representations had sent over experts to engage with various Malaysian ministries to tackle human trafficking, providing technical assistance and improvement plans. Malaysia failed to respond to assistance from international communities on the persistent problem. Malaysia has only itself to blame for being relegated to the lowest rank in the US’s annual human trafficking report."

"There is no lack of effort from the international community, but frankly Malaysia simply ignored it. It was the sound of one hand clapping. There was no substantive or continuous response to deal with it."

The US's Trafficking in Persons Report has stated the below:

"Some immigration officials were accused of being involved in the smuggling of trafficking victims, yet the Malaysian government did not investigate any such potential individuals or cases."

The statements made by the report and the comments by Robertson show that the report has not been hastily prepared without consultation or working with Malaysian authorities. Malaysian government should not treat international community the way they treat their own citizens. The lesson from MH370 must be learned. They must provide evidence on the “flawed, inaccurate” parts of the report and how was it based on information “provided by dubious organisations”. Please do not just talk, Malaysian government. Go and provide evidence. Unlike Malaysians, international community do not accept empty talks.

Denial 2
On this denial, the parties have stated that Malaysian government has done some talking and perhaps some work too. It was clear that there was little success. It was a half-hearted implementation or mere lips-service.

"While Malaysia has increased its preventative efforts against trafficking via public service announcements, there were fewer identifications of trafficking victims, fewer prosecutions and fewer convictions in 2013 than the previous year."

"While Malaysia had taken up the trappings of combating migrant exploitation via human trafficking with committees, billboards, and brochures; it failed in its implementation."

"Malaysian authorities not only failed to investigate cases brought to them by NGOs, they also failed to recognize victims or indications of trafficking, and instead treated cases as immigration violations"

"Aegile Fernandez, director of Tenaganita, said her group had been handling an increasing number of worker abuse and trafficking cases. “We see very little progress” to fight this, she told AFP. “If you look at the human rights violations, it’s terrible. You cannot deny that. We are really going down and down.”"

One will not be faulted to think that the words from the representative of Malaysian government can not be entirely trusted. We can still recall that there were 2 fake passport holders who aborted the ill-fated MH370 but Malaysian authority failed to check those passports against Interpol database. Interpol database would have revealed the fake passport holders. Malaysian authority brushed aside the necessity to check against Interpol database by saying that it would cause delay to potential 40 million verifications by Malaysia . It was a computerized database verification taking less than a few seconds to as fast as 0.2 seconds without manual work. How cumbersome could it have been to cause delay? The United States used the database 230 million times a year, while the United Kingdom checked 140 million times a year. From the MH370 incident itself, it did not seem that the Malaysian government were serious in tackling human trafficking or illegal immigrants .

Why is Malaysian government official calling human trafficking a "heinous crime" but the government is not serious in resolving the problem? Is someone close to or within the powers that be making lots of money from human trafficking in Malaysia?

Despite more money and time spent on committees, billboards and brochures, this maybe the same old story of some people in this government administrative system benefiting from the publicity against human trafficking, and at the same time, benefiting from human trafficking activities. The word corruption can be smelled all over the air. Human trafficking is not new to Malaysia, the country has been fairly successful in tackling it over the years until 2013.

To Burn, To Destroy and To Fight

This is a good advice of prominent leaders, Muhyiddin Yassin and Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister respectively in Malaysia from the ruling party, United Malays National Organisation (UMNO).

When you are 'angry and feel hurt' (Malay: kemarahan dan rasa terhiris), it is a 'natural course of reaction' (Malay: reaksi secara semulajadi) to do something bad against not only that person, who is deemed to have hurt you, but also to many others that are not involved.

This advice came after members of Umno reacted to a member of another political party, called Democratic Action Party (DAP), who said, "Umno Celaka". Celaka is a Malay word that primarily means unlucky, unfortunate, disaster. It can be seen as an obscene word or an insult, like "damn you". For instance, "wah so celaka lah - my car broke down yesterday" or "celaka you!".

The below were the reactions of the Umno members which were considered natural reaction:-

Reaction 1- To Burn:

Reaction 2- To Destroy:

Reaction 3- To Fight:

One would have thought that the natural course of reaction would have been to report the matter to the police or to pursue legal action against that DAP member or leader in courts of law. Anger, agitation and sorrow are no justification to commit arson, property damage and criminal assaut. There can be no law and order in a country where the people can react as they wish based on personal feeling. Umno should exhaust all legal means against that particular DAP member should what he has said be wrong. Is there still rule of law in Malaysia?

If Reaction 1, 2 and 3 above were all acceptable due to anger and feeling hurt, should the people who are angry or hurt by the following demonstration then retaliate in some form of 'to burn, to destroy and to fight'?

DAP CELAKA. No definition is found for Rasict

SIAL CINA. Sial means something like "stupid dumbass". Cina means Chinese

PUKIMAK DAP. Pukimak means "Mother's cunt or pussy"

Fortunately, there has been no untoward incidence caused by Chinese community or DAP as a result of the above remarks by Umno. There should be law and order in Malaysia. Nobody, be it from the ruling party or opposition party, should be allowed to do what he or she wishes based on personal feeling. Anger and sensitive feeling are not basis to take law into one's own hands.

More peculiarly, what has the Chinese community in Malaysia and the world has got to do with political party DAP? Can DAP as a party or all its members a whole be made a victim for a doing of an individual member?

It should be a natural reaction for Umno to take action against that particular DAP member, if so wish, and not against anybody else. I can only recall the ancient medieval times when the whole family members were punished or killed for a crime committed by one of them, matters not how distant the family relationship was. This surely cannot be the way of life of modern day civilized society in Malaysia. 

There has been more provocative racial remarks and irresponsible religious issues instigated in this country over the last 5 years than the last 30 years. It all happened since Najib took over as Malaysian Prime Minister. His government lost the majority popular vote but remained in power via gerrymandering, phantom voters and dubious electoral practices. One can not help but to wonder if Najib is resorting to use the excuse of racial tension and religious intolerant to stir up chaos in Malaysia. He can then implement martial law to remain in power for a long time.

His father was believed to have used racial unrest to take over the leadership of Umno and became a prime minister. Malaysians must see through the lies created to help Najib and his party in power and not believe in incidences deliberately incited by Umno. Malaysians must not allow Najib and his party to turn Malaysia into a Thailand 2.0.

A Guessing Game

Lets' start a guessing game. 3 questions. Guess which country; which top leader, and which leader based on quotes made by others.

A Country

"The nation has long been hobbled by a political culture that places the ruling party's needs over those of the people"

"For six decades, the [ruling party] has appeared to have only one goal: to maintain its hold on power. It's thus promoted -- and recently reinforced -- racial policies that benefit its political base"

"The side effects, including stagnant living standards, waning competitiveness, and the humiliation of [the country's] sizable minority populations, are all overlooked in the service of [holding on to power]"

"[This country] is ensnared in the middle-income trap that South Korea and Thailand escaped years ago."

"Rather than free the economy from race-based quotas and business preferences, the ruling party has expanded them. Never mind that these policies make [the country] even less attractive to multinational companies and encourage so many of the nation's best and brightest to move to Singapore and Hong Kong"

"Philippines and Indonesia are surging ahead as this country looks backward"

"The country is proving to be all hardware and no software"

"For years, [the ruling party] acted as though top-quality roads, state-of-the-art ports and bridges, iconic skyscrapers and a swanky new capital would inevitably pave the way to prosperity."

"But economic software is even more important. And on that front, this country has never bothered to cut red tape, level the playing field for [the minorities], or introduce the competitive forces necessary to stimulate entrepreneurship."

"[This country] governing elite has clung to power without interruption since ... almost six decades ago through a combination of tight control of information, intimidation of the opposition and, until recently, robust economic growth."

"Many newspapers and television networks in [this country] are controlled by the government directly or indirectly."

"..worldwide bafflement at [a tragedy] has challenged the country’s paternalistic political culture and exposed its coddled leaders to the withering judgments of critics from around the world"

"[This country], aspiring to become a developed nation in six years, is finding that more than 50 years under one coalition and tight control over information is a mismatch for handling a rapidly growing crisis followed across the world"

"The crisis has fully exposed the dangers of allowing one party to rule a nation for six decades."

"This country is blessed with enviable natural resources. But it is willfully squandering its equally enviable human capital."

"These affirmative-action policies [of this country] stifle innovation and drive away investment. They disenfranchise the country's minorities, forcing many of them to seek their fortunes overseas."

"Civil-service and cabinet appointments should be about ability and nothing else -- not race, not sex, not age. Until and unless every lawmaker, ministry and government-linked corporation realizes they will have to answer for their actions and failings, the trust gap between the people and their government will only widen."

"It is also an ethnically polarized society where talent often does not rise to the top of government because of patronage politics within the ruling party and a system of ethnic preferences that discourages or blocks the country’s minorities, from government service."

"The longer [this country] sticks with the racial preferences, the more graft and opacity will worsen and undermine growth. The only way to unshackle the economy -- which should be performing a lot more like South Korea than Vietnam -- is to end such policies."

"[This country was recently] hailed by [the president of a superpower country] as 'an example of a dynamic economy' and touted its 'diversity, tolerance and progress' as 'a model to countries around the world'. Today, amid the global outcry over the [handling of the tragedy], such praise sounds naive. The past month has highlighted [this country]'s deepest flaws, and all-too-few of its strengths."

"Ordinary people in [another country] feel the work [of the government of this country] has not been professional.”

"Another neighboring country expressed concern about coordination effort. [This country]’s cooperation has not been positive and their officials are not responsive to requests for information"

"The government [of this country]... also released imprecise, incomplete and sometimes inaccurate information, with civilian officials sometimes contradicting military leaders"

"Information issued publicly from [the government] had been extraordinarily chaotic."

"The government [of this country] seemed evasive and confused, and [an expert] questioned why, if the remarks attributed to [the government official] were true, the government took so long to reveal evidence"

"The government (of this country)’s inconsistencies in the handling of the crisis were further highlighted when the country’s top official contradicting what other officials had said for the past three days."

A Top Leader

"Why bother when all the [this top leader's] party needs to do to stay in power is redraw voting districts, bribe the masses with fat handouts, invoke religion when necessary, and muzzle any pesky publications that dare to write about corruption and privilege?"

"It's a full-time job: For years populist handouts, gerrymandered districts, and political arrests secured the party comfortable majorities, but in last year's election the ruling coalition lost the popular vote for the first time"

"All this explains why per-capita income in a resource-rich nation with an enviable geographic position in Asia has stalled at near the $10,000 mark. [This top leader's country] is stuck in the middle-income trap because its leaders are stuck in time."

"His government has been clamping down on internal political dissent. One opposition leader once again faces the specter of jail on sodomy charges; [and another] is defending himself against sedition allegations."

"Authoritarian laws have helped keep the governing party in power — and an ascendant opposition in check."

"Early on, [he] thrilled global investors by hinting that he would scrap his party's 40-year-old affirmative-action policies, which favor [one race]. But [his party]'s troubles prompted him to expand rather than eliminate such apartheid economics."

"Since rising to the top job, he has had to divert his attention from revitalizing [the country]'s economy to maintaining [his ruling party]'s long hold on power. 

"[His] government's handling of [the tragedy] was no fluke. The fumbling exposed a political elite that's never really had to face questioning from its people, never mind the rest of the world."

"The international press has pilloried [his] government for its initial response to the crisis, which was marred by conflicting information, poor coordination with neighboring countries, defensiveness, and an apparent lack of transparency"

"His government’s lack of a clear message, compounded by a series of false leads... risks undermining its image internationally."

"The families of the victims of [a tragedy] deserve better. But then, so do [the people of the country] whom [this leader] claims to serve."

“There are big issues -- transparency, information sharing, questions associated with security. [The leaders] are not in control of the discussion and the problem is they’re not instilling confidence. Everyone wants to give them the benefit of the doubt but this is a crisis of credibility for [his] administration.”

"The crisis has led to introspection about why the government has appeared uncoordinated and unable to pin down seemingly basic facts about the [tragedy]"

"What can his government do, post-crisis , to improve its image at home and abroad? This isn't a mere PR challenge. The country needs nothing less than a political revolution."

"They’re handling a huge global issue as if it was domestic politics"

"[His] administration is sending the message that people should let [his] government tell them what they need to know, when they need to know it, and not before"

"Local media outlets critical of [this leader] are on the defensive. [His] government has by contrast been silent on efforts by Islamic conservatives to limit who can use the word "Allah" -- a campaign that has eroded [this country]'s reputation for religious tolerance."

A Leader

"Even with his nearly 20-year stint as a legislator and more than a decade in ministerial posts, how does someone like this become a transport minister in Southeast Asia's third-biggest economy?"

"He's also the scion of a powerful political family."

"He is the nephew of the country’s second prime minister, [who is also the current prime minister]’s father

"[He] was elected a vice president of [the controlling party], putting him in line to possibly succeed [the country's top leadership]."

"The lamentable manner in which [this leader] has fielded questions underscores how unaccustomed the country's leaders are to being questioned by anyone"

""It’s only confusion if you want it to be seen to be confusion," he said at a news conference that unfolded before an international audience. [He] rejected a reporter’s assertion that the search [in the tragedy] had been disordered."

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Remarks -

Feel free to give your answers in the 'comments section' in red color below. Guess one answer for each of the above 3 questions. Namely which country, which top leader, and which leader based on quotes made by others.

This guessing game it is based on quotes from respectable personalities who work in internationally credible organisations. Minimalist editing is made to preserve choices of word by the original authors and to ensure this guessing game a success. The original articles can be found below:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-11/malaysia-failing-to-manage-plane-crisis-exposes-leadership-limit.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/12/world/asia/malaysia-jet.html?_r=0

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-03-13/a-plane-disappears-malaysia-s-flaws-emerge

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/13/world/asia/missing-jet-exposes-a-dysfunctional-malaysian-elite.html?_r=0

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-04-08/missing-plane-will-haunt-malaysia-s-future