The Malaysian Opposition is so desperate they have to turn to the discredited liar and felon, Mahathir. Having destroyed Malaysia for 22 years, he wants his son Mukhriz to continue the same autocratic corrupt tradition. He is competing with Najib and Zahid for Filthy Malaysians of the Century.
Best of luck with your “business venture”. But take it from a veteran, I’m afraid to say, that unless you can pluck rabbits from a hat and/or ministers telephone numbers from your mobile, you’re going to find it akin to flying with lead boots.
The world of “political risk analysis” is in reality no more than influence peddling, pure and simple, and if you don’t have the contacts, “they” aren’t going to hire you. However convincing your PhD and website might look.
Not sure who did it, but the DPRK is by no means the only suspect.
Might as well have been the Korean far right; or someone with connection to Kim Jong Nam’s extravagant lifestyle; or someone with connection to Pyongyang’s illegal operations in Macau the deceased may have plausibly overseen (we at least know that DPRK has used Macau as a venue for such deals in the past).
However, I don’t think that another country’s secret service might be behind the murder. Even in case KJN was secretly in charge of some family interest, killing him makes little sense.
The simple, perhaps overly simple answer to your reasonable question ‘WHY?”, is also to be found in the thread. In order to maximise the effect of cradle-to-the-grave propaganda and the manipulation of society and culture, Thais have been deliberately kept under-educated and under-intelligent for decades, perhaps centuries.
There isn’t any reasonable doubt that the stupider someone is and the less exposed to other cultures and civilisations they have been kept, then the more likely they are to believe the BS handed to them by a person or people whom they perceive have what is essentially th power of life or death (or wealth and poverty perhaps) over them.
The methodology has been smart, far smarter than one would usually attribute to Thais of any level, whose main talent seems to be an animal-like cunning rather than intelligence and training. This lends weight to Handleys (and others, including mine) conclusion that the propaganda exercise was initiated by the USA, who were very happy to instruct a few Thais in the techniques of being successful professional liars (like Sansern for example – the epitome of the paid professional liar) who seems to have no real worth at all outside of his extraordinary mendacity and the daily attention to his coiffure).
So. The answer to your question seems obvious to me; not scientifically proven, but how much science does one need when the average IQ among Thais is 89? Some things are just too obvious to warrant scholarly argument.
“It would come with a considerable dose of shame, I think, to buy into the idea that all of the last 150 years is a royalist conspiracy to keep Thailand subservient and tame”.
The meaning of this is not clear in the post, but on the basis that it seems you do not agree with the royalist conspiracy hypothesis, it would be interesting to know what you believe would a better conclusion to reach.
So far as I am concerned, if it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck, then I personally have no sense of shame in assuming that it’s a duck and have no need to create a more complex conclusion. They are Thais after all, and the assumption of complexity (as opposed to the natural complexity of chaos) isn’t required.
A very interesting commentary. I think HRH Maha Vajiralongkorn ascendency will be very successful. He has matured and will represent the Royal Chakri Dynasty with great precision and compassion.
Ohn, you are addressing the no. 1 controversy in social movement research: What is the impact of protests (and movements) on the policy-making process? Most scholars will agree that even if there is not a direct impact then at least an indirect one. Protests matter in the sense that they raise awareness of alternative opinions and show politicians that there are organized people who disagree with them. In history that has been very powerful! Do you think the democratic opposition would be so (relatively) unified without the protests in 1988 and 2007? I doubt it and I am sure we would have not seen all the positive changes that we see today.
“What is unusual about this deal is that the North Koreans can only work for that particular mining company and they cannot work elsewhere in Malaysia.”
Please check your facts professor – It is not unusual – Foreign workers permit is always tied to the industry and employer. The worker cannot jump ship so to speak and go work for someone else legally. The same goes for all permitted foreign workers regardless of nationality. A work permit is different from a professional work pass!
Th statement above is like a “Trump” boo! hoo!
Anyway, I always like to follow the money when a crime is committed. In this case, it looks like the US is the only beneficiary of the case….
My Rm$10/- bet that the opposition will lose more seats in the up coming general election. teaming up with the ego maniac Mahathir is the worst thing that the opposition can do, and they did it!
Nothing that Mahathir had said can’t be linked back to his own self serving agenda. That is worse than a millstone around one’s neck.
I have no idea what the opposition grouping were thinking when they cosy up to Mahathir. TDM can’t bring in the Malay votes but will surely alienate non-malay voters..
The pakatan group have been touting good principles as their claim to righteous governance but how do you maintain that claim when you team up with someone like mahathir – one who changes colors faster than a cameleon, maybe even faster than a squid!
Why is the gullible portion of the Thai public so stubbornly gullible? The thread suggests that it is for compensation, partly the self-esteem that comes from being able to claim a share of the mythic success of Thainess, and partly a transactional compensation (if the thread doesn’t say that, I will) — the middle and upper levels of ‘where the money is’ in modern Thai society are simply more accessible to the gullible, and it’s expensive to live in Bangkok and attempt to sustain a family into the future. A man’s got to do what a man’s got to do, as it were.
The thread is I think rightly dismissive of the idea that Thais ever particularly aspired to democracy. No, I don’t think so. They aspire to getting on with life, mostly, and they are burdened by the lack of a compelling alternate myth. If they are not who Damrong and Wichit and Anuman and Khukrit and palace propagandist have said they are, who are they? And how could they — we, from their point of view — have been so miserably stupid and gullible as to be sucked into this thing for such a long time? It would come with a considerable dose of shame, I think, to buy into the idea that all of the last 150 years is a royalist conspiracy to keep Thailand subservient and tame. So one holds on to this myth, which also pays the bills.
Well said Melissa.. and it was such a personal tribute to him along with other courageous Muslim leaders contributed in the country of Myanmar and I believe this must be well acknowledged and respectfully recognised. Thanks for writing this piece of your supportive hands. Cheers!
The opposition is missing to present an upside-side to them to govern, rather than just saying “we limit the down side of najib”. So they should keep the upside to electing najib and add to it their own.
Alex mentioned that moderates within both groups need to regroup and refocus their attention to act as effective counterpoints against these groups and to discipline conservative activists within their own ranks.
I have one question: Do they have strong motivation and militancy as the other group have? I hope I am wrong but I sense that they don’t. Either because of lack of conviction, perceived urgency of the matter or others that I am not sure. If they don’t they will never act as effective counterpoints.
Case in point, there are various interpretations of Almaidah 51 but the other interpretations are almost unheard of, lost in the very loud and clear MUI statement which indicates that no other interpretation is acceptable as the verse is crystal clear: Voting for a kuffar is sinful. I haven’t heard there is any open discussion on this verse conducted by prominent muslims “left” and “right”, nor there is open letter to MUI to challenge their interpretation. Although this is very important for us as one nation now and in the future.
It is the Tourism Authority of Thailand, not Tourist Authority. Probably the most worthless organization in the Thai Government. They have taken to counting “arrivals” to Thailand as “visitors” when arrivals could be anything from in-transit passengers to visa runners. TAT could be disbanded tomorrow and would not be missed at all.
Dhammakaya is the trigger. Prayut is going to have to fight on SO MANY, MULTIPLYING fronts now. Here are just four of the most obvious : Bangkok, Patani, Isarn, Burma-Thai border (Myanmar monks already coming out in support of Dhammakaya), Chiang Mai. Good luck Prayut – you’re going to need it. Meanwhile Prem, and a bevy of discontented, power-seeking military – young, and old – their officers trained in Chulalomklao Military Academy coup conveyor-belt self-promotion tactics – wait in the wings. Their tanks, troops, and special operatives, ready.
When Bill Cinton was President, there were plenty of allegations of cronyism. As there have been subsequently against the Clinton Foundation, a dead-weight against Hilary’s presidential ambitions. Is Trump really so different ? The above is a very good article, making a poignant, probably prescient point- certainly in terms of Trumpian scale. But America’s Asian-style politico-economic rot set in long before Trump. Indeed there’s something of a dynamic symbiosis of the two twins.
“if it is laziness or hard work that has to do with how the current Prime Minister, Najib Razak, was able to allegedly channel more than $1 billion into his personal bank accounts.” Crime is a species of hard work, evidently too hard for poor ol dumb Najib, who has been caught and humiliated, while his Chinese ‘brain’ Jho Low has not even been questioned. All those subsidized foreign university degrees and the best Malaysia can produce is a huge embezzler. Pathetic.
the point was surely the conflation of lgbt (a term and identity with distinctly ‘western’ origins, and associated with a distinctly ‘western’ activism) with gender non-conformity/non-normative expressions of gender/etc. as well as the impact of the increase usage of the term, which are surely very simple points that sustain themselves sufficiently.
You are right it is about a glasss half-full or half-empty (I presume the water represents moderate and tolerant Islam).
I would like to add a couple of things.
First, Ahok won the first round but by only 2-3% margin i.e got only approx. 43% of the votes hence less than 50%, threshold to win the election in one run. Compare that to his approval rate of more than 70% (before the Almaidah 51 case in Pulau Seribu). This indicates around 20-30% agree that he has done his job well but do not want him as a governor. Why is that? Although politic apparently plays an important role we should not dismiss religion aspect. It will be difficult to politicize this if there is no base at all in the religion. Probably there were many who went to the demonstration have vested interest other than religion but several people that I know genuinely do not want to vote for Ahok merely because their believe that voting for Ahok is a sin and that Ahok is guilty of blashphemy.
Second, the lack of a vocal counter argument (currently alternative interpretaions are only whishpered timidly) from the moderate regarding Almaidah 51 indicates they do not have strong conviction, charisma, or perceived authority to challenge the MUI interpretation of the verse. Very few or even no one from the current moderates are as vocal as the late Gus Dur.
So yes, the water at this point is probably right in the middle (half full/empty). The result of Ahok case may confirm whether the water level is actually in decreasing or increasing trend, whether the access to grassroot and ulema are more powerfull than access to those in power, whether this country can dismiss good performance based on religious discrimination.
If Ahok is convicted and jailed it will be more difficult for western Islam apologist to defend the the religion from intolerant accusation by pointing to Indonesia as a poster boy of tolerance in a muslim majority country
Also, imagine if the church leaders and a presidential candidate say that non-muslim Amercian is forbidden to elect a legal, respectful and capable muslim as leader. Not because of terrorist threat, etc but because he is merely a muslim. I am sure there will be uproar and condemnation from left, right and center.
Thanks for the Article. You are right it is about a glasss half-full or half-empty (I presume the water represents moderate and tolerant Islam).
I would like to add a couple of things.
First, Ahok won the first round but by only 2-3% margin i.e got only approx. 43% of the votes hence less than 50%, threshold to win the election in one run. Compare that to his approval rate of more than 70% (before the Almaidah 51 case in Pulau Seribu). This indicates around 20-30% agree that he has done his job well but do not want him as a governor. Why is that? Although politic apparently plays an important role we should not dismiss religion aspect. It will be difficult to politicize this if there is no base at all in the religion. Probably there were many who went to the demonstration have vested interest other than religion but several people that I know genuinely do not want to vote for Ahok merely because their believe that voting for Ahok is a sin and that Ahok is guilty of blashphemy.
Second, the lack of a vocal counter argument (currently alternative interpretaions are only whishpered timidly) from the moderate regarding Almaidah 51 indicates they do not have strong conviction, charisma, or perceived authority to challenge the MUI interpretation of the verse. Very few or even no one from the current moderates are as vocal as the late Gus Dur.
So yes, the water at this point is probably right in the middle (half full/empty). The result of Ahok case may confirm whether the water level is actually in decreasing or increasing trend, whether the access to grassroot and ulema are more powerfull than access to those in power, whether this country can dismiss good performance based on religious discrimination.
If Ahok is convicted and jailed it will be more difficult for western Islam apologist to defend the the religion from intolerant accusation by pointing to Indonesia as a poster boy of tolerance in a muslim majority country
Also, imagine if the church leaders and a presidential candidate say that non-muslim Amercian is forbidden to elect a legal, respectful and capable muslim as leader. Not because of terrorist threat, etc but because he is merely a muslim. I am sure there will be uproar and condemnation from left, right and center.
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The look of a winner
The Malaysian Opposition is so desperate they have to turn to the discredited liar and felon, Mahathir. Having destroyed Malaysia for 22 years, he wants his son Mukhriz to continue the same autocratic corrupt tradition. He is competing with Najib and Zahid for Filthy Malaysians of the Century.
In Trump and family we trust
Best of luck with your “business venture”. But take it from a veteran, I’m afraid to say, that unless you can pluck rabbits from a hat and/or ministers telephone numbers from your mobile, you’re going to find it akin to flying with lead boots.
The world of “political risk analysis” is in reality no more than influence peddling, pure and simple, and if you don’t have the contacts, “they” aren’t going to hire you. However convincing your PhD and website might look.
Killing Kim
Not sure who did it, but the DPRK is by no means the only suspect.
Might as well have been the Korean far right; or someone with connection to Kim Jong Nam’s extravagant lifestyle; or someone with connection to Pyongyang’s illegal operations in Macau the deceased may have plausibly overseen (we at least know that DPRK has used Macau as a venue for such deals in the past).
However, I don’t think that another country’s secret service might be behind the murder. Even in case KJN was secretly in charge of some family interest, killing him makes little sense.
Private: Grieving as Thainess in 2017
The simple, perhaps overly simple answer to your reasonable question ‘WHY?”, is also to be found in the thread. In order to maximise the effect of cradle-to-the-grave propaganda and the manipulation of society and culture, Thais have been deliberately kept under-educated and under-intelligent for decades, perhaps centuries.
There isn’t any reasonable doubt that the stupider someone is and the less exposed to other cultures and civilisations they have been kept, then the more likely they are to believe the BS handed to them by a person or people whom they perceive have what is essentially th power of life or death (or wealth and poverty perhaps) over them.
The methodology has been smart, far smarter than one would usually attribute to Thais of any level, whose main talent seems to be an animal-like cunning rather than intelligence and training. This lends weight to Handleys (and others, including mine) conclusion that the propaganda exercise was initiated by the USA, who were very happy to instruct a few Thais in the techniques of being successful professional liars (like Sansern for example – the epitome of the paid professional liar) who seems to have no real worth at all outside of his extraordinary mendacity and the daily attention to his coiffure).
So. The answer to your question seems obvious to me; not scientifically proven, but how much science does one need when the average IQ among Thais is 89? Some things are just too obvious to warrant scholarly argument.
“It would come with a considerable dose of shame, I think, to buy into the idea that all of the last 150 years is a royalist conspiracy to keep Thailand subservient and tame”.
The meaning of this is not clear in the post, but on the basis that it seems you do not agree with the royalist conspiracy hypothesis, it would be interesting to know what you believe would a better conclusion to reach.
So far as I am concerned, if it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck, then I personally have no sense of shame in assuming that it’s a duck and have no need to create a more complex conclusion. They are Thais after all, and the assumption of complexity (as opposed to the natural complexity of chaos) isn’t required.
A crown prince and German affairs
A very interesting commentary. I think HRH Maha Vajiralongkorn ascendency will be very successful. He has matured and will represent the Royal Chakri Dynasty with great precision and compassion.
Does the data reveal declining dictatorship in Myanmar?
Ohn, you are addressing the no. 1 controversy in social movement research: What is the impact of protests (and movements) on the policy-making process? Most scholars will agree that even if there is not a direct impact then at least an indirect one. Protests matter in the sense that they raise awareness of alternative opinions and show politicians that there are organized people who disagree with them. In history that has been very powerful! Do you think the democratic opposition would be so (relatively) unified without the protests in 1988 and 2007? I doubt it and I am sure we would have not seen all the positive changes that we see today.
Killing Kim
“What is unusual about this deal is that the North Koreans can only work for that particular mining company and they cannot work elsewhere in Malaysia.”
Please check your facts professor – It is not unusual – Foreign workers permit is always tied to the industry and employer. The worker cannot jump ship so to speak and go work for someone else legally. The same goes for all permitted foreign workers regardless of nationality. A work permit is different from a professional work pass!
Th statement above is like a “Trump” boo! hoo!
Anyway, I always like to follow the money when a crime is committed. In this case, it looks like the US is the only beneficiary of the case….
The look of a winner
My Rm$10/- bet that the opposition will lose more seats in the up coming general election. teaming up with the ego maniac Mahathir is the worst thing that the opposition can do, and they did it!
Nothing that Mahathir had said can’t be linked back to his own self serving agenda. That is worse than a millstone around one’s neck.
I have no idea what the opposition grouping were thinking when they cosy up to Mahathir. TDM can’t bring in the Malay votes but will surely alienate non-malay voters..
The pakatan group have been touting good principles as their claim to righteous governance but how do you maintain that claim when you team up with someone like mahathir – one who changes colors faster than a cameleon, maybe even faster than a squid!
Does the data reveal declining dictatorship in Myanmar?
Honest assessment of people on the street is that none of those airings made any little difference.
Private: Grieving as Thainess in 2017
Why is the gullible portion of the Thai public so stubbornly gullible? The thread suggests that it is for compensation, partly the self-esteem that comes from being able to claim a share of the mythic success of Thainess, and partly a transactional compensation (if the thread doesn’t say that, I will) — the middle and upper levels of ‘where the money is’ in modern Thai society are simply more accessible to the gullible, and it’s expensive to live in Bangkok and attempt to sustain a family into the future. A man’s got to do what a man’s got to do, as it were.
The thread is I think rightly dismissive of the idea that Thais ever particularly aspired to democracy. No, I don’t think so. They aspire to getting on with life, mostly, and they are burdened by the lack of a compelling alternate myth. If they are not who Damrong and Wichit and Anuman and Khukrit and palace propagandist have said they are, who are they? And how could they — we, from their point of view — have been so miserably stupid and gullible as to be sucked into this thing for such a long time? It would come with a considerable dose of shame, I think, to buy into the idea that all of the last 150 years is a royalist conspiracy to keep Thailand subservient and tame. So one holds on to this myth, which also pays the bills.
A personal tribute to U Ko Ni
Well said Melissa.. and it was such a personal tribute to him along with other courageous Muslim leaders contributed in the country of Myanmar and I believe this must be well acknowledged and respectfully recognised. Thanks for writing this piece of your supportive hands. Cheers!
The look of a winner
The opposition is missing to present an upside-side to them to govern, rather than just saying “we limit the down side of najib”. So they should keep the upside to electing najib and add to it their own.
The missing middle
Alex mentioned that moderates within both groups need to regroup and refocus their attention to act as effective counterpoints against these groups and to discipline conservative activists within their own ranks.
I have one question: Do they have strong motivation and militancy as the other group have? I hope I am wrong but I sense that they don’t. Either because of lack of conviction, perceived urgency of the matter or others that I am not sure. If they don’t they will never act as effective counterpoints.
Case in point, there are various interpretations of Almaidah 51 but the other interpretations are almost unheard of, lost in the very loud and clear MUI statement which indicates that no other interpretation is acceptable as the verse is crystal clear: Voting for a kuffar is sinful. I haven’t heard there is any open discussion on this verse conducted by prominent muslims “left” and “right”, nor there is open letter to MUI to challenge their interpretation. Although this is very important for us as one nation now and in the future.
Private: Grieving as Thainess in 2017
It is the Tourism Authority of Thailand, not Tourist Authority. Probably the most worthless organization in the Thai Government. They have taken to counting “arrivals” to Thailand as “visitors” when arrivals could be anything from in-transit passengers to visa runners. TAT could be disbanded tomorrow and would not be missed at all.
Can Thailand tolerate more than one form of Buddhism?
Dhammakaya is the trigger. Prayut is going to have to fight on SO MANY, MULTIPLYING fronts now. Here are just four of the most obvious : Bangkok, Patani, Isarn, Burma-Thai border (Myanmar monks already coming out in support of Dhammakaya), Chiang Mai. Good luck Prayut – you’re going to need it. Meanwhile Prem, and a bevy of discontented, power-seeking military – young, and old – their officers trained in Chulalomklao Military Academy coup conveyor-belt self-promotion tactics – wait in the wings. Their tanks, troops, and special operatives, ready.
In Trump and family we trust
When Bill Cinton was President, there were plenty of allegations of cronyism. As there have been subsequently against the Clinton Foundation, a dead-weight against Hilary’s presidential ambitions. Is Trump really so different ? The above is a very good article, making a poignant, probably prescient point- certainly in terms of Trumpian scale. But America’s Asian-style politico-economic rot set in long before Trump. Indeed there’s something of a dynamic symbiosis of the two twins.
Four decades of a Malay myth
“if it is laziness or hard work that has to do with how the current Prime Minister, Najib Razak, was able to allegedly channel more than $1 billion into his personal bank accounts.” Crime is a species of hard work, evidently too hard for poor ol dumb Najib, who has been caught and humiliated, while his Chinese ‘brain’ Jho Low has not even been questioned. All those subsidized foreign university degrees and the best Malaysia can produce is a huge embezzler. Pathetic.
Over the rainbow
the point was surely the conflation of lgbt (a term and identity with distinctly ‘western’ origins, and associated with a distinctly ‘western’ activism) with gender non-conformity/non-normative expressions of gender/etc. as well as the impact of the increase usage of the term, which are surely very simple points that sustain themselves sufficiently.
Is hardline Islam really rising in Indonesia?
You are right it is about a glasss half-full or half-empty (I presume the water represents moderate and tolerant Islam).
I would like to add a couple of things.
First, Ahok won the first round but by only 2-3% margin i.e got only approx. 43% of the votes hence less than 50%, threshold to win the election in one run. Compare that to his approval rate of more than 70% (before the Almaidah 51 case in Pulau Seribu). This indicates around 20-30% agree that he has done his job well but do not want him as a governor. Why is that? Although politic apparently plays an important role we should not dismiss religion aspect. It will be difficult to politicize this if there is no base at all in the religion. Probably there were many who went to the demonstration have vested interest other than religion but several people that I know genuinely do not want to vote for Ahok merely because their believe that voting for Ahok is a sin and that Ahok is guilty of blashphemy.
Second, the lack of a vocal counter argument (currently alternative interpretaions are only whishpered timidly) from the moderate regarding Almaidah 51 indicates they do not have strong conviction, charisma, or perceived authority to challenge the MUI interpretation of the verse. Very few or even no one from the current moderates are as vocal as the late Gus Dur.
So yes, the water at this point is probably right in the middle (half full/empty). The result of Ahok case may confirm whether the water level is actually in decreasing or increasing trend, whether the access to grassroot and ulema are more powerfull than access to those in power, whether this country can dismiss good performance based on religious discrimination.
If Ahok is convicted and jailed it will be more difficult for western Islam apologist to defend the the religion from intolerant accusation by pointing to Indonesia as a poster boy of tolerance in a muslim majority country
Also, imagine if the church leaders and a presidential candidate say that non-muslim Amercian is forbidden to elect a legal, respectful and capable muslim as leader. Not because of terrorist threat, etc but because he is merely a muslim. I am sure there will be uproar and condemnation from left, right and center.
Is hardline Islam really rising in Indonesia?
Thanks for the Article. You are right it is about a glasss half-full or half-empty (I presume the water represents moderate and tolerant Islam).
I would like to add a couple of things.
First, Ahok won the first round but by only 2-3% margin i.e got only approx. 43% of the votes hence less than 50%, threshold to win the election in one run. Compare that to his approval rate of more than 70% (before the Almaidah 51 case in Pulau Seribu). This indicates around 20-30% agree that he has done his job well but do not want him as a governor. Why is that? Although politic apparently plays an important role we should not dismiss religion aspect. It will be difficult to politicize this if there is no base at all in the religion. Probably there were many who went to the demonstration have vested interest other than religion but several people that I know genuinely do not want to vote for Ahok merely because their believe that voting for Ahok is a sin and that Ahok is guilty of blashphemy.
Second, the lack of a vocal counter argument (currently alternative interpretaions are only whishpered timidly) from the moderate regarding Almaidah 51 indicates they do not have strong conviction, charisma, or perceived authority to challenge the MUI interpretation of the verse. Very few or even no one from the current moderates are as vocal as the late Gus Dur.
So yes, the water at this point is probably right in the middle (half full/empty). The result of Ahok case may confirm whether the water level is actually in decreasing or increasing trend, whether the access to grassroot and ulema are more powerfull than access to those in power, whether this country can dismiss good performance based on religious discrimination.
If Ahok is convicted and jailed it will be more difficult for western Islam apologist to defend the the religion from intolerant accusation by pointing to Indonesia as a poster boy of tolerance in a muslim majority country
Also, imagine if the church leaders and a presidential candidate say that non-muslim Amercian is forbidden to elect a legal, respectful and capable muslim as leader. Not because of terrorist threat, etc but because he is merely a muslim. I am sure there will be uproar and condemnation from left, right and center.