Malaysia's Way

As i was reading a transcript of the DPM's recent speech at the UMNO assembly, this in particular got me thinking:

"Orang Melayu sudah seharusnya menerima konsep meritokrasi, menghayati dan mengamalkannya sebagai satu budaya untuk mengukur tahap kelayakan dan pencapaian dalam semua lapangan. Kita tidak akan benarkan orang lain menentukan corak dan rupa meritokrasi yang sedang dan akan dilaksanakan di negara ini. Bahkan meritokrasi akan bermula di kalangan masyarakat Melayu itu sendiri"

Can someone help me understand -- why does Malaysia always seem to have "its own way" of defining things?

Human rights has always been an issue in Malaysia, specifically the freedom of expression and the use of our much-maligned Internal Security Act to remove unwanted clutter from the public radar. When pressed about this, the government response has been, "we've got our own brand of human rights" (i.e. we don't subscribe to the universal definitions of human rights).

While a certain amount of flexibility should be lent to any particular idea or philosophy (contrary to what the people of the White House think, one size does not necessarily fit all), that's no excuse to mold things the way you want just so it makes you look good.

Malaysia can't claim to respect human rights when it overlooks some of its most important tenets. Similarly, good 'ol DPM Najib most certainly can't claim that we are a meritocratic society just because he says we are.