Chester Cabalza recommends his visitors to please read the original & full text of the case cited. Xie xie!
Morifosque vs People
G.R. No. 156685
July 27, 2004
Facts
On or about October 13, 1990 in Legazpi City, petitioner Nazario Morifosque accused a public officer being a qualified member of the Police Force of Legazpi City, now under the Philippine National Police, taking advantage of his official/public position.
On October 13, 1990 at around 5:00 in the afternoon, Hian Hian Yu Sy and her husband, Arsenio Sy, went to the office of Captain Alberto Salvo, Chief of the Intelligence and Operating Division stationed at the Criminal Investigation Service (CIS) in Region 5, to report the robbery of Shellane tanks at the gasoline station of her father, Yu So Pong, and the alleged extortion attempt by petitioner, Police Sergeant Narciso Marifosque, in exchange for the recovery of the lost items. Captain Salvo and his men set up a plan to entrap the petitioner. Hian Hian Yu Sy prepared the pay-off money in the amount of P4,800.00 and listed down the serial numbers of the bills. The pay-off was scheduled at 7:00 in the evening of that day in Golden Grace Department Store which was owned by Yu So Pong. At around 6:15 p.m., Captain Calvo and his men arrived at the target area and strategically positioned themselves outside the Golden Grace Department Store to await the arrival of the suspect.
Shortly thereafter, petitioner Marifosque arrived on board a tricycle. He went inside the store and demanded the money from Hian Hian Yu Sy and Yu So Pong. The latter handed to him the marked money, which was wrapped in a newspaper. When petitioner stepped out of the store, Arsenio Sy gave the pre-arranged signal, whereupon the arresting operatives swooped down upon the suspect and arrested him.
Issue:
Whether or not the accused is liable of direct bribery under Article 210 of the RPC?
Held:
The crime of direct bribery as defined in Article 210 of the Revised Penal Code consists of the following elements: (1) that the accused is a public officer; (2) that he received directly or through another some gift or present, offer or promise; (3) that such gift, present or promise has been given in consideration of his commission of some crime, or any act not constituting a crime, or to refrain from doing something which it is his official duty to do; and (4) that the crime or act relates to the exercise of his functions as a public officer.
There is no question that petitioner was a public officer within the contemplation of Article 203 of the Revised Penal Code, which includes all persons "who, by direct provision of law, popular election or appointment by competent authority, shall take part in the performance of public functions in the Philippine Government, or shall perform in said government or any of its branches, public duties as an employee, agent or subordinate official or any rank or class." At the time of the incident, petitioner was a police sergeant assigned to the Legazpi City Police Station. He directly received the bribe money from Yu So Pong and his daughter Hian Hian Yu Sy in exchange for the recovery of the stolen cylinder tanks, which was an act not constituting a crime within the meaning of Article 210 of the Revised Penal Code. The act of receiving money was connected with his duty as a police officer.
Although the petitioner appealed, his petition was denied. The decision of the Sandiganbayan in Criminal Case No. 17030, finding petitioner guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of Direct Bribery and imposing upon him the indeterminate prison term of 3 years, 6 months, and 5 days of prision correccional, as minimum, to 7 years, 8 months, and 9 days of prision mayor, as maximum, is AFFIRMED with the MODIFICATION that the fine is increased to P18,000.00.
Monday, March 8, 2010
In Re Joaquin T. Borromeo
Chester Cabalza recommends his visitors to please read the original & full text of the case cited. Xie xie!
In Re JOAQUIN T. BORROMEO
Rel. Cebu City Chapter of the IBP
A.M. No. 93-7-696-0
February 21, 1995
Facts:
The respondent in this case, Joaquin T. Borromeo, is not a lawyer but has apparently read some law books, and ostensibly come to possess some superficial awareness of a few substantive legal principles and procedural rules. Incredibly, with nothing more than this smattering of learning, the respondent has, for some sixteen (16) years now, from 1978 to the present, been instituting and prosecuting legal proceedings in various courts, dogmatically pontificating on errors supposedly committed by the courts, including the Supreme Court.
Case 1: Cases involving Traders Royal Bank (TRB).
The first bank that Joaquin T. Borromeo appears to have dealt with was the Traders Royal Bank (TRB). On June 2, 1978, he got a loan from it in the sum of P45,000.00. This he secured by a real estate mortgage created over two parcels of land covered by TCT No. 59596 and TCT No. 59755 owned, respectively, by Socorro Borromeo-Thakuria (his sister) and Teresita Winniefred Lavarino. On June 16, 1978, Borromeo obtained a second loan from TRB in the amount of P10,000.00, this time giving as security a mortgage over a parcel of land owned by the Heirs of Vicente V. Borromeo, covered by TCT No. RT-7634. Authority to mortgage these three lots was vested in him by a Special Power of Attorney executed by their respective owners.
Case 2: Cases involving United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB).
Borromeo (together with a certain Mercader) also borrowed money from the United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) and executed a real estate mortgage to secure repayment thereof. The mortgage was constituted over a 122-square-meter commercial lot covered by TCT No. 75680 in Borromeo's name. This same lot was afterwards sold on August 7, 1980 by Borromeo to one Samson K. Lao for P170,000.00, with a stipulation for its repurchase (pacto de retro) by him (Borromeo, as the vendor). The sale was made without the knowledge and consent of UCPB.
Case 3: Cases involving Security Bank and Trust Co. (SBTC).
The third banking institution which Joaquin T. Borromeo engaged in running court battles, was the Security Bank & Trust Company (SBTC). From it Borromeo had obtained five (5) loans in the aggregate sum of P189,126.19, consolidated in a single Promissory Note on May 31, 1979. To secure payment thereof, Summa Insurance Corp. (Summa) issued a performance bond which set a limit of P200,000.00 on its liability thereunder. Again, as in the case of his obligations to Traders Royal Bank and UCPB, Borromeo failed to discharge his contractual obligations. Hence, SBTC brought an action in the Cebu City RTC against Borromeo and Summa for collection.
Issue:
Whether the respondent-accused is liable for constructive contempt?
Held:
Joaquin T. Borromeo is found and declared GUILTY of constructive contempt repeatedly committed over time, despite warnings and instructions given to him, and to the end that he may ponder his serious errors and grave misconduct and learn due respect for the Courts and their authority, he is hereby sentenced to serve a term of imprisonment of TEN (10) DAYS in the City Jail of Cebu City and to pay a fine of ONE THOUSAND PESOS (P1,000.00). He is warned that a repetition of any of the offenses of which he is herein found guilty, or any similar or other offense against courts, judges or court employees, will merit further and more serious sanctions.
In Re JOAQUIN T. BORROMEO
Rel. Cebu City Chapter of the IBP
A.M. No. 93-7-696-0
February 21, 1995
Facts:
The respondent in this case, Joaquin T. Borromeo, is not a lawyer but has apparently read some law books, and ostensibly come to possess some superficial awareness of a few substantive legal principles and procedural rules. Incredibly, with nothing more than this smattering of learning, the respondent has, for some sixteen (16) years now, from 1978 to the present, been instituting and prosecuting legal proceedings in various courts, dogmatically pontificating on errors supposedly committed by the courts, including the Supreme Court.
Case 1: Cases involving Traders Royal Bank (TRB).
The first bank that Joaquin T. Borromeo appears to have dealt with was the Traders Royal Bank (TRB). On June 2, 1978, he got a loan from it in the sum of P45,000.00. This he secured by a real estate mortgage created over two parcels of land covered by TCT No. 59596 and TCT No. 59755 owned, respectively, by Socorro Borromeo-Thakuria (his sister) and Teresita Winniefred Lavarino. On June 16, 1978, Borromeo obtained a second loan from TRB in the amount of P10,000.00, this time giving as security a mortgage over a parcel of land owned by the Heirs of Vicente V. Borromeo, covered by TCT No. RT-7634. Authority to mortgage these three lots was vested in him by a Special Power of Attorney executed by their respective owners.
Case 2: Cases involving United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB).
Borromeo (together with a certain Mercader) also borrowed money from the United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) and executed a real estate mortgage to secure repayment thereof. The mortgage was constituted over a 122-square-meter commercial lot covered by TCT No. 75680 in Borromeo's name. This same lot was afterwards sold on August 7, 1980 by Borromeo to one Samson K. Lao for P170,000.00, with a stipulation for its repurchase (pacto de retro) by him (Borromeo, as the vendor). The sale was made without the knowledge and consent of UCPB.
Case 3: Cases involving Security Bank and Trust Co. (SBTC).
The third banking institution which Joaquin T. Borromeo engaged in running court battles, was the Security Bank & Trust Company (SBTC). From it Borromeo had obtained five (5) loans in the aggregate sum of P189,126.19, consolidated in a single Promissory Note on May 31, 1979. To secure payment thereof, Summa Insurance Corp. (Summa) issued a performance bond which set a limit of P200,000.00 on its liability thereunder. Again, as in the case of his obligations to Traders Royal Bank and UCPB, Borromeo failed to discharge his contractual obligations. Hence, SBTC brought an action in the Cebu City RTC against Borromeo and Summa for collection.
Issue:
Whether the respondent-accused is liable for constructive contempt?
Held:
Joaquin T. Borromeo is found and declared GUILTY of constructive contempt repeatedly committed over time, despite warnings and instructions given to him, and to the end that he may ponder his serious errors and grave misconduct and learn due respect for the Courts and their authority, he is hereby sentenced to serve a term of imprisonment of TEN (10) DAYS in the City Jail of Cebu City and to pay a fine of ONE THOUSAND PESOS (P1,000.00). He is warned that a repetition of any of the offenses of which he is herein found guilty, or any similar or other offense against courts, judges or court employees, will merit further and more serious sanctions.
Maravill-Ilustre vs CA
Chester Cabalza recommends his visitors to please read the original & full text of the case cited. Xie xie!
Maravill-Ilustre vs CA
G.R. No. L-68635
March 12, 1987
Facts:
In almost identical letters dated 20 October 1986, personally sent to Justices Andres R. Narvasa, Ameurfina M. Herrera, and Isagani A. Cruz, and a fourth letter, dated 22 October 1986 addressed to Justice Florentino P. Feliciano, all members of the First Division of this COURT, in feigned ignorance of the Constitutional requirement that the Court's Divisions are composed of, and must act through, at least five (5) members, and in a stance of dangling threats to effect a change of the Court's adverse resolution, petitioner Eva Maravilla Ilustre wrote in part: Please forgive us for taking the Liberty of addressing you this letter which we do hope you will read very carefully. The letter called the attention of the magistrates for the dismissal of her case, thus, considering the three minute-resolution: the first dated 14 May 1986; the second, dated 9 July 1986; and the third, 3 September 1986, railroaded with such hurry/ promptitude unequaled in the entire history of the Supreme Court under circumstances that have gone beyond the limits of legal and judicial ethic.
Issue:
Whether or not petitioner could be liable for contempt in court and her counsel be imposed of grave professional misconduct?
Held:
ACCORDINGLY, respondent Eva Maravilla Ilustre is hereby held in contempt, and is hereby fined in the amount of P1,000.00 only, mindful that the power of contempt should be exercised on the preservative and not on the vindictive principle of punishment; and
Atty. Wenceslao Laureta is found guilty of grave professional misconduct, rendering him unfit to continue to be entrusted with the duties and responsibilities belonging to the office of an attorney, and is hereby suspended from the practice of law until further Orders, the suspension to take effect immediately.
Maravill-Ilustre vs CA
G.R. No. L-68635
March 12, 1987
Facts:
In almost identical letters dated 20 October 1986, personally sent to Justices Andres R. Narvasa, Ameurfina M. Herrera, and Isagani A. Cruz, and a fourth letter, dated 22 October 1986 addressed to Justice Florentino P. Feliciano, all members of the First Division of this COURT, in feigned ignorance of the Constitutional requirement that the Court's Divisions are composed of, and must act through, at least five (5) members, and in a stance of dangling threats to effect a change of the Court's adverse resolution, petitioner Eva Maravilla Ilustre wrote in part: Please forgive us for taking the Liberty of addressing you this letter which we do hope you will read very carefully. The letter called the attention of the magistrates for the dismissal of her case, thus, considering the three minute-resolution: the first dated 14 May 1986; the second, dated 9 July 1986; and the third, 3 September 1986, railroaded with such hurry/ promptitude unequaled in the entire history of the Supreme Court under circumstances that have gone beyond the limits of legal and judicial ethic.
Issue:
Whether or not petitioner could be liable for contempt in court and her counsel be imposed of grave professional misconduct?
Held:
ACCORDINGLY, respondent Eva Maravilla Ilustre is hereby held in contempt, and is hereby fined in the amount of P1,000.00 only, mindful that the power of contempt should be exercised on the preservative and not on the vindictive principle of punishment; and
Atty. Wenceslao Laureta is found guilty of grave professional misconduct, rendering him unfit to continue to be entrusted with the duties and responsibilities belonging to the office of an attorney, and is hereby suspended from the practice of law until further Orders, the suspension to take effect immediately.
Heirs of Yasin vs Judge Felix
Chester Cabalza recommends his visitors to please read the original & full text of the case cited. Xie xie!
Heirs of Yasin vs Judge Felix
A.M. No. RTJ-94-1167
December 4, 1995
Facts:
At about 1:30 in the afternoon of February 1, 1994, Nasser D. Yasin was fatally shot in the back with a .38 caliber revolver by an unknown assailant in Tarlac, Tarlac. In the evening of the same day, Jesus de Vera Duquesa and Abelardo Calbang executed sworn statements to the police. They stated therein that at the time, and in the place, they saw Sonny Sapad, a security guard, running after somebody. They saw Sapad shoot at the person he was pursuing but they did not see whether the person was hit or not.
On February 3, 1994, a criminal complaint for the murder of Nasser D. Yasin was filed against Sonny Sapad before the Municipal Trial Court of Tarlac by the Chief of the Investigation Division of the Tarlac Police Station. He was arrested without a warrant. On February 8, 1994, the provincial prosecutor of Tarlac filed an information for murder against him before the Regional Trial Court of Tarlac and no bail was recommended.
On February 14, 1994, Sonny Sapad, through counsel, filed a petition for habeas corpus. He alleged that he was arrested without a warrant; that his arrest was illegal because he was deprived of his substantial right to a preliminary investigation; that the subsequent filing of the complaint and information against him did not cure his continued detention; and that he was entitled to be released from custody. Considering that there is no opposition to the petition for Habeas Corpus the same is hereby granted.
Issues:
a) Can the offender Sonny Palad be arrested without warrant of arrest?
b) Whether respondent judge is robed with gross ignorance of the law by granting habeas corpus filed by the offender?
Held:
Respondent Judge stresses the unlawfulness of the warrantless arrest of Sonny Sapad. Indeed, the warrantless arrest of Sonny Sapad appears to be unlawful, for the arresting officers were not personally present when the crime was committed, and they had no personal knowledge of facts indicating that a crime had just been committed and the person to be arrested has committed it.
To constitute gross ignorance of the law, the subject decision, order or actuation of the judge in the performance of his official duties must not only be contrary to existing law and jurisprudence but, most importantly, he must be moved by bad faith, fraud, dishonesty or corruption. In the case before us, the administrative complaint does not even allege that the erroneous decision of respondent was thus motivated.
However, Judge Augusto N. Felix was found guilty of negligence in the management of his office and he is hereby ordered to pay a fine of TWO THOUSAND PESOS (P2,000.00) with a stern warning that the commission of the same or similar offense will be dealt with more severely.
Heirs of Yasin vs Judge Felix
A.M. No. RTJ-94-1167
December 4, 1995
Facts:
At about 1:30 in the afternoon of February 1, 1994, Nasser D. Yasin was fatally shot in the back with a .38 caliber revolver by an unknown assailant in Tarlac, Tarlac. In the evening of the same day, Jesus de Vera Duquesa and Abelardo Calbang executed sworn statements to the police. They stated therein that at the time, and in the place, they saw Sonny Sapad, a security guard, running after somebody. They saw Sapad shoot at the person he was pursuing but they did not see whether the person was hit or not.
On February 3, 1994, a criminal complaint for the murder of Nasser D. Yasin was filed against Sonny Sapad before the Municipal Trial Court of Tarlac by the Chief of the Investigation Division of the Tarlac Police Station. He was arrested without a warrant. On February 8, 1994, the provincial prosecutor of Tarlac filed an information for murder against him before the Regional Trial Court of Tarlac and no bail was recommended.
On February 14, 1994, Sonny Sapad, through counsel, filed a petition for habeas corpus. He alleged that he was arrested without a warrant; that his arrest was illegal because he was deprived of his substantial right to a preliminary investigation; that the subsequent filing of the complaint and information against him did not cure his continued detention; and that he was entitled to be released from custody. Considering that there is no opposition to the petition for Habeas Corpus the same is hereby granted.
Issues:
a) Can the offender Sonny Palad be arrested without warrant of arrest?
b) Whether respondent judge is robed with gross ignorance of the law by granting habeas corpus filed by the offender?
Held:
Respondent Judge stresses the unlawfulness of the warrantless arrest of Sonny Sapad. Indeed, the warrantless arrest of Sonny Sapad appears to be unlawful, for the arresting officers were not personally present when the crime was committed, and they had no personal knowledge of facts indicating that a crime had just been committed and the person to be arrested has committed it.
To constitute gross ignorance of the law, the subject decision, order or actuation of the judge in the performance of his official duties must not only be contrary to existing law and jurisprudence but, most importantly, he must be moved by bad faith, fraud, dishonesty or corruption. In the case before us, the administrative complaint does not even allege that the erroneous decision of respondent was thus motivated.
However, Judge Augusto N. Felix was found guilty of negligence in the management of his office and he is hereby ordered to pay a fine of TWO THOUSAND PESOS (P2,000.00) with a stern warning that the commission of the same or similar offense will be dealt with more severely.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Revisiting Mahathir’s Legacy: NEP as a Roadmap to Vision 2020 and Some Insights on Asian Values
Copyright © 2010 by Chester B Cabalza. All Rights Reserved.
“What we do is when people have the capacity to do well,
we give them a hand”
- Mahathir bin Mohamad, 1998
One of the greatest statesmen Malaysia has ever produced in its post-independence history is the erstwhile Prime Minister and former UMNO leader, Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad. A physician turned state leader from Kedah, in northernmost tip of Malaysia. Born to a mix culture of an Indian father and a conservative Malay mother. However, he considered himself to be a "full Malay", in line with Article 160 of the Constitution . He is a devout Muslim and with a heritage colored by Malay tradition. Under Article 153 of the Constitution, Malays are granted particular rights not available to other citizens. He held the Prime Minister post from 1981 to 2003. During his term in office he was credited for engineering Malaysia's rapid modernization and the resulting growth of prosperity.
Mahathir joined the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) upon its formation in 1946. As the State Party Chairman and Chairman of the Political Committee, he inadvertently angered some quarters with his proposal that the selection of candidates be based on certain qualifications for the 1969 general election . Hurt by accusations that he was scheming to put up candidates who were strongly allied to him, Mahathir refused to take part in the national election that year. Mahathir was sacked from the UMNO Supreme Council on 12 July 1969, following his widespread distribution to the public of his letter to Tunku Abdul Rahman, the then Prime Minister. In his letter, he had criticized the manner in which the Tunku had handled the country's administration. Mahathir was subsequently relieved of his party membership on 26 September of that same year.
Fast forward to 10 July 1981, Mahathir became the Prime Minister of Malaysia and held the premireship for 22 years after which he retired from office on 31 October 2003, making him one of Asia’s longest-serving political leaders. According to Oehlers (2000), when Mahathir took office in 1981, he did so with avowed aim of transforming Malaysia into a newly-industralizing country (NIC) firmly under the dominance of such a Malay capitalist class (Jomo, 1987). In this, the “models” that were aspired to were countries such as Japan and South Korea (Khoo, 1995). In these countries, a successful transition from agriculture to industry had been realized. With the strong collaboration of the public and private sectors, a platform had been established for thriving heavy and high-technology industries under the control of indegenous peoples. In fact, Malaysia today has been one of the favorite hubs among multinational corporations (MNCs) as manufacturing and service bases in Asia. Petronas Twin Towers stand proud in the heart of Kuala Lumpur as the tallest skyscapers in the world beginning of the 21st century. It showcased Malaysia having leaped into an industralizing economy due to the benefits of its indegenous oil refinery and other manufacturing industries. It has also relied on its homegrown automobile industry, Proton, which now is being exported to other countries.
During his term as Prime Minister, he was one of the architects of Malaysia Vision 2020, a blue-print to achieve a developed-status for Malaysia and one of the strong proponents of Asian values together with Senior Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore.
The Path of Democracy and Development in Malaysia
In Malaysia, like so many other post-colonial political systems of the 20th century, it was modeled after the political system of the old mother country (Great Britain). And for some time after the independence, the Malaysian variant of British democracy appeared to be alive and functioning (Khoo Boo Teik, 1997:40)
The ‘Malaysian-style democracy’ is probably a form of rule with features of a “democracy without consensus” that is “neither democratic nor authoritarian”. Hence, Hamza Alvi argues that most post-colonial democracies (especially in Southeast Asia) fail because there exists no single and unified ruling class. Instead it has three contending ruling classes: 1. domestic bourgeoisie, 2. metropolitan bourgeoisie and 3. the landed elites.
In the case of Malaysia, in understanding the framework of development where it does not exactly lead to democracy in its fullest western context, Anek Laothamatas (1997), theoretically and historically, argues and narrates what Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels saw in 19th century France under Napoleon and Germany under Bismarck that brought the bourgeoisie weak and set against other classes which will contradict what Karl Marx and Max Weber initially opined on the perspective that economic change or development would indeed lead states to democracy. This was based when Karl Marx saw the revolutionary change in England and France during the 17th and 18th centuries where democracy and development positively alleviated the conditions of many people. He attributed this with the rise of bourgeoisie, where democracy, as the alternative regime - defined as the business, propertied class which was the main agents for the rise of democracy in the West. But as Anek Laothamatas (1997) later expounded, Marx-Engels-Weber saw that there was rapid capitalist transformation under the auspices of an authoritarian regime. And the bourgeoisie failed to make an impact on the military-bureaucratic elite, (noticeable in several Southeast Asian regimes in the 1960s to 1980s). The troika scholars envisioned this as exceptional to the general rule of capitalism breeding democracy. Hence, going back to the larger picture of Malaysia’s general scenario, it did not experience a so-called ‘military-bureaucratic elite’, unlike in neighboring Southeast Asian countries where Thailand, Indonesia and Cambodia alike, experienced mob rule from military ranks.
Considering Mahathir’s many pronouncements on Asian values, such as the importance of traditional family as a social institution, the supremacy of societal over individual interests, strong government, and respect for authority; he also attributed Asian values concept to the relationship between democracy and development (Oehlers, 2000).
In fact, Oehlers (2000) quoted PM Mahathir by saying that, “once a government has been elected…it should be allowed to govern…”, Hence, strong and stable governments prepared to make decisions which, though often unpopular, are nevertheless in the best interests of the nation, are a prerequisite for economic development (Mahathir, 1995:8).
The problems that manifested in Malaysia encompassed on the three concerns of democracy where class, ethnicity and capitalism mattered most to politicians. Historically speaking, Malaysian democracy (Khoo Boo Teik, 1997:49-50) meant a particular political system by which the state, the ruling class, incumbent regimes, the various social classes and ethnic communities, will have to respond only to certain critical questions about Malaysian society. Malaysian democracy may, therefore, be seen as a polity which emerged from the interstices of decolonization.
To differentiate western liberal democracy in which the classical liberal characteristics of democracy require a multiplicity of parties representing competing policy agendas and clear political alternatives that have limitations on governmental authority and guaranteed rights of free expression and association from the quasi-democracy type which some Southeast Asian countries subscribe like Malaysia that mostly have evolved through hard or soft developmental authoritarianism to some form of democracy - in the sense of having elections, universal suffrage and political parties. Yet in some cases it appear to be based upon a different social premise with strong government invested with the responsibility of upholding collective needs, an absence of many liberal democratic practices, and longevity of political elites seem to be the norm (Inoguchi & Newman, 1997). For this reason, it can be debated that in a developmental context it has been possible to argue that stability and basic welfare are the priorities. But in semi-democratic states, strong government and a curtailment of some political rights are thus necessary in the interests of society. The collective goals are clear so the government's responsibility of upholding these should not be unduly hampered by democratic checks and balances.
For Mahathir, the principle of ‘growth of equity’ (Oehlers, 2000) was an integral aspect of Malaysia’s broader transition from newly-industrialized country (NIC) status and later to a developed or first world country status by 2020.
Having this background for Malaysia under its longest running Prime Minister that is Dr. Mahathir, one of the problems this paper will try to assess is to look back and revisit whether the seeds that Mahathir bin Mohamad had planted during his regime, examples of which were Vision 2020 and Asian values, became (un)popular domestic and foreign policies, that had grown and perhaps reaped success, later to say that what he had envisioned for Malaysia had been fully realized to where it is today.
Hence, the topics on the abovementioned title give a small subset of how Mahathir bin Mohamad looks at Malaysia in terms of government-business relations and his views on Asian values that affect his policies and governance of his plural and multi-ethnic nation-state.
Brief Reassessment About the Struggles of United Malays National Organization (UMNO) under PM Mahathir’s Leadership
Since its inception in 1946, UMNO has assiduously cultivated feudal traditions and values in order to portray itself as ‘protector’ of Malays, thereby reinforcing and legitimizing its hold on power (Oehlers, 2000:13). Even though Mahathir was once almost expelled in this powerful party back in 1969, he regained the supreme power in 1981 as the Prime Minister and held the premiership for over two decades with various accolades and honors.
Given the plural society set up of Malaysia (with 50.4% Malays, 23.7% Chinese, 11% Indigenous Peoples (IPs), 7.1% Indians, and 7.8% others) , the UMNO suffered a painful lost with the Chinese during the 1969 general election. Hence, the leading Malay party has long been struggling with other competing parties represented by other ethnic groups and ‘purist’ Islamic parties in Malaysia.
The 1969 Malaysian general election became a turning point in the political structures of Malaya. Because of UMNO’s failure to cast larger votes, nearly all of the opposition parties had intimidated threats to prolong emergency rule. Consequently, UMNO needed to refurbish its influence within the Malay community and national security came to be premised on Malaysian politics. This eventually paved a way to learn from the historic fall down of the UMNO which caused the momentous 1969 ethnic riots (Nathan 1998; Oehlers 2000; Singh 2004).
In 1970s, the post-1969 national election paved to the restructuring of power that brought ramifications to Malaysia’s internal security. It visibly defined the equation of power between the indigenous and non-Malay communities. The lesson that Malay political processes was “overwhelming and unassailable”. Apparently, with the ethno-religious dynamics in Malaysian politics, it contributed to the construction of ‘communalism’. Under the rubric of communalism, the opposition Chinese came to be branded as ethnic ‘chauvinists’ whereas Malays who championed the community’s interests were endearingly labeled as ‘nationalists’ (Singh, 2004:11-12).
In the 1980s, UMNO dealt a heavy problem. This time, fuelled by the Islamic resurgence abroad and by the process of modernization and identity creation at home, Islamic fundamentalism reared its head in Malaysian politics. It threatened the position of the secular-based UMNO government (Singh, 2004:11).
To some extent, the threat was contained through the cooptation of progressivist Islamic elements, especially, at the height when Anwar Ibrahim, a protégé of Mahathir, was sacked as a Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister under the UMNO party. In 1999, Anwar was sentenced in a highly controversial trial to six years in prison for corruption and in 2000 to another nine years in prison for sodomy. However, in 2004, an appeals court reversed the second conviction and he was released.
In the late 1990’s especially during the 1997-98 Asian Financial Crises, UMNO under the leadership of Mahathir was credited for preventing its currency Ringgit to plummet, despite its neighboring East Asian countries felt the abrupt financial speculations and simultaneously Asian currencies fell due to widespread effects of the economic disaster. While the Asian financial crisis was still unfolding, the Malaysian government had already begun to draw lessons from the crisis and planning ahead on how to strengthen the architecture of their financial system to lessen the frequency and severity of future disturbances (Oehlers, 2000:98). Malaysia’s economy remained buoyant by pegging its currency and defied the prescriptions of Western envoys through the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) not to peg its currency which caused the ire of many Western economists and politicians. At that time, Mahathir condemned Western countries by saying that IMF and WB caused more burdens to Asian economies instead of helping to eradicate financial problems. Because of this, Mahathir openly thought of instituting an Asian Monetary Fund, challenging the role of the IMF, through his concoction of an East Asian Economic Caucus with Japan and China’s support but was later detested by the United States.
Dr. Mahathir Mohamad (Wong, 2004), more than any other Asian politician, has consistently critiqued the 'west' for its arrogance, double standards, and discoursed on a new colonialism. In fact, Malaysia's position during the recent 1997 Asian financial crisis won both admirers and detractors. Detractors proclaimed its naiveté, abdication of neo-classical market approaches and Malaysia's human rights record, including its detention and internment of its then sacked deputy Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim. On the other hand, admirers pointed to Mahathir's independence, anti-colonial position and the advancement of an alternative voice within the global matrix of realist politics. Malaysia's managing of the crisis under Mahathir, for example, challenged prevailing economic orthodoxy of liberalization and pointed the way to an alternative practice of national policy autonomy in the face of a seemingly unstoppable global tsunami of liberalization.
Nevertheless as hasty surprise news in 22 June 2002, during the last day of the annual assembly of the UMNO, an emotional Mahathir abruptly announced his resignation in his closing speech. Stunned party leaders mobbed the PM in a bid to dissuade him. But three days later, amid feverish rumor and speculation, UMNO unveiled a transition plan allowing for Mahathir's departure in October 2003, and maintained all current posts including those of a Prime Minister and Finance Minister.
New Economic Policy (NEP) as a Roadmap to Rich Vision 2020
In 1991, Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad had articulated his dream of a prosperous Malaysian society through his speech, “Malaysia: The Way Forward” – a conceptualization of national security combining elements of idealism and realism (Nathan 1998: 42). In fact, the New Economic Policy (NEP) from 1970 to 1990 was a key strategy through which the Malays attempted to overcome their insecurity in the aftermath of the 1969 general election, which appeared to threaten their political dominance (Nathan 1998:518).
In the 70s-80s, NEP had been perceived as a mode for interventionism and a force for authoritarianism. It was during this period that the Barisan Nasional (BN), an alliance and a coalition of parties, was created. The class pressures arose as the Alliance’s political economy of laissez faire capitalism, reliance on primary commodity production, low-level import-substitution in industrialization and limited state assistance to the rural sector fell into the familiar neo-colonial mold of underdevelopment (Khoo Boo Teik, 1997:55). But the Barisan Nasional’s development strategy was to remake the Malaysian political economy in order to deal with the class pressures and ethnic demands which the Alliance was unable to satisfy. Although, the NEP’s premises were that of poverty, Malay resentment on inter-ethnic income inequalities, and an ethnic division of labor which lay at the heart of the mass discontent with the Alliance.
Furthermore, the NEP relied on large-scale social engineering to transform Malay and Malaysian society (Khoo Boo Teik, 1997:59-60), specifically to dismantle Malaysia’s colonial legacy of a stark ethnic division of labor. The better publicized part of this social engineering programme involved the creation of a new class of Malay capitalists and professionals, or what officially came to be called a “Bumiputera Commercial and Industrial Community” (BCIC).
However in 1990s because of economic policies that reduced the state’s role in the economy, on the other hand, it still motivated the same objective of strengthening Bumiputera of the Malaysian economy. Such strategies for Malay ethnic survival and security included “Malaysia Incorporated”, deregulation, and the suspension of NEP implementations (Sundaram 1989: 42).
While PM Mahathir had conceded that the NEP may need to be abolished and that it was a bad policy in the long run. From the onset of the NEP, critics had always pointed out that it, like most welfare programmes, has very limited effect on the groups it is intended to help. But Mahathir was adamant, saying the NEP has made Malays “lazy” and prone to rely on “the easy way and quick way.”
Because of this, Mahathir expressed his disappointment that after 22 years at the helm of the nation-state he has failed to change the Malay mindset, by stating this:
“Mostly I feel disappointed because I achieved too little result from my task – the task of making my race a successful race, a race that is respected, a race that is honorable, a race that is highly regarded. I beg your pardon because I have failed.”
But in an effort to emulate the achievements of some successful industrialized countries in Asia like Japan and South Korea, Mahathir (Oehlers, 2000:214-215) provided a fresh twist to the programs and initiatives from NEP in his goal to encourage the emergence of the new Malay capitalist class. It is noteworthy to know that though efforts to promote a Malay capitalist class were certainly the centerpiece of the new strategy to ensure the fruits of economic growth would not fall to just a small minority of elite Bumiputeras.
Hence, the early Mahathirist program appeared to be corporatist-nationalists adventure which might also resolve the problems of NEP implementation. Dr. Mahathir also instituted the vision behind the early Mahathirist campaigns and exhortations like: bersih, cekap, amanah (clean, efficient, and trustworthy), kepimpinan melalui teldan (leadership by example), “Look East” , “Privatisation”, “Malaysia Incorporated”, penyerapan nilai-nilai Islam (assimilation of Islamic values), and “Asian values” (Khoo Boo Teik, 1997:63).
But with Mahathir’s implementation of privatization and Malaysia Inc. policies, after all, it pointed to a new state-capital alliance that the NEP had suddenly ruptured.
Although, writes KS Nathan, the NEP has been replaced by the National Development Policy (NDP), the basic contours of Bumiputera supremacy with a strong Malay population that helps Malaysia’s political economy remain intact under the leadership of the UMNO. After all, the new UMNO elite created largely by the NEP. Consequently, economic nationalism in Malaysia strengthened the link between Malay ethnicity and Malay economic security (Nathan 1998:519).
When Malaysians (K.S. Nathan, 1998) immensely felt the benefits of economic success through the formidable economic formula of Mahathir’s leadership - a brand new vision had been introduced, stepping forward to another bigger ladder. The Malaysia Vision 2020. The Vision 2020, as both conception and strategy of Malaysian nation-state aimed on the following conditions:
- to promote an outward looking Malaysian society
- to infuse society with strong moral and ethical values
- to ensure that the state is democratic, liberal and tolerant, caring, economically just and equitable, progressive and prosperous
- and to develop an economy that is competitive, dynamic, robust and resilient.
Therefore, to underpin the development process in Malaysia, here’s an excerpt from Mahathir’s speech…we came up with a concept of ‘Malaysia Inc.’ whereby the public and private sectors worked together to develop the country…(as a result) the private sector has prospered from collaboration rather than confrontation with officialdom (Mahathir 1995:11).
TABLE 1 (Matrix on Malaysia’s Vision 2020)
MALAYSIA VISION 2020
Political a stable Malaysia geared toward resolving political, economic, social religious, and ethnic issues within a broad framework of consensus and compromise.
Ideological a growing national confidence in Malaysian values, general acceptance if not tolerance of democracy Malaysian-style, commitment to the basic values of a free enterprise economy, and a legacy of success in overcoming the communist threat to the nation.
Economic a country that has by and large achieved the redistributive targets of the twenty-year New economic Policy resulting in an economically confident Malay (Bumiputera) community that is presumably more sensitive to the needs of other Malaysians.
Social a strengthened feeling among all Malaysians that the causes leading to the May 13, 1969 racial riots have been addressed and that a similar recurrence can be averted by good political management, mutual tolerance, and the promotion of interracial goodwill and harmony.
Regional the development of political, economic, and security mechanisms for expanding cooperation and reducing regional tension – that is, the creation of an atmosphere that is conducive to Malaysian national interests.
International a growing capacity to articulate issues that affect a wider spectrum of humanity in line with changing global interests and priorities (Nathan 1995: 220-37).
Elements of Economic Success in Malaysia
It is deemed that the concept of planned development – the attainment of rational targets based on competition and free enterprise as envisaged under Vision 2020 will eventually reduce NEP-based racial discontent (on the part of non-Malays) and presumably erase the prevailing Bumiputera-non-Bumiputera dichotomy in Malaysia’s political economy. (KS Nathan, 1998). This could only be achieved on the following conditions:
1. National integration based on multiethnic cooperation and partnership as well the trend toward deracialization.
2. The effective management for all forms of extremism, actual and potential, along the dimensions of race, religion, ideology or even political and economic doctrine.
3. The creation of a climate that will propel toward economic excellence in the next 30 years through wise management of the nation’s financial, industrial, natural and human resources, increased cooperation between the public sector and private sector, and a significant role for foreign investment in the nation’s industrial transformation.
The Mahathir Model of Asian Values
The concept of ‘Asian values’ was a popular idea in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and India, and also in some political circles in Japan. Coined in 1990s, predicted on the belief in the existence in Asian countries with a unique set of institutions and political ideologies which reflected the region’s culture & history. Because the proponents of the concept came from various cultural backgrounds, no single definition of the term exists.
Furthermore, at the height of the economic boom in Asia (Oehlers, 2000), it became fashionable to attribute the success of the region to some notion of Asian values. It promoted the idea that it was the region’s common cultural heritage and value system that largely lay behind its superior economic performance (Hofheinz and Calder 1982; Lodge and Vogel 1987; Berger 1988; Pye 1998; Hofstede and Bond 1988; Tai 1989; Martellaro 1990; Oehlers 2000).
The politicized nature of this debate derives partly from the manner in which "Asian values" are often pitted, usually falsely, against "Western values“ as another ambiguous concept. Of course commentators such as Mahathir bin Mohamad usually speak in terms of a renaissance of "Asian values", in parallel to an economic renaissance, in contrast to socially and economically deteriorating Western societies.
At the broad level, Dr. Mahathir’s articulation of Asian values (Oehlers, 2000:215) may be seen as an attempt to underpin and legitimize a state-led strategy to restructure the economy and propel Malaysia towards developed-country status. Beyond this, his Asian values provided a very effective response to critics. At the domestic level, he was able to establish some respectability and legitimacy of power to counter the accusations of detractors. Those critics could be portrayed as “unAsian” contaminated by alien Western ideas and agents of Western imperialism.
But at the close of five hundred years of European expansion (Harper, 1997) in Asia, a new Zeitgeist has arisen: the ‘Asian values’. The idea has been given wide international exposure, especially by intellectuals in the United States. It has formed the basis of a grand historical narrative in which they can locate themselves in the aftermath of the cold war. But for Mahathir’s point of view (Oehlers, 2000:216), by posing his actions as a product of unique Asian culture, he had successfully achieved a case in the international arena to justify his pursuit of state-led development. Mounting Western criticisms of practices in Malaysia during his regime, could now be safely deflected and dismissed as the “rude”, “insensitive”, and “misinformed” interjections of another race lacking any comprehension of Asian values, practices and aspirations.
East-West Dichotomy of Mahathir’s Asian Values
Culture is a construct and sometimes it is innate. In the case of Asian values, which is trying to find a place to become a universal concept, it was disliked by westerners because it carried features of ‘inferiority complex’ and ‘otherness’ of the Asians. This profound bedazzlement stems debates and dichotomy in an East-West point of views. In the long run, there is a guarded acknowledgement that Asian societies will have to create room for intellectual enquiry and to address issues of human rights and political liberties, for instance. It is no longer adequate to say that the record of modernizing governments justifies their right to rule, and this remains a big question by liberal democracies in the West against some Asian societies.
In Malaysia for example, the concept of Asian values was embraced partly because it reconciled Islam, the religion of the Malays, with the Confucianism of the ethnic Chinese, and Hinduism of the Indian descents, thereby helping to create a sense of common values between different ethnic and religious groups in those countries.
Cultural determinism (Inoguchi & Newman, 1997) argues that cultural values condition modes of social and economic organization, including patterns of political relationships, political participation, citizenship and government. Advocates of Asian values maintain that there are clear and often sharp differences between the values and traditions in the East and in the West. They argue that Asians tend to value community and Westerners value the individual. Whereas Asians appreciate order and harmony while Westerners appreciate personal freedom. Meanwhile, some western stereotypes refer to ‘Asian values’ as ethics on saving and thriftiness, insistence on hard work, respect for leaders and family loyalty. Whereas, for some Asian leaders like Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla, he defines Asian values as placing emphasis on cooperation over competition.
In the interim, the east-west dichotomy which the Asian values discourse has sprouted and even branched out to discuss issues on rights versus security. Dr Mahathir argues that the supposedly universal human rights documents and treaties actually privilege Western values to the detriment of Asian values. Instead, the Vienna Declaration of 1993 reaffirms that all human rights are 'universal, indivisible and interdependent and interrelated.’
Also, the Mahathir Model of Asian values (Mendes, 1994) tends to emphasize the social and moral decay of the West in comparison to the newfound alternative model of Asian development. He as well would want reconcile the apparent contradiction by subsuming Malaysia’s distinctive national character in a broader obeisance to Asian values.
On the issue of political governance, vis a vis the issue of authoritarian tendencies of Mahathir in its pursuit of a Malaysian-style soft democracy compared to a western-style liberal democracy. In 2000, Dr Mahathir warned his fellow Asian nations that too much democracy can lead to violence and instability. On the other hand, the annual UN Human Development Report released in July 2002 argues that moving toward democracy actually makes for more stable societies, rebutting the argument that a slower shift to democracy is necessary to maintain order.
Asian leaders deny the weakening of cultural values in the context of the internationalization of production, rapid growth and advances in communication. As Mahathir bin Mohamad wrote, “Asian modernization has occurred as an inevitable stage of our history, not because we were Europeanized or Americanized”. Yet democratization and heightening political awareness have brought a political lexicon to East Asia (referring to Northeast and Southeast) which is common to - and perhaps emanated from - Western political thought, although this is not to say that democratization is Westernization (Inoguchi & Newman, 1997).
Authoritarian or semi-authoritarian states use arguments of cultural relativism and homegrown models of democracy, but are there a universalization of ideas and norms. If not embraced and managed, this is a source of friction for the future.
In the end, Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad steadfastly proclaimed that there is a strong correlation between rapid economic growth and strong, stable governments in East Asia, for together they provide the stability and consistency so essential to long-term investment and economic progress.
Critiques of Asian Values
A frequent criticism is that the idea of "Asian values" is most promoted by the elites who benefit from authoritarian rule, rather than the wider populace of their nation (KS Nathan, 1998).
Amartya Sen, Aung San Suu Kyi, Kim Dae Jong have been some of the concept's strongest critics. For other critics of the concept, they argue that no universal "Asian" value system exists, because the cultural diversity of Asia is too great for there to be a single set of common values across the region. In fact, the concept of "Asian values" began to lose currency after the Asian financial crisis weakened the economies of many Asian countries.
For many western academic writers and scholars (Inoguchi & Newman, 1997), they deem that Asian values are invariably discussed in the context of an East-West dichotomy. This increases the tendency to exaggerate and generalize, and leads one to conclude that the debate is more political than substantive. They feel that "Asian values" advocate and celebrate the community over individualism.
Hence, coming from the thoughts of Dr. Mahathir himself, in his pronouncement during the 29th International General Meeting of the Pacific Basin Economic Council in Washington, when he delivered a paper on “The Asian Values Debate”, right on the ball, he referred to the Asian Values Debate as being defensive in nature. More so, he deemed by saying that, “it was right and about time that Asia too be accorded with regard and high esteem that was its due…that there was a belief among many in the West that their values and beliefs were universal; that the advocates and champions of Asian values were merely justifying oppression, dictatorship and uncivilized behavior.” At the end, he called for “mutual respect’ among nations.
Conclusion
As K.S. Nathan deems, the principal architects of the nation’s survival strategies have been the nation-state leaders. Great leaders are judged by history. In the case of Mahathir bin Mohamad, a former Prime Minister of the Bumiputeras, he had carved the future direction of his beloved country. His Vision 2020 and Asian values using the Malay customs and traditions of ‘good neighborliness’ and ‘good relations’ have been instrumental to where Malaysia is in today. Indeed, the role of Mahathir bin Mohamad in injecting a personal vision into Malaysia’s national security formulation has been singularly instrumental to Malaysia’s present high profile in world forums. Dr. Mahathir believes that multiethnic and plural societies like his country must continuously reinvent the nation-state to strengthen national security and promote regional stability.
Looking back at Asian Values, Fukuyama himself, argues that there’s an interconnection of family ties, citizenship and society which is quite different from most generalizations. Although, the West has difficulties in defining and upholding the "common good" and reconciling it with the aspirations of individualism and liberty. At the end of the day, both Asian and Western countries must recognize and mutually respect their differences than imposing and challenging each other’s values. As long as these values, like the case of ‘Asian values’, are appropriately helpful for nation-states to preserve traditions and customs and alleviate the conditions of the majority, there is no need to contend and imitate Western values. If some Western values are seen as appropriate for the betterment of citizens in Asian countries, then it is also good to borrow and modify these values to suit in local cultures.
Bibliography
Book/Article References:
Laothamatas, Anek, ed. 1997. Democratization in Southeast and East Asia, Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS).
Mahathir Mohamad. 1995. Will East beat West? World Press Review. December.
Nathan, K.S. 1998. Malaysia: Reinventing the Nation, In Muthiah Alagappa’s Asian Security Practice, Stanford University Press.
Oehlers, Alfred L. 2000. Asian Values: Mahathir Mohamad and Lee Kuan Yew, In Abdul Rahman (ed.), Southeast Asia Into the Twenty First Century: Crisis and Beyond, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM).
Singh, Hari. 2004. Malaysia’s National Security: Rhetoric and Substance, Contemporary Southeast Asia, Volume 26, Number 1. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS).
Electronic Resources:
Hitchcock, David I. 1997. The United States and East Asia: New Commonalities and Then, All Those Differences, from the proceedings of a Conference at Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan,
as part of the First Shizuoka Asia-Pacific Forum:
The Future of the Asia-Pacific Region, held on 28 March 1997. The article is based from http://www.unu.edu/unupress/asian-values.html accessed on 15 Dec 2006.
Inoguchi, Takashi and Newman, Edward. 1997. “Asian Values” and Democracy in Asia, from the proceedings of a Conference at Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan, as part of the First Shizuoka Asia-Pacific Forum: The Future of the Asia-Pacific Region, held on 28 March 1997. The article is based from http://www.unu.edu/unupress/asian-values.html accessed on 15 Dec 2006.
Khong, C.O. 1997. Asian Values: The Debate Revisited, from the proceedings of a Conference at Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan,
as part of the First Shizuoka Asia-Pacific Forum:
The Future of the Asia-Pacific Region, held on 28 March 1997. The article is based from http://www.unu.edu/unupress/asian-values.html accessed on 15 Dec 2006.
Mendes, Errol P. 1994. Asian Values and Human Rights: Letting the Tigers Free. The article is based from http://www.cdp-hrc.uottawa.ca/publicat/asian_values.html, accessed on 15 March 2007.
Wong, Loong. 2004. Mahathir, Malaysia and Globalisation: Challenging Orthodoxy, Central Coast School of Business, University of Newcastle. The article is based from http://globalization.icaap.org/content/v4.2/wong.html, accessed on 15 march 2007.
“What we do is when people have the capacity to do well,
we give them a hand”
- Mahathir bin Mohamad, 1998
One of the greatest statesmen Malaysia has ever produced in its post-independence history is the erstwhile Prime Minister and former UMNO leader, Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad. A physician turned state leader from Kedah, in northernmost tip of Malaysia. Born to a mix culture of an Indian father and a conservative Malay mother. However, he considered himself to be a "full Malay", in line with Article 160 of the Constitution . He is a devout Muslim and with a heritage colored by Malay tradition. Under Article 153 of the Constitution, Malays are granted particular rights not available to other citizens. He held the Prime Minister post from 1981 to 2003. During his term in office he was credited for engineering Malaysia's rapid modernization and the resulting growth of prosperity.
Mahathir joined the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) upon its formation in 1946. As the State Party Chairman and Chairman of the Political Committee, he inadvertently angered some quarters with his proposal that the selection of candidates be based on certain qualifications for the 1969 general election . Hurt by accusations that he was scheming to put up candidates who were strongly allied to him, Mahathir refused to take part in the national election that year. Mahathir was sacked from the UMNO Supreme Council on 12 July 1969, following his widespread distribution to the public of his letter to Tunku Abdul Rahman, the then Prime Minister. In his letter, he had criticized the manner in which the Tunku had handled the country's administration. Mahathir was subsequently relieved of his party membership on 26 September of that same year.
Fast forward to 10 July 1981, Mahathir became the Prime Minister of Malaysia and held the premireship for 22 years after which he retired from office on 31 October 2003, making him one of Asia’s longest-serving political leaders. According to Oehlers (2000), when Mahathir took office in 1981, he did so with avowed aim of transforming Malaysia into a newly-industralizing country (NIC) firmly under the dominance of such a Malay capitalist class (Jomo, 1987). In this, the “models” that were aspired to were countries such as Japan and South Korea (Khoo, 1995). In these countries, a successful transition from agriculture to industry had been realized. With the strong collaboration of the public and private sectors, a platform had been established for thriving heavy and high-technology industries under the control of indegenous peoples. In fact, Malaysia today has been one of the favorite hubs among multinational corporations (MNCs) as manufacturing and service bases in Asia. Petronas Twin Towers stand proud in the heart of Kuala Lumpur as the tallest skyscapers in the world beginning of the 21st century. It showcased Malaysia having leaped into an industralizing economy due to the benefits of its indegenous oil refinery and other manufacturing industries. It has also relied on its homegrown automobile industry, Proton, which now is being exported to other countries.
During his term as Prime Minister, he was one of the architects of Malaysia Vision 2020, a blue-print to achieve a developed-status for Malaysia and one of the strong proponents of Asian values together with Senior Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore.
The Path of Democracy and Development in Malaysia
In Malaysia, like so many other post-colonial political systems of the 20th century, it was modeled after the political system of the old mother country (Great Britain). And for some time after the independence, the Malaysian variant of British democracy appeared to be alive and functioning (Khoo Boo Teik, 1997:40)
The ‘Malaysian-style democracy’ is probably a form of rule with features of a “democracy without consensus” that is “neither democratic nor authoritarian”. Hence, Hamza Alvi argues that most post-colonial democracies (especially in Southeast Asia) fail because there exists no single and unified ruling class. Instead it has three contending ruling classes: 1. domestic bourgeoisie, 2. metropolitan bourgeoisie and 3. the landed elites.
In the case of Malaysia, in understanding the framework of development where it does not exactly lead to democracy in its fullest western context, Anek Laothamatas (1997), theoretically and historically, argues and narrates what Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels saw in 19th century France under Napoleon and Germany under Bismarck that brought the bourgeoisie weak and set against other classes which will contradict what Karl Marx and Max Weber initially opined on the perspective that economic change or development would indeed lead states to democracy. This was based when Karl Marx saw the revolutionary change in England and France during the 17th and 18th centuries where democracy and development positively alleviated the conditions of many people. He attributed this with the rise of bourgeoisie, where democracy, as the alternative regime - defined as the business, propertied class which was the main agents for the rise of democracy in the West. But as Anek Laothamatas (1997) later expounded, Marx-Engels-Weber saw that there was rapid capitalist transformation under the auspices of an authoritarian regime. And the bourgeoisie failed to make an impact on the military-bureaucratic elite, (noticeable in several Southeast Asian regimes in the 1960s to 1980s). The troika scholars envisioned this as exceptional to the general rule of capitalism breeding democracy. Hence, going back to the larger picture of Malaysia’s general scenario, it did not experience a so-called ‘military-bureaucratic elite’, unlike in neighboring Southeast Asian countries where Thailand, Indonesia and Cambodia alike, experienced mob rule from military ranks.
Considering Mahathir’s many pronouncements on Asian values, such as the importance of traditional family as a social institution, the supremacy of societal over individual interests, strong government, and respect for authority; he also attributed Asian values concept to the relationship between democracy and development (Oehlers, 2000).
In fact, Oehlers (2000) quoted PM Mahathir by saying that, “once a government has been elected…it should be allowed to govern…”, Hence, strong and stable governments prepared to make decisions which, though often unpopular, are nevertheless in the best interests of the nation, are a prerequisite for economic development (Mahathir, 1995:8).
The problems that manifested in Malaysia encompassed on the three concerns of democracy where class, ethnicity and capitalism mattered most to politicians. Historically speaking, Malaysian democracy (Khoo Boo Teik, 1997:49-50) meant a particular political system by which the state, the ruling class, incumbent regimes, the various social classes and ethnic communities, will have to respond only to certain critical questions about Malaysian society. Malaysian democracy may, therefore, be seen as a polity which emerged from the interstices of decolonization.
To differentiate western liberal democracy in which the classical liberal characteristics of democracy require a multiplicity of parties representing competing policy agendas and clear political alternatives that have limitations on governmental authority and guaranteed rights of free expression and association from the quasi-democracy type which some Southeast Asian countries subscribe like Malaysia that mostly have evolved through hard or soft developmental authoritarianism to some form of democracy - in the sense of having elections, universal suffrage and political parties. Yet in some cases it appear to be based upon a different social premise with strong government invested with the responsibility of upholding collective needs, an absence of many liberal democratic practices, and longevity of political elites seem to be the norm (Inoguchi & Newman, 1997). For this reason, it can be debated that in a developmental context it has been possible to argue that stability and basic welfare are the priorities. But in semi-democratic states, strong government and a curtailment of some political rights are thus necessary in the interests of society. The collective goals are clear so the government's responsibility of upholding these should not be unduly hampered by democratic checks and balances.
For Mahathir, the principle of ‘growth of equity’ (Oehlers, 2000) was an integral aspect of Malaysia’s broader transition from newly-industrialized country (NIC) status and later to a developed or first world country status by 2020.
Having this background for Malaysia under its longest running Prime Minister that is Dr. Mahathir, one of the problems this paper will try to assess is to look back and revisit whether the seeds that Mahathir bin Mohamad had planted during his regime, examples of which were Vision 2020 and Asian values, became (un)popular domestic and foreign policies, that had grown and perhaps reaped success, later to say that what he had envisioned for Malaysia had been fully realized to where it is today.
Hence, the topics on the abovementioned title give a small subset of how Mahathir bin Mohamad looks at Malaysia in terms of government-business relations and his views on Asian values that affect his policies and governance of his plural and multi-ethnic nation-state.
Brief Reassessment About the Struggles of United Malays National Organization (UMNO) under PM Mahathir’s Leadership
Since its inception in 1946, UMNO has assiduously cultivated feudal traditions and values in order to portray itself as ‘protector’ of Malays, thereby reinforcing and legitimizing its hold on power (Oehlers, 2000:13). Even though Mahathir was once almost expelled in this powerful party back in 1969, he regained the supreme power in 1981 as the Prime Minister and held the premiership for over two decades with various accolades and honors.
Given the plural society set up of Malaysia (with 50.4% Malays, 23.7% Chinese, 11% Indigenous Peoples (IPs), 7.1% Indians, and 7.8% others) , the UMNO suffered a painful lost with the Chinese during the 1969 general election. Hence, the leading Malay party has long been struggling with other competing parties represented by other ethnic groups and ‘purist’ Islamic parties in Malaysia.
The 1969 Malaysian general election became a turning point in the political structures of Malaya. Because of UMNO’s failure to cast larger votes, nearly all of the opposition parties had intimidated threats to prolong emergency rule. Consequently, UMNO needed to refurbish its influence within the Malay community and national security came to be premised on Malaysian politics. This eventually paved a way to learn from the historic fall down of the UMNO which caused the momentous 1969 ethnic riots (Nathan 1998; Oehlers 2000; Singh 2004).
In 1970s, the post-1969 national election paved to the restructuring of power that brought ramifications to Malaysia’s internal security. It visibly defined the equation of power between the indigenous and non-Malay communities. The lesson that Malay political processes was “overwhelming and unassailable”. Apparently, with the ethno-religious dynamics in Malaysian politics, it contributed to the construction of ‘communalism’. Under the rubric of communalism, the opposition Chinese came to be branded as ethnic ‘chauvinists’ whereas Malays who championed the community’s interests were endearingly labeled as ‘nationalists’ (Singh, 2004:11-12).
In the 1980s, UMNO dealt a heavy problem. This time, fuelled by the Islamic resurgence abroad and by the process of modernization and identity creation at home, Islamic fundamentalism reared its head in Malaysian politics. It threatened the position of the secular-based UMNO government (Singh, 2004:11).
To some extent, the threat was contained through the cooptation of progressivist Islamic elements, especially, at the height when Anwar Ibrahim, a protégé of Mahathir, was sacked as a Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister under the UMNO party. In 1999, Anwar was sentenced in a highly controversial trial to six years in prison for corruption and in 2000 to another nine years in prison for sodomy. However, in 2004, an appeals court reversed the second conviction and he was released.
In the late 1990’s especially during the 1997-98 Asian Financial Crises, UMNO under the leadership of Mahathir was credited for preventing its currency Ringgit to plummet, despite its neighboring East Asian countries felt the abrupt financial speculations and simultaneously Asian currencies fell due to widespread effects of the economic disaster. While the Asian financial crisis was still unfolding, the Malaysian government had already begun to draw lessons from the crisis and planning ahead on how to strengthen the architecture of their financial system to lessen the frequency and severity of future disturbances (Oehlers, 2000:98). Malaysia’s economy remained buoyant by pegging its currency and defied the prescriptions of Western envoys through the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) not to peg its currency which caused the ire of many Western economists and politicians. At that time, Mahathir condemned Western countries by saying that IMF and WB caused more burdens to Asian economies instead of helping to eradicate financial problems. Because of this, Mahathir openly thought of instituting an Asian Monetary Fund, challenging the role of the IMF, through his concoction of an East Asian Economic Caucus with Japan and China’s support but was later detested by the United States.
Dr. Mahathir Mohamad (Wong, 2004), more than any other Asian politician, has consistently critiqued the 'west' for its arrogance, double standards, and discoursed on a new colonialism. In fact, Malaysia's position during the recent 1997 Asian financial crisis won both admirers and detractors. Detractors proclaimed its naiveté, abdication of neo-classical market approaches and Malaysia's human rights record, including its detention and internment of its then sacked deputy Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim. On the other hand, admirers pointed to Mahathir's independence, anti-colonial position and the advancement of an alternative voice within the global matrix of realist politics. Malaysia's managing of the crisis under Mahathir, for example, challenged prevailing economic orthodoxy of liberalization and pointed the way to an alternative practice of national policy autonomy in the face of a seemingly unstoppable global tsunami of liberalization.
Nevertheless as hasty surprise news in 22 June 2002, during the last day of the annual assembly of the UMNO, an emotional Mahathir abruptly announced his resignation in his closing speech. Stunned party leaders mobbed the PM in a bid to dissuade him. But three days later, amid feverish rumor and speculation, UMNO unveiled a transition plan allowing for Mahathir's departure in October 2003, and maintained all current posts including those of a Prime Minister and Finance Minister.
New Economic Policy (NEP) as a Roadmap to Rich Vision 2020
In 1991, Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad had articulated his dream of a prosperous Malaysian society through his speech, “Malaysia: The Way Forward” – a conceptualization of national security combining elements of idealism and realism (Nathan 1998: 42). In fact, the New Economic Policy (NEP) from 1970 to 1990 was a key strategy through which the Malays attempted to overcome their insecurity in the aftermath of the 1969 general election, which appeared to threaten their political dominance (Nathan 1998:518).
In the 70s-80s, NEP had been perceived as a mode for interventionism and a force for authoritarianism. It was during this period that the Barisan Nasional (BN), an alliance and a coalition of parties, was created. The class pressures arose as the Alliance’s political economy of laissez faire capitalism, reliance on primary commodity production, low-level import-substitution in industrialization and limited state assistance to the rural sector fell into the familiar neo-colonial mold of underdevelopment (Khoo Boo Teik, 1997:55). But the Barisan Nasional’s development strategy was to remake the Malaysian political economy in order to deal with the class pressures and ethnic demands which the Alliance was unable to satisfy. Although, the NEP’s premises were that of poverty, Malay resentment on inter-ethnic income inequalities, and an ethnic division of labor which lay at the heart of the mass discontent with the Alliance.
Furthermore, the NEP relied on large-scale social engineering to transform Malay and Malaysian society (Khoo Boo Teik, 1997:59-60), specifically to dismantle Malaysia’s colonial legacy of a stark ethnic division of labor. The better publicized part of this social engineering programme involved the creation of a new class of Malay capitalists and professionals, or what officially came to be called a “Bumiputera Commercial and Industrial Community” (BCIC).
However in 1990s because of economic policies that reduced the state’s role in the economy, on the other hand, it still motivated the same objective of strengthening Bumiputera of the Malaysian economy. Such strategies for Malay ethnic survival and security included “Malaysia Incorporated”, deregulation, and the suspension of NEP implementations (Sundaram 1989: 42).
While PM Mahathir had conceded that the NEP may need to be abolished and that it was a bad policy in the long run. From the onset of the NEP, critics had always pointed out that it, like most welfare programmes, has very limited effect on the groups it is intended to help. But Mahathir was adamant, saying the NEP has made Malays “lazy” and prone to rely on “the easy way and quick way.”
Because of this, Mahathir expressed his disappointment that after 22 years at the helm of the nation-state he has failed to change the Malay mindset, by stating this:
“Mostly I feel disappointed because I achieved too little result from my task – the task of making my race a successful race, a race that is respected, a race that is honorable, a race that is highly regarded. I beg your pardon because I have failed.”
But in an effort to emulate the achievements of some successful industrialized countries in Asia like Japan and South Korea, Mahathir (Oehlers, 2000:214-215) provided a fresh twist to the programs and initiatives from NEP in his goal to encourage the emergence of the new Malay capitalist class. It is noteworthy to know that though efforts to promote a Malay capitalist class were certainly the centerpiece of the new strategy to ensure the fruits of economic growth would not fall to just a small minority of elite Bumiputeras.
Hence, the early Mahathirist program appeared to be corporatist-nationalists adventure which might also resolve the problems of NEP implementation. Dr. Mahathir also instituted the vision behind the early Mahathirist campaigns and exhortations like: bersih, cekap, amanah (clean, efficient, and trustworthy), kepimpinan melalui teldan (leadership by example), “Look East” , “Privatisation”, “Malaysia Incorporated”, penyerapan nilai-nilai Islam (assimilation of Islamic values), and “Asian values” (Khoo Boo Teik, 1997:63).
But with Mahathir’s implementation of privatization and Malaysia Inc. policies, after all, it pointed to a new state-capital alliance that the NEP had suddenly ruptured.
Although, writes KS Nathan, the NEP has been replaced by the National Development Policy (NDP), the basic contours of Bumiputera supremacy with a strong Malay population that helps Malaysia’s political economy remain intact under the leadership of the UMNO. After all, the new UMNO elite created largely by the NEP. Consequently, economic nationalism in Malaysia strengthened the link between Malay ethnicity and Malay economic security (Nathan 1998:519).
When Malaysians (K.S. Nathan, 1998) immensely felt the benefits of economic success through the formidable economic formula of Mahathir’s leadership - a brand new vision had been introduced, stepping forward to another bigger ladder. The Malaysia Vision 2020. The Vision 2020, as both conception and strategy of Malaysian nation-state aimed on the following conditions:
- to promote an outward looking Malaysian society
- to infuse society with strong moral and ethical values
- to ensure that the state is democratic, liberal and tolerant, caring, economically just and equitable, progressive and prosperous
- and to develop an economy that is competitive, dynamic, robust and resilient.
Therefore, to underpin the development process in Malaysia, here’s an excerpt from Mahathir’s speech…we came up with a concept of ‘Malaysia Inc.’ whereby the public and private sectors worked together to develop the country…(as a result) the private sector has prospered from collaboration rather than confrontation with officialdom (Mahathir 1995:11).
TABLE 1 (Matrix on Malaysia’s Vision 2020)
MALAYSIA VISION 2020
Political a stable Malaysia geared toward resolving political, economic, social religious, and ethnic issues within a broad framework of consensus and compromise.
Ideological a growing national confidence in Malaysian values, general acceptance if not tolerance of democracy Malaysian-style, commitment to the basic values of a free enterprise economy, and a legacy of success in overcoming the communist threat to the nation.
Economic a country that has by and large achieved the redistributive targets of the twenty-year New economic Policy resulting in an economically confident Malay (Bumiputera) community that is presumably more sensitive to the needs of other Malaysians.
Social a strengthened feeling among all Malaysians that the causes leading to the May 13, 1969 racial riots have been addressed and that a similar recurrence can be averted by good political management, mutual tolerance, and the promotion of interracial goodwill and harmony.
Regional the development of political, economic, and security mechanisms for expanding cooperation and reducing regional tension – that is, the creation of an atmosphere that is conducive to Malaysian national interests.
International a growing capacity to articulate issues that affect a wider spectrum of humanity in line with changing global interests and priorities (Nathan 1995: 220-37).
Elements of Economic Success in Malaysia
It is deemed that the concept of planned development – the attainment of rational targets based on competition and free enterprise as envisaged under Vision 2020 will eventually reduce NEP-based racial discontent (on the part of non-Malays) and presumably erase the prevailing Bumiputera-non-Bumiputera dichotomy in Malaysia’s political economy. (KS Nathan, 1998). This could only be achieved on the following conditions:
1. National integration based on multiethnic cooperation and partnership as well the trend toward deracialization.
2. The effective management for all forms of extremism, actual and potential, along the dimensions of race, religion, ideology or even political and economic doctrine.
3. The creation of a climate that will propel toward economic excellence in the next 30 years through wise management of the nation’s financial, industrial, natural and human resources, increased cooperation between the public sector and private sector, and a significant role for foreign investment in the nation’s industrial transformation.
The Mahathir Model of Asian Values
The concept of ‘Asian values’ was a popular idea in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and India, and also in some political circles in Japan. Coined in 1990s, predicted on the belief in the existence in Asian countries with a unique set of institutions and political ideologies which reflected the region’s culture & history. Because the proponents of the concept came from various cultural backgrounds, no single definition of the term exists.
Furthermore, at the height of the economic boom in Asia (Oehlers, 2000), it became fashionable to attribute the success of the region to some notion of Asian values. It promoted the idea that it was the region’s common cultural heritage and value system that largely lay behind its superior economic performance (Hofheinz and Calder 1982; Lodge and Vogel 1987; Berger 1988; Pye 1998; Hofstede and Bond 1988; Tai 1989; Martellaro 1990; Oehlers 2000).
The politicized nature of this debate derives partly from the manner in which "Asian values" are often pitted, usually falsely, against "Western values“ as another ambiguous concept. Of course commentators such as Mahathir bin Mohamad usually speak in terms of a renaissance of "Asian values", in parallel to an economic renaissance, in contrast to socially and economically deteriorating Western societies.
At the broad level, Dr. Mahathir’s articulation of Asian values (Oehlers, 2000:215) may be seen as an attempt to underpin and legitimize a state-led strategy to restructure the economy and propel Malaysia towards developed-country status. Beyond this, his Asian values provided a very effective response to critics. At the domestic level, he was able to establish some respectability and legitimacy of power to counter the accusations of detractors. Those critics could be portrayed as “unAsian” contaminated by alien Western ideas and agents of Western imperialism.
But at the close of five hundred years of European expansion (Harper, 1997) in Asia, a new Zeitgeist has arisen: the ‘Asian values’. The idea has been given wide international exposure, especially by intellectuals in the United States. It has formed the basis of a grand historical narrative in which they can locate themselves in the aftermath of the cold war. But for Mahathir’s point of view (Oehlers, 2000:216), by posing his actions as a product of unique Asian culture, he had successfully achieved a case in the international arena to justify his pursuit of state-led development. Mounting Western criticisms of practices in Malaysia during his regime, could now be safely deflected and dismissed as the “rude”, “insensitive”, and “misinformed” interjections of another race lacking any comprehension of Asian values, practices and aspirations.
East-West Dichotomy of Mahathir’s Asian Values
Culture is a construct and sometimes it is innate. In the case of Asian values, which is trying to find a place to become a universal concept, it was disliked by westerners because it carried features of ‘inferiority complex’ and ‘otherness’ of the Asians. This profound bedazzlement stems debates and dichotomy in an East-West point of views. In the long run, there is a guarded acknowledgement that Asian societies will have to create room for intellectual enquiry and to address issues of human rights and political liberties, for instance. It is no longer adequate to say that the record of modernizing governments justifies their right to rule, and this remains a big question by liberal democracies in the West against some Asian societies.
In Malaysia for example, the concept of Asian values was embraced partly because it reconciled Islam, the religion of the Malays, with the Confucianism of the ethnic Chinese, and Hinduism of the Indian descents, thereby helping to create a sense of common values between different ethnic and religious groups in those countries.
Cultural determinism (Inoguchi & Newman, 1997) argues that cultural values condition modes of social and economic organization, including patterns of political relationships, political participation, citizenship and government. Advocates of Asian values maintain that there are clear and often sharp differences between the values and traditions in the East and in the West. They argue that Asians tend to value community and Westerners value the individual. Whereas Asians appreciate order and harmony while Westerners appreciate personal freedom. Meanwhile, some western stereotypes refer to ‘Asian values’ as ethics on saving and thriftiness, insistence on hard work, respect for leaders and family loyalty. Whereas, for some Asian leaders like Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla, he defines Asian values as placing emphasis on cooperation over competition.
In the interim, the east-west dichotomy which the Asian values discourse has sprouted and even branched out to discuss issues on rights versus security. Dr Mahathir argues that the supposedly universal human rights documents and treaties actually privilege Western values to the detriment of Asian values. Instead, the Vienna Declaration of 1993 reaffirms that all human rights are 'universal, indivisible and interdependent and interrelated.’
Also, the Mahathir Model of Asian values (Mendes, 1994) tends to emphasize the social and moral decay of the West in comparison to the newfound alternative model of Asian development. He as well would want reconcile the apparent contradiction by subsuming Malaysia’s distinctive national character in a broader obeisance to Asian values.
On the issue of political governance, vis a vis the issue of authoritarian tendencies of Mahathir in its pursuit of a Malaysian-style soft democracy compared to a western-style liberal democracy. In 2000, Dr Mahathir warned his fellow Asian nations that too much democracy can lead to violence and instability. On the other hand, the annual UN Human Development Report released in July 2002 argues that moving toward democracy actually makes for more stable societies, rebutting the argument that a slower shift to democracy is necessary to maintain order.
Asian leaders deny the weakening of cultural values in the context of the internationalization of production, rapid growth and advances in communication. As Mahathir bin Mohamad wrote, “Asian modernization has occurred as an inevitable stage of our history, not because we were Europeanized or Americanized”. Yet democratization and heightening political awareness have brought a political lexicon to East Asia (referring to Northeast and Southeast) which is common to - and perhaps emanated from - Western political thought, although this is not to say that democratization is Westernization (Inoguchi & Newman, 1997).
Authoritarian or semi-authoritarian states use arguments of cultural relativism and homegrown models of democracy, but are there a universalization of ideas and norms. If not embraced and managed, this is a source of friction for the future.
In the end, Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad steadfastly proclaimed that there is a strong correlation between rapid economic growth and strong, stable governments in East Asia, for together they provide the stability and consistency so essential to long-term investment and economic progress.
Critiques of Asian Values
A frequent criticism is that the idea of "Asian values" is most promoted by the elites who benefit from authoritarian rule, rather than the wider populace of their nation (KS Nathan, 1998).
Amartya Sen, Aung San Suu Kyi, Kim Dae Jong have been some of the concept's strongest critics. For other critics of the concept, they argue that no universal "Asian" value system exists, because the cultural diversity of Asia is too great for there to be a single set of common values across the region. In fact, the concept of "Asian values" began to lose currency after the Asian financial crisis weakened the economies of many Asian countries.
For many western academic writers and scholars (Inoguchi & Newman, 1997), they deem that Asian values are invariably discussed in the context of an East-West dichotomy. This increases the tendency to exaggerate and generalize, and leads one to conclude that the debate is more political than substantive. They feel that "Asian values" advocate and celebrate the community over individualism.
Hence, coming from the thoughts of Dr. Mahathir himself, in his pronouncement during the 29th International General Meeting of the Pacific Basin Economic Council in Washington, when he delivered a paper on “The Asian Values Debate”, right on the ball, he referred to the Asian Values Debate as being defensive in nature. More so, he deemed by saying that, “it was right and about time that Asia too be accorded with regard and high esteem that was its due…that there was a belief among many in the West that their values and beliefs were universal; that the advocates and champions of Asian values were merely justifying oppression, dictatorship and uncivilized behavior.” At the end, he called for “mutual respect’ among nations.
Conclusion
As K.S. Nathan deems, the principal architects of the nation’s survival strategies have been the nation-state leaders. Great leaders are judged by history. In the case of Mahathir bin Mohamad, a former Prime Minister of the Bumiputeras, he had carved the future direction of his beloved country. His Vision 2020 and Asian values using the Malay customs and traditions of ‘good neighborliness’ and ‘good relations’ have been instrumental to where Malaysia is in today. Indeed, the role of Mahathir bin Mohamad in injecting a personal vision into Malaysia’s national security formulation has been singularly instrumental to Malaysia’s present high profile in world forums. Dr. Mahathir believes that multiethnic and plural societies like his country must continuously reinvent the nation-state to strengthen national security and promote regional stability.
Looking back at Asian Values, Fukuyama himself, argues that there’s an interconnection of family ties, citizenship and society which is quite different from most generalizations. Although, the West has difficulties in defining and upholding the "common good" and reconciling it with the aspirations of individualism and liberty. At the end of the day, both Asian and Western countries must recognize and mutually respect their differences than imposing and challenging each other’s values. As long as these values, like the case of ‘Asian values’, are appropriately helpful for nation-states to preserve traditions and customs and alleviate the conditions of the majority, there is no need to contend and imitate Western values. If some Western values are seen as appropriate for the betterment of citizens in Asian countries, then it is also good to borrow and modify these values to suit in local cultures.
Bibliography
Book/Article References:
Laothamatas, Anek, ed. 1997. Democratization in Southeast and East Asia, Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS).
Mahathir Mohamad. 1995. Will East beat West? World Press Review. December.
Nathan, K.S. 1998. Malaysia: Reinventing the Nation, In Muthiah Alagappa’s Asian Security Practice, Stanford University Press.
Oehlers, Alfred L. 2000. Asian Values: Mahathir Mohamad and Lee Kuan Yew, In Abdul Rahman (ed.), Southeast Asia Into the Twenty First Century: Crisis and Beyond, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM).
Singh, Hari. 2004. Malaysia’s National Security: Rhetoric and Substance, Contemporary Southeast Asia, Volume 26, Number 1. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS).
Electronic Resources:
Hitchcock, David I. 1997. The United States and East Asia: New Commonalities and Then, All Those Differences, from the proceedings of a Conference at Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan,
as part of the First Shizuoka Asia-Pacific Forum:
The Future of the Asia-Pacific Region, held on 28 March 1997. The article is based from http://www.unu.edu/unupress/asian-values.html accessed on 15 Dec 2006.
Inoguchi, Takashi and Newman, Edward. 1997. “Asian Values” and Democracy in Asia, from the proceedings of a Conference at Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan, as part of the First Shizuoka Asia-Pacific Forum: The Future of the Asia-Pacific Region, held on 28 March 1997. The article is based from http://www.unu.edu/unupress/asian-values.html accessed on 15 Dec 2006.
Khong, C.O. 1997. Asian Values: The Debate Revisited, from the proceedings of a Conference at Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan,
as part of the First Shizuoka Asia-Pacific Forum:
The Future of the Asia-Pacific Region, held on 28 March 1997. The article is based from http://www.unu.edu/unupress/asian-values.html accessed on 15 Dec 2006.
Mendes, Errol P. 1994. Asian Values and Human Rights: Letting the Tigers Free. The article is based from http://www.cdp-hrc.uottawa.ca/publicat/asian_values.html, accessed on 15 March 2007.
Wong, Loong. 2004. Mahathir, Malaysia and Globalisation: Challenging Orthodoxy, Central Coast School of Business, University of Newcastle. The article is based from http://globalization.icaap.org/content/v4.2/wong.html, accessed on 15 march 2007.
Emas vs Zuzuarregui
Chester Cabalza recommends his visitors to please read the original & full text of the case cited. Xie xie!
Emas vs Zuzuarregui
G.R. No. I-29937
July 12, 1929
Facts:
This action was instituted in the Court of First Instance of the Province of Tarlac by Lucio Emas against Antonio de Zuzuarregui and Faustino Aguilar, to obtain a decree of nullity with respect to transfer certificate of title No. 1024, purporting to show that De Zuzuarregui is the owner of the parcel of land described in said certificate, with the building thereon, in so far as affects as undivided half interest in said parcel claimed by the plaintiff, and to obtain an order for the cancellation of said certificate. The defendant Aguilar appears to be mortgagee of the whole parcel by contract of mortgage executed in his favor by De Zuzuarregui and noted in the certificate. The plaintiff therefore also seeks to obtain the annulment of said mortgage, in so far as affects the undivided half of the property claimed by the plaintiff.
Upon hearing the cause the trial court found that the plaintiff Emas, from Lapaz, Tarlac, is the owner of the undivided half interest claimed by him in the parcel covered by the certificate in question and ordered that the duplicate of the transfer certificate No. 1024 be surrendered and that the certificate be cancelled, not only as to the title but as to the mortgage in favor of Aguilar, in so far as affects the plaintiff's half of the property, with costs against De Zuzuarregui, to enforce his rights under the mortgage against the half of the property pertaining to his mortgagor, De Zuzuarregui. From this judgment the defendants, De Zuzuarregui and Faustino Aguilar, appealed.
Issue:
Whether or not accused-appellant committed falsification of public document?
Held:
Upon general principles of jurisprudence it is self evident that the defendant De Zuzuarregui acquired no right whatever in the property in question by the virtue of the forged deed. But it is contended, that he acquired the undivided half interest which was the subject of conveyance in said deed by virtue of issuance of the issuance to him of the transfer certificate No. 1024.
With respect to the alleged rights of the defendant Faustino Aguilar based upon the mortgage executed in his favor by De Zuzuarregui, we not that reliance is made by this appellant exclusively on the annotation appearing on the back of certificate No. 1024, showing that the property has been mortgaged by De Zuzuarregui, to Aguilar, as already stated in this opinion. But the mortgage itself was not introduced in this evidence, and no proof was submitted on the part of Aguilar tending to show that he had advanced the money mentioned in the annotation upon the faith of the mortgage.
In National Bank vs. Tang On Zse (51 Phil., 317.), it was held that, although an annotation of this character on a Torrens certificate is an effective notice of the execution of the document, such annotation nevertheless does not supply original proof of the terms of the contract. Moreover, Aguilar's title is derived from the contaminated source, and it is incumbent upon him to prove that ha is in fact, to the extent of his mortgage credit, an innocent purchaser of the property in good faith. In the absence of such proof, no error was committed on the part of the trial court in ignoring his alleged rights.
Emas vs Zuzuarregui
G.R. No. I-29937
July 12, 1929
Facts:
This action was instituted in the Court of First Instance of the Province of Tarlac by Lucio Emas against Antonio de Zuzuarregui and Faustino Aguilar, to obtain a decree of nullity with respect to transfer certificate of title No. 1024, purporting to show that De Zuzuarregui is the owner of the parcel of land described in said certificate, with the building thereon, in so far as affects as undivided half interest in said parcel claimed by the plaintiff, and to obtain an order for the cancellation of said certificate. The defendant Aguilar appears to be mortgagee of the whole parcel by contract of mortgage executed in his favor by De Zuzuarregui and noted in the certificate. The plaintiff therefore also seeks to obtain the annulment of said mortgage, in so far as affects the undivided half of the property claimed by the plaintiff.
Upon hearing the cause the trial court found that the plaintiff Emas, from Lapaz, Tarlac, is the owner of the undivided half interest claimed by him in the parcel covered by the certificate in question and ordered that the duplicate of the transfer certificate No. 1024 be surrendered and that the certificate be cancelled, not only as to the title but as to the mortgage in favor of Aguilar, in so far as affects the plaintiff's half of the property, with costs against De Zuzuarregui, to enforce his rights under the mortgage against the half of the property pertaining to his mortgagor, De Zuzuarregui. From this judgment the defendants, De Zuzuarregui and Faustino Aguilar, appealed.
Issue:
Whether or not accused-appellant committed falsification of public document?
Held:
Upon general principles of jurisprudence it is self evident that the defendant De Zuzuarregui acquired no right whatever in the property in question by the virtue of the forged deed. But it is contended, that he acquired the undivided half interest which was the subject of conveyance in said deed by virtue of issuance of the issuance to him of the transfer certificate No. 1024.
With respect to the alleged rights of the defendant Faustino Aguilar based upon the mortgage executed in his favor by De Zuzuarregui, we not that reliance is made by this appellant exclusively on the annotation appearing on the back of certificate No. 1024, showing that the property has been mortgaged by De Zuzuarregui, to Aguilar, as already stated in this opinion. But the mortgage itself was not introduced in this evidence, and no proof was submitted on the part of Aguilar tending to show that he had advanced the money mentioned in the annotation upon the faith of the mortgage.
In National Bank vs. Tang On Zse (51 Phil., 317.), it was held that, although an annotation of this character on a Torrens certificate is an effective notice of the execution of the document, such annotation nevertheless does not supply original proof of the terms of the contract. Moreover, Aguilar's title is derived from the contaminated source, and it is incumbent upon him to prove that ha is in fact, to the extent of his mortgage credit, an innocent purchaser of the property in good faith. In the absence of such proof, no error was committed on the part of the trial court in ignoring his alleged rights.
US vs Cinco
Chester Cabalza recommends his visitors to please read the original & full text of the case cited. Xie xie!
US vs Cinco
G.R. No. I-12127
October 13, 1917
Facts:
This is an appeal case brought by the defendants Eladio Cinco and Eusebio Redoña to reverse a judgment of the Court of First Instance of the Province of Samar, finding them guilty of the falsification of a private document.
Eusebio Redoña had been deputized to conduct a bidding on October 10, 1914. On that day the property was properly put up at auction, according to some testimony of the witnesses for the prosecution, no bid or offer for the same, or any part thereof, was made by any person during the lawful hours of sale, and as a result the property remained unsold. On the other hand the witnesses for the defense testify that the defendant Eladio Cinco made a bid and became the purchaser of the property as sole bidder.
Issue:
Whether or not accused-appellants are criminally liable for falsification of a private document or a crime under Art. 304 of the RPC in relation with subsection 2 of Art. 300?
Held:
The offense in this case is punishable under article 304 of the Penal Code, in relation with subsection 2 of article 300, notwithstanding statements to be found in some of the cases tending to a different conclusion. (U. S. vs. Buenaventura, 1 Phil., 428.) In United States vs. Braga (12 Phil., 202, the accused had used a rubber stamp bearing the name of the company by which he was employed, signing his own name in connection therewith. He had authority so to use the stamp for the purpose of buying goods for the company, but not for the purpose of obtaining money. It was held that in so signing an order by which he obtained money he was guilty of falsification under article 304 of the Penal Code, in connection with subsection 2 of article 300, for the reason that in effecting the transaction in question he made it appear that the company was a party thereto when, as a matter of fact, it did not participate therein.
Defendant Cinco was sentenced to two years, eleven months and ten days, presidio correccional in its minimum and medium degree, while the defendant Redoña was sentenced to one year, eight months and twenty-one days, presidio correccional in its minimum and medium degree. We believe that the discretion of the judge in imposing a more severe penalty upon Eladio Cinco was properly used. Each defendant was also sentenced to pay a fine of P125 and to undergo the accessory penalties and subsidiary personal liability in case of insolvency a provided by law, and to pay one-half of the costs.
US vs Cinco
G.R. No. I-12127
October 13, 1917
Facts:
This is an appeal case brought by the defendants Eladio Cinco and Eusebio Redoña to reverse a judgment of the Court of First Instance of the Province of Samar, finding them guilty of the falsification of a private document.
Eusebio Redoña had been deputized to conduct a bidding on October 10, 1914. On that day the property was properly put up at auction, according to some testimony of the witnesses for the prosecution, no bid or offer for the same, or any part thereof, was made by any person during the lawful hours of sale, and as a result the property remained unsold. On the other hand the witnesses for the defense testify that the defendant Eladio Cinco made a bid and became the purchaser of the property as sole bidder.
Issue:
Whether or not accused-appellants are criminally liable for falsification of a private document or a crime under Art. 304 of the RPC in relation with subsection 2 of Art. 300?
Held:
The offense in this case is punishable under article 304 of the Penal Code, in relation with subsection 2 of article 300, notwithstanding statements to be found in some of the cases tending to a different conclusion. (U. S. vs. Buenaventura, 1 Phil., 428.) In United States vs. Braga (12 Phil., 202, the accused had used a rubber stamp bearing the name of the company by which he was employed, signing his own name in connection therewith. He had authority so to use the stamp for the purpose of buying goods for the company, but not for the purpose of obtaining money. It was held that in so signing an order by which he obtained money he was guilty of falsification under article 304 of the Penal Code, in connection with subsection 2 of article 300, for the reason that in effecting the transaction in question he made it appear that the company was a party thereto when, as a matter of fact, it did not participate therein.
Defendant Cinco was sentenced to two years, eleven months and ten days, presidio correccional in its minimum and medium degree, while the defendant Redoña was sentenced to one year, eight months and twenty-one days, presidio correccional in its minimum and medium degree. We believe that the discretion of the judge in imposing a more severe penalty upon Eladio Cinco was properly used. Each defendant was also sentenced to pay a fine of P125 and to undergo the accessory penalties and subsidiary personal liability in case of insolvency a provided by law, and to pay one-half of the costs.
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