Breathtaking stupidity- The Malaysian Insider
September 19, 2012 ― No, this article is not about PSY’s horsing around Gangnam Style. Hard as it may be to imagine, within the last couple of weeks details of an inquiry into corruption by Malaysian middlemen in the contract to print new Malaysian currency by an Australian court were revealed, details of brazen plagiarism by a Malaysian columnist came to light, and guidelines by Malaysian educationists to parents on how to detect symptoms of homosexuality in their children were also issued.
In the first case, cynics would argue that there was nothing stupid about rent seeking behaviour as it seems to be the norm rather than the exception, the stupidity was in getting caught. But the real stupidity lies in the insistence of direct negotiations in cases where there is a large number of available suppliers where an open tender could not only yield better pricing, but facilitate transparency in the decision making process.
Time after time details of direct negotiations leading to questionable outcomes are revealed, with no change in processes. In the second instance, in an age where even illustrious global journalists of the stature of Fareed Zakaria of CNN and Time can be questioned for plagiarism, what made a Malaysian writer believe she could get away with wholesale lifting of paragraphs from another writer for her column?
In the age of the Internet, verification is but a few clicks away. Finally, the most breathtaking of all in their sheer stupidity were the guidelines issued by the Putrajaya Consultative Council of Parents and Teachers Associations and Yayasan Guru Malaysia Bhd. According to whom the wearing of tight V-neck T-shirts in light colours accessorised with man bags are a sure sign of male homosexuality, as is hanging out with other men. Not to be left behind, there were similar guidelines for spotting lesbians.
Even if the idea of such blatant discrimination and demonization of sexual minorities is ignored for the moment, the notion that fashion preferences are a sure shot way of identifying them is supremely ludicrous. Even worse, if it is to be believed that a bunch of girls being friends is a marker of lesbianism, wholesale social anarchy can be the only result.
At a larger level though, the real question is how certain segments of Malaysian society, in this instance rent-seekers, plagiarisers and homophobic educators can be so blatantly dismissive of global attitudes to their actions. What is it about Malaysian society that allows certain parties to behave as if they live in a long bygone era where current global norms of civilised behaviour and the technologies to support them just don’t exist?
There are two levels at which this question can be addressed. The first is a direct consequence of the beliefs of the ruling coalition on what is acceptable social behaviour. In a context of officially endorsed policies of direct negotiation, lowering educational standards and racial and religious superiority, can some people be blamed for embracing these values, especially if it leads to personal, professional or religious gain?
Secondly, given the long period that this has been the official Malaysian discourse, it should not come as a surprise that the number of people believing that these are real Malaysian values is relatively large. With these numbers of likeminded people, it becomes that much easier to ignore the opinions of the rest of the world.
When demonization wins over forgiveness in religion, when blatant corruption is under-reported, under-discussed and under-prosecuted, where de-emphasising English is passed off as improving education, this is a society losing its ability to question, content to live in a fool’s paradise.
Until the next general election decides which of these attitudes are predominant in modern Malaysia, we might as well practise our KL Style and Super Kampung Style moves, waiting for the next act of breathtaking stupidity.
In the first case, cynics would argue that there was nothing stupid about rent seeking behaviour as it seems to be the norm rather than the exception, the stupidity was in getting caught. But the real stupidity lies in the insistence of direct negotiations in cases where there is a large number of available suppliers where an open tender could not only yield better pricing, but facilitate transparency in the decision making process.
Time after time details of direct negotiations leading to questionable outcomes are revealed, with no change in processes. In the second instance, in an age where even illustrious global journalists of the stature of Fareed Zakaria of CNN and Time can be questioned for plagiarism, what made a Malaysian writer believe she could get away with wholesale lifting of paragraphs from another writer for her column?
In the age of the Internet, verification is but a few clicks away. Finally, the most breathtaking of all in their sheer stupidity were the guidelines issued by the Putrajaya Consultative Council of Parents and Teachers Associations and Yayasan Guru Malaysia Bhd. According to whom the wearing of tight V-neck T-shirts in light colours accessorised with man bags are a sure sign of male homosexuality, as is hanging out with other men. Not to be left behind, there were similar guidelines for spotting lesbians.
Even if the idea of such blatant discrimination and demonization of sexual minorities is ignored for the moment, the notion that fashion preferences are a sure shot way of identifying them is supremely ludicrous. Even worse, if it is to be believed that a bunch of girls being friends is a marker of lesbianism, wholesale social anarchy can be the only result.
At a larger level though, the real question is how certain segments of Malaysian society, in this instance rent-seekers, plagiarisers and homophobic educators can be so blatantly dismissive of global attitudes to their actions. What is it about Malaysian society that allows certain parties to behave as if they live in a long bygone era where current global norms of civilised behaviour and the technologies to support them just don’t exist?
There are two levels at which this question can be addressed. The first is a direct consequence of the beliefs of the ruling coalition on what is acceptable social behaviour. In a context of officially endorsed policies of direct negotiation, lowering educational standards and racial and religious superiority, can some people be blamed for embracing these values, especially if it leads to personal, professional or religious gain?
Secondly, given the long period that this has been the official Malaysian discourse, it should not come as a surprise that the number of people believing that these are real Malaysian values is relatively large. With these numbers of likeminded people, it becomes that much easier to ignore the opinions of the rest of the world.
When demonization wins over forgiveness in religion, when blatant corruption is under-reported, under-discussed and under-prosecuted, where de-emphasising English is passed off as improving education, this is a society losing its ability to question, content to live in a fool’s paradise.
Until the next general election decides which of these attitudes are predominant in modern Malaysia, we might as well practise our KL Style and Super Kampung Style moves, waiting for the next act of breathtaking stupidity.
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