Sensitive Truths In Malaysia

Author: AB Sulaiman

Publisher: SIRD

ISBN: 9789675832741

Pages: 382pp

Price: RM45.00

Weight: 0.600kg

AB Sulaiman has been an observer of human traits and foibles ever since he could remember.

In this book, Sulaiman notes that post-independent Malaysia has been governed by leaders who harbour a traditional mentality which has not been fully synchronised with the modern world. They are unprepared for this role. In other words, they have allowed the Malay society to hibernate in the cave of its traditional thinking. The sense of the individual is not there, nor the universal understanding of democracy, human rights and the rule of law. The government is being run by a singularity format where the legislators, executors and judiciary are all lumped into one single entity – the government. There is no trias politica, or check and balance. In an era where a country or state has no friends but national interests, it is run by those with personal not national interests. In a nutshell the leaders have not been able to manage change.

The country is not doing well as evidenced by its laggard performance in social, economic and political arenas. Most of its comparative indices indicate that it is slowly but surely sliding down the slope of mediocrity. Along the way there has been the breaking down of institutions, like law and education, followed by a rise in racism and religious extremism.