An extremely extreme 2014, year of hudud next?

Tan Jooi Long

All bad that ended worse is one way to sum up Year 2014 for Malaysia.

Isma, Perkasa, the Teeliban, defenders of “Allah” and proponents of hudud have all made sure of a bad, bad, bad time for most Malaysians.

Then throw in MH370 which vanished without a trace, MH17 which was shot down by God-knows-who, and Indonesia AirAsia QZ8501 which was lost over the Java Sea.

Finally, add on probably the worst-ever floods to inundate the country with more than 240,000 Malaysians having to flee their homes, and we have the makings of a year we would all rather forget.

Worse is still to come because the global plunge in oil price is not good news for Malaysians apart from the immediate gratification of the cheaper cost of petrol. Just wait for the wider impact.

In fact, the collapse in the price of oil is seen as the most significant development in the world economy in 2014.

The near-50 per cent slump in the price of internationally traded Brent crude from a high of more than US$115 a barrel in June to less than US$60 in early December has stoked financial crises in oil-producing countries, especially Russia and Venezuela. Expect the spill-over effects to devastate the rest of the world’s economies next year.

The roots of the price collapse lie in the US shale oil boom, which began when small and medium-sized producers worked out in 2009-10 how to apply to oil production the techniques of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing that had already been highly successful for natural gas.

This oil price slump will lead to widespread economic disintegration with corresponding breakdowns in the political and social systems of many countries, Malaysia not exempted.

But right now, our immediate concerns are the devastating floods especially in the East Coast, and the 699 passengers and crew lost in the three airliners, with the first two belonging to Malaysia Airlines, and QZ8501 being 49 per cent owned by Malaysian-controlled AirAsia.

We can’t blame the Creator for the devastating floods in the manner of the infamous Works Minister who attributed the cracks in Kuala Lumpur’s Semi Value MRR2 to “an Act of God”.

Activist Anas Alam Faizli claimed on Twitter that uncontrolled logging was behind the worsening floods.

He said that according to a report based on a global forest map, the states of Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang worst affected by floods were victims of wanton deforestation.

The report, he claimed, said that between 2000 and 2012, Malaysia recorded the world’s highest rate of forest loss.

We’re paying that price with a record number of flood evacuees in six states – Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, Perak, Johor and Selangor – as rains continue to fall and floods worsen.

Aid workers are hampered by logistics issues in the struggle to send food and water supplies to flood-hit areas, and the new school year has been put back by one week.

No wonder one Malaysian lamented on social media that this has been a terrible year for Malaysia in all respects.

Government revenues are shrinking, he said. The ringgit is crashing, and national unity and morale is at an all-time low.

Bad karma?, he asked. “I don’t care what it is. It’s just not working out for Malaysia.”

He is not the only disgusted Malaysian venting it on Facebook, Twitter and the popular online news portals.

On Malaysiakini, one reader commented: “Oh no not again! God have mercy!”

Another said, “Simply incredible… just when we thought 2014 was almost over… #3!”

Both were, of course, referring to the missing AirAsia Indonesia Flight QZ8501.

A third reader wrote: “Our blighted country has also been inflicted with other major catastrophes that can be considered as happened as a result of natural disasters. The entire Klang Valley’s 10 million residents suffered a critical water shortage crisis for eight months since January.

“Then the East Coast states were inundated with massive floods and the weather has still not shown any let-up so far. In short, five major misfortunes have lashed our shores and its people.”

A fourth reader wrote that the largest retribution on Malaysia was yet to come. “It is called 1Malaysia Development Berhad”.

Of course, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was not spared.

Someone posted, “Why was our PM not in the flooded areas where he was needed most and spend time mingling with the victims?

“He was busy playing golf with Obama then and could not ‘let the opportunity slip'”. Oh oh.

What a downward spiral 2014! Will it get better in 2015?

Go ask Isma, Perkasa, the Teeliban, and hudud’s proponents. Then go pray. Pray real hard.