Ignore the deep state at your peril

Ignore the deep state at your peril. This is the warning in recent times against those who promulgate unpopular policies for the government and those who don’t want the new government to succeed in creating a better Malaysia for everyone

While Umno is the traditional face of the Malay agenda and its flag bearer, the deep state lurks within and without political parties and the establishment. Hence the notion of ‘a state within the state.’ It is thought of as the fourth arm of government.

Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah and DAP leader Lim Kit Siang have highlighted the blight of the deep state in forestalling and undermining institutional reforms, and even doing its utmost to topple the year-old Harapan government. 

They should also be warning against the Trojan Horse within the government’s gates.

Social commentator and columnist Lim Teck Ghee touched on this dark topic recently. His discourse is timely and relevant. 

We need more like Teck Ghee to peel away the layers of secrecy and ignorance to warn the nation of the dangers of the relatively unpublicised deep state phenomenon, and defuse them. The deep state has agendas that, in the extreme, are dangerous.

Ignorance is not an option. Neither is indifference.

Teck Ghee's article is definitely worth a read. Uncovering the deep state should be a priority concern of every Malaysian so as to expose who and what and how and why they do what they do. 

 And in light of a new government pledging transparency, it makes sense. 

Kit Siang’s call for a tick list and reality check on Harapan’s pre-GE14 pledges is welcome and critical to Harapan’s credibility and trustworthiness. 

The public should also know who are the perpetrators hampering the progress of reform.

Teck Ghee alludes to ‘the amorphous groups that form the Malay deep state’ which ultimately influence government policies and actions. Such a deep state remains a threat to sound government policies in cases of their extreme and undue influence.

That the Education Ministry is criticised for policies which defy the concerns of parents, for example, in the proposal to teach khat to Year Four primary school children is a moot point. There are other irrational, controversial, even subversive cases.

That PKR president Anwar Ibrahim is pressured to renew, not replace, the NEP is symptomatic of the malaise. If Anwar can handle the objections and remove the fear and lies, he will have helped in delivering many addicted to the opiate.

For many years from 1974 until 13 August last year, the National Civics Bureau conducted controversial courses for civil servants and public university students that critics claimed were brainwashing sessions to garner support for the Malay agenda and the government of the day. It was a dark agenda. For this reason the deep state has earned a negative connotation.

To the Pakatan Harapan Selangor government’s credit, it banned its state civil servants from participation in BTN, and the Penang state government soon followed its lead. 

It must be evident by now that despite the flaws, the Harapan government is detoxifying the system.

But the Harapan government has to stop shooting itself in the foot.

It is eyebrow-raising to recall Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Muhyiddin ‘I am Malay first’ Yassin strongly justify BTN courses. 

It drew BN minister Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz (photo) into the ensuing verbal fracas with Mahathir, when he accused the latter of being in a ‘racist’ party. 

I suppose it was one of those pot calling kettle black moments. Nazri may be a loose cannon, but sometimes he hits the bullseye.

A succession plan without a definite time frame is bad for the country. Those who call for his retention for the full term, want Mahathir to be a promise-breaker. He has given his word he will hand over the reins of power, but not set the date. Some see this as stalling.

It is an unfair demand on Mahathir to stay on. He has not many years left for more important things than running an office. 

It is not all that important in the eternal scheme of things. Time is more precious for him to spend his remaining years with his family. All is vanity. No one is indispensable. What good is it for anyone to win the world and lose his soul?

Besides, perhaps more than having a strong and inspiring leader, Malaysia needs a strong body of capable, competent and caring leaders who will put the people’s welfare before politics. 

 Team Malaysia should be the new wave and new way of running the government. The old motto of 'unity is strength' is what a new government needs.

We have seen what nepotism and strong leaders can do to harm the national interest. They function like neo-dictators going through the rituals of democracy. 

The feudal system is what feeds the deep state with its oxygen to pressure the government. But an open government and an open society will thwart the deep state and suffocate it.

Malaysia does not need a national car as much as a national character. We need more leaders of noble character. Racism, pride, egomania, arrogance, and negative traits are incompatible with a Malaysian of noble character. 

More noble leaders and citizens are what the country needs. Sadly, nothing is being done toward achieving a national transformation of character.

As much as the need for institutional change, there is an urgent need for a moral shift in the country beginning with the country’s leaders. Is that not what is happening now post-GE14 with better leaders in the Harapan government?

It is, and when there is a better quality of honest leaders, their example will filter down. What Malaysia needs is a government of noble leaders. Sadly many of them are not in politics, often dominated by men and women of ignoble character as the many scandals reveal.

Money wasted on the BTN could have been used for uplifting national morals, starting with those in parliament. All that ‘Look East’ has yet to influence Malaysians into cultivating positive national characteristics like in Japan.

We know deep state influences overspill into what the government does. We have seen the racketeering with workers’ visas. Fortunes were made by the corrupt during the previous government.

The government needs money, but is introducing a discriminatory tax a clever policy? Surely there must be a fairer and smarter way.

Taxation is not the answer. Where better to start than in the government’s own cost centres? As I was writing this, I came upon a recent negative World Bank report which commented on the stagnation of the civil service and its huge wage bill.

Its defenders lack credibility. Clever governments would trim the fat in the civil service, not defend the indefensible. New taxes are an admission the government has run out of ideas and is taking the easy route. 

As the baby boomers and their needs weigh on the public coffers, with more pensioners living longer, it is irresponsible of any government to ignore the problem.

Expose the deep state and you solve pastor Raymond Koh's kidnapping and other cold cases. 

But which leader will have the courage and political will to do that? Are the investigators who have vital information still waiting for the cues from their ‘political masters’ before they disclose the truth?

You can’t be taken seriously or have the moral authority to demand they return the 1MDB fugitive Low Taek Jho to your country when you refuse to hand over the harboured fugitive Zakir Naik (photo) to his. 

Such an anomaly is unacceptable in a Harapan government.

Mahathir, in his sequel premiership, must not lead Malaysians into the Black Land of Mordor, that dark place depicted in The Lord of the Rings. He has to be a Gandalf, not Sauron. And every government minister has to be wary of putting on the One evil ring that sent the obsessed Gollum into the inferno.

Malaysia will never be the ‘Promise Land’ under a Sauron.

Frodo, the hobbit hero, failed in his mission to destroy the One ring. Good did not destroy evil, but evil destroyed evil. Many good Malaysians have ridden the country of a tainted regime, but everyone must be wary of the influence of the deep state.

The spirit of the black Sauron is the spirit of the deep state with a deep-seated hatred of a nation shared by Malaysians of all races and religions standing alongside one another. 

Sauron was evil personified, but became an evil spirit. When evil spirits possess the hearts of men and women they make them do evil things.

The return of porn politics in a sex video is the stuff of the deep state. So far the key leaders and the police have yet to display a determination to uncover the truth. It is as if they are playing a poker game, showing only poker faces. Is it really that hard to identify Hafiq’s sex partner?

Business as usual Mahathir-style risks the possibility of a one-term Harapan government. That would be a catastrophe, not so much for Mahathir, but so many believers in the new nation who helped in the regime change. 

 Under the circumstances, the threat from the deep state becomes even more serious, as we have seen their resistance to needed changes to the NEP.

Malaysia cannot afford to indulge in a costly ‘game of thrones.’

The sex video is Mahathir’s dilemma. As a leader, he has to secure a resolution. He cannot stay aloof. 

Neither will it help for him to exonerate Azmin Ali pre-emptively because we recall Mahathir was wrong with ‘ He punched himself’ in the Anwar Ibrahim ‘black eye’ debacle. 

Let the independent investigators do their job. The police must reveal the results of their investigation. Malaysians want, expect and deserve the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

As for those discovered and exposed in sexual misconduct, the words of Isa al Masih aka Jesus Christ comes to mind: ‘ Let him who is without sin cast the first stone... go and sin no more.’ 

Ultimately the nation can’t wallow in the moral mud, but must move on to firm ground. Casting stones does not make the stone caster holier than his victim, or the country free of sin.

I urge all politicians to spare a thought for their country. Don’t have a spirit of Sauron, but ask God to deliver you and your nation from evil. Do what is good and love your nation because it is still a ‘promised land.’

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STEVE OH is an author and composer of the novel and musical Tiger King of the Golden Jungle. He believes good governance and an engaging civil society are paramount to Malaysia being a unique and successful nation. - Mkini