‘Failed state’ slur an act of a captive mind

 

Too often, foreign reporting about Malaysia has been irresponsible. The latest is the Bloomberg opinion piece headlined, “Malaysia is staggering down the road to failed statehood”. The sub-text was even more exaggerated, implying that our white flag movement is a “surrender to dysfunction”. These are the words of a captive mind.

The pandemic has been brutal. We are faced with mounting unemployment, increased urban homelessness, mental illness, suicide, domestic violence and loneliness. These socio-economic problems are exacerbated by slow vaccination rollout, suspicion of vaccine corruption, managed by greedy and clueless politicians.

It is they who are dysfunctional, particularly those who flout SOPs, lie and escape punishment for breaking the rules.

Despite all this mess, it is grossly inaccurate to imply we are “staggering into failed statehood”. Only a captive mind would imply this.

Syed Hussein Alatas introduced the captive mind concept when he critically assessed the nature of scholarship in the developing world. He wanted to expose western dominance in the social sciences and humanities.

Alatas defined it as “an uncritical & imitative mind”. The captive mind does not have an independent perspective on issues and does not engage in original problem selection. Also, a captive mind borrows concepts, analysis, generalisation, descriptions and interpretation from western scholarship. Such borrowing is uncritical and is typically applied in various contexts, willy-nilly.

The Bloomberg piece is representative of such a mind. The use of “cut and paste” concepts against Malaysia is an act of gross generalisation and imitative thinking.

A failed state is when a government can no longer function properly. There are stages it goes through before such a state is reached.

State fragility

A failed state is preceded by a longue durée of state fragility. State fragility is manifest in the following manner. The loss of physical control of its territory, the erosion of legitimate authority to make collective decisions, an inability to provide reasonable public services, and the inability to interact with other states of the international community.

As far as I know, Sabah and Sarawak are still very much part of the federation. There has not been any organised discourse or persistent political debate about secession. The same goes for other states in our federation. So far, the Federation of Malaysia is a functioning national unit.

What is the meaning of “erosion of legitimate authority”?

Let’s look at Haiti today. A few days ago, President Jovenel Moise was assassinated in his home. The Caribbean nation has had 15 presidents in 33 years. Haiti’s security situation and economy have been deteriorating for decades, long wracked by instability. The backdrop to this has been dictatorships and military coups. Haiti is also the poorest country in the western hemisphere. A decisive element in Haiti’s current failed state status, is the surge in gang violence.

In Malaysia, we may argue that our current government is not a legitimate one, not having received the people’s mandate, “backdoor government”, #kerajaangagal and all.

But only a captive mind would conclude that our “illegitimate government” is a contributing factor to a failed state scenario.

Though I am not justifying the Sheraton Move, the transfer of power from Pakatan Harapan to Perikatan Nasional was not violent. It did not involve the military, nobody was assassinated, there is an absence of widespread street gangs, and the country continues to function.

Amidst the rising cases of Covid-19 infections and deaths, public services continue to be provided. No matter how fractured these may be, there is some semblance of a system. The vaccine rollout is slow, and the public is frustrated and suspicious. But the process is advancing despite mounting anger over corrupt, arrogant and condescending politicians.

As far as I know, Malaysia is still very much a part of the international community. Ministers have been travelling to Jakarta, Vienna, Riyadh and other capitals. Such missions may be calculated attempts at boosting personal political egos at home. Other visits appear to be a gross waste of public funds. But there is a semblance of “international presence”.

Of course, there are a few ministers who travel for personal reasons, flouting pandemic travel restrictions, but such disgusting elite behaviour is another matter.

Some Malaysians may not know the meaning of a failed state. But we definitely know what the white flag movement is about. It is not a symbol of surrender. It is a response to a crisis, where politicians have failed us. If it were a “purple flag” movement, would the narrative be different?

Many in authority feel uncomfortable with the white flag, ordering its removal. My guess is they would feel uncomfortable with any flag, of any colour.

The authorities are simply embarrassed that the public has taken the initiative to help fellow citizens. That’s all. The public are fatigued and frustrated with their leaders, but we have not reached a stage where we have requested international intervention to save the day.

To claim we are becoming a failed state is an ignorant accusation.

To predict a failed state scenario, one must observe a combination of factors over a long period of time. Making uninformed predictions is irresponsible and mischievous.

Over dramatising our political crisis is a sign of deliberate stupidity. It also distracts us from our immediate tasks. We need to remove the corrupt individuals in government sooner, rather than later. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.