Hari Ini contains all the news that didn't fit into the stricter editorial policies of the Asian Business Strategy and Street Intelligence Ezine. In here you will find the ramblings of editors, columnists, and our network of local correspondants that didn't quite make it into our regular content.

Edited by the Chao Phraya River Rat, Hari Ini incorporates a smattering of gonzo, local insight, personal takes and other material very roughly related to Asian business, marketing, management, culture, politics, economics and why the earth is round. Comment away at the end of each item - your comments will be published automatically. ...Or if you want to make a regular contribution or have any juicy titbits about politics and business in Asia let the Chao Phraya River Rat know. "Hari Ini" means "Today" in both Malaysian and Indonesian.

Malaysiakini: Not the Messiah - just a very naughty boy

The Malaysian government response to the controversy caused by the police raid on the offices of independent internet newspaper Malaysiakini has been led by Deputy Home Minister Zainal Abidin Zin and the Information Ministry - set up to "control" the distribution of the means of production in this Information Age - namely information itself.

Several years back Malaysia made a public commitment, admittedly in a very general way as is The Malaysian Way, not to censor Internet content as a means to encourage the development of the much vaunted Malaysian MultiMedia Super Corridor (MSC), established several years back

In reference to this statement, the Singapore Straits Times yesterday quoted Zainal as follows:

"...Promises to allow freedom of expression on the Internet were not a license to say anything. We promised - if they are good. If they are not good, we just cannot lay down our head... ...Where there are any parties committing acts which are unjust against society, the government must act responsibly to defend the rights of the people..."

So what is "good" in Malaysia?

After all we all want to be "good", and not a naughty boy.

Business people in Malaysia tread a fine ill-defined line on what is acceptable. Flexibility rules, and getting full commitments on paper is difficult. "Guessing" is a fine art, and continually monitoring opinions and consulting with those in power is a necessity for operating and doing business in Malaysia.

Malaysiakini editor Steven Gan has frequently referred to the commitment of the government not to censor the Internet, yet again in his latest press statement, effectively not letting people forget the government's promise and sometimes seemingly even baiting the powers that be.

It was always also a red flag to a bull however, especially an angry one.

This commentator however could never quite see how not censoring the Internet would necessarily limit the success of the MSC. Corporate internet communications would hardly be affected, and international investors, unlike their governments, have a history of not caring much about the political color or human rights records of host governments as long as a buck was there and you could buy protection and influence in various creative ways. While a favourite catch-cry of foreign and libertarian media, logically the connection is spurious.

The MSC however had much bigger problems than the debate on censoring the internet in Malaysia.

The Multi Media Super Corridor project refers to a plan to create a physical Corridor of high tech industries stretching from KL central to Putrajaya, a high- tech ultra-modern industrial park that resembles a private university campus. The MSC Corridor was another great vision of Mahathir - a truly inspired one at that. Early prognostics were good. Mahathir got excellent publicity with whirlwind trips around the world, and lavish receptions in Kuala Lumpur were held for the converted. Giant corporations like Microsoft were lured in early with attractive tax and financial breaks.

The promise has not yet been realised however - especially for local business. Competing IT centres throughout the region emerged overnight. Malaysia started to lose their competitive edge. Entry costs were high due to high rents in the modern new city and the best opportunities were afforded to the most well connected corporates and titans, often with little background in IT. The same "backyard entrepreneur" types that fueled the first international IT revolution in Silicon Valley were left hanging - or more often than not to migrate to Singapore, where curiously enough, entry costs and opportunities were afforded to enthusiastic underpaid talent working in dingy upstairs offices in Tanjung Pagar. More often than many think, creativity is spurred by deprivation, and the cosseted environment of the MSC in some ways reduced real entrepreneurism in a young industry where talent counted for more than connections.

The MSC aside however, Zainal's comments are informative.

To this commentator, to be "good" in Malaysia, is to operate within an understanding of what is best described as the "Malaysian way". To me it explains some of the issues surrounding the Malaysiakini controversy.

The "Malaysian way", as defined by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad on many occasions, is to get around a table and discuss issues together, rather than in the open and publicly. He boasts that Malaysian workers never take to the streets to demonstrate, unlike those in South Korea and Western countries for example.

Most business people in Malaysia, foreign and local, are also acutely aware of the "Malaysian way of business", which involves numerous tete a tetes with small groups of those with influence. During these talks, confidences are extended as trust builds, and informal social credits and debts are incurred, often in obtuse and indirectly-stated terms. The result is sometimes one happy family, where each party can eventually get what they want, provided these "informal rules of engagement" are followed. Those outside the happy family however, never really know what goes on in those secretive meetings.

"The Malaysian Way" is entirely consistent with there being "bad cronies and good cronies" as Mahathir put it so well, when commenting on allegations of cronyism from foreign media in the wake of the Anwar controversy several years back.

In the foreign affairs department, it is also the overriding philosophy behind Mahathir's strong views on the way ASEAN should work embodied in the principle of "non-interference" - that member countries should not publicly criticize policy of other ASEAN countries openly, but instead discuss problems
at an appropriate level in private.

The "Malaysian Way" can arguably be seen as having it's origins in Confucian philosophy which sees political power as being centralized within an "intellectual elite" of "learned scholars", chosen on the basis of breeding and character. Policy is discussed within this elite, and then distributed to the masses when all has been agreed. This assumes that the masses have little education and are best led by this group. It underlies the affection and justification in many Asian countries such as communist-led China for what is often seen by "interested onlookers" as Authoritarianism.

These days the original Confucian ideas have been adapted and adopted for use in modern Asian states.

While places like Singapore and Malaysia are democracies, the Confucian way is still evident - best characterized by former Malaysian and then Singapore's founding father Lee Kuan Yew whose affection for Confucian philosophy also extends to theories of genetic engineering - the development of a political elite bred from a genetic pool via the inter-marriage of those with high intellect. Social programs in Singapore retain a key aim of introducing those of similar intellect to each other, rather than encouraging intermarriage between different classes and "intellects". Graduates meet graduates; the working class meet the working class.

In predominantly Malay Malaysia however, the "Malaysian Way" represents a merging of Confucian philosophy with the matriarchal aspects of Malay culture -where nurturing and the emotional side has a special place. This reflects itself in the protectionist policies of Malaysian government - both in regard to free trade and the looking after of certain groups in Malaysia to protect a delicate racial mix. Mahathir's statements and speeches often draw on matriarchy - often highly emotionally tinged, with appeals to protect Malaysians against outside interference from heathen external economic and social aggressors.

Like another beleif system anchored in culture - "The American Way" -, "The Malaysian Way" has its strong points, and creates problems as well.

Malaysiakini, operating in a political environment which is already in pre-election mode with the first election without Mahathir as leader of the dominant UMNO party and Barisan Nasional government for 20 years approaching fast, does not play "The Malaysian Way". It promotes open discussion on issues that the government would prefer to be discussed only among the elite. It promotes a political consciousness which is foreign to many Malaysians who have been happy to leave decisions to the government while their standard of living spiraled up-wards.

While Malaysiakini says they are fighting for the "free press" in Malaysia, to the Malaysian elite the press is not for the open discussion of issues, but for relaying and publicizing policies already agreed fait accomplies. There is a genuine divide on the role of the press. Some things - such as the affirmative action policies for Bumiputeras - are deemed by the government as too sensitive for discussion - and even the questioning of the policies of this matriarchal/Confucian administration is by definition - sedition - as questioning authority is not the "Malaysian Way".

To the Malaysian ruling government, MalaysiaKini is not the Messiah of the Press - he's just a very naughty boy.... If the prodigal son returns to the family, tells his mom who wrote that letter, and promises to be good in future, all will be forgiven and there will be goats slaughtered, Kickapoo Joy Juice laid one and feasting for all.

So far the prodigal son is acting.. well.. "recalcitrant". Editor in Chief Gan has already spent a few hours at the cop shop for questioning and still refuses to divulge any information to assist in the identification of the letter writer. He fears for the next steps. Reportedly, four sub-editors are next in line.

Chao Phraya River Rat in Strategy and Business Management on January 22, 2003 07:49 AM