masterwordsmith-unplugged

Dear reader, my apologies for this late post. I spent three hours writing my post called THE FAIRY TALE THAT WILL NOT END HAPPILY EVER AFTER and just finished writing it. Since I put in so much time and effort on that post, I decided to schedule it for 5.30 am tomorrow so that it can get more airing. Do check it out tomorrow morning. Thanks. In the mean time, here is one of my older posts on social conflict.

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Citizens of many countries live together with the hope of achieving success and progress both for themselves and for their nation. Yet, so much conflict can arise if and when certain people move to advance their own interests instead working towards the collective good of citizens. When we look at the latest happenings, it is evident that conflict is no longer an ephemeral problem but one that has indelible effects both far and wide and affect many, if not all, across the board.

In simple terms, conflict can be treated broadly as the clash of power against power in the striving of all things to become manifest or simply as a distinct category of social behavior when two parties try to get something they both cannot have. The current dialectics of conflict in Malaysia remind us that conflict is correlative to power. The ones who have power have the ability to produce effects while conflict is the process of different powers meeting and balancing and thereafter untangling the powers involved.

I find it ironical that a certain party uses a balance as its symbol but does not seem to display the same ethos in its actions. At the rate things are moving, one begins to wonder if leaders genuinely desire to eradicate conflict and move towards harmony. The speech and actions of some seem to widen the drift rather than to bridge barriers. Currently, we have to witness the ups and downs of the political drama unfolding before our very eyes like silent observers seated on wooden horses on a merry-go-round.

The tussle between the balancing of powers and the actual balance of powers is evident. Sociologically speaking, we can regard the opposing powers as the ones that create a conflict-situation at the level of dispositions and powers. When trying to attain the actual balancing, the process of their clashing, may be partially indeterminate, like the unconscious cognitive balancing in a mental picture which partially determines our perception. However, aspects of this process may become obvious when people start to voice their dissent not in cacophony but in a crescendo of voices, the climax of which has not been reached; I doubt it will, at the rate at which voices are quelled.

The balancing process may involve latent and manifest conflict and the opposing powers may exist to flex their muscles in dominance to attain subordination - which is what we see happening before us daily!

A balance of powers is no longer a conflict. It is neither a conflict nor manifest conflict. It is merely a system of solve social conflict which is exclusively an aspect of social power that those in control can enjoy.

And why so you may ask? Simple. All social conflicts involve interests. A person's interest is a symbol of power that involves one's attitude and strength towards producing effects. A social power is a social interest oriented towards other people. Thus, social conflict is the opposition and balancing of such interests via antagonism, tests of power, competition, differences in opinion, incompatible ideology etc. Somehow, somewhere, there must be some mutually exclusive benefit for which two parties are fighting against each other ( we don't need much imagination here to think of examples!)

Ideally, when there is conflict, there should be genuine and concerted effort to attain balance but this seems too far in the horizon if we were to assess the prevailing mood and sentiments. Yet, dreamers like me can still hope for miracles to occur. How then can conflicts be resolved? Here are some possibilities:

* Seek for middle ground to resolve points of conflict and in doing so, help prevent the crystallization of these points of conflict into wide cleavages in the system.

* Rogue arm-twisting approach such as through threats or withdrawal of privileges and if one gives in docilely, it could be perceived as a sign of weakness which may encourage other such threats in the future which serve to strengthen the will to combat or endure the threat. Thus, coercion carries within its use the tendency to divide, to polarize society. It is the agent of class struggle.

* Election - Let the people choose their leaders and establish the legitimacy of leaders via the ballot box.

* Persuasion - Lobbying etc.

* Manipulation (by controlling potential situations or opportunities)

* Altruistic moves

* Abdication (King Edward VIII who abdicated because of Wally Simpson)

At the end of the day, it is up to us to deal with social conflict. Those with evil intentions will play it to the max while the rest of us would be at our wits' ends in trying to reduce such conflict. The choice is truly ours.

As always, do leave a comment if you wish to share your thoughts. Take care and God bless you.

As I mentioned before in other postings, I am very selective about my reading list these days because the situation is bordering lunacy. As such, I always appreciate alerts from readers and friends with regards to interesting articles which I might have missed. Today, my dear friend Angela told me about this article from THIS LINK called The CM with the negative Midas touch — Calvin Sankaran .



Apparently, Angela said that this post was in Malaysian Insider briefly and I only found it by searching the archives. Let's take a look at this excerpt from this ridiculous and mischievous post and would urge as many to voice their views in the comment box:

Extracted from HERE:

Lim further opined that “good governance as well as a corporate culture of excellence and accountability is important requirements sought by foreign investors.”

Guided by the very same logic and thought process employed by Lim, we also can conclude that the massive 80 per cent decline in FDI for Penang in 2009 is a reflection and an indictment of the investor community’s view on Lim’s own performance as the Chief Minister of Penang.

This drastic drop seems to indicate that the investors view unfavorably the ability and the track record of Lim and his exco members in managing the state.

It is not difficult to imagine the investors being decidedly unimpressed and underwhelmed by Lim’s penchant for political rhetoric and populist slogans over well thought out and carefully crafted strategy and action plans.

Not only the investment flow has dried up but more alarmingly the existing investors are also started to flee the state.

While the previous Chief Ministers are fondly remembered and celebrated for securing dozens of blue-chip MNCs as anchor investors, Lim has the dubious, unwanted distinction and legacy for losing these premium companies.

Intel and Dell are just two examples of key investors who have left Penang during the reign of Lim.

The industry is abuzz with speculations of more investors are planning to exit Penang.

No doubt, Lim’s administration would take pains to point out at the global economic downturn which had caused the worldwide FDI to shrink significantly in 2009.

However, facts do not support but rather contradict with this argument since Penang’s FDI decrease was not in tandem with the trend of the rest of the country or the world.

Based on The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development’s (UNCTAD) data, the global FDI suffered a 41 per cent contraction in 2009.

For Malaysia, the reduction was 51 per cent for all the states. My friends in Economic Development Board (EDB), Singapore’s main agency for investment promotion, tell me that the data is similar for the city state too although the official data has not been made public yet.

For Penang the FDI plunge was an unprecedented 80 per cent and the state also dropped to No 5 ranking nationally, far behind Sarawak, Selangor, Sabah and Johor. Even Kelantan has done better with only 52 per cent decline.

The result would have been far worse had the data not been propped up by local investments, most of it in property development projects that attracted much controversy due to the adverse impact to quality of life, heritage and environment.

One can foresee that with the state governments of Perak and Kedah demonstrating far more aggression and innovation in attracting FDI, it would not be long before these states too would overtake Penang in the national ranking.

This drastic plunge in investor’s confidence comes rather as an unpleasant surprise to many Penangites.

It wasn’t too long ago that Lim was quoted in news reports as confidently declaring that his strategy of transforming Penang from “Sweat Shop” to “Smart Shop” would not only help the state survive the recession but thrive. But sadly, instead of transforming into a “Smart Shop”, Penang is in real danger of facing “Close Shop”.

The reasons for such drastic decline are not hard to pinpoint.

Lim’s shocking decision to turn down an RM10.2 Billion high-tech FDI because he could not guarantee enough engineers has made Penang a laughing stock around the world.

Lim’s action, which has been dubbed as “the Mother of All Blunders” locally, has generated a huge amount of negative publicity, tarred the image of the state in the eyes of the investing community and fatally affected Penang’s position as a key high tech FDI destination, perhaps permanently.

I personally received many “Thank You” calls and emails from my Singaporean friends who had no doubts that the investor in question would be warmly welcomed and grabbed up by their EDB.

One of them even suggested jokingly that Lim to be given a place in EDB’s “Hall of

Fame” for managing to secure for Singapore such a massive FDI deal.

This state of affair augurs poorly for Penang and if these danger signs are unheeded, then the state faces a real prospect of de-industrialization thus resulting in a drastic drop in the standard of living and income.

Unfortunately looking at the performance of the current state administration under Lim, the future prospect of the state is looks very bleak indeed.

I am surprised that the writer, who claims to be a Penangite himself can come out with so many fallacious statements.

1. The title itself is off tangent - The CM with the negative Midas touch — Calvin Sankaran . To me, the motivation seems to be misleading and mischievous! Read this letter in THE STAR Penang govt did not want to overcommit which shows how this writer is infamous for his usual LGE bashing. The writer Ramesh Rajeswari made a recommendation to Calvin Sankaran which obviously went unheeded! Excerpt from THE STAR:

I suspect that Calvin has no intention of ever recognising that the RM10.2bil in foreign investments made in 2008 were under the efforts of the new Pakatan Government. I strongly suggest that he speak to the many hardworking engineers around the FTZ area and understand the challenges of being an engineer, especially in the electronics and electrical industries. Click HERE for more.

2. How can he conclude that the massive 80 per cent decline in FDI for Penang in 2009 is a reflection and an indictment of the investor community’s view on Lim’s own performance as the Chief Minister of Penang? If he knows anything about economics or business, he should know that the fall in FDI is not only for Penang but for Malaysia as a whole and we all know what has been happening in our country which has driven away investors - and it is certainly NOT because of LGE's performance.

At the GST Forum last night,YB Tony Pua announced that under the PR government, Penang succeeded in garnering RM88 million surplus in the budget because of the open tender system that LGE's team has been practising. When they took over in March 2008, the budget had a RM33million deficit. Mind you - this is in a 2-year reign and without help from the Federal government. With their savings from flying low cost airlines, they are using the $ saved to give 100RM to the poor. Tell me - did the previous government ever give anything at all to the elderly and the poor??

This article reeks of malicious intent in the wake of LGE's success in mooting for the third vote in local council elections. Is he trying to be a wet blanket? The writer's statements have no facts or backing or any empirical evidence whatsoever to prove that the fall in FDI in Penang is related to LGE's performance. So why is he trying to commit a fallacy of impressing us with irrelevant statistics of the 80% drop? What is his true intention? Why did Malaysian Insider carry this article????

The writer's statement "This drastic drop seems to indicate that the investors view unfavorably the ability and the track record of Lim and his exco members in managing the state." is very disturbing as it is an unfair generalization. Obviously, the CM's department has not responded because this article had a brief airing in Malaysian Insider.

3. Why is he being personal by making references to "Lim’s penchant for political rhetoric and populist slogans over well thought out and carefully crafted strategy and action plans."? I would very much like to know WHO is this Calvin Sankaran and the extent of which he has CONTRIBUTED to the growth of Penang, the contact that he has had with the CM, what social research instrument he used to measure his alleged correlation of LGE's penchant for political rhetoric over good action plans. If he has NOTHING to show, then how can he make such a statement??? How come Calvin Sankaran has NO COMMENT WHATSOEVER on the daily overkill basis of the ridiculous rhetoric from the other side of the divide, especially from Perkasa??

4. The writer assumes that readers are ill-informed and really insults our intelligence with his writings. Read the comments in Malaysian Insider for this article and you can see the bashing he received!!! For example, this writer said:

Intel and Dell are just two examples of key investors who have left Penang during the reign of Lim.

Is he for real or not? He claims to be a Penangite!!! Good heavens!!! Where on earth in Penang does he live? Doesn't he know that Intel has another site in Kulim but the main site in Penang still exists? Some in Dell were laid off but the plant still exists. How can he write an article with so many factual errors???? Doesn't he know that the INTEL and DELL pullout were not caused by LGE but by other factors? Which era is he living in???

You see, reading online news can be an occupational hazard for bloggers like me cos I can almost feel the smoke coming out of my ears and eyes.

5. His unsubstantiated claim that "The industry is abuzz with speculations of more investors are planning to exit Penang" is most mischievous and may deter other investors. We don't hear our CM making such statements. I have never seen him or heard him speak at any public forum if indeed he is such a caring and patriotic Penangite. Don't hide behind the pc screen! Come to the forefront! Offer your services to the CM's department and to the industry, FMM and other authorities if indeed you feel you can augment value to LGE's government! Walk the walk and add value to your words! They are just a phone call or the click of the mouse away! But where is he? Where is his data to support his claims?

6. Suffice to say he should do proper research before writing, be healed of fallacious thoughts and premises and come forward to be an active part of civil society in Penang. He can start by volunteering his services today!

7. As it is, it is obvious that LGE has the rakyat first in his heart. What about Calvin? Does he have Penang in his heart? Does he have the rakyat first in his heart or is there something else? Bear in mind, Calvin has put the blame wholely and solely on LGE!!! WHY?

I hope Penangites will speak out about this. We will not tolerate such baseless claims that do more damage to Penang. Do leave a comment to share your views. Thanks and have a nice day!

My post on CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS? yesterday and another post on WHO IS ROCKING THE BOAT? were on Perkasa and the damaging statements made by some of their leaders. I am sure some are very outraged by the damning statements and may give up the good fight. DON'T! In the face of such challenges, all the more we have to unite, fortify ourselves and persevere in the cause.



This morning, I thought I'd share a poem by Z. Vujcic called DON'T GIVE UP and also some inspiring quotes with the hope that we will not be discouraged and never despair over the deeds or words of some characters with questionable intentions to hurt others. I hope the words of wisdom in this post inspire us to press on to keep on moving towards our goal for Malaysia!

Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit. Vince Lombardi

Persist while others are quitting. William Arthur Ward

Effort only fully releases its reward after a person refuses to quit. Napoleon Hill

Some people fold after making one timid request. They quit too soon. Keep asking until you find the answers. In sales there are usually four or five "no's" before you get a "yes." Jack Canfield

Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit. Conrad Hilton

If you live long enough, you’ll make mistakes. But if you learn from them, you’ll be a better person. It’s how you handle adversity, not how it affects you. The main thing is never quit, never quit, never quit. Bill Clinton

The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing. Walt Disney

It’s always too early to quit. Norman Vincent Peale

A quitter never wins and a winner never quits. Napoleon Hill

Remember: The road to success is not straight. There is a curb called Failure, a loop called Confusion; speed bumps called Friends; red lights called Enemies;caution lights called Family. You will have flats called jobs. But, if you have a spare called Determination; an engine called Perseverance; insurance called Faith, and a driver called Hope, you will make it to a place called Success!!

Do swing by later for my report on the GST Forum held last night. Please leave a comment if you wish to share your thoughts. Thanks! Have a nice day!