I have written a number of column’s about the Abilene Trip. After Perak, now the State Governments of Selangor and Penang are ready for another such a trip. To review, what is that “trip?” According to Jerry Harvey, one of my teachers, this happens when any group of people unintentionally go on a journey which they all know that they do not like or agree consciously with. But, after reaching their non-agreed but implicitly approved destination, they assign blame to one another for the “irresponsible action.” Usually the blame takes the form of identifying a small group of “decision-makers” pushing forward and punishing one “scape goat.” Sounds familiar?
Well Jerry Harvey argues it does happen to all of us and all the time, whether in small groups or big ones. The only problem is we do not have a rational model to understand and explain any such behavior. His book, “Abilene Paradox and Other Meditations on Management” tries to do this. I worked for Jerry Harvey when he was finishing this book.
Observing and appreciating this conundrum from the “other side,” Najib Tun Razak and his Selangor UMNO colleagues have declared Selangor a war zone in political terms! Their intentions are to take over Selangor; and his demonstrated leadership model of the project ‘takeover’ in Perak makes me believe that his threat or war cry must be taken seriously.
Where does Selangor State Government stand in all of this? I believe that they are currently also “taking a trip to Abilene and early symptoms are now visible.” The recent “beer ban war cry” by Exco Member Hassan Ali when he directly attacked another Exco Member, by name and asked him to resign is the second round symptom of the problem. The problem is PAS Selangor, for which Hassan Ali is the head, wants a total ban of beer sales in local jurisdiction under the State Government. The first sign of trouble was when one Local Authority passed a motion on this. On the other side of such a divide are PAS moderates like Zulkifli Ahmad and Khalid Samad who may propose other ways to “teach the young ‘how’ to manage their lives without a taste for drinking beer.” Or, if any chooses to follow my simple example, choose root beer and ginger beer as good alternatives.
I had already proffered by “three senses of unsolicited advice” to Wanita UMNO about “how to agree to disagree agreeably,” to avoid the trip to Abilene. But I am not sure they took me seriously. Tan Sri Rafidah is still ‘smarting’ from their “trip to Abilene” and will probably return to challenge Sharizat the next time around.
What is the real problem in Selangor or Perak or Penang then? The so-called “Pakatan” has a Government but does not yet have a set of agreed values for good governance. Governments cannot govern in isolation. They need other players and actors to “collaborate for Good Governance to take place.” The main actors and players are the Private Sector on the one side and the Community on the other side. Unless the three parties are collaborating and acting in concert; much like in a symphony orchestra, they cannot be Good Governance.
What then is the root problem of Selangor’s Good Goverance Agenda? In case the Selangor State Government forgot, this was the explicit agenda on which, we the people, threw out the older corrupt Government of UMNO. It was a clear and thoughtful conscious action by the people of Selangor. We went out and supported the “Keadilan cry for Good Governance” and even voted for PAS candidates in Selangor. The then popular role models of leaders of PAS were Khalid Samad who walked into the Shah Alam Church for a dialogue and Zulkifli Ahmad who wrote rationally on many issues. I have never and would not support PAS Commissioner Hassan Ali because I know what his real intentions are: “an Islamic State by the back-door.” After all he is an UMNO-type wealthy man who earned much of his material wealth vide the Federal Government Programmes that he was involved in, before he became a PAS activist.
Therefore, as a member of the Christian Community in Selangor and as one actively involved in the Good Governance Agenda from a Christian theological point of view, and as an NGO and educationist, allow me to state my representative views clearly: The Christians in Malaysia will never agree to an Islamic State Agenda as long as it is done by the back-door! There are close to 3 million Christians in Malaysia; with the majority in Sabah and Sarawak. That is really the size of UMNO membership for numbers. Not all are voters, but we will have close to one million voters by 2013. Therefore, dear Selangor Government, please do not misunderstand our voice and vote the last General Election. Two weeks ago a local church hosted a Seminar where we heard three excellent speakers: Malik Imtiaz, Patricia Martinez and Haris Ibrahim who spoke on a historical perspective of the Islamization of Malaysia and the reasons for today’s conundrum. There were 800 Christian leaders, Elders, Pastors and other NGO-types who attended. It was a complete education and encouragement for most of us!
Therefore please be intentional about good governance in a state which is heavily populated and sitting within the Klang Valley and where there are no less that 3000 churches. Please do not take this trip to Abilene with the PAS Commissioner’s abuse of another Executive Councilor. Mr Mentri Besar, it is not good enough that you have said that there will not be a beer ban in Selangor; please take leadership of this issue and observe our rule of law principle. What I would really like to know is how, you as Chief Executive of the State, are going to create a real and solid framework for Pakatan system of “party discipline and whip?”
I know you are a loose collation of unlikely bedfellows but for us, the people, that is not good enough! You are the only State Government we have today; and we voted you in to run the state and move it towards Good Governance. Please provide the requisite leadership or you all will be changed in 2013. There is no reason to get distracted; please keep your focus. You started well in handling the problem with your first Executive Councilor by even getting the Sultan involved in seeking for a solution. Now, if the PAS Commissioner cannot agree to disagree agreeably, please ask him to resign from his seat and give the Exco position to someone more deserving candidate like Khalid Samad, who is more rational, and reasonable about how we can build the 1Malaysia that Najib is talking about! Please be aware, most Christians will never support any back-door Islamization agenda!
My sincere prayer is that State Government of Selangor would take executive charge of real issues and concerns of the people related to poor governance and stop squabbling like little children over your pet issues! The good governance of the State Administration is the reason for our hope. And now instead, Najib, the UMNO Selangor Chief says, “when policies are in line with peoples’ hopes and aspirations and expectations, they will readily support the Government.” May God bless the nation of ours with good governance!
An edited version of this article was published in Malaysiakini on August 11, 2009. This original version is published with permission from the author.
