Comments for Looking back to look ahead at http://www.malaysianbar.org.my , comment 0 to 2 out of 2 comments http://www.malaysianbar.org.my Fri, 10 Feb 2012 08:32:21 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.malaysianbar.org.my/news_features/looking_back_to_look_ahead.html#pc_3794 <p align="justify">I recall that in the mid-1970s, then Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak called on the component ruling parties to involve the people inb the democratic process. Being a member of the elite - and with the benefit of hindsight, the Tun himself knowing that he was dying and confiding this to only to his trusted deputy, Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman - I can now see the wisdom of the late Tun in wanting a participatory democracy to give meaning to the process, especially when it is recalled that he made this call after Tun Dr Ismail's untimely demise. If I am right, the late Tun may have foreseen that with Tun Dr Ismail gone, the "best guarantee" to safeguard democratic institutions must be the participation and involvement of the people, the ordinary people, at local council, State and Federal levels in the entire process. This is why the current bottom-up calls from all directions for the restoration of local councils must be heeded. We must re-invent Malaysian democracy from the bottom up, and not the top down. That, together with media freedom within the laws of the land, shouild represent our first step in strengthening our institutions. Stephen Tan Ban Cheng - Stephen Tan Ban Cheng Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:44:35 +0100 http://www.malaysianbar.org.my/news_features/looking_back_to_look_ahead.html#pc_3783 <p align="justify">Our leaders are just not only insincere, they're not very bright either! For me, Dr. Mahathir was a visionary, and very very knowledgeable and intelligent. Too bad he became a megalomaniac... few years into his PM-ship. Thereafter it was downhill all the way. We citizens didn't realise it because all we say was $$$. $$$$$$. You see, we Malaysians in general, are still primitive Asians. We are narrow-minded. Today, not many of us see the ringgit sign anymore, and our politicians are not very intelligent anymore, are they? They're not getting any younger either. I foresee BN winning a reduced majority in the coming general elections, which is a good thing, in a way. But whatever it is Malaysia, or more or more specifically the Klang Valley, where I stay, is becoming more and more like New York or LA socio-economically. Those who've been to those cities should know what I'm talking about. Alex Tan Ken Seng - Alex Tan Ken Seng Thu, 23 Aug 2007 11:54:43 +0100