The Leader-Manager: A More Practical Leadership Model - STARBIZ Today

 The Leader-Manager: A More Practical Leadership Model

Dear Captains of Industry and Public Institutions,

Leadership has become one of the most romanticized concepts in modern organizations. Conferences, books, consultants, social media, and corporate seminars often portray leaders as charismatic visionaries who inspire crowds, speak powerfully, and transform organizations through force of personality and influence.

Meanwhile, management is often treated as something less glamorous. It is described as administrative, procedural, operational, or even bureaucratic. In many discussions, management is subtly positioned as secondary to leadership.

This divide is neither practical nor productive on the ground.

In reality, organizations do not succeed through leadership alone. Neither do they succeed through management alone. They succeed because people are able to combine leadership and management effectively. Perhaps it is time we rethink organizational leadership through a more practical mental model: The Leader-Manager.

At the practitioner level, leaders and managers do not have the luxury of endlessly debating whether leadership and management are different. Organizations are not built through definitions. Organizations are built through execution, alignment, coordination, accountability, trust, and results.

Unlike a bookish approach, leadership and management are not merely overlapping concepts. In real organizational life, they are inseparable.

The moment we artificially separate them, both become weaker.

Leadership without management risks becoming disconnected from execution and results. Management without leadership risks becoming mechanical and devoid of meaning. A leader who cannot manage will struggle to execute, while a manager who cannot lead will struggle to move people.

Leadership without management becomes aspiration without execution. Management without leadership becomes control without direction.

They are not competing ideas. They are two sides of the same organizational coin.

The reality is that most organizational roles require both simultaneously. A head of department, managing director, district officer, plant manager, hospital director, dean, or CEO constantly moves between leadership and management responsibilities throughout the day. One moment they are setting direction, reducing uncertainty, and building confidence. The next moment they are reviewing budgets, solving operational problems, managing tensions, monitoring performance, and coordinating teams.

In practice, separating leadership from management is almost impossible.

Unfortunately, modern leadership culture sometimes creates another unintended problem. It unconsciously promotes one narrow image of what a “leader” should look like. Leadership is frequently associated with charisma, extroversion, stage presence, and highly expressive communication.

This unintentionally discourages many capable people from stepping into management and leadership roles.

Engineers, analysts, finance professionals, operational specialists, technical experts, and highly competent individual contributors may wrongly conclude that they are “not leadership material” simply because they do not fit a romanticized stereotype of leadership.

More concerning, their superiors and organizations may come to the same conclusion. Because many organizations unconsciously associate leadership with highly visible and expressive personalities, quieter but highly capable individuals may be overlooked for leadership and management development opportunities.

As a result, organizations may unintentionally lose future leader-managers who possess strong discipline, operational credibility, analytical thinking, consistency, accountability, problem-solving abilities, and the capacity to move teams steadily toward results.

The issue is not a lack of leadership potential. The issue may be that the mental model used to identify leadership potential was flawed from the beginning.

Yet if we study CEOs and managing directors carefully across industries and countries, we quickly realize they do not fit one mould. Some are extroverted while others are introverted. Some are visionary while others are operationally driven. Some are highly relational while others are disciplined and task-focused.

Despite these differences, many succeed because effective organizational leadership is less about personality style and more about integrating leadership and management into daily practice.

Most successful organizational leaders are able to create clarity, reduce uncertainty, align teams, make decisions, manage tensions, allocate resources, build trust, ensure accountability, and move the organization toward results. In reality, they function as leader-managers.

This reframing matters greatly when we think about developing future organizational leaders.

Instead of asking whether someone fits a certain image of leadership, perhaps organizations should ask a more practical question:

Can this person effectively move people, systems, and outcomes forward together?

Consider a marketing organization. A marketing director must inspire creativity, encourage innovation, read market trends, and energize teams around campaigns and branding ideas. Yet at the same time, the person must manage budgets, timelines, coordination, client expectations, targets, and execution quality. Without management discipline, creativity eventually becomes chaos. Without leadership, marketing loses energy and direction.

Now consider a manufacturing or semiconductor environment. A plant manager or operations head must ensure precision, quality, timelines, safety, process discipline, and operational consistency. However, technical systems alone are insufficient. The person must also reduce uncertainty, handle tensions, motivate teams, align departments, manage morale, and sustain trust under pressure. In manufacturing, leadership and management cannot be separated because execution determines survival.

The same applies in government institutions. A district officer does not merely administer procedures. The role requires balancing public expectations, coordinating agencies, managing crises, executing policies, handling political sensitivities, and building cooperation among stakeholders during uncertain situations. Administrative discipline and human leadership happen simultaneously.

Dear Captains,

Perhaps the time has come for organizations to seriously rethink the mental models we use to define leadership and management.

If leadership and management are truly inseparable in organizational life, then this reframing has major implications far beyond terminology.

It affects how we identify talent. It affects how we evaluate future leaders. It affects how we build succession pipelines. It affects how we mentor, coach, and develop people. It affects how we prepare future organizational leaders.

Without this reframing, organizations may continue overlooking highly capable individuals simply because they do not fit a romanticized image of leadership. Worse still, we may begin judging leadership potential using the wrong indicators, mistaking visibility for capability, charisma for competence, style for substance, and presentation for the actual ability to move people, systems, and outcomes forward.

As a result, organizations may unintentionally elevate individuals who appear impressive while overlooking those who consistently create clarity, solve problems, build trust, align teams, manage tensions, and deliver results.

More importantly, we may continue weakening organizations by artificially separating leadership from management when, in reality, both were never meant to function apart.

This reframing should encourage organizations to rethink talent management, succession planning, leadership development, mentoring systems, and even the beliefs we instill in young managers moving into positions of responsibility.

Perhaps the future challenge is not producing more leaders or more managers.

Perhaps the real challenge is developing people who can integrate direction, execution, systems, trust, accountability, people, and outcomes together.

Because in real organizational life, leadership and management were never meant to be separated in the first place.

 

MELANGKAUI TVET: MENGAPA MALAYSIA MEMERLUKAN LALUAN JUALAN DAN PERKHIDMATAN NASIONAL - Sinar Harian Hari Ini

MELANGKAUI TVET: MENGAPA MALAYSIA MEMERLUKAN LALUAN JUALAN DAN PERKHIDMATAN NASIONAL

Berdasarkan laporan Perangkaan Tenaga Buruh terbaharu Jabatan Perangkaan Malaysia (DOSM), lebih setengah juta rakyat Malaysia masih menganggur, dengan golongan muda berusia bawah 30 tahun merangkumi lebih tiga perempat daripada jumlah tersebut.

Walaupun kadar pengangguran negara masih terkawal, pengangguran belia kekal sebagai cabaran serius. Persoalannya, adakah kita benar-benar mempersiapkan generasi muda Malaysia untuk peluang pekerjaan hari ini dan masa hadapan?

Kerajaan wajar dipuji atas penekanan yang diberikan kepada Pendidikan dan Latihan Teknikal dan Vokasional (TVET). Fokus ini amat diperlukan ketika Malaysia memperkukuh sektor semikonduktor, pembuatan lanjutan, mesin dan peralatan serta teknologi digital. TVET merupakan tunjang penting strategi tenaga kerja negara dan wajar terus diperkasakan.

Namun, di sebalik kepentingan TVET, timbul satu persoalan lain. Apakah laluan yang tersedia untuk anak muda yang tidak mempunyai kecenderungan utama dalam bidang teknikal? Bukan semua belia mahu atau mampu menjadi jurutera, pengatur cara, pakar automasi atau teknisyen. Ramai yang lebih menyerlah dalam komunikasi, hubungan pelanggan, penyelarasan projek, perundingan, perkhidmatan dan pembangunan perniagaan.

Atas sebab itu, Malaysia perlu mempertimbangkan sama ada strategi pembangunan tenaga kerja negara memerlukan satu lagi tunjang yang melengkapi TVET - iaitu laluan yang memberi tumpuan kepada kerjaya berorientasikan pelanggan, perniagaan dan penjanaan pendapatan.

Industri TVET Juga Memerlukan Bakat Komersial

Terdapat persepsi bahawa sektor pertumbuhan tinggi seperti semikonduktor, mesin dan peralatan serta teknologi digital hanya memerlukan jurutera dan pakar teknikal. Hakikatnya, industri-industri ini turut bergantung kepada profesional yang mengurus pelanggan, projek, perkhidmatan dan pembangunan perniagaan.

Ekosistem teknologi Malaysia merangkumi syarikat multinasional, pengilang, vendor teknologi dan pelbagai penyedia perkhidmatan. Pertumbuhan sektor ini bergantung kepada individu yang mampu mengurus hubungan pelanggan, menyelaras projek, menyelia penyampaian perkhidmatan, menjaga akaun utama serta menterjemahkan keupayaan teknikal kepada hasil komersial.

Pada bila-bila masa, beribu-ribu projek kejuruteraan dan teknologi sedang dilaksanakan di seluruh negara. Selain tugas teknikal, ramai pengurus projek dan pakar teknikal turut perlu mengurus jangkaan pelanggan, pemegang taruh, garis masa dan perbincangan komersial. Tanpa profesional yang mampu merapatkan jurang antara kepakaran teknikal dan peluang pasaran, organisasi sering menghadapi kesukaran untuk berkembang.

Permintaan terhadap bakat ini bukan sekadar teori. Dalam satu sesi libat urus bersama majikan yang dijalankan selama empat hari, sebanyak 22 daripada 23 syarikat dalam sektor semikonduktor, mesin dan peralatan serta teknologi digital mengenal pasti 248 kekosongan jawatan segera dalam peranan berorientasikan pelanggan dan komersial.

Ini bukan peluang masa depan. Ia adalah kekosongan yang wujud hari ini. Jika permintaan sebegini dapat dikesan daripada sampel syarikat yang kecil dalam tempoh singkat, besar kemungkinan keperluan sebenar di seluruh ekonomi negara jauh lebih besar.

Persediaan Kalis Masa Depan Mendepani Automasi

Perancangan tenaga kerja negara juga perlu mengambil kira kesan automasi, kecerdasan buatan (AI), robotik dan Industri 4.0.

Merentasi pelbagai industri, tugas rutin semakin diambil alih oleh teknologi. Pengilang melabur dalam automasi lanjutan dan sebahagiannya mula meneroka konsep kilang "lights-out" yang beroperasi dengan campur tangan manusia yang minimum. Trend yang sama turut berlaku dalam logistik, pentadbiran dan fungsi operasi lain.

Ini tidak mengurangkan kepentingan bakat teknikal. Jurutera, teknisyen dan pakar berkemahiran tinggi akan terus diperlukan. Namun, permintaan dijangka beralih daripada tugas teknikal rutin kepada peranan yang memerlukan kemahiran teknikal tahap tinggi.

Pada masa yang sama, permintaan terhadap profesional yang mampu membina kepercayaan, memahami pelanggan, mengurus hubungan strategik, berunding dan mencipta nilai komersial akan meningkat. Kemahiran seperti komunikasi, empati, pertimbangan, kebolehsuaian dan pembinaan hubungan merupakan kelebihan manusia yang sukar diautomasi.

Apabila teknologi menjadi semakin canggih, kemahiran insaniah ini menjadi semakin bernilai. Oleh itu, persediaan tenaga kerja masa hadapan perlu memberi tumpuan kepada kedua-dua aspek - keupayaan bekerja dengan teknologi dan keupayaan yang tidak boleh digantikan oleh teknologi.

Ribuan Peluang Kerjaya Jualan Yang Tersembunyi

Penemuan di atas hanya mencerminkan sebahagian kecil ekonomi Malaysia.

Di luar sektor teknologi, majikan dalam industri pembuatan, penjagaan kesihatan, perbankan, logistik, pelancongan, peruncitan dan perkhidmatan profesional terus menghadapi kesukaran mendapatkan bakat bagi peranan jualan, khidmat pelanggan, pengurusan akaun, penyelarasan projek dan pembangunan perniagaan.

Kekosongan ini wujud dalam jumlah yang besar serta menawarkan prospek kerjaya dan pendapatan yang menarik, termasuk melalui komisen dan insentif berasaskan prestasi. Namun, bidang ini masih belum mempunyai laluan pembangunan nasional yang tersusun.

Pada masa yang sama, universiti dan kolej tempatan menghasilkan ribuan graduan dalam bidang perniagaan, pemasaran, komunikasi, hospitaliti, kemanusiaan dan sains sosial setiap tahun. Ramai mempunyai potensi yang sesuai untuk kerjaya berorientasikan pelanggan, tetapi sering kekurangan latihan, pendedahan industri dan keyakinan untuk berjaya dalam bidang tersebut.

Daripada melihat mereka sebagai sebahagian daripada masalah pengangguran, Malaysia sepatutnya melihat mereka sebagai sebahagian daripada penyelesaian.

Laluan Nasional Yang Saling Melengkapi

Cadangan ini bukan bertujuan menggantikan TVET. Sebaliknya, ia melengkapkan TVET.

Ekonomi moden memerlukan kedua-dua keupayaan teknikal dan komersial. Kita memerlukan individu yang mampu membina produk, dan pada masa yang sama individu yang mampu membina pelanggan, menjana pendapatan dan mengekalkan pertumbuhan.

Malaysia telah melabur besar dalam pembangunan bakat teknikal. Sudah tiba masanya kita mempertimbangkan satu Laluan Nasional Jualan dan Perkhidmatan yang tersusun bagi membantu lepasan sekolah, graduan, belia menganggur dan profesional yang berminat membina kerjaya dalam bidang berorientasikan pelanggan.

Laluan ini boleh memberi tumpuan kepada pembangunan kompetensi seperti komunikasi, pengurusan pelanggan, ketajaman komersial, kecerdasan emosi, perundingan, pengurusan akaun dan penyelarasan projek.

Jika lebih tiga perempat daripada penganggur negara terdiri daripada golongan belia, maka setiap laluan yang mampu meningkatkan kebolehpasaran mereka wajar diberikan pertimbangan yang serius. TVET telah membantu memenuhi satu keperluan penting ekonomi negara. Kini, sudah tiba masanya kita membina satu lagi laluan yang dapat melengkapkan usaha tersebut.

Bagi ratusan ribu anak muda Malaysia yang masih mencari pekerjaan, arah tuju dan peluang untuk membina masa depan yang lebih baik, Laluan Nasional Jualan dan Perkhidmatan mungkin mampu membuka pintu yang selama ini belum diberikan perhatian yang sewajarnya.

 

WAWASAN 2057 - Sinar Harian (14 July 2026)

WAWASAN 2057

Pada 31 Ogos 2057, Malaysia bakal menyambut ulang tahun kemerdekaannya yang ke-100. Ditinjau dari landskap masa kini, detik bersejarah itu berbaki kira-kira 30 tahun sahaja lagi.

Tanpa mengira dinamika politik tanah air - sama ada Kerajaan Perpaduan hari ini kekal atau pentadbiran baharu yang mengambil alih tampuk kepemimpinan pada masa hadapan - kita sebagai sebuah negara wajib bersatu padu dan memikirkan masa hadapan 2057 secara serius. Sudah tiba masanya kita mengutarakan satu persoalan mudah tetapi amat mustahak: Di manakah kedudukan yang kita impikan untuk Malaysia menjelang usia seabadnya?

Untuk menjawab persoalan ini, kita perlu mempunyai keberanian untuk membuat penilaian yang jujur tentang kedudukan kita pada hari ini. Kita mesti mengiktiraf kekuatan dan kelemahan diri dengan jelas; meraikan kejayaan yang telah dicapai di samping berani berdepan dengan kekurangan diri.

Lebih penting lagi, kita harus mengenal pasti tabiat, sikap, dan tingkah laku yang terus mengekang kemajuan kita. Apakah tindakan berulang yang menghalang kita daripada mencapai potensi sepenuhnya? Kita wajib menentukan minda manakah yang perlu dipertahankan kerana sumbangan yang baik telah diberikan, dan minda manakah yang perlu ditinggalkan kerana tidak lagi relevan. Kita harus mempersoalkan apa yang patut diteruskan, dan apa yang mesti dihentikan serta-merta.

Hanya dengan kejelasan inilah kita boleh mula mencorakkan masa hadapan Malaysia menjelang 2057. Kita perlu bertanya:

• Bagaimanakah rupa sebuah negara yang cemerlang dan hebat?
• Apakah bentuk masyarakat yang ingin kita bina, acuan ekonomi yang mahu dicipta, dan ciri-ciri warganegara yang diharap dapat dipupuk?
• Paling utama, apakah sasaran konkrit yang perlu kita tetapkan untuk diri kita bagi tempoh 30 tahun akan datang?

Melangkaui Sempadan Politik Kepartian

Wacana penting ini tidak boleh diserahkan bulat-bulat kepada ahli politik, parti politik, atau kerajaan yang memerintah semata-mata. Demi mengangkat dialog ini melangkaui politik kepartian, sudah tiba masanya sebuah majlis nasional bukan partisan ditubuhkan di bawah naungan Diraja.

Majlis ini mesti menggabungkan rakyat Malaysia daripada segenap lapisan masyarakat: wakil kerajaan dan pembangkang, ahli akademik, tokoh perniagaan, golongan pekerja, belia, masyarakat sivil, pengamal profesional, serta pihak berkepentingan dari setiap negeri dan wilayah persekutuan.

Berdiri megah melangkaui kitaran pilihan raya, kesetiaan mutlak majlis ini bukan kepada mana-mana parti atau ideologi, sebaliknya demi Malaysia dan generasi masa hadapannya.

Tugas majlis ini adalah khusus dan mendalam: mengkaji sejarah asal usul Malaysia, memahami kedudukannya hari ini, menghayati semula semangat dan prinsip asas Perlembagaan Persekutuan, mengenal pasti cabaran serta peluang masa hadapan, dan mengusulkan visi bersama tentang apa yang dicita-citakan oleh Malaysia menjelang 2057.

Berani Bermimpi Besar

Sebaik sahaja hala tuju destinasi itu jelas, kita boleh mula bekerja keras untuk mencapainya. Tempoh 30 tahun adalah satu jangka masa yang panjang dan cukup untuk mentransformasikan sesebuah negara, membetulkan kesilapan lalu, membina kekuatan baharu, mengasah bakat, dan memperkukuh institusi kita. Namun, kita tidak boleh berlayar tanpa arah tuju, dan kita tidak sepatutnya takut untuk bermimpi besar. Mimpi yang sangat besar.

Sebuah negara hanya menyambut ulang tahun ke-100 sekali sahaja. Sasaran yang kita tetapkan untuk Wawasan 2057 mestilah cukup bercita-citanya untuk menyuntik inspirasi agar kita mampu bangkit melangkaui pertikaian politik harian, kepentingan mana-mana kaum secara sempit, dan pemikiran jangka pendek.

Visi ini sepatutnya mendorong kita untuk berfikir bukan sebagai ahli parti politik, kumpulan etnik, komuniti agama, profesion, atau wilayah, tetapi pertamanya dan selamanya sebagai seorang rakyat Malaysia.

Negara yang hebat dibina apabila rakyatnya sanggup melihat melampaui kepentingan peribadi, kaum, dan parti, lalu mempersoalkan apa yang terbaik untuk negara.

Wawasan 2057 mesti mencabar kita untuk berfikir dalam acuan sedemikian:

• Apakah bentuk Malaysia yang ingin kita wariskan kepada generasi akan datang?
• Apakah pengorbanan yang sanggup kita lakukan hari ini agar anak cucu kita dapat mewarisi sebuah negara yang lebih baik esok?

Jika kita mahu melakar pelan tindakan bagi tempoh 30 tahun akan datang, janganlah kita berfikiran kecil. Ayuh kita tetapkan sasaran yang setaraf dengan maruah sebuah negara yang bakal menghampiri usia satu abad.

Masa untuk bermula adalah sekarang.

Salam.

Anas Zubedy

 

 

You know we all come from Africa, right? By Kenshin Gumi - FMT

I’m Chinese. I can say that some of my Chinese friends and relatives are the most racist people on the planet. But I don’t blame them. I know that their racist beliefs were drilled into them by their elders, and they are just repeating what they heard growing up. The thing is, just because something is repeated over and over again doesn’t mean it’s true. Ignorance is not bliss. Ignorance is stupid and can be dangerous.

Now, these racist friends and relatives of mine, they are not evil people by any means. In fact, I would say some of them have a heart of gold. They are helpful, considerate, loving – the weird thing is, the moment the topic of race comes up, their childhood racist brainwashing transforms them into some kind of racist monster that says the most shocking, revolting things about Malays, Indians, and other races.

Just the other day a friend of mine, during a discussion about Malaysian politics, started spewing off some racist nonsense about Indians. I said to him,”You know that Chinese people are descended from Indian ancestors, right?” That kind of shocked him. But you know, what I said is true and backed by scientific evidence.

Ultimately, the truth is, if you go back in time about 60,000-80,000 years ago, genetic studies all point to the same conclusion: All of modern humanity came out of Africa. From Africa, early homo sapiens migrated to Yemen, then spread to India, then moved on to South East Asia, Oceania, China, Korea, Japan, and so on.

The first migration from Africa was followed by two other major migrations which eventually led to the Americas being populated. So, you see, we’re actually all related. We had the same African ancestors. Which means all Malaysians are really brothers and sisters, and this can be proven with genetic testing.*

This is why I laugh outside but cry inside when I see room for rent advertisements in Malaysia, that include statements like “Chinese only” or “Muslim only”.

This is why I laugh outside but cry inside when I go to the cafeteria and see Chinese sitting in one corner with Chinese, Indians sitting in one corner with Indians, and Malays sitting in one corner with Malays.

This is why I laugh outside but cry inside when I see the current Malaysian government actively encouraging racism and bigotry for its own political benefit.

The simple fact is, we are all part of ONE HUMAN RACE. We can call ourselves Malay, Chinese, Indian, Negrito, Thai, Vietnamese, Arab, Jew, European, Russian, Korean, Japanese, Caucasian, Mexican, Native American, Inuit, etc. At the end of the day, the scientific truth is that we’re all branches of the same tree, grown from the same African seed. And if one branch tries to burn another branch, we’re really just hurting ourselves.

Unfortunately, most Malaysians today carry some kind of racial prejudice. I know I did, until I found out about humanity’s common ancestry. These racial prejudices are passed down generation after generation, from parents to their children. The children grow up, become parents, then repeat the same things to their children – and on and on the the vicious cycle goes.

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FOR UNITY - Do not separate our children, please!

When I was three years old, my father moved his family to a Chinese residential area in Fettes Park, Penang. We were the only Malay family living there. There were children who refused to play with me and there were those who refused to play without me. At a young age, I learned that there are no bad races, just bad people.

At home we were a Malay family. Outside, I grew up like any other Chinese boy. I was an odd sight - a skinny Malay kid chattering in Hokkien. Just five minutes’ walk towards the market was the Malay kampung where I spent time with Malay friends and agama lessons.

Our immediate neighbours were Eurasians. They welcomed me and my siblings into their homes, allowing us to learn about their beliefs and the English language.

Then one day there was a new Indian kid at school. He became my close friend and my immersion into the Indian culture began. On one occasion, my friend’s father reprimanded his mother for serving me chicken that had not been slaughtered according to Islamic tradition. I was a young, insignificant boy, and yet this man respected my faith enough to ensure that I practice it even in his home.

 I grew up believing that no matter the colour of your skin or the language that you speak, there are universal values we all share, values that unite us. This is the direct results of my early socialization.

But today the majority of our children are growing up in housing, in schooling and playtime apart from each other.

And we complain they are not united?

Anas Zubedy

Kuala Lumpur

It’s about the lack of early bonding by Luqman Ridha Anwar - The STAR

THE two articles by June H.L. Wong (“Rebooting Our Racial Quota”, May 22, and “The Pain of Pebbles in Our Shoes”, May 29) have prompted me to highlight one point which I feel has alleviated racial division in our beloved country to its present worrying level.

The best of friends are friends that we met and bonded with from our childhood. Unfortunately, young Malaysians have been deprived of this opportunity because our education system allows parents to send their children to different schools – in our case, the vernacular schools.

School is where the real mixing of society occurs. If we add curricular activities, extra classes, waiting and travelling time spent before and after school, in a month, school represents about 24 active days for a child. That’s 80% of their active time being spent together with their school friends!

But in the current system, since early childhood, a Malay, a Chinese, or an Indian might not have a “real” contact with friends from the other races because he goes to kindergarten, then to primary school, then secondary school – all schools of “his own kind”. Once they enter campus life, the racial division has become so deep that they naturally just pool with “their own kind” again.

This brings us to a most fundamental barrier to unity – we have more and more people who cannot speak the national language properly and also are not well-versed about the culture or values of the other races.

Trust begins with perception. Over the years, the lack of bonding that connects the different races led to an absence of trust between us.

Unbalanced representation in the Malaysian workforce in the public sector is a fact. Nobody can deny it and, yes, something has to be done to rectify it. But this is not restricted to the public sector. It is happening widely in the private sector as well. I strongly feel this has more to do with a collective lack of trust during the recruitment phase rather than government policy (which many believe is the cause).

While the Malay lad is more likely to be an officer in the government sector, the Chinese or the Indian lad is likely to be an officer in the private sector.

Through time and experience, they will eventually climb to positions important enough to chair interviews to recruit new talents to be brought into the system. With the absence of trust and with prejudice running deep, each of them will likely let “their own kind” pass through.

This scenario of imbalance is made possible because, cumulatively, thousands of young Malays grow up to be decision makers in the government sector while at the same time, thousands of young Chinese and Indians grow up and become decision makers in the private sector. They pool with and protect the interests of “their own kind”, each one doing the same thing, recruitment after recruitment. So, slowly but surely, the cycle of evil continues.

Going back to the quota issue, short-term measures and policies can only dictate what “should be done”. How well or how sincere the implementation depends on the “implementers”, the people in-charge – but sadly in our case – people who have been psychologically and physically divided since early childhood. It just won’t work.

There were attempts to do away with vernacular schools in the early 1990s but nothing came of it due to strong objections particularly from the elite group of Dong Zhong.

I think it failed because the suggestion to abolish such schools came from the government, the “Malay” government. If it came from the Chinese and Indian communities, such groups might be more open to it.

But this is one major sacrifice that we have to make in order to achieve national unity. There is no two-ways about it. Everybody knows that most of us will not be going anywhere else. Every day, all of us are stuck facing each other in this house called Malaysia.

With one education system, we can start the process of integration for our children – through language bonding, in one complete schooling cycle (12 years).

It is a long shot but this is our only real chance of having a really potent cure. After all, we have not reached a critical state yet so there’s still hope.

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Malaysia On Syria In The UN by Dr. Chandra Muzaffar

It is disappointing that Malaysia chose to support the UN General Assembly resolution on Syria on 15 May 2013. Even if we did not want to vote against it — which is what 12 governments did, including Russia, China, Iran and Cuba — we could have at least abstained, together with countries such as Indonesia, India, South Africa, Brazil and 55 other sovereign states. 

There is no need to reiterate that the resolution sponsored by Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the US and France, among others, was terribly biased and one-sided. While it condemned the Syrian government for its “increased use of heavy weapons”, its use of “chemical weapons” and its “widespread and systematic gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms,” the resolution had hardly anything to say about the brutal violence of the militants fighting Bashar al-Assad or their human rights abuses. 

The UN resolution also revealed its bias by recognising the Syrian National Coalition “as the effective interlocutor needed for a political transition.” That the SNC is just one of many groups in a highly fragmented opposition and commands very little support within Syria itself is conveniently glossed over. Imposing the SNC upon the Syrian people in this manner is a clumsy attempt to effect a regime change of sorts.

More than the contents of the resolution, Malaysia should have taken cognisance of certain critical developments in Syria and the region in the last few months which should have persuaded us to adopt a different stand. After all, a number of other UN member states appear to have been influenced by these developments as reflected in the voting pattern on the resolution.

One, the horrendous violence perpetrated by the militants which has reached unspeakable proportions. It is not just the massacres they have committed in residential suburbs, markets, schools, universities and media centres that have shocked the world. The cruelty and barbarity of their violence has been an even greater shock. The video that has gone viral depicting a militant eating the liver of a murdered Syrian army soldier is a case in point.  Even on the question of chemical weapons, it is the militants, according to UN investigator, Carla Del Ponte, who had resorted to sarin nerve gas attacks.     

Two, it is now acknowledged even by the UN-Arab League mediator, Lakhdar Brahimi, that there are thousands of Muslim foreign fighters in Syria. According to some sources, they come from as many as 30 countries. Their involvement lends credence to the view that radical militants are being sponsored and supported by foreign governments and external agencies determined to oust the Bashar government by force.

Three, in the last few months it has become clear that a powerful hidden hand in the Syrian upheaval is now openly aggressing against the Syrian state. This is Israel which has conducted two bombing raids inside Syria.  The direct involvement of the US, France and Britain  in undermining the Syrian government through political and logistical support for the militants is also more obvious now than it was a year ago. Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey provide more massive material assistance to the armed and unarmed opposition to Bashar than ever before.

Four, it is because the mortal threat to Syrian sovereignty from foreign fighters and foreign aggressors and manipulators is so stark that President Bashar’s support among his people has also increased significantly. Add to this the legitimate fear that the majority of Syrians harbour about bigoted, often violent interpretations of Islam which many of the militants from abroad subscribe to and one can understand why the people are now rallying around their President. This is a factor that anyone voting on the UN resolution should have also taken into account.

The Syrian people’s support for Bashar does not mean that the UN member states should ignore his excessive use of force in the course of defending his state from the threats it is facing. Neither should one downplay the tortures committed by his secret police against protesters and dissidents. Nonetheless, they should be evaluated in the context of the larger scenario that impacts upon Syria and the entire region.

It is because a number of UN member states were cognisant of the larger scenario that they chose NOT to support the lopsided resolution of 15^th May 2013. It is significant that compared to August 2012 when 133 states voted for a similar resolution, this time the figure had dropped to 107. The number of abstentions had also increased substantially to 59, up from 31 nine months ago.

Malaysia should have made it 60.

On the Road to Damascus: An Eyewitness Report By Antonio S. C. Rosa

I participated, May 1-11, 2013 in the Mussalaha International Peace Delegation to Lebanon-Syria alongside fellow TRANSCEND member Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire, from Ireland, and 15 others from eight countries. Keenly aware of my responsibility, especially to my newly made Syrian and Lebanese friends left behind, I shall try to report, describe, make sense of what I saw, heard and experienced; also offer views and insights based on interviews. However, this report will take more than one article.

First impressions first: the people, the civil society, women, men, the youth, elderly, children, workers, the Arab street, as it is called. It was disconcerting coming into the country for the first time knowing what I thought I knew and seeing a calm, positive demeanor in people, which could well be misconstrued as apathy, yet exhibiting expectant, concerned, awaiting eyes and facial expressions. After some time I noticed a striking absence of anger or negative excitement in the air; people going about their daily business as if nothing was happening, as if life were normal. No cries for revenge against their many external aggressors, no fists in the air, no demonstrations against a dictator, no pleading or denouncing slips of paper passed to me surreptitiously by nervous, fearful hands. Eye contacts revealed seriousness, curiosity, kindness, hope, hospitality, happiness in seeing strangers. No public laughs or smiles though. Heavy hearts do not allow for such frivolities. Syrian people are suffering, they are sad, stuck, against the wall, being victimized for which they bear no responsibility. They just don’t know why they are being threatened, attacked, killed, tortured, and humiliated so viciously from so many fronts. The concept of proxy war is alien to them even though they are at its core. Fear of violence can be more psychologically and emotionally damaging than the real thing. Understandably, they are afraid of talking in public and being later identified and targeted by jihadists.

But then again, that is always the case, isn’t? Who cares about unimportant people when so many more pressing factors are in play? Like the obscene profits made by the oil multinationals, the 7 sisters cartel, and the preservation of wasteful lifestyles of peoples from richer, more powerful nations that need –and will take by any means necessary– the oil that Syrians at this juncture unfortunately have underneath their feet?

Disconcerting as well was to find a country bursting with activity and life, children in playgrounds or walking to school in their uniforms, open air markets filled with people, heavy traffic, buses running, life happening in and around Damascus. Disconcerting because I had psyched myself to find a country in ruins, people fleeing for their lives from bombs, tanks on the streets, a police state massacring its own citizens, large scale suffering, buildings demolished, people resisting the government by force, and so on. Yet, I saw none of the above; quite the opposite. But you will forgive my ignorance, for I am a Westerner and that is what we hear, watch and read in our corporate media, which without a pinch of shame, honesty or humanity tell us half truths, innuendoes, straight lies, and party-line talking-points uttered by talking heads about what is happening on this part of the world. And I stand guilty of believing them like a fool. Nonetheless, the country has been as if divided by checkpoints in every strategic entrance and exit. To give an idea, our Damascus hotel was surrounded by six different checkpoints strategically located around it. Armed personnel and soldiers on the streets is a common sight that adds to a sense of security.

Mairead and Mother Agnès-Maryam Soeur (our leaders) met privately with Syrian armed fighters and we were introduced to some persons victimized by their atrocities. Audiences included: Syrian Prime Minister Mr. Wael Al Halki, Deputy PM and Minister of Economic Affairs Mr. Qadri Jameel (opposition), Minister of Health Dr. Saed Anayef, Minister of Social Affairs Ms. Kinda Al-Shammat (a pleasant and intelligent young lady), Minister of Justice Dr. Najem Hamad Al-Ahmad, Minister of Information Mr. Omran Ahed Al-Zouabi, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Walid Muallem, the Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Mr. Ali Abd Karim Ali, the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, and General Michael Aoun, an influential Lebanese party leader (who is rumored to discriminate against Palestinian refugees).

We visited the People’s Council of Syria (parliament), hospitals, refugee camps, were briefed by senior field coordinator Maeve Murphy at the UNHCR intake center in Zahleh-Lebanon, and met with a representative of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, and with ambulance drivers and health workers. We were also welcomed by some ten leaders from various religions, sects and faiths, were greeted in churches and mosques, and I talked with common folks every time an opportunity presented in shops and in the streets. I talked with an active member of the political opposition to the present regime. He was in prison for 24 years, released 11 years ago, and wants changes—but without outside interference as he told to me textually. The 71 year-old kind and intelligent gentleman who declined to give his name also told me he did not marry and have children because he was in prison, and he was ashamed of that.

ACTORS AND PARTIES TO THE CONFLICT

A deeper contextual assessment and analysis within a peace studies/conflict resolution paradigm would require more time and research into the complexities of the conflicts (in the plural) vis-à-vis the newest perceptions, facts and evidences acquired herein; the majority of actors are not evident whereas the main, deadliest ones are shielded by ‘deniability.’ However, they are all known—and very active. Of one thing you may rest assured: Bashar al-Assad is not the sole culprit, THE bad guy in this saga. He is a well liked leader all over, which is evident in different cities, in talks with differing kinds of persons, and by their attitudes and actions. Body languages, eye contacts, non-verbal messages work wonders in bringing hidden messages to the surface. Billboards with his picture are spread throughout the land and they are clean, well preserved. One does not see graffiti over them, obscenities or anything like that. Syrians in general show pride in having a handsome leader, an eye doctor who is not a sanguinary dictator like Saddam Hussein was. I would assume that in the present context even those who oppose him are on his side to defend Syria’s integrity as a functioning society.

Quoting Johan Galtung [i]: “An image of the goals of some outside parties:

·         Israel: wants Syria divided in smaller parts, detached from Iran, status quo for Golan Heights, and a new map for the Middle East;

·         USA: wants what Israel wants and control over oil, gas, pipelines;

·         UK: wants what USA wants;

·         France: co-responsible with the UK for post-Ottoman colonization in the area, wants confirmed friendship France-Syria;

·         Russia: wants a naval base in the Mediterranean, and an “ally”;

·         China: wants what Russia wants;

·         EU: wants both what Israel-USA want and what France wants;

·         Iran: wants Shia power;

·         Iraq: majority Shia, wants what Iran wants;

·         Lebanon: wants to know what it wants;

·         Saudi-Arabia: wants Sunni power;

·         Egypt: wants to emerge as the conflict-manager;

·         Qatar: wants the same as Saudi Arabia and Egypt;

·         Gulf States: want what USA-UK want;

·         The Arab League: wants no repetition of Libya, tries human rights;

·         Turkey: wants to assert itself relative to the (Israel-USA) successors to the (France-UK-Italy) successors to the Ottoman Empire, and a buffer zone in Syria.

·         UN: wants to emerge as the conflict manager.

Every single statement here can be challenged and challenged again.  But let us for the sake of the mental experiment assume that this image, with 16 outside and five inside parties, is more right than wrong.”

The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Affairs, Mr. Kadri Jameel, is a Communist Kurd elected on the opposition party platform. He came to talk to the delegation at the 5-star hotel where we stayed in Damascus. He affirmed that his electoral victory represented a foot on the door for further changes, which envisioned a multiparty political system. I talked with four members of his security detail. One of them, 26, showed me his wound: a bullet entered through his backside and exited through his neck, which had been broken as he was attacked by foreign fighters coming from Turkey at a Palestinian refugee camp in Latakia on Aug, 2011 when he was still in the army. Although army officers, they guard the leader of the opposition. I was told by them that these armed gangs of trouble makers target especially the minorities (Druze, Christians, Shia) in hopes that they turn against the government.

“As the government moves to a multi-party system, a non-territorial federation with two chambers, one for provinces and the other for nations, with vetoes in matters of vital concern might be useful.” [ii]

In addition, as much as I tried, no one leader could or would answer my two basic questions: What is the source of this conflict? What are the solutions? Perhaps it was so because all our audiences, meetings, visits, and so forth were made in groups: our delegation, composed of 16 invitees from seven countries, our hosts, the press (which at times stole the whole show all for themselves), plus the heavily armed security around us everywhere around the clock, sometimes annoyingly so. Thus no conversations or even follow-up questions were ever entertained. But I got a generalized reply based and around a single theme: “The violence must stop!” Moreover, few of the leaders spoke English. Thus a lot of our ‘conversations’ was lost or truncated in the interpreting process. What stands out is that almost all of the various leaders and people in general seem to agree that the major, perhaps only problem facing the country is the (contained) violence and threat thereof. Not could be farther from the truth, though. So I will stay more at the surface in this overview of our visit.

Galtung’s bird’s eye view of the situation (in Syria, TMS 29 Apr 2013): “Over this looms a dark cloud: Syria is in the zone between Israel-USA-NATO and Shanghai Cooperation Organization-SCO [Russia-China], both expanding.

“Then, an image of the goals of some inside parties:

·         Alawis (15%): want to remain in power, “for the best of all” (Assad’s power base);

·         Shias in general: want the same;

·         Sunnis: want majority rule, their rule, democracy;

·         Jews, Christians, minorities: want security, fearing Sunni rule;

·         Kurds: want high level autonomy, some community with other Kurds.”

However, Susan Dirgham, a delegate from Australia, offers a qualification:

“Much of the propaganda in Australia that leads to young Sunni Lebanese Australians to go to Syria for jihad relies on claims that in Syria you have an Alawi minority suppressing a Sunni majority. My understanding is that most of the ministers are in fact Sunni and the business elite with the economic power in Syria is also mostly Sunni. According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Ministers_(Syria):

“The Information Minister, Dr Al-Zouabi, is Sunni (not Alawi, as claimed).

“The Foreign Minister, Walid Muallem, is Sunni (not Greek Orthodox, as claimed).

“The Deputy PM and Minister for Economic Affairs Qadri Jamil is Kurdish, as stated, and Communist (not Alawi as claimed).

“It is interesting that the religion of the Minister for Social Affairs Ms. Kinda Al-Shammat is not listed though one would assume she is Sunni because of her white hijab and the way she wears it.”

REFUGEES

The Syrian state and its population are being indirectly attacked by US/EU/NATO/UN; and directly by Israel,  HERE and also HERE, by the autocratic dictatorships of the GCC-Gulf Cooperation Council: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, UAE (mostly Sunni Muslims) in partnership with Turkey (secular), and by Al Qaeda plus a diversity of mercenary jihadists (by definition terrorist groups), each with its own agenda, recruited from 29 countries and paid by GCC/CIA. Syrians are also assailed by UN sanctions and an embargo, and by a foreign press bent on demonizing, lying, destabilizing the country (not merely the regime). The mercenaries fight among themselves to grab the moneys channeled from the CIA and other American institutions via GCC and/or Turkey. Weapons enter Syria hidden in Turkish ambulances posing as such. US cash provides weapons and logistics, fund mercenaries, pay for jihadists. Bands of jihadists armed to the teeth invade Syria through Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon (Tripoli). Turkey opened its Syrian borders to them and, through terror, they displace the populations forcing them to take refuge back in Turkey in an effort to destabilize Syria. Turkey, in fact, invites Syrian refugees into the country. It is documented that Syrian refugees in Turkey are mistreated, have their organs removed (stolen), children sold for forced marriage or else. There are an estimated 50,000 foreign jihadist fighters terrorizing Syria’s countryside: snipers, bombers, agitators. They torture and kill men who refuse to join them. In their religious fundamentalism they believe that any Muslim they kill will automatically and immediately achieve paradise; they are actually doing them a favor (!). There is a score of young Europeans on their ranks as well (Germans, Dutch, British, Australians).

We visited and talked with a chief of family, refugee in Lebanon and saw twenty people living in a space roughly 6×6 without ventilation, a room inside a warehouse, for which they pay the equivalent of 400 dollar/month. One filthy kitchen, one bathroom. And that is that. They are on their own to find work and everything else. Some resort to stealing and committing petty crimes to survive.  This is typical, not an exception. And he explained that in his native Homs jihadists take over their houses, rape their women, and kill young males who refuse to join their ranks. Chechens, Afghanis, Pakistanis, Lebanese, Jordanians, Turkish, Europeans compose these gangs armed, fed and maintained by the above mentioned foreign governments. He said they attach suicide vests around peoples’ bodies and threaten to explode them if they don’t do what they are told. Underneath a rather dignified posture, he was scared, terrorized. Yet we kept hearing the same mantra over and over: “I want to go back home, I don’t belong here.” It was truly heartbreaking, and I felt helpless in the face of it. Bearing witness we were.

In one of the refugee camps we visited in Lebanon (more aptly called a concentration camp) we talked with a couple from Homs–he being a pharmacist and engineer–who had their house and business blown up due to terrorist activities. Now they live by charity in the Bekaa Valley-Lebanon, under a tent and with nothing but the clothes over their bodies. They are not allowed to work, own property, have a dignified life. There is no sanitation and there are check points with armed soldiers at the gates. Multiply this by about 1.5 million and you will have an approximate dimension of the human tragedy. We visited the Sabra Palestinian refugee camp as well, of the infamous Sabra-Shatila massacre by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in September 1982, on the outskirts of Beirut. In addition we toured the UN High Commission for Refugees intake center in Zahleh, Lebanon, next to Bekaa valley and were briefed by Maeve Murphy, UNHCR senior field coordinator. She said that there is a staff of 50 workers to deal with an influx of 1,500 refugees a day.

This is how it works, according to Prime Minister Wael Al Halki himself, with whom we spent 2.5 hours and with him doing most of the talk to explain in detail and with statistics and evidences what is really happening for the last two years. Jihadists take a village by assault, kill public officials, take over private houses in which to hide, burn plantations, spread terror and devastation. Their aim is simple: to render the country as ungovernable as they possibly can, disrupt normal life, destroy institutions, livestock, people. They occupy hospitals forcing medical personnel to look only after foreign fighters, not allowing wounded locals or government soldiers to be treated. This has created a wave of refugees from a total population of 21.9 million. Internal displacement is calculated at 1.5 million people. And 600,000 external refugees according to the Minister of Social Affairs, Ms Kinda Al-Shammat (estimate). But the UNHCR provides an official estimate of 1.5 million refugees spread over the different neighboring countries as follows:

- Jordan: 471.677;

- Lebanon: 469.217;

- Turkey: 347.157;

- Iraq: 146.951;

- Egypt: 66.922.

GOVERNMENT RETALIATION

Syrian authorities on the other hand reacted to the rampant and aggressive terrorism through a policy they call ‘iron hand.’ Tanks, artillery and infantry descend in force on the places that foreign fighters keep under siege and blow up the buildings where they hide, keep armaments and snipers. However, before striking the buildings fliers are thrown from helicopters advising residents to leave the area, what is not always possible because the terrorists use them as human shields, keeping them under captivity inside their own residences. Collateral damage is high, it is a policy many consider unacceptable. But given the odds he said it is the best alternative. And this method, as brutal as it is, is bearing fruits as the terrorists are being decimated or otherwise driven farther and farther from populated areas. The minister of justice said textually: “Those who invade us to kill and destroy our country will not leave Syria alive.” But the jihadists still occupy and keep under siege many localities. If compared to the US retaliation to the 9/11/2001 terrorist attacks against the World Trade Center, killing millions, invading other countries, and lingering still 12 years later through drone attacks and selective assassinations, such ‘iron hand’ policies are mild (without condoning the violence, that is). Those are, therefore, the demolished buildings shown ad nauseam and out of context, over and over on CNN, BBC, FOX and the rest of them.

According to Paul Larudee, a delegate from the USA:

“Most of the men and some of the women do not want to be photographed, but the children don’t mind.  Several people from Qusayr, a town on the Lebanese border said that when the demonstrations first began two years ago, they were nonviolent and the local officials would even clear the roads for them.  However, as they became more violent, the central government failed to act and the town was eventually overrun by armed local elements and foreign fighters from Chechnya, Azerbaijan and other places.  It was only after the population fled that Syrian troops finally came to quell the rebellion, which has apparently not yet been fully accomplished. I have no way to assess the accuracy of these stories, nor to generalize them, but at least my modest Arabic skills allow me to strike up conversations with whomever I want, and there are no government minders in Lebanon.  Nevertheless, we all want to meet with groups that have a very different story to tell, and Mother Agnès-Maryam has included such opportunities in our schedule, even Jabhat al-Nusrah, the al-Qaeda affiliate, with whom none of us expected to be able to speak.”

There is also the case of a boy shot by snipers in a street and whose body was whisked away by photographers who then made a video of his death; of his dying actually, fleeing afterwards and leaving the corpse behind. Medical personnel said afterwards that he could have been saved if taken to a hospital instead of to the killing fields’ improvised TV studio. The result of such filth is sold to TV networks for your and my robotized consumption. Yet as the PM asserted, the workers are being paid on time, schools, universities, public offices continue operating, and the government is able to maintain a somewhat normal life under such extenuating circumstances. As we toured the city or participated in meetings, we would hear loud booms at a distance, sometimes seeing clouds of black smoke rising from the bombed sites, or else, sounds of gun fights. We taped some of these with our cell phones. ‘Necessary evil,’ I was told, as I asked a gentleman in a restaurant, what he thought about such retaliatory bombings. People in fact don’t pay much attention to them. The UN says nearly 70,000 people have been killed since the foreign fighters entered the country and started the armed conflict in March 2011.

Another important point made by delegate Susan Dirgham:

“I don’t remember anyone we met supporting an arms embargo against the state.  We were reminded by the Melkite Patriarch that the selling of arms to the state is legal.  If it were stopped, the enemies of Syria would surely win.  I think what united everyone I met in Damascus was support for the state + dialogue.  This view was shared by people from different backgrounds and by those who supported the president and the current government and those who didn’t, such as the members of the “Third Current” I spoke with.  They may not have supported some of the tactics of the army or security etc, but they supported the right for Syria to defend itself from outside aggression and to remain in a position where it can defend its people and territory.  It seems as though we are being balanced and peace-loving when we support an arms embargo on both sides, but actually to support an embargo against Syria without also supporting the same for all countries in the region, including Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, etc. would not be helpful. Syria would collapse and be destroyed by its enemies if its army didn’t have the military hardware to defend the people and country, firstly against the 50,000 foreign jihadists/mercenaries, etc. and then against the states that work to destroy and dismember it.”

On one occasion an IED-Improvised Explosive Device exploded about 10 minutes after our delegation had left the Patriarchate of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church (our hosts throughout), where we had attended an ecumenical prayer for peace. I was shown photos immediately after, sent by cell phone, of blood on the floor from people killed and injured from the attack. Such is life in Damascus to which, after a short 10-day visit, we were getting somewhat used to. Understanding drives away outrage and harsh judgmental assumptions and conclusions. Mairead Maguire, who talked in private with four Syrian armed combatants, said they told her they took up arms against the government because they were unemployed; one of them with five children. Al Qaida offered them money. They took the offer and started killing fellow Syrians. Moreover, three shots were fired against the car of the leader/organizer of the peace mission, Mother Agnès-Mariam Soeur, a Melkite nun, on Sat. May 11, 2013 as she traveled to her native Homs, the hotspot city where her monastery was destroyed by terrorist activities.

Delegate Paul Larudee reports:

“There was the celebrated case of a nine-year-old Christian boy named Sari Saoud, killed by rebels in Homs.  His body was taken by the rebels, but his mother, Georgina al-Jammal caught up with them, and her embrace of her dead son was captured on video by the rebels, who then falsified the account to make it appear that the boy had been killed by government forces.

I talked with Georgina, who supports the government, but blames it for leaving the area without protection. She told me that she recognized some of the rebels from the neighborhood, but that others were strangers.”

CONCLUSION

A positive note: we were gifted with a VIP visit to the famous Umayyad Mosque in the old city of Damascus, fourth-holiest place after Mecca, where is located the tomb and shrine of St John the Baptist right at the center of the huge 4,000 year-old construction that had previously been a temple of Jupiter in Roman times and the Basilica of Saint John the Baptist. This mosque is at the end of the famous Road to Damascus, of St Paul’s conversion, which we walked by foot seeing the exact spot of the event. Upon exiting the mosque complex one could see another building erected by Saladin (1174–1193), also buried in Umayyad. This was just one of many fascinating experiences afforded us by our hosts being demonized and targeted for invasion and occupation by the West. They are understandably worried that invading marines wouldn’t have what it takes to appreciate such a wealth of history, art, religious traditions, faiths, civilization, and would most probably raze it to the ground as they have done elsewhere in Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan. Right they are. We were hosted by the head of Umayyad, the Grand Mufti of the Syrian Arab republic, Dr. Ahmad Badr Al-Din Hassoun and by the Greek Catholic Patriarch Gregory III Laham, who organized and hosted our whole trip along with Mussalaha.

We arrived in Lebanon during the holy week of the Eastern Orthodox Churches and spent their Easter Sunday (5 May) as guests of one of the many Christianities of the Middle East, where it all began. An added treat.

The Mussalaha International Peace Delegation to Syria issued a Concluding Declaration. Being from varying backgrounds, delegates did not agree on everything and one of them did not sign it. Therefore: no groupthink and no possibility of collective brainwashing of our group by Syrian authorities. And Mairead Maguire’s messages to the media, as the Nobel Peace laureate head of the delegation, remained impeccable and on point. She started all interviews with affirmations to the effect that,

“It is for the Syrian people to decide about their own problems, their own destiny, their own politics, their own leadership and form of government. No one has de right to interfere in their internal affairs and all foreign forces must withdraw and stay away. The flow of arms and armed fighters must be stopped, sanctions must be lifted, and if the arms embargo should remain in place, it ought to all parties involved, not just to the Syrian government that has a right to defend itself from foreign aggression. Are the foreign bands of invaders that are killing and terrorizing the population. All parties must follow the rules of international law.”

I find it disgraceful that our Western governments, led by US-EU-Israel and their client states, be full and willing partners in such atrocities perpetrated in name of ‘human rights,” “democracy,” “rule of law,” “freedom,” “liberty,” and other such meaningless, trivialized euphemisms. The present political and economic structures, embedded in the machinery of predatory militarism and capitalism, present us with only one choice, the lesser evil; but that is an artificial construct. Gandhi, Mandela, Luther King, Lula and many others are proof that changes and transformation are envisioned, given form and arise from below, from the ranks of the oppressed and minorities, from a non co-opted periphery, and not from within the belly of an empire of banks and bases seeking unlimited profits and hegemonic powers—for their own sake. Policies must again be made to endeavor the wellbeing of human beings, of life, not the perpetuation of structures and cultures that by necessity have to go. At other times in history piracy, slavery and absolute monarchy, for instance, also represented the status quo, the law; but they are no more. Nonviolent resistance and actions throughout the cultural-structural apparatus are the means to turn this tide, which is taking our planet and all its life to the abyss. We must choose life and peace by peaceful means, resist we must; and we will!

The formula is given by Galtung: Equity, Harmony, Trauma Reconciliation, Conflict Resolution:

                            + Positive Peace              Equity X Harmony

      Peace  =   ________________  =  _________________

                            – Negative Peace              Trauma X Conflict

“For Syria, what comes to mind is a Swiss solution.  One Syria, federal, with local autonomy, even down to the village level, with Sunnis, Shias and Kurds having relations to their own across the borders.  International peacekeeping, also for the protection of minorities.  And non-aligned, which rules out foreign bases and flows of arms, but does not rule out compulsory arbitration for the Golan Heights (and June 1967 in general), with Israeli UN membership at stake. The search could be for solutions, not for the solution.  Let 1,000 dialogues blossom, in each quarter, each village, enriching the gross national idea product, GNIP.  UN-supported facilitators, with knowledge of mediation, rather than with guns and binoculars.” [iii]

Like Paul meeting the angel Ananias on his way to Damascus experienced a change of heart and became St Paul, so have I met many angels on my own Road to Damascus and, although not gone into sainthood, I have reinterpreted and upgraded my own vision of reality—which I now share with you.

[i] Johan Galtung, Syria, TRANSCEND Media Service, 29 April, 2013.

[ii] Galtung, Turkey-Cyprus-Kurds-Armenia-SYRIA, 15 Oct, 2012, TRANSCEND Media Service.

[iii] Galtung, Syria, TRANSCEND Media Service, 29 April, 2013.

____________________________

Antonio Carlos Silva Rosa is the editor of the Peace Journalism website, TRANSCEND Media Service, and the Eurolatina Convener for the TRANSCEND Network for Peace, Development and Environment. He has a Masters (Ph.D. incomplete) in Political Science-Peace Studies from the University of Hawaii, is originally from Brazil, and presently lives in Porto, Portugal. He was educated in the USA, where he lived for 20 years, and lives in Europe for the last 20.

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