NOTHING NEW….CIVIL SOCIETY WAS ALWAYS THERE BUT IT WAS SUPPRESSED!
MALAYANS CAN HAVE MALAYSIA & WE SABAHANS & SARWAKIANS WANT TO TAKE BACK OUR COUNTRIES!
DEFINTION OF WHAT IS BUZZ WORD “CIVIL SOCIETY” THAT GETS TOSSED AROUND?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_society
Civil society is the arena outside of the family, the state, and the market where people associate to advance common interests.[1] It is sometimes considered to include the family and the private sphere and then referred to as the “third sector” of society, distinct from government and business.[2] Dictionary.com’s 21st Century Lexicon defines civil society as 1) the aggregate of non-governmental organizations and institutions that manifest interests and will of citizens or 2) individuals and organizations in a society which are independent of the government.[3] Sometimes the term is used in the more general sense of “the elements such as freedom of speech, an independent judiciary, etc, that make up a democratic society” (Collins English Dictionary).[4]
The term entered public discourse in the United States in the 1990s.[5] However its tradition is much richer and longstanding.
Volunteering is often considered a defining characteristic of the organizations that constitute civil society, which in turn are often called NGOs, or NPOs. Most authorities have in mind the realm of public participation in voluntary associations, trade unions and the like,[6] but it is not necessary to be belong to all of these to be a part of civil society
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“At one time, Malaysia was one of the most advanced countries in Asia.”
What evidence is there to support this bald claim?
IN what areas of endeavour was its system or people were “advanced” in?
Malayans had 55 years of authoritarian rule while Sabah and Sarawak had 49 years of such rule.
Citizens would be arrested and detained without trial on suspicion of being “subversives” or threatening the security of the state. Despite constitutional guarantees, there was and is no real freedom of speech,association and religion.
In those 55 years UMNO installed an Malay supremacist apartheid system which is even more fascist than the former South Africa system.
The NEP has been a discriminatory system where “economic development” has been slanted to benefit those in power and their cronies not for the poor they were intended to help.
Workers have been working long hours for very small pay.
The quality of live for the majority of the people was very poor compare to say even Singapore. Sabah and Sarawak despite their rich resources rank as the poorest…after 49 years of “developing.
In that time Singapore with more people than Sarawak packed into the size of the Bakun Dam lake has advanced in leaps and bounds!
So it is having mistaken pride to say that Malaysia has been one of the most “advanced countries in Asia”. What ever “advance” it had was to be seen in its repressive state machinery.