The desperate plight of Islamic education in Southern Thailand

Murray Hunte

 

If a frequent traveler to Thailand goes around the country today, a rapid rise in the prominence of Muslims will be noticed, stretching from Chiang Rai in the north of the country right down into the south of the country. Many of Thailand's 6-7 Million Muslins are totally integrated into Thai culture and society, a country that takes great pride in its cultural homogeneity. However in the South of Thailand, many, if not most Muslims still live in close knit rural villages undertaking traditional activities such as rubber tapping, fishing, and rice farming. A distinct culture, different from the mainstream "Thai" culture has been able to nurture in the relaxed air of religious freedom in Thailand.

Generally speaking, there is a great contrast economically between the rural Muslims of Southern Thailand and the rest of the community. The incidence of poverty among Muslims in Southern Thailand is high. To many Muslims however this is not considered a problem, as a simple religious based lifestyle is deeply valued and indeed is perceived to offer protection to the community from external "morally corrupting forces".

As a consequence many rural Muslim parents prefer to send their children to one of the hundreds of Islamic schools around the south of the country. Many, if not most of these schools are set up and staffed by the communities themselves providing an Islamic education, in addition to the primary and secondary school national curriculum.

A few lucky students may get a place in the prestigious and well equipped Pondok Bantan in Nakhon Si Thammarat, founded by the recently retired Secretary General of ASEAN Dr. Surin Pitsuwan and his family, or one of the local Islamic Council schools, which are also relatively well equipped. Pondok Bantan has been generously funded by a number of Middle East sources, including the Islamic Development Bank, and even the Sasakawa Peace Foundation based in Japan. However the majority of Muslims must opt for one of the local schools set up by one of the members of the community.

These local community schools operate with the minimal infrastructure and facilities. Classrooms are grossly inadequate, with poor libraries and few other teaching resources available. There is a drastic shortage of teachers for national curriculum subjects, often relying upon volunteers to assist. In the schools or "pondoks" where students are resident, students are often forced to sleep up to 10 students per hut, which is barely habitual and potentially a fire and disease trap. As national curriculum studies are of a low standard in the Islamic Schools, they attract little government funding in the competitive private school environment of Thailand.

In addition to the above problems, a number of other problematic issues exist within these schools around Southern Thailand today.

Firstly, the religious curriculum is set by local Ulama or religious scholars. The majority of Ulama themselves came through the "pondok" system and have little, if any trans-disciplinary or holistic educational experience. They tend to see the world the way that they were taught to see the world through their own education. This has led to great emphasis on Fard'ain (compulsory duties a Muslim must perform such as prayer) aspects of Islam, at the expense of Fard Kifayah (duty out in the world). This "narrow" approach to the holism of Islam may hinder student's ambitions and abilities to integrate within mainstream Thai society.

Secondly, it is very difficult to get any unified approach as Islamic leaders in Southern Thailand are fragmented and may even be competitive with each other, rather than cooperative. This leaves the community without any answers or any common approach towards problems.

Due to the diversity of interpretation, there are very few safeguards against the infiltration of distorted and fringe views about the meaning of Qu'ranic texts. Although regional Islamic Councils have the responsibility to monitor religious teaching within their regions, there are no requirements for any teachers to conform to any agreed or centralized interpretation. If unchecked, religious schools and 'pondoks" could become potential breeding grounds of deviant teachings, further isolating students from mainstream Thai society.

For many of Southern Thailand's Muslim youth, the "pondoks' have become a refuge where students can drift in and out of society as they feel. Very few students ever get to a university, or acquire the skills to open a business. This tends to reinforce a separate identity with Islamic values rather than students encompassing the aims and values of the general community.

The above is compounded by the generally poor standard of national curricula education. Students that complete their education within the Islamic school system are at great disadvantage to those who have attended secular schools focusing purely on the national curriculum. This generally hinders rural Islamic communities participating in the current economic growth and development going on today in Southern Thailand, thus widening the income gap and perpetuating relative poverty among Southern Thai Muslim communities.

If this gap continues to widen, this may lead to some groups questioning the equity distribution of Thailand, which could potentially lead to some form of resentment, or allow other groups to take advantage of the situation through introducing new dogma into the community. However as of today there are no links with the fragmented insurgency groups in the troubled provinces of Pattani, Narathiwat, and Yala. This is fundamentally a separate and little acknowledged problem.

Funding, and in particular the lack of grants and donations coming into these schools is causing immense hardships. Islamic schools in Southern Thailand are neglected, and this is of particular concern when education is a major contributor to the capacity of any community to improve general wellbeing. With international agencies unaware or ignoring the problem, the gap in assistance has meant that schools are open to any potential benefactors who are willing to assist. One group that has moved into this vacuum is the Pakistan based Taliban, now funding a number of schools around the Southern provinces, where the funds are gratefully accepted.

From a geopolitical perspective there doesn't appear to be any link between these donations and any militant philosophy on the part of the schools. However, this issue shows up the problems that the US "war on terror" should be dealing with around the world, but is failing to recognize, let alone act upon. The war on terror can only be won through assisting in the education and development of Muslim communities around the world and not by drone warfare which is apparently the method of choice by the US administration today. What is happening in Southern Thailand shows a need for policy re-evaluation.

There are large numbers of Southern Thai Muslims who would prefer a religious based education and this is a basic human right. However it is also important that the best possible well-rounded education is provided if Southern Thai Muslim youth are to be empowered to become citizens contributing to the communities they belong to. This is not calling for them to adopt the same growth paradigms other pursue, but rather seeing the need to empower today's youth to participate in economic, social, and spiritual development the Islamic way. Development agencies must see this need before the potential problems outlined above fester into realities that will be much more complex to repair in the future.

The Taliban now understand that the battle for "hearts and minds" is an important facet of their international strategy. They have opened up philanthropy as a new front in the "war on terror".

Is there anybody out there willing and able to compete?

26.02.2013

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Who makes public policy in Malaysia?

Murray Hunter

When Malaysia faced the Asian economic crisis back in 1997, the then Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamed called on his old friend Tun Daim Zainuddin to head the National Economic Action Council (NEAC) set up under the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) to find a solution through the National Economic Recovery Plan (NERP). On the advice of the NEAC, the Malaysian Government pegged the Ringgit at 3.8 to the US dollar, put in place a number of capital controls, and undertook a number of bailouts of large firms.

Putting the individuals and controversies aside, the actions taken at that time were counterintuitive to what every other country was doing, following IMF prescriptions.

The NEAC is an example of public policy making in Malaysia at a time of crisis. It was a top down process, formulated without any consultation, ending up favoring select groups, and triggered vigorous debate about the merits of the action taken.

Just as the Genting Casino complex can be seen overlooking over much of Kuala Lumpur symbolizing gambling, public policy in Malaysia is also top down and often a gamble.

The Malaysian Economy and the Policy Process

The Malaysian economy is uniquely organized. The government is business friendly, but not necessarily market friendly, utilizing many quotas, subsidies, concessions, and licensing mechanisms to regulate business, and the economy. The policy process very closely resembles a centrally controlled economy, where detailed 5 year plans spell out the current economic situation and outline in some detail the agenda for the next 5 to 10 years. Government owned businesses control many sectors like palm oil, and state economic development corporations actively pursue new business opportunities, sometimes competing with the private sector.

Federal ministries tightly control their jurisdictions. For example the Ministry of Agriculture selects potential new industries to support as national priorities, independent of market forces. The relatively new Ministry of Higher Education exercises a lot of discretion over higher institutes of learning in areas of Vice Chancellor selection, course approval, the setting of KPIs, and many other matters related to day to day operations. Consequently very little university autonomy actually exists.

At state level, government is more concerned with how to implement national policy, rather than formulating any regional policies of their own. Federalism in Malaysia is skewed towards tight central control where the Federal Government controls taxation and budget allocations, giving the prime minister great personal control, at least in the states that his government controls.

In addition each prime minister brings his own agenda into public policy; Wawasan or Vision 2020 under Premier Dr. Mahathir Mohammed, the corridor development approach under Premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, and Economic Transformation Program (ETP) under the current Premier Najib Razak.

There are in fact huge policy gaps in Malaysia today. For example, an electric motor cycle or car for that matter could not be registered to as a motor vehicle because there is currently no policy or regulations existing on this issue today. Green bio-fuels are very difficult to develop in Malaysia as hydrocarbon fuels are heavily subsidized, acting as a disincentive to new bio-fuel development. Islamic banking cannot be diversified into communities through Muslim Savings Cooperatives because policies don't yet exist. Very little policy exists in the public forum concerning Malaysia's entry into the ASEAN Economic Community scheduled for 2015.

With an impending election due within the next couple of months, one would expect this to be a time where future visions for Malaysia are extolled and explained by political party leaders to the people. But if one scans the media in Malaysia, news and comment is almost totally focused upon scandals, who has or doesn't have the right to use the word "Allah", Hudud laws, and who should have citizenship, etc. Emotional issues emerge without much informed discussion. Both sides of politics are campaigning hard, but without much, if any debate on public policy issues. At public meetings locally known as ceramah certain politicians are famous for what they say about their political adversaries and attract large crowds.

In parliament, the opposition tends to oppose government initiatives just because they are government initiatives rather than putting them under parliamentary scrutiny, like recent opposition to the Automated Enforcement System (AES) speed trap cameras.

Policy doesn't seem to be a major variable in Malaysian politics and if you go and ask supporters of both sides of politics what their party stands for, very few people will actually be able to tell you the specific policies of the parties they support. Malaysia's political parties as such are not known for being policy generating organizations.

Rather, Malaysia's political parties have developed sets of values, where the meaning in government is rather vague. Most often pragmatic considerations influence the implementation of policy, rather than principles and doctrines.

Malaysia is rich in political discussion, a favorite pass time in coffee shops and offices all around the country, but very light on policy. Most street side discussion focuses on personalities, scandals, corruption, and tactics. Most are interested in who will win the next election, but not overly concerned with what this will mean in terms of public policy.

The formation of public policy in Malaysia seems to be separated from the political process. Malaysian ministers are extremely busy dividing their time between party, constituency, parliamentary, and ceremonial duties. A large percentage of a minister's time is dedicated to meeting with people, something embedded into Malaysian culture. So the time for a minister to be actually engaged in doing ministerial work would be very limited. Most ministers with a few exceptions like Mustapa Mohamed, who is an experienced micro-managing technocrat, leave the running of their ministries to department heads.


The Increasing Power of the Prime Minister's Department

For years the Malaysian public service has been the chief policy maker through the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) within the Prime Minister's Department. The PM's department accumulates up to date information on Malaysian affairs and the economy to rival any ministry. The PM's department through the EPU dictates policy all around the country. It's a super-ministry centered in Putra Jaya with offices in each state of the country. Other ministries manage the details and fill in the gaps where the EPU doesn't outline any policy framework.

Through the rise of the Prime Minister's Department, the power of other ministries has gradually being curtailed and subordinated. This began under Premier Mahathir Mohammed and was continued under Premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, where the PM's department became almost infamous, perceived to be controlled by the back room boys led by his son in law Khairy Jamaluddin. This lead to many criticisms that policy was being formulated by faceless and unelected people, which was probably a contributing factor to Badawi's demise as Prime Minister not long after the 2008 election.


The Rise of Outside Consultancy

Another trend during the Badawi era was the increase in the use of outside consultants to make policy papers. All the corridor policy statements where formulated by consultants appointed by Government Linked Corporations (GLCs) selected by the government to oversee each corridor. Much of Malaysia's public policy generation is now in the hands of consultants from the private sector.

During the Najib Administration public policy has almost become the complete domain of consultants who undertake studies for the EPU, Corridor authorities, and the Economic Transformation Program (ETP). These consulting jobs are lucrative and many firms seek them out.

Although there is something positive about using outside consultants to break out of the "public service" mold and bring in fresh ideas for government, in practice many of these reports are undertaken by fresh graduate MBA types who rely on popular terms, clichés, and graphics to deliver ideas that may in some cases not be well thought out or practical.

Another problem with all these reports is that in most cases outcomes are forecast so far into the future, i.e., 15years in the Malaysian Biotechnology Policy, they lose their realism and become "wish-lists" that nobody is really responsible for achieving. This leaves many of these programs open to the criticism of being more public relations exercises and programs for "connected" businesses to get rich on. This weakens program integrity. A number of scandals involving ministers like the National Feedlot Centre over the last few years has undermined public confidence.

Very few of these consultants actually have direct experience or expertise in the areas they are developing reports about. For example, the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) Master plan developed a few years ago recommended mini paddy estates run by large companies that would rent farmers' land and employ farmers back as general laborers, something reeking of feudalism to many. Worse still, some reports look like "cut and paste" jobs, while others are "sub-contracted" out to ghost writers.

Of greatest concern is the growing culture of "political correctness" in Malaysian Government today. People are restricted from saying what needs to be said out of fear that someone may be offended. There are many stories around the corridors of Putra Jaya where figures are manipulated to show scenarios in particular ways just to look good. Consequently many reports become "feel good" papers designed to give a glow about the future.

Most development policy is now in the hands of a corporatized organization called the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu), also meaning "driver" in Bahasa Malaysia. The unit's head Idris Jala leads a dynamic group of technocrats who employ lots of consultants in the pursuit of transforming the economy and government.

What is also of concern today is so much public policy is actually now generated outside the parliamentary process and cannot be directly reviewed by parliament as it has been "sub-contracted" to corporations.

There is a risk here that public policy has become a commodity in government, and to some the policy is the end in itself. Kuala Lumpur and Putra Jaya are now towns full of consultants who rely on these studies for their income. These consultants personally lobby ministers, the EPU, and Pamandu officials for these lucrative contracts where little expertise matching, transparency or tendering procedures exist.

These reports are very rarely questioned in public and if they are, objections are ridden over in rough-shot manners and dismissive ways, as the technocrat/consultants don't see the need for public opinion. Most often the terms of reference or TOR as it's known in the industry don't include public input into the report process.

Public policy in Malaysia is top down and to a great extent made behind closed doors. Even the ruling parties have little practical input into these processes as policy comes out of the EPU and/or appointed consultants reports. The top Malaysian public servants and advisors are skilled in handling their ministers, who in most situations don't have the policy background to challenge and question what is put in front of them. Consequently most ministers act upon the advice of their public service advisors and reports presented to them.

In addition some ministries feel the need to make policy to justify their existence and performance. One such example is the Ministry of Higher Education, mentioned earlier in this article, where interference in the day to day operations of Malaysian universities may actually be counterproductive to the national objective of developing world class universities.


Good Governance depends Upon Sound Public Policy Processes

One of the key aspects of government effectiveness is the public policy process. Good public policy is the platform that good governance is built upon and this is an issue that has been almost totally ignored by those involved within the Malaysian political process.

Malaysian public policy needs to be built upon a shared vision, with input from all potential stakeholders, equitable, and transparent. An open process would negate the ability of sectional interest groups gaining benefits over others, a very much needed aspect in the process of public policy in Malaysia today.

Political parties too must put more effort into developing comprehensive policies so the people can give a mandate based on policy at election time. Policy substance is urgently needed in Malaysia. Otherwise public policy will be continually subject to political whims and "contamination" by outside parties.

The future prosperity of Malaysia will not be determined by who governs Malaysia but by how it is governed. Good governance should be based upon a transparent public policy process. It is time that the "top down" notion of public policy making be reviewed and changed to a more consultative process. Until proper evaluations and monitoring are made on proposed and existing public policies, these policies will be nothing more than a gamble, particularly with policies where the effects will not be felt in the community until years to come.

15.02.2013

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MENA Saga and Lady Gaga

(Same dilemma from the MENA)

Both are heavily supported and promoted by the social media, both are polarizing and fracturing any consensus. What is Lady Gaga (or similar sort of stage-acting à la Pussy Riot) for the human (guy) rights, these are the so-called Islamists for the Muslim world – strategic destructors, assertively trivializing important larger contents that are essential for any human advancement. Does being on the right side of Facebook mean automatically being on a right side of history?

Let’s get Sy(i)ria-ous: Where is the counter-narrative?

The MENA theatre is situated in one of the most fascinating locations of the world. It actually represents (along with the Balkans-Caucasus) the only existing land corridor that connects 3 continents. It also holds over a half of the world’s proven oil-gas reserves (56% – oil, 48% – gas). Further on, the Gulf OPEC states and Libya have –by far– the lowest costs of oil extraction thanks to the high crude ‘purity’ (measured by overall properties such as a state of aggregation, excavation gravity, viscosity, weight, degree of sulfuric and other contaminants) which is simplifying and cheapening the refinement process. These petrol-exporters also enjoy the close proximity to open warm seas for the low-cost, fast and convenient overseas shipments. (Hence, the costs per barrel of crude for Libya and the Persian Gulf states are under 5USD, for other OPEC members below 10UDS. This is in a sharp contrast to countries such as the US, Russia, Norway, Canada and many others that bear production costs of several tens of USD per barrel – according to the International Energy Agency /IEA/).

Therefore, it is an absolute imperative for the external/peripheral powers to dominate such a pivotal geo-economic and geopolitical theater by simply keeping its center soft (e.g. preventing any emancipation that might come through the indigenous socio-political modernization). This is the very same imperative that was a dominant rational of inner European and Asian machtpolitik for centuries.

No wonder that the competition in the MENA theatre, which has a lasting history of external domination or interference (and largely the Versailles, Anglo-French drawn borders), is severe, multiple, unpredictable. The region is predominantly populated by the Sunni (Arab) Muslims. With its high population density, and demographic growth stronger than economic one, this very young median population (on average 23–27 years old) is dominated by juvenile, mainly unemployed or underemployed, but socially mobilized and often angry males. Political radicalization (besides exploitation of the Shia–Sunni and of Muslim–Jewish antagonism) is surely one of the most convenient instruments of tacit control aimed at to preserve governing authorities weak, if not incapacitated.

It is of no surprise that in each and every of the predominantly Sunni-Muslim Balkans-MENA country of the secular republican type, where the external powers have brokered the political settlement, is enveloped in perpetuated instabilities, and thus paralyzed. So far, no single monarchy has been (significantly) affected. From Bosnia (nearly 20 years ago), then Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya (as well as in the post-‘Spring’ Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, all the way to ‘ungoverned’ Mali, South Sudan and Algeria’s south, up to the post-assassination revolt-torn Tunis), there is a purposely dysfunctional and indecisive central government put in place.

Conclusively, the most observers would agree that, while the so-called Arab Spring was of cross-Arab outreach, it was far from being pan-Arabic; more of a spontaneous social revolt (Al-Jazeera-connecting-pots) series of events, than any directional process. To channel something unexpectedly inflammatory and cross-Arab, but avoiding pan-Arabism as well as any sincere structural socio-economic reform and political emancipation can be achieved only by lightening the torch of Islamism. For one thing, as it now seems, the euphorically tam-tamed ‘Facebook revolutions’ across MENA were rather a strategic distraction ‘innocently’ dressed up in diverting banalities of social media networks. The very same role those networks well played elsewhere too.

Currently, the announced reductions of the American physical presence in Afghanistan, its limits in (nearly failed, nuclear, state of) Pakistan, massive overextensions suffered on the southwestern flank of the Euro-Asian continent as well as the recent US Army pullout from Iraq, is felt within the GCC (in France, Israel and Turkey too) as dangerous exposure to neighboring (increasingly anticipated as assertive) Iran, as well as Russia and China behind it. Right now, Syria pays a (proxy war) price for it: This multi-religious country may end up entirely combusted, creating a dangerous security vacuum in the heart of MENA. Or to use the words of frustration of the senior French diplomat who recently told me in Brussels: “we have to quickly delegitimize the legitimate Syrian government and topple al-Assad in order to convince Israel not to bomb Iran…”

As recently, the ‘Group of Friends of Syria’- induced recognition of the so-called Syrian opposition means also that Turkey is now practically at war with Syria. At this point, let me be both instructive and predictive: Fall of al-Assad would most certainly trigger dissolution of Syria. It would also lead to a formalized federalization of Iraq in a desperate move to prevent its total decomposition as well as to a serious crisis of Lebanese and Jordanian statehood, probably beyond reparation. The (short-run) winner should than seem to be Israel along with the GCC monarchies. However, in a long run (even the northern portions of Syria being occupied by the Turkish army for quite some time), it would be Kurds and Shias. Consequently, any proclamation of Kurdish state the Erdoğan government (as well as Iraq) would not survive – as it already created enough enemies at home and in its near abroad. Ergo, besides the dispersed, rarified and terrified MENA Christians, the (modernized) Sunnis are definitely the long-term losers.

Possible, yet not probably epilogue

However, while the cacophony of European contradictions works more on a self-elimination of the EU from the region, Turkey tries to reinsert itself. The so-called neo-Ottomanism of the current (Anatolian, eastern rural power-base) government steers the country right into the centre of grand bargaining for both Russia and for the US. To this emerging triangular constellation, PM Erdoğan wishes to appoint its own rhythm. Past the ‘Arab Spring’, neither will Russia effectively sustain its presence in the Middle East on a strict pan-Arabic secular, republican and anti-Islamic idea, nor will the US manage to politically and morally justify its backing off of the absolutistic monarchies energized by the backward, dismissive and oppressive Wahhabism. Ankara tries to sublime both effectively: enough of a secular republican modernity and of a traditional, tolerant and emancipating Islam, and to broadcast it as an attractive future model across the Middle East. Simply, Bosporus wakes itself up as an empiric proof that the Islam and modernity goes together. In fact, it is the last European nation that still has both demographic and economic growth. Moreover, Ataturk’s Republic is by large and by far the world’s most successful Muslim state: It was never resting its development on oil or other primary-commodity exports, but on a vibrant socio-economic sector and solid democratic institutions. This is heavily contesting, not only for Russia, but primarily for the insecure regime of the House of Saud (and other GCC autocracies), which rules by the direct royal decree over a country of recent past, oil-export dependent and fizzing presence and improbable future. No wonder that on the ideological battlefield, the two belligerent parties will be dominating the Middle East, which is currently in self-questioning past yet another round of hardships. The outcome will be significantly beyond the Arab world, and will reverberate all across the Sunni Muslim world. Ankara is attempting to justify that the Saudi-promoted Islam is actually a toxic, separatist/sectarian Wahhabistic ideology that self-constrains Muslims, and keeps them on a wrong side of history by hindering their socio-economic and political development. It does so by holding Muslims on a permanent collision course with the rest of the world, while Turkey-promoted Islam is not a weaponized ideology, but a Modus Vivendi, which permits progress and is acceptable for all (including the non-Muslims), with the centuries-long history of success.

Anis H. Bajrektarevic, Geopolitics of Energy Editorial Member
Chairperson for Intl. Law & Global Pol. Studies
Vienna, 14 FEB 2013
contact: anis@bajrektarevic.eu

This article is an excerpt from the key-note address: ‘Future of the EURO-MED and OSCE’ to be presented at the Crans Montana Forum, in March 2013 in Paris, France


15.02.2013

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Australia's National Security Paper: Did it amount to lost opportunities?

The policy you have when you don't have a policy

Murray Hunter

Australia's Prime Minister Julia Gillard delivered a statement about the country's national security policy to a carefully selected crowd of defense, public service, and academic personnel at the Australian National University late last month. The 58 page paper titled Strong and Secure: A Strategy for Australia's National Security supersedes the last one given by former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd back in 2008 and is considered a supplement to the White Paper, Australia in the Asian Century presented by Premier Gillard last October.

The paper outlines the country's assessment of priorities, risks, and capabilities.

The four major espoused objectives are; To protect and strengthen sovereignty; To ensure a safe ad resilient population; To secure the nation's assets, infrastructure and institutions; and To promote a favorable international environment.

Although no specific risk analysis was outlined in the paper, the seven identified key risk areas were; Espionage and foreign interference; Instability in developing and fragile states; Malicious cyber activity; Proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; Serious and organized crime; State based conflict or coercion affecting Australia's interests; and Terrorism and violent extremism.

The national security policy rests upon eight pillars; Countering terrorism, espionage and foreign interference; Deterring and defeating attacks on Australia and Australia's interests; Preserving Australia's border integrity; Preventing, detecting and disrupting serious and organized crime; Promoting a secure international environment conducive to advancing Australia's interests; Strengthening the resilience of Australia's people, assets, infrastructure and institutions; The Australian-US alliance; and, Understanding and being influential in the world, particularly the Asia-pacific.

What immediately becomes apparent is the reliance of the National Security Strategy on hard power options of border security, the Australian Defense Forces, and intelligence infrastructure, at the expense of an array of soft power options that could supplement, complement, and enhance Australia's policy pursuits. In addition, apart from Premier Gillard's announcement of the formation of a national cyber security centre by the end of 2013, there are few new commitments to new security infrastructure.

What immediately becomes apparent on reading the text of the paper is the naivety of the Canberra defense Tai-Pans in some of their security assessments. The authors have been looking too much at what the US is espousing and not at what the US is actually doing in the Asia-Pacific. Most tensions between the US and China seem to be smoothly dispersed and resolved through very subtle diplomacy, such as the deal done about the fate of Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng, who took refuge in the American Embassy last year. This is something that the paper does not seem to be sensitive to, and unwilling to make overt, something that is already happening covertly in the China-US relationship, probably at the cost to Australian interests while this diplomatic sensitivity is not acknowledged.

The paper still struggles to define a unique Australia-China relationship and is still unwilling to accept the new economic realities. Australia seems to be waiting for the incoming United States Secretaries of Defense and State to define the new relationship with China. Consequently, Australia still feels the need to work with the US for security in the region due to hesitancy to read the situation independently. Australia has still not come to terms with its largest trading partner, major investor, and rising military power China. The irony here is that most of Australia's business community has already done this, putting the Australian Government out of step with business opinion on the matter.

This may strategically put Australia at a disadvantage to countries like Indonesia which have embraced the doctrine of China and US co-existence in the Asia-Pacific region. There still appears to be a lingering anxiety of attachment to 20th century thinking and hesitancy in progressing into the 21st century with some sense of independence. From the ambiguity of the paper, Australia still appears to be locked into the US alliance dilemma and will no doubt come under much pressure from National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, Secretary of State John Kerry, and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel to toe the line in renewing their pledge of allegiance to US presence in the Pacific later this year.

Another misconception that Canberra has towards the Asian region is the belief in the architecture of regional groupings. Although there is some importance in strong regional groupings, these may take much more time to fully develop as many nations, especially those within the ASEAN region are in deep economic and political transitions.

To Canberra's credit, the paper emphasizes the importance of bilateral relationships with Indonesia, India, Japan, New Zealand, and the other ASEAN and regional nations. However, this is only imitating what the US is doing and it is difficult to see within the present Austro-centric paradigm that Australia views the region, what, if any special leverage Australia can develop over others seeking to engage the region. A lot of what happens here will hinge upon how well the US and European nations, as well as China and other East Asian Nations fare.

Australia's bilateral future with the Asian region could potentially be the a great strength, but the overall rhetoric of the paper still doesn't fully visualize this opportunity, especially with the large number of Australian expatriates that are now living in Asia, who collectively have a much better understanding than those in Canberra.

Another one of Australia's great assets that could be utilized in regional engagement is the diverse multicultural make-up of the country's population, which has been ignored. Multiculturalism in Australia is something very powerful which could be utilized in cultural engagement with the region.

One enormous gap in the paper is the absence of any mention about Islamic issues. There are both a number of threats and opportunities stemming from the Islamic world today. The influence of Islam spreads from Morocco down to our nearest neighbor Indonesia, and the spread of Islamic jihad doctrines has potential effects on events in Russia, China, and even Indonesia. The aspiration of various Muslim communities, the growing influence of Islam on politics in the region, and the implications are very important.

On the opportunity side, this rise in Islam will become a very important economic grouping which is ignored by the paper. Growing Muslim affluence will have very major effects upon supply chains, of which the Asian region is preparing for. Australia has already encountered supply chain issues with Indonesia over the export of live animals. It is interesting that this has been left out, as the protection of supply chains is one of the major strategies of the paper. Whether this was just a plain oversight or the matter was intentionally ignored is not known by the author, but these issues have grave influence upon many security related issues in the region. This is a major shortcoming of the paper.

On the positive side, Australia recognizes climate change, demographic change, increasing urbanization, cyber terrorism, organized crime, and corruption as security threats. But with the exception of cyber terrorism, little in the way of remedies are actually suggested.

There are two grounds to be suspicious of the documents as being a political instrument. Firstly, the paper was announced at a time of reduced government spending on defense in the quest to balance the national budget, which is politically important in this election year. This cut in Australian defense spending has already attracted back-room criticism in the State Department in Washington. However the narrative of balancing the budget has much more immediate political importance than national security narratives in Australia at present, barring any unforeseen episode arising later this year such as a natural disaster or terrorist attack. Certainly the paper doesn't outline to any great extent a wish list for better and improved security resources to achieve the paper's objectives.

Secondly, the paper seems to fit well within the Australian political agenda with the coming election, surprisingly announced in advance by Premier Gillard, in what could be a very difficult election for Labor to win. However the current opposition led by Tony Abbot doesn't appear to have any drastically different alternative view to the world that would warrant any changes in policy, should a Liberal coalition come to power.

It is unfortunate that the Australian-US alliance is still mentioned in such a prominent way throughout the paper, in fact forming one of the pillars of Australia's national security strategy. The comments within the paper about Australia's place in the world, show undertones of general insecurity and lack of confidence about Australia showing the way forward as a truly independent country. The narrative of Australia's national security transformation tends to be 'war on terror' obsessed and dwells on the initiatives of long gone past Australian Governments.

Ironically the paper highlights the role China played in keeping Australia out of recession during the 2008 financial crisis, yet goes little way in recognizing China as an opportunity for fruitful security engagement. Some paper recommendations seem to be cloning the US security decision making apparatus with the announcement of the appointment of a National Security Advisor.

The paper can also be seen as being almost totally utilitarian in its approach where the cultural aspects of Australian security and engagement with the region ignored. On the whole, the paper is narrow, relaying on military, border security, and formal groupings to achieve objectives. The appointment of an Ambassador to ASEAN has actually already been announced months ago in the Australia in the Asian Century paper.

What is most sad is that many soft power options have not been canvassed. Aid and trade are not seen as potential strategy pillars in the emerging national security environment. Trade and economic integration is fundamental to the China-US relationship which appears to be unrecognized in the paper. China utilizes aid as a major lever around the world in building up and cultivating relationships. This is also unrecognized in the paper.

It is credible that efforts will be stepped up in the anti-terrorism and espionage. But with no plans to upgrade the military in the immediate future, there is indeed a risk that Australia's military comparative advantage in the region will further decline vis-a-vis other middle powers in the region over the next few years.

Most ideas for engaging the Asian region are biased towards upper levels of government and regional groupings through diplomacy. Very few grassroots initiatives have been canvassed as possible strategies.

Consequently the paper appears very establishment, unrepresentative of the potential creativity Australia could have applied to national security and unleashed in the Asian region to its own benefit.

Did the national security paper amount to lost opportunities?

10.02.2013

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Are "B" Schools in Developing Countries infatuated with 'Western' Management ideas?

Murray Hunter

In the rapidly urbanizing developing regions of the world today upward career mobility requires a diploma, degree, and some form of post graduate qualifications to get promotions, particularly within the desirable publicly listed companies in the region. Upon closer scrutiny of what is taught at these "B" schools, a colonial hangover and psychological dependence on 'Western' ideas appears to still linger on. This is somewhat ironic in a region where most African, South Asian, and South-east Asian governments espouse their own national values and "ways of doing things".

Developng countries may stand independent politically, gone a long way in achieving economic independence, but today still trapped within the syndrome of intellectual colonization. As business schools steadfastly stick to occidental business curriculum, former “western colonial masters” still dominate their ex-colonies, this time intellectually.

Business, entrepreneurship, and management courses are the fastest growing areas in education. Along with ICT, these are the most popular areas within both the private and public higher education sectors. The relatively low overhead and operational cost per cohort is a financial windfall for colleges and universities. Business education has become the cash-cow of colleges and universities within the region.

What makes these courses financially lucrative is the relatively low cost of teaching resources for basic courses compared to other disciplines. Very little infrastructure aside from classrooms and lecture theatres are required. A great number of business schools develop curriculum around an array of “international” edition US sourced textbooks on offer by the major educational publishers, strongly competing for business.

Consequently the intelligentsia of many business schools has looked inwardly, focusing their concerns upon quantity and numbers. They are bureaucratic diploma factories based upon single textbook unit courses, orientated around exams that at best measure memory and retention rather than creativity and the potential of the student to be innovative. To cap it all off, these schools are burdened down with quality assurance processes at administrative and teaching levels. With the high time commitment needed to adhere to these processes, mediocrity is ensured through the rigidity these systems create.

The leaders and teaching staff of most business schools have a preference for the imported hype of management gurus who are popular in the media, even if these positivist instruments are not directly suited to the different contexts and varied business situations within the local environment. Perhaps it would not be exaggerated in saying that local academics educated in the “western” paradigm locally or abroad are mesmerized by international management gurus.

The great paradox of South-East Asian business and entrepreneurship education is that local higher education institutions espouse values within their respective cultural frameworks, but what is actually taught is distinctly “western”.

There has been little debate about the fit between “western” management thinking and the make-up and behavior of local corporations, entrepreneurs, and the general environment. As a consequence, the relevance of many theories has been accepted without question.

For example in the theory area, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is accepted into management curriculum where there may be many other more suitable theories and meta-theories that could be advanced. In the contextual area, the legal system, supply chain, where the emphasis on particular marketing tools should lie, interrelationships between people, which all could be described ‘as the way of doing things’, makes applying ‘western management theory’ challenging to say the least.

The preference for the ‘latest popular’ management knowledge often leads to misinterpretations, as very few management and entrepreneur instructors actually have much first hand business experience. Thus rigid interpretations of management still influence entrepreneurship courses. Many entrepreneurship courses advocate market research through focus groups, which are not suited to new to the world products in developing markets. Business plans are almost always at the central core of any curriculum where there is little evidence that planning leads to success in entrepreneurship.

Further business schools base much of the curriculum upon general misconceptions that both the media and imported textbooks that have evolved over the last 15 to 20 years have created. Entrepreneurship has been glorified by media stories, biographies of successful entrepreneurs, and events like ‘entrepreneurship week’, ‘business plan competitions’, and ‘entrepreneurship awards’. Course curriculum is shaped in the mold of the media made myths of hi-tech and high-growth entrepreneurs.

Business literature in the developing world is primarily US based which reflects the needs of a post industrial society rather than a developing economy. This is partly responsible for one of the biggest tragedies of entrepreneurship education in the region. Very little if any focus is given to various technologies that a potential entrepreneur will require in a new business. The acquisition of technology is one of the greatest difficulties SMEs in developing countries face and little is done within the education sphere to solve this problem. A graduating student may have acquired some general business skills but has little or no knowledge or access to the means to acquire the knowledge to develop a farm, a small engineering shop, a food manufacturing operation, or a cosmetic manufacturing operation. One can see that it is often the non-business schools that show innovation with their outreach programs while business schools fall into the trap of cashing in on their BBA, MBA, and now DBA programs.

Evolving business and entrepreneurship curriculum has followed the post industrial models with a number of errors and mistakes. Due to the developing nature of most developing economies, there should be an emphasis on agriculture and manufacturing. However ‘cut and paste’ curriculum from business schools in post industrial societies have largely dropped manufacturing from their curriculum due to the cohort interest in the services sector, where opportunities exist. This leads to a mismatch of what business schools offer and what business and entrepreneurship students need. As a result business and entrepreneurship graduates flood out into the market place without any technology skills, crowding the services sector which is not creating extra employment or real economic growth. Business and entrepreneurship graduate employability is a major issue facing developing economies today, with thousands of unemployed business graduates all across the developing world.

These two issues, technology and pedagogy require some deep thinking on the part of the intelligentsia of business schools. Content and delivery needs to be closely examined, experimented with, and utilized with close adaptation to the needs of cohorts. This is the challenge that requires a large investment in time and staff resources to create the curriculum and delivery methods necessary to meet the needs of the students and nation.

To compound the problem further, governments and local corporations have a preference for foreign advisors and consultants, shunning their own. There is a negative disposition toward ‘locals’. Foreign advisors and consultants are most often sort in the misconception that their advice will be superior to local advisors and consultants, even though foreigners may have little real understanding of local context. This doesn’t occur because of any vacuum in knowledge and wisdom of local academics. In fact many African, South and South-East Asian academics are very successful in other universities around the world. Some have written very sound academic dissertations and hypothesis but fail to get them published through the publishers that can bring them to mass popularity. Rather they sell a few hundred copies and can be found gathering dust on library shelves.

Part of this preference for foreign expertise is based on the belief that something imported is better, an old colonial hangover. However the cost of this hangover is holding back indigenous intellectual development and preserving the state of neo-colonialism at a time when the US and Europe are far from possessing a monopoly of new ideas.

For example, in the Asian region the irony is that ideas have more influence on ‘Western’ management thought than in Asian management thinking. The only probable exception is Confucianism which could cautiously be associated with the structure, process, and strategies of family owned Chinese businesses in Southeast Asia. Although Sun Tzu’s ‘The Art of War’ and Buddhist Dharma originated in the Asian region, it has primarily been ‘Western’ management thinkers who have applied the respective philosophies to management, at least in these contemporary times. Although the Islamic ‘Tawhid’ is 1500 years old, it is probably only now that it is being considered seriously as a management philosophy.

Business school deans tend to play the role of a patriarch rather than a chairman of the board, which often degrades into crude authoritarianism. Consequently major positions within the hierarchy tend to go to those are liked and favored, rather than those who have worked meritoriously, successfully, and are qualified for the job.

Consequently many business schools see personal power as the prize and Machiavellian behavior as the norm. Motivation among staff at the school will most probably be very low.

There is a drastic shortage of business and entrepreneurship lecturers within the region. Stringent criteria in the employment of lecturers eliminate the potential to employ mature, experienced practitioners or practademics. For example under the regulations of one aspiring university in Malaysia that portrays itself as the “Harvard of the East”, it would not be possible to employ people like Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and the late Steve Jobs, even as adjunct, due to issues of qualifications. Thus those that gain employment within the region’s colleges and universities have formal qualifications, usually without much, if any experience.

Inexperienced indigenous business and entrepreneurship academics consequently tend to lack the depth of knowledge about what they teach and rely on textbooks and popular management books as the basis of their teaching. This lack of depth of knowledge in many fields leads to a lack of confidence to develop curriculum outside the familiar textbooks they have available to them, thus inhibiting the ability to provide an education according to local needs. With this comes a reinforcement of an unconscious bias towards ‘western’ literature as local literature is still rare and far between and in many cases just a translation of existing foreign textbooks. Any original local material usually lacks peer acceptance due to the lack of ability of many to critically appraise it.

Many business schools have developed into a rut of pursuing quantity for the windfall incomes they can accumulate through popular products like the MBA. Foreign universities through setting up branches or strategic alliances are also cashing in on the rapid growth of business education in South-East Asia, further perpetuating the myth that foreign business theories are the first class product. They have adopted the classic post colonial market strategy of importing their product into a local market with minimum modification and exploiting the market to the maximum.

This rut manifests deep into the structure and processes of local colleges and universities. ISO quality accreditations and their logos are prominently displayed as symbols of quality, even though they have little or no relevance to the actual standard of the courses provided. ISO standards make no claims about product quality or relevance whatsoever and only mislead the public. The resources needed to implement these useless ISO standards are taken from potential academic development resources. This leaves a single textbook approach to courses, predominately delivered through formal lectures, rigid assessment and examination criteria and reliance on outdated curriculum development tools like Bloom’s taxonomy, when there have been many advances in pedagogy over the last few years; all in an unquestioning manner. The result of this is a sanitized teaching paradigm which doesn’t reflect the real business environment, leaving students ill-prepared for the outside world.

This ‘cut and paste’ culture without questioning and adaptation is holding back the development of business education in the region.

Of late, universities have realized the need for research to build esteem and gain a ranking. However this has been turned into a meaningless chase of KPI figures. Many new academic journals are cashing in on this unhealthy focus on SCOPUS indexing and now offer ‘pay for publishing’ arrangements, rather than the traditional ‘double blind peer review’ system. To date, most local research has tended to emulate other research, applying theory to local contexts, rather than developing indigenous hypotheses. This lack of originality is preventing the rise in international stature of local business academics and is the loss of a great opportunity to develop Asian based management knowledge.

Local academics have not asked whether “there is a distinctively Asian type of management based upon traditional philosophy?” Management theory has been something secular in Asia in contrast with the ‘west’ where it has been tainted with spiritualism. Asian academics have preferred to keep both issues in separate boxes. May be it is just from lack of confidence to think outside their trained discipline and merge new ideas into their existing knowledge.

The education gap between Africa, South, and South-East Asia, and Europe, Australia, and the US is going to be felt for a long time. Part of the problem is the inept ability and resistance to change. Part of the problem is the lack of skilled, experienced and knowledgeable people. However the rigidity of educational institutions is something that can be solved, through some visionary thinking.

There is also another problem. It is apparent that creativity is an important aspect of education, which is deeply lacking in Asian curriculum throughout the whole school system within most of the ASEAN region. In business and entrepreneurship creativity is vital in the areas of opportunity recognition and construction, strategy development and execution, marketing, new product development, and solving general problems related to entrepreneurship. Creativity, rather than intelligence appears to be a more critical factor in achieving success.

It could be argued that developing countries failure to develop their own contextually relevant theories and the corresponding positivist practices, where instead culturally unsuited practices are utilized, is a missed opportunity to develop new forms of new dynamic capabilities and competitive advantage within the region. This is the challenge to management academics and practitioners in the developing wortld. It is the task of looking through the rich history, culture, society, stories, and philosophies of the region for the inspiration to develop and construct homegrown management ideas, rather than importing ideas developed in other parts of the world, which are suitable for those parts of the world.

Today there is an intense vacuum of original management thinkers in the developing world.

29.01.2013

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PUBLICATIONS:

      The desperate plight of Islamic education in Southern Thailand - Murray Hunte

      Who makes public policy in Malaysia? - Murray Hunter

      MENA Saga and Lady Gaga - (Same dilemma from the MENA) - Anis H. Bajrektarevic

      Australia's National Security Paper: Did it amount to lost opportunities? The policy you have when you don't have a policy - Murray Hunter

      Are "B" Schools in Developing Countries infatuated with 'Western' Management ideas? - Murray Hunter

      The Stages of Economic Development from an Opportunity Perspective: Rostow Extended - Murray Hunter

      Who Really Rules Australia?: A tragic tale of the Australian People - Murray Hunter

      Europe: Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, and Something Blue - Murray Hunter

      Back to the future: Australia's "Pacific Solution" reprise - Murray Hunter

      Hillary to Julia "You take India and I'll take Pakistan", while an ex-Aussie PM says "Enough is enough with the US" - Murray Hunter

      Entrepreneurship and economic growth? South-East Asian governments are developing policy on the misconception that entrepreneurship creates economic growth. - Murray Hunter

      FOCUSING ON MENACING MIDDLE EAST GEOPOLITICAL ENVIRONMENTS, ENDANGERING SECURITY AND STABILITY OF WESTERN BALKAN* - Brig Gen (Rtd) Dr. Muhammad Aslam Khan, Pakistan

      Australia "Do as I say, not as I do" - The ongoing RBA bribery scandal - Murray Hunter

      Australia in the "Asian Century" or is it Lost in Asia? - Murray Hunter

      Surprise, surprise: An Islam economy can be innovative - Murray Hunter

      Do Asian Management Paradigms Exist? A look at four theoretical frames - Murray Hunter

      What China wants in Asia: 1975 or 1908 ? – addendum - prof. dr. Anis Bajraktarević

      ASEAN Nations need indigenous innovation to transform their economies but are doing little about it. - Murray Hunter

      From Europe, to the US, Japan, and onto China: The evolution of the automobile - Murray Hunter

      Missed Opportunities for ASEAN if the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) fails to start up in 2015 - Murray Hunter

      Lessons from the Invention of the airplane and the Beginning of the Aviation Era - Murray Hunter

      Elite educators idolize the “ high flying entrepreneurs” while deluded about the realities of entrepreneurship for the masses: - Murray Hunter

      The Arrival of Petroleum, Rockefeller, and the Lessons He taught Us - Murray Hunter - University Malaysia Perlis

      Ethics, Sustainability and the New Realities - Murray Hunter

      The Dominance of “Western” Management Theories in South-East Asian Business Schools: The occidental colonization of the mind. - Murray Hunter

      How feudalism hinders community transformation and economic evolution: Isn’t equal opportunity a basic human right? - Murray Hunter

      On Some of the Misconceptions about Entrepreneurship - Murray Hunter

      Knowledge, Understanding and the God Paradigm - Murray Hunter

      Do Confucian Principled Businesses Exist in Asia? - Murray Hunter

      Samsara and the Organization - Murray Hunter

      Integrating the philosophy of Tawhid – an Islamic approach to organization. - Murray Hunter

      What’s with all the hype – a look at aspirational marketing - Murray Hunter

      Does Intrapreneurship exist in Asia? - Murray Hunter

      One Man, Multiple Inventions: The lessons and legacies of Thomas Edison - Murray Hunter

     People tend to start businesses for the wrong reasons - Murray Hunter

     How emotions influence, how we see the world? - Murray Hunter

     How we create new ideas - Murray Hunter

     Where do entrepreneurial opportunities come from? - Murray Hunter

     The five types of thinking we use - Murray Hunter

     Evaluating Entrepreneurial Opportunities: What’s wrong with SWOT? - Murray Hunter

     How motivation really works - Murray Hunter

     The Evolution of Business Strategy - Murray Hunter

     Not all opportunities are the same: A look at the four types of entrepreneurial opportunity - Murray Hunter

     Do we have a creative intelligence? - Murray Hunter

     Imagination may be more important than knowledge: The eight types of imagination we use - Murray Hunter

     The environment as a multi-dimensional system: Taking off your rose coloured glasses - Murray Hunter

     Generational Attitudes and Behaviour - Murray Hunter

     Groupthink may still be a hazard to your organization - Murray Hunter

     Perpetual Self conflict: Self awareness as a key to our ethical drive, personal mastery, and perception of entrepreneurial opportunities - Murray Hunter

     The Continuum of Psychotic Organisational Typologies - Murray Hunter

     There is no such person as an entrepreneur, just a person who acts entrepreneurially - Murray Hunter

     Go Home, Occupy Movement!!-(The McFB– Was Ist Das?) - prof. dr. Anis Bajrektarevic

     Diplomatie préventive - Aucun siècle Asiatique sans l’institution pan-Asiatique - prof. dr. Anis Bajrektarevic

     Democide Mass-Murder and the New World Order - Paul Adams

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