Chit-chat on Article 153

From a conversation analysing Article 153:

UPDATED (unscribbling the scribbles - and adding a link to a comment I made on this last month):

Apologies for scribbling - still in bed atm.

- The bumiputera policies we see as implementations of the constitution, are mainly mahathirist policies.

- M's own political journey, from banned book writer, to sitting PM while being writer of a banned book, to turning the book into thirty years of bad* policy (mea culpa, i judge, but this is all debatable) is quite amusing.

- As you say, there is a clear difference between the letter of a law (constitution) and the policy implementations of that law by the executive branch of government (what the public thinks of as "the law").

- - Here is another example: the federal government is given the right but not the obligation to remove Malaysian citizenship from Malaysian citizens who behave like citizens of other countries (dual-citizens, etc.). That is in law; but it an implementation of that law, by the executives under M, that has enacted a policy of almost always removing the Malaysian citizenship from such citizens. Over decades of this particular implementation, many have come to think that the law obliges the government to ban double citizenships; the law does not do this - M did this (to the best of my knowledge).

- M for all his strengths, sadly, enjoys shooting from the hip when it comes to strategy; he intuits vaguely, and executes meticulously. This gave us the 1970s-2000s. (Unless, I am mistaken from my unprivileged point of observation.) Then in the 2000s-2010s, his brethren fucked that up even further (there were a few straightenings out, but the fuck-ups were more numerous, as we can all see).

- And now M is back. He has changed views, and updated his rhetoric on believing in a new and differently managed Malaysia. However, his political constituents have vested interests and cultures, and are not clambering over themselves to turn Malaysia's bigoted policies around.

- One of my key hopes these days is that M will have time to write a new book before he expires; lest we have to remember him by his first one forever.

- Also i hope he gets a better editor.

- previous thoughts: https://www.facebook.com/jerngatwork/posts/1082096415304398