Dear all,

Wishing all, “A Prosperous and Happy CNY of Metal Rat, GONG XI FA CAI”

Below another comment I posted at Tun Mahathir's blog:

Dear PM Tun Dr. Mahathir,

Please allow me to address some of Tun’s blog commentator’s misconception about Communism which painted Communist Party of China (CPC) in bad light as super villain and Uncle Sam free capitalism Captain America as superhero.

“From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs” the utopian of Marxist Communism perfect classless society in which all property/land/asset/natural resources/capital is publicly/state owned and each citizen works and is paid according to their abilities and needs. As oppose to capitalism “selfishness and greed is good” where market set price for the sole purpose of profit and those with capital and resource (capitalist/landlord) will become super-rich and those without (working class/landless peasant) become super-poor.

https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2020/01/14/pm-unbridled-capitalism-could-fuel-appetite-for-communism/1827841

Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said growing income inequality between the rich and poor, particularly along urban and rural lines, could lead to class conflict and the re-emergence of communist and socialist ideologies.

“One of the reasons for communism and socialism was because the capitalist were making a lot of money. The workers were not making much money so there was a confrontation. 

Communism and socialism remain stigmatised in Malaysia due to the Malayan Emergency and ensuing Communist Insurgency. The conflict officially ended with the 1989 Hat Yai Peace Accord but Malaysian police routinely investigate individuals and events that are linked to communism.

Let’s look into how Communist Party of China comes to rule China and China economic model.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_China

The government of China officially espouses state atheism, though Chinese civilization has historically long been a cradle and host to a variety of the most enduring religio-philosophical traditions of the world. Confucianism and Taoism , later joined by Buddhism, constitute the "three teachings" that have shaped Chinese culture.

The emperors of China claimed the Mandate of Heaven and participated in Chinese religious practices. In the early 20th century, reform-minded officials and intellectuals attacked all religions as "superstitious", and since 1949, China has been governed by the Communist Party of China, an atheist institution that prohibits party members from practicing religion while in office.

The government formally recognizes five religions: Buddhism, Taoism, Catholicism, Protestanism, and Islam . In the early twenty-first century there has been increasing official recognition of Confucianism and Chinese folk religion as part of China's cultural inheritance.

The Mandate of Heaven is a Chinese political and religious doctrine used since ancient times to justify the rule of the King or Emperor of China. According to this belief, Heaven — which embodies the natural order and will of the universe bestows the mandate on a just ruler of China. If a ruler was overthrown, this was interpreted as an indication that the ruler was unworthy, and had lost the mandate. It was also a common belief that natural disasters such as famine and flood were divine retributions bearing signs of Heaven's displeasure with the ruler, so there would often be revolts following major disasters as the people saw these calamities as signs that the Mandate of Heaven had been withdrawn.

Communist party of China is very mindful of this Mandate of Heaven (Just ruler: Ruler or Government who wins the hearts and minds of people will earn Mandate of Heaven to rule China)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Civil_War

Qing dynasty comes to an end in 1911 by people uprising lead by Dr Sun Yat Sen. What follow is period of instability; the Beiyang Government, warlords era, KMT-CPC  First United Front and KMT-CPC split and resulting Civil War fought between the Kuomintang (KMT)-led government of the Republic of China (ROC) and the Communist Party of China (CPC) lasting intermittently between 1927 and 1949 with in between second Sino-Japanese war 1937-1945. The Long March (October 1934 – October 1935) was a CPC military retreat from the brink of annihilation by KMT Chiang Kai-shek's troops in their stronghold in Jiangxi province. The Communists, under the eventual command of Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, escaped in a circling retreat to the west and north, which reportedly traversed over 9,000 kilometers (5600 miles) over 370 days. The route passed through some of the most difficult terrain of western China by traveling west, then north, to Shaanxi. From countryside CPC able to spread communism ideology against sharp inequalities in society (Landless poor peasant against landlord and poor working class against capitalist) and lead CPC to War of Liberation victory against corrupted KMT- led government of ROC.

On 1 October 1949, Mao Zedong proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic of China with its capital at Beijing. Chiang Kai-shek and approximately two million KMT Nationalist soldiers retreated from mainland China to the island of Taiwan in December. Taiwan ROC and PRC in mainland China both officially claiming to be the legitimate government of all China. No armistice or peace treaty was ever signed, and the debate continues as to whether the civil war has legally end. Is Taiwan unequivocally part of China, a renegade province waiting to be reunited with mainland China or a sovereign state?

Note: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Sino-Japanese_War. The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 1894 – 17 April 1895) end with Qing China defeat and the Treaty of Shimonoseki was signed on 17 April 1895. The Qing Empire recognized the total independence of Korea and ceded the Liaodong Peninsula, Taiwan and Penghu Islands to Japan "in perpetuity". In 1945, following the end of World War II, the nationalist government of the Republic of China (ROC), led by the Kuomintang (KMT), took control of Taiwan.

The People’s Republic of China is governed by the CPC top elite, elected by the CPC members but for the people of China. China economy system is basically Socialism with Chinese Characteristics. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing_Consensus

China’s economic strategy is creating free-market capitalism with an authoritarian one-party state that prioritizes political stability. The three broad guidelines for economic development are:

1. Commitment to market innovation and constant experimentation.
2. Sustainability of the economic system, an equitable distribution of wealth and poverty alleviation.
3. Policy of self-determination.

Basically China rapid economic advance is due to stability provided by CPC government and their commitment to market innovation and experimentation. People of China support the CPC government (Mandate of Heaven) because of sustainability of the economic system, an equitable distribution of wealth (some get rich or superrich first in order to help the poor) and poverty alleviation.

 http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-10/18/c_138480544.htm

Allowing market to play a bigger role in China's economy in the past few decades has led to a "dramatic development" that pulled hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, said World Bank President David Malpass on Thursday, which marks the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

Since its founding in 1949, the People's Republic of China has lifted more than 800 million people out of poverty, which represent over 70 percent of global poverty reduction. Beijing has also promised to wipe out extreme poverty by 2020, ten years earlier than the deadline set by the United Nations (UN) in its 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

Let’s be honest, the western democratic government is slowly turning into Government of the 1% business elite, by the 1% business elite, for the 1% business elite. A democratic government with unbridled capitalism free market-based approach economy (sometimes described as market fundamentalism or neoliberalism) has given rise to oligopolistic and monopolistic economy where the rich will get richer and poor become poorer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth_inequality_in_the_United_States#Wealth_and_income

In 2017, an Oxfam study found that eight rich people, six of them Americans, own as much combined wealth as half the human race.

A 2014 study by researchers at Princeton and Northwestern concludes that government policies reflect the desires of the wealthy, and that the vast majority of American citizens have "minuscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy … when a majority of citizens disagrees with economic elites and/or with organized interests, they generally lose. According to a June 2017 report by the Boston Consulting Group, around 70% of the nation's wealth will be in the hands of millionaires and billionaires by 2021.

https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2019/05/10/dr-mahathir-announces-new-economic-model-for-malaysia-to-achieve-shared-prosperity-by-2030/

In a special address on the first anniversary of ‘Malaysia Baharu’ which commemorates the country’s first change in government since its inception, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad announce a new economic model which advocates shared prosperity with the aim of providing a ‘decent standard of living for all Malaysians’ by 2030 across economic class, race and geographic location. The “shared prosperity 2030” will replace the Vision 2020 model which was used in the past decade but failed to accomplish its mission and is no longer achievable.

Tun’s  new economic Model “Shared Prosperity 2030” is achievable provided we Malaysians are prepared to adopt a new mindset starting with racial unity, needs base policy, shared responsibility, shared destiny and getting our education priority right. An education that empowered Malaysians with critical thinking and open minded and prepared Malaysians for knowledge based economy and IR 4.0/5.0. An education that fostering a united country, a society with a liberated spirit, a democratic society, a moral and ethical society, a liberal society, a scientific and progressive society, a caring society, an economically just society, and a prosperous society.

Thank you

Yours truly,

SS LEE