BREAK A LEG OR BREAK AN EGG

I read with incredulity the remarks made by Justice Ian Chin and reported in the local media last month that he and other judges were forced to attend ‘boot’ camps organised by the previous administration of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed to indoctrinate those attending that in all circumstances, the interests of the government must hold supreme.

I was one of the participants in a similar course organised at Kem Bina Negara from 27-30 July 1994.

I do not know by what stretch of the imagination he could describe such courses as “boot camps”. A boot camp usually refers to military recruit training which is the initial indoctrination and instruction given to new military personnel or a correctional facility.


These camps were organised to inculcate positive values in participants and to develop in them a love for the nation with a caring attitude for others.

To paraphrase a quote from former US President Calvin Coolidge, these camps were an attempt to create a new mindset among Malaysians to look out for ourselves by looking out for our country.

The four-day Kursus Perdana camp that I had the privilege of attending was organised by the Biro Tata Negara and held in Langkawi. My fellow participants and I had a wonderful and enlightening stay.

I was a journalist with a leading newspaper in Kuala Lumpur when I was offered this opportunity. ( I have since retired and am leading a sedate life, coincidentally spending most of my time in Langkawi ).

At first, I thought I was invited to cover the event, as I had often accompanied the Prime Minister on his visits at home and travels abroad, as a member of the Malaysian Press corps.

But after making enquiries about the objectives of the camp, I decided to attend .There was strictly no media coverage. Mine was the second such course to be organised and comprised only non-malays. The inaugural course was confined to malays which included cabinet ministers and senior officials from the public and private sectors. Similar gatherings were held from time to time based on the same module and apparently Justice Chin went in 1997.

There was no compulsion whatsoever to attend.

As I arrived at the camp, I was surprised to be in illustrious company. There were leading politicians including cabinet ministers, senior government officers, millionaire businessmen and professionals including two other journalists.

The first thing we learnt to do was to accept each other as equals. As we entered the camp, we left behind our positions in society, our worldly possessions, our occupations, and status and our ranks.

We also left behind our mobile phones. There was no TV and no newspapers. We had to collect our pillows and bed sheets and do our own beds in the dormitory where we slept on double-decker bunk beds. I could not help but chuckle when I saw Tan Sri Tan Pek Khing sweating beneath the fan and trying to fit the bed sheet. I jokingly told him to call up room service from his Delima hotel located a few kilometers away in Kuala Muda. In good humour, he replied he did not have his mobile phone to make the call!

After registration, each of us was given a raw egg.

For four days we were cut off from the outside world and were free to ponder what it meant to owe allegiance to our beloved nation and be a good citizen.

The dormitories had basic facilities. No air conditioning and no showers. There was a common large bathroom with a big tub from which we took water and bathed the communal way.

The women had their separate dormitory. We sang patriotic songs at the morning flag raising ceremony amid a palpable sense of belonging to one nation, and proud to be Malaysian.

We had a dress code: white short-sleeved shirts and dark coloured trousers, for men. There were simple games in the evening among participants who were divided into groups. We attended lectures and had our meals as members of a particular group.
Each group had a name and we named ours “kumpulan semut.” My semut group had the likes of the late Datuk Alex Lee, Tan Sri Raymond Navaratnam, and Datuk Leo Michael Toyad, to name a few

We all had to wash our plates and cups as did Dr Mahathir and the then Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

From the outset it was clear that our four days discourse was all about shaping a peaceful, prosperous, united and stable nation. The thrust was the Vision 2020 target of achieving developed nation status.

Back to the raw egg.

This egg symbolised our beloved nation. We had to care for it and have it with us at all times. If we broke the egg or failed to produce it when asked, then we would be given a brick to carry for the remaining duration of our stay.

The simple but important message was that all citizens must put nation above oneself.

Dr Mahathir spent two days with us and Anwar the remaining two.

We had a meaningful dialogues with the two leaders. They told us about government plans to achieve set targets. After each session, we had questions and were given ample opportunities to give our views. This was the essence of camp which wanted feedback from us on the various issues confronting the nation including racial unity.

This was no brain washing monologue but brainstorming dialogues.

At night, each group met in their dormitories for separate discussions for the important task of submitting nation building proposals and steps that needed to be taken to usher Vision 2020.

As I was a journalist, my group conveniently appointed me to prepare the written proposals to be submitted to secretariat. While they slept, I penned the proposals jointly agreed by the group members on the last night..

In fact, even sensitive questions were welcome . I remember vividly a question to Dr Mahathir from the floor from social activist Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye about the lopsided racial composition in the civil service.

Dr Mahathir replied: “If the private sector can guarantee that it can open its doors to more bumiputeras , then the government would have no problem in having even 50 per cent non Malays” .

There was also a complaint to Dr Mahathir about the difficulty and red tape faced by a foreign investor who wanted to set up a hi-tech venture. Dr Mahathir promised to look into the matter personally once he was back in the office. I was told later that he indeed did.

Anwar was also open to many questions. One of them was from State Executive Council member from Penang Madam Kee Phaik Chin who asked if there was anything wrong in non Muslims greeting Muslims with ‘Assalam Walaikum’(Peace be upon you). She said that at gatherings with her Muslim constituents she had on some occasions used the greeting but was told that being a non-Muslim she could not do so.

Anwar replied that it was okay for non-Muslims to use the greetings. According to him, the problem arose because of ignorance by some quarters.

On the final morning, we all trekked the adjacent hill and staggered down again. And then it was all over. For four days, we did not know what was happening around the nation and the world as newspapers were not provided. When the mobile phones were finally returned, the first calls were to the families and stock brokers to find out how market had fared.

I had no mobile phone. So I just lit up a cigarette as smoking had earlier been confined to a small area beneath a huge tree. Tan Sri Francis Yeo who was standing close by offered me his phone to call home.

And nobody broke an egg, except for one person. Displaying good sportsmanship, he gladly carried his brick for the rest of the stay!

As we said our goodbyes, we promised to keep in touch. Our parting words to each other were “go break a leg’, or Good Luck.