Reset.....by Suflan Shamsuddin

The short break in Pangkor Laut allowed me to catch up on my reading.

Reset..by Suflan Shamsuddin is the fourth book published by ZI Publishers ( ZI by the way is Zaid Ibrahim). The company's first book was Zaid Ibrahim's own "In Good Faith" and their second and third books were written by Kassim Ahmad and Farish Noor respectively. Zaid told me that his plan for ZI Publications is to publish quality books that other publishers do not consider to publish!

Suflan is a lawyer by training and works for a multinational and is currently based in London. He also happens to be Zaid's brother-in-law.

Reset discusses the political situation the country is in today. Suflan worries about the political stalemate the country now faces and set about proposing a formula that may be tried to solve the current dilemma of race politics.

He reiterated the Social Contract upon which our forefathers have agreed to allow and give automatic citizenships to the immigrant communities in exchange for the special rights and positions of the Malays to be enshrined in the Constitution. Rather than continuing to argue about who is the son of the soil and who is the immigrant , Suflan introduces, as a concept, the 'Notion of Hospitality' which he believes is inherent in all Eastern cultures and can be used as a platform to bridge the communal gap we encounter in this country. Reading this chapter a few times, I cannot help but feel that this 'Notion of Hospitality' still carries a flavour which is not palatable to the younger generation of our society today. Unless I misunderstood it, the "Notion" still leaves a feeling that the Chinese and Indians are guests of this country! We are already into the third generation post-independence, and such a notion is increasingly unacceptble by our children.

That aside Suflan also wrote a few chapters on a proposal to reconstruct our political dynamics with the objectives of moving away from race-based politics towards a more inclusive politics that may help us avoid an unpleasant racial conflict. Suflan's book is a good start to more constructive discussion on our politics.

For another review of the book I recommend you to also read http://www.bakrimusa.blogspot.com/