KJ Again

What can we tell about KJ? Lets give him a fair hearing. Just like the good professor, we must find all the possible reasons to not fail his students. Lets treat KJ as our student. Let us hope in turn, he has the humility to accept criticisms.

He suffers from an image problem. This is the principal problem. Augmented negatively by association with jerks like Mat Rempit Azeez and Rizal Merican, the two choir boys.

Which means his PR boys are doing a lousy job. His PR boys are the same ones inhabiting the lofty spaces on the 4^th floor. They are brash, impetuous and impatient and view themselves as the chosen sages to lead this land -- often armed with nothing more than financial textbooks and back issues of The Economist.

KJ is seen as one who has gotten rich at warp speed through dubious means. We stress the term is seen here, because we are not practising a scorched earth tactic here; no one party is going beyond normalcy to dig up all the dirt.

The restraint thus far, allows KJ to defend himself by asking people to prove that he is very rich and can offer lorry loads of money. He may indeed be what he claimed but such claim is diluted yet again by another image problem. All those unbridled abuse of position and power, coupled with being too flamboyant in flaunting his wealth had made him an anathema in Pak Lah's own administration. Wasn’t he the one who said he has been able to achieve many things and got away with them because he has protection?

Plus the fact that KJ has around him all the sycophantic and myrmidons who will not risk offending the anointed one. The result of this subservient mentality, robs Khairy of voices that may offer truer and realistic picture of what’s happening on the ground. KJ must realise that apart from being clever, one needs wisdom. As a result he projects the image of a cocky upstart, brimming with overconfidence..

KJ may actually be surrounding himself with overrated Oxbridge mafia who have not proven themselves. Planning for development is not like regurgitating pet theories from textbooks or purveying ideas culled from back issues of the Economist.

We have yet to see the fruition of the many development ideas for Malaysia (purportedly thought of by the 4th floor boys) such as the so called economic corridors. Until we achieve success, the Oxbridge mafia are nothing more than paper tigers.

Which requires KJ to have the fortitude to rein in the youthful exuberance of the Oxbridge mafia. The experience recounted by one commentator on sakmongkol’s blog must be appreciated. The commentator, kijangmas, said:

I've crossed paths with several of the 4th Floor boys in my own professional endeavours. They are brash, impetuous and impatient and view themselves as the chosen sages to lead this land -- often armed with nothing more than financial textbooks and back issues of The Economist. One such kid, a hybrid, actually asked two Tan Sris and three Datuks to shut the f up during a high profile business mtg in the U.S. West Coast several yrs ago.

The most important redeeming quality which could prove likeable by the average UMNO Joes, is the perception that KJ can prevent dynasty politics from growing in UMNO. Najib is already filling in his father shoes with his cousin Hishamuddin following suit (Muhyidin is just warming the seat) and if not checked, Mukhriz will be the next PM after Hishamuddin.

Indeed, Sakmongkol can already envisage a cycle taking place, the issues of the 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th PM taking over from their fathers. Isn’t this a vicious cycle which serves to strengthen the inbreeding of the UMNO leadership?. Has UMNO no diversity? Perhaps, KJ wants to leverage on this angle?

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