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Sakmongkol ak 47

ariff.sabri@gmail.com

Thursday 30 October 2008

Money Politics in UMNO

When sakmongkol wrote about money politics in UMNO( see The Power of The Loo), it invited a rather acrimonious comment from an anonymous fellow. Sakmongkol doesn’t understand what the writer wanted. That comment seems to suggest his objection to exposing this kind of thing.

The problem is, continued denials will make the gangrenous practice of money politics, palatable. Sakmongkol remembered how Lee Kuan Yew described political detention. It is, says LKY, like making love to the virgin, painful at first but pleasurable later on. Hmm, the thuggish LKY capable of saying that?

It is also like the Goebbelsian lie- the big lies, repeated continuously, becomes an accepted truth.

Why are we so worked up when owning up that money politics are endemic in UMNO? Yes, everyone pays and gets paid. Openly and in toilets. Sakmongkol got the idea of writing the piece on The Power of the Loo from his friend’s SmallTalk’s comments. The toilets in PWTC will be the waterLOO of many UMNO delegates, the operatives and the paymasters. Perhaps the person who posted the comment found it repulsive when Sakmomgkol says, the future leaders of UMNO and the country are determined in the loos of PWTC.

In the last two days, more prominent UMNO stalwarts have come out condemning money politics. The outspoken Rais Yatim has even sarcastically asked UMNO to operate an open tender system. The boss of the UMNO disciplinary committee- yes that administrative contraption that has power to dismiss and accommodate corruption politics appears to have capitulated. Tengku Ahmad Ritahudeen seemed to have given up all hopes for an UMNO redemption.

Almost everyone has made the Faustusian transaction selling his vote and the dignity of UMNO to the devil of money. But even the devil in Malaysia is different from the devil in Germany. In the original German legend, Faustus made a pact with the devil, in exchange for temporal knowledge. In the case of UMNO, delegates made a pact with the devil in exchange not for knowledge but money. It is diabolical the same because the transaction is done in the stinking toilets.

Elsewhere, It is also interesting to note of one noise coming from the periphery- that from Tajol Rosli . He said that UMNO elections must be held regularly and that can also reduce money politics. By having frequent elections, it is assumed that paymasters will gravely spread themselves thin dishing out money. There’s a simpler solution to encourage frequent contests and encouraged more people to contest- remove the quota system.

Sakmongkol would like to end this short essay, by reproducing some observation made by a frequent visitor to his blog- the professorish looking Walla. Oh yes---sakmongkol and mamasita have met up with this Walla with the 1st class mind in Chemistry!

The equilibrium of Umno politics is therefore tilted towards money politics. In fact, it has become entrenched. And if the economic situation becomes harsh because the country only has weak and indifferent leadership, then the craving for money politics increases. Since weak will become weaker, the situation will spiral downwards perpetually. Especially if the oil spigots run dry and the government which employs these leaders become poorer. Soon, if not even now.

And the expectation is because money politics leads to poor leadership which leads to corruption which leads to national inefficiencies and monetary losses which then fosters inbreeding by the expedient of a process called organizational suasion - "we are in this together". In this type of working environment, even one with steely character will be coerced to become just a silent witness, thereby increasing the pool of weak leadership and continuing the cycle - ad nauseum.

9 comments:

Anonymous,  30 October 2008 at 14:09  

I would like to quote the Kulim-Bandar Baru MP, the strength of UMNO is in the letter M which he defined as being Muslim. If UMNO members (most are Muslims) are true to their faith, money politics would not have become an issue in the first place. I find that the Malays are a very confused lot, they are not sure whether to be a Muslim first or a Malay first. Without Islam, the Malays would not have any day to celebrate unless someone cook up a Tahun Baru Melayu :)

Lawyer Kampung 30 October 2008 at 14:15  

Congrats Dato' Sak & Datin Mamasita ;-) http://dongtalk.blogspot.com/2008/10/cakap-gagap-fikir-pun-gagap-part-2.html

Anonymous,  30 October 2008 at 14:50  

Tahniah!
Bila dapat surat pengurniaan darjah dan bintang Pahang, embargo nya sehingga 24hb Okt sahaja. Selepas 24hb Okt, darjah & bintang itu boleh digunakan walaupun belum ada istiadat pergurniaan oleh KDYMM Sultan.
Tahniah Dato' & Datin

Ikhlas dari
Dato' Shamsuddin Haji Nawawi

Anonymous,  30 October 2008 at 15:01  

Tahniah! wonderful news! i am going to make another cup of ali cafe and make a fullsome toast to one of the most marvellous and intelligent couples i have ever met! The light of hope for this nation shines but only because we have people like sakmongkol and mamasita as examples of the finest of all malaysians.

Salams, Dato' and Datin.

Anonymous,  30 October 2008 at 15:56  

An empty stomach makes an active brain. Members are largely hungry during this time around but those vying for top positions are known to having fortunes fit for generations. Can we blame the poor candidates for accepting some expenses money on their journey to pwtc? in fact the government should be blamed for allowing few individuals to easily garner hundreds of million in just a short period of time. And these very same people are currently going for the top posts in umno.

Eh betul ker Sakmongkol sudah jadi datuk? kritikal mcm ni pun dapat anugerah? susah nak caya. ini suatu perubahan demokrasi yg baik. tahniah sultan pahang kerana menghargai perjuangan Sakmongkol demi kebenaran. Daulat Tuanku.

Gondol

Anonymous,  30 October 2008 at 18:19  

Sekalung tahniah atas pengurniaan darjah dan bintang Pahang. Syabas Dato' Ariff Sabri. I'm very happy for you.

Ariff Sabri 30 October 2008 at 19:00  

dear friends:
lawyer kampung, dato sam, walla, mr gondol and ismail n.
mamasita and i wish to thank you all for the best wishes. thank you all and may god bless you people.

Anonymous,  31 October 2008 at 00:30  

tok sak and tin m2, congratters!

this is wonderful news and i echo gondol in commending dymm baginda sultan pahang for recognizing the brilliant pearl that this anak pahang is.

acknowledement of worthy sons and daughters of the country has to be one of the beams of light that shine through the gloom that is our country right now.

felicitations again to you both from this delighted fan! :D

Ariff Sabri 31 October 2008 at 08:24  

mek yam,
you are too kind with your words. mamasita and i thank you and wish you well too.
Merci boucoup

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