Pekan Politics

My blogger friend DSN of smalltalk has given a very interesting piece on politicians in Pahang. These are living and breathing people we are talking about. True to form, DSN has given a very candid assessment, thus living up to his reputation as being always in a take-no-prisoners mode. Sometimes, I think he is the cerebral extension of the samseng kampong dusun of an MB-haha.( don’t be alarmed friends, among some of us, that kind of description is amusedly tolerated).

My first reaction when reading this post by DSN was- my, has he earned the damnation of people whom he has mentioned. But as many people who know DSN, they will take comfort, that he stands by what he has said, so typical of someone who, many many years ago, would sit casually and nonchalantly with his kampong buddies, in the middle of the road in Kampung Dong with a devil may care attitude to boot!. Imagine if a car or lorry would come speeding round the corner!

Now since I am from Pekan, I will comment on Pekan first.

Anyone going against Najib would be committing suicide. I myself have been very critical of Najib but that is the extent of my angst. I think he has treated me with bemused tolerance. I am lucky thus far. He is entrenched in Pekan with no threats at all.

The problem with Pekan beside having the constant number of opposition voters, will be the creation of sycophants unwilling and fearful of giving to DS Najib the facts. That was what happened in the 1999 elections. Najib in the end managed to come through just above his greying whiskers, errr.. moustache. When the results came filtering in, there were 2 persons in his house then, in Pekan. The others have abandoned ship.

All along, his people around him, the usual coterie of hangers on, lullaby singers, sycophants, minders and so one have been telling him, no problem Dato, everything is OK. Well, with 241 votes majority, he was nearly KOed by a would be instant political celebrity.

Which reminds me that maybe just maybe DS Najib will want to study the concept of bullet train management. Years ago, if I remember correctly, there was this article interviewing a top notch Japanese manager in Fortune Magazine. Asked how his company managed to register impressive results year after year, he replied- we appry (no spelling mistakes here), bullet( I prefer ‘ burret’, but that would sound like something else) train management concept. Elaborate please Ariff san.

In the old days, the conventional train’s movement and speed depends on the headcoach. The head fitted with one locomotive engine pulls/pushes the other carriages or train. The speed of the train, its velocity and movement, depends solely on the capacity of this one locomotive engine. Its speed was maybe 60-70km per hour. The present day bullet train can travel at speed between 200-400km per hour. A ride on the Shinkansen in Japan, especially when it passes through tunnels would leave you deaf temporarily. How can a bullet train attain such incredible speeds? Because each train is fitted with its own engine and each functions in unison with the head coach.

So if DS Najib who will become the PM for Malaysia and not Pekan or even Pahang, he needs to have engines fitted on each individual coaches. Otherwise, being the only engine fitted coach, he will succumb under the parasitic weight of so many people. Or if this one locomotive malfunctions or worse, breaks down, the whole train comes to a grinding halt.

Who in their devious mind would want to threaten Najib in Pekan? The deputy head is Dato Ishak Haji Muhamad- a play along chorus singer, devious and tricky but subservient to Najib. He may have his allegiance somewhere else but in Pekan, he knows which side of the bread is buttered. Perhaps he now entertains the idea of being the next MB of Pahang. Cerebral wise, he is a non entity, but as a politician, he has the 9 lives of the cat.

The other 3 ADUNs are just some ketua kampong upgrades. Dato Abu Bakar Harun is a Felda setller. I mean no disrespect to him when I say, at gatherings he would isolate himself avoiding engagement with inquisitive and searching minds. YB Ibrahim Awang Ismail and Yb Khairudin Mahmud were school teachers teaching in primary schools. Cikgu Ibrahim would now and then retreat to his kampong in Kampung Sawah Pekan to escape from the marauding peruntukan hunters in Pekan. Yb Khairudin has the face of a person who is shouldering all the troubles in the world.

The danger with Dato Najib is that he views his ADUNs as nothing more than robotic chairman of JKKKs. That’s no way to develop a nation. And finally, because he has not empowered his ADUN’s and because he mollycoddles the whole voter population, these poor ADUNs are usually boot -stomped and have to endure over-their heads direct to Najib treatment or mistreatment. The problem in Pekan, is the breakdown in the chain of command. The private have direct access to the general with dire consequences for the colonels.