The Rise of the Ringgit Democracy

Writing a little on the sports of Muay Thai, I made the following comparisons.

People fight and show their martial dexterity in the ring. The ring symbolises a permanent structure with limitations. If one fights, do it in the ring; subject yourself to the rules and regulations. You don’t fight outside the ring. You fight using the moves and techniques allowed by Muay Thai.

For politicians, the art of Muay Thai imparts important lessons. You fight your opponents in the ring. Don’t spill your fight into unsanctioned territory. You don’t defile fathers, father in laws, one’s private lives etc. you fight using sanctioned moves and legal techniques. You are not allowed to hurt your opponent when he is down.

Unfortunately, a comparison between Muay Thai and politics would place politics on the dark side. At least in the sports of Muay Thai, traditions are observed. Respect and reverence accorded to our teachers. Also to our opponents. We want to defeat our opponents yes, but never to humiliate them. We rein in our anger and viciousness by observing fight rules. We embrace each other after the fight to reinforce our promise, that the fight shall not continue outside the ring. That is why, the actual Muay Thai is preceded by the Wai Khru. As a keen fan of this sports, I have developed an equally keen foresight to predict which fighter can win by looking at the performance of the Wai Khru.

In the running contest for the ketua pemuda post, we have seen mudslinging from both sides. It is a more brutal fight than Muay Thai. As with Muay Thai, judging from the pre-fight political ‘wai khru’ I can also offer my views as to who shall win the fight.

KJ has been targeted with a lot of material discrediting his moral integrity. I have found this very distasteful. KJ’s cyber troopers too have committed various transgressions. The ones leaving the sourest after taste were the attacks on TDM. I find these most disagreeable.

I have given an opinion stating that UMNO started its downward descent when UMNO people started to defile Tun Mahathir. The notorious list included those personalities which the blogger Jebat Must Die stated in his most recent blog. By saying this, I am not at suggesting that TDM is the gold standard, the breach of which, results in dire consequences. Consider this:- The proclivity and anything -goes ruination is symptomatic of an ingrained culture that is unprincipled and visionless. When this kind of culture seeps in, it signals the start of decay. Those vile tirades originated from within the main UMNO body politic, which when not stopped, meant they are sanctioned by the permissive and glasnostic culture of UMNO. .

Cain kills Abel Politics

What does that mean? it means that the main UMNO body politic is beyond redemption. The top leadership permitted the political fratricide . It’s a Cain and Abel situation in UMNO. Because of that, reform in the main body is already too late. It is already festered by all kinds of pecuniary sclerosis which means every sober and sane senses have all been corrupted by Ringgit Democracy. You heard it right- Ringgit Democracy.

Implosion is already institutionalized within UMNO. The forces resisting change especially from the old guards are insurmountable. Those currently benefiting from the status quo would vigorously resist attempts at change. The promised gains from any change will remain just that, a promise, and only a potential until that change is successfully accomplished. The party elders are therefore a gone case, despite the assuages from the incoming PM. the whole senior corpus have too much vested interests to have the political will to change.

In the face of such forebodings, where can we get consolation and comfort? We look up to Pemuda to make up for the deficiency. Thus I say, we pin our hopes on the Pemuda.

We therefore invest much attention and focus to what is going on in Pemuda. We, politicians, bloggers and every public spirited person and even busybodies, inveigh our opinions on Pemuda hoping they will be duly influenced.

What makes the Pemuda race really interesting is not the identity of the main protagonists- MM is the son of the former PM, KT is a former MB and KJ the rank outsider who is assaulting the system. It is what they represent that makes the Pemuda Race interesting.

What do these protagonists represent? MM claims he is for change. He hasn’t spelt what those are clearly, except by broadsidedly saying they are achievable by changing the present leadership. Meaning, Pak Lah. We are not sure, the exit of Pak Lah will be able to bring in the changes that Mukhriz alluded to. I am sorry to be saying this- The preponderance of facts point to our observation that the much touted change talked about, is dangerously posturing towards becoming just a change in appearance. As to changes in substance, we have not seen them spelt out clearly. Victory for Mukhriz simply means a return to the old status quo. It will just mean a fortification of the old ways of doing things. Where will the impetus for change come from if this leadership scenario of Najib-Muhyidin-Hishamudin-Mukhriz bears out? . Will it be a back to business-as-usual ensemble?