An Afternoon with Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah(4)

Khir Toyo? Can we ever forgive him for losing out the premier state of Selangor? He lost Selangor for us. That should be the main point to nail him. How can you want somebody who lost something precious to us, to now lead us?

TRH was emphatic on that. Any self respecting CEO who had lost the crown jewel in the company's portfolio would have offered to resign. Any self respecting Samurai would have offered to perform Seppuku.

I hope the delegates to the Pemuda Assembly read this. For all his stage-managed triumphant performance at the debate between the 3 contenders, Khir will never be able to erase the ignominy of losing out Selangor. And he had the gall of attributing that loss to lack of support from the federal government. And he aggravated our disappointment when he attributed the loss to being not nationalistic and religious enough.

Is Khir Toyo forgetful of the fact that Selangor is the most cosmopolitan of states in Malaysia? He seems to forget that he is MB of a state where there is a sizeable population of independent minded and educated non Malays. He is not addressing the Utusan Malaysia crowd per se mind you. There are the Malaysiakini and Malaysia Today crowds, those Star and Straits Times crowd and so forth. It is the person like Khir that pulls UMNO into the whirlpool of racism.

UMNO was never a racist party. Stresses TRH. Yes, it looks after Malay interests but it was never a racist party. The party that Tunku Abdul Rahman fought for, the party Tun Razak struggled for was a party that was mindful of Malay interests. But it fought for these interests with dignity, respect for others, tolerant of others' interests and stayed the course with the rule of law.

UMNO is teetering on the brink of moribund nationalism and descending into an abyss of pure brinkmanship. Surely when Khir Toyo placed blame to the federal government for being not supportive enough and UMNO being not Malay and Islamic enough, these are just an outpouring of brinkmanship.

So, ignore his comely camaraderie, back slapping and newly found sportsmanship of exchanging lewd and bawdy jokes with the delegates. The objective remains, to find the right and better leader for UMNO youth.

The UMNO youth leader of the now and future should be one who has the mental presence and wherewithal to adopt an inclusive political approach.

Tengku, I said, UMNO appears to have alienated the younger generation. Ask any young voter who they wish to vote, probably 8 out of 10 will vote for the opposition.

Yes indeed said TRH. You pun tahu- during elections. Tengok saluran 2 dan 3. Mana ada nak pergi undi BN?

The pemuda leadership has failed miserably to attract the youth of today.

There was a sad tone in TRH when he said that. TRH placed the blame principally on Hishamudin Hussein.

John Pang who was also sitting in the session knew that I would come to the issue of Khairy Jamaluddin.

YM Tengku, Dato Ariff is currently embroiled in a polemic with other bloggers on the issue of KJ. He has put interesting arguments to which non Malay UMNO watchers such as myself and liberal minded Malays are warming up to.

A nice intermission I thought. Tengku I said, I am supporting KJ not because of KJ simpliciter. For your information I have never met the young man nor do I know him. I am supporting for what he represents. And what he represents, whether KJ knows this or not, is a symbol for opportunities for anybody who comes after KJ- my children, the children of anybody out there who wants to participate in UMNO. KJ represents a symbol that anyone can free himself or herself from the tyranny of being judged on account of your genealogy, blood ties, or on account of the post you held before. KJ represents hope for the unnamed masses, the digits that make up the majority of UMNO members.

That is the principal reason why I have endured the virulent and trenchant criticisms that have found their way into my blog. And I have not censored them.

TRH gave a thoughtful reply.

Indeed among the 3 candidates, KJ is the more suitable candidate. He is smart and during these times, we need smart leadership. I am saddened by the observation that the overall intelligence of our leadership is regressing.

I noted the diplomatic reply of TRH. He was willing to go as far as KJ being the more suitable under the circumstances. Not the best, but the more suitable.

The only chink in Khairy's armour at the moment is Khairy's arrogance. Perhaps that is due to education abroad where one immerses oneself in the surrounding culture. And one aspect of the culture of the west is one learns that one gets ahead by being audacious, outspoken, projecting oneself as overtly confident to the point of superciliousness. What KJ has to do is to de-westernise himself and infuse more Malayness within him.

I thought that was fair comment from TRH.

That is the general problem with UMNO. It ceases to be Malay. A Malay is not disrespectful of elders, of others. A Malay doesn't compromise on corruption.

What do you have out there? You have a giant Ponzi scheme- where leaders outbid each other to secure votes from delegates. How do you resolve conflicts in situations where everyone has the money to buy vote? asked TRH.

In that situation, conflicts will be resolved by violence. People shoot each other for dominance and for imposing their interests.

That is a very disturbing prognosis indeed coming from the sanest voice in the land.