Tenang can potentially be a rude awakening.
Who wins Tenang will depend on who can muster the support of the Malays in Tenang. There's about 7000 of them and 3000 are Felda settlers. The BN can more or less forget about getting Chinese votes. Most of the votes will go to the DAP. If DAP can secure 80% of the Chinese votes the PAS candidate stands a real fighting chance.
It's commendable that UMNO will try to shore up MCA, its traditional partner in the BN, by giving concessions to the beleaguered party. That will improve somewhat the tarred image of the MCA. But frankly speaking, MCA needs to get used to growing public perception , that it's just a token ornament in the BN. its influence is waning.
Chua Soi Lek must be delusory. Perhaps he is blind to the massive buildup of attendees to DAP's ceramahs in Tenang. And most of them are Chinese. Chinese voters are not exactly enamored by the charm offensive of the Chua father and son team.
Except that it can take comfort that UMNO's influence is also waning. I have pointed this out in several of my articles. UMNO is losing touch on younger voters and building disillusionment in more mature voters. This sad state of affairs does not come about because the founding principles of UMNO were inherently defective. It comes about because UMNO sowed its own seeds of destruction when it generally adopts a culture hostile to the emergence of people who can work selflessly in UMNO. As I said in an earlier article, UMNO now adopts the principle, can I trust this person rather than can this person work?
If UMNO loses this by election, it's due to its own stupidity (for want of a better word). I have long thought that allegiance and loyalty to its causes must be worked at, need to be cultivated continuously and assiduously. What do you see? UMNO people are behaving as though they are God's gift to Malaysia. They behave as though there's nothing worrisome and as though things are back to normal.
For UMNO things are NEVER getting back to normal, unless the UMNO leadership rids itself of this mentality that it can get things gratuitously without working for it. That negative NEP mentality that you think you get things as of right has sadly infected the UMNO body politic. The UMNO leadership thinks it can get Malay support as of right without having to prove credibility and without having to further prove you are worth others' support.
UMNO's vital internal organs are crumbling. The first thing that strikes me, is UMNO undergoing a draught or famine? With bountiful membership, we couldn't find a winnable candidate from those UMNO people who have slogged and slaved for umpteen years? Surely, this will raise disillusionment within the UMNO ranks. This will make being an UMNO member not a passport to becoming holders of public office.
As a person versed in UMNOthink, what do you think UMNO foot soldiers will do? They will likely go out of their way to disprove the top leadership. Lets thump their noses for belittling us. Already that is taking place. Support from within UMNO is slowing. Indeed just to prove their point, the UMNO locals may even be wishing for UMNO to lose if only to remind the UMNO leadership, it needs to play ball with UMNO locals.
That is a clear sign that bad culture has already permeated UMNO's structure to dangerous levels. The party is full of sycophants and ululating cheerleaders who are making UMNO into a party for blind flowers. It has none of that positive vibrancy that promotes internal competition so that the best come forward. Instead it practises the bully and stifling culture that only self-interested individuals work around the system, deter the more able and the less unscrupulous.
Let me state this bluntly. UMNO is feudal by nature. It doesn't have a system that nurtures talent. I am very sorry to say this- what DS Najib proclaims about nurturing talent isn't exactly practiced in UMNO. In UMNO you arrive at the pecking order as a result of accident of birth.
So what do you find? Suddenly you find, there's not enough talent of leadership up there. The feudal fixed deposit has dwindled. The lower reaches of UMNO are filled with less desirables. You can't get talented leadership from down there. So what do you do? You have to cast your net outside.
This is exactly what UMNO does in Tenang. It has selected a former PTD officer over the heads of the party faithfuls. That can yield disastrous results.
In the old days, PTD was known as the MCS. It represented the epitome of career achievement. The desire of many Malays then was to be a civil servant and eventually a District Officer (DO). Our MCS was styled essentially after the Indian Civil Service. Many of the people in these services went on to become political leaders.
The rationale for the choice among others, it's said that the candidate is an experienced government officer. He knows how to deal with government agencies and all that stuff. The PTD badge is the giveaway passport into the green lane of political office. Plus he has some traces of politics being a son of a former ADUN, served as ketua cawangan and treasurer. Nothing to shout about, but enough to have some semblance of political pedigree on his CV. Enough also for wizened and panicky party elders to choose him over party stalwarts.
Unfortunately, that would also suggest that among the UMNO hoi poloi, there isn't sufficient leadership material or potential winnable candidates. This will be looked as a slap in the face for UMNO Labis Division.
The fact that UMNO has to cast its net beyond its own turf suggests there is a dearth of talent within UMNO. Uncharacteristically UMNO is facing the problem faced by the opposition parties in the 2008 elections. There weren't sufficient number of credible people to take up the mantle. Hence the opposition parties took the step of grab and offer for contest.
I hope UMNO hasn't reached this draught in leadership material.
Knowing the UMNO mindset, this choice of candidate will certainly be met with silent protest. That would make the by election in Tenang not so tenang after all. Surely, the UMNO grassroots and foot soldiers will be asking- haven't we fought hard in previous battles? Haven't we earned at least some modicum of appreciation and acknowledgement? We were the ones who fought hard to ensure our candidates won. Most important, all previous candidates were one of us. This candidate isn't one of us. We have gone through the mill and have chosen to remain steadfast to our struggles. These points would certainly surface in the minds of the UMNO foot soldiers.
If UMNO from now on, casts its net outside the UMNO heartland to scour for candidates, to my mind, this raises a bigger issue. How can this strategy promote the big idea of the PM in wanting to usher in political transformation?
What do you need first of all? You need the talent to be change agents. My question is, can a candidate plucked out from our civil service be looked upon as change agents in Najib's quest for the holy grail of political transformation?
I may be convinced of the correctness of such a rationale, if the civil service is the cradle of super talented individuals and the standard of excellence of our civil service is the measure of competence. Unfortunately, the various measure of excellence imputed into such 'qualifications' are debatable. But it isn't about the quality of our civil service that we are now going to discuss.
I am apprehensive of the trends regarding UMNO. And here are my reasons for being nervous.
How does the public feel about UMNO and BN? To be more specific how does the Malay public feel about UMNO?
Some days ago, UMNO Setiawangsa convened a meeting. It is preparing a list of election speakers to campaign for the next parliamentary candidate. They are speculating that Zulhasnan will be replaced by the anak mami from Penang but now residing mostly in KL. Shahrizat's name is being mentioned as a possible replacement for Zulhasnan, because she stands no chance at all in Lembah Pantai.
How was the response to that meeting? It was lackluster said my source. I think I know the reasons said i. was there any mention of money? Allocations? None said my source. There you are. UMNO people I general respond in a Maslow like behavior. They respond favorably when there are financial incentives. Of course, that kind of response isn't a crime or inherently wrong. But is shows one thing. UMNO can lose because it depends mainly on mercenary-like behavior. Rome fell because it entrusted its defences to paid mercenaries. Mercenaries fight with dedication as long as they get paid.
Tuan,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with your article. The youngsters now a days are internet savvy and they can access a lot of information. The Pro BN and Pro PR bloggers exibit a lot of articles for them to analyse who is telling the truth and so forth. I am sure most of them are intelligent enough to rationalise issues. Hence they vote according to their logic.
Dato',
ReplyDeleteI can sense a feeling of apprehension on your part as to the chances of BN winning Tenang compared to what you espoused in one of your earlier articles about BN's chances. A neighbour who just came back from Tenang said PR has a fighting chance in Tenang which I was quite doubtful but now after reading your article I am beginning to believe him.
The practice in many UMNO branches and divisions is to thwart the rise of younger or new members in order to protect their own position. It is really important for them to keep to their position because it carries some form of largess in the form of contracts or outright payment. This is the main reason for the dearth of new credible leaders coming from the branch or Division. Compared to the olden days leaders had to sacrifice time and money to be in the position as an UMNO leader. Nowadays it is seen as a lucrative position as a way to riches.
Pak Tua
Dato'
ReplyDeleteNow that you mentioned it, how does UMNO choose it's candidate really? it's rather a mystery isn't it
What role does the cawangan members and bahagian members play in the selection.
It's quite hollow isn't it for aspiring youth and idealistic young profesionals just to join UMNO to fight a cause that UMNO no longer believes in at heart (they know..) or rather an UMNO that only fights to protect the status quo.
The opposition on the other hand fights for change. Now that reverberate well with the younger generation.
They may win in TENANG, but in the long run UMNO does not have a formula for sustainability (so too Malaysia for that matter).
During Mahathir's time candidates were usually dropped from helicopters against the wishes of local UMNO divisions and even protests or bus trips to Mahathir's office. Nothing worked yet the candidates won almost all the time.
ReplyDeleteThe reason fear and the lure of money or promise of positions (senatorships) in return for acceptance of his chosen candidate.
It doesn't work anymore.
In most UMNO divisions the same people are there for donkey years. There is no way a young man (unless he is related to the Chairman) of making into the division committee.
Its a well guaraded turn.
Chinese folks hates those who speaks with a double-forked tongue, i.e. snakes = "Chua" (in hokkien)!
ReplyDeleteI dont get you this time, Sak.
ReplyDeleteAre you in Tenang now?
What makes you pessimistic now on BN's chances of winning?
Your first posting painted a glowng picture of a sure win for BN.
Granted there's some internal grumblings, but can this translate to less votes for UMNO?
Awaiting your elaboration. Thanks
Dato',
ReplyDeleteThe BN candidate for Tenang was not from PTD service. He was formerly a Johore Civi Service which is under the state government while PTD is under the federal govt public service.
An organization is only as successful as it’s leader. They say: Show me a losing team and I’ll show you a weak leader, but show me a winning team and I’ll show you a great leader.
ReplyDeleteUMNO/BN requires pragmatic minds to thrive and succeed. I’m still amazed at the lack of focus by UMNO/BN top leadership and what truly astonishes me is the lack of urgency when it comes to removing poor performing or controversial leaders. Leadership has to be held lofty on a pedestal to a higher standard, especially when it comes to their character. Kook or hullabaloo people who lie or sacrifice others to cover their mistakes should be immediately removed.
UMNO/BN may have good intentions when instituting new plans or policies like NEP, ETP, etc... But something always seems to go wrong. Why? This is because most of the top and inner circle people are mercenary people with their own ideals and agendas. They are preoccupied with the look of the ETP, EPP, NKRA, etc.. reports instead of what's inside them. They dominate all conversations and monopolize meetings. Because they are from Oxford, Cambridge or The Ivy League they consider themselves the center of the universe. They rarely apologize for a mistake. They use a lot of possessive pronouns, like "my people" or "my team," and also throw big influential names. Such pompous overbearing people would promote those who hold them in high esteem or who feed them with so-so-what-you-call outside the box ideas. Believe me you, with people like this you can never transform Malays to be business or economic minded like the Chinese. Intelligent and talented people like them should be privatized and send them to Africa to develop the Sahara Desert.
You cannot shortcut wisdom. It comes with age. You must learn to crawl, walk before you run.
Last but not least I see UMNO/BN is portraying itself as a put up or shut up organization. Why bother to change, sooner or later you will be irrelevant.
Wow Dato,you post this article at 0543, I am impressed. Bet you will be off for your suboh prayers soon after! You know what? Your blog attracts people from the other side of the political divide, why? Because it represent the thinking of an UMNO man who just loves his party.Not the type of crash and bang of most BN blogs.
ReplyDeleteSince Tenang is part of the topic and PAS is involved, it is good to amplify and articulate further what Tok Guru Nik Aziz said about "misi pembebasan fikiran". There are multitude of ways to do this and each to his/her flavor.
ReplyDeleteBut more immediately censorship and freedom of expression and the press could have helped plenty in community education, not less in Tenang! And no thanks to Hishammuddin Hussein and Najib Razak!
Elements of feudalism prohibit these and UMNO is right smack in the middle of it.
Eventually you have to shake and rattle the Jabatan Agama Islam everywhere. But the pragmatic way is to win elections and do it by reforms!
My mom was a Wanita Umno leader for unteen years before she became a PKR leader (not at Wanita wing, but the main wing). She says, when she was in Umno, she never had to go to the ground to help kampong folks. There was a lot money to pay others to do this. But in PKR since '99 election, she had to slog and go to the ground, working with loyal disciplined volunteers and jihad-type selfless PAS comrades. They also provide strong social support. My mom is 69.
ReplyDeleteDato you hit the nail in when you talked about the ptd officers,a good example is the ss of selangor who can only manage what is the because in english.The once proud ptd officers have been replaced by kaki bodek n yes men that can't speak english properly.It shudders me to think when they are asked to mix with foreign diplomats n what these foreigners will think of us.
ReplyDeleteA: 'Honest and accurate assessment of the Umno situation by the blogger, Sir?'
ReplyDeleteB: 'Fair enough, Sofea. But there are a couple of things one can add.
Firstly, the question of service delivery versus trust is now a pivotal matter enlarged beyond a constituency with twelve thousand voters.
If you ask the rakyat which is more pivotal right now, those who know the national situation will say it is trust.
Their answer is based on the common perception of how the country has been governed under Umno so far. And you won't like their conclusion.
If we say Umno and Barisan are better than PAS and Pakatan in Tenang because former can shake hands although carrying a nervous stammer despite being ex-civil service, and latter is reticent to shake hands because of religious beliefs but has a softening halo around her, the rakyat will instead ask who can be trusted more.
You see, Sofea, the situation is now stacked more on the issue of trust. Who can the rakyat trust more not to take advantage of their vote in the long term?'
A: 'Obviously, Sir, if you ask me, it'll be 60 to 40 that the Umno candidate will deliver more and faster.'
B: 'That's not the issue, Sofea. You see, when we say it will be a given that the rakyat will vote for those who can do over those whom they can trust, what is actually meant is the rakyat should be voting for those whom they can (a) trust, (b)to do (c) the right things.
It's not just work versus trust but trust in discharging the right work in the right way.'
A: 'Sir, aren't your stretching it thin? After all, Tenang is just a small outpost requiring a minute amount of Umno's warchest to buy over two thirds of the voters. And the credentials of the Umno candidate will easily outmatch those of the PAS candidate. To me it's a foregone conclusion Umno will retain the seat with a bigger majority.'
B: 'But at what cost to the nation, Sofea?'
2
ReplyDeleteA: 'Sir, let's not be naive the voters there have any inkling of that cost.
If you are a wizened felda settler, would you vote for service delivery or for trust?
In this particular case, isn't the service delivery actually the trust you are lingering for? Furthermore, what does one expect of the farmer to know what is going on miles away that may change his own fortune or those of his offsprings down the road?
He will say so far so good so why rock the boat and show ingratitude?
The thing you are trying to argue here is about ethical national governance. Let me tell you that the voter on the ground and in the woods won't be able to connect that concept to what he faces everyday - the grind of trying to make a living. He doesn't know the concept of opportunity cost. He cannot connect cause and effect. He is living for the moment.
For instance, our felda settler is going to be worried about weather, fertilizer, land, labour and price of his produce. Even if he is inquisitive, he will easily overlook the excesses and abuses of power manifested so far, and say to each his own and let Him kautim the misdeeds in His Own Good Time. Meanwhile i mind the tanaman given to me and reap my fruits.
Sir, we can talk and talk, and the issues we raise may be the truths but they don't percolate down to the masses, whether these masses are in Tenang today or Port Kelang tomorrow.
So when you say it's about being more trusted to do the right thing, well i can tell you that's just utopian given the way things really are in this country.'
B: 'Then how did GE12 happen, Sofea?'
A: 'GE12 happened because some tunisian-shaped pressure valves blew up and Barisan, in particular Umno, was taken aback because their most basic and fundamental assumption about the voters was overturned.'
B: 'And what was that, Sofea?'
A: 'The assumption that since they had worked so hard to divide the politics by race, it was impossible for one race to vote for a party associated with another race.
Well, the voters did just that in GE12. In other words, Sir, the voters voted as Malaysians and not as malays or chinese or indians.
Imagine that, a coalition talking about the need for all to be more Malaysians getting to eat its own words when the voters actually took to that calling but with the result it exposes the hypocrisy of the coalition!'
3
ReplyDeleteB: 'So if what you say is true, it now appears the political landscape is moving from the analytical to the experimental to the aggregation phases.
After GE12, Barisan did some soul-searching and fleshed out what was wrong with it.
Three things came up quickly. Its MSM was neutralized by the alternative social media. The youths in the cities became brokers of mindset change in the rural areas. And there was internecine intra-party jealousies between candidates fielded and not fielded until internal sabotage took place, in many cases displayed by spoilt votes.
The next, experimental, stage involved amassing a sufficient warchest to curry favours and buy up voters. Over the web you could actually see for yourself some of the horse-trading going around. Needless to say, the federal institutions had looked the other way. It seems obesity is not just a rakyat disease.
What we can be cheesed off was Mahathir telling Badawi he was leaving him an Umno with a rm1 billion in reserves without explaining how that amount could have come about when the membership fees collection over the years was minimal.
And that court case of elections promotion materiel supplied but not paid for goes to show how intensive has been the desire to win at all costs including the cost of reputation foregone by not paying for goods taken.
Now with all the money we know dispensed so far over the past by-elections, how can anyone not ask what is the role of the betting and construction companies in shoring up the federal warchest? Because anyone in his right mind will have concluded that rm1 billion would have been long finished by now.
Sofea, do you know what all this is tantamount to? It is like shooting your enemy with his own ammunition. Try following the money trail that goes to sweetening each election. The money would have come from taxes paid by hardworking citizens and bets placed by betters, and higher priced homes paid by those who would not otherwise have to take such heavy mortgages. All paid by the rakyat, many not voting for Barisan.
And we want to talk about parliamentary democracy? Sofea, it's all a crummy syndicate.'
A: 'Then what about the third phase of aggregation, Sir?'
B: 'Bolstered by confidence carved from the first two phases, Barisan is now shaping up for the final aggregation phase. It wants to win at all costs. It is aiming to deliver a knockout punch and end the Opposition in all states. It wants to regain those states it has lost.
But what has it to show in terms of candidates?
It is understood that Badrul Hisham is now Umno. Didn't we see that guy busy taking photos from the gallery of the selangor state assembly in session? Imagine, someone like that gets admitted easily into Umno when no one can figure out what he has been doing when he was elected to Port Kelang. Can't you see how pedestrian the candidates are? Sofea, they're not half-past six. More like half-past thirteen.'
A: 'But he was admitted first on a Pakatan ticket, Sir.'
B: 'Granted, but we must understand they just had time to pull the nearest joker in when the tsunamic wave was heard a mile off. Perhaps that is the main issue with PKR today. It has the worst of Umno's riff-raffs for some in its ranks.'
A: 'Then are you hinting GE13 will be a bigger version of your prognosis for Tenang, Hulu Selangor, and so on?'
4
ReplyDeleteB: 'Sofea, let me answer your question candidly. The blogger said Tenang might harbour a potential rude awakening for Barisan. I am saying it will also be a potential rude awakening for PKR by dint of it being the spearhead of Pakatan.
Nevertheless, at stake is not this or that temporary self-syioking euphoria for either side. That' so like seeing a mosquito on a ball and missing the elephant in the room.'
A: 'Mosquito on a ....??'
B: 'Loose sarung and comatose MOH vector department, Sofea. You know, these days those damn mozzies are hybrid stinger missiles.
Anyway, where was i? Sofea, what is the elephant in our national room today?
One, the official report hinted that some rm28 Billion of our rakyats' money have been stolen under the cover of national procurements every year. Don't you therefore think ethical governance is the first and most important thing to do? So how does that contrast with the Umno rep candidate promising to dish out funds to repair roofs or clean longkangs in Tenang or wherever?
Two, the household debt is more than half the national income. If that isn't worrying, what is? We are now at a fresh uprising of another spike in consumer prices but without any potential over the horizon for a concomitant rise in wages so how will the rakyat survive? Through the ETP transformation todate unexplained of its financing? Macam mana, sayang?
Three, the capital flight has been rm889 Billion over the last nine years. That's one hundred billion ringgit a year. Our MSM have been trying to say investment outflow has been a cause. But one hundred billion ringgit a year? Where are those projects located and how are they yielding, care to answer?
And four, Roubini's report titled: “Still Not a Tiger: The Decline of Malaysia’s Electronics Sector" which concluded:
"At the sector’s height in 2000, E&E accounted for more than one-third of the country’s total value added in manufacturing, over 70% of revenue from manufacturing exports and almost 4% of world E&E exports.
Since then, Malaysia’s E&E sector has witnessed dramatic deceleration in productivity, stagnation in exports and deterioration in its global market share."
So, Sofea, answer me. You think this country has hope? Go ahead, take those four points and ask Umno what are its comments?
Do you know what's going to be the responese? It'll be like Mahathir finally realizing that there won't be enough translators for the journals in english that are required so that we can maintain our national-language education policy. He said that in an Umno assembly. What was the response? They laughed hysterically.
This country is going to the dogs because it has been run by half-past thirteen cretins. Why thirteen, you ask? Because twelve is too small a number to signify the crap that has been going on and on.'
5/5
ReplyDeleteA: 'So what would you want the rakyat to do, Sir?'
B: 'Who am i to want anything, Sofea? My number's up. My only hope is that you and your friends and later generations will still have a Malaysia which will survive the onslaught of stupidity in our present midst.
Sofea, it's like this. There's an old man. He has been prescribed the same medication year after year by an equally old specialist. One day, the old man suffered arrythmia and was icu-ed. The old specialist was at a loss to explain the cause, and called upon his charge, another specialist but younger and with five years experience to his dozens. The young specialist walked in, checked the signs and asked the old man's wife who was present to rush home and bring all his medicine. When she laid them on the table, the young specialist ruffled through them, and picked out the medicine issued by his mentor. He said, "that's the cause of your problem. You see, your body has such an overdose of it over the years it adjusted itself to reject the medicine. The process of rejection caused your heart to beat irregularly. Just stop this medication and you'll be alright." Two days later, he was discharged and now eating heartily.
Sofea, didn't someone say we can't solve a problem by banging on the wall with the same solution?
When Placido Domingo has to fly half way round the world to try and talk to the americans to send over their peace corps and to invest in biotech, isn't that telling you we have run out of ideas? When that solar panel plant which came up as a regular Miti-accepted investment project in Alor Gajah was used as proof of ETP's showcase success, isn't that telling you we have run out of projects? Heck, traveling to see my grassroots in Sg Udang, i was seeing that plant being built long before the special announcement so what's so special?
Do you remember Rafidah admitting that we had to pay Motorola to set up in this country, and later they were even given a princely RM400 million contract to supply some analog comms equipment which were later made defunct? You don't want to know about the others.
So, can't you now see why pissification should be the rakyat's new national pastime instead of jomhebohing around with our nineteen public holidays like a bunch of infantile screwed-up cretins?'
A: '(thinking quietly and hard). And here we are dissecting the fundamental significance of a handshake to determine who gets to decide on longkangs in a backward county for another twelve months...'
B: 'You said it, cupcake. As for me, i am going out to try and wrangle a mandarin orange from my neighbour. They said the fenghsui masters predicted we have fifty years of downslide.'
A: 'Why is that, Sir?'
B: 'The day federal moved to Putrajaya. Apparently that place has very bad fenghsui.'
UMNO's tainted candidate
ReplyDeletehttp://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2011/01/26/why-is-umno-fielding-a-tainted-candidate/
walla..paints a grim picture indeed.
ReplyDeleteBRAVO!
sg udang? paratrooping? lol
Interesting history, chanced upon while browsing for something else.
ReplyDeleteIn the early to mid 1800's, Thailand King Rama told James Brooke, the Rajah of Borneo, to take a hike when the pirate came for trade deals.
The general idea seems to point to heritage having impact on political developments subsisting on historical cultural values.
This sent me musing a bit.
With the shit in UMNO people's heads now what do you think Malaysia 5 decades down the road will be?
# Rama III-[simply.thai.com]
Don't worry, UMNO will still win the Tenang by-election. The only question is the majority of the victory.
ReplyDeleteLack of suitable leaders? C'mon. Its not just UMNO. Every party in Malaysia is facing this issue. PKR, DAP etc.
In Malaysia we have a lack of everything.
We lack enough qualified teachers. We lack qualified doctors and specialists. We lack qualified nurses. We lack enough policemen (so we make do with RELA). We lack enough scientists and engineers.
Heck we even lack enough workers in our oil palm plantations as Indonesian workers are being lured back to Indonesia by the booming oil palm industry back home.
Where are all the Malaysians? We are a country of (supposedly) 26 million souls. In contrast, Australia is only a country of 22 million souls. What happened?