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Sakmongkol ak 47

ariff.sabri@gmail.com

Thursday 12 May 2011

The current state of UMNO

Now, the Oracle of Syed Putera is the alter ego of Tun Daim Zainudin. I enjoy the privilege of meeting this character at least once a month. Usually our meeting lasts on average for one hour.
During these sessions I get to share some of the thoughts of Daim Zainudin as transmitted through his alter ego. Daim remains an elusive figure, lending his presence only occasionally.
It was probably one and half months ago, Utusan Malaysia published an interview they had with Tun Daim Zainudin. I was again privileged to read the hardcopy of the interview before publication. Again by courtesy of the Oracle.
The interview carried a series of questions and answers posed by Utusan Malaysia to TUn Daim Zainudin. Tun Daim Zainudin or TDZ as I refer him as, was a onetime Finance Minister of Malaysia. He served under the loved by many, Tun Dr Mahathir. I have often described Tun Mahathir as the man who can walk on water- and I used that description as a mark of amazement and admiration.
When I first read the scripted interview, I remarked to The Oracle, this is an endorsement to PM Najib. Coming from TDZ I said, it's worth more than the Malaysian stock market. That's how valuable the thoughts of TDZ are said I. that's real power

When we want to know what power is- it's when a diminutive 70 something young man in crumpled shirts wearing sandals speak eliciting awed and respectful response from people.
Everyone was laughing and many were even disparaging TDZ when he said 5 states were in jeopardy at the 2008 (12th) GE. Khir Toyo whom TDZ actually identified to be the Selangor MB, were among the many who said TDZ was out of touch, a pensioner, a has been and all other unpleasant epitaphs. When the results of the 12th GE came around, people quickly realized how prescient the diminutive TDZ was.
So, now when TDZ speaks, Malaysia pays attention. Probably if he sneezes, Malaysia catches a cold. It must be with great welcome relief to hear TDZ giving so many complimentary comments about PM Najib and his government.
This is a much welcome endorsement from TDZ I said to the Oracle.
Read carefully and more importantly, critically cautioned the Oracle. TDZ wanted me to pass to you so that you can read.
Yes said I, clearly, on an overall basis, this is endorsement.
Sure, said the Oracle, but TDZ can't be as openly critical as you are when speaking about a government of which he was a member once. He can't also be openly critical to Najib. Read between the lines.
Of course said I, this piece of interview is replete with conditions and preconditions. UMNO can win provided this. UMNO can win provided that. UMNO can win provided the UMNO president manages firmly and shows more robustness.
Yes, continued the Oracle. Winning is predicated by so many conditions. The machinery must be ready. The PM and DPM must go down to visit the Bahagians and listen to the UMNO members directly.
Don't trust the ketua bahagians. They tell only the good stories. Don't trust the intelligence sources completely. Don't listen to opinion polls by independent survey groups. You pay the piper; you determine the tune to play.

So when we read Najib's speech at the '65th 'birthday celebration of UMNO on the 11th May 2011, did we see the admonitions of TDZ being heeded? UMNO would have been 65 years old, if we assumed away, the formation of an UMNO Baru in 1988. In that year, the original UMNO was declared an unlawful party. The causes for its illegality will forever be debated. Otherwise, the UMNO we celebrated on the 11th May 2011 is a new UMNO with a different character and philosophical underpinnings.
We must not forget the description of UMNO (this UMNO, his UMNO) by Dr Mahathir as a party rotten to the core. By rotten to the core he must have meant it's a corrupt party. Corrupt from the top to the bottom. It's not I who am saying this- its Dr Mahathir. He said the party is corrupt from the top to the bottom in an off the cuff speech as a gathering cum luncheon of ex ministers.
In his speech at the celebration of UMNO's 65th anniversary, the UMNO president implored UMNO members to carry out bigger transformation in order to earn support from the rakyat.
But the UMNO president needs to be reminded that transformation must begin at the core- at the leadership circle. Get rid of the fakes. The faked Tengku for example whose roots I searched cannot be traced to any royal families in Pahang. How on earth did this Achenese who was a one-time carpet salesman who was married to a Pahang Royal Family member became a Tengku? If he can become one, everyone else can also become one.
But in a land where even a Chinese can be referred to as Tengku, perhaps, I cannot call this strange any longer.
Is UMNO split up into factions?
Then I remember, in the state the size of an ape's spread-eagled legs, there are at least 4 factions. UMNO Perlis for example is split up into camps belonging to Isa Sabu, Radzi Sheikh Ahmad, Shahidan Kassim and Azmy Khalid. UMNO cannot win.
The Oracle said that if Najib wants UMNO to win in Perlis where as many as 9 state seats are in danger, he must eliminate all these factions.
Then you have the infamous factions in Terengganu between Idris Jusoh and the pugilistic Mat Said.
In Selangor, when Noh Omar calls for a meeting, Mat Taib's people, Khir Toyo's faction, Zain Badak's group will not turn up. How to regain Selangor like this?
In the meantime Dr Mahathir has complimented the current MB of Kedah who is from PAS. The current UMNO Ketua Perhubungan is there because of his friendship with the UMNO president. The UMNO president was reluctant to appoint someone else fearing this chap will revolt. The original plan was to appoint MUkhriz Mahathir. But that appointment, if he had taken place wasn't premised on rational reasons but would have been done on the basis of an attempt to placate the man who can walk on Malaysian political waters.
So, I hope UMNO people will ponder over the ominous exhortations of its president.
"Kalau kita bersatu, tiada politik puak-puak dalam Umno, kita merupakan parti yang lebih kuat daripada parti-parti lain. Apakah semua (perjuangan) kita sudah selesai? Belum... kenapa masih ada cakap-cakap, masih ada lagi politik puak-puak, apa guna kita sambut ulang tahun 65 tahun kalau kita tidak bersatu?

17 comments:

dahserikngankeris 12 May 2011 at 08:36  

1.united malays nasional organization(100%)

2.unlikely morons needing oppression(35%)

3.understanding mockery negates oblivion(101%)

4.untuk membuktikan nahas oligopoly(5%)

5.utuh memerangi nafsu otak(25%)

6.underrated members nullifying operations(45%)

Anonymous,  12 May 2011 at 08:42  

Langkah2 yg sesuai utk atasi ini ialah:-
(1) Gunakan budi bicara untuk bersemuka, berdebat dan berdamai..
(2) Puaskan hati semua pihak dengan memberi peluang atau ruang untuk mendapat projek sama rata kerana kita tahu mereka ni semua gilakan kuasa dan pangkat utk sesuatu...
(3) Sekiranya cara di atas tidak berjaya...gunakan kekerasan, bertindak tegas dan sy percaya setiap mereka ada melakukan salah guna kuasa...

Quantum Metal Consultant 12 May 2011 at 09:15  

UMNO mungkin gagal dalam mana mana perjuangan atau peperangan kerana UMNO terlalu bergantung dan berharap sangat dengan Najib seorang.

Dia lah general, dialah tukang tiup trompet, dia lah yang pegang panji dan bendera, dia jugalah yang kawat, dia jugalah yang jadi tukang masaknya dan dia jugalah jadi doktornya - bila menyerang, serangannya tumpul, sudah kepenatan kerana beban tugas.

Berbanding dengan Perdana Perdana Menteri terdahulu, mereka mempunyai cukup tentera, cukup senjata dan cukup panglima di barisan hadapan.

Pilihanraya yang akan datang, mungkin buat pertama kalinya akan menyaksikan kemenangan bukan di atas dasar kekuatan sendiri tetapi di atas kelemahan besar pihak lawan.

Dalam hal ini, jika di ambil secara sendirian, DAP mendahului lain2 kerana kurangnya pergeseran dalaman dan cukup bersedia dari segi fizikal dan mental.

Anonymous,  12 May 2011 at 09:26  

Dato"

Mane nak selesai, asik nak gado aje..berebut harta kekayaan...itulah sebab PerJuangan UMNO Belum Selesai...

Ace deme balik pada Alif, Ba, Ta..dok usah sibuk berebut pangkat macam mule-mule kita Merdeka..nak cari calon pun susah, sebak ramai yang tolak jadi calon sebab takut terima Amanah..ini idak, deme berebut pangkat, bukanya Amanah...

Anonymous,  12 May 2011 at 09:53  

UMNO Baru is no more for the Malays. If to sustain personal interests, enrich the leaders and rob the national coffers.
The day UMNO loses power the members will flee the party like fleeing a sinking ship. Why would they cling on to a party that cannot sustain their greed.

It's time to prepare the tomb stone and write eulogies for UMNO.

Soonhock,  12 May 2011 at 11:41  

Dear Dato,When you quote TDZ as saying that Najib would again be PM after the elections,I couldn't more agree with you.Previously I have commented on your blog that the opposition cannot takeover putrajaya after GE13th.Najib is a sure bet.The rest of the crowd is the length of the stretch behind him,that is in horse racing terms.In his next new cabinet Najib better clean house and appoint young new faces.Many of his ministers are spent force and trouble makers who don't command any respect from the people.These people have overstayed their welcome and should be given the boot.If Najib wants to be a PM for the people,he has to show that he is tough and strong.He has to have good and professional loyal people around him.No two ways.His misinformed Information Minister should be the first to go.How about the Home Minister?The answer,please visit Lim Kit Siang's blog and read "ACT MEAN AND FAST AGAINST UTUSAN MALAYSIA".From there you guys' can figure out the answer.At present the opposition has no strong Malay leader to lead PR.Anwar is another spent force.Until the opposition comes up with a strong and credible leader they can only daydream about taking over putrajaya.

Anonymous,  12 May 2011 at 11:44  

Dato Sak,

Antara Ucapan NTR
""Kalau kita bersatu, tiada politik puak-puak dalam Umno, kita merupakan parti yang lebih kuat daripada parti-parti lain. Apakah semua (perjuangan) kita sudah selesai?..."

Tidak bersatu, berpuak-puak - bukan itu sahaja penyakit UMNO Baru. Banyak lagi, antaranya: angkuh, sombong, kaki rasuah, berjuang untuk kayakan diri dan kroni,tiada nilai moral yang positif, pengkhianat dalam memperjuangkan nasib bangsa & ugama...list goes on.

Itulah watak, jatidiri dan budaya UMNO Baru, lihatlah sejarah perjalanan UMNO Baru sejak ditubuhkan tahun 1988 dulu. kalau kita lihat permainan politik dalam sebulan dua ni, ianya menjadi lebih teruk/jijik lagi,hatta dengan ugama pun depa buat mainan politik.

UMNO Baru is meant to be as it is nowby its founder all along. Kalau dia mahu UMNO yang seperti Dato Sak bayangkan, dia tidak perlu mematikan UMNO lama dulu. Masih banyak lagi cara untuk menghadapi challange dari orang yang ingin menumpaskan beliau dari jawatan presiden.

Kata-kata TDM yang UMNO Baru corrupt from top-bottom - mempunyai makna yang lebih besar dari makna literinya. Ia meembawa makna kewujudan/existence UMNO baru itu sendiri.

Jika saranan NTR di ambil serious, maknanya kewujudan UMNO Baru sudah sampai kehujungnya. Dalam climate arah politik UMNO Baru sekarang dalam menghadapi PRU 13 ini - the best way ialah bubarkan sahaja UMNO Baru dan ahli-ahlinya boleh masuk PAS. Dalam PAS, nilai-nilai murni yang dibayangkan oleh NTR itu masih wujud.

bat8

OneMalaysian,  12 May 2011 at 12:10  

Dear Sakmongkol

“UMNO can win provided this. UMNO can win provided that. UMNO can win provided the UMNO president manages firmly and shows more robustness”.

It looks like there too many provisos. Like humans, political parties can also grow old, weak and senile. But people obligingly die and leave the space for younger, stronger and more able ones. Not so political parties. Even when their ideas no longer work, and every organ within is “rotten to the core”, it refuses to give up graciously, but displays very publicly its ugly death throes.

This country must move on from racial to non-racial politics if we are to have a bright future. We cannot unite this country if we do not truly embrace multiculturalism and multiracialism. This can no longer be a country of Malays first and every body else second. To continue with this ideology is to hobble our country with a racial system that is guaranteed to foster racial tensions and make national unity a goal beyond reach. Let’s change the political paradigm. If UMNO regards itself as the leading political party then let it lead by clearly rejecting racism. Open its door to other races. That’s the true test.

Who has the courage to make real, meaningful changes? Najib? No. He comes across as amicable, and willing to listen. Unfortunately it ends there. He has ideas – just look at his original idea of the NEM and 1Malaysia. But he is easily shaken and frightened, and is too eager to please - not very good qualities in a leader. The likes of Ibrahim Ali will send chills down his spine, and he will U-turn. He cannot or perhaps is unwilling to muzzle Utusan Malaysia when the paper was clearly tearing his 1Malaysia to bits, replacing it with 1Melayu, 1Bumi. And in all-important issues – Christianization of Malaysia for instance – he was too slow to react, and certainly not leading. A leader leads, not react. He does not wait to see which direction the wind is blowing before making important pronouncements on issues affecting the country. Does he need to wait until there is blood on the streets before he stops the racial provocations in the media?

Real change in UMNO might be a bridge too far. It is old. And it has a head that is weak. What this country really needs is a complete reordering of the political system – a true 2-party multiracial system that competes not on racial support, but on policies to better serve all Malaysians.

Quiet Despair,  12 May 2011 at 12:57  

Wow Sak I am impressed. Bestnya jadi confidante Sanusi Junid.
If Sanusi talks, it means Tun M and TDZ speaking lor.
I dah lama tak jumpa Uncle Sanusi. Send my best regards to him, okay bro.
Moral of the story listen to the old guards in UMNO. Heed their advice. Don't brush them off as dandruffs on your Saville Row suits.
That includes Ku Li and also Sak, the ex-ADUN. Words from the sage, the wise men.
And I think Najib being a filial son and a man who respects the elders are doing just that.
But are the members of UMNO listening?
It's not the DAP, Keadilan or PAS, UMNO needs to fear but the toxins in UMNO that needs to be flushed out.
Some are behaving like termites that are eating the core of the party.
Jealousy, rivalry, fighting for posts and bitterness for being dropped as MP/Adun are eating the party.
In Perlis for example, they still can't accept Mat Sabu.
Radzi Sheikh Ahmad, the clever lawyerpun is rooting for Azmi.
Reason: He's got a young, beatuful wife (Normala Samsuddin ex-TV3 personality). Oh my, is that a passport to be MB.
And Selangor there are many corporate men and captains of industy who can take over.
But the exes there will not allow it. Among themselves even there are mistrusts.
If Khalid and PKR still rules, it's not because the party is strong and well-loved, but because of the Selangor UMNO's selfishness.
And it's time to rid of Ku Nan.(Never mind that he got his Tengkuship after marriage to a Pahang/Terengganu princess. He divorced that wife but still clings to the royalty prefix)
UMNO should focus on hope not grievances.
Sak can, from now on , help UMNO by writing on the good and postive. You may have a good motive to fix the party but is looked upon as undermining UMNO.
That is why your blog has become a magnet for anti-UMNO people.
You don't see Keadilan bloggers doing that though their party and leader is shite.
UMNO must learn from the DAP and the Chinese.
We don't see the Chinese mocking the DAP leadership whom they worship like God.
Also DAP always present a perfect party front despite rumblings and in-fighting.

Anonymous,  12 May 2011 at 20:12  

Dato,

I like this part: "The faked Tengku for example whose roots I searched cannot be traced to any royal families in Pahang."

However, more stranger things have happened.

Even non-bumis can embraced Islam, practice and speak Malay; have joined UMNO and rise up its hierarchy.

If you are determined and know the loopholes; nothing is impossible...

Anonymous,  12 May 2011 at 21:24  

QD,

Jika UMNO baik, jujur, tak menyusahkan rakyat tak la kita nak mengata. Dah benda buat tak baik tak kan asyik nak puji melambong mcm kamu tu..

Anonymous,  12 May 2011 at 22:04  

QD, are you a typical Melayu who most people deem as 'telinga nipis'?

Can you handle critiques and accept it as what they are, without ever resorting to the race card?

Anonymous,  14 May 2011 at 12:29  

Any party that aspires to rule a country needs 'brain power' with leaders to engage its people intellectually.
Now tell me,Dato, does this description fit UMNO.
It resorts to brute strength, slander, sex video, abuse of the courts and public institutions, vote rigging, firm hold on media freedom, racial and religious bigotry, unjust laws, use of police to incarcerate the innocent, and anything that is undemocratic.
Dato, this is the current state of your UMNO today.

Soonhock,  14 May 2011 at 23:59  

Dear Dato, We have to agree that the opposition cannot wrest putrajaya from BN, and Najib will still be PM after GE13th.As the people's perception of Najib is getting better,his polls numbers have risen.No matter how hard Najib tries to proof to the people that he can be a good PM, something negative is always dragging him down.The Anwar sex video,scare mongering,bible issue and now the Christians versus Muslims issue.The man is getting battered left,right and center.Even under the belt too.Negative issues many times over came cropping up,especially so close to the GE.Invisible hands controlled by the other factions are at play.They are trying to undermine Najib,and his poor handling of recent events are having negative effects on him.The factions are going to make sure that Barisan did more poorly than in GE12th,that is lose a few more parliament seats.Losing a few more seats is no big deal to the other factions.Barisan still controlled the Federal Government.Then they are going to show Najib the door,the same way they showed to Badawi.Better to rid the house of termites soon.Sometimes action is better than inaction.Don't go out a much sleepier PM than your predecessor.Wake up and start showing your enemies what you can do.But remember your immediate most dangerous enemies is not PR.Your most "DANGEROUS ENEMIES" are your buddies in your own party.

Ariff Sabri 15 May 2011 at 01:28  

all the previous comments on this article disappeared when blogger was not functioning the other day. very sorry for the loss

OneMalaysian,  15 May 2011 at 14:05  

Dear Sakmongkol

It seems so strange. Was there some act of sabotage?

Anonymous,  17 May 2011 at 10:53  

I am from Kg. Baru, KL. Not far from my house there once lived a man called Adnan. He used to sit beside a phone to take orders for gas cylinders. When an order came his father did the delivery. Adnan wanted to marry a Tengku whose father insisted he inserted 'Tengku' in his name. This was not something any idiot can do. So Adnan's father went to Indonesia (I dont know which part) and searched for his roots to see if he is related to some royalty there. Bingo! He is related to one. So there was justification to add 'Tengku' to his name. So this arsehole became Tengku Adnan and married the Tengku. Divorced later. But he remained a Tengku, of course. This Tengku 'celup' now lives in a 4 tingkat mansion in an expensive area of KL. Recently part of the mansion was on fire. Probably a warning from GOD that its about time he spends more time on the prayer mat than in supreme council meetings.

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