Herr Maslan- What went wrong?

Anggota Umno diminta tidak mendabik dada dengan kejayaan parti mendaftarkan 3.4 juta anggota setakat ini, kata Ketua Penerangan Umno Datuk Ahmad Maslan. Beliau berkata, jumlah sebesar itu belum menjamin kemenangan Barisan Nasional (BN) pada pilihan raya umum akan datang. “(Ini kerana) ahli Umno hanya satu per empat daripada 12 juta pengundi,” katanya kepada pemberita selepas merasmikan Seminar Agenda Melayu ke-7 anjuran Alumni Kelab-kelab Umno Luar Negara, di sini hari ini. Beliau berkata setakat ini kira-kira tiga juta anggota Umno adalah pengundi berdaftar. Justeru katanya, semua anggota Umno perlu berusaha keras meraih sokongan pemilih lain, terutama yang ‘di atas pagar’. “…..kita kena dekati dan tarik pengundi selebihnya untuk menyokong Umno dan BN,” katanya.

Before we go on. If I were KJ, Shahrizat, Rosmah and whoever was mentioned by Pak Din the DPM- not Pak Din the murtabak seller in Kg Mengkasar Pekan, I would be circumspect and careful. In another era, a previous DPM also from Johor, mentioned a number of people as warriors when UMNO went on the warpath with the Royal Houses. Note ya- not PAS or DAP which brayed for royal blood but UMNO. 

If memory doesn’t fail me, that speech was made in Mat Indera’s hometown Batu Pahat and a total of 7 people were singled out. The previous DPM and all those he mentioned in glowing terms not unlike what presently Pak Din does, vanished from the political scene. One of those mentioned then, is now facing legal upheavals- the outcome of the devious and sick minds of UMNO people. Another is of course the present PM. We can see the writings on the wall for Pak Din, KJ, Shahrizat and horrors of horrors- Rosmah Mansor.  But then the laws of karma have their own way to arrive at retribution.

Now for the task at hand- we will take on Ahmad Maslan on his two speeches. The first about nothing being done on addressing UMNO’s declining quality in its membership and more important, leadership. Second, about Malays losing everything if UMNO loses. I would salute Ahmad Maslan, if to the second speech, he owns up to the fact that it’s UMNO’s own duplicity and hypocrisy that has caused Malays losing everything! Who has been in power for the last 54 years? The responsibility rests with that in power and if Malay society hasn’t become better during its tenure, the responsibility and blame rests squarely on its shoulders.

Was it the Chinese or UMNO’s favorite whipping boy DAP, who went out to lynch the royalty and the royal institution? Wake up wak Maslan- the particular Chinese would want to fete the royalty because they know through the royalty; they can squeeze the balls out of the subservient and pliant Malays. Weren’t it UMNO members screaming for the blood of the royal houses a few years ago, in a frenzied orgy of political bloodletting, the initial incision of which was done skillfully I might add by the Doctor who can walk on water?  All UMNO leaders do business and have fun together with Chinese hongs.

It’s always like this. Bernard Lewis (What Went Wrong?) mentioned something like this. When something ails society, the first instinctive reaction is to apportion blame to someone else. He is speaking of course of the Arabs in general. But his observation seems to have a universal application. UMNO Malays suffer from the same affliction.

As we shall see later, the ills in UMNO and the Malays are attributed to other people. In Malaysia for example, blame is attached not to the Chinese in general (UMNO is careful here) but to the DAP and to a lesser extent to PAS for causing the split among Malays. What is the instinctive reaction to the initial instinctive stand? People are ignoring UMNO’s serious temporary insanity. UMNO gets a reprieve from a death sentence maybe, but gets convicted and sentenced to life sentence behind bars.

But let us deal with the moronic statement from UMNO’s Information Chief. This is the stupidest statement of the year. I thought Azmin’s break the prison walls speech in Johor was stupid, but I forget, that given the chance, UMNO people are always waiting to up the ante. It shows the Information Chief is lazy and is himself ill informed. The primary purpose of the Information Chief is to seek ways to bolster allegiance and loyalty of the people to the leader and the party. He hasn’t done these but merely diverting attention to facts that are already known. Worse, he is vilifying the unknown digits who are UMNO low rank members instead of acknowledging the shortcomings of UMNO leaders themselves.

We are caught out with our cowgate scandal; we screamed this is a conspiracy by opposition politicians! It’s never us- always others. And Shahrizat is described as a sri kandi- a Joan of arc of sorts. But didn’t she get burnt in the end?

His statement exposes the inherent weakness of UMNO- that its members are disloyal and untrustworthy. You have 3 million over members, but 1/3 of them will not vote or will reject UMNO candidates. The Information Chief hasn’t highlighted what UMNO members want to know- how to upgrade the quality of UMNO members and how to select quality candidates.

If he has really thought hard about these, he would not have allowed his mouth to go on higher gear while the brain is still engaged in low. 

But let us be merry and refresh people’s memory. Consider the GE of 2008. The total number of Malay voters was 5.7 million. UMNO candidates got 2.38 million votes. Deduct 380 thousand from that, you have roughly about 2 million votes that actually went to UMNO candidates. What does that tell you?  Many things which I now dont want to repeat. 

Now UMNO membership alone is bigger than Singapore’s population- but can UMNO produce class leadership?  You have riff raffs who you think can seriously contemplate on the qualities of leadership and the kind of leaders you need? You have Ahmad Maslan who some people are saying is now a genius. Mercy me!

Ahmad Maslan doesn’t have to reprise old wounds. He has the bigger responsibility to inquire and answer why UMNO has now become a despised brand name. The simple answer is UMNO is now associated with the negligence over Malays, UMNO stands for arrogance and UMNO stands for the mother of corruption. Its rotten to the core says Dr Mahathir and in one of the meetings with ex ministers, Dr Mahathir, the political sifu stated- UMNO is corrupt from the top the bottom. It’s not I who are saying these ok- its Dr Mahathir. and Mahathir , the Malaysia Caesar is an honorable man.

The UMNO president in the pre-assembly briefing says it succinctly. You can now spot the UMNO type a mile away- linen shirts, dark sunglasses preferably Ray Ban, tinted cars, sashaying into coffee houses eyes glancing around affixing on no particular person, but asking for attention. My favorite reaction is to put up my middle finger- in salute of 1 Malaysia of course. Because people know, the UMNO type, like Ahmad Maslan is an empty can.

Look at Ahmad Maslan himself? This  person is a braggart. In the early days when he became the information chief he would begin his speeches telling about himself. About how he, a nobody, was suddenly fingered out by DS Najib to be a special officer in charge of Felda and in the 2008 elections chosen as candidate and going on to become a deputy minister. Well, my answer is maybe you have sputtered some magical incantations extracted from the seven layers of the heavens and seven layers of the earth- to persuade Herr Najib to select you. And everyone who were listening to you, would each time be cursing what has your good fortunes got to do with the tasks in hand? Are you praying that everyone in the hall be as lucky as you are?

I haven’t had the time to fully absorb the inanity of Maslan’s speech, I am presented with his double whammy- a speech about Malays losing everything ( economics, politics, religion and everything- wives, children and all) if there is a hung parliament and if DAP comes to power. That was a speech given at a form discussing the Malay Agenda after the 13th GE.

In case Maslan forgets, Malay loses everything if he hasn’t got education, if he cannot compete, if he is not equipped to compete and most damaging of all, if Malays are cocooned paternalistically. Malays don’t lose if they cut the umbilical cords with UMNO. Do we see Muslims decimated when the Holy Prophet died? The hard and bitter truths for Ahmad Maslan and other UMNO leaders need to realize, that Malay interests can be articulated and fought on any political platform. The Malays in PAS can do it. Those in PKR can do it. I suspect the Malays in DAP can even do it better since Chinese interests are fiercely articulated there such that, if a Malay were in DAP, he will not be restrained if he were to champion real Malay interests and fears.

We would like to ask Ahmad Maslan- when Shahrizat facilitated the giving of the government grant of only RM 250 million to Dr Salleh, did she and her husband think of all those downtrodden Malays? They didn’t right? Even after that they didn’t think it was necessary to create other cattle breeders. After almost a month the issue blows up in her face, she has suddenly recovered from the mad cow disease to disavow any connections to the NFC scandal. Similarly when we paid an excess of RM 6 billion for the purchase of the APCs, was the RM 6 billion meant for the ordinary Malays? Where are the UMNO screamers and banshees when MAS was slowly dismembered to enrich a few people? 

Ahmad Maslan is grossly and perilously misreading the ground swell. Today, Malays attach blame to UMNO for allowing the pillage and plunder of the country. Malays attach blame to UMNO for the lot the Malays are now in. and if Maslan listens closer, he will hear people saying- Ahmad Maslan can shove his remarks up that part of his anatomy where the sun does not shine!.