Najib's Gangnam Style for Unity

Najib’s Gangnam Style!

A few days ago, Dato Najib declared that if the thing isn’t broken, why fix it? The next day he was saying, UMNO and BN are ready for change. He is in sixes and sevens as they say it- which is which? One day he says A, the next day non-A.  Why is BN ready to change something which its chairman said isn’t necessary to change just a moment ago? What a tangled web has he gotten himself into.

The main difference between Najib and his predecessor Abdullah Badawi is, while with the latter, the flip-flopping is clearly shown, with Najib the flip-flopping is more subtle. Yet Najib’s flip-flopping ways are more insidious.

They are because Najib has perfected the art of seemingly doing everything but achieving little or nothing. His idea of progress is paying his way through and providing entertainment for the masses. He has perfected the art of giving bread and circus for the masses. This expression was brought to my attention by a well written article by Nicole Tan Lee Koon.

The idea is both simple and deceivingly affective. Lull the masses into a sense of false comfort and security and fortify the devious scheme with entertainment. Give a little free lunch to an understandably appreciative mass of people. Give money, shares, foodstuff, cheap and low quality items from that Kedai1Malaysia etc etc. Unleash all the singing minstrels from Korea and Japan supported by the local parasitic entertaining class and energized the masses with Najib’s own venereal index finger-pointing Gangnam Style.

When Obama won his reelection, Najib was quick to point out that Obama’s victory is a preference for continuity which Malaysians should emulate. Najib has compared himself to Tony Blair whom Dr Mahathir despises and now, to Obama. What Najib has conveniently forgotten, Obama ousted a previous government led by a person whose policies resemble that which UMNO/BN carries out. Obama’s current theme isn’t change anymore, but moving forward from the ruinous ideas and policies of a previous government.

The idea which Malaysians must emulate is to change this government and move forward from there. Let us all leave Najib and his pot of Mongolian Alphabet Goulash behind. Change comes from a changed leadership and a new government. You can’t produce anything different from the same mold.

PM Najib goes before the TV and spoke to his 1Barisan Brigade consisting of an assortment of NGOs. My UMNO friends called to say, they are meluat. Now the term meluat is more severe than menyampah. The nearest English equivalent I think is obnoxious. Meluat is one scale above; meluat’s equivalent in English is perhaps nauseatingly obnoxious- Najib’s obnoxiousness induces puking. Najib thinks he is speaking to dullards.

Now, let us examine what Najib means when he says Malays must unite and Malay unity is no threat to others.

When Najib uses the phrase Malays must unite, he can mean the following things. All Malays must make sure UMNO wins so that he can continue to be PM. (2) Malays submit themselves under UMNO. (3) Malays must ensure Malays dominate Malaysian politics.

The first two meanings are self-serving. The 3^rd implies that if Malays stay disunited, they will face threats. So we ask in turn, threats from whom? There are 18 million Malays in this country. All the security forces and every level of the government are already controlled by Malays. So where does the threat come from and to whom is the threat directed?

The threat arises from the political and social consciousness of the people who have been subjected to 55 years of incompetent rule. After 55 years, UMNO have carried out ruinous economic and social policies that have resulted in a less than prime economy and a more divisive nation.

The threat is therefore directed towards his PMship and UMNO. The threat is not from the people to the people but directed towards a parasitic ruling class that has enriched itself while creating economic injustice on the people.

How do you unite a nation so divided with no shared ideals and beliefs? How do you motivate a majority to uplift themselves to have the acquisitive inclinations by extending themselves to move up the social ladder when they see, those cutting corners and bluffing their way through getting equal rewards?

The sad truth is Najib does not know how to secure unity. He doesn’t see the way of structuring the country upon shared beliefs and ideals. The journey must start with a universal acceptance of the supremacy and rule of law.

That would require the unassailable supremacy of the law or the rule of law. You know the reason why afro Americans, Chinese Americans, Italian Americans refer themselves as Americans is because each of them are equally protected by the laws of the land. When one is equally protected by the law, there isn’t a necessity to refer yourself according to your ethnicity as though by using that, you get extra protection.

In Malaysia it’s the other way round. Because not everyone is treated equally by the law, people have to categorize themselves according to ethnicity. The Malays for example, by referring themselves as Malays and not as Malaysians imply they  have acquired extra protection. So the rule of law goes out of the window.

Suppose everyone is accorded equal protection by the rule of law, there will be no requirement to refer to your ethnicity for that extra protection.

This is the lie that UMNO has imposed on Malays by making them belive that they are protected only if UMNO is around. No, the thing that protects us, is the rule of law.

UMNO leaders do not want to adopt that because they want room for manipulation and latitude. When the rule of law is compromised, it is impossible to establish shared ideals and beliefs. Because, the various groups as stakeholders in the country will always harbor suspicions that the others will seek to manipulate power to their own advantage.