The Kangaroo Panel and Tun Mahathir

I want to know what was it that Tun Salleh Abas did that was deemed for the greater good of the country?

For writing two letters to the Yang Di Pertuang Agung on his displeasure on the perceived interference of the then Prime Minister? By doing that, we are to extrapolate that Tun Salleh is upholding the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary?

You mean judges are beyond reproach that their indiscretions and whatever wrongs they do cannot be criticised? And if they are criticised they shrink and cannot impart their duties to the best of their abilities? They sulked and sat in the corner for 20 years until Madam Ambiga rides into town?

You mean two letters can be allowed to undermine the credibility of the government?

Sometimes I think lawyers like Ambiga and likeminded persons like her relish in ‘correcting’ things like that which happened to Tun Salleh because of this self inflated notion, that really those who must have immunity from public scrutiny are lawyers themselves.

In this country judges are not elected representatives and in practice will not enjoy the same status as elected representatives. The latter can truly be seen as voice of the people. Whether judges or those who arrogate to themselves the custodianship of the voice of conscience of the people, do in fact enjoy that claim, will need to have that claim compared to the practicality of political interests.

Then indeed will the notion of for the greater good for the country be upheld.

I am not a lawyer, but I think the secrecy with which the bar council president and her partners established a panel of eminent persons to review the findings of two panels approved by the Yang Di Pertuan Agung, is very suspicious indeed. Why the need for secrecy? Was this panel of eminent persons( who established their eminence?) sanctioned by the government or the Agung?

No one knows when this panel was formed and who were empanelled. No one knows whether any witnesses were called and whether the person most affected by this kangaroo panel, Tun Mahathir was given a chance to have the right of reply.

As I remember it, Tun Salleh was called by the tribunals of 1988, but he refused. Needless to say, one can only conclude that Tun Salleh must have felt the tribunals were beneath him.

Tun Salleh Abas is a smallish man, but his smallish-ness is exceeded only by the massiveness of his pride. For 20 years he hungered for emotional vindication. And the panel formed by Mrs Ambiga feeds nicely into this emotional hunger.

Looking for Leadership-2

We cant leave the issue of leadership to providence. Leadership must not be a matter of historical accident. That would only limit the talent pool available to us. It would then confine our choice as leaders, to those who have the right lineage, those within the personal knowledge of present leaders and so forth.
The conventional wisdom is of course to leave it to tradition or some form of re-crafted divine intervention. In tales of old, the white elephant will emerge and prostrate itself before an individual. He is the chosen one. Or the white crocodile will surface and lay itself becalmed before the chosen one.
But as I have always maintained, in UMNO , there is no tradition of ‘fixing up’ leaders. Choosing a leader is not a quick fix matter. The traditional way has always been for the delegates to choose their leaders through the ballot box. The new tradition that was recently formulated by the DPM was just a convenient device serving his personal interest. That formula feeds into his obsession to self perpetuate in contrast to the need for self renewal. One serves a personal agenda, the other the greater good of the party.
We must have that system, that on the whole, permits our best to come forward. I don’t see any other way to provide for the widest possible choice of leadership than to remove the hurdles holding them back.
How do we simulate the conditions that had allowed the first generation leaders to emerge? The conditions that fired leaders with nationalism, idealism and selfless commitment? We cannot replicate the conditions, yes. But we can put in a system of natural selection, so that the fittest, the best and the most able can come to the fore. And I think the system is already there- let there be open competition for the best from the talent pool can come forth.
America cannot replicate the conditions that gave birth to the founding fathers nor can we do the same the saw the rise of Onn Jaafar, Tengku Abdul Rahman, or Lee Kuan Yew in Singapore, Nehru in India, Sukarno in Indonesia. We cannot replicate the battles and struggles that preceded independence and liberation. That would be too costly in all aspects.
There is a civilised alternative. Free competition between ideas. And this is what America does. Who would have ever thought that a black like Obama could have made it this far? But what America does is, it defends free competition among those who offer leadership. That Barak Obama has managed to come this far is testimony of the system that allowed the maximum possible choices for the American people.
Tun Mahathir’s rise to power also saw the emergence of a credible alternative in Tengku Razleigh Hamzah, precisely because competition then was not stopped.
But what happens after we introduced the quota system? We could not identify credible alternatives as the talent pool now has dried up. The moneyed class infiltrated UMNO to make it a haven for fortune hunters and other depravities. Our MKT is filled with many whose stench as described by a blogger rise to high heavens.
Hence we forced ourselves to fall back on the re-crafted form of divine interventions that I spoke of above- the white elephant prostrating itself, the white crocodile surfacing and of course, in the most recent case, the elaborate ritual of ‘power transfer’ from the present great elephant( in certain African nations in the 19th century, the leader of the nation was called the great elephant) to the DPM( who looked like a Cheshire cat that has just got its milk). Our great elephant now is Pak Lah.
The two top leaders must make the sacrifice that is incumbent upon them. They must make it a point to carry out this for the good of UMNO. The removal of the quota system. It must never be defended even though pushing for its removal can be potentially politically lethal for them, but its removal is required for the good of UMNO. you have told us to make sacrifices, now make it yourselves.
The idea to have competition must come from the top. You cannot expect the branch leader who is a hawker, jaga sekolah or the village bully boy to usher in reforms in UMNO. Can we?
Imagine what benefits we can get from removing the quota system. We widen the net for talented leaders to come forward. They could not if they have no money. Down the leadership hierarchy, relaxing of the quota system will likewise widen the net for talent pool. It will limit and curtail the powers of local warlords to determine the outcome of contests at branch and divisional levels. It will limit the powers of divisional leaders in unilaterally deciding who comes into office. We do not want leaders to do a Henry Ford on us- we can have any colours we want, as long as its black!.
UMNO is now inducing self paralysis onto itself. It must begin by reforming and doing away with edifices that stifle the emergence of alternative leaders. It must begin by removing the quota system. It must begin at the highest policy making body- the supreme council itself. Please don’t be so patronising to make us believe that the country hobo of a branch leader in some remote areas can decide what’s good for the party.
As we move into the new age, UMNO needs to re-invent itself by being more open and transparent. Perhaps recognising that we have our own human frailties and limitations, organisation-wise, UMNO needs to consider having structures that provide the leavening effects. Maybe we have to study the merits of having a presidential council that can offer not binding, but persuasive arguments to the supreme council. Indeed with the present crop of leaders we now have, a presidential council is what we really need.
This new mindset is needed if UMNO wants to project itself as a political organisation that moves with the times. The image of UMNO that is willing to engage in a contest of ideas and civil arguments.
The most fundamental lesson learnt from the 12th General elections and the recent loss in Permatang Pauh drives home the fact, that the rakyat is not longer willing to be coerced. Hence the route taken by way of flexing our political muscles, exemplified for example by unsheathing of the keris, inflammatory speeches and recently by draconian censorship on the free exchange of ideas will only reinforce the process of atrophy in UMNO.
Hence UMNO’s enmity towards bloggers in general shows that it is still stuck in the old ways to fight the new. Which is reliance on forms of brute force to coerce people and oppress them. The fall back on brute force serves only to inform the public that UMNO hasn’t got the capacity to handle what actually moves the people. In the movie A Few Good Men- the colonel character played by Jack Nicholson said it fittingly- You cant handle the truth!.

Looking for Leadership

Written in response to an invitation from a blogger friend, to hear my two cents worth of opinion. Here goes my initial thoughts.
A barrack room lawyer( no offence to lawyer bloggers), is someone who likes to be a busy body giving unsolicited opinions on something even though he is not qualified to. At the risk of being billed one, I would like to say a few things about the state of leadership in UMNO.
What were the hallmarks of Tun Mahathir’s leadership? Last year, or the year before, perhaps before the Tun went for surgery, he officiated the opening of a high end bakery in Langkawi. My first reaction- this grand old man has flipped!
The name of the bakery is The Loaf. There is one at the Kuala Lumpur Pavilion shopping mall too.
No, I am not about to talk of the delicious pastries and what not. But one remark by the Tun remained etched indelibly on my er….fading memory. When asked why he was taking a risk to open up a high end bakery in Langkawi, the Tun gave a short answer, which to me sums up the whole essence of leadership.
The Tun said, you must create the product first, then people will educate themselves about it and then a market for it develops. Or something like that.
1. Create product
2. Educate the people
3. Market develops.
Hence a fundamental lesson about leadership comes from opening up a humble bakery. Of course THE LOAF is no humble bakery. The products are delicious, pricey but you can hardly get a table to sit.
The main ingredient of leadership which can be extracted here, is to act decisively. The leader must exhibit a strong conviction that something is doable. With Tun Mahathir, it always just do it. Maybe Nike should have Tun M as their spokesman. Its something like the economics principle of supply creates its own demand.
I did not have the chance to observe first hand the Tun’s art of leadership when he was the PM, but here now is a living example of how he starts something.
What is the most important product or in this case service that you have to offer us the rakyat?
You must offer us leadership. And leadership begins with what a leader must be, the values and attributes that shapes the elusive factor called character- the one thing Lee Kuan Yew looks for, when searching for the next generation leader. OK, Pak Lah may be deficient in this department; but values and character shaping attributes are in you and with Others.
So, if these are deficient in Pak Lah, what about in Others? Where have they all gone to? So the supreme council members whose stench rise to high heavens, spare us the agony, leave before you cause further haemorrhaging to UMNO.
Pak lah and his band of roving ministers and MKT members, many of them on a heavily subsidised ego trip of their own, must show the rakyat a determined, capable and disciplined leadership.
Where must Pak Lah begin or in his case, re-begin? He must start with good men at the helm. UMNO needs good men at the supreme council level, good men to lead divisions, good men at divisional committee level and good men also at branch levels.
How do you ensure that good men come to the fore? Will they come willy nilly, hither and thither, just by chance, good providence and coincidence?
If one relies on per chance and good providence, that shows a fundamental flaw in leadership. If anything, Tun Mahathir showed as the first principle in leadership, is to be pro-active. Its absence, indicates that you don’t have that determination, forcefulness. A leader who allows circumstances to overcome him instead of being a the helm, is weak.
I am very very sorry to say this about Pak Lah. Weak(ness) becomes a liability when it predicates leadership. It will then mean that the crucial elements of leadership will be absent. And these are influencing people, by providing purpose, direction and motivation.
A system-less way of creating leadership happens only after most countries got their independence. Idealistic leaders come forward to lead their people. Most of them, afterwards got neutered by the baneful influences of power.
But you can no longer simulate conditions before independence. At that time, intense desire for self determination, struggles to get free from the yoke of colonialism and oppression, provided the recipe for nationalist leaders to come forward. Leaving everything to good providence then, leaders did indeed come forward willly nilly, hither thither.
If you were to replicate the same conditions as before independence NOW, what do you get? You get what Tun Mahathir says, half past six leadership material.
Thus most of the present crop of UMNO leaders now, are more suitable if they had been born a few years after independence. Then, people’s expectations were more simpler. Leaders or wakil rakyats can and did lead, even if equipped with passable leadership qualities.
But can the ideas which are so yesterday, be used today?
So how did the present state of affairs come into existence? Where you find wanton abandonment and just letting go, hoping that, by and by, good leaders will eventually emerge? It comes from weak leadership that submits and is overwhelmed by circumstances.
That kind of system-less way of providing leadership has resulted in our present state of sorry affairs- we get the less bright, the les capable, the less honest, the more corrupt and the self serving coming to the fore.

If we had won PP, would we insist Pak Lah stay?

I have to ask this nagging question.

What if BN had won the Permatang Pauh by elections? Would those people in UMNO who want to see Pak Lah go, will then ask Pak Lah to stay? As in, please Pak Lah, you are our great leader. You have vanquished the Great Fornicator even though you sent an incompetent field commander.
Don’t think so.
Because their primary objective has always been to see Pak Lah go and have him replaced. Right?
It would be logical to have been able to conclude, that if BN had won, those incessantly asking Pak Lah to go will then beseech him to continue and leave at his pleasure. No? Again, I don’t think so.

I say this again. If Pak Lah is to leave, let us UMNO members do it with dignity. I don’t see any more dignified way to send him off than by way of the UMNO general assembly.
Anwar Ibrahim has won the Permatang Pauh elections. Some of the UMNO leaders have displayed an utter lack of sportsmanship. The chap won, tough luck.
But it is the height of condescension to sound trivialising and patronising to pooh pooh Anwar’s victory.
UMNO leaders never learn do they? UMNO members on the ground see the reactions of people like Shabery Cheek, Syed Hamid Albar and their ilk downplaying Anwar’s victory as sour grape-ish.
Anwar’s victory should be viewed with alarm that it deserves. The UMNO leadership must now strategise to contain its bush fire effect.
We find it repulsive the unsolicited advice to the PKR supporters not to over celebrate their victory? Its their victory bukan? What is it to you?. Had it been UMNO that had won, we would be celebrating years on end.
For all we care, if the PKR people want to celebrate that victory in any way they want, booze, toddy, gangbang, or carry out any other sexual depravities, its their bloody business.
Our business is to get our house in order. The first order of the day is to restore democracy in UMNO.
It must not delay or repel calls to do away with the quota system because that is the root cause placing UMNO in rigor mortis.

It is illusory and self defeating for us to interpret Anwar’s victory any other way other than seeing it as what is really is. It is a possible last nail in UMNO’s coffin. The writing is clearly on the wall.
The BN component parties are all but dead. PKR has more Indian MPs than the MIC. The MIC is therefore no longer the party of choice for the majority of Indians. The MIC has lost its legitimacy.
MCA has not done that wonderfulu either. The sabah MPs who outnumber the MCA MPs are pissed off because their ministrerial representation is lower than MCA’s.
And UMNO? If UMNO recognises that more Malays voted for non UMNO candidates, perhaps they will find that real humility is in order.

The Changing of the guards

In the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) there is a separate way to adjudicate indiscretions carried out by the officer class. For an officer, the closest crime that can be committed falls into the category of conduct unbecoming of an Officer And A Gentleman or Article 133 of the UCMJ.

Officers include commissioned officers, or those holding appointed office in the US Military or cadets of any of the United States Military Academies and the like. An officer and a Gentleman by definition has moral, legal, and higher decision-making authority.

If found guilty, the tribunal discharges officers honourably.

How do you ask a sitting PM to go?

Everyone is clamouring for Pak Lah to go. He has already stated the he will. People are pushing him to do it earlier. He must not consider this. He must refuse this invitation. For even if he goes earlier, there is no guarantee that things under beneficiary-by-default Najib, will be all right.

Pak Lah too, as our leader has moral, legal, and higher decision-making authority. If he must leave, it must be done honourably.

If we bulldoze and stampede him into exiting the political office, then we ourselves become the same people we abhor. We must restraint ourselves from political savagery. We must discharge Pak Lah, just like an officer, honourably. If not our treatment of him becomes tainted.

The tribunal as it were, by which to judge Pak Lah will be extremely ill served if it is made up of the existing supreme council members each of whom has a vested interest to retain their post. They have shown themselves to be arrogant and alienated from ordinary UMNO members. They are directly responsible for creating the cesspool in which UMNO now, is mired. So, they have no locus standi to judge Pak Lah as they too are not blameless.

UMNO is never known for its finesse in etiquette. Most times it behaves like a country bumpkin with rough manners. It treats former leaders like a pariah. The great Tun Mahathir has been a victim. Lesser ex leaders are of course treated worse. They become forgotten and reduced to footnotes in history books. So, let us conduct ourselves becomingly.

I am urging caution. If we do a rush job, will there be a guarantee that his anointed successor, the equally inept and beleaguered Dato Najib can deliver? I have said that the best we can expect is another 4 years of more of the same as the previous 4 years- of directionless, listless and flaccid leadership.

Dato Najib is equally to blame for not speaking his mind when with the PM. I know of only one other person who has the guts to speak his mind. Alas, he is seen as too earthy and therefore not of vice president material.

This overzealousness to bump off Pak Lah smacks some sort of a putsch or coup de-tat by supporters of the DPM. Or by those attaching false and fat hopes on a person not deserving of such reverence. The urgency by which their scheme is to be executed appears like a desperate attempt to prevent other leaders coming to the fore. A leader of leaders who shall brood no nonsense from them.

Hoi- siapa lu orang takut huh?

We come back to the issue of being honourably discharged. The only way Pak lah can exit is through the UMNO general assembly. Lets not have any plea bargaining in chambers please. Or worse, like the fictional Star Chamber, supreme council members set themselves up as disillusioned judges and establish their own court to act as prosecutor , judge and executioner.

The most honourable way for Pak Lah to plan his discharge is to remove any impediments to real democracy in UMNO. That means the removal of the quota system.

How will that create an honourable exit for Pak lah and an equally honourable entry for the next leader?

That would widen the doors for other potential leaders severely handicapped by the mandatory minimum nomination requirements to emerge and constitute an honourable and truer reflection of the UMNO General Assembly.

That way, his exit will not be orchestrated by the few demanding a putsch but by a wider collegiate of delegates. A truer court dispensing honourable discharge. Rather than being discharged dishonourably by an equally dishonourable assemblage of rogues.

This is what the people and the UMNO delegates who are in tune with the rakyat want. They will find it abhorrent to have their residual rights to determine the leadership of UMNO be hijacked by a disparate group of politicians with differing agendas.

If that happens, I am sad to say, for UMNO, the writing is on the wall.

Searching for a new leadership

This is the excellent foppery of the world, that when we are sick in fortune (often the surfeits of our own behaviour) we make guilty of our disasters the sun, the moon, and stars: as if we were villains on necessity; fools by heavenly compulsion; knaves, thieves, and treacherous by spherical predominance; drunkards, liars, and adulterers by an enforced obedience of planetary influence; and all that we are evil in, by a divine thrusting on. An admirable evasion of whoremaster man, to lay his goatish disposition on the charge of a star!

The above is a quotation from Shakespeare’s king Lear. UMNO will carry out post mortems to investigate what went wrong. Hey- now that is tradition.

As usual, the leadership will come out with palliatives intended to assuage the marauding UMNO grassroots. A little blood-letting will ease the pressure. After which, the findings of the post-mortems will be dust-binned.

It’s the same usual story. UMNO will start blaming external factors for their defeat. Despite all their firepower, no holes barred scorched earth strategies to bump off Anwar Ibrahim, they failed. It’s a reflection of the failure of Dato Najib himself. He was the field commander.

Many commentators seem to miss the point. They assume falsely that if Pak Lah goes, the natural succession leads to Dato Najib. Where does it say, in the darkened wilderness of UMNO tradition, that the position of top dog in UMNO must be vested in Dato Najib? Mana ada?

Wasn’t he the one, who commandeered all available resources to bump off Anwar? He should do the most honourable thing that must be an element of a respectable tradition, commit political Hara Kiri. He and Pak Lah must offer UMNO, their exit.

What do you think if Dato Najib takes over will UMNO get? UMNO will get 4 more years of the same last 4 years. Economic mismanagement, masterly inactivity, empty posturing, government for WE the elite few, a bigger government accessible for the rich and powerful. That’s what we will get.

Its time to move out of the box. Alternative leadership must be considered. Najib will bring with him all his excess baggage and skeletons in the cupboard.

Much as we may not like it, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah offers us the best alternative. He offers us the willingness to re examine every aspect of UMNO politics since the last 60 years including to establish whether any self serving tradition existed or not.

Having lost almost everything, we, UMNO members lose nothing by bumping off the alienated leadership.

UMNO leadership- the field commander

We need 3 things to make this country a better place for all.

1. Vision

2. Leadership

3. Energy of the people.

We are moving towards a future where all Malaysians have a stake in it. That future needs the vision, leadership and energy of the people.

In that future, its not one that is determined from where you come from or your lineage. Its not in your genes. Its determined by where you want to go and are willing to work getting there.

Now if you were to ask me, what does Dato Najib have? Well, he says he has a vision that is rooted in tradition. His vision, just as he said it, rooted in tradition is so YESTERDAY. We do not go ahead with yesterday’s ideas and vision.

I have said it and shall say it again. Dato Najib’s leadership is based on the ideas of the past, on ideas of feudalism that succeeds on the muted acceptance of the rakyat. His vision is grounded on the idea that in society, every one’s place is preordained and predetermined. His, is to lead, ours, is to follow.

I ask you in turn. What do you get from Dato Najib? The answer is just a feel good sensation.

We feel good that he comes from a good lineage. We feel good because his father was a former prime minister who admittedly reached iconic status. We feel good because he has a good physique and has an aristocratic bearing about him.

But that’s about it. Track record? He has only the professionalism of a politician and of a person who has held office for a long time. Indeed if you haven’t turned into a professional with good work ethics after having spent so many years in service, you are an imbecile. And Dato Najib is no slouch, we will grant him that.

But professionalism in what one does, is not a reflection of the fundamentals of leadership. Vision , the principles of leadership( analytical capabilities, imagination and the leavening touches of realism) and support from the people.

He has been the minister of defence for a long time. As long as you could remember. If he hasn’t developed an air of being an expert in that field, he is a dumpkoff.

While in office, what were the major issues that Dato Najib faced or was attributed to?

1. The controversy over the purchase of Sukhoi Fighter planes

2. The controversy surrounding the purchase of French submarines

3. And with the above controversy, the whispering doubts of somehow some people close to him are connected with the murder of the Mongolian woman.

4. The widespread perception that the wife is involved in many more deals than the years Najib served as defence minister.

So, other than the feel good vibrations, there’s nothing much really. No?

the Future of UMNO and other things

UMNO has not forsaken the 3 most important life or death matters for the Malays.

1. First, the special position of Malays and Malay rulers;

2. Second, the position of Islam as the official religion and,

3. Third, the Bahasa Melayu language.

A fellow blogger, JMD has written honestly about this. It is very difficult to dispute the wholesomeness of his essay. But the cynic in me keeps cajoling me to always look at things from any alternative angles. Sometimes not because of what others write are not persuasive, but more because of my mischievous alter ego. I fear, that is a psychological malady. What to do, just like the great Tun Mahathir says, some of us are born cynics.

I take the position that those three pillars that have tripod-ded UMNO’s weltanschauung are not nearly dead yet. Except, they are no longer intensely championed. All the heroes have left town. On the contrary, I think all these agendas are still there. Only that these are under forced hibernation while the winter of discontent of Malays intensify.

The chief culprit causing these to be consigned to the rear, is the proclivity of the UMNO leadership to go soft and sissy. ( remember Tun Mahathir stating that Dato Najib prefers the life of leisure?) You may start with brimming idealism. These are then eroded by the intoxicating influences of power. I called it the Morarji Desai effect.

The ideals that have fired the early generation of leaders( up to Tun Mahathir) are reduced to hollow and high pitched posturing during the UMNO General Assembly. Hence those farcical displays of ultra Malay-ness by way of unsheathing the Malay Keris, the grandiloquent declarations of bloodbath( non Malays of course) and so forth.

If indeed the ideals that had sustained the early generation leaders’ intense determination are now flaccid, it is the result of the current leadership’s emasculation of UMNO. And none exemplify this sorry state of affairs than our two top leaders who are sadly being nursemaid by an uncritical leadership committee. One hides behind the comical façade of masterly inactivity, giving the impression of doing something but actually dozing off. You know the Chinese adage- much thunder, little rain. The other, hiding cowardly behind the hastily constructed self serving (his of course) edifice of tradition.

I am not however prepared to be sucked into a xenophobic black hole to re-emerge afterwards, attributing all the ills that have befallen the Malay race as being the product of some grand and insidious design by non Malays.

But first let us resolve the issue of Anwar. When offering my humble opinion on Permatang Pauh, through several of my blog essays, it would appear that I have given Anwar higher chances of winning. No, I have not converted into a born again Anwar believer. I was merely stating the obvious from the facts and personal estimation. That Anwar will win.

But beyond that victory and the very real possibility of him marching into Seri Perdana in September to remember( Muhammad Ali), I am reluctant to attach the demise of all the three dearest things to Malays, to Anwar bin Ibrahim.

I am saying, unfortunately, that UMNO needs a near death experience to re-invent itself. It must accept that the current political malaise is due to a weak leadership. The battle for Permatang Pauh should have been handled by the commander in chief himself- Pak Lah. He is ultimately responsible for UMNO’s fortunes there. The weaponry given to Dato Najib while sufficient, is nullified by the inherent troubles of the field commander.

UMNO’s near death experience will be the spectacle of Anwar in Seri Perdana. Then the Malays will be galvanised into a cohesive bloc but not necessarily led by the two present top leaders.

UMNO will be absolutely devastated and disillusioned with the weak and incapable leadership of the present leaders. They will look forward to a new leadership to lead UMNO. They will realise, that they need firm, determined , decisive and bright enough leaders to lead the country.

The NEP?

The practicality of accepting that the numerically larger Malay population who are economically sidelined, will need coaching and affirmative action will still be upheld. Even if Anwar becomes the head of the federal government, he is not suicidal to eliminate the potential power base that could be milked from the expectant Malay population.

Furthermore, I would argue that the continuance of an affirmative policy favouring the Malays need not continue in the present form, minded by the current leaders or even by certain specific faction of the UMNO leadership.

The NEP is not and must never be stated in static terms. It must be treated as a dynamic concept that’s evolving to accommodate changes in Malay psyche. I do not want to think that Malays as a whole are moved only by morbid fears and anxieties, easily given to irresponsible machinations by bigoted bogeymen. They are also capable of logical rationalising.

It is like Tun Dr Ismail says, that eventually as Malays become more educated and gained confidence, they will regard any conferring of handicaps as a slur on their worth.

The NEP need not be looked on as:-

· An elaborate excuse for the Malays not to lift themselves by their own bootstraps.

· The NEP must never be allowed to be used as means of a ruling clique to feather their nests

· The NEP must never be used as an excuse to keep the Malays in mental bondage.

When our founding fathers devised the NEP, even though they were UMNO members, they never envisaged that it shall be pursued only by UMNO or that it can only be effectively applied by a specific faction of the UMNO leadership.

Can we just accept that only Pak Lah and Dato Najib as the only persons capable of leading the Malays to their salvation? Why not Tengku Razaleigh for instance?

A Theory of Sumpah.

What did I say about my theory regarding the relationship between oath takings and integrity?

THERE IS AN INVERSE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TAKING OATHS AND INTEGRITY. THE MORE OATHS ONE TAKES, THE HIGHER THE CHANCES THAT HE WILL DEBAUCH HIMSELF.

Oath takings take many forms. Some are statutory declarations. You can write and say anything. Just give your IC/ID and sign where appropriate. Then pay RM 4 to the commissioner of oaths.

If you want to do it free, you can take the religious oath taking. You can swear before the Quran, the bible, the Sikh holy book and whatever books you think are holy.

You either deny the accusation against you or you affirm your own position.

You have a few options if you do not want the above. You can decapitate a rooster in a Chinese temple, which means you cut your cock. You can walk on a bed of burning cinders. You can immerse your hand in a cauldron of boiling water. Heck! You can even drink Paraquat or Roundup.

Nonetheless, the inverse relationship stays largely true. The more oaths you take, the more lies you make, the more you denigrate yourself.

Let us look at the pattern.

The SD by RPK on Datin Rosmah alias Dotty is classified as criminal defamation.

The SD by the Myanmar doctor from Pusrawi is regarded as doubtful. He is in fact missing.

The SD by T. Thagarajoo is rubbished/not true.

The oath by Saiful Bukhari is questionable in its authenticity.

The declaration by Ustaz Ramlang Porrigi will needless to say, be dammed.

Hence, each of the SD and oath is negated by its corresponding falsehood.

Now if each oath/statutory declaration is nullified by its own contradiction, what value can you place on Dato Najib’s pious sumpah?

Nil. Yilek. Zilch! Zero!

Apocalypto- UMNO Style

In the film Apocalypto, the chief of the Mayan tribe, Flint Sky asked his son, Jaguar Paw, what did you see just now?. The son said he saw nothing. The chief insisted, he did indeed see something, but refused to admit it.

The chief went on to say- I saw what you saw and we all saw it. You saw FEAR. Now, I want you to go back, make love to or sodomise your wife and never mention what you saw again. I never want to see FEAR taking over your head.

Will Durant the historian said;

"A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within."

And now, you see the same FEAR engulfing UMNO leaders. They fear losing their strangle hold on the people. They fear losing their jobs.

They fear that Anwar Ibrahim may indeed form the next government. I have written about this in my short essay, By Whatever Doors Necessary.

One of the last dying inhales of breath the ruling oligarchy will make is to rescue from obscurity, some security reports by the Intelligence Agency. Never mind if it is only one report. Notwithstanding it was made by foreign observers in security, that report would see its glory days. It will be elevated from obscurity to the status of a much-revered document. The current UMNO leaders will swear by it. It is more potent than a thousand SDs and sumpahs by the Quran.

That piece of analysis simply states that the security situation in this country is the gravest since 1969. And 1969 is the Friday the 13^th for the UMNO people. It will paint a picture of widespread civil unrest. The china men will set upon the Malay men and Malay men will set upon everyone else. The army and the police will be called in. and a state of emergency will be declared. MAGERAN will be established.

Why? Because there is FEAR and paranoia seeping into the minds of the UMNO ruling oligarchy.

UMNO members loyal to the party, full of integrity and always believing in the rule of law and the force of reason must never entertain such dangerous frolics. We have only one task to do- do ourselves a favour and get rid of irresponsible leadership.

UMNO's Closing Chapter?

THE PROBLEM WITH UMNO.

It is just like the ostrich. It buries its head in the ground. Instinct leads it to believe that predators do not spot him. It is oblivious to surrounding dangers. It believes the world functions, as it wants it to.

UMNO is just like that too. When it lost the five states plus the WP, all it did was asking state leaders to go around appeasing the Malays. It lost more than just five states. It got only 79 parliamentary seats. It lost 30. It managed to secure less than 2 million out of the 5.7 million Malay voters. It is inconceivable that UMNO forfeited 3.7 million Malay votes! Including 1.5 million UMNO members’ votes.

How did UMNO rationalise its losses?

It deluded itself by thinking that its willingness and readiness to listen flavoured with heavy doses of pompous humility, to the ground can endear itself to UMNO members.

In fact, UMNO members were more disgusted with the leadership’s condescension.

The chicanery reaches its highest point, when the PM ordered organised meet the grass root sessions in Kuala Lumpur hotels,, his official residence and so forth. Delegates were feted, put up at comfortable hotels and given money to spend, given gifts.

The parting conclusion made by a foreign commentator, is ominous.

But the most telling problem for the BN is its utter inability to reinvent itself and introduce meaningful reforms after its major setback in the March general election. They are still out of touch with reality or rather the people’s reality on the ground...

The leadership believes in its own hype. That’s the closing chapter.

Tengku Razaleigh's best friend- Anwar Ibrahim

As strange as it sounds, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and Anwar Ibrahim are the best of friends. Only that both of them do not know it yet.

Ironically, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah(TRH) needs Anwar to win the UMNO president’s post. What? Have you gone bonkers?

Anwar Ibrahim, the finest actor of his generation, the double cruiser, the CIA implant, the Jewish lover and other vindictive name-enders will deliver the UMNO president’s post to TRH.

When Anwar wins the PP by-elections, UMNO will be in tatters. That victory vanquishes Dato Seri Najib. It will leave him discredited and politically injured.

Victory for Anwar means the rakyat has passed their final judgement. UMNO’ leadership is rejected. Dato Najib has had his innards disembowelled. People realised now that they have carried his baggage for a very long time. Najib carries in him, a burden too heavy to be shouldered by UMNO. UMNO therefore must jettison him.

When UMNO lost heavily during the 12^th GE, I have mentioned this. Najib was the director of operations for the 12^th GE. He was the field commander as it were. He controlled the theatre.

However, Najib was also a liability for UMNO. The losses suffered by UMNO during that elections, were also damnation for Najib as it was a punishment for Pak Lah. UMNO lost five states. It also lost control of Wilayah Persekutuan.

Anwar’s victory crushes the morale of the entire UMNO organisation. UMNO members will ultimately accept the fact that the present UMNO leadership has done them in. The party, which came into being 62 years ago, came to a ruinous end because of the heavily subsidised ego trip for our two top leaders.

After going through a period of political purgatory, they will realise that only Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah can lead UMNO. He has a relatively unblemished record. Anwar will savour a brief reign but will be the butt of jokes everywhere.

In December 2008, having gone through a cleansing period, UMNO is ready to accept the leadership of TRH. All because Anwar achieves victory at Permatang Pauh.

Just like Dionne Warwick sang- that’s what friends are for.

Political Equations

Let’s see some equations. Political that is.

Anwar Ibrahim’s quest to Putrajaya = greed, lust for power, revenge

Najib Tun’s Razak ascension = tradition, UMNO way and that’s the way it should be.

Despite the sodomy allegations, despite tons of sumpah and cheap skate oath takings, Anwar will win. On forming the next government , I don’t know.

Actually UMNO needs some political purgatory. It needs to kick out those hangers on and parasitic leadership. It needs some political cleansing to rid itself from the jokers, from political bigots who profit from milking the fears of the Malays.

Insist that those who cling on to power justifying their presence by the vaguest idea about tradition be given the boot.

Demand those whose last resort of justifying their existence is by unsheathing the keris go spread-eagle in their Hummers.

Anwar Ibrahim’s terminator like ‘ I’ll be back’ return has spooked all the UMNO leaders who run on empty.

That’s why UMNO needs a new invigorating leadership. And it should not be confined to those who boasts pompously on their track records. Actually they do have track record. A track record of betrayals, infamy and corrupted ways.

Sexual perdition

Let us now turn over to this question of Anwar’s sexuality. ( pun intended)

Aziz Pokya is quite a character. He is a wholesale fish monger. He is also the honorary president of the He-shes in Kuantan. They need a Mafiosi enforcer too you know. Aziz Pokya is known as abe azi among the mak-nyahs.[1]

Aziz Pokya was recounting this story. Between sips of kopi tiam, we applied our keen hearing.

Following the hoo-hahs about Anwar and Saiful, the maknyahs, Pahang chapter held a round-table meeting. Aziz Pokya requested to have that meeting. It was held at the Restoren Makmur. It is near the Kuantan wet market.

I called this emergency meeting to discuss one important issue says Aziz Pokya. Since this Saiful Bukhari made his police report and then his oath at the wilayah mosque, your business and my interest have suffered. That means my takings are meagre.

I want to ask you people directly. You maknyahs have been in this business for a long time. Let me ask you directly, Aziz Pokya repeated. What do you think is going on with this Anwar bloke?

One of the representative from the Cawangan Tanah Puteh Branch, Kuantan Division stood up. Heshe declared. I speak on behalf of my soul mates here. I say this thing between Anwar and Saiful did take place. We think they are lovers and the fling they had, was consensual.

Then why did Saiful made a police report and eventually said he was raped? Because, answered the maknyah perwakilan, Saiful was jilted. Anwar could have found a new jambu coffee maker.

So do you think Anwar is gay? The answer, in unison, came. Anwar is bi-sexual abe azi. He cruises both ways. It’s like going to Kuala Lumpur. Some prefer to go the old route. Some like the highway. Some like half-half. Half way the old route and then they take the interchange at Termerloh, onto the highway.

As the meeting was held with observers in attendance, they all booed Aziz Pokya. The observers noted that Aziz Pokya is a staunch Anwar supporter.

Exasperated and in an attempt to save face Aziz Pokya declared. Let me ask you guys this question. Is it your arse that Anwar roasted? If it’s not, why do you bother?

You see the Chinese? They don’t care what’s Anwar’s sexual preferences are. Anwar can even do it on a sheep, a cow or chicken for that matter. They don’t care. So why should you care, if it’s not your backside that’s sore.

But jokes aside, continued Aziz as he finished recounting the story. It is said that the maknyah can provide better service that can a woman. How do you know, we demanded of Aziz.

You know tak, this particular restaurant at the Tanah Puteh river cruise jetty? This particular restaurant where the ‘proprietoress’ runs her/his business? If you tahu, then you will also know that he has a boyfriend who drives in so and so car. The proprietoress drives a BMW with so and so number plate.

I have eaten there, said a friend, his interest stirred. Heshe is a good cook.

Yes, that’s the one. And you know what, the boyfriend has declared he will never marry anyone else. He is blissfully happy with the proprietoress.

You look at their skin, they are flawless. Wonder what jamu they take. Maybe they bathe in cow’s milk like Datin Rosmah and Dato Najib tak? With make up on, under the cover of darkness, they can even call the birds to eat off their palms.

But these are maknyahs protested another friend. They cross-dress like young Khairi and looked every inch a woman. Yes, Aziz said, but they provide the same service satisfaction guaranteed as gay males. Anwar must have found the services provided by Saiful and the rest, beyond his wildest wet dreams.

But he has Islamic credentials. He can talk about Islam my friends.

Yes I said, but the schwanz[2] doesn’t know its enjoined to the body of a saint or sinner. It has a mind of its own.

---

[1] Respectable term for transvestites.

[2] German for cock or penis

DPM swears at Guar Perahu

Dato Seri Najib has sworn before the UMNO faithful. That is the most courageous thing that he has ever done. Didn’t Tun Mahathir tell us he is a coward? Didn’t many of us regard him as a political invertebrate?. Was, presently and forever?

Our supporters are elated. They think this is the death knell for Anwar and PKR. Habis lah Anwar- he does not have the testicular fortitude to undertake oath before God. So, DATO NAJIB has preceded Khairi J after all in burying Anwar and PKR.

But wait a minute. What is the significance of Dato Najib’s swearing? The Kopi Tiam which I frequent is noisy with all sorts of two cents worth commentaries.

For me, as soon as Dato Najib swore by way of uttering the Islamic incantations of the 3Ws( Wallahi, Wabillahi, Watallahi), I said, this is the nail in the coffin for….UMNO and BN. For it immediately tells me, the BN elections machinery has nothing else to offer to the people of Permatang Pauh.

Call me a doubting Thomas for all I care. Just like Rhett Butler said to Scarlett O’Hara- frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.

That 3W thing immediately places our DPM in the same class as Saiful the sodomised. Who the hell are his advisors asking the DPM to sumpah? Saiful is just a college graduate drop-out. Dato Najib was said to have not completed his degree at Nottingham University. The only difference, I think, is Dato Najib has the mental wherewithal to complete his degree if he had stayed behind. But alas, fate intervened and he was recalled to be the UMNO candidate for Pekan, by default.

Those of you who have not held public offices should not be overwhelmed by the oath taking by way of the 3W. There’s nothing to it really. It’s not as severe and death defying as taking a bottle of Paraquat or Roundup. Right? It does not mean anything at all except playing to the gallery.

I tell you what. When you are about to take office as a divisional committee member in an UMNO Bahagian, you stand up and take the solemn 3Ws oath. Everyone would raise their right hand and utter the 3Ws. You think, after uttering the 3Ws, the committee members turn into saints?

Holy camel dung- they don’t. UMNO jawatankausa bahagian members cheat, bugger, sondol, fornicate, corrupt others and pay their way to retain their positions. So don’t give us this holy crap.

To me then, swearing by the 3W means nothing except to reveal you have nothing more to give.

Hey, I have just thought of a theory. It’s not scientific yet because it has not been tested. I mean, it has not been subjected to rigorous empirical tests using regression techniques or econometrics methods. What’s the theory, pray tell.

I have observed over the years, that there seems to be an inverse relationship between the efficiency in doing a particular job and oath taking. I am not sure whether that relationship is linear or exponential though.

IN PRACTICE THEN, WE OBSERVE THAT THE MORE FREQUENT THE OATH TAKINGS, THE LOWER THE QUALITY OF WORK PRODUCED.

AND LOWER QUALITY HERE IS A GENERIC TERM.

Let’s see. When officials assume public office, they usually carry out oath takings by uttering the 3Ws. And usually, it is observed those who took oaths on taking their posts are the very ones who frequently abuse and violate the very oaths allowing them into office.

The District Officers abuse their position by amassing large tracts of land, as do the settlement officers, the surveyors , the penghulus. The ketua kampungs violate the trust of the government and their charges by carrying out land scams.

When holders of public offices assume other positions, they take the same oaths and repeat the abuses and violations of the very oaths that were supposed to sustain them.

Hence the more oaths they took, the more abuses they commit( i.e. the lower quality of integrity).

So, the more oaths and sumpahs Dato Najib takes, the principle behind the inverse relationship between oath taking and quality operates. That makes Dato Najib what?.....aw.... go on, say it to yourself. Say it loud! Say it proud!

So, when wise men of old admonished against making sumpahs, there can actually be a scientific basis to it after all. You self destruct because of the oaths.

so potong ayam means cut cock?

Trial by ordeal.

Until now, Anwar Ibrahim has steadfastly refused to swear by the Quran. Apa pasal kita tidak tahu. Certainly it would cause suspicion that he is guilty for what he has been accused of.

His nemesis, Dato Seri Najib has sworn before GOD. He has uttered the Islamic incantations of Wallahi, Wabillahi and Watallahi. Although he did not do it upon the Quran he has least said it. Anwar hasn’t. Dato Najib has come out smelling like roses.

Anwar wants to defend himself in court. The court of public opinion appears to believe that he is innocent. According to the cyber polls taken. But ultimately he must prove his innocence or guilt in the court of law.

If Anwar wants to prove his innocence in the court of law, then he will have no moral standing to accuse the court later as being biased and what not. The last time he was defended by a battalion of lawyers, he was jailed as a result of that.

The verdict on sodomy, the offence he is now charged with, was overturned on technicality. His followers and adulators will continue saying he was jailed not because of sodomy.

I am prepared to accept that he is innocent until proven guilty. So everyone must wait for the court to try his case.

In the meantime, everyone hopes with the direct interposition of GOD the guilt or the innocence of an accused person would be firmly established. This trial by ordeal, for that’s what it really is, is based on the belief that an omniscient and just GOD will not allow an innocent person be punished.

Everyone thinks God is on his or her side. When Americans go to war, they also believe that God is on their side. That’s why they reasoned, America has won its wars. The republicans think God is a republican. The democrats think that God is certainly a democrat.

So if everyone thinks God is on his side, then how do we establish guilt? Whom does God love more? Najib thinks God is on his side. Saiful certainly does think so. Anwar of course thinks God must be on his side. Further, Anwar believes what Gus Dur believes. Nalla Karuppan thinks God is a tennis player and his partner. Ezam Mohd Nor thinks God is inside the six boxes. A certain ex minister accused of fondling buttocks thinks MONEY is God.

The thing is, I think falling back on the omniscient God to prove innocence against an accusation does nothing except appeases our own religious guilt. We have all sinned brother!. And Sistah! It also provides an emotional link and a feeling of inner peace with our own innate religiosity.

Other than that it proves nothing. Swearing before God with or without the Quran is just like Dato Najib says- it is a matter between the accused and God. So what’s the fuss? It’s not like your are going to be struck by lightning immediately right? So go on swearing or angkat as many sumpahs you want.

Just so you know there are so many ways to carry out your trial by ordeal, maybe you may want to survey the options.

You can if you want, swear by the Chinese way by decapitating a chicken. Since it must be a rooster, you therefore Potong Your Cock!.

Or if you want to prove your innocence, you can do like in ancient days, cut yourself up to reveal the colour of your blood. If your blood turns out white colour, then you are innocent beyond the shadow of any doubt.

Maybe, you can do what the Indian rubber tappers do. Drink a bottle of paraquat or Roundup and if you survive, you are terror and innocent.

Still in ancient times, in Hammurabi’s time in fact, you prove your innocence by jumping into an icy river. If you are guilty you are consumed by the cold river. If you are innocent, then you come out unscathed.

Or perhaps you can hold a red hot iron. If your hands are alright, then you are innocent. Or using a similar version, you can draw a stone in a smouldering cauldron of boiling water. If your hands are ok, you are innocent.

There are 1001 ways by which to conduct trial by ordeal. It is an archaic and ancient way to prove one’s innocent. Whether one swears by the holy book or without, it does not prove anything but only serves to appeal to the maddening crowd.

Even before God, Lucifer or Iblis can still defy Him, what more, if you are far from Him.

But maybe for those accused of sodomy or adultery, POTONG COCK is best. See whether it grows back.