Object Lesson for UMNO
There is always this tendency among UMNO leaders to trivialize the erosion of people’s confidence in them. It’s the fallacy of forced over-optimism. The Ali Rustams, the M.Taibs, the lesser myrmidons make light of the messages. The trivializing mentality is typified by statements like- UMNO lost because the OTHER side played dirty. WE are still ok.
The people of Pekan, Najib’s constituency, may be shielded from realizing the truth. After all they have enjoyed the spillover effects of having a favorite son becoming the national leader. They are promised even more. But what happens if UMNO loses the federal government?
Can trivialities or fickle-mindedness explained the massive shift in votes away from UMNO in the recent general elections? UMNO lost its mandate to rule in 5 states and is basically impotent in Federal Territory with one seat? Can trivialities explain why more than 1 million UMNO members did not support UMNO candidates? With a membership of 3.2million, UMNO candidates secured probably only 2.0million votes? Can trivialities explain why out of the 5.7 Malay votes, UMNO candidates secured only 2million? It’s insulting our intelligence to accept suggestions that these are flashes in the pan.
So the leaders speak of change. Muhyidin speaks of change. Najib because he is a stout defender of the UMNO tradition, is slower to endorse the calls for change. In the end, everyone joins in the choir and chorused we must change. Change what? What changes are UMNO leaders talking about? What particular changes is Dato Najib talking about? If his idea of change means imperceptible re-arrangements here and there, slipshod steps taken for publicity stunt, UMNO is gone. Such changes serve only to reaffirm people’s perception that really UMNO doesn’t want to change the system.
What is the system that UMNO has? Looking at UMNO, I would say, that it has a system almost akin to colonialism of old. I remember reading a very telling definition of colonialism by that grey eminence across the causeway as something like this. The colonial system is that which allows the masters to build his house or mansion on the rock, or hillock or hill. On the other side, in the swamps, the natives get to set up their atap houses, zinc-roofed hovels etc. This system cannot be changed by having the natives move inches away from the edges of the swamps. They have to be moved to higher ground or the swamps filled up with earth or whatever. In short, the change we want is nothing short of revolutionary social change.
UMNO leaders get finicky when the word revolution is mentioned. Violent changes by violent means? To pacify the keristuans, that’s why we place the qualification- social revolution of the system. UMNO has a system where the power elite could not hold on anymore while its members, 3 million of them, will no longer tolerate.
The politics of dignity.
How will he propose to get UMNO out of this deep rut? What can Dato Najib do to re-invent UMNO? He knows and we hope he does, that transaction politics, exemplified by shameless acts of pork-barrel politics are no longer saleable to voters. The verdict of the KT election is a signal of things to come. The rakyat are slowly but surely moving up the ladder of quality politics instead of succumbing to the usual stick and carrot politics. They are emboldened by quiet confidence and political awareness. People are just fed up of being bullied or paid into submission. The people are demanding dignity. They want to be treated honestly and with dignity.
This idea of pork-barrel politics in whatever forms must be abandoned. The idea of vote for us you get something and don’t vote for us you get punished must be thrown out. It is the height of political blackmail and practice of pork-barrel politics at its crudest, when Federal government blackmails state governments into submission. The federal government which is an extension of UMNO’s political habits must show at least it has honesty of purpose. Its purpose is nothing short of having citizens of Malaysia’s interest as the highest priority. Give what’s due to them without the pork-barreling. .
Many of us have heard the saying- respect has to be earned not demanded. How does the UMNO government react when a state government is controlled by an opposition government? UMNO led governance is just another extension of UMNO money politics- support us, you get this and that.
In the case of Kelantan, funds are channeled through the UMNO warlords in the state, the ketua bahagians. It is common to hear statements that Kelantan UMNO warlords don’t want UMNO to win back the state. Not winning the state makes them indispensable and relevant to the UMNO cause of winning back the state. Consider the case of Terengganu. The condescension that went along with sequestering the oil revenue with such opinions like we don’t want the money to fall into the wrong hands or we can manage the money better. You see, UMNO doesn’t behave in ways that merit respect. UMNO’s governance is another pyramid-system of doing business.
As Tengku Razaleigh says, UMNO is in uncharted waters with no good captains. And like the blogger Malaysian Finance Blogspot says, ‘ it’s a dangerous place when more and more of the general public think they can run the country better than the government, and what’s even more dangerous than that is that the public are not wrong about that’.
UMNO is facing a population that is increasingly aware of things, better educated, outspoken and articulate. Yet UMNO offers them candidates with passable mental abilities, crude social behavior and those kinds of leaders you would normally find in the Selayang Pasar Borong or the Chow Kit Road quality? Example: when I hear people like Ali Rustam and Muhd Muhd Taib saying that UMNO lost because the other side used dirty tactics- I am saying to myself, UMNO is already behaving like a party out of power. And these are aspirants to higher offices in UMNO.
The Nature of Leadership.
What we need then is leadership. Firm and decisive but respect human dignity. I hope Dato Najib understands the nature of leadership. Especially, the perception of leadership and what it means to an Asian society such as ours. Leaders are expected to lead, firmly, decisively and justly. It’s worthless just spewing out palliatives that we will change and all that, we will re-engineer UMNO and all that, if the nature of leadership is not understood.
Let me illustrate. In the last 10 days, during the Tiananmen Square demonstrations, protestations reached feverish peaks. Sloganeering, denouncing this and that, kick out this and that, spilled over to criticisms personal in nature. First, on Li Peng and then Deng Xiaoping. What happened next? A leader cannot govern when people mock him like this. People will lose respect. Respect is the foundation of leadership. You may not be liked but, you must be respected. Mahathir is not liked by many, but I believed he is respected. The Chinese government put a stop to that, sending in the PLA and even tanks. Why? Not because they cannot tolerate dissent, but they cannot entertain erosion of respect.
24 comments:
Dear SM,
You are forgetting one crux of Umno’s being that many find most disgusting: its arrogance.
Umno Warlords – a word most apt? – have this condescending way of looking down on people.
Hence we have brilliant comments from first tier leadership aspirants the likes of Ali Rustam, Muhammad Muhammad Taib, Zahid Hamidi. The list really goes.
Sometimes, the same arrogance filters down to even those down the lines of the typical Umno hierarchy.
To them, Umno is supreme. Umno is lord. Umno is the reason for the Malay’s being.
All the hand kissing of Ministers whenever they go down to their grounds for something or the other disgust outsiders who see it as kowtowing to someone who is supposed to serve us, and not the other way around.
Can Umno truly be saved, or is the rot too sustained?
I am not an Umno member, nor am I a fan. I don’t f**king care if the party dies along with all their hangers on, always on the look out for commissions to be made, contracts to sapu, opportunities to leach.
It used to be that I understood the needs to perhaps, just perhaps tolerate the party idiosyncrasies, as there was – the oft-quoted excuse – a lack of alternative.
Pakatan Rakyat has flushed this excuse down the gutter, and the new coalition is not without blemish, there are enough good, and firm signs that there is hope for a government that serves the rakyat instead of its followers.
We are done kowtowing, and Umno can continue rotting if it doesn’t realize this.
God bless.
Salam Sak,
The last portion of your posting is very chilling. What are you trying to suggest? Any hardline action from BN gov will only alienate the new generation of voters.
Datuk, I am putting this post tomorrow as my Friday's Guest Blogger.
Will suggest Din Merican pick it up too.
raison detre
i will gloss over what you have said and perhaps come up with an article.
mikeling- thank you. dont worry, i am fully committed to democracy- wait for further article.
mr bernard khoo aka zorro. that would be an honour. i shall have to return the favour by posting about you. indeed i am going through yr older articles trying to put up- Zorro-the man behind the ideas. thank you once again
Dato,
I strongly differ from yr interpretation of the Tiananmen Square demonstrations.
The PLA & tanks r the acts of desperate measures taken to contain the status quo!
The top leaders of the then communist China knew only too well that if the demonstrations continued on its burning pace, their downfalls would be a forgone confirmation.
Knowing too well about the sparking points of the past dynastic changes for the nation, respect of the leaders & peace for the nation r the last thing, if ever,came to their minds. Self-preservation of power was the ultimate guiding factor in sending in the army!
Only after the debacle of the Tiananmen Square demonstrations, did the Chinese oligarchy learned about CHANGE for the nation lied with the WELL_BEING of the populace. The rest is history.
I DO agree with MikeLing that U might sent a WRONG idea to the desperadoes in the current umno leaders as described by Raison D'etre.
Its chilling indeed if the scene comes to pass!
gwlnet
Dato’ Sak’s qualms of the UMNO juggernaut from within can be likened to the warnings of Aldous Huxley against the feelgood clairvoyant social politicians all over, who tend to paint rosy pictures of things to come based on what they think is the definition of goodness. Just by wishing some things should turn out good doesn’t necessarily make it so, especially if specious steps towards achieving them are not addressed. KT Umno, Pahang and eventually that of the entire country, is Dato’ Sak’s Brave New World and yes I do support “petitions” in earlier posts and elsewhere that Dato’ should be right up there steering the direction of these lost souls rather than letting that job be taken by those whom Kijangmas mentioned as “Ketua kerani pejabat Tanah”.
On the other hand, why is this MikeLing and gwlnet taking some kind of alarmist approach regarding Dato’s “chilling last paragraph”? What do you mean chilling. What do you mean what are you suggesting. Dato’ was just pulling in an example elsewhere and straightaway it’s chilling, its sending wrong ideas? Do you think all government people are made-up of brawns-only resorting-to-hardline-actions because that’s how the MalaysiaTodays and the RPKs have painted it to be? You guys are insulting the integrity of some aspects of the government, and the intelligence and ability of Dato’ Sak for suggesting that he is “sending messages”. The main worry of those whose mind-psyche are constantly bludgeoned with pictures of vindictiveness and constantly on the warpath is that somehow, whatever has been concocted in their own minds will be used against them pre-emptively.
Paraphrasing another commenter earlier, my ciku plant kebun belakang rumah refuses to yield fruit and my car battery keep on dying upon me. I am sure it’s due to UMNO and the “rotting, desperado” UMNOputras.
Sheesh!
Apocryphalist
Dear Sak
Do you seriously believe that the leadership of UMNO (if there is one!! has learnt anything from the last elections and the Bye-elctions? If UMNO cannot respect its opposition and treat them with respect, they cannot expect to receive any repect in any form.
First of all, the Rakyat have spoken. In the prime states of Penang, Selangor & FT ( the economic power houses in Malaysia) and Kedah & Kelantan (the rice bowls of the nation. UMNO must respect the people and NOT withhold Federal funds for development and operations. That is the first rule of democracy. After all the rakyat in these states are all taxpayers and have not refused to pay the taxes. If they refused and stated that they will only pay to the elected government of the state, where will this lead us? Chaos?? These states are the biggest Federal taxpayers, yet the Federal government denies them the funds, especially in these difficult times when we should be bipartisan and think of the peoples welfare. The biggest unemployment is going to occur and is occurong in these states. The rakyat knew these and still voted against the rule of BN.
UMNO is too entrenched in its old midset. If Najib wants to earn our respect, he must tear down the present house, which his father and others built but which is now full of termites, and rebuilt it. True political leadership is about truth, honesty, openness, fairness and listening to the people. UMNO leadership only wants to listen to its members and not the rakyat.
I am sorry but UMNO has not learnty any lessons from the current travails its faces, externally and internally. There is no more largesses to be given out. Everthing must fbe earned and honestly!
To be very honest with you Dato, I was afraid that an UMNO victory in KT would have perpetuated the state of denial that the party is in. It was dillema for anyone who cared for UMNO and BN
To be very honest with you Dato, I was afraid that an UMNO victory in KT would have perpetuated the state of denial that the party is in. It was dillema for anyone who cared for UMNO and BN
Stephen Doss
www.stephendoss.blogspot.com
Dato - as you say so "UMNO offers them candidates with passable mental abilities, crude social behavior and those kinds of leaders you would normally find in the Selayang Pasar Borong or the Chow Kit Road quality..." so i think your last statement may be interpreted wrongly by these passable mental abilities dude.
Already the PDRM is activated, the FRU and there was a time when the PDRM and Army is talking about a join security activities.. this send chills down my spine, dato.
Tiananmen and China has very large population and any hint of a revolution will be put down as quickly as you can say Reformasi. MM Lee of Spore has rationalize it in a single statement "If I have to shoot 200,000 students to save China from another 100 years of disorder, so be it..."
Anyway, I disagree on your point that "Not because they (the chinese government) cannot tolerate dissent, but they cannot entertain erosion of respect." - No chinese government can tolerate dissent. Not in the last 2000 years.
Coming back here, our situation are different. We have people who are in high position not because of meritocracy but becos of cronyism, nepotism etc...in another word, they are rewarded becos of their loyalty to individuals and not becos they can think for the good of the country. 50+ years and we are regressing comparing to our SEA neighbors.
your good self and Dtk Zaid aside, when was the last time we have heard of any intellectual discourse from our so call leaders whether it is on economy policy, race relation or whatnots.
I do hope your last statement will not be translated whole scale by the present federal government to start rounding up genuine rakyat looking for change for the better. We need technocrats. We need people who can think and lead without having to use guns, tanks and hiding behind archaic law.
And I have one good reason why Umno will be down tne drain sooner than you can imagine Dato'. I picked it from somewhere.
..................................
I refer to http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/96873. In the course of history, there have been soulless and perfidious elements who had no higher purpose in life, but one Ezam Mat Noor takes us to a new level. The greatest gift God has given mankind is the inherent dignity human beings feel and own. In fact, inherent dignity is neither conquered nor destroyed. People die for it and it is supreme. That's why people say dignity has its price. But also there have been people who have been denied the gift of both knowing and protecting it and one of them is Ezam.
Ezam was the most juvenile and vulgar element of PKR during the Reformasi. He called Tun Dr Mahathir unprintable names. All is captured in video and writing. He exhausted every bad word against the elder statesman. There were many people who fought Dr M, intellectuals, students, NGOs, politicians and other segments of the society but no person was cheap and vulgar than Ezam. The people who were with Ezam in PKR are today MPs, Aduns and senior party leaders. As they fought Dr M and Umno together, none used base language and none behaved like a wild person, of course except few; but even those few couldn't do a fraction of what Ezam was doing and did.
Why was Ezam behaving like a primate? The reason is he didn't have higher ideals. He was literally worshipping Anwar Ibrahim. He was a young man who was angry that he was ejected out of power. Of course, he didn't have power but walking on the red carpets laid down for Anwar was too tantalizing. He went on rage and puked on the shoes of everyone. But many opposition members didn't mind his uncouth culture. They felt the man they were fighting was uncouth and therefore fire had to be fought with fire. Furthermore, being in the opposition and facing a mighty machine, hatch-men and women were needed to attract attention and remain afloat.
Ezam talked of 'high secrets', 'confidential boxes', 'corruption papers' and many more vowing to "unearth Mahathir and his cronies". In one video interview, he calls Mahathir a tin-pot dictator who "stole the nation's wealth for himself and children like Suharto." Ezam paid the price for his Anwar worship and went to jail. Dr M left office and Abdullah Badawi riding on "Oh...Mahathir left" popular wave cruised to a crushing victory. In the process, Ezam's dubious character of eating from both camps was unearthed.
Anwar Ibrahim was released. He went outside both for medical reasons and also as he said, to "give Badawi enough space to operate." Despite that, he started rebuilding a tattered party, building alliances, bridging gaps and formulating policies. It was here that Anwar was forced to choose his soldiers wisely. Having learnt from his 1998 episode, he became stealth and very cautious. Though accommodative to all, he trusted few. Despite going to jail for his worship, Ezam was not part of the trusted lieutenants in the new era despite being one in the past. Though I'm not a PKR member, I generally support PAS and PKR and have many good friends in both parties. A highly placed PKR man told me: "Anwar opted for stealth people like him and it was here that Azmin Ali carried the day."
The PKR source added: 'Azmin unlike Ezam doesn't have ego. But Ezam would want to be noticed even if he wants to go the toilet. He is so full of himself while Azmin is a master strategist but prefers behind the scenes maneuvers.’ The only handicap Azmin has said my friend, is that unlike Anwar, he is not an orator per excellence. He said building new alliances and starting from scratch needed patient people who were always civil. Ezam as we know is not civil. For example, Azmin Ali was Anwar's most trusted aide and not Ezam. Nor was Ezam accessible to Anwar as he wanted unlike Azmin who had the keys to Anwar's office. Azmin too was jailed under the ISA but despite that, he has never badmouthed Dr Mahathir in a disparaging manner neither did he call Umno unprintable names unlike Ezam. The difference was stark. One was a natural born leader, very cool and civil. The other was a temperamental opportunist who didn't appreciate any higher ideals. In the process, Ezam quit PKR. As we remember, he said Anwar was a dictator and Azmin Ali a chief manipulator. (I.e he manipulated Anwar into becoming his right hand man: a job Ezam wanted). During the Permatang Pauh by-election, Ezam reveals his inherent inferiority and jealousy and said: “I have not been accommodated in PKR which I suffered for as I wanted.” No need to explain this.
Ezam formed Gerak (ironically bankrolled by Umno's most corrupted man). He languished in obscurity and irrelevance though he continued lashing at Umno and purporting to lodge report after report on its "massive corruption". He remained so until the March 08 came where Anwar led 3 disparate parties into a historical win. Then Anwar started courting BN MPs. BN and in particular Umno went into panic overdrive. Khairy bought Ezam in the hope that he will blunt Anwar's advances. The problem is that Ezam was not a leader of any group or society. He has never been an Adun let alone an MP. His only claim to office-hood was his being an Anwar's clerk. So one wonders why Badawi listened to his SIL’s advice that Ezam should be bought and used. Anyway it happened.
When Ezam joined Umno, he said he joined the party to "fight corruption". Never mind what he has been saying all along. But such claim was an insult on Umno members and leaders. He was projecting himself as Umno savior and lampooning the 3 million members as hapless corrupt people waiting for his "deliverance" Despite that, Umno media (pro-Abdullah by then) started giving him limelight. Former NST Editor-in-Chief Dato' A. Kadir Jasin laughed at Ezam's preposterous claim that he has joined Umno to fight corruption. "Betulkaa?" asked the veteran journalist in jest.
Later, when asked why he has left PKR (almost 2 years earlier), he said it was because Anwar deviated from PKR mission which was to have a multiracial party but with Malay leadership. Everyone was flabbergasted. Veteran blogger Patrick Teoh (Niamah) asked then in a blog post: now what does that mean? Of course, it was an oxymoron claim. As everyone knows, PKR is a true multiracial party but it is in the grip of Malay leadership. The Party President and Deputy President are Malays. The two most influential out of 5 Vice Presidents are Malays. Wanita and Youth chiefs are Malays. All State Liaisons including Sabah and Sarawak are Malays. All Youth state leaders are Malays. The Party Advisor, Sec. General etc are Malays and 67% of PKR MPs are Malays. In other words, the party is multiracial and has many non-Malay leadership MPs, Aduns and etc but it is in Malay stranglehold. Or the party's first tier leadership is Malay while the 2nd in non-Malay. Considering the demographics of the country, it can be said it is well balanced.
Then Ezam came with another reason. He said he ditched PKR because Anwar betrayed the Malays by trying to modify NEP. Never mind that it was 1 year after Ezam left that Anwar announced his new Economic Policy, therefore he was lying. In 2004, Ezam is on record of castigating the policy saying it has fallen into 'private hands.' Anyway his lies were evident. NEP is castigated by the royalties let alone the politicians and many Umno leaders admitted that it has been hijacked. The latest voice was that of Raja Muda of Perak Raja Dr Nazrin Shah who said Tun Dr Ismail's intention to have NEP feeding all Malaysians irrespective of race was ignored leading to the criticisms it has received. Kelantan MB Tuan Guru Dato' Nik Aziz has a policy of feeding all poor Kelantanese irrespective of race and creed. We can say he has been sticking to Tun Dr Ismail's policy. So Anwar's new policy which is restoring Tun Dr Ismail's intention is nothing new. It is what NEP was intended to be and it is what Tok Guru Nik Aziz has been doing. You can't refuse to feed hungry Chinese and Indians because of their race. That's defying God Who has created them. That's blaming them for being Chinese and Indians yet they didn't choose to be the same.
Then Ezam came up with another joke. 'The boxes' are with Anwar he said. Of course we know about that stale story. But for years, he has been claiming that he has them and will reveal them to Malaysians when the right time comes. Then in a Bloomberg Report, he was quoted saying that he has left PKR "because Anwar is too much interested in power." Never mind PKR was in a coma when he has left. Therefore Anwar claiming a stake in the nation's leadership was out of the question by then. Then came Anwar has rewarded some 15 cronies with contracts worth of billions. He was challenged to produce one out of the 15 but he had none. But by claiming that, he was showing his nefarious character and perfidious soul. If he could see Anwar was corrupt, why didn't he resign from Anwar's office when the latter was in office? What integrity does he have to claim that when he cherished it (of course if it had happened?). In other words, he was part of evil (judging by his claims) but when the proceeds got finished, he started making noises.
During the Permatang Pauh (PP) by-election, he went round inventing every imaginable calumny against Anwar. The trouble is: he has done the same to others before and people know he was the only PKR member who was worshipping Anwar while the rest fought for ideals. So his rants didn't hold water. His stinking politics and Umno's anal politics was rejected in a resounding manner. He went underground and was only found when KT by-election arose. Prostitutes are not found all seasons you know. One Baradan Kuppusamy of The Malaysian Insider asked why he had failed in PP since he was contracted to character assassinate Anwar. His reason? He doesn't have a senior post in Umno. So the boy is behaving like a primate to get a post in a party that he has defiled. Umno must be beyond salvation point to harbor such elements. Malay intellectual Dr Bakri Musa called Ezam a certified buffoon who even doesn't have the intelligence of a grass-hopper. Yahoo!
Ezam told Baradan that will continue taking a dig at Anwar in KT. Of course, being a grass-hopper intelligence wise, he didn't understand that voters in KT weren't interested in Anwar as a person neither were they waiting for his rants. They wanted to be told about the failing education, the rising prices, the Monsoon drains, rising insecurity, failing economy, racial divide, poverty eradication, inequality in income, failing health standards, joblessness and social ills. Umno being Umno employed him in the hope that he will convince few fence sitters. But I ask: how does a voter get convinced by Ezam of all people? Pas people were happy that he was in KT. Though many Umno leaders denied him the opportunity to address their gatherings, (at least 3 groups chased him away), Pas still wanted to have him around. In an electoral battle where inherent dignity and societal manners reined supreme, having a soulless character like Ezam was a bonus for Pas and Pakatan.
Ezam's desperate antics took a notch higher in KT. He came up with another joke. "The boxes are kept outside the country" by Anwar he claimed. He must be in a state of a paralysis but what puzzles me is those who use a mad man like him to gain ground. Subhannalah! Now that was the biggest joke he has made in one decade. Then he came up with a new reason why he has left PKR: "The boxes contain evidences against Anwar cronies and because of that I left PKR" he said. Ya Allah! Never mind what he has been saying for years and years in relation to Mahathir and Umno and the boxes.
Then came the most base move he could make: the Anwar Ibrahim letter. He threatened to reveal a letter in which Anwar sought to make peace with Mahathir. An elderly man in Ladang, KT, asked me: 'Is he praising Anwar or lampooning him'? Well, I didn't know what to say. To seek peace and show restraint is what few people can do. To thank others and call for dialogue is what the Quran says few people can do. It is difficult. But what was he to gain by saying Anwar sought to mend fences with Mahathir? For one, Anwar as a Muslim and a Malay should have done that. And if he did, then that is marvelous. But when hatred blinds you, you descend to a level that's beyond salvation point and one Ezam Mat Noor is in a ditch.
His paralyzed personality and feeble mind was in display for all to see. For one, the letter he has shown was published in 1999 in the Free Anwar Ibrahim Campaign. It was also published in many other personal blogs and it was also published in Malaysia-Today even last year. Top notch cartoonist, blogger Mob's Crib drew Ezam holding the letters with a caption: KT: Proof that BN goons are Idiots. Calling Ezam the new ZAM, he said, at least Ezam has shown that Anwar speaks impeccable Bahasa while he (Ezam) was an idiot. Personally, I read the letter in 1999 in the Free Anwar Ibrahim Campaign.
But the shock of life was when Ezam claimed that he sought the permission of Badawi and Najib to reveal the letter. I couldn't believe what I read. If that's true and I doubt it knowing how an incorrigible liar Ezam is, then it proves that Dollah and Najib are beyond salvation point. How can you seek permission for a letter that has been in the public domain for 10 years? And the letter showed the positive nature of Anwar than any anything else. What is the wisdom behind "revealing" it? But that's what you get when you rely on scandalous minds. Petty and puerile!
Veteran journalist Jailani Harun who was contracted by the Terengganu state to write some propaganda in the states election bulletin GANUkita reported in his blog that many Umno people were shunning Ezam like a plague and even objected to his presence in their ceremahs. Basically they know what kind of an element he is. It was then that I came to know that ordinary Umno people are very intelligent but Umno is in paralysis because of poor leadership. Now that tells me why Umno will be dying soon. If Najib in his desperate attempt to deflect attention can't even know who and what employ and he is the one who will taking over from Abdullah, then the gods must be smiling on Pakatan.
The questions that many people ask is these: who is Ezam to compare himself to Anwar? There is difference between Anwar being wrong on this or that and Ezam highlighting it, and Ezam pretending to be Anwar's equal. Here you have a 2nd Hon. Economy graduate from a provincial university who doesn't have any leadership experience apart from being a coffee boy for a former DPM. Ezam wasn't elected by any community to represent it. He was rejected by voters when he tried to become an MP. He has never been an Adun. But because of his ego, he wants to be given too much consideration. Anwar was in public office for decades and even become an acting PM and ran ministries and is a global figure who enjoys runway popularity. Even in Malaysia, though all politicians have supporters, like Dato' Kadir Jasin observed in a comparison he made between Najib and Anwar in his blog after the March 08 watershed elections, he said it is only Anwar who enjoys fanatical support.
Well, who is Ezam to be used against Anwar? Does the fact that he was privy to some few things make him a weapon against Anwar? And isn't that indecent? It only boomerangs. It only shows the perfidy of Ezam and his users. It only makes people ask: how can he reveal a letter (or something of the sort) he was trusted to deliver or do? Then the moral question of him wanting it to do way back puts him in a dilemma. And that’s why some Umno members protested against his presence in KT by writing a letter to the Malay Mail. It is like an unfaithful man/woman who was divorced but goes around saying his/her wife/husband did this (private affair) or that. Ish! Trust is an integral part of refined people. That’s why it is cherished by all moral beings. As much as I want Ezam to be around especially during by-elections (what else does can he do), he is disgusting, has hit the bottom of the barrel and makes you lose faith in humanity.
When PR was using dignified people like Former Umno Petaling Jaya Selatan division leader Capt.(R) Zahar Hashim and Dato' Zaid Ibrahim, Umno (or rather Najib and Abdullah since ordinary Umno members avoided him) was using Ezam. You think people fail to make comparisons? To compare notes? Who told you badmouthing your opponent particularly by sour grapes makes you gain ground? Who told you employing pariah elements convince people? Remember, voters have dignity and have issues and questions. They want those answered and they want the ones who are answering to be impeccable people. Ezam was there vomiting on the shoes of Umno and its leaders before and he was there doing the same in KT. He even dared Pas Vice President Husam Musa. As usual, Ezam swore and challenged Husam to do the same and meet for a swearing session. Knowing his diseased ego, Husam in a most sarcastic manner answered that swearing was for those who weren’t sure of themselves and that he (Husam) was not a ‘Tokoh’ unlike Ezam. It was a devastating sarcasm.
A blog entry made in Pas forum Tranungkite said Ezam should be given an Anugerah in oath taking. That was a killer. If you watch his 1999-2002 videos, after every 2 minutes, he will swear on this and on that. For one decade, he has been swearing. But as Muslims know, swearing is the shield of the hypocrites. That's why Allah s.w states: "They (hypocrites) have made their oaths a screen (for their misdeeds): thus they obstruct (men) from the Path of Allah. truly evil are their deeds." (Quran 63: 2). That's why the Quran instructs Muslims to refuse to accept oath ready people and whatever they say. "Heed not the type of despicable men,- ready with oaths. A slanderer, going about with calumnies. (Habitually) hindering (all) good, transgressing beyond bounds, deep in sin. Violent (and cruel), - with all that, base-born." (Quran 98: 10-13) Whether Ezam fits into the above description or not, even the unborn can answer.
Finally, this is my advice to Ezam. You claim to be fighting for Islam and the Malay people. Sir, neither Islam nor the Malays have ordained you to speak on their behalf. Islam has its Protector in Allah the Almighty. Furthermore Islam is about ideals, dignity, trustworthiness, shyness, humility, manners, patience, benevolence,forgiveness, humbleness and you exhibit none. Go and learn Islam before you “defend” it. For the Malay people: their Protector too is Allah the Almighty. For earthly issues, the Malays have elected leadership and they aren't represented by pariahs and small minds of your ilk. You were elected by who? By what law by what justice do you pretend that you represent anyone? You are mental wreckage that can't be fixed and your bunkum can't win over anyone including the moribund elements. Strange that Umno Matrempits avoid you today. Others can’t wait to give you the boot once the small minded Badawi exits. I hope that you will do some good for your wife, children and parents by carrying yourself with dignity. I doubt you can do, but I really feel disturbed that you are putting your own parents and children in the line of disdain and ridicule. Go and do something good with your life. That's if you are living in the first place. (I asked a young PKR leader: ‘hey…why don’t you respond to the antics of Ezam’? He smiled and said: ‘you respond to the living not the dead’.) No wonder PKR and PAS leaders including the young feel too dignified to bandy words with him. This is sending him into tailspin and that’s why he is behaving like a nut. Please pray for him because he has a wife, children and parents.
Apocryphalist,
Someone advises that I shouldn't response to this as this is Sak's blog , & yet with the coming holiday setting I might have too much time to kill.
"What do you mean chilling. What do you mean what are you suggesting. Dato’ was just pulling in an example elsewhere and straightaway it’s chilling, its sending wrong ideas?"
A typical siege mentality response - if I may say so.
I don't know MikeLing & this is what I'm stating "The main worry of those whose mind-psyche are constantly bludgeoned with pictures of vindictiveness and constantly on the warpath is that somehow, whatever has been concocted in their own minds will be used against them pre-emptively."
Yes, I'm using yr own word to paraphrase yr inferior thinking! See how it works? No?
"You guys are insulting the integrity of some aspects of the government, and the intelligence and ability of Dato’ Sak for suggesting that he is “sending messages”"
Not for a minute that I'm insulting the intelligence and ability of Dato’ Sak. He has proven where the beef is!
This is just been an open blog & with that MANY pseudo-intelligentsia out there plagiarize on others idea One just can't, for the lack of better word, watch out.
This is especially so for a cornered animal, with many years of bruised ego comparatively!
Yes, I DO blame umno on most of the ills of Malaysia facing, either currently &/or in the past. I even blamed umno for getting dirty drinking water from the tap.
I'm seriously considering blaming umno for my car battery dying on me too! Why? If not because of some senile old man's ego for the misguided ethno-uplifting I might be able to afford a better car which in turn offer better battery & charger!
gwlnet
In one word dt. UMNO no longer have a leader. So like a ship without a captain it would just wonder along until it sank or stranded somewhere. To stay relevant it must reinvent itself with a totally new leadership.
Have a nice day.
To the anonymous who ranted about Ezam.
Yes Ezam is probably all that. But he did go to jail for years, and he was one of the main attractions of the early reformasi crowd. His speech was fiery and fit nicely with what the crowd then wanted to hear. During those Mahazalim years of ceramah everywhere, along with Mat Sabu, Ustaz Ismail Kamus and aruah Ustaz Bunyamin, Ezam was the opposition leader whose ceramah I always tried to attend.
Whatever his reasons are now for doing what he did I don't know and couldn't care less, but to read your long piece belittling every single thing he did is a sad reflection of the ugly and ungrateful world of politics, including unfortunately PKR politics.
Dato Sak,
You being 'in the know' within UMNO, do you think that the people you mentioned in your article read your blog? Digest it and take heed? Or they will just shrug you off for not towing the line?
As the popular saying by Pak Lah and Najib 'it is the Umno way of doing this and that' so don't rock the boat!
In my humble perception, the current leadership with all the excessive baggage is HOPELESS and BANKRUPT for NEW IDEAS, but very RICH in their CASH RESERVES. These people have hell of a lot to do to erase such perception.
Cheers,
Kongkor
I absolutely agree with you on this. UMNO are just making some conmetic changes and then they call them selves mor open.
UMNO will only change if the dare to do the followin:
- Abolish ISA
- Remove annual permit for news paper
- Remove sedition act
- Revert to original atricle 121 of judicial power.
- Allow a fairer selection of judge unlike the current power with PM
- Allow a free ACA which reports to parliment
- Allow free EC which reports to parliment. Reorganise all partimentary contituency to roughly the same number of voter.
- Allow automatic registration of voters.
- Allow ppl right for peaceful gathering
- Stop being racist.
- Stop corruption
- Open tender for all the major contracts.
- Allow healthy competition between companies to reduce price. Unlike monopoly by cronies.
And many many many many many many more....
I can tell u UMNO wont and cannot change...
Datuk, I emailed Pete (RPK) to give post of yours some cyber time. It was up around 12noon under Around the Blogs.
Umno remains a big tent persuasion-wise, reminiscent of the ideological backdrop in 1946 when 41 disparate organisations including Malay Left founded the party. Defining and clarifying the party-ideology now could alienate a range of segments. Should Umno accentuate its Malayness or deepen its Islamic credentials? It certainly should not opt for grand, costly cosmetic sheen - new logo, name change, new Umno buildings projecting Malay architecture, or worse, organise mega conventions to chart new directions given the unbearable noise these would generate.
Leaders have not spelt out the specific change, perhaps, because their troops are canvassing the usual feedback. The fatigue notwithstanding, please tolerate these thoughts;
1) The nation is desperate to see personnel change beginning with Najib's first Cabinet. The Cabinet will have to serve as the best think-tank we could conceivably assemble, in terms of brain-trust and ability to communicate the thinking of the Government. Worry not about the so-called warlords. Najib need not sack anyone because the moment the PM departs, every single Cabinet Minister loses his or her job. Najib is then entitled to name his own Cabinet. Bring Zaid Ibrahim back into the Umno fold because he is a thinker and he represents the Malaysiakini crowd - slightly liberal who does not embrace Ketuanan Melayu in the supremacy-sense. He fumbled on the judiciary issue. That does not make him a misfit. Has Nazri Aziz or Jamaluddin Jarjis articulated anything new or bold - despite these two being very bright? By pretending to be mediocre they dumbdown Umno. Of course they can change by being more eloquent, starting today. For lacking courage, they do not have the same appeal as Zaid Ibrahim does among the non-Umno crowd.
2) Senatorial appoinments. The Upper House should erupt with more substantive discussion when the exclusively-Umno crowd has failed to impress. So bring the Sakmongkols, the Kadir Jasins, yes, Dollah Kok Lanases (equivalent of an English Lord) - individuals who will add value to the discourse. Why has Kadir Jasin appeared to be an intellectual when the highly talented, highly qualified JJ not seen as erudite? Kadir has been writing and explaining his thoughts.
3) If the ongoing crackdown on money politics is designed to downsize the membership, then we should applaud and more should be charged. No embarrassment whatsoever in having 500 or so Umno members prosecuted.
Then, get on with the job. Plant FEAR in the consciousness of the no-value-add crowd that unless they accommodate the thinkers, Umno will be reduced to a Kesatuan Ketuanan Melayu Daerah-Daerah.
totally agree. Erosion of respect. In HUDUD, some of the punishment included stoned to death. This type of punishment has never been recorded in modern era but the thought of it actually scared the shit out of people.
So, should we reason people (stupid and moronic) or should we scared them to death.
Case in point is khaled nordin of UMNO temerloh. This bugger is known to scream and showed arrogance to people around him. Now, should we say "sir, don't do this and that. That's not the way UMNO do things and pls behave and take care of the rakyat"
or should we just slap him silly and tell him to shape up?
seman_tahan
UMNO has changed from its original mission. For UMNO, the change needed is not going into a new route, but returning to its origin. The original leaders of UMNO considered governing the country for its citizens their duties, and they did not consider using politics to enrich themselves. That was why Tunku was not wealthy when he was forced out in 1969, and officially left the PM post in 1971. The children of the other PMs are not known to be unwealthy.
Since 1981 when TDM converted NEP to creating wealthy Malays, UMNO leaders have taken the party UMNO as a corporate entity with power to appropriate national resoures including tax revenues as they please. Towards that end, government institutions have been changed to serve the interests of UMNOs and their leaders rather than the population. For a generation and longer, UMNO grassroot leaders have aspired to climb the party ladder, to reach the treasure house. How would they agree to UMNO removing the very reasons that lured them to be members of UMNO?
Loh
Dato' Sak,
This abject lesson is definitely humbling to UMNO. Hopefully it will turn for the better otherwise it will be wasted with no tangible result to show.
The March UMNO General Assembly will show some proof of its effect. I doubt you will be invited to attend it at all and they may even sack you from the party for daring to tell the truth and criticize the leadership.
gwlnet:
Yes, I DO blame umno on most of the ills of Malaysia facing, either currently &/or in the past. I even blamed umno for getting dirty drinking water from the tap.
I'm seriously considering blaming umno for my car battery dying on me too! Why? If not because of some senile old man's ego for the misguided ethno-uplifting I might be able to afford a better car which in turn offer better battery & charger!
I love it soooo much when I have to rest my case without any efforts, or let others prove my point for me ...
:-)
hello fellow bloggers,,,,firstly i would like to wish all Malaysian Gong Xi Fa Cai and Prosperous Year of the OX.,,,,and special thanks to you,,, AK47, on your write up plus to all those responding and involving on subject issues raised.
Thank God that we are able to deliberate our feelings via this channel of communication too !
Almost like talking at the kedai kopi,,,,but in real life such discussions are indeed carried out too by the rakyat,,,in fact a lot more than we bloggers.
Its a healthy way ,,,,kind of as far as am concerned and results are shown via the ballot box,,,so believe it, the RAKYAT have spoken and put it down on paper.
UMNO or PAS or DAP,,,whatever are all in some kind of trouble. Really in BIG trouble cas. we don't have an OBAMA to lead our country.
We need a LEADER,,,,a real person, a human,,,,a father/mother that cares. Really care for the country and for all its people.
We are soooooo divided by existing politicians available in front of us. We all are NOT blind. Its hurts me feeling deep down,,,,its frightening to think about it,,,we need to think/act for our future generation,,,,for all our MALAYSIAN children.`
Our childish politicians,,,,making me sick.There are so many challenges ahead that all of us Malaysian must work together as a team,,,,,its survival my friends.
Good Night,,,,need to sleep on it.
Capt.
tok sak, tumpang lalu ya...
wah apo, you polymath, you!
those pastels... channeling goya nampak... ;D
boleh display besar2 sikit tak?
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