UMNO Reforms: Talking and Doing

The PM we never had, Tengku Razaliegh Hamzah recently made some very interesting proposals. His, followed on the heels of certain proposals on UMNO's structure made by the chairman of UMNO's Disciplinary board, Tengku Din. As many remember, many were aghast at the proposals and Tengku Din drew a lot of flak. He was also termed quite unfairly and rudely, senile by untutored and uncouth UMNO riff raffs.

Perhaps these riff-raffs are the collective backbone of UMNO. The DPM2B told everyone, (although the prospects of Muhyudin as the DPM2B are fast dwindling) don't underestimate UMNO which has 3.5 million members. These are indeed brave words from the man who suffers from atrophy in his facial muscles preventing him from smiling more.

Well, with the majority of UMNO members composed of riff-raffs, with people who think a different set of laws apply to them because they are after all, UMNOputras a subspecies of Bumiputras perhaps, every right thinking people CAN underestimate UMNO.

These people protesting a more active MACC are like a bunch of cattle stealers and rustlers complaining to the cattle owners, not fair for calling in the sheriff. As the cattle rustlers would have it, the fair thing, is to allow cattle owners' committee in the form of the ineffective Disciplinary Board does the catching. For GOD/TUHAN/ALLAH sake! The man heading the UMNO D Board is throwing up both his hands. I bet you, if it's possible to raise hands and feet together, he will do it. Where money politics is concern, without the political will to use the big stick, UMNO is a gone case. What is even more insulting, is the foot shuffling, tongue slipping, mind vanishing- oh, it's not the MACC that they don't like; it's the methods employed by MACC. Dei, tamby, ayya, ah so, ah ma, pakcik, atuk, nenek, haven't you taught us, you spare the cane, you spoil the child.

But the DPM2B only manages to insinuate that UMNO will carry out structural reforms? The extremely vague public announcements brings immediately the recall what Blackadder said to William Pitt (Pitt the young). Blackader is of course the much loved BBC series on political parody, Blackadder.

Pitt the young announced to Blackadder that he will field his younger brother as candidate in a by election. Seizing the moment, Blackadder asked- and which Pitt shall that be? Pitt the younger?, Pitt the toddler? or Pitt, the glint in the milkman's eye? In the same manner, Malays are asking, which reforms are DPM2b talking about- reforms on the drawing board, reforms dreamt yesterday, or reforms the glint in UMNO's eyes?

The axiom, justice must not only be done, but must be seen to be done has its corrupted version in UMNO. It is not necessary to have reforms done, it is necessary only, to make it appear that reforms are done. In the absence of concrete evidence, I would say, what Muhyiddin says is just verbiage. The more substantive proposals on reforms were recently mooted by Tengku Razaleigh.

That will be discussed in a separate section.