Sakmongkol AK47 and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah(2)

I have decided to do a last in-first out thing. This means, I shall write what transpired at the end of my tete-e-tete with TRH first and write what were earlier discussed later.

We covered a lot of things. When John and I sat earlier in the waiting room, we were able to discuss and run over the main issues that I intend to go over with TRH. It was my intention to conduct the session with TRH as a two way dialogue. For instance, I want to offer a thesis on something to which I would expect TRH to make an anti thesis. After the two way process of debating, we may come to a synthesis.

During my head to head meeting with TRH, I remembered stating the following: Tengku, would you agree if I say that the political mess in Perak is just an extension of the personal political philosophy of our two top leaders? That philosophy is characterised by a habitual tendency to subvert democracy and an overriding desire to use instruments of power?

TRH needed only to signal an inquiring gesture which says, please elaborate. Explain yourself.

Whereupon I would say- well, I read in one of your earlier posts, you are troubled to see our national politics degenerate into a game of transacting a private bequest between two grownups.

A long time ago, I posted an article likening the power transition as the playing out of the hilarious scene in Nujum Pak Belalang. In that scene, the two thieves were distributing the stolen loot by saying- one for me, one for you, two for me and two for you. In fact, I embedded a U-Tube of the scene acted out by Aziz Satar and S.Shamsudin.

The current politics in UMNO is one involving one party trying to stay in power by circumventing what the UMNO constitution is allowing such as making indefinite postponement and instituting indefensible undemocratic ways. The other is trying to take power by subverting democratic practice in UMNO and also doing it extra constitutionally.

The personal political inclinations of two private persons are now being played out in Perak. It is synthesised into a denial of the democratic rights of the people of Perak.

Would you agree if I say, unlike you Tengku, our current UMNO leaders don't belong to the old school of politics?

Whereupon Tengku answered: hmm...It's not that they don't belong to the Old School. They didn't go to school at all.

It is obvious to me; John also helps TRH with research material for whatever TRH wants to write. I stand corrected here- John Pang is not the personal assistant to TRH. He is as he says, a friend and adviser to TRH. He is doing sterling work, fine tuning what TRH wishes to convey to the reading public. We owe to TRH and to John a debt of gratitude for unearthing past material.

A few close associates came into the waiting room and added to little known facts about TRH's illustrious history. One such revealing facet of TRH's consistent political stand was and still is his total rejection of money politics. There's one person who came in and was introduced to me as Fahmi. He is working closely with John on research and digitalizing some speeches of TRH which were made almost 30 years ago. One such speech was one that was done on the eve of the 1987 UMNO General Assembly( the 38th) in a leading hotel attended by many of the UMNO leaders now. The main theme was what money politics is doing to UMNO. Among the UMNO leadership who attended included the present PM and Tun Musa Hitam.

TRH was already talking about the scourge of money politics back then. In 1987, the ugly head of money politics had already surfaced. I immediately asked- YM Tengku, in your opinion, when did this disease start?

You know. Tun Razak started the fight against money politics. He banned UMNO from receiving donations. Hussein Onn continued this practice. There isn't any doubt that money politics resurfaced defiantly during Tun Mahathir's time.

We shall come back later on this point.