Kagemushas- The Shadow warriors in Hulu Selangor

Toshiro Mufune was the vagabond who acted out as the dead Shogun is Kurosawa's epic Kagemusha. He was the shadow warrior acting out as the real Shingen. A similar drama is presently being played out in Hulu Selangor. Anwar wants to reaffirm his and his party' legitimacy and PM Najib wants to establish the relevance of his new leadership.

Yes, I know in an election, as in war and love, all is fair. That translates into anything goes. You dig up whatever dirt you have about your opponent hoping that will cast him in bad light with the voters. So we berate Zaid for his liberal lifestyle. He drinks like a fish. That's anathema to the Malays.

UMNO ministers do too. The point is, if we are able to tolerate our own people doing that, it means, that point isn't an all important consideration to form the basis to choose a leader. Would it be comforting for us to know that almost all UMNO leaders of the past drink? But they didn't cross the line and compromised on political principles. They brought out the best in their opponents not the worse.

I am not going to stop any of those UMNO paratroopers doing that thing. That is what they are most clever at. There are so many UMNO bloggers out there doing just that. Very good. Because they balance the PR propaganda machine.

But I want to ask that we be consistent in our stand. If we reject a person who drinks as a possible MP, we have stronger grounds to reject those drinkers within our own party because we have taken position on the moral high ground. We should unreservedly condemn those associated with our party policies that have business interests in beer making factory and censor those who drink. When the model was given the caning punishment I was one of the earliest to support that decision because I wanted to have the ruling applied consistently and without fear or favor.

We should reject all those who drink even if he is not a Muslim.

On a personal level, I am saying we don't have to do that if we all aspire to raise our politics on a higher level. We talk about issues – economic, political agenda. What is the economic agenda which Zaid wants to champion? What is his political agenda? What does he plan to do about the 6000 FELDA settlers in Hulu Selangor who are up in arms with Felda Plantations Bhd? What are you going to do to prove that UMNO is for all Malaysians? How do you reconcile UMNO's current openness with its willingness to accommodate Ibrahim Ali in Hulu Selangor? Will Ibrahim Ali be a liability to UMNO? How do you make UMNO relevant to the people in these times?

Zaid and Kamalanathan are two bit actors in a bigger drama- which is the political fight between the chief protagonists. Anwar Ibrahim representing the PR and DS Najib, the current PM of Malaysia and leader of UMNO.

Let's compare the leadership of the two.

I think Najib will be the first to disavow that he is saint. But it's not my mission to talk about this. His opponents will do so and their views will be challenged at every level. I am sure of that. Najib is not hypocritical to represent himself as what he is not. For example, it was never his trademark to represent himself as an ultra religious person. Because he knows that is a heavy responsibility to shoulder. If you make out yourself as an ultra religious person, your whole persona and action must also reflect the persona you have chosen to project out.

Anwar Ibrahim since his student days has always made himself out to be a modern Muslim- adhering to Islamic fundamentals. He has graduated from wearing Kurta shirts and sold at Wisma Yakin Sandals to Zegna suits and LV shoes. He has chosen a particular bed that behooves him to lie on it. If he does anything that betrays the projected image, what has he done? He has made himself out as a hypocrite.

I put it to readers that hypocritical ad hypocrite are two different things. Being hypocritical is an adopted behavior while a hypocrite goes to the root of character. It represents an inherent trait.

So if we were to compare then I can say Najib is hypocritical but Anwar is a hypocrite. Two different things. One is salvageable. The other doomed.

When he was called up by Dr Mahathir in the days leading to his expulsion from UMNO, the old man and Anwar talked about people womanizing in general. Anwar was reported to have questioned Mahathir whether being an UMNO leader means you have to be an ascetic and don't fool around? A womanizer can't be a PM? Mahathir answered some people do- but in Anwar's case it's different. He has projected himself to be a fundamentalist Muslim and therefore must at all times adhere to the code of conduct becoming of a seriously devout Muslim.

So let's go to the basic issue of a person's integrity. Najib is no saint and he will readily admit but he doesn't make himself out to be another person other than his true self. Anwar on the other hand is a political Jekyll and Hyde. He hides his other personality behind a facade of religiosity and that makes him a schemer as well as being a hypocrite.

I am asking the people of Hulu Selangor to think about this matter. When you meet Najib in person and when you meet Anwar in person what do you see? In Najib we will see a normal human being with human failings and who don't make a virtue out of that. But you see someone whom you can trust and decent enough to depend on. He is a person whom you can run to plead.

This election in Hulu Selangor is not confined to the clash between Zaid Ibrahim and Kamalanathan. Zaid is Anwar's flag bearer while Kamal is Najib's. We should be discussing the agendas of the real protagonists.