Re-educating of UMNO.

I haven't been writing for a few days. Actually I have been doing some research into UMNO. To that effect, I have chosen to rely more on anecdotal accounts as they are raw opinions, often unguarded but in my opinion, reflect a truer perception on UMNO.

But before that, I will say something on the election in Sibu. I have not been there and have been receiving daily on the spot assessments from my contacts in Sibu. The general verdict is: it will be a difficult one for BN this time. If the Sibuans staying in Semanjung choose to go back and vote, BN will surely lose the election.

Let's face facts. 67% of the population is Chinese who are likely to go along with the DAP. The Bumis have no love lost for its current ADUN. When our TVs show the squalor and the pitiful site of Malay villages in Sibu that is a clear suggestion that the ADUN there, Awang Bemee hasn't been doing anything. The Ibans are loyal to BN- on paper but we cannot discount the increasing awareness of these people about their rights and general discontent to 'rambut puteh'- the moniker given to Taib Mahmud.

Let me get back to discussing what's closer to my heart. The Future of UMNO.

UMNO celebrated its 64^th birthday recently. Although, technically, the present day UMNO was reformed in 1988, it nevertheless lay claim to be a direct and substantive successor of the UMNO formed in 1946.

The purists will dispute this claim. But we can't go against the logic and belief of 3 million members. To them, this present UMNO, yes this one, though cannibalized by Dr Mahathir in 1988, is still the same UMNO. It is the party whose ideals, ordinary Malays, unsophisticated in thinking subscribed to. Not a small number will continue to assign blame to Dr Mahathir for reconstituting the original UMNO formed in 1946 and thereafter fashioned UMNO, as it were, entirely as a mechanically functional instrument designed to further his own personal convictions. In later years, he will lament the wishy-washy attributes and stodginess of UMNO members to subscribe to his vision. He will berate, cry and eventually offer prayers to invoke God's help to change the UMNO mindset.

The greatest challenge of UMNO now and of its current president is how to rekindle the substance of UMNO's objectives and reinterpret them in the present time. It must carry out that adjustment quickly to stay relevant amidst changing political and social landscape.

It can only do this by:-

• Revamping the power structure of UMNO.
  
• Bring in good leadership- determined, dedicated and with single mindedness
  
• Re-mind its followers.
  
• Refashioned the idealism of UMNO and making it relevant.
  

It must position itself within a more sophisticated political milieu comprising of a sophisticated Malay populace, an emboldened Chinese section of the population empowered by their economic might and a generally marginalized Malaysian Indian population. Most of all, UMNO must reinvent itself as a party viewed and accepted by all, as fit to rule not only Malays but Malaysians.

I shall be quick to add, that this last proposition does not necessarily entail UMNO giving up its 'political personality' as custodian of Malay interests. But it does involve leavening that role and responsibility with a sense of realism that we can't ship out the Chinese and Indians back to their historical homeland just as the Arabs cant bomb Israel out of existence. In other words, it's now a Malaysian UMNO and not just a Malay UMNO.

Because of this, the emergence of Perkasa that disparate group of Malay-firsters serving as a life-support machine for Ibrahim Ali stands directly opposed to the ideals of UMNO. It shouldn't even be counted as a pseudo UMNO. There's nothing UMNO about Perkasa other than it being made up of entirely Malays. It is just another vehicle for Ibrahim Ali to stay relevant. I have nothing personal with Ibrahim. We don't even know each other.

If the UMNO president detects a perceptible but surefooted approval of UMNO in recent months, he must also realize that this favorable slant is a contingent one. It can be ephemeral and fluid. It is contingent upon UMNO being able to carry out what it promises to do.

However, let's not throw caution to the wind. I don't think, acceptability of UMNO is achieved by mechanically carrying out its normal duties as in servicing the community, fulfilling election promises. Those come about as a natural product of being elected. Moreover, these things were done by previous UMNO and yet in 2004, UMNO was soundly trounced. We can't just explain that catastrophe to Pak Lah's leadership. Pak Lah's emergence reflected on the whole what UMNO has become. A safe haven for warlords bent on making hay while their political sun shines. It has metamorphosed into a soulless being. Hence UMNO just can't re energize itself by adopting the same much publicized commitment to community service.

You have to do it whether you like it or not and indeed, failure to do will be reared with being booted out.

More important, is to give meaning to UMNO 's and Malay existence. Is UMNO's cause served by treating and turning Malays into pitiable supplicants?

UMNO must provide that leadership which resonances with a new consciousness among the progressive Malays. Though small in number now, this is the group that will shape the Malay mind in the years to come. Chief among the attitudinal resetting is a rejection of the image of the Malay as a mindless supplicant to a re-tooled image of the Malay wanting to earn his right. Because he, the Malay, now has the tools- education, mobility, social interactions, and a cynical general distrust of UMNO politics.

Next….breaking up the power structure.