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Sakmongkol ak 47

ariff.sabri@gmail.com

Saturday 11 September 2010

Telling a compelling story- who?

What kind of impression do you get on Dato Najib in his pursuit of 1 Malaysia? One gets the impression that he is hoping that the idea will percolate into the minds of the rakyat on account of his personality. Two, he is hoping the idea will take root voluntarily and naturally. Three, he hopes the idea can be imposed from above. Hence the selling of the concept through crude propagandistic methods.

There is indeed widespread selling of the concept. We hear songs endless times on 1 Malaysia over the government's media complex. We hear of the concept in the manner of social greetings.1 Malaysia is everywhere. The government's media complex headed by the bridge burning minister of Information is working overtime at considerable costs of course to push through the idea. We wonder how much this government pays Discovery Channel to air more than 150 programs telling the 1 Malaysia story.

What we get is probably young boys and girls singing along the 1 Malaysia tune but we are not sure whether the idea has taken root internally. The whole idea rests on a big hope.

Otherwise it will remain just a concept probably hatched during one of the boisterous happy hours session when the mind is light.

We know the 1 Malaysia idea has taken root when UMNO people at divisional and branch levels are talking about it, enthusing about the idea. Which they are not. We know it has taken root, when the MCA Chinese at their division levels are talking about it. Which is not happening.

Otherwise it will be 2 people talking about it- the PM and the Minister of Information and the PR consulting firms and the Jingles Production Houses. The contractors asked to do the hundreds of billboards across the country are also happy people. They make money while able to say, this is another of the stupid ideas by the BN leadership.

He will remain just that- hopeful. One, his approval rating is no measure of unqualified acceptance. Given the rakyat's rising awareness of current political developments, it will probably cut down his personal rating down to size. There are so many questionable things going around in Malaysia that negate his carefully cultivated sincere image. Corruption scandals is one. Manipulated tender process is another.

People are talking as to why the double tracking Gemas-JB project which was approved by cabinet to be given to China Railways is going to go to China Harbours? China Harbours is a company specializing in building harbours. Logically a company that specializes in building rail lines would be chosen. China Harbours is the company that constructed the Penang 2nd Bridge at a cost that runs into billions. Who appointed the PMC to re-assess China Railways? Why was the Chinese Ambassador who oversaw the deal between China Harbours and the Malaysian government recalled to China? The market is rife with talks that the person instrumental in awarding the double tracking job is Nor Mohd Yackob.

The 1 Malaysia concept is premised on the ability of the government and the people's readiness to generate a lot of feel good feelings. Right now, the people have the person of Najib to make them feel on high. TV image, good looks, good skin and red lips. Are these sufficient? The party of which he is leader is suffering from image and credibility issues.

What is the basis for forming and generating such goodwill? We can't do it on the basis of whimsical social urges and because of political expediencies. Or the warm feelings that we have towards the PM. The people want much more than that. They want such things like the rule of law- a sort of guarantee that social frictions can be solved according to the law. Necessary in my mind, because a rule of law would place every individual rakyat on equal footing in relation to each other. They want outstanding economic issues to be sorted out in order to come together. Malays will be suspicious as they still lagged behind economically. Non Malays are also suspicious that Malay question will be used as leverage to push for further big government. Non Malays are suspicious at whatever the government does anyway. Simply because its looked upon as a Malay government.

Two, the UMNO masses aren't buying his concept. So its left to a group of some desperate UMNO leaders who are speaking for Najib. But they are talking beyond their credibility and do so nervously. Most of those speaking are themselves besmirched with skeletons in their cupboards such that when they talked, it will only invite ridicule and revulsion from the public. Who wants to listen to the UMNO secgen who's up to his neck with business deals with Vincent Tan? Of course he wants to talk of 1 Malaysia. Who wants to listen to Nazri Aziz who is very unpopular among UMNO masses and who is known to have accumulated wealth beyond his paycheck?

PM Najib, the UMNO president is doing exactly what Dato Onn Jaafar did with his IMP- or Parti Negara. Not by dismantling race based parties such as UMNO, MCA or MIC but with an idea that is alien to his party members. Except for a few pretending they are all for 1 Malaysia, the rest of the UMNO mass, are spiritually with Malayness of things.

You see the contradiction here. The 1 Malaysia concept is sponsored by a leader of the largest race-centric party. If such a leader of such a party is capable of coming out with such an idea, it goes to show, the same race –centric party isn't sticky on its own race identity. It shows that UMNO is indeed potentially capable of providing national leadership as opposed to parochial supremacist agendas.

Provided of course the party followers and its leadership are all in tune with the President. The problem arises when the party president is in disconnect with the rest of UMNO people. By sticking to this concept, he is hastening his own irrelevance.

I am not arguing against 1 Malaysia as an idea. I don't find such an idea abhorrent. I am pointing out the problem the party president may have with his own party men. The problem originates from a failure to communicate and allow the idea to be carried through the rank and file, by his foot soldiers. He fails to make 1 Malaysia a shared ideal between himself and the UMNO rest. For failing to let the idea permeate down the rank and file, the party president and his think thank are at fault.

I see some people making light of the support given to Perkasa by DR Mahathir by saying the old man hasn't got power anymore or that at 84 age is catching up. Mahathir doesn't need 10 years. All it needs is only 2 years for Dr Mahathir to apply pressure to unseat Najib if he wants to. Because in 2 years, its elections time. There's nothing Nazri can do about it.

Pak Lah with a 92% support couldn't handle a 'has been' old man, we are supposed to believe that Najib with a lower general support can ignore an old 'has been'? the only reason why Nazri Aziz isn't a has been is because he is luckier than others. Don't get cocky you are not a has been.

Maybe Najib's people, dulled in the senses by intoxicating power are misreading the situation. The attractiveness of the ideas propounded by Perkasa and the continued adulation of DR Mahathir is simply saying that Malaysia needs a leader in the mould of Dr. Mahathir.

28 comments:

Anonymous,  12 September 2010 at 00:32  

Brilliant analysis Dato. Thank you

mattau

Anonymous,  12 September 2010 at 01:46  

Dato,

Salam dan Selamat Hari Raya.

There is no shared vision in the 1Malaysia launched by Najib. Without a shared vision, any program will fail.

Najib has no leadership skillset. The old "has been" mahathir is always yabbing away uninvited,non-stop. That old hag is always giving the impression that he wants to impose his style and experience on new PMs. It is as though only his method/approach/style works. It would be much better if Najib has some freedom to apply his own style instead of being "nagged at" by that old fart.

Also, like you have written before, Najib does not have an able and capable team in his cabinet. His deputy not only looks stupid, he is actually brain-less....always contradicting what Najib says.

BN/UMNO is heading for the kubur.


Idris

Anonymous,  12 September 2010 at 02:15  

In the mould of Mahatir ? No, thanks!

Anonymous,  12 September 2010 at 08:05  

Dato' please... no more of TDM kind of leadership and not of the current PM too. Enough is enough and Malaysia definitely need changes probably putting UMNO/BN in the cold storage to teach them a lesson and to remind UMNO that next time around make sure they elect the right candidate as the party president. Bukan nya susah sangat, orang hendak seorang yang amanah, berjiwa rakyat, tegas dan berani membuat keputusan dan tak ikut telunjuk bini and above all is GOD fearing. Surely there are many in UMNO or UMNO dah nak pupus?
Dimana kan ku cari ganti? mungkin tiada dalam UMNO.
The title of your article is fantastic, it is the last word- who? Macam dah tak ada harapan je.
Dato' anyway, Maaf zahir batin salam eidul fitri.

Unknown 12 September 2010 at 08:16  

No, the attractiveness of the ideas propounded by Perkasa and the continued adulation of DR Mahathir is simply saying that the Malays, and not necessarily Malaysia, needs a leader in the mould of Dr. Mahathir.

Please don't forget.
Malays is Malaysia but Malaysia is not all Malays.

Diveman69 12 September 2010 at 09:14  

Assallamu'alaikum Dato,
Firstly salam Aidil Fitri to you and your beloved family. As usual your views and conclusions in your article has proven there is still hope in Malaysia. If only more Malaysians will speak up and stand up for our beloved country. I cannot help but agree that many if not all like minded Malaysians of all races and religions only want peace, prosperity, fairness, equality and most important of all rule of all applied to all including to those who walk the corridors of power. What's the point of having slogans designed and broadcasted to all asunder when all it remains is that, just a slogan. What makes matters worse is that it's the rakyat's money that is being spent on such slogans!! When the right hand does one thing and the left does another how can the concept of 1Malaysia be fulfilled. All 1Malaysia will be is just that A CONCEPT or just and IDEA or even worse just a DREAM!!! We as Malaysians have lived the 1Malaysia dream for years and years living in peace and harmony. We do not need our so called leaders to tell us to do so when we have been respectful to one another. My life growing up in a multi racial neighbourhood (Gombak) is proof of that. To cut a long story short, all I can say to the individuals who walk the corridors of power is SORT YOURSELVES OUT IF YOU WANT TO REMAIN IN GOVERNMENT. Until you do the end is nigh!!!!

OneMalaysian,  12 September 2010 at 11:06  

Dear Sakmongkol

What a breath-taking, incisive analysis of Najib’s leadership position. I am in complete agreement with your analysis. Najib has got very good ideas, and I like them. He comes across well on CNBC explaining his ideas. The foreign media and fund managers like it. Unfortunately, he has not sold them to the very people he is supposed to lead – that is the unfortunate part.

What is doubly unfortunate is that I believe that the 1Malaysia concept is the way to go, and that the NEM is the economic plan we need. But the Malays are suspicious because they don’t understand it, thinking it is a betrayal of their interest, as Perkasa tells them. I think he must take these ideas to the people, especially the Malays; the non-Malays have bought in, but remain skeptical that he can deliver. As an example of failure to walk the talk, look at the Gemas double tracking contract. It smells bad, and comes after Najib has made reassurances of transparency and zero tolerance for corruption.

Yes, the Malays, indeed the whole country needs a strong Malay leader, not in the image of Dr Mahathir, but more like the Tunku, with compassion and inclusiveness, and a dash of LKY for toughness, integrity and efficiency. We desperately need such a leader, who can reassure the Malays and lead them to achieve their potential, and who can at the same time be fair to all other Malaysians, and make them feel that Malay progress will not be at their expense. In other words we need someone who can lift everybody up at the same time, not necessarily at the same pace, so that no one is left behind. That’s a tall order, but that’s what is needed in a good leader. Najib needs to walk the talk.

Anonymous,  12 September 2010 at 11:09  

Could'nt agree more! You said it rightly. UMNO although race centric party but it has becoming a party of elite UMNOputra whose policy just to benefit people in corridor of power. The rakyat especially bumiputra Malays has been used as their tools to hang on to powers. Therefore, I am not surprise majority of Malay people has found UMNO leaders are disgusting! They become filthy rich just to scare the Malays that without UMNO, the Malays will perish! In the mean time they sucked all the Treasury Money and Tax Payers money for doing all kind of over priced projects for huge kickbacks! Those become middle man are not even Malays mostly Chinese Tycoons and Indian Tycoons. Because they don't trust the Malays with their money. Full stop!

Mangkok,  12 September 2010 at 11:21  

We already live in as one Malaysian enevironment for 100 years! But somehow this 1Malaysia Slogan lauded by PM Najib is really make me sicked! Imnagine the BN government spending tax payers in hundreds of millions just to sell the slogan to already a multi racial multi cultural and multi religions Malaysian Society who's been living ang mingling together for so long until this stupid politician comes along to introduce 1Malaysia Concept that futher divide the people not uniting them!

Anonymous,  12 September 2010 at 11:39  

UMNO has been in power for a long time and they have become fatigued. To continue in this state would be harmful to the country because when anything becomes fatigue it's no use to put on a new coat of paint to cover up the weakness. UMNO needs to be decommissioned for a while. UMNO needs to be reconstructed; old, useless and rusty parts need to be replaced from head to toe, and be refurbished and improved with present day reality in order to be relevant again. So losing power temporarily would not be a bad thing. This the only way for UMNO to be revitalized.

Anonymous,  12 September 2010 at 11:53  

The truth is Najib or for the matter Abdullah cant get rid of ' the has been' is because Dr M knows all of their secret: which is now being played out. So who said RPK is lying?

Anonymous,  12 September 2010 at 13:03  

I honestly doubt Merdeka Survey's poll on Najib's popularity. He might be popular among the 'illiterate, gullible, rural' folks.
Among the middle class, he is being scorned like no other.
If figures about our GDP, bumiputra equity, poverty rate, etc can be doctored, why isn't it be possible the pay some that Ibrahim Suffian of Merdeka Survey some moolah to do the same?
No, I don't trust Merdeka Survey on Najib's popularity.

Anonymous,  12 September 2010 at 13:04  

I am all for a mindset change...no more fighting shadows n siege mentalities.

However,2 things needs to be addressed :

1>Cleansing of perpetrators of the bastardisation of NEP..rampas harta and send them to jail wothout fear or favors.

2>Social welfare & affirmative action should be differentiated very2 clearly.Eg>rumah rakyat termiskin is not NEP.Scholarships for top students are not too.

Pray that PM will get the right formula.His statement yesterday is certainly positive n the clearest indication going fwd.

Anonymous,  12 September 2010 at 13:07  

So much theory not enough practical.

Tun Dr M has the hands-on approach. He did not act like an elite disconnected from the rakyat.

That is what's lacking in abdullah and Najib.

Tun Dr M is the people's leader, and he still is.

Whether some commenters like it or not, Tun is the best leader of Malaysia.

Don't ever discount his influence, he was instrumental in sleepy pm's exit.

If Najib disappoints, well another round of elimination.

schenker78 12 September 2010 at 13:23  

as RTM says, salam 1malaysia (whatever that means),

so najib did Open House (not his money of course) and bernama reported 100,000 people came. So will feeding these people by najib makes them vote BN in GE13??

Selangor MB also did open house and Bernama said 30,000 people came...

Anyway FREE FOOD means malaysian will be there... all bunch of KIASU fellas.... its different when neighbours do open house than POLITICIANS.

does RM500 duit raya money want to make us vote UMNO / BN ?? One of my family member who works in gov got, but that person 100% wont vote for BN ever.... but that person thanks the MALAYSIAN taxpayers for that money not NAJIB.

Sorry, we wont choose a playboy or suspected murderer and confirmed kaki rasuah and kaki betina to PM office, you people better get better candidates. Those cina, india, melayu and borneo people are really BUTA to continue support BARANG NAIK BN.

PS. I suggest next time, MB Khalid and PM Najib do Open House at the same time and we can see where the rakyat want to go to whack their FREE FOOD. + I suspect the figures given as incorrect and a bluff...

Sang Kancil Pundit,  12 September 2010 at 13:56  

> The attractiveness of the ideas
> propounded by Perkasa and the
> continued adulation of DR Mahathir
> is simply saying that Malaysia
> needs a leader in the mould of Dr.
> Mahathir

That's a nice fairy tale, Dato Sakmongkol. Truth be told, the country has already moved on from the days of Dr M. You can't turn back and return to the past. The past is gone. Those prosperous days of manufacturing, electronics and industrialization boom of Dr M's time cannot be repeated, because at that time, a big factor was that China was weak. Now, China is strong, most South-East Asian tiger-economies that rode on the boom of manufacturing are no more, with the exception of Singapore, which was never about manufacturing and electronics. The former South-East Asian tiger-economies are in real deep trouble, Malaysia included, because we do not know what to do next, we do not know how to innovate and change, while we continually bicker and dither.

The days of Dr M are today only found in the annals of history.

Anonymous,  12 September 2010 at 15:26  

Talk a lot of logic but no conclusive solution other than ending the piece with a ridiculous notion of need the old has been TDM.

Pathetic how you guys have no idea of running a country.

What the country needs is a leader who can stop all those corruptions, leakages and be fair to all races. Able to dump Perkasa... is the first logical steps because to go that way would be the demise of ANY PARTY.

Malaysia is not a 90 or more percentage 1 race country but rather a multi cultural and race country ( we are not fooled by Perkasa to start to make it a one race country.).

As it is, let's see if Malaysia can go anywhere from now. Compared to neighbouring countries which are registering double digit growths while we are still on single digit growth.

The Chinese in the region have basically gone developed status and going faster and farther as I type this passage.

I have chanced on a Malaysian working for a Chinese company in China, establishing many offices in the whole of the region including Phillipines, Thailand etc and do you know what he said. This company is giving a pass to Malaysia. The country just does not have that...extra. Even a major electronic factory is closing down.

Our Internet facilities are 10 years behind time and while this Chinese companies are establishing state of art Internet facilities, all Malaysia knows is to buy low tech modems. How pathetic.

Take note, while guys and Perkasa are talking about grabbing everything, the others are looking out for opportunities overseas to join our brothers in other countries to grow.

To be a high income country, one country MUST HAVE STRONG business community. With things going the way it is, you think government servants can make the country to be high income country?

Fat hopes. Nothing is going to change. Let it be and wait for the days when we have run out of oil.
Even local Chinese businesses would not be able to contribute much.

Anonymous,  12 September 2010 at 15:56  

first and foremost, selamat hari raya maaf zahir batin.Nice analysis.What next?It seems that we are running in circles.Each time around, u come out with a analysis but its then follwed by no futher action.Its either they who walk in the corridoors of power are not listening to you or simply refuse to take the step foward to make that change we strive for.
Its back to the drawing board then dato.As i have mentioned countless times, UMNO only listens to UMNO.So u got to think of yet another approach to solve the impending problem at hand.Good luck then.

Anonymous,  12 September 2010 at 19:56  

Dato'

You said:

"You see the contradiction here. The 1 Malaysia concept is sponsored by a leader of the largest race-centric party".

That is exactly the Point! What puzzles us is why he should promote the idea in the first place?
Worse still, there those with the likes of Perkasa all out to derail the idea...

What was Najib thinking when he went for the PR Exercise?
As always, he WASN'T Thinking.




Joe Black

schenker78 12 September 2010 at 20:16  

sak,

i just comment 1 thing. Just look at the so called Succession issue of a state, in a country named M where the King is sick, the eldest son is the Standing in and his younger brother want to become King....

The sister of the current King is commenting about the current King and talk as if somebody want to sit on the throne...which indicates the eldest son...

This is a classic example where even within a family, so much jealousy there, IRI HATI ... Is families love now measured by wealth and power?

The young fella is a suspect in torturing a very young wife, just imagine if the young fella becomes a ruler.. We need good people in all levels including the rulers.

I feel especially sorry for those wealthy people, they simply dont know how to take care of the kids. All spoilt brats.

Just look at anak2 pemimpin UMNO, most drink alcohol and fondling girls and those photos splashed on the Net.


If a family cant stay united because of money and power , what else....

Now there is a case of 4 people dead, killed most probably for MONEY...why behaving worse than ANIMALS?? A Datuk seems to be involved along with 7 others according to police(why we are not surprised). Most Datuks are crooks anyway.

Figjam,  12 September 2010 at 22:40  

Some of you people really make me laugh.

One Malaysian, the more you describe the kind of leader you wanted, the more it sound like Dr M - e.g. "...a dash of LKY for toughness, integrity and efficiency". The problem, as Dato' Sak have been trying to tell so many times is that it seems nobody perfectly understands the 1Malaysia concept and the NEM.

A clear idea should be precise and not open itself to too much interpretation. The fact is that the Malays are worried about it because they think it will pull them back and the Chinese are all for it because they think precisely the same thing and here we have Najib talking a diifferent thing about it on CNBC! There is a vast disconnect here and this is what we should be worried about.

How can you so readily presume that the 1Malaysia and NEM is the way forward when there is no clarity in the idea, let alone in implementation? A good leader should have covered this area before even beginning to make it a policy. Heck, even Diveman69 have a much better understanding of the current stuation than you..

Cakap senang bro, lu pernah dengar orang melayu cakap "berat mata memandang, lagi berat bahu memikul"?


Idris, Najib has all the freedom to become the PM that he wants to be..if you are suggesting that he is held back by some criticism by an old "has been", what you are suggesting is that he has no leadership skills and, for want of a better word, he's simply chicken shit. I think that should be the focus of our worry right now, shouldn't it?

Get your priorities right brother.

Figjam,  12 September 2010 at 22:56  

Sang Kancil Pundit,

I am still scratching my head when you said people have moved on from the days of Dr M. Under which rock did you come out from? People are hoping for him to come back and I will tell you why. The standard of living of Malaysian were on an upward trajectory just before he left and then there was a sharp drop when pak lah took over and things have not changed much since..look, people will be behind a leader that can at least get Malaysia back on track pre 2003.

Who do people see as capable of doing that? I don't think its Najib..this is what people are worried about and here you are talking about history this and history that..yes, I agree that now is a different era with China becoming a superpower but a good leader deals with the problem at hand.

Mcm orang kampung aku cakap, "cometh the hour, cometh the man" but where is the man now for Malaysia?!!

schenker78 13 September 2010 at 00:27  

FigJam,

China Superpower ??? yeah rite...

Chinais a worst version than malaysia. Dont look at money always. They going to bully malaysia and asean into giving up Spratly Islands which is closer to asean countries than china.

China thinks the whole af South China Sea belongs to them. So bloody nations going to give hell of a bloody nose when they show their arrogance to the rest of us...

Vietnam defeated Chinese Army in the 1980s border war....The Chinese and Americans till today scared of Vietnamese people. So much for your chinese Superpower. I hate communist more than UMNO.

Figjam,  13 September 2010 at 08:53  

Schenker 78,

I meant economic superpower. Having said that, she could also be a military superpower. But this is not a compliment la brader, just stating something that could possibly happen.

I probably hate communism more than you do. But who do you think are more associated with communists in Malaysia? DAP is not just an extension of PAP but is also an extension of communism all the way to China. I don't think UMNO is. They are just chicken shit.

Better get your thinking right.

schenker78 13 September 2010 at 12:14  

Figjam,

DAP is communist??

Who is controlling Judiciary, Legislative and Executive with an Iron Fist??

Mahathir was known as Maha Firaun for no reason?

Communism is Pemusatan Kuasa in One Hand...in China is CCCP, in Malaysia is UMNO, in Indonesia was Suharto and Golkar, in Filipina was Marcos, in Nazi Germany it was Hitler, in Italy it was Mussolini, in Singapore is PAP....

You can call UMNO as fascist party or Communist, no other name for it. 53years++ of dictatorship single party rule.... You want to make it 100years ???

DAP tak layak.... I am sorry your brain does not click well...Are you using 1% only instead of 3% ???

AJ 13 September 2010 at 16:10  

Dato, to me you are confusing. You said UMNO should move forward yet you muse that we can do this by having a leader in the mould of Mahathir!! What a nightmarish notion! You said Malays esp.UNNO can change, yes only if every privilege is retained and more added and the rest can have the 20%. Widen the posts not shift them. If you remember when the kris was raised everyone cheered, to date only the minority and you have spoken against it. Like after Sept 11 Mahathir words were not of condemnation but implied acceptance. Likewise 1Malaysia will only be a vote winning rhetoric if it means many things other than what it is literally supposed to mean, no matter who in UMNO or by what means they use to expound it. With the likes of the single celled Info Minister and his colleges, like you said, have to use so many filters to sieve this concept and what each one collects at the bottom is different from the other. After 53 years start to think citizen, for heaven sake and you have this problem licked.

Ariff Sabri 13 September 2010 at 16:19  

aj
indeed you r confused. when did i ever say, must retain every privilege?
because you have started on a wrong premise and then proceed yr case from that, i cannot go further to engage you in debate. you didnt read carefully.

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