Burn, baby, burn- and I am not talking about the Black Panther hot sauce

There is a world of perception and a world of reality. There is also another realm, a domain of willed fiction that is impervious to reality and treats facts like enemies. Example: UMNO is very strong or has regained its lustre, or has attracted the support of second and 3^rd generations, are some of the manufactured fictions. It's the imaginarium of Dr Rais or whoever with PhDs out there.

UMNO is strong to certain UMNO people. It's strong to people who have benefited directly from an UMNO doing business as usual. These are people who continue to spend money like nobody's business while the government hasn't got sufficient funds to feed students in boarding schools on weekends. UMNO is strong to those proposing to build two tallest buildings in Kuala Lumpur.

When PM Najib took over, my sense is that what motivated very many Najib enthusiasts was loathing of Abdullah Badawi and the desire to oust him and place someone cool in his place. Najib is cool but he is surrounded by political buffoons.

We accomplished this. We pressured Abdullah Badawi to leave before he does more damage to UMNO and the nation. But we never gave much thought to the public policies PM Najib and the UMNO leaders backed. We got our Obama in to replace that George Bush but now we are realising that Obama is just like Bush in many ways.

Theirs was a politics of style, not substance. They got the style and maybe most of us like that, but we don't much like the substance. And we don't like "the stench of crony capitalism, bailout favouritism and earmark corruption" which is increasingly creeping into PM Najib's record. Think I am imagining? - wait till RMK10 comes out; the mega projects are already reserved.

It is the Delusion Zone and, judging by the results of a recent Merdeka Survey Centre earlier this year, large majorities of Malaysians especially Malays have been trapped there since PM Najib took up residence in the Sri Perdana.

The judgments of a sampling of 400 UMNO members can't be wrong, can they? Yes, they can. Najibmania appears to destroy brain cells and disable both short- and long-term memory.

Hmm, let's see.

UMNO thinks it's on the mend. You transport busloads of ululating party faithfuls to Hulu Selangor. That's already an accomplishment, you console yourself. Nowadays, people just refuse to listen to UMNO operatives. They humour and indulge them. Show the PM tens of thousands are in attendance. You conclude that UMNO support is great.

You delude yourselves. The UMNO of today has a different kind of politics. It's the politics of style rather than substance.

Ah yes, the substance. What's binding them up? What bounded the early generations of UMNOans? It was the spirit of voluntarism and sacrifice. Aunties and uncles pawned their precious belongings to put into party funds. Leaders mortgaged their houses to keep party finances alive. Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah spending millions of his own money to keep the spirit alive. That's the essential element missing- sacrifice and a sense of realism.

The best took up the mantle. People refused positions fully aware of the onerous responsibilities. It was a question of fitting into the clothes. Most knew their place. People wanted substance.

It is different nowadays. The party is filled with ne'er do wells, the riff-raffs, the pompous windbags. People who are always on the lookout to leverage party positions for personal gains. People with style overwhelm the Party. But they didn't bring substance along.

Have we looked at the elements that are worth developing, defending and reinforcing to ensure the things that bind party UMNO solidarity remain there? Attendance is not a reassuring element to infer UMNO's solidity.

Start with quality leadership first. At the branch levels. Since they are going to elect the leadership at national levels. Get rid of the riff-raffs, the village bullies, the ne'er do wells.

How do you do that? Dismantle the power structure. There has been much hoo hah about the election reforms that UMNO is undertaking. A closer look will reveal that these changes are but wine in new bottles. The various preconditions put in place ensure those currently in power have advantage over those seeking out to make changes. The previous quota system was designed to do the same. The present rule of 3 is doing exactly the same.

The top leadership must show it's serious in wanting to transform the entire UMNO body politic. Why the rule of 3 then?

One needs to be member of a branch for 3 years to offer one's leadership to the branch? One needs to be a division committee member for 3 years to offer one's candidacy for higher position at divisional levels? And one has to be an MKT member for3 years to offer oneself for higher posts? Fresh blood with new ideas and new work ethics have to wait for 3 years to offer leadership choices?

The usual retort is you can serve the party in any capacity. Try doing that without position and prestige and therefore authority. Nobody will listen to the PM talk about Malaysia if he were to talk without the position, prestige and authority of the premiership. You lead with capacity of application. You apply when you have position, prestige and authority. So, don't patronise people by saying you serve in any capacity. You serve better in leadership capacity.

The problem is this. If you have been that long in the old hierarchy, it means you are set in the ways of the old school. Would it be reasonable to imagine that a person steeped in the old ways wants to transform the party? The idea of transforming is revolutionary itself and is assuredly at variance with a person type casted in the old mould.

Nazri Aziz says something off tangent with what the DPM says over this Allah issue. In effect, there are squabbling in public over the issue. Nazri is pre-empting the appeal court decision on the Allah issue. Muhyiddin is straining to do damage control.

Don't insult our intelligence by saying; the differences aired out in public are symptomatic of the democracy UMNO practices. That's a lot of bull. It's emblematic of the fissures in UMNO leadership.

We want you UMNO leaders to know, that this is exactly the type of frustrating political behavior that sickens people. It's childish, and it alienates votes by making the party look disunited and spineless.

We know the reasons why. Perhaps you have been up there too long. You people are too set in your ways to be creative and bold enough. People can pre-read your next moves and people adjust by being indifferent. Once indifference takes hold in the public mind, what can UMNO do?

Who is the most crucial UMNO operative? He is the ketua cawangan or the branch head. Though he is the most important, his importance elevated more when UMNO implements its 'direct elections' of UMNO leadership, the branch head on average is often ignored. If you have over 100 branches and you have a minister as a division head, most likely, the division head will not be able to know everyone.

How do you explain the listlessness and fossilization of UMNO at the grassroots level? I think becoming fossilized in the most appropriate term. Certainly, there is a great loss in the spirit of voluntarism or even the spirit of sacrifice among UMNO members. This trend needs to be arrested first before UMNO begins to talk about transforming.

Any transformation must begin at the branch head level. What is happening to UMNO branch leaders is similar to what is occurring among grassroots leaders in almost all political parties; you can have countless numbers of retreats, courses, etc, - efforts which are designed to transform the mentality of UMNO leadership, the reality is, the minds of the branch leaders have hardly moved an inch.

Take what happened last year. There were no jostling for positions; hence there was an enforced truce momentarily. No jockeying for positions means no roundabouts, no chinwags, and no clandestine rendezvous. Which in turn mean, less room for money transactions?

While the top leadership entrust the responsibility of connecting with the masses to the branch chairmen, the UMNO divisional chairmen are doing the opposite. They are on the prowl for titles, patronage, contracts, other business opportunities, directorship in GLCs and the like.

Change the leadership at branch levels and then change the leadership at the national levels. Don't institutionalise any leadership level as sacred. Its burn, baby, burn.

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Are Anwar’s chickens coming home to roost?

Maybe Anwar is troubled with the move to send him to jail on a fabricated charge of sodomy, and now for being the 'mastermind' behind the church attacks as well. In that case take sabbatical leave and go solve your personal problems first. And after your personal problems have been solved then come back into active political life.

These were perhaps the biggest understatements thus far- Anwar Ibrahim is to take leave to solve his personal problems? Why should Anwar Ibrahim listen to RPK when he refused a similar advice which Tun Mahathir gave him in the first place? Didn't Dr Mahathir ask Anwar to leave quietly with the unspoken possibility of coming back later? Anwar didn't because his way is lawan tetap lawan.

He could have gone abroad, dealt with his personal problems, which are known only to RPK, come back a few years later and claim leadership of UMNO. That would have been possible because the Malays are a forgiving lot who easily forgets personal transgressions.

The truth is that would have been so un-Anwar. He needs to fight to stay relevant. So, please don't go on sabbatical. Stay and waste the government. Stay and stand your ground to sexpose expose the evil machinations of the evil government.

Anwar Ibrahim knows of only one way to solve his personal and that not to be mentioned in- front- of- kids problem. That is by creating as much chaos and anarchy as possible. That is why he is going on a series of road shows to accuse the government of masterminding a second sodomy case.

We have not even gone before the courts. We would like to hear the arguments of his lawyers. He will have every chance to defend himself and to rebut the charges proffered by the evil government prosecutors. If Ghani Patail is leading the case for the government, he is placing himself at the mercy of being methodically dissected by Anwar's legal team. If he is not, then his replacement will bear the additional liability of defending his name.

The court case should be the ideal place and avenue for Anwar and his legal team to abuse the government mercilessly. Wouldn't his day in court be the best forum to expose the government with a list of wrongdoings? Wouldn't his day in court be the perfect forum to bring down the evil 'Reichstag' government on its knees and usher in a new millennium at Putrajaya?

That's why he needs to go around the country to paint this second sodomy case as being part of a government conspiracy to finish him off for good. The funny thing is- the government doesn't seem to be beleaguered. Instead we have the government behaving as though it already has sufficient material to finish Anwar off legally. The government is not flustering while Anwar and his team are behaving all muddled up.

Admittedly, this way of facing off Anwar is most beastly. It would have been sweeter to explode the hollowness of Anwar- his policies, his politics and his thinking through democratically sanctioned ways.

Anwar's chickens have come home to roost.

We, the public want to know whether there is credence in the rumours and whispers going around that poor Saiful fellow didn't go to the toilet for days so as to contain body fluids from foreign bodies allowing medical experts to test them. And I am not talking about international relations.

We wish Anwar all the best. If he manages to overcome this biggest hurdle, and somehow gets to Putrajaya, he will have his chance to clear his name once and for all.

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The syllogism of Allah

Now, why do Christians prefer to use the word "Allah" when they translate the Bible into Bahasa Malaysia? The reasoning is this: Islam's name for God is Allah, who is the same God as Abraham's God. Abraham's God is also the God of the Hebrew people, namely the Jews. And the God of the Christians is the same God of Abraham, the Muslims and the Jews.

Like I said before, the issue hasn't died down. There is even a new twist to describe those who oppose the ruling of the court of first instance. These people are now called the mob. Anything associated with the mob, should be discounted. As in mob rule. As in mob referring to the gangster. The term mob, in general is always associated with bad things.

Malaysians don't like bad things.

NH Chan, the former judge has employed a subtle and clever use of Syllogism. Let me try to illustrate this method of argument and see whether it makes sense.

All Muslims believe in Allah

All Christians believe in Allah who has a son named Jesus

Therefore All Muslims believe in Jesus as son of Allah.

Now, even using this kind of syllogism, we can already see that the meaning of Allah as used by Christians is not the same as when Muslims used Allah.

The law professor, Azmi is right; we cannot use legal precepts in debating the Allah issue. We must go back to the Holy Scriptures. For us Muslims we go back to the Quran. But we don't read the Quran as we do a story book.

Let us go a little farther. When we, confident people, who are not at all affected when other people of differing faiths use Allah, pass on, the next generation has fused within the religious melting pot. Why not we call the Sunday church affair as solat hajat hari Ahad? Or now call the church no longer gereja but masjid ? the great Cathedral in Rome shall be called Rumah Allah or even Kaabah?From next year, all Hajj pilgrimage will be diverted to Rome, where there is also another Kaabah?

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Cui Bono?- Who Benefits?

When I countered by writing on the burning of the Reichstag, many were angry. Especially among PKR's delicate flowers followers. I was merely pointing out to a possibility that another version may also be true. If it was regarded as preposterous, it wasn't any more preposterous that the article penned by RPK.

It is becoming the usual stock in trade. Whenever the PR people face defeat, they will always ask- "cui bono?'' –"who benefits?" The answer of course the Party UMNO. Hence, it comes easier to always ask- who benefits with the burning of the churches? Why, it's UMNO of course. It must be. UMNO is desperate. It hangs on to any driftwood that comes along.

UMNO can also use the burning of the churches to blame it on Anwar.

Who benefits from prolonging the Allah issue? Again, "cui bono?" Who benefits? It MUST be UMNO because this issue gives UMNO the chance to regain lost Malay ground.

Every act of vandalism, even outright crimes bear the hands of UMNO. UMNO has become a convenient label fitting in any description that's fancied at any particular time. When PM Najib gave RM500k to a church that was quickly assailed as acknowledgment of guilt. It may have been nothing more than expression of genuine sympathy translated into pecuniary form. It may be nothing more than an act of outwardly charity or doing something decent when coming to visit.

But it may also be true that these issues benefit Anwar too. The Allah issue has allowed Anwar's delicate flowers to associate it with their vision of a grand conspiracy on the part of UMNO. The significance of this is to enable Anwar and his followers to broad-brush everything under the label of conspiracy by UMNO. So cui bono? Its Anwar and his followers.

By placing everything under the heading of conspiracy, Anwar expects any issues; allegations thrown at him will be downgraded as specific forms of conspiracy. Accordingly they must be dismissed.

Imagine this. If Anwar succeeds in informing the world at large, that his sodomy trial is but another specific form of conspiracy, then it must be dismissed by the world at large. So cui bono if the issue is played out according to the conspiracy theory.

But let's come back to the story behind the burning of the Reichstag.

The 1933 trial in Germany resulted in the execution of the principal accused of the burning. He was a Dutch communist named van de lube. He was tried alongside prominent members of the German Communist party (PKD).

A prominent member of the PKD, one Willi MUnzenberg staged a counter trial in London sometime in September 1933. The counter-trial was organized in London by a group of lawyers, democrats and other anti-Nazi groups under the aegis of German Communist émigrés. The chairman of the counter-trial was Labour barrister D N Pritt KC, but the chief organiser was KPD's propaganda chief  Willi Munzenberg.

Here is the interesting thing. We have here in Malaysia, Anwar going around in his road shows trying to drum up the support of the world at large that his impending trial at the end of this month. He is claiming the trial as nothing more as a rehashed conspiracy. As the storyline would have it, any taints of conspiracy would diminish the credibility of the allegations.

The counter-trial began on September 21, 1933. It lasted one week and ended with the conclusion that the defendants were innocent and the true initiators of the fire were to be found amid the leading Nazi Party elite.

Our own Willi Munzenberg is going around the country staging his own trial in the people's court. But of course, just like the trial staged by the real Munzenberg in 1933, this trial in the people's court will have its "judges", the not so sophisticated pasar Malam people, the usual suspects of hoi poloi. But this counter trial just like the London Trial will have the atmosphere of a show-trial, with our Münzenberg constantly applying pressure behind the scenes on the "judges" to deliver the "right" verdict without any regard for the truth.

What will the counter trial hope to achieve? Like the London counter-trial it will be an enormously successful publicity stunt for the PKR and its delicate flowers and members of the PKR lickspittle club. Maybe Anwar like the real Münzenberg will follow up his road shows by writing a best-selling book in the style of Munzenberg's The Brown Book of the Reichstag Fire and Hitler Terror. Maybe for good measure, Anwar can publish that as an exposé of what he can allege to be the Nazi UMNO conspiracy to burn down the Reichstag and blame the act on the Communists on PKR.

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UMNO Juara Rakyat-2

Last week I spoke with a former deputy chief minister. I asked him, did he go to the big do in Hulu Selangor, where the PM launched the UMNO Juara Rakyat? He said he did. So I asked him, how large was the fleet of vehicles used to transport the faithful? He let out a guffaw and I laughed together.

I saw the faces of the various MBs on TV at the bash and I deduced they have asked divisional heads to send in contingents. They provided transport and maybe some travel allowance. Makan sikit. Minum sikit. But please- no dangdut. Itu sendirian berhad.

You see, when we see a large crowd at UMNO gatherings, we are not so confident their presence is voluntary or paid for. The normal thing to do is to ask the various state heads who will ask the various division heads to arrange for transport. I am not saying this is a wrong thing to do, some of the venues are far away and party supporters need to be transported. Where we have problem is to ascertain, the spirit of voluntariness.

Let us put forth an argument. See whether this makes sense or not. Let's use an argument a fortiori. Let me illustrate.

Several years ago, the political scientist Robert Putnam wrote a now-famous essay called "Bowling Alone." In the essay, he pointed out that, in general, Americans today seem to participate in far fewer civic associations—bowling leagues, Rotary Clubs, PTA, and other voluntary groups—than they did decades ago.

He supported this observation with statistics on membership in such groups over time. That fact on its own was not terribly interesting, of course, but the broader point Putnam was trying to make was essentially an a fortiori argument. He held that if Americans did not participate in community-based associations (groups which clearly affected their daily lives and could potentially make their local communities better places to live), then they were certainly not likely to participate at the national level where events did not affect them directly—such as voting in national elections or having strong views on national politics or foreign policy. That is an argument a fortiori.

Now, apply these observations on UMNO members. If UMNO members did not participate in UMNO activities voluntarily, then it would be very safe for us to infer they will not likely to participate in events that do not affect them directly such as voting for UMNO in national elections. How many times have we heard UMNO people say, whether we vote or don't vote, we remain like this too.

Have the UMNO leadership apply their thinking on this fundamental issue? The erosion of the spirit of voluntarism?

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UMNO Juara Rakyat

UMNO Juara Rakyat.

The PERKASA movement, headed by Ibrahim Ali, is gaining momentum. It launched its membership drive in Johor recently. At the end of this month, it will launch is Selangor chapter. It will be launched by Tun Dr Mahathir.

Where UMNO slackens and is slow-footed, PERKASA has stepped in. Where UMNO appears to have diluted its own foundations of struggle, PERKASA have and will replace them. Where UMNO is mired in its Jack Sparrow kind of approach over many issues, PERKASA has been forthright, clear, determined and these resonate well with the average Malay. Not necessary right and even right wing at most times, their views are understandable by the Malay masses- the not so confident Malay Muslims, the bigots, sexists etc.

Jack Sparrow appears not to have any plans but makes up solutions as he goes along the way. That is how UMNO is behaving now. It surrenders its armory by default.

Where UMNO has forsaken its AlifBaTa of its struggles, PERKASA has usurped a commanding position, at least in the minds of a growing number of Malays who are comforted by PERKASA's approach to things.

AlifBaTa- Agama, Bangsa dan Tanah Air- the ABC of UMNO's struggles which are forgotten and diluted ever since the UMNO leadership has been taken over by the salonMalays, gauche-caviar, Chardonnay Bumiputeras, or even the not-enough- Malay Malays.

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Allah: the name sacred and profane.

Allah is not a big issue. Just declare it is exclusively for Islam in Malaysia. It is a matter of principle. It isn't inferior to the principle of the rule of law or doing what is right. It reaffirms our faith in Allah. Switzerland bans minarets. France bans the headscarf. Switzerland and France do not ban Islam. They ban Islamic appurtenances. So, Malaysia, learn the lessons there.

I have been asked repeatedly to read Quran 7:180.

There in that verse, we are told we can call Allah by whatever names. These of course refer to what Muslims know as the 99 most beautiful names- which explain and describe the attributes of Allah. It is through these names the Muslim appreciate the Supreme Being.

But there is also the caveat. We are asked to shun such men as use profanity in his Names. The ones who use His name profanely use them in a manner to suggest anything derogatory to His dignity and His unity.

I have already written something about this in my previous article, Pagan God and Uslub Mujadalah. To non Muslims, Allah is just a name. To Muslims, Allah is founded on Aqeedah which incorporates the concepts of Tauheed. Allowing Allah to be used as 'just' a name means you devalue the Muslim Allah.

See what is happening already? When you allow Allah to be used fluidly, it assumes any form you fancy. For instance, I have already mentioned about the inclination of some people asking Muslims to be less excited on forms. That would imply that Allah is just a form.

If I were to be strict, then I will have to say, to suggest that the Name Allah is just a form fits the act of using the name of Allah profanely. That's why I in turn suggest- now we can worship a tree because, it's just a form.

Hence from a monotheistic position, allowing fluidity in the name of Allah, we have pantheism, a school of thought which has been debated upon by Muslim scholars a long time ago. Let me alert those who imply that Allah, a name is just a form:-

Pantheism is the philosophy that everything is God (pan=everything, theos=God) or that the universe and nature are divine. For all practical purposes, according to Islam, pantheism is atheism because it does not acknowledge the existence of God apart from the world, nor does it say that there is a God Who is the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, nor does it say that there is divine judgment or the hereafter. From this it is clear that pantheism cannot have any place in Islam.

To those who ask us to read 7:180;

It is true that Islam gives 99 names to God. But this does not mean that God can take 99 forms! These names signify the qualities of the One God, such as the Creator, the Sustainer, the Merciful, the Forgiving. And they do not in any way mean that God takes different forms or incarnates in those forms. The polytheists or those who believe in the incarnations of God may try to misinterpret the significance of the names of God to find some justification for their false beliefs. But from the point of view of the Qur'an and the Sunnah, there is no

Chance for such misinterpretation. Most assuredly, they are wrong.

And Allah knows best.

Someone also asked why do I waste time and effort debating this issue? My answer: for the same reasons that motivate those who argue for the fluidity in the use of Allah. I am sure those who share my convictions don't see their efforts as wasting time and effort.

Until this issue comes to closure, we shall debate it civilly. Agree?

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