"Sayang Lah, Boleh Blah", "Takut Lah, Boleh Blah" atau Layak Digelar Majlis Tertinggi UMNO?

Pak Lah dalam bahaya. Terlalu banyak usahanya setakat ini untuk menetapkan kuasa dan kedudukan beliau sebagai Presiden UMNO merangkap PM telah gagal.

Dari kedudukan yang cukup kuat dahulunya, kini MB Johor kekal di tempatnya, mahupun usaha menggantikannya diatur Tingkat 4 sejak sebelum pilihanraya lagi. MB Terengganu kini terlepas ke pemimpin berhaluan lain. Malah usahanya 'membeli' kembali sokongan bekas MB Perlis juga mencapai kebuntuan.

Jika dicongak sekali dengan sejumlah Ketua Bahagian UMNO yang sudah pun sedia marah kepada Pak Lah akibat 'tak lekat' sebagai calon bersama dengan pemimpin bahagian yang menganggap beliau serta KJ sebab kekalahan besar UMNO di 5+1 negeri, KuLi pasti sudah ada lebih dari 57 bahagian yang diperlukan untuk mencalonkan diri sebagai Presiden UMNO!

Malah lebih memalukan lagi, ada kemungkinan sokongan Pak Lah begitu merudum hingga beliau sendiri tidak akan dapat cukup pencalonan untuk mempertahankan kedudukannya sebagai Presiden UMNO! Terlalu ramai Ketua Penerangan Negeri dan MB UMNO, seperti Tajol Rosli, Adnan Yaakob dan Ali Rustam yang mempunyai kekuatan serta kewibawaan untuk mengubah haluan menurut kepimpinan KuLi, atau mana-mana pemimpin lain selain Pak Lah.

Sampaikan MB yang dikatakan paling rapat dengan Pak Lah, Mohamad Hasan, sudah pun dengan cekal mengesyorkan yang pemilihan UMNO harus diadakan.

Inilah sebabnya pemilihan UMNO mahu ditangguhkan. Pak Lah, setelah merasa kekalahan PRU-12, kini sudah semakin hilang keyakinan pada dirinya sendiri dan ingin berlindung dari pemilihan. Pemilihan tersebut bakal memberi suara kepada kebencian akar-umbi UMNO yang semakin meluap terhadap beliau dan kuncu-kuncunya.

Lihatlah sahaja siapa yang memberi keterangan tentang penangguhan pemilihan UMNO - Mat Taib, yang ternyata masih terhutang budi atas nyawa politik baru yang ditiupkan ke dalamnya oleh Pak Lah. Kenapa bukan Tengku Adnan, Setiausaha Agung UMNO yang membawa wadah ini? Kerana Tengku Adnan lebih sayangkan UMNO dari mana-mana pemimpinnya...

Ya lah, Ku Nan kan orang Tun Dr M, memang lazimnya begitu. Setiausaha Agung zaman Tun Dr M dulu semua fanatik UMNO, termasuklah Sabaruddin Chik, Mohamad Rahmat dan Sanusi Junid. Sudah tentu sebagai bekas Setiausaha Kerja UMNO zaman Tun Dr M, Tengku Adnan juga lebih berfanatikkan parti UMNO dari pemimpinnya, mahupun Tun Dr M sendiri! Inikan pula Pak Lah...

Mat Taib menggambarkan kalau ada pemilihan mungkin akan menimbulkan perpecahan dalam UMNO. Perpecahan apa ni? Kalau ada pemilihan, sudah tentu Pak Lah kalah! Bubuhlah siapa pun jadi pencabar Pak Lah, walau seputik bunga orkid sekalipun, pasti kalah punya Pak Lah! Jadi kalau nak berpecah pun UMNO, mesti kerana Pak Lah bakal merajuk meninggalkan UMNO.

Tapi ada ka cukup orang yang nak ikut Pak Lah keluar bila kalah sehingga timbul perpecahan? Silap-silap, anak menantu dia pun tak ikut dia keluar! Mengarutlah kata-kata Mat Taib yang pemilihan akan menyebabkan perpecahan UMNO.

Makanya, Pak Lah dan kuncu-kuncunya ingin menunda pemilihan UMNO. Pendek kata, nak sembunyi di tepi kain Majlis Tertinggi UMNO lah tu! Inilah peluang ahli-ahli Majlis Tertinggi untuk menunjukkan kewibawaan mereka. Adakah mereka akan membuktikan sayang mereka kepada Pak Lah, atau sayang mereka kepada UMNO, agama, bangsa dan negara?

Senang macam ni lah. Kalau ada spy-spy mana-mana dalam mesyuarat Majlis Tertinggi tu nanti, laporkanlah siapa yang mengundi menyokong penundaan pemilihan. Yang berbuat demikian ada sudah mula melabelkan "Sayang Lah, Boleh Blah". Yang ini bakal kalah pada pemilihan kemudian. Kalau diumumkan persetujuan sebulat suara pun menarik, semua nanti tertukar!

Janganlah ada nanti ahli Majlis Tertinggi yang kata mereka megundi menyokong penundaan tetapi sebenarnya menentang. Yang ini dayus namanya, dan seeloknya berundur sahaja dari Majlis Tertinggi, atau "Takut Lah, Boleh Blah".

Yang kita ingin adalah yang lantang menidakkan usaha kecut Pak Lah dan Mat Taib ini. Yang berani dan berwibawa macam ini lah silap-silap kita angkat jadi Naib Presiden atau lebih tinggi lagi!

Terpulanglah kepada ahli-ahli Majlis Tertinggi sekarang. Adakah mereka "Sayang Lah, Boleh Blah", "Takut Lah, Boleh Blah" atau calon kepimpinan tertinggi dihari muka? Yang penting UMNO... bukan Lah...

No DEB, No Vernacular Schools?

The topic chosen here is not to provoke, but rather to remind people what the so called 'social contract' was so many years ago. In the 'ashes' of 13 May 1969, three concerns were raised which resulted in separate outcomes:

1. The Malays were convinced that the racial riots were the result of economic activities, and affluence, of Malaysians in 1969 still being determined by the racial segregation of colonial times, at least for the majority; i.e. Malays were farmers, Chinese were businessmen and Indians were estate workers. Malays pushed for the DEB to address the issue so that "Malaysians are no longer racially segregated by economic activity or affluence".
2. In the meantime, the two major minorities, the Chinese and Indians, were fighting for the retention of their identities. Their leaders feared a Malay push for national unity at the expense of their racial and cultural identity, such as was happening in Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines. They hence insisted on the protection and continued support of vernacular schools side-by-side with mainstream education.
3. The desires of East Malaysia (Sabah and Sarawak) continued to be protection of their autonomy, with the Bumiputra hence augmenting this with themselves opting into the DEB. Their negotiating position was stronger though as they did not suffer racial riots.

The fight of the major components of BN on the material side have thus been, the advancement of DEB goals for UMNO, the growth of Chinese education for MCA, the protection of a Hindu-centric culture by the MIC (which ironically resulted in them not getting much from the deal from the outset, despite the fact that DEB, on paper, also had benefits where Indians qualify ahead of Malays!) and protection of autonomous rights for the East Malaysian parties.

Gerakan and PPP were funny BN partners in that they were the only parties shouting for a Malaysian Malaysia then and was happy to endorse this agreement for the long term aspiration. They continue to do so to this day whilst becoming increasingly mono-racial themselves.

Post PRU-12, people are running around saying DEB is no longer relevant. I disagree. In fact, I think most Malays still want the bulk of DEB and certainly at most they wish the implementation to be reformed, especially around contracts. Most Malays still want MRSMs and Boarding Schools, scholarships, low cost or discounted housing, etc to remain. I am convinced that DEB is being scape-goated by the Lah-ist regime for the election loss to keep Pak Lah in power.

However, no meaningful debate on the removal of DEB can take place before reverting back to the original social contract. So, will the Chinese and Indians be willing to sacrifice their right to have vernacular schools to get rid of DEB? There are also many reasons for abolishing them. They are, variously:

1. Racial in nature,
2. Mainly exclusive, with such clear advantage given to Chinese and Indians due to their mother-tongue (ya ya, some Malay kids go to, but we have some Chinese in MRSM and Indians with JPA scholarships too!)
3. Draws good resources away from the standard Malay-medium schools, hence contributes to the reduction in overall quality of Malaysian education through structurally unequal distribution of resources
4. Polarising the nation by segregating minority races away from a mixed environment, and also resulting in a Malay-centric environment being created in Malay-medium school
5. Disrupts efforts to foster national unity through use of a single national language, Bahasa Malaysia, and a unified education system

So, no DEB, no vernacular schools? Sorry if I've upset anyone, I didn't open this door... was it the opposition? Pak Lah?

By the way you guys in East Malaysia, you don't go scot free. You jump to PKR (who wishes to 'modify' DEB... abolish-lah tu...), you open the door to East Malaysia losing its autonomy as per the social contract...

But, to re-emphasise... no DEB, no vernacular schools?

Benarkah Sudah Berakhir Riwayat Politik Khairy?

Sudah pun dikemukakan petanda kekalnya pengaruh Khairy dari analisa Pak Lah akan sebab kekalahan BN. Pak Lah memberi gambaran ini kerana golongan muda Melayu menolak DEB/DPB, apabila sebenarnya Khairy dan pemesong DEB/DPB lain yang ditolak; lagi pun sudah lama disyaki Khairylah hipokrit pembenci serta musuh dalam selimut DEB/DPB. Di sini ingin diajukan sedikit 'bukti' kekalnya Khairy sebagai pengemudi pentadbiran Pak Lah berdasarkan susunan kabinet.

Melihat prestasi buruk BN pada PRU-12 dan berdasarkan desakan lantang menggesa perletakan jawatan beliau, Pak Lah beraksi dengan begitu licik sekali. Sudah kembali ahli politik yang berjaya hidup begitu lama dalam UMNO walaupun dikelilingi musuh yang berkuku-taring lebih tajam. Malang sekali yang kepintaran tersebut agak kurang dalam menangani pentadbiran negara, mahupun menguruskan pilihanraya umum, tetapi di dalam UMNO, Pak Lah tetap gagah.

Setelah menerima maklumat jelas bahawa perlindungan dan kuasa tidak rasmi yang dikurniakan beliau kepada Khairy merupakan antara tunas kekalahan BN, Pak Lah mengambil kesempatan terdekat untuk:

1. Mengelak dari melantik Khairy ke jawatan kabinet.
2. Membenarkan propaganda menular yang nyawa politik Khairy sudah hampir hilang di media perdana serta halaman web pro-kerajaan seperti Malaysian Insider.
3. Membenarkan Pemuda UMNO memutuskan supaya Mukhriz Mahathir tidak dikenakan hukuman disiplin atas tindakan beliau menulis surat memohon perletakan jawatan Pak Lah sendiri.

Ini menunjukan seolah-olah Khairy bukan faktor dalam pentadbiran kerajaannya sekarang. Tambah pula:

1. Menteri yang kurang popular seperti Rafidah Aziz dan Radzi Sheikh Ahmad digugurkan.
2. General-general setia Pak Lah seperti Noh Omar diberi pangkat menteri sebagai persediaan perhimpunan agung UMNO.
3. Panglima-panglima pemimpin lain seperti Shabery Cheek diberikan kedudukan menteri dalam usaha menarik sokongan mereka.
4. Panglima-panglima yang sudah pasti tidak akan dapat ditarik kesetiaan kepada Pak Lah, seperti Tengku Adnan dan Jamaluddin Jarjis telah digugurkan, walaupun prestasi mereka yang lepas boleh tahan juga.
5. Pemimpin UMNO yang sering lantang mengkritik dari luar seperti Shahrir Samad dan Zaid Ibrahim pula cuba didiamkan dengan kedudukan baru.
6. Dibawa masuk juga sepahi upahan Muhamad Muhamad Taib sebagai menteri yang terjamin setia kerana kembalinya ke tampuk kuasa atas jasa Pak Lah.

Pemilihan kabinet Pak Lah tepat dengan tujuan mempertahankan kedudukan beliau dalam UMNO. Namun, Pak Lah mungkin terlalu sayangkan Khairy hingga tidak upaya beliau menidakkan pengaruh Khairy sama sekali. Contohnya:

1. Wan Ahmad Farid, teman setia Khairy yang melicinkan pengagihan projek di Terengganu suatu masa dahulu kini dilantik menjadi Timbalan Menteri.
2. Azalina, rakan sejawat Khairy semasa beliau menjadi pengacara TV dahulu, menonjol sebagai satu-satunya wakil Wanita UMNO di kabinet. Adakah ini petanda beliau bakal merampas kuasa kepimpinan wanita kelak? Khairy masih terhutang budi kepada Azalina yang lebih berhak menjadi wakil rakyat di Rembau, kampung asal-usul bapanya.

Perlantikan kabinet menunjukkan Pak Lah, dalam usaha mempertahankan hidup politiknya, sedia mengenepikan sedikit Khairy. Namun pengaruh Khairy terlihat kekal walaupun hanya ala-kadar. Mungkin perlantikan pada peringkat agensi-agensi kelak akan menonjolkan lagi tahap pengaruh Khairy pasca PRU-12; benarkah sudah dikekang, atau hanya sekadar wayang kulit sahaja beliau diketepikan dari kabinet.

Initial Feedback On The New Cabinet... Updated

At a glance one may be forgiven for being glad that this is a Khairy free cabinet. If you're thinking this... think again! Some hints of his influences are seen below. Nevertheless, it is clear that Pak lah has set up this cabinet for one purpose... to retain his power as PM via the UMNO Presidency. (Which is actually different from keeping UMNO and BN in power!)

Rocky asked some pertinent questions on why some people are on and are off the cabinet here rocky's bru: The new Cabinet.

Why was Rafidah droped? I update this with a thought that I picked up off a commentor. Could it be that Rafidah was dropped to make it easier for the US to conclude an FTA with us? We know that Muhyiddin, whilst an UMNO stalwart, doesn't really have the background and nous to as effectively lead Malaysia in the negotiations. Muhyiddin also demonstrated his willingness to compromise in the past with the land deal he agreed with Singapore when he was Johor MB. So, is the hidden reason to allow the USFTA to be ratified? Muhyiddin will need help here!

On the political side, Rafidah being dropped allows Azalina to more easily challenge her . As Azalina is increasingly seen as a Pak Lah and Khairy ally, what with her sacrificing her familial right to be the MP of Rembau to Khairy and her minions' activities on the web. Rafidah needs to make amends with Tun Dr M properly to stand a chance. Alternatively, Rafidah can choose to back another Wanita heavyweight, like say Noraesah (who is generally acceptable to all factions), to block Azalina. Azalina of course was Khairy's co-anchor on TV once.

A tangential view of why Rafidah was dropped would be that it is to appease Tun Dr M, who probably is still a little upset with Rafidah for her role in the AP scandal and the attack on Proton. Enough about Rafidah.

Why was JJ dropped? Because Pak Lah cannot risk 2 Najib allies in the Cabinet who are political warlords that can also deliver at their ministries. Zahid Hamidi, whilst tentatively also an Anwarista and publicly behind Pak Lah, was brought into the mainstream by Najib and was returned to public leadership following his conversion to Tun Dr M pre-1999 elections. Zahid is still the best candidate to grab MAYC from the clutches of Syed Hamid, currently a firm, though weak, Lah-ist ally.

Why Muhammad Taib? 2 reasons probably. Khairy in his snot-nosed political infancy is probably still enamoured by Muhammad Taib's skill at leading by-elections. This despite 'Mike Tyson's' clear weakness as UMNO Information Chief on the big stage of PRU-12. Pak Lah also needs a guaranteed ally (one he has revived from the political graveyard) to balance the cabinet that he has risked...

The cabinet is still potentially hostile. Shabery Cheek was raised by KuLi so may well be another enemy within, but he cannot be ignored what with the others Pak Lah have dropped. Liow Tiong Lai dan Ong Tee Keat's entry mark the pre-emminence of the Lim Ah Lek faction in MCA, a group that is more traditional and less amenable to shananigans vs Ong Ka Ting's faction, now represented by that less popular brother of his, Ong Ka Chuan.

Curious to see Wan Ahmad Farid as Deputy Home Affairs and Internal Security Minister. This is Khairy's close chum right? The one who used to be in Terengganu? Or have I got the wrong guy. He'll probably be puppet-mastering Syed Hamid Albar in the ministry... weak... weak!

I have a quick observation also to make about the MIC members of cabinet. So, Samy has put up his man S Subramaniam for Minister. Has to be Samy's man as he's Sec-Gen of MIC. This sets up the battle for the MIC Presidency nicely then against the young turk Devamany who has a Deputy Minister post! This assumes of course that Samy is no longer interested? Palanievel? The other Subra?

So, does this cabinet line-up change my opinion that Pak Lah has to go for the sake of the party and the nation? No. Does the cabinet line-up re-assure me that Khairy is no longer a hidden hand influencing Malaysian government policy? No. So, I guess you know where my vote will go during UMNO branch elections... if they'll let us have a proper contest that is!

Akhirnya Bermula Kesinambungan Semangat Melayu Tua Ke Muda

Pada zaman awal kebangkitan kuasa Khairy Jamaluddin, telah dikemukakan oleh para pendukungnya yang muda segenerasi dengannya bahawa ini melambangkan kebangkitan 'Golongan Muda' baru dalam UMNO. Kononnya golongan muda pimpinan Khairy ini membawa aspirasi baru yang lebih sesuai dengan zaman menjangkau 2020, dan dalam usaha membawa masyarakat Melayu ke era baru yang lebih makmur, nescaya akan berlaku pertembungan dengan 'Golongan Tua' dalam UMNO.

Malang bagi Khairy dan pendakyah-pendakyah beliau, generasi beliau, malah kebanyakan golongan di bawah 40 tahun yang menjadi sasaran telah menolak propaganda tersebut. Soalnya, agak susah untuk majoriti golongan muda Melayu untuk menerima dakyah yang:

1. Bertunggakkan tuduhan akan kelemahan 'Golongan Tua' yang tidak berdosa malah banyak menabur budi kepada generasi Melayu muda.
2. Didukung oleh golongan minoriti elitis yang berbuai emas, disusu madu ratu yang menunjuk-nunjukan kepandaian berbuktikan kelulusan institusi luar negara sambil berperisaikan surat nikah atau sijil kelahiran sebenarnya.
3. Melaga-lagakan tua serta muda, lama dan baru, budi dengan angan-angan masa hadapan.

Orang Melayu suatu masyarakat yang bersopan-santun. Dalam perbalahan bagaimana sekalipun, tikaman lidah tidak meluka hati, malah lebih rela rasa tidak puas hati disuratkan sahaja supaya boleh penegur mengalihkan bahasa kepada yang lebih pekerti demi menjaga silaturahim.

Dakyah Khairy mungkin tak termakan dek generasinya, tetapi malang sekali, beliau dan anasir-anasir di sekelilingnya telah berjaya mempengaruhi golongan kepimpinan Melayu teratas bahawa merekalah yang sah mewakili generasi muda. Malang sekali kepada pemimpin Melayu UMNO, kerana hasilnya adalah penolakan sebulat suara generasi muda terhadap intipati agenda Khairy yang dibawa oleh rejim Pak Lah sepanjang 4 tahun seperti dibuktikan oleh keputusan PRU-12.

Menarik sekali, hasil penolakan mendadak terhadap kerajaan Pak Lah/Khairy, kini suara-suara Muda yang lebih sah diterima-pakai sebagai wakil sudah mula berganding dengan suara Tua yang berbudi dan disegani. Prosa sopan Mukhriz dibayangi oleh surat yang lebih sulit dari pemimpin Tua sebuah Bahagian UMNO. Usul mengadakan Mesyuarat Agung Tergempar oleh Tungku Razaleigh Hamzah (KuLi) pula sudah dibayangi oleh kepimpinan Pemuda UMNO Johor.

Inilah gandingan Tua-Muda yang dinanti-nantikan, yang bakal membina bersama, yang bukan propaganda semata-mata. Gandingan beginilah yang merupakan tanda kesinambungan semangat perjuangan Melayu masih berbara sayup-sayup, menanti hembusan nafas baru dari kepimpinan generasi lama ke baru.

Gandingan ini kini wujud atas agenda menggesa mengunduran kepimpinan Pak Lah/Khairy sebelum binasa UMNO dan masa depan Melayu di bumi Malaysia.

Harapan penulis yang tidak seberapa ini adalah semoga gandingan sebegini juga bakal mengembalikan kegagahan dan kemakmuran masyarakat Melayu... Dulu, Kini dan Selamanya.

Desparate Acts Of Survival Of Lah-ist Regime

I've been receiving all sorts of info and coms nowadays, both in the form of sms, e-mails and of course there is continuous drivel from the mainstream press. All basically excuse Pak Lah from responsibility for the election results (despite the PRU12 being declared as being "Badawi's Election" by Tun Musa Hitam the week before polling).

Some go as far as saying it is the collective fault of all too many UMNO and BN leaders. A couple even blame Tun Dr Mahathir's previous practices when in power!

Then of course there are the conspiracy theories. That Anwar and Najib are in cahoots or that Najib will not be able to survive Anwar's assault (to scare the Mahathirites). That Najib can't oppose Pak Lah due to all sorts of crimes he allegedly has committed (to scare the Najibites). Of course with the rise of Mukhriz through his letter and the petition for support for it (below) all sorts of stuff are coming out about Mukhriz.

http://bigdogdotcom.wordpress.com/2008/03/14/mukhriz-hantar-surat-minta-pm-abdullah-letak-jawatan/

http://rockybru.blogspot.com/2008/03/petition-in-support-of-mukhriz-mahathir.html

Lets re-affirm a couple of things here:

1. BN and UMNO lost its 2/3 majority under Pak Lah's leadership. The only thing that has differed in terms of leadership of this country since the 2004 election landslide was the country experiencing 4 years of Lah-ist regime in its full glory of rising crime, reduced savings and spending power of the men and women on the street, increasing racial disharmony, Islamic deviation (Hadhari) and losing pace whilst selling-out to Singapore.
2. The reason the younger generation of Malays is against Pak Lah is not because we don't like the NEP (which is really now the NDP). What's not to like about cheaper housing, easier access and sometimes free education, government perks, business and contracts, et al? Actually, the younger generation of Malays hate Khairy Jamaluddin and how he and his cronies have perverted and hogged all the benefits of the NDP for themselves!

4 years is more than enough Lah... just withdraw into a sleepy retirement...

PAS And DAP Sharing Power? Creak, Crack...

Mr Lim Kit Siang has a problem. He wants power, but to keep power, he feels he still needs to remain a champion against Islam, with PAS as his bogey-party.

In Perak, he actually needs PAS to have some power, but the problem is... he doesn't want PAS to lead the state! The tough thing for him is, even if he was OK with PAS, he can't show he's OK, so... rocky's bru: Ah, Kit Siang!

Maybe he forgot that in Selangor, he needed PAS to keep BN out too. In fact, PAS would probably prefer BN as a partner in government instead of DAP. Thank god for PKR... or so you think...

Mr Lim should worry about keeping the inter-racial harmony in the state his son does control first... news of pork being openly sold at the Bayan Lepas open market for the first time in history on 9 March '08 is ruffling Malay and Muslim feathers already...

Not so easy being a leader in a coalition is it? Peace Mr Lim!

Forget About The Post-Mortem, What Is Left To Be Done?

There are too many post mortems around already on PRU12 that it isn't worth doing another one here. None are completely satisfying, but as a collective, the following combination ends up being quite comprehensive:

My friend Ong Kian Ming's: http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/79604
Bridget Welsh's for Malaysiakini: http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/79677
One that completes the picture with the Malay point of view, which also doubles as a petition, is MyKMU's: http://www.mykmu.net/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=6263

All agree that the blame for BN's election losses lie in large part on Pak Lah's leadership... or lack of. Collectively, the flaws of Pak Lah's leadership analysed are so all encompassing that even his one 'positive' behaviour, devotion to his family, end up being a significant negative to the voters!

There is one problem though... PAK LAH IS STILL AROUND! He's still PM! This is of course an extremely strange situation, but then, is it really? The Lah controlled press is trying to sell the story that it's not, but we all feel this is wierd!

In 1969, the then Alliance government under Tunku Abdul Rahman also lost its 2/3 majority. It didn't lose as badly as Pak Lah's government did, but it lose the 2/3. Now, Tunku didn't step down voluntarily either, even though he was severely criticised for his losses. It took more than a year until he was forced to resign from being PM in 1970, then he stayed on as UMNO President till 1971!

Based on this lesson of history, Pak Lah's future doesn't look too bright. I mean come on, who is Pak Lah compared to Tunku Abdul Rahman? The first PM of Malaysia also founded of ASEAN, formed Malaysia, as well as led us to victor over the communists as well as Sukarno's Indonesia during Konfrantasi! Pak Lah's only father of the K(J)-Economy, the Hadhari sect and 'plays golf' with Singapore!

As Pak Lah's losses were worse than Tunku's and his achievements naught, I'd say he probably won't last longer than Tunku. The problem though is that UMNO takes A VERY LONG TIME to get rid of any leader, the higher the leader's post, the longer! A PM can do a lot of damage in a year... we've seen 4 already!

You can say its inefficient, but actually its because UMNO is Malay, and Malays are polite! See how elders like Tun Dr M and KuLi have been the ones vocally asking for Pak Lah's resignation? Even BN is being polite, with Lim Keng Yaik's hint being by far the most pointed: http://rockybru.blogspot.com/2008/03/good-advice-on-bad-advisers.html#links

So, can the rakyat do more than it already has to speed Pak Lah's exit? A petition perhaps? Banners in front of houses? Maybe even private urgings when they bump into Pak Lah at a kenduri? The job is only half done... so what is left to be done?

Untuk Apa Perjuangan

Generasi Muda Melayu sekarang amnya merasakan kehilangan sesuatu. Apa 'sesuatu' itu mungkin dirasakan berbeza bagi setiap individu, tetapi perasaan ini sering timbul sebagai suatu kekurangan malah kekosongan pada hidup, terutama sekali dalam perbualan di kalangan pemuda segenerasi.

Setiap individu manusia dijadikan Allah S.W.T. penuh dengan keperluan dan kehendak. Yang kehendak sering berkait dengan nafsu hidup, keinginan yang melepasi apa yang perlu dalam kehidupan. Keperluan pula bukan sahaja merangkumi asas hidup yang fizikal seperti makan/minum, tempat tinggal, pakaian, kenderaan, dsb, tetapi termasuk juga keperluan jiwa atau rohani.

Keperluan rohani ini mungkin berunsur membetulkan diri supaya setiap individu dapat lebih mendekati Allah, namun Islam jelas juga mendorong ummahnya untuk mengejar Keperluan di dunia mahupun di akhirat. Keperluan rohani ini amnya adalah sejenis perjuangan, baik perjuangan dalaman mahupun perjuangan menjayakan ummah di alam dunia.

Ini berkait langsung dengan kekurangan serta kekosongan yang menghantui begitu ramai generasi Muda Melayu sekarang. Ini kerana terlalu ramai dari kita sekarang tertanya-tanya,"Untuk Apa Perjuangan".

UMNO Leadership Change A Solution To The Malay Malaise?

I received the note below as a response to my earlier posting and thought part of my response worth sharing, including also bringing in the Malaysian context.

Salam Mr Akhramsyah, I, too, have watched Tun's video clip a few nights ago and this is exactly the thing that has been dwelling in my mind the whole next day - even while in office!

As a loyal UMNO member, who still feel that UMNO is the only relevant party for Malays, I think we should try to find some ways to combat the real cause - money politics. Even Tun himself stated in his speech that he failed to combat this problem, when he himself knew that Malay voters will vote even if UMNO president chooses a tunggul kayu to represent them.

Some kind of "Perang Saraf" to change the mentality of Malay voters might be a little too ambitious, but I think, the best is to allow competition for the position of UMNO President once again (after Anwar suggested for "No Competition for the 2 top posts in 1997). Do you think anyone would dare to nominate Datuk Najib against Pak Lah in the next UMNO AGM?

Even though Najib himself is not a perfect leader (more of the lesser of 2 evils), but my naive thinking says that he'd have plans for Malays as opposed to the current PM. What say you?

On this matter, I'd rather not be too quick to prescribe and deliver a solution. Certainly what is said is a problem and certainly the revision in UMNO election laws proposed is one solution. Who challenges Pak Lah is irrelevant, but the system needs to be amended back to the nomination system that was available pre-1988, allowing a minimum 2 Bahagians to nominate leaders for any UMNO national post.

(Else, Pak Lah would have been challenged by KuLi in 2004, which KuLi would likely have lost then in my opinion).

However, there are other root cause problems with the Malays and UMNO that need to be addressed - once we have clarified and prioritised these problems, we should be able to do more than just address the more immediate problem of lack of leadership at the very top. We should try to get Malays to survive regardless of who is on top and in one go ensure the pool of people that can rise to the very top is of the highest quality.

This will also then allow Malays to clarify and re-assert its desired role as the majority race in Malaysia. This would in turn allow us to resume the road that was left post 1969, which Mahathir attempted to put us back onto with Vision 2020 and stalled under the Lah-ist regime, of making the Malaysian status of non-Malays more equitable relative to the Bumiputra.

Needless to say though, regime change has to occur in Malaysia after these elections in my mind. The current government is just too incompetent to remain as it is for all our sakes as Malaysians!

I remain, a loyal UMNO Member of Bendang Baru Branch, Langkawi.

Holier Than Thou? Prove It!

The recommendation by our former PM Tun Dr M that voters "vote for the candidate, not for the party" on this 8-3-8 election, has some interesting implications; besides the immediate memory trigger to some 'old' hacks like me on how it's an about turn from his old campaign that voters should "vote for the party, not for the candidate".

The old slogan (vote for the party) was to encourage voters not to vote for the opposition just because they are of the same race when the BN candidate is not. Anyway, that was the old story, but the reason why Tun Dr M is asking people not to vote the party but to carefully choose based on the quality of candidates these days are for some rather 'simple' reasons:

1. He didn't choose the candidates in this election, so I can't expect him to think Pak Lah's choices were perfect!
2. Tun Dr M may still be quite annoyed with a number of the BN candidates this year, including the AP dispensing lady, the current UMNO Sec-Gen who caused UMNO to be declared illegal 2 decades ago, a certain boy from Oxford that married well, some of his back-stabbing former assistants in Kubang Pasu, among others. All this is second guessing though, as as he is an old wise man, he may well be quite zen about all these people actually!
3. The third reason is a bit like the first two but with a twist. Tun Dr M thinks the BN candidates list is awful but he still wants BN to win. He thinks this can only be done by getting voters to see beyond the failings of some BN leaders and choosing the best of those available from BN; which, lets face it, is probably far superior to the bad blend of the ancient, quirky, strange and baby-faced offerings from the opposition!

However, in doing so, he has implicitly thrown down the gauntlet to Malaysians to prove that they are indeed Holier than Thou! He has great hopes that the indignant crescendo that led to the resignation of a certain philandering DVD-sex minister would be repeated across the broad section of the voting public on 8-3-8, leading to a cleansing of the nation's leadership by the electorate!

On the surface, Tun Dr M's urgings that voters choose the right candidates may appear to favour the opposition. Certainly if there were any corrupt leaders to be found, they would more likely be among BN candidates, as it is the party that is in almost total control of the country. Typically, it is such power and control that breeds corruption and poor morals to the extent that cannot be ignored.

There are any number of BN leaders that should be voted out for corruption - mostly suspected, but some rather blatantly evident to the electorate, what with large houses, cars, diamonds on wives' fingers or just plain sliminess. Some are disturbing in that they are addicted to skirts. Some must be found stupid (for instance from having MBA's from fake US universities) or are just plain rude.

Quite a number of incumbent MPs need to be taught a lesson as they may have ignored the electorate. Some, even veteran ones, may have shown themselves to be 'too good' or 'too busy' for the people, by doing silly things like not helping when voters were suffering from floods. The saddest types of candidates though appear to be proxy-candidates for their parents.

For instance, the DVD-sex minister has succeeded in getting his son to run in his place for MP. Another interesting case is the 'Klang Palace' MP, who managed to get his daughter-in-law to run in his place. Surely these candidates should feel the heat of the electorate if it is clear that they are not running for themselves but as proxies to parents that are too tainted for BN to consider running!

Of course, these proxy candidates are in good company, as there is this daughter of a glamarous ex-con opposition leader also running as a proxy in KL!

Now, Tun Dr M is not a stupid man. Surely when he said what he said, he didn't intend for the opposition to gain such a big advantage against BN. In his heart he probably realised that the opposition had hopeless candidates too. In fact, the opposition's weakness is most evident at the top, among its leaders!

1. The DAP's Lim Kit Siang likes to accuse BN of race-based politics, but does this whilst allowing his party to be disproportionately Chinese in agenda and leadership. In contrast, BN till now remains the party that fields the most candidates differing from the majority race in a constituency. Perhaps Kit Siang is still living down the legacy of his screaming for Malays to leave KL and pissing on the Malaysian flagpole at the Selangor MB's house in 1969?
2. PAS on the other hand is led by a Malay leader that on one hand declares the need for an Islamic state, but on the other condemned some Muslims as being deviant based on party affiliation. He thinks sins hence can be done against Muslims who are not PAS members! You'd think that he and Kit Siang would get along swimmingly as they both hate BN, but they don't!
3. Then of course there is the most celebrated ex-con politician in the world, Anwar Ibrahim. Here is a man famous for being against corruption despite being convicted of the criminal offence of corruption and abuse of power! His crime? Instructing the police to break the law and act against his enemies! Amazingly, some still believe he was a 'political prisoner'! And then of course there was the other thing... ooops... innocent by technicality!

So, on the one hand, Tun Dr M wants us to choose BN candidates, but only those that are of worth. At the same time, his request forces us to also look at the alternatives among the opposition with a more critical eye. This must leave voters with quite a problem in some constituencies I am sure. Then again, no one said being Holier than Thou was going to be easy...! Correct, correct correct...!

Yang Ku Ingin Menjelang 8-3-8

Ku ingin anakku berlari selamat di taman,
Ku ingin isteriku tersenyum belanja lumayan di pasaran,
Ku ingin kocekku tak kerana hutang beratnya,
Ku ingin zuriatku Islam tanpa had harinya,
Ku rindu sekali rasa percaya terhadap pemimpinku,
Ku tak mahu lagi hina ditertawa musuh bangsa, negaraku,
Apakah akan ku nikmati ini semua menjelang tarikh keramat tilik Cina 8/3/2008?

Nukilan di atas hasil rasa gelisah saya sebagai seorang ahli UMNO yang melihat Barisan Nasional seolah terkapar-kapar pada pilihanraya ini. Di antara yang membimbangkan saya adalah:

1. Kebimbangan terhadap peningkatan kos hidup belum ditangani dengan efektif sepanjang musim pilihanraya ini. Hanya harga minyak yang diperbicarakan, tetapi kebimbangan sedia ada hasil isu gula, minyak masak dan tepung yang saling berganti. Usaha kerajaan menangani ini sama ada diketahui tidak berkesan atau menimbulkan kebingungan.
2. Perasaan tentang kehilangan berterusan adik Sharlinie berubah dari kebimbangan menjadi kerunsingan apabila dimaklumkan bahawa usaha polis terpaksa dikurangkan supaya perjalanan pilihanraya boleh dipantau. Sudah tentu ini bukan menggambarkan niat pemerintah? Bukankah keselamatan anak-anak murapakan antara tanggungjawab utama.
3. Sebagai anak Kedah, terguris hati bila diisytiharkan yang peperangan politik paling sengit sedang berlaku di Pulau Pinang, Terengganu dan Kelantan. Tidakkah para pemimpin teratas sedar akan keadaan yang melanda Kedah kini, terumbang-ambing hasil penamaan calon yang kurang sesuai dan ketiadaan para ulama UMNO yang berupaya mempertahankan Islam Hadhari?

Namun dari segi politik, UMNO dan BN mungkin sekali bernasib baik yang para pembangkang di negara kita ini masih agak pincang idea, upaya dan pengalamannya. Ya lah, niat sendiri-sendiri mungkin baik, tetapi keikhlasan dan kewibawaan mereka terus menjadi tanda-tanya. Contohnya:

1. Sejauh manakah upaya rakyat Melayu menerima DAP yang ternyata mewar-warkan niat untuk membawa keadilan sejagat antara kaum dan menjayakan Bangsa Malaysia sebagai muslihat untuk melupuskan hak istimewa orang Melayu. Bayangan hubungan erat mereka dengan dalang PAP Singapura tetap menimbul kesangsian...
2. Yang si Anwar pula, tak habis agenda untuk memastikan paling kurang adalah satu kerusi Parlimen yang bakal dipegang PKR untuk diambil-alih olehnya sejurus tamat tempoh pengharaman beliau dari politik. Sekali lagi terlihat ini perjuangan Anwar, bukan perjuangan rakyat. Sampai Hidraf yang ekstrimis pun ditunggang olehnya.
3. Di arena web pula, usaha murni Raja Petra Kamaruddin mengeluarkan Deklarasi Rakyat menjadi bahan tertawa. Pembangkang tertawa sebab mereka dapat tumpang gratis usaha besar yang tidak mampu dihasilkan oleh mereka sendiri. Yang Kerajaan tertawa sebab senang sahaja mereka berkata..."kalau pembangkang berkuasa, mereka pun mahu terus menggunakan ISA, memasang kaki sebagai hakim, dapat kontrek"...

Walaubagaimanapun, BN harus waspada. Kini ada kemungkinan pengundi mengundi bukan kerana parti, bukan kerana sayang pembangkang, bukan kerana perkiraan untung-rugi pembangunan. Agenda pengundi sekarang mungkin melonjak menyokong pembangkang kerana marah terhadap kerajaan.

Marah pengundi kepada kerajaan kali ini bukan kerana marah kalah pemimpin seperti pilihanraya "Semangat 46" pada 1990. Bukan kerana marah kerana kesian "faktor Anwar" pada 1999. Marah kali ini kerana marah peribadi, marah yang dibara emosi yang membawa dan tak putus dibawa diri. Inilah yang patut ditangani pemimpin UMNO dan BN dalam beberapa hari ini... sebelum tarikh 8/3/2008 menjelma hakikatnya keramat buat siapa...