A Reason To Leave And A Reason To Stay In UMNO...

It is the 1st of August 2008 and I am still a member of UMNO. I have to admit, this is a bit of a surprise to me, and I was headed towards the exit till ~3 weeks ago when epiphany struck on reasons to leave and stay.

The reason to leave UMNO was made plainer and clearer to me over the period of the celebrations of Tun Dr M and my Ayah's birthday (they happen to share this, my Ayah in 1943 and Tun Dr M in 1925). Over the course if events over that weekend, I saw my Ayah give one of his best speeches in a long time, and I saw an unreserved acceptance of his views from the entire audience. It then struck me...

1. When my Ayah left UMNO, it removed all possibility that his motives for speaking his mind was to pursue a position for himself in the party.


2. For the audience, the speech then was seen as a sincere expression of views, with no motives linked to the pursuit of power.


3. To my Ayah, any temptation to moderate his views 'just in case' he can go for a party post has been removed, and so he could speak freely.

I assume these same benefits are also gained by Tun Dr M with his leaving the party, with the audience in one event clearly expressing their disappointment that he could not be a candidate for party President whilst he remains outside. Of course, they can say this openly now that he's not a party member.... but as party members, the take-away would be that we have to chart a future path free of Mahathir now...

This understanding of why my Ayah left UMNO has brought the reasons of my staying on still, even now, into sharper focus. I still believe in continuing with my 'Duri Dalam Daging' activities... at least till they to sack me! But perhaps it's time for me to add some steel to my words by attaining a position or the power to back it... this may be worth considering...

Starting to Ramble a little here I think, so perhaps I can end by sharing reasons to stay...

1. Much as I lament Pak Lah's announcement of his late departure mid-2010, I nevertheless see this as a small win, as at last he admits he has to go and was forced to commit to a date well before PRU-13 is due. So, we must persist, as we are 'winning' the struggle for the removal of Lah.


2. The pressure to bring Pak Lah down sooner is continuing to mount, but perhaps more behind the scenes. E.g. 80% of Mubarak, the ex-UMNO MP's club, endorsed a proposal for Pak Lah to hand-over to Datuk Seri Najib by Dec 2008. The 20% who disagreed sabotaged a formal announcement though, but we shall see if one emerges, but here's one version of the story.


3. The UMNO grassroots want change, with its core yearning for a return to the party's purer struggle for the betterment of Malays. As I get to know more people in the party, this is becoming more apparent, and leaving them to struggle whilst I continue my screaming from the outside hadly seems fair. Don't believe that they are determined? Check out what the grassroots did to KJ's allies recently... and how his barriers in Negri Sembilan are rising...

Hence in UMNO I shall remain for now... and may it be for the better well ahead of the worse... As they say,"Perjuangan Belum Selesai..."