Tag: UMNO

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Politics & government

[1936] Of a superficial retelling of the last day of 2008 UMNO General Assembly

Just got back from the UMNO General Assembly and among top leadership of UMNO, Khairy Jamaluddin will probably have the hardest time to lead, simply because the division within the wing he is leading.

Each time his name was mentioned, a big boo followed. On the contrary, when Mukhriz Mahathir joined the hall to take his seat in the wing, he received a raving applause. Odd indeed because the sentiment in the hall did not reflect the election result.

When Khairy Jamaluddin spoke behind the rostrum, he took a humble tone, probably realizing his unpopularity in the hall.

Ali Rustam was popular. Add the adverb very if I am guilty of underemphasizing the support he enjoyed today. The hall definitely considered the judgment against the politician from Malacca by UMNO diciplinary board as injustice. From my outsider perspective, clearly, there is perverse incentive in UMNO at the moment; a convicted corrupt politician can be a star, the darling of the hall. If there is a lesson from there, it is that do not act unjustly because the victim of unjust act, even if he is less than innocent, can become the prince of heart.

Zahid Hamidi was the first to realize that and to utilize the popularity of Ali Rustam at the Putra World Trade Center, mostly because his turn to speak was right after Ali Rustam’s. He mentioned Ali Rustam a couple of times and each time he did so, the crowd went wild without fail.

Mahathir Mohamad was welcomed whole-heartedly by UMNO members. Muhyiddin Yassin was speaking when he entered the hall and the new Deputy President of UMNO had to take a pause as the crowd gave the former Prime Minister a standing ovation. Muhyiddin Yassin, rather than finishing his interrupted sentence, decided to give Mahathir Mohamad the spotlight by citing his name, almost to the point of too much.

Not as much as Shahrizat Abdul Jalil though. With a divided UMNO, she went on to mention everybody’s name, from Rafidah, to Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to Najib Razak to more names than I care to remember. She appeared as a person earnestly trying to hedge her bet across the board.

And this time unlike two days earlier, I stayed to the end because while some points are very disagreeable (being a secularist, a passive republican and a liberal in an UMNO pow-wow, what a surprise, eh? The too many mentions of religion and ethnonationalism were dizzying), the quality of the speeches were noticeably better than the previous ones.

Finally, Najib Razak. I do have other reservation, especially about the divergence between his rhetoric and the the rhetoric of so-called UMNO grassroot present in the hall, and between his rhetoric and events I am witnessing in as a citizen of Malaysia. Nevertheless, he appeared as a person that have the ability to lead. I was in the hall and I have to admit he managed to bring out the fighting spirit in UMNO members there. It was as if, an unconfident UMNO finally found the rock they require. He called for unity and showed courage to implicitly inform Mahathir Mohamad and Abdullah Ahmad Badawi that he is a man of his own.

In my humble opinion, Pakatan Rakyat will have to on their toes because they — if the momentum I saw in the hall continues — have just found their match. In the last general election, UMNO entered the ring wounded. This time, some recuparation had taken place.

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Politics & government

[1935] Mengenai ucapan terakhir

Beberapa perkara yang disebut tidak boleh dipersetujui oleh saya. Beberapa perkara lain, walaupun patut disokong, susah untuk dipercayainya kerana tindak-tanduk yang bertentangan dengan retorik.

Walau bagaimanapun, dua perenggan daripada ucapan mantan Presiden UMNO Abdullah Ahmad Badawi harus dipetik:

Sedarilah! di luar Dewan Merdeka ini, ramai yang berpandangan bahawa jika UMNO, dan jika Barisan Nasional tidak berubah, maka pilihan raya kedua belas pada 8 Mac 2008 merupakan kemenangan terakhir kepada Barisan Nasional menubuhkan kerajaan. Selepas ini, rakyat di luar Dewan ini, tidak akan mengundi kita lagi. Di peringkat negeri, Barisan Nasional turut menghadapi cabaran yang sama. Di kalangan kita juga, malah di kalangan yang duduk di atas pentas ini, turut menyuarakan bahawa ‘UMNO wajib melakukan perubahan’. Apa yang saya ingin dengar, adalah suara yang menyatakan ‘Aku akan berubah’ lalu disusuli dengan langkah berani melakukan perubahan itu dalam diri sendiri. Betapa malangnya UMNO jika ramai yang gagal memahami bahawa UMNO itu adalah kita, selagi kita tidak berubah, UMNO tidak mungkin dapat berubah.

UMNO kini berada di persimpangan jalan. Laluan yang kita pilih akan menentukan sama ada kita kekal relevan sepanjang masa atau akan hanya menjadi satu sejarah masa lalu. Ada juga yang masih berpendirian bahawa kita tidak perlu melakukan perubahan. Mereka mempercayai bahawa UMNO akan kembali mencapai kemenangan jika kita kembali kepada cara lama – kepada order lama, dengan menyekat kebebasan warga – dengan menghalang warga dari menyuarakan kritikan. Mereka berpandangan bahawa UMNO itu boleh terus berkuasa dan kekal kuat dengan kaedah menjaga kepentingan beberapa individu tertentu, dan memenuhi tuntutan-tuntutan kumpulan tertentu. Masih terdapat di kalangan kita yang lebih tertarik dengan cerita-cerita yang menyeronokkan hingga kita menjadi leka, lena dalam ulitan mimpi bahagia.

Jika laluan lama itu yang dipilih, saya berpandangan bahawa kita telah memilih laluan yang salah; laluan yang membawa kita ke belakang. Saya bimbang laluan tersebut akan lebih mempercepatkan berakhirnya talian hayat UMNO. Jika kita tidak melakukan perubahan berani, selaras dengan transformasi masyarakat yang begitu dinamik dan perkembangan global yang begitu radikal, kita akan menyaksikan hari-hari berakhirnya parti UMNO yang kita kasihi ini. Jika kita terus bertanding begitu hebat, bermati-matian untuk merebut jawatan, tetapi apakah ertinya jawatan tersebut kepada UMNO yang telah tinggal rangka yang terbujur di kuburan. Barang dijauhkan Allah dari UMNO menimpa nasib hiba yang sedemikian. Atas kesedaran tersebut, atas rasa cinta kepada UMNO, atas rasa tanggung jawab terhadap UMNO dan bangsa Melayu, saya memilih untuk menunjukkan teladan, dengan tidak mempertahankan jawatan Presiden parti, bertujuan memberi laluan kepada pemimpin yang lebih muda walaupun masih terdapat ramai dari ahli-ahli parti dan rakan-rakan baik di dalam ataupun di luar Kerajaan meminta saya untuk terus mempertahankan jawatan. Saya menghargai keputusan rakan-rakan yang turut memilih langkah yang sama, baik di peringkat bahagian mahupun cawangan, baik di peringkat pemuda, wanita dan puteri. Bahawa jawatan dan kedudukan bukannya milik peribadi; sedangkan harta milik peribadi juga tidak akan dapat dibawa sampai ke mati. [Ucapan Dasar Presiden UMNO. Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Mac 26 2009]

Mungkin ini adalah satu kesedaran, walaupun ia tidak bermakna lagi.

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Politics & government

[1932] Of UMNO blew my fuse

I have a knack of finding myself in places I would least expect doing things that I would not imagine. That happened to me as an undergraduate a couple of times with the instance of me hiking in the Sierra Nevada on a whim notice as the best example of all. Though less life-changing than that hike and instead reaffirming, I found myself with an observer pass to the ongoing UMNO assembly. I observed the Puteri UMNO session from the back and I can say that I do not remember when was the last time I felt so angry.

This was Puteri, mind you. If it was a Pemuda session, I probably would have gone berserk.

How I got the pass should be left out of this space because that is yet another story of unsuspected chain of events that if told, would force me to digress from what I really want to share here. So, please do not ask how I got the cursed pass.

I came with an open mind because I have met with some of who I would call reformists within UMNO. Despite knowing that their aspiration comes far short than my expectation, I do wish them success because if everybody is to be kept honest, there has to be competition and at the moment, UMNO — and BN in general — does not provide quality competition. The lack of quality competition is what I attribute as a factor to what I see as Pakatan Rakyat abusing the trust it has respectfully gained not too long ago.

Besides, the opening speech by Najib Razak on Tuesday’s night at Putra World Trade Center was not a bad experience after all. I am not saying I was impressed with or believed in his speech but it was a good learning experience. It was an opportunity to learn the mind of UMNO. Furthermore, this is the time of a leadership change. To witness it is something to remember, for better or for worse.

Admittedly, I arrived at the venue early with great consternation. I think, seeing myself so flagrantly among UMNO people near their headquarters is bad for my reputation. But I swallowed that feeling, advising myself to give it a chance.

That was my mistake.

To be fair, it started mildly. Puteri UMNO said this and that and I learned a thing or two about the internal politics and atmosphere of UMNO deeper. There were a lot of pretty girls too and free lunch. So I thought that could provide me with at least a break even experience: I could learn something, enjoy pretty faces and eat some good food while having my ears and consciousness abused.

Despite disagreeable ideas, the first half of the day went somewhat okay. The second half was another story.

I was on time for the second session but clearly, time is inconsequential to the members of Puteri UMNO. The program began about 30 minutes late because there were too few people in the hall. While I do not pretend to be extremely precise with my time management, a wait of 30 minutes is intolerable. I tend to get very restless when I have to wait that long. I started to talk to myself, criticizing them. Hey, this is a party that governs a country!

It was downhill from then on.

They talked about their policy on the monarchy and language to paint themselves as the most Malays of all Malays while ignoring past contradictory actions that UMNO had committed. For instance, the 1993 amendments to  the Constitution of Malaysia. To use the oft-mentioned phrase of UMNO, “Melayu mudah lupa.” Really, UMNO mudah lupa because not all Malays are forgetful of history.

A state representative of the Puteri wing proposed for money politics to be legalized in a controlled fashion in UMNO, without any hint of remorse. I have heard this suggestion at a closed door discussion before and I thought then it was just a wacky suggestion made by an outlier. To hear it in the assembly so publicly however is shocking.

Maybe, she wanted to say to allow a political donation system, like the one practiced in the US or UK but the way she presented the idea — if indeed what I think that was what she wanted to say really — was too crude.

Another suggested for UMNO to strengthen its hands in business, seemingly unaware of criticisms which UMNO seriously faces.

Still on money politics, there was an unbelievable call for the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to not investigate UMNO. More audaciously, she wanted UMNO to manage its own problem with corruption and money politics while outsiders, like the MACC, should stay outside. Having UMNO to investigate itself is like having the accused being both the judge and the jury. Oh, and the legal counsel too. Yes I know, what the fuck, eh?

Pardon my French for I think I should not restrain myself any longer. That would be bad for my psychological health. How can I restrain myself? Why should I restrain myself?

I restrained myself long enough when I was in the middle of the whole circus. That earned me my right to say fuck.

There were some good points: a representative questioned why Ali Rustam was punished while others were let off the hook. The chairperson tried to encourage the representative to not to talk about it but she persevered.

One sang a song despite being reminded that her time was up, several times by the chairperson of the session. Nice voice and face too but, man, this is not American Idol, babe.

Good points however were short and what I considered as bad were aplenty. I do not remember them and I do not intend to refer to my notes. What I remember is that my ears were red. The temperature of my ears was above room temperature.

I was bad at concealing my emotion after some period of time and I think some people started to notice my demeanor at some point of time.

I finally blew my fuse — in a very silent way; I did not make a scene — when a representative spoke of how Malays are successful not mostly because of their own effort but because of BN-government policy which, in no uncertain terms, refers to the New Economic Policy.

Enough, I said. No more of this.

So, I packed by stuff and went out of the hall only to suffer a slow elevator ride downward. There was a beautiful Puteri UMNO who smiled at me but I was at a stage where if I had a shotgun, I would have gone on a shooting spree. She would be my first victim. I impolitely ignored her because the air in the elevator was suffocating and filthy and sinful and full of cruel intention.

The door finally opened but only to a floor full of people shouting and campaigning for candidates which I would rather generalize and accuse them so liberally all as corrupt racists. Something was boiling inside of me and yet here I was, having to navigate myself through a sea of people I would rather not associate myself with. These are the people that make me ashamed to be a Malay.

I marched, determined to get out while putting a straight face, trying to mask my anger and disgust.

Once outside under the cloudy but still open sky of Kuala Lumpur, I breathed deep. My lungs were almost busting until the time was right for me to breath out. All that vicious feelings melted all at once, giving way to a feeling of liberation. My pace started to slow down and finally to a halt. I wanted to relish the fact that I was out of that ill-filled hall and building.

And I saw Australia.

I cannot wait for Australia anymore, even when Australia for me is expected to be a temporary experience.

July come quick!

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Politics & government

[1782] Of clowns and doomsayers

Were we in a crisis? Were race relations as bad as the Prime Minister had implied? Did the specter of May 13 loom just beyond the horizon?

I find myself at the top of a hill and ahead I see only green fields as far as the eyes could see. The sky is blue and the breeze is soft. There wais s no wolf and the sheep are safely grazing.

Yet, behind me there is a commotion of the grandest scale. On their soapboxes, the doomsayers preached of an impending disaster that may tear down the towers which we have built. Amid the sordid apocalyptic tales, the doomsayers offered a panacea so conveniently held in their possession. Only they could save us all from the Leviathan.

“To me, to me, rally to me”, they shouted so rude and loudly. The future, according to them, would be haplessly bleak. Dare I ask why?

There beyond is an open plain and an open sky for all. Never was a day tailored so perfectly for victory and there is no better day than today to reach for the sky. It’s perfect and if we miss it now, the next time this moment comes again, we will be laying on our beds waiting for the end to our miserably lives. As the inevitability of death comes upon us, we will look back and wonder why we did not take the leap.

That will not be my fate. My fear of that worthless fate is greater than the stories spewed by the doomsayers. I fear not of the bogeyman outside my window and I fear not the monster under my bed. This is because there are none to fear.

Only fear is holding me — and us — back.

The doomsayers have nothing for us but this illusion of fear. Of disorder. Of death.

The fear, however, is theirs alone and not ours.

They need us to alleviate their fear. They need us to cower in the cold rain so they can live immorally in the warmth.

They want us to bend over and satisfy them. They take pleasure in doing so. We believed them once too many times, holding on to our false prophets’ promises.

No more. No more. Enough seeds of lies have been sowed and enough have been reaped. It is time to till the land, weed out the lies and begin anew for we know they need us and we know we do not need them.

All we need to do is to march forth and leave them behind on their rotten soapboxes half eaten by termites. Leave them be with their foolish blabbering but we shall march forth.

There are only limitless possibilities for us to explore. Or were.

Crisis only hit us when they imposed their crisis on us. Who was it that started shouting, ”Fire!” first?

Why has suddenly trouble in their own camps translated into our trouble?

How did the problematic internal relationship between parties within the Barisan Nasional translate into our problem?

The fate of the Barisan Nasional and the fate of Malaysia should never be the same. The fate of Malaysia must be independent of any political party, be it the Barisan Nasional, Pakatan Rakyat or any other. The fate of the country is far too important to be tied to a political party. For this reason alone, it is crucial to weed out any political party that embeds itself into the state.

Any conflation between the two fates requires urgent erasure and correction. Even the blind differentiate the day from night and why should there be a conflation?

There was a moment of cognitive dissonance for me when a mainstream newspaper paraphrased the Prime Minister: “Race relations not at healthy level.”

Dazed, my question was whose relations, really, are at an unhealthy level here?

I find it hard to believe such statements when I have no problems talking to friends of different backgrounds. I look around and I see no opportunity for a spontaneous riot to take place. People are sharing jokes and laughing and even going as far as ignoring the dull political clowns of this huge distasteful circus.

When the Prime Minister has so little credibility left in him, I prefer to trust my own faculties instead, and my faculties tell me that it is not relations between various races in Malaysia which are at stake. On the contrary, it is the relations between race-based parties of the Barisan Nasional instead. This whole fiasco began in the Barisan Nasional and the adverse effects are shaking its very foundations.

The clowns in the circus were too excited and cracked the tall pillars supporting their tent. When the tent threatened to come down, they wanted us to pay for the repair.

But why should we pay for it?

Let the clowns pay from their own pockets. Unable to humor us with their woefully inadequate sick jokes, they switched their profession and assumed the role of doomsayers, trying to impress upon others that their problem was ours too.

Sick and tired of these old clowns and doomsayers, I turned to Facebook to relieve myself from the filthy lies they tell incessantly. There, one of the status updates: it is high time the insecurities of our politicians be decoupled from the security of the country.

I have had enough of clowns and doomsayers. The green plain awaits me. And you too if you care to join me.

Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved

A version of this article was published in The Malaysian Insider.

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Politics & government

[1660] Of a phoenix for UMNO

After a relatively disastrous election result in its history, UMNO is in crisis.  As its members try to rejuvenate the old lady, strong voices from inside of the party calling for the resignation of various party leaders could be heard. In their eagerness to follow through their loud calls, dissatisfied party members are demanding for a more democratic process to be implemented within the party. Regardless whether the calls are based on sincere belief in democracy, the restoration of democracy in UMNO will strengthen the party.

Many have derived many conclusions from the result of the recent general election. The Malaysian blogosphere has been hailed as the instrument which brought UMNO down to earth. A perceived weak Prime Minister has been thrown into the kitchen sink of conclusions along with the mysterious Fourth Floor team. One grand conclusion involves the transformation of a race-conscious Malaysian society into an issue-based one. There are several other factors which are believed to have caused BN’s less than stellar performance but pundits say this and pundits say that and the sink is overflowing. Now, allow me to add another plate into the sink of punditry.

Voters voted the way they did because they were tired of UMNO and BN leaders in general. If I must find a word to describe why it was so, then arrogance is the word and this arrogance evolved from the confidence built in the 2004 general election.  After receiving an overwhelmingly strong mandate in 2004, confidence of the Abdullah administration and its supporters was at an all time high.

In an undemocratic environment which approvals from the top matter more than that of the grassroots, the strong showing of UMNO in 2004 created an atmosphere of invincibility. After all, if undemocratic process prevails in a democratic system, it paints the picture that an undemocratic system is able to produce outcomes endorsed by democratic processes. Somehow, it created an assumption that if the Prime Minister approved a person, so would the grassroots.

As UMNO politicians’ perception of invincibility ballooned, their statements and actions became far removed from concerns of voters. Some of the statements and actions made in response to issues of public concern were so outrageous that the only thing that made it all the more outrageous was how they could say it with a very straight face while real problems raised by voters were dismissed nonchalantly. These politicians had become unaccountable to whom they were supposed to serve.

The situation was ratified on March 8, the day which top-down and organic approaches clashed.  Only after it was too late did many incumbents realize that they were not invincible after all and that the Prime Minister could not save them from the guillotine.

The outcome of March 8 would not possible had happened if a more organic approach was taken by UMNO. With democratic processes in place, the more savvy and capable leaders more presentable to the Malaysian voters would face the general election. As the convention goes in democracy, or at least in meritocracy, the cream would rise up to the top.

Furthermore, those closer to the grassroots would know better the sentiment on the ground than those at the top.  That itself is the reason why organic politics is better than top-down approach.  Undemocratic practices in UMNO however pushed the cream down at the bottom while elevating the unfaltering crust to the top.  The Prime Minister was way too detached from the earth, sitting on his throne in the desolated but lavishly decorated Putrajaya.  He could not see the graffiti drawn around the Central Market or listened to the talks at various kopitiams across the country.

The weakness of top-down approach was compounded by the fact that Malaysian politics is party-centric and party-centric politics is a fertile ground for generalization. When ministers associated with UMNO repeated outrageous statements over and over again, it reflected badly on his party and it gave the Pakatan Rakyat more ammunition against UMNO. As we saw on March 8, the generalization worked: good representatives like Shahrizat Abdul Jalil were voted out along with those with penchant for insulting statements such as, if I may name a name, Zainuddin Maidin.

Restoration of democracy in UMNO will allow better leaders to rise up to replace the old guards. The change of guards will improve the party image and with infusion of more capable blood, old image will wear out to be replaced with more admirable generalization.  The President of UMNO recently wanted the members of UMNO to prove to all Malaysians on how that the party is not arrogant during the 62nd anniversary celebration of the party a number of days earlier.  If he made that call in earnest, he should begin with the reintroduction of organic politics in the party.

Finally, as much as I dislike communal politics, I do not believe that race-based politics has met its maker. After all, the question of race could still be heard easily in public domain. A majority of the Malays is still concerned about Malay privileges. Even during the election, the Pakatan Rakyat’s success has much to do with issues surrounding the Indian community. In Perak and Selangor, the issue of race riddled appointment to high public offices. All in all, I believe it may take another election or two to truly prove that our society has truly transcended communal politics.

Until then, race-based politics will continue to be the hallmark of Malaysia. And if UMNO begins to respect organic wishes, it has an opportunity to tread the path which the Phoenix had treaded.