Hishammuddin vows to fight agent provocateur
Lee Boon Siew, Ng Kee Seng, Maria J Dass, Giam Say Khoon, Karen Arukesamy, Tim Leonard, The Sun
In his last speech as Umno Youth chief, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein went on the offensive against a power-crazy agent provocateur, saying the movement will fight to the end to defeat his dirty and cruel politicking.
Without naming the person, the outgoing Youth chief said this person was willing to “sow the seeds of hatred, collude with the enemy, insult the nation in various world forums, deny the rights of his own race, and mock the institution of rulers”.
He said whatever this person did or say will be forever etched in history as the work of a peson who wears different masks and is full of pretense and who is a liar and manipulator.
Hishammuddin said the movement would defend the rule of law, the rights and privileges of the Malays and bumiputera, the sanctity of Islam and the institution of the Malay rulers.
"We will not allow these pillars to be uprooted in this beloved homeland of ours," he told the 793 delegates to the Youth General Assembly here.
Hishammuddin is not defending his post as the movement's chief but is vying for a vice-president’s post at the main assembly.
At the opening of the assembly, Hishammuddin continued the tradition of carrying the keris called Panca Warisan into the Tun Hussein Onn Hall. He unsheated and kissed it and put it back in its case, avoiding the act of holding it aloft with an outstretched arm which had invited criticism.
The keris was later presented to him at the end of his speech. Hishammuddin was seen in tears as he was loudly cheered by delegates.
His 50-minute-long speech also reminded opposition parties not to abuse freedom of expression to stoke the fire of racism as this could destroy the nation.
"To these irresponsible people, don't ever attempt to take advantage of the situation to show off courage and to ramble under the immunity provided by the Dewan Rakyat and make wild allegations."
He said the opposition was engaging in organised attempts to undermine the country's pillars, which formed the basis of the nation's sovereignty.
"They are questioning the social contract and the special position of the Malays and bumiputera in a very arrogant manner. The social contract is deliberatly misinterpreted to fan racial sentiment," he said.
Hishammuddin also said he had never betrayed the Malays throughout his 11-year tenure as the movement's chief.
"I'm aware that there are all sorts of text messages and poison-pen letters being circulated to attack my character but I leave it to God to judge.
"I will never betray the struggle which we inherited from my grandfather (Datuk Onn Jaafar) and father (Tun Hussein Onn). I will never betray the Malay struggle," he said.
He called on the new Umno Youth leadership to woo the young to join the party and to get closer to the people. He also told the delegates to choose leaders who are honest and sincere and able to chart the movement's future.
