An Ethical and Monetary Limitation

After PR’s loss in the Hulu Selangor by-election, everyone becomes a critic. Some of the analysis points to a lack of coordination and teamwork at the grassroot level, losing massive ground to the well-oiled government machinery, while others attribute the loss to the candidate itself. The most repeated argument lays the blame on gutter politics, led by 1Malaysia PM Najib, aimed and relentlessly fired at Anwar and Zaid throughout the campaign. 

 

Over and above these arguments, there are party insights that I wish to share with you, and that has become an important feature in limiting the ability of PR to overcome BN’s political onslaught. 

The essence of the argument is, PR plays by different rules and live different values. There are money rules and ethical rules, and PR is at a disadvantage in both. Unlike UMNO, who has to the tune of billions of dollars to play with, and knows how to bait, hold or distribute the money, PR is not capable of or able to play the money game.

 

A large part of PR’s income is from donations and MPs’ salaries. PKR’s 3 story shop house headquarters alone incurs at least RM100K a month for rental, utilities and party worker wages, and are mostly drawn from donations. Contrast with UMNO, a party which owns a whole building to itself. And it is not just UMNO who has the ringgit to play with, BN’s component parties are just as corrupt, even the so-called enlightened parties. Gerakan’s war chest stands at at least RM300 million. Even then, UMNO keeps this money close to heart, and does not use it’s own money to fulfill promises during by-elections. It employs government funds, including the RM3 million to SRJKC Rasa in Hulu Selangor or the RM5 million to Felda settlers in Sg Buaya. 

Nik Nazmi, a party faithful, drove from Hulu Selangor back to his unassuming apartment in Kota Damansara. The son of a civil servant, having studied in UCL on a scholarship, Nazmi made the decision to leave his cushy job in PNB in 2007 to join the fledging PKR, during a time when the party was weak. He and a few others chose to be part of a young, capable cadre in PKR to afford change, despite not seeing a silver lining in the clouds at the time. When Nik Nazmi became Tan Sri Khalid’s Political Secretary after the Mac 2008 elections, he continued living his modest lifestyle.  

In early 2010, when there was a hint of unusual activites at constituency level, Nik Nazmi had to answer to SELCAT to explain a higher than expected spending on his constituency. After some investigating, it was found that the allocation was spent to alleviate an unexpected flood situation, and the cash was accounted for. Nazmi has had many opportunities to benefit from his close association with the MB, but his understanding of ethical values prevents him from doing so. He continues to use his wages from his ADUN seat and Pol Sec salary to move the constituency party machinery, sponsor programs, prepare state proceedings, pay for the service centre rentals and utilities and partly support party headquarters expenses. 

Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on what values we’re talking about, PR MPs live by this rule. In PR’s view, ethical values are essential and in the spirit of a just society. Those who remain in PR are made up of straight arrows that do not bend or yield, and that live off their meagre means. Nik Nazmi is not an isolated case; most PR MPs live on the same basic means to support constituency service centre rentals and utilities, wages for constituency party machinery, preparation of parliamentary research and speeches and monthly payment to the party headquarters. 

The values expounded by UMNO are different in that an ethical dimension is excluded from their lives. To UMNO, ethics has no place in Malay culture or Islam. As long as the laws can be bent to suit needs, ethics do not play a role in decision-making. At the grassroots level, instead of using their hard-earned salary, UMNO pays the party machinery through various means: awarding catering contracts, road building contracts, landscape contracts, allowances, food etc, whereas PKR for example actually pays headquarters a portion of their income to sustain the party. These costs are paid for using the MPs’ RM11k monthly income. Even before the by-election, the PR MPs’ additional responsibilities and limited resources impose a serious handicap. 

Khairy, the unemployed Oxford graduate without a ministerial position, employs 5 personal assistants and a political secretary, not including macais working behind the scenes for him. His halal hub project and other shady financial dealings have earned him a handsome sum. His clothes store in Pavillion is for money laundering purposes as he needs to recycle some cash to spend in the country. In his house car porch in Jalan Setiabistari, Bukit Damansara, Khairy has a host of luxury cars, including the latest model of an Audi SUV and Mercedes. Despite his convincing political posturing on tweets and facebook,  Khairy, in truth, is a two-face millionaire who can buy some of his friends and most of his enemies and political vagabonds. Ethics and humility has no place in his playbook because it reduces his political influence. He is unashamedly proud of this fact, illustrated by his deeply personal and incessant attack of Anwar Ibrahim in Parliament, despite annoucing later in Hulu Selangor that he does not believe in gutter politics. In Hulu Selangor, apart from Najib and Mahathir, it was UMNO Youth under Khairy’s tutelage that resorted to vicious attacks on Anwar Ibrahim and Zaid Ibrahim. Even during the nomination of the Permatang Pauh by-election prior, UMNO Youth mimicked acts of sodomy and other despicable acts unbecoming of Malay Muslim culture. 

According to a party insider, the reason Khairy won the UMNO Youth election was attributed to the Sabah UMNO bloc. Despite being more recognizable, Mukhriz made the mistake of expecting the support of this bloc. He paid the delegates RM300, and thought it was enough. Khairy knew about this, and took advantage of it. He quickly became buddies with the delegates, coddled and paid them RM500 each and easily obtained the support of the delegates. He boasted about this fact, and led to him being found out. Despite being found guilty of money politics, Khairy got a pat on his wrist and was scot free. The issue of ethical values do not play a part in Khairy’s or UMNO’s conscience, if they ever had one. 

 

To literally illustrate his pride, it is worth repeating a Parliamentary joke by some journalists – In his expensive suit, while standing up prior to saying something in Parliament, Khairy holds his chin and chest so high you can literally see how big his breasts are. It remains a mystery why Khairy’s good friend, Senator Ezam, does not question the obscene wealth his UMNO colleagues possess, despite Ezam’s frequent high and mighty moral overtones. Not surprisingly, nobody, including the MACC, the press or the police seem to question or investigate the obvious. Perhaps these values are missing, not just in UMNO, but in the bedrock institutions that make up this country. Our only hope is for the masses to correctly decide whether ethics and temporary monetary gains should play a decisive role in our country’s future.