Contradictions of UMNO

By batsman 

UMNO’s platform is Malay nationalism in a multi-racial country. This is already a contradiction in itself. This puts it at odds with the other races in the country. For UMNO to rule, it would need an accepted minorities policy. It has none. The way UMNO gets around this issue is to form a BN style coalition with political parties that are supposed to represent other major racial minorities.

The problem is – this coalition is just a front. Everybody knows it but few acknowledge this. The political parties of the minorities within UMNO’s coalition do not represent the minorities but themselves. The top officials in these parties seem to only hope for ministerial, senatorial or top government-linked NGO posts and when they get it feed their cronies in their parties with tidbits and goodies that the power of these posts allow them. In the meantime, UMNO calls all the shots. This is the system of government in place in Malaysia right now and it no longer suits current conditions and the current aspirations of the people. 

It can therefore be said that without a minorities policy that is accepted by the minorities, UMNO has no ethical representative justification to rule. Its rule is covered up by a sham that it calls the BN. UMNO itself does not even represent members of about half of the racial majority it claims to represent since these fundamentally disagree with the version of Islam it promotes and especially in the way it is practiced called Hadhari and subsequently throw their support behind an Islamist party of their own choice. 

UMNO therefore is slowly but surely being transformed into just one of the component parties in the BN albeit the biggest one – purely interested in caring for its top officials, crony civil servants and a minority within the its own constituents. 

It can be said that UMNO’s rule is a minority rule buttressed by administrative and judicial power weighed in its favour as well as the sycophants and cronies who surround it. This fact of life is being covered by expert advertising consultants rumoured to have Zionist links and which has been given the task of putting a progressive and benevolent face to UMNO’s oppressive and corrupt rule. 

This fundamental character of UMNO seeps into every facet of life in Malaysia and is now obstructing the aspirations of the people for democracy and decency. It represents arrogance and manipulation covered up by hypocrisy and thick buffalo type skin. 

As an example we need go no further than the recent spat between a top civil servant and a Chief Minister. The top civil servant has plainly broken civil etiquette and discipline by quarreling publicly with a Chief Minister and yet is excused by his boss as having done no wrong. This clearly shows that civil servants are now placed above representatives of the people. If this sorry episode is allowed to go away quietly, it will only seep further into the fabric of the country and turn Malaysia into a country where civil servants can ride roughshod over common citizens without any obstacles or censure whatsoever. 

Again this episode clearly shows up UMNO’s contradictions. On the one hand it tries to show the civil service it controls as efficient, courteous, honest and holding to integrity. The problem is that it has to support a top civil servant who behaves in brutish and uncivilised manner. This top civil servant now serves as a role model for all civil servants in the lower rungs including the lowest ranking clerks and office boys. They can now behave in a rude manner and be completely unaccountable to the ordinary public, since one of their top bosses is now the perfect example for brutish bully boy behaviour within the civil service securely protected from censure by not only the highest ranking civil servant in the land but also the politicians of UMNO. 

This has the effect of not only creating a lot of Little Napoleons but quite a few Big Napoleons too. And it is mostly the public and ordinary Malaysians who will feel the brunt of their bully boy ways. And out if these ordinary Malaysians the worst affected will be the minorities who will be prey to the bigoted and prejudiced behaviour and attitudes of bully boy civil servants. 

Obviously the civil service needs to be reformed. But how can it be reformed if UMNO itself is interfering with the work and the neutrality of the civil service as well as infecting civil servants with bigotry and prejudice? 

There are many other areas which need to be reformed such as the education system, the judiciary, the police, the GLCs and a host of other bodies and institutions. The whole system of government needs to be fairer, less bigoted, less prejudiced and more professional. Bigotry and prejudice provides the perfect cover for inefficiency, waste, corruption and sin of all sorts and kills professionalism, integrity and decency slowly but surely. 

This is a cancer that must be stopped and the way to stop it is to discuss the problems of minorities in Malaysia fully and honestly. The future government of Malaysia must have a minorities policy that is accepted by all. Bigotry and prejudice against minorities can only lead to more cover up for inefficiency, waste, corruption and abuse of power. 

In my opinion, this is the way forward. As discussed in my previous write-up (The Burka in Saudi Arabia, France and Syria) handling of minorities is no easy thing. However, it can no longer be put aside since the current system of government is proving obsolete, unable to cope, corrupt, sinful and riddled with arrogance, bigotry and prejudice. 

The situation is especially complex since Malaysia is not homogeneous such as Syria or Saudi Arabia nor is its minorities a small part of the population such in France. Malaysian minorities are large and can affect voting patterns dramatically. They are even putting the fear of losing power into UMNO. 

At the same time, there are minorities which are extremely small in number and influence. I believe these will have to be protected to the fullest measure as well, since it is absolutely not desirable that bigotry and prejudice against anyone be part of the disease within the civil service and political life of Malaysia anymore. Bigotry and prejudice against others also hurt the practitioner in turning such a person big headed, arrogant, corrupt and sinful. 

It is therefore of paramount importance that any new government of Malaysia has a suitable minorities policy that is acceptable by all. This issue can no longer be covered up by high sounding catch phrases such as worthless BN style coalitions and sloganeering such as 1Malaysia which is completely devoid of any content but full of music and glitter to fool the silly and simple minded. 

What do you guys think?