A Single Spark that starts the prairie fire?

Dengar cerita CEO NFC (suami Sharizat) dpt gaji 100k sebulan, anak sulung (age 31) dpt gaji 45k sebulan, anak kedua (age 27)dpt 35k sebulan, anak ketiga (age 25) dpt 35k sebulan. Jika ini betul, ia sesungguhnya memalukan. Ambil duit rakyat buat bayar gaji besar.

Anak saya pun graduate juga. UPSR, PMR, SPM dapat semua A. Umur 24 tahun. Kerja swasta. Dia pun work hard. Balik kerja paling awal jam 9 malam. Kadang2 sampai 1 pagi. Gaji dia RM2,700/sebulan. Adakah anak saya akan sokong BN/UMNO kalau begini keadaannya? Saya dah tahu jawapannya. UMNO tak boleh kelentong orang cerdik. UMNO is not capable of changing, not with the current leaders.

When more than 50% of our working population is earning less than RM2k/month, tak tahu malu ke mereka-mereka ini. Merompak siang dan malam, 7 hari seminggu. Perompak Ali Baba P Ramli pun ada cuti hujung minggu.

8 December 2011 15:12

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Even if we refuse to admit it, the above is an outpouring of bitterness. Although personal and UMNO people will wish it’s confined, its personal anecdote such as this that strikes fear in UMNO. Maybe it’s already that single initial spark that has ignited the prairie fire.

Shahrizat can huff and puff and weave her tales as her mythical namesake did in 1001 Nights. While she can fool UMNO delegates by employing attack is the best form of defence, her actions are only an exercise in futility. For her, the writing is already on the wall. Whatever she does will not extinguish her blackened image.

Dr Mahathir has called for her exit from UMNO politics. She’s finished. Incidentally, the 1001 Nights contained the story of Ali Baba and the 40 thieves which the writer of the comment cited.  Perhaps, Ali Baba and the thieves aptly describe what UMNO has become.

This kind of anecdotal and very personalized tale of feeling marginalized and alienated reflects the wider bitterness of Malays with UMNO. There is nothing that UMNO can do about it now. It’s a discredited brand. It’s synonymous with pillage and plunder, corruption, arrogance that can only be the result of being far too long in power. It’s the manifestation of the political dictum- power corrupts absolutely and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Last year, every big idea thrown up by the UMNO president, were rejected by UMNO delegates. When he spoke about 1 Malaysia, delegates insisted on Malay first, Malaysia second. The deputy UMNO president was even forthright in affirming that line of thinking, which is more in common with the UMNO ground. Even as UMNO members deny it, there is worrisome disconnect between the UMNO president and the rest of his team. When he spoke about his nebulous New Economic Model, delegates spoke about more NEP like policies.

In the end, what has Najib got to defend himself?

He has only the claim that he is the son of Tun Razak- imagining such pedigree is testimony that he won’t abandon principles dear to UMNO. When a person has nothing else to defend himself but lay bare his bloodline credentials it’s a sign he is in trouble. No one can deny that biological connection. The similarities end just there- as people are arguing whether he has inherited the leadership talent of the father.

This year what has UMNO got? It didn’t encourage delegates speaking about economic achievements. No talk on vision, policies and so forth. No one debates about how Shahrizat got the RM 250 million. No one spoke about the ETP, EPP, GTP and whatever labels the UMNO president gave to his string of initiatives. None. The UMNO president pleads for continued mandate from the people as the Malay Agenda has not finished. No one spoke or elaborated about the agenda.

How is that the agenda can only be achieved through UMNO at all? No one puts forth convincing arguments telling us why UMNO is the only qualified instrument for Malays to achieve their collective agenda. Najib is confused about the concept which he came up when he took over Pak Lah which is, the claim that the age of government knows best is over. Yet, by asking the nation to give him the mandate to enable him to continue the agenda, he is reaffirming the exact opposite. The government and the party is the deity and dispenser of what is good to the people.

The 2011 Umno GA was an occasion for an orgy of vituperative shouting match. UMNO does nothing but directed themselves to attacking and insulting its political opponents. UMNO does two things actually- heightened the morbid patriotism and nationalistic urges of Malays. And it does what it hasn’t done before- speak about Malays’ greatest fear- assault on the religion of Islam.