Are you prepared to burn Umno to save Malaysia?

By MT Webmaster Last updated Jul 19, 2015

Stop being idealistic and try to be realistic for once. Do you really think every single Malay would be prepared to see Umno put to sleep (plus Barisan Nasional as well)? Do you really think every single Malay will celebrate the death of Umno? Do you really think every single Malay will stand by and do nothing if Umno is burned and buried?

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Today, J. D. Lovrenciear wrote quite an interesting piece in Free Malaysia Today, which is titled ‘Will Dr. M destroy the monsters he created?’ but which I would re-title ‘Are you prepared to burn Umno to save Malaysia?’ because that is basically what it all comes down to. (You can read that article below).

Anwar Ibrahim more or less said the same thing in his press statement from prison when he said, “Ousting Najib without reforms only good for cronies.” (READ THE STATEMENT HERE).

Everyone has his or her own way of arguing his or her case and we use different words and sentence structures to articulate our ideas. Nevertheless, the point all these people are making, and which is the point I have been trying to drive home for so long, is that we must STOP TRYING TO CURE THE SYMPTOMS, CURE THE DISEASE.

I am sure many of you must be really tired of hearing me repeat myself so, so many times. Again and again I keep saying, “Stop trying to cure the symptoms, cure the disease.” And I go on and on in my normal cheong hei fashion arguing my case with many examples and analogies.

What both J. D. Lovrenciear and Anwar Ibrahim said today is this same message. The system sucks. Hence changing the captain is no bloody good if the new captain still needs to play by the same rules. We need to change the rules rather than the captain. That does not mean we do not or must not change the captain. It just means even if we do change the captain it has to be only after we change the rules (or change the rules together with the captain).

No, this is not about defending Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, which many of you who hate him (and me) will say. If it had not been Najib who took over from Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi but someone else — say, Muhyiddin Yassin — we would still see what we are seeing today. It would have been no different. The system would have forced them to do exactly the same.

Let me be very blunt. If you want to change the system and introduce ‘politik baru’ (new politics) to Malaysia, you will need to burn Umno. Get rid of it. Kill it. Bury it. If you feel it is impossible to re-invent Umno then you need to just put it to sleep and no longer have an Umno (I doubt an Umno Baru Lagi Baru is going to work).

With Umno dead, Barisan Nasional will also be dead. And let us be very honest about it, the non-Umno Barisan Nasional members of Sabah and Sarawak will not lose any sleep over this because they do not really need Barisan Nasional to stay in power in the state. They need Barisan Nasional only if they want to be part of the federal government. (In fact, they may even celebrate the death of Barisan Nasional).

To the idealist, the death of Umno and, therefore, also Barisan Nasional, may be the best thing that ever happened to Malaysia since Merdeka of 31st August 1957. Finally Malaysia is really and truly Merdeka. Hip, hip, hooray!

But that is being idealistic. To burn Umno and by extension Barisan Nasional may be considered a god-sent to some people. Finally a major problem is going to be solved. Yes, a major problem might be solved, but the solving of that problem will open up a bigger and more dangerous problem.

I agree that Umno no longer has 100% support of the Malays (never did, in fact), even those Malays in the government service, police, military, and so on. Umno can no longer depend on 100% support of the roughly 1.5 million Malaysians employed by the government.

But there are enough Malays who would not want to see what they would view as the end of Malay political power. And that is what it would amount to: the end of Malay political power.

So tread very carefully on this one. Changes or reforms are best done through the evolutionary process. But evolution takes too long and sometimes never brings about the changes that we seek. So we choose the fast-track method instead of changes through the revolutionary process.

And this is when all hell breaks lose. In the revolutionary process, although it achieves the results faster than in the evolutionary process, you need to break the shell to fry the egg.

Are Malaysians prepared to do that and take the risks that come with it?

The trouble is, when I talk like this many will say I am trying to justify keeping Umno in power or showing support to the current Prime Minister. So I do not bother discussing this. But since Anwar has said more or less the same thing then let me resurrect what I have said so many times before.

I am currently reading about the civil war in Somalia. It is actually a very interesting read. It is a story about removing a corrupt regime and breaking the shell to fry the egg. However, what emerged in its place is worse than the regime it sought to remove.

I will not go into details. If you wish to know more then go and buy the many books available and read about it. The Islamic Revolution in Iran is another case in point.

The long and short of it is: sometimes the cure is worse than the disease. And as a student of history I can write pages upon pages of this thesis to support my conclusion (and probably get my PhD as well).

So decide what you want. Do you want evolutionary changes — which is slow and may never really happen in the end — or do you want revolutionary changes — which is rapid but brings with it the danger of turmoil.

It took 200 years for the US to finally see a non-white President sit in the White House. Will it take 200 years to finally see a non-Malay Prime Minister sit in Putrajaya? Or will that never happen?

I really don’t know. But what I do know is that the Malays are not ready yet to see that happen and even if the Malay who sits in Putrajaya is seen as a non-Malay proxy that alone is enough to turn Malaysia into a Somalia.

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Will Dr. M destroy the monsters he created?

J. D. Lovrenciear, Free Malaysia Today

It is an open secret that our former premier of twenty-two years wants the current prime minister to vacate his seat of power.

But his task should not stop there. He must also do away with the many Frankensteins he himself created as a duty to the nation.

The man who once had a direct hand in removing Pak Lah and having Najib take the nation’s driver’s seat is not alone in this battle. The people are clamouring behind the Tun, lending their support to the many concerns expressed and shared over the nation’s uncertain future. All this while the Najib administration solidly backs Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak and urges him to stand his ground and fight on,

Leaders like Musa Hitam, Tengku Razaleigh, Rafidah Aziz and others have not shied away from asking probing questions about the many unanswered concerns plaguing the nation like 1MDB, the Altantuya murder, the renowned banker’s murder and a host of suspect deals being struck.

As things continue to simmer, to move towards boiling point, as citizens watch with gasping breath and business communities with guarded caution, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohammad also needs to understand that he has a moral duty to dismantle the many monsters he himself created and allowed to take root. These monsters have now come back not only to haunt him but also to pressurize the current Umno-led government and bleed the common folk.

Here is a critical list of ‘Must Do’s’ if this growing nation is to move forward.

First, Umno must be re-invented. It cannot anymore be a race-based, political party that uses religion as its currency. It should not be allowed to function as a cocoon for absolute power-wielding leaders.

Action must be taken to remove the oppressive laws that inhibit the nation from taking advantage of the Fifth-Wave of opportunities sweeping across the world. The Printing and Publishing Act, the Official Secrets Act and the draconian Sedition Laws must be removed.

Allowing a free and responsible press to emerge is a starter. Getting all Government Linked Companies (GLCs) to open their books to the public and opposition lawmakers’ scrutiny will be the way forward to ensure the creation of a more accountable and transparent society.

Helping the poor, disadvantaged segments of society to progress is imperative, not through the long practiced affirmative action policies but by re-visiting the education policy. Fast tracking of a ‘Malaysia for all Malaysians’ is critical if we wish to see the emergence of a merit-based society that can give rise to a nation of excellence.

Enough of the credo that if you tell lies so often, it becomes the truth!

Purge the philosophy of the ends justify the means. We need to be a moral society if we are to thrive politically and economically.

Enough of this madness of mega-structures and overnight monetary gains through speculative exploits by the government. Our bloated egos must be deflated immediately.

Demand the declaration of assets of politicians as well as political parties. By all means raise money for political missions; but do so within the prudent and acceptable parameters of justice and the highest ethical standards.

Do away with gerrymandering strategies that help you cheat to stay in power. Fight the battle like a real soldier. May the best man (in the people’s eyes) win!

Will the Dr. M promise to what’s on this TO DO list?

If he will not, then he must explain his position to the voters or stay away from the Najib Administration.

What good would it be for Malaysia if we treat one malignant cancer only to invite an equally, if not worse cancer to spread all over our nation’s future.

Raja Petra Kamarudin RPK