Give up avarice to work with PAS, Ridhuan Tee tells Umno

(Malay Mail Online) – Umno members must surrender their covetousness of material wealth if the party is to form a meaningful partnership with PAS, lecturer Mohd Ridhuan Tee Abdullah said today.

In his regular column in Malay daily Sinar Harian, Tee said that Umno must stop with its “money politics” that has given way to the flaunting of wealth such as big houses and expensive cars, which is at odds with the simple lifestyles common in PAS.

“Umno must change. Money politics must be eradicated all the way to the grassroots. Umno’s image must be cleaned up. And so must PAS,” he said in his column today.

Tee recounted his own experience of visiting the homes of Umno politicians, pointing out that their homes were often grandiose, adding that the lawmakers also blatantly showed off their “luxurious cars and luxurious wives.”

He added that while accumulating wealth was acceptable, the Umno lawmakers needed to be discreet about it.

“Is it so difficult to keep a low profile? Is this not necessary in Islam? If you want to accumulate wealth, do so but don’t show off. The public is fed up,” he said.

He also suggested that should Umno and PAS form a partnership and win in the next election, the two parties should celebrate it together and not take over the state as what he alleged DAP did in Penang

“Don’t clean out all the positions, including mosque imam, state assemblymen and such like that was done by the ultra kiasu in Penang,” he said.

Tee also pointed to Umno members’ flamboyant lifestyles and encouraged the ruling party to do away with it, and instead practice wasatiyyah or moderation as preached by prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who is also Umno president.

He said that while PAS tended to be the total opposite to Umno’s affluent ways, it must rein in its “fanaticism” in order for both parties to enjoy the benefits of their cooperating.

Tee has been a supporter of the Umno-PAS union, having repeatedly said that it was necessary for Muslim unity and to prevent his claim of non-Muslim interference in their religious affairs.