The Malays are ‘bodoh dan bahlol’ in still supporting BN, theorises scholar Mat Sabu
Umar Mukhtar
In 1999, it was obvious to many Malaysians that the then Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad was unbecoming of being the smart and intelligent Malaysians’ choice of a prime minister by his apparent dishonesty over the trumped up criminal charges against Anwar Ibrahim and Anwar’s incarceration and unavailability of bail while standing trial for a non-violent charge. Only stupid people would tolerate such self-serving indiscretions!
Add that to perceptions of cardinal sins by Mahathir in the destruction of the credibility of critical public institutions like the judiciary, among the many, that will eventually destroy this nation; his loss of billions of ringgit of public funds in his misadventures and air-head schemes; his alleged undue influence in facilitating his personal corruption; and other mouthfuls. He was sure to have lost PRU10.
But he did not. Guess why? Because the Chinese ground did not shift much. As simple as that! So Mahathir still won. Must be because the Chinese are ‘bodoh dan bahlol’ then, if we were to follow Mat Sabu’s simplistic and coffee shop political reckoning. The Malay ground had shifted enough to cause an electoral upset with a little bit more help from the Chinese. Alas, that was not to be. The ‘bodoh dan bahlol’ Chinese spoiled the soup?
In as much as the Chinese did believe that Mahathir was becoming destructive to the country, at that time they saw things broader than Mat Sabu does now. The Chinese had viewed the anti-Mahathir movement as a Malay initiative. Its victory may mean the marginalisation of the Chinese politically.
The Chinese opposing forces were not ready yet and were still struggling with the idea of sharing a non-Chinese-dominated ruling partnership. They have to learn first how to deal as ruling partners with the Malay opposition. Choose the right levers, pick the right nincompoops as stooges.
By PRU11, after Mahathir had stepped down, not before having positioned himself informally as the PM behind the throne, a huge majority of Malaysians turned ‘bodoh dan bahlol’ thinking that a change of PM is enough to bring sanity to the country. No need to change the ruling party, they had thought.
So they had voted overwhelmingly for Abdullah Badawi only to find out sooner than later that the party which Mahathir controlled just couldn’t change. Dollah’s sins were quite insignificant to the nation, but not apparently they were a huge pain to Mahathir. So good-bye, Dollah!
By PRU13, DAP was ready, equipped with desperate, salivating, spineless and morally-defective Malay opposition leaders in their ‘pockets’. With BN’s perceived indiscretions to boot, the opposition was ready to crown the obliging ex-convict Anwar Ibrahim as a super-stooge PM.
But alas, again, that was not to be. The Malays saw that their future cannot be entrusted to a morally-challenged leader. So they hesitated. Mat Sabu now obligingly label them ‘bodoh dan bahlol’ for not playing ball with the Chinese then. He did not call the Chinese that in 1999.
Even though the Chinese ground had shifted, the Malays began to see, rightly or wrongly, this movement as being led effectively by the DAP. It became a broader issue than just removing a corrupt BN from power. They do not believe the opposition structure is ready to safeguard the Malay future. Similar excuse, different race, different PRU.
And for that Mat Sabu calls the Malays ‘bodoh dan bahlol’ for not reacting for change. He did not say that of the Chinese in 1999.
Mat Sabu needs to be reminded that electoral removal of deeply entrenched regimes in India or Japan were preceded by articulate persuasions that were sensitive to local realities, not just the bulldozing of self-righteous idealism or personal dislikes and racial sentiments. Our opposition did not come up to par for the course.
So who’s ‘bodoh dan bahlol’ now? Mat Sabu reminds me of my maths teacher in Form One who did a bad job of explaining how to solve a maths problem and threw the duster at my one of my classmates and called him the ‘bodoh dan bahlol’ equivalent.
Mat Sabu’s political science PhD education was abruptly stopped, and DAP would be wise to replace him. Don’t choose assholes three times in a row. Mat Sabu is now taking to throwing microphones to underscore his political theories. Unless DAP enjoys the frequent ass-licking and the simplistic parroting obedience by Mat Sabu.
PRU14 is coming in 2018. This could be the last chance to salvage Malaysia from turning banana republic. But for as long as the ‘bodoh dan bahlol’ and disparate opposition continue to be fuelled by racial hatred, and led by ’60s clowns mouthing ’60s politics, they will never oust BN who are better at that than them anytime!
