my 2 cents worth on the election

The past 2 days has certainly been both a turbulent and exhilarating experience for me.

Turbulent because Barisan Nasional lost the elections ( Yes, dont believe those propaganda saying that we won, because losing 5 states and WP by any standards is not a winning result).

Exhilarating? well, because i live in shah alam, work in KL, and i am excited of the prospect to see those MBSA's and DBKL's being horded to put their acts straight and no more hanky panky in the PBTs all over selangor! (PBT: Pihak Berkuasa Tempatan ie the Local Authority MPPJ,MBSA etc)

Although i am very sad to find Barisan and UMNO to be in this position, but certainly for Malaysia's democracy and its oppressed people (many of them too i believe), there is no other result which could have been better. (of course the well wishers on the other side are looking forward to win over BN, fair enough though :)

I have always wished that Malaysia's politics can go beyond racial and religious boundaries. This is a good start. In my mind, i knew that one day malaysia would come to this, but looking at how the American history went (Whites and Blacks history) I thought it would take at least 50 to 100 years before Malays especially, put aside their prejudices and accept that this country is not only theirs, but also for the Chinese, Indians and the other races. Praise be to God, for it is only Him only that we can attribute this changes to. Certainly, God knows best.

It is my hope that PAS especially (and DAP to a certain extent) would learn to put aside their religious/racial prejudices so that they are able to work together for a stronger opposition nationally and also a stronger government in the states that they rule. And of course, if they want to continue to rule after the next election, come 5 years from now. Err, i hope umno changes too..

Now now, on that note, enough with the opposition let us go back to Barisan Nasional.

Well, lets accept it, the problem is certainly not Barisan Nasional.

The problem is certainly NOT that of Gerakan. As far as i can remember, Gerakan is probably the ONLY component party member of Barisan Nasional which has vehemently fought for the non malays in the component. Do you remember the time that during their annual conventions, they are the only one, i repeat, the ONLY one that calls for a more Malaysian (whatever that is) Malaysia. I have always believed that if theres any other party in Barisan that i would join apart from UMNO, it is certainly the Gerakan.They have excellent leaders, good academic background, and look at how they govern Penang, the place is in the top 10 most liveable city in ASIA!

Well why then did they get a drubbing during the last election? Simple, the problem is not them, it is not Barisan Nasional, but it is UMNO! The Non Malays and some Malays in Penang voted against Gerakan, because they were punishing UMNO and its leaders. Pukul menantu marahkan mentua? well something like that lah..

MCA is a bit lucky. I have expected this as well. The reason why MCA is lucky is because most MCA leaders are elected in Malay majority areas (especially in Johor, where here, even if you put a monkey under BN also boleh menang - well maybe not so after this kot ) But the point is simple, MCA leaders usually run in rather safe areas. But even then, they had their own version of reckoning. Of 40 candidates, only 15 won. The worse in their history. What more can they say of themselves? I believe Chinese voters also voted against MCA for DAP/PAS/PKR this time because they believe that MCA no longer OPENLY represent the views of the minority group.I think MCA leaders also know this, cuma they malu to say this openly. But then again, it is only fair that MCA leaders convey this to the 'leadership' of BN before, and i say this with vindication, the Chinese abandon them completely.

MIC? theres only 2 words to describe their debacle. Samy Vellu. Enough said.

PIP? I think Kayveas is unlucky. This is also a case of pukul menantu marahkan mentua. What is interesting is that he is now considering joining Anwar and Co.

Sabah and Sarawak BN? I think BN has to watch out, as i do not think it is an alien idea that the weaker components in Sabah (especially the ones not happy with UMNO Sabah) will be more than happy to switch sides to Anwar and Co, if not now, in the future..

UMNO?

I am rather ashamed to admit that the main, if not the only reason BN lost 5 states (and Wilayah Persekutuan, many people forget we also lost WP) in the last election, it all goes down to one word, UMNO.

Under this heading, comes many many other problems which is the cause of the landslide win by the opposition. Although usually governments are won, but in our case, it seems that we lost it.Yes, we UMNO lost it because we are unable to admit that :

Our policies no longer stand the test of time and generational change

Our leaders are mostly weak, stupid,incompetent and corrupted people who thinks that as long as their name is next to dacing, they can surely win (so they spend a lot of money to lobby to be candidate)

Our party machinary was not in order and to a certain extent, over confident. When the other parties are going door to door to fish for votes humbly using Kancils and Myvi's, the UMNO people are more happy to spend 1 million in each constituency to pay their own relatives printing house to print posters that no one even bothers to pay attention to and end up as litters, pay their own family members to put up the posters, and of course pay for their own petrol ( and yes, u see them around in Black Mafia isque 4wds or Merc or BMW) Kancil? mana cool beb. Kita kan UMNO.

So as you can see, election is an opportunity for many umno people to make money.

But some would argue, UMNO has been doing this for a long time, tak kalah pun. Well what this people dont realise is that while we umno (like the arnab who ran far ahead) take things for granted, others (the kura kura) has slowly but surely surged ahead leaving us UMNO still asleep in kuckoo land ( more like Hadhari land).

But then again, despite all the above, there are certain fundamental reasons why we have lost so many votes this time around. My guess are as follows ( I am no Phd in politics, like those commentators who spoke gibberish on the night of the election results) :

Economy

Above all else ( yes even above racial issues and sleeping leadership) the main reason in my opinion why people voted against Barisan, i repeat, against Barisan ( not for opposition) is because we UMNO as the supposedly leader of this land has failed to address the number one core issue of the rakyat ie the periuk nasi.

The economy, simply said, is just bad. Do not get fooled by the numbers given by BNM or MITI. The simple fact is, everyone knows that salary is not rising in tangent to cost of living (food price, petrol price). Ask any Chinese small and medium class businessmen, they will tell you that business is really bad as there is not much money going around. They speak of the good old days when the trickle effect of the ringgit comes all the way down from above (although it was from the cronies of the very same malay government). Even Malay (read UMNO) small businessmen and contractor (kelas F mostly) are admitting to the same thing. Yes there is money, but orang atas dah habiskan di Australia, London dan Indonesia (i dont know why they go there too, maybe the furnitures).

We have what we call RMK 9 and many other government spending. This government spending are meant to trigger the economy and accelerate it. But these days, some people say that work is slow, because everything has to go through the EPU and MOF many times through before a decision is made. So money is stuck. Dulu, kelas a contractors will get money first, and then they send the drawings. Now it is otherwise. Maybe this policy is for the better, but then again, it is also a shot in the foot.

But the above is not just the reason why economy is bad. I am no Phd in Economics (like those economic experts who kept saying our economy is booming every year) but i do know one thing, that managing the economy is not as simple as coming up with ideas. it is about managing it in a micro level to ensure that we see the ringgit passing from the Kontractor kelas A down to the Ah Long who supplies the cement down to the Ahmad who makan duit atas angin down to Ramesh and Co who actually got the rights to build the roads. At the end, yes theres corruption, but everyone (almost) is happy because the wifes and children goes for over the sea holiday (read Singapore) every year during the School holidays. nowadays, even Robinsons singapore is feeling the pinch.

In the words of Bill Clinton, it is the ECONOMY, stupid.


Racial issues

This is undoubtedly the killer factor. But then again, do we see this as a bad thing?

I will not dwell much on issues such as Lina Joy, Keris Wavering,Hindraf, and others, but the conclusion that i can make is that since Pak Lah introduced a more open malaysia (which really, is a good thing) it seems that this openness has turned into a double edge sword, which i dont think either Pak Lah or the government has yet to learn on how to handle it.

On one hand, to stifle such openness means that you take a step backwards, but at the same time, because of your inexperience in handling such openness, you are unable to gauge the sensitivity of the issue for both sides of the fence.

But we malaysians and malays in general must learn to accept that the way forward for malaysia in general is that we malaysian are here to live side by side. and that means we must learn to accept others as neighbours rather than immigrants and this in my opinion includes the way we treat foreign workers in this country. ok ok, next time we debate this.

In general, the so called conservative malays are not happy with issues like lina joy (although i dont agree with the malays and islamist malays on this one), the chinese are not happy with Keris wavering drama and feel that they deserve to be treated equally (rightly so) and the Indians feel that Hindraf et al are the only outlet that they have to voice out their issues ( i dont blame them too, surely Mr Samy are no alternative to the community).

It is ironic that although technically they MAY NOT seem to be agreeing with each other (as a matter of fact, in some cases they are against each other) but they all voted against BN.


Sleeping leadership

Without doubt, this is a huge huge factor. I think we umno members must be besar hati and buka minda to accept that we only have ourselves and our leadership to blame for the lost of all 5 states including WP.

Yes, the Chinese may have voted against UMNO, The indians too and same goes to many malays who did, but we should not blame them to do so.

Think about it fellow umno members, for the past 50 years this has never happened, but why this has happened now?

Bila kita menuding jari ke arah sebab sebab yang lain ( pengundi luar, internet dan sebagainya) ada 3 lagi jari yang menuding ke arah kita ( while the thumb points downwards, sign of neutrality i guess).

Translation : While we point out 1 finger to others as the blame, there are 3 more fingers pointing back at us ( the rest read above)

I am appalled, and sad at the same time, that while all UMNO leaders call for postmortem and rethinking, NON, i repeat NON has the big heart to say that we umno has been the cause of our own reckoning.

We UMNO has to realise that in order for us to move forward in a stronger ( and right path) we must learn to admit the mistakes that we have done. The list are endless:

Sleeping leadership
Corrupted Ketua Bahagian, Timbalan and Naib and Pemuda etc
No meritocracy in party (kiss ass system)
No more helping the poor
Rich gets richer ( all Ketua2 now pakai X5, mercedes mata bulat dan yg seharga dengan nya)
DEB/NEP - tolong anak beranak sahaja
not listening to grassroots

i am tired of seeing all this in UMNO. I love the party, i really do. and i am sure there are many people like me in UMNO too. But who are we to voice it out? Well i sometimes do say this out loud and openly, but what do i get ? Accusations that i am a member of Keadilan, or worse still, PAS! Kalau they think im Gerakan pun ok jugak..

The lesson of the election is stark and clear. UMNO must be BRAVE AND BOLD to reinvent and change itself. We must build ourselves back from this failure through the audaciousness of hope that we can change and reinvent UMNO.

This change must happen now.

Not one year, not 6 month, not even after cabinet is called for. NOW! the time for change is now.

But how do we change?

Well, i suppose change must happen from the top, but let us leave that to party elections later.

For now, let us concentrate to heal the wounds within the party. Let us talk about reconciliation in areas where we UMNO has hurt ourselves most. Look and think back, why did we lose in holier grounds such as Johor, Perak, Kedah, Selangor and Wilayah. Mesti ada something wrong punyer.

Contohnya, is the UMNO leadership listening to party members? Is the leadership getting through the right message from below? I dont think this is happening.

That is why, the night before the nomination, party leadership whimsically changes the nominations just like that.Walhal, mereka tahu bahawasanya ahli ahli umno di bahagian mahukan orang tempatan, tetapi pimpinan party tidak menghormati konsensus grassroot lalu meletakkan orang luar.

Looking at the results, you can see a long list of CALON PARACHUTE yang kalah di Kedah dan Perak dan Selangor dan Kelantan dan seterus terusnya.

Yes, maybe dulu UMNO can do this and the voters will blindly vote for the jokers arakian monyet sekalipun. But then now we have a more matured and educated voters. If UMNO do not change itself, and continues to be patronising (as it is now) it is sad for me to say that i predict that we shall exist to be in government position come 2013.

UMNO may first start by admitting that the old faces must go. Many UMNO members ( what more the rakyat in general) are very un happy to find that Pak Lah has retained in nomination members of the cabinet which are under corruption commission investigation (Lingam), members of cabinet who are incompetent, members of cabinet who are not liked by their own party..and so on and so forth.

Then UMNO may want to start to reconsider whether they can continue to act arrogantly in dismissing its other component parties. UMNO must learn to listen the other community. Yes i admit that we have been doing this all this while, but the fact that they are still voting against us means that we have to admit that we are doing a lot more wrong things too.

Finally,

STOP BEING SO PATRONISING!

i have always said that UMNO, and Malays in general , are a really patronising lot, in a very annoying way too sometimes. We malays are so blindingly patronising, that we dont even have a word for patronising in Malay language! This we must change for UMNO to move forward as a party of the future.

Remember those adds before the elections?

UNDI ANDA HANYA SATU, BN - this is ridiculously patronising! We cannot use old propaganda like this and expect people to vote BN?

PROVEN:FREE EDUCATION FOR ALL - this is also patronising. Why? Because it does not take a Phd dude from UKM to realise that EVEN if opposition takes over, the freaking education will still be free!

but all this shows one thing, that the UMNO machinery doesnt even bother to think hard on how they are too win votes. Unlike the opposition, they are so used to having voted presented to them on a golden plate. Well, no more free lunch , UMNO.

The final straw, i feel for both UMNO-hating-Malays and non Malays specifically, was when our premier, in his last bid for votes on the night of the election, said that:

" If you want better voice in Government, vote for BN. If you just want a voice to make noise in Parliament, you can vote for Opposition"

How incredulous is that?? this is patronising on the verge of blackmailing!

Of course, we now know that the opposition prefers to vote for a representative who can actually carry their voice in Parliament. Why? Because every single non conforming BN MP knows that if you dont tow the line, you get 'whipped' by the party's whip.

This, in return, has made it even more difficult for MCA and Gerakan and MIC and PPP to play its role in BN. The Rakyat realise that there are real issue to be heard in the august house of parliament and for it to be heard in the open, it cannot be done through BN. I do not blame them. If it was me, listening to the ultimatum given by the premier, i would also vote for opposition. Because i would rather have my rep shouting my rights in parliament than have them comfy in their cabinet positions.

In the words of Lim Kheng Yaik, ( see article below) MCA and Gerakan can discipline their boys, but UMNO has to learn to discipline their cowboys.

I think of all things, i have to concur with Dato Seri Lim on this one.


Intelligence Reporting

it was exactly on 22^nd December 07 that Tun Daim, in his 5 page interview with the China Press gave staunch warning that Selangor, Penang and Kedah was in danger of being taken away. At that time, many laughed at his suggestion. But they should have known that information coming from Tun Daim himself is no joking matter. The guy is the only songkok wearing dude on the cover page of the must read Asian Godfathers.

So The question is, how does tun daim knows about this? I am sure the same sources who told tun daim must have spoken to the party president about this as well. Correct? It is illogical to assume that this kind of information did not reach the highest power in UMNO because this intel info (intelligence).

OK for those not in UMNO, maybe u do not understand what i am talking about. you see, in UMNO we have the best machinery to fight in the election. Not only do UMNO have a lot of money (with doubtful sources many of them) there is also the 3 partite intel system which goes directly to the President of UMNO.

1stly is the intel report from the ketua bahagian umno.well usually this is a bit biased because they will puji themselves and discredit their rivals (who is usually the timbalan)

2ndly is the intel report from SB ( so most ketua bahagian will jaga them baik baik)

3rdly is the intel report from MIO ( no this is not the GPS device, but MIO stands for Military Intelligence Officer) Yes, you may not know this, but they live amongst you! yes all 222 of them for every single freaking constituency in this country.

now back to our Tun Daim story..

Now assuming that the information did reach the highest powers that be, my question to the UMNO leadership is why were there no early preparation being made to counter this? Worse of all, why were there LAST MINUTE changes being made to the nomination list in Kedah and Perak and Selangor knowing full well that this states are dangerous states as per information by the SB and MIO?

The leadership, must take the responsibility to explain to UMNO Kedah, UMNO Selangor and UMNO Penang, what was their action when this information was given to them..


I hope that UMNO can rise again from the rubbles. The challenges ahead are difficult, if not interesting. DSAI has risen from behind Kamunting bars to be kingmakers. For all we know, by May, he will be our new Leader of Opposition.

Party president must step up his gear.

Kalau dulu mungkin Lim Kit Siang sebagai Ketua Pembangkang, YB YB Barisan boleh gelakkan dia kerana bahasa malaysia dia entah kemana. Tetapi, dengan kemunculan DSAI, saya tidak dapat fikirkan satu pun YB dari barisan yang mungkin dapat menandingi kelantaran dan kepetahan hujahnya.Apatah lagi bakal barisan kabinet.

Not only that, now they have the likes of Saifudin Nasution, Nasharudin Mat Isa, Gobind Singh Deo (son of Karpal Singh) and most venomous of all opposition backbenchers, the amphibious alumnus of UMNO, Ibrahim bin Ali of Pasir Mas (sadly enough, he is my MP).

This, does not include the already charged old faces in the likes of Teresa Kok and Fong Po Kuan.


My fellow UMNO members,

Hard days are ahead for us. This is a battle, not only for the heart of Malaysians, but also for the survival of UMNO as a party.

Believe you me, if we do not change and react to this knock out in the right direction, UMNO is bound to its extinction by the next election, if not to its new role as an opposition party.

I shiver to think such consequence. But then again, maybe, just maybe, it would take a harder fall, harder than what we already had for us to realise that we have to change. by then, i am sure there are no more UMNO members ( as there is no more money and contract to fight over). And by then, the true loyal remaining party members of UMNO can rebuild the party from scratch.

God speed us all. Insya allah.