MUBARAK NS AGM.

23.5.2008.

This morning, Friday ,23rd. May, MUBARAK N.S. had its 6th. AGM. Yesterday I told Zainal Pak Itam Mat Hassan probably would send Ismail Lassim to represent him, and I said the same thing to Sainy this morning. Surprisingly, Mat Hassan came. I counted 27 members attended - 26 males and one very old female. When she spoke, she insisted on standing up, although Ponniah said no need-lah, Dato'. There wasn't much in what she had to say, only the usual things , like, I've been in UMNO a long time and Dolah  calls her kakak, and I support the MUBARAK Acting President 100% - "jasamu tetap di kenang", because Zahar always show deference to her.

Today's performance was a bit unusual. Normally 5 minutes into a meeting she would nod off to sleep, just like Dolah . But this is getting ahead of my story. 

Last year Ismail Lassim came instead of Mat Hassan. Although there is no note in the minutes, I remember the attendance was larger. This time, though, there were more newcomers, the result of the GE12, I suppose. In fact when Goh Swee Huat and Peter Lai came, I greeted them " I've waited long for you". Two former MCA Deputy Ministers and Mokhtar Hashim were the other notables among the new members.

I was coopted into reciting the traditional opening prayers, without prior warning, I might add. Then Zahar delivered his President's address, in his usual exasperating style. An orator he is not, whatever his own impression of himself is. I've always said to Ismail Yassin, Zahar will, without fail, squander the opportunity to make an impression whenever he is given the chance to make a speech in front of an important audience like the PM or DPM. This morning he was again true to form. He's never short winded. I could see Mat Hassan looking sideways at him repeatedly, squirming. He politely referred later to Zahar's speech that was "long and wide" (panjang lebar). Zahar appeared to have some notes in front of him, but mostly he was talking without them. The result, as usual, was a rambling, "rojak" Malay-English, where all sentences were never completed, going into tangents at every pause, and the points to be made became lost in the process, if there were any points to be made. If he has a well-written text and he sticks to it, adding ad libs here and there, he could possibly make a coherent speech.

But I have known him since 1956, and I don't think he has it. Luck and opportunity he had plenty. Mat Hasan spoke confidently, as someone in position of power would. Since Zahar chose to concentrate on the events following BN massive losses in the last elections, Mat Hassan also dwelt much on this. Unlike Zahar, Mat Hassan finished all his sentences. I thought he made some strong points.

Firstly, he said the GE12 had all the ingredients for failure. The timing was bad, the Hindraf issue was still hot, and food and petrol prices were increasing. He anticipated a loss of 1 Parliamentry seat and 7 State seats. As it turned out, 3 Parliamentry seats and 15 State seats were lost, some to candidates without any track records. The loss to the state was in fact twice worse than projected, a very humilating outcome indeed. But he is still proud of the fact that he stopped the "tsunami" from going past Negeri borders. In fact he said the losses were not because the opposition was strong, but because BN's "strategy" was bad. 

Secondly, he said he has the political "recovery plan". He needs to focus and tackle both of what he called "internal" and "external" causes for the GE12 failure. The internal problem is whatever is afflicting UMNO at the moment. For BN to succeed, UMNO must succeed, he said. The external problem is the delivery system. For this he said the administration of community services must be strengthened at the District level. More Penghulus and community service personnel would be deployed. The level of poverty should be recognized, and the drop in purchasing power be addressed quickly. The signals were there before the elections, but the Government obviously either misread them, or missed them.

Mat Hassan likened the Government to a ship at sea. This is the time to reset its direction. This is not the time to talk about dumping the captain. Those on board who disagree should be given a lifeboat and let go. They shouldn't dig a hole in the bottom of the ship. On the personal attacks on him, Mat Hassan repeated the lines he has often used before - he has a better life outside politics. He will pass the baton when the time comes - there is no need to push him out.

On the Bukit Gala issue, he said he had sorted out the clash between the new owners and MBI. On favouritism to his brothers and the award of contracts, he said he gave each brother a Mercedes and a bungalow before he became the MB. He felt insulted at being accused of taking those kinds of money.

On getting revenue for State agencies, Mat Hassan said, unlike his predecessor, the State will go into "smart" partnerships with developers, and go into oil palm planting in the lands in Bahau and Gemencheh. For RMK9 the State will concentrate on Seremban, PD and Kuala Pilah. 

My comments on Mat Hassan's points are as follows: The BN debacle cannot be attributed to current issues alone, although they certainly were pertinent. Prices and Hindraf cannot topple the Government. Price increases were selective, and the brand choices are plentiful. Rice alone has dozens of grades. When I was small we used to eat cheap "beras hancur". On Hindraf, there is not a single constituency with an Indian majority. On petrol, the transport operators and motorcar owners were the ones hit most, and then again Malaysian petrol prices are still lower than its immediate neighbours Thailand and Singapore. The "tsunami" had to stop somewhere, and Negeri Sembilan just happened to be rural enough and far enough from the Klang Valley to have resisted the waning tide coming down from industrialised Selangor. 

The reasons for the BN's loss cannot be simplified to be only because of the items of discontent that were stirred up in the months leading to the truely premature call to the polls. The simmering discontent that was stoked by events within the party right from the early years of Dolah's stewardship, together with the bigger overall complex feeling of unhappiness of the population with the ruling Government have to be taken into account. To simplify a complex condition into a facile little problem pile would only result in a concocting a futile remedy. The delivery system's failure is probably more to the point. Mostly the population has contact with the local authorities. This is the big problem. The way the local authorities conduct their business, one would think they answer to no one, least of all to the people they are supposed to give service to. There is indeed good argument for having local authority elections. 

As I have said elswhere, when it comes to setting up infrastructure, Malaysia does not lag behind, but when it comes to maintenance, it lags very far behind. So, strengthening the hardware, as it were, is insufficient. The software must be truly operational. The question of poverty, and of poverty level, is the one that I have no disagreement with. If one followed the campaigns during the last elections, the one topic that was missing was talk on this subject. All previous election campaigns put poverty right in the middle of the discussion. This had always been the key word in all previous election campaigns, especially in the rural areas. 

The analogy of the sailing ship is just that, an analogy. If UMNO is a ship, it's not the old wooden sailboat anymore. It's a huge aircraft carrier. If the Captain makes a mistake, he will bring down thousands of life, and billions worth of hardware. Perhaps the ship analogy may not be totally misplaced. We have the term "mutiny" that can be aptly applied here. Then again, reducing the UMNO torment to a sailboat that can be sunk by poking a hole in its bottom is too easy. This is one of the longest serving political party in modern history, with 3.5 million members, that we are talking about. The issues are more complex than that. Not giving recognition to that is what has made the problem get out of control now. It's certainly not a case of casting adrift someone the party considers useless, ordinary. The whole perception of a disintegrating UMNO has been because of the tactless treatment of someone far from ordinary.

On the personal attacks, Mat Hassan, by his own admission, took a deliberate step to go into public office, which is open to public scrutiny and criticism. He cannot have his cake and eat it at the same time. In the democratic system that he has let himself in, his performance is judged by the people, not necessarily by the bottom line, and certainly never by how he perceives himself. If he doesn't have the thick skin of a politician, then he is in the wrong business.

All these reminders about Mercedeses and bungalows reek of arrogance most unbecoming of a popularly elected leader. Even his religion rebukes this show of vanity. The really rich hardly ever talk about money. Someone who is confident of his position doesn't have to remind people about it all the time. We all know. We are not all stupid. We are not all awed by power and money. But we are all warmed by the glow of grace, and inspired by the show of humility.

On the smart partnership, good. This should have done by his predecessor long ago. But then Isa was better at politics than economics. 

After the short break for refreshments, the AGM proper took place. The main task was the election of office bearers, but since the number present was small, everything went without a hitch. Almost the whole old bunch got re-elected, with a few new faces, including Mokhtar Hashim who sat next to me. Before the AGM I noticed his hand bag on the table, and asked "got pistol-ah ?" He quickly replied " once is enough".

On 25th. of July all delegates elected will go to Trengganu for the National Convention. The new MB will entertain us and take us on a tour of the town. We can expect first class treatment, what with the Wang Ehsan, and the forthcoming UMNO elections. Everyone can bring their wives, but Zahar clarified only one each. So Shahalan will have to make a choice, since he has two. I will also have to remind Mokhtar Hashim not to bring any gun.

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