Sunday, October 19, 2008

Of dogs, dogma and the dog-house.

20.10.2008.

Dog-gone it ! Dollah is still at it, trying putting old man Mahathir in the dog-house ! For the old fox(another canine), the repeated bitter lesson has always been "letting the dog out of the trap"- doing a good deed to an ungrateful person.

We hear yesterday that in Sabah Dollah lashed out at his  discarded mentor. Of course Dollah's kennel of running dogs were quick to bark. But as all of Malaysia knows, these are "anjings antah beras"(stray dogs) whose barks are worse than their bites. They are no better than the fleas in their dog-patch hides. They  will jump off the moment the host-dog dies.

Dollah hit out at two guys, actually - his dogged antagonist Mahathir and Muhyiddin, the new-found critic.

On bad ol' Mahathir, Dollah was furious that the old fellow is apparently giving directives to the UMNO members in the on-going party elections. I thought that was barking up the wrong tree. I myself offer "directives" to my UMNO friends. Dollah should direct his anger at the members for following Mahathir's "directives". 

The funny thing is Dollah himself has fallen victim to the months-long cry to "fold up his mat." This year, or in March, whatever, he's history. Every dog has his day. Dollah's days are gone. As the UMNO members in Kuala Pilah say, Dollah is already "tegolek dog!"  - dead.

That Dollah is pissed at Muhyidden, everyone also knows now. Muhyiddin was the highest ranking Supreme Council Member to publicly call for the early transition of power. In fact he was the only Member with enough balls to convey this message from the "grass roots". Now everyone also knows Dollah called Zahid Hamidi in Mekah to contest the Deputy Presidency, just to spite, and if possible beat Muhyiddin. Ali Rustam came into the picture because he thought if Zahid, his party junior, can do that, then why couldn't he ?

Najib told Zahid what is what, so the ex-Anwar Ibrahim call-boy pulled a long face and swallowed his pride and backed down. I wonder why Najib didn't talk to Ali Rustam. 

So in Sabah Dollah lashed at Muhyiddin for bringing up the need to shorten the campaigning period to avoid uncontrolled money-politics. Dollah said why keep changing his stand, when the Supreme Council already agreed to the March handover ? Why indeed. Dollah wasn't impartial to his own dog-brand of flip-flopping in his short-lived, short-sighted stay in power.  And how was that agreed to by the Council when only Dollah and Najib discussed it ?

Former Top-Dog KJ (the s.i.l.) now says he's the underdog. That's a quick switch. As some say, this is just another transparent ploy by an otherwise less-than-transparent corporate thief. All I can say to KJ is, this is a dog-eat-dog world, my boy. I'm sure he'll get enough nominations to contest, so we'll see the outcome. If f.i.l. resist all demands for early elections, KJ should have enough grease to squirt around to curry favour. They'll gladly accept it, I'm positive. But will it buy their votes ? I'm not so positive.

Dogged  Dollah should follow Mahathir's unsolicited advice - just go quietly. Nobody listened to you when in power.  Who  will do that when you're  out of power. Nothing approaching the anger that you spit out at the ol' man will make any difference to him. Or to the march of events. It'll be like "the dog barking at the hill" - futile.

UMNO is not so dogmatic that useless rules and code of conduct cannot be scrapped.  The rank-and-file must accept past mistakes and make immediate amends for the dog-fight looking at them in their faces. It's dog-day afternoon for UMNO.  Do something  or perish.

I can pen  a doggerel now to paint a picture of dismay that clouds UMNO's state of dysfunction at the moment.  But the sad story has been told and retold these six months, in many a dog-eared tale of despair. The way to a resurgent UMNO is within sight.  If the party is to play its rightful role, as  in the last fifty years, and again in the next fifty, then its members must choose the right leaders  right here and right now. Anything short  would  make UMNO a mangy cur, loping away, tongue hanging out, tail between its legs. If UMNO doesn't change, it'll be "ten junks at anchor, the dog is still wearing its tail" - a Malay saying meaning inability to change will bring no good to anyone.

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1 comment:

rizal hashim said...

salam, sir, i like this piece.