The passing of a friend.

29.3.2009.

Naha passed away Wednesday morning at the Selayang Hospital. He was only 54.

On Monday 23rd. he had 'phoned me, saying the case brought against him by the Bangladeshi was d.n.a.a. by the Court last week. Tuesday he had brain haemorrhage at 10 pm at the shrimp pond where he just started work for a month. He went into a coma and his friends first brought him home to Sri Gombak, then at 1 am sent him to the hospital. 

We go back to 1986-87 I think. He worked with me until April 1994. When I left the company, he also left and operated a food stall right until last month, when he joined the Chinese pond owner. 

My wife and children treated him like family, all calling him "Uncle Din". Since we moved to Seremban, meetings were rare, but we kept in touch and he made the rare visits to the house. No.1 Son even called him from Hawaii once, and Kasmah was surprised and said "he still remembers you ?" Naha replied "mau tidak, lama dengannya". 

When the children were still schooling in PJ, a few times when we allowed for choice to spend the weekend, they preferred to "Pegi umah Uncle Din !", though in fact such visits were infrequent. Work and mood sometimes didn't allow me to be as familial with Naha, or "Din" as I preferred to call him. Angry words were uttered, but he never answered back. Often after a long day he would catch fourty winks in the sitting room, and my wife was always on his side and he always reciprocated her kindness.

So when we met Kasmah that Wednesday afternoon after the burial, my wife and Kasmah cried when she said to please forgive him if he had hurt our feelings in any way. My eyes filled with tears when I in turn asked her for forgiveness for my cross words. Naha and Kasmah have five children, but I only remember Adam and Hawa, precisely because of their distinctive and well-chosen names. 

When we left Kasmah that day we asked that she invite us for their wedding, whenever that happens. 

Farewell, my friend. I pray that Allah forgives you for your sins, however big they may be, and accepts your good deeds, however small they are. Amin ! 

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UMNO GA: Final results.

27.3.2009.

Friday, 27th. March. So, all the results are in. But is UMNO still in ?

As I had predicted, Muhyiddin won. When he was MB Johor there were some issues with Mahathir regarding State-Federal matters, but Muhyiddin has learned from it, I think. A few GA's ago he went public about some efforts by some party members trying to derail him, and I think the National leadership put things right then. I thought Dollah preferred him over Najib, but Mahathir had cleverly shortcircuited that by preempting the dull-witted PM about Najib's appointment. 

Since Mahathir went after Dollah openly after 2004, Muhyiddin slowly gravitated towards him, eventually backing the call for Dollah to take responsibility for the 2008 debacle, the senior-most Minister to do so ( probably the only one with the balls to do so), earning Dollah's wrath. That was why Dollah asked Zahid, then Ali and Mat Taib to go for the DP post and challange Muhyiddin. 

I have only one thing against Hishamuddin, Najib's first cousin. I don't think he had the guts to play around with the UMNO keris. That was why, having unsheathed it in the closet of the Pemuda assembly, he lost his nerves when that was exposed to the public, and he put his tail between his legs and publicly asked for forgiveness from the entire country. Has he got the spine to be VP ? We'll see.

I picked Shafie from Sabah because UMNO must recognize Sabah's role in saving it in Parliament. Anyway, he's amply qualified. 

I didn't pick Zahid because of his murky background. When he was Bagan Datoh's AJK tambahan in its Pemuda wing, he was with Amanah Saham MARA and part-time tutor with Anwar Ibrahim and Ruslan Kassim at Yayasan Anda. That was why when Anwar launched what was actually the anti-Mahathir KKN (Korupsi, Kroniisma, Nepotisma) campaign, Zahid was his alter-ego and mouth-piece. There was also the Kertam shares allegation of misappropriation. Mahathir twice saved his life, once through Mukhzani Mahathir and once through Najib. One was the avoidance of criminal action over the Kertam shares, the other over the ISA release. 

And when Mahathir started to attack Dollah, Zahid, true to character,supported Dollah and attacked Mahathir. And in the case of Perak's constitutional crisis, what was Zahid's role as the Deputy State Liason Chairman? Who is to say that if the cross-over was not overzealously and prematurely publicised, and the cat not let out of the bag for the sake of claiming quick credit for a "clever" coup, the Pakatan government would not have been caught on the wrong foot ?

I think UMNO delegates were wrong not to choose Rais for VP. Rais has never been one to shy away from what he believes, even if the belief could hurt him politically. That explains why he burned his bridge, why he chose Isa Samad over Yazid Baba, why he spoke for Mahathir when Dollah asked Mahathir to shut up, and why he made the stupid remarks about teenagers having to get their parents official permission when leaving the house. At least Rais is brave enough to show some integrity.

The Supreme Council lineup is interesting. There are some good people there. Dr. Norraesah belongs there. Do they know what it takes to study at Sorbonne ? Unfortunately she's the only rose among the thorns. Mustapa deserves the top vote. Put him back in Finance where he belongs. The MB's club's dismal showing is no surprise. Too many of them run their states as if they are private property. They forget this is about divisional support, and that MB's are only the first among equals. The losses suffered by Ministers are unheard of before this. Incumbents hold largesse and, in the past, attract support like bees to honey. Something's not right here. Perhaps Najib should start over. Perhaps Sharir is finally doing something right at last by resigning. It's a good example to follow, but then they say there's no honour amongst thieves. 

Najib & Muhyiddin should waste no time in the make-over of UMNO. The following list might help: (1) Choose only uncorrupted leaders. Complete the Disciplinary Board deliberations with a clear time frame. Change the members if necessary - those who are impaired by old age should be replaced. (2)Visit one division per month, to listen, not to give instructions.This is top priority. Cabinet meetings, official ceremonies etc. take second billing. (3)Review the MB's office bearers. The State Liason Committe is supposed to meet regularly. Check on this. (4)Set up an Advisory Board to give feedback to the President. Put MUBARAK and the Veterans Association in it. This is to listen to comments of past legislators, and old UMNO members. (5) Change immediately the voting system. The Pemuda case showed that delegates are still open to corruption no matter how often and how loud the admonition made against it. How can UMNO allow itself to be guided by 0.07 % of its members ! Whatever you want to call it, that is certainly not democracy. 

Good luck to Najib & Muhyiddin. You are surrounded by ordinary human beings with ordinary human foibles. Think with your heads, feel with your hearts, and seek guidance from the Creator, not solace from the hippocrites. 

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Pemuda & Wanita UMNO.

26.3.2009.

Thursday 26th. March. OK, OK, I was off on these 2 predictions, but they were only predictions, anyway. Here's my conclusion. A full 70% of Pemuda UMNO delegates ( 38% KJ and 32% KT) can shout until hoarse that they support Najib's and the so-called "respected Party elders'" call to vote for King & Country, but the plain fact before us is that they haven't change a damn bit - money buys votes. KJ had only LAST WEEK been found guilty of corrupt practices, not by someone from outside, but by UMNO itself. And still he's given the vote to lead the Youth wing, the breeding ground for future Party leaders. If he remains there, UMNO can kiss goodbye to any thought that Pemuda can help UMNO rise from deep shit.

I'm more open to suggestion in the case of Wanita. I've had some personal encounters (she doesn't know it)with Rafidah and don't like her, but picked her to win because I thought Dollah's touch on Sharizat would have been fatal. Obviously, unlike Pemuda, the vote count indicates a massive "yes" for the new leader. We'll see if she walks the talk. To-night we'll get the results of the rest of UMNO's elections. We'll see if UMNO really wants to change its spots.

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My predictions on the UMNO GA.

24.3.2009.

Tuesday, 24th. March, 6.30 p.m. My fifth-form English teacher called me a smart-aleck. At that time I didn't know what that meant. I know now, and he was right then. So I'll be a smart-aleck and make my predictions on the results of the on-going UMNO elections. 

Let me start with saying that this morning I went to PWTC, hoping to get a sense of the impending event, the 1 year-delayed UMNO elections. I watched the large crowds, even though the proceedings only start this evening. I walked around the main concourse and around the vendors' area. I sat at the Seri Pacific Hotel lobby, watching the late delegates registering. In the meantime I got loaded with countless leaflets, a book, and all the major newspapers, free-of-charge, of course, courtesy of the scores of workers of either the Party and its candidates or the many enterprising business people swarming the place.

Then I spoke with a few of those hanging around who looked like they are delegates, hoping to pry a bit on the possible outcome for the voting. I was disappointed. The answers were "it depends" and "we'll have to see the situation". They were less than vocal. Is the situation fluid ? Are the reminders from all and sundry about the need to choose between race and money, survival or demise making an impact ? 

I saw several groups moving about together with jackets emboldened with their candidate's number, so obviously that was that. And Dollah's praise for Ali Rustam about being a good example, after in fact actually being a really bad one, is typical - uncalled, unfounded and unintelligent. 

I think the delegates have already made up their minds. Nothing that will be said between now and the voting will change their choice. I think this is it. If they pick the right people, those not involved in vote-buying, those who have shown leadership qualities, and those who haven't shied away from making critical comments when needed, then UMNO has a chance of repairing its damaged reputation. 

I think Muhyiddin will become Deputy President. I think Shafie Afdal, Rais Yatim and Hishamudin will be elected VP's. I think Rafidah will beat Sharizat. And I think Mukhriz will be the new Youth Leader.

Hishamudin leaves a lot to be desired, but the third VP must be picked. Many male UMNO members are unhappy with Rafidah, but Sharizat lost the GE and still was picked by Dollah to a ministerial-like post. 

KJ and KT have too many enemies. The 25 Supreme Council Members will be those aligned with Najib. You will know who they are. 

For the main opening, Dollah  will be received with the customary standing ovation. Then everyone will wait and wait and wait for some hidden pearls to come out of his speech. There will be none.

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Sayonara, Dollah !

21.3.2009.

Saturday, 21st. March ( D-Day minus 3). I thought I might post a sayonara messege for Dollah  now rather than later, so that perhaps I can claim some originality in my piece, when post 25th. March commentaries might render it less so. 

I believe even Dollah  at his most flippest of flops would not pull a fast one on Najib this time. So this is the end of the road for him, and I believe the whole country can let out a sigh of relief. 

In recent memory, no one has shown in public so much ineptitude while holding so high an office. In retrospect, we should feel sorry for him, really. Somehow or other many UMNO members have for many years, prior to 2004, been made to believe that this was a quiet, studious, benign and moral man, worthy of bigger things in UMNO. When he went the way of the Ku Li / Musa Hitam group, for a few years he had to suffer the political consequences, even if he did not have the guts, like Rais Yatim, to leave UMNO and "burn his bridges". 

Many members felt sorry for the mild-mannered guy. Having left the government and a bright future in the Civil Service for the bright lights of politics before, Dollah now had nowhere to go but cool his heels for a couple of years. But Mahathir being Mahathir, having listened to the voices in UMNO, pulled him back into the Cabinet, and eventually topped that by picking him over Najib to become PM in 2003. So it seemed Dollah's patience and, as he recently claimed, "ability", saw to it that he got the coveted job. 

How wrong we have been. How wrong had Mahathir been. As has been exposed in the latest grab for final glory in the Limbang fiasco, this is a man of keen scheming tendencies and surprising vanity, hiding behind the exterior of a dutiful subordinate, waiting for his turn. All the innocuous facade, the quiet gentleman, the scion of an "Ulama", fooled everyone. All the promise of Islamic ,"Hadari" notwithstanding, transparent, responsible and excellence-seeking government have been totally betrayed by incredible nepotism, corruption, inefficiency, and plain stupidity amply distorted with denials and plain bloody lies. His late father must be turning over in his grave.

There was a time, while seeking election as VP, when he would wait patiently for a single minor ADUN for one full hour so that he can personally get his vote. The place was Bkt. Chedang, Seremban. The ADUN was me. There was no money politics then. There was another time when he wandered around all alone in PWTC during the lunch break in an UMNO GA, and nobody tagged on his coattails. A delegate extended his hands and offered "you have my vote". That delegate was me. What went on his mind then, one wonders. Perhaps a mind bereft of focus was the real reason for the docile and disarming demeanour. You know, when you are not really that ambitious, you just go along with the crowd and smile to everybody. Perhaps this lack of focus again allowed him to be manipulated by those privately close to him, perhaps those who are intelligent enough to spot an opportunity that cannot be missed. This explains the bizarre behaviours - overturning matters previously agreed at the highest level, making about-faces on important and strategic decisions, and at the last resort feigning innocence and claiming ignorance. All these smelt of hidden hands pulling the strings, thus showing incoherence and inconsistencies.

The biggest mistake Dollah  has made was not only to discard Mahathir and all Mahathir stood for in UMNO, but to go out of his way to despise the old man and his sons, setting senior UMNO leaders ,who ought to know better, upon him like running dogs. Not making available for his own decision-making the time-tested wisdom of Mahathir was bad enough. Going very public about the Mahathir's relevency really top the cream of insult and more than bit the hand that fed him.

In sum total, when Dollah  turned on his erstwhile benefactor, he turned off a big chunk of hitherto very loyal and very Malay UMNO members who showed what they feel about the whole shameful affair in the last GE. The moral is, if you can do this to someone who picked you, someone who was PM for 22 long years, you can surely treat like shit all the other small guys.

The theory of hidden hands is believable if you consider the huge ambitions of the group. What they did in the last GE is obvious - a plan was already set up to put in a new team by the 13 GE. How do you explain the strange choice of candidates, especially the rejection of 70 Divisional Heads as candidates from a total of 190 Divisions ?

What Najib must now do is exactly the opposite of what Dollah  did. Call back all the old UMNO leaders and seek their council, for as much as their experiences are useful, all of them still have influence and all still have followers. And once and for all cut off the known corrupt money politics members. Let there be 100,000 honest members rather than 3.5 million corrupt ones.

In the final analysis, perhaps Dollah went over his head. Or to put it in simple terms, he was OK as a sargeant, but KO as an Inspector.

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This Disciplinary Board needs disciplining.

17.3.2009.

Tuesday, 17th. March. What's the deal, dude ? So, check it out !. Got to look at 4 cases, man. Isa Samad, Ali Rustam, Khairy Jamaluddin and Khir Toyo. The facts of the cases are exactly the same - buying votes. The sentences can hardly be more bizarre. Isa got suspended from UMNO and sacked from the government, Ali is only stopped from contesting the Deputy President's post, Khairy got only a warning, and Khir is scot-free. To say that the comparison is like night and day is to be unbelievably charitable. I wonder what kind of legal brains they have in the UMNO Disciplinary Board.

I know there are a couple of lawyers there. I also know the quality of the legal mind of one of them. Less than you'd expect.. But even if I were to say that these were fair men before this last laughable episode, now I say "enough of this shit !" How in hell did the wonderful Board manage to distinguish between these cases. If everyone is hauled up, then there must be enough evidence. Remember, this is no court of law. And yet it may take a Lord Denning to sieve through the pained reasoning of the Board to come to this absolutely criminal finding.

What I'm saying here is not even to implicate the rottenness of UMNO today - that in these 4 cases mentioned are  possible future PM material of Bolehland. That thought by itself sends a shudder down my spine. What I'm taking issue now is the incomprehensible way that UMNO and its machinery make decisions. How can it allow its already tottering image to slide further into inevitable oblivion by simply watching this ass of a Board, with a donkey as its chief, making a bigger mess of the crap that was put before it to solve? My utter condemnation of the due process of the Board is no comfort for the utter despair at what the future holds for my children in Bolehland under the management of a group of ass-holes.

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Next week's UMNO General Assembly.

16.3.2009.

16th March, 2009. In one week's time we'll know the answer to the question "Where is UMNO going after this ?". This may seem a question that only the Party's members should concern themselves with. In truth, it's a question that all Malaysians should be interested in. Because UMNO is the dominant component in the BN, if it falters, then BN falters, and like it or not the country's peace and harmony as we know it these last 52 years would change forever.

The undercurrents of racial disharmony have always existed in Malaysia. Only the election of a strong central government had ensured that the latent, naturally existing racial conflict has been put under a lid. 

Sports and a National-Type School System have helped cool the divergent tendencies of the three major races who all trace their old civilisations to way back when. The strength of the central government required a strong leader, or a leader made strong. 

Before Dollah and before the Tunku was forced into retirement, perhaps the weakest leader was Husain, but UMNO made sure that the Party stood solidly behind him, and except for the insignificant challenge by one Sulaiman Palestin, no open dissent on his relatively short tenure was allowed to surface. 

Dollah  has been a totally different story. Riding on the success of his predecessor, Dollah  led BN in winning more than 90 % of Parliament and all except one State Assembly in the 11th. GE in 2004. Of course all the party leaders in BN gave full credit to Dollah  and the man wasn't too shy to own up the credit heaped. That the vote was for the achievements made by the country up to 2004 when under the stewardship of Mahathir was conveniently forgotten. That was the problem. 

From that date until the debacle of the poorly-timed  GE12 in 2008, Dollah  has come to believe his own little fantasy about his non-existent prowess. In very short successive decisions, many Cabinet-approved projects were scuttled, while many dubious new ones were announced. No care was taken to note that some of the projects cancelled involved other huge and directly related infrastructural developments, such as the billion-ringgit Customs Complex in JB. In fact right until this month, the building of the LCCT airport close to the 25% utilised KLIA was still being considered by Dollah's government, even after loud public criticisms were made. 

From personal  and anectdotal stories about Dollah , the image of the person is one of indisciplined thinking, an out of depth manager, and perhaps worst of all, one with complete disrespect of other people's time. Too many very senior government officers tell stories of unpunctuality and poor preparation for meetings and gatherings. Even at a wedding that I attended in KL last night, a retired very senior Police Officer made the revealing statement that wherever he went and people talk about Dollah , they were all negative. The flip-flop nature of Dollah's decisions, his lack of focus at meetings, and strange behaviours are well-documented. His poor sense of propriety is public knowledge - remember the big floods in Johore when he went to Perth to open his brother's short-lived nasi kandar shop ? Remember the meeting with Anwar in Hulu Langat the morning Najib was tabling the additional budget last week ? And his lies and denials ? About family-linked business deals and about pending GE date , about the MB for Perlis and Terengganu being his constitutional right to appoint and no one else's, and glib "I don't know" when asked about embarassing departmental incidents? 

And this is also the son of the ulamak who, at 67, hold starlets' hands and kiss his new wife so lovingly in public. I'm no puritan myself, but he is after all a Muslim PM with a Malay upbringing and this is a matter of appearance, and he is pontificating on a new Islam Hadari !

The opposition (not just political parties, but all his opponents) has been quick to spot a PM so inept that not to take this opportunity by its throat to screw him and the government he is supposed to lead would by itself constitute an act of stupidity. That is why all the worms are now coming out of the woodwork. 

The real tragedy of it all has been the fact that UMNO is not totally peopled by stupid morons. Sure, there are still too many school garderners and lab-assisstants leading the Party at the Branches, and therein lies the great problem for the continuing strength of UMNO. But in total there are enough Ph.D's to open a new University of UMNO. 

The trouble is there seems to be an embedded culture of "bodek" - whatever the President does must be loudly supported, even if it's wrong. And right now the ostensibly incoming President is the most obviously guilty of that. The rakyat is discerning like never before. Even Islam teaches us to speak out against a bad leader. An unwillingness to do so is simply "bodek", and a cover-up of misdeeds not desireable of a responsible leader. That is not to say that there has been total silence in this issue. But the critical voices have been too few and too far between. 

I think for the few who have dared to speak up, it must have taken tremendous courage, and if they offer themselves for Party posts, deserve to be elected. What we have right now is the total ravage of "money politics" in UMNO. There is talk right now that a case has been made against a candidate for the topmost Party position. Simply put, if UMNO members elect those who resort to this corrupt practise, then I suggest they take all they can get now, because the rakyat will make sure that UMNO won't be around much longer.

It may seem strange to UMNO members, who are used to getting handouts from Party leaders for even the simple thing like attending a large Party function, that when some opposition parties hold a gathering, it's the members who come who give money to the organizers. I urge the delegates to the GA next week to cast out greed for a few possibly ill-gotten ringgit and do the right thing - pick Party leaders who stand for righteousness, and willing to defend King and Country. Don't be too absorbed by the claim that 3.5 million Bumiputras are UMNO members. Be concerned that there are 15 million voters out there.

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Dollah & Brother Anwar Bin Ibrahim in Hulu Langat.

11.3.2009.

I'm writing only a very brief note here because I promised one "Budak Boy" to post something tonight when in fact I'm in the middle of my preparations for my scheduled examinations this Saturday. Perhaps I'll return to the topic later. Well, what can you say except that these two were up to no good. 

The only common thing for the both of them is in fact Mahathir. Both served under him, for many years together, in fact. And while their fortunes took opposite turns, both have been amply screwed by him. So their one hour meeting in the madrasah of the ustaz once declared "sesat" by the Mufti of Selangor the Mahathir topic must have been raised, in which case the "sesat" Brother Anwar Bin Ibrahim must have found a sympathizer in the "sesat" Dollah, whose days, like B.A.B.I., are numbered. 

Having wrecked UMNO in 5 years, Dollah can share loads of ideas about putting UMNO out permanently. He has famously said that when leaving the PMship he won't embarass UMNO. Little does he realise , that is precisely what he has been doing these last five years. In fact that is the only thing that he has been doing successfully.

He can't appoint MBs properly. His Cabinet cannot make up its mind on anything. He even ask someone else to sort out the issue of the use of English in the teaching of Science and Mathematics, him, the PM. B.A.B.I. planned ascension to PMship was derailed by his unnatural sexual inclinations. Dollah, having arrived at the coveted spot, has been derailed by something worse, his inaptitude. We'll have to wait and see if Najib is up to the task. 

The spin is already put out by the mainstream media, drawing comparisons with his late father. I can assure you, Najib is no Tun Razak.

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