“Perhaps the less we have, the more we are required to brag.”
– John Steinbeck from his book, East of Eden
The majority of the thinking society would feel that a political leader needs to be inherently intelligent enough to know that doing things right is paramount than doing things just to be popular.
Take for example the previous Prime Minister. He wanted to do things which will make him popular with a few factions of people which in the end, led him to become the shortest serving Prime Minister in the history of Malaysia (at 5 years and 5 months, less than Tun Hussein Onn’s at 5 years and 6 months).
Being popular is good for a career in politics but that must be complimented with genuine hardwork and results which people can really see and experienced.
If wanting to be popular for the sake of being popular then people can easily see through the leaders’ smokescreen and be exposed as fake, or a con-artist. Not so much a leader, but a buffoon trying too hard to be popular.
The current Prime Minister and his cabinet has this tendency to be popular with the masses while disregarding the concept of good leadership. We can see the apex of the attempts to gain popularity concocted up by his advisors during the run up of the recent general election.
Ranging from giving too much money to vernacular schools, running election campaigns much akin to the US Presidential election (personality-driven) rather than a cohesive, BN driven (coalition-centric) campaigns, repealing important laws just to pander towards opposition sponsored ‘human rights’, etc.
But all these bending over backwards just to become popular did not yield the returns that they had hoped for. In fact, just as we had foreseen, the majority of the people saw it through and were not impressed. Popularity is never about one-off announcements to wow the crowd. It has never been about shock-factor (just to borrow a few of consultants’ jargons), quick-wins or ‘picking the low hanging fruits’.
Having a crowd to pat you on the back after giving out goodies to people will not make you more popular.
Even Winston Churchill kept perspective on the crowds that gathered to hear him speak by conceding they would be twice as big if they gathered to see him hanged.
Popularity is a series of leadership by example, a series of doing the right things and not flip flopping on decisions that will make you be seen as less intelligent. Above all, popularity will come when you do not seek it.
It’s all about action and results.
Actively trying to be popular without any substance to begin with will only make you look pathetic. Just look at Anwar Ibrahim for example. Those with critical thinking knew him as a snake oil salesman, who would sell his principles just to be popular. Even a foreign publication had called him a chameleon.
Even in his hey days of popularity back in 90s, that couldn’t make him last long in politics. As history sees it, his popularity did not save him from falling in disgrace – exposed for his inefficient handling of the 1998 currency crisis and engaged in morally wrong conduct.
On the contrary and of course as a lesson to the current crop of leaders, going against the tide will often make you last longer in politics.
Take Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad for example. He did several unpopular things during his premiership which will bring dread even to the most courageous of politicians. He sacked Anwar Ibrahim at the height of his deputy’s popularity, he clashed against the monarchy and kept their behaviours in check when a few of the rulers were misbehaving and unruly towards the people. These were extremely unpopular decisions at that time and could spell an end to a political career if popularity is what a leader seek.
But it was the right thing to do and Tun Mahathir did it because it was good for the people.
He even agreed to accept all 600,000 members of Semangat 46 back into Umno’s fold in 1996 for the sake of malay unity – a decision which was highly unpopular among Umno members when the likes of Rais Yatim, Tengku Razaleigh and Shabery Cheek returned to Umno after nearly 8 years as an opposition in Semangat 46.
In 1984, after Musa Hitam defeated Tengku Razaleigh again for the post of deputy president in Umno General Election, Tun Mahathir still appointed the latter as a minister eventhough Musa Hitam, a powerful Deputy Prime Minister and a Home Minister at that time was so much against it.
But he still appointed Ku Li nevertheless as the minister in MITI (albeit downgraded him from the Finance Minister post) since Ku Li is a capable leader and as the malay proverb goes – “kalah sekali, bukanlah kalah semua.”
Tun Mahathir made many unpopular decisions – be it concerning the capital controls during the currency crisis, his unwavering stance in curbing racist and religious extremists as well as his decisions to chastise the west and the jews for their hypocrisy and terrorism.
All these led him to become the longest serving (at 22 years 3 months) Prime Minister in the history of Malaysia.
Can we imagine any of the Prime Ministers after him doing such unpopular things? Of course we can’t. What is lacking in the current crop of Umno leaders is gumption and the believe of doing things right. In its place is the mistaken belief that their careers will last longer if they are popular. Unfortunately, they had got it backwards.
And it’s also a fact that Tun Mahathir is arguably the most popular Prime Minister we ever had. He is a walking and living brand and is a successful one at that. And all that stemmed from the fact of doing things right and not wanting to be popular.
How many times have we hear him say that he is merely stating the truth and do not care what people think about him? Plenty of times. He lives by his principles and sticks to it like glue.
On the contrary, what we have now are Umno leaders desperately trying to be popular.
Take for instance, the Ketua Pemuda Umno who is also the Minister of Youths and Sports. Apparently the day the kalimah Allah judgment was read out in the Courts of Appeal, the youth wing leader of agama bangsa dan negara party was more busy tweeting and promoting himself for a popularity contest.
The winner of this popularity contest will be announced this Saturday
The Shout Awards is a popularity award show organised by Media Prima to honour popular artists in the field of music, tv, movies and radio.
But lo and behold, a minister crept in and found himself in the nominees list as well!
How more pitiful (deserving or arousing pity) can you be when you are already a minister but still want to vie in a popularity contest? A contest where you are not really in sync with any of the categories mentioned.
Truly this is a new low for Pemuda Umno and Umno as a whole. In the face of current issues facing the party and the malays such as the attacks on the kalimah ruling by the liberals, as well as on other fronts, did the Pemuda Umno made any statements to defend the position? The only notable but half hearted statement by Pemuda Umno was when they seek explanation over news of US spying from its KL embassy.
Apart from that, the now liberal Pemuda Umno Malaysia is more than happy to enter popularity contests or collect Pakatan Rakyat leaders as their fans. God forbid, even the incorrigible Lim Kit Siang is the number one fan of Ketua Pemuda Umno now.
Nobody pointed a gun to his head and made compulsory for him to join this fluffy event. Yet he is there, tweeting and soliciting votes from the masses to vote for him for this award.
The ridiculousness of this glam-craze escapade underlines a bizarre, yet comical attitude of the Ketua Pemuda in wanting to be popular at all cost. The less he have, the more he is required to brag.
But since this is an era of liberalism and where Umno leaders want to be popular regardless if they have any substance at all, we should not be surprised. The Prime Minister and his myriad of advisors themselves are also in the forefront and believer of populist movement.
Just sit back and enjoy the entertainment all these leaders are providing us. After all, Umno is now a play and some of their leaders are actors.
Thank you.
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You might like to read this too.
jebatmustdie 
UMNO !….no no no no more, enough is enough.
I feel ashamed to be an UMNO supporter now.
Lost confidence.
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The fault lies not so much in UMNO the party but UMNO the party leaders who want to be populist and others who allowed the situation.
Get rid of them and things will change for the better.
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Populist = “a member or adherent of a political party seeking to represent the interests of ordinary people, a person who supports or seeks to appeal to the concerns of ordinary people” (Oxford dictionaries definition).
In multi-racial Malaysia, the ordinary people must be the majority of the population, the Malays. But the “populist UMNO politician” tries to represent everybody, and, when the interests conflict, he even wants to go to the extent of sidelining the interests of the majority, e.g NEP, the interests of the 70% Malays and the Bumiputeras of Sabah and Sarawak. And promotes Chinese schools, the interests of only 23% of the population of the country.
UMNO is actually not populist. Only the UMNO President, the UMNO Youth Chief and some other leaders are. Get rid of them and the reason for UMNO supporters to feel ashamed will diminish.
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I like the fler who said leadership is never about popularity. It’s about doing what’s right. And must be based on laws, rules and regulations. In most countries and in this country, the highest set of laws is the Constitution.
But then people often move, countries function, without real leaders. They simply move with the system, with the momentum. For example, the government can function even if the party in power is in Tanjong Rambutan for treatment for days or weeks. The Civil Service still carries out it’s work. Based on existing policies, rules and regulations.
Or, if duds or crooks get elected into power, people merely have to suffer. The vocal ones among us have to grin and bear it more than the others. So, let’s whack them buggers who try to be popular without regard for laws, rules and regulations. Written and unwritten. Who put aside the party objectives, hopes and aspirations.
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Graduate, dont do that ! Positive thinking please.
Not Umno’s fault. JMD said, the players within want to be popular. And the No 1 is playing the leading role. We have seen our leaders come and go, their political contributions toward the country too.
Sad to say, lately everything goes haywire. PM Najib wont listen to the majority Malays. His political agendas , vision and actions much toward liberalism of which has been branded as wassatiyah. KJ is ready for everything.
That is the real challenge eversince.
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Salam JMD,
Excellent article!
The progressive youth leader is nowhere to be seen (or heard) defending the progressive tax like GST even when his mentor Mr Anwar Ibrahim labelled it as a regressive tax.
Maybe because not wanting to be unpopular?
I believe the current leadership is too obsessed with popular rating esp from Merdeka Centre, etc. So whenever the highly-paid advisers drafting up the new policies, the popular factor must be included. I guess.
Nak harapkan jadi berani dan tidak popular memang jauh panggang dari api. Tapi setidak2nya jadilah popular di kalangan penyokong/ power base sendiri. Ini sibuk nak popular di kalangan lawan untuk apa?
Matrodi
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When jebat overthrew the monarchy, he did not know what system to replace it with. In asia, he has been to beijing and met the emperor and probably found the system revolting.
If he had known about the roman empire and their senators, or the greeks and their democracy, he would have been the first malay republican and reform the malay mindset from feudalistic to some resemblance of ‘people power’.
Not only did this hp6 haprak 3/4 ( in Dr M’s language) tried to bribe the non malay voters, he then bribed UMNO delegates with Bumiputra enhancement programme to stay in power. The non malays not impressed, but it was enough to buy UMNO support (or vote). In olden roman times, the same things happened, but it was a much better system then absolute dictatorship.
Anwar was Dr M’s bum boy. He was sent to do errants like the colonisation of sabah and getting support from grass roots and kampungs in when curtailing the monarchs power. And he gave powers to islamic courts andintroduce islamic banking (is there such a thing?).
For all the bad things about badawi, he gave the people the chance to voice their opinion. There will be no perkasa if not for him.
Seems to me jmd wants to stifle the voice of the people.and allow UMNO to anyhow run the country like in the bad old days. This is regressive, just like allowing religious authorities the rights to subdue difference of opinion.
The right leader should allow the people to speak. In fact they should encourage the people to speak. That is how systems evolve for the better.
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Maybe I should not approve any of the comments here in this blog, including yours since I want to stifle the voice of the people.
Thank you.
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tempawan,
In the interest of effective communication and meaningful discourse, I hope you would let us know a bit about yourself. When we know, we can tailor our responses accordingly – explain more on the relevant aspects of the issues at hand that, for example, a DAP member or a Chinese school teacher are assessed to be less familiar with, and mention less on what you may already be familiar with.
Then it’ll be a win-win situation – you’ll get facts that are very relevant to you and we get satisfied that we have contributed to it. Then there’ll be less unpleasant feelings or acrimony arising from your comments or our responses to each other.
So, can you tell us just the following:
1. Are you a card carrying DAP member
2. Are you a Chinese school teacher
3. Are you a retiree
4. Are you a businessman, if so roughly how big is your business
5. Are you a product of Chinese school
6. Did you have tertiary-level education, if so, local or overseas
7. Do you rely heavily on Wikipedia
8. What kind of people you mix or socialize with – politically-minded, politically disinterested ones
You don’t have to answer all, though doing so will help us understand you better and enable us to provide you better explanations on the issues under discussion.
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Sorry! I am not a unDAPig.none of the political parties excites me. I am hoping for a new coalition of sabah and sarawak mp’s to form the third force, thus making the country neutral from irresponsible powers and any future gomen will be a minority, like what they have in germany.
And hopefully the implementation of proportional representation instead of ‘first-by-the-post’.
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Why you not answering the other questions, tempawan? Malu arr quoting Wikipedia history?
The “third force”? Says who? In Pakatan Rakyat already three forces, what. One fighting the other. Cannot even put up a shadow cabinet, not agree who to be PM etc.
“making the country neutral from irresponsible powers”? Who “irresponsible powers” arr, tempawan? Many, issit? Got America, Russia, Japan, China powers in Malaysia arr?
And “any future gomen will be a minority”? Wat you talking one, tempawan? You want to control the election process so that no party gets majority votes? Then you talk no dictators. You must be a crazy fella.
Actually no need to layan your comment. But then the weekend mood setting in, I’ll try get some fun out of you lah.
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@ dol,
Pkr is useless.we need a new wave party that overides race and religion. The main focus should be justice and the rule of law. One law. Not the dual civil/syariah system we have now. I think it was anwar who gave so much power to the religious authorities. He even con the prople by introducing islamic banking saying that it is interest free.
He will have to answer to the heavens of this deed in the next life.
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“we need a new wave party that overides race and religion.”? Who is “we”, Mister? Speak for yourself, la, tempawan. I’m happy with the existing laws.
Looks like you are free with your words, eh, tempawan? But I don’t mind the words you use against PKR and Anwar. Let’s get the old man doomed, apa macam?
But leave the “answering to the heavens” to God, la, kawan. Neither you nor I can do anything about that. But we can both pray he goes into Sg Buluh prison again after the Sodomi II appeal hearing. How about that. Btw, what do you pray to? What is your religion may I know.
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One more fun out of you, tempawan –
“the implementation of proportional representation instead of ‘first-by-the-post’? You want to change the system in the country? After 56 years of living by the Constitution based on the Westminster system? Changes that are structural in nature? Just for the fun of it? Just because Anwar wanted it after having lost PRU13?
Don’t lah, tempawan. Anwar got told to migrate/ get lost for not liking the system that’s been entrenched in our Constitution all this while. For organizing street demos time and again. Until it was clear the rakyat didn’t want it. If you want it, you should migrate to where arr? Even US has the electoral college voting system. Maybe China, issit.
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@tempawan
Every pro BN blog is assigned a resident DAPster and I guess you are the sole representative for JMD. While you seem to be the Type A variety, like the Gladiator in Annie’s blog you are still just as hopeless.
“In olden roman times, the same things happened, but it was a much better system then absolute dictatorship.”
Once again you fail in your grasp of history to buttress your comments. Read Roman history, especially the beginning of its fall, and you will see despots taking over willy nilly. In its last few centuries the Roman republic was republican in name only – it was essentially feudalistic by then, ruled by emperors who at one point took to fashioning themselves on the Egyptian pharoah model.
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I think the greatest time of roman history was when they were ruled by the senators elected by the people. When dictators took over, the empire crumbled and becaome corrupted.
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Aiseh, tempawan, US gomen shut down their gomen a few weeks ago lah. Also one time during Clinton’s time. They say also other occasions. No dictators in US, what.
Why you no provide link or authority for saying “the greatest time of roman history was when they were ruled by the senators elected by the people”? You bluffing one, ah?
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Yet you want us to accept the myth that had Jebat gone to Rome he would have set up a Senate back in Malacca. Your hypothesis would have legs if all four of the remaining Hang brothers had overthrown the gomen. Then we might have had an oligarchy, at least.
You forget that Jebat was one man who rebelled against his ruler. There is no telling what he might have done, but if history is correct, his consequent behaviour indicates he would have become a despot for sure, using the tactics of the corrupt Roman emperors to retain a charade of democracy to legitimise his rule.
For that we already have our “Jebat” in the guises of Anwar Ibrahim and Lim Guan Eng respectively. Both wankers who usurp power for their own selfish gains. Do we want that kind of Jebat? No thanks.
I somewhat agree that Sabah & Sarawak should rule Malaysia – they have racial issues there, too, but nowhere as virulent as ours and like Indonesia they have learned to live in harmony even if there are Muslims, Christians and animists in one family. Certainly not as militantly chauvinistic as the one brought by DAP, in particular.
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@ ramayana
Jebat rebelled due to injustice and the ruler was said to be a sex addict willing to abduct any pretty lady he fancies.
One day, we will have this country ruled by sane people from east malaysia. The west malaysian natives have given up the land to religious zealots whose main intention is bind the people into mental slavery.
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I think you are a pendatang. No chance for you to rule, ha, tempawan. You can only instigate the local Malays and Bumiputeras of Sabah and Sarawak, be seditious, and time will come when you will be arrested, chucked into the Police lock up and charged in Court for sedition.
Saying “the (Melaka) ruler was said to be a sex addict willing to abduct any pretty lady he fancies” – where did you hear all that nonsense, man. You have been mixing with wrong company, you know. Be here in this blog more often and you’ll get educated you know. Provided that you don’y say seditious things, otherwise you get clobbered by others here.
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tempawan,
You pendatang jealous of the locals, not respecting and abiding by the Constitution of the country, again saying seditious nonsense, – “The west malaysian natives have given up the land to religious zealots ..”. Here, read this c&p:
All those originating in this area called the Malay Archipelago (Gugusan Pulau Pulau Melayu) belong to the same Large Family of Malays also known as Rumpun Melayu.
The Constitution spells out the definition of Malays in Malaysia. Habitually speaking the Malay language, practicing the Islamic religion, the Malay customs and traditions are the key factors. Language experts (linguists) have determined that there is also a Large Family of the Malay Language, totaling over 1,200 in all.
The books “The Malay Civilization” and “Tamadun Alam Melayu” published by the Historical Society of Malaysia, provide a broader classification of the Malays, which include the Orang Aslis of the Peninsula and the Bumiputeras (natives) of Sabah and Sarawak. The books say that they originated in the Malay Archipelago or Gugusan Pulau Pulau Melayu, to which Semenanjong Tanah Melayu, Sabah and Sarawak belong, over 6,000 years ago. They cultivated padi and had the rice-eating culture even before the mainland Chinese.
These people have been in and out of the islands within the Archipelago, including the Malay Peninsula and the island of Borneo, and outwards to Madagascar, Australia, New Zealand, Indo-China, Taiwan, the Malayo Polynesian and Pacific Islands up to Hawai, earlier with their “perahu” fitted with outriggers, later in multi-tiered ships the size of the ancient Roman galleons. They had remarkable ship building and navigational skills which were noted in the historical records of China and elsewhere.
The terms Proto-Malays (Orang Asli), Deutero Malays (the Constitutional Malays, Bumiputeras or natives of Sabah and Sarawak, Indonesians and others), Malayo-Polynesians and Austronesians refer to the same “Large Family of Malays” comprising some 350 million people. The classification was done scientifically by experts in the relevant fields, based on language, physical characteristics, blood types, DNA etc. Read the above-stated books to know more – available at Wisma Sejarah, opposite IJN, Jalan Tun A Razak, KL.
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“[…] the ruler was said to be a sex addict willing to abduct any pretty lady he fancies.”
And guess what Jebat did when he took over the reigns?
Also, while I think East Malaysians are still um, quaint in their ability to live in harmony, let’s not delude ourselves into thinking that racialism is not an issue there at all. And that there is no Jebat like creature who will turn into a stark raving mad monster once he tastes the headiness of power.
Why, just look at what happened to our dear old Khalifah up north.
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1. twisting histories are signs of “immense” intelligence.
2. perkasa was not created through the “freedom of speech” by bodohwi. perkasa ws created by the irks and stupidity of oppositions.
3. leader should allow “freedom of speech” not ” Freedom of loud mouth”. the system will deteriorate over time if loud mouths are given the chance.
flowery words are also forms of popularity, but as JMD put it, we can see right through you.. your brain.. which in a not so flowery word means empty
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“When jebat overthrew the monarchy ..”? Hang Jebat didn’t – he got kerissed by Hang Tuah in a duel. The proverbial Jebat didn’t – the Portuguese were a foreign power. They had guns and fire power, not comparable to the Malays who only had keris, lembing, tombak and what not.
Even the Chinese having invented gun powder didn’t have guns and fire power, got conquered by the Manchus of Manchuria who ruled China for hundreds of years until the 20th Century, despite being such a large country and he most populous at that time. Then got bullied by the Western countries and Japan.
The modern Jebat won’t dare – the Police and the Army will see to it that they don’t
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The Populist in Najib is alienating UMNO from the grassroots- in short Najib has to be removed before General Election 14
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In normal times, politicians concentrate on doing good for the people. In abnormal times, they concentrate on doing good for themselves. And these are abnormal times. The days of 2/3 Parliamentary majority were squandered by Tun Dol and even made worse by Najib.
So, Najib’s pre-occupation has been to ensure he continues in power. Practically everything he does is premised on that. Yeah, he rationalizes it by saying it’s to ensure UMNO remains in power. But he has not even been looking after the interests of the UMNO members and supporters who gave him 88 seats at PRU13. Instead, he looks after the interests of the Chinese who gave him the Chinese tsunami.
Strange, very strange indeed. Despite the Chinese tsunami, he still panders to the interests of the Chinese. Assistance to Chinese schools, hefty allocations under the 2014 Budget, liberalization and all those that favour businesses practically all of which are Chinese. In the name of achieving a developed nation status. Rushing there irrespective of the economic well being of the vast majority of the population. The Malays and the Bumiputeras who form 70% of the population. Muting the NEP, not leveling the playing field to enable the Malays and the Bumiputeras to compete fairly in business and in all aspects of the economy of the country.
And how many hundred of the 1800 Chinese voters in Sg Limau voted BN?
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Are Chinese returning to BN’s fold?
Both Sin Chew Jit Poh and the Malaysia Chronicle published Bernama’s report which quoted Sin Chew Daily’s opinion piece saying the Chinese vote swung to BN in Sg Limau but that it “probably has no significant impact on the political leanings of the Chinese at the state and country level.”
Yes, “probably”, and their opinion is as good as anyone else’s. But I doubt it’s so. We are talking about ungrateful ingrates who were badly influenced by ultra kiasus of the DAP.
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Until the GE14 proves otherwise, I would remain ultra wary of the Chinese, if I were UMNO. The supposed swing that the Melayu papers are crowing about – as “proof” that Najib’s policies are correct, kononnya – might just be another Psy Concert hoodwinking to blindside the stupid anak bangsawan again. And guess what? Stupid anak bangsawan is lapping it up, all over again.
What was that George W Bush said? “Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice… Well, just don’t.” Even dungu Bush knew what’s what.
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hahahah… saudara Izham.. as you mentioned in you last para… they are ungrateful ingrates. I had a chance working with few Israeli in certain project before and one of their statement that really ignited me is their statement on Chinese in South East Asia… particularly Singapork and Malaysia is be careful with them… ‘they are worth than us’….
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‘they are worse than us’….. hahaha wrong worse
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JMD
Actually the UMNO delegates had the chance to “ubah” during the UMNO Elections recently. But they didnt.
Now the country is stucked with Malay leaders with no balls as what Ridhuan Tee mentioned.
The question now is who has the greatest ball to call these populist leaders to change or to leave?
Zuraidah Kamaruddin has already called for DPM to quit.
Or we just wait till GE 14?
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Zuraidah doesn’t have the ball or the means to do anything more than verbal attack. Pakatoon didn’t succeed at PRU13, went on street demos talking about popular votes until only 5,000 people showed up at Padang Merbok when Anwar expected 300,000.
PKR is in a mess now. More of their leaders are leaving the party. One after another in Sabah, another one was angry, even said “Anwar is not God” and he’s slated to be leaving PKR also. And the 66 year old Anwar bloke is praying hard to God to save him from prison from the Sodomy II appeal being heard in December.
Wonder if God will answer the prayers of sodomists. He escaped prison at the first Sodomy II trial by default. Default of the useless, highly unprincipled then DPP.
But I agree that UMNO leaders who are really concerned about PRU14 should oust Najib well before that.
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Wonder when Al-Juburi will be calling for PKR’s Party Election. It’s long due, anyway. The last one that they had was full of manipulation, brawls and mischief. No wonder the Rear Admiral has not say anything about UMNO’s recent election. He is afraid people would ask him about his own party election, instead. He had better hold it now, before more people quit, especially in Sabah. You cannot just hoist people to hold position in your party, like defector Lajim, without existing division members’ approval.
I hope PKR hold its Party election as soon as possible. Get that ‘Ketua Umum’ post in contention too, or is it self-proclaim.
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Ha ha… There is a new book, “Who stole UMNO’s egg?”
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Pingback: WE NOW HAVE POPULAR UMNO LEADERS | The Posto – Malaysia News, Opinion & Commentary
Nothing wrong for politicians trying to be popular so long as they defend and promote popular issues. It’s stupid to think that Chinese schools are a popular issue and stupider still trying to promote it with financial grants etc.
The announcing of RM2 million for Chinese schools at Sg Limau PRK – on top of the hefty allocations under the 2014 Budget – was an overkill and killed BN chances of winning the PRK.
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The NEP is certainly a popular issue. It represents the interest of the Malays who form 60% of the population of the country. The Malays who gave BN 88 seats at PRU13. Seat which may be reduced at PRU14 if leaders don’t promote popular issues.
The NEP has been on for 40 years and any attempt to sideline it will certainly invite unpopularity. Irrespective of coining another term – Bumiputera Economic Empowerment, of which the method of operations and the results are yet to be seen.
It was announced just before the UMNO party elections nomination and created suspicions that it was just a gimmick to ensure Najib was returned unopposed. People even wonder why the need to use a different name when Najib could simply use the words “Enhancement of the NEP”. Perhaps it’s designed to place the popular NEP in the back burner. If so, he’d be highly unpopular.
But then, Najib has been in the habit of coining new terms and slogans. 1Malaysia, Tranformation, etc – even Liberal and Progressive? Of course Ah Jib Gor was the term the Chinese endeared him with, he went gaga with it, yet got the Chinese tsunami. Still, a sign of unpopularity.
By all means try and be popular. But must be in accordance with the tenets and the principles enunciated in the Constitution of the country. Chinese schools are not, NEP is.
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I challenge those who think Chinese schools are good for the country to put their arguments out here.
I say Chinese schools are divisive and a hindrance to national unity. And Najib merely wants to be populist when giving financial assistance etc to Chinese schools.
I’ll bet no one dares answer my challenge meaningfully and effectively.
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Just found this Historical Society of Malaysia publication containing working papers prepared by the academia for the Kongres Sejarah Malaysia April 1978, wanna share some facts and data connected with NEP by Zinal Abidin Wahid of UKM (later a Professor there):
NEP started in 1971 at which time there was a huge disparity in the economic and educational well b eing between the Bumiputeras and the Chinese. In 1975, Bumiputera doctors only 10.6%, Engineers only 14.1%, Chemists (Kimia – including Pharmacists?) 0%. Anyone has the current figures?
Out of 26,000 Malaysian students studying abroad in 1975 (in Malaysia only UM and UKM at that time), Bumiputeras only 20%.
With so many universities in Malaysia now, and the Dong Zong (administrators of Chinese schools getting many universities in foreign countries accepting those with the Chinese schools UEC qualification to study with them, difficult to guess how many Bumis and non-Bumis have qualified/ are studying at university level now.
Sure, the NEP is a popular issue now and in the future.
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Looks like this one is sikit senang hati news – DS Najib defends affirmative action, insists Bumis marginalised, at the Asian Peace and Reconciliation Council/ ISIS Malaysia function in Putrajaya to day:
“when people ask me about our affirmative action, about our Bumiputera agenda in Malaysia, the simple fact is that if the Bumiputera constitutes 67 per cent of the population and they are marginalised, will that lead to long term stability in this country?”
“So when you talk about being inclusive, it’s not only for the minority, it is also for the majority as well.” Macam tu le selalu, Pokjib, jangan asyik layan puak Ah Jib Gor saja.
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I must say this is encouraging news. Najib should say this more often so that he can at least retain, and possibly increase the Malay votes that gave him the 88 seats and the Malay and Bumiputera votes of Sabah and Sarawak that gave him over 30 seats at PRU13.
Be popular or populist whatever by all means, but the basis must be correct. And the correct basis is that the Malay and the Bumiputeras form the vast majority of the population and their economic well being must be brought to par with the Chinese. This is necessary for long term peace and harmony. Good that he said it – if the Malays and the Bumiputeras are “marginalised, will that lead to long term stability in this country?”
The latent cause for the race riots of 1969 has often been analysed to be the economic and educational disparity between the Malays and the Chinese. The New Economic Policy was premised on that. No reason for the NEP to be sidelined at all. It should, in fact, be enhanced. The Bumiputera Economic Empowerment is an attempt at that. It must be continuous, on and on, for, after all, the Special Position of the Malays and the Bumiputeras are on and on, as much as the citizenship of the non-Malays are on and on.
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As stated by Zainal Abidin Wahid of UKM in his working paper to the Kongres Sejarah Malaysia April 1978, the dismal situation concerning the Bumiputeras in 1975, i.e after nearly 20 years of independence, should be linked to the spirit of accomodation showed by the Malays as represented by UMNO agreeing to the citizenship right for the non-Malays on the principle of jus soli.
On top of that UMNO agreed that for one year after Merdeka, the non-Malays were exempted from the language proficiency condition of citizenship. More than 800,000 non-Malays got citizenship within that one year after Merdeka. It increased their political power in this country tremendously in that just one year.
Najib can always use this fact when explaining to the rakyat the need to continue the NEP indefinitely. No question of losing popularity and no question of muting or sidelining the NEP ever at all. The NEP target must be revised. New targets may be set not just covering corporate wealth but the whole spectrum of the economic and educational well being of the Malays/ Bumiputeras.
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Is there a message to the “popular leaders” in the following story? Maybe from Najib to Khairy? Or even from the StarProbe team that dug it from the “jungles” in Tapah and published perhaps by the “tsunami Chinese faction” in theStar, against the popular fellows? –
“.. trek from the main road into an oil palm estate on a gravel path, with trees on both sides and undergrowth all over. Suddenly, there is an open area, and surprise, surprise, it is a futsal court.
“At least, it’s supposed to be a fustal court. Instead of open space, there is lalang growing out of cracks in the concrete. No one uses the court. The nearest homes are more than 500m away.
“There are no signboards indicating the presence of the court and motorists on the main road will be hard-pressed to notice the court in Kampung Baru Chenderiang in Tapah, Perak.”
xxx
Waste of public money, you would say? The Auditor General’s Report had been quite a few inches thick. Khairy is busy figuring out how come there was a pistol and bullets in the stadium somewhere found the other day. The Youths of Kg Chenderiang prefer to play chongkak. Or marbles. Encourage them on other games? Why should Khairy or Pemuda UMNO cares. Azeeez is also busy. Looking after billions in Tabung Haji. They got the desired status quo in the recent party elections, didn’t they.
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Dear JMD,
One of the many problems is only certain people can understand and more importantly learn from HISTORY. Those who are looking to be populist is definitely does not has this understanding nor the quality to learn from the history. For them, history is just a chain of stories for entertainment purposes. Or maybe is just another story. Their incapability to digest and learn is nearly moronic level. Low and no class but their act is like super high class.
Wisdom is too far away for them. Intelligent is a too peculiar. Knowledge is too unusual. The only quality that these people have is silliness and certainly sneakiness. Another thing that they have is THE PLAN but they fail to remember that ALLAH plan is much more superior. As you said, look what happen to Anwar Ibrahim.
The Ummah do not this KJ. He does not have the quality and he failed to understand the meaning the Malay history, Malaya history and Islamic history in the context of the Malay. He does not have any base at all and as a result he is portraying himself as the liberal. I bet he did not have any history lesson at all!! He can do whatever he wants for himself and his family but not to the Ummah.
We need a leader with WISDOM… bump into GAP blogspot and I found this. Something to share.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-wxIBHh2iw#t=1254 …
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Kalau Anwar punya hal lah, dia bukan kurang understanding, he simply tak mau standing for bangsa, agama dan negara. Dia main ikut suka dia saja, for convenience sake often.
Imagine, dia dah so dekat to be PM, dia cuba nak gulingkan TDM, mana boleh. Kalau dia tunggu giliran, he already PM 10 years now. But thank God, he didn’t, kalau tak dah tunggang langgang lah negara kita. Silap silap LBGT bersepah, ada undang undang baru, even boleh kawin sama jantina. Gila punya orang.
Anak dia Nurul Izzah pulak kata Muslim ada choice dalam agama. Kepala hotak dia.
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FYI…http://mymassa.blogspot.com/2013/11/tuntutan-nufam-kebodohan-yang-melampau.html
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Aku tak puas hati. Aku dah bosan. Ngapa Najib tak kikiskan politik wang dalam UMNO? Tun Mahathir pun kata ada main politik wang di pilihan parti dulu tu. Najib nak popular ke? Dah teruk sangat ke UMNO hingga nak tendangkan yang korap pun jadi tak popular?
Ke tak popular dalam UMNO saja kalau buat gitu? Apa ini sistem Warlord, kata orang. Ni cara baru milih pemimpin UMNO makna banyak kuasa atau pengaruh kapada Ketua Bahagian ke? Makna sekarang ada 170 Warlord ke? Jadi macam Afghanistan ke kita?
Habis macam mana nak kikiskan korapsi di negara ini? Aku bosan betul lah nengokkan hal korapsi di negara ni.
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KJ tripled majority in Rembau, won 4 corner fight with full mandate, won Shout awards. He is just letting you know he has owned u and ur band of bloggers who have been running him down for years. Futile.
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Wow.. Those are huge achievements! The easily impressed people might swoon! Although his fans like yourself failed to say that he was so hated in 2008, he did poorly in that general election with just 5,000 majority votes and even when the Rembau result this year has tripled, he still could not beat the 2004 results. And for being proud to win Shout Awards and you swooning over it, yes it confirmed this article that he is so desperate to be popular. As for the Umno Youth election, this blog already predicted he will win because his challengers were last minute candidates and with minuscule support base. If the challengers would have been Zambry of Perak, Idris Haron of Melaka, or Khaled Nordin of Johor then it might have been different.
And all this boastful talk about running down bloggers well that is just typical of his goons. Thank you for dropping by, dripping with arrogance. Boss borek, pengikut rintik.
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Dumbnut up there just basically proved your posting right, JMD. Being stupid while crowing about it is just what dumbnuts are good for, I guess.
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Hahaha, I like that last bit by JMD above. I tell you, I can’t stand the man. Who in the world ever says publicly that he wants to be PM by 40? Doesn’t that tell you he is cracko? Ar you also cracko to be supporting him? Note that I’m not accusing, just asking.
In fact there’s that question already asked by some people whether his father died committing suicide as rumoured, if so, whether he is also having psychiatric problem as he has the the genetic factor. It’s a valid question because he wants to be PM and nobody wants a cracko as PM.
And the money politics. Whether at the Rembau PRU13 or at the UMNO party contest. Tun Dr Mahathir has even complained about money politics at the party elections. And Khairy is on record as being guilty of money politics before the previous UMNO party elections. Despite all those, still not getting the 2004 results, what does that tell you? People don’t like money politics. People don’t like the politics of an unpopular ex-PM’s Son-In-Law.
Hoo haa here and there. 100 meter running contest, even shouting contest. Are these the stuff Ketua Pemuda UMNO is made of? Seems to me more of being heboh and a cengkurik. Ask Anwar what those MCKK terms mean. You can ape your boss by running to Anwar bringing him a passport when he comes out of prison after serving (hopefully) years of prison for Sodomy II – hearing in December.
” owned u and ur band of bloggers who have been running him down for years”? When did he ever “own”? Now you do sound cracko.
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“the attempts to gain popularity concocted up by his advisors during the run up of the recent general election.” –
I know they use many foreign consultants. But I was surprised that the total paid to the consultants ran into many billions. Were there that many consultants? Were they the consultants engaged by the PM’s Department only? Were they engaged for getting the “transformation” through? But what then is the job of PEMANDU under Idris Jala?
I sensed that Najib used foreign consultants for drawing up his New Economic Model because he wanted to mute or sideline the NEP in order to attract both the ordinary Chinese votes, and to lessen the Opposition noises, as well as to attract the foreign investors who were said to have been badly influenced by the Opposition propaganda. And Najib could deflect the harsh criticisms on the consultants, though the final decision on the NEM was his. But the hectic wanking by the rakyat after the draft was made public, including in this blog that I remember, have made the parties concerned mentioned NEP in the final draft, though not to the extent of my liking. And the NEP was not much talked about immediately before and during the PRU13 election campaign.
But Najib got the Chinese tsunami instead. And I’m glad that he announced the Bumiputera Economic Empowerment, whether as a part of the NEP or not, whether as a gimmick for getting the UMNO President’s post uncontested or not. What I want to know is the role played by the consultants and that by PEMANDU, as well as the Economic Planning Unit of the Prime Minister’s Department, which used to be huge in size and manpower, even exceeding that of some Ministries.
Must confess to being lazy to Google and know the differences in those organizations, but if any one cares to explain in a simple comment, I’d appreciate it.
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“I’m glad that he announced the Bumiputera Economic Empowerment, whether as a part of the NEP or not, whether as a gimmick for getting the UMNO President’s post uncontested or not. ”
It’s just a gimmick. Ask yourself, for all the billions announced, where’s the money? Chinese schools get cash cheques, which they display proudly on stage. What do Malay entities get? More and more empty promises.
We need to realise that we’ve all been had by this Ah Jib Gor. Not by his consultants, who are also a nest of vipers. By Ah Jib Gor. The man himself.
He knows he’s not popular. And he knows there is little we can do about it because the Malays have no recourse – as long as the majority of Chinese remain solidly in DAP’s pockets, the Malays have no choice but to pinch our noses and keep voting BN.
And as long as he can play a doublegame to thwart off Dr Mahathir by partnering up with Dr M’s enemies – another nest of vipers – he knows what was done to Ketua Kampung Dol could not be done to him. How else did you think Mukhriz lost the other day?
Ah Jib Gor can afford to be smug not because he is that strong, but because everything else around him is even weaker.
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I sometimes wonder whether Ah Jib Gor really deserves Tun Dr Mahathir’s push and patronage since even in his twenties, given a seat to contest, became the youngest MB, just because he was Tun A Razak’s son. At that time, UMNO was not desperate to win seats in Pahang, and Pekan, being a safe seat since TAR’s time certainly needed no candidate with a direct connection with TAR for UMNO to win.
I also wondered why mankind choose to give sons of well known people posts of importance. This was so even during the British times. British colonial records show of communication between the British Officers in the states and those in KL, and even those in London, talking about sons of Penghulus and Orang Orang Besar Sultan be selected for appointments to Civil Service posts over ordinary Malays who may have similar qualifications. Such people from “good families” were supposed to be well-behaved, schooled in the adat and tradition, rules and regulations. But Ah Jib Gor’s time was in the 80s, not colonial times.
So, was Ah Jib Gor well-schooled in the adat and the traditions of UMNO? Has he been fighting for the aims, hopes and aspirations of the Malays that UMNO represent? I doubt so.
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Ramayana,
Maybe he doesn’t know he is not popular. Maybe he gauges his popularity by the number of Ah Jib Gors he gets.
He just takes the Malays for granted. After all, the Malays gave him 88 seats at PRU13. More seats than Tun Dol got at PRU12. And, after all, he is the son of Tun A Razak. Who will abandon TAR’s son? So he does as he pleases with and to the Malays. Announced the Bumiputera Economic Empowerment only to strengthen his chances of being uncontested at the UMNO party elections.
And he refuses to call it NEP. Or enhancement of NEP or anything like that. It seems to me he wants to get rid of NEP – the name, maybe even the concept that the Chinese, especially the anti-Malay and anti-Islam DAP, had not been happy about. For the sake of their votes. He still wants to woo their votes, despite the Chinese tsunami. By ways that are at the expense of the rights and interests of the Malays. That’s what flabbergasts me.
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Ramayana,
Ramayana,
Another one who has been flabbergasting me is the UMNO Youth Head who was made a Minister not long before the UMNO party elections. Would be glad to hear your views on him.
I simply cannot understand the fella. Never before has UMNO Youth been so docile in terms of checking the so-called demands of the non-Malays. But there were occasions when he spoke the same tune as the MCA Youth Head, for example, on Chinese schools.
When Najib ignored him after he won the UMNO Youth post the first time – so soon after being found guilty of money politics – I thought Najib was a smart politician. But giving him a Minister’s post before the party elections was a smart act by him, too? How strong was UMNO Youth influence in the voting or in bringing about a no contest for Najib, do you think?
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I’ve just picked up some excerpts from an essay on Popular Politics vs. Party Politics and hope to say, perhaps later, which ones are applicable to the Malaysian scenario, specifically the Najib and Khairy kind, and even us, as people or ordinary citizens. Meanwhile, anyone is welcome to do so any time.
– politics based not on educating people but on mobilizing them, nor on creating an active public sphere but on electing candidates
– mobilized millions of people may be proof that it can “work,” not that his “constituencies” are more informed, politically knowledgeable, and more capable of acting independently on their own in order to develop a creative, fluid, and truly popular politics. And this kind of politics is not only electoral in character, it is party politics.
– People who are mobilized by charismatic leaders, centralized institutions, and power-oriented political structures remain masses, not independently minded citizens. Mobilization, like voting, becomes routine.
– Ordinary people become passive and inactive; institutions become bureaucratic and centralistic (usually in the name of ” efficiency” and “pragmatism”). Politicians become professionalized and are guided by career interests rather than principles.
– We are far too susceptible to a “politics of lesser evils,” with the grim results that our agenda and programs are determined by our opponents rather than by our visions of a good society. Worse, each lesser evil is usually succeeded by a worse evil so that we finally end with the worst possible evils of all.
– If we develop a genuine citizens’ politics, avowedly populist in character and libertarian in structure – particularly in a region congenial to a politics of this kind – we may yet be able to set an example that will influence the country as a whole.
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Politicians are supposed to educate the constituents. Explain, influence them, convince them on the party policies, hopes and aspirations.
Leaders are supposed to lead. Not merely cater to the wishes of the people, especially when such wishes are not productive or in the national interest.
True, in advanced countries, politicians bring up and promote issues that their constituents want, and become truly the “representative” of the people in their constituencies. But are we an advanced country yet? Are we even “a country” yet, in terms of unity and national identity? Can politicians promote Chinese schools, for example?
So, Dato Seri Najib’s “affair” with Chinese schools, financial grants etc is “leading” or “catering” to the Chinese for votes? Yes, “politics of lesser evils” with the grim results that our agenda and programs are determined by our opponents rather than by our visions of a good society.” Damn national unity and national identity? What “visions of a good society” are there in promoting Chinese schools?
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“People who are mobilized by charismatic leaders, centralized institutions, and power-oriented political structures remain masses, not independently minded citizens.”
Yes, like those mobilized by the charismatic and demagogue Sukarno in Indonesia before. But none in Malaysia may be called a charismatic leader. Maybe Anwar tried to be one. Far from succeeding, he got the title Al Juburi. Given to him by no less than Mat Sabu who later became the Deputy President of PAS, a Pakatan Rakyat colleague. He cannot be charismatic when he got only 5,000 attending the Padang Merbok rally.
But is PM Najib charismatic? I don’t think so. If so, he’d have no need to bend backwards to the Chinese before PRU13 and got the Chinese tsunami. And the Malaysian voters “remain masses, not independently minded citizens”? I fear so. By and large. It’s the outcome of the bloody British allowing political parties be formed based on race before independence – UMNO, MCA, MIC. Even those formed later claiming to be multi-racial are shams, DAP, for example is not really multi-racial. The former DAP Vice Chirman, Tunku Aziz, said to the Star yesterday, “DAP was a multi-racial and multi-ethnic party which claimed not to tolerate corruption. It was not what it claimed to be ..” They even claim a Chinese to be a Malay – Zairil Khir Johari.
It’s the bloody British allowing the pendatang to stay in this country instead of shipping them home by the shiploads like the Americans did to the Chinese Trans-America Railway construction workers in the 19th Century. Instead, the bloody British twisted the arms of the Malays to agree to the pendatang being given citizenship. And many of them, like in the DAP, don’t even respect the Special Position of the Malays and the Bumiputeras of Sabah and Sarawak. Bloody so many times those British colonialists were.
So, with the race-based politics, the pendatang wanting Chinese schools etc, the PM entertaining them for votes, would we, overall, ever become “independently minded citizens”? Food for thought, ain’t it?
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Even among those non-racially divided countries, many of them do not have a majority of “independently minded citizens”. What more Malaysia, where race considerations remain uppermost among the vast majority of the population.
Independently minded only in terms of pursuing their race agenda, independent of, even contradicting the spirit if not the very wording of the Constitution. Not in terms of the national ideals.
There will be no long-term cohesive national unity and a Bangsa Malaysia so long as there is no single-stream education in the country. And no leader, charismatic or otherwise, has the guts to implement single-stream education in the foreseeable future. And the country is so divided more than ever before. Woe betide the fate of us Malaysians.
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Hahaha, “mobilized millions of people” – Anwar could not even dream that. He could only expect 300,000 every time there was a demo – Bersih 2.0, Bersih 3.0, Black 05 Kelana Jaya, Black 05 Ipoh, Black 05 Padang Merbok. At best, there were 25,000, at worst, only 5,000. And after Padang Merbok, he gave up.
No such thing as popular politics or party politics for him. Even katak lompat politics he failed. He should just hibernate in jail. Maybe after Sodomy II Appeal.
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The Ketua Pemuda tweeting popularity contests, promoting himself etc. I seriously doubt if he is popular. His statements, his own activities and his Pemuda UMNO programme – if any – did not appear synchronized with those of the UMNO leadership. Has there been any real Pemuda UMNO “programme”, after all?
I think he is liked by those in Pemuda UMNO who matter in getting votes. He was found guilty of UMNO politics just before the 2009 party elections and I suspect he was not above money politics during that fight against Khir Toyo and Mukhriz, yet he won just over a third of the UMNO Youth delegates’ votes to be the Ketua Pemuda.
And Tun Dr Mahathir has complained about money politics at the last party elections. Yet it was DS Najib who gave the money-politics guy a Minister’s post not long before UMNO party elections earlier this November. He got no contest, his “status quo” people mostly got in, too. Didn’t the money-politics guy play a role?
I have no faith at all in the man. And been wondering Najib’s wisdom in giving him a Minister’s post. His action in that respect was certainly not popular or populist. More of desperado in ensuring he could retain the UMNO President’s post.
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