Has Umno/BN changed?
According to Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, the people of Sarawak should back the Barisan Nasional because the government’s “transformation” plan is bearing fruit and the Pakatan Rakyat’s election manifesto is just pie-in-the-sky stuff.
Since most politicians speak with forked tongues and ministers have a propensity to sacrifice truth for political gain during election campaign, I decided to examine if things have improved in “my country since the tsunami in March 2008.
I must say that I must tip my hat to Datuk Seri Najib Razak for making some moves to revive Umno/BN. He came up with a catchy 1 Malaysia campaign (never mind that it is more gloss than anything else), borrowed heavily from the Mahathir book of economics with his Economic Transformation Programme/Government Transformation Programme (it’s mega projects and economic stimulus package ala the early ‘90s minus structural change).
So we have 5-6 per cent growth, no need for police reports to apply for new ICs and passports, a scheme for Malaysian talent to return home, an outfit called 1MDB, 1 Malaysia scholarships (paid by you and me).
Let me list it down:
1) Arrogance of Umno: For a while, it did seem that the tsunami caused a reality check in Umno and caused some humility to nudge aside the arrogance. It lasted a year at most. But now with the belief that the momentum is back with Umno and that Malaysians will always swallow cosmetic change, the arrogance is back.
Just witness how Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz ticked off Gerakan’s Baljit Singh (tell that Punjabi boy) for having the temerity to suggest that BN ministers take an oath to prove that they are men of morals (better option is for a lie detector test).
Basically, any Malaysian especially non-Malays who dares to “speak out of turn” is chastised by the all-smart Umno types. Religious leaders are called unreasonable and NGOs are slapped with a label. In short, only the Umno man is capable of speaking for Malaysians.
This arrogance flows from the Cabinet to divisional officials.
2) Religious tension rose during the reign of Pak Lah, with temple demolitions, disputes over conversions and burial rights, the right of Christians to use Allah taking centrestage.
Today, these issues have been swept under the carpet (resolved ala Malaysia). The Federal Court is unwilling to state its stand on the issue of conversion and the chasm between Christians and the government has widened to a stage not known before in Malaysia.
What was guaranteed under the Constitution has been usurped and there is genuine grievance that the space of non-Muslims to practise their religion has been narrowed.
3) Look at the characters who are influencing politics and policy today. Ibrahim Ali and Rahim Thamby Chik.
The party which once gave us Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Dr Ismail and Tun Hussein Onn now offers us suspect characters. Not to different from the likes of Zakaria Deros and the “Close One Eye” Ahmad Ismail during the Abdullah era.
The only thing that has changed is that it does appear that Umno is scrapping the bottom of the barrel.
4) During the Mahathir/Abdullah era, we had the V.K. Lingam clip and the PKFZ scandal, now we have the Teoh Beng Hock scandal, the sordid video tape affair, the mysterious death of a senior Customs official and the mystery RM100 million payment to a middleman in the purchase of submarines from France.
To those who have not been reading Malaysia Today, it appears that former Deputy Defence Minister Zainal Abidin was caught telling a lie in Parliament. He said that the commission to the Malaysia company was paid by the French but a probe by the French government shows that the commission was paid by the Malaysian government!!!
Is anything going to happen to the deputy minister for telling a lie in Parliament? What do you think?
5) When Abdullah came to power he said he wanted to return the glory days of the institutions and civil service. He set up the Royal Commission on the Police and the commission saw it necessary to have an IPCMC, an independent committee to monitor law enforcement agencies. The police protested and Abdullah backed down.
Today we are still saddled with a questionable police force, an incompetent MACC, a seemingly corrupt Customs Department. And once again we are hearing calls for an IPCMC.
6) Open tenders, transparency and good governance. All this was promised by Abdullah and when he defaulted on these promises, he was punished in 2008. Has anything changed?
The talk in Umno circles is that the preferred way of doing business today is direct negotiation. From the mega MRT contract to small infrastructure projects, it is direct nego. Open tender is only used in speeches.
This list is by no means exhaustive. It is just some example of CHANGE WE CAN’T BELIEVE IN.
So next time our DPM struts around the country poking holes into someone’s manifesto, he should be a bit careful.
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