UMNO was born out of the coming together of various Malay organisations from all the states in Malaya in 1946. But this original party was deregistered in 1988 and a new party bearing the same name UMNO was registered.
The original UMNO came into existence with the full hope and aspirations of almost all Malays who felt that the Malays must be united and be relevant in this country. With that hope they were willing to sacrifice time and money to garner support and sympathy in order to demonstrate to the British colonial power that the Malays must no longer be treated as subject people and marginalised as before.
The movement was spearheaded by those close to the palace, feudal in character and right wing in approach. Malays, being very feudal in make-up and mentality, readily supported this leadership. Even those in far flung rural areas came out with full enthusiasm and conviction that they would be saved by this leadership.
“Hidup Melayu” was the slogan used by the movement. In other words the slogan was to unite all the Malays in order to face the British colonial power. They forged the unity to safeguard the position of the Sultans who ruled the various states in Malaya. It was the Sultans who had surrendered their sovereignty to the British. The rulers had been reduced by the British to nothing but mere guardians of Malay customs and the Islamic religion.
UMNO never fought for the country to be returned to the Malays but merely fought to restore the Sultans back as the proper guardians of the Malay customs and the Islamic religion. The British in trying to force through constitutional reforms in the form of the Malayan Union had even reduced the role of the Malay Sultans in that field.
Thus as could be seen UMNO never tried to redeem the dignity of the Malays as subject people but merely protecting the status of the Sultans. By doing so UMNO had destroyed the very fundamental raison d’être why the Malays came together to support and form UMNO.
The Malays needed to come out from being mere subsistence farmers and fishermen. They needed to join in the mainstream of national development. They needed to be provided modern amenities in the field of education, social standing, health and economic activities.
UMNO was short-changing the Malays in this respect. What UMNO did was to foster back feudalism into Malay society. This destroyed the very idea of fighting the British colonial power. It was not the intention of the Malays that they should be brought back into the pre-colonial period again. They wanted to be rid of financial bondage and that they wanted their original possession be returned back to them. In other words, the Malays supported UMNO believing that UMNO would alleviate all their miseries. How unfortunate for the Malays as the leadership of UMNO was so myopic in its confrontation with the British colonial power that they never dared to seek independence for the country.
UMNO was therefore behind time compared to other Malay political parties and organisations, unfortunately banned by the British, that sought the liberation of the country from British colonial rule. These were the group that wanted to redeem the country from the clutches of the British and also redeem the dignity of the Malays. Their organisations bore definite targets and objectives. Their names implied what they were fighting for like the Malay Nationalist Party, AWAS (Angkatan Wanita Sedar – the Generation of Conscious Women), API (Angkatan Pemuda Insaf – the Generation of Awareful Youths), Barisan Tani (The Peasant Front). They were committed and dedicated to bring about positive changes to the country and its trodden inhabitants. They naturally posed as threats to British vested economic interest.
On the other hand UMNO was very much favoured by the British as UMNO could be trusted to safeguard British interest in Malaya. Britain had invested very heavily in tin production and rubber plantations and in fact the most developed areas in the country were where these two commodities were to be found.
The most neglected areas were where the Malay peasantry and the fishermen were. What would the fight against the Malayan Union achieve in respect of these marginalised regions? The fight to restore the sovereignty of the Malayan royalty meant very little to these people.
After the Second World War, all colonised countries were demanding and fighting for independence. Only through independence could justice and equality be established. The leadership in all these countries were real nationalists and they were committed to create honour for the people.
They came together and formed the caucus for the Afro-Asian Solidarity group to fight injustice and to drive away colonialism from this once colonised world. They wanted to embark into a new era of freedom and egalitarianism.
Malaya with its feudal leaders in charge of the movement was satisfied to compromise with the British so long as some semblance of power was returned to the Malay rulers.
Should the Malays therefore be eternally grateful to UMNO when UMNO had not fought for them?
UMNO only fought for its own leadership and not for the Malay masses. If UMNO had been fighting for the Malay masses, then the current situation would not have been as it is today. The call for Malay supremacy was meant to help the leadership in UMNO and currently UMNO has created its own warlords through the system of patronage.
For its own survival it refused to forge ahead politically and instead held on to the current status quo situation where communities were divided through communal political parties. Each leader in this set -up behaved as virtual guardian of the interest of their communities. Actually each guarded his own vested interest.
UMNO therefore was neither a redeemer nor a conduit for national unity, integrity and social justice. It is the cause of disunity in the country and it creates false sense of security to the Malays by prolonging these so called special privileges. The Malay masses never enjoyed these privileges in the true sense of the word and in fact these privileges are to enforce the entrenchment of wealth to the select few.
UMNO has never been an instrument for the general welfare of the Malay masses. It uses the Malay masses for its own political and economic agenda.
Let us say good -bye to UMNO.
by Ahmad Mustapha Hassan (modified)
din merican Blog
PEOPLE'S POWER
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