By M. Bakri Musa
[First of Four Parts]
The dynamics between Prime Minister Najib Razak and his deputy Muhyiddin Yassin is one of rivalry. They compete rather than complement each other. They give every indication to be the least productive and most dysfunctional ‘team,’ if I can stretch that term. Their relationship has awful feng shui and exudes bad karma.
They are politics’ Labu and Labi, the bumbling hired hands in P. Ramlee’s comedy movie of the same name, who spent their time fantasizing about their employer’s daughter while neglecting their chores.
Alas, leading the nation is anything but a comedic act; it is an awesome responsibility. Najib and Muhyiddin however, are treating their position as they would a trophy wife; with Najib consumed with displaying it while Muhyiddin is busy licking at the chops barely concealing his own desires.
Najib has nothing substantive to show after a year in office. It is emblematic of his inept leadership that when the recently-acquired new Scorpene submarine could finally dive, it made the headlines! Incidentally, that sub was bought during Najib’s tenure as Defense Minister.
We have significantly lowered the bar for and expectations of our leaders. Next, we will be excited if Najib were just to show up! Consider that former Prime Minister Mahathir had praised Najib merely for not dozing off at meetings! As for Najib’s much ballyhooed “1Malaysia,” a check on its website today showed that it is still inviting readers to register to join him for tea on March 13th, a good two weeks ago! Well at least that is better than the fate of his deputy’s blog.
On the major issues, from the teaching of science and mathematics in English to the controversy over the “Allah” terminology, the two are not even on the same page. They are complete opposites. Often that is the catalyst for a dynamic and creative relationship. That however, is true only with highly-accomplished and self-confident personalities. Najib and Muhyiddin are far from being that!
I will compare the current duo of Najib and Muhyiddin to their predecessors, and then suggest a course of action Najib should take to salvage his tattering leadership. I will focus on three preceding pairs: the best and ideal team of Tun Razak and Dr. Ismail; the longest and most enduring partnership of Tuanku Abdul Rahman and Tun Razak; and the destructive and dysfunctional combination of Mahathir and Anwar. These three examples (two positive and one negative) provide many relevant lessons for Najib.
Unaltered the present course will lead to a breakup of the two, with destructive consequences to them, their party, and their country. The scale would be many times worse than the Mahathir-Anwar explosion of 1998. The latter crippled the party and deeply divided the country, but only temporarily. In that ruinous split there was a definite victor, the mercurial Mahathir, which made the conflict mercifully not protracted.
If Najib and Muhyiddin were to split, it would come at a time when their party is at its weakest and most vulnerable; likewise the nation. As neither Najib nor Muhyiddin is strong enough or commands sufficient respect and support within the party and country, their split could consume both of them, as well as fatally cripple UMNO.
As for Malaysia, it has come a long way since the traumatic events of 1998 and could thus take the Najib-Muhyiddin breakup in stride. Indeed I would argue that the split would be good for the nation.
Nothing however, is preordained; prophecies need not be self fulfilling. Even bad karma and ill feng shui can be ameliorated. Najib’s future is in his own hands and in the fateful decisions he makes, not with the alignment of the stars or the tea-leaf reading of some village soothsayers.
Earlier Teams
The first and longest pair was that of Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Razak. It spanned over 15 years and was the most successful the country has ever seen, or likely to see again. Even when the duo broke up following the 1969 race riots, it was done discretely and with minimal public repercussions. The pair remained unique in that they maintained their respect for each other long after one exited the stage. They never uttered an unkind word for the other, at least not publicly. It was a class act right to the end.
Compare that to the nasty things the Tunku and Hussein Onn heaped upon Mahathir when he was Prime Minister, or the scorn and contempt Mahathir poured on his chosen successor, Abdullah.
At the other extreme, we had the initially very promising and dynamic but later proved to be highly destructive and dysfunctional pairing of Mahathir and Anwar. The nation is still playing the price for that ugly split. The pair was like an unstable radioisotope; when it split it continued spewing its toxic radiation, defying all attempts at containment.
The team of Tun Razak and Dr. Ismail that succeeded the Rahman-Razak duo was easily the best and ideal. Perhaps the brevity of their tenure spared them from the inevitable tensions and rivalries. Malaysians today look forlornly to that team, especially considering what is being served to us today.
The Razak-Ismail team was not the briefest; that distinction (if it can be called that) belongs to the immediately succeeding team of Razak and Hussein Onn. That was also the most forgettable pairing. The Razak and Huseein duo demonstrates that it would take both sides to make a great or at least workable team. It is not enough to have only one member shine; a laggard partner would bring the pair down. This observation would be validated many times later, as with the Mahathir-Musa Hitam and Mahathir-Ghaffar Baba pairings.
When both members are lightweights, then we would have a laughing stock of a team, a political Labu and Labi team. At worse it would be a disaster, for them as well as the country. We had that with the Abdullah and Najib; we are now we re-living it with Najib and Muhyiddin.
Next: The Best Team
So basically the rakyat has got to make Najib and Muhiyiddin do the ketuk-ketempi? That may not help given that the Rakyat is no Haji Bakhril but rather Sazali in Anakku Sazali..
Both are clowns, and not the best candidates to bring progress to the nation. The risk of going bankrupt is very high, while the little red dot down south is growing stronger and brighter.
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/fmt-english/politics/pakatan-rakyat/3754-hadi-derailed-anwars-sept-16-plan
Is the above true?
Correction – I mean the Rakyat is Hassan the father of Sazali in Anakku Sazali…
How to expect the slimy wolf playing with a “lamb chop” lamb?!….fortunately, the lamb has the protection of the equally slimy black game warden!
(Recruited from Kerala India)….for the time being,the lamb is safe.
The Star 28 Mar 2010
Muhyiddin:BN to pick acceptable candidate, he must have a good track record and clean image.
Bagan Pinang apa cerita ? Yang menang itu memang kuat makan…apatah lagi semua yang ada sekarang itu pun kuat makan ada yang lahap semuanya dibaham…
Maha tun kuat makan kata anak dia tak jadi billionaire masa dia jadi PM. ala common la tak kan nak mengaku berak tengah jalan. masa maha jadi PM dulu masa tu lah kumpul kudrat untuk lahap semua yang ada. kecil pun lahap besar pun lahap pulau pun lahap bukit pun lahap semua habis dilahap anak anak nya. sebab itu sekarang anak dia billionaire…
Wow.
P. Ramlee had Labu and Labi then.
We have Jib and Din now.
How about making it a threesome.
Jib, Din and Kutty.
Huh? Hows dat?
Meanwhile, can the Labu and Labi team explain this: ‘Missing – RM52 bil in bumi shares’ (exposed by Najib/ explanation sought by YB Lim Guan Eng).
Hello, all this Perkasa crap, UMNO ketuanan nonsense, NEP/NEM smokescreen is just a what it is: a smokescreen for UMNOputras to grab! grab! grab! UMNo is not thinking of the poor Malays in the rural kampungs or the Orang Asli or the natives of Sabah and Sarawak.
Labu/Labi – explain!explain!explain!
My goodness,how on earth we have a labu and labi team.All they know to do is dreaming and drowing, No wonder they never care about hospital without bed,1malaysia clinic without doctor and pharmcist,broken roads and bridges never repair,jet engines missing,c4 stolen,atan and benghock murdered,PKTZ scandal,HP schools dont performance,illegal immigrants, dubious Mycard,mat rempit,drug addict etc etc etc. Now I know why the whole world is laughing at malaysia. LOL
No worry, after NR, d sons of other former PMs r waiting 2 become PMs
No chance lah 4 MY who is of the wrong, no class lineage
Yes Guan Eng, ask them to account, ringgit by ringgit where did all the largesse go? Not just bumi share allocations; what about APs, how much were they worth and who have benefitted. Then what about all the express busses, lorries and taxi permits, how much were they worth and who were the beneficiaries. What about all the projects given by the government specifically for bumi contractors and companies? How much monies they could have made from these projects? How about government scholarships, how much was it worth? How can all these translate into nothing in terms of income and wealth creation among the bumi? If some of the government contracts, programmes and assistance were abused, resulting in leakages to the non-bumi, it is still the fault of the government and those in charge to allow this to happen. As far as I know, most non bumi, particularly the Chinese, have become richer by working their butt out and by saving every cent they got. May I know what special favour have they got from the government or the state? So is it a crime if we have become richer that way? At least most of us pay taxes diligently.
From the way the DPM was talking about distribution, I think they already have intention to extend further all the goodies to their cronies again. Now, we are not against helping deserving bumi and those who are poor. Let’s open the books and account for what have been given out the last 50 years (I would prefer the last 22 years during Mahathir’s reign). We can’t have a bottomless pit. How can the country progress if the well-to-do and the well connected elites continue to suck this country dry? I got the feeling the new economic model is not going to work. Before they could even announce it, they already have in mind how to justify for another endless siphoning again. How pariah can they get, seriously? This is a cursed country; the ruling elites are pariah and beggars. They have no dignity and honour in their character. They can’t provide the leadership to bring about genuine change of people’s attitude under their care. It is so sad.
Yes Guan Eng, ask them to account, ringgit by ringgit where did all the largesse go? Not just bumi share allocations; what about APs, how much were they worth and who have benefitted. Then what about all the express busses, lorries and taxi permits, how much were they worth and who were the beneficiaries. What about all the projects given by the government specifically for bumi contractors and companies? How much monies they could have made from these projects? How about government scholarships, how much was it worth? How can all these translate into nothing in terms of income and wealth creation among the bumi? If some of the government contracts, programmes and assistance were abused, resulting in leakages to the non-bumi, it is still the fault of the government and those in charge to allow this to happen. As far as I know, most non bumi, particularly the Chinese, have become richer by working their b*tt out and by saving every cent they got. May I know what special favour have they got from the government or the state? So is it a crime if we have become richer that way? At least most of us pay taxes diligently.
From the way the DPM was talking about distribution, I think they already have intention to extend further all the goodies to their cronies again. Now, we are not against helping deserving bumi and those who are poor. Let’s open the books and account for what have been given out the last 50 years (I would prefer the last 22 years during Mahathir’s reign and also during Pak Lah’s time). We can’t have a bottomless pit. How can the country progress if the well-to-do and the well connected elites continue to suck this country dry? I got the feeling the new economic model is not going to work. Before they could even announce it, they already have in mind how to justify for another endless siphoning again. How par!ah can they get, seriously? This is a cursed country; the ruling elites are par!ah and beggars. They have no dignity and honour in their character. They can’t provide the leadership to bring about genuine change of people’s attitude under their care. It is so sad.
We have a bad government. The policies are bad. People feel insecure. Make money and keep elsewhere. Malaysia bankrupt.