By Sakmongkol AK47
The Malaysian Insider
May 19, 2012
MAY 19 — It offends UMNO that Malays choose to join DAP. Why does the action of Malays joining another legitimate political party which is not UMNO, induce that feeling? It springs from arrogance and political xenophobia. UMNO is the chauvinist party that sees people who reject it ( for whatever reasons they choose) as a betrayal to UMNO. That is what offends UMNO actually. They can’t understand why people can be `disloyal’ to UMNO. UMNO expects Malays to be loyal to it- but what principles and values does it offer that can sustain the much desired loyalty?
UMNO arrogantly believes that an UMNO Malay is the only Malay. So it offends UMNO to see Malays abandon UMNO as though, the Malay has converted into another race. UMNO is fast adopting the Hassan Aqidah Ali mentality.
Next it offends UMNO not being able to see an exodus of other Malays from DAP. Suddenly UMNO has credited Tunku Aziz with some extraordinary attributes that must without fail, encourage other Malays to leave DAP. Alas, Tunku Abdul Aziz is alone. UMNO’s hope that Tunku Aziz’s action can serve as the catalyst prompting other Malays in DAP to do likewise crumbles. Indeed, Tunku Aziz’s action reinforces the determination of Malays who joined DAP to stay put despite his U-turn.
Then it dawns on UMNO- despite them being feeble in mind, that people adopt a certain political stand not because of loyalty to a figure. Such loyalty is ephemeral. You will see that soon- as soon as Najib performs worse than Pak Lah, those fellas now tripoding Najib will abandon him like rats do to a sinking ship.
The real issue in my mind, is not about Tunku Aziz’s departure from DAP at all. It’s all about UMNO seeing this as chance to revive its own diminishing legitimacy. UMNO thinks, by being able to cast this action as a racial thing, it regains its own lost legitimacy as representative of the Malay voice. How many times have I said, that UMNO can’t event claim it’s representing the Malays. In 2008, UMNO candidates got only 2 million of the 5.7 million votes. That’s a clearer sign that UMNO is no longer relevant to Malays than Tunku Aziz’s exit from DAP.
Like UMNO’s favorite line when interpreting Tunku Aziz’s exit, the exodus of Malays from the UMNO mothership can only mean that Malays are no longer compatible with UMNO. If you are eager to arrive at such conclusion from Tunku Aziz’s exit, then you must apply the same line of reasoning and accordingly, conclusion regarding UMNO. Can?
If not, then see Tunku Aziz’s departure as it really is- the departure of one man who realises now that changing something cannot happen within a self-imposed time frame. Just like Tunku Aziz’s sudden eureka moment that Najib’s transformation takes time that same logic must be applied to whatever Tunku Aziz wishes to happen to DAP.
Except the problem with Tunku Aziz: – changes that Tunku Aziz wants in DAP must take place NOW, but the changes that Najib sloganises MUST be given a chance to take place. Why not the same treatment?
Since leaving DAP, Tunku Aziz has become UMNO media’s darling. He has been described as the Malay face that DAP can use to attract more Malays. What rubbish. Malays who joined DAP did not even include Tunku Aziz in their equation. He was an unknown political entity. It’s absolutely not true that DAP wanted to use Tunku Aziz as the face that would entice Malays into joining DAP. I find that offensive. The Malays who joined DAP find some resonance with the values and struggles which DAP espouses.
If the Malays joined DAP on account of Tunku Aziz’s presence and face, the party must take steps to weed these people out.
To repeat, UMNO is offended that Tunku Aziz’s exit did not create the opening the floodgates effect. UMNO is offended that Malays reject UMNO. UMNO’s longevity and legitimacy rests very precariously on its success to cast itself as the sole spokesman and savior of the Malays. It’s not.
If Malays don’t want to join DAP, there are better off joining PAS- the real Malay party founded on values and principles. UMNO? No principles and no integrity. It has as much integrity and principles as the plunderer and thief. It’s a sinking ship.
Why is UMNO worried at all about a handful of Malays being in DAP? It should encourage more Malays to join DAP to restructure DAP as a multiracial party. It should not stand in the way if Malays choose to join DAP. Unless of course, its very survival depends precisely in being able to keep alive the racist slants of Malaysian politics. Then having an opponent composed of only a single race or even races opposite of themselves, UMNO keeps itself alive. More Malays must join DAP to serve the bigger agenda of speeding up the demise of UMNO.
Thats how UMNO is. it can only survive on the misfortunes of others. It has never grounded its survival on the strength of its own principles and values.It Must depend on the weaknesses of others.
Who shall look after the lot of Malays then? Why should or must it be UMNO? UMNO hasn’t improved the lot of Malays despite having and placing Malays at leadership levels in politics, in government institutions etc. Malays dominate the land offices, served as director generals of departments, become district police chiefs, the State secretaries are almost exclusively Malays- does having Malays at these leadership positions helped the Malays? They have not achieved the desired results because the UMNO Malays helped out the chosen Malays.
We Malays don’t depend at all on UMNO. The laws of this land, the institutions of democracy and most of all our own industriousness and work, protect us. We absolutely don’t depend on UMNO.
My advice to Malays in DAP- don’t belabour yourselves with lofty agenda at the moment. The immediate agenda is to kick out xenophobic UMNO. — sakmongkol.blogspot.com
* Sakmongkol AK47 is the nom de plume of Datuk Mohd Ariff Sabri Abdul Aziz. He was Pulau Manis assemblyman (2004-2008).
Is TA Aziz PLAYING POLITICS?
OMG, dis guy who claimed 2 b Mr Transparency n 2 fight corruption n promote good governance FINALLY showed his TRUE COLORS.
They r asking Malay DAP members 2 exit en m@s se like lemmings following TAA n collect lucrative rewards fr ahCHEATkor n UmnoB
Sakmongkol AK47, Zairil Khir Johari, Aspan Alias n others, Y R U WAITING?!
‘UMNO is the chauvinist party that sees people who reject it ( for whatever reasons they choose) as a betrayal to UMNO.’
For a moment I thought UMNO was akin to some kind of religion. Once in, it might difficult to get out of and if you do get out of it, you are condemned relentlessly. But if you leave others and become ‘UMNO friendly’, you are praised 24/7. You become their darling.
TA also has proven to us that he never believed himself to belong together with those of us Malaysians who clearly realise that this struggle is a journey. The way he now speaks of the party and distances himself from the fundamental causes for which we struggle shows he never loved the party and was never genuinely striving in a collective struggle.
TA should have gone quietly n not to discredit DAP by washing dirty linen thru UMNO’s control MSM. Thereby the Rakyat will Respect him as an Upright Honourable Gentleman who is not suited in the hurly burly of Politics.
All sense of Dignity n Honour is lost forever in a moment of Anger.
TA hungers to be enshrined and immortalised as “the good Malay who got away” and to be heralded as “the principled one”. This desperation, expectedly, stems from his proud, unwise and emotional move to hastily resign to pre-empt general public disapproval of his maverick outbursts in media that contradicted & shamed the party. He is no loss to the people who are still struggling on course.
TA’s
– pronounced disloyalty
– misplaced allegiance to a corrupted leadership he has always condemned
– unravelled fork tongue
– unrelenting condemnation and accusations hurled at the party
all goes to show that he has lost every personal purpose and reason to his own life. this is a very cursed position to be in where the stage lights go off for good and he no longer is a star. TA needs to back down with grace.
Actually what UMNO is really afraid of is just DAP proving it is NOT the lies it paints DAP to be. UMNO biggest fear is DAP is not the fear is has painfully crafted lies around.
Because if DAP is not to be feared, it means UMNO has to perform at a high standards to attract Malay. UMNO knows that DAP can do better running this country skill wise – no need to even explain it. If DAP is not to be feared i.e., it will treat Malay as well as anyone, then UMNO has nothing to offer. Worst, its likely DAP will treat Malay better than UMNO…
UMNO need to paint lies simply because it can’t pain the truth for itself..
The way that Tunku Aziz praised Najib’s leadership has left many people, who want a clean and honest government, with a bad taste. I wonder why Tunku Aziz joined DAP in the first place if he was so impressed with Najib’s transformation program.
It is sad to say that Tunku Aziz has lost his dignity and honor, in the eyes of many, in attempts to seek revenge on Lim Guan Eng for criticizing his dissent on Bersih 3.0.
So much from this dignified man of ‘principle and integrity’ so full of himself, explains his sudden opposition to Bersih 3.0’s Duduk Bantah at Dataran Merdeka that I believe was just an excuse, then came Act II – yeah that sudden turnaround to back BN’s najis transformation agenda!
No one really cares what he said….what he has decided to do.
He was DAP member and People Power decides…not DAP nor that Tunku.
I have read Zairil’s press releases and Penang Institutes’s.
When these releases are juxtaposed alongside, u see things in a better light.
I would say to Tunku Aziz, cease and desist before you look stupid and senile before an entire country that has thus far perceived your efforts and work in a favourable light.
I think enuf has been said; one should not grind one’s teeth until it hurts the gums.
Frogs are now worth their weight, not in gold, but in diamonds!!!
When Tunku Aziz was at Transparency International Malaysia, corruption and transparency wes his pet currency. Then when he joined the DAP, was made a Senator, these topics were suddenly banished from his vocabulary. He was conspicuous in his silence. He lost his voice and not once did he speak on behalf of the people when crisis after crisis were swirling around the country. His failure to attract even a single Malay into the party is testimony to his impotence. As a Senator, he merely warmed the seat and did not raise any pertinent questions regarding his favorite subjects: transparency and corruption. He was as quiet as a church mouse.
Then suddenly, he found his voice and unfortunately it was not the voice that the people associated him with. As if by cue, and following the exact script à la Chandra Muzaffar, he resigned from his party which he once said he held in high esteem. The loquacity of his rancor during the ensuing days after his tempestuous exit exceeded the four years of tight-lipped silence he maintained throughout his stint in DAP.
Regarding his joining UMNO, I don’t think UMNO needs him into the party. UMNO only needs him to be kept on a tight leash and not let him to exercise his conscience because what he stands for is diametrically opposite from what UMNO practiced. He will be a kept dog and from time to time will be let loose to bark and bite. Judging from his demeanor, he appeared robotic as he acted on the script that was written for him. Tunku Aziz is a miserable man, pity him. We have seen this script being played before.
Lost one member, many more capable people with integrity and credibility will join…..you will be surprise by the enormous talents out there to serve our country.
It’s NOT the individual that is important, it is what the party stands for in the best interest of the Ordinary People and country.
i like your statement
“He was an unknown political entity”.
this is a very good write up to clear the issue.
Now that the tunku has openly support the najis rasuah king murder suspect, are there still people who stupidly believe this man has high integrity?
It now looks like the departure of TA is a great blessings to DAP.
Man of principle and integrity?
Ha ha ha ha ha.
No me who is laughing, it’s my toe.
Tunku Aziz’s unhappiness with LGE’s “biadap” treatment of his dissent (his objection to Bersih’s 3.0 was not against its objective for free and fair elections, which he supported, but more the way it challenged the law that led to the way it ended in violence as he foresaw) is personal. However what’s personal against DAP’s secretary-general – even the public diatribe against & denunciation of LGE’s attitude – even if justified, does not justify his transition to a positive and very public endorsement of the BN’s chief’s platform of transformation/policies
As a brief rejoinder, to call Penang Institute utterly mad is unwarranted, undignified, uncouth.
Casting aspersions on perfectly good intentions – who is to say that it wasn’t? – may just make Penang Institute’s noble gesture look like casting pearls before sw##e.
So, Tunku, cease and desist…behave royally, if not for your sanity and good name
疾风知劲草，板荡识忠良。 Gales test gr@ss, turbulence tests loyalty n honesty
路遥知马力，日久见人心。A long road tests a horse’s strength, a long task proves a man’s heart 时间一久，一切暴露
遗臭万年 TAA earns eternal notoriety, he knows NOT of 忠良 loyalty n honesty
Sorry Tunku Aziz, after leaving DAP, your statements are less gracious as compared to YB Teo’s and YAB LGE.
People have differences in any organisation, be it a company, a football team and even more so in a political party
Tommy Smith had many issues with Emlyn Hughes but he was willing to remain a professional for 90 minutes whenever he was asked to partner Hughes in Liverpool’s centre defense.
Hundreds of thousands of Malaysians seeking justice brave danger and hardship to turn up, and while you may disagree, why make such a drastic change in stance and overlooking the greater purposes of contributing to real and fundamental change in M’sian political landscape
Sorry Tunku, I cannot see the good reason you have for turning against DAP
What had he been doing and up to, all these while in DAP? Just curious, ..anyone?