steadyaku47

Tuesday 22 September 2009

The SULTANIZATION of UMNO leaders.


SRI PERDANA

Over the years we have seen UMNO assuming the role that was once the prerogative of the Sultans of the various states in Malaysia. A process started by the British and ironically concluded by the Malays themselves albeit through UMNO. These Sultanization tendencies have evolved over the years to what it is today – an UMNO President living in splendid isolation in a palatial palace call Sri Perdana in Putrajaya surrounded by all the trappings of wealth and power. But I am ahead of myself.

The quest by UMNO leaders towards their Sultanization started with a partiality to ostentatious consumption – Mahyuddins very costly shirts, silk ties, expensive, expensive suits, expensive cars, and grand houses. Khir Toyo’s palace is the manifestation of these tendencies to a T. The Prime Ministers motorcade, the legion of people that seems to be around him everywhere he goes and the splendid, splendid office at Putrajaya is par for the course. Of course to maintain this lifestyle on their meager salaries as Ministers and YB’s meant that they were all susceptible to corruption on a grand scale.

Personalization of authority. In Malaysia all power resides with the Prime Minister. In the state the Mentri Besar title says it all – BIG Minister. This concentration of power in the PM at Federal level and the MB at state level can only gives rise to the politics of patronage and nepotism as all largeness flows from these leaders. The wholesale change that is the norm whenever there is a change of these individuals gives rise to the ‘make hay while the sunshine’ mentality. So where the Sultan was ‘king’ in his state it is now the Mentri Besar that dispense favor to the Sultans – in business opportunities, in extending credit to pay gambling debts, in keeping under lid the excesses of the Royal family.
Historical Identity. Like the Sultan who are normally descended from an immediate family tree – UMNO too are comfortable with accepting it leaders when they are descended from families that are closely associated with UMNO - possibly with the exception of Mahathir – because his Indian background precludes that possibility. But at times even when your Father is a A class leader  their genes are known to skip a generation or two. How else can you explain Najib and his cousin Hishamuddin?
For now the Sultans still cling to being the head of religion in their own states. But we can see this too is increasingly becoming the function of the religious authorities – whose salaries and appointments are the function of the central government – controlled, for now, by UMNO. So effectively even in these areas UMNO will have a say if not effective control to do as it wish – with just a nodding familiarity to the Sultans as a mark of respect.  
So in reality these UMNO leaders – have not only taken power from the Sultans but have also assume, for themselves, the Sultanization of their own self in the mould of the Sultans that they have now deposed in everything but name.
While the Malays are always seen to be loyal to their sultans and are expected to obey their commands unquestioningly we are all aware of what Hang Tuah had to do to appease his Sultan. Kill a loyal friend – Hang Jebat. I do not think any Malay will any longer want to kill a loyal friend against a pretender to the throne calling itself UMNO. Not when the Sultanization of this pretender was done without due consideration of the rights and aspirations of the Rakyat.

22 comments:

  1. hi -

    Always felt that because of the Sultans in traditional Malaysia, it was a cultural aspiration of most Malays to live like their Sultans.

    Those with the means certainly do...look at their homes, their lifestyle, and attitude to their hired help....

    What ever happened to the humble gentle and genuine Malay we all once knew?

    jo

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  2. Hi Jo...Pak lah was a gentle and genuine Malay...and then he became Prime Minister! The only constant is change and when circumstances change the Malays too began to change.I am amazed at the way some Malays have become - but I also understand that they are a product of our times. Kebendaan or materialism overtook their life. Sometimes I forget it myself - only my family really keeps me grounded. regards.

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  3. Something changed during the Mahathir era.

    If you look at the times of pre Mahathir ie Hussein Onn and prior, the civil service as well as our govt was generally not so 'corrupted'.



    sunwayopal
    http://www.myrealestate.com.my

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  4. Agree...the civil service was still respected then.

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  5. Let's spare a thought for those hard core poor kampung folks!
    Don't they deserve to have a more decent place to live?

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  6. Gemini - yes they do! That is why when UMNO is out we will make sure that Pakatan Rakyat will take care of everybody in the kampongs - the Malays, The Chinese and the Indians.

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  7. Excesses! Its a sin when we have poor folks who can't even have clean drinking water.

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  8. Ah hah! ..now understand why so much tussle for powerful posts within UMNO.

    All of them want to live "high class" lifestyle, with all those expensive stuffs, with the one_up syndrome !!

    But to achieve their goals, duit masok poket berjuta-juta thro devious means. All the Top UMNO leaders (past and present) already admitted corruption is rampant within UMNO !

    Question begging answers, why MACC (Independent ?) not taking firm action against the corrupted ? Or MACC also have corrupted leaders ???

    Mana tahu, kalau tak tanya ....

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  9. and all the more BN_UMNO wud wanna stay onto power no matter what the costs ... like why TBH has to die. bcos once BN_UMNO loses control of the federal gomen or state gomen, PR will slowly & surely expose the BN's misdeeds & those responsible wud be held accountable & punsihed appropriately. dat's why khir palace die die must take back selangor.

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  10. Hussein, thank you for this insightful essay. I have said the same thing repeatedly but you have expressed it all in a blogpost. Hope you don't mind, bro, but I have taken the liberty of "sprucing" up your excellent essay and reposting on my blog. I've also blogrolled you :-)

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  11. Antares...aisehman I just went to your blog and what you did blew my mind. Thanks brother - on with our struggle!

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  12. Hai

    I'm Not racist, but you has to agree with me on this. Those days when Hussin Onn Era and early Mahathir era, there more Chinese, Indian Bosses and down line staffs. It Started 1985 onwards, The so called non bumi were given less priority in gov works ( but gov always denied by saying others not interested in gov job) Then it goes like this, INI TANAH MELAYU, ORANG MELAYULAH LAYAK KERJA DIKERAJAAN!, TENGOK ITU POLIS DI RAJA MELAYU, MAKA MELAYULAH HAK BEKERJA SEBAGAI POLIS, DAN SEBAGAINYA...Tenunglah sebentar, dan fikirlah sama ada ini benar atau tidak!!.

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  13. FALLACY THE MALAYS FELL INTO

    Everybody new , had an intuition , were wearing blinkers on their eyes and whatever positive anybody said about the truth was ignored.

    Other than Malays , other races were fully aware , of these Fallacial Developments by UMNO, from day one. The day bumi and non bumi issues , were raised. It spoke volumes of the slogan "DIVIDE".

    Non Bumis were against this, but the Bumis were very happy. Malays started dreaming of big luxury houses , chauffer driven cars , 3-4 wives like how P.Ramli displayed , in his movies. His movies were repeated , to reinforce the fallacy into Malay minds. Malays not comprehending , the negative aspects of these repeats , kept watching the P. Ramli movies over and over.

    Dreaming and building castles , of the luxuries they would be getting , if they supported UMNO.
    Act of despice to non-bumis , they showed , kept a ficticous smile , they did.
    Non bumis troded along until the Anwar saga. Than the truth prevailed. Malays realised that , UMNO will use , abuse and very simply dispose , even if you are a respected person like Anwar , who are the Malays , just normal rakyat. Anwar was their eye opener.
    When the truth started to emerge , about corruption by UMNO and why Anwar actually spent 6 years in jail , for nothing and Lim Guan Eng , who earlier stood for a Malay girls moral values , brought the majority people , to their senses , that all these is "HAYALAN" and UMNO "MUNAFIKS" practiceses.
    By now the Malays were in a quandry , they had ignored the other races and how will the other races accept , their rebuttles , will there be uneasiness. But no , not uneasiness but common sense prevailed , because Tok Guru Nik Aziz , Wan Azizah , Anwar , Lim Guan Eng , Zaid Ibrahim , Lim Kit Siang, Tuanku Aziz , Karpal Singh , and all the Pakatan Rakyat leaders have shown the mettle , all these years and even now , with Positive Developments from them and Positive Vibes from the Rakyat. There will be tremendous ACHEIVEMENT FROM THE DAY THEY, HOLD THE REIGNS , TO RULE ON THIS SOIL , "MALAYSIA".

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  14. I hold a degree and work like shit day and night for less thanRM2K and cant even afford a used car.Now the approved bus/train higher fares made many like me living like a beggar.but these #@$$&*+ stupid politicians who did nothing for us and the nation except talking nonsense day in/out become super rich in less than 5 years!What a great country i live in.

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  15. It is great that a lot of us have our opinions...BUT what are we going to do about it? You holding a degree and cannot even afford a second hand car -can you go and get another person to come to our side? You must do this if we are to succeed - please.

    Thank you everyone - thank you for taking the trouble to tell me what you think - I read every note that you send. I might be old but boleh tulis lagi....hidup Malaysia!

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  16. Those HUMNO (yes, as in humbug) fellas will shout Daulat Tuanku while holding a dagger (ok, keris, maybe) behind their back.

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  17. The Parameswara is claimed to be descendant of the homosexual Alexander the Great , polytheist and what do you expect from its descendants.

    While the Bugis clansmen cowardly ran away from the Dutch in Suluwesi not realizing that the Dutch HQ is some 20 thousand miles away in Holland.

    They could have fought the Dutch but they chosed to RAN AWAY !

    History will tell you soem of them even sided with the Dutch and some with the English and some with the Chinese and brothers and cousins fought against each other.

    Their history is really NOT WORTH it better learn [take as examples] the authentic Ulama.

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  18. Decades ago, my father worked as a kerani in the Immigration Dept and then the Pension Branch. As there was always a tendency for certain members of the public to bribe him, he always told my mother that should she received any envelope, she was not supposed to open it as the penalty for doing so would be the chopping off her hand by the government. My mother being an illiterate, had the fear drummed into her that whenever she received any mail in my father's absence, she would put it aside. As my father went through the mail, any unfamiliar envelopes would be set aside. He would only open envelopes marked "On His Majesty's Service". Today corruption is done so blatantly almost as though the politician doing it is telling you, "So what!?"

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  19. Why do people moan and groan over lost dreams of life in the fast lane. From what I could deduce amongst the various comments, it reeks of sour grapes. The opportunities were there but you guys made the wrong choices. You backed the wrong horse and got kicked instead. So now you tell your audience in the "cyberworld of losers" about those who have cut off your balls to face your blighted destinies and hope that they will rally to your cause. What is the difference between you and them??? You are also waiting with open arms for the goodies to come raining down. Jeeze, take a good look at yourself before you start shouting 'wolf' for the 79th time.

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  20. tho we never met. u are more my brother in spirit and soul. much more than my blood brother.

    yours in spirit, from paul ooi, khartoum, sudan

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  21. Hey Brother,
    Please read history's update from the world forum. Hang Tuah and Hang Jebat is actually Bodyguard from China during the period of Puteri Hang Li Po......
    Hang, Hang and Hang......
    So please dont act....we are living in harmony countries itself eversince the revolution of history.

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