Mahathir : Relevant Again?

Mahathir is indeed a master of all things politics. He transcend UMNO, Barisan Nasional and possible everything political in Malaysia. Mahathir’s shameless political pragmatism is only trumped by the audacity of his use of issues, whether racial, religious or economic to further his own agenda.

But perhaps in the twilight of his years he has become frail of mind and unable to be the clever manipulator of the public as he once was. He predicted that there will be an escalation in racial tension and division should NEP-style policies be removed.  This judicious use of racial and wealth division to conjure up an Armageddon that will destroy our country has only inadvertently exposed Mahathir to the public as the master manipulator that he really is. Perhaps, this time irrevocably! Let me explain why I say this!

Even at 84 Mahathir wants himself to be relevant. Consistently from the time he left government that has been his holy grail. The appointment of Pak Lah as his deputy was a decision made by Mahathir and Mahathir alone. At its simplest level this decision was his prerogative as Prime Minister then. At its worse it was a decision Mahathir took to have someone to succeed him whom he thought he could control and do his bidding when asked.

When the man he chose to succeed him did not (for whatever reason) meet his expectations Mahathir set out to make himself relevant to the process of removing Pak Lah from the office of Prime Minister. How did he do this?

He knew where to look and understood what had to be done and did it. In the name of saving UMNO and Malaysia he worked tirelessly to remove Pak Lah from office. There is no need to go into the intensity of his efforts – suffice for us to reprise his personal attacks on Pak Lah and Pak Lah’s family, on KJ and his ability to even harm UMNO in the process by leaving the party he was once President of – not forever but only until such time as Pak Lah was removed – then he returned as the prodigal son. What can be observed is the single mindedness of this evil man to have his own way no matter what. He had something he wanted to do (remove Pak Lah from office) and how he chose to do it did not matter as long as the end justifies the means.

And now he is at it again. He judges that the racial divide and the unequal division of wealth are issue the public wants resolve. Yes he is right in this assumption! But the words and phrases he uses to frame these issues are chosen not to resolve or manage these issue in a responsible manner but more to incite the people to take sides and formed rigid division amongst the races  - at precisely the time when we have no need for these divisions.

Mahathir is not bound by any of these sensibilities. He sees an opportunity to use race and distribution of wealth as a means of making him relevant again  - if not to all Malaysian – to enough Malaysian as to create unease within our country. And so Mahathir emerges as the new prophet who skillfully frames the question of race and wealth distribution as the question that must be addressed NOW – over and above anything else. Recklessly he has issued the clarion call – and so he is relevant again.

An UMNO and Barisan Nasional with its back against the wall is torn between trying to decide if what Mahathir is trumpeting is indeed the most important issue of the day.

Of course it is not. Corruption is. Nepotism is. Racial divide is. Politicians who abuse their power is. You eliminate these issues and all will fall into place. That these issues are the problem is already known to all and Mahathir cannot gain enough traction from these issues to establish his relevance in the political arena where Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat are doing battle.

And so he comes up with this :

Dr M warns NEP removal could lead to revolution.

And he now has the attention of the Malays, the non-Malays, UMNO, Barisan Nasional and almost everybody else because we all want to know who is this idiot talking about Ketuanan Melayu and keeping the non-Malays as second-class citizens? Who is waving the specter of revolution and a May 13^th over the whole country if these issues are not addressed immediately? Who would do this? Mahathir of course in order to be relevant!

So don’t you all think that it is time we just ignore this man who wants to be relevant in a time when he is no longer relevant? Mahathir has cried wolf too many times in the past to be believed. This man manipulates friends and eliminates enemies. He is not a wolf in sheep’s clothing. He is the wolf through and through. Be wary of this wolf call Mahathir.

The wolf was sick, he vowed a monk to be - But when he got well, a wolf once more was he.
Walter Bower  

cakap cakap...blogging !

I have been asked if I am a Muslim? If I am a card carrying member of Pakatan Rakyat? Why am I a Malay who denounces other Malays. Why do I write so much about Malaysia when I do not even live there? Who the f@#K am I?

How would the answer to these question affect you? Who I am, where I live or what I do has no bearing at all on the life you live. Possibly what I write might because you may or may not agree with what I write. Even here you can chose to click me out of your life and within a second I am gone.

When I am on my PC and land on any site on the Net  - it will take me just a few seconds to decide if I want to stay or leave that site. I have exit sites when the layout of that site does not appeal to me. When the fonts annoys my eyes. When the first sentence of an article does not grab my attention. So to those that disagree with what I write – click me out of your sight and your life!

Do not linger on my blog to be upset by what you read. If you disagree with what I write and you want to convey those feelings to me I would welcome any spirited debate if done without malice. Where I live, who I am or what I do does not matter because it is only my views that are put into the public domain. If I put anything else that is part of me onto my blog then that would mean that too is open to debate and discussions.

We now live in tumultuous times. Until a few years back  - two or three at the most – I do not know what a blog was and blogging was akin to mountain climbing – something I would never attempt even if my life depends on it. Apart from isolated instances when I am required to submit essays in school and prepare project papers in business situations, I have never written anything for myself or for others to read and ponder about.

Sending an email was an effort I could manage only with the assistance of others around me. A few weeks back I found out through a friend that you could, while traveling in a vehicle, take pictures of your journey and transmit the images to me via the Internet instantaneously. Every time I go on Skype to talk and see my daughter and her family in real time from Canada is a source of great joy and wonderment for me. And all this at no cost to me! Everyday I learn.

Sometimes I feel that I would rather have a blog where only ten or twenty people would read what I write – and I read what they write. Then we would all know each other by name – who we are, where we live and what we like and dislike. And through our blog we exchange views and ideas. We communicate -  a two way process.

Steadyaku47 is too impersonal for me. I find it hard to understand steadyaku47. Since I started working on the blog again these last few months I know that I have a steady number of people who will read what I write…...now here is the part I do not understand. Why do these people stop on steadyaku47? To read what I write? Linger on to listen to the music I posted? To laugh at what I think is funny and wanted to share with them?

Yes I do get comments and e-mails sent to me but 99.9% just land on my blog, read what they want and then our connection ends. You are just a statistic on my stats meter. I can trace you back to which country you are from, which city, which suburbs – even to which street – but that is all. It is so fleeting a connection and nothing comes out of it. That is why I sometimes think that it would be more fulfilling for me to have 20 people read what I write and stay connected to me and build on it. Would I rather have 20 people that I can connect with or a 1000 that hit and run? You tell me what you would rather have?

For me it is not enough to be able to write what I want and have it out onto the public domain for people to ponder, discuss and debate with it. Let me give you an example. Last week I posted a piece I found on my daughter’s Facebook “Death is Nothing.” at: 

http://steadyaku-steadyaku-husseinhamid.blogspot.com/2010/08/is-nothing-at-all-death-is-nothing-at.html

To me it was a well-written piece by someone able to express what he thought of death. And I wanted to share that piece with others because it moved me emotionally. That was until Antares sent me this comment: “Very healthy attitude towards death; reflects a healthy attitude towards life!”  That thought never crossed my mind and by taking the trouble to share his thoughts with me, Antares broaden my understanding of that “Death is Nothing” piece much more then I could do by myself. That my friend is why you should not hesitate to share your thoughts with others. Life is a learning process and I am eager to learn from any of you that care to share your thoughts.  

Islam.

Goldie Hawn and Dean Martin

Things: Dean Martin & Nancy Sinatra

Young at Heart: Durante, Dean Martin

The Taman Pulai Impian Surau Assault : Another perspective.

This is a posting by Mar Gee Mar at : http://margeemar.blogspot.com/ courtesy of HARTAL MSM
A good article and well thought of which I think should be read by many.

HH

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Charge the ‘surau man’ with assault on a minor!!

Courtesy of Hartal MSM
So how did the police so quickly know to finger the culprits who splashed paint at a surau in Taman Pulai Impian?

Elementary my dear Watson.

Police apprehended them on the night of Aug 24 and the morning of Aug 25. But guess what? Malaysiakini reported that the 13-year-old sister of one of the teenagers had lodged a police report on Aug 24 itself.

Her report claimed that her brother and his friends were “provoked” before the incident.

The girl said that she was with her brother and five other friends at a playground nearby the surau and they had gotten into an argument when a separate group of 20 men tried to chase them away.

“A Malay man in a red T-shirt and a songkok from the group became angry and called us babi (pigs)” — the girl said in her police report.
“We demanded to know why they used such language against us. That was when another group of men came out from the surau and reprimanded us.”

She explained that as her group refused to admit that they were at fault, the confrontation turned violent and one of the men, whom she claimed was from the surau, slapped her brother and chased them away.

See, something happened to trigger the vandalism… the insult ‘Cina babi’ — that incessant verbal abuse against the minorities. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Before the police arrested the boys, shouldn’t they also have arrested the grown-up bully who assaulted a teenager and gertak a 13-year-old girl?

Yet it is some Chinese voices who have been most strident that the Chinese boys who threw paint at the surau be punished most severely.

MCA central committee member Loh Seng Kok called for the surau vandals’ citizenship to be stripped.

Bernard Khoo (blog: Zorro Unmasked) urged that “the full force of the law must be used as a deterrent. If whipping is enforced, well and good.”

Note that the NST article had this to say: “One of the four suspects is jobless, while the rest are employed.”

Those Chinese boys are merely 16 and 17 years old. How come at their age they’re already working and one unemployed?

*** Why are they not in school? ***

Deprived of the chance of furthering their studies? Their fathers are mechanic, carpenter, trader — quite possibly unable to afford.

The number of Chinese dropouts is a national problem that MCA should be paying attention to instead of Loh Seng Kok wanting to have the poorly educated juveniles stripped of their citizenship. His over-reaction is outdoing the Malays who have been more forgiving. Loh looks like another LGE by being so ‘over’.

How you have utterly, most miserably failed the community you claim to represent, MCA, and now you descend to this low by haranguing errant boys?! Shame on them but BIGGER shame on you, Loh and MCA.
Think! Vui Kong sitting on the death row in Singapore. Why did he not have better opportunities in life? He could have been in college.

And even now, all some people can talk about is punish, punish, punish.

What about ‘HELP’ for a change? How about uplifting the marginalized?

Church arson vs mosque vandalism — proportionality

CASE 1

Two Malay youths were sentenced by Judge S.M. Komathy Suppiah of the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court to 5 years’ jail.

The youths aged 24 and 22 were found guilty of setting fire to the Metro Tabernacle Church near Taman Melawati in January.

They had claimed trial for the offence and did not publicly express any remorse for their act.

They had been charged under Section 436 of the Penal Code which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years jail and a fine.

The church suffered more than RM1 million in damages when its its entire ground floor was gutted and has since relocated to a new building.

CASE 2

Three Chinese teenagers have pleaded guilty to charges of lobbing bottles filled with paint at a surau in Seremban, on Aug 22.

The trio, aged between 16 and 17, are awaiting sentencing by magistrate M. Mageshwary of the Juvenile Court.

They were charged under Section 427 of the Penal Code which carries a maximum penalty of 2 years jail and a fine.

Their offence is for causing damage “to the amount of RM25 or above”.

The boys have publicly apologized for their act.

WERE THEY AWARE?

The Malay youths were sentenced 5 years — a quarter of the maximum penalty (20 years). Going by the same ratio, the Chinese boys should be sentenced to 6 months jail.

The fact that the Chinese teens have said sorry and the mosque committee forgiven them are mitigating factors. The material damage in terms of monetary cost is not much — some turpentine and a new coat of paint.

Did the vandals fully realise the ramifications of their act on our fraught race relations?

(In comparison, the Malay youths surely knew they were setting a match to the religious tinderbox by doing what they did at the time they did it.)

Nonetheless the Malay youths have been receiving rounds of support from Malay blogosphere whereas the Chinese boys have been hurled sticks and stones by certain Chinese themselves.

Calling to revoke citizenship and for whipping is going waaay overboard!

Marty Robbins : Devil Women

Carol Burnet, Tim Conway

Frank & Nancy Sinatra : Something Stupid

Joke lagi.....

NINA in UMNO..but rich : No Income. No Assets but Rich.

In UMNO there are many Malays who have become rich without working for it, without any business acumen and without any brains!

In UMNO there are many Malays who have been given lucrative business opportunities without any financial risks for them. These are fail-safe cash cows with an iron clad money back guarantee - the government buys it back from you at a premium – not if your fail but when you fail!

But here is where UMNO has failed these Malays. Tajuddin Ramli, Amin Shah, Halim Saad…these are the top of the heap of failed Malay ‘businessman’ who epitomizes those who benefited from selective government patronage and became part of the culture of greed now infused into many Malay consciousness. These individuals have been given every assistance, every fail-safe option to succeed. And yet they fail.

And then there are those like Mahathir’s son, Mirzan: 


(http://steadyaku-steadyaku-husseinhamid.blogspot.com/2009/11/mahathirs-dodo-dynasty.html)  


whose ‘businesses’ have been kept afloat by billions of ringgits belonging to  the people and this son of Mahathir considers himself a businessman of considerable abilities - the new rich Malays. Malays who are multi millionaires riding on the back of UMNO and the people’s money. But at least this son makes a show of running a business empire- a diverse conglomerate that covers a range of activities – mostly legal! But come on lah….what business empire? Given the breaks he has had, even a monkey can live in clover without ever running out of bananas for the rest of his life!

Then we have Malays like the late Zakaria Deros, Muhammad Taib, Isa Samad, Shahidan Kassim and of course the infamous Khir Toyo. These are the scum’s of the earth. They do not even have the intelligence or decency to hide the wealth that they have stolen from the very people who have voted to put them in power. The hastiness in which Khir Toyo had proceeded to display his stolen wealth after losing office fills most of us with stomach wrenching disgust. But these are the people that UMNO has chosen to be leaders within UMNO.

But what is most damaging to the Malays are the many thousand of Malays who have been taught that money can be got by abusing the trust placed in them by other Malays.

A Ketua Cawangan gets a contract to build a primary school in his kawasan. Without any knowledge of business he is given a business opportunity way beyond his capacity to manage. All he knows is that he has to get someone… just about anyone…. who will take the contract off his hands and give him a handsome commission. He makes the 20% to 50% commission off the contract price. It does not concern him if the contract is successfully completed or not – what matters is how much he will make as commission from that contract – after all he has already spent the advance given to him by JKR to start the contract. To him this is a good way of doing business.

And so UMNO teaches a Malay to do business without having any knowledge of the business that he does, without any working capital, without risks and certainly without any brains to be able to better himself by this business opportunity given to him by UMNO.    

While all this is going on the wheeling and dealing is most intense in the corridors of power. In Putrajaya and in the Government Ministries. Not only by the Minister himself but also by all his staff – anybody and everybody with access to the Minister will make their money. In Agriculture, Defense, Education, Trade, Energy, Water and Communication and the mother of all Ministries, The Ministry of Finance. And do not forget the Government Agencies and anywhere else a ringgit can be made. Hell there are money to be made even in Rela and the  Anti-drugs Agency!

All this orgy of making money makes these Malays cash rich. Wine, women and song…big cars, nice clothes are easy enough habits to acquire but it does not teach them how to keep the money or how to use the money to make more money. And their ability to make money remains as long as their Minister stays a Minister  – so make hay while the sun shines!

And so what does it do to these Malays? They become parasites.

Parasite “Somebody who lives off the generosity of others and does nothing in return”

What they earn is not enough to keep them in the lifestyle that they want to live up to and so they take from us. While we have to live on the wages we earn UMNO eagerly opens up many sources of illegal income for those that pledge alligience to the party.

These Malays are regarded by most Malays as the worst of the blight that UMNO has caused to the Malay race. The presence of these Malays makes real all that UMNO leaders have been saying about the Malays. That the Malays need to be spoon fed, that the Malays are unable to compete on a level playing field with the other races, that the Malays will always need Ketuanan Melayu or they will be no more Malays left in their own country! This is certainly true of the Malays in UMNO but not of the Malays outside UMNO!  

I shudder to think of what the future will hold for these people. Where will they go and how will they survive when UMNO is out of government?

We see a bit of the future for these people in the likes of Ibrahim Ali and Mahathir. They know nothing but politics. Without politics they do not have a life…….even when they are past 80. But there are no more places for them within UMNO. And so we see them do what they do now and they become a pain to us in a place where the sun does not shine! Just think of the negative impact it will have on the country when this scenario is repeated thousand of times at various levels after the next general elections when UMNO is ousted!

The way things are for UMNO they know it would be a mistake to send a message to the other races that UMNO only looks after their own – but what choice do they have?

What we need to understand is that UMNO has a fragmented political reality with real power residing outside cabinet. The extent to which this power is exercised will depend on the Prime Minister of the day. Our history will show us that Tunku, Hussein Onn and Abdullah Badawi left office because of circumstances beyond their control. Circumstance created by those outside government but within UMNO. A weak PM like Najib will surrender power to this faction, or for the lack of a better word, to these warlords as and when dictated to do so.

Because UMNO has been identified with the Malays, UMNO’s problem is the Malay problem. UMNO’s crisis is a Malay crisis. And UMNO’s solution to their problem will also be a Malay solution. UMNO wants to lead but its ability to lead will depend on whether their intention to change is sincere. Whether it can be backed by positive change in the face of opposition from the powerful forces within UMNO that wants to maintain its present status quo. I think not. UMNO is deceit. UMNO is greed. UMNO is not our future! 


As the Chinese says : “The harsh winter is gone and spring is around the corner” ….I think that spring is indeed around the corner for all of us. We await the 13th general Election with much impatience!

  
p.s.

semuanya OK kot said...

Bolehland economics:
- Extending a major strategy that is claimed to have failed spectacularly.
- No restriction on the immediate sale of discounted shares, property etc. for "economic upliftment".
- Loans for investment.
- Borrowing through bonds though "we don't need the money".
- A virtual and mysterious economic "stimulus" of billions.
- Guarantee of business profits in contracts.
- Guarantee of financing in contracts.
- Subcontracing without restriction, and the conversion of contracts into wealth without work.
- Secrecy of contracts and the financing of politics.
- Zero inflation.
- Massive cost overruns and wastage.
- Undermining workers through legal and illegal foreigners, and through weaker unions.
- Hosting industries rejected overseas.

Note: this is only policy. I have avoided mentioning the multifarious forms of CBT.

Zidane, Street Football, Cristiano

Cakap cakap....Anwar & Kamarulbahrin.

To be Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim needs to tread a fine line between idealism and the pragmatism of political reality. Nobody can get that exactly right. Anwar can only try.

He will struggle to contain PAS and DAP within the confines of Pakatan Rakyat and amidst the close quarters of religion and dogma. With the timing of the general election still to be decided there are already soothsayers who pronounced Sabah already lost. There are those who are certain that Zaid is going for the number Two post, which by inference indicates he is actually aiming for the number one post! There are already question asked if the Malays will accept Lim Guan Eng as Prime Minister, Lim Kit Siang and Karpal as Governor of Penang and Malacca? And was one being mischievous when Jui Meng was suggested as Mentri Besar of Johor?  

All this before the year when a general election year is to be called was set – not day or month but the year! Do you wonder sometimes how our Pakatan Rakyat leaders cope?

Yes we know that they need to be prepared for all eventualities....but steadylah!  Be confident that within Pakatan Rakyat there is enough wisdom and common sense to meet our aspirations. Our hope, our expectations and our dreams of living a good life in a good country.      

So for now hold your tongue. We are family. Discuss our differences, and our misgivings as a family should – within our self and within the four walls that is our home. Do not let others who are not with us interfere in our dealings and with how we run our life. Not all can be trusted to understand our fight. Not all can be depended upon to help us up when we fall. Trust only those who through their actions and deeds understand our cause. Reject those that seek to engage us in discussions where the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the language we talk, the color of our skin and the religion we practice is reason enough for them to call us a friends or an enemy.

Think in depth about the issues that matters to you. Understand your limitations and accentuate your strengths. Commit yourself by your deeds to making a decent future for our children and above all be true to yourself. It will take courage to live the life of our conviction. There will be enough courage and wisdom in the leaders of Pakatan Rakyat to lead us if we falter.     

For Anwar and those Pakatan Rakyat leaders in the front lines I take heart from these lines by Robert Jarvik “Leaders are visionaries with a poorly developed sense of fear and no concept of the odds against them.”

What courage does it take for Anwar, Lim Kit Siang, Karpal, Tok Guru, Zaid, Jui Meng and all those Pakatan Rakyat front liners to go against UMNO and Barisan Nasional? I remember meeting Bahrain – you all know him as Dato’ Kamarul Bahrain Abbas: MP Telok Kemang – many years ago when Mahathir was God, UMNO his disciples and Malaysia his Kingdom – and I remembered asking within myself why was Bahrain with Anwar then when Anwar was within the four walls of Sungai Buloh?

You can call it loyalty, you can call it anything you like. But now I know this. Bahrain knew then what we know only now. He knew that there will be a Pakatan Rakyat to do battle with UMNO and Barisan Nasional and that Anwar will lead Pakatan Rakyat into the 13^th General Election with a real possibility of forming Government after the elections were over. I now call that hindsight. I knew some people, including me, that called Bahrain a lunatic back then! Sorry brother, forgive me.        

                                Death is nothing at all

Death is nothing at all

I have only slipped away into the next room

I am I and you are you

Whatever we were to each other

That we are still

Call me by my old familiar name

Speak to me in the easy way you always used

Put no difference into your tone

Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow

Laugh as we always laughed

At the little jokes we always enjoyed together

Play, smile, think of me, pray for me

Let my name be ever the household word that it always was

Let it be spoken without effort

Without the ghost of a shadow in it

Life means all that it ever meant

It is the same as it ever was

There is absolute unbroken continuity

What is death but a negligible accident?

Why should I be out of mind

Because I am out of sight?

I am waiting for you for an interval

Somewhere very near

Just around the corner

All is well.

Nothing is past; nothing is lost

One brief moment and all will be as it was before

How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting when we meet again!

Canon Henry Scott-Holland, 1847-1918, Canon of St Paul's Cathedral

This morning a note from a cousin and then my daughter told me of the passing of Azah, my cousin Razak's wife. My immediate recall was of her smile - always a smile on her face. Razak our condolences to you and our thoughts are with you and your family. My daughter posted this on her facebook and I thought it would be good  if we all could read this and understand a bit more about life.

 

Political Leadership-Monkey see Monkey do!

       

       MONKEY SEE MONKEY DO

In as long as we have, as our self proclaimed political elites, people like Mahathir, Najib and Mahyuddin then we are forever dammed to have other politicians who are of the same skin – corrupt, greedy with the inability to empathize with the Rakyat and arrogance thrown in just for safe measure. 

This morning I see in NST the following headlines: Najib: “I'll speak to Taib about his future”

Now what will they speak about? About Taib’s many billions stolen from the people of Sarawak? About the suffering of the Penans? About Taib’s inability to account for a staggering RM 4.8 billion of government expenditure over the past three years alone? Or is Najib going to talk about what properties to buy in London for himself and his family to keep as an investment?

If anything Najib will want to know how Taib is able to control the Finance Ministry, Planning and Resources Ministry and Chief Ministry which together control 80% of the Development Budget. This is indeed a feat worthy of inclusion in the Malaysian Book or Records!

About the only thing that Najib could rap Taib’s knuckle for is for ‘melawan taukey’ – I mean come on lah a Rolls Royce for the Chief Minister? 

Friends this is what they are going to talk about…Taib and Najib are going to work out what Taib will get if he leaves and what he will get if he stays! End of story.

This is our lot. Having leaders who are so bereft of any redeeming qualities that to call them leaders at all only serves to reflect how bankrupt our nation is of good people with integrity and accountability. But then are we to admit that in our nation of over 20 million people there is none among us that can lead? Certainly not! But UMNO has corrupted leadership within the political arena into what UMNO wants it to be – a den of thieves, thugs. If you follow the trial of deceit and lies within the government – it will lead to UMNO. If you seek those that plunder and pillage our country’s coffers it will lead to UMNO. And if you need to know how absolute power corrupts absolutely you look within UMNO. Everyone in UMNO understands that one hand washes the other. Once you call yourself an UMNO member then you are in the party. You will do what is right for the party. If you do not then you are replaceable. Anwar was replaced. Pak Lah was replaced. Zaid was replaced. Chuah Jui Meng was replaced. So who is left in UMNO understands that one hand washes the other. They need each other to survive.

All this talk about an end to money politics within UMNO and giving 1Malaysia a try is a joke! So is Najib talking to Taib about Taib’s future. Arresting Liong Sik, putting MACC under the microscope for Teoh Beng Hock’s murder…all a joke. And it would be funny to us too if it was not for the fact that it is our money that they are stealing and our people that they are murdering! And this circus will go on and on until UMNO is out of government! Each joke dumber and more irrelevant than the one before it while we get more disgusted and more contemptuous of them treating us like fools by the day.

But what can we do? Everything UMNO did is legal! We elected them into government and once in government you can make legal that which is not legal. We are not talking about what is morally right or what is morally wrong. PDRM can hold suspect in custody. MACC can question Teoh Beng Hock. The Attorney General can go after Anwar for sodomy two. The government can spend billions of our money for Greater Kuala Lumpur. In as long as UMNO operates within the rules of this country then it does not matter if people are murdered and billions are lost. Tough luck! UMNO obeyed the rules! We elected political leaders without integrity and accountability so we live with it! 

With the 13^th General Election we can change things. This is what we have to understand. We need to elect leaders who will be able to assess a situation and make a decision based on what is best for ‘the greatest number of people’ in the country. Not just for themselves, for their cronies, for UMNO or for just the Malays – but for the “greatest number of people” in the country. And more important a leader must also have integrity and the willingness to stand up for what is right – even if it means resigning a position in government or losing an election. Already I can see some of you asking me if whether that was what Zaid did. Yes, that is what Zaid did when he resigned first from the Cabinet and then from UMNO. This is the same Zaid that is now in Pakatan Rakyat!

SO what makes a good leader? I cannot put it better then what this article in google under “Leadership Expert” at : http://www.leadershipexpert.co.uk/political-leader.html …so here it is:

So what makes a good political leader? A good political leader is:

–   Someone who serves as an example of integrity and loyalty to the people they represent, both to the public and to other political leaders.

–   Someone with good communication and inter-personal skills, who can work with a range of other people, regardless of political party or opinion, to achieve the greatest good for the general population.

–   Someone who can resist the various temptations and lures of the political arena

–   Someone of strong character, with both conscience and charisma

–   Someone willing to listen to the needs of the common people and to represent them faithfully

–   Someone with the courage to stand up and say what needs to be said – rather than just tell the general public what it wants to hear

–   Someone who is willing to make difficult (and possibly unpopular) decisions for the greater good.

UMNO fails on all counts…I repeat “on all counts!” So you know what you have to do when the time comes to cast your vote at the next general election! Throw UMNO out!