1. After Parliament was dissolved on the 13th April 2013, I was interviewed by a BBC journalist. He appeared quite convinced that race-based parties such as those in the National Front would be rejected by a more liberal electorate which believes in democracy, freedom and non-racial politics. Also the idealistic young would reject the BN.

2. I had to disagree with him as I believed that racial polarization in Malaysia had become more pronounced now than ever before. I may not always be right but after 60 years involvement in Malaysian politics I felt strongly that the race factor will continue to dominate the politics of the country.  The quality of the candidates or parties, the ideologies and the desire for change will always be secondary to race.

3. The election results showed that I was right. The DAP playing on racial sentiments drew the Chinese away from BN by depicting the MCA as lackeys of UMNO. The DAP won 38 seats, reducing the MCA’s seats from 15 to 7. The Gerakan won one seat out of two. All the DAP Chinese contested in Chinese majority constituencies.  A few of the MCA, Gerakan and MIC candidates contested in Malay majority constituencies.

Continue reading RACIAL POLARIZATION →

1. Pada 11hb. Mei 2013, UMNO merayakan hari penubuhannya yang ke 63 dengan sembahyang dan tahlil, ucapan bersemangat dari Presiden Najib Tun Razak dan majlis makan malam. Tetapi UMNO pada 2013 ini bukanlah sama dengan UMNO 1946.

2. Pada 1946, pengasas UMNO yang berkumpul di Johor Baru bersemangat untuk menyelamatkan bangsa Melayu dari kehilangan bangsa mereka, dari kehilangan tanahair mereka, dari menjadi rakyat sebuah tanah jajahan British dan hilangnya Melayu di dunia.

3. Perjuangan pemimpin dan ahli pengasas UMNO pada masa itu ialah untuk bangsa, agama dan tanahair. Tidak ada tujuan lain yang menggerakkan mereka, sudah tentu tidak ada kepentingan diri atau niat untuk jadi pembesar negara merdeka dengan upah yang lumayan.

4. Oleh kerana itu mereka dihormati, dialu-alukan dan disokong oleh hampir semua orang Melayu. Mereka adalah pejuang dan jaguh dan orang Melayu datang berduyun-duyun untuk menyertai parti UMNO yang ditubuh oleh mereka.

5. Maka bersatulah Melayu, tanpa mengambilkira pangkat dan darjat, tanpa mempedulikan berpelajaran Melayu, Inggeris atau agama. Mereka semua Melayu samada dari negeri-negeri yang berlainan, dengan raja yang berlainan, atau apa-apa lain yang membezakan mereka.

Continue reading UMNO DAHULU DAN SEKARANG →

1. Street demonstrations can bring down Governments. This we know from the Arab Spring. But we should also know that setting up a new Government to replace the old Government is not as easy.

2. There will always be people who will not agree with the new Government, no matter if the Government is democratically elected or not. The losers in the bid for power will always accuse the winners of cheating and frauds of all kinds. They will demand for new elections, or a re-count or whatever.

3. If their demand is not agreed to then they will take to the streets in continuous and even violent demonstrations, supplemented with strikes and sundry disorders. They know that if the demonstrations are big enough, the police cannot act against them. If the police try, they will resist and become violent. If the police react with violence than their foreign backers will accuse the police of brutality.

4. In many instances the police had to withdraw or they may be directed to withdraw. They become disinclined to carry out their duties. Some people would take advantage of this by committing minor crimes. The people would feel insecure.

5. If on the other hand new elections are held, and the former losers win, the new losers will accuse the winners of cheating, of fraud etc. They will hold street demonstrations and strikes and do everything possible to bring down the Government. And so it would go on.

6. The net result would be continuous turmoil in the country. There would be no growth. Poverty will spread. The country may have to beg for aid or borrow. In the end it loses its independence.

7. But of course this is a small price to pay for the right to bring down governments through democratic street demonstrations.

8. Perhaps it would be better if governments are chosen through street demonstrations. It would probably be less fraudulent.

1. I visited Lahad Datu on March 17, to see the members of our security forces and get a short briefing as to what was happening.

2. I was surprised to learn that the Felda palm oil plantation there is as big as the state of Melaka. There is a good-sized port at Lahad Datu equipped with modern cranes. I had expected to see forests there but the whole area has been opened up and Felda settlers live in large houses built by them. They are obviously well-off.

3. The security boys are in good spirit and seem prepared to do their duty despite the real danger of their being killed or wounded by the Kiram terrorists.

4. The situation there is very complex. The Felda settlers are Malaysian citizens of many tribal origins including Suluk. But there are also non-citizen Suluk living in the villages in the area.

5. The non-citizens seem to have been allowed to cultivate oil palms. However, at least one of them was very aggressive and insisted that he owned the part of the Felda estate next to his. Apparently, he collected the fruits and sold them for high profits as the palm oil prices were very high. Nobody dared to take any action against him.

Continue reading LAHAD DATU →