Longing For Enlightened Leaders
M. Bakri Musa
Before
Malaysians grant Prime Minister Najib’s request for a mandate in the
coming election, we should examine his performance during the past four
years. It has been mediocre, satiated with slogans, and drifting amidst
an abundance of acronyms.
If Malaysians are satisfied with KPI and PEMANDU, or One Malaysia
This and Two Malaysia That, then expect more of the same, this time with
ever incredulous inanity and flatulent fatuousness. Najib has not
demonstrated any ability or inclination to clean up his administrative
house. An early indication of his second term performance is this. Thus
far no cabinet minister has voluntarily withdrawn from being an
electoral candidate. As Najib will not drop them, if they win they will
end up in his cabinet again. Nothing would
have changed.
A wisecrack definition of insanity is doing the
same thing over and over, and expecting a different result. That is true
only if you let the same cast of incompetent characters carry out the
task after they have clearly and repeatedly demonstrated their inability
to do so.
Pick others more competent and diligent, and the result may well
surprise you. It would be far from insanity. The best advice a science
teacher could give a student who repeatedly fails to perform an
experiment is to suggest that he pursues music instead, where “practice,
practice, practice!” (doing the same thing over and over) may take him
to Carnegie Hall.
Likewise, the kindest gesture to Najib after he has clearly
demonstrated his inability to lead would be for Malaysians to force him
into another line of work, by not voting him and his party in.
After
over half of century in power, what has UMNO, a party that claims to
champion
Malays, achieved? Malays today are even more morally corrupt, deeply
polarized, and economically disadvantaged than ever before. Those are
not my observations. I am merely summarizing what Mamak, a man who led
the country and UMNO for over two decades, said. Take any social
indicator – rate of incarceration, drug abuse, families headed by single
mothers – and our community is over represented.
Our educational and economic achievements are nothing to be proud
of; they are an embarrassment. Yet UMNO Supreme Council members parade
their ‘doctorates’ from degree mills as genuine intellectual
achievements. The sorry part is that their colleagues believe them!
Spouses and families of ministers brag that their luxurious condominiums
are the fruits of their entrepreneurial flair where others see those as
reflecting the corruption and cronyism of the system.
Current UMNO leaders are like that inept science student; it is time
to force
them to pursue other lines of work, anything other than leading us.
Voters must be like the strict teacher; flunk the student who repeatedly
fails to perform his assigned task. Letting him continue would not do
that individual any service; it would only be detrimental to the rest of
the class. Voters must flunk these corrupt and incompetent UMNO leaders
by voting them out.
Not A Lost Cause
This does not mean that UMNO is a
lost cause; nothing is. Even the most unseaworthy sloop could through
imaginative and skilful craftsmanship be brought up to Bristol
condition. The operative phrase or caveat is “imaginative and skilful
craftsmanship.” Is Najib imaginative and skilful? I never underestimate
the ability of an individual to learn or change.
The diminutive, uninspiring and uncharismatic Deng Xiaoping was well
in his 70s when he assumed power. He then took his giant nation in a
radically different and far better direction. Unlike Deng, Najib is far from being diminutive physically, but he exceeds Deng in being uninspiring and uncharismatic.
Again unlike Deng whose path to power was littered with the
carcasses of personal and political tragedies (his son was paralyzed by
Red Guard goons and Deng was once paraded in a dunce cap on the streets
of Beijing
), Najib’s ascend to the top was well paved – by others.
Deng was tempered by life’s bitter lessons; Najib’s the beneficiary of its many blessings.
If
Najib considers that a handicap and an excuse for his under
performance, then he should look up to another transformative leader of
modern times, Franklin D Roosevelt, for inspiration. Roosevelt , whose
name means a field of roses in Dutch, was born into privilege. Yet he
uplifted the lives of Americans especially the poor through his New Deal
initiatives. His progressive redistributionist policies earned him the
sobriquet, “traitor to his class.”
Najib’s name is equally rosy; it
means wise, intelligent, or high birth in Arabic. Like Roosevelt , Najib
was also born into privilege though not on the same scale as FDR or
today. Corruption and cronyism were not yet the norms when Razak Hussein
was Prime Minister.
Going back to Deng, Najib too spent his formative years as a young
man abroad, in Britain , to Deng’s Europe . When Deng left, his father
asked him what he hoped to learn. Deng replied, “To learn knowledge and
the truth from the West in order to save China .” I do not know whether
Najib had a similar conversation with his father, but one thing I do
know. Razak Hussein sent all his children abroad to escape the
very Malaysian system of education he was championing! Hypocrisy is a
good word to describe such a stance. That is one trait Najib inherits
from his father.
I risk flattering Najib by mentioning him in the same
sentence with Deng and FDR. My doing so merely reflects a longing on my
part for a leader who could inspire us. Najib could initiate change now
to give us a hint that he is indeed capable of being a “transformative
leader” as he so frequently bragged, and not be content with merely
mouthing slogans. He could announce his “shadow” cabinet should Barisan
be returned to power. Better yet, revamp his cabinet now and pick his
new team to go into the election so citizens could have a reason to vote
for Barisan and not merely against Pakatan.
Malaysians do not expect miracles or demand a super team, merely
capable and honest ministers. It is not a tall order. Begin by getting
rid of those stale politicians in his cabinet. If they haven’t yet made
their mark, they are unlikely to do so in the next few years.
Characters like Nazri, Rais and Hishamuddin are like durians that have remained unsold for far too long. They are tak laku (unsellable), not even good for making tompoyak. All they do is stink the place up and lower the value of what few remaining good durians Najib has.
Nor are his junior ministers, the next tier of leaders, any better, as
exemplified by the recent idiotic utterances of one Dr. Mashitah. She is
supposedly better educated, sporting a doctorate of some sort. I could
add a few more names including that of Muhyyiddin, but that would only
be divisive. After all he has as much claim and legitimacy to the top
post as Najib. Instead why not join forces and together pick the new
dream team. While he is at it, Najib should also pick a new Attorney
General and anti-corruption chief.
If Najib were to name individuals with impeccable credentials and
professionalism to those two offices, then those old tak laku
durians he dropped from his cabinet would not dare create trouble for
him. Najib’s address to the UMNO General Assembly later this month will
reveal whether he is content with another session of sloganeering or
serious about transforming his party and country. The greater
significance is this. By indulging in the former and naming the same old
nincompoops to his cabinet and top positions, Najib soils the
reputation of our community. It gives the impression that the Nazris,
Raises, Mashitahs and Hishamuddins represent the best our race is
capable of producing or that we are bereft of talents. The shame
reflects on all of us.
May Allah have mercy on the Malays.
Dear friends,
Dr
Bakri Musa is a surgeon belonging to the seventies,an intellectual
Malay sholar who had come up by merit.He should have been here to serve
our people but decided to migrate to US due to unbearable racist policy
of Umno-BN.
We had lost many such intellectuals due to the BN policies of suppressing those who can think wisely.
Many
of us like Dr.Bakri,wanted a change but it was never possible for the
last 55years.Today after all these years of racially divide and rule
policy ,we see some light at the end of the tunnel - a flicker of hope
is finally at hand which we must not allow to pass.Yes we must grasp
this opportunity which we may never get again.
The time we have been waiting for is finally here.This 13GE is a
good opportunity to finally make that change.Dear friends for once let
us put aside our differences and unite as Malaysians to bring change
peacefully and in accordance with the laws.Let's not be afraid or shy to
do the right thing.Let's vote for change,let's vote for Pakatan.
God bless Malaysia
