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If It isn’t UMNO, What Then?
By Mihar Dias
(C) Copyright, January 2022
Returning UMNO to power may pave the way for more corruption in the country, said Tun Mahathir in a recent report by The Malaysian Insight. He felt that to stop UMNO Malays must be convinced to withdraw their support for the party.
However, he reassured that defeating UMNO did not mean destroying Malay dominance in government. Instead, he was planning on a cleaner Malay dominated Federal Government that would be free of corruption.
If UMNO were to win, in the next election, he contended it would form a corrupt government and we would be led by the corrupted yet again.
Thus, he concluded, “we” meaning all Malays, had to fight UMNO and defeat it and at the same time, work closely with non-Malays who are clean and not affected by corruption.
So, if it isn’t UMNO, what then?
Besides Tun, many other levels headed Malaysians would agree that putting UMNO back in power would only give party stalwarts (warlords) opportunities to do what they have always done in the past.
One of its strongest supporters told me what UMNO meant to him; Unlimited Money and Opportunities. Where would this endless supply of money come from if not through opportunities created by “unacceptable” means? 1MDB was one phenomenal opportunity for some but it is still haunting us, making Malaysia a despicable nation. Some say 1MDB was one of Malaysia’s worst disastrous blunders, ever!
Tun M might be right. Putting UMNO back into the driving seat would only perpetuate the plunder.
However, what choice do voters have when they go to the ballot box in the next General Election?
UMNO is an old established brand like Panadol for headaches, Colgate for the teeth and Milo when you needed that extra energy. In the Malay heartland, it is the only brand to satisfy their thirst and cure their headaches. For more than 60 years the masses have been made to believe that it was the only brand that could cure whatever ailed the Malays.
But there is an exception. In the 3P states that grow padi and conduct religious classes in ‘pondoks‘ there is PAS, a splinter of UMNO itself, offering their gullible supporters of turning the country into an Islamic state.
It is an ingenious ploy to coax voters by deploying the 4 Ps of marketing with success in past general elections. They have effectively sold to the Malays their brand using the 4Ps of Product, Pricing, Promotion and Placement.
PAS had convinced the people in these states that it was the only party that would defend Muslim Malays and take them to the “Promised Land”. The gullible swallowed it, hook line and sinker.
Then there is Bersatu, again another splinter of UMNO promising Malays more or less the same but minus the promise of making Malaysia an Islamic state to be governed by Syariah Law.
On the other hand, there is PKR, another UMNO splinter but hardly considered as an all Malay political party because its members are multiracial.
Tun read the Malay mind when he said “we” must fight UMNO implying he and all Malays ought to reject that party and instead rally around Pejuang. This is a new brand. The Malays have not fully grasped its mission. Neither have they understood what it could do to help the desperate Malays in the UMNO heartland.
So, Tun adopted a clear strategy, tell the masses to reject everything evil about UMNO, something everyone would easily understand. He added that “we” meaning Pejuang would have to choose candidates and non-Malay partners who are clean. I guess, he knew his newly launched party, planning to contest in all major constituencies, would not be able to win a landslide without support from the non-Malays.
The very next day, as if to reinforce his argument he told those UMNO supporters to stop kissing the hand of their former president or call him “Boss Ku”. This was the guy who created the One Malaysia Disasterous Blunder (1MDB) that brought the nation to its knees. He shamed us to no end and was convicted by the courts but is still allowed to lord over his gullible and “forgiving” Malay supporters.
Pejuang will have to find candidates of impeccable character, well educated, selfless, untainted by corruption or scandals. They would have to be almost like “saints” in contrast to the seasoned, foxy and scheming characters in rival parties.
Pejuang is a new party and is ready to accept a younger lineup compared to the more established parties. But they ought to be able to withstand the scrutiny of the ‘rakyat’ and only then would they get a chance to convince enough Malays to abandon UMNO or PAS or Bersatu.
On the other hand, I do not think older leaders in rival parties would be keen to make way for young clean candidates. They have already invested much time and money hoping to get nominated themselves.
There lies the contrast in the next election. Pejuang would project a young untainted lineup. Their rivals would offer old and experienced candidates.
I believe the youths will be able to bring a brighter future to our country but first, they would have to win.
However, more importantly, will the gullible Malays embrace the new brand and the youthful breed, wholeheartedly, in large enough numbers, for the country to be able to reject UMNO in its very own heartland?
Mihar Dias is a content writer under Headliner by Newswav, a programme where content creators get to tell their unique stories through articles and at the same time monetize their content within the Newswav app.
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