By Niza Shimi
It’s always refreshing to hear the views of young politicians because they reflect the aspirations of their generation. Whether we agree or disagree with their views, it’s good to allow the young to have their say. The future belongs to them.
An article published by Free Malaysia (FMT) on August 6, 2022 “End patronage politics, say youth leaders of Bersatu, UMNO” captured the gist of the debate hosted by the United Kingdom and Eire Council for Malaysian Students. Catch the full debate here.
(The online political dictionary definition: Political patronage is the system of rewarding political allies with government jobs, especially prestigious positions which pay well and demand little in the way of work. Political patronage is sometimes also referred to as “spoils.”)
The view of United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) deputy youth chief Shahril Hamdan caught my attention. He said young politicians should rid of feudalistic ways in the Malay political system such as the notion that “UMNO exists because only the party can help Malays”.
He said while some of his party colleagues subscribed to this notion, he would never support it. “I want Malays to support UMNO and not because they’re Malays. I want Malays to support UMNO because UMNO has the best policies and formulas.”
That may seem like a radical idea to the old folks of UMNO but it certainly makes sense. There’s more that will challenge future generations than the fight for independence that gave birth to UMNO. Political strategies will need to adapt to the changing times.
If you think about it, so many of the politicians who hopped about hither and thither to form new political parties were originally from UMNO. In fact, all the prime minister contenders for the upcoming 15th general elections (GE15) are clones of UMNO.
The oldest UMNO clone is Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed who left UMNO to co-found Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) and now with Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang). Parti Keadilan Rakyat’s (PKR) president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is an UMNO clone.
So is Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal of Parti Warisan Sabah. It seems that no current Malay leader is untouched by the UMNO DNA directly on indirectly. It looks like GE15 will be the UMNO clone wars.
But what Malaysia needs is a superhero who can bring new DNA to its political vision of the future. There’s a lot of frustration among the young when the elders don’t understand the challenges that they will face. The generation gap will always be there. The bigger issue is that of succession.
Young political leaders aren’t just competitors, they will be successors. They need to be given a chance to learn the ropes. Traditionally, politics has been an apprenticeship of sorts. Not everyone has what it takes to be a leader.
A young Anwar Ibrahim was seen as the hope for the future of UMNO in the 1980s. But history has charted a different course for him. A rising star that was the PM-designate, his sacking as deputy PM in 1998 changed the course of history not only for him but for the nation at large.
What kind of leaders do we want to inherit the mantle of leadership? Can UMNO lead with good policies and formulas? Can young politicians like Shahril Hamdan last in UMNO? If he is what UMNO has to offer, there might just be hope for the future.
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