Khairy: A Chance To Be A Hero

A Kadir Jasin

OR would he choose to be a zero?

I have been many a time condemned for suggesting that Khairy Jamaluddin is the future leader of Umno and the country. There are many KJ haters and sceptics out there.

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I am no KJ’s admirer, but I have say that, given the dearth of promising young leaders in the party, KJ shines like a distant star in the dark void of space.

I have not met him for years now. All that I know about him is from the media and from the people who dislike him.

But no matter how hard I try, I could not seem to find another equally visible candidate to take over Umno in the years to come, assuming that the party survives the current leadership crisis, witch hunt, vendetta and MAD (mutually assured destruction).

Although I have ceased to be associated with Umno since June last, I still think it has a good chance of surviving – if not as a ruling party at least as a strong opposition.

If the latter should be the case, KJ could be a good candidate for Ketua Pembangkang Parlimen (Parliamentary Opposition Leader).

At the rate Umno is going down the chute under (Datuk Seri) Mohd Najib Abdul Razak and his merry men and women, the latter is a distinct possibility.

Back in 2008 I wrote in this blog an article entitled “KJ: Daripada Shooting Star kepada Underdog” to which his mother, whom I know rather well, took serious umbrage. KJ had described himself as shooting star and tall poppy to explain widespread resentment against his meteoric rise under the patronage of (Tun) Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

I contended that in the Malay language, shooting star is called “tahi bintang” which I literally translated as the excrement of the star – a burning asteroid plunging down to earth. Read here if you wish.

Is KJ Saying PM Is A Goner?

In recent months KJ has been in dilemma - not knowing exactly how to protect his own flank without being seen to be disloyal to his beleaguered party president and Prime Minister.

He has been alternating between dithering, hedging and pontificating.

But his latest statement is brave, pointed and damning. Speaking at the Malaysian Student Leaders Summit in Kuala Lumpur on Aug 9 he said the government needs to immediately deal with its trust deficit and the crisis of confidence it faces to stem the free fall of the ringgit.

He was also quoted as saying that the party, meaning Umno, is bigger than one man (read Mohd Najib).

The Youth and Sports Minister said the lack of confidence and trust in the government also caused investors to take their money out of Malaysia.

“No one trusts the message or the messenger. This crisis in confidence is why the ringgit is in free fall and investors are taking their money elsewhere.

“The more the ringgit falls, the more expensive things are,” Khairy was quoted telling the summit.

Like many in Umno KJ knows that Mohd Najib is a goner in as far as public confidence and trust are concerned.

Many of the more educated and independent Umno leaders, including in the party’s supreme council and the Cabinet, know that for as long as Mohd Najib remains the PM, public confidence and trust will remain dismal.

So for KJ to say that the country is suffering from trust deficit and the crisis of confidence is nothing out of the ordinary. What would be out of the ordinary is his solution to the problem.

Would he dare to lead the charge of the light brigade to topple Mohd Najib and rebuild public trust and confidence? Or would he continue to dither, waver, vacillate, falter and hesitate?

As for the economy and the ringgit, that is what we have been saying for months. The fall of the ringgit to below RM4 to a US dollar on Aug 12 was the ultimate proof of that.

If KJ does nothing beyond speaking, he will go down in history as an Umno Youth Leader who misses the opportunity to do something good for his party and great for his country.

The young people in front of whom he made the statement would remember what he said for a long time to come. They would have shared what he said with their online friends.

Where does he stand and what is his feature in all the formulations and permutations concerning the future leadership of the country in the post-Najib era?

He could seize that occasion to prove that he dares to walk the talk or to affirm that he is yet another self-serving, sweet-talking fake pejuang.

FOOTNOTE: The PKR could have fallen into the PM’s trap when it filed a civil suit against him for allegedly committing electoral offences. The suit could render debate on Mohd Najib’s multi-billion ringgit political “donations” sub judice.

Wallahuaklam.

KJ: Daripada Shooting Star Kepada Underdog

A Kadir Jasin

[Komen menggunakan pengenalan anonymous TIDAK AKAN DILAYAN. Sila gunakanlah nama sebenar atau nama samaran. Jikalau menggunakan anonymous, sila nyatakan nama di penghujung komen. Ulasan yang mengandungi unsur fitnah, hasutan, perkauman dan bahasa kesat tidak akan disiarkan. Ulasan yang terkeluar daripada tajuk tidak akan diberi keutamaan.]

PADA 13 Mac, 2005 akhbar The Star meletik Naib Ketua Pemuda Umno, Khairy Jamaluddin, sebagai mengandaikan dirinya dan Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo sebagai mengalami sindrom “shooting star” dan “tall poppy”.

Ketika itu Dr Mohamad Khir adalah Menteri Besar Selangor dan sedang mengalami tekanan apabila sebuah anak syarikat PKNS didapati bersalah dan didenda kerana melanggar peraturan pembersihan tapak perumahan di Bukit Cahaya, Shah Alam.

Khairy membela Dr Mohamad Khir dan The Star melaporkannya sebagai berkata:

“I am sorry if I seem over-sympathetic but I get the same treatment and I can relate to him.

“It is something similar to the shooting-star syndrome or the tall poppy…..”

Dalam bahasa Melayu ia berbunyi lebih kurang begini:

“Saya minta maaf jika saya nampak terlalu bersimpati dengannya tetapi saya pun mendapat layanan yang serupa dan saya boleh rasakan apa yang dia rasa.

“Ia serupa dengan sindrom shooting star atau tall poppy ….”

Dalam kolum saya, “Other Thots” (Malaysian Business keluaran 1 April 2005), saya berkata tidak ada ungkapan atau istilah shooting star dalam bahasa Melayu.

Dalam bahasa Melayu, fenomena ini dianggap sebagai hantu yang terbang di angkasa pada waktu malam atau tahi bintang.

Tall poppy langsung tidak adalah sebab orang Melayu tidak taman pokok popi yang daripada buahnya diperoleh getah yang diproses menjadi candu atau heroin. Kalau tanam juga, alamat nak tempah maut.

Bila saya merujuk kepada kamus ungkapan Inggeris, rupa-rupa tall poppy bererti “high achiever” atau seorang yang tinggi pencapaiannya.

Menanglah pada waktu Dr Mohamad Khir dan Khairy umpama bintang bergemerlapan. Dr Mohamad Khir baru saja menang dengan undi tertinggi dalam pemilihan ahli biasa Majlis Tertinggi Umno manakala Khairy menang Naib Ketua Umno tanpa bertanding.

Saya tidak salahkan Khairy bila dia guna ungkapan Inggeris yang kita tak faham atau yang tak ada perbandingan dalam bahasa Melayu.

Maklumlah dia pun banyak belajar dan tinggal di luar, dan mengaji di Oxford pula. Tapi nak bagi tahulah sikitlah. Saya pun lulus Cambridge.

Bukan Universiti Cambridge tapi Senior Cambridge (tahun 1966) dan pakai Oxford Geometry Set yang terkenal itu. Itulah Oxford dan Cambridge kita. Tapi, Alhamdulillah, kita ok juga. Bolehlah cari makan.

Semalam (16 Oktober) saya baca dalam Utusan Malaysia Khairy kata dia “underdog” dalam pertandingan jawatan Ketua Pemuda Umno.

Kalau dulu dia kata dia “shooting star” dan “tall poppy”, sekarang dia kata dia “underdog”. Ini pun ungkapan bahasa orang putih juga.

Jadi saya tak marahlah kalau Utusan tidak terjemah jadi “anjing bawah” macam selalu kita tengok dalam sari kata filem.

Utusan memetik Naib Ketua Pemuda dan Ahli Parlimen Rembau itu sebagai menganggap dirinya kini hanya seorang calon underdog atau calon bukan pilihan untuk merebut jawatan itu.

Dalam bahasa Melayu tak ada ungkapan yang serupa dengan “underdog”. Yang ada dan selalu kita dengar adalah anjing gila dan anjing kurap.

Anjing gila ni dalam bahasa Inggeris “rabid dog” iaitu anjing yang bawa penyakit anjing gila atau rabies. Anjing kurap pula dikaitkan dengan orang yang rendah status sosialnya atau orang yang tidak berguna kepada masyarakat.

Inilah politik. Satu masa berada di tempat tinggi sehingga nampak “syurga” dan lupa segala duka nestapa. Pada saat lain pula jatuh berdentum umpama tahi bintang yang tercampak daripada orbit cakerawala dan ditarik graviti bumi.

Siapa menyangka daripada “shooting star” dan “tall poppy” yang begitu dikagumi empat tahun lalu, Khairy kini hanya mampu menarafkan dirinya sebagai “underdog” sahaja.

Atau Khairy berkata begitu untuk menagih simpati agar Pemuda Umno bahagian yang belum bersidang akan memberikannya lebih pencalonan dan undi?

Dia masih muda. Kalau dia mahu belajar, bersabar dan berpijak di bumi nyata, harapannya masih ada. Kita jangan ketawa. Tahi bintang ada harga. Di kampung saya pada “zaman jahiliah” dulu, tahi bintang digunakan untuk menurun nombor ekor atau sebagai campuran minyak pengasih.

Justeru itu, saya tidak akan lakukan apa yang Khairy lakukan. Kalau kita masih ingat, Khairy bersumpah dan berikrar akan menguburkan kerjaya politik Anwar Ibrahim pada pilihan raya kecil Permatang Pauh Ogos lalu.

Anwar tidak terkubur tetapi nasi Khairy jadi bubur. Tetapi lebih baik jadi bubur daripada mentah terus kerana bubur masih boleh dimakan tetapi nasi mentah kalau dimakan boleh buat perut sakit.

(Perut oh perut mengapa engkau sakit? Macam mana aku tak sakit, makan nasi mentah!)

Saya tidak akan bersumpah agar karier politik Khairy terkubur. Sebaliknya saya mendoakan agar dia belajar daripada sejarah supaya dia tahu tanah tinggi dan rendah dan dunia politik tidak selalu indah.

Malah Mukhriz Mahathir yang mendahului pencalonan dan sudah memperoleh kuota bertanding jawatan Ketua Pemuda pun yakin Khairy dan Dr Mohamad Khir akan mendapat pencalonan yang cukup daripada 130 bahagian lagi belum bermesyuarat.

Ketua Perhubungan Kalah Undur Sajalah

Terlanjur bercakap fasal pemilihan Umno, saya harap yang tidak dicalonkan atau yang kalah pada Mac nanti tidaklah terlalu kecewa kerana dalam keadaan tenatnya sekarang, Umno memerlukan khidmat semua orang untuk melakukan CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation/pernafasan mulut ke mulut) ke atasnya.

Seelok-eloknya yang sudah tak ada steam atau yang masuk angin keluar asap tu (meminjam daripada Allahyarham P Ramlee) tak payahlah hemoi-hemoi tawar diri.

Orang macam pengerusi perhubungan negeri-negeri yang kalah seperti Kedah, Perak, Selangor, Kelantan dan Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur tak payahlah dipilih balik.

Ikutlah jejak Presiden Umno dan Perdana Menteri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi yang akan mengundurkan diri dan tidak bertanding jawatan presiden. Kalau setakat jadi ketua bahagian tu bolehlah kot. Itu pun rasa-rasanya janggal juga.

PS: Saudara/Saudari yang hendak terus berbincang isu ekonomi dan kontroversi Maybank-BII boleh buat dalam posting ini sebab isu ini elok dijadikan sebahagian daripada agenda perhimpunan agung dan pemilihan Umno.

Leadership Issue: When PM Sues

A Kadir Jasin

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AS we all know, the Prime Minister, Mohd Najib Abdul Razak had send legal notices to Pakatan Rakyat’s Members of Parliament Tony Pua Kiam Wee of the DAP and Rafizi Ramli of the PKR.

I had not wanted to comment on his action simply because I find politicians suing each other as infantile. But when the former PM, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad, commented that he never had to resort to legal action against his critics when he was in power for 22 years, I am compelled to put things in perspective.

Dr Mahathir said he would simply answer to the people whenever an issue arose. Damn him or praise him, he is in his own class. It is simply inappropriate to compare Mohd Najib to Dr Mahathir.

I believe that politicians, especially the elected ones should use the Parliament and State Legislative Assemblies to sort things out and to convince the people. They should debate and banter with the people as judges.

As elected representatives they make laws. They are their custodians. The courts merely interpret the laws they made. By resorting to the courts, the politicians are admitting that they can no longer defend themselves politically. They admit that they have lost the debate and can no longer rely on their wits and wisdom to survive.

Furthermore, in our country threats of legal actions are an effective way of shutting up opponents when nothing else works. Many such actions were abandoned or settled out of court when the threats are over. 

Phua Causes PM Stress

On Nov 24, Mohd Najib issued a letter of demand in which he accused Pua of making defamatory remarks against him on November 3 in relations to the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB). The PM alleged that Pua had caused him “tremendous stress and embarrassment.”

Tun Razak Exchange: 1MDB's connerstone project

Mohd Najib demanded that Petaling Jaya Utara MP publishes a retraction and apologise within 14 days in two national newspapers or face legal action for his speech recorded in a November 3 video entitled “Tony Pua: Najib is creating the biggest scandal ever in the history of Malaysia” in reference to 1MDB.

Then in early December Mohd Najib sent a similar letter through the same legal firm to Parti Keadilan Rakyat’s vice president and MP for Pandan, Rafizi Ramli, accusing him of making defamatory remarks on the removal of fuel subsidies.

Rafizi in a statement on Dec 4 said he received the letter from law firm Hafarizam Wan & Aisha Mubarak demanding an explanation for his speech “Kenapa Kita Pertahan Subsidi Minyak” (Why We Defend the Fuel Subsidy) on Nov 22.

Rafizi welcome PM's legal action

Both 1MDB and the abolition of petroleum subsidy are hot potatoes for the PM. 1MDB recently reported a loss of RM665.4 million for the year ending March 31, 2014. It has assets worth RM51.4 billion and liabilities (mostly debts) of RM48.9 billion. The total abolition of petroleum subsidy was to take advantage of the lower crude oil prices and also to dress up the book so that the target of reducing budget deficit this year to 3.5% of the GDP could be achieved.

Young vs Old

When you are a young and upcoming politician like Rafizi, being threatened with a sued by the PM gives you bragging right.

“I am proud to be sued by a prime minister, for defending the rights of the public to receive fuel subsidy of at least 30 sen per litre,” Rafizi said in a statement.

“[This is] amid the situation where the country’s leaders spend public funds nonchalantly in projects that burden the people such as 1MDB,” he added.

Like Mohd Najib, Rafizi too was educated in the UK. He graduated from the University of Leeds in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, passed the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ICAEW) examination and was admitted into the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) in 2003 and served Petronas from 2003 to 2009.

Like Mohd Najib and Rafizi, Phua too studied in the UK. He graduated from Keble College, Oxford University with a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics and served as a consultant at Andersen Consulting for two years and as business development manager with Aqua Works and Engineering Sdn Bhd. Altogether he has more than six years of experience in the information technology and e-business consulting industry.

Phua warned PM on 1MDB

I would like to think that Rafizi and Chua are more of a match to the “shooting star” of Umno and the government, Khairy Jamaluddin, than the PM. For background and reflection about KJ, read here.

Mohd Najib should be picking up fights with people of his age and stature. While Rafizi is 34 and Phua is 42, he is 61.

Him taking legal action against Phua and Rafizi reminded me of Anwar Ibrahim making a police report over the Ummi Hafilda letter back in 1997. The letter was considered a “surat layang” and a “fitnah” until Anwar, on the advice of his lawyers, made a police report. Overnight what was considered by many, including Dr Mahathir, as a “fitnah” became a legal document that eventually resulted in Anwar’s downfall.

Similarly, Mohd Najib’s legal action against Phua and Rafizi could turn out to be a double-edge sword.

And maybe too that Mohd Najib is giving his own twist to Charles de Gaulle’s oft-quoted saying “I have come to the conclusion that politics are too serious a matter to be left to the politicians.”

So he is taking his spat with the young PR leaders away from the political sphere and into the legal arena. He is joining the crowd of desperate Malaysian politicians who are using the law to muzzle their adversaries and, along the way, make some pocket money.

Mohd Najib had also sued the portal Malaysiakini over readers' comments it published.

If indeed “the ballot is stronger than the bullet” as Abraham Lincoln had said, then, by the same token, the ballot is stronger than the lawyers. As an elected leader, the PM would be wiser to trust the voters than the lawyers.

Wallahuaklam.