"I'm Never Not Ok"

A Kadir Jasin

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WHEN friends and acquaintances ask me how I am, I’ll always tell them “I’m never not okay.” It means I’m always okay.

I sometimes wonder if I’m telling them the truth. But I always come to the conclusion that I was not telling them a lie.

Either I’m being practical, cynical or philosophical, that answer sums up my general attitude towards life.

I’ve lived long enough not to believe that my sadness and uncontrollable anger will change anything. So, if I’m angry or dislike something, I make a point of not saying too much about it. Or, better still, not saying anything at all.

So, when I did not comment in this blog about the personalities in the new Umno Supreme Council line-up, a long time friend remarked: “So you’re not to happy with the line-up.”

Well, does it matter whether I am happy or not? Supposing I’m not, would the delegates care? Would the Umno President care? Would the Supreme Councilors themselves care?

The chances are they don’t. So what do I do? First, I don’t sing praises for them. Not all of them of course. Many are fine gentlemen. Good enough to be country squires.

I can’t say much about the ladies because there aren’t that many of them. Despite the importance of the Wanita Wing to the party, the delegates seemed not to place too much importance to electing them to the Supreme Council.

So, with a solitary Supreme Councilor and the Wanita and Puteri Chiefs as ex-officio members, there are only three women in the council, if I am not mistaken. I think the new party president, Mohd Najib Abdul Razak, should appoint few more to the council.

Second, I damned them. When I was asked on RTM’s TV1 on April 3 if Mohd Najib has enough capable people in the Supreme Council to fill his Cabinet, I said (in bahasa Melayu):

“Ada sesetengah mereka kalau mandi limau, mandi bunga dan mandi sintuk sekalipun masih tidak layak dilantik menganggotai Kabinet.”

I can’t possibly translate that literally into English. The statement is too Melayu (Malay) and, probably, too harsh.

But I did not damn them to purgatory either. I said they could be used for partisan purposes like out-shouting the oppositions and defending Umno’s partisan agenda like the special rights and privileges of the Malays.

Rightly so because Umno has to respect the dichotomy between being the dominant party in the Federal Government and the party that represents the interest of the Malays. The two do not always go together.

In short, I am never not okay with the delegates’ choice but I have my reservations about the integrity and ability of some of the Supreme Councilors to be appointed to government posts.

Cabinet appointment is the Prime Minister’s rights and prerogative. He can bring in non-council members. He can even bring in non-politicians. That’s what he should do to. But he should be careful not to bring in people of questionable reputation.

A small lesson history is always useful. Politics is full of surprises and ironies. Take Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s application to rejoin Umno.

To whom did he hand over his application? To Mohd Najib on the morning after he was sworn in. Very symbolic.

But if we look back into history, we could feel a sense of déjà vu. It’s like we’ve been there before and seen it.

In the post-May 16, 1969 racial riots, Dr Mahathir wrote a stinging letter to Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra, blaming the marginalisation of the Malays and the rising chauvinism of the non-Malays as causing the Alliance’s dismal performance. That letter precipitated Tunku’s downfall.

Who benefited from it? Not Dr Mahathir because he was promptly branded Malay Ultra and sacked from Umno.

The beneficiary was the late Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, Mohd Najib’s father. Dr Mahathir’s rebellion hastened Tunku’s retirement and speeded up Abdul Razak’s ascent.

As a sign of gratitude and respect for his action, Abdul Razak reinstated Dr Mahathir’s membership of Umno, made him a Senator and soon after appointed him Education Minister. The rest is history.

Fast forward to 2008. Disillusioned with Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s leadership of Umno, Dr Mahathir left the party.

Months earlier, in the aftermath of the general election, his son, Mukhriz wrote an equally stinging letter to Abdullah blaming him for the Barisan Nasional’s disappointing performance.

His letter precipitated the opposition against Abdullah, forcing him to schedule his retirement to 2010 but was later brought forward to this year.

This time around, the beneficiary of the father-and-son rebellion against an Umno President is Mohd Najib, the son of the second Prime Minister.

So what Mr Mahathir did four decades ago to speed up Abdul Razak’s ascent to power, he and his son did it again four decades later to hasten and ensure Mohd Najib’s rise to the same power spot.

But the role of the new Umno Deputy President, Muhyiddin Yassin, has to be given full recognition too. It was he who gave the Umno face to the rebellion.

He was the most senior party leader to risk his future to save the party from further deterioration by speaking up and, in doing so, incurring Abdullah’s wrath.

In the end he prevailed in a contest that pitched him against two Abdullah’s diehards – the money politics offender, the Malacca Chief Minister, Mohd Ali Rustam and the National and Regional Development Minister, Muhammad Muhammad Taib.

In the process, Muhyiddin has “regained” Dr Mahathir’s confidence and respect. Muhyiddin is expected to play key role in rebuilding the party, starting with leading the charge in the three ongoing by-elections.

As for Mohd Najib’s walkabout in the City on his second day in office, I hope it will not be another case of “hangat-hangat tahi ayam.”

The people are watching and many of them remember his late father’s famous walkabout more than four decades ago. They are sure to make comparison. I will.