Atrophy and Renaissance

And now it is scrapping the bottom of the barrel, using Umi Haffida's help.This woman's sounds so stupid, so unMalay and out of her mind. Now more people will distance themselves from UMNO

The above was a comment on my earlier article. The message of that article should be abundantly clear. Unless UMNO develops the tools beyond mere hype, it can lose. Not that it MUST and NECESSARILY lose, but CAN lose.

Unfortunately, I think this isolated event which the commentator laps up, does not contribute to the alienation of UMNO. I believed for a transformation to occur, it does not arise as a result of a single event, however important the author/s of that event want it to be.

It has to be a change in the enabling environment. A general trending as it were, of which a single event may or may not be a factor. So UMi Hafilda or who or Anwar Ibrahim are not the factors that will lead to our political transformation.

I have come to realize, this craving for change is not because those who want change are motivated by Anwar Ibrahim. It's because, by and large, the people in general are tired of the same old business. The business as usual approach- entrusting the elite to make sure things are all right.

In exchange for what? In exchange for these so called intelligent people do things as they pleased? So that a person in power can do whatever to the maid and subject us to his bullying tactics on a daily basis? So that the CEO of khazanah can reach Putrajaya in a helicopter? So that the CEO of Khazanah and his smart assed boys can play out their missed childhood fantasies in a Disney- like setting at Lego land?

So you put the paper tigers in Khazanah for example and they run and operate any businesses they want and crowd out the real entrepreneurs. And then you ask them to assess each other. The mister CIMB will of course say only good things about Khazanah because the latter holds almost 30% in Khazanah.

What is it are the people looking out for? They are looking for a more reliable and democratic form of authority. This is the general trending I am speaking about.

We haven't actually place Najib's big ideas on a rigorous examination. Because we are busy looking at the man, who he is rather than the substance of his ideas. It's an indicator of how 'primitive' we are actually when we evaluate someone based on who he is rather than what he can do.

It is already showing the same business as usual strategy- entrusting the future of this nation to an elite group of businessmen, technocrats, civil servants. These are supported by the very same institutions that supported the old business ways.

Go into the inner recesses of Sungai Penchala, and you will see mansions built by retired civil servants. How did they get the money? I am sure most of them didnt get them through managing real businesses. These are former DGs, KSUs, TKSUs, SUBs etc. They probably got them through ill-gotten means. Probably a large portion came from the RM28 billion that is lost each year through leakages- corruption, artificial pricing of magee mee packs, gold plated screw drivers, titanium bolts, submarines that can't dive, budget planes that will cost more when fitted with engines, radars, computers etc.

It makes us wonder; when Proudhon declared that 'property is theft' he was actually onto something.

What is Najib doing actually? As many people say in an unserious manner, he is outsourcing everything. But he is outsourcing the running of the country to a special group of people- the elites in their field. Hence his 4th Floor is manned by over 1000 people and we lament the increasing administrative costs. Yusof Noor the symbol of can't do anything much any longer is retained as adviser. The same drill is replicated in many other areas. GLCs are peopled by persons who should retire and step aside for real operators.

So, what's wrong with that approach? The 'wrong' is that these people operate under the same institutions that supported the old ways. So, transformation can't really occur if these people, however bright and industrious they are, are using the same tools as before.

Just look at the old power structures- GLCs, Government departments, our dewan negeris and Dewan Rakyat or even the mainstream media- have proven to be incompetent and corrupt. What the main cause? - The main cause are the people who run these institutions who occupy the commanding heights of our meritocratic order or what we assumed it to be. What have we turned these people into?

They think, the organizations they lead are theirs and they can do as they pleased. Nazir Razak thinks CIMB is his. Tan Sri Ali down south thinks Johor Corporation is his and he refuses to let go as though it's his own personal property. You need to convene an EGM to remove him?

So again, what are people looking for that's driving this country into a changed era? People are looking for a more democratic and reliable form of authority.