t is Mahathir who should be grateful to the Malays, not the other way around!

Former premier Mahathir Mohamad stirred up a ruckus when he insulted the Malays, calling them ungrateful and lacking in intelligence. But not a squeak of protest came from his Umno party, although it declares itself to be the only one capable of defending Malay rights. And also Islam.

The only ones who dared to rebut the 87-year-old Mahathir were his nemesis, Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, and Kita president Zaid Ibrahim. Anwar told Dr M not to be selfish and look at the plight of the Malays as a whole, while Zaid said he would rather be ungrateful than to be stupid and swallow hook, line and sinker every lie UMNO told.

But not a whisper from Prime Minister Najib Razak, and he is the president of the United Malays National Organization!

Actually, if we look back at the five decades of UMNO rule, it is quite apparent that almost everything has turned out for the worse thanks to the rampant greed and corruption if its top leaders.

Hence, no one should be grateful to UMNO, not even the Malays!

What has UMNO done for the Malays?

If UMNO were to claim Taib Mahmud, the Sarawak Chief Minister who is actually a Melanau, as one of its success stories allowing him amass so much wealth, then UMNO has succeeded in producing the richest Malaysian and Malay in the world.

Taib beats Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary, an Umno crony-businessman ranked the 7th richest Malaysian by Forbes Asia. Other UMNO 'by-products' also include Halim Saad, Tajuddin Ramli, Syed Kecik, Rashid Hussain, Rozali Ismail and so on. Let's not forget the Cabinet ministers, UMNO bigwigs and corporate leaders who head swanky outfits such as the NAZA Group, DRB-Hicom, MRCB, Sime Darby, Media Prima and the various GLCs or Government-Linked-Companies.

UMNO also has Datuk Azhar Mansor the Malay who sailed solo around the globe in 1999 and Datuk Abdul Malik Mydin who became the first Malay and South East Asian to swim across the English Chanel in 2003. Of course, its latest hero is Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, the astronaut who got grilled for allegedly charging fees to give lectures.

Mahathir’s own sons like Mirzan, Mokhzani and Mukhriz are also millionaires many times over. But what about the rest of the Malays? UMNO may have created an elite group it can show off as being its successes. But the question remains, what about the ordinary Malays.

Who was Mahathir railing at?

Of course, tens of thousands of Malay doctors, dentists, nurses, lawyers, accountants, architects, engineers, small businesses, contractors, teachers, lecturers and professors have been 'churned out' through the years. But then, even without UMNO, the Malays would have been able to make it - unless they really are as dumb and as dependent as Mahathir claims they are.

In fact, there probably should be more Malay professionals and of much higher quality and calibre than the pampered batches rolled out under the UMNO system. A good example is the academia which sorely lacks thinkers of superior intellect, and only the 'Professor Kangkongs' thrive.

The truth is Taib Mahmud may have got all his wealth through questionable means. The Syed Mokhtar group of companies is allegedly sitting on  a combined debt of RM34 billion. Halim Saad and Tajuddin Ramli are a disgrace to Malaysia, not just to UMNO and the Malay community, for the huge losses incurred by their companies due to their incompetency.

Which UMNO top leader or minister did not amass huge wealth through corruption and dubious means? The number can probably be counted on one hand. The GLCs are also not doing well and some are losing money and need to be bailed out. In the end, it is the same vicious cycle of GLCs shuffling assets and bailing out each other - enriching the corrupt UMNO bosses and their families along the way.

Sensing change in the air, some corporate captains are now distancing themselves from UMNO and refusing to provide the much-needed election funds for fear of being caught and investigated in the event of a regime change. Or it might be that they have simply run out of balance sheet to hide the enormous hole dug in the past years to cover the spending binges of their political masters. Is this the group Mahathir was railing at when he slammed the Malays for being ungrateful?

As for individual Malay talent, guys like Ibrahim Hussein, one of the world's best painters, legendary musicians P Ramlee, Ahmad Nawab, pianist Tengku Ahmad Irfan Tengku Ahmad Shahriza would have left their mark on the country and the world with or without UMNO.

What UMNO has NOT done far exceeds its achievements

What UMNO has not done for the Malays is actually much, much easier to detail. Its failures far exceed its achievements. For example, what sort of values have UMNO stamped on the Malay psyche and society - are these to its detriment or benefit?

Let's look at how Malays react to other people. It is apparent racial harmony today is nowhere as cordial as in the 1960s and 70s. Thanks to Najib's father Tun Razak, who started the 'racism' ball rolling with the New Economic Policy which was worsened beyond imagination by Mahathir during his 22-year administration from 1981 to 2003, racial and religious tension are not only at an all-time high, but a daily affair.

Racial resentment and outbursts of religious anger occur each day, with the Malays feeling they have the right to demand more than the other races. Same goes for the Muslims, which is actually a contradiction to Islam's humble face and recognition of the rights of the other faiths.

In the education system, quotas rule the day not results. Law and order have lost integrity while the police and judiciary have lost the respect of the people as it is so clear that cops and judges can be swayed to decide in favor of UMNO - mind you, not the Malays!

As for the economy, thanks to the plundering by the UMO elite, Malaysia is at the brink of bankruptcy with most of its natural resources depleted. The political scenario is marred with polls rigging and gutter politics.

No doubt, infrastructure is good compared to most parts of Asia but at what cost to the people who are paying through their noses for the inflated pricing.

There has also been improvement in health facilities, new townships, factories, and employment opportunities but these come with progress and development as trade with the rest of the world grows. Even Cambodia, Myanmar and Zimbabwe can report similar rise is these sectors. Is it not the huge progress racked up by Europe, the US and East Asia that has pulled up the performance and standard of living of Third World countries, of which Malaysia is definitely one, rather than the efforts of 'superman' Mahathir and UMNO?

The ones who gained

Obviously, those who have gained the most from UMNO policies are its top leaders. They have enriched themselves and their cronies through marked-up contract prices and one-sided agreements, leaving the ordinary folk to bear the cost burden.

Unlike Midas who with a single touch turned everything into gold, it is the opposite with UMNO. Their leaders such as Mahathir touched everything and everything has turned into one massive burden for the people!

Therefore UMNO has done nothing much for the country, let alone for the Malays. There is nothing for Mahathir to be proud of and nothing much for UMNO to celebrate. In fact, Malaysians and the Malays need to put their foot down or the country will go to the dogs.

It is crystal clear that Mahathir and UMNO are the ones who should be grateful to the Malays and all other Malaysians who voted for them in the past 12 general elections.

So, why should the Malays take Mahathir's insult lying down? Why should they consider UMNO as their protector when it did not dare to utter a single word in their defence when Mahathir so unfairly accused of being ungrateful when he is probably the biggest ingrate of them all?

If the Malays are corrupt and forget easily, it is due to his policies of the past 2 decades that have encouraged the worst habits and vices to come out and fester. Why are the UMNO ulamaks (clerics) usually so quick to moralize and preach suddenly so quiet?

Is there one standard for Mahathir and the UMNO elite and another for all the other Malays in the country? If there is, then the Malays had better take action to protect themselves from being made used of again, and then get scolded for their pains after they have been taken for a ride.

Malaysia Chronicle