Who wants to be a millionaire?

To those who still doubt that Umno is the curse of the Malays, try cutting off the links between Umno and these people, and see what happens.

COMMENT

Most people are familiar with the song or TV game show “Who wants to be a millionaire?”. Had that question “Who wants to be a millionaire?” been put to Malaysians in the past, a majority of the rakyat would have responded, “Yes, I would”; but today, in Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s prosperous “1Malaysia”, the most likely reply from a Barisan Nasional crony would be a dismissive, “Huh. I’m already a multi-millionaire.”

The secret to success? Being an Umno politician, of course; but entry to this exclusive club is conditional upon selling one’s soul, integrity and mind, to serve a new master – Umno and all it stands for. So, while some Malays mock other religions for being idolatrous, they conveniently forget that they themselves worship the goddess Umno.

Umno uses religion for control. Umno’s brand of Islam is not to make better people out of the Malays, to ensure they live harmoniously with Malaysians of other faiths and to practise the tenets of their religion. Instead, Islam is used liberally in Umno politics, to subjugate and subdue the Malays. Few Malays speak up, because to be seen questioning Umno might be misconstrued as doubting Islam.

The intricate relationship between politics and business existed long before independence, but during former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s era, business and politics became inseparable. Under the guise of the NEP (New Economic Policy), the purpose of which was to lift the Malays out of poverty, Mahathir made some Malays millionaires, in what could only be described as an “overnight sensation”.

Umno expanded this business-cum-politics relationship, so that in today’s Malaysia, Najib makes no attempt to hide fraud and criminal activity; he just says it is for Umno, so it must be right. Najib does not even bother to deny that having close ties with Umno, will make Umno politicians and their cronies, members of the “millionaire’s club”.

Established businessmen, landowners, celebrity divas and VVIPs have all become millionaires, some with eight-figure fortunes, all because they pay homage to Umno. Civil servants, members of the judiciary, policemen and chief ministers all have the capacity to make several millions.

To those who still doubt that Umno is the curse of the Malays, try cutting off the links between Umno and these people, and see what happens. Imagine a child learning to ride a bicycle. The use of stabilisers will help. When these are removed, the child may tumble, but after a while, he will get the knack. Why are Malays so afraid of developing their own abilities?

At the event “Sepagi Bersama Perdana Menteri” (A morning with the prime minister) in Teluk Intan yesterday, Najib ridiculed the efforts of the opposition in bringing development to the country, but he was full of praise for BN’s track record and experience in development. He rubbished claims that the opposition coalition was stronger than BN.

Najib said, “The BN government knows that in shouldering the responsibility, we’ve got to have a sense of humanity and tawadduk [humility] to understand the aspirations of the people, to feel the pulse of people.”

Must win to survive

Talking about pulse, was Najib at all bothered that the son of one of his ministers can escape punishment after he and his bodyguard beat up men who are only doing their jobs? Would Najib care to comment on the high scale corruption of his ministers and why he is afraid of sacking them?

Did Najib sense the rakyat’s anger when Michael Chia attempted to smuggle RM40 million into the country? Was he aware that Sabah Umno members are furious that their party’s name was sullied? They believe that to protect Chief Minister Musa Aman, Najib claimed the money was meant for Sabah Umno. It is alleged that the money was Musa’s. One wonders how a chief minister would acquire that amount of cash.

Does Najib understand the rage of the rakyat when chief ministers abuse the public purse and use it for personal functions, like the recent wedding of the son of Malacca Chief Minister Ali Rustam, or last year’s scandal, when Najib was alleged to have abused his position and flown close friends and family to attend the engagement party of his daughter to the nephew of the Kazakhstan president?

Najib told the Perak crowd that despite the changing times, the guiding principles of BN had not altered and that it was necessary to have continuity: “The government should have continuity because if there is no continuity, the government can’t make long-term plans.”

Even a fool can see that Umno needs to win the 13th general election to survive. Umno needs to stay in power, to further ravage the country; Umno politicians need to raid the treasury to maintain their lifestyle. The alternative is a long prison term for robbing the nation, when the rakyat makes them answerable for their crimes.

Najib claimed that change was not good for the country because the people and nation would lose out: “As a developing country with a future, we need continuity, we need it not just for the sake of power, but for the people to get greater benefits under the BN.”

Najib might as well have said, “We need to continue to hoodwink you for Umno’s prolonged benefit.”

He then blamed the opposition for causing dissent among the masses, and teaching them a hatred of BN. He said that BN was confident of winning the GE13.

Naturally, Najib failed to mention the harassment of NGOs, civil liberty groups, the alternative media, the opposition and the ordinary members of the rakyat who have been championing true democracy. He omitted to say that his budget was an election budget.

Najib then told the 10,000-strong audience that BN had plans to develop the coastline of Perak and that the West Coast Expressway project would bring benefit to the people from Taiping to Banting.

Predictably, a few more BN cronies will become millionaires from this lucrative highway project, but most members of the rakyat will gain nothing.

Mariam Mokhtar is a FMT columnist.