‘Jangan mudah lupa’

We the rakyat are burdened today by the follies committed by Umno with their corruption and cronyism.

COMMENT

I have often been asked in conversations, via emails and through comments made against what I write, why I am not grateful for what Umno has done for the Malays.

They ask that I should reflect upon the condition and situation of the Malays then and now. They ask that I should consider my own situation and ask myself where I would be if not for the policies of the NEP and Ketuanan Melayu.

And of course these Malays (invariably it is always the Malays that do this to me!) would wag their fingers at me and remind me of that iconic phrase ‘Melayu mudah lupa!’.

Saudara, it is because ‘Melayu TIDAK mudah lupa’ that I started to write what was in my heart.

And if you care to read what other Malays have written through all these many years – read what they write and taken the trouble to think and work out for yourself the truth of what they write – then maybe, you too will agree that ‘Melayu TIDAK mudah lupa!’.

Saudara, look around you today. We cannot ignore the presence of Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his family. And why can we not ignore their presence?

One reason is because Mahathir, at almost 90 years of age, chooses to involve himself in the sordid business of Umno politics.

He does so not for the advancement of Umno, nor to advance the cause of the Malays, but to ‘protect’ his so-called ‘political legacy’- a legacy of money politics, nepotism, cronyism, corruption and arrogance never before seen in the annuls of our nation’s history.

The other reason we cannot ignore Mahathir and his family is their insane wealth. They have money pouring out of every orifice and more.

And it is this insane wealth accumulated because of their proximity to political power and the use of that power for personal gain that Mahathir is now desperately trying to keep and further increase through his continued participation in the politics of Umno.

Mahathir and his family personified the problems our nations now have.

Enriching cronies
Imagine how much better off the Malays would have been if Mahathir has understood that political power responsibly wielded could have left a political legacy of an open, responsible and accountable government for which every Malaysians would have been grateful for .

Instead Mahathir choose to serve himself, his family and his cronies – at most a few hundreds of them  – instead of the twenty eight million of us.

In short, Mahathir and his family is why saya ‘Tak mudah lupa!’

Multiply what is happening with Mahathir and his family many thousand of times across Umno and their Barisan Nasional cohorts.

It is simply political power used to advance the personal agendas of these politicians – and that agenda is the acquisition of material wealth and political power needed to do precisely that.

How many kampungs could have had their lots improved in terms of education for their children and better housing for their family if that huge amount of money was not channelled to Mahathir’s cronies and family?

How much money could our long suffering motorists not have to pay in toll charges if those one-sided toll concessionaries agreements were concluded to benefit the Malaysian public and not Mahathir’s cronies and Umno politicians?

Ditto for the IPP agreements.

How much more could our nation have benefitted if the unnecessary billions spent on KLCC, KLIA, Putrajaya and all those mega projects undertaken during Umno’s time were spent to actually complete those projects on time and within budget, instead of using those projects to siphon our nations wealth to enrich Umno politicians and their cronies.

All these cost overruns and failed projects have made many, many Umno politicians and their cronies very rich but it have been done at a considerable cost to our nation.

Rakyat paying the price
And today in 2013 our nation, our people, our economy and of course the Malays, are paying for that costs.

This irresponsible government is RM500 billion in debt.

While 10 years ago a wage earner could support his family on one income earned, that is no longer the case today – even a working husband and wife will have problems.

You and I know the pain of trying to keep up with the ever-increasing costs of living when income remains static.

Today we are burdened with an education system that had disadvantaged the Malays and caused the non-Malays to seek education for their children overseas at astronomical costs.

That is why saudara you are wrong when you say that saya ‘mudah lupa’. Saya ‘tidak mudah lupa!’.

* Jangan mudah lupa: Don’t forget easily
CT Ali is a reformist who believes in Pakatan Rakyat’s ideologies. He is a FMT columnist.