Pemuda No Longer A Pressure Group

THE Kedai Kopi Assembly (KKA) was almost unanimous that between Wanita and Pemuda, under the current leadership, the Pemuda holds a better hope.

The Wanita members have become so pliant that they are not likely to want other than Shahrizat as their Ketua. And Shahrizat knows there isn’t anybody in the movement that can beat her in a contest.

So the KKA’s debate on the Pemuda was more extensive and exhaustive. The general view is that Pemuda is no longer a pressure group. To be more visible and effective, its Ketua, Khairy Jamaluddin, has to take the movement back to the days when it was a pressure group respected by friends and foes. 

Many Questions for Khairy to Answer

Khairy and his team have to answer the following questions: 1. Did Pemuda deliver at the last GE? 2. Did it do the post mortem and what were the findings? 3. They can talk about winning over young voters, but what are their plans? 4. Does Pemuda know what young voters want?

5. What is Pemuda’s stand and stance on corruption, abuse of power, wastages of government funds, inflation, cost of houses and rentals and unemployment among graduates?

Ok for Pemuda to do the grandstanding by attacking the TNB on the new electricity tariff. But the tariff was approved by Cabinet and Pemuda Chief is a member and he is touted as the future PM.

Did he oppose the tariff increase in the Cabinet?

Sounds like Anwar. In the Cabinet agreed. Outside the Cabinet was another stroty.

At the end of the UGA, the grandmaster aka the Prime Minister had to explain to the press that the TNB needed the increase. Will Khairy continue to criticise so that the raise is abandoned or reduced? Or is he merely seeking cheap publicity?

(I personally have high hopes for Khairy although I damned him for his excesses during his father-in-law’s era. He has to make amend. But the majority of the KKA delegates were less forgiving. They still crave for his blood.)

There were many more issues for the Pemuda to address - drug addiction, poor communication skills among local graduates and low income of young workers.

Why on the power tariff only? What about sugar, fuel and just a few days ago the LRT fares? So can we blame the people if they say BN stands for “barang naik”?

Does he know that many street corner Malay traders and kueh sellers have ceased doing business because they can’t cope with inflation?

For all the uproar over the Selangor Assembly members’ salary, the Cabinet gaji also goes up!

Khairy is beginning to sound like Anwar. In the Cabinet agreed, outside he told supporters he disagreed.

Khairy and Malaysian Sports

DID he not say that the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) “buta” (blind)? Maybe “rabun” (poor vision) is more accurate because many of its office bearers are senior citizens.

The KKA is dissatisfied with the FAM too. But to be “biadab” is another thing. The KKA applauded Siti Nurhaliza for criticising the Youth and Sports Minister. As a young Melayu minister born, raised and educated abroad, he has to learn to be polite especially to those older than him.

A kaki lawak of the KKA, reminded the meeting of the story of a custody case when the mother given custody of her child. But the boy refused. When asked by the judge, he said she beat him. He was then placed in the custody of his grandmother. He said she too beat him. “Then where do you want to go?” the exasperated judge asked. “The FAM,” said the boy. The judge was bewildered. “For what good reason, young sir?” the curious English-trained judge asked. “Because the FAM never beat anybody,” said the boy. The football crazy judge concurred and the boy was handed over to the FAM. (Laughter).

If we want to raise the standard of our football, don’t ape the BPL or England. Learn from South Korea and Japan who are now in the World Cup league. These are teams we used to beat in the 1960’s.

Why just football and FAM? What about badminton and squash, and other games? How long more can we depend on Lee Chong Wei and Nicole David to bring glory to our country. If he is to worth his salt as a sports enthusiast, Khairy has to lay the foundation for the rejuvenation of our sporting prowess.

This is Khairy’s last term at Pemuda chief. He has given notice that at the next Umno election, his sight is set on the elected Vice President post.

The KKA is unanimous that Khairy is still the man in a hurry like Anwar was in the 1990’s. After all, as a brilliant undergraduate in the early 1990’s, he was mentored, among others, by Anwar under the programme Students for Vision 2020.

He is 37 and may not get to become Prime Minister at 40 as he told friends when he first ventured into politics. But he is as ambitious as ever. So watch out the Vice Presidents and take notice Yang Amat Berhormat Presiden and YAB Timbalan Presiden!

Puteri Needs Training and Acceptance

The KKA holds a high hope for Puteri. They are young,  beautiful faces learning politics. Apart from bringing young Malay women into Umno, the party hopes that the movement will challenge and attract young male voters to choose UMNO.

To do that they have to be trained and, most crucially, the Wanita must accept them as a bona fide wing of UMNO and not a rival in beauty and substance. Otherwise, their role is just to add colour to Assembly.