Nazri, a rotten apple spoils the barrel

There is a saying, ‘A rotten apple spoils the barrel’ and Jamal Mohd Yunos is that rotten apple, which Umno leaders have failed to deal with.

Given a licence to carry a gun, despite allegedly threatening the life of a fellow party member, the police have yet to seize his gun or hauled him up for further questioning.

I am surprised to read Tourism and Culture Minister Nazri Abdul Aziz also said that the Umno divisional leader of Sungai Besar does not represent 197 divisional leaders.

Others like Noh Omar have also distanced themselves from Jamal, yet none of them did anything to stop the show of aggression against the Bersih 5 convoy. We shall see this weekend if the acts of aggression abate.

These shameless acts are now for many people to see for themselves. They are flashed out on YouTube and other social media. These Umno members are out to deny others their democratic rights to assemble, and this is what makes me angry. I wonder if they themselves have even applied for a police permit to assemble. See this video clip.

Now, every man on the street including the rural folk can now see the thuggish actions by some of the red shirts, while others are simply following without a clue of what they are doing. Using a mobile phone alone, it is easy to show our parents in the villages who these thugs are. It is time for Sarawakians and Sabahans to know who are using illegitimate means to remain in power.

It also clearly shows that the government under Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has lost control of its own party members, and should a riot spark out, both Najib and his entire cabinet would be be held responsible for any bloody incident.

The powers are in their hands, but they chose to allow things to take their course without stopping the aggressive party.

How will Umno leaders now be able to convince the citizens of this country that the government promotes moderation and 1Malaysia, when its own members are involved with these thuggish acts?

When itcomes to election, the politicians come to us and say, “We are your friends” but on other days, they treat us as though we are dumb as if we cannot differentiate between Umno members and the red shirts.

Evil triumphs because...

The fact that these 197 divisional leaders mentioned by Nazri - and this should also include Najib as well - did nothing about disciplining its members like Jamal and Mohd Ali Baharom (‘Ali Tinju’) shows that Umno is indeed a party that does not understand or uphold peace in this country.

As Edmund Burke puts it, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” It is tragic that good Umno leaders - if there is even one left by now - are keeping very quiet over the recent incidents involving their own men.

Bersih 5 convoys were made up of members of the civil society who were either educated or professionals, whereas the red shirts were clearly the aggressors and the intimidators. Tell me now, is Umno not behind this entire phenomenon called the red shirts?

I want us to refer to a video clip. The same people wearing red in Alor Star were all linked to Umno, and I am sure Nazri would agree with me that the logo on these T-shirts was Umno’s logo.

Jamal’s ‘flying parang’

I have no reason to believe that the ‘flying parang’ statement was posted on a fake account, without Jamal’s knowledge. Blaming it on the DAP is just a stupid excuse that does not pass one’s grey matter.

Now that the police are investigating him, he is denying that the Facebook account belongs to him. He should own up to it, as someone put it, if he is “jantan” (macho).

In the first place, why did he only come out to say that the account does not belong to him now, when the account has been running concurrently with his other accounts? If anything, I think it is mainly intentional so that he could give the excuse that the accounts were fake.

Why did he not lodge a police report in the first instance when he knew about the fake account? Along with other statements made by the red shirts, the message of the ‘flying parang’ is consistent that Umno and its konchos are out to create chaos in order to intimidate the people.

A sad day for Malaysia

On Nov 19, many of us will be going on the streets of Kuala Lumpur to express our displeasure, especially with Najib as prime minister and the Election Commission’s alleged gerrymandering.

When people are unhappy with the prime minister, he should just step aside and if the concerns of gerrymandering are being addressed adequately, none of us would even see the need to sweat it out under the hot sun.

If even that cannot be allowed, where are we as a progressive democratic nation and a beacon for the other Asean countries?

And for Nazri, as Tourism Minister, we are supposed to be a nation that attracts tourists from around the world. This is our income generator. Do we want to risk it all just by allowing some chaos to be created? Bersih 4 is a lesson that should tell us that Bersih is a peaceful movement of civil society against injustice and dirty election.

In future, when there is a good check and balance in place, and both sides are equally strong, Bersih rallies can be turned into the annual Moomba festival in Melbourne to remind all that Malaysians want clean and fair election. Why should we mar the rally with bloodshed?

It is time for the police to help ensure and facilitate Bersih 5 rally to ensure that everything is in order on that day. Be professional about it like your counterparts in other modern societies. We are now just four years from 2020, when we are supposed to be a developed nation, or are we?

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STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008.- Mkini