Ayer Kuning by-election: a choice between devil and deep blue sea

 

In Ayer Kuning, 45% non-Malay votes are at stake. The contenders will be Umno and PAS.

For the Malay majority, the options are clear. They can vote either for a party that claims to know the quick and easy passage to heaven, or one that offers a longer route via nation building and economic progress.

However, the non-Malays appear to have a huge problem. In their eyes, both parties have committed a great many sins. Also included in their ranks are personalities who have insulted the religions and heritage of non-Muslims.

So, it seems that their choice is between the devil and the deep blue sea. Or is it? Let’s review.

In the eyes of the non-Malays, Umno’s sins are threefold. One, for wanting Najib Razak to be placed under house arrest. Malaysians, including many Malays, are already struggling to come to terms with the shortening of his prison sentence.

To make matters worse, it was recently reported that another huge stash of money — as much as RM170 million in cash — was found with aides associated directly with another Umno member, former prime minister Ismail Sabri of Umno. Also seized were gold bars, handbags and watches.

The third is Umno Youth chief Akmal Saleh. To me, this man is the bane of the nation. He lies in wait and fires shots at the Chinese especially. Among his favourite targets are DAP’s Chinese leaders. He does this to be counted as a Malay and Muslim hero, but has contributed zero ideas for nation development.

So far, he appears to have been very successful in his bid to be re-elected as Umno Youth chief, and perhaps may even be named a candidate for vice-president.

But will Akmal come and campaign in Chinese areas? That may not be a wise move for Umno. He will probably just appear here and there, hugging the candidate, as he did in Nenggiri, and then claim that he has gone to the ground.

Umno is the devil we know.

But what about PAS?

The party cannot differentiate between academic information on family relations and campaign war material. It claims to be justified in portraying DAP leaders as communists based on their biological inheritance. I honestly cannot fathom how many levels of stupidity it takes for party leaders to get to this position.

PAS is also famous for declaring non-Muslims as “kafir harbi” (belligerent infidels) through their religious declaration of the Qunut Nazilah.

Perak PAS chief Razman Zakaria has made ridiculous statements about DAP leaders, wrongly linking one of them to a financial tycoon simply by virtue of her surname, and also suggesting that only those with physical features that resemble the Malays are capable of being loyal to the country.

It is very clear that PAS’s game plan is to spook the Malays with certain narratives about Christians, communists and the Chinese.

Thus, PAS is the deep blue sea. So, which party should we choose?

Perhaps, the way to resolve the problem is to look at the makeup of the Perak state assembly. In Perak, PH has more assemblymen than BN, but an Umno man holds the post of chief minister.

The exco is mixed, with good representation from DAP (18 seats), PKR (5), Amanah (1) and Umno (7). MCA holds the one remaining BN seat.

That means Umno can rely on help from its unity government partners when campaigning and will not need to mobilise its machinery in Melaka and Johor, where the party is dominant, to help in the Ayer Kuning by-election.

Ismail is unlikely to cause much of a problem as Umno has already successfully isolated him by not coming out to defend him in public.

Will voters overlook the negativity surrounding Umno and pragmatically defend the working relationship presently happening, or will they stay away as a sign of protest?

Non-Malays must send Umno a strong message and tell Akmal to stay away from Perak, as he and his brand of politics are not welcome there. After all, the Umno-PH alliance in Perak operates very differently from Umno in Melaka and Johor, where race and religion are front and centre of everything.

PAS also does not work with others outside of their own faith. It may have been able to do that once before, but not this version of the party. PAS today uses venomous politics, using race and religion to win at any cost.

In Ayer Kuning, there is a new opportunity for hope of a multicultural Malaysia, and a chance to send someone a very strong message.- FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.