“Rightist Akmal’s ‘I’ll produce 300K Akmal Salehs’ strategy is flawed, only hastens UMNO’s demise”

 

ASSUMING that Datuk Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh has acted on his own accord in issuing the highly emotive “I’ll produce another 300,000 Akmal Salehs to whack ’em (DAP)” statement at the recent UMNO annual general assembly, then the firebrand UMNO Youth chief is “only expediting his party’s burial”.

Such is the writing on the wall if based on the tactics of Chinese legendary military genius Zhuge Liang who is recognised as the most accomplished strategist of his era and has been compared to Sun Tzu, author of The Art of War.

Thinker Habin Faisal Mohamed who expounded military strategy of the chancellor and later regent of the Shu Han state during the Three Kingdoms era (AD 220 to 280) further surmised the Merlimau state assemblyman’s action “as not a frightening threat but signalling failure to understand the laws of leadership and political survival”.

“In Zhuge Liang’s theory, the fall of a country is not due to a strong enemy but because the leader himself fails to understand the timing, role and limits of power,” penned the Qalbu Linguistic Programming founder in a Facebook post.

“Zhuge Liang’s principles that are ignored are that a leader must have wisdom, trust, humanity, courage and discipline. The problem is, Akmal only emphasises “勇” (bravery) – that is, daring to speak but not daring to strategise.”

Stating that great leaders “are judged on their ability to read the battlefield, not shout in the battllefield”, Habin claimed that the self-proclaimed staunch defender of race and religion “lacks ideological depth, political patience, the ability to build consensus and most critically, the wisdom to manage power when there is power”.

Therefore, the 38-year-old Russian-trained medical doctor’s intention to resign from his Melaka state EXCO’s rural development, agriculture and food security portfolio effective this week “isn’t a proof of courage but an admission of inability to fight within the system”.

Thus, Habin envisages:

A strategist fights from within, not shouting from the outside. If every UMNO leader imitates Akmal by (i) resigning when dissatisfied; (ii) initiate open attack when emotional; and (iii) look for enemies when angry, UMNO doesn’t need enemies. It’ll self-destruct by its own hands.

“PRODUCING MANY AKMALS” = BREEDING POPULISM, NOT LEADERSHIP.

In the book Bing Fa (“Military Strategy”) by Zhuge Liang, a large army without discipline is more dangerous than a small army with strategy.

300,000 Akmals means (i) 300,000 noisy voices; (ii) 300,000 directionless actions; and (iii) 300,000 internal conflicts but zero long-term strategy.

That’s not strength. That’s a recipe for collective political massacre. The conclusion is simply that UMNO’s demise isn’t prompted by DAP but it misunderstood the true meaning of leadership.” 

- focus malaysia