Cinasia, Indiasia: The buck stops with Najib

Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle

It has been 16 months since Najib Razak became Prime Minister but Malaysians know him much longer than that. It has actually been 34 years since he came into the public eye, a tall thin almost-gangly young man winning unopposed his late father’s Pekan parliamentary seat.

But despite the familiarity with him, his mom Toh Puan Rahah and his siblings especially youngest brother, the high-profile CIMB chief Nazir Razak, Malaysians in general distrust him.

It is strange when you consider that he is an amiable person, physically attractive and courteous in his disposition. Why don’t Malaysians, especially the non-Malays, trust this man then - a 23-year old greenhorn who burst into their consciousness when his dad died prematurely, leaving him to carry the family flag.

Is it because of all the stories about the Altantuya murder and the Scorpene submarines that BN supporters blame on a fertile Pakatan Rakyat imagination? Is it because of his wife Rosmah and the rumors about her legendary shopping skills?

Not really, unless you believe that Malaysians aren’t a fair-minded lot and will guzzle whatever junk they are fed.

Fear and failure to commit to a stand

Perhaps the core reason for his failure to capture his people's trust is his inability and fear to commit to a stand. No one know what his position is, everyone can see he blows with the wind.

So how does one trust a person who does not possess a center or is afraid to show his real face? His minders say he is just trying to avoid the same sort of political hara-kiri that killed Abdullah Badawi's career. But those are just excuses, because without emulating anyone, Najib is already self-destructing on an overdose of nothingness. If Najib is not careful, he will end up being remembered as Mr Anonymous or Mr Doublespeak amongst the country’s six prime ministers so far.

Take the latest racial fracas created by Umno-controlled Utusan through a commentary written by its columnist Mohd Ridhuan Tee Abdullah (see Related Stories below) against another columnist Helen Ang from the Centre of Policy Initiatives over her recent article entitled Enforcing NEP on minority religions.

Can Najib say, what has that go to do with me? Especially when he had handpicked the top editor to watch over Utusan soon after succeeding Badawi? Can he deny he is involved in Utusan's deliberate use of racism to poison the minds of the Malays against the non-Malays? Or to refuse to take the blame even though he did nothing to stop the torrent of racist rantings from Utusan?

Actually, he has tried to absolve himself before and it sparked even greater public contempt for him and his lack of understanding of what leadership means.

It is because of this that his 1Malaysia slogan remains the butt of jokes – a symbol of hypocrisy to Malaysians because of his own conscious decision to straddle both sides of the fence.

But the game is up. His penchant for doublespeak is now plain for all to see and it is indeed a deep disappointment to Malaysians who had hoped to see the eldest son of the country's second premier Abdul Razak Hussein do well.

When you allow a employee of an organization controlled by the party of which you are the president to utter such blatantly racist comments as to tell non-Malay citizens of this country to go back to their countries of origin because this is Malaysia and not Cinasia or Indiasia, then you are every bit as mean as that staff is, whether he is a full-time or part-time worker.

This is actually not the first time that Najib has been tested and crucified because of Utusan’s barbaric tendencies. The previous times he had to “make don’t know”. Few Malaysians expect him to behave differently this time around.

And this is the shame to him - a man of 57 years of age, well educated, well blessed by God and the prime minister of a multi-racial country. And yet, who still has to “make don’t know”. What type of a leader is this?