Open letter to Hishammuddin

Tota takes Hishammuddin Hussein to task for his dismal performance as Cabinet Minister.

Hishammuddin at Lahad Datu – Photograph: Malaysian Insider

The police killed five Indian men whom they alleged were “04” gangsters. Waythamoorthy, Deputy Minister in the PM’s Department, deplored the ruthless killings and claimed to possess photographic evidnece which showed that the five were shot at close range and that there was no shootout between the police and the gang.

As always, Umno went on the rampage to “shoot” Waythamoorthy down. The modus operandi is always the same. One Umno leader will fire the first salvo. Then the henchmen, on cue, will go on the offensive daily. The first to fire the salvo was Zahid, who called upon him to quit his post if he was unable to value the collective responsibility of the Cabinet. Next came Hishammuddin, whose comments were carried in The Star (26 August 2013). Then came Najib, who crucified him for his comments.

What was Waythamoorthy guilty of? Was there a Cabinet decision not to criticise the police or for that matter any government department?

Well, the Cabinet took a decision to allow non-Muslims to use the word “Allah”. Najib wrote a letter to the Catholic Bishops to confirm the Cabinet decision. The High Court also decided that non-Muslims had the right to use “Allah”.

When this happened why did you, Hishammuddin, file an appeal? Did you not go against the Cabinet decision? You broke away from collective responsibility with impunity. Hishamuddin, you said, “But I cannot be emotional and need to decide wisely as a minister.” Well, well, well, who are you trying to fool, Hisham?

At the Umno General Assembly before 2008, you made screaming threats against the non-Muslims before threateningly kissing the keris?

I seldom watch RTM, lest I should suffer brain damage, but on that day I chanced upon you in action. My granddaughter, a Standard Three pupil, sitting next to me asked, “Why is this fellow screaming like a mad man?” The truth came out of the mouth of a babe.

Someone should upload your performance on Youtube so that you can see how “unemotional” and “intellectual” you were! Your holier than thou attitude is deplorable and despicable.

Little wonder that the common perception is that you are totally ineffective and inefficient. Your utterances apparently reveal that you have precious little between your ears. Your actions defy logic. In the cowhead incident you sided with the Umno culprits and maintained that they had no intention to hurt the Hindus. Would you have said the same thing if the roles had been reversed?

Your statement that a Hindu temple cannot exist in a Malay-majority area reveals how stupid you are. Going by your logic, there will be no mosques in the United States, Canada, South America, in all the 27 EU countries, Australia, New Zealand except for Kashmir in India.

During your watch as Home Minister, the crime rate galloped. You issued what many believe to be cooked-up figures on the crime rate. The gated communities, private security guards and the steep rise in the sales of home CCTV cameras and home alarm systems were a severe indictment on you and the police under you,

The High Court in considering the legality of Bersih 2.0 and Bersih 3.0 condemned you as “irrational” and “illogical”. A similar verdict was passed by judges in the Borders case (twice) and the banning of the Malay version of Irshad Manji’s book “Allah, Liberty and Love”. Hisham, four “Yang Ariff” have condemned you as “irrational” and “illogical”. In the Borders Bookshop incident, when Jawi confiscated Irshad Manji’s book before it was officially banned, you said they had the legal right. The High Court decision was a slap in your face.

When you were Minister of Education, Badawi “threw you a challenge to reform the education system”. The consensus among educationists is that the education system became worse under your stewardship.

You entertain asipirations to become an Umno VP and then move on to become PM. God save Malaysia if that happens.

Dr Bakri Musa, a renowned surgeon and writer in his book “Liberating the Malay Mind” has this evaluation of you and two others: “Characters like Nazri, Rais and Hishammuddin are like durians that have remained unsold for far too long. They are tak laku (unsellable), not even good fortempoyak. All they do is stink the place…”

Well, Hisham, with Rais’ departure, one third of the stench is gone. You will do a great service to Umno and the nation if you remove another third of the stench.

Finally, when the Sulu invaders attacked Lahad Datu, you colluded and connived with another goon, to send policemen to repel the invaders. In any other truly democratic country, with a free press, you would have been forced to resign. The policemen paid with their lives for your negligence, inefficiency, irresponsibility and stupidity. Get lost, Hisham.

Tota is an occasional contributor to our Thinking Allowed Online section. ALIRAN