BETRAYALS IN UMNO: NAJIB SHOULD DO WELL TO WATCH HIS BACK

Muhyiddin could have consulted Najib and informed him of a way to resolve the 1MDB problem. But he chose instead to air his dissatisfaction at an Umno Baru gathering that took place at Janda Baik. 

Ahmad Mustapha Hassan, The Ant Daily

History has shown that the collapses of various old Malay kingdoms were caused by conflicts and betrayals.

Followers simply changed their allegiance and betrayed their leader for one reason or another.

Malacca fell to the Portuguese because those who were close to the ruler conspired with the Portuguese and betrayed him. There was no unity among the aristocracy that ruled Malacca then. Those vying for power would not hesitate to conspire with the enemy of the state. It was therefore easy for the Portuguese to conquer the state.

The legend of Hang Tuah is another classic example.

Hang Tuah had to kill his close friend due to conspiracy in the palace. He did not inform his friend of his true fate which caused his friend to seek revenge on his behalf for what he felt was an injustice done to him.

It turned out to be a royal trick and finally Hang Tuah was ordered to kill his friend. In doing so, he betrayed the trust of his close friend.

Thus, betrayal was the order of the day then and this was also the case with the Malay warriors who tried to fight British colonialism.

The Malay resistance to British colonial power failed because of the betrayal by one group that initially supported the resistance but then reversed their position to back the British colonial power.

The Malay society during that time consisted mainly of the royalty, the aristocrats and the peasantry.

The rebellion against the British colonialism that happened in Perak, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Kelantan and Terengganu in the late 19thCentury and early 20th Century failed because of the lack of unity and the criminal acts of betrayal.

It is noted that in all these rebellions, the royalty initially supported and encouraged the rebels to fight the British but later betrayed and abandoned these rebels in order to reach a compromise with the British.

Even the history of Umno is not free of betrayals.

Tunku Abdul Rahman, president of the original Umno suffered the same fate. He was replaced through a conspiracy carried out through betrayals.

During the party elections of 1987, an open conflict occurred when Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah challenged (former prime minister) Dr Mahathir Mohamad for the presidency.

It was reported however that Tunku Razaleigh would have won if he had not been betrayed by his own supporters who changed allegiance and sided with his rival.

Pakatan Rakyat is also now suffering the same fate.

PAS betrayed the pledge reached among the three component parties that has damaged the future chances of this pack coming to power.

Prime Minister Najib Razak  must therefore realise that the open support pledged towards him might not actually be the honest truth.

There is a Bahasa Malaysia proverb that goes, “harap sokong, sokong bawa rebah”, which means that it will be one’s own supporters who will bring one down.

Already, his deputy, Muhyiddin Yassin, is not with him as reported by the media.

Muhyiddin has not openly confronted Najib but instead told a gathering of Umno Baru warlords about his feelings concerning 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

He could have consulted Najib and informed him of a way to resolve the 1MDB problem. But he chose instead to air his dissatisfaction at an Umno Baru gathering that took place at Janda Baik.

That was one instance that made its way into public domain. There may be other instances which have not been brought to the public’s attention.

Malays will normally show support in front of the man but do the opposite behind his back.

Najib cannot rest comfortably by merely relying on the Umno Baru constitution. The constitution is simply a safeguard but not a guarantee that he will not be ousted.

He must consider all this support as being “harap, harap, percaya tidak” which means, “place your hopes in them but do not give them your full trust’.