Fearing the rot within

“Aiyoh, so many ex-Umnos are joining Bersatu!” lamented a friend of mine yesterday, when we met for breakfast.

I smiled as I dipped my chapatti into the thick dhal.

“I am telling you, it’s just a matter of time before Bersatu becomes the new Umno!” he continued blabbing.

I stuffed the rather big piece of chapatti dripping with dhal into my mouth, ignoring him.

“So?” he asked, expecting some kind of reply from me. “Tell me, what you think about Bersatu accepting these ex-Umnos.”

“Can you let me enjoy my chapatti in peace?” I said as I tore another piece of chapatti.

My friend was puzzled.

“I thought you are a big supporter of ‘ABU’,” he said referring to Haris Ibrahim’s ‘Anything But Umno’ movement.

“I used to,” I said right before I took a gulp of ginger masala tea to wash down my throat.

“Can you please stop eating and drinking for a moment and tell me what you think of this Umno 2.0?” He was clearly annoyed with me.

“Fine,” I said. “If you must know, I don’t have any issues with it.”

My friend’s jaw dropped. It wasn’t a pretty sight to tell you the truth, especially since I could spot some chunks of idli and coconut chutney inside his mouth. Eew.

“How can you say that? We voted for Pakatan Harapan because we wanted to get rid of Umno and Barisan Nasional. And now, with ex-Umnos joining Bersatu, our votes seem meaningless!” he cried.

I laughed.

“Hello kawan, aren’t Tun Mahathir, Anwar Ibrahim, Muhyiddin Yassin and Mukhriz Mahathir ex-Umnos too? We voted in favour of them, didn’t we?”

“That’s not a fair comparison. All of them left Umno before GE14. And don’t you forget, we would never have taken over Putrajaya without Anwar’s reformasi movement!” my friend replied.

“First of all, Anwar Ibrahim did not leave Umno. He was sacked. And yes, he is the father of reformasi but please, don’t conveniently forget the fact that if he wasn’t sacked back then by Tun Mahathir, he would have stayed with Umno. The only reason the reformasi movement was born was because Anwar got kicked out of Umno – not because he was championing the people’s agenda.

And please-lah, let’s not even pretend that Muhyiddin and Mukhriz left Umno to fight for truth and justice – we all know they were kicked out by Najib. Hadn’t Najib kick them out, they would still be holding the ‘Saya Sayang PM’ plycards and wagging their tails behind him like they did when Najib was in power,” I explained my case.

“What about Mahathir?” my friend asked. “He left Umno to bring Najib down.”

I nodded.

“He most certainly did. But let’s not forget the fact that Mahathir pleaded the Malays to support Bersatu during his campaign in GE14 to bring Najib down – and among the Malays who voted for a change in government, are members of Umno,” I explained.

“Oh,” my friend said slowly. “I see your point. But those are ordinary members. What I am afraid of are the grassroot members who are tainted with dirty politics. With these ex-Umnos flooding the party, I just don’t want Pakatan Harapan to rot from within if you know what I mean,” my friend said slowly.

“Don’t worry about that. Even before Pakatan Harapan won GE14, they were already rotting slowly. They don’t need these ex-Umnos to come in to do the job.”

My friend gave me a puzzled look.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

“Bersatu was formed to champion the Malay agenda, just like Umno. Technically, Bersatu has always been Umno 2.0. So it is natural for the former pro-Umnos to be attracted to Bersatu.

“We endorsed Bersatu during GE14 knowing very well that this is not a party that will fight for the Malaysian agenda. We were very well aware that Bersatu will fight for the Malays and their entitlement, even at the risk of stripping others of their equal rights as Malaysians.

So you see, the rot had already begun the day Bersatu and Pakatan Harapan signed the deal for an electoral pact in December 2016.”

My friend took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

“What do you think we should do?” he asked.

“Well, I don’t know about you but I think I’ll continue to enjoy my chapatti,” I said cheekily.

My friend did not seem amused.

“It’s a long journey ahead of us – but a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. We’ll get there one day,” I assured him.

He nodded, reluctantly.

“So much for New Malaysia!” he said.

“New Malaysia?” I chuckled. “How can Malaysia be new when even our government is beginning to resemble the old Malaysia?” I asked.

My friend shook his head.

“Just eat your chapatti-lah,” he said, annoyed.

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FA ABDUL is a passionate storyteller, a growing media trainer, an aspiring playwright, a regular director, a struggling producer, a self-acclaimed photographer, an expert Facebooker, a lazy blogger, a part-time queen and a full-time vainpot. - Mkini