What ability does Pasir Salak reflect?

 

So, the Prasarana perasaan (full of himself) guy has been sacked as its chairperson. And Malaysia lives happily ever after? Sorry folks, the Tajuddin Abdul Rahman fiasco has no fairy tale ending. It’s just the tip of the iceberg of what’s wrong with our system.

The fact that he is the Umno MP of Pasir Salak makes it more ironic. This place in Perak symbolises “righteous” Malay nationalism over “evil” British colonialism. It was here, in 1875, that the “bad guy” British Resident JWW Birch was killed by the “good guy” Maharajalela. Several “Birch Roads” in Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh, Taiping and elsewhere were renamed accordingly to mark which side post-colonial Malaysia stood for.

Tajuddin represents a place that is about resistance, revival and resurgence, a perjuangan keramat or sacred struggle for the people since claimed by Umno. In short, Pasir Salak is supposed to be about independence, strength and capability, our version of Viva la Revolucion.

But what did we get instead? Pasir Salak’s long-time wakil rakyat didn't even take his job seriously. He was so poorly prepared that staff were forced to coach him during the media conference debacle. His so-called “company business” and “second vaccine shot” were more important than a major accident.

In Japan and Taiwan, when a train disaster occurs, the people in charge bow down in humble apology. Our friend here instead tried to intimidate the media, warning them “ [...] jangan cuba nak probok-probok” (don’t try to provoke). And worst of all, he callously joked about "trains kissing" when so many had been injured in the LRT crash, some critically.

In short, his performance was a train wreck. Aren’t there more capable Malaysians to fill such a GLC post? Yes, when Pakatan Harapan was in power, they appointed former Chief Judge of Malaya Zaharah Ibrahim as Prasarana chairperson. Surely she would have done better?

A terrible record

What about Tajuddin? Even before the latest flop, his record has been appalling.

Leaving an Umno supreme council meeting last year

1. He was sacked from Umno in 1995 for lavish money politics, gaining his nickname as the “Six Million Dollar Man” (remember that old TV series?) But he returned in 1998 and within six years became Pasir Salak Umno division chief.

2. In 2010, DAP MP M Kulasegaran told the Dewan Rakyat that Tajuddin had threatened to “send people” to beat him up. This was because Kulasegaran had called him “uncivilised” in his blog.

3. In 2013, PKR MP Rafizi Ramli accused him of vastly overinflating (up to RM1.3 billion) the cost of building the UiTM Tapah campus, using a company with no record of doing construction. Tajuddin, then chairperson of another GLC -  Felcra -- threatened to sue Rafizi but nothing happened.

4. When Umno's Jamal Yunos (of the Red Shirts infamy) was threatening to storm Kuala Lumpur’s Petaling Street in 2015, Tajuddin (then deputy agriculture minister) reportedly warned that he would “slap the Chinese” if they complained about the country overseas.

5) In 2016, he sniggered that DAP MP Teresa Kok is the only woman in Parliament with a "Kok”.

6) MP Khalid Samad called him sial (cursed) in Parliament for the "Kok" stunt. As revenge, a few days later, Tajuddin’s son Firdaus and other ruffians tried to attack Khalid at the Parliament car park while shouting “Hidup Pasir Salak!” (Long live Pasir Salak!)

7) In 2018, while campaigning at the Sungai Kandis by-election, Tajuddin warned voters that Christians in Pakatan “have taken over Putrajaya” and would eventually “abolish the monarchy”. But these fake claims seemed to have little impact, as PKR won the seat handsomely. 

8) He likened the Hindu holy ash on DAP MP RSN Rayer's forehead to the cremated ashes of communist leader Chin Peng in 2019.

9) In January 2021, 17 contractors and consulting firms in the LRT3 project publicly appealed to the government because over RM700 million of payments had been held back by Prasarana even though work had already been done. This was allegedly because Tajuddin wanted to “influence” the selection of subcontractors.

When asked about this at the media conference then, his bullying behaviour was similar to his latest “sterling” show. The MACC had probed him for this, but till now the situation has been the old joke about the MACC, ie: “Mana Ada Corruption Case?”

Feudal warlord culture

Call it karma. Call it poetic justice. After all his racial and sexist “provocations” over the years, he has now fallen on his own sword, disgraced by his own “jangan cuba nak probok-probok” attitude.

Yet despite that and all the allegations of violent threats and corruption -- why was Tajuddin appointed head of Prasarana? Even when he seemed to be willing to disrupt, he remained in his post. Was he one of those given a GLC post by the backdoor government in desperate exchange for support?

His former boss, Najib Abdul Razak, tried to spin the public relations mess, claiming he had “advised” Tajuddin to say sorry. But dear sir, why is your man so poorly behaved? Did you, as Umno president, tegur (correct) him publicly during all his provocations over the years?

And why do people keep voting for Tajuddin as their MP? Does he reflect the noble cultural values of sopan-santun, budi bahasa and tata tertib (politeness, good manners and proper conduct)?

Probably not. Instead, Tajuddin seems to personify the “warlord culture” which, according to Dr Mahathir Mohamed, is precisely what has destroyed Umno.

“Umno only accepts new members who do not threaten the position of their leaders at all levels. These leaders are then replaced only by weaker and mediocre successors, as they are the only type of people the leadership accepts,” said the former prime minister in 2014.

Mahathir added that the “warlord culture” then was so bad that Selangor Umno had no capable menteri besar candidate even though the state is “full of educated and talented Malays” - because they are not "allowed" to rise in the party.

Perhaps the real “genius” of Tajuddin and Umno is to cover up their mediocrity and lack of capability by holding the Malay mind captive to fictional “threats” from other races. With the British now replaced by “Cina Kristian DAP” and Birch swapped with Lim Guan Eng. After all, if Harapan was in power during this LRT accident, you can bet that Umno and gang would be screaming for Anthony Loke's head as transport minister.

The grave of one of Birch's assassins, Pasir Salak

So maybe it’s time to reexamine the lessons of Birch and Maharajalela. Yes, the British came to exploit Perak’s resources and to take tax collection rights away from the bangsawan (noblemen) of Perak. But Birch also wanted to remove another “asset” from these feudal lords - slaves. 

So what was Maharajalela actually defending? The right to extract money, called taxes, from people without doing any work themselves? The right to keep slaves? While fighting among themselves for a bigger share and causing such chaos in Perak until the British intervened?

Was Maharajalela truly berjuang (struggling) for the liberation of ordinary Malays? Or was he striving to maintain the privileges of the elites? Perhaps that was the original dua darjat way before the double standards of Covid-19 movement control order enforcement. After all, the Malay word bermaharajalela means “to act wantonly as a tyrant”.

And what about the new feudal lords of today? Those known as politicians? Are they defending their right to overinflated contracts for dubious projects? Their right to approved permits and lucrative GLC posts? Their right to siphon even Malay institutions such as the Tabung Haji, Mara and Felda? While fighting among themselves for the spoils as Bersatu and Umno are now openly doing?

And from the billions or millions creamed off, are some crumbs then thrown to their grateful hand-kissing followers, as jasa kepada rakyat (charity to the people)? To keep getting voted in?

Do Tajuddin and his Umno gang represent the mythical spirit of Pasir Salak -- Malay nationalism, strength and pride? Are they the way forward to become a great people? - Mkini

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ANDREW SIA is a veteran journalist who likes teh tarik khau kurang manis. You are welcome to give him ideas to brew at tehtarik@gmail.com.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.