Countering PAS’ promise of heaven

 

From Zaid Ibrahim

Last week I had a surprise visit from Utusan reporters, the first since I was booted out of Umno in 2008. You can safely say Utusan is Umno’s mouthpiece, the voice of Umno’s inner thoughts.

I was happy to give them the interview and I touched on a wide range of topics, including those considered by the Malay-Muslim polity as “sensitive”.

I am hopeful Utusan will give sufficient coverage on issues about Kelantan, which I spoke on with much passion.

Umno lost Kelantan to PAS in 1990 and since then, has not done anything to suggest they are interested in taking it back. Thirty-two years is a long time and this loss is Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s biggest failure which no one wants to talk about.

I suggest that it’s high time Umno redeemed itself and its sins on the poor Malays in the heartlands – by wresting my home state back from PAS. Umno must provide Kelantan with a new deal.

It is hard to believe that a solid dominant Malay party – Umno – which had won the country its independence and provided an economic framework for the Bumiputeras and other Malaysians to improve their livelihoods, cannot deal with a party that has been using religion to win at the polls.

If Umno cannot effectively counter the promise of heaven to win the hearts and minds of the Malays, then there is something wrong with the party.

I always believe Umno was meant to educate and empower the Malays and should therefore be well equipped to deal with a party that discourages everything that brings life to the community.

No clean water, no foreign investment, no cinemas, no beachfront hotels, no tourists, and no entertainment. Instead, there is unreasonably high “cukai pintu”, parking fees, and land office transactions.

PAS is only interested in clearing timber lands, commenting on women’s dressing, and talking about polygamy and four-digit lottery.

And yet Umno has not been able to overcome this shallow and weak party for thirty-
two years in Kelantan.

The most irritating subject currently is the non-stop talk of Umno working together with PAS in the next general election (GE15).

Of what use will that be? Such ideas are only attractive to those who have no party conviction. It is also attractive to those MPs who want to win the election without much fight because they are not interested about the people’s welfare, only theirs.

PAS is not interested in making Muslims stand on their own two feet. They are not interested in making Muslims think clearly.

Their whole narrative is “ask the ulama for guidance in everything you do”, which makes Muslims become fearful of their own minds. These Muslims are scared of “dosa” (sins) if they do not listen and follow what these PAS religious leaders say.

The antidote for this paralysing, mind control mechanism is to provide massive physical development, educate the people, and tell them to read a lot and use reason when in doubt. They must believe in themselves.

Isn’t this what Umno was set up to do?

After independence, many Malays and Bumiputeras could not read and write. Umno was the party that launched massive adult education programmes throughout the country.

It looks to me as if we have to start the same process all over again, despite having so many schools and a foreign-trained education minister. - FMT

Zaid Ibrahim is a former federal minister.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.