UMNO no longer the voice of anything. Soalan untuk Ismail Mina, Muafakat dan NGO Melayu.

Jadi soalan saya bila Ismail Mina, Muafakat dan NGO Melayu nak protes monopoli impot beras? Or is that not a relevant matter for you?

Here is Joceline Tan's piece on UMNO and its irrelevance. Well I have truncated it. 

My comments in blue.

No longer the voice of the Malays?
By Joceline Tan

THE rally outside the national palace lacked the oomph! of most other Malay demonstrations.  But those in tune with Malay sentiments say it should not be taken lightly given that its organisers comprise Malay NGOs led by the Malay intelligentsia who included Muafakat president Ismail Mina Ahmad, an elderly ulama personality and a former ally of madani.

The group handed over a petition on the economic hardship of the people, declared loyalty to the Malay Rulers and blasted the government’s inadequacy in addressing the needs of the B40.

"The protest centred around economic issues like the costs of living but the underlying message is that the Malays are not with the ruling coalition. There is still a lot of distrust among them about the unity government," said Akhramsyah Sanusi of GEM or the Malaysian Economic Movement.

Madani will continue to face this sort of provocation from Malay groups. The Malays have yet to find that familiar centre of gravity to make them feel secure and in charge.

A major reason is that the two Malay partners, Umno and Amanah, have failed to sway Malay support. Both have been eclipsed by other Malay groups.

Pakatan Harapan had high expectations of Umno but it has been running on the spot.

Some Umno members were mortified to watch the squabble over local council posts in Selangor. The Selangor Umno leadership, insulted at getting only 20 of 288 local council posts, rejected what they regarded as crumbs from the table and is demanding all of the JKKK positions.

It was a painful instance of how far Umno has fallen after being wiped out in Selangor in the general election and winning only two seats in the state polls.

Morale in its women’s wing, once touted as the backbone of Umno, is at an all-time low. Some said that Wanita chief  who was made a deputy minister in the recent Cabinet reshuffle should have rejected the appointment if she had any self-respect.

Youth chief is only a state exco member in Melaka.

It also does not help that Umno president and his deputy are not on the same page.

"The feud between them is no longer a secret, it is very deep," said an aide to a Johor politician.

Johari Ghani is a looming threat. Johari has the economic knowhow, he is charismatic and makes no pretence about wanting to move up.

The mood in the party is that Umno is doomed

Umno has been described in so many demeaning ways in the last one year - half dead, on life support, a Titanic heading towards an iceberg.

It used to be the voice of the Malays but it has lost that position to Perikatan Nasional and it is being outplayed by groups like the Malay NGOs who demonstrated outside the palace earlier this week.

My Comments : Despite 50 years of Dasar Ekonomi Baru Untuk Memperkayakan Kaum Elit the Malays are still arguing about not having enough low cost housing, not enough places to niaga warong by the roadside and now the economic hardship of the increasing numbers of B40 - a new phrase coined by the kleptocratic mob of not too long ago. 

I want to ask Ismail Mina and the Muafakat fellows a simple question - why dont you demonstrate or protest against all the government granted monopolies and oligopolies which are really making the Malays poor? Rice is expensive. But there is a rice import monopoly - controlled by Melayu. 

Jadi soalan saya bila Ismail Mina, Muafakat dan NGO Melayu nak protes monopoli impot beras? Or is that not a relevant matter for you?

OSTB : My dear friend Akhramsyah,  Bersatu won the 2018 General Election. Correction : Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed almost single handedly won the 2018 General Election. Closely assisted by people like me and you.  Yes-lah I want to claim some credit. I was president of the Bloggers association (Akhramsyah was the Deputy) and we worked our tails off campaigning for Tun Dr Mahathir. Then Dr Mahathir became Prime Minister. Then what did he do? Or what did he NOT do? Did he abolish that rice monopoly? No. So the Malays are now paying more for their rice. Taukeh monopoly lagi kaya. And Dr Mahathir lost his job, lost the party he founded, lost his deposit in Langkawi and now he has lost his mind too.

UMNO is not relevant anymore. Why keep talking about UMNO?

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