The Brilliance of Hishamuddin Tun Hussein

One of the most brilliant move in very recent times has been made by Hishamuddin, son of the illustrious Tun Hussein Onn and grandson of the most principled of them all, Jaafar Onn.

Despite being the heir of such political nobility, Hishamuddin wasn’t above resorting to the 'grubby', in a manner which we had just seen done by an Oxford trained Khairy Jamaluddin.

Hishamuddin sometimes might have wished he hadn’t once resorted to the UMNO Youth stunt of brandishing the keris, a tactic which his cousin, DPM Najib had also previously employed (verbally) for political advantage. When times are hard in UMNO or the UMNO person is facing political odds, the tactic apparently is a useful party vote winner, so don’t expect Khairy’s antics to be the last.

Malaysiakini photo

Hishamuddin has recently started to move to the political centre, grooming himself as a future serious national leader, and in that action, had bluntly disowned his deputy, when the latter attempted to harness popularity through racist remarks.

See my previous posting Hishamuddin Off-loading Khairy Jamaluddin , where he said it was up to his deputy Khairy Jamaluddin to convince Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders that he did not intend to offend them. In other words, Khairy was on his own to explain to MCA his remarks about the Chinese community having sinister motives.

But many still remember Hishamuddin’s similar gimmicktry. Last week Malaysiakini reader PT commented that Hishammuddin’s call for Khairy to clarify to the MCA his nasty accusations fell on very shallow grounds when he (Hishamuddin) hasn’t yet clarified his own keris stunt.

So I reckon Hishamuddin must have thought carefully that if he wants to be seen as a national statesman possessing an aspiration to be a future PM he had to do something to purge, apologise for, or spin that embarrassing image.

Apology from an UMNO leader was of course out of the question - they are never wrong - and a stark image of Hishamuddin waving the keris wasn't something he could purge or erase easily. Of the three options, ‘spinning’ was of course the only practical solution – yes sir, no retreat but spin away its ugliness.

Now, what if keris-waving is not associated with extreme Malay nationalism? What if keris-waving is not aggressive? What if keris-waving is an expression of Malaysian resolve or unity? Then Hishamuddin wouldn't be seen as an 'ultra'.

We are getting warmer on Hishamuddin's thought trail. He’s brilliant, I have to say. Let’s continue tracking his thoughts.

What if a non-Malay was to wave a keris? What if that non-Malay were to be a Chinese? What if a MCA bloke were …….. no, blast Khairy, so soon after his hurtful remarks? No MCA bloke would dare do that …….. what if … yes yes YES!!!

Where’s UMNO favourite Chinese? Get him! And we will make that keris even longer and bigger than Hishamuddin's. YES YES YES!!!

Malaysiakini photo

So it was said, and so it was done.

Hishamuddin then said: “Using the keris as a symbol is not a problem. Even Koh* himself used the keris. This is an obselete concept of the younger generation that an object such as the keris would belong to a particular group.”

* Chief Minister of Penang, Koh Tsu Koon of the Gerakan Party

“The shows that is possible if we set aside such pettiness. It would only be sensitive if we make it sensitive. We are in fact proud, that the Penang CM raised the keris, this could be a symbol that unites us too.”

“Even if a pedang kung fu was used, this would not pose a problem to us.”

Brilliant, Hishamuddin! But now, where’s that Green Dragon Sword from Fu Mountain? ;-)