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Tuesday, May 07, 2013

The Morning After - Part 2

... continuing from The Morning After - Part 1



Okay, the title of this post is a bit of a misnomer as it's already Two mornings after but never mind as it allows me to capture some of the 'wisdoms' that have emerged since yesterday.


another style of The Morning After, wakakaka

Let's start off with Najib's 'Chinese tsunami' which gave scrumptious grounds for sweetie Joceline Tan from The Star to write her GE13: Reeling from Chinese tsunami. Promoting Najib's comment about the loss of BN seats particularly in Johor, she informed us (some extracts):

"... The Malay wall held back the Chinese tsunami ..."


I love sweetie Joceline especially for her wonderful spinning skills where she obviously and deliberately brought focus onto a gloomy picture of the now ominous ethnic divide between Malays and Chinese caused by the non-participation of that marvellous Chinese-based party called MCA or Malaysian Chinese Association, which incidentally The Malaysian Insider in a post election editorial has suggested for it (ie. MCA) to drop the 'C' from its name because the party failed miserably to represent the community it claimed it represented.


That the Star is owned by MCA is of course just a coincidence, wakakaka.


wakakaka

And then, just in case we are too dumb to recognize her not too subtle HINT, she emphasized on the future status of a MCA-less Malaysian cabinet by reminding us:

"... MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek tweeted late last night that the party would not be accepting any government posts. This was in keeping with the pledge made that the party would not accept posts in the Government if it did not do better this time ...".

Who knows, maybe Najib will bring Teng Chang Yeow into the cabinet via the Senate back door like was done for his party president Koh TK. Bloke is a Johorean and also a Chinese language expert (while in USM he was sec-gen of the Chinese language society), thus may be useful to Ah Jib Gor, wakakaka.




Besides UMNO is known to favour Gerakan over MCA as it's said that UMNO (and not just Chinese Malaysians) sometimes sees MCA as arrogantly too big for its shoes, wakakaka.

Then sweetie added in the obligatory accolade for Taikoh but she couldn't resist a jab at those 'ungrateful' Chinese, wakakaka:


"... The Chinese rejection of Barisan is a big blow to Najib, who went out of his way to persuade them to come along on his economic and political transformation journey. The Chinese have rejected a moderate and inclusive leader, who has made more overtures to the Chinese than any other Prime Minister before him, and Najib and his coalition will have to reassess all this in the months to come. ...".

I leave my comment for above later.


And she consolidated on the thrust of her MCA-ish merajuk comment: "... One of the most disturbing aspects of the election result is that the ruling coalition is dominated by Umno and the Malays while the opposition Pakatan is dominated by the Chinese-based DAP. The impact of this will become clearer as the dust settles over the most closely-fought election ever."


Poor Star, poor sweetie Joceline - whichever way they write, they'd get blasted. As lamented by Wong Chuh Wah, my erstwhile matey sweetie Helen Ang has been lambasting The Star for being too pro DAP, wakakaka, while of course DAP people think otherwise. Tony Pua had even accused The Star people who rejected DAP's ad as liars.


Pro UMNO blogger Syed Akbar Ali (OutSyed The Box) wrote a rather interesting piece titled How The Malay Vote Was Lost, his personal observations on the polling but based on some statistical findings by sweetie Helen Ang. Sweetie is known for her excellent statistical findings, and we know from experience that statistics in the hands of some people can be quite interesting.

I truly thank Syed and sweetie for their findings, whether correct or otherwise, because it made me realize that those damn Chinese have forsaken one of their traditional and most cherished Election-Day activity, mahjung playing. How outrageous! What cultural blasphemy, oh those bloody radical revolutionary Philistines! Wakakaka!


are you Bangladeshis?
if so, please continue playing

wakakaka

Yes, Malaysian politics is also a story of the politics of race or, if you like, race in politics. It's unfortunate we can't escape racial discussions in politics because we haven't yet possessed adequate thrust (or trust) and thus the required escape velocity to overcome its powerful gravitational pull, which compels us into more mundane Earthly understanding of its issues.

But anyway, let's leave them, Syed and the sweeties, and return to Najib's 'Chinese tsunami'. Many have disputed and re-identified his attribution for BN's loss in some Johor seats such as Gelang Patah. The most astonishing one has been from a known UMNO mouthpiece, Pak Kadir Jasin.

Pak Kadir suggested, rather correctly, it was a Malaysian rather than uniquely-Chinese tsunami. I wonder not so much at Pak Kadir's correct identification but more at the significance of an UMNO mouthpiece (mind you, a quite sophisticated and subtle one) challenging the PM? What possible Machiavellian mischievous machination might have been behind his challenging assertion?

Hmmm, perhaps I too have been too much influenced by rumours of (FMT's) Najib [being forced] to step down end of year, supposedly an UMNO party requirement which was started by Dr Mahathir. The Old Man told Reuters last year that Najib must improve on the 140 seats won by BN in 2008 or his position would be unstable, meaning Najib would be forced to step down like his predecessor AAB.

Dr Mahathir has never been an easy man to read. He had virtually co-authored The Art of War with Sun Tzu, wakakaka, in which he was reputed to have personally written “All warfare is based on deception”, wakakaka again.


Yes, Sun Tzu was my best mate
wakakaka

As I had written in a previous post Race in politics, politics in race regarding Pakatan’s wishful thinking about Dr Mahathir undermining Najib:

Maybe we have been syiok-sendiri-ishly mistaken (kidding ourselves) about UMNO being a divided house, when in fact they are playing Sun Tze's 'inflict injury on oneself to win the enemy's trust', where Najib by pretending to be 'injured' from UMNO intra-party fighting, lulls his enemy into relaxing his guard since he longer considers Najib to be an immediate threat.

Thus, Najib plays being the victim of ultra rightwing forces within UMNO in a manmanlai hope to secure as many Chinese and Indian sympathy votes as possible, or convince Chinese and Indians to 'help' poor Ah Jib Gor against UMNO rightwing forces …

... while his UMNO colleague (or sifu, wakakaka) assures (and secures) the Heartland that all's well and eight bells under a Hang Tuah-ish UMNO …

If so, then it's a brilliant pincer attack which would have earned the admiration of the Carthaginian general Hannibal (or at least his soul).

Thus I am inclined to believe Dr Mahathir has been playing reverse psychology.

We know Dr Mahathir is (still) the Kingpin in UMNO and the Emperor of all he surveys within the party. He had even overthrown AAB and in earlier years had de-fanged the un-defang-able. Thus I doubt very much Najib will be forced to resign by end of the year as he still enjoys the favour of the powerful UMNO king-maker who, I opine, would rather have Najib (than Muhyiddin) nurse Mukhriz upwards in the party leadership echelon, for 5 reasons:

Firstly, Mahathir and Najib have a history of family kam-cheng (bond of mutual gratitude and hutang budi) starting from Mahathir's hutang budi to Najib's father since after the 1969 coup d'etat of Tunku Abdul Rahman. Thus it's likely Najib is more trusted to mentor Mukhriz as Mahathir had and probably is still mentoring Najib.

Yes, we can describe Najib being not his own man, totally beholden to Dr Mahathir, a weakling without spine, etc. But make a guess on how Anwar was when he was in UMNO for 16 years as Mahathir's protégée as the Old Man groomed him up the ladder and enabled him to leapfrog (pun not intended, wakakaka) over more senior UMNO leaders? Okay, go ahead and chew me up if you lack the intellectual honesty to review Anwar's history in UMNO.

Secondly, Mahathir doesn't hate Najib like he hated (maybe still does) AAB. So Dr Mahathir is unlikely to press for the ouster of Najib (as he had for AAB) based on the nonsensical lack of 2/3 majority.

Here's a kaytee secret for you - the reason Dr Mahathir hated (hates?) AAB was inadvertently revealed by AAB himself (of course in an indirect fashion) during an interview with Pichai Chuensuksawadi, editor-in-chief of the Bangkok Post, in December 2006. 


I can tell you it was all a pot of lies
wakakaka

Thirdly, I believe Dr Mahathir had once stated (prior to some kind of election, perhaps the one between him and Ku Li for the UMNO presidency) that even if he won by one vote, he was still a legitimate winner and would accept the post. So, minus the sort of hatred he had/has(?) for AAB, how could he argue for Najib to be removed from the UMNO president position for not achieving a 2/3 majority in GE-13?

The mandatory mandate of 2/3 majority has been a manmanlai myth, a nonsense which has basically been something nice to have, to be able to commit all sorts of constitutional amendments, but not necessary to form a reasonably stable government.

Fourthly, no BN leader, not even Dr Mahathir himself, would have been able to achieve that impossibility of a win with 2/3 majority in GE-13.

Finally but not least, Najib is viewed favourably by business, both internationally and locally, as evident by a TMI report As results sink in, big winners are KL tycoons and Lynas as stocks rally showing a bullish local market in response to Najib’s victory. Dr Mahathir is hardly one to kill an UMNO-Malaysian goose that lays economic golden eggs.

Okay, I accept that Anwar too would be viewed favourably by internationally and local business, but alas, he isn't the PM, is he?

The reality is hard for a Pakatan supporter to swallow unless he/she is true to him/herself in assessing the political outcomes of GE-13, warts and all, without a jaundiced view - 'warts' being the dodgy-ness of the polling process, though mind you, not unlike that allegedly for PKR's last party election, wakakaka. But let's leave that aside at least for this post or I'll be bogged down - I'll return to the issue of dodgy-ness in the polls in another post.

Yes you may not like this but to UMNO Najib Razak has been a HERO for winning GE-13 and saving the party from political doom as well as saving many rotten BN politicians from legal prosecutions for corruption etc.


I am really Ah Jib Gor
But please don't tell Rosmah or
she'll want to go SHAZAM-ing with me 

wakakaka

No doubt about it, he has been cunning, friendly, sneaky, warm, ruthless, indefatigable, Machiavellian, charming, everything he senses he has to be, and probably insincere as any snake oil salesman, but which makes him a successful politician, wakakaka.

For example, while Pakatan was making inroads in BN strongholds like Johor, he was quietly taking the back lanes and by-roads into Pakatan territory to successfully seize 7 seats from PAS in Titiwangsa, Kuala Selangor, Pendang, Padang Terap, Jerai, Sik and Baling and 8 from PKR in Balik Pulau, Bagan Serai, Kulim-Bandar Baru, Merbok, Machang, Ketereh, Tanah Merah and Hulu Selangor (won by PKR in 2008 tho’ held by BN in a by-election).

A 15-seat harvest which mitigated against the loss of 22 other seats to Pakatan!

Just imagine if he didn't succeed in the above, the final GE-13 tally would have been 133-15 = 118 versus Pakatan 89 + 15 = 104, a mere 14-seat difference or only a 8 seat majority to rule, which would have opened up all sorts of amphibious (wakakaka) ambitious possibilities for Anwar, wakakaka again.

He ripped back Kedah for BN and earned the undying gratitude of daddy Mahathir, while forestalling an anticipated 2nd Pakatan state government in Perak, probably much to the relief of someone I needn't name but who you all know anyway. He basically destroyed the putative northern 'Green Crescent' by winning Perlis, Kedah and Terengganu, and isolated PAS to only Kelantan.

He confirmed Sarawak as still a BN fixed deposit, yes very much to our disgust but remember he was fighting for his and UMNO's survival and we know a drowning man would grab at a straw, even one that looked like a white hair, wakakaka.

In the process he even enjoyed, perhaps not intentionally, the election failure of Ali Rustam, a potential and very dangerous rival to him in the UMNO leadership.

I reckon his principal failure was inexplicably standing a non-UMNO person Zulkifli Noordin in Shah Alam. That move had not only lost for BN the seat but probably caused an anti-BN domino effect in Selangor state which enabled PAS to double its state seats to 15 in Selangor's Malay Heartland, a traditional stronghold of UMNO.

Khairy Jamaluddin, UMNO Youth Chief, admitted: “Yes, you win some Malay votes in the process but you will also lose the support of moderate Malays in the process."



Maybe Najib's mitigation could be "Aiyah Tun, told you so he would be a disaster for us", wakakaka.

So ... what's this about his 'Chinese tsunami'?

Apart from Pak Kadir Jasin, some political analysts have stated even more precisely that the tsunami was not driven by ethnicity but by class.

In TMI’s GE13 an urban, not Chinese swing, say analysts Dr Shamsul Amri Baharuddin of UKM's Institute of Ethnic Studies (KITA) said of Pakatan:

“They received Malay middle-class support, especially in urban areas.”

“So the DAP majority increased because of disgruntled Malay young voters’ support ... in conclusion, to label racial polarisation is too easy. Two other factors operate simultaneously with race: class (rich-poor, middle class) and spatial (urban and rural).”

What I have written about the new generation of Chinese Malaysians in Part 1 would also apply to the new generations of Malays and Indians who think more as Malaysians rather than as a member of their parents' ethnic group.

Indeed how could the Chinese, an ethnic group which makes up only 24% of Malaysians, effect a popular vote of around 52% for Pakatan? How could Lim Kit Siang win Gelang Patah with an almost 15,000 majority without support from the Malays there?



And the facts and figures go on and on to rubbish the so-called Chinese tsunami effect.

Of course Najib had to make an excuse to hide from his UMNO members the fact of urban middle-class and young Malays voting Pakatan. For the UMNO president, blaming it on the Chinese bogeyman was neat and convenient and would buy him time to address the problem, in the same manner as he has bought 5 years worth of time for himself and UMNO to do whatever he has to do to stay in power.

He is not known as a cunning fella for nothing. Much as many have predicted likely retributive measures against the 'ungrateful' Chinese for snubbing Najib and his BN in the polls, I believe he will continue his program of manmanlai-ing all ethnic and lobby groups, whether with sincerity or otherwise.

The reason why he had failed with the Chinese even though he tried to pamper them with their favourite issue of 'education' was that he left it until way way too late.

He might have succeeded in such an approach with Waythamoorthy, but not so with the more calculative and more cynical Chinese especially on a topic very close to their hearts. Very few Chinese would buy his eleventh hour promises because they would naturally have viewed them as nothing more than election pork barrelling which might not even be fulfilled, as per some of Dr Mahathir's promises to the Chinese in 1999.

If Najib really wants to win back the Chinese hearts for GE-14, he should be sincere (yes, I know it's hard for a politician, wakakaka) and start implementing his promises to the Chinese community now and certainly not the eve of GE-14 despite their lack of support for BN in GE-13. Give the Chinese and Indians adequate time to see he is truly a PM for all Malaysians, and they may take to him.

One Chinese secret for Najib - Chinese think very very long term, perhaps by the hundreds or thousands of years, and which may explain why their children's education is so important to them.

Of course the anger of UMNO's more conservative elements, provoked by insinuations and accusations of Chinese ingratitude from mainly BN media mouthpieces, has today been reflected in Utusan Malaysia front-paged headline “Apa lagi Cina mahu?" (What else do the Chinese want?).


you can also read how pissed off Ali Rustam is
but it's rumoured Kayveas is delighted, wakakaka

Utusan is known to be largely aligned with Dr Mahathir's faction so one wonders to what extent the angry headline reflects the personal feelings of UMNO king-maker who (like Ali Rustam) has stated the Chinese have been ungrateful.

He even preposterously alleged they have rejected the Malays' extended hand of friendship. What a terrible load of tripe!

It's also noteworthy Najib has avoided condemning Utusan, obviously not to offend Dr Mahathir and the right wing elements in his party.

But as reported by Malaysiakini, Khairy Jamaluddin said MCA must stay on in the government as part of Najib's reconciliation plan. Leng Chai warned his party members to stop calls for UMNO to form a government without representatives from the Chinese community just because most Chinese voters have ceased supporting the coalition. He said:

“I hope those saying just leave them and let’s take care of our race will stop. It will be tragic if we do not have any Chinese participation as it will further aggravate the situation.” 

“I hope the prime minister will continue to take this path and engage with the community. This is critical for the safety of the nation and also important for the realisation of his 1Malaysia vision.” 


“The only path is the middle path. If you succumb to the communal game, the reconciliation will not happen.” 


"I know the Chinese psyche. If you engage them sincerely, they will reciprocate. You have got to be sincere with them." 


How's you daddy?
How's your daddy-in-law?
f* him!
f* him too!

wakakaka

Well, re his last quote, he seems to know the Chinese better than MCA. I believe he once claimed (in 2008) his best friend was(is?) a Chinese, wakakaka.

One interesting question I have regarding Khairy is that now he has been re-elected in Rembau, apparently with thrice (or twice) his 2008's majority, will Najib continue denying him as UMNO Youth Chief a cabinet position?


I can answer the next question myself: Does Dr Mahathir still bear him a grudge? YES, wakakaka.

As Najib should be forming his cabinet shortly, let's wait and see.

I think I'll leave mention of DAP and PKR until the next post, wakakaka.


To be continued ... (maybe, wakakaka) ...

22 comments:

  1. I think you have forgotten to mention the heavy baggage that Najib carries with him. Until, he drops his baggage by mentioning the word "talaq". His position as PM will have a short life. Generally, as a person, Najib is so lovable. Everyone loves a Santa Claus with a charming look and some white hair. The moment he brings along his better half on insistent or directive, the mood becomes gloomy for the audience.

    The baggage of dozen of diamond rings and loads of Birkin bags, would be the envy of his team mates and some repulsive reaction too. It is not a joke like the opposition love talking about. It is an in-house problem too. Wakakaka!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You see Wave33....The subliminal message kaytee is bringing.....Hey, hey hey, Najib is not bad after all. He may argue to have DAP included in the new BN.

      Seriously, it reminds me of this......Kaytee doesn't offer any solution to the prevailing problems

      I will leave you with this

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZoNWoX3mKo

      Delete
    2. and pray, what is your solution?

      Delete
    3. Resistance till Najib drop dead. Can do it Gandhi. Daily frustrating Najib/UMNO/BN administration. We can also try NI method. But you may consider Rhodesia method (won't work one)......

      WHAT'S YOURS?

      Delete
  2. Papagomo & Jason King arrested.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Syllogism is a powerful tool to deceive the naive. "Chinese love gambling. Ah Yap is Chinese, therefore he loves gambling." This is a generic fallacy. Helen Aku Cina is very good on this especially with statistics since those familar with statistics know it can be manipulated. She is part of today's problem pre & post GE13.

    Ali Rustam epitomizes why the general population is tired... arrogant, spiteful etc. Maybe there was other plans for him at Federal level.. well, que sera sera.. wakakaka. (Ghani was a sad gladator sent to his death by his masters which was rumoured. Chinese had nothing personal).

    Urban dwellers (Malay, Chinese, Indian, youth people & phantoms) are tired of everything.... education, crime, corruption, arrogant leaders (law minister, communication minister etc) and their pricelings that bash up commoners, robo cops who are happy shooters etc... Nuraina Samad was mugged in TTDI recently and injured. Sakmongkol's daughter was robbed in front of the house several days ago. Crime's victims isn't just Chinese & Indians... so read Kadir Jasin's last post including comments section. Maybe a change of view? Well, those living in Baram or Gua Musang don't have to worry about this.. or do they?

    And last of all, MCA. CSL is more interested to punish DVD manufacturers and nemesis. A winnable candidate (who has no fear nor favour) was sideline (personal) over common good. Now he is making a decision on behalf of the party while resigning. Just resign for the losses and let his deputy pick up the pieces with the PM, cabinet & exco standing including community building. They left their core compentance (education) for internal struggle & purging (so Maoist). Then externally, they couldn't proof their equality or superiority over DAP while taking on PAS. Probably, he is the wrong kind of doctor in the house. Wakakaka

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ghani epitomises with the character called Gaius Marcius Coriolanus( need to please kaytee ma)

      Guys & Gals,
      There is a modern adaptation of this tragedy.

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsYrGIQnmxo

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    2. it's too long a bow to draw in comparing Ghani with Coriolnus.

      Ghani became an UMNO piece of cannon fodder because the party wanted him to go and when CSL chickened out, thought it was a convenient opportunity to send him into Gelang Patah as a doomed gladiator.

      If you like, you can perhaps liken him to the biblical Uriah, an Hittite serving in the Israelite army as a general whom David deliberately sent into battle to die because David bonked (until pregnant) and coveted his wife (MB's position)

      Delete
    3. Keyword was to make you happy.....Of course Ghani no Coriolanus la. Time for DAP to rope in Saifuddin & Zaid

      Delete
    4. at last I'm vindicated in my support of Zaid all along. But which Saifuddin are you referring to, surely not Saifuddin Nasution that Destroyer of Apcet II? He's an Azmin Ali confidante

      Delete
    5. Saifuddin Abdullah. Since Madhater wanna destroy DAP, we will counter offence him by using the PAP who had obliterated UMNO from the Singapore. PKMS is like PPP in Singapore

      Delete
    6. okay, agree ith you Saifuddin Abdullah is good bloke

      Delete
  4. no take over of federal yet is not necessary a bad thing, now is good time to test how consistent is our leaders. is DAP another MCA, what about PAS unity govt, and how many frog in PKR. the likes like petra n aku cina only repeat something everyone know but offer no solution, for example bn can easily create another 10 parties to contest election so how boycott help? at least pr can now have more time to show how they could manage a state, and do it better, we achieve 53% popular vote in 2013, we strive for 60% in 2018, anwar cant wait we have nurul, we will continue our struggle. so y worry.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Brilliant analysis!

    If Dr M is unhappy with cunning Najib - he has no other choice because there is nobody else in UMNO to takeover. Muhyidin is just not able to do the job.

    And I am sure you read that Dr M thinks DAP is too dominant to be a partner. I did suggest that if he really wanted to replace Najib - he should consider inviting Anwar back to UMNO - then the country will truly be reconciled with DAP & PAS coming along with UMNO.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My wife wanted a toast with jam and it truncated my comments.

      I had wanted to end by saying that with the clarification enjoyed from your brilliant analysis, I now realise that my humble suggestion will now fall on deaf ears.

      Sigh.

      Delete
  6. Your concern for Khairy is shared. I think at best he will be made a Deputy Minister to Saravanan, the brilliant morning after commentator so that the leng chai can learn to make more succinct morning after comments. Ssravanan surely will make the new MIC Minister if Information - yes?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Why should Chinese or Malaysians be grateful and vote back bn? I thought bn should be grateful to the rakyat and should do its job properly, not act like warlords and expect the rakyat to prostrate when they see them walk past!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Correction Kaytee. Actually, Mahathir ghost wrote The Art Of War for Sun Tze. whoa!

    Some good news and some bad news. Good news is the RAHMAN prophecy will come true indeed. Najib will be the last UMNO prime minister. The bad news is he will be lording over us for 23 years, whereby beating Mahathir's record. whoa!!

    BTW, uncle monty sends his warm regards. He has been merajuk-ing. WHOA!!!

    hehehe

    ReplyDelete
  9. Say No to Racism9:11 am, May 08, 2013

    I live in a heavily Malay-majority constituency. Just a few housing estates with Chinese residents. Yet the Malay PKR candidate won convincingly with a large majority.
    No doubt the Chinese support for Ubah was a factor in GE13, but that's ignoring a lot of other factors.

    a) Urban voters , of different backgrounds and races have strong shared concerns for cost of living issues, corruption and cronyism.

    b) Penang and Selangor Pakatan state governments have shown visible results from an emphasis on accountable government and administration.

    If BN continues to harp on race and religion , and refuse to change, the slide in seats will continue ...194, 140, 133...GE14 ?

    ReplyDelete
  10. kt - could pas and umno get together and make up a government that is anti chinese.....there are vindictive people in umno...no?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. UMNO would love to coopt PAS into its fold, only to break Pakatan up. But while Nik Aziz is alive, he won't allow PAS to do so because he remembers how UMNO had tricked PAS before. Once Nik Aziz is not around there may be such a possibility

      Delete
  11. KT wrote: The reason why he (Najib) had failed with the Chinese even though he tried to pamper them with their favourite issue of 'education' was that he left it until way way too late.

    Yes that, and also because he failed to muzzle or at least dial down the rabid racist extremists in his party who frequently publicly indulge in virulent, hurtful racist utterances. That low-class, gutter newspaper (we all know which one) is a prime example of such race baiting with its incendiary, made-up accusations.

    The Chinese and even the Indians have been wounded by such hate speech to almost past the point where they are willing to forgive. And this will be reflected in the way they vote.

    ReplyDelete