Not tenang in Tenang

In Malaysiakini’s Hadi shrugs off MCA's Islamic state bogey, Pak Haji Hadi Awang has been very modest, only claiming a possible 50% chance for PAS to win the Tenang by-election, but he has been openly gleeful as victory is more than just possible; it’s very very probable …

… which has been why MCA has gone into overdrive in its scare campaign about a future Islamic State with full implementation of the hudud if the Chinese in the Tenang state constituency, comprising 39% of the registered voters, were to vote for the PAS candidate - see Malaysiakini's MCA unleashes race-religion leaflet campaign.

As if matters couldn’t be made worse for UMNO, DPM Muhyiddin has incurred the unmitigated wrath of the Indian community on his ‘statement’ about the use of the Interlok book. Malaysiakini reported in Muhyiddin lied, say Indian groups that The Federation of Indian NGO Associations has called Muhyiddin a liar and a traitor for suggesting that the ministry has reached consensus with the Indian community on the use of the Malay literature textbook 'Interlok'.

I am not sure about the label of 'traitor' (may be a bit overboard), but certainly calling the DPM a liar, just as for the DPM to be called a liar, are both very serious matters which cannot be left unchallenged, one way or other. The DPM must now either sue the the Federation of Indian NGO Associations or ... live forever as a liar.

With kaytee's self-awarded licence to fiddle around with a well-known idiom, we can now describe the federation's information chief AP Raja Retinam's call to Tenang Indian voters to give their backing to PAS, as adding potential injury to insult. What a double-barrelled shot at poor Muhyiddin.

Wait, there's more (as they say, 'when it rains it sure as hell pours') - even the normally compliant MIC has shown great anger at Muhyiddin’s attempt to sweep the Interlok affair under the carpet - see Malaysiakini's Endorse 'withdraw Interlok' demand, MIC told.

Sorry Muhyiddin, the Interlok’s story won't just go away ….. unless you do the right thing and remove that book from use in the Form 5 curriculum …

… which has been why Pak Haji has been beaming away. The Chinese and Indians in Tenang together constitute 51.15% of the registered voters. And of course UMNO alone cannot claim all of the 47.54% of Malay voters.

Sorry if my comments have been on the racial equation of the Tenang by-election – but don’t blame kaytee for raising them. Apart from UMNO having already done the damage, it has together with its mouth pieces like Utusan, Perkasa and various nationalist NGOs kept reminding us even until today of our ethnic ‘differences’ and ketuanan Melayu.

Strangely enough, UMNO (the UMNO of Tunku Abdul Rahman) would have been the natural Malay party for Chinese and Indians to back in a vote of preferred political party or political leadership, but in the last couple of decades it has lost its strongest point, its moderate bearings.

Worse, even more than its betrayal of the secular Malaysia we had when it proclaimed Malaysia as an Islamic State, its crude corrupt conduct has repulsed many Malaysians …


… to such an extent that PAS, though never ever wavering from its political Islamic ideology and its intent to implement the hudud in Malaysia's legal system, has now become the superior Malay party for many Chinese.

(I’ve to admit I’m not sure about the Indians, what with people like the Great Glorious Uthayakumar confusing the support base by attacking DAP instead of UMNO and MIC).

It's obvious Chinese Malaysians ta'boleh tahan lagi (cannot tolerate any further) UMNO's arrogance, abuse of powers and gross corruption. They are now prepared to take a chance with an Islamic party. At this stage, I cannot yet comment on whether the Chinese 180-degree political turnaround is wise.

ON UMNO's conduct, it’s noteworthy that currently there has been a coordinated attack on Singapore by Dr Mahathir, Dr DNA Denier and Doctor-ed Ethnic Warrior. I see this campaign as connected to UMNO's political strategy.

My take - UMNO is worried about its polling chances if it keeps on annoying or/and attacking the Chinese voters in Malaysia or frightening them by demonstrating its ultra-ness. But it has to do so to ensure its so-called relevance to the Malays and thus to retain their continuing support. Since Singapore is Chinese, it’s convenient to show to the heartland the ‘evils’ of the Chinese ruled neighbouring country and how it supposedly suppresses the Malays there.

Therefore attack Singapore leadership. Singapore leadership is bad, Singapore leadership is Chinese, thus Chinese leadership is bad!

Though Singapore may on the surface appear as a completely different/foreign target, in the reality of our historical-cultural-social context it serves as an surrogate-attack on the local (non-BN) Chinese leadership and their alleged 'iniquity', and a reminder to the heartland not to vote for DAP or any coalition that has DAP as a member, namely Pakatan and thus PAS and PKR.

As UMNO blogger Sakmongkol AK 47 noted sadly, the current UMNO leaders don’t seem to be able to cope with Malaysia’s modern political landscape. They still believe in the supremacy of force and the employment of mischievous tactics like the undemocratic and shameful Khusrin affair.

A week ago he wrote: UMNO hasn't shed off its arrogance and bully tactics. It's showing it is incapable of dealing with dissenting views and does not have the credentials to deal with the future. How has UMNO approached dissenting views and opposition? By making endless police reports. The police should not be used as an oppressive tool by UMNO.

Much earlier he penned: Just recently, the appointment of the Selangor SS was also seen as being made possible by the intervention and involvement of the king of Selangor. The two events [earlier he mentioned a similar situation in Perak] resulted in a loosening of people's inhibitions. People are becoming emboldened to question the proper role of the constitutional monarchy. Let us be clear to what is happening here. People are pointing out to the fact that ours is a constitutional monarchy. It's not a call for the overthrow of the institution or a call for rebellion. It is suggestive of a larger desire by an increasing number of the population, to see that the proper rule of law and the sovereignty of the rule of law need to and should be observed. Pointing that out is not intended to derhaka to the monarchy. [...]

UMNO doesn't seem to have what it takes to manage the loosening of the social and cultural milieu. Nor does it seem to have the presence of mind, the verve so to speak, to manage the change.

When UMNO sponsored or indirectly supported those wild eyed young men and women to shout violent outbursts and threatening verbal abuses against the so called traitors of certain Malay institutions, it only points out to one fact- that UMNO has lost its grip on the loosening and uninhibited future culture.

Since it doesn't understand and lacked the tools to manage the new social milieu, it can lose in the next GE.

Alas, his advice to UMNO seems to have fallen on deaf ears, though I see a slight change in tactics by some notable UMNO personalities shifting the attack over to the surrogate Chinese target, Singapore, as a so-called iniquitous and oppressive Chinese-ruled country with a Malay minority, obviously a tactic to drive home the fear of Chinese political leadership into the minds of Malays, as MCA is attempting to do to the Chinese Malaysians on PAS leadership.

I fear that the short and long term fallout from the UMNO-MCA style of political campaign for the Tenang by-election will be far from being tenang (calm). They can only concretize, if not exacerbate our already existing and very lamentable communal schism.