Wan Fayhsal is most definitely not the sharpest tool in the shed

Wan Fayhsal is most definitely not the sharpest tool in the shed


Nehru Sathiamoorthy

Even in Israel, the Arab minorities have a chance of being the prime minister of Israel. If Malaysia had agreed to fulfil Wan Fayhsal’s demand, every time Putrajaya accused Israel of discriminating against the Palestinians, Tel Aviv would have laughed in our face.


Listening to Wan Fahysal backtrack on his PM only for Malay Muslim demand last week, makes me suspect that Bersatu is the Malay party that scrapes the bottom of the barrel to fill up its membership.

I think that the high-quality Malays who are interested in politics will either go to PAS, UMNO or PKR. The Malays that couldn’t make the cut, however, are the ones that will line up to join Bersatu as a last resort.

What else explains the fact that all of the 5 opposition MPs that are choosing to sleep with the government while remaining married to the opposition come from Bersatu. That not a single MP from PAS has capitulated to their opponent, but an outstanding five from Bersatu has done so, sort of tells you about the level of quality that Bersatu possesses, doesn’t it?

If the actions of the 5 capitulating MPs is not enough to prove to you that Bersatu is a party that scrapes the bottom of the barrel, the antics of its youth chief Youth Chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal should certainly remove all doubt.

If someone who reasons like Wan Ahmad Fayhsal can rise to become the Bersatu youth chief, it most likely means that the standards of qualification to be a leader in Bersatu is not very high, isn’t it?

Last week, Wan Ahmad Fayhsal, without rhyme or reason, demanded Anwar to undertake the drastic measure of amending the constitution in order to ensure that only Malay Muslims can become the prime minister of the country.

If Wan Ahmad Fayhsal’s demand had been fulfilled, Malaysia would have most certainly made headlines all over the world as a potential basket case nation in the world.

I don’t think there is any respectable country in the world that prohibits any of its citizens from becoming the leader of the nation on the basis of race and religion.

Even in Israel, the Arab minorities have a chance of being the prime minister of Israel. If Malaysia had agreed to fulfil Wan Fayhsal’s demand, every time Putrajaya accused Israel of discriminating against the Palestinians, Tel Aviv would have laughed in our face.

Other than South Africa during the apartheid era, I don’t think there has been any major country in the world that would consider what Wan Fayhsal asked for as unoffensive. Even at the height of bigotry in the segregation-era USA, it was still technically possible for a non-white citizen to be the President of the USA.

To add to the enigma, until now, no one even has any idea as to what prompted Wan Fayhsal to make such a drastic demand in the first place. There isn’t a single non-Malay non-Muslim that has a chance of becoming the prime minister of Malaysia in the foreseeable future. The closest non-Muslim that can reach the position of PM is probably Anthony Loke, but even he can’t reach it even if he tried to reach for it with a ladder and a pole.

Wan Fayhsal’s proposal is so outlandish, unnecessary and disproportionate to the reality in the country, that I think his loved ones better keep away things like a hammer from his reach. The man is so random in his thinking, that there is a chance that if a mosquito were to land on his face one of these days, he might decide to slap himself with a hammer to solve the problem.

If Wan Fayhsal was around when the late Samy Vellu said that “Just because you have a headache, you can’t cut off your head,” he probably would have asked, “Why not?”

After he was criticised heavily by everyone for making his demand, Wan Fayhsal has thankfully, retracted his demand, but unfortunately, the way that he had backtracked on his demand also does not inspire a lot of confidence in the reasoning ability of the Bersatu youth chief.

Wan Fayhsal is now saying that he is ok with an Indian or Chinese becoming the Prime Minister of Malaysia, but he insists that the said Indian or Chinese must be a Muslim and be well versed in Malay custom.

According to our constitution, a Malay is someone who habitually practises the Malay customs and is of the Islamic faith. In other words, if an Indian or Chinese practises the Malay custom and is of the Islamic faith, by constitutional standards, that Indian or Chinese can actually be considered to be a Malay. Heck, even our fourth and seventh Prime Minister, Mahathir Muhammad, has categorised himself as a constitutional Malay on the basis of being well versed in Malay customs and being of the Islamic faith.

In effect, what Wan Fahysal is now saying is that although he is ok with a non-Malay non-Muslim being the PM of Malaysia, he insists that they have to look like, sound like and behave like a Malay Muslim in order to be the PM.

I don’t even know why this guy even bothers to open his mouth. Whenever he speaks, either he says random and outlandish things without a sense of timing or proportion or the second half of his statement will cancel off the first half of his statement.

According to the Bukit Gantang MP, Datuk Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal, 7 or 8 more MPs from Perikatan Nasional will cross over to the government by expressing their support for Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim soon.

Amongst those who pooh-poohed the Bukit Gantang MPs claim was Wan Fahysal himself.

Listening to Wan Fahysal’s reason in the non-Malay Muslim PM kerfuffle however, is making me believe that the Bukit Gantang MP is right, and several more MPs from the opposition will indeed express their support for the Anwar very soon.

I think so, because it really appears to me that the folks at Bersatu are a bunch of very blur people. They are so blur, that they will remain married with the opposition while sleeping with the government or agree that it is possible for a non-Malay non-Muslim to be the Prime Minister for as long as they act, appear and behave like a Malay Muslim, and see no logical quandary in their position.

When you are as blur as the Bersatu members are, 7 or 8 more MPs switching sides to Anwar’s team is certainly a possibility. A clear minded MP might be too ashamed to do it, but a bunch of blur MPs from a blur party can be easily persuaded to do it, because when you have no idea what you are doing or saying, the concept of shame doesn’t arise.