Why Tengku Zafrul’s shift to PKR is such a big deal
13 Feb 2025 • 5:30 PM MYT
TheRealNehruism
Writer. Seeker. Teacher
Image credit: Bernama/Malay Mail
On paper, Tengku Zafrul’s shift to PKR might not sound like a very big deal. Sure, Tengku Zafrul is a minister, but he was elected to the position because he has a competent, cosmopolitan, sophisticated and likeable image, not because he earned it through his political merit.
In terms of political merit, Tengku Zafrul is actually an insignificant figure. Tengku Zafrul is not a “warlord” with a base or a “fortress”. He cannot call on a dozen or a hundred or a thousand people to do something for him, because they identify with him on a personal basis. There are no constituencies anywhere in the country where Tengku Zafrul has a large number of people who see him as not only one of them, but the first amongst them.
Political merit is based on a politician’s ability to build a base to the point that they have so much control of constituency, that it becomes a political fortress for them, or a consituency that other politicians will find it extremely difficult to penetrate. How to build such a base and fortress is an art in politics, and it is those who succeed that are the ones that can be said to possess political merit.
When you look at our ministers, half to three quarters of them might look so ill-suited to handle the portfolio that they are given, that you might wonder why in the world were they even given their portfolio in the first place – well, the answer to that question is that though they don’t have an image of competency or technical knowhow, they likely possess a strong “political merit.”
In other words, though they might be ill suited for their job, they are powerful warlords who have a strong base that control many constituencies. It is on the basis of their political merit, rather than their technical knowhow or job competence, that they were given their cabinet portfolios.
Our own Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim, is also more of a warlord than he is technically competent. Anwar might have won the title of best finance minister, but I am quite sure that his knowledge of the economy and finance is no higher than that of a secondary school student ( maybe lower) . Anwar’s position as the PMX came chiefly because he is the Chief Warlord of Pakatan Harapan – or the warlord that all the lesser warlords in Pakatan Harapan bend their knees to.
Tengku Zafrul on the other hand, is amongst the most high profile and successful politicians in the country that did not come from a warlord background. This is actually not only an achievement by itself, because to serve as a high-profile minister in two different governments without having any base is actually so difficult to do, that I am not even sure how he did it, but it is also important in the sense that there is a widespread belief that the next generation of politicians in the country, will likely look more like Tengku Zafrul, Nurul Izzah or Khairy, rather than Anwar or Zahid Hamidi or Hadi Awang.
The warlord politics in our country is in a stage of decline. It is still a powerful force, but it is certainly past its prime.
When you look at most high-profile next generation politicians in the country – like Nurul Izzah, Khairy Jamaluddin, Rafizi or Syed Saddiq – you can see that the next generation of politicians are likely not so interested in charting their political careers by building a strong base or becoming a warlord.
Although Tengku Zafrul is not seen as a top tier next generation politician like the politicians I mentioned above, who are the figures that are generally seen as the are most likely candidates to become the PM of the country in the next 10 or 20 years, he is, save for Rafizi, the highest ranking next generation politician that is serving in the government today.
Not only that, but he is also probably the purest of the next generation politicians, in the sense that he is the one almost entirely unaffected by warlord politics.
To a certain extent, Rafizi, Nurul Izzah, Khairy and Syed Saddiq still dabble in warlord politics, but not Tengku Zafrul.
Tengku Zafrul does not only not have a base and is not capable of building a base, by the looks of it, he also does not look like he has any interest in a building base.
Instead, he looks like a politician who intends to make his mark in politics purely by crafting the image and reputation of a sophisticated, competent, likeable, efficient and cosmopolitan technocrat.
This fact, and the fact that he can’t and doesn’t want to be the number 1 spot, despite his high rank amongst the second generation politicians, also gives a bellwether status.
What I mean by this is that the fact that the he is highest pure second generation politician who doesn’t aim to be the prime minister, means that whichever party that he chooses to belong to, is a party that he chose simply because it is the party that is most capable of giving him the room and the space to be himself.
Other politicians like Khairy or Rafizi might change their political party based on its capacity to afford them a pathway to the top, but not Tengku Zafrul - Tengku Zafrul likely did it simply because PKR is the party that makes it comfortable for him to be himself.
If Tengku Zafrul’s foray into PKR does turn out into a success story, it will signal to the next generation of Malay leaders that PKR is the party that they should be heading to if they are not interested in warlord politics, but more interested in pursuing politics in the way that younger politicians like Khairy, Nurul Izzah, Syed Saddiq are doing it.
His shift from UMNO to PKR, more than the presence of Nurul Izzah and Rafizi in PKR, will also signal to the next generation that UMNO is the Malay party of the past, while PKR is the Malay party of the future.
Considering that PKR now has three of the most prominent next generation Malay politician in its stable – namely Nurul Izzah, Rafizi and Tengku Zafrul – Tengku Zafrul's entry into PKR will also likely cause the the career trajectory of the Syed Saddiq and Khairy to be tugged harder into the orbit of PKR.
It is an open secret that Khairy is in a “Keluar Sekejap” mode because he is bidding his time to return to Umno. But seeing that it will be PKR that will be drawing in the next generation of Malays, while Umno is seen as being so steeped in warlord politics that it has became inhospitable to people like Tengku Zafrul, there is a question mark of what exactly is it that Khairy will be capable of doing in Umno even if he manages to return and lead Umno someday. Is he really going to try to transform a party where the warlord culture is deeply entrenched, or will be the one that becomes influenced by the warlord culture of Umno and become a warlord himself. If he casts aside his next generation image to wear the cloak of a warlord, he might lose the very core of what makes Brand Khairy tick.
As for Syed Saddiq, at some point, Syed is going to have come to terms that as a political vehicle, MUDA has likely gone as far as it can go.
Like most democracies in the world, Malaysian politics in the future will have just two poles, and Syed will have to decide on whether he wants to be on the side of the progressives in PH or the conservatives in PN. I think all of can see which way that Syed Saddiq will be deciding at somepoint in the future. I don’t think anyone, not even himself, can see him on the side of the conservatives. At some point he is going to steer his political career towards PH. The only question is when and how.
So in conclusion, the conversion of Tengku Zafrul from the Umno colours to the PKR stable, indicates that with the passing of time, the influence of PKR in Malay politics is likely to grow, while Umno will gradually find itself “beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.”
13 Feb 2025 • 5:30 PM MYT
TheRealNehruism
Writer. Seeker. Teacher
Image credit: Bernama/Malay Mail
On paper, Tengku Zafrul’s shift to PKR might not sound like a very big deal. Sure, Tengku Zafrul is a minister, but he was elected to the position because he has a competent, cosmopolitan, sophisticated and likeable image, not because he earned it through his political merit.
In terms of political merit, Tengku Zafrul is actually an insignificant figure. Tengku Zafrul is not a “warlord” with a base or a “fortress”. He cannot call on a dozen or a hundred or a thousand people to do something for him, because they identify with him on a personal basis. There are no constituencies anywhere in the country where Tengku Zafrul has a large number of people who see him as not only one of them, but the first amongst them.
Political merit is based on a politician’s ability to build a base to the point that they have so much control of constituency, that it becomes a political fortress for them, or a consituency that other politicians will find it extremely difficult to penetrate. How to build such a base and fortress is an art in politics, and it is those who succeed that are the ones that can be said to possess political merit.
When you look at our ministers, half to three quarters of them might look so ill-suited to handle the portfolio that they are given, that you might wonder why in the world were they even given their portfolio in the first place – well, the answer to that question is that though they don’t have an image of competency or technical knowhow, they likely possess a strong “political merit.”
In other words, though they might be ill suited for their job, they are powerful warlords who have a strong base that control many constituencies. It is on the basis of their political merit, rather than their technical knowhow or job competence, that they were given their cabinet portfolios.
Our own Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim, is also more of a warlord than he is technically competent. Anwar might have won the title of best finance minister, but I am quite sure that his knowledge of the economy and finance is no higher than that of a secondary school student ( maybe lower) . Anwar’s position as the PMX came chiefly because he is the Chief Warlord of Pakatan Harapan – or the warlord that all the lesser warlords in Pakatan Harapan bend their knees to.
Tengku Zafrul on the other hand, is amongst the most high profile and successful politicians in the country that did not come from a warlord background. This is actually not only an achievement by itself, because to serve as a high-profile minister in two different governments without having any base is actually so difficult to do, that I am not even sure how he did it, but it is also important in the sense that there is a widespread belief that the next generation of politicians in the country, will likely look more like Tengku Zafrul, Nurul Izzah or Khairy, rather than Anwar or Zahid Hamidi or Hadi Awang.
The warlord politics in our country is in a stage of decline. It is still a powerful force, but it is certainly past its prime.
When you look at most high-profile next generation politicians in the country – like Nurul Izzah, Khairy Jamaluddin, Rafizi or Syed Saddiq – you can see that the next generation of politicians are likely not so interested in charting their political careers by building a strong base or becoming a warlord.
Although Tengku Zafrul is not seen as a top tier next generation politician like the politicians I mentioned above, who are the figures that are generally seen as the are most likely candidates to become the PM of the country in the next 10 or 20 years, he is, save for Rafizi, the highest ranking next generation politician that is serving in the government today.
Not only that, but he is also probably the purest of the next generation politicians, in the sense that he is the one almost entirely unaffected by warlord politics.
To a certain extent, Rafizi, Nurul Izzah, Khairy and Syed Saddiq still dabble in warlord politics, but not Tengku Zafrul.
Tengku Zafrul does not only not have a base and is not capable of building a base, by the looks of it, he also does not look like he has any interest in a building base.
Instead, he looks like a politician who intends to make his mark in politics purely by crafting the image and reputation of a sophisticated, competent, likeable, efficient and cosmopolitan technocrat.
This fact, and the fact that he can’t and doesn’t want to be the number 1 spot, despite his high rank amongst the second generation politicians, also gives a bellwether status.
What I mean by this is that the fact that the he is highest pure second generation politician who doesn’t aim to be the prime minister, means that whichever party that he chooses to belong to, is a party that he chose simply because it is the party that is most capable of giving him the room and the space to be himself.
Other politicians like Khairy or Rafizi might change their political party based on its capacity to afford them a pathway to the top, but not Tengku Zafrul - Tengku Zafrul likely did it simply because PKR is the party that makes it comfortable for him to be himself.
If Tengku Zafrul’s foray into PKR does turn out into a success story, it will signal to the next generation of Malay leaders that PKR is the party that they should be heading to if they are not interested in warlord politics, but more interested in pursuing politics in the way that younger politicians like Khairy, Nurul Izzah, Syed Saddiq are doing it.
His shift from UMNO to PKR, more than the presence of Nurul Izzah and Rafizi in PKR, will also signal to the next generation that UMNO is the Malay party of the past, while PKR is the Malay party of the future.
Considering that PKR now has three of the most prominent next generation Malay politician in its stable – namely Nurul Izzah, Rafizi and Tengku Zafrul – Tengku Zafrul's entry into PKR will also likely cause the the career trajectory of the Syed Saddiq and Khairy to be tugged harder into the orbit of PKR.
It is an open secret that Khairy is in a “Keluar Sekejap” mode because he is bidding his time to return to Umno. But seeing that it will be PKR that will be drawing in the next generation of Malays, while Umno is seen as being so steeped in warlord politics that it has became inhospitable to people like Tengku Zafrul, there is a question mark of what exactly is it that Khairy will be capable of doing in Umno even if he manages to return and lead Umno someday. Is he really going to try to transform a party where the warlord culture is deeply entrenched, or will be the one that becomes influenced by the warlord culture of Umno and become a warlord himself. If he casts aside his next generation image to wear the cloak of a warlord, he might lose the very core of what makes Brand Khairy tick.
As for Syed Saddiq, at some point, Syed is going to have come to terms that as a political vehicle, MUDA has likely gone as far as it can go.
Like most democracies in the world, Malaysian politics in the future will have just two poles, and Syed will have to decide on whether he wants to be on the side of the progressives in PH or the conservatives in PN. I think all of can see which way that Syed Saddiq will be deciding at somepoint in the future. I don’t think anyone, not even himself, can see him on the side of the conservatives. At some point he is going to steer his political career towards PH. The only question is when and how.
So in conclusion, the conversion of Tengku Zafrul from the Umno colours to the PKR stable, indicates that with the passing of time, the influence of PKR in Malay politics is likely to grow, while Umno will gradually find itself “beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.”
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kt comments:
I think my matey Nehru has been too kind to Tengku Zafrul. It's not that T Zafrul is not interested in party politics and warlordism, but that as a "yellow-teflonised" parachutist he doesn't have the time to build up party support or that he is perceived by party members as a (privileged) 'outsider' thus he doesn't have any grassroot support.
Indeed, where did he "come from", if not by a "yellow-teflonised" parachute. The rumour is that he is the royals' representative.
OK, now to PMX - problem with Anwar is he wants to be liked by everyone, and enjoys what Penang Hokkiens say "beh-kaw-eoh" (literally: sell Chinese medical heat patches), meaning, like the village medicine peddler, he likes to 'hold court' and regales his "admirers" with his talk-of-the-day, verbal entertainment and even kerbau (bull-poo), which has been why he has at times looked pretty silly. Yes, he has a tendency to pass the impression he knows more than he does, though in politics that is not a disadvantage, wakakaka, not in Malaysia.
Wakakakaka…
ReplyDelete"yellow-teflonised"!
That's a powerful linkage to warlord base in a melayu feudalistic political play!