Amid the blissful euphoria orchestrated by the main stream media to mark Najib Razak’s 100th day of premiership, two towering Malay politicians delivered landmark speeches that unveil the truth of what really has been bedeviling this nation.
Zaid Ibrahim and Tunku Razaleigh Hamzah, in their own individual styles and eloquence, on different stages, told PM Najib off with virtually the same message:
“Stop sloganeering with your 1Malaysia hype, start facing the truth please!”.
And what is that truth?
The truth as concurred by the two is: This country has fallen into the present quagmire of national disunity and economic malaise because UMNO is determined to cling to racism to perpetuate its authoritarian and corrupt rule. Sloganeering and piecemeal politicized liberalization and goodies as presently trumpeted will not help. Only sweeping fundamental changes in philosophy and policies will do.
Tunku Razaleigh is a veteran UMNO leader and a one time Finance Minister. He is nowadays widely perceived as an elder statesman and the only sane voice within UMNO with his regular statements of reasons and rationality that repudiate UMNO’s excesses and abuses, particularly under Najib’s leadership, which effectively began well before he officially ascended the premiership in April this year. Zaid Ibrahim, who resigned last year as de facto law minister due to UMNO’s rejection of his judicial reform agenda, has recently joined PKR. He is expected to play a key role in forging an enduring alliance among component parties in Pakatan Rakyat.
UMNO’S RACIST PHILOSOPHY
While both of them concurred on diagnosis and remedies, Zaid Ibrahim carried a step further in his speech. He believes UMNO is beyond salvation, and advocates a change of regime as the only way to save the nation. He has convincingly presented a case of a viable alternative in the form of Pakatan Rakyat, which may appear faltering at times with internal squabbling under the magnifying glass of the mala fide local media. But in truth, despite such squabbling under its more democratic political culture, the top leadership of Pakatan is strongly cemented by the common resolve to replace Barisan Nasional and restore democracy and good governance to the people. And Pakatan will march unrelentingly to achieve this objective. If it fails, the fire of change ignited by the Mar 8, 2008 election will be quickly extinguished, dooming the destiny of Malaysians for generations to come.
Zaid began his discourse by analyzing why UMNO has become dictatorial and corrupt. UMNO believes that it has an almost ‘divine’ right to rule, claiming that unless the Malay hegemony maintained by UMNO now is perpetuated, Malays will be marginalized. With this underlying philosophy, it has amassed dictatorial powers and trampled on the fundamental safeguards of the Constitution. Believing the end justifies the means, UMNO has unhesitatingly subverted the integrity and political neutrality of government institutions to enhance and preserve its political hegemony. This philosophy of Malay cause has seeped through the rank and file of practically all government institutions which have become largely mono-raced through decades of UMNO’s racialist rule. This explains why there is no sense of shame when vulgar political partisanship and discriminations in clear violation of the Constitution are displayed in the exercise of their duties, whether these are performed by judges, prosecutors, police, anti-corruption commission, election commission, or other civil servants. All are okay under UMNO’s agenda of Malay cause so they say.
As pointed out by both politicians, the main beneficiary of this race-based hegemony is the ruling elite, who has long hijacked the affirmative New Economic Policy (NEP) for self-enrichment and preservation of their political power in the name of the Malay cause. This has resulted in rampant and pervasive corruption that spreads across the entire spectrum of the political and administrative hierarchy under UMNO’s rule.
The price that the nation has paid for this corrupt authoritarian rule is the unrelenting escalation of crime rates, loss of civil liberties including media freedom and the serious erosion of the rule of law. Needless to say, unbridled and unprincipled racial and political discriminations have polarized the nation along racial and political lines.
NO INSTITUTIONAL REFORMS
And UMNO under Nazib has done practically nothing to restore the rule of law as exemplified by its complete disregard for the two Royal Commissions’ recommendations to restore integrity to the judiciary and police via the Lingam probe and the implementation of IPCMC (Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission) respectively. In particular, Najib’s disdain for the rule of law is reflected in the continued harassment of Anwar Ibrahim through a dubious sodomy charge; and
his unconstitutional grab of power in Perak, which is now being maintained through manipulation of judiciary and prosecutors.
At this time of our lowest economic ebb in recent memory amid global recession, what we need is national cohesiveness and unity of purpose and robust economic resilience to stage a bounce back. But what we have now is the opposite. Apart from endless political dissension and racial squabbling, decades of racist discrimination and protectionism has maimed our competitiveness through crippling mediocrity in education and administration and massive brain drain. With the recent sharp fall in investment and capital flight, which is reflective of the low regards investors have of the present system, the prospect of a healthy recovery is bleak.
In this respect, both the Tunku and Zaid are of the opinion that the only way forward is to rid the present racist policy. Speaking in words that will surely withstand the test of time, both have offered advice that deserves the serious consideration of every Malaysian.
Zaid said:
“The single greatest impediment to Malaysians being unified and working together for the common good, is racist politics in Malaysia”.
And the Tunku said:
“A fair and equitable economic order, founded on equal citizenship as guaranteed in our Constitution, is the only possible basis for a united Malaysia and a prerequisite of the competitive, talent driven economy we must create if we are to make our economic leap.
If we could do this, we would restore national confidence, we would bring Malaysians together in common cause to build a country that all feel a deep sense of belonging to. We would unleash the kind of investment we need, not just of foreign capital but of the loyalty, effort and commitment of all Malaysians.”
The Blogs 
