YOURSAY | ‘We’ve a band of brothers whose intention is to plunder the country.’
Trapped in recurring political nightmare, M'sia yearns for young blood
OCT: Once you have tasted the supremacy of power and riches, nobody will step aside. Integrity and honesty to serve the rakyat have never been the objectives of the past leaders, except Tunku Abdul Rahman.
Look at the families of Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Najib Abdul Razak, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, most Umno supreme council members and Umno itself at how rich they had become and you will get a picture of why they don't want to step down. Even with clear evidence of corruption, Najib is still a force to be reckoned with.
There is no succession plan for the young to take over as it will affect the incumbents. Protecting the party and their leaders are more urgent than the country.
When this type of ideology is firmly set, it is very difficult to do a paradigm shift. We are talking about a band of brothers who has no intention to help the country except to plunder it. They are protected from prosecution.
Those honest and good politicians will never survive as they don't fit into their culture. It is a slim and impossible mission to have new blood to take over, especially with Umno in control.
MAS2021: You can disagree with me. Please do.
Yes, the young should lead the future. The old should go, even Mahathir. But let us look at the transitional period. How shall it be?
It is not as easily said. It should be gradual. The 'can-be-used oldies' should take the rein today and bring in the young into the mainstream. Coach them for about a year or two, and then let them lead, and these old guards should then leave.
One figure I think that could do this is the 'can-be-used old Mahathir'. (Yes, you can disagree here). He was on the right track in the last GE14. But then, this was soured by many unscrupulous actions.
Headhunter: Pakatan Harapan allowed an egotistical Mahathir to destroy it because no leaders dare to go against him. Even Anwar Ibrahim, who was the incoming PM, was reduced to whining behind the scene, and likewise DAP and Amanah leaders.
They were not allowed to play their respective roles unless the old man okayed it. And in so doing, the opposition self-destructed and wrote themselves out of a government they legitimately won.
The rest, as they say, is history. They not only lost a government but also destroyed their own reputation in the process. We are all losers for it. Yes, those old goats have to be replaced unless we want the current destructive situation to go on.
Dr Raman Letchumanan: "No one dares to ask Mahathir, Muhyiddin (Yassin), Anwar, Najib, Ahmad Zahid and (Lim) Guan Eng to make way for younger leaders. They will not listen. They think the country still needs them. They think they can contribute in ways others cannot," said former minister Zaid Ibrahim.
That is the crux of the problem. You think the old hags will step down voluntarily, or the young 'promising' candidates will ask them to step down. The old want to dominate, the young are waiting to milk the system and hoping for the old to die or incapacitate.
Challenging the old is a sure way of going into oblivion. Why do you think Rafizi Ramli, Hannah Yeoh and others are tip-toeing around the elephant in the room?
Zaid, for all the sense you make here - not that many don't realise or have written about it - your prescription is dinosaur-style stereotypes. Expecting change within? Come on, pigs will be flying all over.
I have been pointing out promising outside candidates who truly care for the rakyat. Like Ain to contest against minister of education, Tashny against minister of home affairs, Pandelela against youth and sports minister, etc. These young women have more balls than those old hags.
Yes, I hear sniggering here. Go on, if you guys don't dare and think out of the box, you get what you all deserve. Zaid is right, there is going to be no change, if ever. The worst part, paid cybertroopers are here to rise and support the old hags.
This will not change the next government, which I am sure is going to be led by Umno, but at least we unleash a new movement of the young, like what is happening the world over. Why don't we talk about resourcing and institutionalising these budding young hopefuls?
I have moved on from arguing based on race, religion and corruption. This problem will be sustained and milked by both sides, no doubt about it.
The issue is the top 10 percent rich and powerful making public policies on behalf of the B60 (bottom 60 percent) as I have written in my recent opinion piece. They want to keep the B60 dumbed down to enrich themselves. I wouldn't blame the B60 either. What choice did we offer them - the old tired BN or Harapan?
Keep on writing and complaining all we can. Why is anybody not encouraging the young revolutionaries, except to sprinkle a name here or there, just to show they are thinking differently. And yet, they expect change to blossom from these old party hags.
Uncle Yap: I often wonder why writers lump Guan Eng together with other aging politicians... Let's have a look at the various ages of the present crop of political leaders.
- Mahathir Mohamad, 96
- Lim Kit Siang, 80
- Muhyiddin Yassin, 74
- Anwar Ibrahim, 74
- Abdul Hadi Awang, 74
- Zaid Ibrahim, 70
- Najib Abdul Razak, 68
- Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, 68
- Mohamad Sabu, 67
- Ismail Sabri Yaakob, 64
- Lim Guan Eng, 61
If Kit Siang had continued as secretary-general (effectively CEO), then lumping him in the group will be justified. But he had chosen to make way for another younger person who happened to be his son, Guan Eng, who is the baby of the above lot.
If only the other leaders have followed the example of Kit Siang and allowed younger leaders to emerge, then we have another ball game, but to continue to vilify Guan Eng as another ageing leader to be got rid of is a case not made.
Wong Fei Hoong: Why step down if they can still contribute and provide guidance to the party. The young must be able to show leadership and hold the party together if these seniors finally call it a day.
Parties have their elections and they can vote down the seniors if they have the support of the party members.
Undecided: Although there may be a need for multiracial parties to have younger leaders in the forefront, there is a bigger need for the ‘bumi dominant’ and ‘bumi exclusive’ parties to change for the better with younger leaders. This is because the PM comes from these parties in the near future and a non-bumi PM is still a pie in the sky.
This bumi PM and his allies must not be just focussed on retaining power. They must have the courage to focus on promoting unity of Malaysians, which means that the abuse of affirmative action and the use of race/religion must end. This is the reason why Mahathir-Harapan failed.
You need to be in government to kick start the process as only the PM have the power and resources to do so.
The Analyser: Your optimism is beyond belief if you think that such a naive category as “young people” will resolve the Malaysian dilemma.
The Malaysian dilemma is Malaysians… and young Malaysians (thanks to feudal child-raising systems) are as discriminatory, as devoid of principles and as obsessed with money as are their parents and grandparents.
The answer lies not with youth, but with individuals with principles, foresight and organisational skills. Though I suspect there are precious few in that category. Thanks also to the nature of Malaysian culture.
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