Can Umno secretary-general change Mahathir's wriitten script is he Mahathir's proxy server?

To most Mahathir loyalists, Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir’s comment was a signal from the enigmatic general himself, that soon he would revolutionise the campaign strategy and revive their electoral fortunes in the forthcoming general elections. Suddenly, there was ‘hope’ in the air. The anointed one had a decisive plan for the party that he would soon unveil. Victory would now be within reach, and the opposition had better watch out.After nearly a decade of ‘working with the party,’ the time had apparently now come for Mahathir'son to translate his training from his father into tangible change for his party.  the perfect platform for him to reveal his big idea – not to forget – “in ways that we would not be able to imagine.” He was quite right. Instead of the promised and much awaited grand plan to resuscitate the dying UMNO.It was indeed charming to hear the 2nd generation dynast speak of curing Malaysian’s problems by “pushing revolutionary democratization further.” Hopefully the contradictions in this statement were not lost on him – or on his speech writer who ought to avoid such embarrassing doublespeak. However, to his credit,Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir successfully listed all the shortcomings in our system of governance – with a special focus on decentralising legislative power, a noble if impractical solution to Malaysia’s larger and more fundamental problems. In a passionate rendition of Bollywood’s angry young man, he concluded his speech by saying that change was imperative – and that his political party did not “respond by proposing oversimplified non-solutions.”

This brings us back to our first question – what is your solution,Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir?

Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir  has been told not to speak publicly of his dissatisfaction with UMNO can resigDatuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir n from UMNO and fight from outside Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor.

"I told him that this was not right as it would jeopardise the party," said Tengku Adnan.

Mukhriz had expressed concern that Barisan Nasional might lose in the 14th general election.When the UMNO suffered a humiliating defeat in G13 election if Putrajaya continued implementing unpopular decisions."Defeat is a real possibility if Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak continues with his present policy of correct but unpopular decisions, especially on issues concerning the rising cost of living," Mukhriz, who is also the Kedah menteri besar, had said.

Tengku Adnan said  Only marginally true. For, if that was the case, he would not have run down Najib  so close.Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir  lacks killer instinct, Najb carrying such deficiency.

The problem with the babus of today is that they cannot draw the line between the political objectives of their political masters and the obligations of the post they hold. It is not the job of the Home Secretary to improve the image of the Congress or rubbish that of the AAP. It is not the job of the police to promote political agendas.

Unfortunately, such fine distinctions between public responsibility and private gain are long gone and  Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor align with Mahathir's Gang to get ahead.Umno secretary-general have given enough space for Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir go against Najib.

 As if on cue and immediately after Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir  announcement, different  UMNO spokespersons of varying stature hailed this statement as an indicator that a ‘game-changing idea’ was in the offing.  One person in particular, who appears rather frequently on TV debates, proclaimed that Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir “was the best thing to happen to UMNO..” 

KUALA LUMPUR - Government leaders and ministers should stand up and defend the government relating to issues brought up by the rakyat instead of taking on a safer approach, said Bernama Chairman Datuk Abdul Rahman Sulaiman.

He said it is time for them to back one another in defending the government on issues concerning the rakyat which are being manipulated by the opposition and taking the country on the verge of crisis.

"Find ways on how to defend the government, for example (how the ministers should stop) the kangkung issue, I do not see anyone coming out helping and supporting him (Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak), this is not supposed to happen, (they should not) 'play safe'," Abdul Rahman said.

"The time has come for cabinet members to defend the prime minister, if not don't be in the cabinet," he told Bernama at the Appreciation event for Internal Trainers for Bernama School of Journalism (BSJ) programme.

Previous administrations able to appease the people

He further said in the previous leadership of the prime ministers, the government had its own spokesperson to deal with issues especially now where social media is being widely used to create misunderstanding and make allegations.

He said the current government should have the same approach like the previous administration which had a spokesperson who could be either a cabinet minister or a government official.

Abdul Rahman said the previous administration had also faced similar problems but they were able to control the situation and appease the rakyat with the support of the cabinet members.

He said that the rakyat should be constantly told in no uncertain terms about the rationale of the government policies for example the rationalisation of subsidies, and the supply and demand of goods and services that affects it.

Trend setter!

Earlier in his speech, Abdul Rahman stressed that as the sole news agency in the country, Bernama should be the trend setter in the news stream apart from following-up on current issues that concern the rakyat.

"The average reader needs to be educated, for example on the issue of price hikes for goods and services, that there are many factors that affect it, not just because of the reduction of petrol subsidy by the government.

"With the vast changes in technology, we have to move fast and be in the fore front of subject matter relating to rakyat and government otherwise Bernama will be left behind," Abdul Rahman explained.

Therefore, he hoped that the BSJ will continue to organise more dynamic courses and emphasize on the importance of speed in news gathering through the social media application. - BERNAMA

Rare Umno lawmaker in KL,

You probably have heard this before “Nice people finish last” and perhaps have experienced it as well – watching pushy, inconsiderate individuals get the job you wanted or have received the romantic attention of someone you have been pining for. It didn’t seem fair, did it?

If you have observed this rare breed, called ‘nice people’, closely and understood what they had to offer –integrity, compassion, protection, support, passion, & possibly lots more, you’d be confused; why, despite having these attributes, are they simply walked over and cast aside in everyday relationships!

Najib is now President of UMNO in his own right. Will it make any difference in terms of his leadership style and performance?

As you sow, so shall you reap You require a seed to grow a tree. But if you don’t water it, give it sunlight and manure, it will never grow. The only plant that grows in arid or desert lands is a prickly cactus and you inevitably hurt yourself on its needles while extracting any nourishment from it. The same holds good for relationships. It’s the easiest thing in the world to start a relationship. But there is a huge difference between a ‘relationship’, a ‘flourishing relationship’ and a ‘prickly relationship’ and it all boils down to input=output. A first date, sizzling chemistry, or even an arranged meeting, are the seeds to either a huge tree that will one day give you shade and protection from harsh conditions like harsh sun and rain, give you fruit, give you adventure and excitement as you climb its branches or be just a prickly reminder of a lack of nurturing. There is a saying, ‘As you sow, so shall you reap,’ and nothing could be truer of a relationship. It’s not something that magically grows by itself, stays interesting or becomes exciting only because the seed is sown. A relationship is one of the most important things in our lives yet strangely it’s the one thing we take the most for granted over time. We stop investing in our life partner and see it as a drain to continually give to them, when in actuality you’re the one reaping the rewards of it. You wake up with, sleep with, have children with and share the largest chunk of your journey on this planet with your life partner. How stupid to not make it worth everyone’s while.

Look inside an office and you’ll see that you don’t have to be ‘the boss’ to take on a leadership role. If you are one with the most experience in a certain skill, you’ll have, at least in a few key moments, the opportunity to become the ‘leader’ and guide your team. That’s a no brainer right there, isn’t it?

Psychological studies in this area have been fascinating. They have helped us understand the connect between the ability to lead, when necessary, and the achievement of professional success; taunting us to the ever unanswered question: Do nice guys really finish last in life?

Malaysia’s Najib Faces UMNO Party and Mahathir Protest

Najib will not be missed as PM. Peter’s Principle (1969) states that bureaucracies promote people to the level of their incompetence. Nothing could be truer than this in Najib’s case, and almost never listened to. Liberation from the extended coalition dharma of UMNO 1 spelt his doom, as power effectively passed to the inner political core of UMNO. Najib’s expertise has always been in managing to walk the mean between economic fundamentalism and democratic acceptability. The art of the possible. This is what makes him an exceptional . His credibility overseas is far higher than his domestic ratings. He would make an exceptional, high level diplomat for spreading knowledge on the magnificent success ofMalaysia economy, using the time honored  instrument of Malaysia. A combination of problem solving skills based on the ability to spin interventions, which have no immediate international precedents, but fit the extant environment and adhere to basic economic principles.said

After an uncommon fight on the anti-corruption plank and disrupting the political landscape of the country That’s playing to the gallery. With a handful of populist acts of late, which political parties often resort to in their desire to curry favour with voters, Najib has already taken a handful of populist decisions lately which include free  kangkung  PM has “landed himself in the kangkong soup” after he hit back at the people for criticising the government following the increase in the price of goods. all leading to a higher subsidy burden for the government. Subsidies don’t come from thin air either. The common man should understand that it’s taken back through taxes on other goods and services, which they only have to pay. a bogey taken up by a section of politicians seeking to play to a certain vote bank. In this case the vote bank are the rich traders, who have been historically UMNO sympathizers and who also contribute generously to the party funds. It’s got nothing to do with people on the fringes as it doesn’t impact their lives. Earlier, the favourite whipping boy the bogey publicised by some such PAKATAN politicians

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak enters 2014 beset by growing hostility from both the public and within his own political party, the United Malays National Organization, characterized by a deluge of New Year messages across cyberspace celebrating the “year ofbarang naik,” Malay language for rising prices of items.

That is a play on the initials BN, for Barisan Nasional, the national ruling coalition. It has become an opposition battle cry to the point where Najib mentioned it himself in a recent speech

Najib is making an astute move now, after national and intraparty elections have been completed, taking on the necessary but unappetizing task of dismantling decades of subsidies that have driven government debt close to the statutory limit of 55 percent of gross domestic product. In the wake of both sets of elections, he is temporarily invulnerable to both opposition and intraparty assaults.

However, electricity tariffs have risen by 15 percent, sugar subsidies have been cut. Last September, Petronas, the national energy company, cut fuel subsidies in a move that it said would save the government RMB1 billion annually. Public anger at the cutting of the subsidies is substantial and growing

In addition, many in the party rank and file are still furious over widespread spending to keep the current leadership in place in the September intraparty elections.

That has brought the prime minister under unprecedented attack from bloggers aligned with the wing of the party controlled by former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who are delivering an extraordinary onslaught on his lifestyle and that of his wife, even going so far as an unprecedented call for attention to corruption within UMNO itself. The attacks had been expected from the time Najib blocked Mahathir’s son, Mukhriz, from becoming one of the party’s three vice presidents in the September polls.

Najib has sought to deflect criticism, saying the price hikes have been caused by factors such as the global economy and extreme weather that cut into the fish catch and drove up the price of vegetables. The government has also sought to spread the pain by cutting government ministers’ allowances by 10 percent, banning civil servants from business class flights, restricting expenses on official government functions. However, that hasn’t mollified voters, who staged public protests over New Year’s.

Najib also enraged voters by leaving for most of the holidays, going to Las Vegas and other watering holes with his wife, Rosmah Mansor, whose free-spending ways have alienated large swaths of the conservative Malay Muslim community. He is being called “Mr Nowhere” because of his absences from the country.

“A putsch is in the air, definitely, as the frustration with Najib’s free spending and extravagant lifestyle increases,” a Malay businessman told Asia Sentinel. “Najib is in the weakest position any prime minister in Malaysia has ever seen.”

Calls have been rising to have Mahathir come back to the government administrative center of Putra Jaya as an “adviser” to right the ship, something that appears highly unlikely. Mahathir himself made light of the idea.

In the meantime, bloggers who have been described as aligned with Mahathir have been raising their game, making broadly based attacks on Najib and even other UMNO officials, calling attention to what appears to be corruption in the award of highway contracts.

Kadir Jasin, a former New Straits Times editor and close longtime Mahathir ally, wrote recently that “To many UMNO leaders, the measure of the party’s success is big cars, big houses and expensive watches whose names they can’t even mention.”  In particular, Rosmah has been criticized repeatedly for her taste in vastly expensive watches.

Kadir also called attention to “people with no formal appointments and duties (who) are known to use government on pretext of serving the country,” an apparent reference to Rosmah’s November commandeering of an official government jet to fly to Qatar to attend an international forum.

“Do they know that even the Queen (of England) uses trains and charters planes when travelling overseas? They should because many like the PM studied in the UK. Air transport for the British Royal Family and the government of the UK is provided, depending on circumstances and availability, by a variety of military and civilian operators. But most often they fly using scheduled commercial flights, normally the British Airways.”

“We are complaining about the wrong things he is doing in accommodating the wishes of his wife,” Kadir wrote. “We are asking the government to be accountable. The PM should answer these allegations. The way he bragged about his wife in public, he was in fact saying that his wife has more influence than him with foreign leaders.”

“Outsyedthebox” suggested that Najib, who had never finished his economics degree, actually “imbibed from the “Proton school of management” (the money-losing national car) “where it is a good thing to buy something high and sell it low.  Or buy something high and then sell it even higher to people who have few options.:

“Mahathir’s and (former Finance Minister Daim Zainuddin’s) hands are all over the place but the point is that Najib and his wife are providing all the ammo,” a source said. “Without the ammo, Mahathir would be hard pressed to rally his troops against Najib.”

Everything “down to the price of ice has increased in a manner of two weeks,” said another UMNO loyalist. “Everything in Malaysia shot up in one month without notice. The government keeps the ringgit so weak against the US dollar, the cost of living keeps bouncing, salary increases are nothing. Crime is up, corruption is up. People are getting really upset.”

During the waning days of the premiership of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, as the rank and file sought to push him out, “similar contempt was restricted to some segments of UMNO and the ruling elite,” a source told Asia Sentinel. “With Mahathir, it was disgust and contempt from intellectuals and rights groups. But with Najib – it’s across the board and it extends to his wife and friends.”