PAK LAH HAS NOT RESHUFFLED his cabinet since he took office in 2004. He had said the cabinet ministers are appointed by the King and loss of positions, or rejection, by the party is irrelevant and is no cause to resign from his cabinet. He leaves it to the good sense of ministers to resign. He has extended this to deputy ministers, and applied this rules to parties other than UMNO in the National Front. It is a sign there is one rule for the rulers and one for the ruled. But there is another reason. His cabinet is composed of warlords, in UMNO or other members of the National Front. Two warlords have refused to resign. The UMNO wanita leader, Datin Seri Rafidah Aziz, has refused to resign after her role in issuing APs became a national scandal. Pak Lah dared not ask her to resign, for fear that Datin Seri Rafidah would point out the APs given to his relatives and supporters. She gave APs to Pak Lah's relatives and supporters to secure her position in the Pak Lah cabinet. Pak Lah had to shut up, and the cabinet had ordered her to answer the APs matter in parliament. Newspapers, which once were against her now eat out of her hand. If she were sacked, she could go into the opposition in UMNO against Pak Lah. This is the reason why he has not reshuffled his cabinet. The warlords may go into the opposition to him. Dato' Isa Samad, the federal territories minister, is a warlord from Negri Sembilan. He was ousted from Negri Sembilan at the behest of Pak Lah's son-in-law, and UMNO obliged. But it is not that easy. Now the UMNO Supreme Council, headed by Pak Lah, has confirmend it. Dato' Isa comes from Linggi, where Adat Temenggong rules. By removing Dato' Isa from the cabinet, Pak Lah will have removed the Adat Temenggong and that could be disasterous in the 2007 UMNO presidential elections. Pak Lah does not have any moral scruples in this matter, and that is why his opponents are in strong position in UMNO.
We see this lack of moral scruples everywhere. Putra Jaya is built to ensure the vanity of one man, Tun Mahathir Mohamed, The major government departments are now situated in Putra Jaya, and to get there costs money which the people going there often do not have. The civil servants and politicians in UMNO have got used to Putra Jaya, but not the people in whose name they govern. People who used to go the government departments in Kuala Lumpur often now have to go to Putra Jaya, costing money just to get there. A taxi driver told me he charged RM30 for the trip to Putra Jaya. The government departments are far apart and it is almost impossible to walk. In the past, it would be a loss of a day's wages; today it is that plus about RM100 to deal with a government department. The emphasis on money, the corruption in the civil service, police, almost every government servant is what has characterised it. Today laws are passed so that corruption can flourish. The petrol price would be raised any day. Explanations are given how the government is losing revenue by raising prices. But the impact of it is the people will pay higher petrol prices. No one in government is serious about resolving the problem of the people, for that would cut into what they collect for themselves. It is puasa month now, and you saw the traffic police unusually active. You see them everywhere, and they collect from you where in the past they collected later. The official reason that would be given to this is that all this is not true. But the government is run for those in government, and they have to protect themselves, do they not?
The Tengku made sure that Singapore was expelled from Malaysia, because the Tengku had moral scruples, personally and for his government, while Mr Lee, in his 40s then, did not understand the imperatives that drove the Tengku. And he lost out. People on his side wanted Singapore to be independent, and he, in his arrogance, did not know it, and sent them out to negotiate with Malaysia. Now the only war Singapore can be with Malaysia is as an appendange to Johore. What will bring Singapore down on its knees will be water. Singapore spins out to the world that it gives Johore treated water. But the water it treats is taken from Johore, and the state had asked that it should get a share of the water it sold to commercial enterprises. Singapore has refused. But the water agreement is due to be negotiated in 2061. In the meanwhile, Singapore had given publicity to seawater and sewage water made into potable drinking water to show its independence from Johore. Malaysia and Singapore today has lost its moral scruples, and the Tengku is now blamed by UMNO for not behaving them what they would approve of. In the short term, Singapore would win. Even the Malay in Singapore is now in praise of its government vis-a-vis Malaysia. They look upon Malaysia only as a place for retirement. But the youngman of today will be an old man in 2061. And he would feel more comfortable in Malaysia.
The moral imperatives have disappeared from today's politics. Not only in Malaysia but elsewhere around the world. The computerisation, the corruption and the money had made that disappear. A lawyer from Ipoh looked at the tall buildings in Kuala Lumpur last week and said they were built of stones and cement. It is money that made all those involved in it work for. And it would not last. The buildings have been built to collapse, since all those involved in getting paper to cement is working for money, and cut corners every time they cam. It is clear that the collapse of the building in Islamabad involved corruption, at every level. A building that should have been built earth-quake-proof was built so that every one involved in its execution – the civil servant, the builder, the technical people, the builder – was more interested in the money they would take home than in making sure that an earth-quake-proof buiding is built. It is a shift from my father's generation, when the moral imperatives were strong, and buildings were still built by professionals who believed in doing their work property, and money was only a secondary pre- occupation.
So, like President Bush on Iraq, UMNO has changed its ways. It has followed the general tenor of its members, and places great tenor on money and corruption. "You go into UMNO to make money, and to PAS to enter politics" is a common refrain of young Malays. UMNO defends itself by saying that PAS be like them when in power. Perhaps they would. But they are not now. They still have the moral fibre in them. They may lose it once in power, but that is a long time ahead. They have taken the moral road, on Islam and other issues, and that is why the people support them. PAS has been getting more of the Malay vote in successive elections. And it would succeed. Sooner, if UMNO continues without any moral fibre in them. But can UMNO have moral fibre when its president conducts his affairs without any sign of it. There are people in UMNO who object to what they see in their party, but they are holding their breath. Can they change matters in UMNO in the present climate. I don't believe they can. But UMNO members of this persuasion believes the party would not last 15 years. The 2020 that Tun Mahathir talked about, and is the national slogan, could be UMNO's death knell!
That would not depend on Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim. He remains Malaysia's great crowd puller. He has threatened to sue Tun Mahathir for continuing to insist after the courts had decided otherwise that the Dato' Seri is a homosexual. Tun Mahathir sees his edifice, in politics and in building, collapsing within years of his leaving office. Pak Lah would like to see Dato' Seri Anwar in UMNO, but the latter would not join UMNO unless he gets a free pardon, for which he would not apply. In any case, his foray into politics ends in 2008. He has said he would not join UMNO, but be head of an opposition coalition. But many politicians in opposition think he would not miss a chance to be in UMNO. It is still politics at the top. The decisions are made without reference to the people, who will not be bothered with political chances so long as they have 24-hour television to while away their time. It is a cynical move by the politicians to keep the people quiet, and they would be aroused to anger only if their favourite television shows are missing from the screen. But there are people who do no like to be chained to their television sets, like idiots, and question the politicians about their stewardship. In Malaysia, the youth will take the initiative. So far, they keep quiet but are not quiescent. They have retained the moral fibre their parents lost. Pak Lah represents the parents. And his governance would soon be forgotten, as would UMNO.
M.G.G. Pillai
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