Greed, Incompetence, And Utterly Devoid of Integrity - The Banality o fNajib's Leadership

Greed, Incompetence, and Utterly Devoid of Integrity – The Banality of Najib’s Leadership

M. Bakri Musa

www.bakrimusa.com

When the day of judgement comes to Malaysia, which it inevitably will and I hope soon (as with this May 9, 2018 election), Malaysians would be shocked into disbelief to discover the banality of Najib’s leadership. His is one of insatiable greed, unbelievable incompetence, and utterly devoid of integrity.

How did such a character ascend to the highest office in the land? I cannot accept that Malaysians are that stupid to have let that happen. Yes, there are plenty of dumb and gullible ones but overall Malaysians are sensible folks. Yet there he is, Najib as Prime Minister for the past long, nine embarrassing and totally wasted years. 

Najib did not get there on his own effort. That much is certain.

Others had paved the path for him right from the very beginning. Now that he is Prime Minister, Najib does not know how to clear the path ahead, much less which direction to take the nation. He is clueless. Time to get another leader. Time to disabuse Najib of his delusion of entitlement.

It is not difficult to imagine what his fate would have been had he not been a “Bin Tun Razak.” At best a junior functionary in his backward state of Pahang. Likewise, had he not been born in a deeply feudal Malay culture of rural Pahang in the early 1950s but modern Kuala Lumpur of today, his taking over his father’s hereditary title of Orang Kaya Indera Shahbandar would be a non-event. In the kampung however, that title conferred instant aristocratic aura. It roughly translates as “Rich, Exalted Lord Mayor.” Rich and exalted at least by local standards, with vague reference to the mythical prince of classical Malay literature, Inderaputera.

I would have thought that being suave and the product of a British public school he would have found that title quaint, and the elaborate installation ceremony comical, alaan African tribal rite of passage. Yet there he was lapping it up, like that prepubescent Tibetan kid who was anointed to be the future Dalai Lama. 

Najib’s seeming suaveness is what my folks back in the old village referred to with undisguised sneer as moden culup, a veneer of or pseudo modernity.

Najib would not have inherited that title had his father lived to his expected life span. Razak’s premature death also hid his dark side, and Najib got to shine in the reflected glow of his father’s halo. 

One of Razak’s many dark sides was his secretiveness. He concealed his mortal illness from his family and the nation. Even on his final but futile trip to London for his medical treatment there was an elaborate ruse to camouflage it. That could not have been undertaken without the complicity of many, like his pilots and physicians. As a result, his death stunned the nation. Judging by his reaction to the tragic news, even his Deputy, Hussein Onn, was kept out of the loop. What a way to treat your second-in-command!

With the outpouring of grief, sympathy was, as expected, showered on Razak’s young family. Najib, being the oldest son, was the main beneficiary. Thus began his fast and smooth glide to the top.

Najib’s first enabler was Hussein Onn who selected him at the age of 23 to take over his father’s old Parliamentary seat. Reflecting the enormous reservoir of public sympathy, Najib won unopposed. Hussein went further; he appointed Najib to be a minister soon after. From there Najib’s trajectory was fast and steep. The prodigal prince from the jungle of Pahang could do no wrong. Everyone wanted to be on his coattail or be seen as greasing his path. Everyone, from political leaders to religious, and royalty. 

Earlier there was Tengku Razaleigh, himself a protege of Razak. Tengku, then head of Petronas, took Najib under his wings. Tengku was cautious and did not put Najib in a critical position but instead in “government relations.” 

Najib’s gratitude to Razaleigh? In a subsequent close contest in 1987 between Razaleigh and Mahathir for the UMNO presidency (and thus prime minister of the country), Najib switched his support to Mahathir at the very last minute, denying Razaleigh what would have been his widely-expected victory.   

Mahathir too was Najib’s enabler. As Prime Minister, Mahathir boosted Najib further, later using him to dislodge Abdullah Badawi. Najib was only too willing to be Mahathir’s tool. Today Mahathir is Najib’s nemesis.

Unlike all those other enablers, Mahathir at least recognized his mistake, albeit late, and is now trying very hard to remedy it. Let’s hope he succeeds.

Other minor but no less consequential enablers include the current Attorney-General who gave Najib a pass in the 1MDB mess. The AG was a Najib political appointee and a former UMNO apparatchik; so no surprise there. More reprehensible are the behaviors of the permanent establishment including the top civil servant. It was widely believed the Chief Secretary forced the retirement of the former AG who had apparently filed papers for Najib’s arrest over the 1MDB mess. Even the Agung was a Najib enabler by acceding to the Chief Secretary’s motion. 

Even when Najib strayed off the straight path, as with his frequent and not-too-secret trysts, the religious police, otherwise brutal on those whom they deem to behave “un-Islamically,” indulged him. Another institutional enabler!

There are others, the most unapologetic being his party. UMNO is now United Mohammad Najib Organization, ready and ever willing to do his bidding. What a sorry ending to an organization that was instrumental in bringing independence to Malaysia!

Beyond individuals and institutions, Najib is using that old standby and most effective enabler of all–cash. Packets of ringgit are openly passed out during UMNO’s elections. Now that scourge is infecting the general elections. The ringgit is literally being dispersed at campaign rallies like beads and candies at a Mardi Gras parade. Unlike UMNO members who scooped up the cash with unrestrained glee, voters are now increasingly asking the pivotal question: Where is the money coming from? 

Malaysians could not care less of the future of Najib or his party. Instead they are concerned about their fate as well as that of their children and grandchildren. Alllong to have a leader who is competent, trustworthy, and with a modicum of integrity. That process begins with Najib’s removal in the upcoming election. 

Kehampaan Pimpinan Najib – Kotor, Tak Cekap, Dan Tampa AmanahM. Bakri Musa

www.bakrimusa.com

Apabila akhir zaman menimpa Malaysia, satu hari yang tidak dapat dielakkan dan saya harap akan tiba tidak lama lagi (mungkin pada pilihan raya 9 Mei 2018 ini), rakyat akan terkejut atas kehampaan pimpinan Najib. Dia tidak langsung mempunyai kebolehan atau kecekapan. Lebih teruk lagi, Najib tak beramanah, dan rasuah adalah nama samarannya. 

Bagaimana hamba Allah ini boleh melecut ke pejabat tertinggi di tanah air? Tidak mungkin rakyat Malaysia bodoh untuk membiarkannya keadaan yang memalukan ini berlaku. Ya, ramai yang sedemikian dan mudah ditipu tetapi pada keseluruhan rakyat Malaysia bijak. Walau bagaimana pun, mengapa Najib dibenarkan menerajui negara selama hampir sedekad serta memalukan Malaysia di seluruh dunia dan menghampakan harapan rakyat?

Pasti Najib tidak berjaya menjadi Perdana Menteri dengan usahanya sendiri. Ramai yang memberi dan membuka laluan untuknya sejak dari awal lagi. Sekarang sudah sampai ke hadapan, Najib tidak mahir bagaimana menebas jalan baru dan keliru ke arah mana untuk membawa negara. Masanya sudah sampai untuk Malaysia memilih nakhoda baru. 

Renungkan nasib Najib jika ia bukan "Bin Tun Razak." Habis baik dia mungkin dapat menjadi pegawai rendah di kerajaan Pahang, negeri yang masih mundur. Dan jika ia tidak dilahirkan dalam budaya Melayu feudal pada akhir lima puluhan dulu tetapi pada hari ini di Kuala Lumpur yang sedia moden, gelaran Orang Kaya Indera Shahbandar yang di warisinya mungkin tidak bermakna. Tetapi di kampung bertebing Sungai Pahang, dia melonjak ke kumpulan bangsawan. Maklumlah rujukan kepada putera khayalan sastera Inderaputera.

Kepada seorang yang pernah belajar di sekolah asrama Inggeris dan mengilai lagak serta cara atur Mat Salleh, upacara budaya kuno berkaitan dengan anugerah gelaran tersebut mungkin bercorak jenaka atau mainan kanak kanak, tidak berbeza dengan istiadat di hutan Afrika. Sebaliknya Najib syok dan terpesona dengan adat istiadat kurun itu. Perangai dan lagaknya seumpama budak yang di anugerahi pangkat Dalai Lama yang baru. Pendek kata, moden Najib culup sahaja! 

Jika arwah bapanya berumur panjang, Najib tidak akan mewarisi gelaran tersebut semasa muda. Oleh sebab kematian Tun Razak tidak disangka dan pada masih muda pula, unsur kurang manisnya tertutup dan tiada masa untuk muncul dan diketahui ramai. Akibatnya Najib dapat bersinar di bawah cahaya kenangan bapanya.

Antara tabiat Tun Razak yang janggal ialah kecurigaannya. Dia menyimpan rahsia penyakitnya yang tenat daripada keluarga dan negara. Dia sembunyikan tujuan rombongannya ke London untuk rawatan. Bahkan dia sengaja terbang ke Singapura untuk mengelirukan rakyat atas tujuannya. Perbuatan demikian tidak boleh di lakukan tanpa di ketahui dan disetujui oleh juruterbang dan doktornya. Maknanya, mereka ikut terlibat dengan putar belit Tun Razak. Akibat kecurigaan itu, berita kematiannya mengejutkan negara. Nyata dari tingkah laku Timbalan Perdana Menteri Hussein Onn, dia pun tidak mengetahui keadaan Tun Razak. Razak tidak percaya kepada timbalannya!

Kesedihan dan simpati rakyat atas kegemparan yang tidak di sangka itu dituahkan kepada keluarga Tun Razak yang masih muda. Najib, sebagai anak sulung, menerima tumpuan utama. Sejak itu jalan depan Najib bermula dengan cepat dan lancar meluncur ke atas.

Saluran licin pertama di beri oleh Perdana Menteri baru Hussein Onn. Dia memilih Najib pada usia 23 tahun untuk mengisi kerusi bapanya di Parlimen. Mencerminkan takrifan simpati masyarakat yang tak terhingga, Najib menang tanpa bertanding. Tak berapa lama kemudian Hussein melantik Najib sebagai menteri. Dari situ Najib terus meloncat ke atas. Mereka berpusu pusu menolong dia, atau untuk dilihat sebagai meringkaskan dan meluruskan jalan hadapan putera hutan Pahang ini. Semua, dari pemimpin politik ke agama dan juga kerabat diraja berpusu pusu mengangkat atau lebih tepat lagi, mengampu Najib.

Terdahulu daripada Hussein Onn, Tengku Razaleigh, putera pilihan Tun Razak sebagai pengetua Petronas, mengambil Najib di bawah sayapnya. Tetapi Razaleigh bijak; dia tidak memberi Najib tugas yang penting, hanya sebagai pegawai "hubungan kerajaan."

Apa balasan Najib kepada Razaleigh? Dalam pertandingan yang tenat antara Razaleigh dan Mahathir untuk jawatan presiden UMNO (dan dengan itu perdana menteri negara), Najib mengalih sokongannya kepada Mahathir pada saat terakhir. Dengan itu Razaleigh tewas, keputusan yang tidak di sangkai. 

Mahathir juga turut melicinkan perjalanan Najib. Sebagai Perdana Menteri Mahathir meningkatkan lagi Najib, dan kemudian menggunakan dia untuk menumbangkan Abdullah Badawi. Najib sedia dan bergembira menjadi alat Mahathir. Hari ini Mahathir musuh Najib. Zaman dan qiblat sudah bertukar!

Tidak seperti pemboleh Najib yang lain, Mahathir sekurang-kurangnya mengiktiraf kesilapannya, walaupun lewat. Dia kini berusaha teguh untuk memulihkannya. Saya harap dia berjaya.

Ramai lagi pelakon sokongan di pentas bersama Najib. Peguam Negara semasa memberi laluan kepada Najib atas penyelewengan dana 1MDB. Itu tidak hairan. Dia kuncu UMNO dan Najib sendiri melantik dia sebagai Peguam Negara. Begitu juga Ketua Setiausaha Negara (KSN). Dia memaksa pesaraan bekas Peguam Negara yang sudah sedia untuk menahan Najib atas tuduhan rasuah atas kekacauan 1MDB. Malah Agung pun memberi jalan kepada Najib dengan menyetujui tindakan KSN.

Bila Najib menyeleweng tingkah laku peribadi, seperti bila ia ditangkap melakukan apa yang disifatkan oleh orang biasa sebagai khalwat, perkara itu di sembunyikan oleh pihak pejabat agama. Ahli ulama pun memanjakan Najib. 

Tingkah yang amat khianat ialah Najib mencemar pertubuhan agung yang memainkan peranan penting dalam kemerdekaan negara. UMNO sekarang bukan lagi pertubuhan untuk “Bangsa, Negara, dan Agama” tetapi telah di cemar oleh Najib menjadi United Mohammad Najib Organization, khas mengutamakan peribadi Najib.

Najib pintas dengan wang. Atau lebih tepat lagi, dia pandai memikat dan memainkan hamba Allah dengan duit. Kepada Najib, dan mereka yang diperalatkannya, wang itu raja. Wang melicinkan jalan hadapan Najib. Disitulah munculnya masalah 1MDB. Mengikut dakwaan Jabatan Keadilan AS, beribu juta dana 1MDB di belot oleh Najib. Anak tirinya mempunyai harta mewah di London dan Amerika. Di musim pilihan raya ini Najib dan kuncu kuncunya dalam UMNO sibuk menebarkan kertas ringgit seperti di pesta Mardi Gras di mana manik dan gula disebarkan. 

Orang ramai tidak terhingga gembira merebut duit yang disebarkan. Jarang antara mereka yang bertanya di mana datangnya wang itu.

Rakyat tidak peduli nasib masa depan Najib dan UMNO. Merekat hanya ingin mendapat pemimpin yang cerdik, berkemampuan, boleh dipercayai, dan paling penting sekali, beramanah. Rakyat sudah benci dengan pemimpin yang penipu, tanpa kebolehan, dan mengamalkan rasuah. Rakyat rindu pertukaran. Itu bermula dengan menyingkirkan Najib dalam pilihan raya yang akan datang.

Penulis ialah seorang pakar bedah di California. Bukunya terakhir, The Son Has Not Returned. A Surgeon In His Native Malaysia, baru saja diterbitkan pada permulaan tahun ini.

Tolak Najib Serta Orang Suruhannya

M. Bakri Musa

www.bakrimusa.com

Pidato Perdana Menteri Najib Razak miang kat telinga. Bila dia hendak menegaskan sesuatu, suaranya naik menyaring seperti perempuan jalang. Gerak gari tangannya seperti monyet  gatal dan sumbang di mata. Bahasa rojak Melayu/Inggeris yang di amalnya susah hendak difahami. Tetapi pada sangkaannya, dia hebat.

               Dia mungkin unsur kelakar dan sumber jenaka jika dilakukan oleh si pelawak. Tetapi Najib menganggap dirinya sebagai ahli pidato yang memukau! Perbezaan antara khayalan dan keadaan sebenar!

               Setuju atau tidak, kita terpaksa mendengar ucapannya. Dia perdana menteri, dan ucapan serta apa yang dilakukannya mempunyai akibat yang besar kepada rakyat dan negara walaupun dia tidak dapat atau enggan membezakan khayalan daripada yang sebenarnya. Kata dan lakunya bahaya kepada negara. Dia tidak tersinggung langsung untuk memberi sokongan kepada ahli “baju merah,” kumpulan yang bercorak perkauman serta pelampau yang tidak terhingga dalam UMNO. Perbuatan itu tidak mengejutkan. Pada satu masa di Mesyuarat Agung Pemuda UMNO, Najib mencucuk ke udara kerisnya yang bertitisan sos tomato untuk melambangkan darah Cina. Dia mencemar pusaka budaya kita.

               Bila di bandingkan dengan lagak begitu, penegasannya bahawa beratus juta wang yang masuk dalam akaun peribadinya adalah “hadiah” dari Arab Saudi mungkin satu perkara kecil sahaja. Tambahan pula rasuah seumpama itu perkara biasa di Malaysia, maklumlah negara Dunia Ketiga. Yang luar biasa sedikit ialah jumlah wang yang disapunya.

               Saya tidak menyalahkan orang kampung jika mereka turut percayakan Najib. Bukan maknanya mereka senang ditipu. Jauh sekali! Sebaliknya mereka mengagumi dan menghargai nilai-nilai budaya kita yang menghormati serta turut pada pemimpin. Oleh sebab itu mereka sedia bersabar dan bertolak ansur dengan pemimpin yang sudah terus terang menyelewengkan kuasa mereka. Walau bagaimanapun, kesabaran rakyat terbatas.

               Apa yang sukar difahami ialah sifat menteri dan pegawai tinggi. Malah sultan pun boleh di karut oleh Najib! Mereka tidak berbeza dengan ayam kampung, senang sahaja di pikat dan di kurung dengan dedak. Buangkan sedikit di dalam reban dan ternak itu tergesa-gesa nak masuk. Selepas itu tutup sahajalah pintu.

               Banyak corak dedak yang disebarkan oleh Najib; untuk menteri-menterinya, pelantikan berterusan; pegawai kanan, kemungkinan menjadi pengarah GLC bila bersara, dengan gaji yang lumayan; dan kutu parti, mengetuai  badan berkanun atau menjadi duta ke Timbuktu. Untuk sultan, kontrak satu dua sikit cukuplah. Mereka kemudian akan mengalahkan para ulama kita untuk memetik hadis dan ayat Koran mengenai betapa mustahaknya kesetiaan kepada para pemimpin.

               Kembali kepada derma Saudi tadi. Pada mulanya Najib mendakwa itu “pahala” dari tanah suci akibat Malaysia memerangi kumpulan pengganas Islam, ISIS. Apabila diingatkan bahawa derma itu diberi sebelum ISIS di tubuhkan, dan juga Najib pernah memuji ISIS dan menggesa ahli Pemuda UMNO mencontohi mereka, dia mundur. Maka beratus juta ringgit itu menjadi “hadiah.” Walau bagai mana pun, dengan kegemparan berikutnya, Najib mendakwa dia pun telah mengembalikan hadiah itu. Apa agaknya tindak balas penderma!

               Najib tidak boleh memberi keterangan yang terus terang. Dia pembohong dan pendusta.

               Hadiah, derma, atau pahala, ia mencetuskan tindakan undang-undang secara besar-besaran di tidak kurang lima bidang kuasa, termasuk Amerika Syarikat. Switzerland dan Singapura telah pun berjaya menghukum penjara atas beberapa kakitangan kanan yang terlibat. Saman DOJ Amerika merujuk Najib sebagai "Pegawai Malaysia Nombor Satu."

               Sejak dari awal ramai di Malaysia termasuk musuh Najib semasa, yakni Mahathir, mempunyai harapan tinggi terhadap Najib. Pandangan saya, iaitu Najib tidak berbakat langsung, adalah berkecualian. Jika dia tidak diberi jalan oleh pemimpin kanan seperti Mahathir dan Tengku Razaleigh khususnya, serta mereka yang banyak terhutang budi kepada Tun Razak, Najib hari ini mungkin tak sampai pun menjadi Pegawai Daerah di kawasan yang mundur di Pahang.

               Ahli UMNO serta orang ramai, dulu dan sekarang, buta kepada unsur hitam dan jahat Tun Razak yang di wariskan oleh anaknya si Najib. Pada saya, itu semuanya sangat terang.  Begitu juga kepada pengundi Pekan. Najib hampir kalah pada pilihan raya 1999; dia mencicit kemenangan hanya 241 undi daripada jumlah lebih dari 26,000. Lebih banyak lagi undi “rosak” yang ditolak. Kemasukan undi pos yang “lewat” dari ahli tentera memberi imbangan kepada beliau. Pada masa itu beliau adalah Menteri Pertahanan.

               Tun Razak hari ini dialu-alukan sebagai wira negara; dia di kebumikan dalam Makam Pahlawan. Kurang diakui ialah dia pernah mendaftar sebagai Ahli Angkatan Tentera Jepun semasa Perang Dunia II. Hari ini anak lelakinya Najib menjalankan tradisi derhaka kepada negara. Najib dan UMNO kini bekerjasama dengan Parti Komunis Cina, melupakan bahawa ia telah membantu komunis di Malaysia semasa Zaman Darurat yang kejam tidak beberapa lama yang lalu.

               Sifat kemunafikan Tun Razak juga tersembunyi. Dia mendakwa dirinya sebagai seorang nasionalis dan pejuang bahasa Melayu. Beliau mengesa ibu bapa Melayu mendaftarkan anak mereka ke sekolah Melayu. Sementara itu dia menghantar semua anaknya ke sekolah Inggeris, dan di England. Munafik betul! Di mana dia mendapat dana untuk berbuat demikian? Gaji menteri dulu dan sekarang tidak lumayan.

               Najib mewarisi kemunafikan bapanya. Beliau mendesak rakyat berjimat dan menyesuaikan diri dengan kos hidup yang tinggi yang dicetuskan oleh GST. Sementara itu dia dan keluarganya berlagak di London dan Amerika, serta bercuti diatas kapal mewah di lautan Mediterranean. Anak tiri Najib, yang ayahnya seorang pegawai tentera, memiliki rumah mewah di Manhattan dan Beverly Hills. Sekarang harta itu sudah di rampas oleh Jabatan Keadilan Amerika.

               Yang amat berbahaya adalah ini. Tun Razak berkait dengan rusuhan kaum yang ngeri pada Mei 1969, berikutan pilihan raya umum ke-9 di mana UMNO pada pertama kali hilang dua pertiga majoritinya. Rusuhan dan pecah belah rakyat pada masa itu ialah antara kaum, khasnya antara Melayu dan Cina. Di pilihan raya 14 yang akan datang ini, rakyat masih berpecah belah, tetapi bukan antara Melayu dan Cina, malah dalam kaum Melayu sendiri.

               Bapa Najib membahagi dan melagakan rakyat Malaysia, khasnya antara Melayu dan China. Anaknya Najib melagakan bangsanya sendiri, orang Melayu. Rakyat Malaysia, Melayu serta bukan Melayu, mesti menghalang dia melakukan kejahatan ini. Rakyat Malaysia tidak semestinya membiarkan Najib memusnahkan negara mereka. Pengundi mesti menolak Najib dan Barisan.

               Ini wajib dilakukan demi kemakmuran dan ketenteraman Malaysia. Pengundi patut terus selesaikan apa yang di mulakan oleh penduduk Pekan. Mereka hampir berjaya pada tahun 1999 menamatkan karya politik Najib. Tolak Najib dan partinya.  

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Reject Najib And His Dedak-Fed Enablers

Reject Najib and His Dedak-Fed Enablers

M. Bakri Musa

www.bakrimusa.com

Prime Minister Najib Razak is painful to listen to; I have long ago tuned him out. His shrill voice grates. He raises it often when he tries to make a point. Instead, all he succeeds in doing is to sound like a hooker who has been spurned. His frequent and irritating hand gestures make him look like a monkey in heat. He mangles his rojak “Manglish” to the point of being incomprehensible. Those would be hilarious if caricatured by a consummate comedian. Najib however fancies himself a mesmerizing orator with a great stage presence. Such divergence of fantasy from reality!

     Those irritating habits are not enough to ignore him. After all, he is Prime Minister. The reason I tuned him out is less his inability to discern fantasy from reality rather that the stuff coming out of his mouth nauseates me. What he utters is also dangerous to Malaysia. Likewise his actions; he is unabashed in his support for the rabidly racist “red shirts” in his party. Way back when he was UMNO Youth leader, he was notorious for his racist taunts, as with brandishing his keris dripping with tomato sauce, to symbolize Chinese blood. He soiled, literally, a hallowed icon of our culture.

     Compared to those, his telling Malaysians and the world that the billions he received from Saudi Arabia that ended up in his personal bank account was a generous “gift” would seem benign and ordinary, more so in corrupt Third World Malaysia.

      I do not fault Malays in the kampungs for believing him on that one. Not that they are gullible. Far from it! Rather they harbor and cherish the old Malay values of respect and trust in our leaders. Malays are tolerant of their leaders to a fault. However as with everything else, there is a limit to that.

     What I find incredulous is the gullibility of his ministers and officials. Even the sultans bought into Najib’s spin, or to be more accurate, Najib bought them! Kampung folks call that dedak, the rice husks they feed to their chickens. Throw some into their pen and they would rush in. Then all you had to do was close the barn door behind you. You had secured those birds for the night.

      Najib’s dedak comes in many guises; for his ministers, continued appointments; senior officials, promises of post-retirement lucrative GLC directorships; and party apparatchiks, headships of statutory bodies or an ambassadorship to Timbuktu. For the sultans, a few lucrative contracts thrown their way and they would then outdo the similarly dedak-fed ulama in quoting hadith on the importance of loyalty to leaders.

     Back to that earlier generous Saudi “donation.” First he claimed that was “reward” for Malaysia’s fight against ISIS. Then when reminded that ISIS was formed much later or that he had once urged his UMNO Youth members to emulate them, Najib backed down. Those millions then morphed into an outright “gift.” Even Najib did not believe that for he later claimed he had returned it. I wonder at his donor’s reaction to that!

      The man cannot keep his story straight. He is a liar.

      Gift or donation, that transaction triggered massive legal proceedings in no fewer than five jurisdictions, including the mother of all lawsuits, the American DOJ civil asset forfeiture under its Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative (KARI). Switzerland and Singapore have jailed a few of the involved principals. The DOJ suit euphemistically referred to Najib as “Malaysian Official 1,” the top culprit.

      Unlike many in Malaysia including his current nemesis Mahathir, my low expectations of Najib began much earlier. If not for his many enablers, Mahathir and Tengku Razaleigh in particular, men indebted to his late father, Najib would today be at best nothing but a middling civil servant in one of the many backward districts in Pahang.

      Unlike Najib’s many enablers, I discerned Tun Razak’s many sinister sides in Najib. So too his kampung constituents back in Pekan, for Najib had a near-death political experience there in the 1999 election when he squeaked in by a mere 241 votes out of a total of over 26,000. The number of rejected votes far exceeded his majority. The influx of “late” postal votes from the army tipped the balance for him. At that time he was the Minister of Defense.

      Tun Razak is today hailed a national hero; his body rests in the Heroes Mausoleum at Masjid Negara. Less acknowledged is that he enlisted in the Japanese Army during The Occupation. Today his son Najib carries on that traitorous tradition. Najib (and UMNO) collaborates with China’s Communist Party, forgetting that it helped its Malaysian counterpart during the brutal Emergency years.

      Tun Razak’s hypocrisy is also well hidden. He claimed to be a nationalist and a champion of Malay language. He exhorted Malay parents to enroll their children in Malay schools. Meanwhile he sent all his to English schools, and in England to boot. I wonder where he found the money for that; his minister’s pay would not do it. Najib inherits that hypocrisy. He exhorts everyone to be frugal and adjust to the high cost of living triggered by his GST. Meanwhile he and his family jet worldwide and vacation on luxury yachts in the Mediterranean, at taxpayers’ expense of course. His stepson, whose father was an army officer, owns luxury condos and mansions in Manhattan and Beverly Hills. He did at least until the KARI lawsuit.

      Most unpardonable as well as dangerous of all is this: Tun Razak was instrumental in the ugly race riots of May 1969 following a drubbing his coalition suffered in the very divisive general elections. This upcoming May 9th general elections have already degenerated into an even uglier and more divisive battle, except that the polarization this time is now among Malays in contrast to the interracial one, specifically between Malays and Chinese, in 1969. This coming election could prove even uglier and more vicious.

      Najib’s father divided Malaysians. Najib now divides Malays. Malaysians, Malays as well as non-Malays, cannot let him do that. Malaysians must never, ever let the country descend into another orgy of bloodletting.

     Najib is a leader with unbounded greed, devoid of trust, lacking in competence, and most of all, without an iota of integrity. He is pemimpin takde maruah dan tak beramanah (amoral and untrustworthy leader). Voters must reject Najib and his Barisan. Do it for the country. Finish the job Pekan voters attempted to do and nearly succeeded in 1999.

The author's latest book, The Son Has Not Returned. A Surgeon In His Native Malaysia, his second memoir, chronicles his years as a young surgeon in Malaysia in the 1970s.

Rampas Mancis Dari Najib Sebelum Malaysia Terbakar

Rampas Mancis Dari Najib Sebelum Malaysia Terbakar

M. Bakri Musa

www.bakrimusa.com

Se ekor monyet dengan mancis tidak mungkin menghanguskan seluruh desa sunggoh pun rumah kampung dibina dari kayu dan berbumbung atap. Namun rekaan tersebut tahan lasak, dengan dapur dalam membakar kayu dan bara asap di bawah rumah untuk menghalau nyamuk. Maksudnya, banyak perkara lain yang mesti sedia ada dan berlaku sebelum kampung tersebut boleh dijahanamkan, umpamanya cuaca panas yang berpanjangan dan sampah kering yang bertimbun.




            Walaubagaiman pun apabila terjadi kebakaran, kita terkejut dan dengan senang menyalahkan si monyet. Kita enggan atau tanpa kepintaran untuk merenung lebih mendalam. Kita tidak menyoal mengapa kebakaran boleh berlaku. Mithalnya, siapa yang memberi si monyet mancis dan mengapa dia tidak dikawal. Atau mengapa sampah dibenarkan bertimbun semasa musim panas yang berpanjangan.




            Kampung yang dinamakan Malaysia ini masih belum terbakar. Penduduknya masih lagi berlagak tanpa menyedari bahawa cuaca kering sudah berlama dan sampah sudah bergunung. Sunggoh pun demikian, mereka masih tidak mengendahi bahaya si monyet asyik bermain dengan mancis.




            Mungkin oleh sebab orang Malaysia biasa dengan cuaca tropika mereka tidak sedar bahaya iklim panas. Oleh sebab itu mereka tidak menghiraukan suasana politik semasa yang panas. Tambahan pula itu satu pengalaman baru. Malaysia bukan Nigeria atau Pakistan. Belum lagi. Mengkecualikan peristiwa 1969, rusuhan dan politik huruhara bukan stau kebiasaan di Malaysia. Begitu juga bunuh membunuh pemimpin yang degil dan kita tidak setujui. Itu belum lagi menjadi budaya politik kita.




            Pada pilihan raya umum 9 Mei 2018 ini, sekiranya Najib dan Barisan Nasional menang walau beberapa tipis pun, itu bererti pengundi telah memberi si monyet Najib se kotak mancis baru dan kemudian menggalakkan dia terus bermain di tengah-tengah sampah kering yang bertimbun dan iklim politik yang sering panas tegang. Sampah kering yang saya maksudkan ialah kelemahan pentakbiran negara dengan pemimpin dan kakitangan kanan yang tak beramanah. Iklim panas yang dirujukkan tadi ialah iblis benci membenci yang bermaharajalela dalam masyarakat Melayu kini. 




            Rakyat Malaysia tidak pernah bertegang dan berpecah belah seperti sekarang sejak pilihan raya 1969. Pada masa itu kekalahan Barisan di beberapa negeri dan kehilangan kemenangan dua pertiga di peringkat persekutuan mencetuskan rusuhan bangsa yang mengerikan. Ribuan terbunuh dan beribuan lagi cedra, serta kejahanam harta benda yang tak terkira. Parlimen digantung dan pemerintahan cara hukum paksa (decree) di tubohkan. Kudis besar negara itu kini sudah lama pulih dan dimeteraikan dengan parut yang tebal. Ia tidak mungkin terbuka kembali walaupun ramai si nakal yang cuba menggarunya.




            Pecahbelah rakyat pada masa itu ialah antara kaum, khasnya antara Melayu dan Cina, dan keganasan terhad di Kuala Lumpur sahaja. Hari ini perpecahan yang semakin mendalam bukan antara kaum tetapi intraatau dalam kaum, anatara masyarakat Melayu sahaja. Dan perpechan ini meluas. Hanya Malaysia Timur sahaja yang terhindar dari ancaman ini. Rakyat Malaysia khasnya masyarakat Melayu masih enggan atau belum lagi mengakui ancaman baru ini yang lebih ketara. Di situlah terletaknya bahaya besar.




            Saya tidak pernah melihat sifat serta peragai biadab dan kebencian yang di lemparkan dengan terus terang di semua peringkat terhadap Najib dan Mahathir. Kedua pemimpin itu serta yang lain, dari raja raja ke kaum ulama juga turut tanpa mengendahi tata tertib. Peragai yang kasar serta kotor itu tidak pernah di alamai dalam budaya kita. Itu bukan nilai bangsa Melayu. Saya bimbang jika sesuatu yang tidak diingini berlaku kepada Najib atau Mahathir, itu akan mencetuskan perang saudara yang ganas di kalangan pengikut mereka.




            Sejarah menunjokkan bahawa pertengkaran yang paling ganas adalah diantara kaum sendiri. Saksikan pembunuhan yang ngeri di Timur Tengah; ianya bukan antara Arab dan Yahudi tetapi dalam kalangan orang Arab sendiri. Keadaan Semenanjung Korea masih tegang dan sedia meletup pada bila-bila masa sahaja dan membawa dunia luar dengannya. Sebelum itu terdapat perang saudara di negri Cina. Sia sia sahaja untuk mengagak sama ada orang Cina menderita lebih teruk di bawah Pendudukan Jepun atau semasa perang saudara mereka sendiri. Bukan terlaluan jika menegas bahawa Pendudukan Jepun sekurang-kurangnya mengganggu atau memberhentikan kekejaman masyarakat Cina antara mereka sendiri.




            Bahaya besar di Malaysia hari ini ialah ketiadaan unsur penampan yang boleh melemah atau mengsabarkan perpecahan antara Melayu. Unsur budaya kita dari sultan ke ulama serta badan pengtakbiran dari Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya kepada perkhidmatan bersenjata dan polis gagal untok merapatkan masyarakat Melayu. Bahkan mereka menambah dan mengherat perpecahan antara kita. Sultan dan Agong bukan "pelindung" Islam dan adat istiadat Melayu sebagaimana mereka mengakui atau mengikut tradisi dan perlembagaan tetapi hanya melindung sebahagian sahaja kaum kita, yakni Melayu UMNO dan mereka yang terpersona dengan pikatan falsafah Najib "Wang Itu Raja!"




            Ketua Angkatan Bersenjata baru sahaja menarik kembali ikrarnya bahawa kesetiaan pasukan dan pegawainya adalah kepada Najib dan pemerintahan UMNO. Dia lupa sumpah jawatannya untuk setia pada raja dan negara. Begitu juga dengan Pendaftar Pertubuhan; dia menafikan pendaftaran parti baru Mahathir. Sementara itu anak sultan di hujung semenanjung bertitah kepada Bangsa Johornya bagaimana hendak mengundi! 




            Saya kesal bahawa rakyat bukan Melayu tidak memainkan peranan penting mereka, yaitu memadam dan mengurangkan perpecah belah didalam kaum Melayu yang kini bertambah bahaya. Mungkin mereka sifatkan itu sebagai peluang menagguk dalam air keruh. Itu satu angkapan yang sangat pendik. Kalau Melayu berpecah, mereka semestinya akan terus disedut mau tak mau ke dalam pertengkaran itu.




            Harapan saya adalah dengan Sabah dan Sarawak. Mungkin kerana disana tiada masyarakat yang terbesar seperti Melayu di Semenanjung, mereka sedar untuk menunjukkan kelakuan dan teladan yang bersifat tolak ansur. Mereka tidak membenarkan unsur perkauman yang bahaya menentukan atau membataskan politik dan pandangan mereka.




            Mungkin oleh sebab UMNO tidak mempunyai cawangan di sana, Sarawak bebas dari desakkan perkauman yang di mainkan oleh UMNO di semenanjung. Saya berharap bahawa kuman perkauman yang ganas didalam tubuh dan minda UMNO tidak dapat berjangkit ka Malaysia Timur dan masyarakat si sana kekal bebas dari gangguan hantu UMNO.

  

            Pengundi mempunyai tugas penting dalam Pilihan Raya Umum ke-14 ini. Mereka mesti merampas kotak mancis daripada Najib sebelum dia dan kumpulan monyetnya di UMNO melakukan kerosakan kepada negara. Hentikan Najib sebelum dia membakar negara.

Snatch The Match From That Monkey Najib Before He burns Down The Village

Snatch The Match From That Monkey Najib Before He Burns Down The Village 

M. Bakri Musa

www.bakrimusa.com

It would take more than just a monkey with a match to burn down a village, despite the dwellings being made of wood and having flammable thatched roofs. Those homes have withstood generations of indoor wood-burning stoves and nightly mosquito-repelling ambers underneath their floors. There would have to be more, as with a long spell of dry hot weather and mountains of ignitable garbage strewn around. 

Yet when the kampung does get burned down, everyone would be shocked. The immediate reaction would be to blame the idiot with the match, and the fury heaped upon that poor soul would then be merciless.

Consumed with vengeance and with little inclination or intelligence for reflection, the necessary probing questions would never get raised. As with who gave the idiot the match or why was he not supervised. Few would notice much less ponder why the strewn garbage was allowed to accumulate and thus pose a fire as well as health and other hazards. 

            The kampung that is Malaysia has not burnt down, at least not yet. Malaysians are still smug and remain blissfully unaware of the long dry spell and the tinder dried debris that has been stacking up. Nor do they realize the danger posed by the idiot running around with a match in his hand and threatening more mischief. God knows he has wrecked enough damage already. 

Being in the tropics, Malaysians are used to hot weather but the current hot political climate is very recent. The 1969 “incident” excepted, political riots and turmoils are not yet the norm. Malaysia has been thankfully spared such scourges as the assassinations of leaders and politicians, the staple of Third World politics.   

If Najib and his Barisan coalition were to prevail in the upcoming general election on May 9, 2018, however slim their victory, that would be akin to giving the village idiot a match, and then encouraging him to continue playing with it amidst the flammable debris and the high-voltage political atmosphere. 

The flammable debris are our failing institutions. Malaysias are also now deeply polarized, lending to the current highly-charged political climate. The last time Malaysians were stridently divided was during the 1969 election. Then the ruling coalition’s defeat in a few states and its loss of a supra majority at the federal level triggered a horrific race riot that killed thousands and maimed many more. Parliament had to be suspended and the nation ruled by decree. The scar of that national tragedy has now thankfully been sealed with a thick scab. It is unlikely that it would be rubbed open again despite the mischievous attempts by many.

The polarization then was interracial, between Malays and Chinese to be specific, and the outbreak of violence was localized only to Kuala Lumpur. Today the schisms and polarizations are widespread but notinterracial despite crude attempts by many to make it so, rather intra-racial, among Malays. Only East Malaysia is spared. As such Malaysians, in particular Malays, do not or refuse to recognize or even acknowledge this new threat to the nation. Therein lies the danger. 

Yet the evidences are glaring. I have never seen more ugly or blatant displays of vicious and visceral hatred directed at Najib and Mahathir. The two leaders themselves have set the pace and tone. Others too like the sultans and ulamas have taken sides. Their revulsion, as well as that of their followers, is so open. Such gross and uncouth displays are so un-Malay. I fear that should something untoward were to happen to Najib or Mahathir, that would trigger a vicious civil war among their fanatic followers, meaning, Malays. 

Throughout history the most savage conflicts are intra rather than interracial. Witness the ongoing carnage in the Middle East. I am referring not to the Arab-Israeli dispute but the continuing savageries among the Arabs. The Korean Peninsula is still a tinderbox, ready to explode and taking the world with it. Then there was the earlier Chinese civil war. It would be a futile exercise to venture whether the Chinese suffered more under the Japanese or during their own civil war. It would not be an exaggeration to assert that the Japanese Occupation at least interrupted the brutalities the Chinese inflicted upon each other.

What is so volatile about the current threat facing Malaysia is the absence of any restraining element to buffer or dampen this intra-Malay schism. Our institutions–from the sultans and the Election Commission to the armed services and the police–have failed us. The sultans and Agung are not the “protectors” of Islam and Malay customs as they claim, or as tradition and the constitution would have it. They are partial to UMNO Malays, thanks to Najib’s “cash is king” lure. 

The Chief of the Armed Forces had to retract his earlier statement proclaiming his troops’ and officers’ loyalty to Najib. That General forgot his oath of office, to serve king and country. Likewise the Registrar of Societies; she did her “job” in a single blow (pardon the pornographic pun) by denying the registration of Mahathir’s new party, a powerful opposition force. Meanwhile that clown prince and sultan wannabe in the southern tip of the peninsula thinks he can titah(command) his fantasized “Bangsa Johor” as to which party to vote for! His father the sultan had gone even further.

I would have expected Malaysian minorities to buffer or dampen this dangerous intra-Malay rift if nothing else for their (non-Malay) own self-interest. Instead they are sucked in by their own miscalculations into this perilous undertow. 

A sliver of hope is Sabah and Sarawak. Perhaps because everyone there is a minority, Malaysians there are inclusive and tolerant. They have gone beyond; they have not let their ethnic and cultural identities define or limit them. It is sad that their exemplary collective stance is lost on their fellow Malaysians in the peninsula. 

The fact that UMNO, a national party otherwise, does not have a beachhead in Sarawak, explains why the particularly virulent racist virus that has infected UMNO’s body and mind in the peninsula has not spread east across the South China Sea. I hope East Malaysians will keep it that way.

  

            Malaysians have a crucial task in this upcoming May 9^thGeneral Election. They must snatch that dangerous match away from that idiot Najib and his band of mischievous UMNO monkeys. He and they have done enough damage to Malaysia. Stop them before they burn the whole country down.

Longing For Our Own Cak Nur

Longing For Our Own Cak Nur

M. Bakri Musa

www.bakrimusa.com

In May 1998, amidst widespread protests against him, Suharto was still looking for ways to cling on to power. His last desperate shenanigan was to co-opt his fiercest critics. Many fell for his bribery and flattery. Many, but not all. One brave honest soul, the late University of Chicago-trained Islamic scholar Nurcholish Madjid, was among the notable exceptions.

Cak Nur, as he was referred to with great fondness by the Indonesian people, told Suharto in no uncertain terms during a private meeting that the people wanted him out. The next day the dictator Suharto resigned, after ruling Indonesia for over 32 years. With that, Indonesia was spared further anguish.

Today it is Malaysia that is longing for her own Cak Nur, someone to tell the corrupt, venal, and incompetent Najib Razak straight to his face that his time is up. Najib’s crude, race-taunting theatrics have polarized Malaysians generally and divided Malays in particular. His profligate ways will burden Malaysians for generations with a humongous debt. 

Najib has to go even if he were to prevail in the upcoming elections. Elections and other accouterments of democracy are legitimate only if untainted. Otherwise it is but a refined mob rule, refined but still a mob rule. If in a mature democracy like America elections can be and have been corrupted through gerrymandering trickeries and foreign interferences, imagine the shenanigans in corrupt, fledgling, and Third-World Malaysia where money politics is the norm, with outright handing out of cash to voters as well as that old standby–phantom voters and the stuffing up of proxy postal votes among members of the police and armed forces. Najib has denied at the last minute the registration of the new party led by former Prime Minister Mahathir, UMNO’s current most formidable opponent. 

At least in China, the Chinese knew ahead that Chairman Xi would get a near unanimous vote for him being a leader for life. There was no pretense there; likewise with Iraq during Saddam Hussein. In Malaysia however, elections are but a cruel hoax perpetrated upon the people. 

The Economistpredicted that Najib would steal the upcoming election. That statement is erroneous; it implies that Najib could tell right from wrong. The man is amoral. The US Department of Justice and law enforcement agencies in no fewer than five international jurisdictions alleged that he stole billions from 1MDB. To Najib and his dedak-fed cheerleaders however, those were but generous donations!

Najib’s warped perception of reality is supported and protected by Malay culture. In still feudal Malay society, a leader can do no wrong. Even if Najib were to be naked, his Nazris, Zahids, and Ku Nans would insist that he was adorned in the finest songketspun of the most transparent silk from the rarest specie of silkworms! To them and other Najib’s kucus, he could not “steal” an election much less 1MDB funds. They view the former as being God’s will; the latter, “donations” from the land of the prophet!

No Malaysian Cak Nur

That encounter between Suharto and Cak Nur was historic and unprecedented. Historic because it changed the future path for Indonesia away from dictatorship; unprecedented because in Asian culture one never ever confronts a leader, directly or indirectly, politely or otherwise. Yet there was the somber-faced Cak Nur in his soft but firm voice telling the ever-smiling Suharto that the people wanted him out. Cak Nur’s only gesture to respect and civility was that he did not wag his finger at the President! 

Cak Nur reflected the true qualities of an Islamic scholar when he confronted Suharto that day. Throughout Islamic history, ulamas and scholars had served as effective bulkwards against the excesses of rulers. The purest jihad, goes a hadith (approximately translated), is to speak the truth in front of an oppressor. Those ulamas who dared defy their rulers believed that the punishment they would endure on earth at the hands of those tyrants would pale those in the Hereafter. Those ulamas are take to heart the hadith that Heaven is full of princes who befriended ulamas, but Hell is inundated with those who were close to rulers. 

Malaysian ulamas and scholars on the other hand are mesmerized by royal titles and the accompanying elaborate ceremonial attire bedecked with flattened bottle caps. No surpise then that to those ulamas Najib did not steal from 1MDB, rather that was his rezeki, a gift from Almighty!

Malaysia has her fair share of Cak Nurs; Allah would not be so unjust as to deprive us of that. However, our Cak Nurs have been so browbeaten and or otherwise shunted aside that the masses no longer recognize much less appreciate them. 

In any other culture the likes of Rafizi Ramli would be adulated; the various parties would be clamoring for him to lead them. He is the brightest star in Malaysia’s otherwise dark political galaxy. Today he faces an extended jail term . . . for exposing corruption! The late Kassim Ahmad was another. For his fearlessness he was hounded by the Syriah court right to his death. Then there is legal scholar Azmi Sharum; don’t expect him to be inducted to the National Professors Council any time soon.

I am touched and humbled by the brave and defiant gestures of our artists, among them blues singer Mohammad Ito and cartoonist Zunar. Meanwhile Lat, once my favorite, is now silent, content with his cheap Datukship. Zunar bravely moves on to local and international acclaim lampooning Najib and his wife. Zunar again proves that the pen is a powerful weapon. As he so famously quipped, even his pen has a stand; why not him? Lithe Sheila Majid and sultry Siti Nurhaliza too are souring up on Najib. Those ladies’ own star power defies the lure or threat of their RTM gigs being cancelled. 

Even mercurial Mahathir is no match against Najib’s dedak. God, I hope Mahathir would succeed in getting rid of Najib; so too should all Malaysians. Yes, Mahathir was instrumental for Najib’s rise. In his eagerness to repay his indebtedness to Najib’s father, Mahathir missed seeing Razak’s dark side in the son. 

With few exceptions, the ulamas and sultans too have succumbed to Najib’s dedak. The Federal Mufti saw fit to chide songstress Neelofa for launching her new stylish headgear in a nightclub. I wish the mufti had written Najib or did a Cak Nur on him for stealing the rakyats’ billions. As for the sultans, a few contracts their way or a new palace would suffice to silence them. Najib’s dedakcastrated the Council of Rulers far more effectively than Mahathir could ever hope to with his 1980s’ constitutional amendments. Yet Malays still believe in the mass delusion that the sultans are our “protectors.” The protection of a cheap Chinese condom; except that the sultans are very expensive .

Signs For The End of Time

In Islamic eschatology, among the signs of qiamat(the end of time) are when the utterers of the truth would not be believed and instead we fall for the liars; when leaders betray their followers’ trust and be among the worst of them; and the least consequential, when people compete to erect skyscrapers. Malaysia has plenty of those portends.

Those notwithstanding, I do not believe that Malays are near our qiamat. Instead it is Najib and UMNO who are nearing theirs. History reminds us that corrupt leaders always meet unsavory endings. Witness Libya’s Gaddafi and Romania’s Ceausescu. When the Malay qiamat comes, we would be stunned in disbelief to discover how easily we had been duped for so long and to such an unimaginable depth by a not-so-bright leader. Only Najib’s venality exceeds his stupidity.

Najib’s “cash is king” success is illusory. For one, the money is not infinite. For another, the ringgit is fast becoming like the Zambian dollar. When Najib’s (and UMNO’s) qiamatcomes, he and his enablers would learn fast why the word “amok” is of Malay origin. 

On reflection, Malaysia does not need a Cak Nur; Najib does not deserve such a graceful Suharto-like ending.

Merindui Cak Nur Kita

Merindui Cak Nur Kita

M. Bakri Musa

www.bakrimusa.com

Pada bulan Mei 1998, didalam suasana rusuhan menentang dia merebak, President Suharto masih lagi sibuk dengan cerot belotnya untuk terus berkuasa. Terdesak, dia cuba memikat dan menggabungkan pemimpin pembankang.  Ramai yang terpikat dengan rasuah yang mewah, pangkat tertinggi, serta pujian tak terhingga. Ramai, tetapi bukan semuanya. Antara pengecualian yang ketara, seroang berjiwa jujur serta berani ialah ulama kelulusan Universiti Chicago, Nurcholish Madjid. 

                       Cak Nur, nama panggilan nya yang lebih terkenal, menegur Suharto dengan terus terang tanpa putar belit atau kiasan lembut bahawa rakyat sudah jemu dan mahukan Suharto mengundur. Keesokan harinya ia meletakan jawatan setelah memerintah Indonesia dengan kejam selama 32 tahun. Dengan itu, Indonesia dilindungi kegelisahan dan huru hara.

                       Hari ini Malaysia yang memerlukan Cak Nur nya sendiri. Yakni seorang yang disegani untuk memberi amaran didepan muka Njib Razak bahawa rakyat sudah bosan serta benci dengan rasuahnya yang terlaluan, peragai pemimpinnya yang kurang sopan, dan penyelewangan amanah yang tidak pernah di alami dinegara kita. Sudah sampai masanya untuk Najib berundur. Rakyat sudah tidak tahan lagi menanggung kelakuannya yang mengaget bangsa dan memecah belah rakyat. Peragia beliau membahagikan dan melagakan masyarakat Melayu tidak boleh di tahan dan di ampuni lagi. Samping itu dia telah membebani rakyat dengan hutang berat yang mesti ditanggungi sebeberapa keturunan.

                       Najib mesti mengundur walaupun jika ia menang di pilihan raya yang akan datang ini. Pilihanraya serta alat alat demokrasi yang lain hanya sah dan bermakna jika tidak dicemari. Dengan campuran rasuah dan “poltik wang” demokrasi bermakna peraturan rusuhan. Peraturan tetapi tetap rusuhan. Malah di demokrasi yang matang seperti Amerika pilihanraya boleh di tipu melalui “gerrymandering” dan gangguan dari luar negri. Apalagi Malayasia, di mana politik wang dianggap biasa dan duit disebarkan kepada pengundi dengan secara langsung dan terbuka; di mana  pengundi hantu serta penipuan undi pos antara ahli-ahli polis dan angkatan tentera dilakukan dengan terus terang.

                       Di negri China mereka sedar dan berterus terang dari asal bahawa Pengerusi Xi akan mendapat undi sebulat suara untuk menjadi pemimpin seumur hidup. Mereka tidak berpura-pura atau mengakui diri mereka bebas atau demokratik. Begitu juga dengan Iraq semasa Saddam Hussein. Di Malaysia, pilihan raya hanyalah satu tipu daya kejam yang dilakukan terhadap rakyat, memghampakan mereka dengan harapan kosong serta palsu. 

                       Penerbitan The Ekonomist meramalkan Najib akan mencuri pilihan raya akan datang. Kenyataan itu tidak benar sebab itu memaklumkan bahawa Najib boleh mempisahkan benar dari yang salah, halal dari haram. Najib tanpa maruah. Jabatan Keadilan AS serta penguatkuasa undang-undang dari lima negara mendakwa dia mencuri beribu juta wang dari syarikat kerajaan 1MDB. Tetapi pada Najib dan kucunya dalam UMNO, dia tidak mencuri dana 1MDB hanya menerima derma dari tanah suci. Kemenangannya dalam pilihan raya adalah borkat dari Illahi!

                       Pakar saikoloji mempunyai istilah tertentu bagi mereka yang berpandangan songsang atau jauh berbeza daripada yang lain.

                       Pandangan Najib yang songsang dan kelakuan nya yang selekeh itu dilindungi oleh budaya Melayu. Dalam masyarakat kita yang masih feudal, semua yang dilakukan oleh pemimpin adalah betul dan halal, tak mungkin salah atau haram. Kalau dia telanjang, kepada si Nazri, Zahid, dan Ku Nan serta kucu kucu UMNO, Najib dihiasi songket sutera yang telus dan di buat dari benang serangga yang jarang ditemui! Kepada mereka, Najib dia tak "mencuri" pilihan raya atau dana 1MDB. Yang pertama ialahkehendak Allah, menurut ulama-ulama yang di tanggung oleh pemerintah, sementara yang kedua, "sumbangan" atau rezki dari tanah Nabi!

Tiada Cak Nur Malaysia

                       Pertemuan Suharto dan Cak Nur yang dirujukan itu bersejarah serta unik. Bersejarah kerana ia mengubah masa depan Indonesia jauh dari pemerintah diktator; unik kerana pertemuan saperti begitu jarang berlaku dalam budaya Asia. Masyarakat Asia enggan berdepanan dengan pemimpin mereka dan memberikan kata dua dengan terus terang, tanpa sindiran dan tidak kira sama ada sopan atau sebaliknya. Namun Cak Nur dengan suara nya yang lembut tapi tegas berani memberi amaran kepada Suharto yang sentiasa tersenyum itu bahawa rakyat mahukan dia undur. Hanya untok menghormati kesopanan dan budi budaya, Cak Nur tidak mejolongkan telunjuknya kepada Suharto!

                       Cak Nur mencerminkan sifat tulen kaum ulama. Sepanjang sejarah Islam ulama berkhidmat sebagai benteng menentang kelebihan dan kezaliman pemerintah. Renungkan hadis ini: Syurga dipenuhi dengan raja yang merapati ulama; Neraka dibanjiri oleh ulama yang selalu ke istana (terjemahan lebih kurang). Ulama tulen sedar bahawa deritaan yang mereka alami di tangan sultan yang derhaka tidak seberat nya bila di bandingkan dengan hukuman di akhirat nanti.

                       Ulama Melayu terpesona dengan geleran diraja mereka, termasuk pakaian resmi yang hebat dan dihiasi penuh dengan penutup botol. Kepada para ulama, Najib tidak mencuri wang dari 1MDB tetapi menerima rezeki, hadiah dari Illahi!

                       Masyarakat Melayu sudah tentu nya diborkati dengan ramai Cak Nur kita.  Allah yang Pemurah serta Adil tidak akn mengabaikan bangsa kita. Tetapi kita tidak menghargai borkat Nya. Sebaliknya budaya kita memperlekehkan hadiah dari Tuhan. Di budaya lain, si Rafizi Ramli mereka dihargai. Pelbagai pihak akan merebut dan memujuk ia untuk memimpin mereka. Makhlok saperti Rafizi di anggap sebagai bintang terang di langkasi yang gelap. Di Malaysia sebaliknya, Rafizi di penjarakan . . .  kerana mendedahkan rasuah! Almarhum Kassim Ahmad begitu juga. Kerana keberaniannya dia diburu oleh mahkamah syriah hingga hujong umor nya. Lihat lah Azmi Sharum, seorang pakar undang undang di Universiti Malaya. Jangan harapkan dia dianugerahkan menjadi ahli Majlis Profesor Negara.

                       Saya terharu dengan seniman kita yang berani menentang ketidakadilan. Di antara mereka ialah penyanyi “blues” Mohammad Ito dan kartunis Zunar. Sementara itu, Lat, yang dulu saya minati, kini dia berdiam diam sahaja, dibungkam dengan gelaran Datuk yang murah, manakala Zunar menerima kehormatan dan pujian antarabangsa kerana berani mengejek Najib dan isterinya. Zunar membuktikan bahawa pena itu adalah senjata yang lebih kuat. Malah Sheila Majid dan Siti Nurhaliza pun sudah bosan dengan Najib. Kuasa bintang mereka melebihi daya tarikan Najib dan RTM pemerintahnya. 

                       Bekas Perdana Menteri Mahathir pun sudah tidak tahan lagi dengan peragai Najib. Saya berdoa supaya Mahathir berjaya menghapuskan Najib. Semua rakyat Malaysia patut menyokong dia. Benar, Mahathir bertangung jawab atas kenaikkan Najib. Mahathir terhutang budi kepada ayah Najib. Oleh sebab itu Mahathir buta kepada sisi gelap Razak yang diwariskan keanak sulongnya.

                       Saya kecewa dengan peragai ulama dan sultan Melayu. Mereka berlumba lumba mengejar dedak dari Najib. Mufti Persekutuan tidak sabar menegur penyanyi Neelofa kerana melancarkan tudung bergaya barunya di kelab malam. Tetapi Tuan Mufti tidak bersangka pun untok menegur Najib bila ia mencuri wang 1MDB. Mufti Bakri bukan bahan Cak Nur; jauh sekali! 

                       Sementara itu Raja Melayu senang juga disenyapkan dengan kontrak mahal dan istana mahligai baru. Dedak lebih berkesan daripada pindaan perlembagaan tahun 1980-an untuk mengalih gelagak sultan. Namun orang Melayu masih percaya dengan khayalan bahawa sultan adalah "pelindung" kita. Ia, “perlindungan” kondom Cina yang murah; kecuali sultan kita mahal.

Tanda Qiamat

Orang Islam percaya antara tanda qiamat ialah apabila masyarakat tidak lagi mengutamakan kebenaran, sebaliknya si penipu dan pendusta di muliakan; apabila pemimpin pecah amanah dan menjadi pengkhianat dan penyamun; dan apabila mereka berlumba mendirikan pencakar langit.

                       Saya tidak percaya bahawa bangsa Melayu berhampiran dengan qiamat kita. Mungkin Najib dan UMNO mendekati qiamat mereka. Sejarah mengingatkan bahawa pemimpin yang korup akan mengalami hujung nyawa yang tidak senang dan mungkin mengerikan. Saksikan Gaddafi dan Ceausescu. Apabila qiamat Najib dan UMNO sampai, kita akan terperanjat serta tidak percaya bagaimana dan betapa mudahnya negara kita telah ditipu dengan terus terang oleh pemimpin yang begitu remeh dan tidak berkobolehan. 

                       Kejayaan Najib dengan kesimpulannya "wang itu raja" seumpama kejayaan kupu kupu lepas hujan. Cepat terbang tinggi dan lagi cebat kebumi. Punca ringgit bukan tak terbatas. Kedua, ringgit kita sudah menghampiri matawang Zambia dalam harga. Apabila qiamat menimpa Najib dan UMNO, mereka dan juga kita akan cepat mengetahui mengapa perkataan "amok" itu berasal bahasa Melayu. 

                       Pada saya, Malaysia tidak memerlukan Cak Nurnya. Najib tidak layak dihormati a la Suharto.