So, the Tiger Year will see Najib’s 1Malaysia crumble to pieces and the movement to oust him grow in strength. It would see the opposition go through some much-needed spring-cleaning and the weeding out of undesirables. And this will place the opposition in a most advantageous position to offer itself as the viable alternative to Barisan Nasional in the next general election.
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin
I have just purchased two oil paintings, which I will hang on my living room wall as soon as the frame is ready next week. They are not expensive pieces. I bought them on eBay and not in an art auction in New York. I believe they are from China, mass-produced of course -- so maybe 10,000 other houses also have the same paintings.
One painting is of a tiger. The other is of some tiger cubs. These will be the only two decorations on my wall thus far.
The significance of these two paintings is that I was born just after midnight 60 years ago in the Year of the Tiger (I am also a Libran). So the painting is symbolic of my year of birth. In a way, this year is my first anniversary of the Golden Tiger, which comes once every 60 years. I doubt I will be celebrating my second anniversary unless I live to 120.
The painting of the tiger cubs is symbolic of the next generation. This is to remind me that my life will soon come to an end and it will be up to the next generation to continue the work of bringing reforms or changes to Malaysia. And this means we will have to get the next generation committed to the struggle for a better Malaysia plus get them registered as voters and convince them that they must come out to vote come the next election.
Currently, only 50% of eligible voters vote in the general elections while about 60% of those who do not vote are not even registered as voters. Only when Malaysians care will we see change. And unless we can increase the numbers then Umno and Barisan Nasional will remain in power for a long, long time to come.
And these two paintings that will soon be hanging on my wall will be a constant reminder of what lies ahead of me.
I am not a believer in Feng Shui and whatnot. To me, such matters are not a science but folklore and superstition. My late Chinese mother-in-law -- who although a Catholic (but died a Muslim), strongly believed in old Chinese traditions (old beliefs die hard) -- once told me that those born around midnight in the tiger year are ‘fierce’. That is because tigers come out around midnight to look for food -- and that was around the time I was born.
The Orang Asli who pick durians in the jungles will tell you the same thing. They normally sit up in the trees at night to wait for the durians to drop. But if they hear the durians drop around midnight they will not climb down from the tree to collect the durians. According to the Orang Asli, tigers love durians and they will roam the jungles after midnight to wait for the durians to drop. So if you climb down from the tree around that time you might come face-to-face with a tiger.
I have spent some time deep in the jungles near the Kelantan-Terengganu-Pahang border and have seen this happen. We had to climb into a high shack on stilts at night and never touch the ground even if we had a bad stomach. The next day one of the three dogs disappeared and we saw tiger paw prints that told us what had happened to the dog.
It was quite an experience, especially when it came to bath time and we had to bathe in the river with the crocodiles sunbathing lazily in the sun on the opposite bank and eyeballing us with that very hungry look in their eyes.
Understandably, I never made a second trip into the deep jungles of interior Malaysia. Sharing the ‘bathroom’ with crocodiles and trying to sleep with tigers playing under the house is not exactly my idea of fun.
Anyway, back to what my mother-in-law told me. Midnight tigers are fierce, she said, and they will ‘eat’ their own parents. I did not quite understand what she meant and she explained that my father and mother would both die young because of when I was born.
As I said, I do not believe in these unscientific beliefs but the uncanny thing is both my father and mother died in their mid-40s. Is there some truth after all in these thousands of years old beliefs?
Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak was born in the Year of the Snake and the Chinese believe that tiger years are bad news for those born in snake years. This may be true. Then again, if your beliefs are strong enough, you may do certain things that would result in a self-fulfilling prophecy. In other words, in you believe in something, you may do things that will make this prophecy come true.
There are many who feel that Najib may not last the next 12 months. And I am not talking about those people in the opposition but those in Umno itself. And they are putting their money on the probability that Najib may be ousted and replaced with his number two. They even speculate that the Deputy President of Umno, Muhyiddin Yassin, may challenge him for the presidency come the next Umno general assembly.
Let’s not kid ourselves here. It would be very difficult to defeat Najib from the outside. But from the inside it would be more possible, just like how Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi were ousted -- from the inside. Yes, Dr Mahathir did not resign willingly. He was pushed out, just like how they pushed out Abdullah Badawi.
The writing is already on the wall. Moves are being made to discredit Najib and to undermine his 1Malaysia. The scandals like the exposes of the stolen jet engines, the military selling secrets to foreign governments, the submarine that cannot dive and whatnot, all point to Najib as Defence Minister.
In a subtle way they are exposing the failures of Najib without actually saying openly that Najib is to blame.
Then we have PERKASA and JASA and all those other movements and organisations that contradict Najib’s 1Malaysia. Some of the people in JASA are also involved in PERKASA. JASA is about Islamic supremacy while PERKASA is about Malay supremacy. How does 1Malaysia reconcile with what PERKASA and JASA stand for? They are opposite to what 1Malaysia propagates.
Then we have the new movement called Article 153 that has its own website and Facebook. This is promoted by PROWARIS, which is linked to Mukhriz Mahathir, just like PERKASA is linked to Dr Mahathir. In fact, Dr Mahathir even said that Umno has failed to uphold the interests of the Malays and PERKASA will be taking over the new role of Umno.
Are we seeing an Umno Lebih Baru in the wings? It looks like Umno Baru took over from Umno and the Umno Lebih Baru in the form of PERKASA will be the incarnate of Umno Baru which, as Dr Mahathir said, has failed the Malays.
The Umno Malays say they will defend Article 153 of the Constitution and Malay rights and privileges to the last drop of their blood. And if the Chinese, Indians and ‘others’ challenge this, then be prepared for another May 13, which will be even bigger than the May 13 of 1969.
There goes Najib’s 1Malaysia flushed down the toilet bowl.
The fact that opposition Members of Parliament like Zahrain Mohd Hashim, Ibrahim Ali and Zulkifli Noordin are behind the Islamic and Malay supremacy programmes does not upset me one bit. Everybody knows that these personalities are no longer opposition at heart but sympathise with Umno. I just wish they would all quickly join Umno so that Malaysians can see their true colours.
These Trojan horses would be doing the opposition a great service by joining Umno. Then they can scream and shout about Islam and Malay rights and privileges within Umno. That would not only score points for the opposition but will accelerate Najib’s downfall as well.
Najib may be sincere about his 1Malaysia. Or that may just be a political gimmick. I really don’t know. But let us give Najib the benefit of the doubt and take his 1Malaysia at face value. Let’s say he is genuine about his 1Malaysia. But that does not mean the rest of Umno also shares his sentiments.
Najib’s 1Malaysia could actually be his death wish. His enemies within Umno can use this 1Malaysia to galvanise an anti-Najib movement. And that appears to be what is happening. The only thing I cannot say for sure is whether Dr Mahathir is behind Muhyiddin and will back him in his bid to oust Najib. But if I were a gambling man I would put my money on Muhyiddin having the backing of Dr Mahathir.
Anwar Ibrahim has gained some ground with his recent apology about blundering on choosing the candidates in the last general election. What Anwar said is exactly what most people are already saying. Even if Anwar did not admit this everyone is saying it anyway. But it is good that Anwar came clean and took the blame for it and apologised.
I have often enough said that Anwar has made a lot of mistake, even back in his Umno days and when he was a member of the Cabinet. But as long as he refuses to admit these mistakes and apologise for it, then do not expect people to be forgiving.
Malaysians by nature are very forgiving. It does not take much for them to forgive and sometimes even forget. But they need to see sincerity and remorse first. And if Anwar can submit himself to these ‘confession sessions’ most Malaysians are prepared to overlook his transgressions of past and focus on the future.
Let’s face it: Anwar was a catalyst for opposition solidarity. Who else could bring two diverse parties such as PAS and DAP, not only to the negotiating table, but into a coalition as well? That can be considered Anwar’s greatest feat thus far. And that one major contribution can override the many misgivings people may have about him.
In the last general election it was very difficult for the opposition to attract quality candidates. Who would want to contest the general election on the ticket of a party that had no future?
But that has now changed. Not only do people see Pakatan Rakyat as a party with a future, they in fact see it as a viable alternative to Barisan Nasional and probably the new government in the next general election.
The problem the next time around is not in trying to find suitable and quality candidates to field in the elections. The problem would be there would be too many offering themselves as candidates that the leaders would be hard-pressed in deciding who to select.
But that would be a better ‘problem’ to face.
So, the Tiger Year will see Najib’s 1Malaysia crumble to pieces and the movement to oust him grow in strength. It would see the opposition go through some much-needed spring-cleaning and the weeding out of undesirables. And this will place the opposition in a most advantageous position to offer itself as the viable alternative to Barisan Nasional in the next general election.
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