Crying wolf all the time

Umno’s stooge, Isma, blames Datuk Sri Anwar Ibrahim for “emboldening non-Muslims in Malaysia”. Isma’s president, Abdullah Zaik Abdul Rahman, laments that Anwar’s struggle for liberalism, pluralism, freedom and equality is empowering Chinese, Christians and the DAP. But he concealed the fact that students from local universities are also empowered.

Isma’s president is too narrow-minded and short-sighted to notice that the educated Malaysians of all races and religions also value and cherish liberalism, pluralism, freedom and equality. Does Isma want the Malays to remain backward while the whole world is moving forward?

About a week ago, another Umno stooge, Perkasa, warned Selangor Menteri Besar Mohamed Azmin Ali that efforts to return the seized Malay and Iban Bibles to the Christians are a threat to Islam and would cause unhappiness among Muslims in the state. Only in Malaysia do we hear that returning the bibles to Christians threatens Islam and causes unhappiness among Muslims.

Even though we have laws and courts to preserve and protect the rights of all races and religions, little Napoleons from Isma and Perkasa take the law into their own hands and pass judgment, and this is detrimental to a plural society like Malaysia’s.

Umno sponsors and outsources its racial slurs and religious bigotry to these extremist groups to blackmail ordinary citizens into submission. In the past 57 years of Umno rule, governance has deteriorated and corruption has increased. The country’s debt has breached the 55% of GDP threshold and household debt has risen from 57% in 2002 to 87% in 2013.

Additionally, the quality of education has deteriorated, and the continuing brain drain is a strain on the nation. To top it off, national unity is threatened and undermined by the likes of Isma and Perkasa. To divert attention from malaise and scandals, Umno hardliners constantly raise race and religious issues.

After spewing racial and religious slurs, these extremists move around as if they have done a great service to the country and Malays. Are ordinary poor Malays in any way enriched or enlightened by the acts of these extremist groups? Over the years, the country has lost and is losing billions of ringgit because of corrupt practices.

But these extremist groups will look the other way just because they are UMNO cronies.

But when the corrupt practices of a few Umno cronies are highlighted, the likes of Isma and Perkasa go on the rampage and claim the whole Malay community is being threatened. In actual fact, they are stifling the progress of the Malay community.

Under Umno rule, these extremists will never be charged under the Sedition Act.

However, any well-meaning individual who exposes and questions the scandals and plundering of Umno will be charged under the Act. No one has yet been charged for the RM300-million National Feedlot Corp scandal in 2007 involving a Wanita Umno leader. Umno has been covering up the scandals and pilferage exposed by the annual Audit reports.

Umno’s patronage, involving highway concessions and privatization of government services, has enriched only Umno’s cronies but impoverished ordinary Malays in kampongs and rural areas.

Malay university students have realized the duplicity of Umno in enriching itself while beating its chest about helping the Malay community.

High-priced areas in the Federal Territory are quietly sold to Umno leaders at cheaper prices. Unfortunately, Isma and Perkasa refuse to see this side of the story. They cry ‘wolf’ all the time.

Bank Bumiputra was set up in 1965 to encourage the Malay community to participate in trade and commerce. The bank was bankrupted by Umno leaders and had to be merged with other banks to survive.

Has Umno helped the Malays? In the name of the Malay community, Umno leaders are enriching themselves and their cronies. To the poor Malays in kampongs, Umno uses race and religion to rally their support. As the adage goes, “Some people can be cheated some of the time but not all the people all the time.” Are Umno’s days numbered?