You mean how to exorcise the Samy Vellu jinx in politicosphere?

The coming elections will be the defining moment.

To many detractors of the BN government – the disgruntled Non Malays in particular who feel and are marginalised – their mood is buoyant. They feel that the Opposition will definitely make substantial inroads (5o or more parliamentary seats being not impossible), and BN cannot repeat its last performance. Some of the more optimistic are thinking that depriving BN the 2/3 majority is also within striking distance. They feel that Samy Vellu is a personification of many non Malay leaders within the BN power sharing power arrangement (whether MCA, Gerakan, PPP & the rest) who have outlived their political shelf life, exposed and demystified as regards to their pretensions in the last 50 years of representing their respective communal interests via equitable power sharing arrangement when in fact they have been kow towing to big brother UMNO and acquiescing with its racial and religious hegemonic policies. And they feel that now more than ever these non Malay leaders will face the wrath and be made accountable with many being booted out. And they feel that then UMNO will learn the lesson and be more moderate and tolerant to promote the pluralistic Malaysian agenda than intensifying the narrow communal one. Will all these calculations come true, will UMNO take heed, at least for the sake of keeping up the pretension of power sharing arrangement with component parties and legitimising its image of leading a coalition representing a diverse and pluralistic citizenry, as it has done in last 50 years?

Well, certainly some of the moderates and old guards within UMNO. Eg Agro-based Industry Minister and Umno vice-president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was reported in NST 2007/11/11 as saying, “although Umno is the dominant party, the Malay leadership in Umno is willing to share the power of governance based on power sharing. If a formula has been successful for the last 50 years and has resulted in a modern, stable and harmonious nation, I don’t see why that formula should be abandoned.” Those within the ruling party who subscribe to status quo would be Ok to retain Samy Vellu or the other metaphors thereof.

But there is, as always, a continuous power struggle that is going on within the ruling party. There is growing faction of what may be described as a right-wing ethno-nationalists challenging the so called “moderates” within the party. These are not bothered with the likes of Samy Vellu or his metaphors, whether they have a safe seat to contest, and whether they can deliver the requisite non malay seats to the BN so that the BN can have a comfort zone way above its traditional 2/3 majority. In fact, this group have already acepted and discounted the fact that non Malay support for BN has gone below 50% and may not be able to deliver the votes if the general election is held within the next month or so. These are the people who believe that they still have 70% or more of Malay votes, and in the future, more and more because of this phenomenon better expressed by Farish A. Noor in “The Other Malaysia” in these terms : “The demographic increase of the Malay-Muslim community, coupled with the steady stream of outward immigration on the part on the other communities, has radically altered the racial balance of the country to the point where many of us – including politicians and pundits alike – speak of the ‘growing Malay bloc’ as if it was a solid, homogenous entity”. Spokesmen of this group are not even interested in pretension of traditional power sharing. They don’t care if the likes of Samy Vellu or PPP’s M. Kayveas has a seat; and they don’t care if UMNO divests its other junior partners or that they temporarily lose 2/3 majority. (After all one only needs 2/3 majority to effect certain important constitutional amendments, and these constitutional amendments have already been long effected. Even with a majority not amounting to 2/3 majority UMNO could rule exclusively, there being no need for any form of power sharing and accomodation of others. They just need a poorer performance on the part of BN this time around relative to the last time, 92% mandate, as an excuse and justification to edge Pak Lah and those relatively “moderate” around him to exit from power and make way for this new group to bring in this new paradigm of Malysian politics, with no particular concern for power sharing on UMNO’s part.

To this group, the coming election too is a defining moment. Ironically this group and the marginalised groups at the other end ofv the political continuum are eagerly looking at the coming elections with bouyancy of hope but based on an entirely diametrically opposed political paradigm and premise. :)

To : scorpian6666

1. The operative words that you picked on are “ the disgruntled Non Malays in particular who feel AND ARE marginalized” meaning it is DISJUNCTIVE – who (1) feel AND (2) are marginalized, meaning further I have not suggested that it is not “just feeling” as “if “marginalization” does take place in Malaysia under the BN rule” said by you….

2. “although Umno is the dominant party, the Malay leadership in Umno is willing to share the power of governance based on power sharing. If a formula has been successful for the last 50 years and has resulted in a modern, stable and harmonious nation, I don’t see why that formula should be abandoned” was merely my quote of what Agro-based Industry Minister and Umno vice-president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was reported for having said in NST 2007/11/11.

Why do you take for granted that my quote of what Muhyiddin Yassin was suggestive that I felt “we don’t need to change the current government” or was a “call for the opposition to emulate the “FORMULA” that, according to you, I supposedly feel is successful?

Do you have a basis to say that I implied that? I quoted Muhyiddin Yassin to merely explain that within UMNO there are two factions, one still talking about power sharing arrangement with other component parties whilst the other faction is not bothered, wanting UMNO to go alone if needs be.

3. Regarding “please comment on why with more resources we not as good as SINGAPORE just next door. Perhaps you are easy to be pleased. Maybe you feel Singapore is nothing more than a castle in the air”, well I did not mention in my earlier posting anything about Singapore (for any inference to reasonably arise in context to say that I am either “easy to be pleased” or maybe I feel “Singapore is nothing more than a castle in the air”. And, at this moment, the question of “why with more resources we not as good as SINGAPORE “ is out of topic of this blog thread and does not arise.……