By Hussein Hamid

My friends we are witnessing the slow and messy end of Najib and gang, who for reason best known to themselves, have decided to commit Har-rah-kee-ree in public. Whether this was ordered by a greater authority (ahem…Mahathir?) as a form of punishment or chosen in preference to a dishonourable and certain death at the hands of an enemy (Us and Pakatan Rakyat!!) is anybody’s guess. But this particularly painful act of self- destruction is being acted out now even as I write but it is being done without honor, courage, moral character and etiquette which is an integral part of such an act as practised by the code of Bushido and the discipline of the Samurais of Japan. But then again with those familiar with the ways of UMNO, this lack of finesse is nothing out of the ordinary for UMNO.

Today I want to talk as a Melayu – without the constrains of having to worry about what anybody else in Malaysia will feel. Without having to worry about good manners, politeness and being nice – all the qualities that we Malays are noted for. With that out of the way I will begin.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away as a Melayu I knew this for as a fact. The Chinese were from China. The Indians from India. The others were from where they came from. As a Malay, this is my country. The Malays control the Army, The Police and all facets of Government. The Chinese only the business and the economy. With the Dasar Ekonomi Baru (NEP) we had twenty over years to catch up with everybody else. Together we (the Malays and UMNO) would slowly but surly claim back our rightful place in our own country which has been taken away from us by the British.

We (the Malays and UMNO) started of well. After the May 13th Riots it could only get better! Education, rural development etc – all the relevant apparatus for the success of the DEB/NEP started to be put in place. Words such as “The Malay Agenda, “Malaysian Social Contract” started to be used with much frequency by UMNO. Business became the ‘buzz word’ in every Malay vocabulary and always that word “Bumiputra” keeps coming up in any discussions we had with the others when talking about business. There was Bank Bumiputra. OUR bank. Pernas was formed to encouraged Malay business. Petronas was there to go head to head with Esso, Mobil, Shell and Caltex. The rapid and very high profile establishment of Petronas Petrol Stations was a source of pride to us Malays.

How do we match the non Malays in population growth? Easy – bring in the Indonesian initially as pendatang asing – to provide the country with much needed cheap labour – then give them PR status – then citizenship.

What about winning elections for the Malays/UMNO? Suffice for me to say with the Election Commission we were able to manipulate the election process for our own gain. The one man one vote principle was conveniently neutralized.

So far so good. So what went wrong? Fast forward to today.

The most significant shift in the equation of the Malay being UMNO and UMNO being Malay is that right from its early days, the “SOCIAL CONTRACT” between the Malays and UMNO has become a means to an end – rather then the end to which we should have all worked towards.

It was the means through which UMNO, not the Malays achieved unheard of richness, sated their greed for all things materials and achieved, during the time of Mahathir, complete dominance over all things Malaysians. Because UMNO had the inclination and the opportunity, this power that they had in their control was used not for good but for evil. UMNO went on a reckless binge of acquiring money, money and more money on the fringe of lunacy. Those whom the Gods wants to destroy, he first makes mad. As a Malay I felt used and there is anger in myself for letting UMNO do this to me and my race.

The Indonesians brought in to bolster the Malay population has now become a social problem because like many Government policies, the pros and the cons of assimilating them into the local population was not thought of in detail. No checks and balances were in place to ensure that they will fit into the Malay scheme of things.

Now I am done talking as a Malay.

That is why today I, as a Malay, am done with UMNO. A lot of Malays are done with UMNO. Without the Malays to support them UMNO is on its way out – bar the time left before the next elections. Will they use what time they have left to regroup and galvanized what they have left to try and turn their fortunes around? Not possible. UMNO has become the sum of what its members and leaders need and want. What they need and want is not compatible with what we need and want – Justice, freedom and the right to live a decent life. So we will not be spared the spectacle of an UMNO committing Har Rah Kee Ree in public for they know not what they do. When they are almost done, we will be their Kaishaku or assistant, and cut off their head to spare them too much sufferings. Amen.