by Hasbullah Awang Chik
The Malaysian Insider
May 23, 2014

Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud is willing to be declared a traitor for contesting on a DAP ticket rather than get involved with the dirty politics practised by Umno and Barisan Nasional.

The Teluk Intan by-election candidate said she agreed with what former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said about Umno.

Malaysia’s longest serving prime minister said that Umno’s failure to attract professionals to the Malay party had caused many to turn their backs on it.

“Dr Mahathir had said that Malays were smart in joining Pakatan Rakyat. He is correct,” Dyana said.

“After that he calls us traitors. Wow, that’s rich.”

Dyana shrugged off Dr Mahathir’s comments.

“We just listen, it is not necessary for us to accept it. They have a right to their opinion,” she told a group of 30 while campaigning in Taman Melor, Teluk Intan, last night.

During a function in Malacca in March 2012, Dr Mahathir said Umno faced a leadership void, especially at the grassroots level.

Bernama quoted Dr Mahathir that the branch and division levels of the party were blocking the entry of professionals into the party.

“For decades, Umno has not allowed professionals to enter the party, resulting in many doctors joining PAS.

“This will prove to be the undoing of Umno when they are looking for winnable candidates during general elections.”

Armed with banners, some 50 Federal Territory (FT) Umno Youth members yesterday protested in front of the DAP headquarters in Jalan Yew in Kuala Lumpur this afternoon before handing over a memorandum to party strategist Dr Ong Kian Ming. – Pic courtesy of Ong Kian Ming, May 22, 2014.Armed with banners, some 50 Federal Territory (FT) Umno Youth members yesterday protested in front of the DAP headquarters in Jalan Yew in Kuala Lumpur this afternoon before handing over a memorandum to party strategist Dr Ong Kian Ming. – Pic courtesy of Ong Kian Ming, May 22, 2014.Dyana also hit out at the action of the Federal Territory (FT) Umno Youth members who staged a protest at the DAP headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.

“Based on such acts, voters in Teluk Intan should look for an alternative party to BN.

“Before handing the memorandum to Serdang MP Dr Ong Kian Ming, they threw it to his face.

“What sort of behaviour is this? They want to hand over a memorandum but tore it up instead. Who knows what was in it?”

Instead, Dyana said, DAP had to collect the pieces and paste them back together to see what they wrote.

“How do BN and Umno behave? We do not understand.”

Yesterday, armed with banners, some 50 FT Umno Youth members protested in front of the DAP headquarters in Jalan Yew in Kuala Lumpur.

They later handed over a memorandum to Ong, who is also the party’s strategist.

They came to denounce DAP Penang’s Seri Delima assemblyman R.S.N. Rayer, who had uttered the words “Umno celaka” against the Malay party in the Penang assembly sitting.

His use of the term sparked massive protests in Penang where a group of Umno Youth members barged into the legislative assembly building and disrupted the sitting for the first time in history. – May 23, 2014.