I am still waiting for the UMNO Youth Leader and Youth and Sports Minister, Khairy Jamaluddin, to reply to my statement yesterday and explain in clear terms his call that Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and I should retire from politics.

I will await Khairy’s elucidation before responding to his call.

But Malaysians want to know why Khairy has suddenly gone so quiet, and in particular, why he has yet to respond to the lament by Tunku Makhota Johor, Tunku Ismail Ibrahim who asked “What’s happening to a country I used to respect? A country that I was once proud to call my home”.

In fact, Tunku Ismail Ibrahim’s lament reminds me of the concern of another Johorean, former Deputy Prime Minister, Tun Musa Hitam, when he launched his autobiography, “Frankly Speaking” in April this year.

Musa warned that Malaysia was going downhill slowly, but the situation could get worse quickly.

He said there was a great distraction in the current Malaysian political scenario that was causing a loss of focus on the wellbeing of Malaysians.

Musa said: “The concerns surrounding 1Malaysia Development Bhd have left many issues affecting the rakyat unattended….

“The country is going downhill slowly, but the speed could pick up. We have no confidence in the agencies related to administering the nation.”

Khairy has been nominated by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak to draft proposals for Transformation Nasional 2050 – TN 50 – which is to replace Vision 2020 as this 30-year programme launched by Mahathir in 1991 had failed to achieve its nine-point strategic objectives under the Najib premiership.

If Khairy is going to be responsible for drafting the Vision for Malaysians in 33 years’ time in 2050, his most important qualification must his ability not to be trapped by the Grand Denial Complex created by the Najib premiership and his ability to bravely face up to the maze of problems confronting the country sixty years after the country attained independence on August 31, 1957.

An acid test is whether Khairy is prepared to admit to the magnitude, monstrosity and criminality of the international multi-billion dollar 1MDB money-laundering scandal which has caused Malaysia to be regarded world-wide as a global kleptocracy in six short years.

Johor had produced two great sons for the nation, famous not only for their personal incorruptibility but their commitment to combat corruption, not to mention kleptocracy – Datuk Onn Jafaar and Tun Hussein Onn.

It is all the more poignant that the TMJ in his famous lament which resonates throughout the nation, asked why Malaysia has become a country “where corruption has become a tradition”, where “individuals want to be politicians for their personal interest and no longer believe in serving the people and our institution” and where “Honour, loyalty and being genuine no longer exist”!

Is Khairy aware that Tunku Ismail Ibrahim’s lament is a damning indictment of the present system of governance in Malaysia today?

Let me put it straight to Khairy – he is not fit or qualified to lead Malaysians to envision what Malaysia should be in 33 years’ time in 2050 if he is not prepared to come out of the Grand Denial Complex foisted on the nation by the Najib administration and to face up to the maze of problems and crisis presently confronting Malaysia.

Khairy should ask Najib at the Cabinet meeting tomorrow to appoint another Minister to be responsible for TN 50 if Khairy does not have the courage to get the Najib administration to end the Grand Denial Complex, by firstly giving proper accountability on the international 1MDB money-laundering scandal as a first step to clear and cleanse Malaysia of the international ignominy and infamy of being regarded worldwide as a global kleptocracy.