‘Cakap tak serupa bikin’
Loosely translated, it means ‘Do as I say, don't do as I do’.
Steven Gan gave someone a tight slap in the face. A big one.
Pak ‘don’t-do-as-I-do’ Lah
Nov 30, 06 8:33pm
It was a slap in the face. A big one.
Indeed, how else can you describe it when the party leader unequivocally appealed to delegates not to the hurt the feelings of other races at the now infamous Malay-only Umno assembly but no one heeded his impassioned plea?
And thus Malaysians saw an ugly display of racism courtesy of satellite TV operator Astro. So much so that the party president himself had to smooth over frayed nerves on the final day of the assembly.
For those with a short memory, let’s quick-rewind back to Nov 13 - the eve of the four-day Umno assembly. This was what Abdullah Ahmad Badawi told reporters after his closed-door pre-assembly prep talk:
“I reminded all party members that they must take into account the views of other component parties when raising issues. They must be fair and just in their comments.
“They must avoid adverse reactions from component party members that could damage racial harmony.”
The exact opposite happened. Speaker after speaker defied Abdullah. Not only did they spew racist threats against other Malaysians, none even bothered to address one of the party president’s pet issues - the fight against graft.
Pent-up frustration
Not surprisingly, the pro-government media had to work overtime to put a gloss on this embarrassing repudiation of the party leader.
And thus their spins - that his winding-up speech showed ‘Abdullah was indeed a PM for all Malaysians’, that he ‘was courageous in daring to go against the grain in Umno’ and that the ‘open season on non-Malays was necessary to release pent-up frustration’. Ditto.
There was a bout of navel-gazing too on the state of race relations as the country celebrates its 50th Merdeka anniversary, in nine months time to be exact.
Much has been said on what needs to be done - making schools, neighbourhoods and workplaces multiracial, promoting a healthy respect for the different cultures and religions, rewriting our history to reflect the sacrifices and contributions of all races.
But few have pointed out the root cause of our malaise. Malaysia is one of the few nations, if not the only one, where race-based parties continue to exist. So long as this remains so, we are not going to lift ourselves out of this poisonous state of affairs anytime soon.
Warlords call the shots
It is increasingly clear that Abdullah sits at the party helm thanks to the power of incumbency. Still, he is very much at the mercy of Umno chieftains who command the party’s rank-and-file.
Which is why, despite making anti-corruption efforts the major plank of his premiership, Abdullah has to use the true and tested way of shoring up political support - throwing money to Umno warlords.
This was done blatantly with RM600 million given - just before the assembly kicked off - to Class F contractors, most of whom are party divisional leaders.
According to Abdullah, this was ‘to top up’ the RM1.5 billion announced at the post-Umno supreme council meeting press conference on Nov 2.
The billion and a half ringgit, he said, had already been spent and thus another RM600 million was needed. Intriguingly, this money must be used up by next month.
Expect a six-week spending spree as all parliamentary constituencies - with the exception of Sarawak where Umno has no presence - get RM3 million each.
The rush to beat the deadline is underscored by the requirement that contractors must start work three days after being awarded the contract. Of course, there are no open tenders for these projects.
Corruption, Pak Lah-style
Call it what you will - pork barreling, money politics, political patronage - it amounts to the same thing - corruption with a big ‘C’.
And this coming from the man who vowed to battle corruption in this country. There’s a Malay phrase to describe Abdullah’s largesse, ‘Cakap tak serupa bikin’ - loosely translated as ‘Do as I say, don't do as I do’.
No wonder Umno delegates didn’t give two hoots to his ‘be mindful of other races’ plea.
Comments
Alamak Pak Lak... I vested so much hope in you. Hoping that Malaysia will turn around from the dark path Dr M had steered it on to.
Then, wait, wait, wait. And it seems the large numbers of entrenched trouble makers pushing Malaysia along that dark path have only grouwn stronger!
Now, after your pre-assembly prep talk, we have those terrible instances of hurtful, racist vitriol.
Yes, yesterday, there were 'stern warnings' issued by the UMNO management committee to 3 delegates who were involved in uttering those racist statements.
Including one who had spouted:
"Hishamuddin has unsheathed the keris. He has waved it.
He has kissed it. We ask now when he is going to use it."
But wait a minute. Are we missing something here?
Who was the one who gave basis for that statement? Who was the one who unsheathed the keris?
Why has Hishammuddin not been censured? Was he not the start of the amok fest?
Posted by: Leithaisor![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.my/nav-commenters.gif)
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December 2, 2006 10:35 AM
Well Pak Helah has again folled us. But surprisingly, many still hold him as the "saviour" of Msia from the evils like corruption and will take us out from the economy abyss we are currently in. At least a few of my friends who seldom read newspapers (not even NST and Star) have the idea that our PM is doing a great job. Yes, the battle is long. We must do much more to explain the current situation that beset us all. Otherwise these people will again vote blindly and put the same fellas into power again.
Posted by: groo![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.my/nav-commenters.gif)
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December 2, 2006 10:53 AM
Well Pak Helah has again folled us. But surprisingly, many still hold him as the "saviour" of Msia from the evils like corruption and will take us out from the economy abyss we are currently in. At least a few of my friends who seldom read newspapers (not even NST and Star) have the idea that our PM is doing a great job. Yes, the battle is long. We must do much more to explain the current situation that beset us all. Otherwise these people will again vote blindly and put the same fellas into power again.
Posted by: groo![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.my/nav-commenters.gif)
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December 2, 2006 10:58 AM
looks like CORRUPTION is EVEN MORE RAMPANT under this Pak Helah!! previously, eventhough we know corruption exist...but it's all done nicely.. this time around... they do it RIGHT UNDER OUR NOSE!!! what the......
just to quote DiGi...Time to change...
Posted by: taiko_besar![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.my/nav-commenters.gif)
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December 2, 2006 11:30 AM
Just because you don't corrupt, you are poor and powerless. So, if you want to be rich and powerful, Corrupt is the way for it.
Who taught you that? Our government lah! Change this government before it changed you!
Posted by: patriotic1994![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.my/nav-commenters.gif)
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December 2, 2006 02:14 PM
"The exact opposite happened. Speaker after speaker defied Abdullah. Not only did they spew racist threats against other Malaysians, none even bothered to address one of the party president’s pet issues the fight against graft."
Well if AAB cannot get the message he must be bloody dumb. His people don't give a hoot to his advice, because even UMNO thinks he is irrelevant. My question is how long will he last before he is "kicked out" by his own people
Posted by: art chan![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.my/nav-commenters.gif)
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December 2, 2006 03:55 PM
leithaisor:
share your sentiments.
after the sandiwara at recent UMNO GA, i know we've been had...esp that on-the-spot rant of RM600 for each divison to spend in triply quik time! Ooops, i left out 6 zeroes! So it's RM3million to be spent for Christmas and Nu'e Year -- Pak Lah playing Father Santa using OUR (taxpapyers) money.
The last dime I looked out the window, I did NOT see ringgit growing on my durian trees!
The blardy government has GONE AGAINST the federal Constitution syphoning off the Treasury (Petronas' rising profits, izzit?) for a BN component party's use -- the AG office, both Attorney-General's and Auditor General's -- must investigate Pronto!
Posted by: desiderata![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.my/nav-commenters.gif)
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December 2, 2006 05:24 PM
Desiderata,
How I wish newspaper headlines will one day show these:
"ACA starts investigating Pak Lah in RM600 million scandal"
"Evidence of Corruption: UMNO leaders implicated- may soon face indictment"
and lastly, the mother of all my wishes:
"Barisan Alternatif wins the election by a landslide. All UMNO leaders wiped out."
Of course those headlines will only be true when pigs fly or cows gave ber instead of milk...
Posted by: queequeg![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.my/nav-commenters.gif)
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December 2, 2006 11:31 PM
It doesnt matter if during the UMNO GA they missed out on the issue of graft cos even after talking abt it, it is just a talk. NO action will be taken. Like the rm4billion which the govt took from the petrol subisdy to improve public transport, look at the state of our transport system now. SAME AS EVER. They can talk till the cows come home and pigs learn to fly. it will not move an inch. That is their bread and butter.
Posted by: groo![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.my/nav-commenters.gif)
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December 3, 2006 01:52 AM
TIME TO CHANGE!
Share with 5 people a day. It is TIME TO CHANGE.
Posted by: aku anak malaysia![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.my/nav-commenters.gif)
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December 3, 2006 07:09 PM
queequeg,
Cannot lar, ACA is under his purview, how can a left hand start to investigate the right hand. Then hor, ir ever such a day happen, the ISA will step in and darurat will be declared oh!...
Posted by: Humpy![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.my/nav-commenters.gif)
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December 4, 2006 03:50 PM