IT was unprecedented. And totally out of character for the normally staid New Straits Times to do what it did on Wednesday (April 14).
It dropped all pretence of squeamishness and published its damningly elegant editorial "Get on with the job" which said it all.
It was nothing if not a deeply wounding indictment of the dark side of Umno politics in the aftermath of the 12th general election that saw the mighty in disorderly retreat.
The editorial, couched in language that was quite extraordinary in its directness, had apparently produced the desired effect without being offensive.
It struck at the heart of the anxiety felt by Malaysians as they watched helplessly with ever growing despair their country being forced willy-nilly to witness Umno's tragicomedy being played out with every prospect of turning itself into a full-scale Malaysian tragedy.
You cannot help being struck by the unedifying spectacle of a once great political party destroying itself because some key members who should know better are so consumed by ambition that they have allowed their raw personal greed to set the national agenda.
The political blood-letting, the feuding and the rearguard action must stop immediately.
By their act of vandalism of the very same values and value systems that have, over the years, given Umno its pre-eminent position in Malaysian politics, deservingly or not, it is now hurting the country in ways that will leave permanent scars, in social, economic and political terms, on the face of this great country of ours.
Umno must realise that while millions of us for one reason or another are not party members, we, all of us who are citizens, are stakeholders and our legitimate interests and well-being cannot be studiously ignored.
We are, as it happens, in the same Umno boat that is now taking water.
Umno has to remember that it is not Malaysia, and by the same token, Malaysia is not Umno, its own estimation of its greatness notwithstanding.
It must understand that while it occupies an important place in the politics of race in this country, it cannot ride roughshod over the wishes and sentiments of others, a failing for which they were punished so mercilessly in polling stations up and down the country.
Malaysians are by and large cheerful and long suffering, but they, like other people, have their breaking point.
The proverbial breaking of the camel's back was caused by the straw of arrogance engendered by complete power and aggravated by a grave error of judgment, a misreading of the sentiments on the ground.
When you have had your own way for more than half a century, you may be forgiven, I suppose, for believing that fortune smiles on the powerful, but the ballot box can develop a mind of its own as Umno, MCA and MIC have learnt to their cost.
For all our sakes, I hope some useful lessons have been learnt.
It is refreshing that Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is reasserting his leadership of the country.
Enough of pandering to the lunatic fringe and the country must not allow itself to be held to ransom by those who cannot see beyond their selfish, short-term ambitions.
I have a confession to make; I am greatly beholden to Abdullah. Now before you jump to any conclusion and hurl abuse at me, let me assure you that I have not been given any business contracts worth a few billion ringgit in any of the many corridors.
I am grateful to him because he has given the country something much more valuable -- the space he has given us to exercise some democratic rights, such as freedom to criticise him and the government he leads for real or imagined shortcomings, and to express opinions in the media that once would have branded you as an enemy of state.
For some it may be a little too little, too late, but things can only improve. So, Abdullah, stay until your mandate runs out because you will need all the time you have to put the house in order.
I am not a great breakfast person at the best of times.
On Friday, I choked on my toast as I read about Abdullah's reiteration of his resolve to honour, promote and defend democracy's cardinal doctrine of the separation of powers.
I do not succumb to emotion easily as a rule, not publicly anyway. However, I made an exception to my own rule that Friday morning when I read about a "heartfelt gesture to mend the pain and loss" inflicted on Tun Salleh Abas and five other judges at the hands of Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 1988.
I had a quiet cry because this had proved to be a modern classic case of the triumph of good over evil.
While we are celebrating the restoration of dignity and bestowal of honour that had been unceremoniously removed by an ethically and morally deficient administration of an era best forgotten for its corrupting influence, we must not forget another victim of injustice, former High Court judge Datuk Syed Ahmad Idid who blew the whistle and alerted us to the rot that had set in throughout the system of justice.
If we had only taken his warning seriously, we might have saved the judiciary from its ultimate fall from grace. Instead of protecting him, we hounded him, and made him out as a troublemaker.
In a sense, the events of the last few years have fully vindicated Syed Ahmad Idid, an incorruptible public servant who found the ethical standards of his colleagues on the bench way, way below those prescribed for the custodians of justice.
He became a victim because he lived by a different set of rules.
He deserves similar treatment as Salleh and the other five judges.
Abdullah must look at this blatant example of the manipulation of the system of justice by the state and address the wrong done to Syed Ahmad Idid quickly. Reform should begin with his case and proceed from there.
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Sunday/Columns/2218603/Article/index_html
Semua Kandungan dan Semua komen para pembaca pada blog ini bukan pandangan dan pendirian saya dan Saya tidak bertanggungjawab untuknya.
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