Just when you thought this year’s Umno general assembly would be another occasion for the pledging of love for leaders and loyalty to party, delegates like Kemelah assemblyman Ayub Rahmat and Pahang Puteri Umno’s Norsarfinaz Mohd Azman have emerged to show that Umno is not entirely devoid of members whose intellectual faculties are still intact.
Their call for Umno to realise it is the party that is indebted to the Malays and not the other way round and their demand that leaders stop sugar coating the truth about the country’s economy are reminiscent of assemblies of years past, when there was real purpose in the debates.
Ayub may have made a statement that was painfully obvious to all right-thinking Malaysians when he said party leaders should be thanking the Malays for their support instead of demanding loyalty from them, but someone had to say it at Umno’s most important forum in order to shock those leaders out of their dream world and to force them to shed their pretensions.
Ayub also stressed the importance of making Malaysia a more Islamic but moderate country. Muslims who subscribe to wasatiyyah might regard the statement as redundant, but surely they have noticed that there has lately been a swelling of the ranks of characters calling for far-right policies under Islam’s banner.
Similarly, Norsarfinaz’s call for the government to stop underestimating the intelligence of youths was a breath of fresh air against the barrage of statements claiming the economy was fine while all around us prices are increasing and people are losing their jobs.
It is vocal members like these who can become Umno’s saving grace. With the public becoming more and more unconvinced of Umno’s sincerity as a ruling party and a party to take care of the Malaysia, it would be wise for it to encourage more members to speak up like Ayub and Norsarfinaz have done.
No amount of political rhetoric, no measure of fear mongering, no reiteration of calls for members to stay true to the party can achieve what people like Ayub and Norsarfinaz have done for the party’s image.
It’s about time for Umno to get its act together and realise that the majority of Malaysians, including their grassroot members, are aware of what’s really going on.