By Mohd.Ariff Sabri bin Hj. Abdul Aziz, MP for Raub
What else can the mentally-challenged UMNO storm troopers say? Malays who join DAP are DAP’s lapdogs. That kind of statement cannot be answered by a negation such as, no I am not so. It would not be believed anyway. So, we won’t bother to dignify such stupidity.
I am very surprised that UMNO and its adherents cannot understand one simple basic fact – people are free to choose political allegiance. Why is it hard and difficult for UMNO to accept that some people just don’t want to be with and near UMNO? UMNO has to learn to accept that not every Malay wants to join UMNO and not joining UMNO is a perfectly rational choice. Those who don’t want to join UMNO are beyond the judgmental standards of UMNO. Accept this reality.
Semi urban and urban Malays are likely not to vote UMNO. We expect UMNO to come out strong to help its ally Gerakan- its pet poodle. It will spend a lot on money to buy Malay votes to stop the DAP candidate, Dyana Daud. If Dyana Daud wins, she will be an icon among the younger Malay generation to signal that there is a more meaningful life without UMNO.
Tomorrow onwards, my friends and I will be Teluk Intan. We shall be campaigning and doing the ceramah rounds for the DAP candidate for Teluk Intan. DAP has chosen a Malaysian Malay, Dyana Mohd Daud as its candidate. She has also been endorsed wholeheartedly by Pakatan Rakyat.
The only party that is utterly shocked is UMNO. They could not imagine that DAP- now at its acme of success has chosen a Malay to contest in Teluk Intan. This is thinking outside the box in action. We have simply out boxed the blue- ocean-strategizing money-dispensing UMNO people.
UMNO which is always boxed in is now at sixes and sevens. Many are rolling on the floor and pulling out their hair. Shahrizat’s wanita army must be rolling up their baju kurung sleeves and jeepers creepers- I hope not disrobing their sarungs. Children will get nightmares dear ladies.
As to pulling out their hair, I would advise those with balding head, never to do that in your fit of absent mindedness. Otherwise you will be like my colleagues from Segambut and Serdang. If you acquire their intelligence and dexterity, it will be an asset, otherwise your action will all be in vain. Be calm and vote for the DAP candidate. Have a break, have a kit kat.
This is a brilliant move by DAP. What can UMNO and BN make out this move as? It proves that DAP is committed to evolving into a truly multi-racial party. Why should it want to sacrifice a seat which could easily be won by a Chinese candidate but choose a Malay instead? It must have been a very difficult decision. The DAP leadership has shown it has the foresight and is looking at the big picture. It is out to prove a point. That it is a multiracial party committed to the pursuit of a common destiny.
The best Shahrizat Jalil can do is to heap pity and scorn on Dyana by pointing her out as an ingrate. She can only say that Dyana is just a puppet for DAP.
Elsewhere the person who used to be a supporter of DAP in Penang, stated that Dyana will have difficulties in getting Malay support. Obviously this guy has never been on the ground. Dyana will get Malay support even from die hard UMNO members. I have been told by UMNO friends that they will support Dyana because, however rancid the meat is, it is slowly chewed and eaten in the end.
I say this is the correct attitude. Malays will vote for Dyana because they are Malaysian Malays not UMNO Malays. The UMNO definition of a Malay is that he/she must be an UMNO member. There are 38% Malays in Teluk Intan forming a substantial body of voters. They should go out and support Dyana Daud because they must show they are Malaysian Malays. If the Chinese believe in Dyana, then a priori, Malays have no reason to disbelieve her. Don’t trust UMNO is the first step towards liberation from the UMNO shackles that have bound the Malays for a long time.
We have not seen the full blast of the UMNO machinery yet. We know they will come out in full force. UMNO’s only main and secret weapon is their financial firepower; it will try to simply bribe voters to vote in their candidate.
If the people accede and succumb to UMNO’s bribing ways, they are giving up their dignity by believing that UMNO knows what is best for them. Teluk Intan is an opportunity for the people to show once again to UMNO who is the boss. The future and destiny of this nation, beginning in Teluk Intan lies in your hands and not in UMNO’s.
The question voters must ask themselves, Would you trust your future in Shahrizat, in Najib, in Hishamudin?
People trusted in Shahrizat and she did a cow-gate blowing away RM250 million. UMNO people are whispering to me, that was only the tip of the iceberg- we have yet to unearth bigger financial abuses and downright thievery. The people trusted Najib and he is now implementing GST to collect more money for the government because he has been depleting our treasury. The people trusted Hishamudin and the security of people in Sabah were compromised. Vote for BN and UMMNO means we vote for incompetency. Vote for UMNO and BN means we are sending foxes to look after our chickens.
The majority of the voters in Teluk INtan formerly known as Teluk Anson, are Chinese. Malays formed 38% of the population and Indians around 17-18%. We hope the Chinese voters will continue to support DAP as it means business in its mission to create a just and fair society. We hope the Malays will vote the DAP candidate to reject the UMNO propaganda that DAP is a Chinese chauvinist party- why would it field a Malay candidate and gamble a possible sure victory? To show that it acknowledges the political reality of this country and to account for the Malay presence. I hope the Malaysian Indians will also support the DAP candidate as they are passionate about fair play and justice.
As the DAP candidate goes campaigning in Malay areas, she should not be worried about the prospects of securing support from them. Socially and politically aware Malays will support Dyana Daud because they will feel it is the right thing to do. How can UMNO reconcile the assertion that it stands for Malay everything but when it comes to Teluk Intan, it is asking the Malays to vote for a non-Malay candidate? It is UMNO which is on trial for its chauvinistic politics. Let us punish UMNO for its duplicity and hypocrisy.
Is getting support from Malays impossible? I can only point out to my own experience. Many journalists have been mistaken in citing Raub as a Chinese majority seat. It is not. Malays constitute 49% of the voters, Chinese 44% and the rest is made up of Indians and Orang Aslis. Raub is a Malay majority seat. If the Malays had not come out to support a Malay opposition candidate on 5th May 2013, I would not have obtained a slightly bigger majority than Ng Yen Yen did in 2008. Malay voters came out to vote and support because they have an affinity with a Malaysian Malay rather than an UMNO Malay.
*This article was first published in sakmongkol.blogspot.com
