The Final Nail In UMNO's Coffin

The Final Nail In UMNO's Coffin - Najib Can Kiss Good-Bye To Premiership - If UMNO Members Fail to Dethrone The Trinity of Power "The Father, The Son, and The Son-in-law", UMNO Has Forfeited Its Right To Lead and Rule

FUTURE FASTFORWARD
Matthias Chang
Tuesday, 26 August 2008 15:28

As expected, Anwar won the Permatang Pauh By-Election. The larger margin of victory is significant as in any By-Elections the ruling party has a decisive advantage as it can marshal the entire government machinery and the mass media to bully the opposition. Yet, the Barisan Nasional failed to roll back the support of the rakyat for the opposition.

Every dirty trick was employed to prevent Anwar Ibrahim from winning but to no avail. On the contrary, each exposé of the clumsy and stupid theatrics angered the electorate further.

Anger against the inept and lame-duck Badawi was the principal cause for the defeat of the Barisan Nasional.

That this by-election is the final warning to Badawi and his family to pack their bags and get out is evident from the sentiments of the non-Malay voters who have made known their views soon after Wan Azizah vacated the seat for her husband.

I had in my article dated 3rd August 2008 which was posted to my website, warned UMNO and the Barisan Nasional to give a walk-over to Anwar Ibrahim to avoid the embarrassment of defeat and to focus on the UMNO party elections so as to regroup and rejuvenate the party.

However, the idiots and bigots in UMNO chose to ignore my warnings and now they have paid the price for their arrogance and misplaced confidence. They refused to accept the outcome of the March General Elections and the blunt message from the electorate that Badawi and his political dynasty must no longer be allowed to plunder and mismanage the country. Enough is enough!

The Deputy Prime Minister by his cowardice and false humility has allowed the sordid state of affairs to continue thereby giving a false sense of security to Badawi that his “leadership” is still needed albeit until 2010.

Since March 2008, there has been growing anger and frustration against the Badawi dynasty and it is therefore a no-brainer for any UMNO leader to conclude that unless this political cancer is removed and removed quickly, there is no hope for recovery from the General Elections debacle. The people demanded immediate action, but none was taken. UMNO was content to maintain the status quo. There was just too much loot to be taken and shared by the power elites for them to consider the wider welfare of the country and the people.

The leader most responsible for the dereliction of duty in safeguarding UMNO and the Barisan Nasional must be Najib, the Deputy Prime Minister and Deputy President of UMNO.

The people were still willing to give him a chance to make amends and the benefit of doubt as to his credibility and integrity by virtue of him being the son of the second prime minister of Malaysia. But he chose to squander the goodwill and political capital given to him by the rakyat. He opted to be the subservient lackey of the Badawi dynasty and for this he was rewarded by Badawi to be his successor.

The people were aghast that Najib chose to be associated with the tainted and failed Badawi regime rather than breaking free from its clutches and to start anew with a rejuvenated UMNO. The straw that broke the camel’s back was Najib’s aping Saiful’s theatrics that he can prove his integrity by swearing in the name of Allah in a mosque! Whatever may be the truth of Saiful’s allegations against Anwar Ibrahim, the entire episode thus far has been a comedy of errors to put it mildly.

The tape recording of Saiful swearing in a mosque disgusted all but UMNO diehards whose infantile minds are such that even the use of religion is fair game in the quest for power!

And for a seasoned politician like Najib to follow a path laden with mines and booby traps, it can only be a case of desperation and stupidity. It is also an insult to the intelligence of the electorate that they would be so gullible as to accept without more that a person can be deemed innocent by the mere swearing in the name of God in a mosque. Why at this juncture? Why not when the Altantuya case first surfaced? Regardless of his innocence or guilt, this one act of stupidity has done Najib more harm than all his previous inept handling of the situation. I have said so many times before, Najib is his own worst enemy! The same applies to the Badawi family.

Najib’s inept handling of the allegations against him has in fact strengthened the perception that his credibility and integrity is no longer warranted and therefore not fit to lead the country.

In the last general elections, the people swung to the opposition because of their hatred and anger for Badawi and his corrupt family and not because they supported the Opposition’s political agenda.

But the victory by the Opposition in Permatang Pauh has indicated that the anger and hatred for Badawi has now morphed into sympathy for the Opposition and the willingness to afford them a chance to prove that they can govern better than the Barisan Nasional.

It will be only a matter of time for this change of perception from being a minority view to that of the mainstream. It can be said without fear of contradiction that Permatang Pauh is a microcosm of the national sentiment.

Let this victory of the Opposition be the final warning to UMNO and the Barisan Nasional.

If you, the leaders of UMNO and the Barisan Nasional fail in your duty to remove Badawi and his family from power and as a result the country plunges into the hell-hole of political chaos, financial ruin and social upheaval, the people will hunt you down and put you on trial to answer for all your crimes. Have no illusions that it will be ugly, for you deserve no better than to be tried as common criminals.

Let me say it here and now, loud and clear:

Tengku Razaleigh, Tan Sri Muhyiddin and Dato Rais Yatim and members of the UMNO Supreme Council, heed the call of Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad to save UMNO.

Unite and save UMNO and the Barisan Nasional. Take on Badawi and Najib and rescue the country from the jaws of failure or be dumped into the Badawi cesspool of corruption, abuse of power and decadence by the rakyat of Malaysia.

This is the choice each one of you has to make.

There will be no second chance. It is now or never!

THE PERMATANG PAUH BY-ELECTION: A POLITICAL DISTRACTION - A NON-EVENT - WHY UMNO MEMBERS MUST FOCUS ON PARTY ELECTIONS AND NOT ON ANWAR IBRAHIM

Matthias Chang
Future FastForward, Sunday, 03 August 2008 11:28

Political Distraction – All Thunder, But No Rain!

Annuar Musa, the UMNO Warlord from Kelantan is not a politician that I pay much attention, but his recent statement to “boycott” the Permatang Pauh By-Election makes good sense.

I had intended to write an article to UMNO members to ignore Anwar, but I was in Penang on Saturday and could not do so till Sunday.

However, my reasons for UMNO and the Barisan Nasional to ignore the theatrics of Anwar are different from Annuar Musa, but I have grave doubts that Badawi and Najib would adhere to my call to ignore Anwar Ibrahim and let him be elected unopposed.

What are my reasons for ignoring Anwar?

Firstly, UMNO is now fighting for its very political life and members must not be distracted from addressing urgent issues – the priority being the selection of new leaders to replace Badawi and Najib if UMNO is to survive beyond 2010.

Branch elections have commenced and the grassroots (the backbone of any political party) are being mobilized to save the party. If this process of renewal and rejuvenation is derailed for selfish, power-centred interests by a few UMNO leaders, I dare say that UMNO will be totally rejected by the rakyat, specifically the Malays in the next general elections.

But there is time enough to make the changes and prepare for the Final Battle if the two top leaders are replaced. The Branch members must, by their ballot and resolutions passed at their AGM, make it plain and direct that Badawi and Najib are the millstones around the neck of UMNO and must be discarded.

Secondly, UMNO must not play into the hands of Anwar by diverting precious party resources for a battle which will have no significance on the future direction of UMNO.

Who in UMNO would gain most from this distraction?

The two top leaders, who are burdened by scandals are the key beneficiaries. It is a no-brainer that Badawi and Najib will attempt to use this opportunity to rally the members to support their “leadership” to defeat Anwar Ibrahim in Permatang Pauh.

I don’t foresee UMNO being able to defeat Anwar, but in the unlikely event that Anwar is denied the political prize, what is the big deal? Anwar Ibrahim can still turn such a defeat to his advantage by prolonging the theatrics and casting more allegations against the Barisan Nasional. UMNO will be engaged in a war of attrition with no end in sight.

The Pakatan Rakyat will still be in control of the five critical states of Kelantan, Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor.

Let Anwar have Permatang Pauh and then ambush him in Parliament!

Thirdly, as the global financial crisis deepens and takes its toll on the Malaysian economy, the opposition state governments will get away with their mismanagement of the respective state economies by simply asserting that the Federal Government withheld critical allocations and abandoned strategic projects identified in the 9th Malaysia Plan.

The Barisan Nasional will bear the brunt of the criticisms when the economy turns ugly.

Badawi is so power hungry that he will do anything to divert the people’s attention from his failings to Anwar’s theatrics. And if UMNO plunges into the trap of the By-Election, the mass media will inevitably focus on the slug-fest, and the lies and disinformation being churned out by their respective spin doctors.

In the meantime, the country is on auto-pilot and soon the economy will go into a tailspin.

I dare say that when that happens, people will take to the streets to hunt down UMNO leaders who have let them down.

Fourthly, other component parties of the Barisan Nasional are caught up with their own problems and need to address and resolve them quickly as well. When the leaders of these component parties are fighting for survival, their hearts and soul will not be ready for such a battle.

They are still smarting from the grievous wounds suffered in March and it is down right stupid to ask them to go to battle when they are not fit and ready. Additionally, the rank and file believe (rightly or wrongly and it matters not what UMNO thinks) that UMNO was to a large extent responsible for their defeat and humiliation at the recent general elections.

Fifthly, the principal issue facing UMNO and its survival as a political party is not Anwar Ibrahim and Pakatan Rakyat for the people did not vote for PKR, DAP and PAS because they believe in their policies and their leaders. It was a protest vote principally against Badawi and Khairy and the scandals and stupid antics of Najib, Nazri and Hishamuddin.

To put it bluntly, what we have at the present moment is a Strategic Stalemate between the Barisan Nasional and the Pakatan Rakyat, the former controlling the Federal Government, while the latter controls the five critical states that constitute 70% of the national economy.

But with each passing day of “auto-pilot” leadership and a faction-ridden Cabinet, the balance slowly tilts in favour of the Opposition.

And unless UMNO undergoes major surgery by the replacement of the two top leaders, UMNO leaders – not tainted and or associated with the Badawi regime and his principal parasites (Kamaluddin Badawi and Khairy Jamaluddin) – will not have the time and resources to mount a successful counter-attack in the next General Elections.

Sixthly, Anwar wants this fight, not so much to distract the people from the sodomy allegation (he has already won the psychological warfare, as most people believe his innocence), but to shield the Pakatan Rakyat’s mismanagement of the five states in the coming months when our economy goes into a tailspin.

Since the March elections, the Barisan Nasional has been merely reacting to Anwar’s taunts and has not been pro-active at all! This agony will continue so long as Badawi remains as the Prime Minister and President of UMNO.

Appeal to UMNO

Replace Badawi as Prime Minister first and do this now in the month of August by demanding his resignation as Prime Minister during the Branch AGM and elections. Then throw him out in December by denying him any nominations for the post of President, if he fails to resign as President.

For fifty years, UMNO has been given the mandate to elect the Prime Minister from among its ranks. UMNO will forfeit this “right” if it fails to do what is right and required under the present dire circumstances.

And don’t you dare blame others for taking power to lead the country out of this sordid mess, a mess of your own creation, should UMNO fail to do what is required.

FORGET PERMATANG PAUH.

FOCUS ON THE REMOVAL OF BADAWI AND REJUVENATE THE PARTY.

PERMATANG PAUH IS A NECESSARY NUISANCE, BUT UMNO NEED NOT GET CAUGHT IN THIS NON-EVENT.

WHY GIVE ANWAR IBRAHIM FREE PUBLICITY AND A POLITICAL PLATFORM TO ADVERTISE HIS OUT-DATED POLITICAL WARES?

I DARE GUARANTEE UMNO, THAT IF BADAWI IS REPLACED NOW, BARISAN NASIONAL WILL REGAIN THE FIVE STATES AND 2/3 MAJORITY, EVEN BEFORE THE NEXT GENERAL ELECTIONS.

I HAVE THE NECESSARY STRATEGY AND I AM WILLING TO SHARE THIS STRATEGY IF BADAWI IS NO LONGER PRIME MINISTER AND PRESIDENT OF UMNO.

DO NOT TAKE THIS CHALLENGE LIGHTLY.

SHOULD YOU DISMISS ME AND WHAT I CAN CONTRIBUTE, YOU DO SO AT YOUR OWN PERIL!

WHY DID THE LATE TAN SRI MEGAT JUNID CRIED TWICE BEFORE ME?

Matthias Chang
Future FastForward, Sunday, 27 July 2008 13:24

Where The Buck Stops!

A great leader never claims glory all to himself and ducks behind subordinates when ghastly mistakes are committed.

It came as no surprise to me when Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad in his recent posting in his Blog – Che Det - assumed total responsibility for the ghastly mistake of appointing Abdullah Badawi as the Deputy Prime Minister, following the disgraceful exit by Anwar Ibrahim upon his conviction. Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad had on a previous occasion, in his interview by BBC’s HARDTalk, admitted that he had made a mistake in choosing Badawi as his successor.

But on this occasion Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad was more explicit.

Notwithstanding the admission, the events leading to the appointment of Badawi as Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad’s successor is not as simple as Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad unilaterally picking Badawi as the next prime minister.

The Greatest Political Mistake

I have decided to make this exposé for two reasons, namely: (i) I want to dispel the myth that Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad was solely responsible for the ghastly mistake of appointing Badawi as the Deputy Prime Minister and therefore his successor and (ii) I believe that the late Tan Sri Megat Junid had entrusted the responsibility to me to reveal the truth regarding the circumstances of the appointment of Badawi as Deputy Prime Minister.

Tan Sri Megat Junid confided in me that the greatest political mistake in his entire career was his pivotal recommendation that Badawi be appointed as Tun’s successor.

I was stunned by his revelation as the purpose of my meeting Tan Sri had nothing to do with that issue but to get Tan Sri’s perspective and further background information on the Anwar Ibrahim episode in the history of UMNO’s internal struggles in my research work for Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.

In the course of our conversation, he interjected and asked, “Matthias, as a former political secretary to one another, and having served the same boss, would you like to know what was my greatest political mistake?”

I was dumbfounded by the question! In the history of Prime Minister’s political secretaries, he was a giant and a superb political craftsman. I was embarrassed by the question as I was not his confidante and tried to evade the question.

But Tan Sri repeated the question and with tears welling in his eyes, said, “My greatest mistake in my political career is to recommend Badawi as successor to Mahathir. Pak Lah was not his first choice. I was told by those who wanted Badawi as successor that if anyone could convince Mahathir, it would be me. At that time, I believe Pak Lah was the correct choice. So I recommended Pak Lah to Mahathir.”

Tan Sri then exhorted me to be “loyal to Mahathir and defend his legacy” as there were ongoing efforts to destroy that legacy. His voice breaking, Tan Sri said that he cannot do very much in the circumstances, as he is getting old and had “retired from politics”.

Seeing the pain and the anguish, I sought Tan Sri’s indulgence to be excused from continuing with the meeting and hastily departed.

The second occasion was equally painful, if not more so. Tan Sri was suffering from cancer and was at the Perdana Leadership Foundation for one of its events. While waiting for Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad to officiate the event, Tan Sri took me away from the crowd and unashamedly said:

“I just don’t know what to say to Tun. I am having treatment for my cancer and God willing I will recover. But right now I can’t do much. I never expect such attacks on Tun. I regret asking him to appoint Pak Lah….”

Again, tears were welling in his eyes and rolling down his cheeks. His lips quivering, and voice breaking Tan Sri said, “Take care of Tun. We are the front lines. You take care and be vigilant.”

I clasped Tan Sri’s hands and could not help the tears welling in my eyes as well and in that one special moment, sealed a promise – to fight together to the very end, come hell or high water!

This is the Tan Sri Megat Junid that I want everyone in UMNO to remember. Tan Sri could not right the wrong that he had committed but he has entrusted us that duty and responsibility. Although Tan Sri is no longer with us, it is his wish that you go down to the trenches to fight and restore the true glory of UMNO.

UMNO is being destroyed from within and only members of UMNO can restore UMNO and this can only come about if the present leadership of UMNO is changed right now, not in 2010.

God willing members of UMNO will right this wrong!

ABDULLAH BADAWI, THE POLITICAL CHAMELEON AND THE ANWAR SAGA - WHAT EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THE REAL BADAWI!

Matthias Chang
Future FastForward, Wednesday, 02 July 2008 03:17

Recenty, Justice Datuk Ian Chin, a High Court Judge in Sabah made some wild and speculative allegations against Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad which have been rebutted and refuted by me in several articles posted to my website. I have also lodged a police report and given a detailed statement to the Investigating Officer, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Jude Pereira at the Brickfields Police Station.

Notwithstanding such wild, unfounded and highly subjective speculations, the idiotic de facto Law Minister, Zaid Ibrahim as reported in the mass media, said that there were no grounds to investigate the judge’s misconduct and that the said judge had performed well as a judge.

If a judge can indulge in speculation, I suppose I am entitle to make a few suggestions as to the implications and consequences from the present political situation – the scandal of the murder of the Mongolian girl and the recent police report against Anwar Ibrahim for sodomy.

However, I leave it to you to be the judge, whether what I am writing is pure speculation, the spurious kind of wild suppositions associated with Justice Datuk Ian Chin and or the kind of stupid nonsense so typical of the Law Minister, Zaid Ibrahim.

Before elaborating further, I would like to pose the US$ Trillion question - Who stands to gain most from the spotlight on the various allegations made against the Deputy Prime Minister and Anwar Ibrahim?

Main Threat Within UMNO

One need not have a PhD in political science to conclude that the main threat to Abdullah Badawi is the Deputy Prime Minister, Najib Tun Razak, notwithstanding that Badawi has announced that Najib is his chosen successor.

I have stated previously that this was merely a tactical move to neutralise Najib in the short term from making any moves to challenge for the Presidency at UMNO elections in December 2008.

It is obvious that should Najib make any moves in the meanwhile, Badawi’s spin doctors will work overtime to accuse Najib of being “ungrateful and power-crazy” when Badawi has already indicated that he would be the successor. These spin doctors would go to the length and breath of the country crying, Why is Najib so impatient? Is he power hungry?

But the reality on the ground is such that the rank and file members are absolutely flabbergasted and angry with Badawi and his theatrics and are already making moves to nominate Najib for Presidency during the branch and division meetings in July.

This is the greatest fear of Badawi and his advisers. They do not want to see a repeat performance master-minded by Anwar Ibrahim when he took on the then Deputy President Tun Ghaffar Baba. Anwar's boys were able to gather enough nominations, that Ghaffar Baba had no choice but to concede defeat, even before the battle commenced.

Khairy, Kamaluddin, the 4th Floor Boys and the baggage of spin doctors from UMNO's controlled-mass media were having sleepless nights and they knew that having chosen Najib as the successor, there is no way for Pak Lah and his band to attack Najib directly.

How can they plunge a dagger to Najib and not be accused for the crime?

Simple!

Launch a false flag operation. This is a time-tested operation of Intelligence Services all over the world. They plant an idea that there is a Deep Throat who is in possession of critical intelligence and evidence. This Deep Throat then leaks some critical intelligence and evidence to a reliable source for public consumption.

[Recall how Bush and his band of crooks outed and destroyed Valerie Plame’s credentials as a covert CIA agent, just so to discredit Ambassador Wilson’s exposé that Bush was lying about the Yellow cake (Uranium) supposedly purchased by Saddam Hussein from Niger. Valerie Plame is the wife of the Ambassador. These crooks were willing to sacrifice National Security in order to have their war of aggression on behalf of Israel.]

The information was leaked to a journalist who then published it. The journalist becomes the innocent victim of the false flag operation as is always the case!

A dark cloud now hangs over Najib’s integrity and no one can point a finger at Badawi, so they think. Badawi’s spin doctors were confident that the general public would not and could not fathom this false flag operation. If anyone were to question the circumstances, they had a ready-made answer. Why would Badawi want to destroy Najib when he has chosen him as a successor?

Some of us are seasoned political strategists and we can smell a rat a mile away.

Badawi’s smile may disarm some people, some of the time, but he cannot disarm all people all the time with his smile. We have seen his smile enough to know that soon after he smiles at his enemy, he plunges a dagger behind the enemy’s back. So beware if and when he greets you graciously.

When was the dagger plunged into the heart of Najib?

This is the US$ Multi-Trillion question. No one noticed it. It was an almost perfect plan. But they did not count on me seeing through their scheme. Hence my delay in writing this article, as I wanted to see if anyone else noticed this insidious plan!

The dagger was plunged immediately after Anwar Ibrahim accused the government of having conspired in getting a young man to lodge a police report against him for the crime of sodomy.

What did Badawi say about the matter? He denied any involvement but went on to say that he did not think that Najib had any intention to do that.

Anwar never accused Najib. No one did. So why did Badawi, for no rhyme or reason and out of the blues mention Najib in his denial?

This is the time-tested method of intelligence propaganda – you plant an idea by asserting the negative – in this case, the statement that it was not Najib.

By so doing, Badawi is in fact suggesting that Najib could be the culprit for the alleged conspiracy. Hence, the denial by Najib as reported widely in the newspapers. The denial was front page story!

"Mr. Clean” was perceived as “Mr. Clean” when the stupid Wan Azizah, wife of Anwar Ibrahim gave credence to this ploy when he pleaded with Badawi to ensure security for Anwar and a guarantee that Anwar would not be harmed. It follows that the entire PKR did not even consider the probability that Badawi could be involved.

How freaking stupid can one get in the circumstances?

To put himself in a better light, Badawi went so far to say that what happened in 1998 would not be repeated. The Sun Newspaper reported Badawi as having said:

“The government will not do anything to frame or make baseless accusations against any party, so to say that the government will repeat what was considered as a conspiracy, this is not true …”

By implication, Badawi is saying that he will not repeat the conspiracy. He is indirectly accusing the previous administration of conspiracy. This is but another attempt to plant an insidious idea and buttress his so-called “Mr. Clean” image by the use of another negative – that he will not repeat a conspiracy! He has cleverly planted the idea, that what happened before was in fact a conspiracy!

But “Mr. Clean” will not get away with this kind of cheap and dirty propaganda!

The Main Threat Outside UMNO

It is obvious that it is Anwar Ibrahim. Badawi on taking power as prime minister used the Anwar factor to his advantage to further project his so-called “kind and clean” image. The release of Anwar from jail after his acquittal by the Federal Court on the charge of sodomy was exploited to the fullest by Badawi’s spin doctors. PKR went for it - hook, line and sinker!

Having neutralised Najib with the planted intelligence that he was somehow implicated in a criminal case (so they believe), the next target must be focused on the threat outside UMNO.

Another US$ trillion question – Why now this police report on sodomy against Anwar?

Already PKR boys are accusing Najib of the conspiracy, and the mass media by carrying the denial by Najib seem to lend credence to the allegation first hinted by Badawi, the prime minister.

Now the spot light is focused on the two persons who pose the greatest threat to Badawi’s power and access to the national money-making machine!

The modus operandi and the strategy is that the public’s attention will be diverted from the financial mess as a result of Badawi’s mismanagement and negligence of the economy and the rampant corruption. Hopefully, the disaster of the March General Elections will also be forgotten!

Fat hopes!

To muddy the waters further, Badawi and his spin doctors are preparing the next phase – to provoke and instigate a feud between Najib and Anwar so that they will be so engrossed with each other and so exhausted by the exercise, that the two will not be able to focus on overthrowing Badawi.

Phase 2 is the Second Dagger that will be plunged into Najib! This is a given. And unless Najib sees through Badawi’s ploy, he will end up as dead meat before July is over!

Other Beneficiaries

There are other beneficiaries in this once-in-a-lifetime “Bollywood Drama". Suffice to say at this stage, they are waiting for the outcome of this slug-fest.

I have no wish to distract the public by revealing the beneficiaries. We should and must focus on Badawi.

This is the ultimate culprit. He is the mess!

He is the political chameleon and he will bring this country down!

Focus on him first and at all times. He is the number one problem. Period!

Badawi has ruined the entire nation.

To the Malays, he has destroyed all your hard work and stolen and or destroyed your community’s crown jewels.

If the Malays want to survive as a community and as a race, you have only one choice.

GET RID OF BADAWI ONCE AND FOR ALL!

If Abdullah Badawi Continues ... The Barisan Nasional Does Not Deserve to Rule

Matthias Chang
Future FastForward, Sunday, 22 June 2008 06:04

Giving Up Hope On Barisan Nasional

No one is perfect.

No organization is perfect.

But the Barisan Nasional under the leadership of the former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad had direction and a powerful vision. There was an urgency to get things done and more importantly, the realization that we must anticipate events and plan ahead.

Thinking and planning requires discipline and hard work and the ability to see the big picture.

These skills cannot be acquired overnight. Fortunately for Malaysia, in the last twenty two years, we had the benefit of a “thinking leader” who motivated his Cabinet colleagues to do likewise in some measure.

Many a times, when someone asked me for my view of Mahathir’s Cabinet, my response and explanation was that, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad was the sun and the Cabinet, the moon. The moon’s glow is the reflected shine of the sun. Hence, the ministers were perceived to have been effective.

Sadly, today, we are experiencing a total eclipse!

There is no shine coming from the Prime Minister, Abdullah Badawi and as such how can we expect any reflected glow in the Cabinet?

This is in essence, the problem of the Barisan Nasional.

If you take the view that I am too harsh on the national leaders, please ask the following simple questions:

1) Name me a leader, who in your view is a thinker.
2) Name me a leader, who in your view has full command of the issues, challenges and future direction of his/her ministry at his/her fingertips?

Rebranding of Barisan Nasional

Soon after the General Elections debacle, the component parties of the Barisan Nasional took pains to tell the electorate that they have realized their mistakes and would turn a new leaf.

They would even rebrand to meet the expectations of the people.

A hundred days have gone by and I see the same old status quo:

1) A tired and listless Abdullah Badawi, hanging on to an impotent and fearful UMNO;
2) A tired and befuddled Ong Ka Ting and a humiliated MCA;
3) A tired and devastated Koh Tsu Koon and a floundering Gerakan;
4) A tired and irrelevant Samy Vellu and a hopeless MIC; and
5) Tired and frustrated “second cousins” of the Barisan Nasional from Sarawak and Sabah.

Self-interest and the “cari makan” attitude prevail!

National interest is on the back burner. To survive and enjoy the perks of office is paramount. There is the endless spin by Badawi’s spin doctors about serving the people, but no one is walking the talk!

The Rubbish About “Core Values”

The flavour of the month and justification for inaction is that one must uphold certain “core values” such as “I am a party man” and “loyalty to party takes priority”.

One would have thought that a political party is but a vehicle to serve the people and the nation, so that if a party fails to live up to the people’s expectations, it must reform and renew.

And if its leadership have, through corruption and utter irresponsibility, brought about a state of affairs that is endangering the viability and social stability of the state, one would have thought that a member’s paramount duty is to remove such malignant leadership.

But the Barisan Nasional is in a state of denial. They are content with a torchlight running on low batteries when the nation is demanding full sunshine!

I have therefore come to the sad and painful conclusion that the Barisan Nasional is not fit to lead and rule our country.

The Future of Malaysia

The future of Malaysia cannot be left solely in the hands of UMNO, the backbone of the Barisan Nasional. Since March 2008, UMNO has failed to provide the leadership expected of them as the “backbone” of the Barisan Nasional.

The members, by their cowardice, have allowed the political cancer to spread throughout the body politic.

The component parties are equally guilty in the present state of affairs and by their inaction have abandoned their responsibilities as component members of the ruling alliance.

Given the above scenario, and the urgency of the challenges faced by the country, the entire nation must now come together to effect massive change and remove the cancer that has afflicted our country.

Events As Forecasted

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to spend two hours with a friend from the U.K. who was on a visit to Malaysia. He remarked that all the issues that I wrote and forecasted in my e-mails to him and others since 2007 have been spot on. He added that when he first read the numerous e-mails in the comfort of his home and in the cosy environment of “Mother England”, the analyses were too dire to be true.

The recent announcements by the Bank of International Settlements (the Central Bank of all central banks) that the threat of a great depression is upon us and the alarm by the Royal Bank of Scotland that the global financial meltdown will intensify to phase two within the next 90 days was a wake up call to him.

There is now an on-going currency war.

The Daily Telegraph of U.K. reported that Morgan Stanley has warned of a “catastrophic event” as the European Central Bank (ECB) fights the Federal Reserve.

Another leading financial journal warned that Asia will suffer a double whammy – inflation and export collapse! The recent petrol price hike is just the tip of the iceberg.

The Barisan Nasional government is in a state of paralysis, totally devoid of any ideas as to how to prepare and confront the impending crisis which will turn extremely acute in the second half of 2008 and spilling over to 2009. They are just too busy dividing the plundered loot than to care for the ordinary people.

Replacing Badawi

Any leader that replaces Badawi cannot do worse, but there is a good probability that he can do better.

Recall the time when Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad indicated his intention to retire. The trillion dollar question then was who can replace Mahathir? No one gave Badawi a thought. Yet, when he was appointed as the Deputy Prime Minister, the aura of the office gave him the legitimacy and the people were willing to afford him a chance to prove his worth.

Sadly, he has since betrayed that trust!

Let me assure you, that whosoever replaces Badawi will enjoy a similar endorsement, until and unless the new leader abuses power and commits blatant corruption.

The people have the remedy at hand – remove him and his cahoots by the ballot.

If we failed to effect change now, do not complain when the shit hits the ceiling fan!

Who Is The Richest Man In Malaysia? It Is Not Robert Kuok ...

Matthias Chang
Future FastForward, Monday, 23 June 2008 05:24

The Myth of the Richest Man

The Badawi spin doctors since last year have on at least four occasions published the list of the 40 richest men in Malaysia and heading the list is Robert Kuok of the Shangri-la Hotel chain fame.

Everyone seems to accept this pronouncement as Gospel truth!

But this is a lie, a lie perpetrated to divert attention and the spotlight on the two men who controls the Malaysian economy.

The 2nd richest man in Malaysia is none other than Tun Daim, but he is never on the list of the rich and famous.

But my focus is not on him.

I want the spotlight to focus on the actual richest man in Malaysia.

He is none other than Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, our Prime Minister. Badawi’s financial tentacles reach far and wide and within four years, his family and cahoots have amassed a fortune second to none.

How did Badawi and his family become so rich in such a short period of time?

This is the multi-billion dollar question.

Simple! By abusing his powers as Prime Minister and as Finance Minister!

The Rothschild’s Game Plan

Mayer Amshel Bauer Rothschild, the founder of the Rothschild money empire said:
“Give me control of a nation’s money and I care not who makes the law.”

And over the years, the Rothschild dynasty and its global affiliates have applied this principle so successfully that they control the US Federal Reserve and other strategic central banks.

They are the global money power!

The Money Powers of Badawi

It is strange how people forget or rather ignore the fact that Badawi is also the Finance Minister.

The combined powers of a Prime Minister and that of the Finance Minister have enabled Badawi to harness all the financial resources and control levers of the national money-making machine.

No doubt, the precedent was set by Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad. But you will recall that it was only after the 1997 financial crisis and the abuse of power by Anwar Ibrahim as Finance Minister, and his slavish adherence to the IMF, World Bank and the Washington Consensus, that compelled Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad to take over the Ministry of Finance, so as to put right the economy.

Under the guidance of Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, the economy recovered rapidly and by the fall of 2003, we had a robust economy that enabled Badawi to call for the March 2004 General Elections. Badawi’s enormous election victory was grounded to a large extent on an economy that had fully recovered from the turmoil of 1997/1998 crisis.

Badawi and his family, specifically his son and son-in-law and key advisers realised upon taking power that they have in their hands all the control levers of the national money-making machine – the levers that control Bank Negara (the central bank) and Petronas, the national oil company.

Obviously, there are the subsidiary levers that control the various government agencies that have been established to assist the national money-making machine.

All the Positive Data, But …

Every other week since March 2004, we have been inundated with positive data as to how robust is our economy. The Governor of Bank Negara never ceased to remind us that inflation is low and under control. I have to assume she does not go to the market to purchase food for her family - such chores must have been delegated to her maids etc.

Then there is the bravado and hype of the various development corridors amounting to a massive RM1.3 trillion.

But ask any businessmen, and they all moan and groan about the lack of direction, the loss of economic momentum and the slowdown in the collections of receivables.

How does one explain this phenomenon?

Let me explain. During Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad’s tenure as Prime Minister, our economy was like a car cruising at a constant speed of 120 kph after 22 years of building up the speed and momentum. We were experiencing a steady and comfortable ride.

Applying the laws of physics, a matter in motion has its own momentum, but if the momentum is not maintained, it slows down and then comes to a halt.

This is exactly what is happening to our economy. It is now moving but at a slower rate, in fact decreasing rapidly because the Badawi regime did not maintain the previous momentum.

The Badawi regime, instead of applying the levers of the national money-making machine to accelerate the development of the country, has diverted the resources for self-enrichment. The ensuing disaster was compounded by gross negligence and mismanagement by his advisers, the so-called smart wannabes on the 4th Floor!

This small band of crooks, led by Badawi and his family has initiated a process of self-enrichment and plunder. This disease has now infected the top echelons of the national elites in both the public and private sectors – everyone for himself - the cari makan, jaga perut mentality!

What Are the Chances of Recovery?

The damage to the economy by the Badawi regime is so extensive and the disease so widespread, that it will take at the minimum, ten years to recover from the present state of affairs and this is conditional upon Badawi stepping down before the 2nd half of this financial year.

This is because the present situation will be further aggravated by the impact and consequences of the global financial tsunami! The 2nd phase has been predicted by the experts to commence in less than 90 days!

But if the Badawi regime is allowed to survive and continue its plunder and gross mismanagement, Malaysia as a nation will end up as a failed state.

The Bumiputera community will suffer the most and because its fate is so tied up with the non-bumiputera economy, the entire edifice will implode and we will witness social upheaval never experienced by our beloved country.

Bring Back the Plundered Billions!

For a start, the entire nation must demand from the Badawi regime, its web of collaborators and “bankers” to repatriate the billions that have been siphoned and stashed overseas in numbered accounts in foreign banks.

The Bumiputera community must demand from the Badawi regime that they cease immediately the destruction of the Bumiputera economic and financial crown jewels.

30 years of the NEP has enabled the Bumiputera community to create and establish successful economic and financial entities, the pride of our nation. Proton is just one example of these sterling achievements.

If the Bumiputera community fails to reclaim its dignity and proud achievements, do not thereafter blame the non-bumiputera community and the foreign governments for not according you the respect you so deserve after more than 30 years of sweat and toil.

Take heed of my observations for they reflect the objective truth. Ignore them at your peril.

If you, my brothers and sisters fail, then I fail as well.

Therefore let us unite to resolve this national disaster.

Remove the malignant leadership!