Ada dua rencana yang menyentuh umno disini, khususnya golongan pemuda mereka. Inilah golongan yang diharapkan dapat menggantikan kepimpinan yang ada. Malangnya mereka lebih banyak mengajar benda-benda yang bukan-bukan kepada generasi akan datang, khususnya yang berada dalam umno sendiri.

YANG BERMAIN TETAP DISAYANG

Kadir Jasin menyifatkan sikap Aziz yang bermain-main dengan pendirian sebagai menangis kebudak-budakkan serta tidak serius. Ia mirip satu ugutan dan kepura-puraan untuk menagih simpati orang.

Memang Aziz mengepalai bahagian Padang Serai yang terletak dalam DUN Lunas. Beliau juga mengetahui kempen pemuda di sana kerana Hishamuddin nampaknya lebih seronok berada di luar negara. Yang peliknya ahli UMNO sendiri tidak menyoal Hishamuddin apa yang lebih penting.... satu DUN yang ramai rakyatnya (24,000 lebih) atau kemesraan bersama dua tiga orang kaum. Siapakah yang lebih Hishamuddin sayang dan siapakah yang lebih layak mendapat perhatian?

YANG LEMBIK TETAP DIBIARKAN

Rencana STAR pula menyebut Dr Shamsul telah mengkritik imej Hishamuddin yang lembik dan agak pondan. Aziz pula dikatakan lemah tidak sanggup menerima kritikkan lalu terus letak jawatan. Bayangkan dengan dikritik sahaja pemimpin 'muda' umno ini sudah mengaku kalah dan terus nak keluar gelanggang.... apakah oang seperti ini boleh diharapkan untuk membela ketuanan? Nak mandi kritik pun tak boleh, inikan nak mandi keringat atau darah. Kalau mandi buih bolehlah saya percaya... kerana inilah spesis pemimpin berwawasan umno yang lahir hasil permit mudah untuk mandi buih dan permit sukar ceramah BA atau ugama.

YANG BURUK TETAP DISIMPAN

Kalau umno betul-betul matang, ia sudah lama memecat Aziz kerana gambar beliau menunjukkan muka yang berang siap dengan tunjuk tangan kemuka Suqui memang tidak beradap langsung. Gambar itu jugalah yang tersebar meluas di Lunas. Kesannya petugas-petugas umno termalu dan tidak terjawab! HANYA satu gambar sahaja sudah CUKUP untuk menyahkan BN dari Lunas!! Sikap memanjat pagar dan mengherdik orang bukan budaya melayu, tetapi budaya melayu barua! Dengan mengekalkan Aziz BN nampaknya masih belum pandai belajar..... bersedialah untuk tewas nanti kerana gambar Aziz itu akan MUNCUL LAGI!

Saya tertarik dengan komen STS:

"Ini adalah satu serangan oleh proksi. Mereka tidak boleh menyerang orang atas, jadi mereka menyerang Hisham."

Hmmmm... satu escapism agaknya.

Sebelum berundur, saya memetik rencana STS lagi yang menyebut bagaimana pemimpin umno Melaka membeli TERLALU MURAH kereta terpakai mereka. Mereka beroleh diskaun sehingga 40%!

Rencana Rujukan:

From New Straits Times, Malaysia
10th December 2000

Other Thots: All BN parties accountable for defeat By A. Kadir Jasin

Analisa orang tua ini bukannya boleh pakai semua.. Saya cedok sedikit sahaja yang menyentuh hidung umno:

In recent months several key political figures from the Government and Opposition (betul ke?) had threatened to resign and then meekly withdrew their threats or allowed themselves to be promoted to higher posts as if nothing had happpened.

It seems that such a threat is being used to reaffirm one's shaky position and to mend a tattered image.

If these cry-babies had been more mature and thought more deeply before resorting to the "letak jawatan" threat, they would have realised that as elected leaders, they owe it not to their bloated ego but to the people who elected them.

If they had been willing to spend money and time to get the people to elect them, it is only reasonable they have the courtesy to consult their constituents before firing off their "surat perletakan jawatan" (resignation letter).

These people should be exposed. Party leaders should not make excuses for them. The latest to use this trick was Deputy Umno Youth chief Datuk Abdul Aziz Sheikh Fadzir. He had submitted his resignation to party president Dr Mahathir purportedly over the criticism against the movement for the Lunas defeat.

Aziz, who is also committee member of the Padang Serai Umno division, headed the Umno Youth campaign team during the by-election. Lunas is situated in the division.

As had been the case with previous resignation threats involving BN leaders, Aziz withdrew his letter after meeting the Prime Minister to explain his decision.

Aziz told the Press that he withdrew his resignation letter after a discussion with Youth chief Datuk Hishammuddin Tun Hussein and members of the movement's executive council. This was after Hishammuddin, according to Press reports, denied that Aziz had sent the letter.

It is a mistake for Hishammuddin to do so. He should have allowed truth to prevail. He should leave it to members of the movement to judge Aziz's action.

It is infantile and dishonourable for elected reprentatives to hold their constituents to ransom or to ignore their votes when making such threats.

From The Sunday Star
10th December 2000

Open show of Youth-ful anger

On The Beat With Wong Chun Wai

ONE week in politics is a long time, they say. A year is even longer--that's what Datuk Hishammuddin Tun Hussein has found out.

Not too long ago, the 39-year-old upstart could do no wrong. His admirers were fond of telling listeners that he was poised to go up the political ladder.

He was cut out for the job because he was youthful, liberal and understood the feelings of the young.

Well-educated, well-mannered, well-connected and well-brought up, the son of Malaysia's third prime minister received the best training for a Malay politician.

In five years, Hishammuddin rose from a Member of Parliament to full minister and head of Umno Youth. (He was acting head of the movement before assuming the post unopposed at this year's Umno general assembly).

But the ratings have dropped, at least in recent weeks.

His instant stardom has suddenly become a liability. Among the criticisms was that the Youth and Sports Minister parachuted to the post. In short, he didn't earn his stars and stripes.

Last week, Umno Youth executive council member Dr Shamsul Anwar complained about Hishammuddin's softie image and that the movement lacked sting.

Then Deputy Umno Youth chief Datuk Aziz Sheikh Fadzir put in his resignation letter, saying he could not take criticisms against him. As expected, he retracted the letter.

For the time being, Hishammuddin has skillfully brought temperatures down.

Twenty-four hours after his outburst, Dr Shamsul walked out of the meeting to say that he still had more to learn. Apparently, he was the only one who voiced his feelings at the meeting.

Fellow exco members, who had supposedly promised to join in the criticism, backed out. According to some exco members, the meeting was a tame affair.

Promises and compromises have been made. Ruffled feathers would have been smoothened and olive branches offered at informal meetings and buka puasa functions.

It will be premature for anyone to write off Hishamuddin on the account of some criticism.

Many of the accusations, including the alleged lack of fire and direction of Umno Youth, are not new.

After the fiery Datuk Harun Idris passed the baton to Datuk Suhaimi Kamaruddin and then to Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Datuk Nazri Aziz, the Youth wing has had to bear with the criticism of being domesticated by the main party leadership.

The days of demonstrations, which Umno Youth had been associated with, were over, explained the former Youth chiefs.

What is unusual now, however, is the undercurrent of discontent and unhappiness at various levels of the party. The grumblings over the state of affairs in Umno and the government can be heard at buka puasa functions these days.

The defeat of Barisan Nasional at the Lunas by-election simply released pent-up frustrations. Lunas had been held by the Alliance and then Barisan since independence.

More hurting is the fact that Kedah Barisan has lost its two-thirds majority in the state assembly. Kedah happens to be Dr Mahathir's home state.

For the Umno Youth leaders, their former comrades had emerged victorious--among them Keadilan candidate Nasution Ismail, Ezam Mohamed Noor and Azmin Ali.

A whole battalion of opposition campaigners, mostly youths, were attacking the government. They included former Umno Youth members and university students, unhappy with the jailing of Anwar Ibrahim.

Fingers were pointed at Umno Youth leaders for not doing enough to win the votes over.

Mingguan Malaysia reported that the Padang Serai division, which was given the task of organising the election machinery, only had 10 Youth wing branches.

Aziz, the man in the storm, is a committee member of the division Youth wing. He is also the brother of Datuk Kadir Sheikh Fadzir, the MP for Kulim and Culture, Arts and Tourism Minister.

Most of the 165 Umno divisions have between 40 and 50 Youth wing branches with the movement claiming membership of over 700,000.

There were also charges that Hishammuddin did not spend enough time in Lunas but instead took his family on vacation to Australia. He replied that he dedicated four days to Lunas, saying the criticism was unfair.

But if he wants Umno Youth members to work hard and talk less, then he would have to spend more than four days in the next by-election.

Perhaps Umno Youth members may have been too harsh on themselves. The whole Barisan machinery should share the blame.

For starters, Barisan's S. Anthonysamy, 59, is hardly youthful, making it difficult for Umno Youth to "sell'' the candidate. Nasution, on the other hand, is only 36.

Barisan leaders would also have to learn to be less arrogant in their statements, particularly during the campaign.

Aziz, for example, is still remembered by Chinese voters for the rowdy gathering outside the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall.

But the Lunas by-election may not be the only reason for the sudden impatience in Umno Youth.

Quoting an unnamed Youth exco member, the Singapore Straits Times reported: "This is an attack by proxy. They cannot attack the top leaders, so they attack Datuk Hisham.''

http://thestar.com.my/

From The Singapore Straits Times
10th December 2000

Discounted cars for former state officials

The five were allowed to buy the second-hand luxury cars at a hefty discount but Malacca justifies it, saying it was for services rendered

MALACCA - The state government has come under fire for selling used Mercedes-Benz cars at extremely low prices to a former chief minister and four state executive councillors (Excos).

Opposition state legislator from the Democratic Action Party Betty Chew claimed that the five were also given a 40 per cent discount on the three- to four-year-old cars.

She said the state sold an E230(A) Mercedes-Benz, bearing the registration number ML 3, to former Chief Minister Datuk Seri Abu Zahar Isnin, for only RM68,400 (S$31,680).

'According to the Public Works Department's pricing, the car which was purchased in August 1996 for RM181,522, was worth RM114,000.

'And this did not include the price of the single-digit registration number which is usually worth RM20,000,' said Ms Chew, who is the elected representative of the Durian Daun ward in the state legislative assembly.

She added that Datuk Seri Abu Zahar, who is now the Home Ministry's Parliamentary Secretary, had an official car.

She said former state Exco Datuk Nordin Yaani bought a four-year-old E220 (A) Mercedes-Benz (MAF 5), which was valued at RM79,000, for only RM47,800.

'The state also sold a similar car to another former state Exco, Datuk Mohd Sharif Mohd Drus, for RM46,200 without the registration number, ML 4.

'Datuk Gan Boon Leong, who was dropped as a state executive councillor, was allowed to buy a three-year-old E230 (A) Mercedes-Benz along with the registration number ML 9 for RM68,400,' she said.

Another former Exco member, Datuk Yassin Sarif, was allowed to buy a similar model for RM60,000, she added.

On his part, Chief Minister Datuk Wira Mohd Ali Rustam explained that the state offered rebates on second-hand cars in recognition of the services of the former chief minister and Exco members.

He said the state had not flouted any rules because the sale of the cars to former councillors was allowed. --The Star/Asia News Network

http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/