PUTERI UMNO BERAPA UMURNYA?

Kesukaran Umno untuk melayarkan satu bahtera berisi 'puteri' sejak pilihanraya umum lepas menggambarkan banyak perkara yang masih belum kena kerana 'wanita'nya masih belum bersedia. Soal umur menjadi satu perbalahan yang menyebabkan banyak pihak terasa. Maklum sajalah ada yang berbelanja beribu-ribu untuk mengekalkan awet muda tentunya merasa terhina tersisih dari kelompok puteri yang manja.

Perkataan puteri asal-usulnya berasal dari istana. Ia lambang status-quo dan belaian manja seorang raja. Mereka yang berdarah melayu tidak menggunakannya sebagai menghormati raja. Tetapi Umno kini sudah menodainya. Kini istilah itu sudah tersemat di dalam perlembagaan Umno.

'Pemuda' Umno merangkumi umur 'muda' sebelum 40 tahun. Tetapi 'puteri' Umno didefinasikan pada umur 35. Samada ahli bahasa dirujuk untuk tujuan itu tidak tahulah kita. Yang pastinya Mahathir sentiasa menjadi bahan rujuk, walaupun dalam kes melibatkan ugama. Itulah tanda betapa dia sudah menjadi 'tuhan' mereka.

MARAH MAKCIK SUDAH REDA?

Isu Puteri Umno mencetus kontroversi bila pengukir kertas kerjanya, Azalina, menyebut bahawa golongan muda hawa melayu tidak dapat menyesuaikan diri dengan imej 'tua' wanita Umno. Akibatnya beliau ditembak sehingga tercedera kerana usia bukan penentu kebolehan sesiapa. Keterampilan dan kebolehan adalah kayu ukur tua dan mudanya seseorang itu dipandang mata, bukan usianya. Istilah 'makcik' membuat ramai kepanasan terpipis lada.

Umno tidak mampu untuk berpecah lagi kerana masalah yang ada pun sudah tidak terlarat untuk dibawa. Isu tersebut disenyapkan seketika tatkala menunggu reda. Kini umur 35 diterima walaupun Rafidah mencadangkan sekitar 18 dan 30 sahaja. Tetapi ramai beranggapan usia 25 kebawah lebih sesuai. Menurut Abdullah Ahmad, 1.9 juta pengundi berusia antara 19 dan 39 bakal mencorak hala tuju politik negara.

Penubuhan Putri Umno sebenarnya menggambarkan Wanita sudah gagal dalam memainkan peranannya. Ia merupakan sindiran Mahathir buat Rafidah yang becoknya terdengar di sebelah sana, khsusnya selepas Lunas tertewas dengan malunya. Namuni Mahathir pun bimbang juga, sehingga tertangguh melayar bahtera. Tetapi wanita sudah pun terluka dan bukan mudah untuk memujuk orang yang sudah menangis berair-mata. Suara merdu pun tidak mampu menghiburkan hati yang merana. Sudah jatuh ditimpa tangga kerana wanita Umno kini sudah terbelah dua.

-Kapal Berita-

Rencana Rujukkan:

Sumber: Berita Hairan

http://www.emedia.com.my/z/Current_News/ BH/Sunday/National/20010210223516/pp_index_html

Had umur Puteri Umno 35 tahun

10 February 2001

KUALA LUMPUR: Had umur keahlian Puteri Umno ditetapkan pada 35 tahun dan satu jawatankuasa penaja akan dibentuk bagi menggerakkan unit itu, tidak lama lagi.

Keputusan itu diumumkan oleh Presiden Umno, Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad, selepas mesyuarat Majlis Tertingi (MT) di sini, petang semalam.

Penetapan had umur itu meleraikan kemelut penubuhan unit itu dan dianggap sebagai mengambil jalan tengah antara cadangan awal 40 tahun oleh ahli MT, Azalina Othman dan 30 tahun yang disaran oleh Pergerakan Wanita Umno.

'Kita bersetuju Puteri Umno ditubuh mulai sekarang dan had umurnya tahun ke bawah. Kita akan menubuhkan satu jawatankuasa penaja di peringkat pusat dan ia akan menolong penubuhan (Puteri) di peringkat negeri,' katanya.

Bagaimanapun, Dr Mahathir berkata MT belum lagi melantik sesiapa untuk mengetuai jawatankuasa penaja dan ia juga diarah mengkaji pembentukan unit itu pada peringkat cawangan dan bahagian.

Terdahulu, cadangan menubuh Puteri Umno mendapat pelbagai reaksi terutama daripada Wanita yang 'kecil hati' kerana kertas kerja Azalina memberi gambaran generasi wanita muda enggan menyertai Umno kerana ia dikuasai 'makcik-makcik'.

Bagaimanapun, isu itu dileraikan pada Perhimpunan Agung Khas Umno, November lalu, apabila ia dimasukkan dalam Perlembagaan Umno dan diletakkan di bawah kuasa MT.

Wanita Umno turut merestui penubuhan itu dan memberi beberapa cadangan balas termasuk menetapkan had umur Puteri di bawah 30 tahun. Mereka turut setuju Puteri sebagai satu entiti bebas dengan peraturan serta program sendiri.

Isu itu senyap buat seketika dengan masing-masing menunggu MT membuat keputusan muktamad.

From The Straits Times, Singapore
24th January 2001

Old-new clash within Umno

The delay in deciding on the structure of Puteri Umno, the new women's wing, is symptomatic of the party's struggle to attract votes of the young

By Brendan Pereira

MALAYSIA CORRESPONDENT

BRINGING change to Malaysia's ruling party is far from a walk in the park.

Take the case of Puteri Umno. After seven months of behind the scene manoeuvring, Umno's highest decision-making body has yet to decide on the structure of the new wing aimed at attracting 1.9 million young Malay women into the fold.

In a snapshot, this episode illustrates the clash between the opposing forces of new and old in a party that needs to move forward to be in step with a younger and more educated voting population.

By the time the next general election is held in 2004, up to 1.5 million new voters could be added to the country's electoral rolls.

Anecdotal evidence and an analysis of the recent by-election in Kedah suggest that most of the younger voters are opposition supporters.

In a bid to attract young women, Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his deputy, Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi proposed the idea of Puteri Umno.

Miss Azalina Othman, a lawyer who appointed to the Umno Supreme Council, was asked to prepare a working paper on this new wing.

Her brief was simple: be guided by the constitution of Umno Youth - the wing for men aged up till 40 that had been established for years.

Her end product contained inflammable material.

She said that younger Malay women could not identify with the more matronly image of Wanita Umno, headed by Malaysia's Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz.

The word makcik which conveys negative imagery of an old and less sophisticated person was used to describe the members of Wanita Umno.

The report also proposed that Puteri Umno be a separate entity from Wanita Umno and that the head of the new wing be given the status of a vice-president in the party.

Almost immediately, the report was shot down by the established women's wing.

At a closed-door session, line after line of the report was dissected and dismissed.

With almost one million members, the party leadership could not afford to alienate Datuk Seri Rafidah and her friends.

After all, they form a significant part of the party machinery that campaigns house to house for votes in the run-up to elections.

Dr Mahathir and his deputy heaped praise on the contribution of Wanita Umno and expressed regret that the word makcik had been used to describe them.

One matter became clear - the setting up of Puteri Umno was a fait accompli. The only issue was its structure.

So for the last few months, the battle between old and new has been fought over a single issue - the age limit for Puteri Umno.

And the battle has been vicious with snide remarks being made on both sides - about the political ambitions of Miss Azalina and the girth of Wanita Umno leaders.

Datuk Seri Rafidah believes that only women aged between 18 and 30 should be allowed to join Puteri Umno.

But many people feel that the age limit should be 25 and below because those are the kids that we need to get close. Those in the universities, colleges or who just entered the workforce, one respondent said.

Tan Sri Abdullah Ahmad, a newspaper columnist, wrote in Mingguan Malaysia that there are about 1.9 million women aged between 19 and 39 that Umno needed to engage.

If the party Supreme Council decided to accept Wanita Umno's suggestion, Puteri Umno will be restricted to fishing in a smaller pond, he argued.

And if Umno fails to engage those who are aged between 31 and 40, be assured that group of women who fall into this age group would link up with another political party, he warned.

This debate is likely to continue and the behind the scene campaigning will get more intense.

Bringing change to Umno is certainly not a walk in the park.

In some ways, it is like a visit to the dentist - the patient knows that the tooth has to be extracted but only heads for the chair when the pain becomes unbearable or persuasion works.