Over the years I have known him, Gerakan Youth vice-chairman S. Paranjothy was never a loose cannon. Although quite outspoken, his statements are always calculated and never exaggerated.
However, last week Paranjothy's statement caught UMNO Youth leader by his burly tail. Paranjothy has alleged that UMNO leaders' propensity to play up racial sentiments is causing other component parties to lose support from their respective non-Malay support base. Paranjothy also drew flak from Umno for criticising the government for "marginalising, oppressing and ignoring" the Indian Malaysian community which resulted in them being "fourth-class citizens".
He pointed his finger at both Khairy Jamaluddin and Hishamuddin Hussein for faning up racial issues at the the recently concluded UMNO's general assembly. Other incidences could have motivated his statement, most significantly the Hindraf demonstration and the action taken against five of the movement's leaders.
When I spoke to Paranjothy, he appeared calm and composed. Later, when asked by reporters he has chosen to stick to his statement regardless the disciplinary action to be taken against him.
Let's look at the issue objectively. Paranjothy's statement and the reaction from UMNO Youth chief are symptoms of the current political system which is race-based. In a talk I gave in London, I argued that it is timely for the BN to undergo another transformation - just like what the Alliance did in 1970 (for a period between 1970-1974 the Alliance was defunct).
The alliance model was expanded and remoded to include more communities and smaller political parties. The new BN model which was established in April 1974 focused on two key pillars e.g. national reconciliation and social restructuring. Hence, the NEP was endorsed and adopted.
However, we are now facing another bottleneck which requires a restructuring of the current BN model so that it is able to address two key objectives - global positioning and nation building. To fulfill these two objectives, it is timely for BN to emerge as a single entity representing all Malaysians.
Unfortunately, only gullible leaders in the present leadership who insisted on perpetuating the divide for decades to come knowing fully well that it is no longer the recipe for continual growth, political stability and socio-economic harmony.
Paranjothy, instead of being castigated, deserves an apology from the current BN leadership for clouding and contaminating the youths' mind with racial slurs and prejudices. It is their reluctance to change, to adjust and to accept the fact that some segments of the society have been marginalised for decades due to the racial socio-economic policy we practiced. What is obvious is the policy has been hijacked to enrich a well-connected few.
Gerakan president Dr Koh Tsu Koon has announced a possible expulsion or suspension for Paranjothy. This is most unfortunate because only weeks earlier Dr Koh had defended another Gerakan stalwart from speaking his mind. He claimed that Gerakan is a democratic party when Dr Toh Kin Woon openly said that he did not agree with the national leaders on freedom to assemble. His decision will prompt many to question him on his consistency.
Second, the expulsion of Paranjothy (which is highly possible) is lauded by UMNO Youth chief Hishamuddin but it will not win him or his party any brownie point. Instead, many will resent UMNO as a bully and a tyranny for not willing to take similar action against its members and leaders who made more serious and seditious statements.
Third, this decision puts into question the leadership capability of Dr Koh when put into a serious political challenge. Some have made comparison to Dr Lim Keng Yaik on what he would do if faced with similar situation. They expected Dr Lim to tell UMNO that was Paranjothy's own opinion and not Gerakan stand. Paranjothy, being a senior youth leader, would be told to be more careful when making a statement.
I have experienced this myself and found Dr Lim's method to be less punitive and he gave generous allowance to inexperience rookies.
Whatever the decision now, the party must learn a lesson that it cannot continue to sack its own leaders for speaking up or risks isolation and desertion from its members. In a team, the leader will go a long way to protect his members even if they were to divert from the original path. This is what made you regarded as a good leader - to take the bullet if you must for your comrades.
I HOPE good sense prevails.
3 comments:
Koh Tsu Koon chance to show his mantle as the rightful successor to Gerakan has just gone down the drain.
His scramble to castigate his own gerakan members just because UMNO growled is an insult to Gerakan as a component in BN.
Why cant component party representative voiced their individual opinion - afterall they are representing the voice of the people - NOT the voice of BN or UMNO.
i think with such so called leader like KSK who is scared to stand up for his own people - it is a matter of time before Gerakan will fade into irrelevancy - if not already.
Khoo
Good and rational analysis.
Here's the problem. UMNO and Umno Youth, the likes of Hishamuddin and Khairy don't take on board rational arguments. It is not that they are stupid. They are being smart for not being rational.
They see your argument but their realpolitik is power, arrogant power at any cost.
They have to play to the Malay gallery and to the UMNO membership to scale up the ladder.
The only way to handle issue like this is to take an IN-YOUR-FACE approach.
No amount of rationalisation will change the racist attitude of UMNO and UMNO Youth.
Their raison d'etre is to keep on playing the race card. Without it, they just cannot exist and they will have NO political base.
To take on UMNO and UMNO Youth, the best way to adopt their tactics of being arrogant and calling a spade a spade and not mince words about it.
Gerakan and MCA played footsy and pussy around UMNO and UMNO Youth and that is the reason people like Hishamuddin and Khairy have MCA, Gerakan and MIC made to look like idiots in front of their own supports. They eat up MCA, Gerakan and MIC for breakfast each morning.
If you have a flip flop PM at National Level, then it is not suprised to find a flip flop CM at state level.
I believed KSK re-act to the situation too fast "to do damage control" without strategizing first. Firstly, UMNO doesn't care at all about the "damage control" and he might as well take his time to strategize.
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