PAS Passed It?

The deafening silence of PAS leaders over the last weeks and months point to a simmering discontent underneath the calm sur-face (pun intended) portrayed by its ulama leaders.

With the threat of a change of government in Kedah ever-present, PAS seems to busy scrambling to keep its house in order, ensuring its elected representatives remain loyal to the party – bai’ah and all. All this while its partners in the Pakatan Rakyat coalition carry on with loftier goals, commenting on anything and everything national.

It is no secret that PAS is for all intents and purposes the smallest partner in Pakatan, due in no small part to the fact that much of its rank and file are most uncomfortable with the unholy alliance with Anwar Ibrahim’s PKR and DAP.

So it should come as no surprise that as the straws pile up on the camel’s back, PAS is struggling to decide what its next course of action is, nevermind the cracks between the Pakatan partners. Hence the silence. Conspiracy theorists would say something’s cooking, but I think more likely than not nothing is because they simply cannot deal with the ingredients they’ve been served with.

Only months ago Selangor PAS Commissioner Datuk Dr Hasan Ali was making the headlines daily with his attacks on the Selangor state government. We hear not a whimper from him these days, presumably being given more than a slap on the wrist to toe the increasingly impossible line of Pakatan unity.

Deputy President Ustaz Nasharuddin Mat Isa seems to have never recovered from the bashing he received from spiritual head Tuan Guru Nik Aziz Nik Mat for his overtures with UMNO. Again, not a whimper. We’ve had plenty of issues to discuss in this country for the past year and the Deputy President of a major party – the second largest in Malaysia in terms of membership – has not figured in any of them.

Not that the President, Tuan Guru Haji Haji Awang has fared much better. Anwar Ibrahim, in a recent interview, promised that he would appoint a DAP leader to the post of Deputy Prime Minister II if he ever became premiere. No mention of the PAS President being ‘given’ any Cabinet position. And of course, silence on the part of the latter.

PAS, if it knows what’s good for itself, must seriously examine its position in Pakatan urgently. The party has a core base of voters but even they cannot continue to stand by a party that is lethargic, silent and almost anonymous on all the major issues facing Malaysia. The people need leaders, and for the past year, PAS has not been even in the mainframe, nevermind leading.

A great case in point is the dwindling support of the youth vote for PAS. It once had the Malay youth vote on virtual lockdown, but since the Manek Urai by election it has lost them slowly. PAS was almost non-present during the subsequent by elections of Bagan Pinang and Hulu Selangor, resulting in the not surprising consequence of loss of support.

PAS has always been closer to UMNO both in terms of its ideology and modus operandi. Whilst PAS is slipping away into relative obscurity, UMNO has taken a leaf from the old PAS book – going from strength to strength with non stop community programs and outreach, from the Pentas Pemuda UMNO ceramah sessions around the country to sports programs like the year long local football leagues, to Pemuda Prihatin programs focusing on welfare of the grassroots, as well as more refreshing ventures such as the BN Youth Lab.

And ultimately that is what Malaysian and especially Malay politics boils down to. Engagement and touch with the community. PAS was once famous for that. Not anymore.

New UMNO and New Media

The Malaysian political cyberspace used to be dominated, in presence, by pro-opposition writers and commenters. It is hardly the case anymore, but BN – consisting mostly of UMNO – bloggers are still not making the right waves to win the battle.

It is quite likely that there are far more pro-UMNO blogs than there are pro-Pakatan. Mushrooming after the 12th General Elections where Internet media proved to be a crucial factor in the poor showing by Barisan Nasional, these blogs become mouthpieces of the party and provide a platform for otherwise localized and low-level members of the party to step up to the national stage. But theirs is a story akin to a large mob going into a war with the wrong weapons, wrong strategy, wrong trickery and an appalling understanding of what the terrain demands.

We all know how important blogs and Internet chatter are, especially in Malaysia where mainstream media is viewed with as much credibility and independence from Authority as a Roman Town Crier. Whilst broadband penetration still leaves much to be desired, many middle class, young professionals, students - many of whom have Internet access – also influence their family members when they return to their hometowns to vote. Hence, the importance of winning the cyber war.

Specifically, pro-UMNO blogs – and perhaps most forms of communications media from UMNO, the Prime Minister’s proclamations excluded – send out the wrong message and go about it in such a way that drive voters away, rather than attract them.

What makes this most frustrating is the fact that the Prime Minister who is also UMNO President has set about a very good and bankable message. Actions notwithstanding, the PM is saying all the right things and appearing calm, steady and winning over Malaysians with his style and demeanor that suggest he knows what he is doing. The truth is that many Malaysians, indeed many humans, vote very much based on perception and what appears to be the case – not necessarily what actually is. But UMNO is failing to replicate this message in cyberspace; in fact in many cases they appear to be completely ignoring it. Herein lies a major failing.

The principal UMNO message today is 1Malaysia, and an inclusive UMNO as outlined by the Prime Minister during the last UMNO General Assembly. All party mouthpieces should make an effort to appropriate this national(ist) agenda and move away from the obsession with cheap,
sensationalist putdowns coupled with unbridled chest-thumping general remarks about the Malay agenda. These may put give a perverted sense of satisfaction as you go to bed – no better feeling than after baking a case on why Anwar is undoubtedly a Jew-agent – but do nothing to win over the undecideds. And not for nothing, polls show that most undecided voters are Malays.

Instead, they must fall in line and repeat the message of unity and acceptance endowed within the spirit of 1Malaysia, as well as embrace the challenge for Malay achievement and success so apparent in the New Economic Model. The party rank and file can no longer play this devilish part of vowing support to the PM’s reform agenda whilst acting the precise opposite. After all, isn’t this new approach of moderation, acceptance, respect, co-existence and humility not so new after all? Aren’t these the very values that Malays often pride themselves with when they say “Melayu bangsa yang bersopan-santun dan beradab” despite often showcasing little of the above? When the people cried for UMNO to change, it was more than simply a change in leadership or image; it was also a change in the party message itself. The most affable salesman of defected goods is still a salesman of defected goods.

Party message aside, UMNO bloggers need to understand that cyberspace is not a place where you simply spew out your message without tact, taste or facts. With politics, the target audience should never be the political players on either side of the fence. Whilst the topics and engagements will often be with the opposition, the judge is always the people whose yardstick is always outside the partisan bubble in which these skirmishes occur. Thus, it is not about putdowns or embarrassing the opponent; much less is it about persuading him that he is wrong because that would be most futile. Instead, it is about convincing the neutral audience with facts, persuasion and keeping them interested with witty intelligence. The most accomplished performer – because politics is everywhere an art – will tell you to respect your audience in order to gain theirs.

Sadly, few of the appointed mouthpieces in UMNO are doing a good enough job engaging the fence-sitters with the right message (although we already have it!) and right approach. The party’s information chiefs and point-men, both in cyber space and in traditional media, do not appear to understand what this new political climate asks of them. And they better overcome that first obstacle of denial quickly, if we are to stand a chance at winning the young votes come next GE. Win the GE we still might, but are we paradoxically about to do it by setting a pattern that will guarantee future losses as newer, post-Merdeka generations rapidly replace older ones? Ponder. And weep.

Of Rockets and Brylcreem Guan Eng

The attacks against The Chief Minister of Pulau Pinang, Lim Guan Eng roll in. The most recent and damaging of all is Nibong Tebal MP (PKR) Tan Tee Beng's lashing out at Guan Eng and DAP's 'vengeful politics' of no class. What initially seemed as an act of throwing support behind a party colleague, Bayan Baru MP Datuk Zahrain Mohamed Hashim who had some choice words of his own for Guan Eng - 'chauvinist', 'communist' and 'dictator' - Tee Beng's offensive against Guan Eng has taken a life of its own.

Indeed, this is only the latest of a string of incidents where Pakatan Rakyat appears to be faltering in Selangor and Pulau Pinang. But what makes these latest attacks all the more shocking is the details which were shared by two Pakatan Rakyat MPs - Tee Beng and Datuk Zahrain - of how dirty DAP's politics is and how far the PKR leadership is willing to bend over backwards to accommodate DAP's ways. If previously, actual content of criticisms were scarce, in this latest round we the rakyat receive some clear insight into understanding why Guan Eng is so unpopular not only with the Malays, but also with non-DAP Chinese.

The theme has always been the same, whether in the Ngah Ngeh duo in Perak or the Guan Eng Jeff Ooi partnership in Pulau Penang - the complaint is that DAP bullies its partners in Pakatan Rakyat. It is interesting that we never hear of this complaint when it comes to PAS or PKR; whatever their failings are they do not seem to act in a way that suggests mistrust or selfishness in this fledgling Opposition coalition.

Tee Beng, a PKR member who is not at all a fan of BN, tells us that PKR MPs in Pulau Pinang get no allocation whatsoever from the DAP leadership! He goes on to expose that all the allocations given out by the state is being portrayed as being given by the DAP, and that PKR has to beg for positions in Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBA), Penang Development Corporation (PDA) and investPenang. Does Tee Beng have an axe to grind? Sure he does. Guan Eng rejected Tee Beng nomination by PKR to become a PBA director simply because of the latter's history of criticising the former. What's that again? Meritocracy? Freedom of expression without persecution? Accountability? Pssh.

But most instructive is the revelation of DAP's grand strategy - to further racialise Malaysian politics by trying its best to make PKR into a Malay-based party at all levels. DAP knows the danger of having a genuinely multiracial PKR, one which will be a far bigger threat to DAP than to PAS. After all, in many ways, PKR and DAP occupy the same space with their rhetoric of reforms, accountability, and anti-corruption - all of which are of course, noble ideals, but the point is that if PKR can attract the younger generation of all races who subscribe to those ideals, and also the Chinese voters against BN, then DAP ceases to be relevant. PAS can always rely on its quite sizeable base - the conservative, pseudo-Islamists in both urban and rural areas, but DAP cannot. And worse, DAP knows it can never be more than a Chinese-based party, nor is it interested in becoming one. So what do they do? They go after PKR Chinese, marginalising and disarming them so that PKR will be seen as an Anwar-Azmin gig - UMNO rejects who will not struggle for say, Chinese education in a way that someone like Tee Beng or Tian Chua would.

Tee Beng has said he would quit PKR if need be, but that's also not the point. BN doesn't really a need defections in Parliament - 2/3 majority is only useful as a psychological weapon when it is won during elections. The point is that Tee Beng and Zahrain are doing Malaysians all a favour by exposing us to the true colours of DAP - as chauvinistic, racist and conniving as they claim BN to be.

UMNO Youth: The Way Forward

The new-gen young Malays are thirsty for political movements that can appeal to both their intellect and interests. The changes to UMNO’s party constitution may have pleased many on the inside, but broad-based reforms in activities and outreach are required before UMNO can truly claim to hold the mantle to the hearts of young Malays.

The approach that UMNO, and especially UMNO Youth must take, is organizing events and initiatives that fill the void for young Malay professionals and students who are politically aware but have few opportunities from which to get involved directly with political parties’ programs.

For the longest of times, UMNO Youth – at all levels – has been almost exclusively reliant on traditional programs and events to account for its activities. Chief amongst these are sports events – the mainstays are sepak takraw, football, and more recently futsal. You would be hard pressed to find a single week in the year where there isn’t an UMNO Youth division somewhere in this country hosting a football tournament. Then of course, the ‘compulsory’ programs – the two Hari Raya celebrations, break of fast sessions, and all manner of events marking religious holidays – tend to make up the rest of the agenda calendar. Whilst turnout can often be impressive – especially if a senior party figure attends the program – often the same people are seen at these functions. Needless to say, this does not bode well with the effort of winning over new voters – nevermind the fact that even those ‘retained’ as a result of this phenomenon are UMNO members, active followers or hangers-ons who were always going to vote Barisan anyway.

Seminars, workshops or even assistance to flood victims are great ways to fulfil the community service requirement within UMNO’s political handbook. And they shall always be regarded as bread and butter initiatives so long as the respective issues remain existent in the Malay community – lack of education, absence of entrepreneurial culture, and monsoon seasons continue to haunt Malays. In areas like these, UMNO Youth shows great commitment and boasts a good track record, especially in rural areas where opportunities are few and far between.

However, these efforts, essential as they are, hardly contribute towards making UMNO more attractive to the sections of society which have made it a habit to shut the party out. Amongst young professionals and students, there is an inertia to swallow much of what UMNO, says or does – analogous of the barriers to entry faced by cigarette and alcohol brands – which makes it impossible to engage them through UMNO’s conventional political language and action. UMNO is suffering from a perception-deficit, and, contrary to popular belief amongst UMNO circles, it is not merely down to perceived corruption, excesses and arrogance. Instead, the image problem that UMNO suffers also has much to do with the fact that many young people simply cannot identify with its activities, collective peculiar mannerisms and exclusivist styles. A comprehensive re-look at its image is called for.

As such, taking a leaf from the business world where similar challenges are faced, UMNO Youth – charged with winning over young voters – must be creative in introducing more unconventional programs under the UMNO banner to show that it is much more than a party of linen-clad middle aged men who walk with an almost uniform swagger. Instead of shoving ideology down young professional’s throats, UMNO Youth must be clever enough to use the back door approach by holding programs with content that appeal to this group as a means to ‘advertise’ what UMNO is all about. Traditional programs that glorify UMNO and its history simply do not work anymore. Brave and interesting forums that bring together world leaders, or even entertainment events which can guarantee crowds in the thousands – these are but examples of programs that can be couched as part of the new UMNO Youth approach. This may sound like an oxymoron, but it wouldn’t be politics if we just did politics.

More than plain backdoor approach towards engaging young people, UMNO Youth must also assist in engineering new ideas on matters relating to nation-building which exist aplenty amongst the younger population. Activities, public pronouncements and policy proposals traditionally made by non-political youth movements need to make a comeback, and here, too, UMNO Youth can contribute. On one end of the spectrum, Belia 4B has a vast network which, however, caters to a similar constituency as UMNO Youth. On the other rests various decidedly pro-Opposition youth movements which speak the same language that Pakatan Rakyat leaders do. Therefore, the onus is on UMNO Youth to populate the space that currently exists – of undecided youths who want a say in the direction this country takes. The wing should cultivate a network of professionals and bright graduates, giving them the room to voice opinions and discuss all manner of issues pertaining to national development.

To have any chance of capturing support of the new generation from the Opposition, UMNO Youth must teach itself to excite voters, and not expect the latter to come to accept its ways. What better way to undergo a makeover than coming up with exciting programs which challenge limitations to positive effect, at once redrawing the boundaries of what UMNO Youth supposedly represents.

Results may not be instantaneous, but at the very least, people will appreciate the fact that for all of its flaws, UMNO Youth can straddle different worlds without being hypocritical – it can be fiercely committed to its political struggle to advance the Malays, yet still be relevant to the wants of its constituents.