DILUAR LINGKARAN : UMNO DAN TRANFORMASI.

Umno and transformation — Lim Sue Goan October 22, 2010 OCT 22 — Transformation, which refers to changes and innovation, has become a very popular word nowadays. Umno has never lacked the drive for reform since it was founded 64 years ago. The 2008 political tsunami has also awakened Umno’s hibernating genes of reform. From party president Datuk Seri Najib Razak, deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin, we can see that Umno leaders have been actively promoting transformation within the party. They have been trying to lead the party towards a non-racial political path and implement the 1 Malaysia spirit. You may say that it is a strategy of Umno’s to prepare for the next general election but it is always good to change for the better, and to progress to meet the people’s demand. From a positive perspective, abandoning racial politics to promote non-racial politics that takes care of all the people will also be able to curb racial extremism and reduce racial issues, so that everyone can focus on economic transformation. We can see the track record of Umno’s reform from the party history. In 1951, one of Umno founders Datuk Seri Onn Jaafar proposed to open up party membership to non-Malays. However, the idea was rejected. After Tunku Abdul Rahman took over as party president, he worked together with Chinese and Indians and successfully secured national independence. His moderate, liberal, fair and non-racial style was what we called reform. Unfortunately, he was eventually ousted, too. After the May 13 incident, Tun Abdul Razak succeeded the Tunku as Umno president and prime minister. Razak adopted a series of new policies, including actively promoting a national education policy, announcing a new economic policy, foster cooperation among political parties and formed the BN coalition. The third prime minister Tun Hussein Onn was known as the “Father of Unity”. His hard-line style in curbing corruption and upholding the laws has left a deep impression on the people. However, from the 1980s, a series of events, including a party crisis in 1987, a judicial crisis in 1988, the Asian financial crisis in 1997, the sacking of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim from Umno and dismissal as deputy prime minister in 1998, as well as the authoritarian leadership style caused the Umno genes of reform to “hibernate”. And racial thinking among party members is deep-rooted. In October 2003, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi took over as Umno boss and prime minister, but fell from the peak of the 2004 general election to the bottom of the 2008 general election. Basically, Umno did not change much in that five years but money politics got worse. After Najib came to power, the party election procedures have been amended and the nomination quota system has also been abolished. The drive for another reform then started again. Umno leaders must learn from history. Why did the reforms carried out by former leaders fail? How could the party promote a transformation mindset among its more than a million members? People can change, and Khairy is the best example. Khairy had tried to take the radical path as he was too anxious to move up in the political ladder. However, he has regained confidence in recent years. After asking Umno Youth to abandon the racial agenda and the Malays to discard their “siege mentality” last year, he took another step this year by asking Umno to take the moderate path and urging the government to amend the Universities and University Colleges Act (UUCA). Najib’s “new political model” should have such confidence, too. Malays are competitive now, so stop drawing an equal mark between Malays and Umno. If Umno is able to do that, its reform will succeed. — mysinchew.com * This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication. The Malaysian Insider does not endorse the view unless specified.