I Will Write. What Will You Do?

Selamat Pagi Malaysia.

From the time I started writing about the state of my beloved Malaysia, I was driven by one matalamat. To inform. To inform those who will read what I write, of the state of our nation, as I see it. Thirteen years ago, this is what I wrote :

Tuesday, 20 January 2009 Najib Razak How this guy is going to shake off the excesses of his wife and himself from the time they knew each other (while married to other people) until he became a serious PM contender is something I will watch with anticipation and trepidation (not for me but for him). It will take a monumental effort to contain their goings-on - sexual and financials. Can you imagine the amount of money that would be required to keep everybody quiet? What contracts, projects, tenders have to be kautim in order to contain these possible exposures - anyone of which , if they become public knowledge, will mean no more Seri Perdana? The mind boggles...and that is why Mahyuddin (the Man who would be King) is cool and waiting in the wings. For me Najib is just a temporary blip in Mahyuddin's journey to Sri Perdana. Najib will be so tied up covering his sordid past that he will not have time to Govern... he will not go past a year or two at the most. HH 20th January 2009

I have not lived always with the benefit of hindsight. I was then younger and did not listen to myself as I do now, and anyway, who said that hindsight is an exact science? Today, just over thirteen years later, when I read what I wrote then, I realized that even in my wildest dreaded expectations, I had never dreamt that Malaysia would be what it is today! Muhyiddin did become PM, but not in the way I expected it to be. Najib's sordid past has caught up with him. Our beloved Malaysia has descended, shamefully, to become the numero uno kleptocratic nation, tanpa di tanding!.

In the beginning, there was Tunku. "If you are rich, there are many people richer than you. If you think you are clever, there are people cleverer than you. But if you think you are honest, you are among the few, and in this instance, it is best to be among the few" so said Tunku. After his retirement, he was, one day, late for a meeting because his second-hand car broke down. Ku Li, then Finance Minister said that as the former prime minister, Tunku should be provided with a new car. Tunku demurred and insisted that his car was still ok as it only broke down once in a while. Today, 67 years later, there is Najib Razak for whom cash is king. To Najib Razak belonged 1MDB - the biggest scam ever perpetrated upon a nation by any kleptocratic leader. After he was voted out of office, three hundred boxes of Birkin handbags each worth up to hundreds of thousands of dollars and dozens of bags filled with jewelry and RM114 million in cash in 26 currencies were among the items taken away by police in raids at properties linked to him. Today he is a convicted felon, but still unsurprisingly, in a UMNO where cash is still king, this former prime minister who is a convicted felon, is the power behind the throne of Umno. Najib Razak is typical of the 2nd generation of UMNO leaders who are the cause of Malaysia's political and economic malaise, Malay disunity, and Malaysia's religious and racial divide. Corruption and the use of politics and religion for their own vested interests are the hallmarks of these Umno leaders. Not content with having brought the nation to its knees by their kleptocratic way, they are now throwing shit at each other, and the shit has hit the fan on the ceiling in a hall full of Malays. The current battle between Najib and Muhyiddin is the epitome of the crass and obnoxious behaviors of Malay leaders who should know better. Malaysian politics is at its lowest ebb. There is no clear party that looks solid enough to win a two-thirds majority. There is also no individual who has that quality to lead the country like Tun Mahathir and those before him. In the absence of the above, how will the voters vote, or will they? And if they did, will the voting pattern most likely be based on emotion, corruption, racial, economic, religious, and, dare we hope, simply the need for change issues? We have to accept these few things : We are a multi-racial, cultural, and religious country. A dominant party by race is not likely to win and form a government. Any multi-group team must identify its leaders early. The economy of any country must be run on merit, irrespective of race if we are to compete in the international league. We cannot expect to send our 2and team to compete in a Premier League. We are all in this together. And by "this" I mean the state of our nation today. Deny, debunk, deceive yourself if you must, detach yourself from reality if it pleases you, denounce politicians, Malays, and bigoted Muslim if you must, depart from the shores of your place of birth if that pleases you BUT whoever you are and where ever you may be, we are all in this together. Our ties and bonds to Malaysia still hold us all for life to that Tanah Air....and so I say, we are all in this together. After the highs of our electoral victory at PRU 14, we then descended to the lows of Langkah Sheraton. And today after the resignation of Tun Mahathir and two prime ministers, after the signing of the MOU between Mael Bera and PH, after PRN Malacca and the coming PRN Johor, and, this week, after the breaking of hostilities between Najib and Muhyiddin, there is only one way for us to go: UP. Sudah sampai Rock-Bottom, but in getting there, I never ever lost hope that maybe, one day, we will have the Malaysia that we want. And personally, for me, that meant, among other things, that I, together with my children, will be able to pray at the graves of my beloved Emak and Bapak at the Ampang Malay cemetery. As I said, we have reached rock - bottom. Within me today, with all the passion that I can gather within myself, with all the belief that I can possibly draw from within my whole being and with the absolute conviction that the time has come to start that journey UP, we, you and I, we have to now pick ourselves up from the depths of shame and wretchedness that corruption and kleptocracy have consigned us, and ready ourselves for the days ahead when much will be asked of us to do, if we are to get back our beloved Malaysia. But who will lead us? I know who will. These are early days, but I know. You can doubt the audacity of hope to deliver what we want and need, but I know hope will deliver. I know as sure as I know that we are all our brothers's/sisters' keepers. As sure as I know that yesterday when I needed help to buy food for the coming week, I can depend on a friend in KL for help. And help me, he did. Thank you Goh. That is why I can continue to write. That is why I will write. I have never lost hope. I have never given up hope, for how can I not do what I am now doing when I have friends who will be there for me in my hour of need. Now our Tanah Air needs us. Come, let us band together and help each other take back our nation. That is the least we can do. The least we must do. I will write. What will you do?

Hussein Hamid

15th February 2022

Melbourne.