The Bewildered, Blur, Burberry, Country Bumpkin from Bera.

Whenever I think of Ismail Sabru, I think of the Benny Hill theme.

Going into PRU15, having taken back government from PH by stealth rather than by an election, Umno seems unable to comprehend that the arrogance, hubris and corruption that lost PRU14 for them, is back within their midst with a vengeance.

And surely, Ismail Sabri will be the emblem that past and future prime ministers of Malaysia will be measured against…not for excellence but for failures. Leadership failures that can be the cause of another Umno’s defeat at PRU15.

All the political capital that Umno had in reserves, have almost all been lost and burned for little or no returns by Umno’s political leaders, none more so than by Najib Razak and now, by Ismail Sabri.

Ismail Sabri’s prime ministership has seen an abundance of self-indulgence. His public endorsement of stuff that HE likes indicates hubris and a lack of self awareness - that as prime minister, he should be more circumspect of what he says and do. Shirts of various hues and colors that were fashioned, so we are told, by his fashionista Dato son-in-law, he has worn not with panache but with much pain caused to those watching him. And that same son-in-law is now going into business. Big business, courtesy, I am sure, of his father-in-law.

There have been flattering, impressive and totally unnecessary motorcades accompanying him ka sana dan ka sini. Adoring crowds welcoming here and there and when he comes home from trips abroad. Self-congratulatory messages that salute his empty achievements at every opportunity….all for an audience of one. Himself.

He craves for attention - the staple diet of those with low self-esteem and inferiority complex. Deny him the attention, and you go into detention....as people in Wismaputra have found out to their costs. He got upset when he went to the UAE because nobody noticed him going there…without the trappings of his office, who will notice him? He is so un noticeable.Kan?

He signed an MOU with PH - an achievement he has crowed about as being groundbreaking…but in the fullness of time, we have all now known it to be for no gain to anyone, except, maybe, to prolong his tenure as PM.

And now it seems, that he has decided to be the champion of an impossible venture that time and time again, has proven to be detrimental and burdensome for all of us….making Malay the language we must all use and the world must now listen to. We Malays and the Malay language has never been on the world stage. We need to adjust to that reality.

But what really are his reason for forcing Bahasa down the throats of Malaysians? For what gain? His personal gain! We have yet to see a Malaysian PM so inept and unable to use English as Ismail Sabri! This weakness is not only glaring but also malu for us Malaysians when displayed and exposed on the world stage.

The photo of him in a RM$5500 Burberry Shirt is deeply damaging to himself and has raised the ire of the suffering rakyat who are now confronted by the spectacle of their prime minister wearing a hideously expensive apparel when Malaysians are having a hard time paying for a roof over their heads and putting food on the table for their families. But what does he care of the starving rakyat? Look at me…I am in a Burbury Shirt that costs over RM$5000. That is just Ismail Sabri being Blur, Bodoh, and a Burberry Bera country bumpkin.

His recent decision to take along family to Japan represented a lack of judgement, a failure of leadership and a carelessness about image that are usually deadly to politicians in a functioning democracy. This kind of lifestyle — while increasingly taken for granted by the political class as their reward for a life of selfless public service — is incomprehensible to the rakyat.

Ismail Sabri is a political amateur thrown into the deep end of an Umno political pool in which large Umno political sharks are lurking ready to make a meal out of him.

I would like to say that Ismail Bera political authority is beginning to fade, but he never had any authority from the very beginning. Plucked from obscurity by Mahiaddin and appointed DPM, Ismail was like a fish out of water from day one. He could not believe in his good fortune at being DPM and was never able to ‘grow’ into the job.

Who or what Ismail Sabri is, can be defined by his comments when speaking to reporters when he was questioned as to whether he had or had not eaten turtle eggs that is prohibited by law in Malaysia. He said “Honestly, I didn’t know that there were laws against it. But to me, that is not the issue. The issue is whether it was consumed or not.”

That says it all…he honestly does not know what he is doing…then and now. God help us.all.