I was intrigued to read Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's speech made at the recent Umno general assembly.

Taking the cue from his attempt to 'call a spade a spade', I am now taking the liberty of writing this as I see it - what is good for the goose, so to speak.

Mahathir is just another mortal being who did some good, but who is also responsible for gross injustice and abuse of power. Talk to the men and women in the street and listen hard to what is said between the lines - the disenchantment has grown louder with each passing day.

The mainstream media, in their bid to heap accolades on the great leader, did a better job than perhaps the archangel Gabriel. Whatever was uttered was quickly packaged as the greatest wisdom ever thought of by mankind. Now, a centre to study Mahathir's thoughts is in the making.

It is of no surprise that Malaysia's cultural milieu during Mahathir's regime has been compared to that of North Korea or Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

Umno today is no longer what it used to be. As with everything else, Umno has become hugely different from what it was some 50, 40 or even 30 years ago.

Where it once championed the welfare state, Umno today seems full of self-serving individuals with no regard to the welfare of the country, only their pockets.

Networking among Umno members now involves contracts and sub-contracts. Students know that if they want to get rich quick upon graduation, Umno is one route that they ought to consider joining. Thus, it leaves a vast majority of its own members in the lurch.

Umno's membership was once full of teachers, especially in rural areas - in the ulu and kampung. I remember hearing my parents, uncles and aunts - most of whom were teachers - talking about politics and how they staunchly supported Umno.

I remember the saying that you have to be an education minister first in order to move up the

ladder. Then, the teachers were influential in their own small villages.

One prominent politician recently stated that Umno needs to brief teachers on the issues of the day so that they can once again become dominant players in party affairs. I remember during my childhood and school days, you could not find a teacher who was not an active Umno member.

The trend now is reversed: you join Umno for the potentially lucrative business contract. Find me a member who lives their life from paycheck to paycheck like the ordinary rakyat!

With the present cultural milieu dominating Umno, teachers can hardly manage a low-key campaign for a local and divisional posts, for they require roughly millions of ringgit to operate a winning campaign.

The voice from above (read: Putrajaya) is so overpowering that it forces potential local candidates to enslave themselves to political masters in the capital - culture dictates that only the leaders knows what is good for each locale. Local residents have no right of opinion. And we wonder why the rural Malays are avoiding Umno like a plague.

Umno is increasingly becoming a sham and if this continues, it will fast become irrelevant.

Umno leaders are keen to micro-manage everything from deciding the course syllabi at higher institutions, to determining the rules of romance between a girl and a boy (at least, the 'acceptable' behavior in dating).

Where is the ordinary rakyat representated in all this? The Umno general assembly only selectively chooses who they wish to listen to, and this is not from the real grassroots. Is Umno so insecure that it is afraid to hear the opinion of the pakcik and makcik in the kampung?

In order to ensure party survival, the top-down structure within Umno has to go. Umno has to revert to the bottom-up ideal. This empowerment encourages creativity and produces dynamics that are healthy and participatory.

The more that is invested in the ordinary member, the more committed he or she is to its cause. Do away with the personality cult that permeates the present Umno.

Enough with the shenanigans. What is the party of my late grandparents, father, mother, uncles, aunties, and cousins?