Pak Lah's last stand
Teh TarikPublished: Sep 22, 2008 5:08 PM | Updated: Sep 22, 2008 5:12 PM
Dear Pak Lah,
The end is near. But how will you play your finale? Why not do some good things before you are pushed out? Why not leave something that people will remember you for?
This is now a question of your legacy. How do you want to be remembered in history? How about as the man who – in a heroic last stand before he quit - finally displayed some bold leadership?
The Umno knives have been unsheathed. Caesar died the death of a thousand cuts on the floor of the Roman Senate. You faced several verbal stab wounds at the recent Supreme Council meeting. And you will face 1,000 keris vote-stabs on the floor of PWTC.
Yet strangely, death can give fresh energy. When a doctor tells a cancer patient he has only six months left to live, he can suddenly gain deep insights. For instance, workaholics may suddenly realise that life is not about how many luxury cars they can accumulate but how important family and friendships are.
If you manage to cling on, say until Dec, your last few months in power will present you with a golden window of opportunity to do the right thing. Because, having nothing to lose anymore, you will gain a strange freedom to become a statesman and forget about narrow Umno political calculations.
You were our great hope for change in 2004 and you messed it all up – big time. But never mind, better late than never. Here are some suggestions on how you can steal the thunder from Anwar Ibrahim.
1. Push through the IPCMC to improve the police force. Replace the current IGP with someone who will start combating crime and internal police corruption seriously.
2. Establish the Judicial Commission to ensure only competent judges are promoted. Clean up the illegal immigrants from Sabah and elsewhere.
3. Nationalise the highway concession holders so that tolls can be cut. And announce that all toll profits will go towards improving public transport.
4. Reduce the petrol price to RM2, to inject more confidence into the economy in these turbulent times.
5. Set free all ISA detainees and have a national reconciliation dialogue.
6. Announce that all government projects will be given out by transparent open tenders.
7. Set up an independent National Ombudsman to get tough on corruption starting from
Oct 1.
Of course, some of these steps will invite all kinds of objections, especially from your colleagues. But be brave. Your Umno ‘friends’ are already showing you what their ‘loyalty’ means.
As the Chinese saying goes, before you are killed (by your enemies), grab a fistful of sand (and throw it into their eyes).
Yes, you can be forced out, but at least you can limit the economic plundering before you leave, by the reforms above. You are still the prime minister. Surely you still have some power left. You are still holding aces in your hand, especially the corruption files on the political warlords.
You’ve tried the same old tired Umno formula of provoking the Malays against the Chinese. But this time, it's not working as well as in 1969. Or 1988. The world has changed, the people have wisened up to political manipulation.
So why not do something different? Admit that you made some mistakes. If you are sincere, we will forgive you. Malaysians can be quite a forgiving, soft-hearted lot.
With these bold reforms, your party will hate you but most Malaysians will love you. These reforms are about building good institutions and even after you quit, your successor cannot easily backtrack on them.
In other words, it would be your greatest farewell present to us. And we will forever remember you fondly for your legacy even though Umno pulls you down.
They say you’re a ‘nice guy’ caught in the wrong job. So why not win back some respect from Malaysians before you resign? Who knows, after you do all that, the voters may love you so much that Umno will not dare to force you to resign after all and Anwar will have the wind taken out of his sails.
In other words, as you save Malaysia, you may well end up saving yourself too. If not, then perhaps the next best bet is to be remembered as a fair, decent guy who at least allowed someone else – Anwar – to take over the country peacefully and to deliver the reforms that you could not push through yourself.
Either way, please let all Malaysians remember you as the man who did the right thing in the end.
The end is near. But how will you play your finale? Why not do some good things before you are pushed out? Why not leave something that people will remember you for?
This is now a question of your legacy. How do you want to be remembered in history? How about as the man who – in a heroic last stand before he quit - finally displayed some bold leadership?
The Umno knives have been unsheathed. Caesar died the death of a thousand cuts on the floor of the Roman Senate. You faced several verbal stab wounds at the recent Supreme Council meeting. And you will face 1,000 keris vote-stabs on the floor of PWTC.
Yet strangely, death can give fresh energy. When a doctor tells a cancer patient he has only six months left to live, he can suddenly gain deep insights. For instance, workaholics may suddenly realise that life is not about how many luxury cars they can accumulate but how important family and friendships are.
If you manage to cling on, say until Dec, your last few months in power will present you with a golden window of opportunity to do the right thing. Because, having nothing to lose anymore, you will gain a strange freedom to become a statesman and forget about narrow Umno political calculations.
You were our great hope for change in 2004 and you messed it all up – big time. But never mind, better late than never. Here are some suggestions on how you can steal the thunder from Anwar Ibrahim.
1. Push through the IPCMC to improve the police force. Replace the current IGP with someone who will start combating crime and internal police corruption seriously.
2. Establish the Judicial Commission to ensure only competent judges are promoted. Clean up the illegal immigrants from Sabah and elsewhere.
3. Nationalise the highway concession holders so that tolls can be cut. And announce that all toll profits will go towards improving public transport.
4. Reduce the petrol price to RM2, to inject more confidence into the economy in these turbulent times.
5. Set free all ISA detainees and have a national reconciliation dialogue.
6. Announce that all government projects will be given out by transparent open tenders.
7. Set up an independent National Ombudsman to get tough on corruption starting from
Oct 1.
Of course, some of these steps will invite all kinds of objections, especially from your colleagues. But be brave. Your Umno ‘friends’ are already showing you what their ‘loyalty’ means.
As the Chinese saying goes, before you are killed (by your enemies), grab a fistful of sand (and throw it into their eyes).
Yes, you can be forced out, but at least you can limit the economic plundering before you leave, by the reforms above. You are still the prime minister. Surely you still have some power left. You are still holding aces in your hand, especially the corruption files on the political warlords.
You’ve tried the same old tired Umno formula of provoking the Malays against the Chinese. But this time, it's not working as well as in 1969. Or 1988. The world has changed, the people have wisened up to political manipulation.
So why not do something different? Admit that you made some mistakes. If you are sincere, we will forgive you. Malaysians can be quite a forgiving, soft-hearted lot.
With these bold reforms, your party will hate you but most Malaysians will love you. These reforms are about building good institutions and even after you quit, your successor cannot easily backtrack on them.
In other words, it would be your greatest farewell present to us. And we will forever remember you fondly for your legacy even though Umno pulls you down.
They say you’re a ‘nice guy’ caught in the wrong job. So why not win back some respect from Malaysians before you resign? Who knows, after you do all that, the voters may love you so much that Umno will not dare to force you to resign after all and Anwar will have the wind taken out of his sails.
In other words, as you save Malaysia, you may well end up saving yourself too. If not, then perhaps the next best bet is to be remembered as a fair, decent guy who at least allowed someone else – Anwar – to take over the country peacefully and to deliver the reforms that you could not push through yourself.
Either way, please let all Malaysians remember you as the man who did the right thing in the end.
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