The doctor gets a taste of his own medicine

By Tajuddin Rosli

My question is, where is this ORIGINAL UMNO now? The UMNO loved by all Malays, which had united the Malays with other races, which had brought prosperity and tranquility to this nation and its people and which had successfully fought for Independence – that UMNO is no more in existence. It was declared illegal and dissolved by Dr. Mahathir and his friends and replaced by another party named UMNO Baru. If we were to compare UMNO Baru's form and structure to that of the original UMNO, whether from its constitution or principles, where do we find any similarities between the two? The formation of UMNO Baru was an act of treachery and cannot be forgiven either by the members of the original UMNO or new UMNO. Despite the deterioration in my health including a heart attack, I responded by declaring that I would fight the traitors till the bitter end" – Tun Hussein Onn's speech to voters in Parit Raja during a by-election in 1988

Tun Hussein Onn, Malaysia's third Prime Minister, led the country from 1976-1981. Tun Hussein Onn shed tears both when he assumed the premiership after the demise of Tun Abdul Razak and when he left the helm of the party and country to Dr. Mahathir Mohamad years later. While officially, Hussein cited ill health as his reason for leaving, it was later alleged that Mahathir had backstabbed Hussein and used his "jedi" powers to force him out.

We all know that UMNO was founded by Hussein father, Dato' Seri Onn Jaafar and that Onn Jaafar, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Abdul Razak and Hussein Onn worked together to strengthen UMNO. We forget however, that Hussein Onn himself opposed Mahathir's UMNO Baru from the outside. When Hussein Onn was asked why he wasn't a member of UMNO Baru and why he continuously opposed Mahathir, he replied by saying "Firstly we are denied membership in UMNO Baru. Secondly, even if we were to be accorded membership, we disagree with its constitution and style of leadership. Thus we have no choice but to stay out and oppose UMNO Baru."

Hussein Onn on numerous occasions expressed despair and heartache on the disunity that Mahathir seemed to brew. He once said "We all want unity…We want to compromise. We want to reconcile. We want to forget all the differences. We want to return to the right path. But as you all know, all efforts towards unity have failed. Those in power don't pay much attention to our suggestions. They have turned a deaf ear to our advice. We can all see how anyone who advises or disagrees with those in power will be condemned, suspended or sacked from their position. All efforts from within have failed. That is why we now have to act from outside, as Independents."

Malaysia's most loved Prince, Tunku Abdul Rahman walked hand-in-hand with Hussein Onn to oppose Mahathir. While Mahathir recognizes only the Malays' contribution towards independence, the man who actually brought independence to Malaya spoke differently. Tunku openly criticized Mahathir for being power crazy. "We should be wary of the greedy man who wants to grab everything in this country to satisfy his lust for power. He says it is for the Malays, but in actual fact it is for himself. We must bear in mind that the Malays had never lived in affluence and never had a place in the administration of this country. When this country achieved Independence, we gained power with the cooperation of other communities. We were able to rule our own country. We should therefore, never be arrogant and break our promise to our friends in the other communities who had helped us to achieve independence," uttered Tunku.

Back then, Tunku kept pleading with the people to reject Mahathir. He constantly reminded us, "All power is in the hands of the people, provided the people use the power wisely. Solidarity can only be achieved through UMNO, the original UMNO, not UMNO Baru, which is Dr. Mahathir's UMNO."

Portraying the image of a fragile old man, Mahathir quivers and says he is a nobody today and can only voice his concern against Datuk Seri Najib as an ordinary citizen of this country. If memory serves him right, he should be getting flashbacks of what he did to Tunku and Hussein Onn on every occasion that Najib snubs him.

Mahathir is certainly getting back what he gave to those before him. You are treated exactly as you treat others.

Tajuddin Rosli is an FMT reader.

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