Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Umno: Money politics persistence

Rais: I've been asked to pay for my votes

Rais Yatim said he had been asked to pay for votes in an upcoming contest for top posts, and warned that money politics would destroy the organisation.

Foreign Minister Rais Yatim said "the majority" of Umno members were more interested in making money out of the election than in voting for the right person.

"The majority of Umno people want to look for money and not for good leaders," said Rais, a member of Umno's decision-making committee who is vying for the vice-presidency.

"We have been approached under the cloak of assistance and cloak of contribution. (But) I'm not a player so you don't see my marks going up very high.

"If you want to be a good player, you have to say yes (to vote-buying)," he told reporters.

Rais, who has been with Umno for over 33 years, said the problem of money politics within the ruling party should be eradicated or it "will surely kill the party."


Source: Malaysiakini

***

Old habits die hard. You can't find a cure for money politics. It is entrenched and calcified within the system. Live with it, whatever, dear Rais.

31 comments:

Luke Siaw said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Jefus said...

It had become an institution long ago only now, openly admitted, money politics.

Only now it will kill the party?

No, no, no,..... the vampires have turned amongst themselves for there was never enough blood to feed their thirst,.....

Russ Kühl said...

Now you promoting communism too?

Money politics is not the problem.

Its the money, full stop. It applies to politics, government approvals and tenders, and even women.

What people will do for money. That is the issue. It seems that the fault lie not in the organizations like UMNO, MCA, PKR or government (both democratic and communist,) but in the education of the citizens of Malaysia.

Obviously, our parents have not done a good job in our upbringing. To give you an example, I was talking to one of the CEO of a PLC the other day about graft and corruption. He was blaming the government and politicians on the widespread abuse of it. I told him it takes two to clap.

He concluded by saying that he actually prefers to pay the money and get it done because it is easier then to 'pitch' or 'persuade' the other party to award or approve a project.

So where is the problem now? Why blame the government and politicians alone for their actions when they are tempted by even greedy businessmen.

Wanna drastic remedy? Just impose capital punishment on people convicted of graft and corruption, like China did. But make sure, our enforcement agency are corrupt free first. We should see a drop in corruption quite quickly.

Longer term, moral and social studies should be made a key subject in schools. Hopefully, taught by teachers who themselves are honest and have the necessary integrity.

Unknown said...

how to eradicate? the whole system is based on patronage now. if the leaders are seen to be corrupted, you expect the ordinary members to be clean?
to me, the only way to reform UMNO is for them to lose in the general election. then, there is a glimmer of hope that the party will return to its roots. anyway, you must thank Mahatir for creating this animal with its rules and culture.

Maverick SM said...

Jefus,

Good parody.

RaZ,

I do not agree that money is the problem. Money is a tool for transaction, for trade and a form of consideration in exchange.

Money politics is essentially corruption; not money per se. It is about those who had the power and influence to elect those aspirants and herein, money is used as a consideration in exchange, not of commodity or services rendered but a deception to unduly influence the result of an election which in the absence of the money reward, who have been otherwise. That's what money politics is about, not money per se, not politics per se, but corruption.

Yok Hoong,

To eradicate, the system must change to make it untenable for money to be the tool of influence; but how could money demotivates? That's the dilemma.

Anonymous said...

payah betul bila ada orang yang asyik ingat duit je.besar betul cabaran seorang ahli politik ini.bila kata tak maw guna duit,ada la pulak yang minta duit.

sepatutnya benda ini dihentikan.ini dah kira jadi macam budaya pulak dengan motto ""ada duit semua jalan"".duit tu memang penting tapi biarlah duit tu diguna dengan cara sepatutnya.

saya pernah dengar cerita ada yang offer sampai berpuluh ribu untuk "swing" undi.wow!

seefei said...

this was reported in the strait time in little dot today. SM going main stream ke?

Maverick SM said...

youthattack,

money is now used as tools for wealth enhancement; it is extremely effective and it is particularly effective in political spheres especially within Umno and to a lesser extend, the MIC and MCA.

seefei,

The Malaysian Home Minister is zooming-in on bloggers and the new classification for bloggers are not amusing.

Anonymous said...

Afternoon Mav,

I am no longer surprise about the money politic bit but am surprise that Rais Yatim spoke out. Very good of him.
Rais Yatim said since he is not a player, his mark don't go very high. So, can I assume Najob got so many vote's coz he been paying for votes? I believe so, even if I am only correct 80%, that is still call vote buying.

Anonymous said...

politik wang dan taktik kotor berlaku bila calon-calon rasa tidak yakin pada diri mereka.jika semua calon dan akarumbi rasa yakin akan pilihan mereka,duit tidak akan menjadi ukuran.yang menjadi ukuran hanya keperibadian dan prestasi kerja.

namun secara jujurnya kita masih belum lagi diperingkat sebegitu.wang masih jadi taruhan.siapa yang banyak wang maka dialah yang akan disokong.sebab itulah ada yang tidak suka bila Abdullah mahu lakukan pembaharuan terhadap BPR kerana takut mereka yang selalu taktik kotor akan diangkut.

Anonymous said...

pordah! this crappy sh*thead should know cos of money politics, amno has survive till now.

Anonymous said...

ROFL.

It will continue to be their issues as long as it is INTERNAL, and ACA can't touch them ;)

Anonymous said...

Rais is talking cock....cakap tak serupa bikin..if he really wants to rid money politics he should go to the police, make the report.

As far as I know..giving a bribe, and asking for a bribe is an offence under our Penal Code..

So Honourable Mr Rais, go make a report..or just shut up.

Anonymous said...

Rais is talking cock....cakap tak serupa bikin..if he really wants to rid money politics he should go to the police, make the report.

As far as I know..giving a bribe, and asking for a bribe is an offence under our Penal Code..

So Honourable Mr Rais, go make a report..or just shut up.

Anonymous said...

"no money,no vote"...is such a bull@#%$!.

this has gotta stop.we cant endure anymore to have the ""no money,no vote"" attitude.if we let this continue,then our future generation will suffer the consequences of our action today.

politician should be evaluate by their performance and not just wealth alone.

Anonymous said...

biasa..lah itu. inikan malaysia.
street protest bukan cluture kita, tapi, ini ialah culture kita.

malaysia kini boleh.

Maverick SM said...

Razali Hakim,

Though I agree with your points, I have to admit that it is not possible because Umno members thrives on this deals and it is entrenched within the value system.

Maverick SM said...

Toolan,

Najib don't need to buy votes; every member in Umno will vote him.

robotik,

Memang betul - wang boleh dapatkan undi.

Moo_t,

You may be right.

Artchan,

He can't make report because it is heresay.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, forgot that everyone now must learn to "poh lam pah", his especially now.
By the way, ACA too should act on this right now that there is a Minister that opened up a can of worm, ACA don't need a police report to act on it right?
But then again, our ACA in Malaysia is rather different from ACA's in HK or the western countries.....tough luck! Actually it is impossible to stop all this, it's a practice that has been going on for ages and not just in Malaysia politics, just that Malaysians now are too tired of BN arrogance and ignorance and every little thing they do will be under scrutiny and people tend to look at it from a negative perspective, there is no more benefit of doubt.

Anonymous said...

mave,

It is not a hearsay, he said that 'he has been asked to pay for votes'. he a direct person here and he knows the corrupted party.

rightly he can log a police report, but leftly, you know malaysia. no point.

police is not going to do anything to those in power. that's a fact. Ahmad the racist is the example, he knows that even aab cannot do anything to him, cos he wanted his support to keep his PM post then. Thus so long as he has his bukit bendera and other unmo people started coming to support him, he know that he is invincible.

get police involved will only get him in jail for making a 'false report', and as usual no witness.

Maverick SM said...

Toolan,

ACA already investigated and found a few members; thus they were already indicted. The rest are clean - Bersih, Cekap dan Amanah.

Anonymous said...

Evening Mav,

That is great, you are serious that the ACA acted on this right? Bravo.....for once the tax payer money well spent!
I must have missed this on the news or was it on the news or on the blogs?
Anyway, good to know as least certain of our current mechanism still functions.
Time for a Tiger beer Mav?

Anonymous said...

eleh! anak Yatim sengkek, kalu tak cukup pulus tak yah nak mengdengki dg kami le, cari makan beb bukan minta 'sedekah'.

Maverick SM said...

Toolan,

Remember: our ACA is much better than ICAC? The ACA DG said so! He said the ICAC learned a lot from Malaysia....

Well, that said, our ACA was fantastic if you recall the numerous arrest in the last few months.

Anonymous said...

Mav,

I used the term 'money' loosely. To be more definitive, its the 'callous pursuit of wealth.'

I think you missed the point. I was trying to point out that there is no difference between money politics and corruption. Or even corruption and prostitution.

But you seem to be more interested in running down UMNO than to seek the reasons why it is so rampant here in Malaysia.

Maybe its easier to criticize and blame other people and organization than to admit to our own human weaknesses.

But then again, isn't that why religion flourish among mankind. We were born primal; selfish, inconsiderate and greedy. And we are taught to differentiate the good and the bad and to be considerate of others. Yet when babies dies, in Islam, they get sent straight to heaven on the premise that they have not learned nor taught on morality and ethics.

So how come the same arguement cannot be used mature adults who are still selfish, greedy and inconsiderate? Are their behaviour, reflection of their upbringing.

Don't get me wrong. I'm no f**king liberal. I'd be the first to volunteer to pull the trigger on a convicted corrupt person regardless their upbringing.

Everyone here seems to only talk about the problem but not the solution. Everyone like to be like Anwar? Make so much noise when he was not in the government only to play the game when he eventually got there.

'Cakap tak serupa bikin' prefectly reflects the mentality in here.

RaZ

Maverick SM said...

RaZ,

Thanks for your clarification.

I am disappointed that you would concoct such allegations of running down Umno. A fact is a fact and this very statement is made by Rais Yatim of which I agree with his point and of which I had also talk to many of the other Umno leaders. If speaking out the empirical facts of Umno is called running down someone, then equally, you are also making the same contention regarding all others within your ideological viewpoint. if you are so dedicated to Umno, then perhaps you are right to be disappointed with my statement.

I did not misconstrue your point on money. You said: "money politics is not the problem; Its monet, full stop."

However, your clarification helps me to understand your point and I have reread your earlier comments substituting the contextual intent and found that it is analogous with my point of contention.

Coming back to my earlier comment made in response to yours, if you care to reread, you will find that I had not made any reference to Umno except to express the ideology of money politics.

In responding to the other commenters I had equally express myself in direct response to their statements viewed from their contention and perspective.

Maybe, you prefer to see it in another perspective.

Unknown said...

mav,

for UMNO, it must go back to her roots. Volunteerism is key. So is the desire to serve the country.
UMNO today has lost all these quainteesentials and today it is a businessman party. Until and unless it revamps, I fear for this country's future as UMNO, whatever form or structure, will still be the dominant player in local politics for many years to come.

Maverick SM said...

Yok Hoong,

You should fear. Money politics is no different from the corrupt system within the civil services and uniform services in which those who could afford to pay gets the special privileges and "rights". Those who can't pay would only need to plead and remain subservient.

Money politics is sometimes effective to get proximity and get connected. It enhance business deals and allows for Muhibbahism.

Russ Kühl said...

Mav,

Yes from my perspective you are seen to be running down UMNO. And the government and Pak Lah and Najib. To me you are just being anti-establishment. But maybe that is the image you wanna project.

Mine is to be your devil's advocate.

While I try to point out possible solutions correct the situation, you choose to ignore. Maybe there's not much hype in presenting solution compared to bitching.

Maybe my proposed solution is trying to address a broader problem and is too radical to consider. For UMNO, the solution to money politics is very simple. They only have to change their 'democratic system.' For example, getting every member to vote for the candidate for presidency would limit the use of money to buy votes.

We all know there is a problem with UMNO, with the government, with the Opposition, with Malaysia. But what I want to see is a leader who is willing to tackle the problem at its roots and make the changes.

So far its only a dream.

Maverick SM said...

RaZ,

Your observed solution is not a solution but rather a solution to another problem. I won't argue with you here coz this is not the right forum.

BTW, your perceiving of me is in itself indication of your self baseness towards my writing as it is clear that you opt to collate the commenters opinions and equate your presumptions. Again I wouldn't want to argue that as there is no end in justifying and do me no justice. You can continue with your perceiving as it is your democratic rights; same do I.

Anonymous said...

Si mamat rais ini orang rembau, nak jual minyak apa pula kali ni??
Minyak lutut, minyak dagu, minyak senyongyong?
Kalau betul pun buat report polis, tentu tahu siapa orang yg nak bribe kan?? Jadi apa nak tunggu buat press report aje. Kata berani ikhlas kerana benar?? Apa tunggu. Buat aje polis report esok mungkin dapat jadi PM.. guarantee punya.
Malaysia ini nak tunggu pemimpin macam ni la....