Melaka, bellwether state, reading: Beware!

The article critiques the purported alliance between Umno and PN in Melaka, highlighting its instability and questioning the likelihood of achieving political, economic, and social cohesion.

It discusses the shifting political landscape in Melaka, marked by betrayals, party switching, and unresolved tensions, which undermine claims of unity and reform.

Despite a recent electoral victory, the article argues that this unity is superficial and prioritizes political dominance over genuine governance and reform.

Overall, the narrative portrays a political climate in Melaka marked by chaos and the erosion of democratic principles.

SEPT 10 — It’s an oxymoron when people claim it is only through Umno and PN coming together — for the nation but first Melaka — that political tranquillity, economic dynamism and social justice will prevail.

This is not to negate the present electoral mathematics, which guarantees victory for Umno and PN in the state the size of Hulu Selangor.

But to say their win will likely turn the precursor to a greater nation is premature. To begin with, they believe in a country which prioritises some Malaysians, and not so much other Malaysians.

This column asserts any short-term gain by Umno and PN together tends to also unravel in record time. Splendidly, the past six years in Melaka exemplifies the toxicity of the Umno-PN relationship.

It is easy to forget the shenanigans in the historical city, as events have sped past and its excrements swept under the Dataran Pahlawan turf. Melaka Hilir deserves better.

The second smallest state is rife with instability. Here’s the painful recap.

In 2018, Pakatan Harapan formed the first non-Barisan Nasional (previously Alliance) government under Amanah’s Adly Zahari.

It was an uneventful period, which bodes well for the first alternative government.

National events victimised Melaka, initially, but so much thereafter was the state’s own undoing.

The shocking resignation of Mahathir Mohamad in February 2020, not only forced a change of federal government but also paved the way for state switches.

In Melaka, two from Bersatu quit the government, unsurprising considering Muhyiddin Yassin with the majority of the party plus Umno and PAS, stormed to national power.

The shocker was two Pakatan reps, excos no less, quit the coalition. Norhizam Hassan Baktee (DAP-Pengkalan Batu) and Jailani Khamis (PKR-Rembia) were rewarded with them keeping their old exco positions.

Umno’s Sulaiman Ali was picked by the party to be chief minister.

Now it must mean everything’s hunky-dory. With this correction.

The dastardly DAP was removed from running Melaka. They were still the bogeyman, and there was hardly any public rancour towards ex-Adun Norhizam.

Umno, Bersatu and PAS together in power to make Melaka great again was the spin. After 500 years, finally a Malay coalition to run the old kingdom.

Yet, the honeymoon only lasted 19 months.

Umno does it to itself — with no DAP DNA footprint.

When the government switch occurred, among the Umno Aduns was Idris Haron who led the state for five years (2013-2018) before the GE14 debacle. Now with Umno back helming Melaka, the naïve likely conclude Idris would act as mentor to Sulaiman. After all, Idris had institutional knowledge and a chance to raise Umno’s bar.

That they’d have monthly tea with French macarons.

Instead, Idris led one other Umno rep Nor Azman Hassan, along with Bersatu’s Noor Effandi Ahmad and yes, that name again, Norhizam to withdraw support for the Umno Melaka government.

Apparently, they felt after Umno saved Melaka from Pakatan in 2020, they needed to save Umno from Umno.

Sulaiman is forced to go to the polls.

Here’s the rub, after almost two years with PN running the state, Umno were disinclined to contest with them. Idris, sacked by Umno, contests as a PKR candidate — difficult to defend PKR in these instances. He duly loses.

The voters, rather than punish BN for being a flake, akin to the tantrums of a spoilt six-year-old, gift the coalition 21 wins.

While Idris goes the other way — Umno to PKR — unsuccessfully, Jailani the 2020 defector goes the opposite direction. The ex-PKR dude by then was a reformed Umno leader. He defends Rembia for BN-Umno and wins.

Sulaiman now, yes now, gets to have his time to govern. With a two-thirds majority made purely of just BN — 18 Umno, 2 MCA and 1 MIC. This is actual bliss. No preservatives, just original content.

Surely, surely, it will be plain sailing to 2026.

Sixteen months later, Sulaiman resigns for a myriad of reasons, including his health. He was 56. On March 31, 2023, Melaka Umno chief Ab Rauf Yusoh is sworn in as chief minister.

In hindsight, Melaka seems to represent best the turbulence and chaos of Malay-costumed unity initiatives and Umno’s own self-destructiveness.

But before the parties, let’s grade the Melaka voters. They appear to be goldfishes — with very short term memory.

The past vanishes as they are divided into two camps; those obsessed with Malay unity and therefore wilfully ignore all pressing misdeeds and disorganisation, and the other, abjectly disappointed with Pakatan’s inability to purchase enough reforms.

Though I might want to add in this Merdeka festivities, those who demand change should introspectively ask themselves how much they are willing to change too.

This one-way street thinking and feigning innocence as whining victims risk turning stale. All of Malaysia must reform, including ourselves.

To the parties then, firstly, Umno.

It is a chaotic organisation bent on victory rather than principle.

Consider this, Umno President Zahid Hamidi has asked Ab Rauf to choose his mates for the upcoming state election.

Zahid will let Ab Rauf get on with getting the best possible result for Umno.

A decision to work together based on who gets to govern is predatory. It is about mining the voters, rather than presenting ideas for the voters to choose. It reduces elections to merely identity rather than ability or intent.

Because, wait for this, as Umno and PN march forward to nomination day, PAS will likely name Jailani.

It is difficult to keep up with Melaka bits but shortly after winning for Umno, Jailani gets suspended by the party.

He now joins PAS. Umno mulls wanting to sue him for RM100 million. Nothing comes of it.

The past three years, PAS has a seat in the Melaka assembly, thanks to Jailani. It’s unlikely they’d abandon him. Umno is adamant to contest all 21 races it won in 2021 which includes Jailani’s Rembia.

There is a more than outside chance that Jailani will now contest for his third party in three consequent Rembia elections and win it. Election Commission officers would have to check their records.

The curiosities aside, in spite of just a few years ago wanting to bankrupt Jailani, through this turn of events, Umno’s full machinery may have to campaign for Jailani.

That’s how irresponsible things may play out in the state and voters are going to completely look away and just stick to the unity efforts, whatever that means.

If and when Umno and PN win in Melaka with all that has preceded, it marks the end of political innocence and forebodes the collapse of sensible democratic ideals.

The luxury of being able to let go

The summer movie season ends with two surprisingly very good blockbusters

The doctor from Pasar Road who wanted Malaysians (and everybody else) to be safe from nuclear war

Ceiling fire at Jengka Hospital wards forces 17 to evacuate, no injuries reported

Man killed by elephant while searching for missing cow in Kuala Krai

Man dies after suspected heart attack, falls into septic tank pit in Kota Bharu

文章批评了巫统和国盟在马六甲所谓的联盟，强调了该联盟的不稳定性，并质疑实现政治、经济和社会凝聚力的可能性。

它探讨了马六甲不断变化的政治格局，其中充斥着背叛、政党更迭和悬而未决的紧张局势，这些都破坏了团结和改革的说法。

尽管最近取得了选举胜利，但文章认为这种团结是肤浅的，它将政治统治置于真正的治理和改革之上。

总体而言，该叙事描绘了马六甲混乱的政治氛围和民主原则的侵蚀。

9 月 10 日——有人声称，只有巫统和国盟团结起来——为了国家，但首先是为了马六甲——才能实现政治稳定、经济活力和社会正义，这本身就是自相矛盾的。

但这并非否定目前的选举数学规律，这种规律保证了巫统和国盟在像乌鲁雪兰莪州这样大小的州取得胜利。

但要说他们的胜利很可能使这个国家走向更强大的未来，还为时尚早。首先，他们信奉的是一个优先考虑部分马来西亚人而非其他马来西亚人的国家。

本文指出，巫统和国盟联手取得的任何短期利益都往往会在极短时间内化为乌有。马六甲过去六年的局势便是巫统与国盟关系毒性的典型例证。

人们很容易忘记这座历史名城曾经发生的种种丑闻，因为时光飞逝，那些污秽之事也被掩盖在英雄广场的草坪之下。马六甲新城理应得到更好的对待。

第二小的州极度不稳定。以下是令人痛心的概述。

2018年，希盟组建了第一个非国阵（前身为联盟）政府，由诚信党的阿德利·扎哈里领导。

这段时期风平浪静，这对第一届候补政府来说是个好兆头。

最初，国家大事使马六甲遭受重创，但此后很多事情都是该州自身造成的毁灭性后果。

2020 年 2 月，马哈蒂尔·穆罕默德的突然辞职不仅迫使联邦政府更迭，也为各州政权更迭铺平了道路。

在马六甲，两名土著团结党成员退出政府，考虑到慕尤丁·亚辛凭借该党多数席位加上巫统和伊斯兰党的支持，强势夺取了国家政权，这并不令人意外。

令人震惊的是两名希盟代表（行政议员）退出了联盟。 Norhizam Hassan Baktee（民主行动党-Pengkalan Batu）和Jailani Khamis（公正党-Rembia）因保留原来的行政职位而获得奖励。

巫统的苏莱曼·阿里被党推选为首席部长。

现在看来一切都万事大吉了。有了这项修正。

卑鄙的民主行动党被赶下了马六甲的政权。他们仍然是众矢之的，公众对前州议员诺希扎姆几乎没有任何敌意。

巫统、土著团结党和伊斯兰党联合执政，旨在重振马六甲昔日荣光，这就是官方的宣传口号。五百年后，终于出现了一个马来联盟来治理这个古老的王国。

然而，这段蜜月期只持续了19个月。

巫统自取灭亡——没有民主行动党的任何基因痕迹。

政府更迭之际，巫统州议员伊德里斯·哈伦曾于2013年至2018年担任马六甲州州长，直至第14届全国大选惨败。如今巫统重掌马六甲州政权，一些人或许会天真地认为伊德里斯会成为苏莱曼的导师。毕竟，伊德里斯拥有丰富的经验，也有机会提升巫统的水平。

他们每月会一起享用一次下午茶，配上法式马卡龙。

相反，伊德里斯带领另一位巫统代表诺阿兹曼哈山，以及土团党的努尔阿凡迪艾哈迈德和诺希占，撤回对巫统马六甲政府的支持。

显然，他们认为巫统在 2020 年将马六甲从希望联盟手中拯救出来之后，他们需要将巫统从巫统手中拯救出来。

苏莱曼被迫去投票。

问题在于，在国盟执政近两年后，巫统不愿与其竞争。被巫统开除的伊德里斯以人民公正党候选人的身份参选——在这种情况下，人民公正党很难为其辩护。不出所料，他落败了。

选民们并没有因为国阵像被宠坏的六岁孩子一样反复无常而惩罚它，反而让该联盟赢得了 21 场胜利。

伊德里斯的路线与此相反——他从巫统转投人民公正党，但最终失败；而2020年的叛逃者贾拉尼则走了相反的路。这位前人民公正党成员当时已是改过自新的巫统领袖。他代表国阵巫统联盟捍卫伦比亚选区，并最终获胜。

苏莱曼现在，没错，就是现在，终于可以好好执政了。他凭借完全由国阵组成的三分之二多数席位——巫统18席，马华公会2席，国大党1席。这简直是人间天堂。没有粉饰，只有纯粹的原创内容。

肯定，肯定，到 2026 年将会一帆风顺。

十六个月后，苏莱曼因包括健康在内的诸多原因辞职，享年56岁。2023年3月31日，马六甲巫统主席阿布·拉乌夫·尤索宣誓就任首席部长。

事后看来，马六甲似乎最能代表身着马来服饰的团结倡议所带来的动荡和混乱，以及巫统自身的自我毁灭性。

但在讨论政党之前，让我们先来评价一下马六甲的选民。他们似乎就像金鱼一样——记忆力非常短暂。

随着他们分裂成两个阵营，过去的事情也随之消失：一派痴迷于马来人的团结，因此故意忽视所有紧迫的不当行为和混乱局面；另一派则对希望联盟无力进行足够的改革感到极度失望。

虽然我可能想在这次独立日庆祝活动中补充一点，但那些要求变革的人应该反思一下，他们自己又愿意做出多大的改变。

这种单向思维和装无辜、怨天尤人的受害者姿态，终将走向衰败。马来西亚全民都必须改革，包括我们自己。

那么，接下来是各方，首先是巫统。

这是一个混乱的组织，一心追求胜利而非原则。

想想看，巫统主席扎希德·哈米迪已经要求阿布·拉乌夫为即将到来的州选举挑选他的竞选伙伴。

扎希德将让阿布·拉乌夫继续为巫统争取最好的结果。

以谁能执政为前提的合作决定是一种掠夺行为。它旨在榨取选民的利益，而不是向选民提出可供选择的方案。它将选举简化为身份认同的较量，而非能力或意愿的较量。

因为，请注意，随着巫统和国盟进入提名日，伊斯兰党很可能会提名贾拉尼。

马六甲的种种细节很难跟上，但贾拉尼在巫统赢得选举后不久就被该党停职了。

他现在加入了伊斯兰党。巫统曾考虑起诉他，索赔1亿令吉。但最终不了了之。

过去三年，伊斯兰党（PAS）在马六甲州议会中占有一席之地，这要归功于贾拉尼。他们不太可能放弃他。巫统则坚持参加2021年赢得的全部21个选区，其中包括贾拉尼所在的伦比亚选区。

贾拉尼很有可能代表他的第三个政党参加接下来的三次伦比亚选举，并且全部获胜。选举委员会官员需要查阅相关记录。

撇开这些奇闻轶事不谈，尽管几年前巫统还想让贾拉尼破产，但通过这一事态发展，巫统的整个机器可能不得不为贾拉尼奔走呼吁。

这就是不负责任的事情在该州可能造成的后果，选民们会完全视而不见，只关注团结的努力，无论这意味着什么。

如果巫统和国盟在马六甲赢得选举，考虑到之前发生的一切，这将标志着政治纯真时代的终结，并预示着明智的民主理想的崩溃。

能够放手的奢侈

夏季档电影以两部出人意料的优秀大片落下帷幕

那位来自巴刹路的医生希望马来西亚人（以及其他所有人）免受核战争的威胁

珍卡医院病房天花板起火，17名患者被迫疏散，无人受伤

在瓜拉吉赖，一名男子在寻找走失的牛时被大象撞死。

一名男子疑似心脏病发作后坠入哥打巴鲁化粪池，不幸身亡