Every few years or so, all Malaysians are treated to a spectacle by Umno politicians stricken with the intellectually debilitating 'foot-in-mouth' disorder. Umno Youth chief Hishammuddin Hussein Onn seems to be suffering from a particularly nasty case of this, apparent from the statement he made following a gathering where he was seen aimlessly waving in the air an antiquated weapon and behaving in a manner not expected of cabinet ministers in the 21st century.

But jests aside, I wonder if Hishammuddin and his cheering hoards in Umno Youth (and Umno in general) pondered the significance of his later statement about the Chinese Malaysian community's alleged fear of his antiquated weapon? You see, the same can be said of the Umno community.

If the Umno community is still perturbed and fearful of standing on their own feet, working hard and earning their fair share of the local economic pie, then I believe the Umno community will be unable to compete in the present world which talks about globalisation, technology and free trade zones.

Umno will eventually lose even more support from the bumiputera community it purportedly 'struggles' for. The bumiputera community will eventually grow tired of Umno politicians constantly hammering home the message that they are weak and need crutches to get by in life.

They can see how bad blood is infused at their expense among the other Malaysians by the racially-loaded statements of Umno politicians. And like the rest of the Malaysian community, the bumiputeras are, of course, tired of seeing only a handful of unqualified cronies receiving the multitude of economic benefits in their name.

What Hishammuddin and his handlers in Umno fail to realise (or are choosing to ignore) is that the under-appreciated and discontent leaders of tomorrow, the visionaries, the scientists, the technically-skilled, the gifted among Malaysians will eventually move on to societies that appreciate talent, hard work, integrity and fair play. Those that remain will never be able to flourish or realise their potential.

At the end of the day, the policies of Umno and such antics from the likes of Hishammuddin will ensure only one thing for Malaysia - a society that can only muster leaders who do no more than spout chest-thumping slogans. And wave around an antiquated weapon, a fitting symbolic representation of the antiquated political landscape that defines Malaysia.