I fully agree with Mustapha Ong Abdullah who suggests

that, given the political reality, there is no chance at all for de facto Law Minister Dr Rais Yatim to be the next Umno president and prime minister. It, however, reflects a rather sad and tragic reality of Umno politics.

How many Malays have obtained a doctorate degree in law from the United Kingdom? Is it not a dream of Malay nationalism that one day, our people will be recognised by the world at large as intellectually competent to rule?

Rais is just the symbol of that long cherished dream. He has made it and become a source of pride and inspiration for younger Malays and yet, because of the feudalist politics of Umno, Rais will never become the president of Umno and prime minister of Malaysia.

Is progress or modernisation of the Malays and Malaysians merely confined to having more fashionable movie stars and singers in Puteri Umno, or having more fun events like the Formula One? How can we convince Malay youth that education, especially modern higher education is vital and crucial if a role model of intellectual success, like Rais is denied the opportunity to become the next Umno president and prime minister, while academically less qualified leaders are still hopeful?

In his own time, Dr Mahathir Mohamad became the source of inspiration and pride to the Malay community by obtaining his degree in the hard discipline of medicine from the prestigious King Edward College in University Malaya in Singapore. After becoming Umno president and prime minister, he brought Malays recognition throughout the world.

Looking back, former Umno president and prime minister, Tun Hussein Onn was really farsighted and statesmanly in selecting Mahathir whom he disliked personally to be the successor, instead of the less controversial but more populist Abdul Ghafar Baba with whom many mediocratic Malays in the kampungs could easily identify.

In fact, Tun Hussein Onn was himself a qualified lawyer while Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra and Tun Abdul Razak Hussein were also legally trained in the United Kingdom. Seen in this perspective, all the four prime ministers and Umno presidents we have so far have been well-qualified academically and recognised by world standards.

Why should we break this tradition just because Mahathir needs a less qualified successor in order not to outshine him and to protect his legacies? Is it not an act of personal betrayal on the part of Mahathir to the community and the nation?

Look at Singapore, all their younger leaders are well-qualified academically. It is the same in the United Kingdom, United States, Australia and other advanced countries. What will be the place of Malaysia in the future if others go forward and upward, while we head backward and downward in terms of the intellectual quality of our top leaders?

How would the academically less qualified top leaders of the party and government cope with the increasingly more qualified (and younger and more assertive) bureaucrats, businessmen, PAS and Keadilan oppositionists, foreign leaders and diplomats and even voters? What kind of image Umno and the government will give to others in the future?

Could mere hardware like higher, taller and larger building compensate for the lack of intellectual qualities of our top leaders? These are the questions the community and nation, including Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (with due respect) must ponder upon seriously on the issue of succession.