COMMENT There is a saying, ‘A rotten apple spoils the barrel’ and Jamal Mohd Yunos is that rotten apple, which Umno leaders have failed to deal with.
Given a licence to carry a gun, despite allegedly threatening the life of a fellow party member, the police have yet to seize his gun or hauled him up for further questioning.
I am surprised to read Tourism and Culture Minister Nazri Abdul Aziz also said that the Umno divisional leader of Sungai Besar does not represent 197 divisional leaders.
Others like Noh Omar have also distanced themselves from Jamal, yet none of them did anything to stop the show of aggression against the Bersih 5 convoy. We shall see this weekend if the acts of aggression abate.
These shameless acts are now for many people to see for themselves. They are flashed out on YouTube and other social media. These Umno members are out to deny others their democratic rights to assemble, and this is what makes me angry. I wonder if they themselves have even applied for a police permit to assemble. See this video clip.
Now, every man on the street including the rural folk can now see the thuggish actions by some of the red shirts, while others are simply following without a clue of what they are doing. Using a mobile phone alone, it is easy to show our parents in the villages who these thugs are. It is time for Sarawakians and Sabahans to know who are using illegitimate means to remain in power.
It also clearly shows that the government under Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has lost control of its own party members, and should a riot spark out, both Najib and his entire cabinet would be be held responsible for any bloody incident.
The powers are in their hands, but they chose to allow things to take their course without stopping the aggressive party.
How will Umno leaders now be able to convince the citizens of this country that the government promotes moderation and 1Malaysia, when its own members are involved with these thuggish acts?
When itcomes to election, the politicians come to us and say, “We are your friends” but on other days, they treat us as though we are dumb as if we cannot differentiate between Umno members and the red shirts.
Evil triumphs because...
The fact that these 197 divisional leaders mentioned by Nazri - and this should also include Najib as well - did nothing about disciplining its members like Jamal and Mohd Ali Baharom (‘Ali Tinju’) shows that Umno is indeed a party that does not understand or uphold peace in this country.
As Edmund Burke puts it, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” It is tragic that good Umno leaders - if there is even one left by now - are keeping very quiet over the recent incidents involving their own men.