UMNO AGM Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin today claimed he had never asked anything for himself, nor had he ever been the recipient of dedak (animal feed).

In his wrap-up speech at the Umno annual general assembly today, Khairy pointed out how despite not holding any positions in the government, he had raised various issues during his first term as Umno Youth chief.

“I won and became Umno Youth chief but I was put in cold storage.

“Boboi who lost was appointed a deputy minister but I wasn’t disappointed, I istiqamah (persevered) with the president,” said Khairy.

Although he was accused of being “bad” compared to the “pitiful face” of "Boboi", Khairy pointed out to today’s situation – he is still together with the party president.

It was believed that "Boboi" here referred to former Kedah menteri besar Mukhriz Mahathir. Umno leaders and delegates had been referring to Mukhriz by the nickname at the general assembly.

This was an apparent ridicule against Mukhriz who they claimed was given various posts previously due to his father’s influence.

Khairy, earlier in his speech, spoke about the concept of walak (loyalty to one’s leader). Walak, he stressed, was not blind loyalty.

“When we talk about walak, we refer to loyalty that is required in our religion,” he said, adding that loyalty should be given to leaders who do not ask their followers to commit sins.

Explaining the reason why 600,000 Umno Youth members were still loyal to the party president, Khairy pointed out how Najib had always fulfilled the various requests asked of him.

Meanwhile, Khairy, who was tasked with the responsibility to move the early phase of the 2050 National Transformation (TN50) plan, said that this was an important platform for the country.

Citing former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s Vision 2020, Khairy said the plan was top down unlike Najib’s TN50 which was bottom up.

“With Vision 2020, never were the rakyat asked about their views and aspirations."

But when it came to TN50, Khairy said he was instructed by Najib to make visits to the people’s houses first.

“He asked me to talk to youths and not just Umno members about their aspirations for 2050.

“This is a bottom up approach, we can see how the rakyat’s views are taken into account."

Admitting that this was a heavy task to undertake, Khairy, however, promised that he would do his best to show how the BN government was one which listened to the people’s aspirations.

Najib had unveiled the TN50 in his Budget 2017 speech in October.

The government would be launching a series of national discourses to chart the nation's future direction under TN50.

Najib said TN50 would be kicked-started by the young and diverse generation of all races through national discourse.