Nice guys can win wars too

They said nice guys can't win wars.

I don't think that's quite accurate.

Unless of course if you equate being nice as being stupid.

In that case, I think I can also say nasty guys can't win wars either...as I often equate being nasty as being stupid.

In my opinion, stupid guys are the ones who can't win wars.

There are times to be nice and there are times to be nasty.

Smart people know when to be nice and when to be nasty.

Stupid people don't. That's why they can't win wars.

Same thing applies in politics.

Blogging too.

Whatever it is, I prefer nice guys. The smart and principled ones, okay.

They make life better and win the battles too.

Plain nasty guys tend to be stupid, tiresome and in the end lose the fight.

For me, being nice is good.

This is one of the smart and principled nice guys that I know:

Those who regularly read this blog from the start would know that I always have good things to say about TS Abdul Ghani Othman, the former Johor MB.

I started this blog two months before the end of his tenure in the run up to the last general election, but I have seen his work up close since the early 2000s.

Ghani led Johor BN through the general elections of 1999, 2004, 2008 and 2013.

Johor BN scored 100 per cent in 1999 despite the Reformasi movement at that time.

In 2004, it was almost a 100 per cent again if not for a technical glitch which caused BN to lose the Senggarang state seat.

In 2008, at the height of the rebellion against then PM Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Johor BN only lost the Chinese majority Bakri parliamentary constituency and state constituencies of Skudai, Senai, Bentayan and Mengkibol to DAP along with Maharani and Sungai Abong to Pas.

As for 2013, Johor was hit hard by the Chinese tsunami, yet BN still retained its 2/3 majority in the state assembly and lost only five of the 26 parliamentary seats. It should be noted that about 40 per cent of Johoreans are Chinese. Johor Umno's dominance was however still largely intact with an estimated 83 per cent of Malay electorates voted for the ruling coalition.

Ghani, who was ending his political career at the general election made the ultimate sacrifice of becoming the first Umno leader to contest in a Chinese-majority constituency. He was requested by PM DS Najib Razak to contest the Gelang Patah seat against DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang in a brave but futile effort to stop the Chinese tsunami.

It is a good track record, as far as I'm concerned.

Ghani is a nice guy as he always do things properly.

Johor had a balanced development between rural and urban areas under his leadership.

He was firm and serious as MB, Johor BN chairman and Johor Umno chief, but I always remember him as being fair to all, even to those who considered him as an enemy.

He has always been nice in that sense and I don't remember ever hearing him said things such as "either you are with us or against us", which sounded quite thuggish to me.

Of course there will be people who are going to dispute this, but I stand by what I know of the guy.

Yes, a nice guy can still be a winner.

There is no need to be an unprincipled, immoral etc nasty thug to win.

I think the teachings of Islam requires us to avoid being one of those even during war time.

Therefore, I still believe that the good and nice guys will win in the end, one way or another, insyaAllah.

(Note : Received the news that The Malaysian Insider is closing down as I'm writing this. That's too bad as I guess the journalists there will be having a hard time finding new jobs. Hope they will be okay. I never really like TMI for its mostly pro-opposition coverage, but still, I wish it doesn't have to close down like that. You can read more about it here: The Malaysian Insider to close down)