Thursday 21 January 2016

Encounters with Mukhriz

There was a huge spike in the number of people visiting this blog yesterday after I put up my last post,


It was obvious they wanted to read about DS Mukhriz Mahathir following the demand of Kedah Umno leaders for the man to be removed from his MB and State party chief posts.

I felt quite guilty as I believe they must had expected more from me other than my no comment in that post.

But really, I'm out of politics and don't feel like commenting on it.

Furthermore, I'm not really an expert of Kedah politics, so, I don't think my opinion on the matter should be considered.

I don't have a "great mind" that I can use to comment on something I'm not really in touch with.

The last time I was in Kedah was actually when I was hanging around in Gurun in Nov 2013 at the height of campaigning for the Sungai Limau by-election.

That's quite a while ago and I'm afraid if I try to memandai-mandai (being clever) I may not give an accurate assessment of the situation there now.

However, I think I can share a bit about my experience of meeting Mukhriz a couple of times in the past.

It's just a bit of what I think of the man based on the few memorable encounters with him rather than about Kedah politics.

After all, I think these are going to be the last days of Mukhriz as a politician.

So, I guess it's no harm writing about him before he disappeared altogether.

I had previously wrote about my first encounter with Mukhriz which was sometime in the late 1990s.

But never mind, let me write about it again.

It was at a children colouring contest organised by a bank in KL.

I was observing the kids doing their things and seated next to me was this very ordinary looking guy.

He looked quite young and very well mannered.

I introduced myself and he did likewise.

"I'm Mukhriz," he said as he handed me his name card with a smile.

I can't remember exactly why he was there, but we talked quite a bit.

He even told me about his passion at that time which was scuba diving.

It was all very pleasant.

I only realised that he is the son of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who was then still the prime minister after a friend had a look at his name card and told me so.

I had a few other encounters with him after that but they were just very brief.

He was always still the same, nice, soft spoken and extremely polite.

The next significant encounter I had with Mukhriz was a few months after he became the Kedah MB in 2013 and just a few days before nomination for the Umno elections.

A prominent blogger friend took me to his house in KL for the occasion.

As usual, he was nice.

But I sensed that he tried quite a bit to look more serious, probably because he wanted to project such an image due to his MB post. It didn't last very long though as by the end of our almost two hours conversation, he had reverted back to his usual cheerful and humble boyish self.

Towards the end of it, I asked him the question which I had really wanted to ask.

"Datuk, are you going to contest for the vice-president post or not?"

Mukhriz paused before answering me.

"It's quite difficult for me to decide. Those above don't want me to contest while on the ground, they keep pushing me to do it," he said, still with a smile.

Then somehow I became very bold and said something like this,

"Datuk, if even someone like you decided not to contest, and the Umno leadership remain as it is, what's there to inspire someone like me to continue supporting Umno?

"Please don't tell me we are going into the next general election with the same line-up and same strategy. We didn't do that well in the last one.

"We need someone fresh and untainted like you to be among the top party leaders so that we can improve the party's image.

"I'm not an Umno member but I support the party and is doing all I can to help because I believe in its struggle to unite the Malays for their betterment.

"There are many others out there like me.

"Datuk, you know that I'm not one of your people and will not gain anything for myself if you win. I just want what I think is best for Umno so that I can continue to support it."

Mukhriz seemed to listen to my little rambling but didn't react to it.

However, much to my delight, he announced his candidacy for the Umno vice-president post a few days later.

The odds were against him as it was clear from the start that the party leadership wanted a status quo for all the top posts.

I tried my best to help his campaign.

I even came up with an opinion poll, which results you can see at this posting,


But it was not to be. Mukhriz lost a very close race to the incumbents.

Well, at least he tried.

I met him again during the campaign of Sungai Limau by-election not long after that.


I was with my big boss at that time when we met him as he was going on his campaign rounds.

He talked mostly with my boss but at one point he pointed to me with his usual smile and told my boss "You have to take care of this one".

I just laughed at that.

The last time I met Mukhriz was about a year later at the Umno general assembly.

We chit chatted for a while.

I remember asking how his father was doing as the elderly statesman was not very well at that time.

He told me that his father's condition was not so bad and he was recovering.

Then I did something for the first and only time in my life.

I asked to have a selfie with him.

He obliged.

It's the only picture  of me with a politician till this day.

Well, I wish Mukhriz all the best.

Maybe what happened now is the best for him, after all.

Less stress, I guess, after he quits politics.

17 comments:

  1. Well...what you think will happen to UMNO after this then?

    A lot of disgust going on.

    But I guess it is for the best.

    At least he wouldn't be part of the tainted administration for long.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Many of those attending the PC against Mukhriz are MPs, stationed in KL, appointed to the cabinet and are staunch supporters of 'Cash is King'. A brown-noser (kaki-bodek) since 'Cash is King' was Defense Minister was also there. He was recently alleged to have misused funds destine for orphans, to play golf in the US.
    Well, if these are the sort of people that Najib chose to lead UMNO in GE, I'm lost for words. Or maybe he done't care. As long as he remains PM he is immune from prosecution. GE14 would be postpone indefinitely anyway, most likely due to IS threat. After-all the NSC had made him powerful.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Front row of the PC - front row alone - had the three people who songlaped from Yapeim, lied about the Tabung Haji TRX purchase, and the 3rd one was involved in dubious Felda dealings.

      Bagus la tu.

      They are the minor crooks, sent by the major crook in Putrajaya to do his dirty work.

      Delete
    2. Annie,

      Mukhriz can still hold on as MB if he gets 19 votes in the Dewan or 19 SD.

      Now, we see where PAS loyalty lies. Should they support Mukhriz & slap Najib or slap Mukhriz and support Najib?

      We wait and see.

      Delete
    3. PAS loyalty? Count on Hadi the politikus? Siyasi Tahaluf?

      Delete
  3. He's still the doe-eyed person in politics. Nice guys dont last long. Knew him a long time ago when he went diving with us in Langkawi, fun loving person. Too bad he's been dumped in a barrel of toxic waste with the same bunch of Umno dicks!

    Hope he pulls out of it!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Annie,
    Masih terlalu awal untuk kamu membuat kesimpulan berkenaan nasib dan survival politik YB Muhkriz , mungkin kamu tak faham keseluruhan politik dikedah senario sebenar isu isu ini nak dimainkan oleh barua barua najib malah oleh najib sendiri ,this how politic being played but they are idiot and they willl always fail dan mungkin kamu dah give up dengan politik kotor umno ,tak apa lah itu masalah kamu , Untuk info sebenarnya ,warlord warload yang korup di kedah itu sudah tak tahan dengan etika kerja YB Muhkriz yang tidak boleh menerima kerja kerja kotor seperti makan duit projek kerajaan ,melobi untuk diberi projek dan lain lain lagi ,sebenarnya tak semua ketua bahagian dan ketua sayap yang tahu sidang media tempoh hari diadakan untuk singkir YB Muhkriz mereka ditipu untuk hadir sama tampa diberi tahu tujuan sebenar,saya tak kisah samaada munghkriz disingkir atau tidak kerana sepatutnya YB Muhkriz ditahap lebih tinggi bukan bersama sama pemimpin pemimpin umno yang dah kotor dan jijik dengan rasuah ,sepatutnya YB muhkriz bersama sama kumpulan pemimpin politik yang mahu berkhidmat untuk memajukan negara , Pemimpin seperti KJ yang kamu puja , Zahid hamidi , hishamuddin , semua MKT UMNO dan diketuai oleh Najib adalah pemimpin yang rosak kerana rasuah dan sepatutnya dihumban kedalam lubang Najis kerana terlalu kotor tidak layak untuk meneraju negara , memang sudah sampai masanya umno dijatuhkan dan hicampak ketempat hina kerana umno sekarang bukan umno dahulu ,sesudah Tun M bersara UMNO terus rosak sehingga sekarang yang menjadi tempat kotor, jadi saya rasa YB Muhkriz akan bangkit dengan perjuangan baru apabila umno telah dipupuskan , YB Muhkriz will never finish believe me .
    - roslan othamn Penang.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. For the jibby suckers who shame the good name of Kedah ... you need a whole lotta love to whitewash your hearts ...

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiLKT5rPHBA

      Delete
  5. If I am Muhkriz, I would QUIT.
    Bukanje quit from the post of MB Kedah, I quit jadi
    ADUN, quit from UMNO as well.
    Inilah masa patut diadakan pilihanraya kecil, to test the water. The result will be kayu ukur untuk PRU14.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wa manyak ingat itu barisan UMNO Kedah ,sutak kasi PAS angkat Kedah pada PRU 12 .

    Itu barisan selupa mau jatuh itu Mukriz . Najib manyak pandei maa aa .

    ReplyDelete
  7. Muhkriz should fight. This is the starting point for Najib falls.

    ReplyDelete

  8. Quit if you cannot support UMNO leadership, Yg Bhg DS
    against the brutal attacks by YAB Tun.

    Staying outside the government for a term should help your grassroots experience kan(?) like YB Khairy


    Haji M Zin
    Alor Gajah DPH

    ReplyDelete
  9. Mukhriz is nice, clean, polite. everyone accepts that.

    in politics, though, especially in Malaysia, this type of pemimpin will not succeed.

    like ex Taiwanese President Ma YinJiu, he too was nice guy and clean, but he left a mess after two terms because he cannot do what's right.

    Tun Hussein was a nice guy too, very principled, and didn't last.

    do you expect Mukhriz to arrest the true altantuya killers, najadi killers, Kevin morais killers and to ensure a death penalty to be passed to the culprits? I doubt a nice guy will do that.

    in Malaysia, the faces of those in the mutiny line-ups in Kedah the other day represent the ugly faces of the politikus in Malaysia. they have been here for a very long time.

    they smelled cigarettes, oily faced, sweaty, fat, doubled chin, and they all have shits and will continue to create shit for themselves and their keluarga to consume.

    they have been in Malaysia for a very long time, they know how to manipulate, they know how to instil hatred, they know how to cheat, steal and rob, in the same time appearing as saviour for the bangsa, as the anak bangsa that deserves a part of the country's wealth even though through robbing, stealing and cheating, as the anak bangsa that deserves a pardon for any wrongdoing that had been committed. when the crime committed is serious enough, dead ancestors would be dug up from kubur and be paraded in khalayak ramai to remind the public, that the anak bangsawan should be loved like the dead ancestors during their life time.

    for these politikus , a very strong and ruthless leader is needed. Nice guys will not do the job.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sir, are these assholes high class untouchables or low class untouchables ...

      http://youtu.be/i0KTI7_PCfI

      Delete
  10. Some report told since 2013 Mukhriz had only visits Umno Kedah HQ - once. And his biggest accomplishment in Kedah is - Yahanana yahanana program. LOL. And don't forget Kedah budget still remain deficit since 2013. Yes, he can be proud of the investments in Kedah but comparing himself to previous MB, the ustaz from Pas is really apple vs orange situation.

    This is the end of the road for him in Kedah for sure BUT i believe Najib still need him in Putrajaya. Why? Because he's actually part of Najib's Umno youthful program! Sadly his father ruined everything. Najib is not all out for KJ alone, he knew the potential of Mukhriz. No wonder Najib gave him the best opportunity to lead Kedah.

    Pro Tun always blame PMO about everything but they forgot the support from PMO to raise Mukhriz image as real giant in politic since day one. Pro Tun are truly horrible decease in Umno! If we talk about Pro Tun! It's not all about Tun M home state trust me but pro TSMY team - the little tiny segment in Umno.

    ReplyDelete


  11. 14.13

    So your assessment of the situation in Kedah was based on the "report" of one Jasmeen Fatimah?

    How ignorant could one be?

    ReplyDelete
  12. Kisah pertemuan pertama dengan Mukhriz. Datang lambat ke mesyuarat. Mukhriz yang sedang mempengerusikan mesyuarat pandang. Dia terus beri salam. Sendiri rasa segan. Masa tu dia berusia awal 30-an.

    Kali pertama jumpa Najib dia dah jadi TPM. Selepas majlis berbuka puasa. Dia seorang diri berjalan keluar. Nampak teragak2 bila orang buat tak layan dengan dia. Akhirnya dia hulur tangan bersalam.

    ReplyDelete