'SAPUISM'

'SAPUISM' is defined as 'the act to acquire personal wealth through dubious and unscrupulous means, and at the shortest time possible'. Sapuism is derived from the Malay word 'sapu', meaning to sweep.

I have coined the above definition to aptly described the act by a Political Secretary to a Senior government Minister who is reported to have amass huge amount of ill-gotten wealth that is beyond his means, within a short period of time that he is with the Senior Minister.

Many have asked that if this person could amass so much of wealth, then what of the others in the circle of the Senior Minister's office? Would it not be strange that the Senior Minister is oblivious to the 'thievery acts' of his own personal staff, or was the act carried out with the connivance of the Senior Minister himself? If anyone were to say to me that the Political Secretary was acting alone, I most certainly would not want to believe it. He must have acted with some conniving parties; whoever it maybe.

I believe too that 'sapuism' is not a strange act among those who claim to be in the inner circle of the minister's office, and I suppose for that matter in all other government ministers offices. The talk around town these days are that those working in the ministers offices are an 'elite lot', driving around in flashy cars, spotting expensive homes and dinning in posh hotels. I believe there are honest ones too, but they too have been perceived to be dishonest merely on grounds that they are associated with those deemed to be corrupt.

Now, this takes me to the latest article posted by Tun Dr. Mahathir in his blog titled 'UMNO' in which he wrote about a statement uttered by a retired senior UMNO leader who said that “UMNO is rotten to the core”. It is a damning article by Tun Dr. Mahathir of his own political party, and I suppose he fears that if this poor perception of UMNO is not address properly, what the country will get in the end is a totally corrupt government.

I do not know how the present UMNO leaders feels about what Tun Dr. Mahathir has written, but there is nothing in Tun's article denying what has been said to him by the retired senior UMNO leader. It is therefore quite obvious that Tun is also in subtle agreement with the statement made by the retired senior UMNO leader. I am surprise that no UMNO leader has come forward to strongly condemn Tun on his article, or have they been silenced by the truth, as revealed by Tun Dr. Mahathir. Tun certainly has done something abnormal by saying things that are bad for the party, and a bitter pill to swallow by current UMNO's leadership.

The ball is now at the feet of Najib and his party leaders. To deny is to challenge Tun, and to accept is to face the wrath of the Malays, and a sure loss of face for the party. The question asked is, what's next for UMNO in its efforts to counter such negative perception and to remain relevant?


CRUSADE AGAINST CORRUPTION