Now Najib Slams Anwar And With Some Justification Too.

When you dish out good, be also prepared to receive in kind. This applies well to the former DPM Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. After taking potshots and throwing political darts at Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, the DPM decided enough is enough and came out in retaliation. And he did it firmly and hit exactly where it hurt the most - Anwar's own dismal record as Education Minister vis a vis Chinese education and interests.

Frankly speaking, if we set aside all the rhetoric and emotions linked to the by-election at Ijok and view things from a clear perspective we have to agree that Anwar and the present Umno crowd are but birds of a feather who have stopped flocking together. He played the same race, language and religious cards as Umno leaders before him did, and which the current pemimpin2 are still doing. The only difference is that he was sacked and jailed. Now he has made a 180 degree turn in his 'worldview'. If instead of being kicked out of Umno had Anwar become the Prime Minister would he have subscribed to his present moderate opinion on things Malaysian? I don't have an answer. Let us first read the details on Najib's accusations in this Bernama report.

Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak believes Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) will not get the support of the Chinese community as its advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim failed to fulfil its aspirations when the latter was an education minister.

The Deputy Prime Minister said that as such, Chinese voters would not be taken in by empty promises made by Anwar and the PKR that the party would fight for the Chinese interests, describing them as political gimmicks to fish for Chinese votes in the Ijok by-election, polling of which is on Saturday.

Speaking at a gathering with members of the Chinese community at the Sekolah Menengah Teknik hall in Batang Berjuntai here tonight, Najib said that when Anwar was education minister, he (Anwar) refused to abolish Section 21 (1B) of the Education Act 1991, which empowered the minister to shut down Chinese and Tamil schools, despite repeated calls to do so by the Chinese community.

In exposing the matter, Najib said that it was him when appointed the education minister in 1995 who took the courageous decision to have the section withdrawn when he tabled a new education act in 1996.

"But when Anwar was the minister, he did not want to do it because he wanted to be popular among Malay intellectuals. He is only interested in himself," said Najib.

According to him, this assured that national type Chinese and Tamil schools could continue to exist in the country. "This was my contribution to the Chinese and Indian communities when I was the education minister. We want to ask Anwar when he was the minister (education), what he did (to fulfil the aspirations of the Chinese). When you had the power, what did you do?," he said to thunderous claps from the 1,000 odd people present.

Najib also refuted allegations by the opposition that MCA leaders were not brave enough to champion Chinese interests in the Cabinet and were mere "yes men".
"I have been in the Cabinet since 1986 to this day and I can give the assurance that the MCA leaders in it always speak out for the Chinese and the nation's overall interests.

"Maybe they are not like DAP leaders, always going around shouting this and that. But MCA leaders always discuss matters with the other leaders in the Cabinet, the Barisan Nasional (BN) and Umno," he said.

The Deputy Prime Minister also assured the people of Ijok that the closure of the landfill in Kubang Badak, Batang Berjuntai was permanent and would not be reopened as alleged by the opposition.

Najib also reminded Chinese voters not to be shortsighted and vote for the PKR as this would only benefit PAS.

"If you support Khalid (the PKR candidate), indirectly you are supporting PAS. That party does not have an inkling of what the Chinese want," he said.

At the function, Najib also handed over a cheque for RM1 million for the building of an extension to the Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (Cina) Yuk Chih in Batang Berjuntai. Also present were MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting and the BN candidate, K.Parthiban.

***** That was indeed a very frank and even brutal assessment of Anwar's performance, where he is painted as an opportunist who plays all sides of the gallery for his own advancement and political future. If we are to make a qualitative difference in the way the government runs things by dividing the Malays and non-Malays and practicing extreme favouritism, the only solution is a total overhaul of the system along with the people involved in it. New leaders, especially Malays must come from some other source and not from up the Umno ladder. A good bet would be the younger modern leaders of PAS, if only they could extricate themselves from the shackles of those of an earlier era as well as freeing themselves from stultifying, rigid religious dogma. Of course these are merely my views and you are most welcome to give yours here.
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