When Umno Members Become Traitors

By Raja Petra Kamarudin Last updated Mar 20, 2019

Of course, to those who oppose the Malay cause, I am now a traitor (and a racist to boot). However, to those who support the Malay cause, I am a stray (sesat) who has returned to the fold. But what is quite weird is that all those who espoused the Malay cause of Umno when I was on the ‘other side’, now condemn Umno and support Pakatan Harapan and no longer fight for the Malay cause or condemn me for ‘betraying the Malay cause’.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

If I received RM1.00 every time someone posted a comment in the social media calling me a traitor (or turncoat, frog, etc.), I would be a millionaire by now.

I suppose if I were living in England back during the days of Queen Elizabeth I, instead of during the time of Queen Elizabeth II, I would be called an infidel (kafir) or pagan. Yes, back in those days, Muslims were considered infidels or pagans and the ‘Mohammedan’ religion was a religion for the ‘inferior and uncivilised black people’, not for the ‘superior and civilised white people’.

Hence, what people consider you to be all depends on what they believe in. In Elizabethan England, I am called a kafir. The Qur’an, however, classifies all those English Christians who believe that Jesus is the Son of God as kafir.

So, which one is the kafir, the Muslims or the Christians? That depends on whether you are Muslim or Christian.

The same goes with me being a traitor, turncoat, frog, or whatever. I am a traitor only to the ‘other side’. A Manchester United player who crosses over to Liverpool F.C. would be a traitor to Mancunians but not to Liverpudlians.

My involvement with the Reformasi movement cost me almost all my friends, my business, and my family as well

Anyway, I remember in the early days of the Reformasi movement in 1998-1999 when many of my friends who supported the government shunned me. The Malay College ‘Old Boys’ were divided and eventually I dropped out of MCOBA (the Malay College Old Boys Association) and my ‘MCKK Class of 63-69’ society because of political differences.

Of course, there were some Old Boys who were pro-Anwar Ibrahim or who supported Reformasi, but the majority were pro-government, pro-Umno or pro-Barisan Nasional. Hence we ‘dissidents’ were in the minority and looked upon as pariahs.

So, we Reformasi ‘pariahs’ moved on and I have been out of touch with most of my childhood or school-day friends since the last 20 years or so. At first, I felt hurt, but eventually you get used to living with no friends. Who needs friends anyway if they only want to be your friend if you are of the same political or religious beliefs?

Tunku Alizan was my neighbour who I had many heated debates with and the few I personally know who remain loyal to Umno

My neighbour during those Reformasi days was Tunku Alizan, the brother of the new EPF Chief Executive, Tunku Alizakri Alias. Tunku Alizan’s father, Raja Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Utama Muhammad Alias Raja Muhammad Ali, was the Chairman of FELDA for about 35 years.

Because of my anti-government stand, my contract with FELDA was terminated and the General Manager, who happened to be an Old Boy of MCKK, told me that as long as my name is still associated with the business, FELDA will blacklist me.

I was forced to sell off the business to another Old Boy, a classmate of Anwar Ibrahim, but he ended up not paying me one Sen of the RM1 million he owed me — and I just left it at that. I also lost my land because he did not pay off the bank loan and redeem my land like he promised to do so (so not all Old Boys are gentleman and men of their word).

Raja Muhammad Alias was the FELDA Chairman during the Reformasi days but since then FELDA has gone to the dogs

Anyway, back to the story of Tunku Alizan, the brother of the new EPF Chief Executive. Tunku Alizan is a lawyer and was, and still is, in Umno Bukit Bintang. So, we had many ‘debates’ (which were actually arguments) across the fence, sometimes which went on for hours. I spoke about justice, good governance, an end to abuse of power and corruption, etc., while he spoke of the Malay cause.

I debated Nazri back in the Reformasi days and what he said then is the opposite of what he is saying today

It was during this same period that I had a closed-door debate with Nazri Abdul Aziz, organised by the MCKK Old Boys from his batch. Basically, the debate was the same as those debates I had with Tunku Alizan. Nazri defended his ‘Malay cause’ while I opposed Umno in preference of justice, good governance, an end to abuse of power and corruption, and so on.

To sum up, Nazri insisted that Umno, and he, was defending the Malays against the non-Malays. And to them, Reformasi and the Barisan Alternatif of DAP, PKR and PAS means betraying the Malay cause and handing power to the Chinese.

Nevertheless, I still felt there was a more noble and higher cause than the Malay cause, so I persisted for another 13 years or so. But then things began to change. Pakatan Rakyat began to do things that we were supposed to be fighting against. Pakatan Rakyat began turning into the devil we were supposed to kill. And the Malay cause of Umno was being replaced with the Chinese cause of DAP.

What did we achieve in the end other than replacing one devil for another?

I lost all my friends, I lost my business, many of my family no longer regard me as family, and what do I get in the end? I just helped replace one tyranny with another. And the last straw was when DAP tried to kill off PAS. That was when I decided maybe the Malay cause is the correct cause after all.

Of course, to those who oppose the Malay cause, I am now a traitor (and a racist to boot). However, to those who support the Malay cause, I am a stray (sesat) who has returned to the fold. But what is quite weird is that all those who espoused the Malay cause of Umno when I was on the ‘other side’, now condemn Umno and support Pakatan Harapan and no longer fight for the Malay cause or condemn me for ‘betraying the Malay cause’.