'I'm not a political opportunist' - KJ

If Khairy Jamaluddin fails to win the Umno Youth chief post in three weeks time, the Rembau parliamentarian has vowed that he would not give up on politics.

There are many ways to serve, you can serve with position or without, it's not the end of the world," he told Malaysiakini in a 90-minute interview last week.

In his bid for the Youth wing's most-prized post, Khairy sought to paint himself as a liberal in contrast to his other two rivals - former Selangor menteri besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo and Jerlun MP Mukhriz Mahathir, who is son of former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

"I think we have to move to the centre, and we have to reclaim the agenda from 2004," said the deputy Umno Youth chief.

"The reason we were punished at the election, (is) not because we didn't jail protesters under the ISA, not because we are less Islamic or less Malay-centric. It's because we lost our way, we didn't reform fast enough."

Khairy, who once espoused ultra-Malay views, denied he was being a political opportunist in changing his tune.

"I think after the political shock, you'll realise certain things. You'll realise that maybe what you did before was not entirely what the people wanted. There's nothing wrong with that. There's nothing wrong with realising through experience that you need to change."

In this fourth of a five-part series, Khairy also defended his campaign to support Mat Rempits and explained how Umno Youth was inspired to wave the keris at its assembly.

You're facing a failed Selangor MB and a former PM's son (in the contest for Umno Youth chief). What's your biggest challenge?

My biggest challenge is I have, probably have, the most or the worst perception deficit, which is really odd because I am running against (someone like) Khir Toyo.

Khir Toyo said he wanted to go house to house to convey his message to the delegates. Do you agree?

I'm doing that as well. That's the only way to do it actually. I've not been going to the officially sanction ones (meetings) because you'll meet all the other candidates for the (Umno Youth) exco posts, it is very impersonal.

So I've been going to my house-to-house visits. It's cheaper that way because you don't have to entertain them in hotels.

What has been the feedback at these house-to-house visits?

The feedback? We'll see, we'll see.

You don't sound very confident.

I don't want to sound too confident. We are trying to meet as many people as we can and we'll leave it to the delegates to decide.

If Khairy Jamaluddin fails to win Umno Youth chief, what would that mean to you? What would that mean to Umno, given that you're trying to champion reforms within Umno?

If I don't win? It's the end of the universe and the whole world would crumble... [grins] No, of course not. Well, there are many ways to serve, you can serve with position or without, it's not the end of the world.

I hope that I'm not the only one that wants to bring reforms. Everyone wants reforms, and everyone is talking about reforms. But you have to ask what sort of reforms you are talking about. I think it was clear at the TV show (last month's Umno Youth debate), everyone wants reforms. (But) the other two (candidates) want a hardline approach.

My view is that's the wrong way to go. I think we have to move to the centre, and we have to reclaim the agenda from 2004. The reason we were punished at the election, (is) not because we didn't jail protesters under the ISA, not because we are less Islamic or less Malay-centric. It's because we lost our way, we didn't reform fast enough.

Was that because (Prime Minister) Abdullah Ahmad Badawi failed to remove some of the dinosaurs within the party or within BN itself?

I wouldn't say that. I think it's collective effort in managing our success. Sometimes when you have a really successful electoral (outing), like 2004, maybe you'll get a little big headed and maybe you forget what it was that we got such a mandate in the first place.

But there is also doubt over your (talk of) reforms. Some people think that you're a bit of an opportunist...

I don't think it's being opportunistic. I think after the political shock, you'll realise certain things. You'll realise that maybe what you did before was not entirely what the people wanted. There's nothing wrong with that. There's nothing wrong with realising through experience that you need to change.

But when you were a student in UK, you were pretty much pro-reform. But after you joined Umno, you espoused an ultra-Malay position. Was it a mistake? Or perhaps you've joined the wrong party?

I don't think it was a mistake, It was a necessary rite of passage for me. I think I've learnt a lot. I don't discount everything that I went through.

Everybody has a political evolution process, including the biggest politician leaders. Anwar is a case in point; he has evolved so many times. And I think that not everything that I believed in, I still hold on till today. But not everything is cast aside (either).

I tried to get the best out of each experience and try to come out a better person, better politician, and try to adapt to the changing landscape. But certain principles must remain - that's fixed.

Whether or not I joined the wrong party, I don't think so, I mean, no, I don't think I joined the wrong party. I still think that Umno can cater for many people with different views, it's just that maybe the dominant view today is a view that I find myself a little bit at odds with.

But (this is) not to say that I don't belong to the party, but to say that I don't belong in the (party's) mainstream ideology.

If you win the (Umno Youth chief) contest, would you be waving the keris at the next meeting?

The keris would remain, (but) the manner of how it is done will have to be thought out carefully. First of all, I have explained this before, it's not like this has been a tradition since 50 years ago. It just came by the last few years.

The problem with the keris was that it was accompanied by certain rhetoric. The keris itself is not an issue; I think many people don't have an issue with it. It's a ceremonial function symbolic of the Malay culture. And it exists in official protocols in so many different settings.

How did the keris-waving idea come about?

The idea came about when some of us were sitting around going through the process of rebranding the party and we wanted to add this sort of pomp and circumstance at the (Umno Youth) delegate assembly and somebody said, ‘You know, when Parliament opens, there is this element of pomp involved in it.' Somebody said why not we bring in the mace but someone else said mace is really not part of the culture - it's the keris.

We studied footage of the keris in ceremonial settings, for example at the installation of the Agong. Some of them actually unsheathed it and some of them just raised it sheathed. We also studied when Tunku Abdul Rahman came back from London and went to Bandar Hilir Malacca, he actually unsheathed the keris and raised it.

It was decided that the best thing at the point of the time was to raise it, unfortunately, it came together with certain (political) dynamic and that's when it became an issue. So the manner it will be done in the years to come, I think, will initiate a lot of debate. I don't think we should tied down on the form (of how it will be done) but we should engage in trying to depoliticise the entire thing.

How about the issue of Mat Rempits? You were one of the very few who started this idea of rehabilitating them. What would you do if you become Umno Youth chief? Will that continue?

The reason why we did it was because, you see, there is a segment of the population which is extremely problematic. The root causes (of the Mat Rempit problem) are many, not just the simple joy of riding (a bike). There are social factors involved in it, there are economic factors involved in it, there are, of course, criminal factors involved in it as well. So we tried to approach them to understand what makes them tick.

More than anything else I think to rehabilitate this ... subterranean pop culture, is very difficult, but just to understand why they do what they do. Is it just a simple case of youth rebellion or is it a case of something bigger (or) cultural?

I definitely would want to continue to engage with them, but I think the way we sell it must be a bit different. The way we sold it last time was as if we're recruiting this army of Mat Rempits. But it was more, for me at least, to try and understand them and try to explain to some of them about their choices (in life).

The Mat Rempit movement has a lot of similarity with the English football hooligan trait. The hooligans in England, they are not unemployed but have jobs. It's just that they have this fix on Saturdays to go out and bash skulls of the other team. Mat Rempits, many of them, not all of them, have jobs, day jobs.

Some of them work white-collar jobs but they get the thrill out of this. It is their form of rebelling against the social structure. So, it's a very complex issue, I think many people have criticised (us) saying that it's not really complex, but I've been down there and I have seen them and it's a difficult thing to tackle.

But do you end up glamourising them?

Glamourising them? Well, when you approach a certain society like the Mat Rempits, you want to tell them that they can have their day in the sun as well, they are not the great unwashed youth of Malaysia.

Part of their cultural mindset is that this is a good as it gets, like Sunday night prime time on Jalan Sultan Ismail, winning that girl. I mean, KL Drift, that's their highlight of the month. You want to show that actually the world is bigger than that, you want to show that the world is bigger than your 15-second drag race and wining girls is the end of it all.

Would (outgoing Umno Youth chief) Hishammuddin Hussein be a tough act to follow?

Every leader have his own time and own style. I don't think you should benchmark the next leader against Hisham or any other leader. Hisham inherited Umno Youth in a very trying circumstances in 1999 and he built it back up till what is it today and I think he deserve a lot for that and I don't want compare what's about to happen and what he had to go through. It's very difficult.

There is a question from our Parliament team - they say, although you are sitting next to Jerlun MP Mukhriz Mahathir, you don't talk to him. Why is that?

What's there to talk about? You know he wants to jail all the protesters under the ISA and what do I have in common with that?

Source : Malaysiakini

Eksklusif

Khairy, Pak Lah dan 'budak' Tingkat Empat
Me, Pak Lah and the 4th Floor boys
'Saya sombong? Taklah...' - KJ
'Am I arrogant? I don't think so' - KJ
RPK, like KJ, is larger than life