The Apology of Hishammuddin- Party’s Interest First
From The Star
Saturday April 26, 2008
Hisham regrets wielding keris, he apologises to all Malaysians
By TEH ENG HOCK
Hishammuddin: I take responsibility for the keris waving
KUALA LUMPUR: Umno Youth chief Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein has admitted that his raising of the keris was among the causes of the Barisan Nasional’s poor performance in the general election.
Apologising to all Malaysians for his action, he said: “If it affected anyone, I cannot run away from the reality of it. I apologise to the non-Malays and the Malays.
“To the non-Malays because of the fear to a symbol which was not my intention. And to the Malays for not being able to uphold their symbol of heritage.”
Describing it as a “sad lesson”, he said as a leader, he must be gracious and accept the consequences because the party came first. ..(read The Star for the complete report)
To Hishamumuddin, his apology was made, to my interpretation was more because of Party’s interest. I wonder if he knows for sure why the non-Malays reacted negatively to the keris waving in the context it was raised when he made this apology? Also, why the “if”, if he indeed realise the reality?
If the March 8 votes still remain with BN, it will be non issue. See, voters, your votes are so powerful. Makkal Sakhti!
In short, did he really learn his lesson? Hope so.
He holds the public office of a Minister of Education. Why does he still want to “pick fire” between the Malay and non-Malays in his apology statement? He could have just stopped at , tendering apology to all Malaysians.
I am a non-Malay.I do not have any fear of a keris , but I think it is downright infantile for a man whose wages as a full-time as Minister of Education is paid for by the Malaysian tax-payer should be waving a keris in full public view. Has it not occured to him that the pupils under his overall charge could think it is okay now to wave kerises in public?He should apologise to all students in Malaysia for this anti-social behaviour.
Comment by Liong — April 26, 2008 @ 11:39 pm
If any apology is to be given sincerely
Then it must be given without any condition
It’s best to give it straight away directly
Without making it seen given under persuasion
(C) Samuel Goh Kim Eng - 260408
http://MotivationInMotion.blogspot.com
Sat. 26th April 2008.
Comment by Samuel Goh Kim Eng — April 26, 2008 @ 11:57 pm
Too late, too little, too insincere.
Comment by peisheah — April 27, 2008 @ 12:14 am
I remember clearly from the History Books that Hishammudin’s grandfather, Jaafar Onn had resigned from UMNO because he was proposing to include non Malays to join UMNO after independence. I guess Hishammudin’s not listening well to his grandfather’s advice and has become clearly indulge in extreme Ketuanan Melayu propaganda. Or is he just an opportunist, who played the hard way to get Malay votes?
Comment by splim76 — April 27, 2008 @ 1:21 am
Apology too late and not accepted. All these while, although he was fully aware that his antic of kris waving had offended the feelings of the non-Malay, he had arrogantly continued to wave the kris without regard to the feelings of the non-Malays.
In this regard, his statement of “If it affected anyone, I cannot run away from the reality of it. I apologise to the non-Malays and the Malays.” is meaningless.
Indeed, if the March 8 votes still remain with BN, I think, to him, this will be a non issue.
Comment by ace — April 27, 2008 @ 1:47 am
The apology is couched in terms that made it seem insincere and hypocritical. I cannot accept it at face value, it is a political act more than anything else. Hishammudin will have to do a lot more to live up to his illustrious family name. Can he? Under this Education Minister, our school system continues to deteriorate at an alarming rate.
Comment by clearwater — April 27, 2008 @ 5:40 am
We must remember he brandished his keris for three consecutive years inspite of the non-Malay’s disgusting feelings.
He and his party must be sacrificed for alerting the extremists in the country.
Comment by Ng Guan Cheng — April 27, 2008 @ 6:11 am
I smell a rat somewhere. Anyway, I think he should just quit.
Comment by jeffrey chew — April 27, 2008 @ 6:49 am
When Tunku Abdul Rahman raised the keris, it was to proclaim Merdeka for ALL Malaysians. Let us not forget that this “Pretender” raised the keris followed by incendiary speeches attacking our country’s ethnic Chinese and Indian communities. And what does he mean by ” I am not a vain and arrogant person, I can accept this” crap? The rakyat by their vote have given him, UMNO( for not reprimanding him) and UMNO Youth, the CLEAR message that this is NOT acceptable.
What kind of an apology is this when he cannot confirm if his keris wielding antics will stop on the next Youth assembly? I wish he will continue to do it ; then he would SURELY ensure the final demise of UMNO in the next General Elections as if he hammered the final nail himself. So let us encourage him to continue this, we’ll see what happens with UMNO’s 78 seats in the next election! Hopefully, when it dwindles again to insignificance, he will learn how to apologise humbly or wave his keris everyday for all we care.
An apology made late, without appreciation that the act was wrong and with conditions is not an apology.
Comment by Apology not accepted — April 27, 2008 @ 9:45 am
Apology is useless and meaningless now. I can’t see any actual action or any meaningful action that take by him to prove that his apology is sincere.
Comment by Bowwy Lee — April 27, 2008 @ 2:29 pm
Why does he still want to “pick fire” between the Malay and non-Malays in his apology statement?Spot on YB Fong. Hisham is still playing on racial sentiments even while he appears to be apologizing. I have just written something about it in:
Hisham: I apologize for my apology??
Comment by HumbleVoice — April 27, 2008 @ 5:44 pm
Another case of leg on the accelerator and hand on the handbrake!
Hishammuddin did the right thing by apologising but his action loses much of its impact when, in the very next breath, he apologised to the Malays for his failure to uphold the Malay symbol.
Why did he take the step to apologise when he is not truly convinced he ought to do it? What made him want to offer the apology? Was he thinking of the of his grand-father and father, on what they had done and what they stood for and how different he is from them? Or was it his conscience telling him that peace and harmony amongst the races is important for the well-being of the nation? Or was his good sense telling him that he had not set a good example for the youngsters under his care? Or did his own sense of guilt finally convict him? Or was it his love for the nation?
Or did he do it for political reasons? Is he trying to deflect blame for the loss suffered by UMNO in the recent election? Is this a pre-emptive move as he may want to stand for a VP post?
By qualifying his apology, his sincerity has become suspect. Even those detractors, who were prepared to forgive, now, also, sense the apology is given very grudingly. The politician in him carries more sway than the sense of human decency in him. Politicians will always be politicians, they cannot see beyond their own egos.
Syed Ali of Cheras UMNO division opined that it was not necessary for Hishammuddin to apologise. He says he sees no difference between the Agong holding up the keris and kissing it in his investiture and what Hishammuddin has done. This shows Syed Ali does not understand the non-Malays. And it also reveals he does not know how to see things in its proper context. When the Agong does the act, it is done in the context of tradition of the Malay Monarchy. The non-Malays have no argument against that. We respect the constitution. But when Hishammuddin did it in was done in a very different context and atmospere. He did it in the UMNO Youth General assembly where the non-Malays were made the punching-bags. This is what the non-Malays cannot accept. There is a vast difference between the two.
Comment by novice101 — April 27, 2008 @ 11:45 pm
Is he sincere in his apology? Look at these points:
1) the timing of his apology - enough said
2) the actual words he used —“I am sorry if it had affected the non-Malays,”
+ the “IF” means he does not know why/whether people were offended so he is apologising for something he does not know what for hence he does not know/bother about/understand the underlying reasoning
….hence it does not really matter to him what he is saying anyway.
I remember Jocelyn Tan in a disgraceful column in the Star trying to repair the damage. In that article, he said the charade was to “let of steam as we Malays are under a lot of pressure”.
So he really does not have a clue about the implications of his antics until the dissenting voices grew louder and louder.The final realisation manifeted itself a month after March 8.
3) Quote “At the same time, he also apologised to the Malays over his “failure to uphold the Malay symbol (keris)”.”
- he is trying to please both side while trying not to lose face. Is our Malay fellow countrymen that shallow?
The Malay pride means more than a man admitting his own stupid mistake.
The pride of Malay lies in their economic well being, social structure, religious strength, real achievement of substance like Bakri Musa’s clinic in USA or Halim Mazlim’s shipping business which he built on his own etc.
Not depend alone on a man letting off steam by shaking a piece of metal foaming at the mouth then claims he does not really know what he is doing.
4) Quote “The values of the keris is not what has been portrayed by certain factions but the “current realities” (election results) show otherwise, he explained.”
- yep, final solid proof that he remains unrepentent. It is not his fault but some other unidentified people misquoting his words. Frankly, if you are live on TV, standing firmly on your shaky grounds on countless media stream media reports, it is hard to claim that you are being misquoted.
Frankly, he should have saved his breath. The MCA people who applauded it reminds me of Prime Minister Chamberlain who claimed peace with Adolf short before the shooting started.
So in the end, what he said was not really from the bottom of his heart, anyway.
The real issue for him is political survival for UMNO.
Comment by lee wee tak — April 28, 2008 @ 6:20 pm
http://dinmerican.wordpress.com/2008/04/26/kerismuddin-apologises/
My comment above was deposited here….which gives a great write up.
Comment by lee wee tak — April 28, 2008 @ 6:23 pm
Hishammudin no longer a factor, but DSAI is. Sincerely hope that Dato Seri Anwar will be sworn in as the 6th PM of Malaysia. He is currently taking a comfortable 83% lead in a survey conducted as who will be the next Malaysian PM.
sonofpenang.blogspot.com
Comment by Henry — April 29, 2008 @ 1:43 pm
Dear Po Kuan,
I don’t need his apology since time and time again, all that come out of him (and his BN colleagues) are meaningless words.
If he truly believes in fairness and equality, he should push for dissolution of UMNO, MCA, MIC and all other race based parties. Instead, form a multiracial party like what his grandpa did and fight for the common Malaysian platform.
His actions have certainly brought shame to his lineage. He should at least be brave and admit he is a racist rather than being a cowardly double talking racist.
Comment by myop101 — April 30, 2008 @ 8:28 am
Parody of Kerismuddin’s apology: (From a voter:) IF THE WAY I VOTED IN GE12 AFFECTED ANYONE, I CANNOT RUN AWAY FROM THE REALITY OF IT. I APOLOGISE TO BN AND THEIR COHORTS.
“TO THE NON-UMNO COHORTS BECAUSE OF THE FEAR OF A ROCKET SYMBOL WHICH WAS NOT MY INTENTION. AND TO THE UMNO FOR NOT BEING ABLE TO UPHOLD THE SYMBOL OF UNFAIRNESS”
Comment by Professional DAP Supporter — April 30, 2008 @ 11:24 pm
What apology? Please don’t do it unless you mean it la!
read my comment and opinion about it here
http://shiokguy.blogspot.com/search/label/Politic
Comment by Shiok Guy — May 3, 2008 @ 7:38 pm
I think it is an insult on my intelligence if Hishammudin thinks what he has uttered is an “apology”. To me, an apology should be sincere and unconditional. By beginning his “apology” with “IF…..”, it makes his whole “apology” meaningless.
Comment by ktteokt — May 7, 2008 @ 8:18 am