SMS replacing poison-pen letters
BY RASLAN BAHAROMGERIK: Some Umno members are using the short messaging service (SMS) to slander party leaders.
“Dulu surat laying, sekarang SMS untuk sebar fitnah (previously it was the poison-pen letters, now SMS is used to spread slander),” lamented Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
Najib, who is Umno deputy president, said slanderous messages were also being distributed through the e-mails and Internet.
He reminded party members that using the SMS to send messages that discredit leaders was no different from the poison-pen letters of the past.
He said the intention of the SMS was to disrupt the unity within the party, be it at division or branch levels.
He said the origin of the messages could not be traced as they were sent through pre-paid mobile telephones.
“The SMS might be directed to (an incumbent) division leader or his deputy but it is actually meant to porak peranda (to bring the party in a disarray) the party,” he said adding that it could be the work of ambitious members.
“There is no harm to be ambitious but it is harmful if one becomes too over ambitious,” he said when opening the Gerik Umno division delegates meeting here.
He hoped party members would accept the disappointments which they,as politicians, had to go through before they became leaders.
“I was left in my underwear when I scrapped through with 241 votes during the 1999 general elections but I took it in stride and embarked on a self-reflection drive.
“About four-and-a-half years later, I got a majority of 22,922 votes.” he said adding that leaders such as Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who suffered a similar fate, continued to be loyal to the party unlike others who chose to bring down the party with their downfall.
Najib said Malays must change their mindset, citing belief in ghosts and spirits was still prevalent, obstructing the community from progressing with the rest of the world.
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