Umno vice-president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi today reminded his party members not to be like mineral water bottles which are discarded when empty.

“The water in the bottle is like your position and rank, be a respected person that even when there is no position, people will still use, like a drinking glass, after the water is drunk, it will be kept in the cabinet, and not like the mineral water bottle, after the water is finished, it is thrown away.

“Be like former prime minister Abdul Razak Hussein, even though his term as prime minister was too short, people still remember him.

“...the late Tunku Abdul Rahman was a personality, even without a position, people still respected him, but do not be like a 22-year-old mineral water bottle.

"I am not referring to anyone dead or alive...but people throw away,” he said in his speech at the opening of the Larut Umno division delegates conference in Bagan Serai today.

He added that all parties, especially Umno members, must understand the concept that everything has an expiry date, but this does not mean they will be forgotten.

Zahid also reminded the party members that the word “fatigue” or “not enough rest” does not exist in politics to avoid defeat by other parties.

The deputy prime minister said if Umno leaders and members had that attitude, it would give many others the chance to take over their positions.

“In politics, there should not be the term ‘fatigue”, if you are tired, there are many people waiting to take over, do not complaint that there is a lot of work, there are many people who want to take over, do not complaint of not enough rest, there are many people waiting to take over,” he said.

Ahmad Zahid gave the example of several leaders, including himself and Umno supreme council member Hamzah Zainudin who are in their positions today because they had a strong fighting spirit.

“When I was Perak Umno Youth head, Hamzah was my information chief, while the late Raja Ahmad Zainuddin Raja Omar, the treasurer and because we were resilient, have a fighting spirit, sense of competition, we are on this stage now,” he said.

- Bernama