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Yoursay: Throw ‘win by hook or by crook’ Rashid out of new M’sia bus
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YOURSAY | ‘There is no place for people like him in Harapan who advocates abuse of power and corruption.’

Rashid defends remarks at Bersatu AGM, says he was being 'realistic'

StraightTalk: And so, the reality is that Bersatu vice-president Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman has always firmly believed that 'cash is king' which was shamelessly adopted and blatantly used by Umno-BN.

Abdul Rashid cannot shield himself from the bygone BN era. His statement that it would be "stupid" not to use government resources to stay in power and that he said it spontaneously is therefore not at all surprising.

The deep-rooted belief by Abdul Rashid and some political leaders even in this New Malaysia era that government resources can be used and abused to whatever extent possible to provide the necessary support for the party and the coalition to remain in power was a 'viral disease' which had afflicted Umno-BN politicians in epidemic proportions.

Umno-BN politicians were simply not bothered for any treatment to recover from the disease. They could not be cured and the result was fatal. The nation was ruined. The BN coalition was booted out in GE14.

The contagion effect of the disease is now dangerously spreading within Bersatu as the party keeps 'attracting' all kinds of 'frogs' from Umno-BN carrying the 'cash is king' virus.

PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad as the Bersatu chief has no choice but to be firm in dealing with his party leaders, including his division chiefs, and tell them that contracts of whatever nature and value will be awarded purely on merit basis.

If Mahathir fails to instil fear and discipline in his party leaders and supporters that he will not tolerate any abuse of government resources, he can be sure that Bersatu and the Pakatan Harapan coalition will be shown the exit door in GE15.

Mahathir should also seriously consider if he wants to keep Abdul Rashid as head of the government's electoral reform committee.

David Dass: This man (Abdul Rashid) cannot tell right from wrong. He does not know what it means to serve the nation and the people of Malaysia.

For him, support is only obtained because money is available for distribution. He knows where the money comes from. And that is okay with him. Wonderful!

Pakatan Harapan must remind itself that the election was fought on a promise to put an end to such nonsense. Will they hold the course? Or will it be business as usual?

The Wakandan: Yes, he is an embarrassment to Harapan. With that kind of mentality, he should be in Umno.

There is no place for people like him in Harapan who advocates abuse of power and condones corruption.

Anonymous Malaysia2018: A leopard cannot change its spots. Once a leopard, always a leopard.

The voters had rejected rent-seekers, contract-seekers, money-seekers, and alms-seekers. Thus, it is the height of hypocrisy that leaders are working for the interests of the ordinary people when in actuality they are fighting to fill their own pockets.

And voters will never support such characters. Mahathir, as PM, has repeatedly mentioned that corruption is the number one issue that reduces the nation to poverty.

Nations all over the world have been impoverished and their peoples remain in poverty because of corrupt leaders and dictators who use their office to abuse power and steal money that belongs to the people.

All talk of race and religion is just a red herring to fool the common people and to get votes.

Now, many losers want to jump to Bersatu and PKR to save their careers; and not to save the people and the nation. Those who want to get contracts should join Umno.

Unfortunately, Umno is no more in power and cannot give contracts. If leaders want to get money, they can start their own businesses and earn money by honest means.

Harapan leaders must be always vigilant against smiling tigers, smiling snakes, and smiling frogs. They want jobs and contracts. They want free money, free lunch, free dinners. Be careful; if not, you may lose your jobs.

And those who are ministers, work hard for the people; don't work hard to get more supporters to buttress your positions, and to eventually be kingmakers and ease out your own leaders.

Be ever grateful. Greed will be your downfall. Pride goes before the fall. Always remain humble; do not be arrogant once you become ministers. Serve the people, serve the nation.

Frankie: Serving the communities and serving your members are entirely different. Your Umno mindset is not the desire of the current electorate who have put Harapan into power.

If you cannot be sincere in serving the people with credibility and hard work but chose to follow in former PM Najib Abdul Razak's footsteps of using money and the government machinery, please leave.

Vijay47: Perhaps the greater tragedy is that incredibly, this senior citizen is unable to realise that abusing national resources for party purposes is illegal, plain and simple.

Abdul Rashid’s entire warped logic and sense of morality are not only back to front but might even suggest the onset of senility.

Abdul Rashid, when your party members come to you with arrangements to loot the till, you chase them out, you certainly do not lend voice to their criminal plans.

Making a poor case even worse, you now explain that your speech was spontaneous, which simply reflects the kind of person you are, a quality very evident from your Election Commission days.

Since when has “no money” become acceptable reason to rob and steal? If I have no money, would that justify my robbing a neighbour of his Mercedes or holding his children to ransom?

A word of kindness, Abdul Rashid – when you next leave your house, have your wife stick a label on your shirt stating your name and address; you might soon be unable to find your way home.

By the way, what car do you drive?

LR6SO4BK3: The only thing I remember what this man said at the Bersatu general assembly is "win by hook or by crook". That is the tag he should wear forever.

JW: Get rid of this dinosaur as soon as possible or its toxicity will make Malaysia Baru a stillborn.

But given Mahathir has merely stated that Abdul Rashid was entitled to his opinion and it's not Bersatu policy, the toxicity will spread, with Abdul Rashid already justifying his remarks made earlier.

For Mahathir to (rightly) go after Najib for corruption in such a big way, it is stupefying he could not publicly chastise Abdul Rashid much more sternly.

As a result, one can read Mahathir's behaviour as saying corruption is okay as long as it is by members of a political party firmly under his control. What a bloody shame.


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