Raja Petra Kamarudin‘s column ‘The Rubicon has been crossed‘ (Malaysia Today, 12 Jan 2014)
Excerpts from RPK’s article (in bullet points):
On the ‘Allah’ fight
- There is no longer any turning back
- Already crossed the point of no return
- Umno’s survival and future depends on Malay vote
- Umno lost support of non-Malays for good
- Only option open to Umno — Win or die!
- Since Umno may be dead anyway come GE14, what difference does it make?
- Do nothing Umno dies
- Do something Umno has 50-50 chance
- Umno currently a badly wounded, vicious tiger
- This wounded animal sees visions of death over the horizon and it needs to fight to stay alive
Sun Tzu’s Art of War
“Standing on top of the hill and shouting at your wounded enemy, while waving a sword, that you are going to come down from the hill to slit his throat is not what Sun Tzu taught us.”
“Let both sides be warned. This has now turned into a duel to the death.” — Raja Petra Kamarudin
(168 words)
Recommended:
Helen Ang 
UMNO will die or self-destruct if najib remains pm and its leaders remain steadfast to their religion of corruption, oppression & abuse of power. They must commit apostacy and abandon their rotten religion.. ALLAH issue is easy to resolve but UMNO leaders are no-brainers, insincere & dishonest. Mahathir [I am no fan of his but have to give credit where it’s due] was a master at turning adversities to work in his favour but najib is DUNGU, DUNGU, DUNGU! LEMBIK, LEMBIK, LEMBIK!
If Najib makes a sacrifice of ‘The Minister’ to appease the gods, he can keep the wolves at bay methinks.
Helen,
Saya tidak selesa dengan anologi atau perumpamaan yang awak gunakan. Perumpamaan itu beunsur dan sifat syirik bagi kami orang Islam.
Not trying to petty here, tapi itu ciri-ciri syirik yang tersembunyi sekiranya digunakan oleh orang Islam.
Okay, thanks for pointing out your POV. My suggestion of korban is written deliberately in an obscure way but I’ll give it a rest.
I don’t think it’s about ‘korban’ or sacrifice, more like the ‘appease the gods’ part afterwards. You know, ‘gods’.
It’s a literary way of saying things. (I’m a writer y’know.)
e.g. this famous saying “Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad”
It is not said as “Whom God would destroy, He first makes mad” or “Whom the god would destroy, He first makes mad”.
If I had said ‘God’ (singular, capital letter) in these sensitive times, nanti saya dituduh pelbagai pula.
Read my comment to AnakJamil.
Re. If I had said ‘God’ (singular, capital letter) in these sensitive times, nanti saya dituduh pelbagai pula
But your person or point of reference is Najib who is a Muslim.
re: “But your person or point of reference is Najib who is a Muslim.”
All the more reason, if I had said ‘God’ in capital G and singular, I’d be accused of stepping into Muslim boundaries (i.e. because Najib is Muslim).
Re: If Najib makes a sacrifice of ‘The Minister’ to appease the gods..
Bukan semudah itu Helen.. bukan mudah.. Najib is too much now.. sangat lembik dan so liberal..
Here is another Islamic scholar wannabe in MI
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/sideviews/article/akidah-is-neither-gold-silver-nor-credit-card-ravinder-singh
Now everyone can become Islamic Scholar
He can be penasihat agama to Khalid Ibrahim.
This wannabe islamic scholar wrote: “The whole idea is that all Muslims must unite to support Umno, as if Umno is Islam and Islam is Umno. Thus if Umno fails to retain power, akidah is destroyed! So the only way to save akidah, is to save Umno”.
Apapunya singh seekor ni?
Bila masa pulak Umno itu Islam dan Islam itu Umno?
Betapalah BODOH seorang non-muslim ini. Walau ke berapa banyak masjid sekalipun beliau hadir mendengar ceramah, tidakkah beliau sedar betapa kebanyakkan penceramah lebih menjurus kepada Islam itu PAS dan PAS itu Islam?
Tulisan beliau hanyalah gubahan beliau mengikut neraca pemikiran dan pemahaman beliau tentang ‘akidah-Islam’ tetapi sebenarnya beliau tidak faham satu apa pun….
Betul-betul ODIKAL!
He is published in The Malaysian Insider.
Many political pundits have linked TMI to Khairy.
Excerpt from Ravinder’s comments:
“The umat, or general population, are like innocent children. Their religious leaders who have spent years learning about the religion are their teachers. So they respect and revere these learned leaders and believe that what they teach, or preach, is the correct thing. Thus, when the leaders go about teaching, authoritatively, that the akidah is under threat, the simple minded who are not as learned in religious matters as the leaders, would take that at face value without questioning how it can be under threat as the akidah is in their hearts and not their wallets?”
It must be noted that not all Muslims are cognizant of the fact that the classical akidah (creed) of Islam has for the past 100 years been besieged by a Saudi-Wahhabi version inspired by the Hanbali scholar Ibn Taymiyya. The PAS leadership generally upholds the latter version and this forms the backdrop to its Islamist religio-political ideology. UMNO however, in deference to its traditional Malay foundations, is by and large the supporter of the universalist theology formulated 1000 years ago by Imams Al-Ashaari and Maturidi. The Wahhabis oppose its rational basis and related spiritual sciences (tasawuf). Consequently, the Salafi/Wahhabi curriculums in their centers of learning do not include the study of Aristotelian syllogisms and logical discourse, even as it spurns the sciences of soul purification practiced by true Sufis.
Ravinder must be ignorant of this state of affairs concerning our theology, for him to have commented as he did. Belief is indeed of the heart, as he noted, but it is also involves the intellect and behaviour as well. The burden of proof is therefore upon him, to specify what he means by “akidah in the wallets” and point out exactly whom he perceives are guilty of fraudulence. We Muslims just cannot take his unbridled comments at face value.
The following may be heavy reading but it does represent the position of Classical Islam ie. the traditional Islam of the Malay Archipelago:
“Kalam and Islam”
http://www.masud.co.uk/ISLAM/nuh/kalam.htm
“Muslim Theology and Islamic Mysticism” [YouTube]
Abdullah,
I agree with you that the portion of Ravinder’s comment which you have reproduced sounds shallow.
Sigh. These kinds of writings by non-Muslims on Islam are no help but instead a hindrance. I discern a political bent and bias in what Ravinder wrote.
Is the rest of his article inflammatory of non-Muslim sentiments?
No Kak,
People are generally bewildered by the schismatic factions slugging it out today, but some venture to snap up political mileage from what they only vaguely comprehend, and have little heart to help out.
He is published in The Malaysian Insider.
Many political pundits have linked TMI to Khairy.
Helen,
sebagai seorang Muslim, apabila si penulis berkenaan membuat tuduhan kononnya Islam itu UMNO dan UMNO itu Islam…beliau telah melakukan pembohongan dan penghinaan kepada Islam.
Islam bukan UMNO dan tidak akan sekali-kali Islam itu menyamai mana-mana agama atau mana-mana parti politik.
amat jelas betapa betul kata anda bahawa tulisan beliau amat bias dengan kecenderungan kepada menghina islam dan menghina orang Melayu dengan cara mengutuk UMNO.
He is published in The Malaysian Insider.
Many political pundits have linked TMI to Khairy.
I guess that makes the Semenanjung non muslims who demands Allah in bibles being greedy spoiled children who needs a spanking.
So let’s go back to that question, why do they want Allah?
Do they seriously think ‘because the old colonials hundreds of years ago used it back then in their old local bibles to convert the natives’ is a good answer? And then say that the muslims shouldn’t perceive an attack and intrusion to their race, religion and way of life?
Somebody should ask Father Lawrence why. Not that I expect an honest answer.
Sad to say, it’s hard to believe in sincerity after all this. Innocent children, are we now? Is that what they really think of the Malay muslims? While calling anybody lifting a finger or voicing out against them extremists. Just another ruse and tactic.
re: “Is that what they really think of the Malay muslims?”
Sudah terang lagi bersuluh, ‘they’ really think Malays are “stupid”.
To me, it’s not difficult to imagine why some people should not think Malays can be easily hoodwinked.
or you can also ask them the original language of their bible.. they keep re-brand their bible..
The Korean people and the Malay people share one trait not shared by any other people on this Earth..i.e. they can run amok. The Malays are so patient so far, but imagine what would happen if say, many Koreans were to embrace Islam and become Malays. And these Koreans will then tell the Malays..why must you be so kind and tolerant? Let’s amok them!
Why Muhiyiddin and Mukhriz very quiet not like the day when they push Badawi?
In the first place is it really UMNO grassroots members in the millions or Zero millions since it been very quite from them to be around. or their lantak lah mentality?
Re, Why Muhiyiddin and Mukhriz very quiet not like the day when they push Badawi?
Muhiyyidin has made the pledge to toe the line and behave as the number 2 after taking oath as DPM. Hence his present behaviour. I have mentioned about this before.
As for Mukhriz, still water runs deep, my guess is….
Diam dalam bahasa politik UMNO bererti tidak bersetuju.. Mereka menghantar isyarat yang sangat jelas..
Najib pasti faham dan kita lihatlah apa kah langkah Najib seterusnya..
Hi. How can I contact u, madam.
I will e-mail you.
good opinion
Thanks Helen. I agree with my friend RPK in the current state of UMNO that is being besieged with lots uncertainty that may drive the party to its extinction as had happened in 1987/1988. If this happened, not only Tun Mahathir is sad, but also the late Tok Mat and my humble self will be sad too for having saved the party that represents the Malay power of politics for more than 60 years.
However, having said that, I don’t think we should blame Najib Tun Razak for all these mess, created by some of the UMNO warlords. Those who are closed to Najib as a person and as the number one politician will know that “In politics the paths of glory lead but to the gravy”. UMNO should now embrace the spirit of team work and responsibility in order to move on and save the party from vicious attacks within the party as well as external forces of the unseen power to be in the years to come. The UMNO goons behind the scene are dangerous and these political fence sitters are the real opportunists.
I firmly believe that Najib will survive the torments of injuries that he is being attacked by his opponents, though it may be tough to put his acts together with his trusted advisers, who have no political ambition but only loyalty to a leader that has more people who love him than those who are his open and hidden political enemies who may hate him.
As an UMNO veteran for more than forty years since 1963, I am not fearful of UMNO’s extinction, but rather my race as a Malay, my religion as a Muslim and my right as a citizen of this country no matter what happens. Though I have done a fair share of my responsibility as an UMNO member, I am not even bother whether I am being taken seriously or rewarded. I have stated clearly in one of my private meeting with Tun Mahathir who is still my political idol that I am a loyalist and never an opportunist to amass political status and wealth during my time of my dedicated service to the party, government and nation.
Last but not the least, I wish to remind all my UMNO colleagues, friends and supporters with the following quotes that are full of wisdom and the virtues of humanity:-
1. All political power is trust – CHARLES JAMES FOX
2. All political parties die at last of swallowing their own lies – JOHN ARBUTHNOT
3. Politics: the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedies – GROUCHO MARX
4. To Najib as a seasoned politician as early as in his early twenties, my humble advice is “A politician has to be able to see both sides of an issue so that he can get around it in order to analyse and resolve the crisis in the best possible way” – MUSTAPHA ONG
Helen,
RPK’s post titled “WHAT, ME WORRY?” made me think about your post about Teresa Kok commenting about LGE’s leaning on religion.
Iguana Eng
For all we know, support for UMNO might even be increasing due to the JAIS fiasco in Selangor.
PAS and PKR are hopeless and weak in championing the rights of Islam in the State. Weak in addressing sensitive issues in a multiracial and multireligious community, where all they do is making snide remarks and passing the buck to others.
Pretty decent living for ADUNs and Excos who just had an increase in their salary for doing nothing.
We shall see.
re: “For all we know, support for UMNO might even be increasing due to the JAIS fiasco in Selangor.”
As Raja Petra says, Umno plays the Race and Religion card. The Jais fiasco should move some support to Umno, correct.
re: “PAS and PKR are hopeless and weak in championing the rights of Islam in the State.”
Correct again.
re: “Weak in addressing sensitive issues in a multiracial and multireligious community, where all they do is making snide remarks and passing the buck to others.”
And the opposition berani kata that Umno manufactured the ‘Allah’ controversy to divert attention. But here’s the part you should think on and give us a solution.
Jais is Jabatan Agama Islam SELANGOR. Selangor is a Pakatan-ruled state. So how is it that the Pakatoons can be so delusional to believe this accusation by their Dear Leaders that even the Jais raid is masterminded by Umno.
Something is very, very wrong with the perpetual hysterics. What to do with that kind of people?
re: “Pretty decent living for ADUNs and Excos who just had an increase in their salary for doing nothing.”
Datuk Mustapha Ong (https://helenang.wordpress.com/2014/01/12/raja-petra-umno-will-kill-or-be-killed/#comment-67418 on this page) quoted an adage:
Madame Speaker is dripping with gravy. Yet her cult following are willing to ‘kill’ (character assassinate) anyone brave or foolhardy enough to criticize Her. What kind of people are they?
Do you people think umno will give up that easy?
I think if Dap, the church keeps on play with fire with the bible issue, then that’s what they will get. Better hope there’s no another MAGERAN.
Xynal,
re: “Do you people think umno will give up that easy?”
I people think that Umno will be destroyed from within. You can think about this.
Umno was almost destroyed from within sometime ago but they managed to survive by creating Umno Baru.
Wonder is Najib really dumb or just playing-dumb.
He’ll redirect your question to his consultants.