Will the real KJ please stand up?
Tuesday, November 1, 2005 at 23:38 Everybody knows the name Khairy Jamaluddin—the country’s most powerful 29-year-old. Yet how many people know who the real KJ is? It’s hard to figure him out because he’s such a contradiction.
He’s said to despise nepotism. Yet, at last year’s UMNO annual powwow, he gladly accepted the Deputy Youth post uncontested. Lest anyone thinks that this reflected the wishes of the delegates, remember all the booing when he was introduced to the crowd?
He’s said to abhor cronyism, yet when he quit his job at the PM’s Department last year, the first job he aimed for was that of COO of Khazanah Nasional. That gig fell through after the Wall Street Journal ran a story on it, sparking a public outcry.
So, what did he do next? Join an international financial house like Merrill Lynch to prove his mettle? No, he became a director at ECM Libra, a financial services company partly-owned by Kallimullah Hassan, editor-in-chief of the New Straits Times and a close ally of Pak Lah.
He’s said to be a brilliant spin doctor who played a key role in managing Pak Lah’s general election campaign in 2004. Yet, he so oversold Pak Lah’s anti-corruption stance that anything but a wholesale rolling of heads after the polls would not have satisfied a public expecting nothing less. Until now, people are wondering when the anti-corruption drive is going to start.
He’s said to champion meritocracy. “… he believes the ‘subsidy mentality’ that has plagued the Malay mindset is a bane, especially in an age of globalisation,” wrote Phar Kim Beng in an NST article last year. Phar knows Khairy from his days as a student in the UK.
Yet, at this year’s UMNO meet—even as Pak Lah was warning that the government cannot continue to be Santa Claus—Khairy was calling for a revival of the New Economic Policy with its 30% equity quota for Malays.
He’s said to decry blind loyalty. At one stage, his e-mail domain was Hang Jebat, according to Phar. Yet, that didn’t stop him from echoing his keris-waving boss, Hishammuddin Hussein, in calling for a revival of the NEP, as well as pledging his unwavering support for Hisham’s leadership.
He’s said to value a critical press. He even worked briefly as a journalist for The Economist, well known for its critical commentaries. During the height of the Asian economic crisis, he co-hosted a TV talk show called Dateline Malaysia where he grilled his guests with tough questions.
Yet, today, Khairy avoids the press like the plague, with his standard reply, “I don’t do interviews.” (True to his word, he declined to be interviewed for this column.) So, I did the next best thing and spoke to people who know him well.
All of them say the reason for his rhetoric these days is that he feels he has to live up to UMNO Youth’s reputation of being outspoken, provocative rebels.
Well, he spoke a little too fast in September when he challenged opposition leader Lim Kit Siang to debate a particular issue in Parliament. Lim, who has been an MP longer than Khairy’s been alive, admonished the young upstart for challenging someone to a Parliamentary debate when he wasn’t an MP himself.
Khairy then said that all he wanted was for Lim to raise the issue in Parliament so that MPs can debate it. Even so, it was Khairy who ended up with egg on his face as Lim’s rebuke was what most people noticed, especially when he told Khairy not to be a “political ultra.”
Perhaps Khairy feels he’s on the right track in emulating a young Tun Mahathir with his ultra-like rhetoric. Too bad someone forgot to tell him that it’s no longer the Sixties.
His supporters will tell you this is all just for show and that once he’s in power, the real Khairy will emerge to change UMNO from within.
Why do I get a sense of déjà vu when I hear this? Maybe because this is what Anwar Ibrahim had supposedly tried to do—but failed spectacularly.
I remember as a young college student watching a US vice-presidential debate between Lloyd Bentsen and Dan Quayle where the relatively youthful Quayle compared himself to a young Jack Kennedy. At that point, the elderly Bentsen delivered the now-immortal line: “Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy.”
When I look at Khairy, I see a young man in a hurry who’s convinced he’s the best leader this country’s yet to have. I’m sorry to have to tell you this, Khairy, but you’re no Tun Mahathir. Heck, you’re not even an Anwar.
Reader Comments (23)
when i read this i feel disrespected and racism in his blood!!!!
Your father-in-low, the Prime Minister of Malaysia recently mentioned that those causes this should face the law, in his speech against Internet speech freedom.
But, what our dearest Mr. Nice Man doing now? Very nice to his son-in-law only.
What our PM keep saying he is the PM for the nation irregardless of races. Why your son-in-law so racism.
I came across some mentioned that KJ needs to play the political game just like what others his senior s done before. This is very interesting, it already mentioned that was those's day's game not today's game. That reflected KJ is stupid and still playing old timer's game.
Indonesia has proved to us that classification of bumi and non-bumi is a wrong concept and never good for a multi-racials country. But sadly to say our so called young leaders have backword thinking that could destroy the country and yet the leader in the country has no wisdom to stop the situation.
Our PM keep saying he is still new as the PM, this is something not acceptable as well. If you are not ready to be a leader you better don't be a leader. You endanger the whole country. This is not science experiments.