Young Women’s Leader of Malaysia’s Dominant Party Under Fire

By John Gee

At the end of 2000, Malaysia’s dominant party, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), recognizing that its electoral support had weakened, introduced a number of measures aimed at bringing new blood into the organization. The most successful was the launch of a new branch of the party aimed at young Malay women.

UMNO already had a women’s wing, called Wanita UMNO, but, widely seen as a rather staid organization dominated by older women, it had little appeal for Malaysia’s rapidly burgeoning population of young, well-educated working women. It was just this element that, it was hoped, the new organization would attract.

It got off to a rocky start, however. Party higher-ups did not seem to have sought out the views of their target group before the launch, with the result that it had a few features that made some potential members wince: it was to be called “Puteri UMNO” (UMNO Princesses) and its representative color was to be pink: even its headquarters were painted pink throughout. Some Wanita UMNO members were suspicious of the new group, which they thought would undermine Wanita UMNO’s status, and argued that it should only be allowed to recruit women under 30. Party leaders originally had proposed that it be open to under-40s, but a compromise of 35 eventually was agreed upon.

Puteri UMNO claimed to have won a membership of over 80,000 in a matter of a few months. Some high-profile women joined, including the queen of Malaysian pop music, Siti Nurhaliza, and singer, actor and beauty products poster woman Erra Fazira. Much of the credit for the organization’s success belongs to its dynamic and hard-working leader, Azalina Othman Said.

Azalina qualified as a lawyer, but only caught the eye of UMNO leaders when she hosted a television talk show that tackled controversial issues and went in for a more robust interviewing style than Malaysians usually see at home. Backed by UMNO head and Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and other influential figures, she shot up the party hierarchy.

Unfortunately for Azalina, however, her rapid rise and the success of Puteri UMNO attracted not only admiration, but jealousy and resentment as well. A number of unsigned poison pen letters were circulated to political leaders and the press: one that ran to nine pages accused her of favoritism and imposing her own wishes on the Puteri UMNO committee. The windows of her car were smashed by unknown attackers last year.

Despite all the sensationalism surrounding Azalina, the fundamental question is whether UMNO is committed to welcoming new blood, or whether some old members who have personal vested interests in maintaining the status quo will have their way. That there are people in the party who would indeed put themselves before UMNO’s long-term viability was confirmed in May, when it was discovered that membership application forms from young Malays had gone missing—not dozens, or even a couple of hundred, but thousands.

Mahathir reportedly hit the roof when he heard this news and was angry for days after. Not only had he argued the need for UMNO to recruit young educated people in order to repel the opposition’s advance, but he knew that the saboteurs of the membership drive could only be people inside his own party.

Truce for Palestine

Longstanding political enemies Mahathir and Datuk Fadzil Noor of PAS, Malaysia’s Islamist party, submerged their differences on May 8 for an evening of solidarity with the Palestinian people. The two men delivered lectures on “Palestine and Humanity” before 3,000 people. The total audience was much bigger, however, as the event was broadcast on television. It was the first time the two had ever appeared together before TV cameras.

“We have to unite as Muslims on the Palestinian cause,” said Mahathir. “When we have the same enemies, we must unite.”

Later, reported the Straits Times’ Leslie Lau, Abdul Hadi Awang, chief minister of the PAS-run state of Terengganu, offered a broader perspective on the question of Palestine, saying: “It is not confined to any race or religion. It is a universal issue.”

Mahathir spoke at the lecture organized by two local NGOs shortly before his visit to Washington, which PAS leaders earlier had urged should be called off. As promised, the Malaysian prime minister did speak with President George W. Bush about his country’s views on Palestine, and raised the issue in other contexts as well, such as at a dinner held by the U.S.-ASEAN Business Council. The Americans he met, however, seemed much keener to listen to pledges of Malaysia’s commitment to fight terrorism than Mahathir’s message about the strength of Muslim feelings worldwide on the wrongs suffered by the Palestinians.

More Thais to Israel

Israel organized an airlift at the beginning of June. This one, however, was not to bring Jews in. Instead it flew over 6,000 Thais to work in the agricultural sector as yet more replacements for West Bank and Gaza Palestinians barred from Israel for months. A month earlier, Israel had tried to meet the labor shortfall without importing additional workers. Reckoning that there were thousands of Thais in the country illegally (mostly on expired visas), the government employment service said that the first 6,000 to come forward would be given legal status. The Thai embassy in Tel Aviv circulated the statement.

According to Ruth Sinai’s May 10 article in Ha’aretz, “Illegal Thai workers offered permits,”12,000 Thais already had permits to work in agriculture. Very few of those illegally present came forward, however. Many have found new employers who pay more than those for whom they originally worked and, consequently, they are better off remaining illegal. A ban on the import of agricultural workers, introduced in August 2001, created a stronger demand and better pay opportunities for the laborers already present in the country.

John Gee is a free-lance journalist based in Singapore and the author of Unequal Conflict: Israel and the Palestinians, available from the AET Book Club.