The Malaysian Insight

BEFORE the May 9 general election, Umno members could always count on lavish hotel stays, free meals and pocket money when they conducted their programmes because their party was in the federal government.

Those days are now over. Their bank accounts have been frozen, their leaders are no longer ministers and they only control two state governments – Pahang and Perlis.

For the first time in their lives, Umno members are learning to scrimp and save to keep their party functioning and members active.

Instead of hiring caterers, Umno members are now asked to organise “potluck” meetings where participants are encouraged to bring a dish to share. Instead of staying in hotels during field trips, they bunk at the houses of local grassroots members.

To the remaining loyalists, the party’s troubles are a chance to start a new culture of service and sacrifice among its members.

“This is the new culture that I want to nurture among members,” said newly elected Youth chief Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki.

He started the ball rolling by splitting the costs for his recent visit to Malacca, Negri Sembilan and Sabah among members in those states.

“In the Sabah trip, I paid for my own airfare and we stayed at the houses of Youth leaders there. We also collected donations to fund our meals,” said Asyraf, a former deputy minister.

“This is the ‘sacrifice-for-the-struggle’ culture that we want to nurture.”

Following GE14, Umno lost all but two states, including the oil-rich state of Terengganu and its birthplace of Johor. It only has 51 MPs today, compared with the 88 parliamentary seats it won in GE13.

In Perak, state liaison chief Saarani Mohamad said the party has scaled down the size of its programmes and eliminated some altogether, such as field trips.

“We also cut down on our food bill. We now have potlucks,” said the Lenggong division chief.

Lenggong Umno division member Saudah Ngah, 71, said this year, the division did not go for its usual social visit to Penang.

“In the past, we would visit Penang after the elections. In the past, there was duit raya during the Hari Raya celebrations, but now, no.

“The Raya celebrations were muted and modest this year. But it’s okay, we understand the party’s difficulties.”

Negri Sembilan was another state that Umno lost. A Barisan Nasional MP in the state, Jalaluddin Alias, said he now focuses on critical programmes, such as visiting infirm constituents, holding gotong-royong and essential party events.

“When we were in the government, we could use our state exco and parliamentary allocations. There were also allocations through charity groups, such as the single mothers’ association,” said the Jelebu MP.

“Now it’s different. I only donate for meals during meetings. I use my parliamentary allocation for my Umno division.

“There are no more large-scale functions. No more goodie bags. Now we are really careful about how we spend our money and we are focused on strengthening the party and regaining the support of the people.” – July 20, 2018.