Di suatu malam di sebuah FeldaPetikan daripada Utusan Malaysia, 11th of March 2008;
[Ditanya adakah beliau masih sayangkan UMNO walaupun digantung keahlian seumur hidup, Ibrahim berkata: “Saya sayang semua, saya sayangkan agama, bangsa dan negara... jadi saya sayangkan parti yang sayang semua perkara ini.”Ahli Parlimen Pasir Mas, Datuk Ibrahim Ali.
Bersandarkan pengalaman yang dilaluinya, beliau mendakwa sering menjadi mangsa kalangan yang dengki dan cemburu terhadap peranannya apabila berada dalam parti sehingga beliau digugurkan jawatannya di dalam UMNO.
“Apabila saya memegang apa-apa jawatan yang diberikan, saya selalunya bersungguh-sungguh dan bekerja kuat. Tetapi apabila laju, orang dengki.
“Status saya kini masih seorang ahli politik Bebas yang akan bekerjasama dengan Pas dalam memperjuangkan hak- hak rakyat bagi memastikan sebuah kerajaan yang baik,” katanya kepada pemberita di sini hari ini.
Pada Pilihan Raya Umum Ke-12, Ibrahim menewaskan calon Barisan Nasional (BN), Ahmad Rosdi Mahamed dengan majoriti 8,991 undi.]
Datuk Ibrahim Ali; my kind of Wakil Rakyat. It's not about glamor or power or wealth, it's about serving the people, and working very hard at it. You have to be passionate about your people, and committed, and willing to be the medium shared by many, no kidding. March 8 marked my first voting experience and frankly speaking, my vote is base on the quality and eligibility of the candidates, no party preference. Politik di Malaysia adalah bersifat tempatan, wakil rakyat adalah wakil, suara kepada rakyat, ketua yang rakyat percaya mampu menjaga kebajikan, menyelamatkan serta membawa mereka ke arah yang lebih baik. Lain tempat, lain caranya, bandar lain, kampung lain. Quoting a friend of mine, Jacq ;
"The area that I stay, was won by the opposition. The past three nights were like new-year celebration. Even though the people vote for them..it is not because the people supports the opposition, it is plainly because they no longer want to support the current system they have been in after so many years. Hilarious isn't it.." Undoubtedly the people have spoken and the existing government should have learned a lesson of an inestimable value. Several factors as discussed by many, contributed to the so-called tsunami of the latest GE, and one of them is the internal conflicts in UMNO itself. Some deserve to lose but great leaders like Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon, Dr Awang Adek and several more who lost their seats due to hatred towards the top leaders of BN, not to them personally, is to me was such a waste.
Post GE, comes Pemilihan UMNO Bahagian, where things would get even uglier (remember the Mona Fendy case?!). Some say that this phase of election is much important and bigger than GE itself, provided that BN had won the Dun and Parliament seats beforehand. Ketua UMNO Bahagian plays an important role for candidates placement during elections and what not. Then there'd be several more elections before the presidential election of UMNO. Internal elections are vital in ensuring the integrity of parties and alliances.
I grew up politically conscious(?!) and aware(whether I want to or not) of our political and democracy systems, functions, history and what not. One side of the family is pretty much divided between PAS and UMNO, majority with the latter. On the other side, I have been introduced and exposed to PKR ever since its early stage of formation in 1998. Laungan REFORMASI sememangnya tidak asing lagi pada kami, sudah menjadi halwa telinga pada ketika itu. Memang rojak. Tu belum campur the Chinese side of family yet. Rojak, is what Malaysia is all about. We gained independence from the alliance of multi races of Malaya, together developing Malaysia into a new era, together, as Malaysians. That is why it sadden me to core when the racial cards were being played during the last GE, to toy with people's emotion and aggravate racism.
The common ground is bangsa Malaysia. What most people don't realize is how difficult it is to form alliances, moreover to lead a country of multi races and ethnic backgrounds. From Wikipedia; "The population as of February 2007 is 26.6 million consisting of 62% Malays, 24% Chinese, 8% Indians, with other minorities and indigenous peoples (Dept of Stats. Malaysia)". Malays forms the majority but still outperformed by the rest. I personally think that the special rights for Bumiputra shouldn't be totally abolished but rather improvised, and ensure its implementation caters to those in need, not those with connections. It is proven that even with all the special rights, the Bumiputras in percentage are still way behind the Chinese and Indians in several aspects, kurang daya saing mungkin, sebab asyik diberi subsidi?! Still, they need to be paid a little extra attention than the rest, especially those in rural areas and the Orang Asli.
Hopefully all differences would be resolved in time, between new alliances, between existing Alliance(Parti Perikatan) and between the states and federal government, for Malaysians best interest. Ramai orang yang berkata, duit dan kuasa punca banyak dosa. Jangan sampai makan rasuah, nanti bangsa dan negara jadi musnah.
