Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) chief Admiral Abdul Aziz Jaafar claimed that the RM3.4 billion Scorpene submarines would give the navy more ā€œmuscleā€ and help prevent a repeat of the ā€˜1511 episodeā€™; these are Umnoā€™s latest Weapons of Mass Distraction (WMD). Abdul Azizā€™s remarks are a smokescreen intended to distract us from the growing scandal of the Minister in the Prime Ministerā€™s Department, Nazri Abdul Aziz, his son Nedim and the crony, Michael Chia.

The charges are serious; alleged money laundering, corruption, cover-ups by the police, judiciary, Bank Negara and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), as well as conflict of interest.  Abdul Aziz is doing Prime minister Najib Abdul Razakā€™s bidding. So far, Najib has remained silent on the growing scandal of Musa Aman, of Sabah Umno and Nazriā€™s conflict of interest. Najibā€™s silence gives these people confidence to continue with the mass manipulation of the rakyat. The Nazri scandal is gaining momentum. His fingers are in every pie. It is not just his and his sonā€™s relationship with Chia. Nedimā€™s past is also catching up with him. Malaysians are calling for a fresh investigation into the charge of the murder of Darren Kang, allegedly by Nedim and his bodyguards, at Uncle Donā€™s cafe at Desa Sri Hartamas in 2004.

The rakyat is also unconvinced, despite the recently settled case, that Nedim did not impersonate royalty nor assault a security guard. Nazri Aziz must not be allowed to escape the questions being asked of him. So, if for any reason Admiral Abdul Aziz decides to leave the navy, he would make a brilliant stand-up comic and join the long list of other comedians, consisting of former government figures such as the lawyer Abdul Razak Musa, who acted for the MACC in the inquest into Teoh Beng Hockā€™s death.

Every time someone mentions a diesel taxi, an image is conjured-up of a dilapidated Mercedes, held together with duct-tape, choking black smoke and making that familiar ā€˜dagga-daggaā€™ noise, like an overworked generator.  The Scorpene submarines present a similar picture; a tranquil sea, the surface of which is broken by a line of belching thick smoke from a submarine that refuses to submerge. Our diesel-powered Scorpenes are the aquatic version of Malaysiaā€™s infamous taxis.  One would have thought the RMN could have purchased at least one nuclear submarine with 3.4 billion ringgits.   

No need to fear invasion

It would be incredible if Abdul Aziz was not aware that Portugal is part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato).  He need not post look-outs to detect an armada entering the Straits of Malacca. Nato is not going to wage war on Malacca, but if it were, a Nato officer, somewhere in deepest Nevada, USA or perhaps, an air force base in Lincolnshire, England, might send a signal, and in a matter of minutes, Malacca would be annihilated by a missile fired from a warship in the Indian Ocean. The admiral should not fear an invasion by other countries. Malaysian prime ministers are adept at giving away large tracts of Malaysian territory, such as Pulau Batu Puteh off Johor to Singapore in 2008, Blocks L and M to Brunei in 2009 and acres of Malayan Railway land on the island of Singapore, to the Singaporeans in 2010.

Whilst Abdul Aziz is protecting the front door, he has left the back door unguarded and the prime minister and his party, Umno, have allowed immigrants in.   Abdul Aziz should have advised the PM to spend the money on better wages, decent equipment and improved living and working conditions for armed forces personnel, instead of on Scorpene.

He could have told Najib that the maintenance of our fighting machines is shoddy or that the procurement of equipment should be standardised, to prevent a mess with maintenance and repair. Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah mentioned a time when the armed forces were flush with cash that the Defence Ministry would purchase Exocet missiles, at RM2 million each, just for target practice. Malaysian waters cannot be defended without good control of the skies. Two jet engines were smuggled out of the country undetected, and information on Malaysian defences were sold for millions of ringgits. Abdul Aziz is perhaps looking in the wrong direction for enemies of the state.

In the invasion of Malacca in 1511, the role of Muslims from India was significant. When Manuel I, the King of Portugal, heard about the fame of Malacca, he dispatched an emissary, Diogo Lopes de Sequeira, to set up trade links with Sultan Mahmud Shah of Malacca, in 1509. Established Indian Muslim traders, angered by the capture of Goa by the Portuguese, and fearing further commercial losses in Malacca, convinced the sultan that the Portuguese were dangerous. A plot to assassinate de Sequeira was hatched, but was foiled when he escaped. The Portuguese response was to send a task force of 18 ships headed by Admiral Afonso de Albuquerque to capture Malacca. Again, the Indian Muslim traders persuaded the sultan to defend Malaccaā€™s position.

Many different factions in the sultanā€™s household conspired against him to promote their own agendas. Moreover, the Malays stood little chance against the arsenal of the Portuguese fleet and the discipline of its sailors.

Secret pact

The sultan was not aware that the Indian traders had made a secret pact with the Portuguese and offered their ships, to fight against the sultan. When their offer was declined, leaders of the Indian Muslim community reassured the Portuguese that they would remain neutral, in exchange for a guarantee that they could continue their trade, after the battle.

The article ā€˜The Capture of Malaccaā€™ in the Journal of the Straits branch of the Royal Society (No 61, 1912), describes the conquest and states that as the Portuguese pushed home the attack, one Malay prince retreated upriver, the sultan of Pahang weary from battle, retreated to Pahang and the bendahara fled into the interior, as did Sultan Mahmud Shah.

Malaysians should learn from history and not repeat their mistakes. They should be aware of the effects of the treachery of Indian Muslims and not be deceived by their distractions. Donā€™t let Umno use Admiral Abdul Aziz to divert you from Nazri Azizā€™s corruption. Malaysiakini
MARIAM MOKHTAR is a non-conformist traditionalist from Perak, a bucket chemist and an armchair eco-warrior. In ā€˜real-speak', this translates into that she comes from Ipoh, values change but respects culture, is a petroleum chemist and also an environmental pollution-control scientist.