THE RUBICON HAS BEEN CROSSED

Once you have crossed the Rubicon there is no longer any turning back. You have already crossed the point of no return. And looking at the developments of the Allah word (kalimah Allah) controversy, I would dare venture that this point has definitely been crossed.

This, I suppose, strengthens, if not proves, the theory I have been propagating the last couple of years leading to the recent May 2013 general election. And that theory is the 3R strategy is very crucial to Umno’s survival — and that it will become even more crucial after the general election when Umno wakes up to the reality that its future depends on the Malay vote and that it has lost the support of the non-Malays for good.

Yes, I know, I appear to get a hard on when I am proven right. I get an orgasm when I can say, “I told you so!” I do not deny that. I live for that moment and at my age, when I am pushing 64, there is really very little else to live for, if you know what I mean.

The main focus of this controversy appears to be raising questions: (1) Who should be blamed? (2) Why in the first place is this an issue? (3) Why does Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak not do something to solve this? (4) Why are Muslims interfering in the rights of non-Muslims to practice their religion? (5) Since when is Allah the monopoly of Islam? (6) Don’t the non-Muslim Arabs also use the Allah word? (7) Is not Allah the pre-Islamic name for God anyway? (8) Is this law fair and just? (9) Why can’t they amend or repeal this law? (10) Why did they not oppose this law back then before it became law?

Yes, the game of ten questions and playing the blame-game to seek a scapegoat to pin the blame on. Good questions those ten question but the wrong questions to ask. Even if you can find good answers to these ten questions that is still not going to solve the problem mainly because those are not the right questions to ask. You should be asking different questions instead, which no one is asking.

Sure, but that is only your theory, you may argue. That does not make it correct. Well, it depends on whether we are talking about Political Philosophy or Political Science. Both may involve the study of politics but the first is the study of ‘ought to be’ while the second is the study of ‘what is’.

You are talking about what ought to be (or Political Philosophy) while I am talking about what is (or Political Science). And herein lies the problem although you may think we are both talking about the same thing, meaning politics.

Now that we have crossed the Rubicon and there is no longer any turning back, looking behind (like asking those ten questions) is futile. The only option now is to move forward and win. And that was what Julius Caesar’s army had to do when they crossed the Rubicon River in 49 BC. They had to win or die!

And this, too, is the only option open to Umno in this game of 3R politics. Win or die! And since this issue has already crossed the point of no return, Umno will have to find ways of winning this battle or else Umno is dead in the water. And since they may be dead anyway come the next general election in 2018 or so, what difference does it make? Do nothing they die and do something they have a 50-50 chance of living or dying.

I have said this many times before. When in combat against a vicious enemy, never leave it wounded. Kill it! A wounded tiger is most dangerous. So do not wound it unless you can kill it. More people die from attacks from a wounded tiger than from attacks from a healthy tiger.

And that is what Umno currently is. It is a badly wounded, vicious animal. You did not kill it in May 2013. You badly wounded it. And now you have told it that you are going to slit its throat come 2018. So this wounded animal sees visions of death over the horizon and it needs to fight to stay alive.

And, in such a scenario, you kill, or be killed.

I am surprised that many talk about Sun Tzu but not many practice Sun Tzu’s art of war. Sun Tzu taught us that the element of stealth and surprise are crucial in war. The Americans call it shock and awe.

Standing on top of the hill and shouting at your wounded enemy, while waving a sword, that you are going to come down from the hill to slit his throat is not what Sun Tzu taught us. There is no element of stealth and surprise, or shock and awe, in that although you may impress the pretty girls watching the whole drama.

Let both sides be warned. This has now turned into a duel to the death. And let the best combatant win. And in such a combat there are no Queensbury Rules. So if you have a weak heart, stay well away from the battlefield.