The ‘who next' challenge that washed out a rally
Which was, all sentimentalities and tribal pangs aside, right on the nose.
'Turun Anwar' protesters looked away sheepishly when confronted with the most obvious of asks.
It is, actually, a long time coming. This impossible quandary, self-inflicted upon an equally impossible country.
Protesters gather during the 'Turun Anwar' rally at Dataran Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur July 26, 2025. — Picture by Firdaus Latif
It's yesterday, once more
When Onn Jaffar left Umno in 1951, the party had to go looking for a replacement. No number two.
A barren leadership landscape emboldened Onn to set his terms. Razak Hussein was too young in 1951, 29-years-old then, by his own admission.
He was, however, certain to ascend, just a matter of when. Abdul Rahman Abdul Hamid was slotted in as Umno's second president.
In the aftermath of Anwar Ibrahim's 1998 expulsion, there was reluctance to look at Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as a replacement.
In more recent times, newly-formed Bersatu felt 93-year-old chairman Mahathir Mohamad was a better fit in 2018 to head Pakatan Harapan despite president Muhyiddin Yassin with almost 30 years of executive office experience ready on the side.
It took a messy MP kerfuffle with direct palace adjudication to elevate Muhyiddin in 2020. That very same uneasy MP count passed the post to Ismail Sabri Yaakob. An Umno vice-president as PM was unprecedented.
While all the whimsical complaints continue since 2022, Anwar has been the closest to look PM worthy.
That's not a critique of the prime minister, but a realisation which slaps the country, slaps us.
We suck at growing leaders. We keep people in circulation in cynical permutations until they drop into leadership as a function of being around long enough.
Like Abdullah, Najib, Muhyiddin and Ismail Sabri. Been around, long enough.
Remember the lunch, Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar, Nurul Izzah Anwar and Rafizi Ramli had back in 2018. Made the rounds. Many hoped they'd join that lazy, worn-out conveyor belt of becoming PM by being around, long enough.
Today, Khairy moonlights as a radio deejay when not hosting his podcasts, looking at power from the outside; Nurul Izzah encircled with nepotism gossip being her father's deputy after ousting Rafizi who plots sophisticated plays when he is clearly discord's blunt instrument.
We are clueless about growing future leadership, because of the obduracy to outcomes rather than respect for process or reason. Go about it like madmen and we are surprised to live in an asylum we built for ourselves?
Especially since inspiration is the most un-Malaysian thing.
Excalibur, not a DIY buy
The final action scene from A New Hope (Star Wars, Episode Four) was novice jedi Luke Skywalker aiming for the tiniest of tiniest targets on the Death Star while staving off the Empire's fighter planes led by his father Darth Vader.
The real story is not that he hit the mark, spoiler alert, but that several movies and TV shows had to be expanded to explain the roles of many, many other people chipping in. They can give a hand but the path to power is exclusive to a few.
Seemingly power can be exercised by the chosen few, regardless of success. In a parallel universe, the Empire won.
That sounds like Malaysia. Crudely fatalistic.
Let's examine the process.
We kick off by kicking out half the country. Independent women have no viable path to top office.
While by every measure — scholastic achievements, university entry, corporate success and stronger representation in the public, private and civil society sector — Malaysian women are kicking ass, they face a political ladder without notches or steps. Levitation is a prerequisite to climb it.
Them and other minorities.
They cannot prove their worth in local government, which is a common pathway in saner parts around the world, since our local governments are manipulated and disempowered.
Civil servants run the show in a Malaysia where paranoid politicians centralise everything including our buses and farces in fear of losing power.
Minorities cannot rise up through parties since the parties are tiered. Women's wings are subsidiaries, not parallel leadership tracks.
Female success stories to the political top do not exist, if those with familial affiliations are removed.
Borneo accepts its auxiliary status. Ever since Shafie Apdal was pistol-whipped in Umno, and later light-sabred when his Warisan dreamt of Putrajaya, the terms of engagement are clear. Borneo, stay in your lane.
And if the candidate pre-qualifies — Malay male graduate from a major Semenanjung state certified bipolar, as he must display outright xenophobia and race love one minute and the grace of inclusivity the next minute — he fights on as party member in Umno, Bersatu or PKR. Constantly defends his preset identity to protect his chances.
One thing he does not need to do is present an original idea. Ideas, thoughts on development and how to reconstruct the labour market under threat from trade tariffs and artificial intelligence, are completely unnecessary.
Thinking is a distraction in this space. They compromise principles to fit the scheme.
Just look at who makes it through. How underwhelming they are. They are as much victims as graduates of the political system.
PAS supporters say Kedah Mentri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor can be the exception. The Universiti Sains Malaysia graduate is many things, but a thinker he is not.
Nor is Terengganu MB Ahmad Shamsuri Mokhtar, though I understand the party's faithful are ecstatic a scientifically trained man is in their stable. Reminder, Donald Trump graduated from the famed Northwestern University, and he is no intellectual, let's posit that.
Pakatan does not have a leg up on this. Selangor MB Amirudin Shari can be described as someone pleasant enough. The Johor MB managed to be born in the right Johor family, as his resume should read.
It is not the bottom of the barrel, but it is nowhere near the top.
The system which excludes most from the start and only targets the Skywalkers, gets what it deserves, mediocrity.
No downs, just ups
So, to last weekend's blindsided protesters.
The feudal nature of our political system means there is no answer — to who after Anwar.
Our fidelity to tribalism and self-sabotage has come full circle, and now the country cries out for a reboot. Do not worry, all movie franchises do it.
Who's next is not a Perikatan Nasional problem, or Pakatan's. The country owns the problem.
Malaysia has had and continues to have remarkable people, they just cannot catch a break in the situation.
Reminds me of three people I taught before. Absolute gems.
One, the smartest one thinks while the rest sleep. A machine just like Mahathir. Articulate and steadfast. Sits in Singapore as a CTO for a regional start-up whose services Malaysians use daily.
The second one is rare, deeply introspective and drips with charm. Strangers worldwide constantly want to adopt this pup, and he now lives further south than Singapore.
And the last one is the slickest. Like premium oil which cannot be ignored. Gets the job done, without fuss. This one remains in Malaysia.
Those mentri besar characters would be petrified to sit with them at the same table.
But that is the Malaysia we live in. Talent does not get an invite. That's a disservice to call them talents. Absolute stars with sterling records are ignored.
I should know. I brought the three to work and help my old party PKR for free 13 years ago. The appreciation certificate they never received was exemplary.
If we have too few with quality to step in today, we can completely thank ourselves for it.
Stop looking at the personalities for answers. If they believed in answers more than their futures, they'd have stood up long ago.
Champion change when it is not to their advantage. They did not, because they also like succeeding without having to try as hard.
Why do we have no one else? Because we are great at celebrating pretenders.
* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
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