VETERAN Umno leader Syed Hamid Albar’s open letter calling on Malaysians to vote with their conscience for a fair and honest government received a mixed response from social media users.

In the letter issued today, Syed Hamid, a former magistrate who later held the foreign, home, justice and defence portfolios, called on Malaysians to “vote with your heart” and to “vote sincerely”.

“Let good judgment prevail. Vote for people with integrity, honour, transparency, accountability and those who are hardworking and trustworthy, so that these qualities can be imbued in a government they represent,” he said.

The former Umno Supreme Council member said voters are “not here to make the strong even stronger. Let us not fall into that trap”.

“I truly believe if we unite with our common goal to amplify the voice of reason, justice and honour, God willing, this will prevail over deceits, lies and falsehood.”  

Syed Hamid’s letter was met with scepticism and derision, with Facebook user Harold Lean commenting: “No, this is the voice of a weakling. Sitting safely on the fence. No stand was made. Buttering his bread on both sides.”

Ganesan Veeramuthu Pillai referred to Syed Hamid’s record as home minister, criticising him for allowing the arrest of a journalist.

“Now he dares not openly criticise Najib Razak, but carefully chooses his words because he is unsure of which horse will win the race.”

Another user, Alfred Sequerah, said that Syed Hamid, when he was home minister, had also called for the word “Allah” to be banned from the Catholic Herald in 2007.

However, some users welcomed Syed Hamid’s apparent call for change. “The key words are ‘positive change’. Welcome to the resistance/rebellion,” wrote M Huzaifa Arriffin.

Mustapha Ong said: “As a Muslim, it is a sin to continue supporting leadership that is corrupt and has stolen from the country. We need to assess the difference between the administration under Najib Razak’s leadership as compared with Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s 22 years as prime minister.”

Abraham Teh said that the open letter indicated that even the upper echelon were not certain of the election outcome. 

“No one know what will happen. Rafidah Aziz and Daim Zainuddin are Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s close allies. But more Umno ex-leaders openly voicing out definitely means that they sense something is not favouring the ruling party,” he said on Facebook. – May 6, 2018.