THERE were many failures that we saw during Pakatan Harapan’s 22-month bumbling reign, but none stood out as much as former Johor menteri besar Osman Sapian’s term in office.

Which is surprising given that not many Malaysians, even those from Johor, remember him today, but I am confident some has recalled his short 11 months as Johor’s menteri besar when he appeared again in the news recently. 

Osman has been getting some flak recently for his support for a Slim River by-election independent candidate, and was also recorded giving speeches about how Bersatu has deviated from its original course. Bersatu, being a component party of Perikatan Nasional that fielded a Barisan Nasional candidate, has no reason to be okay with what he did. 

Given his failure as MB of Johor, it is highly ironic that Osman is still presenting himself as a credible statesman and politician. The recent issue no doubt reminded the people of his unremarkable tenure. 

Let’s revisit some of the highlights that led to his downfall as MB.

The one thing that stood out the most during his reign of failure was the Kim Kim river pollution crisis in Pasir Gudang that stretched from for months in 2019 – where around 6,000 people were directly affected by the toxic fumes from illegal waste disposal, including more than 100 school children.  More than 450 schools and learning institutions, as well as thousands of businesses were forced to close during the crisis, affecting lives and livelihood of the people in Pasir Gudang.

While the crisis was unfolding, Osman was in Batam, Riau, Indonesia for a three-day “work” trip to prepare for the Visit Johor 2020 campaign meant to boost local tourism. While the trip was indeed cut short, the media was quick to report what Osman actually did there – play golf on one of Batam’s numerous golf courses. 

Here we have a “leader” who not only was incapable in ensuring smooth governance by the state on businesses dealing with toxic wastes and having adequate mitigating measures, he also seemed detached from actually leading the state. While people in Pasir Gudang were suffering by the thousands, the only thing on Osman’s mind was how far he can hit the ball with a 5-iron golf club. Osman never even offered an apology when the truth came to light.

From time to time he has shown the people of Johor his true colours. From falsifying his education pedigree (Osman was listed as a graduate of Universiti Putra Malaysia but backtracked later, claiming he did not know who listed him as such, after it was revealed that he had dropped out) to getting one of his wives to officiate at a state government event in lieu of him, Osman is frankly an embarrassment to the august state of Johor. 

His failures even managed to make its way down the causeway too. In the bilateral hiccup with Singapore over the sea border with Malaysia, Osman was reported to have crossed the Tebrau Strait  to “visit” our naval assets without proper documentation and permission from the federal government. More embarrassingly, this incident was even discussed during a parliamentary session in Singapore!

Being incompetent is one thing, but Osman goes beyond that. What we have here is a man who is shrewd enough to sweet talk even the former prime minister,  Dr Mahathir himself, which led to an episode of uneasiness between the palace of Johor and Dr Mahathir over Osman’s performance as the menteri besar – and culminated in a timely demise to his tenure. 

And the palace had every right to be concerned. Osman has shown Malaysians many times that he is willing to betray his principles for political power. Prior to being an MB, Osman was the assemblyman for Kempas from 1999 to 2013, enjoying more than a decade of position and power riding on the shoulders of Barisan Nasional – which no doubt was more than willing to help with his campaign machinery. Probably due to his incompetence, Osman was dropped in the 2013 general election, after which he bided his time to rejoin the arena on Pakatan Harapan’s ticket in 2018.

It is not surprising then, that he would campaign for an opposition candidate in the recent by-election – probably for favours and a sweet return to power. His comrades in Bersatu are probably sick of it at this point and lodged a report against him with the party disciplinary board.

Johoreans and Malaysians would do well to do the same – put a stop to his thirst for power (and his incompetence) when the time comes for us to go to the polls again. – September 3, 2020. 

* Azni Humaira Mohd Husni reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.