KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 7 — Umno acting president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan today said the party still has members with a “bodoh sombong” (foolish arrogance) attitude, which is to blame for the party’s downfall.
He said the negative trait emerged due to Umno’s long reign in Putrajaya and cautioned that if left unchecked, it would be detrimental to the party’s future.
“Whatever we do, if we are still with our ‘bodoh sombong’ attitude, we won’t go anywhere.
“So discard that ‘bodoh sombong’ trait. I am sorry for saying this — even though I am an Umno leader — but we still have foolish arrogance. We have to discard that.
“Listen to what people say. Don’t be too egoistic,” he said in a Sinar Harian ‘Bicara Minda’ forum today.
He also advised Umno leaders not to show off, pointing out that this will damage the party’s reputation and discourage people from voting for it.
“We never had ‘keinsafan’ (regret) because we were in power for too long. Too long being successful, and in the end, it is that success that brought us down.
“This has been a very costly lesson to us,” Mohamad added.
He was responding to a question from an audience member as to the restructuring steps taken by Umno, and if it has conducted a post-mortem, following its embarrassing defeat in the 14th general election on May 9 last year.
He also asked Mohamad to state what the party had learned from its defeat.
