By Mohsin Abdullah

According to a Malay folklore, there lived a fairy princess on the summit of a mountain called Gunung Ledang (located in present-day Johor). The beauty of the princess is well known all over the land.

It is said that the Sultan of Melaka had wanted to take her as his wife. Thus his best warriors, including Hang Tuah who by then was already elderly, and Tun Mamat, were sent up the mountain taking with them the Sultan's marriage proposal.

Upon reaching the destination late at night, an old women appeared before Tun Mamat and told him if the Sultan desired the princess he must fulfill seven conditions set by her. The conditions were:

– A golden bridge for her to walk to Melaka from the mountain,

– A silver bridge for her to return from Melaka to the mountain,

– Seven barrels of tears of virgin girls for her to bathe,

– Seven barrels of young betel nut juice, also for her to bathe,

– Seven trays filled with hearts of "kuman" or germs,

– Seven trays filled with hearts of mosquitoes, and

– A bowl of the blood of the Sultan's young son.

Some versions of the story say the Sultan was not able to meet any of the conditions while other versions say he was able to fulfill the first six (but did not state how), thus causing the ruin of the Melaka Sultanate. The only thing the Sultan could not fulfill was to provide the bowl of his son's blood which would have required him to kill his only child.

Here's the point of the story. The conditions deliberately set by the princess supposedly to test the Sultan's love for her was her way of saying no to the Sultan's marriage proposal, as she knew her conditions were impossible to be fulfilled.

But the "fact" the Sultan had even contemplated to fulfill the requests showed he was either too proud or too blind to realize the conditions were the princess' subtle way of turning down his marriage proposal. 

Now, if I may ask, can that analogy be used to describe Umno's conditions to prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin for the party's continuous support of the government?

Is Umno deliberately setting conditions impossible to fulfill because it has always wanted out? Honestly I don't know.

First of all we or at least I am not privy to what the conditions are that Umno has submitted to Muhyiddin. From media reports, it is said the conditions centered around demands for more cabinet posts and the deputy prime minister post.

If cabinet post is the condition, it is not impossible to fulfill (especially filling the DPM post which is currently vacant), but the Muhyiddin administration is already bloated with 70 ministers and deputy ministers. Adding more will result in redundancies, putting a strain on the government's coffers and cause hue and cry among the rakyat. And Muhyiddin will be seen as one who bows to pressure or demands just to be in power.

Going back to the Puteri Gunung Ledang analogy. Is Muhyiddin like the Sultan of Melaka, too proud or unable to realize subtle rejection under the guise of conditions impossible to fulfill? Hard to tell, I must admit.

The latest Umno decision to have come out of its supreme council meeting held on the night of Thursday Oct 29 is that Umno ministers will be staying in government for now.

The statement issued by Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi did not say if the DPM issue or other matters were discussed other than that.

But for its ministers to stay in government the condition is: a general election ought to be held once the COVID-19 pandemic is under control, or contained.

Now when will that be? Just what is the yardstick to gauge that the pandemic is under control? Is it when the number of new cases dropped to double or single digit? Or totally zero? Or when vaccine is made available? 

Not easy for the prime minster to come up with a decision, I would say.

Umno, as we know, has always wanted an election, simply because it fancies its chances of winning with PAS, its partner in Muafakat Nasional. In a nutshell, Umno wants to rule the nation like it used to do during the BN era.

In the event of an election, will Umno i.e. Muafakat Nasional contest against Perikatan Nasional? Earlier statements by its leaders suggest it will.

Interestingly, PAS is in both Muafakat Nasional and Perikatan Nasional. Whom will they contest for? And whom against?

But first what would Muhyiddin have to say about the latest conditions set by Umno?

Meanwhile, think I'll read the Puteri Gunung Ledang story again, or catch the movie especially the one directed by Saw Teong Hin and produced by Tiara Jacquelina back in 2004.

(Mohsin Abdullah is a veteran journalist and now a freelancer who writes about this, that and everything else.)