Turmoil? PAU's longest serving emcee says it will all be water under the bridge as rationale prevails

By ARNAZ M. KHAIRUL

14 Jan 2023 09:10pm

Datin Suriani Abdul Rahman is the Umno General Assembly's longest serving official emcee, having completed her 15th year at the rostrum this year.

KUALA LUMPUR: Whatever turmoil Umno seems to be going through at the moment, will be water under the bridge after decisions were made and solutions provided by the delegates at the Umno General Assembly (PAU) that ended today, at one person who has seen the such drama before believes so.

For the past 15 years, Datin Suriani Abdul Rahman has been the one familiar figure on stage, now holding the record as PAU's longest serving official emcee and she firmly believes the current turmoil is not something out of the ordinary and will be resolved amicably among its delegates and leadership.

"What you see as turmoil is actually a normal part of democracy, to have differences of opinion, to agree and disagree with each other. At least we have a multitude of opinions. What is important is that we maintain our inclusivity," said Suriani.

She said what was important was for solutions from PAU to bring an end to the bickering, so that the party and its members could focus on serving the people, especially now since the party needed to adapt to being part of the Unity Government.

"It used to be different. We were the single, biggest party and everybody converged here. But now we are part of the Unity Government, so we need to adapt to that. I think this is a good transition actually, to be part of the Unity Government, for us to actually strive towards modernisation.

"It is now time for us to move forward as a country and support each other. We must stop this bickering. I think it is a waste of time. Let's just work and make everyone happy again. That is what is important. Then we can all go back to being the rakyat again," she said.

Suriani, once a popular newscaster with RTM, first stepped on stage in 2008 after being offered the role as official emcee by the party.

"I initially did live commentary on the PAU with RTM for four years and it was from there that Umno spotted me and offered me the role of official emcee. I accepted it and here I am, still here after 15 years," she said, adding that she looked forward to each edition of the general assembly and would not hesitate extending her record-setting service.