Crooked thinking

If it is ok for Chinese people to be called 'cina gila babi' (chinese crazy pig) because they eat pork, then I suppose it is ok for Malays to be called 'melayu gila bustard'.

Before you start throwing stones in my direction, look up the word. Problem is some people never bother to check the truth or otherwise of what they may have heard. They then think the worse and start acting on lies. Sounds familiar? And before you know it, blood is spilled, houses burnt. That could have been the outcome of the Red Shirt demo in KL.

Muddle Malaysia circa 2015

Of late, Malaysia hasn't been in the news for any good reason. With the Ringgit near historic lows against the Singapore dollar, it is time to reflect on what went wrong.

This is but a sampler of what has been making the rounds on social and digital media (read: SMS, Whatsapp, Twitter, etc.). I disclaim ownership of all these. They belong to various people on said social media.

I hope Google won't exercise its right to replace these pictures with generic filler "X" boxes. The truth is already a rare commodity up north nowadays.

Furthermore, if not for how serious matters really are, only comic relief can relieve the pain honest Malaysians must feel for their country.

There's more here.

Typhoon R

Whether it is Singapore's fault that Malaysia ended up with its race-based politics and policies I leave up to the historians, who probably will be able to provide a more dispassionate version of what really happened, why, how and when. My only comment about Dr M's latest outburst that Malaysia owes its racism politics to Singapore (specifically Mr Lee Kuan Yew) is ludicrous. It is true that the Lee government constantly harped on a Malayan Malaysia in those early days. It got itself kicked out of the Federation in1965 and the rest is history.

Can Dr M blame Singapore for what happened in Malaysia after that? If one says yes, then it demonstrates how powerful the PAP government must have been to be able to influence Malaysia politics so permanently from it little island. And this after being kicked out ('turfed out' in Mr Lee's words) of the Federation. Conversely, it also implies how weak Malaysia was, or rather how weak the leaders of Malaysia were, that it was not able to withstand the sheer intellectual and politic typhoon that Singapore dumped on Malaysia during its years in the Federation. Surely Dr M gives more credit to Mr Lee than he deserves.

Leaders of Malaysia had all of 45 years (since 1965 when Singapore was kicked out) to deal with the typhoon, but hey, guess what? They rather liked it and rolled with it, including Dr M, its longest serving Prime Minister. I wonder why Dr M is giving such high praise to the leaders of Singapore? Does he want to apply for PR and then become a citizen of Singapore?

If so, say so lah! Don't need to beat about the bush.

To Slay a Giant

I say hurray for PM Najib Razak - for being brave enough to kill a sacred cow like the New Economic Policy (NEP) which, while achieving some of its original aims, has probably introduced more problems over its 22 year history. What is the content of the New Economic Model? Well, I don't think it has been fleshed out, and as they all say, the devil is in the details. Some are even suggesting that it may be old wine in new bottles, that the NEM is nothing but a new and sophisticated wrapper for the NEP.

The problem is NEP has become so entrenched into the politics of the ruling class - the UMNOs and the Malay supremacists and what have you's. It will take a person of tremendous political clout, significant underlying Malay support, and persuasive powers to slay this giant money generator for the bumiputras and raise one that is more equitable in its place. It is said that the NEM will place more emphasis on needs and merits. That is the way it should have been. Hopefully, that is the way it is going to be, if we believe in Najib Razak. You do not have to look far for an example, Just look south of the Peninsula, in a tiny little island called Singapore, to be convinced that this is the right thing to do. But of course it requires a person also with a strong political will to realize the proposed changes. Does PM Najib Razak have it - the political staying power to roll back what his father put into place back in 1971?

Only time will tell.

Cook the crook

Is UMNO out of its mind? Fielding a dishonest person for an otherwise honourable position as Member of Parliament? If this is the best that UMNO can offer to the Rakyat, then it shouldn't be in the business of government. An MP is an honoured position tasked to make laws, deliberate on the State and country's budgets and finances, and act as the leader of the community.

Clearly this position requires a person of great personal integrity and honesty. Anything less, and it appears that UMNO is willing to settle for less, and the people will feel betrayed. Why, because it is the people's money - the taxes that they pay - that goes to providing the salary and whatever other perks that an MP enjoys. If I were a taxpayer, I will be very unhappy that my hard earned money is used to support and sustain a crook, who, it would appear, has not seen the error of his ways and shown any remorse. Like what many are saying, he would even try to deceive UMNO about the truth of his conduct - behaviour that the Law Society deems fit to debar him from practicing as a lawyer.

For a moment there, it appeared that Najib was doing the right things, striking the right cords, but this incident, coupled with the MACC incident threatens to derail any attempt by him to gain respectibility among the electorates. The long hard winter is set to continue in UMNO-land.

p.s. then again, I can hear someone questioning the integrity of half the MPs in the present Parliament. So what is one more?

PAS meltdown

If it succeeds, it will be recognised as a master stroke by Najib's UMNO. Using that age-old strategy of 'Divide-and-Conquer', it appears that UMNO is close to succeeding in driving a wedge at the top levels of the PAS leadership, breaking that singleness of purpose that PAS has so far been known for, and for which it has succeeded, albeit around a political niche. Today, it is a major partner with Anwar Ibrahim in the Pakatan Rakyat (PR). To break up PAS is to also break up the PR, and thereby come closer to reclaiming the constituencies which is has lost and which it continues to lose.

What really is driving some people in PAS towards a Unity Government with UMNO? To whom does it benefit? The Malay/Muslims? Or the very people in PAS clamouring for this Unity Goverment? Have some people's hands been greased, or enticed by promises beyond mere political inclusiveness and power?

One waits with bated breadthe the outcome of this internal political battle. The only people smiling are Najib and his UMNO. At last, he is showing that he is more than what people have disparaged him for.

Sniping Mahathir

In typical fashion, Dr M has now come out to criticize MM Lee's recent visit to Malaysia. In this visit, Singapore's MM Lee Kuan Yew, met with PM Najib and his wife, former PM Abdullah Badawi, the Chief Minister of Penang, Datuk Lim Guan Eng, the Sultans of Perak and Pahang States, and, for the first time, the Opposition PAS' leader, Nik Aziz Nik Mat. Conspicuous in the list of people that MM did not meet were Dr M and Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. I don't know why. Maybe MM asked, but they didn't want to see him, or they asked and MM said it was out of the way and couldn't fit them in in his scheduled 10-day visit to Malaysia. Maybe both parties didn't even think about it. In any case, Anwar Ibrahim comes over to Singapore pretty often to attend conferences and such. Whatever the reason, Dr M seems to be pretty unhappy and he has worked up a tirade, yet again, againsts the MM and Singapore.

That's exactly what MM meant when he warned that it was difficult for Singaporean and foreign investors to put their money into Malaysia in the past - that past when Dr M ruled the roost. Because then, as the byline of this blog states, there was always this case of 1-step forward 2-step back relationship between Singapore and Malaysia. It didn't have to be the case, and it shouldn't ever have to be this case, said MM. I agree.

Differences there will always be, and each one of us, every country, is obliged to and thus must try to find a way in this world to earn a living, to improve life and living, and not chronically go begging for alms. This has always been Singapore's stance and it has had to cultivate friendships with one and all, even with the rogue nations of Myanmar and Iran. So is it any surprise that MM continues to value Malaysia as a friend and partner? Yet Dr M sees MM as a prima donna out to trick the Malays all over again in his latest foray up north, implying that the illustrious people listed above are easily hoodwinked. Come on, grow up, Dr M and put away such insecurities that belies the immaturity of a man. Give more credit to your successors and fellow Malaysians.

Singapore knows it place and has just had to get on with it in the past. It has had to learn to recycle its longkang water because it fears that in time to come, Malaysia will just charge it monopolistic prices for water which it gets free-of-charge from its rivers, courtesy of divine sources. It has had to station its F-15s and F-16s in Australian and US deserts for its pilots to get some flight time because Malaysia cannot tolerate them flying over any of its airspace. It has had to ship in sand from Myanmar and elsewhere because it wouldn't sell its sand to Singapore. This is one of the most ludicrous and childish policies. Just look at the map. How much land area will Malaysia deplete to cover the entire island of Singapore with sand? It doesn't need a trained geographer to tell you its negligible. Singapore is, after all, just a little red dot. And even in getting back Pedra Branca, it went to the World Court - the International Court of Justice - for a judgement according to International Law. Not a single bullet was fired, nor a kris unsheathed (excepting Hishammuddin's antics), to claim ownership of the island, as would have happened in older times.

So it is ludicrous when Dr M insinuates that the Chinese bullies the minority Malays in Singapore and even the majority up north. Ask any Malay in Singapore if they would rather give up their Singapore citizenship and go live in Malaysia. I suspect that the numbers will be in the low hundreds, including undesirables like Mat Selamat. So Dr M should stop that childish bashing and stop being the perennial cry-baby. It will only lower people's perception of him and his place in history.

Corrupt to the core

The Malaysians are at it again. Photos of a semi-naked Ms Elizabeth Wong, the Honourable opposition MP from Anwar Ibrahim's PKR party, has been circulated, leading to her resigning her Selangor state Cabinet post and assembly seat. The last time a similar thing happened was when Mr Chua Soi Lek resigned his posts because he was caught on video in a hotel room engaged in activities with a person not his wife.

Since when has the naked form of a person, man or woman, proved incompetence on the part of the person? Don't we ALL have "private parts", which, if you are not aware, play important roles in keeping use alive and propagating the human race? What is there to be ashamed of if these parts are publicly displayed, especially when it is done so without the person's consent? I would like to let Ms Wong know that there is no wrong, no shame and certainly no dishonour in it, except among those who are prudes and among people - enemies - who would want to bring a person down, politically or otherwise.

Unfortunately, in Malaysia, that's how its appears the dominant UMNO wants to play politics. Anwar is already on video accusing the UMNO party of playing dirty politics. And he would be the one who has a certain 'authority' on this because somebody did him in in dirty fashion more than 10 years ago.

If politics is going to be conducted in this fashion in Malaysia from here on in (remember, just a few weeks ago, certain MPs defected to BN in Perak state, leading to a change in government of sorts). It is difficult to imagine that some political force is not behind all of these. And these forces appear to be quite powerful, and rich too, for who would want to defect, or show 'embarassing' photos' if there is not some financial incentives to do so. And who would want to part with their money if that somebody is not enriched by somebody else in some significant way?

Is Malaysia now so corrupt to the core?

Dog for dinner

Nothing much, it would appear, has changed where the Malaysia Polis are concerned. 10 years ago, they arrested Anwar Ibrahim and gave him a wacking in jail that the Inspector General of Police was sacked and jailed himself - because he was the one doing the wacking.

10 years hence, Teresa Kok reports that she was fed dog food when she was in police detention under the Internal Security Act (ISA). Well, that's the talk going around Malaysian blogs nowadays. How different is this compared to Anwar's wacking. Nothing much. It shows that the Malaysia Polis still have no respect for the law. They are ready to take the law into their own hands and interpret it any way they feel like it. Clearly, after so much promise that came with Abdullah Badawi's government eight years ago, nothing much has been done to wipe out corruption in the Polis force. And just when something is being attempted, the corruption fighter, Law Minister Zaid Ibrahim, has quit his post. The corrupt elements in dirty Malaysia have triumphed yet again.

I hear people sharpening their knives. The corrupt have better get out of town. History shows that people can be fooled some of the time, even most of the time, but certainly not all of the time.

Suicide in the making

It would appear that the Malaysia government is doing all the wrong things to keep Anwar Ibrahim from grabbing power. Today is the self-imposed September 16 deadline when Anwar is supposed to replace the incumbent government by garnering enough defections from the ruling party to form a simple majority of MPs in Parliament. Whether this will happen today remains to be seen.

But whatever the outcome, the incumbent government seem to be giving a leg-up to Anwar towards his goal. First, in a childish move, it sent its MPs to Taiwan on a study trip in an attempt to thwart the deadline for the takeover (it would appear that the government really believes that Anwar can do it). Then in the latest move, it arrested three Malaysians under its draconian Internal Security Act (ISA) laws - one is an opposition MP, Ms Teresa Kok, another a Sin Chew journalists, Ms Tan Hoon Cheng, who by all accounts, was just doing her job, and third, the irascible Raja Petra Kamaruddin who has fired so many poison arrows at high government ministers that it was only a matter of time that he got 'done in'.

This has backfired on the government. Malaysian are even more convinced that they have the wrong people in government. Its erstwhile Law Minister, Zaid Ibrahim, has resigned in protest over the use of the ISA. So now there is even more reason for incumbent BN Ministers and MPs to defect to the Pakatan Rakyat - Anwar's platform for taking over the Malaysia government. Truly, if this happens, a large part of the fault must lie squarely on the incompetence, childishness and wrong-footing of the government - people like Najib Razak and Said Hamid Albar doing more of the dancing.

Amazingly, it would appear that the greatest source of support for Anwar's planned coup is the BN government itself. UMNO itself is now racked by disagreements and infighting, with Muhyiddin Yassin calling for Abdullah Badawi to step down sooner rather than later, and Najib Razak wavering in his support for AB. Hishammuddin Tun Hussein, the Education Minister, is reportedly against the use of ISA on the Sin Chew reporter. It is now clear that Ms Kok's alleged wrong-doing that led to her arrest has been denied by the party whom she had allegedly wronged. It is clear that the Home Ministry acted without much thinking in the ISA arrests. How can such a sloppy government continue to govern?

Is there any hope anymore for the BN? It would appear that Anwar will get his way without him lifting a finger anymore.

That pesky bloke

Malaysia is going from bad to ridiculous. The government actually spent taxpayers' money to send tens of its MPs (from Sabah and Sarawak) and a few others on the Peninsula to Taiwan this week so that they can learn how to farm their lands better? And why didn't they just wait for the visas from China, which was their original intended destination? I suppose that we will be hearing more from government about plans to upgrade their agricultural programmes in months to come, or will it all be forgotten because this is really a government-funded holiday for its law-makers, to keep them from defecting?

Well, it is clear to all but the Malaysian government that this is to thwart Anwar Ibrahim's claim that he will take over the government on 16 Sep 08 when some government MP will walk over to his political party to execute the coup de grace to Abdullah Badawi's government. It is sad that the sitting government in Kuala Lumpur can be scared by the wayang that Anwar has been waging these past months. If it can move the government to waste taxpayers' money without him lifting more than a finger, that's an admission that Anwar deserves a greater role in government, for after all, those in government look like ants trying to run away from Anwar's poke.

And I suppose that the situation has deteriorated to such an extent that Dr M feels compelled to enter the fray again to take charge of the country and rid the country of pests like the PKR and Anwar. What Malaysia needs to get rid of a pest is to get a bigger pest. Don't hold your breadth now, Malaysia. There is a battle royal coming up real soon...in your very own backyard.

Shown the behind

Censorship is the prerogative of the sitting government, so the Malaysian government has every right to censor web sites that are spewing forth pornographic, obscene or libelous content. And so the Malaysia Today web site has been blocked. Netizens and free speech advocates are up in arms over it, reminding the government of the promise it made to the world that it will not censor the internet when it first set up its very ambitious MSC project.

But of course, the Malaysian government cannot be bound by its commitments, particularly when those commitments were made during somebody else's watch, especially when that somebody has already resigned from the political party under which he was PM and is basically acting as a lone opposition figure - opposition to the PM, i.e.

It is naive of anybody to think that a government can be held by its words, particularly where politics (and perhaps pornography) is concerned. Practically, it isn't an issue anyway because the web site that is being blocked has been mirrored and is still accessible. If the news had not broke, you'd think nothing out of the ordinary has taken place. That's the real power of the internet - it just cannot be controlled, at least not in the long run. So for the M'sian government to have done what it has done - blocking Malaysia Today's web site - shows how helpless it really is. Far better to leave it alone than to have its behind exposed, as in this instance.

Punch and counter-punch

Things are coming to a head in Malaysia. Anwar Ibrahim has just been arrested for alleged sodomy (i.e. homosexuality) with a young 23 former volunteer at his political outfit. People are wondering why he was taken to the hospital when a swap of the saliva is sufficient to provide material for determining one's DNA. But I suppose that, going by Malaysian government doctors, you need a specialist to extract the DNA sample 'properly'. You need even to go to the hospital to do it, and I suppose, it had to be a government hospital. No, a General Practitioner (GP) will not do, and much less a police with a mouth swap in his hands, although this is widely practiced elsewhere in the world. I suppose that the Malaysian government wants to uphold the highest standards as they will be accused of un-professionalism when and if Anwar is convicted of sodomy - again. So that's why the government steadfastly refuses to acknowledge the medical report filed by a GP at a private hospital that reportedly stated that Saiful, the accuser, showed no signs of being violated in his private parts - a necessary condition for his accusation of sodomy by Anwar to stand.

I suppose all these started with the opposition gaining a spectacular victory in the last GE in March, where the opposition came 30 seats shy of unseating the incumbent government. With Anwar promising to really unseat the government by September 2008, things couldn't lie still. Real or not, Anwar got slapped with the sodomy charge, which if convicted, would guarantee that he will stay out of parliament for another 10 years. A punch must be met with a counter-punch. Najib was then accused of sleeping around with a murdered Mongolian model, whom he claimed never to have met - in spite of circumstantial evidence that showed he was probably doing a Pinocchio. Curiously, the lawyer who made the charge recanted almost the next day and went missing. Then the government grabbed Saiful and put him under police protection and quickened the pace of charging Anwar for sodomy. They knew that was the most effective and legal way of silencing Anwar, at least in Parliament, if not in public. But truth be told, the Malaysia Police do not have much credibility in the eyes of Malaysians, or foreigners for that matter.

Now, Anwar is trying to beat them all by running for election in the ward vacated by his wife. Many believe that he will win, even if he were arrested and sits in jail during campaigning. A duly elected Indian MP still sits in detention under ISA laws. But Anwar will still be denied if the charge of sodomy is carried, unless a Member of Parliament carries immunity for this type of 'crime'.

What next?

Sleepless nights

First, Dr Mahathir gave his support to Abdullah Badawi so that Badawi became PM of Malaysia. Then Dr M turned on AB and wanted him to step down, like, err, yesterday. He threw his support behind Badawi's deputy, Najib Tun Razak. This Najib is now in a shouting match with Anwar Ibrahim. He is being accused of adultery with Mongolian model Altantuya Shaaribuu, who was killed. Anwar is in turn accused of the crime of sodomy.

In his latest show of support, Dr M is throwing his weight behind Muhyiddin Yassin, for him to be elected a Vice President of UMNO. Dr M is certainly not unaware that the Vice Presidency confers the likely status of Deputy Prime Minister. Is Dr M supporting Muhyiddin for PM of Malaysia one day?

Going by Dr M's track record on judging people, I wouldn't hold my breadth. Even if Muhyiddin becomes PM one day, and if Dr M is still around, I wouldn't be surprise if there is some falling out again. The way I look at it is that Dr. M sees himself as the only person who can rule Malaysia without all these political crisis popping up left, right and centre. But his time is well past now, and Malaysia is now in the throes of sorting itself out for the next decade.

What a spectacle it now is. Journalists just cannot sleep nowadays for fear of missing the next juicy bit of news that keeps flooding out of KL.

The Crocs Cometh

What is wrong with Malaysia today? All the buayas (Malay for crocodile) seem to be baring their fangs. First, Anwar Ibrahim's former aid, a very ambitious and young 23-year old - Saiful Bukhari Azlan, accused Anwar of sodomising him. That's not new. Anwar was accused of the same thing 10 years ago, for which he was convicted but which judgement was later overturned by the Supreme Court of Malaysia. I can understand why Anwar bolted to the Turkish Embassy to seek refuge the moment the accusation was made. He had to do so before the Malaysia Police could lay a hand on him. The last time, the Chief of Police (Inspector-General of Police, they call him) gave Anwar such a beating that he blackened his eye. Anwar certainly wasn't going to wait around for another black eye. But why would a young man make a false accusation, if it indeed was one? He is either a morally upright chap, or a opportunistic young man led astray, rather willingly, may I add.

A tit must be met with a tat. Anwar seems to have played a part in Mr P. Balasubramaniam, a private investigator employed by Abdul Razak Baginda who stands accused of killing Mongolian model, Altantuya Shaaribuu, 2 years ago, making a sworn statement that DPM Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak knew Ms Altantuya, and that he had had sex with her. If Anwar can be accused of being a homosexual, surely DPM Najib can be accused of being an adulterer?

'I have never met her before", claimed DPM Najib in reply. Given the circumstantial evidence, it is hard to believe that statement. This revelation is not new. 2 years ago, when this tragic crime took place, tongues were already wagging of the DPM's complicity in the case. Otherwise, why blow up the victim into smithereens? Probably to ensure that no trace is left of any other persons than those already accused was involved. But this is all speculation.

When two of the pretenders to the Malaysian political throne go at each other like this, you wonder if there is any more hope for the long-suffering people of Malaysia.

Taking the guess out of gas

Did Abdullah Badawi really have no choice but to increase the price of petrol? I think nobody will dispute it, not when India, Taiwan, Vietnam, and a whole host of countries recognise that subsidizing fuel prices is no longer tenable, given the skyrocketing price of this commodity. I suppose the only people who are laughing all the way to the bank are the oil producers and the speculators.

But increasingly the prices by about 41% for petrol and 67% for diesel with less than a week's notice? That's mighty strong medicine and obviously very difficult to swallow. In fact, there were long queues at gasoline stations the night before the price increase kicked in (5 June 2008). Motorists were just acting out of economic self-interest by lapping up that last litre of cheap petrol. I wonder if not more had brought along their jerry-cans to get even more savings.

It hadn't dawned on me that Singaporeans have been living off the largesse of the Malaysians, or their foolishness, these many years. You don't realise it until prices of vegetables, eggs, poultry, and even travel and tours into the Malay Peninsula, in Singapore start to rise. That's the inevitable trend and Singaporeans are bracing for another round of imported inflation. Think about it. For as long as the Malaysian government has been subsidizing the prices of petrol, they have been subsidizing the livelihood, and yes, even the pleasures, of the Singaporeans, both the rich and the poor. So its not just the Singapore motorists who fill up their tanks in Johor that has benefitted only.

So Singaporeans are now understandably very disappointed by the removal of the fuel subsidies. I think they will stand together with ordinary Malaysians in lobbying the M'sian government to reverse the drastic increases of gasoline, notwithstanding its obvious wisdom. But people don't like rude shocks and see their money reduced in value so fast.

This latest policy change will likely cost PM AB his premiership. The knives were already out prior to this latest uproar. It now remains for them to be plunged into the gut for the fatal blow. Will PM AB survived? Who will take over? Can he do a better job? The Malaysians are now not too optimistic about the incumbents. Will the Opposition do any better, or will they turn out to be just as disappointing?

Pull down the curtain

What? Dr Mahathir has quit UMNO? Well, I would imagine that Abdullah Badawi thinks its about time Dr M did so, except that Dr M still retains a lot of influence that his latest move may lead to the dissolution of UMNO and the government. Does he love himself more than he loves UMNO? That's the question on many a lip.

Some say Dr M's latest antic is to ward off attention to the government's decision to investigate him for alleged shenanigans in the appointment of judges during his time as PM of M'sia. That is really a blot on his PM'ship. He has left the country with a discredited judicial bench for which the present government is trying to make right (I hope). Dr M first made the challenge to have him investigated 'fully' - no stone unturned - as he says that there are some things that he can 'expose'. That must have sent some of his cronies and perhaps some other political foes into a state of panic. Now he announces his resignation from UMNO, and has put out a call for everyone to do the same. Its as if he is signaling to those that  do not want their ugly linen to be exposed to follow him. Its a distraction, but one that seem to have several layers of meaning.

Actually, Dr M should just leave things be. He need not have stirred the hornet's nest. Let the newer generation fight their own battles, tackle the country's problems and manage the political landscape. He seems to be implying that the party and the country is going down the drain without him. He's 82 and has suffered a few heart attacks. Why put himself into harm's way again and suffer another, which may be fatal?

I, for one, applaud Dr M's resignation from the party. Shocked? I don't see why anyone should be. He has been doing this sort of things from time to time. There can be no surprises, need be no surprises. At his age, he should have faded away gracefully. instead, he is trying to fight his way out of retirement, which is a pity. History would have remembered him better, but I suppose the ghosts of the past would not let him alone. Whoever wants to can follow him. These people are probably the excess baggage that Abdullah Badawi is only too glad to get rid of - in this case without lifting a finger.

Ironically, Anwar Ibrahim and the opposition parties are probably the beneficiaries of the ongoing spat in UMNO.

Slippery slope

If nothing, there is one thing that is begging for an answer in the arrest of Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK) - is Najib Tun Razak involved in the death and murder of Mongolian model Altantuya Shaaribuu? So far, Abdul Razak Baginda has been fingered together with two policemen, but there is fierce talk out there that Najib's hands are tainted too. The Rakyat's questions have not all been answered, and given the state of the judicial system in Malaysia today, it won't be answered any time soon either. And given the state of the justice system in Malaysia today (and this includes the police and their political masters behind them), it is not surprising that RPK is now being thrown into the slammer for even suggesting that Najib is involved in this sordid affair.

Not only is there vehement insistence among the Rakyat of Najib's complicity, I have heard similar sentiments expressed by Singaporeans with equal vehemence. No smoke if no fire, so instead of shutting up RPK, the Malaysian government - the elected representative of the Rakyat - must do what is right to silence idle talk, or admit to the truth. Sadly, since a top politician, the number 2 government official, is involved, the current loyalties in the government makes the telling of the truth impossible.

Malaysia has notched itself one rung lower in the eyes of its own people, if not the world.   

No UMNO

I find it nothing short of comical that Dr M is now taking the charge to pull down PM Abdullah Badawi through rescinding a rule that he put in place to protect himself. He has gone public to get his UMNO cronies to get AB replaced by changing this rule, which he originally put in place when he was first challenged by Tengku Razaleigh for the Presidency of UNMO back in 1987. This rule required the contestant to have at least 30% of the UMNO party's divisions backing. It was this very rule that kept Dr M. in power for as long as he was, until ill-health forced him to retire. I suppose his health has improved leaps and bounds since then.

Dr M was famously irked by AB for canceling the many programmes and projects he had put in place before he retired. I suppose that is akin to tearing to shreds any vestige of the prestige he could take away with him to the grave. Projects like the KLIA, Petronas Twin Towers, MSC, the Malaysia Car and Cyberjaya are examples of these projects that came to fruition, but many have not turned out to be the successes that he had hoped for. Fortunately, for Singapore, his crooked idea of a crooked bridge to replace the Singapore-Malaysia Causeway was never realised. Maybe that is why AB had to cancel the projects still on the drawing board - so that the country does not waste time and money putting up a veneer of grandeur - grandeur that Malaysia cannot really find meaningful in their lives and are often sources of cronyism, nepotism and corruption.

BN is now more broken that it was just after the losses it suffered in the last GE in March. I can see a gleeful Anwar Ibrahim, who has gone on to form a formal alliance of the 3 major opposition parties that took control of 5 states and denied the BN a 2/3 majority. If the state of turmoil continues in UMNO, and the people in UMNO do not band together instead of fighting one another, then the end may not be far off.

Say what?

Dr Mahathir is again not doing credit to himself and the Islamic world at large. In response to Geert Wilders' Fitna video, Dr M is calling on the entire Muslim world to boycott Dutch products. Can we hear something more original and more effective, please? As a long-serving PM of Malaysia, with geo-political experience, I expect him to have more than a certain level of understanding and knowledge of the world today compared to the common man/woman. Therefore he cannot not be aware of the fact that many people in the Netherlands are Muslims, his brothers and sisters in the faith he professes and claims to be defending in his latest 'call to arms'. His call for the boycott will probably hurt Geert Wilder, but it will also hurt his brothers and sisters in the faith too, many of whom live in the Netherlands today. The world is no longer a monolithic Dutch vs Malays vs Chinese, etc. in any one piece of land. And Dr M labeling every person who is Dutch anti-Islamic just because one of them acts in a certain way is surely immature and unbecoming of a former statesman and PM . I daresay that some 17 year olds can be more mature in thought compared to him. Is he getting senile, I wonder? On the other hand, the Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen has reportedly called on the Islamic world to be level-headed in its response to the film. "Let's keep a cool head and warm relations," Mr Verhagen was quoted as saying in Asharq Al Awsat, which is read in many Arab countries. He has "...distanced his government from the text of the film, which he said made generalisations and was polarising." (Today, 31 Apr 2008 "Dr M calls for Dutch boycott').

Dr. M will do well to keep his own counsel and not shoot off that mouth at every opportunity. It appears that the more he says, the more he chips away at the goodwill and legacy he has built up over so many years among his people and those of the world. Granted not many in the Western world are particularly enamored of this straight-talking man, but continuing to give offence in such as a manner discredits his thinking and makes even his friends cringe.