The MRT, if Pakatan came to power ...

“I want to tell Najib Razak. Without wastage, we under Pakatan Harapan with the former deputy prime minister and prime minister can execute the MRT project with a wider network and a lower cost.” - Nurul Izzah: Pakatan can build better MRT line for cheaper

KL, 18 July: Firstly, there are two former DPMs under Pakatan Harapan, not one. 

Secondly, the Lembah Pantai MP should acknowledge the job well done with regards to the MRT. Sure, she's free to say that she and the coalition of two former DPMs and one former PM can do all kinds of things better and cheaper if they come into power again (yes, again), but the fact is they are not in power anymore. The two former DPMs and the former PM of 22 years had their chances. They did give the rakyat Proton as a gift and the Petronas Twin Towers as a present and the colossal Putrajaya as a memento of their rule. Perhaps Nurul Izzah thinks she can build better cars and taller towers and more beautiful bridges if she comes into power. But talk is cheap. 

Thirdly, the people appreciate the fact that they now have the MRT. Whether or not they think it is Najib Razak's "gift" to them, let them tell you themselves. Whether they will vote BN again because of that, they will let us know at the next general election. The people deserve the government they elect, and right now they deserve the MRT delivered by this government that they had elected. Live and let live, YB.

Nurul Izzah can be productive without having to wait for Pakatan to come into power. She can, for example, make a wishlist of things the MRT operators can do to serve her constituents better. Or a list of dos and don'ts so that the people use the MRT properly and safely, good habits which will actually reduce wastage and save costs in the long run. 

Sekali sekala, give out positive vibes. Apa salahnya kan, YB?

What's even more remarkable than Mahathir's "remarkable political U-turn" ...

Updated July 9:

Comical. That's how Minister senior Cabinet minister Salleh Said Keruak describes Mahathir's latest antic. Salleh said if Mahathir is saying that he had jailed Anwar Ibrahim unjustly for sodomy, then the former PM should apologise to his former heir apparent for doing what he did (which included influencing the court's decision at that time). 

Original article

Puchong, 8 July 2017: We were talking about U-turns just the other day, wondering what else Dr Mahathir Mohamad, 92, would trade next just to save his own soul. 

True enough, Malaysia's Prime Minister for 22 years until 2003 (and who has said he wouldn't mind being PM again if the Opposition wins the next general elections) has found a way to bend backwards even farther. This time he's said that Anwar Ibrahim (whose name, by the way, is today synonymous with sodomy because of Mahathir) "is a victim of political vendetta". 

The Guardian has described it as "a remarkable political U-turn ahead of a general election next year" [Father of modern Malaysia backs jailed former deputy in attempt to oust PM]. 

Mahathir convinced the British newspaper in a special interview in London that a new administration (with Mahathir himself as the temporary PM, which he didn't say) would "seek a royal pardon to allow (Anwar) to re-enter politics".

" In the case of Anwar we can make a case that he was unfairly treated. The decision of the court was obviously influenced by the government and I think the incoming government would be able to persuade the King to give a full pardon for Anwar,” Mahathir said. “In which case he would be able to participate in politics and become PM. I can have no objection to that.” 

PM Najib Razak has responded to Mahathir's remarkable U-turn. A clear sign that the Old Man's panicky, he said.

"... this U-turn is not about the coming general election ... Mahathir knows that the RCI findings could lead to criminal prosecution, so he cannot afford to have individuals highly relevant to the case such as Anwar testifying against him," Najib said.

Read Mahathir's backing for Anwar as PM driven by "panic" over RCI forex probe: Najib

Najib added that it was "ironic that Mahathir now needs Anwar, the man he sacked and jailed". 

He added that Dr Mahathir's endorsement of Anwar comes after 20 years of Mahathir "vilifying him and using every possible means at his disposal to eliminate Anwar from the political process, including arresting him under the now-repealed Internal Security Act, prosecuting and jailing him and a sustained campaign to attack his moral character".

20 yrs later and all is good...but for me, bak pepatah melayu, 'Orang dah ludah kat bapak kau,… https://t.co/LGOEK0VnkK

— Joe Lebosi (@JoeLebosi) July 6, 2017

p.s. The U-turn on Anwar is remarkable, indeed, but we saw it coming even if the editors at The Guardian didn't. What I find more remarkable than the Anwar U-turn is his U-turn on Lim Kit Siang. I know many, many people who  still cannot get over it. We spent countless hours those days listening to the Old Man talking trash about the DAP leader. For Mahathir to unabashedly swallow his own words and sidle up to Kit Siang, it finally dawned upon us that here was someone who would do anything and sell anyone by whatever means to meet an end.

At the rate he"s going, I'm betting that before the general election Mahathir will say sorry to the nation for what he did to the Judiciary and seek the forgiveness of the likes of sacked Tun Salleh Abas, the Chief of Justice who was sacked and humiliated, and Datuk Syed Idid, the High Court judge who was threatened with imprisonment. 

He would tell us that these fine Yang Ariffs were victims of some conspiracy that, of course, did not include him ....

Good news annoy some people

Read the rest of the Bloomberg report h e r e. The MalayMailOnLine prefers the headline Malaysia shrugs off scandal to become second quarter star. 

Kuala Lumpur, 29 June: Any which way you want to see it, things are looking up for our maligned currency.  But for it to surge now, at the heels of the much-publicised action by the US Department of Justice, which many suspect was designed to send the Malaysian economy and politics plunging into another round of crisis, is especially satisfying. To me, it is the clearest sign yet that the people who matter don't give two hoots about the DOJ's rhetorics. And if they don't, there is no reason why we should be spending so much of our time trying to discredit the DOJ and those annoying politicians who are using the DOJ to prop up their political agenda. Our time and resources are better spent on spreading the good news about ourselves. For example, on how petrol and diesel prices have dropped again for the fifth week in a row! A reader DM me this morning re the Ringgit: 

"How fortunes keep changing Bru. Unfortunately, this kinds positive news is not pushed enuf. And virally on social media by the comms guys in charge of Govt. Sigh."

Well, we all can do more, Dear Reader. 

But for now, may I ask all Malaysians to pray that the Ringgit and the economy continue to do well. 

Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir Batin.

TTDI residents: We don't need a highway through our homes. let alone a SIX-lane highway!

"It is an unnecessary project. It is not needed. It's not because the population needs it. It's because they are building something (so) they need to build this highway .." - Datuk Nuraina A. Samad, longtime resident of Taman Tun Dr Ismail

TTDI. June 21: Want to build a highway? Please, we need a super highway linking Puchong and Damansara. The existing Lebuhraya Damansara Puchong is a tolled, pitiful two-lane  (some stretches have been expanded to three and even four lanes) highway, it had not been able to accommodate the crazy volume of traffic from the very beginning. The only part of the LDP that has more than two lanes is the toll booth! Twenty lanes, if I'm not mistaken!!

Can we have the six-lane highway there?