KL, 24 July: Someone sent me Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman's piece Tun Mahathir, Bapa Sebenar Pengangkutan Awam [I've retitled itSyed Saddiq: Why Mahathir had to give it to his cronies]. So I went through the article by the youth leader of Mahathir's new party. It was a piece written in defence of the former prime minister. Well, I suppose, after all the praises for Najib Razak over the much-awaited MRT project, Mahathir needed defending. But someone else could have done a better job. I cringed when Syed Saddiq admitted, unwittingly or no, that Mahathir did award major transport projects to this cronies. As if that was not bad enough, he went to explain why that was necessary (perlu) and encouraged (harus) at the time ...
And there we were telling the Americans, the IMF and fellow Malaysians that all those allegations about Mahathir corruption, cronyism and nepotism (with apologies to Zahid Hamidi, who went to jail for making those allegations against Mahathir publicly) were lies ...
"Alaa, cronyism under Najib is as bad if not worse," a staunch Mahathir supporter told me.
Really? Then please give me the name of one Malaysian individual who deserves or qualifies to be called a crony of Najib Razak. There were countless when Mahathir was PM, as Syed Saddiq is telling you, even if we were to accept the words of the likes of Francis Yeoh and Samsuddin Abu Hassan that they were actually not cronies of Mahathir's, or the Government's but had made fortunes based on their own blood, sweat and tears blah blah blah ...
“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?
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".
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.
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
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 ....
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.
