Wednesday, October 25, 2006

RAYA WITH THE TUN

First time. Two decades as a journalist and I had never gone to a Hari Raya open house hosted by Dr M when he was the PM. Today he's no longer PM, he's under siege, and I braved the rain to go to his residence at the Mines Resort City. A young NST journalist said she was surprised to see that Dr M lived in a "small and cute" house. Me, I was surprised to see so many off-duty journalists from the mainstream media, like her, at the do. A journalist with a foreign newspaper, who was not off-duty, made the same observation and was somehow concerned. "There wasn't a single off-duty journalist at Pak Lah's open house!" The Singapore operatives at NST aren't going to be pleased because so many of these journalists were from their stable. Two of Pak Lah's Cabinet ministers came. "Why shouldn't I be here? We don't owe our living to anyone." Brave words, indeed; expect them to be sidelined in the next Cabinet reshuffle. Many people asked if Zam was coming. There were party veterans, tycoons, celebrities, bloggers, diplomats. And, yes, ordinary people. Thousands of ordinary folk. When I got there around 12.30pm, some 3,000 people from all walks of life had come and gone (the open house was 11am to 4pm). Najib the DPM was in Pekan but I exchanged wishes with one of his brothers. His dear mom, the wife of the late PM no 2, was there, too. One seasoned politician went up to Dr M, who had been on his feet since 11am shaking hands with visitors, and expressed his delight that, despite no publicity, thousands were turning up to show their support for the former PM. "This augurs well for the future of this country," the seasoned politician declared in his impeccable English. Nobody expected an "elegant silence" from the Tun, who gleefully responded: "Oh, I believe it's the month of October!"

30 comments:

  1. Anonymous8:25 pm

    Rocky, if I don't have to be in Penang during these Raya celebrations, I would have made a beeline for this. Better than PWTC anytime.

    As one would expect, TV3 news didn't even comment on the fact that there were 3,000 plus people at the Open House by TDM, but instead used the event to continue to `disrespect' the old man.

    Expect Media Prima trash tabloids to follow suit tomorrow morning.

    Sigh.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous8:39 pm

    Selamat Hari Raya Tun...Tun Tetap Tidak Akan Pudar...Teruskan...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous8:56 pm

    Alhamdulillah Bro rocky you finally made it to DrM's Hari Raya open house after 2 decades, and when you are not with NSTP anymore.

    It's a good sign to DrM that people from all walks of live still attend his Open house while his( and Pak Lah's)popularity is dwindling(according to Pak Lah's AFundi).
    And the families of past leaders to be there in show of support will surely make Pak Lah and budak2 tingkat 4 have sleepless nights for a long time to come.

    The 2 cabinet ministers who were there, I think they better start thinking of doing something else after this. Heads will definitely roll if there is going to be a reshuffle.

    Zam? Well I don't thgink he has the balls of going in broadday light to see DrM. Unless the goes there after midnight and 'masuk ikut pintu dapur'.(He might tapau some nasi kandar from Nasi Kandar Pelita in Sg Petani to minta ampun fom DrM).

    The hundreds of Siput Babi(S.B.) there will have a field day writing reports to Musa Hassan and budak tingkat 4.

    Any bloggers who attended DrM open house, please give us more info.
    Thank you.

    Ayub Tulakang

    ReplyDelete
  4. mata pena,
    there were some 3,000 people by the time i reached his place at about 12.30pm. the open house was from 11am to 4pm; at the end of it, if i were the tun, i'd probably not shake hands for a whole year!

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  5. Anonymous9:56 pm

    RPK has the Tun's raya do in pictures. Go to:

    http://www.malaysia-today.net/index.shtml

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous10:06 pm

    With reference to the "small and cute" house.

    Yeah - I remember seeing it when Tiger Wood was here years about 7 - 8 years ago.

    Everyone expressed surprise when the police guards there told us that Dr M's house was the smallest at the Mines and it was to be for his retirement.

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  7. Anonymous11:03 pm

    Bernama reported that some 200,000 people turned up at Pak Lah's open house yesteday.

    Two-hundred thousand people. Percaya ke?

    Hmmm kita pun tau, Bernama chairman tu kan orang Pak Lah, kan, kan?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous11:13 pm

    Abdullah saw thousands of those at PWTC so he declared that the people supports him again...i bet most of them were there just for the food and some duit raya....

    Today is the 2nd day of Raya, and already i read so many disrespectful remarks by those UMNOs and one Sultan of Johor, he say something like "pencen then pencen lah, bising buat apa?"...i say " continue spending your money on luxurious stuff and buy more Hummer H2 and H3 to waste the fuel, bising buat apa?"

    i'm a chinese, and i wonder what happend to the malays?!?! They have no respect to a stateman! how can this happen?huh? sedih sedih...

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous12:07 am

    If Bernama could give an estimate of the crowd turnout (200,000) at Pak Lah's open house, it's strange that it cant give an estimate of the number of people who went to Tun's house today.

    Kenapa ya?

    Takut Pak lah marah that reporting it is proof that the "ole man" could still attract that kind of crowd despite the spins that TDM's popularity has taken a dip & that he has lost the respect of ordinary Malaysians?

    Hani

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  10. Anonymous12:29 am

    sultan of johor memang no respect. was him beating up the malaysian hockey goalkeeper that triggered the removal of immunity from the constitution. and mahathir was the one who spearheaded the constitution change. he's the one with spectacles and testicles.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous12:35 am

    isnt it one's duty to protect his beloved country from being destroyed by one's stupidity even if that someone is 155 yrs young?

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous12:54 am

    I found out that the figure quoted by Bernama was actually given by the PM himself.

    According the Star:

    “...The huge turnout even pleased Abdullah, WHO SAID an estimated 180,000 people of all ages, races and religions came to the event...”

    Of course, Bernama had to add another 20,000 to make it into a nice round figure.

    And, as we know, Pak Lah is so obsessed with this popularity thing (most probably influenced by AF –Akademi Fantasia) that he concludes the figure is proof of the rakyat’s support for and confidence in him.

    Lol! Pak Lah & fantasinya.

    Hani

    ReplyDelete
  13. Game Master yang berumur 11 tahun,
    Bapa adik tahu tak yang adik ni pembaca blog? Kalau tak, mintaklah izin dari dia dulu, ok. Selamat hari raya.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous2:33 am

    Hey Bru, I saw YB Rais Yatim's photos on RPK's. He must be the one who said that about not owing anyone a living. Brave man. The famous "burning bridge" quotes were his, too, remember?

    I always thought YB Rais was prime minister material. After reading your blog and seeing his photos at Tun's hari raya do, I've decided that he is indeed prime minister material!

    He's intelligent, experienced, wise, clean and he has what all the other ministers and politicians do not have ...

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous2:52 am

    i was there at Tun's residence with thousands other Malaysians,from all walks of life, and foreigners.
    it was my first time ever at Tun's aidilfitri open house. never went to his open house when he was the PM.
    so why did i make my way to the mines resort city and walked more than 500 metres in the rain (from my car)to wish him eid mubarak (whoops, sorry Pasquale), i mean selamat hari raya aidilfitri.
    Tun Dr Mahathir is a statesman. Our former PRIME MINISTER. THE architect of modern Malaysia. His spat with Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is the work of the nation's traitors. It is so unfortunate that Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is an unbelievably lame, blind and deaf leader who has been easily manipulated by these pengkhianat2 negara.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous3:08 am

    saudara,

    syabas! akhir nya kita bertemu di kediaman BAPAK KITA Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad untuk merai aidilfitri.
    You are a big man, bro! Mirip2 Ramli Sarip. Sama handsome. You look strong.
    Now I understand why Kalimullah and his machais shiver and quiver in your presence. this is an exaggeration, but you know what i mean.
    Dah lah berjiwa dan bersemangat BERANI MATI, badan macho enam kaki lebih. Am I right? I asked around.. were you also a silat exponent back in Singapore and Malacca?
    Saudara, orang macam saudara ni, kita letak di depan barisan di medan perang.
    I think the Tun has a vacancy for a brawny tall body guard. how about it?
    but i also heard that you ni gentle giant. tak suka violence.

    SALAM AIDILFITRI dan SELAMAT BERJUANG.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous3:14 am

    With the exception of the 2 ministers who were at their former boss' aidilfitri open house, the rest HAVE NO BALLS.
    this applies to UMNO leaders -- including Umno Youth and Puteri Umno.
    (I apologise to those who were out of town and were therefore unable to attend Tun's open house)
    Orang Melayu kata -- TAK ADA TELUR!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous4:03 am

    Apa yang aku nampak dirumah terbuka Tun.

    The crowd was huge,
    the people queue up patiently.

    There were not enough seats,
    they stand & wait cheerfully.

    ( garden party style. With the surrounding view, who cares about seat anyway. )

    It was raining `kucing & tikus`,
    the crowd dont care ..

    they came & armed with umbrellas, raincoats, newspaper on their head etc.

    The food were plenty,
    ( good selection of food,
    I m lovin it! Congrats to Mukhriz kot? )

    the sound of cameras clicking with Tun is deafening sweet,

    thousands of unlimited genuine supporting smiles roaming the tentage area,

    colorful myriads of Baju Kurung, artise look alike cute lovely faces of leng loy `dress to kill` attire walking around selecting their food,

    best Batik shirt paraded by leng chai with air full of pride,

    Corporate Businessman were also there to wish Tun good health and support,

    Silent Baboon aka SB pun enjoying the lemang plus the Mee Hoon soup including tasty Pasembur
    ( 3rd helping – tak malu! )

    and the most of all
    the total 100% genuine
    pure satisfaction

    (eventhough gula tak cukup, minyak naik harga , contract tak ada, kereta Proton tak laku, dll )

    is getting to wish

    Tun Mahathir,
    Dr. Siti Hasmah,
    Dato Mokhzani
    & Dato Mukriz.

    SELAMAT HARI RAYA
    is the highlight
    of the gloomy 2006 year.

    THANK YOU
    for the invitation
    TUN.
    Maaf Zahir & Batin.

    PS: Spin Bomoh aka Doctor Quack, bila nak buat open-house?

    Cari sponsorla, upah rakyat datang bulih naik bas ramai-ramai pi raya kat Putra Jaya dgn free.

    Bulih sponsor baju, bagi duit raya RM200 sorang, ambik gambag sendiri etc etc.

    Kena outdo la.

    ( ROUND 3 – MENANG lagi )

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous7:14 am

    Zam? Hahahahahahahah......This chap is FUNNY. Know him well. Said Mahathir intefering. He? Well, when he was outed from Utusan he continued to intefere in Utusan. When he came back as chairman he intefered too. Ask Johan and Khalid. He is durian polisher now. Eh, can polish durian aaa? Ask my Chinaman friend from Balik Pulau la? He polishes his durians. I was at Tun's Open House to Bru, but later. Never miss his open house. You're right. So many NST and BH off-duty reporters there.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous8:09 am

    Here's a piece of simple logic..
    PM's open house included the Muslim ministers as hosts, so if you count them in, there were about 25 hosts.
    This means 7200 people per host.
    This is nothing compared to Dr M's visitors!
    One can question the real motives of those who went to PWTC; but those who went to DrM's house...they were there totally out of love and respect. And they came even without the mass media broadcasting, as in ther case of PM and PWTC!

    P.s. Did you notice no mass media
    gave daily statistics on the number of road-deaths this year?

    ReplyDelete
  21. anon;

    Rais for PM, well.... I thought so too since he sounded like a very intelligent guy, very well-read. But after he used MyKad as an example of language corruption (as reported by newspapers), I am not so sure. He should have checked or his people should have checked with JPN before opening up his mouth.

    My = Malaysia's 2-alpha country in ISO
    Kad = Kad Akuan Diri.
    Kid = Kad Identiti Diri.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous11:00 am

    Yay! I was there at Tun's too. I was there the last 2 raya when he has open house for invited guests. This time it's for the public. Tun looked great and in great spirit!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous11:35 am

    John Labi,nice write up on your visit.

    Saja nak tanya john labi. Awak ni jhn labi yg di MU circa late 70's to early 80's ka? Captain Rugby MU and 3rd college?

    Kalu salah rang sori eehh....

    Ayub Tulakang

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anonymous2:56 pm

    " John Labi,nice write up on your visit.

    Saja nak tanya john labi. Awak ni jhn labi yg di MU circa late 70's to early 80's ka? Captain Rugby MU and 3rd college?
    Kalu salah rang sori eehh...."
    Ayub Tulakang

    Jawapan: John Labi
    Yop Tulang Belakang...

    Silap orang! Memang main Rugby.
    (tapi PS2 saja)

    Siput Babi dua serupa, kot.
    Kali Anaconda muka dia sama,
    kulit salin bila perlu.

    Maaf Zahir Batin.

    John Labi.

    PS: Tak senonoh langsung, semalam aku nampak ada orang bawa tupperware `tapau` makanan balik kat rumah terbuka Tun. ( Tapi Tun tak kisah ) Hujan, depa lapaq kot no..!

    Nota: Seorang bekas PM buat Open House dengan word of mouth, habis penuh Mines resort...depa buat dgn ramai para menteri dan publisiti dapat-la banyak tu.

    Kalau ikut ratio nisbah...kalah lagi.
    MINES 1:20,000
    PWTC 20:180,000

    ------------------

    Round 4 - Menang.

    ReplyDelete
  25. aiya, utusan said on;ly 20 000 ( 20 ribu ) sahaja attending dollah badawi ang gangs open house at pwtc...

    so , where how did they come out with 180 000?

    well ...they are desperate...desperate peoples, lie blatantly to justify anythings..

    but, UTUSAN for some reason exposed their lie.

    tahniah utusan

    ReplyDelete
  26. Anonymous1:30 am

    drputera said...
    aiya, utusan said on;ly 20 000 ( 20 ribu ) sahaja attending dollah badawi ang gangs open house at pwtc...

    so , where how did they come out with 180 000?
    ==================================

    Came from no other than Pak Lah himself as reported in the Star.

    According the Star:

    “...The huge turnout even pleased Abdullah, WHO SAID an estimated 180,000 people of all ages, races and religions came to the event...”

    Lol! Nak spin, tapi tak tau cam ne. Bodohnya Pak Lah, fikiaq kita bod...cam dia, tak tau nak kira.

    Good work Utusan!!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Anonymous2:03 am

    Saya sahkan dengan ini bahawa Perdana Menteri Dato Abdullah Badawi adalah seorang kaki kelentong!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Anonymous11:18 pm

    of course lah his motto is
    gembilan terbilang TEMBERANG

    ReplyDelete
  29. Anonymous5:48 am

    Gemilang, terbilang, temberang dan kini dah terkangkang!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Anonymous9:47 am

    I am an old hack myself. Used to cover the Tun just before he became PM way back when, in 81', and was visiting Sabah. Even then, on an official visit to a State ruled by an Overlord named Harris Salleh, he didn't follow the set rule of the politics of Federalism at the time, and told the state leaders to stop their nonsense. They didn't listen. Four years later Pairin toppled Harris.

    TDM would tell the angel of death himself when he appears to mind his manners and not to make so much noise. He barked and growled at Israel because it would not allow him pray at Al-Aqsa. How many world leaders have done that?

    He'll never change. His credo is "In The Beginning Was The Deed". It doesn't matter what a man thinks, what matters is what he does. And if he thinks he is right, TDM will do, even with his last breath.

    ReplyDelete