There is a hurricane force storm brewing in a tea cup - this time ocha green tea in Japan and China. The less than four week old new, first female Japanese prime minister Sanae Takaichi has bungled big time when she told the Japanese Parliament that if China attacks Taiwan, then it will be a strategic threat and danger to Japan (or words to that effect).
Implying that Japan will have to intervene militarily. Of course this was an unusually loud mouthed and poorly thought statement to make about any neighbour, particularly China. Of course the Chinese took offense and released a series of statements protesting the Japanese "recalcitrance".
To save the day the super efficient Japanese Civil Service kicked into action. A ranking Foreign Ministry official with extraordinary skills at bowing down and touching the floor with his forehead was immediately despatched to Beijing - without taking a seppuku kit with him. The Chinese may have preferred the seppuku kit but they had to satisfy themselves with giving an earful to the Japanese envoy.
Here is a 30 minute video but the first 60 seconds gives you a good idea. Why waste more time?
I suspect the Japanese PM was addressing a domestic audience only (without realising that her speech went out live to Tanzania and the Falklands). I believe she was trying to remind the Japanese people that they should allow the US Navy to remain at Yokosuka Naval base for another 100 years.
This storm will likely blow itself out over the next day or two.
Israeli attack on Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon kills at least 13
Israel continues to attack Lebanon on a near-daily basisin violation of a yearlong ceasefire with Hezbollah
Civil defence vehicles park at the entrance of Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp, following an Israeli attack [Ali Hankir/Reuters]
By Abby Rogers and News Agencies Published On 18 Nov 202518 Nov 2025
At least 13 people have been killed in an Israeli air strike on a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.
The drone strike hit a car on Tuesday in the car park of a mosque in the Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp on the outskirts of the coastal city of Sidon, the Lebanese state-run National News Agency reported.
At least four people were wounded in the attack, the ministry said, adding that “ambulances are still transporting more wounded to nearby hospitals.”
Israel said it struck members of the Palestinian armed group Hamas who were operating in a training compound in the refugee camp.
“When we say we will not tolerate any threat on our northern border, this means all terrorist groups operating in the region,” the Israeli military’s Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee said in a statement. “We will continue to act forcefully against Hamas’s attempts to establish a foothold in Lebanon and eliminate its elements that threaten our security.”
Hamas denied Israel’s claim, calling it a “fabrication” and stressing the group doesn’t have training facilities in Lebanon’s refugee camps.
“The Zionist bombardment was a barbaric aggression against our innocent Palestinian people as well as Lebanon’s sovereignty,” it said in a statement.
Earlier on Tuesday, Lebanon said Israeli strikes on cars elsewhere in the country’s south killed two people.
Israel has killed several officials from Palestinian factions including Hamas in Lebanon since it launched its war on Gaza in October 2023 after Hamas led an attack on southern Israel
Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 69,483 Palestinians and wounded 170,706. A total of 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks, and more than 200 were taken captive.
A day after Israel launched its war on Gaza, Hezbollah began firing rockets towards Israel, which responded with shelling and air strikes in Lebanon, and the two sides became locked in a conflict that Israel escalated into a full-blown war in late September 2024.
Israel’s war killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon, including hundreds of civilians. In Israel, 127 people were killed, including 80 soldiers.
The war halted in late November 2024 with a United States-brokered ceasefire, but since then, Israel has carried out dozens of air attacks on Lebanon, accusing Hezbollah of trying to rebuild its capabilities.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry has reported more than 270 people killed and about 850 wounded by Israeli military actions since the ceasefire.
“There are daily violations of the ceasefire by Israel in Lebanon, and it would be unfair at this stage to pin the blame on the Lebanese government,” Lebanese political analyst Karim Emile Bitar told Al Jazeera. “The Lebanese government went above and beyond what was required … and took a historic decision to ask the Lebanese army to disarm Hezbollah.”
However, Bitar said, Israel has not lived up to its end of the bargain. Under the terms of the ceasefire signed on November 27, 2024, Israel was meant to withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon by January 26, a deadline it missed.
***
Shailok State has always been TREACHEROUS - it's an intrinsic part of their DNA
Fifa’s written judgment traces a deliberate deception. The question now is who authorised it, and who’s still being protected
Malaysia wanted a winning team. What it got was a criminal ecosystem that spanned continents, forged identities, and mocked our football institution.
With Fifa’s judgment now public, this story is no longer about “administrative mistakes” or “technical errors.”
It is about the fraud that was built — agents, officials, players, families — moving in synchrony, each link reinforcing the next.
Every handoff of documents, every unchecked claim, every silent nod allowed the scheme to advance.
Together, they engineered a deception so elaborate that Fifa had no doubt: it was deliberate, organised, and enabled from within.
The chain that built the lie
The trail begins long before the seven men pulled on Malaysian jerseys.
Fifa’s ruling names licensed agents Nicolás Puppo and Frederico Moraes as central figures.
Families abroad gathered documents; agents forwarded them; players signed anything placed in front of them.
The players received Malaysian identity in record time, some allegedly even before they arrived in the country. Their own testimonies are staggering.
They admitted they never read the papers, never checked the declarations, never sought translations.
They did not question how “10 years of Malaysian residency” suddenly appeared in their files.
Not one query was raised, even after disciplinary proceedings began, a silence at the scandal’s core.
Fifa called this wilful blindness. Convenient, too: reading the documents meant disrupting a fast lane to international football.
These were not honest mistakes. Ancestral stories were constructed, submitted, and filed.
When Fifa retrieved original records from Spain, Argentina, Brazil, and the Netherlands, every fiction collapsed.
The association that enabled it
Layered on top of the players’ negligence is the institution meant to uphold integrity.
FAM’s general secretary, Noor Azman Rahman, admitted staff “handled and formatted” birth certificates, including changes to content — a direct admission of tampering.
Yet FAM insists it cannot identify who did what.
Instead of transparency, it offered smokescreens: a vague suspension of Noor Azman which Fifa described as a public relations gesture, not a real sanction.
The supposedly sidelined official appeared at high-profile events with Fifa. Hardly the conduct of someone under investigation.
“Technical error” became the association’s favourite euphemism. Fifa rejected it outright, calling the altered documents deliberate, organised, and deeply troubling.
Not one official has been meaningfully suspended. Not one name has been declared.
Not one referral to Malaysian authorities came from FAM itself.
The pattern is clear: concealment, not accountability.
A CEO who claims no responsibility
Then comes Rob Friend, Harimau Malaya CEO, a role implying oversight and operational command.
Yet he told Fifa he had no involvement in the naturalisation processes until August 22, months after the programme actively pursued heritage-based recruitment.
How does a CEO of a national team become a bystander in a project shaping squad selection?
How does he represent FAM in hearings while claiming prior absence?
The explanation defies corporate reasoning, football logic, and common sense.
FAM must disclose his role, mandate, reporting lines, and pay structure. Silence raises more questions than answers.
Despite the gravity of Fifa’s findings, and its explicit referral to Malaysian criminal authorities, the government has largely stayed silent.
Fifa’s referral is a red‑light call to action. By asking Malaysian authorities to investigate, the world body has made clear this is no longer just a sporting dispute.
It is now a criminal matter and the government can no longer hide behind Fifa’s non‑interference rules.
A fraud too structured to be accidental
Seen together, the elements form a single narrative: Families contributed documents. Agents curated them.
Players signed them. Officials altered them.
Executives distanced themselves. The association shielded everyone.
And through it all, nobody asked the basic question: Were the grandparents actually born in Malaysia?
This was not chaos. It was choreography. A fraud that needed every link — active or passive — to cooperate.
The questions that begin now
Malaysia’s public conversation can no longer be confined to bans and fines.
The stakes are criminal, institutional, and reputational.
Why did forged records pass internal checks? Why were agents acting as quasi-citizenship brokers? Why has no ministry flagged ancestral record manipulation?
Why did FAM admit tampering but refuse to name individuals? Why was the general secretary’s suspension a performance, not discipline?
Why did the CEO claim distance from a central programme? Why were players comfortable signing unread declarations?
Fifa has referred the matter for possible criminal prosecution in Malaysia, Brazil, Argentina, Spain, and the Netherlands. The investigative clock is running.
This scandal is not merely a sporting failure. It is a forensic map of how a football association, aided by agents and enabled by silence, allowed fraud to become a strategy.
Malaysia now knows how the deception was constructed. The next question: who will dismantle it, and what remains when it falls?
BN deputy chairman Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said he hopes the discussions will help clear up any confusion or misunderstanding regarding the party’s position in the BN coalition. — Bernama pic
Tuesday, 18 Nov 2025 7:03 PM MYT
MEMBAKUT, Nov 18 — Barisan Nasional (BN) will hold talks with the MIC leadership after the 17th Sabah State Election, said BN deputy chairman Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan.
He hopes the discussions will help clear up any confusion or misunderstanding regarding the party’s position in the BN coalition.
“We will meet. I will personally meet the MIC leadership so that we can resolve this issue,” he told reporters after meeting the BN machinery at the Binsulok District Voting Centre (PDM) in the Membakut state constituency here today.
Mohamad is confident that the MIC will make the best judgment based on the close relationship that has been established since before independence.
“I am confident the MIC top leadership will think it over as thoroughly as possible and deeply because MIC was with Umno and also MCA when we gained independence for our country back then,” he said.
According to him, the friendship and political cooperation that have long been established should not be wasted just because of differences of opinion.
“So, if there is any misunderstanding, if there are any matters that need to be clarified, to be ironed out, it’s best that we discuss them so that this long-standing friendship isn’t simply ended,” he said.
The controversy regarding the future of MIC in BN arose after the delegates at the 79th MIC annual general meeting (AGM) unanimously supported the resolution to leave BN.
According to reports, the delegates, however, have given the MIC president and the Central Working Committee (CWC) the mandate to decide on the party’s future direction.
Diplomatic tensions flare as Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remark about providing military intervention to Taiwan, which China has claimed as its territory, sparked a fresh row between the two key trading partners. — Reuters pic
Tuesday, 18 Nov 2025 9:00 PM MYT
TOKYO, Nov 18 — A diplomatic feud with China sparked by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comments about Taiwan has underscored the fragility of ties between the key trading partners.
Historical grievances and territorial disputes have added to the strain.
AFP examines the issues at the heart of their complicated relationship.
Historical mistrust
Japanese troops carried out mass murder, rape and looting in Nanjing for about six weeks from the end of 1937, a period of brutal Japanese occupation in the Second Sino-Japanese war that was part of World War II.
Tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people were killed in the massacre.
Tokyo normalised diplomatic ties with Beijing in 1972 but relations are still dogged by historical issues.
More than 10,000 people protested in Beijing after Tokyo approved revisionist textbooks in 2005, hurling rocks and eggs at the Japanese embassy.
Takaichi has not commented publicly on the Nanjing massacre since becoming premier last month, but she questioned the official Chinese death toll of 300,000 in a 2004 blog.
Long seen as a China hawk, she has also been a regular visitor to a shrine that honours Japan’s war dead — including those guilty of crimes in World War II – although she has not visited since taking over.
China terms such visits as “serious provocations”.
Territorial disputes
The East Asian neighbours have also been involved in a territorial dispute over islets in the East China Sea, known by Tokyo as Senkaku and by Beijing as the Diaoyu.
The remote chain of islands has long fuelled tensions and is the scene of regular confrontations between Japanese coast guard vessels and Chinese fishing boats.
Beijing has grown more assertive about its claim over the islands in recent years, with Tokyo reporting the presence of Chinese coast guard vessels, a naval ship and even a nuclear-powered submarine.
A group of islands in the East China Sea, Uotsuri island (top), Minamikojima (bottom) and Kitakojima, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China amid a territorial dispute are seen in this September 2012 picture. — Reuters/Kyodo pic
Chinese coast guard vessels spent several hours in Japan’s territorial waters around the Senkakus on Sunday, according to Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara.
Separately, two Chinese aircraft carriers were seen operating in the Pacific for the first time this year, with Japan saying the move revealed an expansion of Beijing’s military activities.
Alliances
The United States has been a staunch ally of Japan since the end of World War II and Takaichi vowed a “new golden age” of ties with Washington during President Donald Trump’s visit to Tokyo last month.
Japan hosts several US military bases, with the bulk of the 60,000-strong troop presence in the southernmost region of Okinawa – right on mainland China’s doorstep.
That has fuelled China’s belief that the United States is intent on encircling and containing it.
Tensions between China and other claimants to parts of the East and South China Seas have also pushed Japan to deepen ties with the Philippines.
Their coast guards held training drills with the United States in Japan for the first time this year.
Taiwan
Another flashpoint issue is Taiwan – which Beijing claims as its territory and has vowed to take one day, by force if necessary.
Takaichi suggested this month that Japan could intervene militarily in any emergency in the self-ruled island, sparking a row during which a Chinese diplomat in Japan threatened to “cut off that dirty neck” in an apparent reference to her.
China and Japan summoned each other’s ambassadors last week, with Beijing then warning its citizens to avoid travelling to Japan and saying the safety of Chinese students there was at risk.
Japan said on Monday it had scrambled fighter jets when a suspected Chinese drone was detected near its southern island of Yonaguni, which is close to Taiwan, two days earlier.
China has staged war games around Taiwan, which was ruled by Japan for half a century until 1945, several times since 2022.
Trade and tourism
Asia’s two biggest economies are still closely entwined, with China being Japan’s largest trading partner and one of the biggest investment destinations for Japanese companies.
The neighbours maintain several hundred billion dollars in economic trade annually.
China is also the biggest source of tourists to Japan, with almost 7.5 million in the first nine months of 2025, according to the Japanese figures.
Chinese tourists spent 590 billion yen (US$3.8 billion or RM 15.7 billion) in the third quarter, accounting for about 28 per cent of all spending by international tourists, transport ministry data showed. — AFP
Kyiv, Ukraine – There is tension in the air in Zaporizhzhia, the southeastern Ukrainian city that straddles both banks of the Dnipro River.
In recent weeks, the front line on the left, eastern bank, moved closer and is raging about 40km (25 miles) away from the city that also serves as the administrative capital of the Zaporizhia region.
Three-quarters of Zaporizhia have been occupied since 2022, the year Moscow also declared to have officially annexed all of it, along with three more regions – Donetsk, Luhansk and Kherson.
Russia has added earth-shattering glide bombs to its arsenal of drones and missiles that keep the city’s 700,000 residents up and afraid at night.
The heavy bombs, which are out of reach of Ukrainian air defence, can glide for dozens of kilometres and destroy entire apartment buildings.
A woman pulls a cart while walking down an empty street with dogs in the front-line town of Orikhiv in the Zaporizhia region, Ukraine, on November 13, 2025 [Reuters]
The front line itself is more audible.
“It’s louder, we hear it from across the river,” Tetiana, a psychologist whose patients feel increasingly alarmed and depressed, told Al Jazeera.
She withheld her last name for security reasons.
Even though life in the city seems to go on – swimming pools and medical centres are open, for instance – Tetiana feels that she and her family may have to pack up and flee soon.
“There’s a feeling that maybe at some point we’ll have to leave,” she said. “There’s a readiness.”
Military analysts are also far from optimistic.
“[Russia] deployed resources more than a month ago to activate their advance on the western flank,” Lieutenant General Ihor Romanenko, former deputy head of Ukraine’s general staff of armed forces, told Al Jazeera.
Tens of thousands of troops keep advancing, seizing several villages and closing in on the town of Huliaipole in eastern Zaporizhia.
The town’s name means “a field to walk around” and reflects its centuries-old importance for defending central Ukraine from invaders from the south – mostly nomadic horsemen from the steppes north of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.
These days, Huliaipole serves as a crucial logistical hub – and Russian forces are mere kilometres away.
“The situation became dire, [Russian forces] moved forward and shortened the distance to the town to 4km [2.5 miles], they can even strike it with mortars,” Romanenko said.
Of Huliaipole’s 20,000 residents, only hundreds remain – mostly the elderly who cannot part with their houses, cattle and pets.
A building damaged by Russian military strikes and anti-drone nets installed over a street in the front-line town of Orikhiv in Zaporizhia on November 13, 2025 [Reuters]
What helps the Russian advance in Zaporizhia is an open landscape with sparse trees and villages – unlike in Donetsk up north, where Ukraine has well-fortified strongholds on hills and plenty of villages and towns to hold on to, he said.
Russians also use “couriers”, or wheeled robots topped with smoke bombs that create a dense smokescreen – concealing Russian ground forces from Ukrainian reconnaissance drones, he said.
The fall of Huliaipole may be “fast, possibly without much fighting”, according to Nikolay Mitrokhin, a researcher with Germany’s Bremen University.
The fall “will be a rather strong public-relations blow for Ukrainian forces”, he told Al Jazeera.
Moscow’s forces keep implementing their tactic of narrow, but deep breakthroughs of up to 15km (9.3 miles) into Ukrainian territory wherever they find weak spots in Ukrainian defences, he said.
If the breakthroughs are not eliminated within days – something that often requires only one regiment of Ukrainian storm troopers and auxiliary drone operators – the front line can be maintained, Mitrokhin believes.
If not, he said, within a week or two, each breakthrough becomes a front-line curve as Russia starts to deploy drones, mortars and tanks, build trenches, amass manpower and weaponry.
The problem is not about the lack of Ukrainian reserves but about the slow decision-making by Ukraine’s leaders, top brass and the entire military apparatus, he said.
After patching up yet another breakthrough in the north or the east, Ukrainian commanders keep troops on the ground for weeks fighting for hamlets where Russian forces have firmly entrenched.
The Ukrainians keep losing manpower and resources, while Russians are breaking through elsewhere, he said.
“I’m afraid, with Huliaipole, things will be the same,” Mitrokhin said.
By mid-December, Huliaipole may be encircled by two-thirds, and then Ukrainian forces will start an operation to save it “with convulsions to save the garrison”, Mitrokhin predicted.
“And yet, what was needed in the beginning was just a deployment of a regiment to a necessary place,” he said.
‘Say goodbye’ to Huliaipole
Some Ukrainian observers agree with him, accusing top Ukrainian commander Oleksandr Syrskii of sluggishness and incompetence.
Huliaipole is “yet another victim [of] the chaos of military management and President [Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s] desire to keep Syrskii,” lawmaker Mariana Bezuhla wrote on Facebook on Friday. “Say goodbye to the town … It’s being razed to the ground, bypassed from the sides, but soon the fighting will be in Huliaipole itself.”
“In recent weeks, the enemy has significantly sped up its advance and is not going to slow down,” military analyst Konstantin Mashovets wrote on Telegram on Friday.
Another observer warned of a much larger disaster.
“We’re moving towards a catastrophe of strategic scale that could lead to the loss of our statehood,” Serhiy Sternenko, a popular nationalist blogger, wrote on Telegram on Sunday.
But according to DeepState, a group of Ukrainian military analysts who verify Moscow’s gains and Kyiv’s losses by geolocating photos and videos, things are not that bad.
Russia currently controls some 19 percent of Ukraine’s territory, a mere percentage point up from the fall of 2022.
The point cost Moscow tens of thousands of servicemen, according to Western intelligence, amid economic pressure caused by Western sanctions and Ukraine’s strikes on oil refineries and military infrastructure.
Ukraine is being rocked by a $100 million corruption scandal involving government officials close to Volodymyr Zelensky, amid the Ukrainian president's efforts to secure European funding and new warplanes for the war against Russia, Le Monde reports Monday.
Timur Mindich, a close associate and former business partner of Zelensky, has been accused by Ukraine's western-backed National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) of involvement in a $100 million embezzlement scheme involving the state-owned nuclear energy firm Energoatom.
As part of the investigation, anti-corruption authorities raided the luxury apartments of Ukrainian politicians in Kiev, one of which had a gold toilet, photos of backpacks full of cash, and audio documents of officials discussing money laundering strategies.
The EU leadership continues to stand by Zelensky but is pressing him to resolve the corruption issue to help sidestep criticism from EU politicians who oppose further military aid to Ukraine and its accession to the bloc, the French newspaper wrote. France is among those EU nations reportedly demanding that Zelensky swiftly resolve the issue.
"They know very well what our expectations are," a source at the French presidency told the Le Monde ahead of Zelensky's arrival in Paris to seek military support from French President Emmanuel Macron.
France is urging "transparency" and emphasizing "seriousness" in ending corruption, the source stated.
While in Paris, Zelensky signed a deal with Macron that will see Ukraine purchase additional weapons, including 100 Rafale fighter jets over ten years.
"It will be the greatest air defense, one of the greatest in the world," Zelensky claimed while speaking in front of French and Ukrainian flags at the Villacoublay military airport.
Zelensky is also pushing the EU to issue a $160 billion loan backed by Russian central bank assets frozen and held by European financial firm Euroclear.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, a strong supporter of the Ukraine war, demanded that Zelensky take action. "The German government's expectation that Ukraine press ahead energetically with fighting corruption and implementing further reforms, particularly in the area of the rule of law," a spokesperson for the Chancellor stated.
Merz also reportedly urged Zelensky "to ensure that young men from Ukraine do not come to Germany in ever-increasing numbers but rather serve in their own country." 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
In September, Kiev loosened restrictions imposed under martial law since the start of the war that had prevented military-aged young men from leaving the country. Ukrainian men aged 18 to 22 are now allowed to leave their country without facing prosecution, despite a manpower shortage in the Ukrainian military.
Le Monde added that Russian forces are close to capturing the strategic city of Pokrovsk (Krasnoarmeysk) on the eastern front, amid a critical shortage of Ukrainian soldiers.
The corruption scandal has angered the Ukrainian public, which has heard allegations that state officials,including Zelensky, have been stealing state funds on a massive scale since the start of the war nearly three years ago.😂😂😂
"Ukrainians don't have any motivation to fight now because of enormous human rights violations and also because of this corruption now exposed," a former Ukrainian official told Fox News on Monday.
"People inside the country are already seeing this corruption, and this is just part of the corrupt swamp. Zelensky is part of the problem," the official claimed.
THE new music video (MV) by local all-girl band – Dolla – has certainly been making waves.
Not just among fans but also among the upholders of moral principles whose delicate sensitivities were outraged by the supposedly “indecent and revealing outfits” worn by the group members in the clip for their latest single, Question.
The reaction from the latter two personalities drew opprobrium from human rights activist and lawyer Siti Kasim who was aghast at this latest attempt by these moral guardians to control how Malaysians eat, think and live.
In an almost 12-minute YouTube video, the Orang Asli advocate could barely hide her contempt when she declared:
“This is one problem we’ve in the country when they continuously want to control us, on how we dress, what we eat and drink, and what we can think.”
Condemning their pronouncements as playing to the gallery, the 62-year-old firebrand legal eagle ranted: “They’re reacting as usual to criticism by some Malays towards the MV by Dolla after some Muslims claimed it was sexually suggestive styling.”
“The urge to control us (Muslims) is so strong among these religious authorities and among some (rightist) Muslims who feel it’s their obligation to save their brethren,” observed Siti Kasim. “No, you do not have any such duty to save anyone except yourselves!”
‘Why not combat graft instead?’
Rejecting outright the proposed use of laws to regulate Muslims in Malaysia, the UiTM alumni lambasted Na’im Mokhtar and the religious authorities for focusing on Dolla’s hemline rather than a slew of pertinent issues affecting Malay-Muslims in the country.
It was suggested that Na’im and the relevant religious authorities could have taken a more diplomatic line on their fashion sense without appearing authoritarian.
To this, Siti Kasim remarked: “If it’s a sin, the girls (Dolla’s trio of whom only Wan Sabrina Wan Rosli a.k.a. Sabronzo is a Muslim) will have to answer to God. It’s strictly between them and the Almighty.”
Highlighting the hypocrisy inherent in the situation, she went on to proclaim: “They could talk about or do something about Malay economic hardships or the chaotic Malay politics we’re experiencing right now. The majority of the corruptors are Malay Muslims. Have you actually said anything about that? Nope.”
The Queen Mary University, London graduate also pointed out to crumbling moral values among the Malay community, citing the rising cases of sod*my, se*ual assault and even gang rape that are occurring within school compounds.
Worse yet, the silence over cases that happen inside religious schools is deafening.
Obviously angry and upset at this latest attempt by the moral guardians to acts as society’s censors, Siti Kasim implored young voters to “never vote for those who will use religion as a tool”.
It should be noted that while it is regrettable that producer Universal Music Malaysia outrightly complied with pressure from the religious authorities by pulling out Dolla’s latest MV from all official platforms, one can bet his bottom – ermmm, dollar – that the girl group’s popularity would have skyrocketed from all this attention.
Ironically, the clip will probably be seen by even more viewers now and the girl band will certainly be on everyone’s lips thanks to the publicity afforded by this episode of faux outrage.
Even senior citizen Siti Kasim is now aware of them. – Nov 18, 2025
As alleged by some, is PMX really the main reason why the Malays in the country are divided - or is it all down to jealousy, self-interest and the greed for political power among the latter's own leaders?
After the endless waves of criticism from the opposition over the controversial reciprocal trade agreement with the US had failed to gain traction with ordinary citizens here, have prime minister Anwar Ibrahim’s disgruntled detractors now resorted to rehashing their “old tricks?”
In a recent post in his popular “X” account, vocal ex-law minister Zaid Ibrahim had audaciously proposed Dr Mahathir Mohamad to be the next prime minister if the “Malay umbrella” (a loose grouping that includes PAS, Bersatu and other smaller Malay-based parties) wins most of the seats in the next general elections.
The former Kota Bahru MP had also stressed that for all his flaws, Dr Mahathir was still a “true patriot" and that his contributions to the country have been unmatched by anyone since.
However, according to Zaid, for that to happen, Dr Mahathir has to first make it known to the public that he will pardon incarcerated ex-premier Najib Razak; he further argued: “If the two-time ex-PM was willing to pardon Anwar in 2018, why not Najib?
Zaid's wishful thinking…?
Furthermore, the outspoken political journeyman warned that this could be the last opportunity for the Malays to regain control of the country and govern it in the “spirit of Merdeka” - though he did not delve into what that “spirit” meant.
He then went on to lament: “What is the point of insisting that the country be known as Tanah Melayu when the Malay leaders have completely surrendered themselves to forces, in and outside the country, without a fight?”
Interestingly, Zaid had also “appealed” to PAS supremo Hadi Awang and Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin to give Dr Mahathir one more chance, so that the rakyat can have a future!
But for how long can the 100-year-old Dr Mahathir with his frail health be the torch bearer for his race?
For context, last June amidst much fanfare, the still active and witty former prime minister had announced the formation of an informal Malay secretariat, describing it as a "big umbrella” to unify the Malay community; according to him, Malays need fighters to champion their cause but that right now, they didn't have a dedicated fighter!
He had also reportedly said that the goal of the alliance was to unite the Malays who formed the majority of the population here, but who allegedly were under political and economic siege and had to be saved!
The Malays already have enough “fighters” - but is it that they may be busy “fighting” among themselves to be the leader?
Dr Mahathir had further pointed out that the “big umbrella” Malay alliance was not to discuss political party matters, but rather to address the struggles and problems affecting the Malays, which according to him, can only be resolved if the race was to once again lead the government.
Unsurprisingly, one critic had described the grouping as nothing more than a “gathering of disgruntled leaders” led by the opposition, mainly from PAS and Bersatu, using the false narrative that Malays were losing power.
Devoid of ideas, have they now turned to the same old racial narratives and “scare tactics” to win power?
In reality though, isn't Malay political dominance in this country firmly enshrined and protected by the Federal Constitution, which clearly makes it mandatory for the country to be headed by a Malay-Muslim King, for Islam to be the official state religion and for Bahasa Malaysia to be the official language? With all these safeguards how can it lose power or influence?
That being the case, the obvious question on the lips of many may well be: is this latest call for Dr Mahathir to lead the country merely another desperate act by those still bent on destabilising the current government - despite the fact that the nation's economy has picked up and its global reputation has been gradually restored in the aftermath of the humiliating 1MDB financial scandal?
In hindsight, wasn't it Dr Mahathir's controversial sacking of his then-deputy in 1998 one of the major reasons for the deep division within the Malay community that has lasted until today?
Moreover, wasn't it during his second stint as prime minister that the nation was left in disarray after he had unceremoniously thrown in the towel which led to the infamous “Sheraton Move”, followed by years of unprecedented political upheaval?
In conclusion, taking into account all that, on what reasonable grounds can Zaid claim that only Dr Mahathir is able to unite the Malay race - and save the country? In fact, to many, wouldn't such a notion be deemed outrageous and a recipe for disaster?
Notes to Ponder: To be fair, Zaid is entitled to his own opinion, but can Dr Mahathir even find a safe seat to contest and win in the next GE – before he can harbour any hope of leading the nation?
***
I like Zaid but this time I have to say he's frigging MAD
