The cabal moves

Further to my yesterday's post Lesson of non-democracy from the north it would appear that the 'cabal' has now moved into action - for more, read TMI's What about Yingluck now that Thai military heads will meet protest leader?, its extracts as follows:

The heads of Thailand's military agreed on Thursday to a weekend meeting with the leader of the movement seeking to overthrow Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, deepening uncertainty about the country's immediate political future.

my gorgeous goddess, wakakaka

Yingluck has called a snap election for February 2, but that has done nothing to satisfy a protest group that wants an unelected leadership to run the country, aware that a nationwide vote would likely return another government controlled by the premier's divisive billionaire brother, Thaksin Shinawatra.

The armed forces issued a statement late on Thursday saying it had invited protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban to join the heads of the army, navy and air force at a seminar on Saturday "to find a way out for Thailand". The supreme commander would be the mediator and other "stakeholders" would join, it said, without elaborating.

dewi indah ku, wakakaka

Recall what journalist Brian Klonoski wrote in RYOT:

The recently rowdy streets of Bangkok were silent on Tuesday thanks to a national holiday, but that didn't stop Suthep Thaugsuban — the former politician now leading protests — from giving speeches, issuing decrees and more or less attempting to establish a parallel government in Thailand.

Despite lacking an ounce of authority, Thaugsuban continues to insist that his protest movement — which has drawn as many as 150,000 demonstrators in Bangkok — has more legitimacy than the elected government.

Please note the words 'Despite Suthep Thaugsuban lacking an ounce (or milligram in metric form) of authority', in addition to facing charges of sedition, the Thai Army leaders have see fit to meet with him.

waa-ay sooi sianloo, wakakaka

As reported above, it had invited this man, such a man, to join the heads of the army, navy and air force at a seminar on Saturday "to find a way out for Thailand". The supreme commander would be the mediator and other "stakeholders" would join, it said, without elaborating.

This is appalling.

And who are the 'other' stakeholders?

Why is a democratically elected to-be PM Yingluck Sinawatra marginalized by unrepresentative swill?

เทพธิดาที่สวยงามของฉัน, wakakaka

As Lizzie Presser wrote for the New York Times, it's all about the Thai elite (the royal aristocrats and old establishment) fearing the political awakening of her powerful peasant supporters as a threat to their status quo, and awakening brought about by her brother Thaksin Sinawatra and continued by her.

They (the elite) want to regain and retain their old power (status quo) by any means including questionable tactics as the current undemocratic and violent upheavals.

Sounds familiar? Wakakaka.

ma belle déesse, wakakaka

Lesson of non-democracy from the north

Ever heard of the word 'cabal'?

No, I'm not talking about the online game or for that matter, the word 'Kabbala' which means a practice associated with the occult or secret doctrine, usually linked to rabbinic esoteric and mystical magic, like what 'peh-mor' was alleged to have in the person of a recruited Jewish bomoh, wakakaka, to help him win the elections which incidentally he (peh-mor) did, wakakaka again.

The 'cabal' I want to raise here is that of a band of secret plotters against a government or person in authority.

And the cabal I have in mind would be one comprising one or more members of royalty (not necessarily the No. 1, wakakaka) and the established elite, the latter implying the established political elite, the established business elite (eg. penjual roti, wakakaka), the conservatives, society's aristocrats, yes those types generally called the 'establishment'.

Sounds familiar? wakakaka.

No, I'm not talking about Perak eons ago, wakakaka, nor about anywhere else in Malaysia, wakakaka also. They aren't who you think they are. I am actually referring to foreigners, up north, which brings me to the Malay Mail Online's article two days ago, Tearful Thai PM Yingluck asks protesters to take part in election. Extract reads:

in tears

BANGKOK, Dec 10 ― Her eyes welling with tears, Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra pleaded today for anti-government demonstrators to clear the streets and support a snap election, but defiant protest leaders called for her to step down within 24 hours. 

After weeks of sometimes violent street protests, protesters rejected her call yesterday for a general election and said she should be replaced by an unelected “people’s council”, a proposal that has stoked concern Southeast Asia’s second-biggest economy may abandon its democratic process.

Thailand's lower house or House of Representatives has 500 MPs. PM Yingluck Sinawatra's Pheu Thai Party holds 265 seats in parliament, a clear majority which confers the Pheu Thai Party the democratic right to form the duly and democratically elected government of Thailand.

usually with a sweet smile

On the opposite side of the political fence, forming the Thai Opposition, is the Democratic Party with a mere 159 MPs (in some sources only 153) led by leng chai Abhisit Vejjajiva, also Oxford trained wakakaka.

leng chai Abhisit Vejjajiva

His party's former secretary general was Suthep Thaugsuban, who also served as deputy PM to leng chai when the Democratic Party was the government. He is currently the trouble-maker who's facing a grave charge of sedition.

So we have the Democratic Party, rumoured to be backed by certain members of the Thai royalty and also the Thai Army, with only less than 32% of the Lower House wanting to replace the Pheu Thai Party as the government ... and you thought our government which received only 46% of the total votes was bad wakakaka.

I'm sure you'd prefer Yingluck's photo to that of Suthep, wakakaka

Of course the Democratic Party itself didn't openly demand it becomes the substitute government. It's the protesters on the streets, coincidentally led by he Democratic Party's former sec-gen Suthep Thaugsuban in his Perkasa-like (wakakaka) so-called and nonsensical People’s Democratic Reform Committee.

As Brian Klonoski wrote in RYOT:

The recently rowdy streets of Bangkok were silent on Tuesday thanks to a national holiday, but that didn't stop Suthep Thaugsuban — the former politician now leading protests — from giving speeches, issuing decrees and more or less attempting to establish  a parallel government in Thailand. 

Despite lacking an ounce of authority, Thaugsuban continues to insist that his protest movement — which has drawn as many as 150,000 demonstrators in Bangkok — has more legitimacy than the elected government.  

In speeches on Monday and Tuesday, he issued the following brazen orders:

• That Prime Minister Yingluck be prosecuted on insurrection charges for “trying to overthrow the constitution.” FYI: That’s the same charge for which Thaugsuban faces an arrest warrant.

• That the police chief order all his men to withdraw from their posts.

• That soldiers should take responsibility for protecting government offices.

• That civil servants report to the protest group instead of the government.

• That citizens set up their own neighborhood peacekeeping forces to take over from police.

• That his “People’s Democratic Reform Committee” would appoint a prime minister who is “acceptable to the people.”

While you and I can smirk at the absurdity of these decrees since they’re coming from a man with absolutely no constitutional authority to make them, the problem is that protesters and even some media outlets are taking him seriously, according to the AP. 

Even worse, Thaugsuban could completely bypass the constitution and all the basic principles of democracy and seize power if the military or judiciary becomes involved — something that has happened in the past in Thailand. 

“This is a combustible situation. We cannot have two governments in Bangkok running Thailand,” Thitinan Pongsudhirak, director of Chulalongkorn’s Institute of Security and International Studies, told the Washington Post. “Something will have to give.”

women in uniform does something to me, wakakaka

SMH also reported that the protesters ..... want an appointed government to run Thailand with a hand-picked "people’s assembly" and a royally appointed prime minister.

Wakakaka, if that's not a dictatorship, what will it be then? But do they care, wakakaka.

This is what Wikipedia has on the protesters' leader, Suthep Thaugsuban:

As part of the Sor Por Kor 4-01 (สปก.4-01) land reform scheme, Suthep gave title deeds to 592 plots of land in Khao Sam Liam, Kamala and Nakkerd hills of Puket province to 489 farmers. It was later found that members of 11 wealthy families in Phuket were among the recipients. Suthep addressed a huge crowd in his Surat Thani constituency a month before a no-confidence debate and called on his supporters to march on Bangkok in the hundreds of thousands to defend his reputation.

In 2009, Suthep was accused of violating the Constitution of Thailand by holding equity in a media firm that had received concessions from the government. Under the 1997 Constitution of Thailand, which Suthep had supported, Members of Parliament are banned from holding stakes in companies which have received government concessions. In July 2009, the Election Commission announced that it would seek a ruling by the Constitutional Court to disqualify Suthep.

Suthep held a press conference a day later, announcing his decision to resign from Parliament. Suthep's resignation as an MP did not affect his status as a Deputy Prime Minister and as a Cabinet member. If his case had been submitted to the Constitution Court, he would have been suspended from duty as Deputy Prime Minister. He insisted his resignation was not a proof that he had done anything wrong but that he was worried about status as Deputy Prime Minister.

So, apart from his propensity to resort to street protests to protect himself as in the Sor Por Kor scandal (reminds me of someone wakakaka), with such a dubious record as a member of parliament what credibility does he have in waging illegal and at times violent protests against the Yingluck's government on the alleged accusation that Yingluck's brother Thaksin Sinawatra is the power behind her.

Just a reminder, Yingluck's Pheu Thai Party (minus any Thaksin in the scenario) holds 265 seats in parliament, a clear majority which confers the Pheu Thai Party the democratic right to form the duly and democratically elected government of Thailand.

Three days ago the Democratic Party thought it would exert pressure on Yingluck by resigning en bloc (all 153 MPs) from parliament but Yingluck smartly sidestepped the adverse impression of a one-sided House of Representatives by immediately dissolving parliament and calling for re-election.

OOoooooo, yum yum yum

This of course won't suit the cabal and its mob of protesters as Yingluck's Pheu Thai Party has greater voters support and will win in the new election, hence the agitation by the protesters for an appointed (not elected) government made up of hand-picked 'people’s assembly' and a royally appointed prime minister. And f**k democracy.

But alas, there's very powerful backing for Suthep Thaugsuban (himself probably only a front man) allegedly from said cabal of certain royal members and the Thai Army, which has been why Suthep's protesters could run around with impunity in Bangkok in their harassment and disruption of the legitimate government while police were 'advised' by the Army to 'take it easy' - think Perkasa, wakakaka.

Yingluck is of course reluctant to unleash her party's supporters, the Red Shirts, as this may provoke the Army into taking a more direct role in the illegal protests, to the detriment of her supporters well-being.

But what lesson does it hold for us, that a minority party could, with some royal backing and the Army, demand a new government, one to be appointed by 'the few' with a PM appointed by royalty?

And you thought 46% was bad? wakakaka.

Incidentally, on 26 April 2006, HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX) of Thailand addressed the Administrative and Supreme Courts' judges at Klai Kangwol Palace. Extracts of his speech follows:

If the House is not filled by elected candidates, the democracy cannot function. If this is the case, the oaths you have just sworn in would be invalid. You have sworn to work for democracy. If you cannot do it, then you may have to resign. You must find ways to solve the problem. [...]

You cannot ask the King to make a decision saying that the King has signed his signature. Article 7 does not say that the King has that authority. It does not.

Look at Article 7. The article does not say that a constitutional monarchy means the King has the authority to make an order. I insist that I have never issued any orders without basing them on directives of the articles of the Constitution, laws and Acts. I strictly and correctly have complied with the Constitution.

People have asked for a Royally appointed prime minister, but there is not a rule for this; a prime minister is correctly Royally endorsed every time. There may be people who say that King Rama IX likes to do what he wants, but I have never done that.

Based on this, his royal and most correct and most proper views on Thailand's constitutional monarchy some years ago, obviously the King himself is not in support of the current attempt to overthrow a duly and democratically elected government, nor in the undemocratic nonsense of a Royally appointed PM, but some other royalty allegedly is.

To kaytee, it seems while there have been allegations that most of Malaysia's socio-politico-economic-religious troubles stem from the doings of some former 'Indians', wakakaka, there is suspicion that the current Thai political problems stem from some former 'Chinese', or at least those with Chinese ancestry - for more of this conclusion, see my earlier post Should Chinese Malaysians adopt indigenous surnames? wakakaka.

Lil' hot India in Singapore

TMI - Singapore MP wants to turn Little India into alcohol-free zone

If those Banglas were to be in Malaysia, the riots might not have occurred (note: 'might not' because riots could still happen for other reasons, wakakaka).

Yes, I heard that in Malaysia they could apply for citizenship or at least blue IC, or marry our lovely sweeties to eventually became 1st class citizens of our wonderful beautiful nation, where they would be made into millionaires to purportedly 'protect' Islam, as we've been enlightened by UMNO's Mohd Haniff Koslan.

And they would have lived happily ever after, wakakaka.

And not only that but my dear Vango of Hindraf would then boast that the Malay gene pool would have been considerably improved by these "Malays", where Vango referred to them as "Malays" with an emphasis on the quotation marks, wakakaka.

But alas, they went instead to Singapore where I suppose jobs are probably-relatively better remunerated.

So, after several days of probably hard backbreaking work, missing their Dhaka weekend evening out, feeling lonely and blue while thinking of and missing gorgeous, hot and sexy Kanta, Mita, Sadia, Nipa and Farhana Nisho back in Dhaka, Rajshahi, Chittagong, etc, even up north in Rangpur, they would take the next best alternative, namely (no, not what you're thinking wakakaka), the happy brew ...

Farhana Nisho, Bangla's mostest hottie

... which someone unfortunately omitted telling them that too much of a good thing, like sex, tau-yu (soya sauce), salt, chili padi (Birdseye chillie), and santan (coconut milk), can be really bad.

When an unfortunate accident happened fatally to one of them they must have thought they were back home in Bangladesh (or for those Indians, in India) where a wee bus burning, beating people up and overturning-burning buses and cars (even ambulance and police cars, especially ambulance and police cars) would be the norm.

One question begs to be asked: Why were those Banglas drinking the good brew when they came from a land under syariah-hudud laws?

PAS please take note - not so much to nab those Banglas, but more to realize syariah-hudud laws won't discipline Muslims into strict self-imposed observation.

yummy Bangla hottie
I'd gladly give up alcohol for her, wakakaka

Even in India, alcohol consumption in public is frowned upon. Once I was in New Delhi with my aneh Rama. Both of us were sitting down to dinner at a nice lovely hotel where we ordered tosai or dosa (in India one can get a metre-long dosa, wakakaka) with pomfret curry and all the works. Naturally we ordered beer which we intended to round up with several shots of Mr Walker (the Black one).

just a small one, wakakaka

When the beer was served by a very nice and polite elderly waiter, I noted he looked after me with much dedication but missed pouring the golden stuff for my aneh which of course provoked a thirsty Rama to jab pointedly at his glass more than once. But mamak (uncle) after glaring at his 'rudeness' (no, mamak wasn't named Tunku Aziz, wakakaka) ignored him.

another wee one, wakakaka

So putting on my best smile which an 'ex' of mine once informed me was terrifying, wakakaka, I asked politely for mamak to fill up aneh's glass, but mamak answered:

"Sir, I'm most sorry but I can't!"

"Oh? Why?"

"Sir, he's an Indian. He should not be drinking alcohol."

Wakakaka.

Of course Aneh exploded, virtually yelling "I'm NOT an Indian, I'm MA-LAY-SIAN, Now, pour me my beer!!!"

Most thankfully aneh didn't say 'I'm not a bloody Indian', wakakaka again.

Bangla hottie

I'm not a Malaysian but a Bangla, wakakaka

To cut the story short, what with mamak and aneh glaring at each other like the other bloke was just across the Indo-Pakistani border, wakakaka, I told mamak to just leave the beer bottles on the table, and I would handle them myself - kaytee, ever the diplomat, wakakaka.

Anyway, back to our Banglas in Singapore. Several years ago I posted The Toddy Syndrome in which I penned:

The typically hardworking but unskilled Indian struggles at the lower scale of employment, earns enough to live from hand to mouth day to day, has no or little after-hours amenities, has many children as a result of their sole entertainment (not unlike Chinese farmers in remote rural areas), at the end of work dashes off to the local ‘pub’ for several tin mugs of watered toddy, gets himself pissed drunk to blank out his agonizing frustration, apprehension, worries, physical/mental pain, hopelessness and anger at his-fate-decided-by-the-gods, if not knocked out by the toddy comes home and, where in many cases, tries to solve his problems a wee bit by thrashing the hell out of his wife and kids.

The evil toddy (even though kaytee loves a drop or two of this brew occasionally, in moderation) has become the straw to hang on for many socially-drowning Indians. Its devastating effect produces the syndrome, but the disease is hopelessness in an increasing competitive world that is rapidly leaving many Indian Malaysians behind. Their children are born into immediate disadvantage. Their community is looked down upon. They are assigned ownership of Malaysian crimes which cannot be attributed to foreign migrant workers. They have become the debris, flotsam and garbage of Malaysian society.

Though it was written with our local Indians in mind, I believe it could apply to those migrant Bangla workers in Singapore too, but I wonder whether they were imbibing toddy or the more powerful and more evil samsu?

But making such areas alcohol free would be a good start. Australia took this step some years ago when the authorities realized the gravity of alcoholism in conjunction with the proximity of a steady supply of said brew for some people. There's a very strictly imposed law where one cannot buy alcohol and consume it within a certain distance of the shop selling the alcohol.

Bangla hottie

You know, from the tragedy of the fatal accident and the ensuing riots, came one humorous tidbit which we Malaysians can related to all too easily. At a web forum, where most people were talking about the riots, the associated dangers and social issues, one bright spark who goes by the tweeter moniker of SkysoBlue remarked in the most practical terms, as follows:

"Pity future generations taking SS or history, need learn new chapter, little India riots 2013."

Wakakaka, but at least you Sings don't have a compulsory history exam as we Malaysians have, shafted down our throats with the blessing and order of UMNO.

The 3 dilemmas of DAP

Whenever I whacked Anwar Ibrahim and/or PKR, wakakaka, My visitor looes74 would urge me to whack Najib and UMNO, and when I didn't, would accuse me of having a 'soft spot' for the PM, wakakaka.

Mind you, when I did, that is, whack Najib and/or UMNO, he seldom acknowledged it. Alas for poor kaytee, wakakaka!

 did I miss targeting my 'soft spot'?

wakakaka

Though I don't have to explain nor justify why I blogged on certain topics (or absence of) I will anyway, for I have a 'soft spot' for looes74, 'too' if I were to include my alleged 'soft spot' for Najib, wakakaka.

A blogger writes on what he or she wants to write, which is why he or she becomes a blogger in the first place; sometimes the topic posted coincides with the wishlist of a visitor, but sometimes it won't, but when the latter occurs it shouldn't invite the sort of attitude that low-brow George Bush had threateningly and uglily displayed, namely, 'either you're with us or against us' or variants of it such as 'having a soft spot' for the 'enemy', wakakaka.

bully boys, like looes74?

wakakaka

An example of why at times I won't post certain topics is when I sense my effort on the topic would be so obviously ineffective in the overall blogging landscape, to wit, my posting would be a mere drop in the ocean, as would be in a post on, say, the case of a predictable outburst during UMNO's recent assembly, that of the call for 1Melayu instead of 1Malaysia, or even Najib's boast to his party gallery that UMNO had won the popular vote in many states.

Above two items would be bloody trite lah, wakakaka. Indeed, there'd be more than a few bloggers hopping, harping and hullabaloo-ing on those topics, wakakaka.

However, what attracted me has been FMT's article titled Leave if DAP stays with PAS, Karpal told. The owner of that reported statement is Tunku Aziz, erstwhile DAP member and former DAP senator, wakakaka.

More than a year ago I had written of his acrimonious departure from DAP in my post DAP's comedy (or tragedy) of errors with Tunku Aziz in which I also showed my 'soft spot' wakakaka for Tunku by explaining what I thought was hurtful to an elderly patrician gentleman. That's because I understand people like Tunku want respect due to their elderly and senior status. In that post I had concluded rather hopefully as follows:

Nonetheless, I feel rather sad that Tunku has decided to end his association with DAP and in particular Lim GE in such an acrimonious manner.

But I am glad that Guan Eng has firmly closed the issue in a gracious manner ...

his rift with DAP started from this, but sadly didn't end there 

... which alas, was not to be because following his departure from the erstwhile comradeship of DAP he lamentably went beyond the pale (went beyond boundaries of decency) when he questioned the ethnicity of Zairil Khir, the son of the late Khir Johari. I then wrote:

The fact is in doing so, Tunku would have had the Constitutional whistle blown at him for being off-side, while the reality is he had been hurtfully racist in casting a slur on Zairil's lack of Malayness, as that of a 'lesser Malay' because he was born a Chinese and subsequently adopted by Khir Johari - and let me repeat what I had written then, he broke my heart in that lamentable action.

Zairil Khir Johari, a 'lesser Melayu' to Tunku Aziz? 

Okay, I know that Tunku was hurt by Lim Guan Eng, and as hell hath no fury like a proud patrician scorned, he was no doubt getting back at the DAP sec-gen, but I was gobsmacked flabbergasted by Tunku's meanness towards Zairil ...

... and excuse my tautology of 'gobsmacked flabbergasted' but those two words were absolutely necessary to indicate my deep shock that a patrician like Tunku could become so 'ordinary', in fact 'ordinarily' nasty.

Consider how Josh Hong had described him in Malaysiakini’s Tunku Aziz and the Dewan Negara, relevant extracts as follows:

Coming from a prominent background (distantly related to the Kedah royalty) and having been very much a part of Malaysia’s high society ....., [...] 

This, together with his relatively liberal and diverse family roots, ...

Have the above been misplaced?

Also read my other BolehTalk post on Tunku Aziz titled Noblesse oblige missing.

So we have him at it again, this time against Karpal Singh, though in this latest episode (and I'm sure there'll be more episodes from Tunku Aziz, wakakaka) there is an unfortunate lot of truth in his taunt at Bhai.

Look, I may be someone who voted for and support DAP but I'm not the type who would Myrmidon-ishly snap at critics of the Rocket ship ...

... which finally brings me to the topic for this post, about the DAP's 3 dilemmas,namely:

• To be allied to PAS or not?
• To be more flexible in accepting new membership especially and particularly from Malays?
• To be the same old DAP or a brand new model?

Of course the 3 dilemmas would be, nay, have to be inter-related in more than one way.

Okay then, as the King said gravely to Alice kaytee in WonderBolehland, let's “Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop,” so let's discuss the first dot-point, as prompted by Tunku Aziz's taunt, of DAP's difficult if not dodgy alliance with the Islamic party.

FMT reported Tunku saying:

DAP chairman Karpal Singh should leave [DAP] to save his reputation and high standing if he cannot convince his party to end ties with PAS, said Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim. 

“We have lost count of the number of times Karpal has bemoaned the fact that PAS leaders, his political allies, have remained defiantly unrepentant for their single-minded push for an Islamic Malaysia.” 

“Karpal should get his party out of the morally impossible situation because there is no future in a fragile, loveless and dishonest relationship with PAS, kept barely alive by mutual deception and political expediency.”

Of course Tunku was taunting Bhai with the (UMNO) intent to split Pakatan up, hopefully in time before GE-14.

Fast rewind to 1999, the year Lim Kit Siang and Bhai lost in the parliamentary election because many DAP supporters didn't fancy DAP's loose 'alliance' via the so-called Barisan Alternatif with a rampaging fierce, feral and frightening PAS, one that exploited and hoped to hijack the sympathies for Dr Wan Azizah, and overran her due to her inexperience (and reluctance) as a politician.

Lin Juo-yu, the Director of Graduate Institute of Southeast Asian Studies at Tamkang University, Taiwan, wrote a paper titled 'A structural analysis of the Malaysian 1999 general elections: Changing voting preference of ethnic Chinese and ...' in which he said of (one of) Dr Mahathir's election strategy in view of pending Malay-Muslim vote loss due to the expulsion of Anwar Ibrahim from UMNO:

To strike fear in the minds of the Chinese, the media was instructed to preach that if PAS came to power, Malaysia would become an Islamic state. By then entertainment and alcohol would be forbidden, women would be required to be veiled in public, minority groups would be deprived of their rights, and hudud (Islamic criminal code) laws would be applied even for minor crimes.

As a result, ethnic clashes might have erupted, and even the 1969 “the Accident on May 13” might have been repeated. Chinese businessmen and the Chinese middle classes were the main target of this negative propaganda.

Well, certainly PAS has shown its implementation of some of above (1st paragraph) in Kedah and Kelantan, and voiced (still does) its intention to have hudud implemented as part of syariah laws to replace the secular civil laws. One wonders what else it will impose should it come into power.

popular song in Kota Baru's unisex hair salon, wakakaka

It was precisely this fear of PAS which saw DAP supporters spurn both Uncle Lim and Bhai, and punish them into sitting out of the entire 10th parliamentary term.

From that unthinkable loss for the two DAP veterans, one of the saddest political moments for me was when I heard the story of Uncle Lim walking away from the vote-counting station after the election result was announced, all by his lonesome self.

the real and only Tiger of Jelutong
& not a mangy cat, wakakaka

Leaving that lamentable poignant scene aside, of a hero totally deserted in his moment of greatest (consoling) need, many DAP politicians came to realize the danger of political flirtation with PAS, which as an Islamic party won't, can't and will never ever compromise in its ultimate quest to have full syariah laws for Malaysia, ...

... regardless of the fact that there is not one single nation on this globe ruled by syariah laws with the hudud code of penal punishment serving as an exemplary model of an Islamic State - see my post Little evidence of justice in hudud-ruled nations.

Thus, much as my respect for Tunku Aziz may have cooled somewhat after his unbelievable, unnecessary and unethical sneer at young Zairil Khir, I have to grudgingly admit there is considerable substance in his remarks to Bhai, of the DAP-PAS alliance being an impossible situation because there is no future in a fragile, loveless and dishonest relationship ....., kept barely alive by mutual deception and political expediency.

And let's not mince our words, the alliance has indeed been one of political expediency which will survive as long as (a) there continues to be mutual benefits, and (b) UMNO continues to be in power to serve as a common enemy, and in the unlikely event of (c) DAP accepting PAS' desire for the hudud penal code of punishment as replacement for our civil laws.

But at the same time UMNO is hardly sleeping as its members have been bandying words like PAS-UMNO unity, Malay unity, Muslim unity and even the rather bizarre (but politically deliberate) act of coopting a PAS ulama by the name of Mohamed Kazim Elias into the UMNO Supreme Council, a process complete with and accompanied by the risible to & fro denials from concerned parties, wakakaka.

Of course the most popular phrase, the political saying now in vogue, has to be the PAS-UMNO muzakarah, though I sometimes wonder why we must use the Arabic word 'muzakarah' when there is a perfectly good Indonesian word with the same meaning, 'musyawarah', which in case our local Arab-wannabes are concerned, is also of Arabic origin but one so much used by Indons for so long that it has now acquired Indonesian/SE Asian pedigree, wakakaka.

Only PAS Mursyidul Am, Pak Haji Nik Aziz
stands between PAS and UMNO, but for how long?

And it's not as if a good many PAS members have not been receptive to the siren calls of UMNO's repetitive overtures as they are in the end not only PAS Arab-wannabe Muslims but also PAS Malays. After all, even our Esteemed Great One has shown his keenness in having a muzakarah with UMNO, wakakaka - see Malaysiakini's Pakatan Rakyat is open to dialogue, says Anwar.

Thus, the above plus the many times some PAS members have bared their hudud fangs have often made me wonder just for how long will PAS honour its commitment to the Pakatan alliance?

Indeed, how will DAP deal with its Islamic ally, an increasingly arrogant, hudud-hungry and hudud-impatient PAS who believes that total syariah compliance is now almost within reach so much so that Ustaz Afnan Hamimi Taib Azamuddin, a PAS Youth leader, who chairs the National Unity and NGO Relations committee, said: “We have a dream, ..... that one day, Lim Guan Eng, the chief minister of Penang, will ... recite the Kalimah Shahadah.”

The Kalimah Shahada is is an Islamic statement of faith, which affirms belief in the oneness of Allah swt and acceptance of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) as God's prophet.

Now, I believe Ustaz Afnan has been totally sincere in yearning for Lim GE, a man no doubt he respects, and also other non-Muslims including kaytee gulp, to embrace the Islamic faith. I am convinced there has been no cynicism in his wish, but I really want to know how DAP in general and Lim GE in particular will deal with such an expectation by DAP's political ally?

any exemption in the Quran for blokes like me, gulp

It won't be an issue for Anwar Ibrahim, but Lim GE and dad? Let me be frank and say that I'm not confident of a win-win situation. No wakakaka here because of the total sincerity of Ustaz Afnan and the impossibility of his wish.

On DAP's second dot-point, DAP has been known to be a real tight ass when it came to admitting members into its fold, for the reason it fears frogs, unlike a 'taxi sapu' company operating in its vicinity, wakakaka.

But it is nonetheless a dilemma, because as gamblers would advise, unless one actually buys a lottery ticket one will never ever win anything, let alone the jackpot prize. Thus, unless DAP takes the risks to further open up its membership doors, it can never aspire to be a significant national party with many Malay MPs and ADUNs, and endowing it with considerable political powers.

Mind you, it needn't be like the next door 'taxi sapu', wakakaka.

And while it always have Malay members, these have been far too few, therefore it must exert efforts to induct more into its fold.

Of course its task haven't been and won't be easy as most Malays would (a) be suspicious of it as being a mainly Chinese party through years of UMNO propaganda, thus may feel out of place in such a party, (b) see it as an anti-Malay anti-Muslim party, though this perception has changed somewhat since 2008 when it came to power together with PAS and PKR in Penang and Selangor, and (c) probably prefer to join UMNO, PAS or PKR - the last of which had been Zaid Ibrahim's mistake (sigh).

alamak, where is my PAS adviser?

While DAP has since 2008 lost some defectors of all races, including two ADUNs in Perak, wakakaka, it has otherwise been generally successful, but I reckon not successful enough in the specific area of more Malay DAP members being elected as either MPs (only 2 in Dato Ariff Sabri and Zairil Khir) and ADUNs (Tengku Zulpuri Shah Raja Puji).

As you know, I have always rooted for my Penang laang, Zulkfli Mohd Noor, a fairly long standing DAP member who came pretty close to winning the Bukit Bendera federal seat in 2004 - for more, read this - but alas, wasn't (for whatever reason?) put up by DAP in 2008 or 2013 very much to my disappointment.

Recently, I read that Zul had a falling out with the party though he still remains a member. This isn't really good for DAP's image to the Malays. I trust whatever disagreement exists may be satisfactorily resolved.

Then what about Aspan Alias? According to looes74 who knows every bloody thing wakakaka, Aspan could well have been MB of Negri Sembilan. He also has had a falling out with DAP though I am not sure whether he is still a member of the party?

The sad story of Aspan and Zul would be one where the party can't find enough seats for them but have been reluctant to sacrifice one of its selected candidates for new Malay members other than high profile ones like Dato Ariff and Zairil Khir.

However, there is only one way, but that will unfortunately bring DAP into a head-on clash with PKR and PAS over more seats, slices in a cake which is of a fixed size. The two Pakatan component parties have already bared their territorial fangs at DAP over allocation of both federal and state seats, but there is no other choice for DAP other than to negotiate real hard or in the worst case scenario, to even go it alone, a voting-splitting bad move as it may be.

PKR will take 52 seats, DAP and PAS can share the remaining 19

wakakaka

Two years ago, my Penang laang, Zul Noor caused an uproar when he gave PKR a taste of its own (greedy, selfish and power-crazy) medicine. Zul demanded that PKR surrender one Parliamentary and 5 State seats in Penang to DAP’s Malay candidates wakakaka.

But on second thoughts, DAP should not wakakaka Zul's assertion. It's time to assertively mark out a larger stake for itself, especially in Penang, Negri Sembilan, Perak and Sarawak. Tell Anwar it'll enhance his PM prospects, wakakaka.

I'm not sure what DAP has in mind but accepting the 2013 limited share will no longer be tenable for its new Malay membership and thus not acceptable.

Finally, the last dot-point, that of the question: To be the same old DAP or a brand new model?

I'm going to ignore the King's advice to Alice and leave this for another post as I feel I have already written quite a lengthy piece, wakakaka.