Another Malaysian father-in-law story

TMI - After fallout with DAP, wooing Chinese voters near impossible for PAS, says analyst

As-salamu alaykum, I'm Ah Beng

PAS leaders were busy during the recent Lunar New Year joining in the celebrations with Chinese locals, with party president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang tossing yee sang in Perak, while one leader in Selangor dressed up as a Chinese deity and Johor leaders wore red.

The Islamist party was engaging directly with non-Muslims, especially the Chinese, in order to shore up its voter base ahead of the next general election, said a political analyst.

Mohamad Hisomuddin Bakar [the executive director of independent think tank Ilham Centre] believed that PAS had realised that the Chinese vote was the reason it won many of the seats contested in the past two elections in 2008 and 2013.

Two corrections to above extract from TMI, to wit:

(a) as I had posted in my blog and written to Malaysiakini which published my letter as an article titled 'Chinese deity' costume saga: Emperor booby-trapped? the costume donned by Mohd Khairuddin Othman of PAS, the state assemblyperson for Paya Jaras, Selangor, was NOT that of a Chinese deity, but merely a period costume for Chinese emperors of yore, and

(b) the statement '... PAS had realised that the Chinese vote was the reason it won many of the seats contested in the past two elections in 2008 and 2013' would in my opinion be grammatically incorrect.

Instead of saying 'had realised' it should more correctly be 'HAS realised', wakakaka, because that realisation is only recent.

If PAS 'had realised' the full extent of Chinese support for the Islamic Party in the last two general (and state) elections, it wouldn't have been so arrogant in its ferocious push for hudud which frankly, justified or not, frightened the shits out of the non-Muslim Chinese, who I would say constitute 99.9999% of the Chinese community, wakakaka.

As-salamu alaykum, I'm Ah Seng 

And that could have been why the former Erdogens in PAS, the non-ulama, realizing the party's ulama's politically impetuous or arrogant self-destructing policy declaration, have had a fierce disagreement with the party clerics, resulting in their split and the formation of a new Islamic Party, PAN or Amanah.

The political reality of the split is it has had nothing to do with any DAP scheming or manoeuvring, much as anti-DAP forces have been propounding, but the PAS-Erdogens'-now-Amanah's political survival and expansion.

Now that GE-14 is approaching, PAS (minus its Erdogens) 'has realised', yes, finally realised its political faux pas in scaring away its erstwhile Chinese supporters.

The stats by IIham has in turn been frightening for PAS. IIham stated that with Chinese support principally for Pakatan Rakyat (and with PAS benefitting from/by association with that now-dead coalition):

• Chinese vote for PAS increased from 59.3% in the 2008 general election to 73.4% in the 13th general election, mainly because of the community's support for Pakatan Rakyat
• eg. in the Bukit Gantang parliamentary constituency in Perak, where PAS lost to Umno's candidate in 10 ballot boxes used by Malay voters, strong support from the Chinese through just three boxes helped PAS to victory there
• same scenario played out in Selangor. The Chinese votes for PAS increased rose from 42.9% in the 2008 polls to 70.2% in the 2013 polls
• that allowed PAS to increase its state seats from 8 to 15 in the Selangor legislative assembly. PAS was also able to maintain the Kota Raja, Hulu Langat, Sepang and Shah Alam parliamentary seats in Selangor because of the Chinese

Let's review the above first dot-point, which is Chinese vote for PAS increasing from 59.3% in GE-12 to 73.4% in GE-13.

I wonder what was it, namely Chinese support for PAS in GE-11 in 2004?

Recall how AAB won by a humongous landslide which if I may remind everyone was chiefly due to Chinese support from their relief and ecstasy over an exit-ing Mahathir, wakakaka.

It was reported that the BN under AAB won 198 parliamentary seats to the combined opposition parties' 20 seats, with one independent. That was why it was considered a landslide.

In fact it was the largest majority that BN had achieved since the 1978 elections (Mahathir, eat your heart out, wakakaka). In detail, UMNO won 109 seats, a gain of 32, MCA won 31 seats, a gain of two, and MIC won nine seats, a gain of two, all without the presence (phew) of the wannabe emperor, wakakaka.

And guess who brought BN down to less than 2/3 majority in 2008? Wakakaka, and he'll do it again in GE-14. Pakatan should therefore pray to Allah (swt), Jehovah and Jesus, Buddha and Kuanyin, Thnee Kong, Lord Krishna-Siva-Brahma, and all deities for his long life ;-)

By the by, in 2004 PAS retained only 7 of its 27 parliamentary seats, yes, losing a humongous and very painful 20 federal seats.

PAS' state losses were Terengganu state, 17 seats in Kelantan (though still holding a slim majority of 24 there), 7 seats in Kedah, 2 seats in Perlis.

It had then held no seat in Selangor.

Anyway, so Pak Haji Hadi, now realising the Chinese may have some use afterall, wakakaka, had even tossed the yee sang but only after he had tossed the Erdogens out of PAS, wakakaka.

Besides, political analysts have informed us on a number of occasions that around 60 or more parliamentary seats have mixed constituencies that Mahathir had liked in his PM-days, where the Chinese voters could hold the balance in their election outcomes, wakakaka (thanks to the EC).

PAS had (has? wakakaka) been eyeing these constituencies for a fair while as they could well be the key to federal majority rule. Maybe that had (probably) been the Erdogens' argument to belay the hudud push and maybe now Amanah will inherit that aspiration.

a tip on yee sang tossing, datuk
don't want for someone to show you the gangnam style 

Hey hey, recently PAS informed Chinese that Pak Haji's daughter-in-law is a Chinese (or at least was until she converted into a Muslim-Malay like 'kita Melayu' RTA, wakakaka).

The honorific for father-in-law in Penang Hokkien is 'Ng-Knwa' (for a d-i-l, whilst for a s-i-l it's 'Tneo-Lang'), but will the erstwhile Chinese support of 74.3% (in GE-13) return to 'Ng-Knwa' and his PAS?

But alas, being a spoilsport of sorts, kaytee has to remind everyone that on 22 January this year the Pak Haji, so-called esteemed Islamic leader and touted 'Ng-Knwa', wakakaka, had flabbergasted everyone (except his PAS minions) by saying, as reported by FMT, DAP and Singapore support TPPA as ”Chinese control trade”.

Gasp gulp omigosh, the Chinese control trade? They support TPPA? I thought it was UMNO which wants the TPPA?

FMT reported: In a three-minute video posted on his Facebook today, Hadi accused DAP and Singapore of supporting the trade pact because a single race dominates commerce.

“DAP agrees to it, Singapore agrees to it. Why? Because the Chinese control trade in Malaysia.”

[kt comment: actually DAP agreeing to the TPPA is pure grade bullshit. Penang DCM II Dr Ramasamy had said: "The DAP has made it clear on many occasions that it would oppose the TPPA because of its negative implications on the people."]

He urged PAS’ party members to come out in support of tomorrow’s anti-TPPA rally. “It is the Bumiputeras who are tired of the TPPA.”

For more, see my post Hadi Awang - his true character.

Aiyah, never mind lah as he's a 'Ng-Knwa' wakakaka.

As-salamu alaykum, I'm Ah Sai 

But more interestingly, will the 70.2% Chinese support for PAS in Selangor (in 2013) be maintained to allow the party to hold on to its 15 state seats?

You be the judge! Azmin Ali already has, wakakaka!

dei azmin cucu, beri 'tok ruang sikit didepan 

Political demise in Malaysia

"I am Malay first" Moody has finally got the axe from UMNO. I shed no tears for him as I've never like this bloke who by his utterance as the (former, wakakaka) DPM of our nation had deliberately or unwittingly advocated a most lamentable ethno-centric mentality.

And he being 'Malay first' has not saved his arse from being singed, seared and scorched by the No 1 Malay party in Malaysia, which I'd call sweet justice, yea, bloody sweet, wakakaka.

Many might have forgotten that Moody's "I am a Malay first" was an open declaration in direct contradiction to his boss' policy of 1Malaysia, regardless of whether Najib had been sincere or not. I wonder whether that had been the first occasion Moody had openly undermined Najib? Pulling the policy rug from under the boss' feet can prove to be a most perilous act, wakakaka.

But such has been the hatred for Najib that the people who flooded his (Najib's) Facebook with 10,000 angry emojis against the suspension of Moody have been, surprise surprise (or maybe not, wakakaka), mainly Chinese, as if they (by logical argument) support "I am Malay first" Moody, wakakaka again.

If those Chinese do, that is, love or/and support Muhyiddin, then they're the most moronic mentality-muddled mafulat-ish Chinese ever. But I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and say they exploited an opportunity to wallop Najib, rather than support Moody, wakakaka

But has the press run away with the show of anti-Najib emojis, as to be read in Malaysiakini's Najib's FB page awash in flood of ‘angry’ emoji?

Since the anti-Najib interactions on Najib's FB page appear in conjunction with UMNO's suspension of "I am Malay first" Moody, can we then read them as evidence of mainly Chinese support for Moody?

Perhaps no, as Malaysiakini explains:

Malaysians have long taken to social media to express their frustrations with the government and dissatisfaction with the lack of explanation on a number of mega scandals.

Many have been using creative ways to express their disdain for the powers-that-be, either through posts, artwork, and internet memes.

Najib’s Facebook posts often garner thousands of ‘likes’, though critics have also used the platform to publicly show their unhappiness with his leadership.

However, I doubt Najib gives two figs about Chinese's emojis as he knows he has already lost their votes, and that they don't have a say in UMNO affairs. But sometimes, indeed I have to say this, I do wonder why young Chinese feel a need to interfere in UMNO internal affairs when they could and should have stood aside quietly to watch those UMNO-ites kill themselves. Must be the f* vitamins or lack of they have been fed on by their mums, wakakaka.

Okay, "I am Malay first" Moody has been suspended which many have equated to his political death. Would it be also equated to 'pending' expulsion or a vegetative political life?

As I mentioned I have no love for "I am Malay first" Muhyiddin Yassin, sweet justice and all that, but I would also say when a party member (of any party) keeps talking against his own boss or bad mouthing him continuously/regularly, he should plan for or anticipate the political demise of his boss, for an otherwise outcome (that is, if he fails to finish off his boss, wakakaka) would guarantee his own adverse ending.

Well, obviously Moody hadn't which is why he has been suspended and dropped as UMNO No 2. It cements my earlier impression of him as low-brow or that he had been unrealistically fantasizing his other 'boss', wakakaka, would charge in with the 7th Calvary?

His political demise (at least in UMNO - he may yet join his other boss, wakakaka, to form UMNO Baru Mark II, wakakaka again) is not unique in the political world, whether in Malaysia or elsewhere. Let's review some interesting party expulsions, wakakaka.

The most famous political party expulsion, not just suspension, was that of Mahathir in 1969, wakakaka. He badmouthed his No 1 in UMNO, Tunku Abdul Rahman and as to be expected, he was kicked out of the party. Tunku had also wanted to jail him for presumably some seditious utterances but was persuaded not to. Pity, wakakaka!

Hey, Mahathir as PM and Boss of UMNO did a bit of expelling too, one of which still traumatizes many until today. It was the expulsion of Anwar Ibrahim from UMNO. Anwar supporters took to the streets in protest (a favourite action of theirs), an event which frightened many yellow-skin pelandoks, wakakaka.

Why pelandoks you may ask? You know, when Gajah berjuang sama gajah, pelanduk mati di tengah-tengah. Wakakaka.

The immense hatred for Mahathir resulting from his expulsion of Anwar has recently been ameliorated by an increased quantum of hatred switching over to Najib, wakakaka, because Najib is now the new Nemesis for Anwar, especially with the latter's conviction in Sodomy II. Hmmm, maybe Mahathir ought to thank Najib for becoming the new principal figure for hatred, wakakaka.

Anyway, since that day, when Mahathir kicked Anwar out from UMNO, Malaysian politics has never been the same, becoming not just highly divisive but utterly poisonous. Anwar with his manmnalai skills, coupled with his alliance with the DAP, assumed the perfect conduit for venting decades of nons' frustrations, thus I would dare say the anti-Najib grievances far exceed the anti-Mahathir hatred, especially with information, true or otherwise, transmitted freely via the Internet.

And it's likely that Badrul Hisham Shaharin, better known as Chegubard, may be expelled from Anwar Ibrahim's party PKR. Chegubard has been near relentless in his campaign against alleged corruption in PKR. Though his target today is Azmin Ali, I believe he had once accused Anwar of attempting to influence party polls which adversely affected his candidacy.

The MCA too wasn't exempt from cases of party expulsion. Years back Tan Siew Sin as MCA president couldn't tolerate his Young Turks from attempting to 'reform' his party. He expelled a group of them, among whom was a man by the name of Lim Keng Yaik, wakakaka. Lim went over to the Gerakan and within a relatively short period became president of his new party. He was to led the Gerakan to punish not so much the DAP but his old party MCA, wakakaka.

Anwar might have wanted to 'reform' UMNO from inside
but I'll 'reform' MCA from outside

wakakaka 

Yes, 'twas another touch of sweet justice. But Lim KY and his Gerakan became the perfect tool for UMNO to apply its British-inherited 'divide & rule' strategy to split the Chinese voice between Gerakan and MCA, effectively enervating both as representatives of Chinese Malaysians, to the benefit of both UMNO and the DAP. Another hmmm, maybe the DAP ought to thank Mahathir, wakakaka.

One success of that UMNO 'divide & rule' strategy was the near-eunuch-like capability of Gerakan in Penang, where Koh Tsu Koon might have been the de jure CM but the state UMNO effectively had the powers of a de facto state boss.

Malaysiakini reported in 2001:

Nanyang Siang Pau chief leader writer Teoh Kian Hoon pointed out that Koh's weakness is a "product of the BN's consensus spirit". He added that "Gerakan's fair and democratic spirit of a Malaysian Malaysia" as mentioned by Lim Ee Heong, has now been replaced by BN's politics of consensus, which could be interpreted as capitulation on the part of the party.

A senior journalist, who asked not to be named, said that Umno's influence in Penang could not be underestimated. Umno, he said, has been using the "Chinese to balance Chinese" tactic to create conflicts between the two major Chinese parties in the state, MCA and Gerakan.

"It is in the interest of Umno to pit Gerakan against MCA. It is the usual divide-and-rule method of BN."

In 2001 Gerakan in turn expelled Tan Ghim Hwa, one of its founding fathers and former chairman of Gerakan Penang. Tan was virtually groomed by Dr Lim Chong Eu as 'Mr Clean' for his United Democratic Party (UDP). Dr Lim's UDP was one of the component parties which eventually merged with others to form Gerakan.

Tan in his virgin venture into politics, in a by-election in Ayer Itam Penang, was beaten by the late Labor Party's Lim Kean Siew (brother of PG Lim). Lim Kean Siew's fiery personality, reputation and oratory prowess proved too much for a new politician like Tan.

However, Tan was much hated by Lim Kit Siang. Lim KS had in 1991 described Tan Ghim Hwa as a political vulture in a matter where phone threats were made against Lim, allegedly by some Gerakan Party members.

Sadly, Tan passed away in 2014. Gerakan in an effort to reconcile with Tan had in 2013 invited him to rejoin the party but Tan who was already suffering from ill health did not pick up that invitation.

There was another Gerakan bloke by the moniker of Khor Gark Kim, my Ayer Itam village lang. He too had a falling out with his party leadership and faded away. I wonder whether he was expelled or just quitted the party on his own accord. At one time Khor was reputed to be Dr Lim Chong Eu's successor as CM Penang. I saw him in a news report in which he was giving advice(?) to the DAP, wakakaka.

Khor Gaik Kim giving advice to visiting DAP
Jeff Ooi on left of photo

The DAP was not without its internal party problems. One example - The party expelled Wee Choo Keong in 1998 for allegedly damaging the party's image. I'll come to the rumours I've heard on what made Wee damn mad with the party leaders. This was after he had been removed in 1995 from his position as MP for the Kuala Lumpur Bandar seat (Lee Lam Thye's old fortress) after a court case which nullified his election win due to the fine he had received for allegedly badmouthing MBf.

The case against the MBf injunction was successfully appealed in which the Court of Appeal ruled "The injunction was too wide in its terms and almost oppressive". 

Wow, 'almost oppressive' but alas for Wee, shit had already happened.

By the by, the earlier court which had nullified his election win because of the fines, was reported by Terence Netto in Malaysiakini as follows:

[Judge] Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim ... in August 1995, sitting as election judge, nullified Wee’s election to the Bukit Bintang parliamentary seat in the April 1995 general election and handed victory on a silver platter to his defeated MCA opponent - a bizarre decision based on the RM7,000 fine imposed on Wee a day before nomination day in April.

The judge had obviously decided not to call for a by-election which would have allowed the voters in KL Bandar to decide for themselves who they really wanted as their representative if Wee who they had chosen was disqualified.

This was why his ruling was deemed controversial as he had virtually decided on behalf of the voters as if they had voted in MCA in KL Bandar, wakakaka, which was like saying those voters wanted to eat shit. I would say that in any language such a ruling for an election case was unprecedented. Indeed, one could argue the court had usurped the rights of the voters in KL Bandar constituency to decide who they wanted as their representative.

Anyway, back to the rumours I've heard on why Wee was pissed off with the DAP leadership leading him to say stuff which saw him expelled from the party. You can decide for yourself whether it's true.

Wee was angry apparently because he felt the party didn't support him as well as they had supported Lim GE when the latter was being trialed for a case in which Lim had spoken out for an underage Malay girl who was statutorily raped by a political slimy sleazy slug. Today Wee is Chairperson of Tourism Malaysia.

As for the MIC, wakakaka, well the MIC has always been the MIC, the unending joke of Malaysian politics, replete not only with suspensions galore but also with fights and flying chairs. Yessirree, the MIC sure as hell takes the cake, wakakaka.

Thus in conclusion, if one wants to badmouth one's party boss, well, bloody well make sure one can finish off that boss or one will be the one to be finished off, "I am Malay first" or not, wakakaka.

Yes sir, bosses can be such pricks, wakakaka.

The man who believes he's never wrong

Yesterday Mahathir was reported by Malaysiakini as saying Musa Hitam was his 1st failure. He said:

"My first failure was Musa Hitam himself. He could not wait for me to retire."

"So he resigned after five years being with me as my deputy, in a government his boys called the MM government."

Before we analyse his statement we need to know or put his statement on Musa Hitam in context - Mahathir has said so because Musa Hitam had earlier commented that Mahathir himself was responsible for the failure of his (Mahathir's) own Wawasan 2020 because he (Mahathir) had gotten rid of any potential good leaders in UMNO and surrounded himself with 'followers' or yes-men (and women).

Musa Hitam had stated “It is ironical that Mahathir’s vision is now certain to fail because of Mahathir himself."

"Brilliant as he was, he forgot that in order to succeed, he needed to train leaders at all levels - but most importantly, political leaders."

"But his personal leadership record shows that he did away with all potential leaders, one by one and in groups, and retained and trained followers."

That context explains why Mahathir has claimed Musa as his 1st failure. Mr Perfect who-can-do-no-wrong couldn't tolerate any criticism of, or in the case of AAB, any disagreement with him, thus substantiating Musa Hitam's criticism of him, wakakaka.

If Mahathir ever ever admit he was wrong, it's usually a sarcasm or reverse psychology, something that would have work out in his favour. This would probably be the case now, where he wants to discredit Musa Hitam as a/his 'failure' for criticising him as the one responsible for the failure of Wawasan 2020.

But in general, you can virtually bet he won't accept he had been wrong.

As for his acerbic and needless comment on Musa, to wit, ... as my deputy, in a government his boys called the MM government ... it was once said (perhaps by allahyarham Tunku writing in his Star newspaper?) that Mahathir couldn't stand those words which described his government as the '2M' or MM government.

Yes indeed, Mahathir just couldn't tolerate any such description which had the outrageous temerity to share his leadership in his administration with his deputy, virtually robbing him of sole command, wakakaka.

Back to analysing his statement on Musa as being impatient, don't we think that Musa was honorable (rather than impatient) in his resignation when he discovered Mahathir only wanted yes-men and not a thinker like Musa HItam? Did Musa behave like what Mahathir is doing now, an ex-PM who still wants to control the PM, for the PM to report to him regularly, an ex-PM who destroyed AAB's PM-ship and who now wants to do likewise against Najib?

Both Mahathir and Musa were known in the late '60's as UMNO's Young Turks or 'ultras', the twin enfant terrible, widely feared by the non's. I've always wondered (and had written of this complex) whether their individual mixed parentage had compelled them to act more strongly and audaciously as 'ultra-nationalistic Melayu' than someone born of full Malay parentage, and in the process gaining the notoriety of being ultras, as if to prove to the Heartland of their full grade worthiness as Melayu a la RTA (wakakaka)?

After Tunku sacked Mahathir from UMNO (and nearly jailed him), Musa took a hiatus or rather cabut-ed, wakakaka, to the UK where he did his Master's at the Uni of Surrey. He returned to UMNO mainstream when Razak deposed of and took over from Tunku as PM.

For the alleged Malay or UMNO ultra that he was accused of being, Musa was in reality quite charming and in many ways anglophilic in his behaviour and speech. My uncle (in the military then) and many others met him once in Sibu when he was on the pre-election campaign trail (as part of the '2M' wakakaka ruling party).

He shook hands with my Unc, smiled charmingly and remarked rather apologetically (perhaps for making them received him at the airport) and urbanely in English: "'Tis the season",

Those were words from a line first coined by Thomas Oliphant in 1862. Musa of course meant it was the season for political campaign as different from Oliphant's meaning, wakakaka, but it did show his anglophilic mannerism.

It was said that among the UMNO Young Turks who criticised Tunku for Perikatan (BN's predecessor) losing its 2/3 majority and a couple of states, Tunku preferred Musa Hitam over Mahathir, whom he detested greatly.

Anyway, and as to be expected, wakakaka, RPK has come up with his take on Mahathir's real "1st failure" in his latest post Mahathir's 1st failure was in 1969 in which he wrote (extracts only):

Anyway, Musa was not Dr Mahathir’s first failure. His first failure was in 1969. Dr Mahathir made the mistake of telling the Chinese that he did not need their votes and that he could win the general election with just the Malay votes.

Well, the Chinese decided to punish him for that, as Dr Mahathir is so fond of telling us that story. So the Chinese voted for Yusof Rawa of PAS, as did the Malay voters. So Yusof Rawa won and Dr Mahathir lost. And that was Dr Mahathir’s first failure, underestimating the Chinese and thinking that he does not need the Chinese but only need the Malays.

And because he was so angry with the Chinese, Dr Mahathir started attacking the Chinese and accused them of stealing the wealth of the country. He also attacked Tunku Abdul Rahman and called him a Chinese lover. Dr Mahathir accused the Tunku of giving in to the Chinese, who had become too arrogant because of that.

Comment: I've to agree with RPK on this. We all know that Mahathir had from time to time condemned the Chinese (probably having never gotten over their votes against him in 1969), in fact even in 2013 post GE-13, and when it suited him, relied on them for the success of his own position too (1999).

Continuing with RPK's take:

And that was Dr Mahathir’s second failure. He laid the foundation for race riots in what would later become known thereon as May 13. And thousands died because of this second failure of Dr Mahathir.

Dr Mahathir has either forgotten or he thinks we have forgotten.

In 1981, when he took over as Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir refused to appoint Musa Hitam as his Deputy Prime Minister. Instead, he let Musa and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah fight it out for the post of Umno Deputy President. Then, whoever wins, he will become the Deputy Prime Minister.

And that caused a very serious split in Umno that tore the party into two. And that was Dr Mahathir’s third failure. So you see, even before Musa became the Deputy Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir already had three failures. And as they say, three strikes and you are out! But Dr Mahathir chalked up 20 or 30 failures and he still refused to leave the field.

Dr Mahathir now talks as if he chose Musa as his deputy. That is not true one bit. He threw Musa and Tengku Razaleigh into the ring to fight it out like two fighting cocks. And he told Umno to choose who they want and the one that Umno chooses would be made the Deputy Prime Minister.

In fact, Wikipedia has this to say to support RPK's take: When Mahathir bin Mohamad succeeded Hussein Onn as Prime Minister of Malaysia, he declared the election for the Deputy Presidency of UMNO open; and thus by extension the Deputy Prime Ministership — was open; he would not support any candidate.

Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah joined the fray, and his main opposition was Musa Hitam. Eventually, Musa won the election with 722 votes to Razaleigh's 517 votes, becoming the new Deputy President and Deputy Prime Minister.

Razaleigh blamed himself for taking "a rather passive stance" and not having a campaign strategy.

Let me end this post by commenting a bit on both his 'failures' and his nurturing of what Musa Hitam called his 'followers' or yes-men which had led to more 'failures'.

As we know, Mahathir had recently defended Kassim Ahmad against allegations of heresy, and spoken out against PAS' recent push to implement hudud, but we need to ask who had been responsible for opening the Pandora Box in his tactic to outmanoeuvre PAS by proclaiming Malaysia was already a fundamentalist Islamic country.

On above I refer you to what Lim Kit Siang had called Mahathir's 929 and 617 Declarations.

Mahathir's tactical 'gain' in 2001 and 2002, for himself of course, has now developed into serious strategic problem for his successors, more so for Najib rather than AAB who had better Islamic credentials to talk down PAS, wakakaka.

Of course this is only looking at Mahathir's policies from a very narrow perspective, those concerning PAS and the non-PAS mullahs pushing for a full Islamic Malaysia. Overall, Mahathir had not quite acquitted himself well as a PM in other areas. It would take several posts to list all of them; besides, RPK has already posted them in his Malaysia-Today.

Blessed or cursed by Malaysia's then-wealth from oil during his premiership, he unfortunately used that wealth like a 3rd generation Chinese, wakakaka, from which some of the outcomes had led many today (even his critics) to mistakenly believe he did reasonably well for Malaysia. What if Malaysia didn't have oil during his political reign, as in the times of Mahathir's predecessors?

If you want to know what the curse of 3rd generation Chinese is, please ask your Chinese friends or in fact any Malaysians whether Malay or Indian as this story has been well told in Malaysia, wakakaka.

As for his 'followers', more than a few were failures, yet he kept forgiving them, each time helping them picked themselves up to try again, and again and again. Perhaps we should blame that on his administration's 'deep pockets' enabled by the wealth from oil?

There have been horror stories of massive bailouts ... and bailouts ... and bailouts ... and ... well, you get the idea, and you know about the bailouts, etc.

The invisible safety net was always there, the humongous rewards were mouth-watering, and Don Corleone was renowned or notorious for his indefatigable tolerance and forgiveness (except to those who were treacherous to him, wakakaka).

His continuous support for his protégés, friends (or cronies) and 'followers' was legend, and had in many cases proved to be a liability to the nation as he sheltered them from falling off the face of the earth.

But I wonder whether that was ‘loyalty’ or a necessity to keep his 'followers' by his side,. Nonetheless I can't let him off scot-free for his most fallible so-called 'loyalty'. I had once written of him: “He chose the lame and therefore he must accept responsibility for their inability to perform.”

In the end he rather than Musa Hitam was the real failure.

The Malaysian Insider banned in Malaysia

Just in case you in Malaysia aren't aware:

The Malaysian Insider turns eight today but has been blocked by several Internet providers following a ban for "national security" reasons by Malaysia's Internet regulators.

Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) enforcement chief Zulkarnain Mohd Yasin confirmed the ban in a text message.

"We will issue a statement," he told The Malaysian Insider.

However, sources said MCMC had ordered Internet Service Providers to block The Malaysian Insider for "national security" reasons.

It had wanted this as the nature of the offence might affect national stability, public order and harmony, and economic stability.

Several readers alerted The Malaysian Insider when they discovered they were unable to access the news portal as it had been "banned" by MCMC.

Some readers using Celcom and Unifi, both provided by state-controlled firms, complained about the block.

They were greeted with a note that said the news portal had flouted Malaysian laws.

However, no notice was sent to The Malaysian Insider about flouting any laws.

"This is an unpleasant surprise. MCMC has replied to my query and said they will issue a statement," editor and chief executive Jahabar Sadiq said today. – February 25, 2016.

Tony Pua insensitive to Chinese folk religion

When I was a kid I accompanied my mum to the funeral of a neighbour. The deceased was a Christian so a Chinese Christian preacher was there at the gravesite to say the last words for her.

What shocked many of the villagers who attended the funeral, 99% being Buddhists, Confucianists and Taoists, were the extremely harsh and insulting words of the preacher during the sermon, with his derogatory words directed specifically at Buddha and Chinese gods. The sermon was delivered in Penang Hokkien, wakakaka, so the funeral party understood what he said.

The bloke seemed oblivious of who the majority of the funeral party were or rather, what were their religious affiliation. He was lucky that he was not beaten up kau kau by some of the headstrong village young bucks who had to be forcefully restrained by village elders, who mollified the angry youths by appealing to their neighbourly goodwill to tolerate those insulting words and respect the last rite of the deceased.

Flash forward to today - It's known in this blog that despite my political sympathies for the DAP, I've little respect for Tony Pua. Today after reading Malaysiakini's How to explain a poor God of Fortune, Gerakan asks DAP I am even more disappointed in his insensitive behaviour towards Chinese folk religion.

The MKINI article narrated: Gerakan Youth is upset at DAP for a parody Chinese New Year music video which portrayed the Chinese God of Fortune as poor , saying that this raised concerns what children would think if they saw the video.

Gerakan Youth secretary-general William Chang Yong Hsi said Chinese New Year songs are meant to bring in good vibes and turning the God of Fortune into a beggar was a 'huge disrespect'.

He singled out DAP's Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua and Kulai MP Teo Nie Ching who acted in the video.

"DAP is using such a disrespectful music video to win some cheap political propaganda.

"How would parents explain if their children were to see the God of Fortune looking so poor and terrible in the music video?

"I am not promoting superstition but the God of Fortune is a symbol of good luck and wealth among the Chinese.

"Such disrespectful behaviour should be condemned."

I am not concerned so much by Gerakan Youth's worry for non-Christian Chinese parents to be able to explain to their children why the Chinese God of Fortune looked so poor and terrible in the music video.

I'm just annoyed that Tony Pua, a known staunch Christian, has shown gross disrespect for the belief of another religion. As I once wrote in my other blog KTemoc Kongsamkok, in Penang Tua Peh Kong (Chinese God of Fortune or Wealth) is probably the second most popular Chinese folk deity after Kuanyim, Goddess of Mercy.

But Tua Peh Kong or not, Tony Pua, himself a Chinese, no doubt one who is a staunch Christian and a politician, should show some respect for Chinese folk beliefs, at least in public.

Sad to say, from my personal experience, some Chinese Christians have been notably very disrespectful towards beliefs in Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism. 

Let me advice those DAP Christians - don't be mistaken that all your supporters are Christians like you. In fact most of them are Buddhists, Confucianists, Taoists, Hindus with only a smaller population being Muslims and Christians.

Yea, don't alienate most of your supporters.

Vengeance is mine, saith Azmin Ali

From TMI's Sacking of Penang PKR duo in line with collective responsibility, says law expert the most interesting nugget (of gold) to appear has been the following revelation:

Azmin was said to have refused to accept Aziz and Razak Ismail, both former PKR members, as members of the local councils.

If verified, then it's not Lim GE who has been politically immature but Azmin Ali, wakakaka.

Tony Pua, now what are you going to do, after all your Chicken Little act for PKR vis-a-vis the rancid Kajang Satay fiasco?

Wakakaka again.

But with an 'ally' like PKR, DAP sure doesn't need enemies.