Zaid's thumb down for UMNO, PAS & PKR

FMT - Zaid gives nod to Amanah and DAP, loses faith in others

PETALING JAYA: The only political parties worth their salt are Parti Amanah Rakyat (Amanah) and DAP because all the others, opposition and ruling parties alike, are merely interested in obtaining votes in the next general election, said former minister Zaid Ibrahim.

Taking to social media sites Twitter and Facebook to vent his frustrations over the calibre of political parties in the country, Zaid said, “Let’s eat drink and be merry; don’t waste time trying to understand what Umno/ PAS/ PKR leaders are saying.

“The coherent ones are Amanah and DAP. Others are just counting numbers.”

He said Amanah members were “the only sensible Malays” in the country who were concerned about nipping “hate and fascist politics” in the bud and noted that Umno, PAS and PKR were only interested in becoming the ruling government and enjoying the “perks” that came with the status.

He also slammed Umno for “peddling apartheid and hatred” and said the party should be cleansed of radicals dwelling within it, after which the radical approaches of the country’s muftis and Jakim should be addressed.

“Government should never be led by radicals of all types.

“Government must be led by liberals, democrats; those who want to live in peace; who live and let live,” he said.

Has Zaid 'smelled' something awful in the air?

Recall, UMNO and PAS and PKR are all from the same gene cesspool.

Poker-face Azmin plays good political poker game?

Malaysia-Today - Karamjit Gill's PAS has become the most sought after party addresses some issues as to why both UMNO and PKR have been wooing the Islamic Party which until recently had been ostracized by most political parties because of its hudud-bent intransigence.

Karamjit wrote (extracts):

PKR’s deputy president Azmin Ali has rebuked Amanah and insisted that they will continue to coalesce with PAS. DAP’s aggression to sever PAS from the Opposition pack has once again fallen flat. On the other hand, Prime Minister Najib Razak has expressed excitement with positive gestures towards a PAS-UMNO relationship. PAS has suddenly become a MVP and which side they will trade-off eventually remains to be seen.

What is happening today is so bizarre considering the fact that not long ago both Pakatan and BN were distancing themselves from PAS when hudud implementation became an issue. What has PAS done to make themselves relevant again?

Hmmm, perhaps PAS with its Kelantan cum tomyam heritage has jampi-ed up something (of course i.a.w with the buku al suci)?

But Karamjit has been far more secular than kaytee, providing instead puzzling questions as follows:

It comes as no surprise that UMNO intends to work hand-in-hand with PAS for the simple reason of ethnic dominance. However, what fails me is Azmin’s insistence to keep the relationship with PAS going.

PAS has disappointed Pakatan on numerous occasions. They were never on the same page with Pakatan when it came to no confidence vote against Najib. Neither were they in support of rejecting BN’s Budget 2016. In fact, they have even indicated their intention of contesting against DAP in the upcoming general election.

Indeed, why is Azmin insisting on allying PKR with a pro-UMNO anti-DAP party, considering PKR purports to be part of Pakatan? Why is Azmin so keen to sleep with a known enemy of Pakatan?

My personal take (okay Karamjit my dear bhai, you can now take a break) is that PKR needs PAS far far more than it does DAP to remain alive as a political party, but that is not say it doesn't need DAP as well.

Let me explain my seemingly contradictory thoughts.

Say in a head-on clash with DAP in most urban constituencies, I believe PKR will lose badly; PKR now enjoys some urban support because it has been seen (since 2008) as an ally of DAP - I have to admit the alliance (with the occasional fights and spites) came about thanks mainly to Anwar's personal rapport with the DAP leadership, particularly Lim Snr and Jnr.

But if push comes to shove, in a serious confrontation with DAP (now that Anwar is not around and Azmin is the virtual undisputed PKR boss) PKR will lose to DAP in most cases though there may be some exceptions.

This will come about when urban voters are forced to choose between PKR or DAP. The key word is 'forced to choose'. Therein lies the answer as to which party urban voters will opt for in dire circumstances, to wit, when the typical urban voter must choose only one, PKR or DAP.

I admit I may be biased but I believe I'll not be too far off if I say DAP will likely be their preferred choice.

In places like Pantai Lembah, PKR of course will come up tops - mind you, not that DAP will contest in that seat, wakakaka.

But in federal constituencies like, for example, Bayan Baru and Nibong Tebal in Penang, and Pandan, PJ Selatan and Kelana Jaya in Selangor, and even Batu in KL (wakakaka), regardless of whether these PKR candidates will win they will nonetheless be very vulnerable. Some may even lose to DAP but most will be hard pressed to survive against a 3-corner fight with BN and DAP.

As for Penang state, PKR's Ong Chin Wen (Bukit Tengah), Cheah Kah Peng (Kebun Bunga), Dr T Jayabalan (Batu Uban), and Lee Khai Loon (Machang Bubuk) will be similarly threatened, even disastrously, if PKR and DAP were to split asunder. Yes, MCA/Gerakan may possibly benefit from the 3-corner fights though I'm confident DAP will pick up at least two of the four seats, enough to form government by itself even assuming the PKR Malay ADUN do not elect to cross over to DAP a la Dr Bari.

I hope it won't come to such a situation but if it does, then that will spell the end of PKR rather than DAP as a force in federal politics.

In rural constituencies PKR in the main won't have a chance against UMNO or even PAS, and that's why it needs PAS as it needs DAP to stay alive.

But then how will PKR be able to settle itself in a political alliance with two parties who are bitter foes? And why does PKR favour PAS over DAP? Why is it prepared to ignore DAP while flirting sluttishly with PAS.

In the glib words of Mat Sabu used against PAS in the latter's flirtation with UMNO: "... it was natural for Umno to do the courting because "they are males". But why lift your skirts to show your thighs? If you do that, these men will come to tackle you."

PAS shows its thighs to UMNO while PKR shows its kang-kang-ish thighs to PAS? Hmmm, who gets the better deal? Wakakaka!

But Azmin has assessed the triangular situation rather well. In his insistence on staying pally-buddy with PAS despite and much against DAP's pleas he must have assess/believe he can tweak DAP's nose (wakakaka) because he and hundreds of thousands of Malaysians are aware the DAP (unlike PAS) is known to be over-keen, nay, in fact over-obsessed with bringing down the BN federal government, indeed so keen that it is prepared to form an alliance with anyone opposing Najib's BN, even Mahathir wakakaka.

Thus DAP is likely to be far more accommodating and prepared to compromise because it is too super-keen in having a coalition, especially with a Malay-based party, which then and only then will be capable of defeating UMNO.

'More accommodating' means the DAP is even prepared to be shagged by PKR, wakakaka, though under certain conditions and circumstances, wakakaka again.

OTOH, PAS is more patient in its ultimate objective of defeating UMNO to become the ruling government authority, and not as super-obsessive as DAP, who would desire an alliance of whatever form just to change federal rule. PAS' more immediate/urgent objective is to destroy Amanah (and to an extent, also punish DAP).

So PAS is prepared to eat kuachee (dried melon seed), wait patiently, and if/when necessary, ally itself with UMNO to achieve what it wants to achieve, to wit, firstly kill off Amanah, then kill off UMNO/PKR, and eventually implement a pure Islamic State in full compliance with syariah laws (inclusive of hudud) - kowtim and f* the nobody DAP.

Thus PKR sees the current PAS as not so accommodating as DAP and which must be mollified.

In a certain way PAS has the same obsession as DAP except its is more about whacking Amanah and not UMNO, while DAP has the opposite desire.

And that's how Azmin Ali sees the cards on the tables, that in his own desire to reach Putrajaya to become PM, he must first ensure his PKR stays alive.

Best poker face 

same poker face, or better?

PKR could only send Azmin to Putrajaya as PM if it wins in GE-14, but it can only survive let alone win by wooing and allying itself with PAS (which is lukewarm, at least for now, about defeating UMNO).

OTOH, PKR can afford to shag an obsessive DAP in the back most of the time, knowing DAP will swallow its pride, balls and even rancid satay just to keep PKR in Pakatan, so Azmin plays his game accordingly.

alamak, hold still lah, it's not painful 

The only possible peril in this game for Azmin and PKR will be if DAP rids itself of its political addiction, comes down to earth and pushes the overthrowing of the BN majority rule into a more strategic timeframe (like PAS), and deals first and foremost with the far more dangerous treachery of PKR.

But even in this regard, DAP must not overreach. It should start off modestly in Penang where it has much strength, whereas the current situation in Selangor may be just a bridge too far for DAP to achieve this with just Amanah by its side.

In Selangor the DAP can play the role of a strong opposition against a likely PKR-PAS-UMNO coalition state government, while it builds up its MAlay membership and alliance with Amanah.

Good things come to those who wait. Will these be for PAS or DAP? Wakakaka.

UMNO recognizes DAP as principal federal opposition party

Malaysiakini - Umno now pally with PAS, thanks to DAP, says Gerakan (extracts):

together we'll build a perfect state

Baljit was referring the latest development where BN president and Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak confirmed that Umno was cooperating with PAS.

Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has welcomed the cooperation as a "good offer" to PAS, although he wonders if this is acceptable to the grassroots.

Umno Terengganu, via its delegate Din Adam, also urged members not to view PAS as the main enemy of the party due to its Malay support. View DAP as the main enemy instead, he added.

When PAS was in Pakatan, Gerakan and MCA blamed DAP for being in rabba rabba intimacy with the Islamic party. Now that DAP has told PAS to f* off, Gerakan still blames DAP, wakakaka, but then that's the nature of the political beast, which in Malaysia is not so much about Gerakan policies to benefit the rakyat but more about demon-izing DAP as the principal foe of BN.

Indeed, UMNO has confirmed that the DAP is BN"s No 1 enemy. For more see also TMI's DAP, not PAS, our main enemy, says Terengganu Umno rep.

So I must congratulate DAP for finally 'arriving' as the principal foe of UMNO and thus de facto becoming the major federal opposition Party (incidentally also a FACT by virtue of number of DAP MPs, wakakaka, PKR don't be jealous lah, OK? Wakakaka again).

Of course we should also note Ku Li has given his nod of approval - Uncle Lim, dinna ye fret, 'tis Ku Li's right lah! Wakakaka.

OK, so what if DAP jilted PAS into the amorous arms of UMNO. After all DAP is a party which upholds democratic-socialist secularism and Malaysia's civil laws and thus a strict observer of monogamous marriage, while both UMNO and PAS are Islamic in their respective beliefs (at least so says the former, while the latter has made no bones about that) and are thus permitted under their common religion (Islam) to be polygamous.

This means UMNO can openly indulge in dalliances (wakakaka) with both PAS and if willing, PKR too. After all PKR shares not only a common religion but also common DNA with UMNO and PAS.

And if Gerakan and MCA behave kuai kuai, wakakaka, and are willing to bersunat, at least symbolically as they've been for the last umpteen years especially under Mahathir's reign - recall the 929 and 617 Declarations when Gerakan Party President, the late Lim Keng Yaik and his counterpart, the MCA President, Datuk Dr. Ling Liong Sik were the first to enthusiastically endorse Mahathir’s escalation of his stand from his “29 Declaration, that Malaysia was an Islamic State. to his 617 announcement in Parliament on June 17 that Malaysia was not a moderate Islamic State but rather a fundamentalist Islamic State - they too can join in the BN ménage à cinq, wakakaka.

Yes to remind everyone, Mahathir had been the PM who turned Malaysia into a fundamentalist Islamic State - disini saya ingat seorang Cina pula yang memang mudah lupa, wakakaka.

Oh BTW, it was on 01 January 1997, that the PM Department's Islamic Affairs Division (BAHEIS) was upgraded into the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia, better (or depending on who you are, more notoriously) known as JAKIM, whose director-general Othman Mustapha has recently declared in an arrogant manner that it would be improper for any party to question the existence of JAKIM.

Mate, when your department consumes RM1 billion of public monies, who do you think you are that the existence of JAKIM cannot be questioned?

But it does raise terrifying omens of what life would be like when organizations like JAKIM rules over us in an Islamic State that's fully compliant with syariah laws (inclusive of hudud) a la Saudi Arabia or Iran.

Yes, also do recall the horrendous ordeal of sweetie Nik Raina Nik Abdul Aziz, store manager of Borders, who was relentlessly pursued by Jabatan Agama Wilayah Persekutuan (JAWI) for allegedly "breaking" a non-existent law at the time of her alleged offence.

Yes, can you beat that moronic but terrifying torturous and traumatic nightmare for poor her? Just how do you deal with such an agency who (at least for a considerable period) 'pursued' her through the process of the syariah courts when it had been f* crystal clear she did NOT break any law or commit any offence.

'Twas indeed a bitter sample of life under the horrors of rule by a kiasu and arrogant priesthood caste who believes in the 3 P's of prohibit, prosecute (punish) and persecute.

Hmmm, I wonder who was the PM of Malaysia on 01 January 1997? Wakakaka.

Skin-colour conscious minister also thick skin

Malay Mail Online - As all-Bumi IT mall opens, Chinese Low Yat traders admit may lose out on Malay customers.

FMT photo from its 17 February 2015 article
Kit Siang slams Ismail Sabri’s boycott of Chinese New Year joy

Lim KS fuming stated in regards to Ismail Sabri’s racist call to Malay consumers to boycott Chinese businesses:

“He claimed that he had received a tip off that if he attended the Chinese New Year event, DAP supporters may attend too and some may throw objects at him.”

“This is his second reckless and irresponsible statement in a matter of weeks, reinforcing the question as to his fitness to continue as a Minister for all Malaysians in a plural nation like Malaysia.”

   

Naturally new competitors will diminish the size of the usual piece of business pie. However, I believe competition is good for the buyers.

Unfortunately, the so-called 'Low Yat 2' was borned on a racist note, conceived by minister Ismail Sabri following the ugly racial scenes in July this year when a Malay 'customer' was allegedly manhandled by some Low Yat shop staff after he allegedly seized a mobile phone he was viewing and attempted to scoot away with the unpaid-for device.

The incident became racial because the majority of the shopkeepers at Low Yat were Chinese. The alleged manhandling assumed disproportionate dimension when the alleged thief (or one of his friends) brought his Malay mateys to Low Yat to 'pay back' the manhandling by the Chinese shop staff, though independent observers like a Malay security officer at Low Yat deflated the grossly-ballooned accusations by the thief's friends.

Anyway, minister Ismail Sabri, already notorious for his often unpleasant and highly offensive remarks, did the Hang Tuah bit and proposed/implemented a new 'Low Yat' type mall exclusively for Malay traders in electronic goods, glibly described by many as 'Low Yat 2'.

This is the best part reported by the MM Online:

Despite having only Bumiputera traders there, Ismail Sabri ironically urged non-Malays to support the mall and emulate their Malay counterparts whom he described as “colour blind” in their shopping preferences.

He maintained that the idea of a Bumiputera only tech mall was not racist, and that it was only intended to help the community venture into the IT business.

Not racist?

Recall this minister Ismail Sabri had in February this year blamed Chinese traders, yes 'Chinese traders' and not just traders, for refusing to reduce the prices of goods even though the price of petrol has come down.

He then called on Malays to boycott Chinese traders.

As one of my visitors remarked on the prices of some American-originated fast food, who own those franchise? Chinese?

But Ismail Sabri's statements have been particularly and unduly vile, racist and instigating. If the Sedition Act needed applying, he would have made a damn far more appropriate candidate to be charged under this Act than some poor bloke in Penang who merely used the quite everyday-common word of celaka, wakakaka.

Ismail Sabri's unmitigated bigotry has earned him opprobrium from even his BN mateys in MCA and Gerakan, with former MIC strategy director S Vell Paari saying Ismail Sabri's call for Malay to boycott Chinese businesses was "saddening and shocking".

Vell Paari said: "Why is it that everything needs to be seen through racial lenses? Why couldn't he just label them as errant traders?"

Indeed Vell, because someone has got to be the punching bag to rally the Heartland to those ministers' banner. So don't ever say the bloody Chinamen have no use or role to play in Malaysia, wakakaka.

And now he has urged non-Malays to support the mall and emulate their Malay counterparts whom he described as “colour blind” in their shopping preferences.

They may well be 'colour blind' because the best deal for any goods still gets the customer (of any skin colour), but the minister by his record is not (colour blind, that is) though it has to be said insofar as 'skin' is concerned, by his exhortations to non-Malays to patronize 'Low Yat 2', he is certainly 'thick skin', wakakaka.

F* him, though don't f* traders on the basis of their skin being yellow, black, brown or green, wakakaka.

Destroy UMNO to save it?

Wakakaka, surely the latest 'asset' to Pakatan Harapan must be the man who has just said that UMNO's 'fixed deposit', namely Sabah, might no longer be in support of the BN coalition (effectively UMNO), a piece of news most ominous for the ruling party vis-a-vis GE-14.

And bizarrely or on second thoughts, perhaps not, wakakaka, the man who said the above has been none other than an UMNO Vice President, Mohd Shafie Apdal, wakakaka again.

I wonder whether, on hearing this news, there have been much wanking and solo groaning in the Pakatan toilets last night, wakakaka once again.

Shafie has in not so many words identified 1MDB's debts of RM42 billion as the underlying factor for the fading Sabahan support for the UMNO-led coalition.

Now, the bloke might well be right because politics is all about public 'perception', but then, technically or more clinically, what would be considered as 1MDB's 'debts'?

Depending on your political allegiance and/or preference, you can choose to believe in RPK's explanation or the Mahathir-faction's interpretation of 1MDB's 'debts'.

To the latter, to wit the Mahathir-faction, 1MDB's 'debts' initially was about the RM42 billion 'disappearing into thin air', but now it seems it has been revised ambiguously to just 'debts'.

However, this is what RPK wrote:

Dr Mahathir and Muhyiddin keep repeating the RM42 billion debts incurred by 1MDB. To them this is all they need to know. They cannot even read a Balance Sheet. If not then they would know that a Balance Sheet has two columns. On one side is the assets and the other side is the liabilities. And you minus one side from the other to come to the Net Tangible Asset or NTA to see whether it is positive or negative NTA.

The issue is not how much the debts are. It is what the NTA is and whether it is negative or positive. It does not matter whether the company has RM1 billion or RM100 billion in liabilities. It is how much its assets are and whether at the bottom line the NTA is negative or positive. This is what Dr Mahathir and Muhyiddin do not understand.

Syed told Dr Mahathir and Muhyiddin that 1MDB is in trouble. And it is in trouble because it borrowed RM42 billion. What Syed did not tell Dr Mahathir and Muhyiddin, maybe because he himself does not know, is that these RM42 billion liabilities is backed by RM51 billion worth of assets. That means the NTA of 1MBD is positive and not negative, which is what counts in business.

They keep calling 1MDB a debt-laden company. 1MDB may have debts but it is not debt-laden because its assets exceed its liabilities. Dr Mahathir’s son’s company was debt-laden. That was why they needed Petronas to bail it out or else the company would have gone bankrupt. 1MDB Is not on the verge of bankruptcy when its assets exceed its liabilities.

Of course most Pakatan supporters today do not believe in what RPK writes, chiefly because his articles have been more in favour of Najib and against Anwar and Pakatan, unlike earlier years. That's your prerogative to like and then dislike him. Afterall, the only permanent thing in this world is 'change'.

As for me, sometimes I believe in RPK's words, sometimes I do not, sometimes half-half depending on the specifics of the content, and sometimes I'm neutral about what he has written, but regardless, I remain in civilised cordiality with and respect for him, just as I remain in civilised cordiality with and respect for my other blogging/Facebook mateys like Ong Kian Ming (DAP), Ti Lian Ker (MCA). Haji Zainol Abideen (Mahaguru58) (PAS), and a host of others who do not share my political position (namely, 'conditional' and not absolute support for DAP).

Today (I stress on this, 'today' that is, wakakaka) I'm less inclined to believe in Mahathir, principally because I reckon his invincible anti-Najib diatribes (which might or might not have been true, or a mixture of the two) have a lot more to do with his (Mahathir's) PERSONAL obsession to CONTROL the governing of Malaysia and government policies rather than for the good of Malaysians and the nation. So forgive me if I'm now very sceptical of what he says or writes.

Thus, I do not believe in Mahathir far far more than I believe in RPK, wakakaka.

But back to post's thread, in my opinion Shafie Apdal has in his statement taken a strong, staunch and solid Mahathir-like stand vis-a-vis Najib which would be the same as being against UMNO the party, but of course which is his right/privilege and also politically natural as he's considered one of Mahathir's men (not unlike former minister of info Zam, former NST group editor & journalist Pak Kadir Jasin, Khairuddin Hassan, Matthias Chang, Muhyiddin, etc).

But nonetheless I've to admit what Shafie Apdal, an UMNO VP, has just commented has flabbergasted me, in that this UMNO man is willing to say such unfavourable things (even if true) which will adversely influence readers' views about his own party's political standing.

Now, would Nurul Izzah ever say anything bad that will adversely affect PKR? Or, would Lim Guan Eng do likewise for DAP? What about Pak Haji Hadi Awang vis-a-vis PAS?

Shafie Apdal's statement about the UMNO president losing support in Sabah could be considered as not unlike the nature of an often-quoted statement (perhaps mythically) attributed to a USAF spokesman giving a post-operations briefing to the press during the height of the Vietnam War, namely, "We have to destroy the village to save it." Wakakaka.

Surely today, with that, Shafie Apdal must and ought to be considered a 'national treasure' by Pakatan, as Mahathir was too (by PAS, I think?) in the lead up to the 2008 general election when he whacked AAB (and consequently UMNO as well) kau kau, wakakaka, and if my recollection is correct, in one of those pre-election Pakatan campaign talkshow-forums organized by none other than RPK, a BIG wakakaka on this.

Syabas Shafie Apdal, you've 'arrived' on the yang side of politics, and signing off this post with a final wakakaka.

PKR signals war to DAP in Sarawak

TMI - PKR names candidates for 15 ‘non-negotiable’ Sarawak seats (extracts):

Dr Jayakumar made the announcement on behalf of PKR elections director Nurul Izzah Anwar, the Lembah Pantai MP who was barred from entering Sarawak earlier in the day.

He said the 15 seats were deemed "non-negotiable", ahead of talks with partners DAP and Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) in Pakatan Harapan.

The term 'non-negotiable', especially used among supposed allies, is undeniably arrogant, combative, preemptively negates options for cooperative discussions or comprises, and smacks of a lamentably nasty 'ketuanan' mentality, but then PKR has this selfish habit of making unilateral public announcement on seat allocations while never fails to get the goat of its allies.

Apart from a propensity to seize the lion's share of Pakatan seat allocation, PKR has been known to want a monopoly on mixed ethnic constituencies (on whatever nebulous basis it has claimed as its party credentials) while at the same time avariciously eyes the attractive blue ribbon seats with Chinese majority in which DAP has traditionally contested.

Thus, we would expect PKR in claiming it's a multi-racial party to want most or all of the mixed-ethnic seats while at the same to also demand a sizable chunk of the blue-ribbon Chinese-majority seats as well, two humongous gluttonous bites of the cherry chiku (sapodilla, manilkara zapota).

We saw PKR's selfish avaricious gluttonous appetite for seats in the last Sarawak election where it unilaterally, preemptively, and arrogantly grabbed 52 (subsequently 49) seats out of an available 71 state constituencies - yes, kid you not, 52 out of only 71 seats, wakakaka, leaving 19 to be shared among DAP, PAS and SNAP. It even talked down patronizingly at SNAP.

But it ended up with a bloody well-padan-muka tummyache, winning only a miserable 3 out of 49, while DAP won 12, wakakaka.

So the jealous budak kecil PKR wailed and ranted post-election like the sore loser it was, has been and undoubtedly will be.

Yes, it groused, groaned and grumbled like a green-eyed monster, suddenly accusing DAP of staying safe in urban areas instead of venturing forth into rural constituencies, conveniently forgetting that its own self had unilaterally sapu all 49 (initially 52) seats, thus denying DAP the opportunity to contest in the outback. What @$$h*le logic!

As I wrote in May 2011 in a post titled PKR's green-eyed monster:

 ….. a disgraceful petulant sour grapes merajuking Baru Bian … told The Malaysian Insider PKR wants DAP and PAS to prove they’re multiracial, but obviously targeting the DAP.

He claimed that PKR “...wants its Pakatan Rakyat PR partners to contest in ‘black seats’ in the next general election and dismiss the notion that they cannot cross the racial divide.”

He also told reporters that PKR “... could not continue shouldering the burden of contesting in BN strongholds alone."

Shouldering the burden of contesting in BN strongholds alone? My bloody foot, don't make my toes laugh!

This has been the state head of a party who preemptively grabbed 52 (subsequently 49) seats without even a thought for its coalition allies, presumably in an unrealistic expectation PKR could be the winning Pakatan member with the majority of seats, with him as CM wakakaka.

Here’s a case of a greedy gluttonous grabbing beast which had refused to share and ate more than it could practically swallow, and then blamed DAP for its tummyache. Padan muka and wakakaka.

To summarise, as expected, as known and as true to its selfish gluttonous nature, PKR the ultra kiasu creature has again done the same thing in seat allocation for the coming state election, ignoring its own history that in the last Sarawak state election it also UNILATERALLY gobbled the lion's share of seats but ended up as a dismal failure (its true intrinsic self, wakakaka).

To reiterate, the arrogant and selfish use of the term 'non-negotiable' in a PREEMPTIVE and UNILATERAL public announcement could possibly mean a likely war with DAP and Amanah, especially the former.

Push comes to shove, DAP should bite the bullet and contest the seats it feels it has a good chance of winning even if it means a 3-corner fight with PKR and BN.

I say this because we need to remember the DAP in Sarawak is unlike its more accommodating Peninsula branch, and therefore is more inclined to meet the Sarawak PKR head on!

Just a reminder of the Sarawak DAP's independent nature (from Peninsula control) it was the first in the old Pakatan to break off completely with PAS.

OK, it's time to prune off PKR, at least in Sarawak if not in Peninsula, wakakaka.

Malaccan Polyglot

Nowadays the word 'polyglot' would remind me of Hang Tuah, mainly because once Dr Azly Rahman wrote about Malaydom's most famous warrior (or most notorious, depending on your political philosophy) being that in his article titled a most tongue-twisting (wakakaka) Neo-feudalism of the cybernetic Malays, specifically on the influence of the legendary Tuah on the Malay psyche.

Dr Azly wrote: “The concept of a hero in Malay society is enshrined in Hang Tuah, the most popular symbol of the warrior-class in Malay history; the good ‘polyglot’, the magical-mystical Malay hero who pledged blind loyalty to the Sultan. The image of the warrior-blind loyalist is well-inscribed into the literature and consciousness of the Malays”.

Re above paragraph I am not going into the eternal dilemmatic question of Tuah's loyalty to a tyrannical sultan versus his bizarre treacherous disloyalty to his best friend, someone who had actually defended Tuah's honour by defying and rebelling against the sultan's cruel tyranny.

My interest in this post is more on the word 'polyglot' which incidentally means 'a person well-versed or in command of several languages'.

It has often set me wondering what were the languages that Tuah knew and used.

We have been informed that Tuah was born in Malacca, and started life as a woodcutter. He learnt silat and some form of meditation from his sifu, a sage by the name of Adi Putera.

Next we knew, Tuah was already an admiral in the confidence of the Malacca sultan, travelling with the ruler to Java where he somehow (against the legend of a magic keris) was able to defeat Taming Sari, the eponymous owner of said magical keris.

Well, the legend which surely must have been bullshit and proven so by Tuah himself, was that the keris Taming Sari would make its owner invincible or undefeatable, but yet on two occasions, Tuah was able to defeat the respective owner of that very keris.

Firstly, he defeated the Javanese warrior Taming Sari, owner of said magic keris, and was thus presented the keris by the Javanese ruler for his feat. Next, he killed his friend-enemy, Hang Jebat, despite the latter being in possession of the keris.

Dei Jebat Tambee, lend me your keris for a while. Take mine, it's sharper 

Today some provided explanations for that contradiction, not unlike latter-day Christians explaining away mysteries or horrid and unjust scenarios in the bible to budak2 kecil, eg. Jephthah sembileh-ing his daughter as a human sacrificial offering to Yahweh, or why Judah was not executed for the profane crime of lustful incest with Tamar his daughter-in-law, wakakaka.

Yes, they suggested that Tuah had somehow tricked the owners, respectively Taming Sari himself and Hang Jebat, of possession of the keris thus rendering them no longer invincible.

If so, then Taming Sari the keris did f*all in ensuring its two owners were really invincible including not succumbing to being conned like budak2 kecil, wakakaka.

Anyway, I digress (aiyah, alamak, adoi, again lah, wakakaka).

So back to the post's thread, what were or would have been the languages that Tuah was well-versed in, remembering he was no doubt a great fighter but nonetheless one who was an uneducated woodcutter?

I think we'd be safe to say that likely he spoke Malay (wakakaka), perhaps even Thai though this might be a wee doubtful, and presumably some Javanese. In his time there was no such thing as Indonesia nor Bahasa Indonesia.

But I reckon there would have been more languages in his command to make him earned the distinction of being a 'polyglot'.

Perhaps he spoke Chinese as well as he was said to have travelled to China as a Malacca emissary, though whether the Chinese he spoke was Mandarin, Canto, Hokkien, Teochew, Hakka, or perhaps many or all of the mentioned, was unknown.

If he did speak Chinese, this would bring us dangerously close to a contemporary myth that Hang Tuah could have been Chinese, profiled as possibly a kungfu-skilled imperial bodyguard to Princess Hang Li Po who was sent by the Emperor of China as bride for the Sultan. And after being domiciled in Malacca for years Tuah picked up Malay and even Javanese.

Princess Hang Li Po

The idea of Hang Tuah being Chinese must be a repulsive suggestion and totally unacceptable to Malays, especially today's Malays wakakaka. Personally I have to admit I don't believe in this myth.

Leaving aside for a moment the dilemmatic question of Tuah's heroic status vis-a-vis his dodgy character in that troubling duel-to-the-death with best friend-worst foe, Jebat, how could Malaydom's greatest hero be a f* Chinaman? Wakakaka.

It's not unlike the traumatic identity situation of the Jews' greatest hero in the 1930's. Then Sigmund Freud, a Jew himself, showed another side to his fame which most Jews wish to hide, wakakaka.

Freud might not have been the first scholar to point out that the Jews' greatest prophet-hero, Moshe (Moses), he of the 10 Commandments and the Parting of the Red Sea, was not a Hebrew nor an Israelite, BUT an Egyptian. But I suspect he was the first Jew to do so.

BTW, the ulama in PAS should not get a hard-on at this stage (wakakaka) because Moshe though an Egyptian was NOT an Arab nor a Muslim, as would be most of today's Egyptians.

He was not even an Egyptian during the times of Cleopatra VII Philopator (the most famous one who seduced both Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony) or in any period during the Ptolemaic Dynasty (323 BCE to 30 BCE). The Ptolemaic Dynasty was Macedonian Greek.

Cleo played by the late Elizabeth Taylor 

by the by, Cleo was a 'polyglot', speaking Egyptian, ancient Greek, Macedonian, Latin and probably some Semitic languages like Phoenician and Punic (Carthaginian)

Moshe, if a real person, was an ancient Egyptian which no longer exists as a distinct race today.

The Book of Exodus (like the other Books of the Old Testament) shows so many discrepancies and inconsistencies that many wonder why or what the authors were up to. Freud, having noticed the puzzling way the biblical personalities and events were written up, wasn't one to remain silent.

As a Jew, Freud was invariably interested in the story of the Jews’ greatest prophet. But he wasn't satisfied with the biblical tale. He might not have been the first to notice the weird and bizarre discrepancies, but as mentioned above, he was probably the first Jew to put his observations into print, namely that Moshe (or Moses) was not a Hebrew nor an Israelite but an Egyptian.

In 1937 he published his thoughts on the matter in a book titled Moses And Monotheism, in which he also wrote on his personal feelings regarding his exposé on Moses:

"To deny a people the man whom it praises as the greatest of its sons is not a deed to be undertaken light-heartedly, especially by one belonging to that people."

He agonised that as a Jew, he was about to disabuse the Jewish people with his discerning observations on the true origin of their greatest prophet.

In fact, many Jewish leaders at that time begged him not to publish the book but then, as an academician he wasn't persuaded to hide what he thought was a plausible assessment. Even till today, many Jews are still angry with him for stating that Moshe wasn't a Hebrew nor Israelite - oh no, surely not one of those hated Egyptians?

Fortunately for Malaydom, thus far no Malay with impeccable academic credentials has wrote of Tuah as a Chinese. Only the Internet, where some articles would only be as good as perbualan kopitiam, had suggested this possibility.

But the term 'polyglot' still troubles me.

Add caption

Okay then, what about the Indian (Tamil) connections?

We know that the Tamil (Muslims) had powerful presence and influence in the Malacca Sultanate, with two Bendahara (PM of yonder days) being of Tamil origin, Bendahara Sri Nara Diraja Tun Ali and Bendahara Seri Maharaja Tun Mutahir.

We take it that those Tamils were fluent in Malay to be able to officiate as the Sultan's Bendahara, and no doubt would have still spoken in Tamil at home or in private, as some UMNO branches (especially in Penang) have been alleged to have conducted their entire meetings in, wakakaka.

Maybe instead of Tuah being Chinese, he was Tamil, thus speaking Malay, Javanese, Thai, Tamil, and even Malayalam, Telugu, etc?

There is actually an academic hypothesis that Hang Tuah and his 4 brethren-in-arms (the 'Lima Sekawan' of my primary schooldays' history reading, wakakaka) were based on the 5 Hindu warriors of the Mahabharata, presumably the Pandava Brothers or even their cousins-foes, the Kauravas.

Pandava Brothers with Draupadi, their 'shared' wife
lucky sweetie

Coincidentally there were five significant/renowned warriors in each respective family. The Pandava Brothers were Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva, while the well-known Kauravas (out of Dhritarashtra's 101 sons) were Duryodhana, Dushasana, Vikarna,Yuyutsu and Dussala.

Ya, 'polyglot' lah!

Isn't this better than talking about the same old political issues of Najib vs Mahathir, Musa Hitam saying padan muka to Mahathir (wakakaka), Mahathir and Anwar Ibrahim joining forces in a covet kitchen (sink) cabinet (wakakaka), Nurul Izzah being cozy-pally-buddy with Jacel Kiram, Tian Chua clearing Kiram family of any untoward association with terrorism, etc etc etc?

Wakakaka.