Sunday 19 October 2008

Pak Lah's parting shots

Why do you think, in 2004, Abdullah Badawi managed to get a huge victory?

It was not because he offered a new vision. He has none. Did he offer a new interpretation of Islam? No, because no one understands the nebulosity of Islam Hadhari. It wasn’t because he was better. It wasn’t because he has all the reforms in mind. Or because, he was the grandson of an ulamak. Years later he was to place his loving hands on the shoulder of Michele Yeoh, something an ulamak never does. . Or years before, he and Kadeq sh. Fadhir attended a party hosted by the playboy of Malaysia, Jacintha Lee.

No sir, he got a huge mandate because the old man by the sea( lake at the mines) left a strong and robust economy. With all the right fundamentals in place. He won because of the happy accident of succeeding Tun Mahathir whom people were hankering as being too authoritarian. That they were able to entertain such thoughts is testimony of the confidence inculcated by the regime of Tun Mahathir.

It is true Tun Mahathir has left UMNO and his departure was very efficiently and quickly endorsed by Abdullah badawi and the coterie of likeminded pliants in UMNO. That too invited another pearl of wisdom from the hermit at Bukit Tunku- Tun Musa Hitam.

Tun Mahathir left because of the utter disgust at the blunderings that Pak Lah inveighed upon UMNO. Within 5 years he has manage to undone what we have achieved in 50 years.

Tun Mahathir has every right to make comments on what is happening to Malaysia by virtue of being the prime minister for 22 years. Now if the UMNOniks of Pak Lah’s calibre choose to disown Tun Mahathir, that action will never erase the fact that he has been PM for 22 years.

After 5 years of Pak Lah what do we have? A country and a party in shambles.

12 comments:

  1. hahaha

    most people thought pak lah 2004 mandate because of no more mahathirisme

    most malay really hate mahathir that time.... lucky kutty, chinese did help him alot..... but now he say chinese tak kenang budi..... but i think he's the one yang tak kenang budi rakyat

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  2. in 2004 i vote for BN as a parting gift for Tun M.
    In 2008 i vote PAS hoping Pak Lah would parted.
    between now and 2013 i hope UMNO would do something. Like it or not, my vote counts!

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  3. I absolutely do not agree with yr reason for the strong 2004 mandate. The rakyat heaved a sigh of relief after TDM left and was looking forward to a more democratic Msia minus the corruption, cronyism and abuse of power. Unfortunately, we were sorely let down.

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  4. Sakmongkol, I think you are a tad unfair and harsh on badawi. Mahathri himself had never garnered as many votes as badawi did. I did not vote then and I wasn't in malaysia but I do know the sentiment on the ground then. Many voted for badawi for they had had enough of mahathirism and many saw in badawi as someone who will right the wrong that mahathir had inflicted on the nation.

    The nation had survived inspite of mahathir - not because of him. The nation had survived because it was rich but the gravy train is fast running out of gravy.

    When badawi failed to deliver after 4 years of running the country the people were fed-up and the pent-up frustration found release in Anwar. The Anwar factor rose to prominence and he became the new center of hope for the nation.

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  5. There you admit that pak lah has failed to deliver during his tenure as pm. As tun said the frustrated umno members had no choice but to cast their votes on anwar. His bigotry and obvious family interference in major business and political decision cause more frustration amongst members of umno. Even with wide media coverage for his SIL, he is still chasing behind the underdog bin mahathir. So this is another sign that members are rejecting him. After loosing 5 states to the opposition, do you think we should still glorify Pak Lah as the great pm? I think what sakmongkol says about pak lah is fair....

    mrgondol

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  6. Aiyaa, why Pak lah is very emotional lately? Is it because of you sakmongkol? How come you never write good story about him or his sil. I think you should be thankful to pak lah for democratizing the media especially the internet. If not you should have been on kamunting menu already. The freedom to write is not cheap you know. It’s equivalent the price of 5 states. Even Gerakan is still glorifying Pak Lah as the great PM even after loosing their penang. Anyway, I enjoy reading your blog very much. You are prolific blogger. Not a day without posting. Forget what I say about pak lah. He is public figure. He has to pay the price for being there.. if not duduk diam diam dekat kampong lah main sama cucu hali hali…

    Prebet Adam

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  7. Pak Sak

    Somehow I am quite inclined to believe that Pak Lah had executed an almost flawless 'take- off' - with lots of enthusiasm, energy and zest - to continue to 'pilot' the country along the chartered course of development, progress, modernization, and so forth, side-by-side with some spiritual development. Hence, his call for "Fly with me..." Seems like a good package, indeed.

    The general populace too has had high expectations from 'Mr Clean' -had enough of 'Mahathirism', laden with allegations of autocracy, abuses of power, corruption, cronyism, and so forth. Hence, Pak Lah was rewarded with the historic landslide victory...

    Unfortunately, in the 'middle-of-the long-haul flight', Pak Lah had encountered some 'turbulence' - and the rest is almost history...Soon his aircraft has to descend for a stop-over - not for re-fueling or technical rectification - but a change of the pilot himself...

    And the new pilot has been identified - relatively younger and of course more alert...

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  8. People..people please, for whatever reason pak lah got huge mandate in 2004 , 2008 had undone it in a flash. Not because Anwar is here but because Pak lah is neither here nor there.

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  9. benj,

    i think the crews also have to be changed. many passengers complain about their services. most of them just hanging around in the first class cabin.

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  10. Phew
    Was concerned abt u as u MIA for a bit after 4-5 posts per day sometimes 3 in an hour.
    Tot maybe u were doing too many Najib exposes.

    Anyway, Pak Lah prob got a big mandate 'cos Dr M saved us from the crisis n the ppl wanted a breath of fresh air.

    Even I was conned. Pak Lah seemed so CLEAN + HoLY. Now we know that he really knows how to CLEAN the country's coffers and is truly holEy.

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  11. Pak Lah can do all of us a favour by doing an Mbeki.

    Accept the wishes of the party with good grace and just pass the baton to another guy.

    What is the point of staying on as a lame duck PM? All the cari makan sycophants will say "yes, prime minister" to whatever he says while doing absolutely nothing the moment they're out of his sight. They're too busy digesting the new political landscape and finding ways to worm themselves into Najib's good books. Surely he knows this.

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  12. Dear Anonymous:

    Yea...you are indeed sharp : that it would be ideal if there is also a 'crew change' too - or at least involving some of them. Otherwise, the in-flight service will continue to be unsatisfactory, I mean, to those in the Economy Class...

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