The Daim Interview-Part 2

The Daim interview- Part 2.

When I read the transcript of the Daim-Mingguan Malaysia Interview (dated 23^rd March 2011), I said. Wow, this is a good endorsement for the Najib administration. We all know, what Daim says can move Malaysia in a certain direction. Certainly the many complementary things that Daim says in the Interview will help boost Najib's ratings.

I mean look at the answers given by Daim on Questions 2 to 4. Daim certainly was impressed by Najib's industriousness and sincerity in wanting to better the lives of Malaysians. In that process Daim made cogent criticisms on the administration of Kedah, Penang and Selangor.

Kedah.

It's not enough being nice and a very personable fellow like Kedah's Azizan. I recalled a story told to me by the Oracle originating from Daim about Azizan. Dr Mahathir, a Kedahan wanted to see Azizan and duly made an appointment. Azizan said- no, Dr Mahathir CANNOT see me, I will see Dr Mahathir. So Azizan made an appointment to see Mahathir.

You will distinguish quickly how UMNO treats its former leader. The late Ghafar Baba waited 2 months to see Tajo Rosli when the latter was MB of Perak. When the late Ghafar arrived in Ipoh, he was told that Tajol Rosli wasn't available because Tajol had to attend an MKT meeting. This was a former DPM of Malaysia, the man UMNO turned to when it was in trouble. UMNO treats its former leaders like dirt.

So Azizan went to see Mahathir. And Azizan isn't shy to seek advice from Mahathir and Tun Daim on how to manage Kedah better. When Dato Najib announced that a certain individual was to head UMNO Kedah, Azizan was greatly relieved and remarked- now I can sleep a much better. That should be educational to UMNO Kedah I hope.

One day, Azizan met a few UMNO division heads. He turned around and said- hang tak dapat Dato lagi ka- takpa, kalau UMNO lupa, aku tak lupa. And so he gave some Datukships to several UMNO division heads. If it were UMNO- even on their own members, they will cancel the names. That's Azizan for you.

At the end of the day, even though Daim says being nice is not necessarily a winnable feature, I think the people of Kedah like elsewhere in Malaysia has had enough with arrogance and haughtiness. Kedah will likely remain under PAS.

Hey- I mean, even though I have accessibility to the thoughts of Tun Daim through The Oracle, I may not necessarily agree to his prognoses. Plus, I am able to read in between the lines his thoughts.

Penang.

As for Penang, there really is nothing anyone can do to save it being retained by Lim Guang Eng. Other than to raise the plight of Penang Malays. I think UMNO people should be more cerebral in reading The Interview- when Daim mentions the ONLY issue with Penang is the plight of Penang Malays- UMNO should be more sensitive. I mean, if the quality of UMNO's response is to hire some pasar malam thugs to shout profanities at Lim Guan Eng, they had better forget about getting back Tanjung.

Selangor.

Selangor looks the easier target to regain. Daim asks how much investments has Anwar brought into Selangor. He asks the rhetorical question- that despite almost all the PKR and PR heavyweights being domiciled in Selangor, have they been able to create any outstanding results?

That would be self-patting for some UMNO leaders but it's also a challenge to UMNO people if they want to wrest Selangor. Khalid Ibrahim may look like a political bunging fool, but can UMNO reject the Auditor's General findings that Selangor ranks second in term of good governance and volume of total investments? More important, why didn't Selangor achieved these honors when it was under BN the last time?