Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah. Beyond the Myths.

1. The house at Bukit Chekati must have been greatly ravaged by the floods some time ago. It is by the river. Needless to say Ku Li must have put it right.

2. The country is now ravaged by political upheavals. TRH maybe the right person to put things right. He's got the right credentials.

3. Some people will say a nation is not like a house. But I know of many MPs who cannot walk and chew gum at the same time. Why can't I compare a house and the nation then?

4. Every Friday some close friends would congregate at his house for Friday prayers. Prayers are usually at a mosque in kampung Pandan. He would be driven in an old BMW 2002. He still keeps a black bulletproof Mercedes-Benz given him by the government amidst rumours that the CIA were out to assassinate him for having introduced the PDA.

5. He values the past and is well grounded to the contemporary and is tuned to the spiritual. A person who doesn't forget the past is likely not to repeat the mistakes therein.

6. That means he keeps tradition as long as it is functional. But he also submits to the inevitable, the spiritual omnipotence. If something has outlived its usefulness it is abandoned.

7. Perhaps we need that kind of person who keeps a balance, as PM. We have no need of a person likely to put us on a road of mindless revolution and reformasi. That balance is forged by useful experience and right temperament.

8. Every year during fasting month, without fail invited guests mostly friends, are invited for breaking fast and prayer sessions. Local imams or invited Arab imams lead the prayers. The congregation prays for Ku Li's continued success and health.

9. The presence of these people indirectly accorded Ku Li important lessons in life. Most notably trust because he has been betrayed and played out so many times. Never trust a person who has played you out more than 2 times. The first is a warning, the second is a bitter lesson and the third is just taking advantage. I am sure these observations do not escape the perceptive Ku Li. He has wizened up. He is 83 years old for God's sake.

10. It has taught him to be circumspect of the fickle minded person. This type of people are likely to give in to different opinions. These people are undependable. They have a see-saw character-more specifically the person on the opposite side who will dismount when you are on the way up and let you fall. Didn't Najib dismount when TRH was up and let him fall?

11. Yet in all my meetings with Ku Li, he has not spoken ill of the blasted Najib. Not even once. Or of anyone else for that matter.
Even during the heated issue of 1MDB. It made me wonder whether he has a soft spot on the son of Tun Razak.

12. I am limited in that respect. I will blast Najib or whoever I think deserves it in my blog. But I know to clam up in front of someone else.

13. Because TRH cannot trust someone who speaks ill of someone else in front of him because that fellow is likely to blabber about TRH infront of others.

14. An important lesson one learns from a study of people, is that you can't trust people with competitive streaks. They will seize the first oppurtunity to topple you.

15. TRH cannot trust people like Mustapa Mohamed who thinks he is PM material. He definitely can't trust Anuar Musa who is a legend in his own mind. And Sabery Chik? The nut who forgets its skin.

16. I can write on BMF, decoupling of the Malaysian Ringgit from the Singapore Dollar, his move to the Trade Ministry etc. But that would involve hurting the feelings of someone I respect and that of a close friend. So let others better than I do it.

17. Suffice to say at that time BBMB was under the purview of the then PM. The decoupling needed to be done to avoid spending huge amounts of money to remain on par with the Singapore Dollar. His move to the Trade Ministry was the prerogative of the PM. Furthermore, the then PM wanted to place a more palatable friend at the Finance Ministry. Anyway anything written by the CIA must be taken with a little pinch of salt.

18. The achievements of Ku Li are undisputed. How many know that he is the only Malaysian and Malay to be the chairman of the World Bank and IMF?