Month: April 2009

Politics in an Age of Unreason

by

March 28th, 2009

So now the bomohs (witch doctors) rule the roost it would seem. The news that a magic charm or spell was found hidden surreptitiously under the desk of none other than the Prime Minister of Malaysia does not bode well for the future of this country of ours. It may make the headlines under the ‘Strange but True’ column of foreign papers, but this historian has grown somewhat jaded by now by such ridiculousness dressed in the garment of wonderment and fantasy. No, this was no laughing matter (and if we did laugh, it was a pitiable laugh at best).

Read more

Ancient Mariner on A day of Infamy

by

http://cyusof.blogspot.com/2009/04/day-of-infamy.html

A Day of Infamy

April 3, 2009

I didn’t buy the rumours via SMS going around town that the swearing in ceremony of the new PM at the palace was being postponed from 10 a.m. today to a later date. Despite some cock ups about protocol (read about it, here) and a petition by 81 MPs asking the King to postpone appointing Najib as PM until he was cleared of allegations against him, etc., I believe the ceremony would go on as scheduled.

The petition noted that “Lately the DPM has been implicated in many scandals such as the commission for the purchase of French submarines. The most shocking is the murder of the Mongolian woman in which his name has been implicated. This has been published by newspapers around the world.

Read more

Najib is PM, despite some drama

by
 
KUALA LUMPUR, April 2 — Much like the 12 months before, the last 24 hours of Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s tenure as prime minister was marked with the royalty flexing its muscles, some intrigue and with the rumour factory in Kuala Lumpur in overdrive.
The day began with the palace exerting some control over the handover of power between Abdullah and his successor, Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak.
After watching politicians and civil servants muddle up the protocol and procedures over the past few days, Istana Negara set everyone straight, much to the embarrassment of senior civil servants and the Prime Minister’s Department.
The core of the problem was the public statements that Abdullah was going to seek an audience with the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong to tender his resignation and recommend a successor with Najib accompanying him.

Read more