King Edward VII School, Taiping. The First 125 Years.

My alma mater, King Edward VII School, Taiping is in its 125th year this year. Being one of the oldest schools in the country, it had its beginnings in July of 1883, 9 years after the Pangkor Treaty that ended the Larut Wars and the protracted succession struggle for the Perak Sultanate.

Back then, the British already had control over the Straits Settlement states of Singapore, Malacca and Penang (Penang Free and Melaka High School already existed). They were eager to strengthen their monopoly over tin in Perak and expand their influence in Southeast Asia. The opportunity arrived when an internal dispute over the Perak Sultanate and the machinations of local Chinese business and triad leaders resulted in the Pangkor Treaty that effectively put the state under British protection.

Since Taiping was the centre of the tin industry and after the murder of the first British Resident, JWW Birch (1875), the state capital was shifted to Taiping in 1876, while Kuala Kangsar remained the royal town. The end of the Larut Wars and the stability provided by the British, saw the Chinese community in the state who were located mainly in the major tin mining areas of Taiping and the Kinta Valley, thrive.

Without having to go into the entire history of the town, this was the historical backdrop against which Central School, as it was called then was founded. The school started as a small wooden building along what was later called Station Road (the first railway line in the country ran from Taiping to Port Weld) with only 13 students. It was named Central School simply because of its central location in a town that was growing fast with increasing British influence in the state.

According to research done by my friend M.N.Taib,

"...the British colonialist and early Chinese interests coincided in the inception of the school. The British wanted semi-literate running dogs, as it were. and the Chinese wanted to anglicize their children. The Malays were scared of sending their children for Western education for fear that they would 'masuk Christian'. Most of the Malay kids who came to the school then were children of the landed gentry and the Jawi Pekan - Indian muslims"

By 1895 when the Federal Regulation Policy was instituted which stipulated among other things that an English education was an important criterion for recruitment into civil service, the student population had grown to 159. However, only 28 were Malay boys. This bears out M.N.Taib's findings.

Later, at the conference of rulers in 1903, Perak Resident J.P Rodger observed that there was a lack of Malay participation in the civil service. To address this, it was suggested that a special English school be established. In the end, however, it was decided that certain existing schools be selected to educate more locals, especially Malays, and the Central School was one of those chosen.

With increasing enrolment, a larger building was needed. It was decided, in 1903, that the school shift to a spot further up along Station Road where the country's first railway station stood. The station was shifted to its present premises, still along Station Road, and work on the construction of the new school began. The headmaster at this time was one Roger Francis Stainer, one of the most famous and loved persons to ever head the school in its chequered history.

When the school shifted to the new building, Stainer was at the helm. The official opening on Jan 19, 1906 was performed by the then Sultan of Perak, Sultan Idris-Mersid-El Azam Shah Iskandar Shah. He also renamed the school King Edward VII School, in honour of the new King of England, Edward, who had ascended the throne in 1901 upon the death of Queen Victoria.

The rest as they say, is history...history as it ACTUALLY WAS, that is.

Now comes the real subject of this post. The re-writing and re-interpretation of the school's history:

A wise man once said:

"History is the present. That's why every generation writes it anew. But what most people think of as history is its end product, myth" while another said,

"Inanimate objects never live, yet at the same time live forever"

The above was how it was decided by some Tigers (as we who come from the olde school like to call ourselves) to celebrate a meaningful yet meaningless 125th Anniversary in 2008. Mortal man's way to immortality is not only through great achievements; lesser men seek it through attaching themselves to inanimate objects that live forever. This is so true of how this 125th Anniversary celebration was conceived and is being carried out. It remains a standing joke to those in the know.

King Edward VII School became 100 years old in 1983. The landmark date came to pass without notice. In many ways this reflects the general lackadaisical attitude of Tigers towards communal details; a selfish nature that is reflected in the inability of the alumni associations (we have two! One in Taiping and another in KL) to become anything better than social clubs after decades of existence. I say this in comparison to other alumni associations of many established schools. Anyway, why did we notice the 125th year when we missed the 100th year?

The story goes like this. In 1983, the Tigers who decided to celebrate 125 years were still building their careers. Being Tigers, we do not mind showing great camaraderie between Tigers but few of us volunteer to do anything substantial for the school or any greater good. The true history of the school holds little importance to most Tigers. Moreover, in the history of the alumni associations, the annual calendar consists only of one agenda; the annual dinner. In 1983, Tiger Mohaideen was still quite new in his current position as President of the OE Association in Taiping and as for the OE Association in KL, the focus was as usual on the annual dinners. Probably none had the stomach to undertake the task of commemorating a centenary, if the landmark was noticed at all.

Coming back to the proponents of the 125th Anniversary celebrations, some of them did (or do) have distinguished careers and now in their retirement years, they somehow feel a compunction to leave their names behind "in stone"...immortality perhaps. What better way than to etch names into "stone" that "will live forever as long as the Taiping Hills stand", borrowing a line from the school song.

The first attempt at "immortality" was in 2005 when the coterie "brilliantly" decided to celebrate the school's centenary! Great fanfare was generated and a committee of eminent Tigers was set up! As I said, Tigers are generally not bothered about the true history of the school; they assume too much. Two errors in interpreting historical facts here:

1. They assumed the school had its beginning with the completion of the new building in 1905. This is also erroneous because the school only became known as King Edward VII School in January, 1906.

2. The school had been in continuous existence since 1883! It was not set up at the turn of the 20th century!

I have often wondered whether this arbitrary consideration for historical accuracy is a reflection of the state of History (as a subject) being taught in our schools. Sometimes I think it is the elitist "I can, therefore I do it" mentality that breeds this kind arrogance and disregard for truth. That there is blatant warping and "dis-interpretation" of the country's history is well documented. Heck! For instance, there is no documentation to even show that the British ever "divided and ruled this country! Incidentally, King Edward VII School, Taiping has produced the most number of Director Generals of Education compared to any other school; but that is another matter altogether.

Anyway, the whole idea of celebrating a centenary in 2005 was scuttled when the Department of Museums & Antiquities came up with the official age of the school as 122 (as at 2005) upon an official query by well-known old boy, the late Tiger U. Ravinder "Junjung" Singh (see letter).

But if you know the Tigers, you will also know they are taught never to give up easily. This would have been the same with the 125 anniversary coterie who would never want to be victims of a "near miss" in their date with destiny. Some bright spark amongst them suggested that a 125th anniversary be celebrated in 2008! As far as I am concerned, they might as well have celebrated the 122nd anniversary in 2005! What is the significance of a 125 years anyway? Why not 127 years or, 130 years or, 131 years or, ... whatever? Maybe 150 years can be considered significant enough.

But wait a minute...that would not be until 2033! Most of the 125th Anniversary celebration proponents would be dead by then! How to be immortal?

So that is why we now have a 125 year anniversary celebration. It is not about the school per se, nor is it about the historical significance of a 125 years or is it about the future of the school; it may just boil down to be about seeking immortality in a few tons of bricks that are a 125 years old!

And to celebrate the reaching of this "grand milestone" the following projects were instituted in 2008:

a. The launching of a King Edward VII School Museum

b. The launching of a RM1,000,000 trust fund for the school

c. The series of events in 2008 between May and October:
- Soft launch (May)
- Old Boys Vs present school team rugby game (June)
- 10-A-Side Rugby Tournament (July)
- Edwardians' Parade through Taiping Town (31st July)
- Old Edwardians' Golf Tournament (11th October)
- 125th Anniversary Dinner and the launching of the Coffee Table book (11th October)

d. The publishing of a coffee-table book covering the first 100 years of the school

At first glance, the above could appear impressive but lets scrutinize the list one by one:
(i) Museum: is a physical museum still viable and relevant in this cyber day and age? Who bears the maintenance cost? The trust fund?
(ii) RM1 million trust fund: probably take another 125 years to achieve a million bucks!
(iii) The events: Apart from the parade and the soft launch the rest are annual events anyway
(iv) The coffee-table book: 100 years? Why not 125 years?

The most telling evidence of the relative insignificance of 125 years is the fact that the promoters are publishing a commemorative coffee table book that covers only the first 100 years! Apparently the fixation with the 100 years is hard to shake off! This to me is the most ludicrous aspect of the whole affair. Could it be that 100 years is "more sexy" than 125?

25 years of recent history (1983 to 2008) or 20% of 125 is not recognized and I wonder how many younger Tigers are disenfranchised by this. Needless to say, none of the promoters of the book were in school after 1983.



The students in school today will be the old boys of tomorrow yet their only participation is a walkabout around Taiping; it was no parade. They will be the ones celebrating the 150th anniversary and wondering what the hell was the 125th year. They are the ones who will read the coffee-table book in future and find it does not include them even though they were a substantial part of the history.

Well, someone said; "A book is the only immortality" and I know a bit about the circumstances under which the coffee-table book is being done. I just can't wait to get my hands on a copy...if only to see who the immortals are.

As for the "gala" dinner on the 11th of October...well, what can and will it be but a glorified annual dinner. It will be devoid of alcohol because the Sultan of Perak is supposed to be attending. Devoid of alcohol!?! I thought it is also about celebrating tradition! I suppose it is okay to sacrifice tradition when there are possible datukships in the offing. Hmmm...they wish!!!

Also, why can't the organizers give all the students a fete on 11th October albeit on a less elaborate menu. It will not take a whole lot of money to do that and some old boys would be more than willing to chip in. For about RM15 per kid, for say 2,000 is only RM30,000. The students will be instilled with a sense of pride and surely remember their involvement with the celebrations for years to come! Isn't this what celebrating milestones for schools all about? For the future generations and not so much about past laurels?

Instead, the organizers have planned 100 tables on a 40:60 split between indoor and outdoor tables in the town hall; the difference being RM3,000 and RM1,000. I wish them luck in elevating this dinner into something greater than the usual annual mundane affair...they need loads of it!

After all the merry-making has died down, the school will again be left to continue its drift into history with nary a major contribution from the alumni. I would not be surprised if the museum and trust fund projects that were started to add “glamour” to the 125 anniversary celebration will languish and eventually be left to die naturally. This to me is the reflection of the great Old Edwardians affliction; hangat hangat tahi ayam mentality! This is why in a 125 years, the Associations do not even have a brick under its name let alone set up anything long term for the school.

I was in King Edward VII School for 10 of the 125 and among the highlights, the best were the rugby memories and the very good friends I made. For whatever I think about the 125 Anniversary dinner, I concurred when some of my old teammates thought it was a good opportunity to meet up. It has been exactly thirty years since we beat RMC to become the official Malaysian champs for the first time. We had about 5 tables booked for the 11th of October until we were told of the table segregation; not all could afford or were willing to pay RM300 for an ordinary dinner.

In three weeks we managed to organize our own reunion dinner in Taiping on the day before the 125 anniversary dinner, The team work was almost like 30 years ago, only better. We will have more than 100 attendees, each given a genuine personalized jersey, in the same design (pix) 30 years ago.

It is not our intention to boycott the 125 anniversary dinner nor is our 30th year rugby reunion dinner just a day before, a sign of protest.

On the night, we will be honoring our former coach, Mr Yiew Siew Seng and also present school coach Tiger Ahmad Din who is responsible for so much of the successes of the KEVII rugby teams after "Pak Yiew" left the school in 1986. The get-together will mean more to us than number 125. It will be a blast!

I shall not be attending the 125 anniversary dinner on the next day but it is not because I am a lesser Tiger. My presence has been requested in Pahang; a buddy is getting married to his fourth wife! Now, that IS a significant number!

MAGNI NOMINIS UMBRA

The Anonymous Analyst Continues...

This is really getting interesting. Sakmongkol AK47 just received another instalment from Anon. Read on...

Just when sakmongkol thinks, Mr Anon has completed his story, he has posted another poser on sakmongkol’s blog. That being so, sakmongkol has to defer his own instalment of his response to Mr. Anon’s many postings.

So here it is:-

Mr Sakmongkol

After my exposer there is mayhem played now on the political scene.

My first exposer was during the UMNO last week and I bet the warlords have read it and now are sucking up to AAB. Knowingly that the will definetly sink like a piece of lead if they outster AAB. AAB has nothing to lose but everything to gain.

See how thye secret talks between AAB and Anwar team has been exposed. This has now added the warlords worries and even Muyuddin's tone is changing.

AAB has told Anwar to hold off as he wants to teach the traitors a leson. After my exposer AAB now is getting stronger and the tone of the Warlords have changed alot. Najib is now like a meek or a mouse. No noise from him.

Do not worry RPK will be out soon. Syed Hamid is only settling some minor old scores. It was made out to look like a idoit by RPK. Hamid has assured that there will be a review time frame in place for him to be release at any of these stages. No harm and RPK can use this time for a good rest and recharge his batteries.

Khairy's stock has risen and now he is on a war footing to destroy his enemies. Plan as I mentioned in my earlier articles is now all systems go.

I am also anxious how the final part will play out. I have a front seat and happy as I am now.

Who am I and what have I to gain from all this.

I remember seeing aloneAAB once in Alor Setar airport window shopping. He was just another person and minding his own business. I wanted to go and shake his hand but I did not.

Nobody was with him. I remember he was the MP for Kepala Batas. I though he came visiting his parlimentary constinquecy which was next to Alor Setar airport. I did not know there was another Kepala Batas in Penang. What a fool I was. This was the time back in 1993 when he lost the UMNO VP contest to the wawasan team.

Sorry for the spelling errors and had no time to do a word check.

I am going to followup with a full set of articles soon . My previous articles was the Past and next will be The Present and last will be The Future.

The Present set of articles will be
1. The impact of my exposer of the Anwar/AAB/Khairy polt and its effects on BN Umno and PR and the general public.
2. What is happening on the ground now.
3. Who am I and what am I up to. This will provide some hints on who am I .

Mr Anon

23 September 2008 20:55

Once again, Sakmongkol has reproduced Mr. Anon’s posting verbatim. Sakmongkol is not responsible for any distress that it may cause.

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UPDATE: 3.51 AM 24TH SEPTEMBER, 2008

Satmongkol AK47's own analysis of Anon's postulations.

Continuing Sakmongkol’s response to Mr Anon’s posting- Political Whodunit. This section must be read as companion to Sakmongkol’s postings on his responses to Mr. Anon.

But Mr. Anon would insist that Pak Lah and Khairi are very reform minded if not for the warlords.

Ah yes , we come now to the WARLORDS.

The biggest stumbling block are the warlords. These are the ketua perhubungans, normally the chief minister or menteri besars. These people as painted by Mr. Anon, are too weighed down by their own vested interests to have any passing interests in the fate of UMNO. Generally speaking, they are just there, milking the cow, making hay while the sun shines and ensuring they stay as the regional Mafiosi for as long as they can. The same principle applies to all the other division chiefs and UMNO has many of them. 193 division heads at this moment.

Therefore, reasons Mr Anon, they must be dispatched. It is to the manner by which they are to be dispatched that Sakmongkol finds disturbing and incredible. They must be removed. And how are they going to be removed?

Here now lies the unreasonableness of Mr Anon’s solution. In order to remove them and to avoid suspicions, Pak Lah and his SIL must work in tandem with terminator Anwar Ibrahim to destroy UMNO. It is the proverbial Malay adage of burning the mosquito net to kill one mosquito.

Which means, both Pak Lah and Khairy J are willing participants in this dastardly commission.

And to preempt reprisals and revenge, SIL with the encouragement of Pak lah of course, will provide all the black files on each of the UMNO warlords to Anwar Ibrahim. It will start with the 2nd in command himself, Najib Tun Razak. Najib will have his hands full in trying to ward off the numerous taints that now haunt him; the purchase of the submarines, the purchase of Sukhoi planes, the debacle surround the construction of the NGPV aka PSC-Naval Dockyard financial scandal, the insinuations about his involvement in the Altantuya murder. Perhaps they are so numerous that Najib will be completely ostracised.

Muhyidin will be hung dry in public. His record as MB in Johore with the sale of land and other business deals will be revealed to generate sufficient public contempt so as to incapacitate Muhyidin.

Syed Hamid Albar is just a two bit actor doing Najib’s bidding. Enough dirt about him will also be revealed such as allegations of his involvement in the sale of land to Singapore.

Ali Rustam can be easily neutered just by revealing the real findings of the UMNO Disciplinary Cmmitee that investigates money politics. Yes, the one that extinguished the political life in one Isa Samad. Had the committee been absolutely impartial and transparent, Ali Rustam, would have suffered the same fate as Isa Samad.

The rest of the UMNO cast are just film extras who can be dismissed at will.

Sakmongkol’s principal objection to this scenario is why go though all this elaborate and byzantine charade to do all the warlords in? Isn’t it simpler just to use his position as PM and control over the thought forming institutions, to carry out the required character assassination?

Which can only mean, that Mr. Anon has a different agenda.

The first obvious agenda, is his wish to salvage some remaining credibility of Pak Lah and Khairi, thus he provides this theses tomitigate Pak Lah’s and Khairi’s complicity and collusion to the destruction of UMNO. After the destruction, Mr Anon will be able to say- actually Pak lah and Khairi did all this because they love UMNO. They did this because its the only way to save UMNO. They did this passive euthanasia to give UMNO a good death.

Or it is also very plausible, that Mr. Anon spins this incredible story to actually give Khairy a second lease of life? Sakmongkol asks earlier, isn’t it simpler for Pak Lah to use his position as PM and UMNO president and control over mind bending apparatuses, to extinguish the UMNO warlords and UMNO itself?

The answer it seems, is Pak Lah cannot. Because by that time PKR would have already formed the federal government. Therefore in order to place Pak Lah and more particularly, Khairy in a favourable light, Mr. Anon spins the story that these two fellows are doing the passive euthanasia to Anwar’s aggressive euthanasia. Anwar of course, in his megalomaniac element with characteristic magnanimous farce, will accept the collusion of the two, as proof of the reform mindedness of Pak Lah and SIL.

At thus juncture, Sakmongkol can already hazard a guess as to who this Mr Anon is.

He is most probably a hired spin-meister for Messrs Khairy and Pak Lah.

To be continued.

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UPDATE: 25th September 2008

unraveling Mr Anon's Whodunit.....

Or perhaps because, Mr. Anon actually has the inside track of things?

What is it that Mr. Anon wishes to accomplish?

Sakmongkol sees the following points in Mr Anon’s argument.

1. Yes, UMNO is in a hopeless state. It needs to be reformed and maybe reconstituted.
2. To achieve that aim entails the destruction of UMNO as a necessary.
3. The reform and values that Pak Lah wants to push are achievable trough Khairy?
4. But Khairy cannot hope to achieve these aims because of the stumbling block is the form of the MKT and UMNO warlords.
5. Since the UMNO machinery is rotten extensively, Pak Lah and Khairy must make political capital from the ascendency of Anwar Ibrahim.
6. And because that is his primary goal, he is willing to be conspirator to the demise of UMNO a the hands of Anwar Ibrahim?

That is the only way it seems to reform UMNO, save Pak lah and save Khairy! Because it is so preposterous, that the story becomes believable. Sakmongkol remembers a Latin maxim; CREDO QUIA ABSURDUM! I believe it because its is absurd!

That would place Pak Lah and Khairy on top of the hate list, wouldn’t it? The crux of the matter is this. People see the removal of Pak Lah and by extension, Khairy and his cohort as the means of reforming and saving UMNO. Pak Lah has become the most despised PM Malaysia has ever had. That realisation has begun to sunk in among the more vociferous MKT members and sakmongkol suspects, among many more of the silent ones.

Pak Lah, Khairy and company, on the other hand, see the values and corrupting culture represented by the UMNO warlords as utterly reprehensible that they must be removed. And to secure that objective, Pak lah and Khairi have a powerful ally in Anwar Ibrahim?

Mr Anon pushes hard the agenda of presenting Pak Lah as a true reformist. He has the interest of UMNO and the people at heart. His fight can only be continued by Khairy Jamaludin.

If Mr Anon’s story is to be believed, then it confirms our own perception that UMNO is at war with itself. The majority of the UMNO warlords are loyal to Pak Lah and for as long as he remains thenumero uno, they will stay loyal. But while loyal, Mr Anon sees them as primarily responsible for all the ills in UMNO.

The credibility of Mr Anon’s argument hinges on people’s acceptance that the majority of the MKT gumbahs are depraved people, responsible for years of corruption and abuses of power. Once that perception is accepted, then Mr Anon can disassociate Pak lah and Khairy from the cause of UMNO’s cancer. It is the UMNO warlords who caused all those years of abuse and corruption that have so alienated Malay support for UMNO.

Pak Lah and Khairi are saying, yes they confirm that all is hopeless in UMNO but that hopelessness and despondency are not the fault of Pak Lah. The people responsible are the UMNO warlords. Since they do not fit into Pak lah’s values system, they must be expelled.

What Mr Anon is advancing is essentially a blame game. It became more interesting when retold in the form of a whodunit. It takes on the appearance of a big mystery and all that.

Mr Anon is of course correct on his analysis on the need of a political catharsis but he chooses to be selective in identifying the means of relief and cleansing. The people and the majority of UMNO members see the removal of the top leadership and the entire cabal of depraved warlords responsible for the years of corruption and abuses of power as a mandatory. Mr Anon is wrong in wishing the purge of UMNO warlords but insists that Pak Lah and Khairi and his band of brothers, remain to continue a new UMNO struggle.

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Here is another installment from our mystery man, Mr. Anon.

Look who is talking now

Najib has cancelled his trip to UN and why.

Najib does not trust Abdullah Badawi. with all the leaks in the Internet about Abdullah and Anwar getting a deal got poor Najib worried and depressed. Najib does not have the army intelligence now to spy on his political enemies. This avennue was closed to him when he was with immediate effect shafted to the Finance Ministry.

Najib is keeping Abdullah at arm's length ( Must be sleeping in Abdullah's King size bed with Abdullah and Jean. He knows very well if Anwar becomes PM he is a goner and with the hangman's noose staring at him. Poor guy and what must be going thru his mind mind. Worried when he is away overseas , Abdullah will handover the PMship to Anwar.

Anwar has now said wait a while longer. Plan all now got screwed up when the covert plot of co-operation / handover of the PMship from Abdullah to Anwar has been exposed. Poor Abdullah was caught between a rock and a hard place when Tian Chua open his month and said Anwar and PM's team are in talks. Anwar had to bail out Abdullah when he when to the media and denied that no talks are taking place between his and Abdullah's team. I bet Anwar must have verbally wacked Tian Chua. See now Tian Chua is all silent now. All of sudden with all these verbal cockups between Anwar's team ,Dap's Eng Guan have now suggested that Anwar will be the person who will comment on 916 issue ( Anwar taking over from Abdullah the PMship) and nobody else from PR (This will not stop me commenting as I am not from PR )will comment on this issue.

Any idea where is Khairy and what is he up too. Too silent , I guess he was be now knee deep in the covert take over talks.

Najib poor Najib , he is acting like a enuch. I guess Mahathir must have had snip his balls.

What is in for Abdullah is this deal. Immunity against prosecution against corruption and abuse of power for him and his team .

(Who is his team , wait until Anwar becomes PM and all will know)

Mr Anon

"Anonymous" Analyst

This analysis was apparently left as comments by “Anonymous” in the blog belonging to Sakmongkol AK47 over a couple of days. A very interesting read; it even sounds very much like Raja Petra style expose'….the intrigue continues.

“Sakmongkol has received an intriguing analysis from a person calling himself/herself, anonymous. Sakmongkol feels that his comments posted on Sakmongkol's blog presents a good read. Probably sheds some light on the byzantine world of our politics. Sakmongkol produces the comments here, verbatim. “


Part 1

Pak Lah is smart and very sly. He is not going to give up the PM to Najib while under pressure. It is a known fact he does not like Najib and only tolerates him . He chose Najib as a DPM because he has dirt on Najib.

Do not spend to much time reading into PaK Lah but watch Khairy's wheeling and dealing with Anwar. Khairy is throwing the support behind Anwar and to stay relevant. He will not show his hand but have his people support Anwar. In the mean time as soon as Umno is out of power he will consolidate his power in UMNO by instigating a witch hunt.

Najib and the others who plotted against Pak Lah will be surrendered to Anwar with evidence to proscute them in court. These senior UMNO plotters when convicted and will be bar from political office. He will rebuild UMNO and will have UMNO allied with PR has a stragetic partner. MCA/MIC/Gerakan and other BN parties will be left high and dry if by this time they have not gone over to PR.

Khairy knows once he has made UMNO strong and he can bid for power in PR as a stragetic partner. This is the only way for Khairy to survive. Do not write off Khairy. Read the Anwar's PR statements that the BN MPs do not necessary need to cross over to support the PR government. This way Khairy keeps UMNO intact and mold into a progressive party in the mold of PKR. UMNO will remain a Bumiputra party but the UMNO constitution will be change to bar racial politics and statements by UMNO members.

In 2 or 3 years Khairy will made a bid for PM with the blessing of PR.

He wil prove that UMNO without the racist will be a asset to PR and the people.

Pak Lah in next fews days is going to get the King to call Anwar to show prove that he has the backing of the majority of the MPs. What Pak Lah is saying in the media is a wayang kulit to keep his enemies in UMNO off balance. This is the only way to say his legacy and history will judge him as a man who place the country before himself.

Part2

The story or you can call the script continues as I left it with the parting words “More to Come”

As the days get neared to the suppose target day, the haze suddenly stars to clear as the plot / script becomes clearer.

Anwar Ibrahim as say very famously “why wouldn’t Abdullah Badawi want to meet me, He is my friend”. This statement is to assure Abdullah Badawai the he Anwar has not ditched the plan agreed by both of them.

Abdullah Badawi when he says something but means the opposite. He says no Emergency session of Parliament is planed but what he is try to say is that there will be a emergency session of Parliament in the next few days. Abdullah knows that for UMNO to survive, it has to be reformed, getting rid of the self serving UMNO warlords and be in the opposition and reflect on it self. When UMNO is in the opposition, it will be easy to rid the party of the Warlords. Simple reason is to hand them over to the PR government with evidence for prosecution.

Khairy is the Middle and point man between Anwar and Abdullah. Remember when he returned Anwar’s passport personally to Anwar on his release from prison. Khairy knows if he wants to succeed, he must get rid of the obstacles in UMNO. Down the line after 2 to 3 years UMNO in the opposition, UMNO been reformed will be invited by PR to be a partner.

Anwar will be PM for another 9 years and when he reaches 70, Khairy will be the PM by virtue of the largest party in PR. These 9 years Khairy will work to polish his image and the public will be grateful that he was instrumental in placing Anwar in power and getting rid of racial politics. He will prove to be an even better PM that Anwar.

Najib , ooh Poor Najib. He has already got a smell on the plot (But too late) and had to call of his visit to the Middle East. Najib knows that Anwar with Abdullah’s backing have sent the letter to the King to seek an audience with the King.

Najib is trying to foil the plan. Once Anwar has the audience, Abdullah will have Parliament in session. Najib is no longer the Defense Minister (Abdullah’s master stoke) and can not call on the Armed Forces to effect a coup d-eta. Najib is working hard now to marshal the BN MPs and trying to prevent the defections. All is lost now for Najib. It is too late for him as he has already been checkmate by Khairy . Najib must be wondering about his fate either in exile, prison or in the hangman’s noose.

Syed Hamid has played the dumb Interior minister to the hilt and deserves an Oscar. He has as per plan made UMNO and the government unpopular with the tactic approval of Abdullah / Khairy. When the BN government falls, no pity will be felt for UMNO. Khairy knows he needs to get rid of the 40 to 60 years old warlord if he wants to be PM in 9 years time.

Mahathir, poor Mahathir, he was sucked into the plan unknowingly by Abdullah and Khairy. He made the Government very unpopular when he criticized the Government. Including washing the dirty laundry in the public. He is a has been and would not be of any use now to anybody. He is an old man past his glory days.

Muyuddin is just a stooge of Najib to force Abdullah out as a PM. This is only role and he has no more value except spending time in Prison.For the other warlords I will come back to them in regards to their fate in my follow up which will be soon and also the role of the bloggers in the rise of Anwar and the defeat on Najib.

Part 3

DECIDING AND TURNING FACTOR AND REVERASAL OF NAJIB’S POLITICAL FORTUNES.

I am sorry I have to skip the write up on the fate of the UMNO (Busy) Warlords and the Bloggers factor in the rise of Anwar and the downfall of Najib.

The intense infighting in UMNO for the Premiership is one of the most telling factors as of why Taib Mahmud Chief Minister has swung his support behind Anwar. You have may or may have not notice that Taib Mahmud is been silent. He is very much pissed off at the attitude of UMNO warlords. He state and Sabah (UMNO) hold the balance of power. He has not been consulted as who will succeed Abdullah. As a senior BN leader and the second biggest party fraction in BN, he is not getting the due respect from UMNO. Taib have already sounded Anwar that he will have the support of PBB MPs and some of the otherSarawak BN MPs. It is too late for Najib now to reconcile Taib to his side. Remember it is also important to keep you friends and partners informed on important decisions. Taib knows that his days are getting fewer and fewer as he will not live long enough. His family influence is Sarawak may die with him and PBB and its allies will be wiped of in the next Sarawak state elections. His son’s and relatives political fortunes and their riches and wealth must be safe guarded. Hence the alliances with Anwar will safe guard his legacy and empire in Sarawak.

Majority of MCA MPs are in a dilemma and state of shock. They have been told point blank by Anwar that he does not need their MPs to have a majority in parliament. Anwar has offered them a place in PR, provide DAP approves it and no special favors. MCA as a party will not be accepted in PR because DAP is already championing the Chinese rights. A few MPs will join DAP and PKR as not to miss out on their political careers.

MIC is a no no and have not been offered a place in PR nor their MPs. MIC will die a natural death and no CPR can help them to live.

Gerakan is already a has been party and the party will die and natural death once the MPs join PKR

UMNO is in a very serious coma state. It will remain so until the end of the year and will come out of coma once Khairy is the leader.

Najib is having his people camping day and night out at the istana and having the King followed. Can not do much as Syed Hamid has told the police to stand down and make sure the security of the King.

The King has already informed the fellow brother Sultans of Anwar’s letter. The is going to be an emergency meeting tonight or tomorrow of the sultans and Agung. This could be a Video conference meeting or a formal meeting to discuss Anwar’s letter. Abdullah will attend the meeting to lend his support to Anwar’s letter.

Abdullah is a good and sincere man and tried to make the country better. The UMNO warlords did not let him. His legacy for Malaysiawas to be reforms of the police, judiciary, economy, Education, racial and religious rights of all races and religions.

Anwar is not on a standby mode and within an earshot once the King summons him. He is very heavily protected as talk in the streets is that his life is in danger. Knowing Anwar he will laugh out this threat.

More and more MPs are getting into the Anwar band wagon. They all know it is credible that he has the numbers.

Tonight is going to be a long night and tomorrow is going to be even longer.

Khairy is busy as a beaver and fine tuning the necessary details and arrangements to have a smooth change over from Abdullah to Anwar as a PM.

The police and immigration has been given a list of people who are bared from leaving the country and Bank Negara has a list to inform the banks to freeze the accounts of the names mentioned.

WOOOW IT IS GOING TO BE A BIG PARTY AND HIP HIP HOORAY TO CHAOS FOR NEXT 2 WEEKS AND THEN TO NORMALCY.

Watch for the fall of the UMNO warlords and the Bloggers influence in the rise of Anwar and the fall of BN

21 September 2008 20:54

UPDATE 1: 22/09/08


Part 4

The Royalty and deciding factor in the battle between Najib’s UMNO –BN (I did not mention Abdullah Badawi as it is not his fight but Najib’s fight with Anwar) and Anwar’s PR

The flexing of the Royalty powers in Terengganu, Perlis, Perak and Selangor

Perlis – the Raja of Perlis has been a career military man until he was made a Raja Muda and then Raja of Perlis. He has known the excess of the pervious MB. He knew Abdullah after the near defeat of BN in the 13th General elections has not stomach for any fight. He has given up in the face of the massive reversal of his political fortunes. Sharidan was the guinea pig which the Malaysian royalty was to experiment one to see if they still have the powers. Abdullah was unknowingly dragged into the experience. The plot (Experiment) was agreed by the brother Sultans to test the resolve of Abdullah Badawi. Raja of Perlis started the ball rolling when he refused Sharidan to take the oath of MB of Perlis. The success of this experiment spread like wild fire to the royal states. This in effect was payback to BN for humiliation in public and curbing of their powers.

Terengganu was a small experiment for a later much larger stage (which is now been played out in KL – The play is called the testing of the Agung’s constitutional powers in appointing the PM. We all know how it is going to turn out now. Again is Terengganu the excess of the pervious state government was noted and the MB was shown the way out. Another successful experiment and not a whimper from Abdullah Badawi. All systems go and Anwar was encouraged to make a go for the PM post.

Selangor and Perak another set of experiment to see if PR will respect, all successful. Now is the eyes of the public the royalty has been redeemed.

Najib was not promoted to Finance ministry but moved out as a request from the King. The King feared chaos with Najib as the defense minister during these trouble times. Najib does not think twice when it comes to a violent decision as in the case of the Mongolian girl.

The Royalty in effect hijacked some of the constitutional powers of the PM who meekly surrender it to the Royalty. The Agung and Sultans will act on the advice of the PM, but this is no more the case now.

If Mahathir has not curbed the Royalty powers and humiliate them in Public, the royalty will not be taking the side of Abdullah’s BN. Milk is spilled and no point crying years later. The seed of this chaos was planted by Mahathir 20 years ago and now it has grown into a monster. The people are all behind the Agung now and that is where the power is “THE PEOPLE”

I will take a break for now until tomorrow evening to my 2 cents of input. UMNO warlords andBloggers role in rise of Anwar will be after the PR Take over.

21 September 2008 22:13

"We will see how the story unfolds. Mr anonymous, who are you?"

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INTERLUDE-comment by Sakmongkol AK47

Sakmongkol cannot wait until Mr. anonymous finishes his story. Since he wishes to remain incognito, we shall call him Mr Anon. Mr. Anon has posted a series of comments on the political scene. He has posted them on Sakmongkol’s blog. It has 4 parts at this time of writing. Sakmongkol has re-produced them verbatim as feature articles. The title of the series was named as Political Whodunit. His intention is to open up a debate on the postings by this Mr Anon. it has become more nail biting than an Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller.

It tells us, of the following main points.

1. That UMNO is in the throes of death. Some say, it is in comatose. Its main cause is the decaying forces from within. They take the form of internecine wars between the UMNO warlords.

2. The only way to re-constitute UMNO , reform it, rejuvenate it, is to allow UMNO to die. Readers will remember that Sakmongkol has posted an article, shall we do a Kervokian on UMNO. It tells us the story about euthanasia- or doctor assisted demise. Mr. Anon has responded by posting his comments there. The result of his action has now placed everyone of us in suspense and some agitated.

3. Now, the doctors assisting the death of UMNO are the honest to goodness Pak Lah and Khairi Jamaludin. The euthanasia on UMNO shall be done in both manners, i.e. passively, by Doctors Abdullah Badawi and the Oxford trained Khairy Jamaludin.

4. It shall also be done the aggressive euthanasia way by Dr. Anwar ‘Mengele’ Ibrahim. Remember the story ‘The Boys fromBrazil’ starring Gregory Peck as Dr Angel of Death, Hans Mengele who injected boys with some substance to turn them into blue-eyed Aryans? Yes the same Gregory Peck who played Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird( the story so well loved by our blogger friend, that connoisseur of the English Language,

Mat Bangkai). Well, in our case, Anwar Ibrahim will undoubtedly inject some enthusiasm in the new emerging UMNO that will be headed, as per the scheme of Mr Anon, Khairy Jalmaludin.

Parts 1 and 2 of the Whodunit series, are vainglorious attempts to recast Khairi Jamaluddin as the emerging force within UMNO. Mr Anon appears to be in a hurry to force a conclusion. His analysis appears to be a rush job and disjointed at that. That the man, UMNO can rely to salvage UMNO is Khairy. This high speed attribute makes the whole story seem rushing and desperate to acquire self fulfilling prophecy overtones.

The UMNO which Mr Anon describes is an UMNO The Day After. It is the successor of the UMNO which has been despatched by Anwar Ibrahim’s aggressive euthanasia.

Mr Anon projects the image of khairy as the man who will one day lead a re-constituted UMNO sans the warlords, sans the old guard, sans Najib and leaders of the same genus.

Sakmongkol wishes to suspend judgement as to the exuberant way Mr Anonymous has painted Abdullah an Khairy. Clearly, this is a blatant attempt to recast these two central figures in favourable light in the unfolding drama. Hence, the benign phrase that Pak Lah is a nice fellow etc. and Khairy of course as the brain box being Oxford trained and all that.

That aside, Sakmongkol agrees with the observation as to the character of UMNO. If Mr Anon is an UMNO insider and who walks on the fringes of the corridors of powerful people, his admission of the ills that are ravaging UMNO now serves to do this. It would confirm once and for all that UMNO is nothing but an elitist political party, dominated as always, from the beginning, by powerful party bosses.

Leadership in UMNO then becomes a race among those not civil of men to secure control of the party and then extract as much benefits and gains as possible. Subsequently the spoils and loot of incessant power struggles would be shared among enforcers and foot soldiers.

In the meantime, the meek public, always fearful of reprisals and at the same time dependent on the vast protection racket devised by the Mafiosi dons, received the one thing that has been elevated to the status of all important life giving elixir- PROTECTION.

Hence UMNO is the only defender of RELIGION, RACE and COUNTRY.

The writer would have us believed that the principal protagonists in UMNO, Pak lah and khairi have been sent down to earth to save UMNO from itself. The question that follows then, is what has UMNO done that merits saving by such elaborate scheme? By positing Pak Lah and Khary in such a favourable light, ignoring the fact that these two are part of the UMNO problem, Mr Anon really wants to salvage whatever semblance of credibility is left from these two players.

Whereas in reality, UMNO finds itself in total disarray today is because of Pak Lah’s flaccid leadership. That leadership is further weakened by the schemings and machinations of the young, ambitious and reckless Khairy Jamaludin.

That UMNO has become rancid and bad because of political warlordism is also true. That would suggest on the reverse and quite to the contrary to Mr Anon’s thinking, the need for strong and resolute and determined leaders, ruthless in political finishing, to unite the dispersing forces that are pulling UMNO apart. But it is mischievous for Mr. Anon to suggest that Khairy Jamaluddin fits the bill.

To be continued-in the spirit of the serialised thinking of Mr. Anon.

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Part 5 (Final)

This is Mr. Anonymous’s final instalment of the political whodunit series. Sakmongkol wishes to thank him for his permission to reproduce his postings verbatim.

Sakmongkol commends him for his diligence and resolve to pursue his line of arguments. It in turn, has sparked a lively debate in the form of responses from several other bloggers including sakmongkol. Sakmongkol cordially invites Mr. anonymous to continue posting his comments in Sakmongkol’s blog.

Here is the final and Part 5 of Mr. Anonymous comments.


Final part on how it is and told as it is of the countdown the end of the old empire and rise of the new empire .All great empires are built on the ashes of great empires. Heil CesarStart of the new empire building.

The seeds for the lineage of the new empire was sowed the moment Abdullah became the New Cesar of Malaysia.

1. Khairy with the tactic approval of Abdullah met with Wan Azizah (wife of Anwar) to help obtain Anwar’s release from prison for a price. Not too many details were discussed during the first meeting.

2. Wan Azizah on her first meeting with Anwar after meeting up with Khairy, informed Anwar the general outline of the discussions and a request from Khairy for a four eye meeting.

3. Anwar gave the go ahead and Wan Azizah thru emissaries pass the message to Khairy the meeting is acceptable but must not take place in Sungai Buloh prison but somewhere else. The meeting was finally arranged in a place acceptable to both Khairy and Anwar. Guess where, The Sungai Buloh prison warden’s home. This was done as not to raise suspicion. All involved were sworn to secrecy.

4. The four eye meeting got under way and it was not one meeting but several meetings to formulate the plan and understanding.

5. Terms and conditions were discussed. Some details of the meeting were that

a) Anwar will be freed and cleared of the sodomy charges but not of the corruption of power charges. This is done as not to raise suspicion and also to make sure that Anwar does not bid for power for the next five years.

b) Khairy discussed with Anwar of an orderly succession as PM.

c) Abdullah Badawi will be PM for 5 years, Anwar for 9 years and the Khairy. Anwar was shock and amassed at Khairy’s confidence.

d) Khairy will provide Anwar damaging material on the UMNO warlords who will need to be disgraced via corruption charges , racial insensitivity

e) Anwar will thru his network will feed this info to the bloggers. The bloggers for involuntary became part of the plan and the spin. The bloggers were looking for hot stories to popularize their blogs. The more you keep on repeating a story; the story sooner or later will take a life of it own. RajaPetra Kamarudin fitted the bill because he was the King of the bloggers. All the bloggers will belief was he writes on his blog. Raja Petra is in a sense a blogger with a romantic sense of life that is the man to save Malaysia. What a pity that he belief in own spin. He was made to look as the fall guy and help push the Anwar Khairy agenda.

6. The alienating of the Indians in Selangor thru Temple demolishing and the holding of UMNO general assembly was the plan to turn the Indians off from BN. Plan succeeded because Hindraf where unknowingly sucked to this web of deceit. Organizations need men to boys to lead and sorry for the case of Hindraf it was the other way round. Detention of the Hindraf 5 was a god given opportunity to future alienate the Indians from BN. Poor Samy Vellu was not a party to the plan and did not know if it was bicycle or a train which hit him. He is still clueless as to what he is doing. What do you expect from a man who taught only for himself and his family and not of his fellow Indians?

7. Chinese alienation from MCA. This is interesting as there were too many anti-Chinese statements by the UMNO members and also by Khairy to further alienate the Chinese and the meek or now response from MCA and Gerakan. DAP, PKR and even PAS came out to condemn the remarks and support the Chinese.

8. Who were Khairy stooges in UMNO? This is a closely guarded secret and even Anwar will be surprised.

9. Why was the General election called before the expiry of Anwar’s 5 years ban? First it was to make sure Anwar can milk the sympathy votes and to make sure that Anwar is not distracted by his own election. This way he can spend his energy to help the opposition to deny BN a 2/3 majority.

10. Najib was left to his own doing by Abdullah and that is the reason for some of the bizarre decisions taken to prosecute Anwar and knowing his IQ level it was self destruction the moment he pressed the panic button.

11. Now is the time Khairy and Anwar must make sure their plan has to succeed.

12. The King (Agung) has taken an oath to be the King for all Malaysians and to reign and not rule. Let see the advice given by his fellow Sultans on the next course of action. I am inclined to belief that the final interpretation of the law on the royalty side will come from Sultan Azlan Shah.I am also curious to the ending of the chaos and waiting for the new DAWN. Heil Cesar.

As for the Umno warlords, these were suckers taken for a ride and now await their vacation in prison. As of the bloggers thanks for the naïve approach to the politics ofMalaysia.As for me I have said my piece and I will reveal myself in due time.

22 September 2008 12:54

Sakmongkol hopes readers will enjoy reading Mr. Anonymous's interpretation of current politics.

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UPDATE: 23Rrd September.

Sakmongkol answers a political Whodunit-2

Mr anon sounded very jubilant indeed at the prospects of (a) Anwar Ibrahim coming to power and (b) that somehow, Anwar becomes the PM by courtesy of Pak lah and Khairy doing the machete clearing of the UMNO undergrowth.

Mr anon then offers the very distended argument that Anwar Ibrahim somehow owes a favour to Abdullah Badawi through the point man, Khairy Jamaluddin.

Where does kind of reasoning leaves Mr Anon? He is seen straddling both sides( uncannily similar to Anwar’s alleged behaviour?). but Sakmongkol sees him as doing the running with hares and hunting with the hounds routine. Mr Anon hedges his bet both on Anwar during Anwar’s projected tenure of premiership and then later to be continued under the reign of the most famous SIL.

First let Sakmongkol tackle the role played by Pak Lah and Khairy in this earth shattering project. The role that can be aptly described as complicity in the hastening the downfall of UMNO.

Where is the Achilles heel in Mr Anon’s argument?

The weak link Sakmongkol believes lies in the overestimation of the cunningness of both Pak lah and Khairy. By painting a picture of both of them were in the whole thing from the beginning, planning, hatching and executing, would be to prescribe extraordinary abilities on both of them, which they ill deserved.

To impute omniscient political prowess on both of them is a bit of a stretch on the credibility. It runs counter to the track record exhibited by Pak Lah. He is most of the time lost and bewildered. To suggest that he is now on top of things capable of conceptualising and then implementing the plan outlined by Mr Anon, can only elicit a WOW exclamation. Very rare and impossible.

Then, there is the question of Khairy. Isn’t he the brain box, da man from Oxford?. To that, Sakmongkol can only retort- how clever can a man from Oxford be? He may be a clever chap but sakmongkol is not so sure whether that cleverness extends to the ability to hatch such a byzantine and serpentine plot.

When was this complicity and plot alleged to have begun? It began, says Mr.Anon when SIL was sent to hand over the passport to Anwar Ibrahim enabling the latter to go to Germany. So that Anwar Ibrahim can save himself from a life threatening back ailment, an affliction no doubt caused by numerous turning and bending overs. For that, Anwar is supposed to owe Pak Lah big time.

How are these mortal enemies united? Because Mr Anon postulates, that Pak Lah and Khairi are as reform minded as Anwar Ibrahim. Wow and double wow!. For according to Mr Anon;
Abdullah is a good and sincere man and tried to make the country better. The UMNO warlords did not let him. His legacy for Malaysiawas to be reforms of the police, judiciary, economy, Education, racial and religious rights of all races and religions.

This bold claim by Mr Anon, is objectionable. Since 2004, what had Pak Lah achieved?. The IPCMC which was touted to be a proof of the new government’s transparency and honesty, was abandoned. The report is nowhere to be seen. If it is in Police Custody , then that could even be more of a jeopardy. The Police has acquired an ignominious reputation of easily losing evidences.
And the Judicary? Can any reasonably minded person accept the payment of ex gratia to sacked and sacked-but-later reinstated judges be an earth shattering judicial reform? In fact, if the judges had any moral compunctions, they would not have accepted the purchase of their loyalty. Pak Lah’s nod to the elevation of dubious persons to become high court judges runs counter to Mr Anon’s claim that Pak Lah is judicial reform minded. If Pak Lah is still judicial reform minded he would not have hired Zaid Ibrahim and now nazri Aziz as law ministers. The appointments proved that Pak Lah has not got any clue as to what judicial reform is all about.

The Economy? Pak Lah has not run the finance ministry to be able to know how the economy functions, what more to reform it. How? By insisting Malays stay put in low productivity agriculture because now 50 agricultural experts have just come back from Taiwan? They are eager to go barefooted into the rice fields and palm oil estates, into the leased and illegally occupied lands to teach our stupid kampong folks the art of agriculture?

Education? Will our education be improved when we are continuously see-sawing between English medium and Malay medium or having Malay or English as medium of instruction? Or that we are about to create thousands of PhDs?

And we can improve our race relations when within UMNO, Pak Lah accommodates and indeed tolerated outbursts of overt racist incendiary remarks?

And religion? People are actually put off by this appendage called Islam Hadhari. Or as Mr Anon would have found most agreeable, Pak Lah’s Islam Hadhari is really an extension of Anwar Ibrahim’s Islam Maddani? Both versions would indeed have maddening impacts on the Malays.

The Octogenarians LKY and MM

Our Tun "Chedet" Mahathir is Malaysia's No.1 So-Po blogger and at 83, he appears as healthy as ever. However, circumstances surrounding the state of his beloved UMNO do not seem to be panning out as well as he would like. His handpicked successor having virtually dismantled his legacy in a short 5 years now seems to have set the party as it is, on a backslide.

The promised real reforms that would have taken the country to the next level did not materialize. The popular votes garnered in the 2004 general elections were not harnessed to make positive structural changes to a legacy system that was deemed corrupt and deficient. More importantly, the opportunity to make real changes within the party was lost.

I would not be surprised if Tun is begining to dislike how he thinks history is going to remember him, what with the antics of Preacher Man and his kin. Tun has been man enough to admit his mistaken choice but still, for a man who put Malaysia on the world map he deserves better

At an age when most people are readying for or already in the netherworld, Tun is still in the thick of battle. His ultimate motivation is probably to ensure his good name in history; I do not think it is UMNO which he has quit or even the race, about which he had already admitted his failure in a tearful speech at one of his last UMNO conventions as President.

But it pains me to see the desperation in some of Tun's posts as he tries to extricate his name from being sucked into the rubbish dump of history; it has already become collateral damage as the warring parties continue to have it out in the country's current bloody political battleground. Fingers seem to be pointing at him for, many of the ills faced by his imploding UMNO, his choice of successor, racial discord and the general state of the country. His continued advocacy of race based politics even as the nation showed its renunciation on March 8th has lost him some fans especially amongst the non-Malays. 

The fact that Tun has to turn to blogging to defend himself and also convey his true thoughts was inconceivable 5 years ago but now, it is representative of what his beloved UMNO has become. Judging from the numbers, he certainly continues to be relevant while his successor slips into oblivion.

Meanwhile across the causeway we have another octogenarian, Lee Kuan Yew who at 85 has nothing to worry about how history will remember him. History is already being interpreted about these two men and how they match up. An example is this article reproduced in Din Merican's blog that was written by none other than Mahathir's own nephew, Ahmad Mustapha.

It has been circulating in cyberspace for some time now and speaks for itself; please read:


Note by Din Merican:


I am grateful to my fellow Kedahan, Ahmad Mustapha, for allowing me to post this piece on Lee Kuan Yew (LKY) for the reading pleasure of my friends and bloggers.

LKY is to be admired, even grudgingly, for his intellect, integrity and passion, and for building Singapore into a modern city state. This father of modern Singapore is tough and compromising in the pursuit of excellence and leads by example. A strict disciplinarian, he sets very high standards and walks the talk. At 84, he is very active as Minister Mentor with a razor shape mind. I take this opportunity to wish him many happy returns of the day.

My friendship with Ahmad Mustapha goes a long, long way. He was one of a handful of Kedahans from Alor Star who were educated at University of Malaya in Singapore (now the prestigious National University of Singapore) in the late 1950s. The other is my dear friend, Kassim Ahmad, who also has his own blog. Both of them, Ahmad Mustapha and Kassim Ahmad as my seniors had a big influence on country boys like me and others who went to the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur— Din Merican


Singapore’s Minister Mentor, Lee Kuan Yew, who was Singapore’s founding father, has always been very direct in his comments. This was the man who outsmarted the communists in Singapore (with the innocent help of Malaya then and the willing help of the British) and who later outwitted the British and outpaced Malaysia in all spheres.

Singapore practices meritocracy and Malaysia affirmative action. The former attracted all the best brains and the latter chased out all the brains. The Singapore cabinet consists of dedicated and intelligent technocrats whereas Malaysia has one the most unwieldy cabinet. Not only that, brain wise it was below par.

With that kind of composition, one that is very brainy, naturally Singapore, with no natural resources could outstrip Malaysia in every aspect of development. Malaysia, on the other hand, was too much preoccupied with its Malayness and the illusory “ketuanan Melayu” and was also more interested in iconic development rather than real social and economic development.

Whenever Kuan Yew utters anything that deemed to be a slight on Malaysia, voices were raised admonishing him. Malaysia would never dare to face reality. That Singapore had shown that it could survive was a slap on those who believed that Singapore would fold up once it left Malaysia. Therefore it was natural that these doomsayers would try to rationalise their utterances to be in their favour to combat on whatever Kuan Yew commented.

Singapore achieved its development status without any fanfare. But here in Malaysia, a development that was deceptive was proclaimed as having achieved development status. It was trumpeted as an achievement that befits first world status. This was self delusion. Malaysians are led to believe into a make believe world, a dream world. The leaders who themselves tend to believe in their own fabricated world did not realise the people were not taken in by this kind of illusion.

Lee Kuan Yew believed in calling a spade a spade. I was there in Singapore when the People’s Action Party won the elections in 1959. He was forthright in his briefing to party members as to what was expected of them and what Singapore would face in the future. Ideologically, I did not agree with him. We in the University of Malaya Socialist Club had a different interpretation of socialist reconstruction. But he was a pragmatist and wanted to bring development and welfare to the Singaporeans. Well! He succeeded.

Malaysia was so much embroiled in racial politics and due to the fear of losing political power, all actions taken by the main party in power was never targeted towards bringing wealth to all. Wealth was distributed to the chosen few only. They were the cronies and the backers of the party leadership.

Seeing the efficiency and the progress achieved by Singapore caused the Malaysian leadership to suffer from an inferiority complex. That Malaysia should suffer from this complex was of its own making.

In a recent interview, Kuan Yew said that Malaysia could have done better if only it treated its minority Chinese and Indian population fairly. He added that Singapore was a standing indictment to what Malaysia could have done differently. He just hit the nail right there on the head.

Malaysia recently celebrated its 50th year of independence with a bagful of uncertainties. The racial divide has become more acute. The number of Malay graduates unemployed is on the increase. And this aspect can be very explosive. But sad to see that no positive actions have been taken to address these social ills.

Various excuses were given by Malaysian leaders why Singapore had far outstripped Malaysia in all aspects of social and economic advancement. Singapore was small, they rationalised and therefore easy to manage. Singapore was not a state but merely an island.

There was one other aspect that Malaysia practises and that is to politicise all aspects of life. All government organs and machinery were ‘UMNO-ised’. This was to ensure that the party will remain in power. Thus there was this misconception by the instruments of government as to what national interest is and what UMNO vested interest is.

UMNO vested interest only benefited a few and not the whole nation. But due to the UMNO-isation of the various instruments of government, the country under the present administration had equated UMNO vested interest as being that of national interest. Thus development became an avenue of making money and not for the benefit of the people. The fight against corruption took a back seat. Transparency was put on hold. And the instruments of government took it to be of national interest to cater to the vested interest of UMNO. Enforcement of various enactments and laws was selective. Thus a ‘palace’ in Kelang could exist without proper procedure.

Singapore did not politicise its instruments of government. If ever politicisation took place, it is guided by national interest. To be efficient and to be the best in the region was of paramount importance. Thus all the elements like corruption, lackadaisical attitude towards work and other black elements, which would retard such an aim, were eliminated. Singapore naturally had placed the right priority in it’s pursueit to achieve what is best for its people. This is the major difference between these two independent countries.

Malaysia in its various attempts to cover up its failures embarked on several diversions. It wanted its citizens to be proud that the country had the tallest twin-tower in the world, although the structure was designed and built by foreigners. It achieved in sending a man into space at an exorbitant price. These are what the Malays of old would say “menang sorak” (hollow victories).

It should be realised that administering a country can be likened to managing a corporate entity. If the management is efficient and dedicated and know what they are doing, the company will prosper. The reverse will be if the management is poor and bad. The company will go bust.

There are five countries around this region. There is Malaysia, and then Indonesia. To the east there is the Philippines and then there is that small enclave called the Sultanate of Brunei. All these four countries have abundance of natural resources but none can lay claim to have used all these resources to benefit the people. Poverty was rampant and independence had not brought in any significant benefits to the people.

But tiny Singapore without any resources at all managed to bring development to its citizens. It had one of the best public transport system in the world and it is a very clean city state.
It is impossible to compare what Singapore has achieved to what all these four countries had so far achieved. It was actually poor management and nothing more. Everything is done for the vested interest of the few.

Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines and the Sultanate of Brunei need good management teams. They would not be able to do this on their own steam. I would advise that they call on Kuan Yew to show them what good governance is.