The Houdini of Malaysian Politics is a sodomite or is he?

Note: This article was written in the months soon after the aftermath of the 2008 General elections dubbed the "Tsunami" elections . 

The blogger Prince who is editor of the Malaysia Today online portal  in recent weeks has decided to make a 180 degree U-turn and says he no-longer  believes in Anwar's person . 

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And with the release of Phonographic material on YouTube and in several blogs depicting a person with a stark resemblance of the Malaysian opposition leader engaging in sex acts with a prostitute.  Anwar is yet again faced with an uphill tasked to convince the Malaysian electorates of his innocence



The Houdini of Malaysian Politics is a sodomite or is he?

The big question on every Malaysian mind , is the opposition defacto leader gay as proclaimed by his nemesis or is this the all to familiar recycle script resurrected with the intent to destroy his political career once and for all.

Some say they couldn't care less if he has a craving for the stinky male backside , to them everyone is entitle to ones sexual preference and so it is a private matter. His staunch supporters though are blatantly convinced he is a straight  god fearing family man and all accusations hurled at him are merely politically motivated , the so called character assassination

Having gone through a volatile political span he has in numerous occasions succeeded in pulling out the rabbit from the hat and if the recent Permatang Pauh by-elections is viewed as an indicator , he has triumphed against all odds yet again

Beaten , humiliated and sentenced to six years jailed term for corrupt practiced at the pinnacle of his political career (which he claimed was a trumped up charged) , he has proven his critics wronged by re surfing and has given the reformist stance a new lease on life

A master in the art of gamesmanship and endowed with excellent oratory skills , the Houdini of Malaysian politics with chants of ketuanan rakyat has garnered a new breed of followers amongst the young ethnic Indians and Chinese Malaysians , as well as the more liberated minded Malays that have grown fed up with the old system of racial base parties seen by them as an obsolete concept that has lost much of its appeal and is not conducive to promoting a more unified Malaysia

Facing fresh accusations of sodomy , has he or his defense attorneys one final ruse up their sleeves ?  One final act of the legendary " houdini's great escape " - a figure of speech so to speak . Saving him from being plunged into the bottomless pit forever. 

A blogger Prince is keeping his fingers cross , for his faith is pinned on Anwar's deliverance.

Angling to challenge Prime Minister Najib for the Top Job

Now let us see , i understand that a country needs political stability , human capital and infrastructure development to stay ahead , but how do you toe the line between developing a nation (say, Najib's 1 Malaysia concept at-par with the pursuit of first world status) and holding on to what the “Perkasa- minded” Malays love about the present status quo (i.e. Najib being a Malay supremacist Prime Minister and a bit of a douche) without obvious inconsistencies in personality?

Deputy Perkins will not have the darnedest clue of what the implications be like , his idea of a power grab is sparked by a narrow Malay nationalist movement , but Najib is smart..He sees the bigger picture - Danil Daud

    

Angling to Challenge Najib for the Top Job

Terence Netto’s COMMENT: UMNO may not do the task of internal reform well, like cutting down on the practice of money politics, but say what you like, it does do internal dissension well.

Just look at how party deputy president Muhyiddin YassinNajib Razak‘s slipstream while writing his own personal agendas. Muhyiddin’s reaction to the call by the MCA for a boycott of UMNO-owned paper Utusan Malaysia over the latter’s proposition that Malays rally behind the ’1Melayu, 1Bumi’ policy is a good illustration of the point. affects to swim in his leader,

Muhyiddin rapped MCA across the knuckles for calling for the boycott on grounds that sounded vaguely like he believed in freedom of the press and then sidestepped the question of whether he supported or disagreed with Utusan’s ’1Melayu, 1Bumi’ rallying cry.

It was the clearest demonstration in his now delicate, two-year-old, trapeze act wherein he shows tepid support for policy initiatives of his party’s president while leaving himself enough wiggle room to hint he would chart a new course as skipper of the crew.

It is the manoeuvring of a deputy who is mulling a challenge for the top position: the controlled wriggling does not cause too big a ruckus in the party but it sports the unmistakable hallmarks of incipient mutiny.

One supposes there would be no prizes for discerning these signs of a revolt’s incubation in the folds of seemingly minor nuances of policy. After all, UMNO is a six-decade-old party that has weathered several chapters of internecine conflict.

Contestants long seasoned by the party’s intramural feuds would be skilled at the game of playing fast and loose with the pros and cons of still-fluid issues, the better to lever them to expedient advantage later when opportunity for getting up the greasy pole avails.

Once overlooked

Muhyiddin, survivor of the fallout from the Mahathir versus Musa Hitam internal feud of the mid-1980s and the ructions between Mahathir and Anwar Ibrahim of the late 1990s, is apparently putting to good use the experiential wisdom he gained from those episodes.

In both instances, he initially backed the loser, only to imperceptibly shift course and come out looking none the worse for the wear. In each case, it was a story of plucking survival from the jaws of defeat.

There was reason to believe that when Abdullah Ahmad Badawi became prime minister in 2003, Muhyiddin had the better chance of being named his deputy but Mahathir’s pressure on Abdullah forced the latter’s reluctant selection of Najib for the position.

As things turned out, it was Muhyiddin’s criticism of Abdullah’s protracted timetable for departure from the UMNO presidency that hastened Abdullah’s exit from the post which comes with the premiership of the country.

That criticism was a calculated gamble by Muhyiddin. It paid off and now Muhyiddin is poised to take another gamble by challenging for the top post that will either result in his apotheosis or in his evisceration.

Sheer tenacity

It is one of the ironies of his career that if he makes the move to challenge, he may get the support of the very man – Mahathir – who was supposed to have stalled him before. If that support materialises, it would be one of the more vivid demonstrations of how someone with an outsider’s chance can re-insert himself into the reckoning given sheer tenacity.

Of course, the larger irony inherent in Muhyiddin’s projected rise would be that an UMNO bigwig from Johor is trying to reach the top on a platform that is strident rather than liberal.

From Onn Jaffar through to Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman through to Musa Hitam, contestants for top honours in UMNO had attempted to travel on liberal wings rather than on rabid ones. Muhyiddin would represent a break in this pattern.–www.malaysiakini.com

The government does not fear bloggers but wants to be part of them and know their views even if it is constructive criticism, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak




 

KUALA LUMPUR: The government does not fear bloggers but wants to be part of them and know their views even if it is constructive criticism, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

"I believe this relationship will be an important relationship based on mutual respect. We might not agree all the time but we cannot be disagreeable.

"What is important for us is to put forward your (bloggers) views, even your constructive critism and together we can build a better Malaysia and future for us," he said in his keynote address at the First Malaysia-Asean Regional

Also present were the patron of Blog House Malaysia Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his wife Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali, president of Blog House Malaysia Syed Akbar Ali and Najib's wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor.

Najib said the era of government knowing everything was over and the government needed to know from bloggers who represented the Malaysian community, their views and criticism.

"But we should draw the line; if we use the cyberspace to tell lies and half truths, that is wrong. I agree with Tun Dr Mahathir that there must be a line that we cannot trespass."

He said if bloggers worked within those parameters, he believed they could indeed play a vital part in shaping a better future for Malaysia and Asean.

Najib said the governments of today were being challenged not just with the use of guerillas and mercenaries armed to the teeth with deadly weapons, but also by the deployment of cybertroopers who waged viral warfare with the might of their keyboards, keypads and smartphones, as the Iran "Twitter" and Egypt "Facebook" Revolution manifested.

"We are also one of the most ardent Facebook fans - there are 10.1 million FB users. I have no doubt whatsoever that Malaysia has one of the liveliest blogospheres in the world and definitely one of the freest if not the most free.

"Malaysians have to thank Tun Dr Mahathir again for this. When he was prime minister and Malaysia was developing its Multimedia Super Corridor, Tun made the promise to the world that Malaysia would never censor the Internet. My government is fully committed to that wisdom; we intend to keep his word," he said.

Najib believes that the Internet is an engine for economic growth, the portal that opens up to a knowledge society.

"This is applicable to all societies, even a government that is not too keen about the democracy part of 'digital democracy' should embrace the digital part, as the economic implications are simply too great to ignore.

"The social media, blogging and microblogging are capable of bringing nations closer as for the first time in the history of mankind, people are able to communicate with each other in real time and without having to wait for days or even weeks for the mail," he said.

The two-day conference, starting yesterday with the theme of "Blogging Mindfully and Responsibly" is organised by Blog House Malaysia, an association that provides a platform to derive defensive mechanisms to protect the plethora of bloggers in blogosphere, especially on Malaysia and Malaysia-centric postings.

The objective of this conference is to bring together regional bloggers from the Asean region and to highlight the obstacles faced by these bloggers as well as the adversity that bloggers might experience in their day-to-day tackling of various issues.

Meanwhile, during the question-and-answer session, Najib said the government was still open to suggestions on the teaching and learning of Mathematics and Science in English (PPSMI).

He said although the policy was scrapped, the government was committed to enhancing students' proficiency in the English language.

"We believe strongly that proficiency in English is a prerequisite to becoming competitive, and it is important for Malaysians to speak English competently together with the national language."

Najib said there were different views on PPSMI, with some feeling that learning Mathematics and Science in their own mother tongue is easier for the students to master the subjects, while others feel that teaching the subjects in English will make it easier for the students to comprehend.

"The debate is still on. But it is undeniable that we are committed to making people more proficient in English."

He said several initiatives had been taken for that purpose, including increasing the hours for English lessons and bringing in English teachers from overseas to teach here.

As such, Najib said, bloggers could also contribute their views on this matter.

"We are keeping an open mind and can look into greater details. Let's share your views so that we can find a solution that is acceptable and can be implemented," he added. -- Bernama  

Baru Bian has been busy ever since listening to confessions of the Orang Ulu electorates