An Iron Lady Sheds TEARS!

TheStar says it in a thousand words.
TheSun says it in four;
The NST -ditto-.

Am I speakingin tongue? No, it's just being playful this morn (short for monrning, a fav -- favourite -- with poet-wannabes.) after reading a light-hearted Email from Ean to light up my starting day --Dear Colleague at the klsetracker.com, TERIMA KASIH! (More on this later, Desiderata readers, be patient!)

Back to serious biz -- that is journalese for business.
A thousand words in journalism lingo (language) refers to a GOOD PIX (that's picture). I am writing this piece to for some journalist-wannabes (i.e., that is, aspirants) from the Blogger fraternity.

For those quite uninitiated, I refer to the picture/s in the English dailies page 1 on this bright morning.

The Star shows ONE COLOUR PICTURE, therefore it is equivalent to ONE THOUSAND WORDS,
accomnpanying headline:Iron Lady in tears
Subhead: 'With the Quran as my witness here, I have nothing to do with any AP holders -- open or franchise. I don't talk foolishly and I am not a hypocrite. I stand by God.'

TheSun shows FOUR COLOUR PICTURES, equals FOUR THOUSAND WORDS

The NST is ditto, means same as theSun above, means FOUR PiX, means ..... (This teacher can sometimes insult people's intelliGENCE! Yes, I am a GENT myself, but I don't tell; I think you got me by now!)


TheSun's accompanying headline/quote from the Star of the Day, Minister of International Trade and industry, DATUK SERI RAFIDAH AZIZ, reads:
'Don't anybody ever suggest that I was rude to Tun (Mahathir). I stopped Tun from resigning as the UMNO assembly ... begging him.'

From The NST a little wordplay in the headline that brings THE ISSUE into focus -- it's about the APPROVED PERMIT!
AP-PALLED!
'Don't anyone ever suggest that I was rude to Tun'

And within the word AP-PALLED is ironically buried another little word PAL, see the IRONY between two former pals, the Datuk Seri and the Tun?

Hey, is Desiderata doing a CivilIssue piece here or -- isn't he off tangent rambling on his English excursion? I digress, BUT I have warned thee before, haven't I, the self approved privilege that goeth with blogging. Come on board, will thee, it's an enjoyable ride!

I promised yesterday that I would do some analysis --especially in Ringgit and Profits (Or is it Profiteering?)terms. Since the Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang has done his homework, I quote mainly from The Star report on page 8, headed:
Explain basis for issuing APs, says Kit Siang

"What is the basis for the issuance of 12,524 APs to (Naza Group chief) Nasimuddin (S.M Amin)alone through his five companies? If they can be sold for an average of RM30,000 each, the ministry would have provided him with the opportunity to make some RM375mil. (Desiderata: Obviously, Lim has done an average market value of the AP fetching between RM20,000 to RM40,000 each here.)

"The four of them (with three others named as major recipients -- Syed Azman Syed Ibrahim, Mohd Haniff Abdul Aziz, and Azzuddin Ahmad), would stand to make RM850mil this year. This is mind boggling and I am flabbergasted," Lim said in a statement yesterday.

An analysis by JOCELINE TAN in The Star asks: Can she (Rafidah) weather the storm?

A quick analysis myself makes me think that she has enough defence to survive the storm, and her breaking ito tears arose mainly from some UMNO leaders like Deputy Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin having said she had been "rude" to the former PM (her boss of 22 years too!) and should apologise. She cried that they didn't understand her, they misconstrued her remarks.

Rafidah said that none of the AP recipients were related to her, to rebut speculation that the leading benefiary, dubbed the AP KING, Nasimuddin, was "related" to her. If Rafidah's word was indeed true, and proven to be fact, then she can't be accused of "nepotism" -- that she had abused her position or was acting in "conflict of interests" situations.

Desiderata has raised an "older isue" that this Iron Lady, dubbed the Malaysian Margaret Thatcher (once her comtemporary at ministerial level across the oceans)encountered and yet survived, well,in comparison, this current AP challenge is chicken feed. But some of mGf have reservations -- is it possible she had been only telling "half-truths"? What abouty the "missing names" for a certain period.

This earlier episode involved allegations of "nepotism" in her ministry giving out listed company Leader shares allocated to Bumpiputera worth millions to her son-in-law. It has been detailed by Opposition leaders and an online newspaper, so Desiderata advises Readers to do some groundwork to verify the dllars and sense of it all. THAT to my mind was the closest to a prima facie case proven, but the Iron Lady overcame it.

But I'd like to have my prediction that Rafidah would not meet her Waterloo over this AP issue,proven wrong. Maybe Tun Dr Mahathir can shed some light -- not tears again -- on this?

PS: My initial analysis, maybe you can come back for more while I comb through the forest of views, some clearly psychophantic, some pyschotic, and some psychic -- but I hear some of mGf (in the plural) again murmuring "Crocodile Tears!" to my last line in the previous paragraph.