When I opened up theSun yesterday of its edition dated March 29, 2008, I saw a fresh new byline on the frontpage: by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
As a journalist, YL Chong had had his frontpage treatment too a few times in the past, and whether you like it or not, it sure gave you the "lift" for the day. No need for any Nip&Tuck -- not that the average newsman could afford it, unless you were on the take. Badder steal, the take was in USD!
Now I remember the former doctor-Prime Minister, now a Tun, used to write even before he became a politician under the non-de-plume of CheDet. During his premiership, he had often enough intimated -- Okay, not intimated, but stated for the record that he had a very low opinion of members of that Estate! -- disdain of this species called Reporters.
So by ARSEsociated, journalists' market value went up by a notch when theSun bylined his report
"Role of rulers
in picking
mentris besar"
using not CheDet but his real name as we knew him for 22 years or more as UMNO cheif-cum-PM of Malaysia.
Today I'm going to scrutinise him as closely as he had once scrutnised Us called the 4th Estate. (Suddenly I realise 4 in Kantonis is Sei, which translates loosely as Die-lah, especially when followed by "liau-liau"!) Now I am no Lantonis expert, but I can claim to being a semi-expert in Journalism having my whole life in that realm. Wow, a good word, realm, elevates my value -- think for once, of the Royalty as another Realm for comparison, and Bhutan cometh up as a real gem of a monarch who gave up his throne for the people's sake. Or milk shakes. Whatever, we have time for humour, Yes? Or is this ascerbic wit? Or sarcasm -- Your pick for Malaysia is steadily marching towards greater Democratic space. No thanks to the Government -- but thanks to the Rakyat for they partially have claimed back over the GE2008 window period what they had Lost for a few decades.
Now, back to what the focus is. Tun Dr Mahathir started his news piece with:
A CONCERNED (Desi: the highlighted part thus BOLDED is by theSun, not by YL Chong!)
Malaysian has expressed
his worry over the role being played by
sultans in the appointment of the mentri Besar.
Desi: My complaint here is that that "Malaysian" was not, never identified -- I had expected a name or penname to have followed in the second sentence. But No, none, zilch!
The second one, and the third, in same para, read:
His Royal Highnesses have clearly
refused to take the advice of the chief
minister i.e. the prime minister. Instead,
they have choses on their own a member of
the state legislature to haed the government.
Ah, the next paragraph starts with "We" -- Now YL Chong understands theSun made a mistake by misleading Desi into thinking this was a typical news report! It should have been
prefaced by A COMMENTARY, then all will be well understood in context.
So the second para reads:
We hear a lot of opinions on the
propriety of the action by the sultan. Some
say he has the right to do this whileothers
point out that as a constitutional ruler, he
could not do this.
:
:
:
As I typethisline, the timer says 7.34AM, so I seek my EsteemedReaders' forebearance while I
rush off for my BF, non-CON! A hungry man is an angry man. And equity suggests I must write not while having a hot head. Level down, cool it. I like youths' clarion call nowadays, Be cool man!
Come joi me at Men Kee, where even men in their 50s are cool, while their heads might be exploding when their shares rocketed to 1,200 when the analysists foretold declining to 2,000 before the CNY. One lesson I can share with you from my days as a newshound -- many of these analysts and newspaper columnists take position eactly opposite to what they wrote. There is saying quite popular once -- THERE IS A SUCKER BORN EVERY MINUTE!
Contd @12.53pm:
Now the rest of Dr Mahathir's semi-news-semi-commentary piece centred around the two opposing two schools of thought regarding the IMPASSE caused by the Terengganu Regent's appointment of a stand-alone BN Assemblyman as Mentri Besar versus 22 other SAs,also from BN, backing the incumbent Idris Jusoh as the choice for MB, also a candidate od the Prime Minister.
The former PM "naughtily", IMHO, asked readers to ponder: "There must be a reason why the ruler refuses to accept the candidate named by the party."
I'm not going to detail the story except put in a nutshell directly what VVe, those Bloggers in the know, especially from RPK's sources, the core points here, which the good doctor had intimated:
* the Wang Ehsan from 5% of the total earnings from oil production, due to Terengganu, amounting to about RM1billion a year, which translated into RM4billion over the last four years the State administration under MB Idris, had received from the Federal government. Pak Lah, poor chapie, must have been wet in his pants -- oh, Desi's just saying figuratively! -- by the Monsoon Cup rains which overflowed generously at RM200million or more into a few individuals' pockets. Does KJ aka SIL and a bugger named "Patrick Lim Badawi" ring any (alarm) belles?
Ah, pay a visit to the Swanie Ribber in Perth, then you can a link to the answer.
Otherwise, go punt on Equine Capital (last year, not now, you dumbbells!) and make a fortune... Now you'd ureporting, okay -- so if you save some money folowing my tip, buy me some Pu-erh Tea from Kunming, not tehtarik, the latter I can well afford from my blardy wordsmithry!
* Quoting Dr Mahathir, "The public cannot be blamed for not having faith in government agencies doing investigations. The public cannot be blamed for suspecting cover-ups or worse still the government may be using these enforcement agencies to threaten people.
To clear its good name, the government shoud get credible foreign agencies to do the investigation.""
That explains my Post's title today -- Dr Mahathir is my politcal friend in this context. He might have a few regrets, as Olde Blue Eyes sings in "MY WAY", just like Dr Mahathir now sings some blues for picking the wrong guy to succeed him as CEO of NegaraKu! But no worries, VVe will join hands to CHANGE THE UMNO-LED BN GOVERNMENT OF THE DAY, which by default, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi inherited.
BEFORE I SAY ADIEU, readers must register this last point that Dr Mahatir made in theSun's report, but eye-opening point among Malaysians who tend to have short memories:
"The person asking that the government should apologise for what happened to Tun Salleh Abas may have forgotten that as president of the Muslim Lawyers Association, he fully supported the action that was taken. He castigated the Bar Council for condemningTun Hamid Omar over the dismissal of judges. Now he wants to be more correct than correct. I wonder why."
Can Desi think aloud just one more point? Of course, that's rhetorical!
That "he" who once headed the Muslim Lawyers Association was also honcho of the largest law company in NegaraKu; I wonder how much of its business was/is/had been derived from UMNO and UMNO-related businesses?
"May almighty God protect us from our permanent enemy -- the corrupter of truth and justice to advance his/her/their selfish interests."
-- Amen/Amin
PS: In a Bernama report dated March 29, 2008, the defacto law minister Zaid Ibrahim was quoted as saying that:
"... his proposal for the government to apologise was not intended to embarrass anyone or to prove a point but was the basis of the desire of the administration of Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his deputy Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to reform the administration of laws."
"They want to change the legal area of judiciary reform. We should give them a chance," he said.
Asked on Dr Mahathir statement's yesterday that Zaid, who was then the President of the Muslim Lawyers Association, had fully supported the government's action that was taken in 1988, he said it was not correct.
"That is their conclusion. They inferred from my supporting the legality of the tribunal, so therefore they support it. Whatever it is, I want to say this. If I have done wrong against Tun (Salleh) and other judges, I am prepared to apologise," he said.
He said this act of humility was necessary as a first step and added that "if we are not prepared to do this, we will be in the same old time zone. We are not going to change."
PPS: Desi's viewpoint is that often these blardy politicians in their recollection always claim they were mis-quoted/mis-reported/mis-interpreted/misconstrued. Then I tell them "correct" the misquote there and then, and not two decades later justify that "high moral ground" that others should not quetion his proposal to apologise to Salleh Abas as "ill-itentioned".
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