Of Men and Mice

You know what? I dunno, Desi’s acting queer, weird, or funny answering his own rhetorical question. Is the doc around?

Funny way to start a post this Wednurseday morning, but it’s a Funny, Funny, Funny, Funny World we live in, Master Jack and Miss Jackie and all the Jackalings-in-between. Maybe more apt it be Fanny, Fanny, Fanny, Fanny Wilds we dwell in, masters, and mistreeses, and misses, and mattreeesses, all?

OK, back to serious business. Parliament biz is serious, no? If Rafidah Aziz had been a Prime Minister, the media would have loved her as they had, and to a lesser extent today, still have, loved Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

As a Blogger who comes with a journalist background, and who still practises some pseudo journalism, Desi sees in Rafidah all the makes, takes and cakes rolled into one personality who easily beats all Pak Lah’s Cabinet members in getting into the newspapers front pages any time.Anywhere. Even in absentia.

Prior to 2005, Rafidah had enjoyed mostly a smooth ride dealing with the press. I like to use the term SWIMMINGLY, to describe such a scenario of smooth sailing and easy rides. Fair weather, until the tsunami named AP hit.

But life's like that. All have our ups and downs. Too bad the waters have changed from a placid lake into really troubled waters for one whom Desi thinks has overstayed her welcome, like several of her colleagues. But does my humble opinion matter on national matters?

Still, the steely lady makes GOOD copies. YES, RAFIDAH - SHE certainly knows how to steal the limelight. Sumtimes, she even stills already placid waters further. Maybe Desi has changed his mind about over-stay – we can afford to try her for one term as Prime Minister, after Pak Lah? No harm there – Malaysia is already Xperimenting with all sorts of things. One more Xperiment won’t hurt a soul – most of us are already wandering and wondering.

One Example of news-making quotes: ‘Kit Siang can go jump in the lake’

The is from the New Straits times, October 5, 2005, first page of course!
First lady-status must deserve VVIP page cover, every indoctrinated Journalism 101 editor should know that!

Okay, back to the news of the day (Aussies pronounce day as DIE, sometimes the steel/irony is righton… Sorry, ma’am, I digress, though not as early as yesterday.) I'm referring to Yesterday often lately -- suffering Nostalgia, is that GOoDer or Badder, doc?

The headlines and sub-heads say it all:

THE RAFFIDAH SHOW – UUNCOWED AND UNBOWED
6 QUESTIONS
45 MINUTES
MIXED REVIEWS
Some MPs still not happy with her explanation

Someone over the last few occasions as a newsmaker had been definitely feeling hot under the collar. I'm also somewhat under the weather, but the reAson is diff, off course. Too bad I wasn’t in the mainsteeam press covering the political beat todie.

I would have liked to remind the honourable minister that her ‘I’LL SUE YOU’ threat was a sad refrain which saw no followup action when bleated out in the past and many Opposition leaders had accepted her challenge by repeating those allegations pertaining to the share allocations that the present Opposition Leader reprised yesterday. Prominently, this suit thing was highlighted today on the right side of the page, while ‘Kit Siang can go jump in a lake’ was leftist-leaning.

For the record, some of Kit Siang’s questions that riled Rafidah at the august House yesterday (wonder if the house is still august just two months later; ah, I digress again, but that’s the fun and luxury part of Blogging contrasted with mainstream reporting … I wouldn’t trade you for the world…) are exerpted in the following:

”You have proposed that the AP scheme be abolished.
Why has the Cabinet not approved it?
Were APs awarded to MPs to silence them
Over an issueinvolving a corruption scandal of a minister
giving millions of shares to an in-law?
Is it not true that the Attorney-General
Has proposed that you be datined for corruption?...”

And summarising, Rafidah’s replies (NST, page 2, headlined:
“Defiant Rafidah takes on peers in Parliament”
to the charges:

*1: She dismissed claims that she and her family had benefited from awards of APs as fitnah (malicious lies).

*2: She warned Lim and anybody else who dared question her INTEGRITY not to “play around” with her.

*3: And for MPs who had objected to their names being published for receiving APs, she asked what was there to be “ashamed” of.

*4: Explaining her absence from Parliament, which had been criticized by both BN and Opposition MPs, Rafidah said she had been overseas on official duty.

*5: However, it is noted by the NST that “But the showdown between Rafidah and other MPs was not as contentious as expected and aside from Lim, only five other MPs questioned Rafidah.
This was despite the question session being extended by hald-an-hour.”

*6: This is the Quote of the Day from the courtly proceedings:
To the Opposition Leader:
“I am not willing to stand by and allow such fitnah against my family and me. Don’t play around. If you say I am the queen, then you are the court jester. I’ll sue you.”


Yes, we finally see some skeletons that had been lying too long in the cabinet, ooops, I mean, cupboard, being spring-cleaned out. Like even closet socialists are no more safe from scrutiny nowadays, but that’s GOOD. Transparency, Accountability, Responsibility, Irreponsibility … all under the microscope. I noted Irresponsibility because many parties have to Account For (or Acquit) themselves, and their lack of actions and responsible behaviour. Remememember, OMISSION OF NATIONAL DUTIES is sometimes as culpable and liable to punishment as the COMMISSION OF WRONGFUL ACTIONS.

On the points summarised above relating to Rafidah’s answers, here’s my 3sen worth:

DESIDERATA:

**1: Fitnah? I’m sure PKR Youth leader Ezam Mohamed and other Opposition leaders are brave enough to repeat the charges relating to the award of Leader shares?

**2: On INTEGRITY, Rafidah reminds me of another Parliament matter I had stated several times here: Many MPs at a meeting with the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had said they did not ask for the “10% pay/allowance rise”, yet subsequently passed the motion to activate the pay/allowance increase. Maybe all these MPs – both BN and Opposition – are like church mouse in the plural. RAT-ty also-can-lah! I hear some mGf chorus-ing, always reminding Desi of CHALLENGIA. Patience, OK!

**3. Yes, I concur with Rafidah (rare occasion, yes? But as Desi has often stressed, LET’S DISTINGUISH THE SINGER AND THE SONG…). On a related matter, the MITI officer who was transferred out – may I suggest to the honourable minister -- Do the right thing by him/her — PROMOTE HIM/HER -- for doing national service, in line surely with the concept Service Above Self?

**4: I’m neutral on this point. This is up to the nation's CEO Pak Lah to determine – the scheme of priorities is not for less informed souls to fathom. I don’t want to stir the waters too much as I wish to see core issues crystal clear. This is not among Desi’s core issues. BBC chairman Sharir Samad said it well – it’s the QUALITY of the answers in Parliament that matters.

**5: See somewhere out there Desi’s point of men without balls, and women with more, and Court Queen Bee and Eunuchs-to-Bee … minus the Court Jester. This is serious national business, we can't be Joking!

**6: The ball has been bounced back into Sdr Lim Kit Siang’s court. Will he kick? To be or not to be -- King or Jester be, that’s the question.Questions and Answers given in the Parliament are not liable for action in the Courts of Law. The only test of firmness in such stance is a Test of Integrity. So any allegations – and definitely there are a few in yesterday’s hot exchange – have to be repeated out of Parliament House to waive Immunity -- we the Rakyat wait with bated breath.

A few fellow bloggers have just posted on this arresting and intriguing subject of INTEGRITY that goes into the heart of the matter of Lim’s allegations against the “Iron Lady”. (Visit sabrinawstan.blogsome.com) The ball has bounced here and there, and some players just don’t have the guts and gumption to play ball. Some men have two, others less than 2, or is it none, while some women have at least, okay, I'm counting...... I'll stop at SE7EN, my fav number! I’ll stop here lest some of my EsteemedReaders have not recovered from the steaming session at the Octopus, oops, August House.


Yes, thy patience pays. NEW CHALLENGIA, in the spirit of the protagonists as well as fellow Bloggers like Sabrina, Yan –- am I guilty too? – throwing challengia at their ‘steamedReaders recently, I attach one again:

Is there an English HOWLER in “Kit Siang can jump in a lake”?

YES. the DEADLINE (No, no DATELINE, I can't be meeting up with all my luvly readers on dates, man, Can become dead meat, boy!:( I want to eat sum more Ssatay!:) 11.59 PM today, yes, one minute before MIDNITE, you watch 24, JACK BAUER?
Hey, the host can digress, but guests, can-also-lah! Sparingly, OK!

YES, the PRIZE.

No one successfully claimed the two sticks of Ssatay in yesterday’s Challengia; I offered a generous one stick to Dangerous V. for trying vely hard. So one more Ssatay for the first reader to get Wednurseday’s challengia right. Sorry if you point out my spelling mistake in this third day of da weak, cos Desi knows it, it’s sumtimes his HOUSE STYLE when he’s in a knotty, or chicky, mood. He’s in such a mode today.

“Sekian, terima kasih.” For now, receive my love.
GoOD ending to a funny start.