Good news for Pakatan

 This should be good news for Pakatan,

Tajuddin eyeing top three posts in Umno polls, claims some members confident he can transform party

I think Malay Mail got so excited over it that it gave the story a rather longish headline.

Well, I don't blame them. Pakatan people should  really rejoice over these sort of stories.

It means there's still hope, okay.

If Umno leaders are all good people, then Pakatan would not stand a chance in the next general election.

Fortunately for them, the Umno leadership is still quite bad as it is.

As I previously wrote, except for Mat Hasan, I don't really like the top leaders of Umno.

Ya, that includes PM Ismail Sabri.

And if Umno people decide to elect people like Tajuddin as their top leaders, then that would only make it worse.

That should really be the end of Umno, actually.

Personally, I would not vote for someone like that or a party which promote such a person.

I believe that many Malays who are fence sitters would be like me.

The chances of this thing happening is actually quite high.

The current Umno supreme council is full of such people.

And they are making themselves into the faces of Umno.

Just look at that irritating Puad Zarkashi fellow, who has been getting quite a lot of media coverage.

I noticed that FMT has been publishing his statements quite regularly as if his is the voice of Umno.

That guy was very much disliked at his home base in Batu Pahat due to the way he conducted himself during his term as MP there in 2008-2013.

Umno may field him as its candidate there again in the next general election.

If it really happens, I hope he'll lose.

You see, the Umno leaders' bad habits are still there.

Look at how they put up billboards all over KL congratulating Shahidan Kassim when he was appointed Federal Territories Minister.

Why the hell they need to do that?

So stupid.

It reminds me of Perlis when the guy was the MB there.

Billboards of his not so nice to look at face were everywhere in Kangar and Arau at that time.

I remember very well what a good Umno friend of mine from Kuala Perlis said to me back then;

"Shidan ni ingat dia Stalin ke nak letak muka dia merata tempat,"

=

And Shahidan is not the only Umno leader with this billboard issue.

Umno people, really need to reflect on this. 

Those days when people, particularly Malays submit themselves to bad leaders of Umno's choice are gone.

If they continue to fail in choosing good leaders for their party, then their party will soon be dead.

No amount of Malay or Muslim unity talks can save Umno if its leaders consist of bad people.

Great defender of the Nons

 People, especially DAP supporters always asked me in not such a nice way why I hate Guan Eng and his father so much.

Actually, I don't hate them at all.

I'm just very much annoyed by them.

You can't hate people who were born to be annoying creatures but you do have the right to express your annoyance towards them, right?

Just look at this story from yesterday,

Guan Eng warns so-called racist and extremist groups in government

Hey man, we don't even know yet the detail of that Bill and you were already calling people racists and extremists.

The people Guan Eng called racists and extremists also already explained that it got nothing to do with non-Muslims and yet he still used such a strong language.

Trying too hard to portray yourself as the defender of the non-Muslims, aren't you?

Just like during the Sarawak election in 2011, when Guan Eng tried to be a defender of the Christians.

Well, he was actually at that time just trying to win over the majority Christian Ibans of that state.

A bit like menunggang agama lah.

This time, I think, he was trying to stay relevant by convincing the non-Muslims that he's their hope against racist and extremist Malay Muslims who are out to get them.

Not the first time he did that, actually.

Back in 2019, while still in power, Guan Eng declared that an Umno-Pas cooperation was a "declaration of war" on non-Malays.

That's how inflammatory he could get.

And who could ever forget the DAP's very racist campaign strategy of the 2013 general election which resulted in the Chinese tsunami.

As we know now, every action has its reaction.

The current government is now very much dominated by the Malays and other bumiputera.

Even if the next general election is to be held tomorrow, I believe we would still end up with the same kind of government.

The 22 months under Pakatan rule, led by people like Guan Eng thought the Malays and bumiputera that they can't trust such a set-up of people to lead them.

They trusted the bunch in 2018 only to later realise that Pakatan was not sincere to them.

Once in power, they showed their disdain towards the Malays and bumiputera by doing things that really hurtful.

The evidence was plentiful, as openly illustrated by Pakatan supporters' comments about especially the Malay Muslims in the social media.

The whole thing reached a boiling point when they defended perpetrators of a hate crime which resulted in in the killing of fireman Adib.

Adib's death was tragic enough, but those hurtful comments defending those who beat him up were what made me decide that this country must never be ruled by those people. 

Pakatan lost one after another by-elections after that before it imploded in early last year.

Now Guan Eng is back with his old trick of  trying to scare the non-Malays again into supporting him and his party.

After all, he needs to stay relevant as I was told that even Anthony Loke is getting to be more popular than him among DAP people. 

I think he would succeed to a certain degree, but not to the level of 2013 or 2018.

Well, Guan Eng has been churning out statements after statements every other days lately and so does his father.

This one is from today,

Hardly any impact in Khairy’s first month as health minister, says Kit Siang

Haiyo, what does he expect KJ to do?

Take over the ministry and the number of Covid-19 deaths immediately drops to zero is it?

I think the KJ guy has been working his ass off la.

Yesterday, he even did a spot check alone at a hospital.

Vaccination rate has also been good, with almost 80 per cent of the adult population already being fully vaccinated.

Seriously, I think Kit Siang should worry more about his son than KJ.

He should advice Guan Eng not to try too hard portraying himself as a hero as it only shows that he's just a fake.

But knowing the old man, he would probably be cheering on his son.

Well, what to do. The Lim family has always been trying to be like the Lee family in Singapore.

Cannot la uncle. Your son is not handsome and smart like Hsien Loong.

Seriously, just look at them, okay.

9/11, 20 years on...and Agent Orange

Exactly 20 years ago today, I was in my hotel room in Ho Chi Minh City, watching CNN's live coverage of the 9/11 terror attacks.

Somehow I was not shocked at that time when the WTC twin towers collapsed, killing thousands.

In my heart, I was telling myself that all the bad things done by the US around the world have finally came back to it.

Really, that was my thought at that moment.

I was after all in Vietnam that day, the country which was bombed and shot to pieces by the Americans for more than a decade.

Several days prior to that, I was in Hanoi where my Vietnamese hosts there had took me on a visit to a rehabilitation centre for children who suffered from deformities because their parents were victims of the Agent Orange, a chemical sprayed from the air by the Americans over the forests during the Vietnam war.

The Americans had done that to kill off the trees and  other plants so that their Vietnamese enemies were denied of forest cover and food.

The chemical, however killed and caused severe harm to those who came in contact with it.

The effects of the chemical were also passed down to the next generations of victims until today.

Some of the children at the centre also suffered from other disabilities such as blindness and loss of hearing.

Trust me, it's heartbreaking watching the sufferings of those children.

I remember one particular girl  at the centre who was about nine years old at that time. She was so cute and shy as she sat on her wheelchair. Her hands and legs were deformed since birth.

I wonder how she's doing today.

It was estimated that the US sprayed up to 15 million litres of the Agent Orange throughout the Vietnam War, claiming up to 14 million victims till today.

The US has never admitted its guilt over the use of the chemical in order to avoid paying compensation to the Vietnamese.

And of course no American was prosecuted for the chemical warfare waged against the Vietnamese.

The rehabilitation centre in Hanoi is still there till today and there were many other similar ones around the country.

Anyway, as we already knew, the US and its allies  declared war on terror after the 9/11 attacks and went into Iraq and Afghanistan, causing the deaths of a few hundred thousands more.

I may understand them invading Afghanistan because Osama Bin Laden and his AlQaeda gang, who were behind the 9/11 attacks were hiding there but I strongly believe that invading Iraq was purely because of a different agenda.

The US' wars in those two countries just ended recently with their marines making the final exit at the Kabul airport that day after two decades of occupation.

I have to conclude that the US actually lost the wars in both countries.

Iraq is now controlled by the Shia, allied to the rulers of Iran while Afghanistan is back in Taliban's hand.

It was actually amusing watching how many Americans reacted to the defeats, especially the one in Afghanistan where it was so evident that they lost the war there.

I saw some of the coverage by the right-wing Fox news channel and laughed as its anchors tried their best to insist that the US could actually go back to Afghanistan and bomb the Taliban once again back to stone age.

That was so pathetic of them.

Honestly, I don't hate the Americans or even their military might.

It's just that their government and those in charge there were either too stupid or morally corrupt for leading them into those wars.

They should actually pick better wars to fight.

Well, for one thing they should try to defend Taiwan if the communists in Beijing decide to invade the island.

I would support them if they defend the people and the democracy there.

Or if they stop Beijing from bullying us in the South China Sea.

Oh, I also hope that the US will stop being so supportive of the brutal Israeli occupation of Palestine and  being too friendly with oppressive regimes such as the Modi's BJP government in India.

Ismail Sabri's first major blunder

I have always been sceptical of Ismail Sabri being able to do anything for real.

It's not that I hate him or anything but the few times I met him, especially back then when I was in Pahang, the guy didn't impress me at all.

Whenever people asked me what I think of him, I would always said he's a nice guy but a bit slow.

And yesterday he justified me saying that by reappointing Muhyiddin as chairman of the National Recovery Council with ministerial status.

That's so lame, if you ask me.

Ismail Sabri, as the PM should take charge of the council instead of giving it back to Muhyiddin.

Mail, you can't do the job yourself, is it?

Are you too slow to do it?

And Muhyiddin of all people. That's stupid.

I wouldn't go to the extent of putting #kerajaangagal next to Muhyiddin's name, but I wouldn't say he had done a fantastic job as PM either.

He should just take a rest la and let a new guy takes charge and do better things.

After all, Malaysia could do with an improved strategy in its handling of Covid-19.

Or at least a moral booster of a man in charge who is better than the previous one instead of the same guy again.

Why can't Ismail Sabri sees that?

 Sigh.

Actually, I don't even mind if Ismail Sabri put Najib there, if he really needs to concentrate on other stuff.

Seriously, Najib would be better than Muhyiddin in that position.

I know, you all Pakatan supporters hate Najib and want Anwar to be in charge, but that's impractical, okay.

What ever it is, all of them, Muhyiddin, Najib and Anwar, should not be in charge again.

They had their chances (Anwar was acting PM once).

Ismail Sabri should join the list too, based on his decision yesterday.

We need someone fresh and with new good ideas.

Let's have that, once we can have GE15.

Once we achieve herd immunity, hopefully before end of this year, we must have a snap general election.

And Ismail Sabri better not try to cling on to power.

He needs to stop such nonsense as that statement by the AG yesterday.

Have the vote of confidence in Dewan Rakyat, or otherwise all the bullshit fighting will start again.

We are tired of it, okay.

Malaysians need to be focused as Covid-19 deaths surpassed that of communist insurgency

 I'm busy now.

So, for today, I just cut and paste this commentary by my good friend again.

By Shahrum Sayuthi

Malaysia's Covid-19 death toll, as I am writing this now, is 16,664, which is higher than the official count of 15,981 deaths suffered in the war against the communists during the 1948-1960 Emergency period..

It is a grim reminder of how serious the crisis currently faced by the country really is.

Perhaps because there were no shootings or bombings, many Malaysians, particularlly those who were less affected by the pandemic and its economic fallout find it hard to really comprehend the deadliness of the situation.

Of course they say they know that Covid-19 is very bad but in all truthfulness, they do not actually feel it in their heart how truly bad it is.

That is why there are still those who could quarrel and quibble about matters which by right should for now be regarded as inconsequential.

In all seriousness, what was all that recent political storm was really all about? Does it really matter to the politicians that hundreds die of Covid-19 everyday or were they just using those numbers of deaths as soundbites to further their political ambitions?

Then there were those who went out of their way to beat the movement restrictions standard operating procedures to accommodate their self convenience.

For instance, do we really need to go back to our hometowns for Hari Raya or New Year at a time like this?

It is highly unlikely that anyone would try to lie to the policemen at the roadblocks in order to cross the state border if the government said there are communist insurgents planning to ambush anyone foolish enough to travel now.

Since it is not such a dramatic image of imminent danger, many do not feel it is too bad to try their luck to cross the borders by any means, including forging travel documents. Never mind that they may in fact be carriers of the deadly coronavirus which could infect their elderly parents and loved ones in the kampung.

Malaysians need to truly realise that this pandemic is actually the worst crisis this country has ever faced, with the economic devastations caused by it to be felt for many years to come.

Nonetheless, the light is already showing at the end of the dark tunnel, despite the continuing hundreds of daily deaths and ten of thousands of new cases. 

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah on Monday pointed out that of the 20,897 new cases recorded that day, 98 per cent of them were asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic cases.

He also noted that 73.6 percent of the newly infected had yet to complete their vaccination.

This has actually been the trend since the Covid-19 National Immunisation Programme started gaining momentum over the past weeks.

It shows that the vaccination effort has started taking effect as the overwhelming majority of new infections were not of the serious categories.

As more Malaysians receive their vaccination in the coming days, we would likely be able to see the situation further improve and less deaths recorded daily.

The right thing to do now should be for Malaysians to stay the course and be focused on beating the pandemic as soon as possible.

We should not be distracted by especially claims of better remedy by those who felt that they know better on how to handle the crisis.

True, the handling of the pandemic as it is now may not be perfect, but we cannot afford to change the existing strategy, just to experiment with other suggested solutions which may after all likely be flawed too.

Back during the communist insurgency, the handling of that crisis was criticised too, with the forced relocation of some 500,000 rural people of mostly Chinese descent  into internment camps called "new villages" being described by some as inhumane.

However, that strategy under the Briggs Plan was so instrumental in cutting off food and medical supplies for the insurgents in the jungle that it led to the collapse of their fighting capabilities and eventual capitulation.

As it is, once a strategy during a crisis already shows that it is working, as in the case of this fight against Covid-19, we should concentrate on supporting it until its ultimate success.

Indeed, whatever mistakes done or issues arising during this crisis should be addressed now, but not to a point of causing distractions  that may affect the immediate objective of overcoming the pandemic as soon as possible. 

(Shahrum Sayuthi has been a journalist for 24 years of which 18 were with New Straits Times before quitting as its political editor in 2015 to join The Mole.)