Political snippets (19)

(1) TMI's MCA backs EC leaders to stay on reports:

The Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) has thrown its weight behind the Election Commission (EC), saying there is no reason for opposition bigwig Tian Chua to call for the EC leadership team to resign.

The Chinese part of the ruling Barisan Nasional points out that both the political coalitions that contested the general election have filed election petitions and it argues that this proves the EC did not favour either side.

It's not the MCA stand I have problems with because MCA is being what MCA has been for the last 30 years, a lapdog of UMNO.

It's TMI description of Tian Chua as an opposition, get this, bigwig.

I accept Anwar Ibrahim and Wan Azizah are opposition bigwigs, and likewise for Pak Hj Nik Aziz, Pak Hj Hadi Awang, Mat Sabu, Karpal Singh, Lim Kit Siang, Lim Guan Eng.

But Tian Chua?

WTF or wakakaka.

PKR pollies are more bigheads (or bigheaded) than bigwigs.


(2) TMI's - Election Commission chairperson admits failure of indelible inkElection Commission chairperson admits failure of indelible ink reports:

The Election Commission admits failure of indelible ink during the 13th general election. Its chairperson, Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof expressed his disappointment with reports that the ink could be washed off easily.

"If people ask me now, what is the saddest thing in my life, I would answer: ‘Indelible ink'," said Abdul Aziz during an interview with Malay daily, Sinar Harian.

The ink was part of the electoral reforms made last year to improve transparency within the system. However, the plan backfired when many voters found that the indelible ink can be washed off.

According to Abdul Aziz, the commission tested the indelible ink several times prior to the May 5 general election.

“On the much-awaited day, the power of Allah is greater when the ink could disappear after being washed several times. Where is the mistake?” said Abdul Aziz.

As they say, to err is only human, BUT to f**king lie is unscrupulous.

The EC had flagrantly lied about the so-called indelible ink and worse, kept changing their lies.

First, it was staff lack of knowledge in using the ink, then it was the need for Islamic ablution (prior to prayers) which 'compelled' the EC to dilute it so that it is NOT indelible (then why the f**k used it?), following which it was the Health Ministry's warning about the poisonous silver nitrate or some health-hazard chemicals in the ink which again 'compelled' the EC to dilute those noxious stuff, ...

... and which the new Health Minister, S Subramaniam, has (together with a ministry senior civil servant) repudiated the EC's claim of the advice coming from the Health Ministry.

In short, the EC has been lying but also demonstrated its sheer incompetency that they couldn't even come up with a decent lie and stick to that for consistency. That's what incompetency means.

Now, the EC chairperson, Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof, has the blasphemous nerve to draw in the name of Allah swt by providing another excuse again, effectively blaming The Almighty in his declaration “On the much-awaited day, the power of Allah is greater when the ink could disappear after being washed several times."

No, not 'washed several times' but by merely rubbing the inked finger against grass.

And he thought by blasphemously invoking the name of Allah swt, he might get away with it.

And this is the EC that MCA supports.

(3) Malaysiakini - Indian migrant joined Rela, got BR1M, RCI told

Have you read my previous post Some "Chinese" rule Malaysia now?

Maybe I've been incorrect and should have written a different article titled 'Some "Indians" rule Malaysia now' - wakakaka!

(4) Malaysiakini's Dr M backs 'no contest proposal' for Umno top posts reports:

Former Umno president Dr Mahathir Mohamad has backed urgings for the posts of president and deputy president to remain uncontested during the party polls to be held later this year. [...]

"If someone loses, they will withdraw and form another party and later divide Umno. I agree with competition but if there is competition, Umno will be split into two."

Obviously he worries about UMNO being split into two because that's not what he wants his nice but still politically naive son Mukhriz to inherit.

(5) Malaysiakini's Why should incest victims, too, be whipped? reported:

Whipping all parties involved in incest fails to recognise the power dynamics of a family where one party becomes the victim of another, says the Joint Action Group for Gender Equality (JAG).

Instead, it said justice would be better served if the perpertrator is charged under the Penal Code, as this would "properly reflect the gravity of the crime committed".

JAG adds in a statement: "It is grossly unjust that the Syariah Criminal Offences Act renders a victim of incest liable to a charge of illicit consensual sex.

"This fails to recognise the power dynamics in sexual crimes that occur within the family. No victim should be punished or even charged for the crime of incest."

Civil law, it said, is better suited to punish incest offenders as the guilty party is liable to a jail term of no less than six years and not more than 20 years.

Under the Johor Syariah Criminal Offences Act, those guilty of incest will face a fine not exceeding RM5,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years, or to whipping not exceeding six strokes or to any combination thereof.

Of course civil laws punish the offenders severely which may be why some Malaysian misogynists may not want.

There have been very observable discriminations against and disrespect for women among some Malaysian men - read my older posts Gatal versus miang and Lawmakers too easy on incest!

Taking about syariah laws, please read this Sydney Morning Herald report titled $25m fine 'means life' in foreign jail which tells us (relevant-related extract):

Alicia Gali, Australian victim but Dubai criminal

The scales of justice in Dubai are askew. Consider the case of Alicia Gali, an Australian drugged and raped by three fellow hotel employees in 2008. With four broken ribs, she reported the crime - and was promptly charged with having sex out of wedlock. She was sentenced to 12 months' jail and served the next eight months behind bars.

Her attackers, charged with the same offence, were deported before completing their sentences of 12 and 13 months.

Now, did I mention misogynistic discrimination against women?

So it's hardly surprising that in Malaysia the syariah laws (made by Malaysian men just as the Dubai syariah laws were made by Dubai men, and not Allah swt) allows the female (and probably underage) victim of an incestuous act to be whipped like the animal who raped her.

The Snippets:
(1) Political snippets (1)
(2) Political snippets (2)
(3) Political snippets (3)
(4) Political snippets (4)
(5) Political snippets (5)
(6) Political snippets (6)
(7) Political snippets (7)
(8) Political snippets (8)
(9) Political snippets (9)
(10) Political snippets (10)
(11) Political snippets (11)
(12) Political snippets (12)
(13) Political snippets (13)
(14) Political snippets (14)
(15) Political snippets (15)
(16) Political snippets (16)
(17) Political snippets (17)
(18) Political snippets (18)

Also:
(1) 3 quickies (1)
(2) 3 quickies (2)
(3) Monday quickies
(4) Sunday quickies
(5) Sunday quickies (2)

Some "Chinese" rule Malaysia now

Most of us are more than aware of the current and lamentably ongoing UMNO-instigated rage against the 'ungrateful' Chinese, this despite the general election being over. The results are already known and published in concrete where the UMNO-led coalition, being the majority political bloc in power, is back in federal rule for another 5-year term.

the gullible and the smiling warlords

Some political analysts suggested that UMNO and its various state, academic, media apparatus and supporters including a former Appeal Courts judge are keeping the rage going as part of the UMNO intra-party manoeuvrings, manipulations and Machiavellian-ism.

There are those of us who have even responded defensively when we needn't be guilty of that fabricated accusation, though of course I appreciate Pakatan politicians have to for the satisfaction of their outraged constituencies.

While it's true that there are those in UMNO and their 'subsidiaries' who truly dislike or even hate the Chinese, the UMNO membership in general from Dr Mahathir, Najib, Muhyiddin, supra-patriot Ahmad Zahid, etc right down to the (UMNO-favoured) village penghulus are more interested in business and personal prosperity together with their Chinese cronies partners.

As always, it's 'business as usual', but only temporary masked by anti-Chinese diatribes until the pending UMNO party election will be over.

Only those so-called 'true believers', on both sides of the political-racial fence, who truly hate the 'other side' are the gullible, manipulated and easily duped, and you can bet they have been.

Mind you, this doesn't meant we should tolerate what are illegal, corrupt or ethically unacceptable, but we shouldn't be so extreme as to hate, especially in believing the words of politicians as if those are from the Gospels (or Quran or Mahabharata).

We saw a lamentable example of that hatred when Tan Sri Michelle Yeoh was vilified, even as far as the interactive forum of a popular Hong Kong entertainment website.

Thinking about the self-interest driven sandiwara of politicians reminds me of an old Chinese kungfu movie which portrayed the battle forces of two warlords engaged in violent battle over dominance of a province. While the warriors were fighting each other in mortal combat to the death, the two warlords were partying together, dining, yamseng-ing, joking, laughing, and womanising in a private cosy retreat.

Then, during their hedonistic indulgences, they dabbled in the trivia pursuit of a cricket-fighting competition (a popular but profligate Chinese past time since the Tang dynasty). They betted on stakes which required the loser to withdraw from the province their troops were fighting over. The movie showed the total hypocrisy and immorality of the warlords when the side which had just won a bloodied battle over the province, at much cost to its soldiers' lives and resources, was instructed to withdraw unconditionally because their warlord's cricket lost.

Yes, they weren't unlike some modern Malaysian politicians.

Once in Facebook I commented on a friend’s posting about Ibrahim Ali, where I stated the Perkasa Chief wasn't a true racist, meaning he was a pretend-one, wakakaka – see Malaysiakini’s Ibrahim Ali: I'm not racist!

I was probably the only non-MCA Chinese wakakaka who said that I believed him, and that he was in reality a hypocrite to his Perkasa 'true believers', a mere opportunistic exploiter of politics, even racist politics, to get him where he wanted to go, back into UMNO.

Remember Ibrahim Ali was the one who warned the Malays that the Chinese would take over running the country after the next election – see The Malaysian Insider’s Chinese will take over in the next election, warns Perkasa. Well, is Lim Kit Siang the PM of Malaysia today? The sad brutal reality is that Lim Kit Siang being a Chinese will never ever be PM of our nation.

Of course Ibrahim Ali’s assertion on the surface appeared stupidly moronic but Ibrahim Ali is not stupid – he possesses very strong street cunning, and was merely playing to the heartland’s rightwing gallery, a piece of scare-mongering to arouse their inherent prejudice and fears and of course to win their support for his client, UMNO.

Alas, no matter how outrageous and preposterous his allegations against the Chinese might have been, there would always be a willing captive audience, those I consider as the gullible, manipulated and easily duped, who incidentally exist on both sides of the political-racial fence.

Whether Ibrahim Ali had been acting on his own or on behalf of someone was the question many had initially wondered about but now know only too well to either their outrage or immense disappointment.

On 12 March 2010 Malaysiakini proved me correct by publishing Ibrahim Ali laughs off link to Vincent Tan in which it reported RPK revealing Ibrahim Ali as sitting on the board of director in Dunham-Bush Malaysia, a company once owned by Tan. Hoe liao man, wakakaka.

And recently I also posted One good Chinese in Dr Mahathir's eyes, wakakaka.

What about today in The Malaysian Insider, when its headlines scream In a golf club, a gamble fails as members revolt, and which tells us:

... offered a peek into the billion-ringgit slot machine industry controlled by a clutch of businessmen closely connected to Barisan Nasional (BN). [...]

... company owned by a tycoon who organised the massive show of support in Port Klang for Datuk Seri Najib Razak with 60,000 people turning up for the dinner. [...]

A handful of Chinese tycoons own hundreds of licences issued by the Ministry of Finance to operate gaming machines. These machines are placed in private clubs around the city but are open to anyone who wants to try their luck. The tycoons with more licences are able to earn a profit of several million ringgit a month, some going as high as RM20 million a month, even after paying taxes to the government.

Anyway, as said, Ibrahim Ali is just an opportunistic hypocrite, especially to his own followers and supporters.

Incidentally I blogged on this sort of politicians' behaviour before, on 23 September 2009, in Malaysian prejudice where I said that in talking about politicians, I had written on what one of my uncles told me about a then-young Najib who was UMNO Youth Chief.

One day, at an informal gathering to see HM off on a flight, Unc overheard Najib making some sort of off-handed apology to his non-UMNO BN colleagues about the unavoidable necessity for him as Head of UMNO Youth to use harsh and aggressive (meaning ‘racist’) remarks, particularly at a time when the Youth Wing was having its wing elections.

Unc also heard former DPM Musa Hitam saying, perhaps apologetically, to a group of military officers during an election campaign, that “’Tis the season” as if that explained why he had said whatever he said.

Yes, don’t think for a moment that Najib and Anwar Ibrahim won’t do what the two movie warlords did (okay, minus the yamseng-ing and wakakaka perhaps womanising) because that’s politics, the art of the possible. That's why the rumour mills went into hyper-drive about the possibility of an Anwar-Najib 'bisa-diatur' deal if we read Malaysiakini's Anwar in Jakarta, but denies meeting Najib.

Najib: Bogor tea is not as good as our Cameron tea
Anwar: Cameron tea will be even better when I become PM
Najib: Dream on lah, but I feel a wee bored now
Anwar: Hey, have you heard of the Chinese fighting crickets?

And what about that most notorious Hindraf man who was previously a so-called fugitive who scooted off to seek refuge in Mother England, Waythamoorthy?

After his triumphant return, and prior to GE-13, Waytha had disdainfully dismissed Lim Kit Siang's Galang Patah Declaration where Lim adopted 11 of Hindraf's requirements.

In a previous post The Tragedy of Hindraf I wrote that Waytha's dismissal of Lim's pledge led us uncomfortably to the suspicion that the DAP was an unwanted suitor, when Hindraf probably desired someone else.

I had hoped I was wrong but when I read in Malaysiakini’s Tough issues in store for second PM-Hindraf meet I saw a totally different Hindraf reaction to its meeting with Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak. I commented cynically: Dare I say it has been coquettishly coy complete with fluttering eyelashes?

The only thing missing was the humongous MIC-style garland, wakakaka.

Sadly I was proven correct when Hindraf's adviser N Ganesan sneered at DAP's adoption of 11 of Hindraf's points in its so-called blueprint as an act of plagiarism. The accusation was so outlandishly ridiculous because Hindraf issued its blueprint with a demand that Pakatan or BN picked it up.

DAP picked them up and was accused of plagiarism? Huh?

Of course by now, we know Waythamoorthy and his adviser N Ganesan wanted and was waiting for Mapillai Najib to pick it up. And Najib did, but only on 4 (instead of DAP's 11) of those points.

Most ominously and tragically (for Indians), Waytha's deal with Najib pointedly omitted the issue of Indian deaths in police custody.

Your Britannic Majesty, I am delighted to inform you
that I'm now a Minister of the Malaysian Crown

Waytha has basically and unbelievably dropped one of the three core issues of Hindraf's platform, that of Indian deaths in police custody. 

And where is Wathamoorthy today?

Yes man, Najib, Mahathir, Ibrahim Ali, Waythamoorthy, they are all like the Chinese warlords in the kungfu movie I mentioned.

Hey, maybe they are Chinese too, at least as per those (kungfu movie) warlords' spirit? wakakaka.

Lu hoe boe, gua see UMNO lang, Gua punsee Hindraf lang

wakakaka

Tengku Razaleigh & The NeverEnding Story

Before I come to the current hot and perhaps wishful topic of Tengku Razaleigh (Ku Li) forming a 3rd Force to seize power and the PM post from Najib Razak, I might explain a wee bit about my choice of the post title, appropriated from a famous German fantasy novel (as well as the films based on it).

The NeverEnding Story is an apt title to describe the political 'odyssey' and specifically the various campaigns of Anwar Ibrahim in his search for his personal Holy Grail, the appointment of the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

Incidentally, The Odyssey is an epic poem which is attributed to the famous Greek poet, Homer. The Odyssey describes Odysseus' (or better known by his classical-Roman name, Ulysses') 10-year wandering within the Mediterranean theatre in his attempt to return home to his Kingdom of Ithaca on the west cost of Greece after the Trojan War (described in another Homer’s poem The Iliad).

Odysseus suffered the almost never-ending wanderings because he pissed off Poseidon (known as Neptune in Classical-Roman myths), the God of the Seas, for blinding his son, Polyphemus the Cyclops. Poseidon through his control of the seas prevented Odysseus from being able to sail directly to his homeland to reclaim his crown as King of Ithaca.

Odysseus blinding Polyphemus

Homer wrote of Poseidon's hatred for Odysseus: "But victory never comes cheap. Poseidon's anger had indeed been kindled. He roused the winds and tides against Ulysses [Odysseus] and sent word to island ogres and monsters of the deep."

Because of Odysseus wanderings, one filled with hardships, dangers, perilous adventures and a multitude of near failures, any similar long, arduous and dangerous journey has come to be termed or described as an odyssey.

In this, Anwar Ibrahim's similar decade-plus (almost 14 years) long journey to realize his personal political ambition has been an odyssey. Reminding ourselves of Anwar's 'Long March' (the Chinese version of a political odyssey, and also a harsh physical one as well) is important because of reasons to be made apparent soon.

Hmmm, I just wonder who could be Anwar's Poseidon? wakakaka. And if you're thinking it must be Mahathir, matey you're wrong. It's Anwar's own impatience. Insofar as his PM aspirations and ambitions are concerned, Anwar Ibrahim has been his own worst enemy.

I have posted on more than one occasion about Anwar Ibrahim's near misses at Malaysia's top political position, as follows:

(a) The torment and impatience of Anwar Ibrahim

(b) The Achilles heel of Anwar Ibrahim

and many other posts.

Within those two posts, you will be able to read extracts such as, respectively:

on Monday 21 August 2008 - Not satisfied with the Pakatan achieving a tsunamic victory (alas, there was nothing for him personally, when UMNO continued to snub him), he sought to destabilize a democratically elected government.

In the 6-months long process of snapping at AAB's heels and attempting to crush Najib's wayward balls, he has pushed himself and his Pakatan into a blind alley, where he now cannot extricate himself if he doesn't become PM by 16 September 2008.

What he should have done was to consolidate the Pakatan’s new power, formed a shadow cabinet to train his colleagues on ministerial functions, and developed the 5 Pakatan held States as models of democracy, freedom and free speech, non-corruptibility, good governance with full transparency and public accountability, and race-less equality and opportunity.

And he would have easily become PM in 2012 …

… but alas no ..

T’was again his impatience to reach the top – and he now suffers all sorts of allegation like the alleged sodomy charge, [...]

and

on Monday 14 July 2008 - Anwar's Achilles heel is showing through again, refusing to wait for the next general election – of course there are other factors as well which I will blog on tomorrow. Hence the PKR's almost daily broadcast about pending party defections … perhaps to pressure other UMNO stalwarts if not AAB, but wakakaka, they sneakily (and more wisely) turn towards PAS instead of Anwar.

Expect him to continue and even escalate his campaign of political destabilization, as he becomes more frantic with the approaching September 16 in just 2 months time.

And Malaysiakini has just published 'Opposition had planned demo today' where it reported Home Affairs Minister Syed Hamid claiming that, this month alone, his ministry has received information that numerous demonstrations were to be staged by the opposition (he probably meant PKR) with the sole purpose of toppling the government.

... and of course there is the Great 916 Shame and also the post titled The Curse of Marina Lee Abdullah? wakakaka.

Happier times, wakakaka

But from my extracts above, you would be able to gather an idea of the man and his obsession for a prize he believes belonged to him in 1998.

Like Odysseus he wants to claim his crown, to be the political king of Malaysia. But unlike Odysseus (before leaving for a decade long war with Troy), he was not a king in the first place, reclaiming what was his, but which he nonetheless believes should be and thus was his.

Now, do you understand why he has been so super-geram as he launches his never-ending campaigns - call them Reformasi, (hijacked) Bersih, Black 505 or whatever, they're all tragic reflections on his obsession to be PM.

Tunku Aziz has been a naughty patrician in recent times (ever since he left DAP in merajuk fashion) but recently he made a succinct remark in stating that "Anwar has a talent for mischief", implying Anwar will keep on a campaign of destabilization, ...

... in the same manner as I had posted on Monday 21 August 2008 (see above extract of a 2008 post), to wit, Not satisfied with the Pakatan achieving a tsunamic victory (alas, there was nothing for him personally, when UMNO continued to snub him), he sought to destabilize a democratically elected government.

In the 6-months long process of snapping at AAB's heels and attempting to crush Najib's wayward balls, he has pushed himself and his Pakatan into a blind alley, where he now cannot extricate himself if he doesn’t become PM by 16 September 2008. or be sworn in together with his PKR MPs on 24 June in Parliament.

Now we come to Ku Li. 'twas often said that Ku Li was the best PM we never had. But why didn't Ku Li become PM?

In his published memoirs, Dr Mahathir claimed that Ku Li’s impatience cost him the PM’s post.

But my uncles told me otherwise, that Ku Li's monumental loss was likely due to two other factors.

The first, probably the minor one, had to start off with the telling that Ku Li was then UMNO’s treasurer. Due to his amazing efforts, he was responsible for having a new impressive UMNO headquarters building completed [don’t know whether it’s the same one today?] It was a proud moment for UMNO, but alas, like Australians, UMNO members didn't like a ‘tall poppy’.

standing out too prominently gets cut down

The term ‘tall poppy’ means a person of real ability and commendable merits but who is resented by others and usually attacked and criticized by them because his achievements has put him significantly above his peers. Thus such a 'tall poppy' has to be chopped down. With the completion of the new UMNO headquarters building, did Ku Li unfortunately become a ‘tall poppy’ to some?

Apparently, believing it would benefit his party election prospects, it was said he arranged for the party assembly (prior to the party election) to be held at the new building, perhaps to remind party delegates of his achievements as party treasurer through the high visibility of the impressive new 'monument'.

But some of his mates warned him the more conservative UMNO members might not take kindly to this, and could well vote against him. Hmmm, would that be a reflection of some members' resentment of a man they saw as not sufficiently humble enough to be a good Malay and therefore not fit to lead them, or was it just plain jealousy of a ‘tall poppy’? Who knows?

Hah, now we now come to the second factor, centred around a young bloke by the name of Najib Razak wakakaka. He was about to become the party's acting Youth Chief, as his predecessor Anwar Ibrahim wakakaka vacated that post to stand for election as a party VP.

The story went that Najib was initially in Ku Li’s camp with a voting bloc which would have seen Ku Li nicely into the party president post - recall that Ku Li lost by a mere 43 votes! But alas, it was said that Najib changed side at the last minute, and the rest is UMNO and Malaysian history.

Incidentally, RPK provided another (probably more reliable) angle to the story, explaining why Najib zagged instead of zigged in his notorious zigzag way at the very last minute.

Apparently, according to RPK, Don Corleone Anwar Ibrahim gave Najib an offer he couldn't refuse wakakaka, something along the line that Najib bloody well support Mahathir or face humongous problems in his ascendancy to the Youth Chief’s post.

Now Najib, do you want to be Youth Boss?
So listen, this is what you have to do

wakakaka!

My uncles remember reading in the newspapers how Najib, because of his initial allegiance to Ku Li until he was ‘persuaded’ by Anwar wakakaka, subsequently went to elaborate attempts to 'honour' (bodek lah) Mahathir, with a public show of fealty when the latter came back from an overseas trip.

All the trappings and paraphernalia of Malay feudal honours and pledges of loyalty were unstintingly, ostentatiously and extravagantly displayed, not unlike what Perkasa did for our former PM when he took on the post of patron to the so-called NGO, except of course Najib's efforts were far more stupendous wakakaka. And Mahathir lapped it all up.

No doubt Najib was petrified that his zigzagging ways right up to the last minute of the critical party election would be viewed with disdain by the new No 1.

Aiyah, Mahathir always have a soft spot for then young Najib. I suspect it's the Old Man's hutang budi (debt) to the late Tun Razak who brought him from the cold outside, after he was expelled by Tunku, back into the party .

So, with all these stories by my elders and RPK, I wonder about Mahathir’s claim that Ku Li lost the post because the latter was impatient.

There was also another story of Melayu-type sabotage, where Ku Li, in innocuously wearing a Sabahan native headdress when he visited Sabah, provided his political foes with the ammo to accuse him of being aligned with Christians, because the native headdress appeared to have a cross (crucifix).

Anyway, after Mahathir’s UMNO Baru won the court case and more importantly all the most-considerable assets of Old UMNO and the power to rule Malaysia, Ku Li left the party to form Semangat 46, which, alas for us, was a political flop.

Even when he rejoined UMNO or rather joined UMNO Baru, for there was no party like good UMNO for an UMNO man (call him UMNO man or Semangat 46 man or wakakaka PKR man, they are all the same), he was noticeably 'left out' of the power loop though I'm sure he wasn't buggered in other areas such as business, etc. 

You couldn't blame Mahathir for that because Ku Li was not only a formidable opponent but highly and certainly MORE respected, liked and has the ears of the royalty, a most important institution in Malaysia. You could virtually equate him to the most beloved of all Malaysian leaders, Tunku Abdul Rahman. Then Mahathir must have still feared him as a potential, credible and popular rival.

But I suspect Ku Li's memories of that reality (his post Semangat 46 status or lack of) and the fear of being completely cut off by UMNO have been the principal deterrence which prevented him from ever taking a courageous stand to openly put his candidature as an alternative PM, whether as an UMNO candidate or a Pakatan nominated leader.

I'm sure Ku Li still harbours dreams of becoming PM but he has always waited for an open invitation which would guarantee him 101% of the PM's post. He won't take a chance.

Thus, while he has entertained meetings with East Malaysian BN leaders purportedly to form a 3rd Force to effect a change of ruling party, I bet you he would tell you, should push comes to shove, he was merely entertaining some 'old friends', wakakaka.

The current gossip is for 24 BN MPs from East Malaysia plus 10 BN MPs from Peninsular to support Ku Li in a new pact with Pakatan to form a government that is both Najib-free and Anwar-free.

Pakatan currently has 89 which on the surface will be more than enough if Ku Li can swing those 34 BN MPs to his 3rd Force.

But coming back to our home-grown political Odysseus, do you imagine for one microsecond that Anwar Ibrahim will accept Ku Li as the Pakatan PM?

DAP will, PAS is likely to, but PKR? No, I don't believe it will. Please recall the title of this post, that of Anwar Ibrahim's never-ending quest to be PM.

So we will be looking at a Pakatan minus PKR and its 30 MPs, which will give us only 68 MPs. Add on Ku Li's 3rd Force of 34 plus Dr Jeya (PSM) and you'll get 94 only. Worse, PKR by then is likely to join BN, wakakaka.

So assuming the gossip about Ku Li forming the 3rd Force is true, he will still be short of 112 - 94 = 18 MPs.

Will there be 18 or more MPs from PKR who will be prepared to say goodbye to Anwar Ibrahim, leave PKR, and make Ku Li the PM we should have had ages ago? You tell me.

But remember, Anwar will still be around to effect his never-ending story and continuous campaigns of political destabilisation. Don't for a second imagine Anwar will be satisfied with ABU and Ku Li as PM.

In fact, for him it'll be f* ABU and f* Ku Li, he just wants to be PM.

Thus, any change of government with Ku Li as PM will merely transfer Najib's problem of a heel-snapping Anwar, his PKR ketuanan inner coterie and their never-ending campaign of destabilization over to Ku Li.

Conspiracy theory on Tun Fuad Stephens' fatal flight

Today let's revisit the conspiracy theory surrounding the disastrous aeroplane crash in Sabah that is said to have changed the course of political history in Sabah.

I refer to Malaysia-Today's article (picked up from Star Online) Conspiracy still in the air. The journalist for the article is Philip Golingai.

Golingai quoted from a P.J. Granville-Edge's book, The Sabahan: The Life and Death of Tun Fuad Stephens, about what happened as the aircraft was crashing.

According to Golingai, P.J. Granville-Edge, Tun Fuad's niece, wrote:

“Fuad probably only suspected something was wrong when his plane began to vibrate. Perhaps, he suddenly felt a sharp jolt of fear.”

“The Nomad’s nose dropped. The plane began a one-and-a-half turn spiral plummet. It did not pull out of that twisting nose-dive and crashed into shallow water.”

Please note that P.J. Granville-Edge employed the qualifier 'probably' in her projection of Fuad's last minute feelings, but it's noteworthy that she mentioned these following words:

"... something was wrong when his plane began to vibrate" and “The Nomad’s nose dropped. The plane began a one-and-a-half turn spiral plummet. It did not pull out of that twisting nose-dive and crashed into shallow water.”

I am not sure where or who she had gleaned those words from, but I bet it would be someone who knew/knows something technical about the accident, because those were descriptions of an aerodynamic feature known as the 'stall'.

An aeroplane or a helicopter or a kite flies by virtue of the aerodynamic feature known as 'Lift', which itself is a product of the Reaction of the aeroplane or helicopter or kite ensuing from the Action against the air (or wind) - in other words, a manifestation of Newton's 3rd Law of Motion where Action (aeroplane moving through air by its engine[s] or boy running through air pulling his kite) is equal to and opposed by Reaction. The useful Lift is the vertical component of Reaction whilst nasty Drag is its horizontal component.

Next time when you drive around or to be more safe for you, when you're a passenger, open your car window and put your open palm out in the airflow, and then tilt your open palm at various angles to the airflow, and assess which angle gives you the maximum and minimum reactions of lift (upwards) and drag (backwards). Of course both will happen at the same as that would be the Reaction to the Action of your palm bring pushed forward by the car.

Safe flight is possible only when Lift is managed effectively by the pilot to the required amount, and likewise with Drag. That's as far as I dare proceed with the fangle technical stuff (of aerodynamics), which would be best left to pilots or aerodynamists.

But suffice to say, the control and management of both Lift and Drag becomes crucial during the take-off and the landing phase of a flight. If a pilot mismanages them, say during take-off or/and landing, a Stall may occur, with the symptoms and consequences occurring as per P.J. Granville-Edge's description of "... something was wrong when his plane began to vibrate" and “The Nomad’s nose dropped. The plane began a one-and-a-half turn spiral plummet. It did not pull out of that twisting nose-dive and crashed into shallow water.”

A more crude but impactful, though technically incorrect, description of a plane suffering an unrecoverable stall would be 'dropping from the air like a stone (or a ton of bricks)'.

What is meant by 'unrecoverable stall'?

A stall by itself is generally recoverable even if the pilot takes no action provided there is enough height (or altitude); left to itself the aeroplane will eventually recover into what it has been trimmed (or set up) for.

When there isn't enough safe altitude, say when the aeroplane is near the ground like around 500 feet or less, the pilot must take swift and correct actions to recover from the stall. It's doable and practised regularly at lengths by every working pilot.

Thus an 'unrecoverable stall' is one where the pilot doesn't have enough altitude to take his recovering actions or has taken incorrect actions (unlikely for a skilled pilot), or there is aggravating circumstances like an imbalanced loading which hinders the pilot from executing the required recovery actions.

The conspiracy theory achieved some traction from a Ku Li (Tengku Razaleigh) story, in which he recalled that Harris Salleh, then the Sabah deputy chief minister, persuaded him not to take that fatal flight but instead go to Pulau Banggi to see a cattle ranch. Thus Ku LI left the ill-fated plane together with Rahman Ya’kub (then CM of Sarawak) and Tengku Bendahara of Pahang.

The conspiracy insinuation has been that Harris Salleh knew the plane would crash and save Ku Li from doom by persuading him to disembark.

But we need to ask those conspiracy theorists how Harris Sallah had somehow managed to arrange for the crash to occur during the landing phase and in what was likely from a stall.

A far more drastic and deadlier sabotage (since this is a discussion on a conspiracy theory) would have been for the plane to crash during take-off (perhaps by fixing one engine to fail, though a qualified pilot can easily handle an asymmetric engine situation - okay then, both engines to fail) or during a later stage of flight by an explosive device, say, set to trigger by a barometric capsule when it passed a certain altitude. The latter scenario would have been more desirable so that most evidence would be lost in the sea.

Quite frankly, I wonder which pilot believes that one could or would fix an aeroplane to crash at its landing stage without an explosive device, bearing in mind this was in the mid-70's? Generally, a crash after take-off is far more deadly for the occupants than during a landing phase.

Thus I'm not predisposed towards any suggestion of planned assassination of Fuad through sabotage of the aeroplane, unless Harris Salleh or one of his bomohs has fantastic mind control where he could cause the pilot to mishandle the aeroplane and also black out during the landing.

I'm more inclined to believe it was an unfortunate accident.

But let's examine the Nomad aeroplane or its notorious history. Wikipedia informs us:

The Nomad design was considered problematic and early Royal Australian Air Force evaluations were critical of the design. An early, stretched-fuselage variant crashed, killing GAF's chief test pilot Stuart Pearce (father of actor Guy Pearce), and the assistant head designer. The Nomad has been involved in a total of 32 total hull-loss accidents, which have resulted in 76 fatalities.

As far as its safety records indicate, conspiracy theory aside, it has been not a good aeroplane. Currently, there is a new model being worked out, but as late as 2009, only one was flying in its home country Australia, which tells you something about the Nomad.

My uncle, when in the military, knew some air force people who informed him of the loading problems of the Nomad. Aeroplane loading problems can be divided into two areas, weight itself and balance.

The latter is the far more dangerous issue because an unbalanced loading and thus an imbalanced aircraft can present control problems for the pilot. The control problems become more acute during landing especially if the fuel which had earlier offset (minimised) the imbalance has been burnt off.

What about the pilot? Obviously his skills, experience and knowledge can minimise or even counter the threat of a stall or even an aeroplane suffering from an imbalance state. But as we have read, even the original test pilot for the Nomad aeroplane was killed, what more with a Sabah Flying Club pilot, Captain Gandhi Nathan.

Though my uncle didn't personally know Captain Gandhi, he knew of him from his (my uncle's) several visits at the invitation of his air force friends to the Royal Selangor Flying Club within the old KL airport grounds, which was subsequently turned into a TUDM (RMAF) station when the KL airport was shifted to Subang. Unc even had a few drinks together with Captain Gandhi though as part (guest) of a group consisting of those air force friends and some Royal Selangor Flying Club members.

As my uncle recalls, Captain Gandhi was not an air force trained pilot nor was he trained in Perth, Scotland (not the Perth in Australia), where I was informed the very early Malayan Airways (daddy of SIA and MAS) sent most of its pilot cadets to be trained.

Captain Gandhi was trained at the Royal Selangor Flying Club. After obtaining his Commercial Pilot Licence, he joined Sabah Flying Club which under Tun Mustapha Harun had all sorts of aircraft (aeroplanes and helicopters) and provided a career opportunity for low-hour pilots like Captain Gandhi who wasn't trained by the air force or an overseas commercial flying training school. Pilots from the latter two groups monopolized the airline recruitment.

Sabah Flying Club pilots
4th from left is Harris Salleh, then as Hon President of Club

That's my take on that unfortunate accident. I believe it's best to evaluate whatever information we have before we allow our political allegiance persuade us into imagining there was a sinister conspiracy.