PM Will Not Resign for One Man

A Kadir Jasin

UPDATE, May 25 – PAC announced today that its 1MDB hearing for Tuesday had to be postponed after the Ministry of Finance informed them, by letter, that two witnesses - Arul Kanda Kandasamy and former CEO Shahrol Ibrahim Halmi - were unavailable.

Shahrol Ibrahim Halmi

The MoF letter of May 22 states that 1MDB Board members, including Arul and Shahrol Ibrahim Halmi, were unavailable as they had to attend to matters abroad. 1MDB requested for a delay of 30 days.

From left: Lodin, Arul and Mohd Najib

Are these guys at the MoF and 1MBD playing punk with the PAC and us? Or have they left the country for good. Why do they ask for a 30-day delay? Are they trying to hide the books, erase the computers or seek fairy godmother’s help to make their troubles disappear? Something smell rotten! Mohd Najib is PM and MoF minister. What Bugis wayang is he playing now?

Wallahuaklam.

UPDATE - Dr Mahathir today accused Mohd Najib of lying about the whereabouts of 1MDB’s US$1.103 billion (RM3.97 billion) funds, stating that there could be possible criminal wrongdoing.

"It is saddening that I can no longer avoid from saying that the prime minister lied," he said in a blog posting today.

And just in case you are interested in Bugis wisdom, here is one: Pesan Puang Ri Manggalatung (tokoh cendekiawan zaman Kerajaan Wajo-Bugis) di Sulawesi Selatan.

”Makkedai Puang Maggalatung, Lempu naacca, Iyanaritu madeceng riparaddeki riwatakkalee, Iyatonaritu temmassarang dewata Seuwae. Naiya riasengnge acca, Iyanaritu mitae munri gau. Naiya nappogau engkapi madeceng napogaui. Narekko engkai maja, ajasija mupogaui nrewei matti jana riko.”

Dalam bahasa Melayu/Indonesia

”Berkata Puang Ri Maggalatung, kejujuran dan kepandaian, itulah yang paling baik ditanamkan pada diri kita, itulah juga yang tak bercerai dengan Dewata Tunggal. Yang disebut pandai ialah kemampuan untuk melihat akhir(akibat) perbuatan. Dan dikerjakannya adalah yang baik, bilamana dapat mendatangkan keburukan, janganlah lakukan. Bilamana tidak baik, jaganlah hendaknya engkau kerjakan, karena kembali juga nanti keburukannya kepadamu.”

ORIGINAL POST

"PM: I will not quit."

Headlined the Sunday Star today.

[REMINDER: No anonymous comments will be published.  Please use Google Account, OpenID or Name/URL. Pseudonym is accepted. Please be respectful .. No swearing. Thank you]

The MCA paper went on: Prime Minister Datuk Seri (Pahlawan Gowa) Mohd Najib Abdul Razak says he will not step down because he still has wide support among the people as well as Umno members…He would not quit just because one person wants him to do so. (Read here)

Since the PM would not quit because “just because one person wants him to do so” let me now officially join that one person in declaring that I too want Yang Berhormat Dato’ Seri Mohd Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak to step down.

The Bugis Warrior in a sea of supporters

Now that there are two Malaysians who want him to quit, he and his newly minted psychological warfare team will have to work extra time to ensure that he does not fall.

All leaders in Mohd Najib’s position said the same thing. When I was covering Almarhum Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj in the final days of his rule in 1969, he said the same thing, but not arrogantly.

Then, the Tunku was being surreptitiously undermined by his deputy, Allahyarham Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, with the help of  Umno young turks like Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tunku Abdullah Tuanku Abdul Rahman.

But Tunku did not waste time and money organizing “love the PM” gatherings. He held “durian parties” where preached goodwill or he played golf with his dwindling loyalists. I covered many of these events because towards the end, editors and seniors reporters no longer followed him.

Again Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the same thing when he was being hounded by Dr Mahathir and Muhyiddin Mohd Yassin in 2008/09. He eventually gave up and Mohd Najib sailed in.

So you see all you need to topple a PM in Malaysia is two antagonists.

By the way, that bit about “Pahlawan Gowa” is totally mine. The Sunday Star has nothing to do with it.

I think it is wholly appropriate refer to the PM’s Bugis warrior ancestry because the time has come for him to summon all his Bugis courage to survive the challenge by these two Malaysians.

[Other Malaysians are welcome to side with us, or the PM. Or you can remain neutral if you don’t care or if your rice pots depend on not going against the establishment.]

A Bugis Warrior Accepts No Defeat

Don’t blame me for referring to the PM as Bugis warrior and this is not something that I picked up the roadside, as the PM’s newly-minted mouthpiece, Encik Rizal Mansor, had previously accused me of.

Mohd Najib himself bragged about his Bugis ancestry and bravery of Bugis warriors. On April 28, when presenting the Government Transformation Plan (GTP) and the Economic Transformation Plan (ETP) 2014, he said a Bugis would not abandon his ship even though it was battered by giant waves, its rudder broken, its sails torn to shreds and the ship is finally swallowed by the ocean. A Bugis would toil on instead of returning to the harbour.

[Hatta dilanda badai, patah kemudi dan terkoyak layar dan biar seribu kapal ditelan lautan adalah lebih mulia bertahan dan meneruskan perjuangan daripada berpatah balik ke pelabuhan.”]

In his bravado, Mohd Najib has reduced the Malay ship (Umno) and the Malaysian ship (his 1Malaysia) to the two-masted Bugis pinisi.

A partially sunken Bugis ship (pinisi) - Jakarta Post

The PM may still have wide support among the people as well as Umno members. The sea of people waving the Pahang flags is a proof. And don’t forget he has the support of the monarch of Pahang too. [Please note: strictly no seditious statements about the monarchy.]

But still does not last forever. It is a temporary state. Here today gone tomorrow.

The feeling of insecurity and fear of being abandoned are apparent. The appointment of a new psychological warfare team (super advisers) that includes PR/Advertising man, Lim Kok Wing (LKW), suggests that the existing machinery has not been effective and cannot be fully trusted.

Lim Kok Wing: Will he dare attack Dr M?

This includes the press secretaries, the communication advisers, the image-makers, the sponsored bloggers and the communication advisory group comprising editors of mainstream media.

Knowing LKW, he would out-talk and ride rough shot over other members of the team namely Abdullah Md Zin, Johari Baharum, Rais Yatim and Shahrizat Abdul Jalil. We can expect to see more slogans, songs, banners and cartoons if LKW has his way.

LKW owes his rise to prominence and wealth to Dr Mahathir. So is Shahrizat and Rais. The latter was still honoured by Dr Mahathir in spite of him burning the bridge during the Semangat 46 days. . Let’s see how they are going to treat the man.

But the team may not be able to rein “independent” operators like Rizal and Farid Ridzuan, the sponsored bloggers and the likes of Puad Zarkashi, Salleh Said Keruak and Paul Stadlen.

So the PM psywar may still be the game of one-upmanship with each player trying to outdo the other in order to enjoy the love and affection of the PM and his wife.

Wallahuaklam.