Bagi Najib Masa
June 30, 2010
Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Razak perlu diberi peluang serta ruang secukupnya bagi menyelesaikan segala masalah tertangguh dalam hubungan dua hala Malaysia dan Singapura dalam membawa manfaat kepada negara untuk tempoh jangka masa panjang.
Sebagai Perdana Menteri Malaysia, Datuk Seri Najib sudah pasti mempunyai kebijaksanaan dalam membuat rundingan dengan Singapura yang selama ini, gagal dilakukan pemimpin terdahulu termasuk Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Kenapa perlu beri tekanan kepada Perdana Menteri, saya yakin beliau tahu apa yang dilakukan dan ia dibuktikan dengan kenyataan segera bahawa kerajaan akan mengkaji pembinaan jambatan sebaik mendapat titah Sultan Johor, Sabtu lalu.
Sibu, Sara-whacked
May 25, 2010
This article previously appeared in The Malaysian Insider.
Barisan Nasional’s (BN) loss of the Sibu Parliamentary seat did not surprise me. After all, BN had lost the seat to the DAP once before in 1982.
I wrote an analysis of the political situation in Sarawak in this column last year and had pointed to the successful transition from the chief minister to a younger, credible leader with less baggage as the key to rejuvenating the Sarawak BN political leadership.
Bring back the heroes
May 4, 2010
This article first appeared in The Malaysian Insider.
My mother used to scold me when I was young for watching too many cop shows on television. She didn’t understand why I wasted my time watching them and devoted less time on my studies.
The cop shows were exciting and taught me many of life’s lessons I would not have gathered at home.
All because of you, Najib
May 3, 2010
This article first appeared in The Malaysian Insider.
The Barisan Nasional won the Hulu Selangor parliamentary seat last Sunday.
The election victory was supposed to be a foregone conclusion as the constituency is nestled in the middle of the Umno rural heartland of southern Perak and northern Selangor where the party grassroots machinery is formidable and the Pakatan Rakyat branch network is sparse.
Bad Boys
April 14, 2010
This article previously appeared in The Malaysian Insider.
The schoolchildren were excited and laughing out loud in Parliament yesterday. I don’t blame them because the Dewan Rakyat proceedings took a nasty turn yesterday.
The Pakatan Rakyat (PR) MPs disrupted the proceedings in the Parliament by manipulating procedures of the sitting to attempt to refer the Pasir Salak MP to the Privileges Committee for a fair remark.
They delayed debates by frequently demanding unnecessary votes by poll which was won by Barisan Nasional (BN) with a large margin. Their actions just wasted time and prevented key legislation from being approved.
Najib’s ‘Year of Living Dangerously’
April 14, 2010
This article previously appeared in The Malaysian Insider.
As a son of a former dedicated party man and minister, I understand the almost impossible task of emulating a legacy in politics.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Najib Abdul Razak is still struggling to shake off the public’s comparison with his great statesman father, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein after a year in office.
Datuk Seri Najib can draw a few similarities with the enormous task at hand confronting his late father 40 years ago.
PAC is not a game of Pacman
December 17, 2009
This article previously appeared in The Malaysian Insider.
The prosecutors finally screwed up the courage to charge four people for the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project over the past week, thanks to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) recommendations that enough evidence exists to take some people to court.
The main person thus far is the former general manager of the Port Klang Authority, Datin Paduka OC Phang, and several officials from PKFZ contractor Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB) and one architect.
It shouldn’t stop there. I suspect the investigations will continue beyond the current prosecutions in view of the large discrepancy in the payments made to KDSB as the contractor to the PKFZ.
Hak akar umbi pilih calon pilihanraya
December 5, 2009
This article previously appeared in The Malaysian Insider.
Umno yang dilahirkan sebagai parti akar umbi sebenarnya sudah menunjukkan perubahan. Ini terbukti apabila Presiden Umno Datuk Seri Najib Razak dan timbalannya Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin sebulat suara menyokong pindaan perlembagaan parti baru-baru ini.
Melalui pindaan perlembagaan baru ini, Umno memberi kuasa memilih Ahli Majlis Tertinggi (MT) termasuk Presiden, Timbalan Presiden dan Naib Presiden kepada ahli di peringkat Bahagian. Dianggarkan lebih 146,000 ahli Umno di peringkat Bahagian akan membuat keputusan.
Ini adalah langkah permulaan ke arah pendemokrasian Umno yang sememangnya menjadi hak ahli dan bukannya mana-mana pemimpin atau kumpulan tertentu.
Najib’s Umno: is it really back to basics?
October 20, 2009
This article previously appeared in The Malaysian Insider.
Umno must return to its roots to be an all-inclusive party. That was the main theme of Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s presidential speech at last week’s Umno general assembly when outlining the changes the party needs to do to survive.
I hope the Umno delegates to the annual assembly understood what Najib meant.
I have some doubts after reading the comments of some top Umno leaders who quickly proclaimed that the amendments made to the party constitution as being the “new” democracy for the organisation.
Annus horribilis
October 5, 2009
This article previously appeared in The Malaysian Insider.
Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri. It is exactly a year since I offered myself for the Umno deputy presidency.
I knew I didn’t have a chance in hell of getting enough nominations to be eligible and it could also be suicidal to my “young” political career. But I thought it was worth the sacrifice to send a signal to the top leadership that Umno’s time in power is over if we don’t change.
Umno president Datuk Seri Mohamed Najib Razak probably got my message when he used the phrase “change or be changed” in the party’s general assembly before taking over as Prime Minister in April.
So six months into Najib’s reign as the country’s sixth prime minister, what does Umno have to show?
Recent Comments
On October,5 at 11:23 tokdalang commented on Annus horribilis: Datuk, Good point. But time for you and your colleagues to get off your high horse and do something about it....more
On June,21 at 20:38 sragu18 commented on One Love, let’s get together and feel alright: Datuk, i think everyone need a chance to prove their worth and our PM has until the next GE to...more
On April,27 at 18:25 tokdalang commented on One Love, let’s get together and feel alright: Datuk, pretty nice sentiments but i fear there is no time like the present. 1Malaysia is so open-ended that if...more
On November,19 at 15:12 fjuara commented on Jazlan: Saya tidak terkilan tiada pencalonan: Saya terkilan jugak sikit
On November,19 at 15:10 fjuara commented on Nur Jazlan tarik diri tanding Timbalan Presiden: Samalah.. saya pun tarik diri jugak
On October,31 at 17:23 7thpm commented on Q & A with Nur Jazlan: Dear Honorable Datuk, Happy Hari Raya. It is a time for celebration, it is also a time to ponder the...more
On October,15 at 10:25 zaki commented on Nur Jazlan: Dr M has no right to call us jokers: Dear Datuk, you have my support. it is about time UMNO undergoes a total overhaul. we need new blood....more
On October,15 at 07:38 sragu18 commented on Nur Jazlan: Dr M has no right to call us jokers: Dear Datuk, It's funny to hear our great Tun M making a joke out of aspiring candidates for the no 2...more