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Open Letter to Ministers an hour before Cabinet meeting – Don’t be “half-past six Cabinet” of “deadwood” Ministers, and don’t be moral pygmies and political dwarfs but take a stand on behalf of present and future generations on the great issue of right and wrong in Malaysia

Only last Thursday, I had the occasion to comment that the Malaysian Cabinet Edition 2015 is probably the worst in the 58-year Malaysian history – acting like the traditional three monkeys with eyes that see not, ears that hear not and mouths that speak not.

This was when the Cabinet failed to repudiate and reprimand the Urban Well-being, Housing and Local Government Minister, Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan for his irresponsible and reckless statement that the restoration of local government elections could worsen racial polarisation in support of the equally bizarre statement by the PAS President Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang that the restoration of the third vote could cause a repeat of the May 13 race riots.

Abdul Rahman is the most irresponsible Local Government Minister in the nation’s history for no other Local Government Minister had ever made such a statement in the past 50 years since the suspension of local government elections on March 1965 on the ground of threat from Indonesian Confrontation.

Former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad had dismissed the previous Cabinet as “half-past six” and the former Finance Minister Tun Daim Zainuddin was no less caustic when he talked about “deadwood” Ministers.

But the Cabinet 2015 seems set on proving Mahathir and Daim right in their condemnation of the quality, character and even work ethics of the current batch of Cabinet Ministers.

The Cabinet 2015 had already totted up several major failures in the first month of the new year, including: Continue reading “Open Letter to Ministers an hour before Cabinet meeting – Don’t be “half-past six Cabinet” of “deadwood” Ministers, and don’t be moral pygmies and political dwarfs but take a stand on behalf of present and future generations on the great issue of right and wrong in Malaysia”

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Why silence from IGP on Minister Ismail when Khalid would have tweeted directive to police to investigate DAP or PR leaders under Sedition Act if they had expressed similar racist sentiments?

If a PAS or PKR leader had called on Malay consumers to boycott Chinese businesses to lower prices or a DAP leader had called on non-Malay customers to boycott Malay businesses to lower prices, the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar would have immediately tweeted directive to his police officers to investigate the DAP or PR leaders
under Sedition Act or a whole host of other laws.

Why then the unusual silence from the Inspector-General of Police when the Minister of Agriculture and Agro-based Industries, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob called on Malays to boycott Chinese businesses to lower prices?

Has Khalid’s twitter account broken down or is Bukit Aman suffering from a breakdown of internet access?

This itself highlights the double-standards which the IGP had been conducting himself, doing a great disservice to the professionalism and integrity of the overwhelming majority of dedicated men and women in blue who had conscientiously and diligently carried out their duties to uphold the law without fear or favour.

I hope that within minutes of this statement going out, we will see Khalid in twitter action! Continue reading “Why silence from IGP on Minister Ismail when Khalid would have tweeted directive to police to investigate DAP or PR leaders under Sedition Act if they had expressed similar racist sentiments?”

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Roundtable Conference of concerned MPs, NGOs and NGIs to outline the contours of Parliamentary Inquiry into Altantunya Murder or alternatives before Parliament reconvenes on March 9 being considered by the DAP Legal Bureau

I have received positive and favourable response to the suggestion for an all-party Parliamentary Committee to inquire into the many unresolved but important and critical public interest questions on the Altantunya Shaariibu Murder Case, despite the end of the Altantuya murder trial and the conviction of two elite policemen Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar of the Special Action Unit (UTK) for the murder and their death sentence.

Many however are not sanguine that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Najib and his Cabinet would agree to the proposal for an all-party Parliamentary Committee into the Altantuya Murder, even if the parliamentary committee is headed by a Barisan Nasional MP.

Najib and his Cabinet has a month before Parliament reconvenes on March 9 to decide whether to endorse the establishment of an all-party Parliamentary Committee on Altantunya Murder.

If the Najib Government is not prepared to agree to a Parliamentary Committee or any other form of public investigation into the Altantunya Murder, then the alternatives will have to be explored, including a hybrid of a Parliamentary-Civil Society Inquiry Committee comprising MPs from both the Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat and the civil society (both NGOs and NGIs) who believe that good conscience, national interests and our international reputation for justice, the rule of law and good governance demand that the answers to the many outstanding public interest questions about the Altantuya Murder case must be ascertained.

With the victim a Mongolian and one of the convicted murderers Sirul Azhar Umar holding out in Australia refusing to return to the death row in the country, the inquiry into the unresolved public interest issues in the Altantuya Murder Case will become an international one. Continue reading “Roundtable Conference of concerned MPs, NGOs and NGIs to outline the contours of Parliamentary Inquiry into Altantunya Murder or alternatives before Parliament reconvenes on March 9 being considered by the DAP Legal Bureau”

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Response to Razak Baginda’s interview

– Americk Sidhu
The Malaysian Insider
31 January 2015

Rogue police may possibly kill. That has been proved with the convictions of Azilah and Sirul. But the young lady killed in this case was not under remand. So why draw the analogy with the number of deaths in police custody? This does not make sense.

Razak Baginda says he is now willing to speak “from a legal point” as the criminal case involving Azilah and Sirul is over. He fails to explain why he chose to call a press conference shortly after his acquittal in November 2008. See this link.

The criminal case was still in progress then, sans his presence of course.

Why does Razak Baginda keep insisting this case has been politicised and at the same time refers to it as “just another straightforward murder case”? He doesn’t explain why he thinks it is “political”. How has this case been used against Najib? He doesn’t explain.

No one has accused Najib of being involved in this murder. Is this a Freudian slip on his part? Does he know more about this whole sordid affair than he is letting on? Continue reading “Response to Razak Baginda’s interview”

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Kabinet harus tolak pendirian Rahman‎ Dahlan

– Lim Kit Siang
The Malaysian Insider
28 January 2015

Mesyuarat Kabinet hari ini patut menegur dan menolak pendirian Menteri Kesejahteraan Bandar, Perumahan dan Kerajaan Tempatan Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan pilihan raya kerajaan tempatan (PBT) akan memburukkan lagi polarisasi kaum kerana ia bukan sahaja tidak benar, malah membuka ruang kepada penggantungan pilihan raya Dewan Negeri dan Parlimen pada masa akan datang.

Ini kali pertama dalam masa 50 tahun mana-mana menteri kerajaan Barisan Nasional mahupun Perikatan mengambil pendirian yang mengarut pelaksanaan pilihan raya kerajaan tempatan akan mengakibatkan polarisasi kaum yang lebih buruk, atau berkemungkinan mencetuskan semula rusuhan kaum 13 Mei seperti disebut Presiden PAS Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang yang mendapat sokongan pimpinan tertinggi Umno.

Pada Mac 2010, Kerajaan Negeri Pulau Pinang dan Selangor mengutus 2 surat berasingan kepada Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya memohon supaya pilihan raya PBT dijalankan di negeri masing-masing.

Alasan mereka berbuat demikian untuk mengukuhkan demokrasi dengan memilih ahli-ahli majlis tempatan melalui pilihan raya dan bukan lantikan, yang akan menambah akauntabiliti, ketelusan dan urus tadbir yang baik.

Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Razak dalam satu reaksi pantas menolak permintaan ini, sambil menyatakan mengembalikan pilihan raya kerajaan tempatan akan mengakibatkan politik di peringkat kerajaan tempatan dan tidak akan memperbaiki perkhidmatan kepada orang ramai.

Beliau berkata tumpuan seharusnya diberikan kepada usaha memperbaiki perkhidmatan kepada orang ramai dan bukannya proses yang terlibat dalam memilih ahli majlis.

Tidak pernah ada yang menyebut tentang polarisasi kaum atau representasi kaum yang tidak seimbang dalam masa 50 tahun lampau sebagai sebab kenapa undi ketiga tidak boleh dikembalikan. Continue reading “Kabinet harus tolak pendirian Rahman‎ Dahlan”

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Squabbling politicians leaving Malaysians without much leadership or hope

COMMENTARY BY THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER
28 January 2015

Nearly two years after the last Malaysian general elections, both the ruling and opposition coalitions are imploding – one with internal leadership crises and the other with public quarrels over policies.

In the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN), Umno and MIC leaders past and present are tussling for influence and leadership, the MCA is largely irrelevant while Gerakan and PPP are absent.

On the other side, Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) DAP and PAS are crossing swords and PKR is just opposing everything with a street protest always a handy tool to keep it seen as championing a cause.

The big loser? Ordinary Malaysians. Continue reading “Squabbling politicians leaving Malaysians without much leadership or hope”

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Cabinet should reprimand and repudiate Abdul Rahman’s stand that local government elections could worsen racial polarization as it is not only untrue but opens the dangerous door for future suspension of State Assembly and Parliamentary elections

The Cabinet meeting today should reprimand the Minister for Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government, Datuk Abdul Rahman and repudiate the stand he has taken that the restoration of local government elections could worsen racial polarization as it is not only untrue, but opens the dangerous door for the future suspension of State Assembly and Parliamentary elections.

This is the first time in 50 years that any Barisan Nasional (previously Alliance) Government Minister has taken the ridiculous and outrageous stand that the holding of local government elections would lead to greater racial polarisation – or even risks the repeat of May 13 race riots, as stated by the PAS President, Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang which has received the support of top UMNO leaders.

In March 2010, the Penang and Selangor state governments wrote separate letters to the Election Commission asking for local government elections to be conducted in their respective states.

Their reason for doing so were to strengthen democracy by having local representatives elected and not appointed, which would enhance accountability, transparency and good governance.

In an immediate reaction, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak rejected this, stating that reviving local government elections would only give rise to politicking at the local government level and would not improve services for the people.

He said the focus should be on improving services to the people and not the process involved in selecting councillors who would serve.

There was no reference to problems of “racial polarisation” or “imbalanced racial representation” in the past 50 years as the reason why there should be no restoration of the third vote! Continue reading “Cabinet should reprimand and repudiate Abdul Rahman’s stand that local government elections could worsen racial polarization as it is not only untrue but opens the dangerous door for future suspension of State Assembly and Parliamentary elections”

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The measure of Najib as prime minister

– Sakmongkol AK47
The Malaysian Insider
27 January 2015

I recently wrote an article “Menilai Najib”. It was reproduced in Free Malaysia Today. People commented on that. Many of the comments were not objective. Indeed most were irrational rants.

I think most of the commentators didn’t read the original article on my blog. They prefer instead to read the stylised FMT version. Accordingly, most of the comments never debated the issues I raised but chose instead to vilify me as a person.

The points I raised were (1) what made Datuk Seri Najib Razak a bad prime minister and (2) what made him a bad finance minister. I was hoping for a more robust counter. Instead, it’s the usual ad hominem attacks.

They are commenting on the article re-written and interpreted by FMT. They vented their anger. They asked who am I to assess Najib. They accused me of repeating what my “tokongs” say. Fortunately, I am immune to that kind of insulting riposte. Continue reading “The measure of Najib as prime minister”

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Will Najib be Mahathir’s sixth scalp or is Malaysia hauling the first “tiger” or “crocodile” to court and prison in the country’s anti-corruption campaign?

The country’s politics is abuzz with extraordinary news recently, raising the question whether the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia will be the sixth scalp of the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia or whether the country is hauling the first “tiger” or “crocodile” to court and prison in Malaysia’s anti-corruption campaign.

In the past 45 years, the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad had collected five scalps of top political leaders in the country, starting with Bapa Malaysia and the first Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman, two Deputy Prime Ministers who might have gone on to become Prime Ministers, Tun Musa Hitam and Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, the fifth Prime Minister, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, and the eternal Prime Minister-aspirant Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah.

The question now is whether Mahathir will add the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, to his collection of six top political scalps in Malaysia. Continue reading “Will Najib be Mahathir’s sixth scalp or is Malaysia hauling the first “tiger” or “crocodile” to court and prison in the country’s anti-corruption campaign?”

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Najib as yet to prove that he is Prime Minister for all Malaysians who is the chief exponent of the politics of inclusion and moderation instead of allowing the rhetoric and politics of exclusion and extremism a free run in the country

In his interview on the “Soal Jawab” programme over TV3 last night, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the government remained committed to maintaining peace and harmony in the country by ensuring that no serious racial disputes broke out and that he would do his best to protect the interests and well-being of all Malaysians.

He stressed that as Prime Minister, he was responsible to the people of Malaysia and that he would do his best to protect the interests and well-being of Malaysians.

While Najib’s assurance is most welcome, it needs to be pointed out that Najib, coming to the end of his sixth year as Prime Minister in less than three months’ time, has yet to prove that he is Prime Minister for all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region, and who is the chief exponent of the politics of inclusion and moderation instead of allowing the rhetoric and politics of exclusion and extremism a free run in the country.
Continue reading “Najib as yet to prove that he is Prime Minister for all Malaysians who is the chief exponent of the politics of inclusion and moderation instead of allowing the rhetoric and politics of exclusion and extremism a free run in the country”

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Malaysians’ trust in Putrajaya would have plunge far below 45% into the region of the thirties if the Edelman Trust Barometer survey had been conducted in 2015

It has been reported that the 2015 Edelman Trust Barometer survey found that only 45% of Malaysians trusted the government, down from last year’s 54%.

Malaysians’ trust in Putrajaya would have plunged far below 45% into the region of the thirties if the survey had been conducted in the new year of 2015, and not between November 13 and November 24 last year.

If the Trust Survey had been conducted in the new year, it would have to take into account public’s further deteriortion in their trust perceptions on Putrajaya as a result of the following five events: Continue reading “Malaysians’ trust in Putrajaya would have plunge far below 45% into the region of the thirties if the Edelman Trust Barometer survey had been conducted in 2015”

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Less than 50% Malaysians trust Putrajaya, survey shows

The Malaysian Insider
20 January 2015

Malaysians remain suspicious of Putrajaya, with a survey showing that less than half of the country’s citizens trusting the government this year.

The 2015 Edelman Trust Barometer survey by global public relations firm Edelman found that only 45% of Malaysians trusted the government, down from last year’s 54%.

In contrast, neighbouring Singapore and Indonesia garnered higher level of trusts from their people, registering 70% and 72% respectively this year.

The island republic saw only a 5% decline in trust from last year’s 75%, while Indonesians’ trust in their government jumped by 19% from 53% last year.

However, the survey acknowledged the lack of trust in leaders was not unique to Malaysia. Continue reading “Less than 50% Malaysians trust Putrajaya, survey shows”

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Sad and tragic Prime Minister and Cabinet do not seem to be understand the grave sentiments expressed by Yang di Pertuan Agong that he had never been more concerned about race and religious relations in his 57 years as ruler

It is most sad and tragic that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his Cabinet do not seem to understand the grave sentiments expressed by the Yang di Pertuan Agong, Kedah Sultan Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah, that he had never been more concerned about race and religious relations in the country since ascending to the throne 57 years ago in 1958 – a year after the country’s independence.

The year 2014 which ended about three weeks ago had been bedevilled by a host of disasters and misfortunes like

(1) the two air crashes of MH370 on March 8 and MH 17 of July 17 with a total toll of 537 crew members and passengers of different nationalities, together with a third air disaster in one year, Air Asia QZ8501 which crashed into Java Sea with 162 victims on Dec. 28;

(2) the year-end worst floods catastrophe within living memory, with close to a million flood victims, evacuating a quarter of a million flood refugees to the various flood relief centres, created the devastation of Zero Ground zones like Manek Urai, Kg. Manjur and Kg Karangan all in Kuala Krai, Kelantan, a death toll of 25 and billions of ringgit of damage;

(3) the burgeoning multi-billion ringgit 1MDB scandal threatening to become the “mother of all financial scandals” in Malaysia; Continue reading “Sad and tragic Prime Minister and Cabinet do not seem to be understand the grave sentiments expressed by Yang di Pertuan Agong that he had never been more concerned about race and religious relations in his 57 years as ruler”

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DAP proposes a two-day special Parliament meeting on Jan 26 and 27 on the revised 2015 Budget instead of Najib unilaterally announcing restructuring of the 2015 Budget in utter contempt not only of Parliament but also of Cabinet

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, seemed bent on announcing his restructured 2015 Budget tomorrow.

This will mean that the revised 2015 Budget is made not only without parliamentary sanction or approval, but also without Cabinet approval or sanction.

This is because the Cabinet would only meet the day after on Wednesday, January 21 2015.

This is most irregular and improper, revising the 2015 Budget after the Dewan Rakyat had approved the original budget on Nov. 25 after more than a month of debate, both on general policy as well as during the detailed committee stage, by MPs from both the Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat in the Dewan Rakya

This could only mean that what the MPs from both BN and PR had said on the 2015 Budget, both during the policy and committee stage debate, were an utter waste of time, resources and effort as far as the Finance Minister was concerned!

Now Najib proposes to announce his revised 2015 budget tomorrow, when clearly it has not been cleared or approved by the Cabinet.
Continue reading “DAP proposes a two-day special Parliament meeting on Jan 26 and 27 on the revised 2015 Budget instead of Najib unilaterally announcing restructuring of the 2015 Budget in utter contempt not only of Parliament but also of Cabinet”

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Revised 2015 Budget should declare war on corruption, incompetence and extravagance to provide example and leadership of government commitment to austerity, accountability and integrity

The revised 2015 Budget should declare war on corruption, incompetence and extravagance to provide example and leadership of government commitment to austerity, accountability and integrity.

Such a campaign would save the Malaysian government and taxpayers scores of billions of ringgit, which would help the country tide through the looming economic crisis as a result of the sharp fall in prices of oil and commodities and the weakening of the Malaysian ringgit.

Despite the greatest investment in anti-corruption campaign, with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission developing into a huge bureaucracy but with very little to show in terms of results, the Najib premiership is still far behind the Abdullah and Mahathir premierships in both ranking and score of the annual Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI).

Malaysia lags seriously behind other countries in the battle against corruption, particularly Indonesia and China, and Malaysia is at risk of being overtaken by these two countries which had occupied the bottom two of rungs of the TI CPI 1995 two decades ago in a matter of a decade.
Continue reading “Revised 2015 Budget should declare war on corruption, incompetence and extravagance to provide example and leadership of government commitment to austerity, accountability and integrity”

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Cabinet on Wednesday should uphold the principles of good governance and accountability and declassify information on the “national security projects” involving alleged gambling kingpin Paul Phua which the police knew nothing about

Zahid Hamidi will become the standing joke in the world for a bumbling and bungling Home Minister so long as he does not come clean and admit that his infamous letter to the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) vouching for the character of an alleged gambling kingpin, Paul Phua, standing trial in Las Vegas, Nevada for illegal gambling, was an egregious error of judgment.

Zahid, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the entire Cabinet should not delude themselves into thinking that the Zahid-Phua-Shafee-Khalid quadrilateral tangle would just disappear into thin air if the Home Minister invokes the Official Secrets Act followed by a blanket of silence on the issue from official quarters.

Zahid is supposed to be one of the smartest political leaders in the UMNO pantheon but he could not have been more foolish and self-destructive in his outrageous “defence” of his infamous letter to the FBI, going against not only the Police, the Foreign Ministry and the national interests but simple common sense!

If Zahid is not prepared to come clean and honest and publicly admit and apologise for his infamous letter to the FBI vouching for the character of an alleged gambling kingpin, the Cabinet at its meeting on Wednedsay must revisit the issue and take a stand which is in accord with national interests. Continue reading “Cabinet on Wednesday should uphold the principles of good governance and accountability and declassify information on the “national security projects” involving alleged gambling kingpin Paul Phua which the police knew nothing about”

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It is not too late for Najib to convene a special meeting of Parliament to present the revised 2015 Budget

The question the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak must answer is why he is not convening a special meeting of Parliament to present the restructuring of the 2015 Budget.

As it is Parliament which approved the RM273.9 billion 2015 Budget, it is only right and proper, fully in accord with the principle of parliamentary democracy, that Najib should convene a special Parliament to present the restructured 2015 Budget because of the weakening of ringgit and the plunging oil prices.

It is not too late for Najib to do what is right, and convene a special meeting of Parliament to present the revised 2013 Budget as a special Parliament can be convened even within 48 hours. Otherwise, Najib would be showing utter contempt to Parliament and the principle of parliamentary democracy. Continue reading “It is not too late for Najib to convene a special meeting of Parliament to present the revised 2015 Budget”

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Zahid must not take Malaysia as a nation of fools even if he can achieve a Cabinet of fools with Ministers obediently accepting his outrageous take about his infamous letter to the FBI

I do not believe that the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi suffers from comprehension problems that he could not understand that his letter was not merely intended to clarify that Paul Phua, the alleged gambling kingpin standing trial for illegal gambling in Las Vegas, Nevada was not a member of the 14K triad “in Malaysia”.

I do not believe that Zahid is so unsophisticated as to believe that when his infamous letter to the FBI referred to Phua as having helped the Malaysian government in “projects affecting our national security”, that “we continue to call upon him to assist us from time to time as such, we are eager for him to return to Malaysia” and that Phua’s release would impact on furthering “good international relations between our two countries, especially in the exchange of information”, these statements would be regarded by FBI as superfluous, empty and meaningless verbiage and not meant to influence FBI handling of Phua’s case.

Zahid is being very brazen and blatant in demanding that everybody act as gullible fools to accept his version that his infamous letter to the FBI was merely intended to clarify that Phua was not a member of the 14K triad “in Malaysia” and nothing more.

Zahid claimed yesterday that the Cabinet at its meeting on Wednesday was “satisfied with his explanation on the matter”.

I do not believe that our Cabinet Ministers suffer from comprehension problems either or they will not have risen to their present pinnacle of political power in government.

For reasons best known to themselves, they prefer to appear to be gullible fools but this is no compliment on their political purpose and integrity that they could be cowed into obediently accepting Zahid’s outrageous explanation of his infamous letter to the FBI, knowing in their heart of hearts that Zahid was not speaking the truth. Continue reading “Zahid must not take Malaysia as a nation of fools even if he can achieve a Cabinet of fools with Ministers obediently accepting his outrageous take about his infamous letter to the FBI”

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Malaysia’s international reputation has been sullied enough by Zahid’s infamous letter to FBI and Najib must step in to clean up the mess or he would be no different from “Nero playing the fiddle while Rome burns”

On 5th January 2015, I said “The strange case of the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi writing a letter to the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) vouching for the integrity of an alleged gambling kingpin has become ‘curiouser and curiouser’”.

I do not think anyone would have expected that ten days later, this strange case of Zahid’s letter to the FBI and the Zahid-Phua-Shafee-Khalid quadrilateral tangle would become “curiouser, curiouser and even more curiouser”!

There was first the attempted clarification by Zahid claiming that his infamous letter to the FBI vouching for the character of the alleged gambling kingpin Paul Phua Wei Seng – asserting that Phua was a national asset for having helped the Malaysian government on “projects affecting our national security” and pleading for Phua’s release as “we continue to call upon him to assist us from time to time and as such, we are eager for him to return to Malaysia” – was merely to confirm that the “14K triad” did not exist in the country.

As I said at the time, Zahid would have failed his comprehension test in school if he really believed what he said about his infamous letter to the FBI.

Furthermore, all who believed Zahid’s infamous letter to the FBI was merely to confirm that the “14K triad” did not exist in the country would have also failed their comprehension tests in school as well.

In fact, Zahid has raised more questions than answers. Continue reading “Malaysia’s international reputation has been sullied enough by Zahid’s infamous letter to FBI and Najib must step in to clean up the mess or he would be no different from “Nero playing the fiddle while Rome burns””

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Razak’s young Turk talks about his mentor

by Md Izwan
The Malaysian Insider
14 January 2015

To commemorate the 39th death anniversary of Malaysia’s second prime minister and “Father of Development” Tun Abdul Razak, The Malaysian Insider is running a series of interviews with his colleagues and close associates who, with Razak, steered Malaysia through the early days of rebuilding following the race riots of May 13, 1969.

Earlier today, we heard from four of Razak’s sons on his legacy and their personal memories of their father.

In this article, former deputy prime minister Tun Musa Hitam speaks about Razak’s leadership style and of his experience working with the man who brought him back to Umno after his expulsion. Musa had been expelled from Umno after the race riots over a fall-out with the then prime minister and Umno president, Tunku Abdul Rahman.

Readmitted to the party by Razak, Musa went on to rise in Umno and also held the post of Minister of Primary Industries in Razak’s cabinet.

Despite the political tension surrounding Tunku’s departure and Razak’s ascension as prime minister, Musa remembers his mentor for his gentleness, patience and consultative approach, coupled with his firmness to see a decision through once it was made. These were values, Musa says, that Razak knew were needed to manage a multireligious and multiracial country like Malaysia.

TMI: What kind of person was Tun Razak to you? As a leader, a friend or a colleague?

Musa: Tun Razak was a national leader in the true sense of the word. He had vision and perception. He understood the priorities of our country on attaining independence. The long term interest of the nation, to him, was a united Malaysian nation based on the principle of unity within diversity. Continue reading “Razak’s young Turk talks about his mentor”