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Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad last week made another shocking comment about Pak Lah. The comment was about him rejecting the ‘Islam Hadhari’ concept mooted by the latter, which emphasize on moderate Islam. He made this comment in a dialogue between him and NGOs last Sunday. What’s with Tun’s recent outrage with the government? One thing for sure is he is not yet senile. I’ve watched him giving speeches since I arrived in Malaysia and I can tell you that at the age of 81 years old, Tun is not a senile old man. So, why is he doing this to himself? I mean, if I were him, I would just enjoy my golden years doing things that I like to do. Maybe jump out of a plane like George Bush Sr. on his birthday last couple of years. I can only make three possible conclusions on why he is so upset with the government. Firstly, he is upset because he is about to lose something so great that he is willing to do anything to get it back. Frankly, I can’t think of anything that is so great that motivates Tun to ...

Welcome home Adam. That’s all I have to say. Come August, I will be in Phuket. Anyone wants to join me? Ciao.

Are Malaysians rude? This is a very difficult question indeed. Yesterday, Reader’s Digest came out with a report ranking countries with the level of rudeness and out of 35 countries, Malaysia was ranked 33rd. Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister was among the first to show his utter disgust with this ranking saying that Malaysians are not rude and the report by the Reader’s Digest is very wrong. Unfortunately, for Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, majority of Malaysians disagree with him according to the New Straits Times (NST). And the most surprising thing is, majority of foreigners who lived in Malaysia agree with Datuk Seri Najib. Here we have the local people saying Malaysians are in fact, rude while foreigners who had gained PR status said otherwise. In fact, one of them told the NST that one of the reasons why they came to live in Malaysia was because Malaysians are very courteous. Hence, the question rise again, are Malaysians rude? I personally don’t agree with the quote saying ‘Malaysia...

There is one similarity between Pak Lah and Gus Dur (former Indonesian President), which is the time they spent abroad as against to at home. I might be wrong and biased but I still think Pak Lah actually spent more time visiting other countries rather than tackling the growing problems (increasing inflation and unemployment, possibility of economic recession, political problems in MIC, and other issues raised by former PM, Tun Dr. Mahathir) at home. Is he trying to run away from his own responsibility as THE Prime Minister? I might be wrong, I know but I just have a bad feeling about this particular PM and it is not because of Tun’s criticism towards him. I had been having bad feelings about Pak Lah since he took over in 2003 and when he won with a whopping majority in 2004 General Election, I hoped I was wrong. But I guess, I was right in the first place. But if Pak Lah is not the best after Tun, then who is? The former editor of Mastika once told me, “Pak Lah is the best among the w...

Hmm…so, I was tagged by Dayah . And I am now supposed to answer her question and tag other people. And I am going to do just that. Ha-ha. What do I do when I’m happy? Smile. Call someone just to say, "Hi!" Buy an ice cream. Buy the best doughnut in the world in Sentul. Buy Mcdonald's apple pie. YUM! And now I am going to tag other people. Eezah, Imree, Faisal, Irzan and Yazid. There, I’ve tag other people. Actually, this does seem weird to me since I haven’t done this before. But hey, we’ll learn something new everyday. I still have another six days before I can sleep in the comfort of my own bed in Gombak. I just cannot wait to go home, even though it has only been 2 months since I left, I still feel a little bit homesick. Ha-ha. Ciao.

The Mahathir-Pak Lah saga continues. This time, Pak Lah told reporters that all Tun Mahathir’s questions will be fully answered by the relevant ministries. So, does this mean Tun will stop bashing Pak Lah’s administration? I don’t think so. I really don’t think so. When Tun decided to give that harsh criticism about Pak Lah last week, he is already launching his personal crusade against Pak Lah. I tell you now that this is the only beginning of a very long fight between the two leaders. My only question is why. Why Tun launch this attack on Pak Lah? Is it purely a self-less motive? That Pah Lah is really turning the country upside down and Tun is willing to do anything to stop him from destroying the country. Or is it simply because of Tun is going to lose something very important to him that he will do anything to keep it. And I really hope that he is doing it because Pak Lah is the Dr. Evil in this screenplay. OK, that’s a bit an exaggeration but you know what I mean. Although the ‘w...

I just came back from a 5-day trip to Paris. And I only have one word for the trip – HOT. It seems that summer have already started in Paris. Can you imagine when the plane touch down at Charles de Gaulle, the pilot announced that the temperature was 30 degree Celsius. And all the time when we were there, the temperature actually reached 35 degree Celsius. I mean, it was raining all the time in London while Paris was scorching hot. I had to drink like 5 litres of water every day just to beat the heat. So, how was Paris? I must say that Paris is just like a typical city where you will find its tourist attractions very well maintained and beautiful but if you go to other parts of the city, things are a little bit dodgy. And vandalism is everywhere in the city especially in the Metro. But one thing that is very disturbing about Paris is the high number of beggars. At first, I thought, as a developed country and being a welfare state, they should have tackle this problem effectively but un...

In case you have not read today’s news, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad once again bashed the current administration. Utusan Malaysia dubbed this latest criticism as the harshest criticism ever by the former PM. In a press conference at the Putra World Trade Centre, Tun expressed his utter disappointment about the current administration. In the press conference, he even reminded the reporters that Pak Lah was not his first choice. When asked whether he regretted his decision by picking Pak Lah as his successor, this is what he said. “I have made many blunders in my job. I have a habit of choosing the wrong person.” GOSH! I wonder what Pak Lah is thinking right now. On another question, he was asked whether he felt that Pak Lah had stabbed him on the back, this is his answer. “Minor bruises.” WOW! Does anyone know what this means? This is like a retake of Mahathir-Tunku feud 22 years ago. This reminds me of a song sung by Whitney Houston and Deborah Cox titled ‘Same Script Different Casts.’ An...

Some says he will just fade away from the political scene, but recent developments seemed to contradict that view. But I guess it is true, it is difficult to just fade away when you’ve spent your whole life in it (politics). So, I guess we have to accept that Tun is here to stay. Well, he is currently holding the highest office in the country (literally speaking since he’s occupying the 86th floor office at the Petronas Twin Towers). Let us start with Tun’s extravagant spending for the country. I have been saying that Tun Dr. Mahathir is a classic Keynesian. When asked about privatisation in Malaysia, this is what he said. “What I did was, of course, to enhance, for example, growth of the country. How do you achieve growth? Some people say, ‘Well, you stimulate growth’. But it’s all easy to say. The thing is, if the government cannot do it, you have to get somebody else to do it. That is why we decided on privatisation, for example, because the government just doesn’t have the money t...

Malaysia’s former PM, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad seems to make some scary statements lately. OK, when he gave a speech at a conference last year, he said something like this. “Government is very much needed in society. And even if the government is very dictatorial, that is better than not having government at all.” And that is scary. I mean, is he endorsing dictatorship? Well, actually his view is just an echo of a view made by an English philosopher, Thomas Hobbes who wrote ‘Leviathan’, which was based on the English Revolution. But still, when that statement came from someone who had been the PM for 22 years, it does sound scary. He made this statement when asked about Iraq’s situation before and after Saddam Hussein. Then, earlier this year when he gave a comment on Malaysia-Singapore relationship, he said something like this. “If we buy jet fighters from Russia, they won’t care if we want to attack Singapore. But if we buy the jet fighters from the US, they will have so many conditi...

Congratulations to His Majesty Sultan Brunei, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah for the birth of his fifth prince yesterday. This means, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah now has six princesses and five princes from three marriages. Can you imagine he is 60 years old and still active in producing another offspring. *wink* By the way, I share the same birthday with His Majesty Sultan Brunei. Another *wink* Congratulations also to Seri Paduka Baginda Yang Di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Ibni Al-Marhum Tuanku Syed Putra Jamalullail, the 12th Yang Di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia who will celebrate his 63rd birthday tomorrow. For your information, this will be Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin’s last birthday as the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong since he will complete his five-year term by the end of this year. I would also like to express my deepest condolences to the people of Indonesia who are suffering from natural disasters one after another. Not long after the volcanic Merapi vomited its lava, Yogyakarta was hit by an...

For the past few days, there have been rumours about Disneyland Malaysia. It was said that the new theme park would be built in Johor, the most southern state of Malaysia. At first, I quite like the idea of having a Disneyland in Malaysia. I mean, that way I don’t have to go to Hong Kong to experience Disneyland because I can just take a drive to Johor and voila, Disneyland will be right in front of me. Having Disneyland in Johor is good since it will compliment the soon-to-be-built casino in Singapore. Imagine all the parents will go and have good time at the casino in Singapore and their kids can spend their time in Disneyland. That sounds really great. But, will it be that great? Let us take a look at Disneyland Paris and Disneyland Hong Kong. Disneyland Paris has been around for quite some time and they are facing a very big problem at the moment, which is financial problem. I mean, that Disneyland in Paris is not making money at all. The reason for this problem is, to manage a the...