Puteri Umno supports party election postponement...then retracts it four hours later

Four hours after supporting calls for the Umno elections to be postponed to next year, Puteri Umno made a complete u-turn and called for party polls to be held as scheduled.

Reporters who covered the Malaysia Career and Training Fair Press conference in the morning had asked Puteri Umno chief Datuk Noraini Ahmad whether the movement agreed with calls within Umno for a postponement of the election.

“Yes, because Umno needs time to address both it’s internal and external problems first. These problems can be resolved but not necessarily through party elections,” the Deputy Minister of Human Resources said . “The party needs time to adjust, especially since the dust from general election had not really settled. There is no urgency. Once we are back to normal, then only we should hold the party elections.”

However, four hours later, Noraini not only retracted her statement but called for party elections to be held as scheduled.

“Although the party has until June next year to hold the elections, Puteri Umno is of the opinion that party elections should be held by this year,” she said in a faxed statement.

Noraini said if at all the elections could not be held by August as originally scheduled, then it should take place by December at the latest.

Throughout the afternoon, Noraini did not answer calls to her handphone but later sent a text message to a Berita Harian reporter explaining the sudden change of stand.

“No need to prolong. Better to hold the meeting early. Please look at the constitution,” the text message read.

Others, not you, decide what you are

Then Nordin Kardi made his statement and he went on and on about how blogs have smeared the reputation of intellectuals such as himself. Hello.......since when is he an intellectual? If he is an intellectual then Madonna is a virgin.

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Nordin Kardi, the VC of UUM, finally obtained judgement against me. When they first served the Writ of Summons on me it was for an amount of RM85 million. I was actually quite offended that it was a mere RM85 million and not a 'round figure' of RM100 million. I thought I was 'worth' more than that. However, when the court arrived at its decision, the amount was reduced to just RM4 million (RM2 million for him and RM2 million for UUM). So whether he sues me for RM100 million or RM85 million did not matter that much anyway.

The court's decision, however, is not based on what I am worth. It is based on what Nordin Kardi and UUM are worth, or rather what their reputations are worth. I was alleged to have smeared Nordin's reputation as well as that of all Malaysian universities plus the intellectuals who are heading them. In a way, Nordin filed a sort of 'class action suit' against me to defend not only his reputation, and not only UUM's reputation, but that of all Malaysian universities and all Malaysian intellectuals who are heading these universities. And the court has valued these combined reputations as a mere RM4 million.

The court has spoken and the court said that all these people's reputations are worth a mere RM4 million. I rest my case.

Actually, Nordin did not win his case. It was the other way around. I 'threw' the case. When his lawyer sent me a Letter of Demand I did not respond to it. I threw it into the dustbin. Then they served me the Writ of Summons and, again, I did not respond to it but threw it into the dustbin. Then I was ordered to defend myself in court and, yet again, I ignored the order and threw it into the dustbin. I, of course, also did not make an appearance in court so they obtained judgement in default. Soon they will serve the Judgement on me and rest assured I will do what I do best, I will throw it into the dustbin. Then they will of course file for bankruptcy against me and I will, in time, receive the Bankruptcy Notice and guess what, yes, I will throw that into the dustbin as well. That is the 'value' I place on all their Letters of Demand, Writs of Summons, and whatever else they have chosen to serve on me and will continue to do so as we play this little charade of justice in Malaysia.

The only reason Nordin was able to 'get me' was because some stupid person in Suara Keadilan (hope it was not Zunar or Tian Chua), Party Keadilan Rakyat's newspaper, made the silly mistake of 'stealing' something from Malaysia Today and then went and published it in their party newspaper without first seeking my permission. I was not even aware they had lifted this item from Malaysia Today until I received the Letter of Demand from Nordin's lawyer. It was actually very stupid of them to do that and for that reason they got me into trouble. But I did not lose any sleep over the matter. Maybe now they will be more careful about stealing my stuff without first getting my permission.

Anyway, what tickled me pink was the fact that I was the first news item on TV3 tonight. Normally, the first news item would be about the Prime Minister, the second about the Deputy Prime Minister, then something about the crisis in Terengganu, followed by some propaganda about the opposition such as the crisis in Selangor or Perak or Penang, or something like that. But tonight all these took second billing while I was the first item on the news. And it was not a mere 30 seconds mind you like what most news items would be. It was quite a few minutes -- not bad, I would say.

Then Nordin Kardi made his statement and he went on and on about how blogs have smeared the reputation of intellectuals such as himself. Hello.......since when is he an intellectual? If he is an intellectual then Madonna is a virgin. Nordin is just the psy-war man of BTN, the agency that brainwashes government servants and students into believing that this country is a Malay country and that Chinese and Indians are pendatang who should be put in their right place and be constantly reminded that they are immigrants. And for rubbing Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in the right spot, wherever that right spot may be, he was made the VC of UUM. The real intellectuals should sue him for RM100 million for giving all real intellectuals a bad name.

I hope Nordin spent a lot of money on legal fees to sue me because he is certainly not going to get me to pay him back his legal costs. But I suppose if you happen to hold the right post in government you can always get some Chinese contractor, somewhere, to pay your bills. Oops, did I just say something that will give him grounds to sue me again? Well, I might as well go all the way with this scumbag and slime-ball of a Malay who makes me very ashamed to call myself Malay.

Till we talk again, folks, take care, and do try to stay out of court.

You forgot who voted for you?

Every candidate, irrespective of political party and race, won because of the votes from all the races. So the Malay, Chinese and Indian in government DOES NOT represent his or her community. He or she did not get into government because of the votes from his or her own community. So, once in government, why do they now talk about representing their community?


Raja Petra Kamarudin

This was what one mainstream newspaper reported on Monday:

NGOs 'concerned over fate' of Perak Malays

By HAH FOONG LIAN

IPOH: A group of some 20 Perak Malay non-governmental organisations (NGOs) has voiced its concern over the fate of Malays under the new DAP-PKR-PAS government in the state. The group, which held a special meeting at Tambun Heights here on Sunday, will submit a memorandum to the Sultan of Perak.

Among those who attended the meeting were leaders of the Perak Malay Teachers Association, Perak Gabungan Pelajar Melayu Semenanjung (GPMS), Perak Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (Abim), Perak Association of Muslim Students, Perak 4B Youth movement, Perak Council of Former Barisan Elected Representatives (Mubarak), Perak Malay Traders Association and Perak Wanita NGO.

Nonee Ashirin Mohd Radzi, who chaired the meeting, said they could not accept the six-three-one formula to be used in the make-up of the state executive council. Nonee Ashirin, one of the founder members of Perak Pertubuhan Profesional dan Pewaris Bangsa (Prowaris), said the formula did not reflect the composition of the state population where Malays are the majority.

The formula agreed upon by the new state government would see the DAP taking up six exco posts, PKR three and PAS one. “There should be more Malays in the exco line-up,” Nonee Ashirin said, adding that the exco should instead have six Malays and four non-Malays, like the representation under the Barisan Nasional rule.

She said the NGOs also rejected the creation of two Deputy Mentri Besar posts because it was not provided for in the state Constitution. “The two positions are there just to fulfil the DAP's political interest,” she claimed.

Datuk Kamilia Ibrahim, who represented Perak Wanita NGO, said the popular votes showed that more voters supported the Barisan instead of the Opposition. She said the Barisan garnered some 333,000 votes compared to 282,000 that went to the opposition front. Based on this, she said Barisan had a simple majority and should be allowed to form a minority government.



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These 20 Malay NGOs and movements are talking with their heads up their ass. Based on their arguments, considering that the three opposition parties garnered more than half the popular votes in Peninsular Malaysia, would it not therefore be correct to say that the opposition should form the Federal Government in West Malaysia while Barisan Nasional should only form the ‘Regional’ Government in East Malaysia?

Since when is the number of votes the factor to decide who gets to form the government? Malaysia practices the first-past-the-post system. Over 50 years since Merdeka, the opposition has been winning a higher number of votes in some states, but because it is seats and not votes that count, it always ends up with Barisan Nasional instead of the opposition that forms the government.

The issue as to who won more votes than whom can be laid to rest. It is pointless to argue this point as every man and his dog knows that the opposition garnered more votes than Barisan Nasional. There were an additional one million votes that were stuffed into the ballot boxes, about a quarter of those in the form of postal votes. If the postal votes system had been abolished, as what the opposition had been clamouring for all these many years, and if the electoral roll had been cleaned up and purged of phantom voters, today the opposition would no longer be an opposition because it would have formed the federal government and the Prime Minister would probably be Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail. And let us admit that Wan Azizah is, by far, more attractive than Abdullah Ahmad Badawi – or even compared to Rafidah and Sharizat.

Let us make one thing very clear. There is only this Houdini and David Copperfield type perception that Barisan Nasional won more votes than the opposition. Barisan Nasional actually won less votes but their votes were padded with one million ‘additional’ votes. That is how they created this perception of ‘win’. And in spite of all that and in spite of the gerrymandering and in spite of the many other transgressions and violations like threatening another ‘May 13’ if Barisan Nasional loses its two-thirds majority, they still got their ass kicked real hard. Imagine what would have happened if it had been a level playing field. Let me repeat that: the opposition and not Barisan Nasional won the 8 March 2008 general election.

And do you know what was one of the key reasons why the opposition won? Okay, there were the rampant and blatant corruption, the arrogance of the Barisan Nasional leaders, the keris-waving, the ‘go back to China’ shouting matches in Parliament, and much, much more, that made most Malaysians just plain nauseous But what really moved the voters was the ‘we-are-one’ campaign of the opposition. The opposition did not talk as Malays, Chinese, Indians, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, etc. They talked in a ‘we are Malaysians’ tone of voice.

Malaysians have just about had it with all this racial slur and rhetoric. Not only the Chinese and Indians have had their fill with racism but a fair percentage of Malays as well can no longer stomach the race politics, which is the hallmark of Barisan Nasional. These people just don’t get it. They still have not woken up to the realisation that it was race that lost them the election. They blame the blogs and the internet. They say it was the blogs and the internet which caused the Barisan Nasional defeat. No, the blogs and internet just played the role of providing an alternative source of news to the voters. The blogs and internet could not manufacture the news. The news had to be there in the first place. The blogs and the internet were just the medium to deliver this news to the voters which would not have been available to them otherwise.

And today they still scream about race and racial quotas. Just read what these 20 Malay NGOs and movements said on Sunday. It is still about racial quotas. Why stop at this? Why not just demand that 100% of the positions be reserved for Malays? After all, this is a Malay country, Persekutuan Tanah Melayu, and the Chinese and Indians are pendatang, as Umno constantly reminds us. So would not 100% of the positions be given to Malays be more apt? Furthermore, the Chinese and Indian parties got wiped out in the last election. The Chinese and Indian parties did not deliver the votes. Without the Malays and the natives of Sabah and Sarawak, Barisan Nasional would have been totally wiped out. So it makes more sense that 100% of the positions go to the Malays with none at all for the Chinese and Indians.

Barisan Nasional has to be rudely woken up if it has not already done so. The more they harp on race and racial quotas the deeper into the rut they will go. What’s so wrong if the Chinese or Indians get an extra seat, or vice versa? This is not a number’s game anyway. And, unfortunately, even those in the opposition appear to have fallen for the Barisan Nasional trap by echoing the same sentiments about racial quotas in the government. This is a Barisan Nasional game. If the opposition also tries to play this same game they will lose their pants. Barisan Nasional is an expert at race politics and this is their cup of tea. The opposition enters this gelanggang at its own peril. Rest assured the opposition will lose the race game if it tries to engage Barisan Nasional in its arena.

The opposition has to fight in a different arena. They have to create a new arena and force Barisan Nasional to come engage them in this new arena. And this new arena is non-race-based politics. This is what the opposition is good at and this is where Barisan Nasional will be like a fish out of water.

Hey, I don’t care how many Malays, Chinese and Indians sit in the EXCO. Let it be 100% Malays or 100% Chinese or 100% Indians or whatever. If it has to be 100% Chinese just so that Malaysia can be like Singapore, an extremely successful country that is run by almost 100% Chinese, then so be it. I care a damn about what race is running this country. I just want to see the emergence of the best country on earth. And if we have to go to Mars to find these people then so be it.

Whoever sit as Menteri Besar/Chief Minister and whoever happen to be their ten EXCO Members is not important. What is would be that these people look after the interests of all the races. If we need five Malays in the EXCO to ensure that the Malays are looked after and three Chinese and two Indians to sit in the EXCO to ensure that the Chinese and Indians are also looked after then something must be terribly wrong with this government.

Why must it be Malays look after the Malay interest and Chinese after Chinese interest and Indians after Indian interest? We have only one Prime Minister, a Malay, and is he the Prime Minister of only the Malays who will only look after the interests of only the Malays or is he a Prime Minister for all Malaysians? The Malay candidate did not win this election on just Malay votes while the Chinese won on Chinese votes and the Indian on Indian votes. All candidates, never mind of which race and whether from the opposition or Barisan Nasional, won on a combined Malay-Chinese-Indian votes.

Every candidate, irrespective of party and race, won because of the votes from all the races. So the Malay, Chinese and Indian in government DOES NOT represent his or her community. He or she did not get into government because of the votes from his or her own community. So, once in government, why do they now talk about representing their community? Is this not a violation of the vote that we gave you? We did not vote for you so that you could get into government to serve, represent or protect your community. We voted for you so that you can serve Malaysia. So do just that and enough with this 5:3:2, 4:4:2, 4:3:3, 6:2:2 argument. Even if it is 10:0:0 also never mind as long as you Malay, Chinese and Indian in government know that you serve me and the country and not your own race or community.

Aiyah, itu pun kena ajar ke? Kayu sungguh!

Monsoon (Cup) winds of change

Mat Said is a fighter. And even as a 'nobody' he stood his ground against an outraged Eric Chia who was foaming at the mouth while screaming the Prime Minister's name. No Chinese gangster or Menteri Besar or even the most powerful Prime Minister could shake him. And that is the kind of Menteri Besar His Majesty the Agong would like as head of his state government.

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Guano pulok puak-puak Amno ni bekeng sangat? Dah Tuanku amboh, amboh lah! Mende nak main paksa-paksa pulok? Bila menatang Cheena buat kacau kat Perak, bising. Ni, menatang Amno pulok nak tunjuk bekeng. Beso kemaluang Ganu kite.

That is probably what the Kuala Terengganu folks at the Pasar Payang wet market are lamenting. When the Rulers keep quiet, the rakyat complain and question the purpose of retaining the Monarchy if the Rulers do not earn their salary. However, when they do act, the raykat complain and accuse the Rulers of getting involved in politics. The Rulers must work for the people, argue the rakyat. The bottom line is, the rakyat don't really know what they want.

In the 1990s, a well-known Malaysian business magazine reported that Terengganu is the second richest state after Selangor but its rakyat are the second poorest after Perlis. The Kelantan Menteri Besar, Tok Guru Nik Aziz Nik Mat, retorted that Kelantan may be poor compared to Terengganu, but its people are rich. “Kekayaan Kelantan di tangan rakyat,” said Nik Aziz. Kelantenese, Nik Aziz stressed, do not need to depend on the government. They will travel far and wide, even to Singapore, to earn their living. And they will send money back to the state to help prop up its economy.

This is true. You can find a Kampong Kelantan in Singapore but not a Kampong Terengganu or Kampong Kedah or whatever. And Kelantanese will go back to Kelantan to pay their zakat (tithe) so that the money can go to the state and not to the federal government. And that is why the federal government attempted to nationalise the zakat collection -- they wanted to deny the state the money. But Kelantanese are stubborn and they are in fact proud that they can survive without federal funding and in spite of being squeezed of federal funding.

Take their water supply as one example. Kelantanese are being denied clean water because the federal government will not give the state the money it needs to improve its water supply. Because of this many have died of cholera over the last two decades but the Kelantanese refuse to hand the state back to Barisan Nasional although by doing so they could then get clean water and would no longer suffer so many deaths. Kelantanese treat the high number of deaths and the loss of their loved ones as 'collateral damage' which one has to endure when opposing the federal government. Yes, they are sad that many have to die, but in any struggle people die and the struggle against the tyranny of the federal government overrides all other considerations.

Terengganu, however, is not like Kelantan. The people of Terengganu are not so stubborn or resilient. 'Ganu' means rainbow and 'terang' means bright. Kelantanese used to refer to the land south of their state as 'bright rainbow' and that is how the state eventually became known as Terengganu. Terengganu, of course, has gold and the English say that at the end of the rainbow you will find gold. But there is not that much gold really. Sure you can find some, although it may not be that economically viable to mine it on a large-scale or commercial basis. But what it lacks in yellow gold it more than makes up for in 'black gold'.

And that is why Terengganu is the second richest state, because of its black gold. But in spite of its black gold and in spite of it being the second richest state, its citizens are the second poorest and even Sabah, Sarawak and Kelantan are far ahead. That is what the popular Malaysian business magazine reported in the 1990s.

In 1999, the Terengganu voters decided to give the state to the opposition for a change. A few months later, the federal government punished Terengganu by withdrawing its 5% oil royalty that it was entitled to under the Petroleum Development Act 1974. The money, which at that time came to RM800 million a year, was handed over to Idris Jusoh, the head of Umno Terengganu, to manage; and from 2000 to 2004 he managed the money as his personal petty cash.

The Terengganu voters realised that they could get their hands on what had now grown to RM1 billion a year only if they gave the state back to Umno. And they did just that in March 2004 and Idris Jusoh was installed as the new Menteri Besar. But while the state went back to Umno, the RM1 billion a year did not go back to the state. The money remained in the hands of the Prime Minister's Department and control of the money shifted from Idris Jusoh to Wan Farid Wan Salleh, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's Political Secretary, and Patrick Lim, whom Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad calls Patrick Badawi.

So it was no different then. Whether Umno or the opposition rules the state, the RM1 billion a year will still not go to the state but would instead be in the hands of two or three individuals, to be used and abused as they see fit. On 8 March 2008, the Terengganu people wanted to hand the state back to the opposition. Umno knew this and what was at stake was not just control of the state but control of the RM1 billion a year that came with it. So thousands of Bangladeshi voters were 'imported' into Terengganu to ensure that Umno would be able to make a clean sweep of the state. And the hundreds of bus-loads of voters were escorted into Terengganu by police and army trucks to ensure that the opposition supporters would not be able to make any 'citizens' arrest' of phantom voters. And so Umno, yet again, swept the state like it did four years before that in March 2004.

But one thing that Umno could not control is His Majesty the Agong who is also the Sultan of Terengganu. Tuanku knows what is going on and Tuanku also knows how the cheating is being done to perpetuate Umno's rule in the state just so that the RM1 billion a year can continue to be manipulated, exploited, and abused. And Tuanku sought legal advice on what the Federal Constitution of Malaysia and the Terengganu State Constitution have to say about the appointment of the political head of the state government. And so Tuanku rejected Abdullah's choice of Menteri Besar, Idris Jusoh, and instead made his own choice, Ahmad Said. And a few well-known lawyers are ready to spring into action to defend Tuanku if the federal government decides to challenge Mat Said's appointment in court.

Mat Said is no pushover. When Eric Chia was heading Perwaja, he embarked on a housing project and started building the houses even before the Kemaman local council could approve the project. Mat Said stepped in and issued a stop-work order. Eric Chia was outraged. He complained to Menteri Besar Wan Mokhtar Wan Ahmad and said that he reported direct to the Prime Minister and has carte blanche to do what he likes.

But Mat Said would not back down, Prime Minister or no Prime Minister. He even went against his own direct boss, Wan Mokhtar. The law is the law and even the CEO of Perwaja, the Menteri Besar of Terengganu, and the Prime Minister of Malaysia are not exempted from obeying the law. This was just a YDP of the Kemaman local council but he took on the giants and refused to back down and finally won when the all-powerful Eric Chia was forced to halt construction until all his papers are in order.

Mat Said is a fighter. And even as a 'nobody' he stood his ground against an outraged Eric Chia who was foaming at the mouth while screaming the Prime Minister's name. No Chinese gangster or Menteri Besar or even the most powerful Prime Minister could shake him. And that is the kind of Menteri Besar His Majesty the Agong would like as head of his state government.

Terengganu has only about four years left. According to Petronas, after 2012 there will be no more oil in Terengganu. Four years at RM1 billion a year is merely RM4 billion. This RM4 billion will disappear in four years if Idris Jusoh is installed as Menteri Besar. And, in 2013, Terengganu will revert to being just a fishing village like what it was in 1973 before they discovered oil.

Yes, it was a great 40 years. But the 40 years which started in 1973 will end before 2013 is out. Terengganu can choose to allow Idris Jusoh to run the state and therefore allow the RM4 billion to finish by 2012 or they can instead ask Mat Said to run the state and ensure that the RM4 billion will last till 2020. His Majesty would rather choose the latter.

Seven of the eight Umno divisions in Terengganu support Mat Said. Thus far, 20 of the 32 State Assemblymen have confessed that they also support His Majesty's choice of Menteri Besar. Why then did 23 of them declare that they support Idris Jusoh? They allege that they were 'locked up' and forced to sign the letter of support so they had no choice but to do so. Since seven of the eight Umno divisions want Mat Said and since more than half the State Assemblymen also support His Majesty's choice, then it is in compliance with the State Constitution that Idris Jusoh be rejected in favour of Mat Said.

The same thing happened in the State of Perlis. When two of the three Umno divisions and ten of the fifteen State Assemblymen rejected Shahidan Kassim, Abdullah's choice of Menteri Besar, the Raja of Perlis acted within his Constitutional right by rejecting Shahidan. Anyway, this so-called 'Constitutional Crisis' was expected and had been looming over the horizon for quite some time now. Malaysia Today had in fact addressed this awhile back but, as Tun Dr Mahathir is fond of saying, Melayu mudah lupa. To those who have already lupa, allow us to refresh your memory. We re-publish below an article which was published before this and which addresses what the real issue is really about, the 'crisis' which the mainstream newspapers are trying to pass off as, kononnya, a 'Constitutional Crisis'.

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One thing that Malaysia Today would like to raise is the matter of Terengganu's oil royalty which we hope Mahathir will address on 28 July. Since the mid-1970s, Terengganu had been enjoying a 5% royalty on all the oil and gas extracted in the state. That is what is provided for under the Petroleum Development Act. In fact, not only Terengganu, but any state in Malaysia where oil and gas is extracted they would enjoy the same. However, in 2000, this royalty was withdrawn and converted to Wang Ehsan (goodwill money). Suddenly, the RM800 million or so a year that Terengganu was supposed to get as its 5% share of the oil and gas revenue was transferred out of the state and into the hands of one man, Idris Jusoh.

Malaysia was then already suffering from an outbreak of JE. But in Terengganu it was JE of another kind, Jusoh Enterprise, Idris Jusoh's family business. Jusoh Enterprise or JE was suddenly flush with funds, RM800 million a year to be exact. Then, in 2004, Umno, under the stewardship of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, won back the state from the opposition. But the state did not win back its 5% oil royalty. The Wang Ehsan continued and Idris Jusoh, who now became the Chief Minister, continued to single-handedly manage the fund. Even the State Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) and the Terengganu State Economic Planning Unit (UPENT) were left totally in the dark. One man, Idris Jusoh, decided how the money was spent, and it is a lot of money.

But the new Prime Minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, would not tolerate one man managing the state's coffers. He wanted Idris Jusoh's hands out of the RM800 million a year cash box. However, to revert to the 5% royalty only meant that the money would come directly under state control. That would not serve their purpose. They wanted direct control of the RM800 million. Now it is under the control of the Prime Minister's Department but passed down to Idris Jusoh's hands. What they needed to do was to get Idris Jusoh's hands out of the equation.

Then Khairy Jamaluddin, Abdullah's son-in-law cum adviser, came out with a fantastic new 'umbrella concept', better than even Mahathir's. They wanted control of the RM800 million a year. But they did not want to get it out of Idris Jusoh's hands by putting it into the hands of the state. That would merely be a case of out of the frying pan, into the fire. They wanted direct control of the money without Idris Jusoh deciding on how the money is spent.

And this is how they did it. First they appointed Wan Farid, Khairy's 'running dog', as Abdullah's Political Secretary. Then they appointed Wan Hisham, Wan Farid's brother, as the State Exco Member in-charge of tourism. Then they gave Patrick Lim, Khairy's business partner, the sole monopoly of all state tourism projects. Now the network is intact and Idris Jusoh has been cut off.

Patrick Lim's job is to create all sorts of state tourism projects at hugely inflated prices. He would then propose these projects to Wan Hisham, the man in-charge of tourism. Wan Hisham would then pass them on to his brother, Wan Farid. Wan Farid would then pass them on to Khairy. Idris Jusoh would of course be left out of the loop and he would only know about them when it was a fait accompli -- as the Malays would say, "Nasi sudah jadi bubur."

They built 30 houses at RM1 million each on an island in the Trengganu River . They launched a RM300 million a year yacht race called the Monsoon Cup. Hundreds of millions a year is being spent to 'attract tourists to Terengganu'. It seems this year the amount of Wang Ehsan has shot up from RM800 million to RM1 billion -- so there is even more money to play around with.

To ensure that Idris Jusoh keeps his hands out of the cash box, Abdullah himself chairs the state meetings though he is the Prime Minister and not the Terengganu Chief Minister. Of course, Idris Jusoh, being the Chief Minister, is allowed to sit in on these meetings though he has no say on what they propose. Patrick Lim, though he is not in the government, is also allowed to attend these meetings.

Abdullah would then propose all sorts of tourism projects conjured by Wan Hisham, Wan Farid and Khairy. Details are of course not discussed; only the gist of things and the amounts involved. Whenever Idris Jusoh raises any questions, he would be told to 'leave it all to Patrick Lim who knows what to do'. Idris Jusoh is not to involve himself in the details.

After awhile Idris Jusoh got quite pissed and tried to resist. One project that he knew nothing about was placed before him and he was told by Patrick Lim to sign the papers. But how could he sign the papers when he knew nothing about it and would eventually have to bear responsibility for it?

Patrick Lim walked out of Idris Jusoh's office and phoned Wan Farid who complained to Khairy. Within an hour Idris Jusoh received a phone call from Abdullah who ordered him to sign the papers, which he of course did straight away.

Patrick Lim's hold on Abdullah was apparent to all but somehow not to Idris Jusoh. One day Abdullah visited Terengganu to chair the regular meetings on how to spend Terengganu's RM800 million (which is now RM1 billion because of the increase in oil prices). Idris Jusoh fetched Abdullah from the airport but before his car could move Patrick Lim's car cut in front of Idris Jusoh's car and Abdullah got out of Idris Jusoh's car and got into Patrick Lim's car. Idris Jusoh should have realised then who really runs Terengganu.

Yes, RM1 billion a year is a lot of money. This money, which should belong to Terengganu, is not going to the state. It is going to Wan Hisham, Wan Farid, Patrick Lim and Khairy. And Abdullah chairs the state meetings to decide how the money is spent. And Wan Hisham, Wan Farid, Patrick Lim and Khairy help spend the money. And they spend it all. And Idris Jusoh has no say in how it is spent. And if he refuses to sign the papers he will get a phone call from Abdullah.

Now do you know who runs this country? Abdullah says he and not his son-in-law runs this country. Idris Jusoh however will tell you that Khairy runs this country. And Khairy also runs Terengganu and manages its RM1 billion a year through Wan Hisham, Wan Farid and Patrick Lim. And Abdullah chairs the Terengganu State meetings on behalf of Khairy and according to the plan on how Patrick Lim wishes to spend the RM1 billion a year.

And now do you know why Mahathir is so pissed? And he has every reason to be pissed. In fact, I too am pissed. And that is why I agree that Mahathir stays pissed with Abdullah and his son-in-law. The Terengganu issue alone is enough for me to get pissed. And rest assured that Terengganu is but the tip of the iceberg.

Yes, it is nice being able to walk in the corridors of power. And much can you do when you walk in the corridors of power. And RM1 billion a year is nice to manage if you have that power to do so. And when you walk in the corridors of power you would of course have that power.