He wanted Malaysian ambassadors brought back to be briefed about national policies, a normal occurrence in diplomatic practice throughout the world, to engage with students overseas. He cannot have "some" Malaysians -- he does not mention who but it is fair to assume that they include Dato' Fadhil Noor, Haji Hadi Awang, Mr Lim Kit Siang, Dr Chandra Muzaffar, Datin Wan Azizah -- "incite" the students, many of whom become anti-government. Therefore, he announces, that "in future, our ambassadors are required to be in close contact with out students".

This is not all. Contracts like these are awarded to the cronies of the establishment, usually without tenders and due diligence. If the Miri Port had been built by contractors chosen competitively and not inhouse, there would have been no need for Mr Lim Kit Siang to allege it is a white elephant. The Sarawak deputy chief minister says the port would work if the siltation is removed and there is enough water. He thinks, as the Miri Port Authority, that a port is a port, and that there ships cannot wharf there is a minor impediment.

Two intransigient men hold the key: The Prime Minister and his nemesis, Dato' Seri Anwar. The theocratic PAS's gains would not have been as dramatic, nor UMNO's electoral decline as stark, without the cultural fallout from how Dato' Seri Anwar was treated. It affects all levels of society. The government is moribund. The armed forces is divided. The police impresses one for its bullying. The judiciary is unreliable, and this is affirmed by the two contentious trials which jailed Dato' Seri Anwar. Mr Mahfuz Omar opened another front: to pressure the government with passive resistance. On hindsight, this is what Mr Lim Guan Eng, the son of the DAP national chairman, Mr Lim Kit Siang, should have done. Not to appeal, but to go to prison. The courts judge people harshly and play safe knowing full well it would be appealed.

So, the National Front jumped on the seeming crack in Opposition ranks, in the spat between KeADILan and DAP, and saw that as adequate proof of the Opposition's vacuous policies and actions. Even the Prime Minister stepped in. But, whilst it portends problems in future, it was a smokescreen. The National Front leaders spent most of the week praising the DAP and such of their arch enemies as its Karpal Singh, only to find, three days before the told, Mr Lim Kit Siang turns up in Lunas. The deputy prime minister, Dato' Seri ABdullah Ahmad Badawi, now talks of DAP having no principles. It was nevertheless a brilliant opposition ploy, this sandiwara, to divert the National Front's attention while it went about doing what matters most: the garnering of votes.

The MPs who regularly play truant in Parliament are not from the opposition. But it is not only MPs who do so. The cabinet does too. Often the House does not have even a single minister on the benches. The Prime Minister is a notable absentee to parliamentary sessions. Parliament, in their view, is to be ignored except to tell the world we are a parliamentary democracy. The Speaker, appointed and not elected by MPs from amongst them, would not go against the government of the day. If a government want an issue ignored, it would not; if the opposition wants an issue raised, it cannot. But the mood in the House changed irrevocably with the November 1999 general election. The Prime Minister takes on not a Chinese, Mr Lim Kit Siang, but a Malay, and from his home state of Kedah. In the confrontations so far, Dato' Fadhil has the edge.
If the National Front wants Parliament to reflect the people's concern, it should be made to exist as one, not as a rubber stamp. It should be made the most important political forum in the country, where issues are vigorously debated, and the government regularly keeping it informed. Instead, Parliament is ignored, even in session, and important policy statements made outside the House in dubious circumstances. If the Prime Minister wants National Front MPs to attend Parliamentary sessions, he should order his cabinet and government too. He should set an example by being available during sessions, and be present for more than his cursory appearances, actively participate in the proceedings. All important statements during session must be made in the House first. Unless the leaders give Parliament the respect it deserves, the followers would not care. Besides, the Prime Minister moves not to ensure parliamentary sovereignty but to staunch the rot within his ranks.

So, what happened in Malacca town on 1 September had had to happen. But it could have been anywhere in Malaysia. Officialdom might distance itself from political pressures, but political pressures do force normal men and women to go berserk. And that is what happened in Malacca town. The DAP Assemblywoman for Durian Daun in Malacca, Ms Betty Chew Gek Cheng, married to Mr Lim Guan Eng and daughter-in-law of Mr Lim Kit Siang, reported in a post to the DAP mailing list, Bungaraya: "Yesterday morning (31 August 00 or on Merdeka Day), huge groups of young people had attacked shophouses, smashed car windows, desecrated temple lanters and even religious alters on houses along Jalan Hang Jebat, Jalan Tukang Besi, Cheng Hoon Teng Temple in Jalan Tokong, Kampung Pantai, Kampung Hulu, Jalan Munshi Abdullah and Lorong Java. The residents said they were frightened by the large group of youths who rampaged through their areas after 12.30 am on 31.8.2000 (sic). What is even more frightening is that the youths were armed with bamboo sticks, obviously willing to attack those who tried to defend their homes. It is fortunate no one was hurt in the attacks except for one Nanyang Siang Pau photographer who was hurt when caught in a fight between two gangs of youths in the Mahkota Parade shopping complex."

The Prime Minister planned to celebrate yesterday's general elections, convinced of doing better than in 1995. He did, if you compare the 1995 and yesterday's election results; but when he dissolved the House, he had 168. The National Front was returned in 149 parliamentary constituencies, but it was a celebration he would rather not have had. The Chinese swing, pronounced in Sabah and Sarawak, was so complete that the opposition did not have a chance. But that Chinese support came with a near total alienation of the northern Malay cultural heartland. It is all but wiped out in Trengganu and Kelantan, with the ground shaken in Perlis, Kedah and Pahang. The Malay ground, shaken since the affair of He Who Must Be Destroyed At All Cost last year, went against him, taking as casualities four cabinet ministers, six deputy ministers, one minister-to-be, one chief minister, several state executive councillors. So complete was the Chinese swing towards the National Front that the DAP's key leaders, including Mr Lim Kit Siang and Mr Kapral Singh, lost both parliament and state constituencies. The Chinese aggressiveness within the National Front would not now have a rational response from the opposition.

The Prime Minister goes around the country in a spirit of national unity; the primary industries minister labels the Indian estate worker as good-for-nothing in the spirit of national unity; the National Front government mismanage affairs in the spirit of national unity. But if the opposition parties go around the country, or publicly deal with internal problems or political dissent within its ranks, Bernama is quick to believe the worst. This is expected. Freedom of the press for the official media is the freedom to have its legs stamped upon if they eschew the freedom to report only officialy activity in a good light. So, why does the DAP react like a started cat on a hot tin roof? Why does it have be defensive when the internal fissures are brought? PAS handles internal dissent by ignoring it in public, and resolving it behind the scenes. The DAP secretary-general, Mr Lim Kit Siang, is on record accusing the mainstream of media of not giving the party too much coverage, of misquoting or misaligning its statements, and generally ignore its activities. But it is not a recent rule that the mainstream media have a vested interested to report only the government version of events. Mr Lim should ignore it. And ensure his ground is not further eroded.

But he left secretly. And he returned secretly. And as the New Straits Times report said this morning: Taib left the state with his family. Accusing the DAP leader, Mr Lim Kit Siang, of ignorance for alleging that he had "run away" from the state and and that the DAP did not have capable leaders in the state does not address the question: If his trip was for laudable state reasons, why was this visit kept hidden when those in the state was looking for any scrap of information that would lift the gloorm? Why did he leave, and return, secretly? Or is this search for experts the gloss for his dereliction of duty to the state?

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