WHY DID DATO' SERI SYED HAMID, the foreign minister, and others in the cabinet, make a fool of themselves days before the Prime Minister, Pak Lah, said the crooked bridge to replace part of the causeway with Singapore would not be built? Why had they not been penalised for making the Malaysian government look stupid? What was the basis for Pak Lah making his decision? Was it because his son-in-law, Mr Khairy Jamaluddin, is reported to be close to Singapore and many believe is its representative here? Why did Pak Lah defy his cabinet ministers? He cannot say he is boss, and can do what he likes. He was a member of the Mahathir cabinet which approved the bridge. Much money has been spent in preparing for it. Just because Singapore says the crooked bridge is unworkable? The public reasons for the crooked bridge is as obscure as against it.

In Malaysia, a middle class man united the people against the government. But the sacked deputy prime minister, Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim, could not do it alone. The government, then led by Tun Mahathir Mohamed, could not contain the demonstrations that resulted and used force to break them up. But the middle class leaders went back when Tun Mahathir resigned. UMNO under Pak Lah, who took over, got the biggest majority ever in the general elections of 2004. Datuk Seri Anwar and his men now is not sure he will see the support of those days. But Pak Lah will make sure. His government withdrew the 30 sen petrol subsidy, and will withdraw other subsidies in the coming years. The middle class is angry, more move against the government, including members of UMNO and the National Front.

About ten years ago, Syed Azman's helicopter carried a Malaysian business man, Tan Sri Yahya Ahmad, which crashed in the Pahang jungles, killing him instantly. The then deputy prime minister, Dato' Anwar Ibrahim, should have been on that flight 20 years ago, but he arrived late and missed it. Dato' Syed Azman then bought another. He has now lost two helicopters – a small price for the riches he has accumulated as a result. This is not unusual. When Tun Mahathir was prime minister, one Chinese business man took his then VIP guests on a boat ride. He made his staff follow the boat in another so that its passengers would be comfortable in the seas. He would not do that today for he gets nothing in return. In fact, this business man is forgotten today, as he was not in those days.

But it is not only the recent petrol price that has landed Pak Lah in trouble. In the recent byelection of Pengkalen Pasir in Kelantan, no mention of Islam Hadhari, allegedly his speciality, was allowed. UMNO campaigners could not say why it should be followed in Malaysia and not Islam, which PAS espouses and is the country's official religion. No one has explained what it stands for, UMNO leaders talk of it as being an Islam suited for modern times. But there is no discussion, even by UMNO leaders, because it is a political concept and not a religion as Islam is. It was concocted by the former Prime Minister, Tun Mahathir Mohamed, – and Pak Lah recently published a book on it – to attack PAS. It is drummed into Malaysian minds that they should follow Islam Hadhari over Islam. But Islam Hadhari is anything but a religion. Malaysians are not allowed to discuss it, except laudatorily. One does follow Islam Hadhari as one follows Islam. Otherwise why was Islam Hadhari excluded from Pengkalen Pasir?

The PPP was brought into the National Front 33 years ago when the tripartite Alliance became the multi-party National Front. After it was taken over by the Indians, the then Prime Minister, Tun Mahathir Mohamed, created conditions in the National Front for the PPP to represent the Indians as well. This has not worked well, partly because the PPP president, Mr Kayveas, took for granted the support of the Indian community, and is now no worse than the MIC president, Dato' Seri S. Samy Vellu, and both see their presence in the cabinet for the Indian community to be proud of. But the Indian community generally, especially the younger members, reject both. Datuk Samy Vellu owns or controls all the six or seven Tamil newspapers, which usually translates the government news that are published in the main English language newspapers, and publish in detail political and election news from Tamil Nadu in India. There used to Tamil newspapers owned by rivals to Dato' Samy Vellu but now are controlled, or owned, by him.

DATUK SERI ABDULLAH AHMAD Badawi – formally but known to all and sundry, even himself, as Pak Lah – is trapped. There are many reasons why: his son-in-law, the deputy prime minister, Tun Mahathir Mohamed, his office, UMNO headquarters, the non-Malay and non-Islamic parties in the ruling National Front, Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim, his political enemies. The withdrawal of RM4.4 billion annually, because his son-in-law wanted RM20 billion for his projects, led to Pak Lah being trapped. Mr Khairy Jamaluddin proposed to meet a RM20 billion shortfall in the 9th Malaysia Plan by raising the petrol price. He had earlier proposed RM200 billion worth of projects, RM20 billion less than the plan. Pak Lah dutifully told Malaysians the government could not afford the fuel subsidies. It was a spin. But how does Mr Khairy, known in some quarters as 'Satan's son', sit in on official committees, when he has no right to and is not in the government. make proposals he cannot and should not? Pak Lah has trapped himself because he allows his son-in-law to interfere in the administration of government.

Mr Khairy's blames Dato' Seri Khir Toyo for the floods in Shah Alam, and is to prevent him being challenged for the UMNO Youth presidency next year. But within UMNO he is seem as blaming an UMNO leader for mistakes the federal government has made. Why did not the federal government, run by his father-in-law, object to the exclusive housing project near Bukit Cheraka when it was being constructed? It cannot, because it has allowed the ridge above Taman Tun Abdul Razak, which Tun Mahathir when prime minister ordered stopped. The people look upon this attack of Datp' Seri Khir as infighting within UMNO. But the man who could challenge Mr Khairy in the UMNO elections is not Dato' Seri Khir but a deputy minister in the government linked to the deputy prime minister. What Mr Khairy has done is to ensure that the next prime minister is Dato' Seri Najib Tun Razak, with his deputy prime minister Dato' Hishamuddin Hussein, who is UMNO Youth leader. UMNO headquarters believe it, and so do many Malaysians up and down the country.

Fifty years after independence, the problems facing Malaysia has changed. But the country is governed as if they were not. The recent rally in Batu Pahat, Johore, to honour UMNO's president, Dato Onn bin Jaffar, was not as successful as the party had hoped. They could not draw crowds today that gathered 60 years ago to hear the UMNO founder. The irony of this was that after he left UMNO on principle in 1951 till his death in 1963 he was a non-person to the party. His son, Hussein Onn, became prime minister, and his grandson, Dato' Hussein Onn, is in the present cabinent. But nothing for the man in his liftime, or for 40 years after his death. Dato' Onn was a dato' because he was menteri besar of Johore, and was not given any Federal awards, which adorn many an irrelevelant figure in modern Malaysia, to add to those from from the various states. The UMNO leaders shed crocodile tears over Dato' Onn in organising the meeting in Batu Pahat. It is organising it for a narrow reason: the Malays do not support UMNO the political party as they did the nationalist organisatin Dato' Onn founded. UMNO today was founded in 1987, because the then President, Tun Mahathir Mohamed, did not want Tengku Razaleigh to challenge him in the future. There is of course a difference between a political party and a nationalist organisation, but UMNO today does not accept that.

The New Straits Times has spawned The Malay Mail, Berita Harian, Harian Metro, among others. Every editor of the group is selected for his UMNO, not National Front, reliability. In recent years, the Prime Minister selects or okays the name. To make it easier to control, one of his close aides or man he trusts is made editor-in-chief. Tun Mahathir, when prime minister, had appointed latterly Dato' Abdullah Ahmad, a former MP from Kok Lanas, a former deputy minister and political secretary to the second Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak. Pak Lah appointed Dato' Kalimullah Hassan, and after he left, Dato' Hishamuddin Aun. Dato' Kalimullah promised the NST that no action would follow the publication of the cartoon, even if opposition parties, including PAS, NGOs and others have lodged a police report.

In Malaysia, the opposition is seen as a useful check on the National Front. And they have grown in members who are united in hate: they hate a leader in UMNO, and all those who hate him, but not UMNO, rush to swell its ranks. It seems at first sight a party to watch, but it is united in hate. But when the principle hate figure removes himself, and is no longer an issue, whoever takes over UMNO sweeps the board. This is what happened in the 2004 general election. There was a surge out of UMNO as Tun Mahathir Mohamed continued to dominate the party. Those who moved out continued to love UMNO but did not like its then president. KeADILan, now Parti Kadilan Rakyat after it merged with Parti Rakyat Malaysia. The reformasi demonstrations were the larger because many of those in it did not like the UMNO president. When Tun Mahathir resigned abruptly in favour of Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi before the 2004 General Elections, he deprived the opposition of an enemy.

PAK LAH SAYS PROTON needs a foreign partner after his government prevented one to join hands with the carmaker. The adviser to Proton, and the man who inisisted it be set up, Tun Mahathir Mohamed, was so angry when the foreign partner, Volkswagen, withdrew from the link-up that he returned the VW car that was given him. What is now known is that deals behind to ensure that an private parties benefit rather than the nation were hatched at that time, and Proton naturally was the loser. Volkswagen withdrew from the deal, but why it did so is not made public. The car company withdrew because a company just formed by that efficient but corrupt minister, Datin Rafidah Aziz's niece and nephew was given enough APs to allow Volkswagen to come into Malaysia without Proton. Since the AP is Pak Lah's son-in-law's cousin, Pak Lah cannot raise objections to the deal. Instead, he can only say inanities about Proton needing a foreign partner.

PAK LAH has resuffled his cabinet, so the newspapers and spinmeisters said. But has he? He has organised his cabinet to be ready for the 2007 UMNO elections, not to run the country effectively. He has blinked at a time when he should not. He hopes the changes would destroy lhis enemies. But he has ensured divisions in the cabinet, between the cabinet and UMNO rank-and-file, UMNO against the people. The other politicial parties in the National Front did not count, and he dropped what their leaders did not want. His predecessor, Tun Mahathir Mohamed, is not unhappy at the cabinet resuffle especially since many of his supporters are in it. Those who had watched Pak Lah announcing the cabinet on television would have seen a glum prime minister ill at ease while his deputy, linked to Tun Mahathir, grinning away. When Pak Lah dismissed the AP scandal as a minor mistake and that did not justifiy sacking the minister, he gave the impression that in running the country, those in politicial offfice are expected to fill their pockets with ill-gotten money.

THE PEOPLE'S ACTION PARTY created Singapore out of its image, the work of its long-term leader, Mr Lee Kuan Yew. It dismantled the British superstructure in the island colony and put in its place the sinews of a modern administrative state. But in doing so, it created a whole colony of beavers, who worked hard, kept their thoughts to themselves, and did what they were asked to do. Those who did not follow the general trend were severely dealt with, and that included recalcitrant journalists and overseas magazines, The officials assumed a persona of their own, believed they could do no wrong, and looked down upon the people they negotiated with, if they were Malaysians, and got the edge over them by slick public relations. The general feeling in Singapore is that the country across the causeway is their's for the kicking. The one time they clashed over water, in which Singapore assumed it was theirs and did Malaysia a favour by giving it treated water, it took Mr Lee Kuan Yew to see his counterpart, Tun Mahathir Mohamed, in 1986, and gave the Malaysians the upper hand in relations with the island republic.

Tun Mahathir Mohamed appointed four deputy presidents – Tan Sri Musa Hitam, Tun Ghafar Baba, Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Dato' Seri Abdullah Badawi – and one, Dato' Seri Abdullah Badawi, succeeded him. Today, Tun Mahathir spends his waking hours trying to remove that man from his job. But even his former supporters in the civil service and business men have deserted him. The Malaysian is given a choice between the prime minister who has the future in front of him and a prime minister known for what he had done in the past. In Malaysia, the man of the hour is the custodian of all that is good in Malaysia. Tun Mahathir's expired when he resigned two years ago. But politics in UMNO is still conducted at the top. The leaders think the decision they made can be forced upon the members. It is not only UMNO leaders believe that, all National Front party leaders believe it.

In Malaysia, those expelled from Singapore did provide the intellectual framework for much of its policies, although some had occasion to regret what they did. The former prime minister, Tun Mahathir Mohamed, in his eighties and had a heart attack around Christmas last year, is the grandson of a Malayali policeman from Travancore who became head of security to the sultan of Kedah. Many others though came here to earn a living, fought for Indian independence, and returned to serve the Indian government on independence. Among those were N. Raghavan, a lawyer who became India's ambassador to Argentina. Dr N.K. Nair practiced medicine in Penang, fought for Indian independence, married a German, and remained in Malaysia. His son died as a UN representtive in Thailand. But they are a minority in Singapore and Malaysia. In Singapore, they are looked down upon officially. In Malaysia, they are look down upon by the Tamils, who represent the Indians in power. They cannot join the Malaysian Indian Congress, unless they forget Malayalam and adopt Tamil. But in either territory, they cannot be ignored. Once in a blue moon, someone like C.V. Devan Nair would arise to make their presence felt.

This is what ordinary people face. Is Tun Daim an ordinary person? He says, in his press statement by was of justification that the then finance minister, Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim. But Dato' Seri Anwar could not rock the boat be rejecting Tun Daim's requests, particularly as work had started and he was watching Dato' Seri Anwar like a hawk. Tun Daim's political secretary, now the Jelai MP, and known as the wakil pos' for he won because of the 5,000 votes from the army camp there, had been double promoted to deputy minister of finance, to make sure Dato' Seri Anwar did not act on his own. Tun Daim also says that the cabinet agreed with him on his projects. Did they? The cabinet ministers knew which side their bread was buttered, and voted accordingly. He lost because his group is no longer in power. A different group is. And Tun Daim has the added disadvantage of being aligned to Tun Mahathir Mohamed.

Few remember history in Malaysia, but there were officials at the time who remembered what Ibu Zain did, though they were surprised she was alive. Dato' Onn died in 1963, an MP from Trengganu, not of UMNO but the ultra nationalist Parti Negara. Tun Hussein Onn, who hero-worshipped his father, made a special trip to Trengganu on becoming prime minister and saw his father's compatriots there. Dato' Onn died out of UMNO, got no awards for his contributions as lesser men and women have, but that is the fate of former Presidents of UMNO. He is treated now with respect, his photo as that of UMNO presidents since hang on the walls of PWTC. He died outside of UMNO, as did his successor and his son. UMNO the nationalist movement that he founded is not UMNO the political party that Tun Mahathir Mohamed founded in 1987, and who remains the only former UMNO President. But it is out of sight out of mind in UMNO.

Dato' Seri Kadir is aligned to Tun Mahathir, but fighting to stay in the cabinet. He has come a long way. I first knew him in Saigon in the 1960s, when I was working for Reuters and he was a cypher clerk at the Malaysian embassy there. The charge d'affairs at that time was Dato' Hamzah Majid, the youngest head of mission in Saigon. The three were born in 1939, and the oldest was four months older than the youndest. On Wednesdays, Hamzah instructed me to take Dato' Seri Kadir for breakfast, and release him only in the office when he called. It was Dato' Seri Hamzah who put the idea of reading law to Dato' Seri Kadir, got him a Mara scholarship. But he did not trust Dato' Seri Kadir with it, and I got Mr Jimmy Hahn, then manager of Reuters in Southeast Asia and incidentally father of Lorraine Hahn of CNN, to post it. The rest is, as they say, history. He passed law, formed a law partnership – Hisham, Sobri and Kadir – entered Parliament and is now in the cabinet. He has not forgotten how he got there. When he was deputy foreigh minister, he stood up when Dato' Hamzah, who had left the foreign service to be tourism director-general. As minister of information, he has now got into the news by asking for a return to Rukun Negara. That will not work now, for the intellectual underpinnings of it is forgotten, and the new organisers do not have the capacity for it.

WHAT HAPPENED ON MAY 13 – whether it is the Malays who orchestrated it or the DAP which started it – misses one important fact. It was to get Tengku Abdul Rahman, the first prime minister, out of office. The deaths in the riots do not matter, only that the man must go. The MCA felt that the Chinese had let it down, and quit the government. It played into UMNO hands. The racial riots happened because UMNO wanted the Malays to look upon it as the only leader they will have. The Tengku was reduced to negotiating his departure so that he would be prime minister for a day under the new Yang Dipertuan Agung, his nephew the Sultan of Kedah. UMNO succeeded in their political aim in the last 35 years, but at what cost. UMNO the nationalist movement had made way for UMNO the political party in 1987. The Tengku did not join the political party, and died, with Tun Hussein Onn, out of the political party. In fact. the only ex-president of the political party is Tun Mahahir Mohamed. In 1969, the Tengku's namesis was Tun Mahathir, who plotted against him.

PAK LAH SAID HIS syle is different from Tun Mahathir's. There is no doubt about that. He said this in Bangkok, a statement meant for Malaysians. Tun Mahathir would have done that in office, but not before he had said it locally. Pak Lah is more interested, in his speeches and statements, in keeping the foreigner informed of his intentions, than Malaysians. Bernama, in carrying the report, gave it prominent on its web page, making it the top story of the day, in Malay and English. But the two men are as different as chalk and cheese. Tun Mahathir had asked to see Pak Lah, and as usual arrived early. But Pak Lah was still in his bed, though it was mid-morning. Tun Mahathir saw him two hours later. This would not have happened when he was prime minister. He was probably less than a week behind in his work. Normally he arrives in his office well before it is open, and catches up on his work while his staff has just left for the office. He attends to his work as prime minister, then stays behind cloistered with his work, takes it home what he cannot finish, which is often, and works at his papers or speeches late into the night. He gets up early, works again before he leaves for office. Compare that with Pak Lah, who is weeks behind his work normally.

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