THE WAR ON TERROR, as dictated by the United States, is fast becoming one in Malaysia, as it already is in many countries with fealty to Washington. This is adopted to keep the opposition away from politics, but all it has done is to keep it alive. In Indonesia, this is more widespread than is reported in the news reports, that getting prominence only when this affects the government or foreign countries with an axe to grind, usually and not exclusively Australia. In the process, President Susilo Bambang Yudhyono is seen against the war of terror, the fine elements of which are Washington's, or Australia's dictates. Malaysia has gone wholly with the United States on this, because its largest opposition is Islamic, which it wants to say is pro-war on terror, mainly to blame it Islamically, but gets caught in a bind as the National Front's version of Islam – now Islam Hadhari, but that is under the present prime minister, Pak Lah, only; it was not under the former leader – does not cut much ice in the villages.

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.

One man now threatening law suits got to be extremely rich because he is close to the present Prime Minister, Pak Lah. He is worth about a billion dollars, still in his thirties, has no job worth talking about, unless getting a commission for selling government assets is an occupation. When Pak Lah is no more Prime Minister, this man will not be get any more money from the public purse. Each Prime Minister has his cronies, who must make their money soon or lose out. To do this, he must ignore the ground, and behave as if he is to the manor born. For every man who behaves thus under the present prime minister, I can show you dozens who once were but are now forgotten, not doing well, or bankrupt. It is bad for the prime minister at this time because the people on the ground rebel at policies and laws made in their name but which excuses the coterie.

The only beneficiaries are those who get the contracts, those close to the centres of power, and those close to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (Pak Lah). So any discussion of it which ignores the facts misses the point.

The Prime Minister, Pak Lah, has warned the people to stop complaining about the Ninth Malaysia Plan. He is not used to government plans being criticised, so his tetchiness is understandable. But it shows the Plan is not to improve the lot of the people in whose name it is announced, but of those who carry it out. This is, of course, not mentioned. But Malaysia Today has on its website who will benefit: the contractors, Chinese naturally, and not the people of Sarawak and Sabah. That happens in West Malaysia too. The withdrawal of the 30 sen subsidy on petrol is so that one man could get all the contracts in one section of the Ninth Malaysia Plan. Only RM160 billion was earmarked for that section. But this man had RM200 billion worth of projects. The withdrawal of the subsidy meant that this section could have the RM4 billion a year. He could get all the contacts. Those on the ground believe this, strengthened by reports on the Internet and websites and the government's refusal to deny it.

Few in Malaysia would miss a chance to be in the good books of the politically powerful. Especially if it means they could be wealthy in the bargain. But they will almost lose their magic when a new prime minister takes over. It does not matter to them that others who followed this route in the past are forgotten now. They do not realise, or their spin meisters forget to tell them, they should complete their legal actions when their patron is prime minister. If I were to say today that Tan Sri Vincent is powerful under Pak Lah, I would be laughed at. And rightly so. The legal action Tan Sri Vincent brought against me still awaits a hearing in the Federal Court 12 years later, contrary to what he and his lawyer said then. But the case is stuck in the Federal Court , certainly longer than it has taken to issue the writ by stealth to the Court of Appeal decision. Tan Sri Ting Pek Khiing did not proceed with his action in Miri in Sarawak after the initial steps, perverting justice in the process, and putting me to unnecessary and great expense. He is now in Kuching, ill and cannot move about though he makes his appearance daily at his new business venture. He is forgotten in Malaysia, his Ekran Bhd, which once was traded at more than 100 ringgit, is now a penny stock, as Tan Sri Vincent's Berjaya stock, which followed Ekran's route, is. It would be a foolhardy investor who bought either share on the stock market as investment.

Much of the public anger at government services has this type, among others, of modernization to blame. To put it another way, the GLCs and government departments work to annoy the public, already burdered with government measures taken so that those close can benefit from the public loss. The withdrawal of the 30 sen subsidy on the price of petrol has brought this out in the open. This anger at being led up the garden path is one reason why rise in petrol has become so serious. Until the truth is told, and why, if it does, it took so long to reveal it, Pak Lah must say categorically and truthfully that it is not so that one relative can get all the projects in one section of the Ninth Malaysia Plan. The withdrawal gave that much extra for this man to get all the contracts in the section he was aiming for. This may or may not be true, but it is widely believed. It is not for the government or Pak Lah to say this is not so. No one believes its denial, especially how it is said.

Pak Lah SAID the people are angry with the 30-cent increase in petrol but warned the opposition parties were taking advantage of it. He withdrew the subsidy to petrol companies, a practice started about 40 years ago to keep prices down. The oil companies had not increased the prices, but with the removal of the subsidy increased the price. The government explained that petrol companies have not increased the prices for some time but the government has withdrawn 30 cents of the subsidies! Whatever the reason, the people now pay nearly two dollars per litre in petrol. but It was not he who withdrew the subsidy but his son-in-law, Mr Khairy Jamaluddin, so that the government would have enough money for his projects under the 9th Malaysia Plan. This may or may not be true, but the studied silence in the government and civil service to allegations on the Internet and alternate press that now takes as read that the son-in-law demanded it. That sticks, whether Pak Lah likes it or not and he refuses to say otherwise.

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.

THE GOVERNMENT WILL SAVE RM4.4 billion annually by raising petrol prices but it will cost Malaysians five times that. This saving will be spent on public transport, says Pak Lah. So we must be happy the petrol prices are up! In 1990, it was RM1.10 a litre, today it is RM1.92. This is said to be inevitable, but is it? Its explanation why this is necessary comes after the public rebelled. Will the Malaysian government tell us, as rumours put it, why we are selling oil to Taiwan at about RM20 till 2010. Again as rumours, which turn out to be true most of the time, tell it, Malaysia is paying Taiwan US$40 a barrel for all the oil we do not sell or use. Most of that oil is now left in the ground, but we pay nevertheless. I was told this cannot be true: "If what you say is true, this is an unequal contract, and will be set aside." This rumour may be false, but before it gets wider publicity, the government must come clean about it. But can there be an unequal contract when the sale is by a willing buyer to a willing seller?

Pak Lah IS IN DIFFUCULTIES because his son-in-law. Mr Khairy Jamaluddin, does what he likes and any one who questions him can be entangled in libel suits. Mr Husam Musa, a PAS MP, asked a few questions, in an online PAS hewspaper, about his sudden wealth, and ECM Libra has sued both. The company has decided that asking Mr Khairy questions like Mr Husam's is a blight on it. But a defamation suit can take years in the Malaysian courts, particularly if Mr Husam and the PAS Publishing company defends it. The chances are good that it will last after Pak Lah leaves office. Tan Sri Vincent Tan sued me in 1993, I lost all the way to the federal court, but another federal court bench decided the bench headed by the then chief justice, who went to New Zealand on holiday with the lawyer for Vincent Tan, was flawed. I am still waiting for the federal court re-hearing. 12 years after i was sued. Mr Khairy could be in the same boat as Tan Sri Vincent. But Pak Lah is already saddled with the backlash over this.

THE PRIME MINISTER HAS excused New Straits Times but not the Sarawak Tribune and the Guong Ming Daily News. NST's front page apology on the front page showed the paper was contrite, said the Prime Minister. No body is penalised, as has happened in the two newpapers although they did apologize. All the television stations have carried cartoons deemed offending the Prophet, but how can they be punished? The information minister, Mr Zainuddin Maidin, who is himself a former newspaper editor, who has been running a feud with the former editor-in-chief of the NST group, Mr Khalimullah Hassan, is caught with a dilemma over the television stations under his control. TV3 is run by acolytes of Pak Lah's son-in-law. NTV7 is not in the charmed circle, so will escape if the other television stations are not punished. But they carried the cartoons too. On that will depend on the National Front government's credibility.

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.

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 UMNO General Assembly had seriously argued banning those who left UMNO from returning, aimed at preventing the former deputy president and former Malaysian deputy prime minister, Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim for returning to UMNO, but the resolution was hastily withdrawn when it was discovered that three UMNO presidents, two alive, would have been banned. The prime miniser, Pak Lah, when he was foreign minister, had gone to Johore Bahru for the byelection in which Dato' Shahrir Samad, now of the Backbenchers' Club, had stood as an independent against the UMNO Baru candidate, and he was supported by the old UMNO hands who disagreed with the new UMNO. Pak Lah had joined the new UMNO crowd going to file nomination papers. He said he did not know what to do when he met Dato' Shahrir Samad pushing the Tengku in a wheelchair, and followed by thousands waving the UMNO flag. The Tengku and Tun Hussein Onn remained loyal to the UMNO which had been declared illegal, and refused to join the new entity. The only difference between the two UMNO flags is that the insigna is smaller on the new UMNO.

He was an UMNO apparatchik when in office, and many in the party and elsewhere, remember him as that. He would therefore have a rough ride back. He is definitely not welcome in UMNO. He was talked of as a potential president of PAS, but that is talk for the moment. He speaks to them, to their leaders, he was invited to DAP's retreat recently, he keeps his options open. That worries many in the National Front and the opposition. But he is a politician with a following of his own. When he moves, many of his personal followers will move with him. That includes those who are with the other parties, including the National Front. He is 58, of the same generation as Pak Lah, eight years older and a distant relative. The two are from Penang, and a political rivalry naturally exists. When Pak Lah was foreign minister, one of his political moves in Penang was to keep Dato' Seri Anwar out. That has not changed, although Mr Khairy was squiring Anwar's daughter when he met, and later married, Pak Lah's.

THE NON-MALAY CABINET MINISTERS who complained to their prime minister, Pak Lah, about non-Muslim voices being unheard, is ordered by Pak Lah himself to withdraw it and not let it be discussed by outsiders, i.e. Malaysians. Why they took this extreme stand, especially when they agreed with Pak Lah in the cabinet what they protest now is easy to explain. The non-Malay ministers are beholden to UMNO, and they nod their heads when the prime minister tells them to. This time, their ground is in revolt. But most of them have withdrawn their memo as the prime minister requested. One minister even said he was surprised the press took great interest in the memorandum. He of course chose to forget which were the media. But among the two ministers who signed the memorandum is the MCA and MIC presidents. The president of the two parties signed the agreement which gave this country independence. Now they have to express their dissatisfaction in a memo the the prime minister. It also revealed, though not for the first time, that Pak Lah is prime minister not of Malaysia but of the Malays. UMNO has decided, though that becomes less and less decisive, that they will lead the Malays. But he looks after the Malays only, and helps divide the country into racial units.

THE PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY TO the Health Ministry, Dato' S. Sothinathan, was suspended for three months because he defied a government decision. He had immunity when he complained, in Parliament. But when ten non-Muslim cabinet ministers protested in public what they had in the cabinet sessions agreed, probably because they had to show their communities they meant well, there was recriminations and explanations, but no action against them. Their Malay ministerial colleagues, notably Dato' Nazri Aziz, in criticising them, said they agreed with an Islamic state. But it showed that the cabinet is split. The prime minister, Pak Lah, said he was unhappy at the move, which was the first since independence. But the more the ministers talked, the more it became clear that the Malay and non-Malay ministers disagreed. In cabinet, these ten ministers – why was another minister, Mr Kayveas, left out? – went along with the proposal. But they had now to take the decision to show they looked after their community's interest. But like the ten ministers, Pak Lah makes confusing statements. National Front MPs make it worse by saying the ten were off base, they did not know Islam, and their protests must be ignored. So the National Front to bring unity to this country brings disunity instead!

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