As usual, this is only the tip of the iceberg. Has Parliament ever been told the total cost to the Treasury of the Prime Minister's frequent forays overseas? He seems to spend more time out of the country than in. A large staff accompanies him. If it is not the RM200 million Global Express jet aircraft, expanded to fly non-stop to London and with accoutrements specially ordered that billionaires can only drool at, then it is specially chartered MAS aircraft. In country, he flies regularly to Langkawi for no reason than that it is there. [Curiously, he has never been known to visit a FELDA scheme or an agricultural project in the peninsular or Sabah and Sarawak.] Add to this the running cost, and other incidentals. And the conservatrive estimate of him costing the Treasury a billion ringgit since he took office in 1981 is not excessive. During these trips abroad, he is entited to a daily living allowance of about RM4,000 a day, in addition to other expenses. The works minister, Dato' Seri S. Samy Vellu, is more often than not in India or Australia on allegedly government business. The other BN leaders, the recently-forced-out MCA president, Dato' Seri Ling Liong Sik, the Gerakan President, Dato' Seri Lim Kheng Yaik, and others stake claims as high. One deputy minister held a dinner in Cameron Highlands at government expense to lobby for the new parliamentary constituency seat there. We should be told the expenses cabinet ministers and those in the government run up. Would the ACA dare investigate that?

THE LANDSLIDE ALONG THE KARAK Highway - early reports that it had enveloped five cars and some deaths seem exaggerated - is frightening in that it is the first of many more to come. The highway was built shoddily, as befits many a privatised project. The government insists that only its cronies could privatise government projects. And twenty years on, every privatisation project is in shambles. The North-South Highway is in debt so deep that it cannot be repaid in a hundred years even if tolls were raised ten times what it is. It was more important to rip the public off than provide a service. All it ensured was a cash cow declaring bankruptcy. All we see is cosmetic changes to ward off the problems, as the Karak Highway landslide, which come sooner than anticipated. When a tragedy occurs, the works minister, Dato' Seri S. Samy Vellu, immediately cannot contain himself and arrogantly orders people about. He orders the Malaysian Highway Authority to look into, as if it would not have done on hearing of it. Or is he telling us it would not if he did not?

The Malaysian Indian Congress president, Dato' Seri S. Samy Vellu, is sure his party will romp home because it is virtually indestructible under his great and glorious leadership. He is in office for 24 years and expects the party to be industructible as he confidently marches to three decades in office, when he would, like Dr Mahathir, reluctantly consider retirement. The Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia president, Dato' Seri Lim Kheng Yaik, believes his 24 years as party president cannot do but good for his party in the general election. How can he then retire? These four parties are the mainstay of the National Front Dr Mahathir, and after October Dato' Seri Abdullah, leads.

There is much public hand-wringing over the computer labs fiasco. The Prime Minister, Dato' Seri Mahathir Mohamed, he is let down. The education minister, Tan Sri Musa Mohamed, is supremely unconcerned about it all. It was not a Herculean task after all, he decides, and therefore not worthy of his attention. But the condition of the computer labs looks as if Hercules himself had crashed through them. The works minister, Dato' Seri S. Samy Vellu, jumps up and down in high dudgeon like a kangaroo balancing his threats against the shoddy work with demands for a full scale inquiry and passing the buck. Those who should be hung out to dry quickly blame some one else. All agree some action must be taken so all of them would be cleared and some poor fellow down the line held to account. No one wants to find out why.

But the pull of public service calls. Dr Mahathir told him that since Dr Ling and he retires in 2003, he should stay on since few senior ministers would be left. "If all the senior ministers were to retire at the same time from Pak Lah's cabinet, the only senior minister left would be Dato' Seri S. Samy Vellu," Dr Lim quotes the Prime Minister as saying. You must remember, in Dr Mahathir's view, Pak Lah is not a senior minister. Which is why he moves heaven and earth so he does not succeed him. As he did of his three earlier deputy presidents. Junior leaders should not aspire to senior positions, the unalterable condition of BN leaderdom.

What Dato' Seri Ong did was to express an opinion current at all levels in the party that it must look elsewhere for its political future. But the party leaders are not strong enough to take such a drastic step. And if Pak Lah decides to make an issue of it, as he must if he is to show he is charge, the MCA and even the MIC has no case to answer. If Pak Lah were to use the Leo Moggie example and decide to appoint the MIC deputy president, Dato' Seri S. Subramaniam, as a cabinet minister and drop Dato' Seri S. Samy Vellu, the MIC could do nothing about it.

They forget that the aim of cabinet reshuffles are to place, often in Malaysia, square pegs in round holes. What nonsense does Dato' Seri Ong talk when he says the "PM (prime minister) has considered carefully and has offered the most suitable position for the MCA members". Could he explain why the only cabinet and government positions MCA MPs and senators can aspire to are those given the party as punishment in the fallout from 13 May 1969? Let us not forget, the headmaster has his say. The MIC president, Dato' Seri S. Samy Vellu, no doubt peeved that no MIC member is affected, says magisterially: "I congratulate all the new appointees and trust that the Prime Minister has taken into consideration before coming to this decision. I urge them to carry out their duties with the fullest dedication and responsibility." Phew!!!

Some of his cartoons are brilliant. There was one recently in Malayskiakini. It had three frames: one had the former MCA president, Dato' Seri Ling Liong Sik, and under it the word "Gone"; the second had Dr Mahathir and "About to go"; the third, of the MIC president, Dato' Seri S. Samy Vellu, with the words, "Touch 'N Go". He seethes and raves about his cartoon used in this self-centred political fight in UMNO, and no doubt he would respond in excoriating commentary in pictures soon enough. That UMNO finds it hard to take is proof he is on the right track. But in his typical modesty he cannot understand the fuss he hascreated. A picture, or cartoon, is worth a thousand words. It is in the nature of politcal cartoonist to raise the hackles of those he criticises or caricatures. That he did, and does, in good measure every time. And it made Zunar into a household name.

What happened in the Ampang Jaya municipal council has nothing to do with corruption: that it blew open before next week's general assembly is deliberate. Upstarts must be consigned to the dungheap before they get to be too powerful. Dr Toyo is generally regared as one of the Prime Minister's men; those against him, not. Where does Dato' Kayveas fit into all this. Well, it is widely believed, in the Indian community, that the Indians would have two cabinet ministers. The MIC believes it would be Dato' Seri S. Samy Vellu plus. But one important UMNO faction disagrees: he should be retired, the MIC deputy president, Dato' S. Subramaniam, and Dato' Kayveas be the Indian representatives. Besides, the latter has his eyes on one new parliamentary constituency, which he could well get. So you know now why the latter tries too hard to please.

In the games UMNO plays, it decided, and MCA accepted, that since Dr Ling was 17 years in that ministry, it is the ministry of future MCA presidents in the cabinet. No doubt future Gerakan presidents would be primary industries minister, MIC presidents works minister, and Sarawak and Sabah in their irrelevant portfolios. If Dato' Seri S. Samy Vellu succeeds in his bid for a second Indian cabinet post, that would come not from the MIC but from an equally irrelevant Indian party, the People's Progressive Party (PPP); not the MIC deputy president, Dato' S. Subramaniam but the PPP president, Dato' M. Kayveas. Unless Pak Lah would rather play his own games.

The MCA proved how easy it is for BN parties to have leaders hated on the ground. Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is the UMNO president-to-be because Dr Mahathir wanted him, and all rivals were told to stay clear or face their bank managers. That there is more talk now than ever he would be challenged has his advisers rushing to prevent it. It is fear not political debate and campaign that installs BN party leaders. The MIC leader, Dato' Seri S. Samy Vellu, made MIC politics beholden to him and insists only his writ runs. He is in for a surprise. He wants to retire after 30 years as MIC leader, as if that is a credit to the Indian community. But Pak Lah, for his own security of tenure, must remove him from his cabinet. There are small groups within the Indian community that challenges this, so large enough so MIC is worried, but significant enough for it to be in a few years.

What about the rumours? Would he address that? Utar is an MCA project. One important faction, that under its deputy president, Dato' Seri Lim Ah Lek, is kept out of it. The rumours are that like the Malaysian Indian Congress's university, the Asian Institute of Medicine, Science and Technology, it is not owned by the MIC or its its investment arm, Maika Holdings, so Utar is not by the MCA or its investment arm, Huaren Holdings. It is owned by eight individuals, as AMIST is by three. Two amongst the eight are Dr Ling and Dato' Seri Ong, and not as one as trustees either. MCA headquarters does not want to talk about it. It is, I am told, a rumour spread by Dato' Seri Lim Ah Lek's faction. It does not matter how the rumour started. The confused political fog Dr Ling spreads in MCA gives rumours a life of its own. And there is truth to it. So he must come clean. Otherwise a cloud would hang over the MCA, Dr Ling and Utar. As it does over the MIC, Dato' Seri S. Samy Vellu, and AIMST.

Dr Mahathir behaves as if he wants to stay on, does not want to let go. He sees oblivion, and political ruin, staring at him after October. As many in UMNO and BN believe he would stay on as he would not. He has got used to the perks of his office and cannot bear to give them up. This is what politics in life is reduced to. Those who hold high office become non-entities the minute they leave it. No prime minister has left office loved and honoured. No politician either. For the office turns their heads, to believe in a God-given right to it, and politics in this country is often how to push the rascal out. It does not matter which office or politicay party. Or if the man is Dr Mahathir or Dato' Seri S. Samy Vellu. Why they cling to office is, no matter whom you ask, the loss of the perks out of it.

Why is not far to seek. Malaysian foreign policy now is only to ensure how great a statesman the Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir is. Wisma Putra is a pale shadow of its past. When responsibility for bilateral ties shifts from Wisma Putra to, in the case of India, to the works minister and MIC president, Dato' Seri S. Samy Vellu, the needless confrontation between Kuala Lumpur and New Delhi was one waiting to happen. Curiously, he was no where around when this crisis unfolded. No doubt he would soon come and inform Malaysia his behind-the-scenes role in bring bilateral ties on tack. When Malaysia insists on shifting goal posts, at its option, what happened must happen.

Dato' Ong touched a raw nerve. Even Dr Ling is often seen in the company of reputed gangsters; one who was killed recently in a restaurant in the Imbi area of Kuala Lumpur was close to Dr Ling and his preferred successor, Dato' Ong Ka Ting; indeed, the latter sponsored his citizenship. But the use of gangsters in Malaysian politics is not new. The Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) president, Dato' Seri S. Samy Vellu, would pack MIC meetings with gangsters to prevent members from speaking their minds. Gangsters now turn up at UMNO meetings. Gangsters are in politics only because the stakes are so high. Party leaders cannot afford to be defeated, for a defeat withdraws their perks of office, also known as corruption, nanjam, rasuah, coffee or tea money. No one talks of it. Pak Lah dismisses these reports of corruption amongst the high and might as anecdotal. Cabinet ministers openly challenge those who accuse them of corruption to prove their case.

In the last two decades, corruption fuelled the government more widespreadly than the two decades before that. With the anti-corruption agency defanged, those in government and the civil service believe corruption is a perk of office, how could it be otherwise? Dato' Seri Abdullah Badawi has not yet taken office, but there are commission agents and others out there making deals for projects in which a hefty percentage of the project's cost paid up front for "Pak Lah". Until now it was for "Doc", or "Dr Ling" or "Dato' Samy" or a named chief minister or mentri besar. Those in office do not want to leave office for two reasons: one, they are ignored the day after leaving office; two, the gravy train stops. The latter is more important, which is why the likes of Dato' Seri Ling Liong Sik or a Dato' Seri S. Samy Vellu, or a Datin Rafidah Aziz, or a BN cabinet minister or mentri besar or chief minister, cling to office at whatever cost to their personal integrity or future.

THE TREASURY IS ALL BUT BROKE. AN official Russian delegation was here recently to complete the Malaysian purchase of 22 Sukhoi 30 fighters and bombers. Instead of the 22 planes the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) was to buy, it now wanted eight to 12. And there is no money for that. The Works Minister, Dato' Seri S. Samy Vellu, says 89 public works projects, approved in last years budget, is cancelled in January alone. The PWD is not paying contractors who have completed the projects they tendered for. Many are forced into bankruptcy.

That kind of money cannot be corruption or the illgotten gains of money politics, but a perk of office. His successor in Selangor, Dato' Seri Mohamed Khir Toyo, rails against corruption and money politics, but is his hands clean? The state is rent with his new found wealth. When the state executive council, the state cabinet, has to decide on land applications an licences of all kinds, and the BN parties has need for more money than the law allows for elections, the leaders are tempted with corruption every minute of the day. No one in office is immune from it. The law against corruption and misuse of office is so drafted that unless the Prime Minister authorises prosecution, it is a dead letter. He acts only if he is challenged. So, his former deputy prime minister, Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim, is in jail but not Datin Seri Rafidah Aziz, Dr Ling, Tun Daim Zainuddin, Dato' Seri S. Samy Vellu, many a state mentri besar, senior civil servants and others.

But he must by then also resolve the dislocation in the National Front (BN) caused inevitably by the refusal of the leaders of coalition parties to step down after decades in office. That would not be easy but if he could pull that off, he would start his prime ministership with strong backing from the non-Malay communities, and strengthen his standing within UMNO. The MCA president, Dato' Seri Ling Liong Sik, throws the buck at Dr Mahathir with an undated letter of resignation, which is not acted upon. Dato' Seri Abdullah, in one of his first acts of office, must accept it. The MIC leader, Dato' Seri S. Samy Vellu, believes he can remain in the cabinet for another five years. He should not be allowed to. Only the Gerakan leader, Dato' Seri Lim, wants to quit; but even he would not consider retirement until he was ready to, not when circumstances demanded it.

UMNO's leadership uncertainties upset the BN coalition as well. Every coalition leader clings to office as UMNO's does. The MIC leader, Dato' Seri S. Samy Vellu, is in office, as party leader and cabinet minister, for 25 years. He wants to make it a round 30 before he leaves. The MIC deadwood leaders are up in arms when an Indian political leader, formerly from MIC, reveals the obvious -- that he must leave. The MCA president, Dato' Seri Ling Liong Sik, sends in secret an undated resignation letter and expects Dr Mahathir to decide for him. But Dr Mahathir cannot and would not. So Dr Ling clings to office. Even when a former close business and political ally now accuses him of using his office to enrich himself at the government's expense. But the coalition leaders cling to office as tenaciously as UMNO leaders, and refuse to give way. They have decided their continuance in office is as, if not more, important than the well-being of the communities they represent.

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