Raja Petra Kamarudin
Johor is facing a serious crisis. But the media has been told to
downplay the problem. Johor is facing the worst floods in 100 years
and this is the second time it is happening in the same number of weeks.
In the first round late last year, the Prime Minister was in Perth
officiating his brother's Nasi Kandar restaurant. Today, he, plus his
deputy, are also overseas sorting out some 'personal matters' while
the people of Johor, the state that has been touted as the fortress
or kubu of Umno, struggle to keep their heads above water (pun
intended).
A national disaster should be proclaimed but they will not do that
lest it gives the impression that things are really serious and out
of hand. It is, of course, but the nation must never be given that
impression.
The head of the national disaster committee is currently in London.
He is in London because he is trying to meet Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
But Tun Dr Mahathir refuses to meet him. He wants the Deputy Prime
Minister, Najib Tun Razak, the head of the national disaster
committee, to come home to Malaysia and start working in saving lives
in Johor.
The people have been warned not to wade in the flood waters because
the waters carry contagious and fatal diseases brought about by
carcasses of dead animals plus, even more critical, dead rats. But
how do you do that when the flood waters are almost submerging your
roof? Avoiding wading through the flood waters in Johor is more
complex than avoiding death and taxes. And we all know that death and
taxes are unavoidable.
They are talking about sending the National Service trainees to Johor
to help the flood victims. Why the National Service trainees? These
are but schoolchildren. Have they been trained in how to handle
emergencies and national disasters? Why not send the army, riot
police, police field force, or any other men who have been properly
trained and are being paid to risk their lives? Why send
schoolchildren to what may result in their deaths? Is this because
schoolchildren cost nothing while uniformed personnel need to be paid
and the government has disallowed overtime and outstation allowances?
Yes, there are whispers that government personnel have been told to
cut down their outstation trips because the government no longer has
any money to pay them this extra cost. Whenever it is unavoidable and
the personnel are forced to make trips away from the office, then
they are supposed to pay for the cost from their own pockets and
claim back the expenses on their return. But not many government
officers want to do this because they would be reimbursed many months
later.
One pensioner told me that his pension cheque bounced. I laughed when
he told me this. How can his pension cheque bounce? Isn't that a Bank
Negara cheque? Bank Negara cheques do not bounce! He then pulled the
cheque out of his pocket and flashed it in front of my face. Shit! He
was not pulling my leg after all. Is it that bad? Surely we are not
that broke.
"This is all because of Mahathir," said my pensioner friend in
disgust. "He finished all the money and handed the country to Pak Lah
once he realised that the country is broke. Why do you think Mahathir
was so willing to resign and hand the country to Pak Lah? Because he
knew that there was no more money."
"I wanted to resign in 1997," said Tun Dr Mahathir. "But because of
the financial crisis I stayed on. I did not want to hand over the
country that was in crisis to my successor. I stayed on for six extra
years to sort out the problems. Then, once the country was okay
again, I resigned and handed the country over to Pak Lah."
"I made sure that the country had money before I handed it over to
Pak Lah," argued Tun Dr Mahathir. "If not because of the 1997 crisis,
I would have retired the latest by 1998. But I could not because then
I would be handing a country in problems to my successor. And if
Anwar had not been implicated in sex scandals he would have been the
Prime Minister after me. But instead I had to remove Anwar and
appoint Pak Lah as Prime Minister."
Anyway, Najib is now in London and is trying to meet Tun Dr Mahathir
but the still powerful Umno warlord refuses to meet the Deputy Prime
Minister. Why Tun Dr Mahathir refuses to meet Najib is not as
important as why the latter wants to meet the former. This is the
more important question. The question is simple but the answer is
not, though.
According to talk on the ground, there is a movement called Gerakan
Anti-Najib or GAN. The mission and vision of GAN is to see the ouster
of Najib and a new Deputy Prime Minister installed in his place.
According to one Chief Minister in his SMS to me a few days ago,
Anwar Ibrahim has aligned himself to the Prime Minister's son-in-law,
Khairy Jamaluddin, and is part of the 'team' that will make its move
on Najib. I replied, "Not possible," and he responded, "You of all
people should know Anwar better and if you say no, then it must be
false."
A day later, Anwar called for a press conference at his home in Bukit
Damansara and urged the government to widen its investigation on the
murder of the Mongolian model. Anwar also urged Najib to clear his
name as the talk on the ground is that Najib is in someway involved
in the murder. Wow! That took even me by surprise and considering
that I am a most controversial personality it is very difficult to
surprise me. Was this a mere coincidence? Just a day earlier a man
very high up the Umno ladder told me of the alliance between Anwar
and Khairy to oust Najib. Rumours are abundance in Malaysia and I
have a hard time separating the husk from the rice. And this talk of
an anti-Najib alliance between Anwar and Khairy is certainly husk
rather than rice. But now I am not so sure anymore, though I would
still keep an open mind on the matter until I get more tangible
evidence.
That was until yesterday though. Today, I am told Najib is in London
and is trying to meet Tun Dr Mahathir. Hmm....could this be that
tangible evidence after all?
According to one of Najib's boys, the GAN or Anti-Najib Movement does
exist. There are serious moves to oust Najib and it may not quite be
as far-fetched to achieve if they can successful link Najib to the
Mongolian model's murder.
Wow, I thought I was the great spinner of stories. It looks like even
I have not yet attained that level of the greatest spinner of
stories. Could this all really be true? Maybe we should after all ask
why Tun Dr Mahathir refuses to meet Najib. Maybe it is not as
unimportant as we first thought. Is it really because Tun Dr Mahathir
is upset that Najib is in London trying to meet him when he should
instead be back in Malaysia coordinating the flood relief in Johor?
Or is it because Tun Dr Mahathir knows that Najib is a dead man walking?
Well, Najib is due back in Malaysia this Wednesday while Tun Dr
Mahathir will be back on Friday. So we only need to wait a couple
more days to learn the truth. In the meantime we shall have to
survive on rumours and talk on the ground.
"Do you know that people are saying that Najib is behind Malaysia
Today," one journalist asked me. "They say that he is funding
Malaysia Today."
"Najib? Why Najib?" I asked.
"Well, because Malaysia Today has been very gentle with Najib. You
have not hit Najib like you have hit all the others."
"But what is there to hit? What is it you want me to say about Najib?"
"Well, Najib has so many scandals and Malaysia Today has not
highlighted even one."
"Hey, what scandals are you talking about? You mean that story about
him getting caught with an artiste in a hotel room in Port Dickson?
You mean about the submarine and Sukhoi deals? Which one are you
talking about?"
"Well, yes, those maybe."
"Look, Malaysia Today is in the business of telling the untold
stories. We talk about that which the people do not know about.
Everyone knows about the Port Dickson case, the submarine deal, the
Sukhoi deal, and all that. All you need to do is get into a taxi and
even the taxi driver can tell you about all these scandals. So many
websites are carrying stories about these scandals. These are very
old stories that everyone knows about. Tell me a new story, a story
that no one knows yet, and Malaysia Today will run it. Do you have
any new stories for me?"
The journalist kept silent. Clearly what this person wanted was for
me to whack Najib.
"I will not whack Najib for the sake of whacking him. That is not how
Malaysia Today operates. We do not assassinate people just to bring
them down. We are in the business of telling the untold story. If it
is a story that the whole world knows about then we don't bother
telling it. That's not Malaysia Today. So if you want me to write
about Najib then give me something new."
In fact, there are many people Malaysia Today has not whacked. And
many of these people actually deserve to be whacked. But stories
about these people are already well talked about plus they are not
really any serious threat to the future of this country. I don't
really care who buggers who and who cannot keep their dick in their
pants. But when their actions are a threat to the country then
Malaysia Today springs into action.
Those at the top echelons of Umno say it is only a matter of time
before Najib resigns from office. According to these people, the
pressure on Najib is just too great and there is no way he can hold
on to his post. He can of course do what Anwar Ibrahim did back in
1998. He too can stubbornly hold on to his post and refuse to resign.
But then he too will meet the same fate as Anwar Ibrahim. Anwar's
stubbornness came with a very heavy price. Najib too will have to pay
that same price if he remains stubborn. The only safe way out would
be for him to resign. Of course, this would then mean he would never
become Prime Minister. But then this would also mean he does not run
the risk of being sent to the Sungai Buloh Prison to share the next
cell with his left-hand man, Abdul Razak Baginda.
Phew.....am I glad I am not in politics.
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