Sometimes you can’t help but wonder if this old fox was really senile or just pretending. The explosion of Perak Constitution Crisis created dilemma to the same people who had been lauding the Perak Sultan as the most learned and respected Ruler ever seen. Suddenly they couldn’t accept the fact that their beloved Ruler has turn against them. They couldn’t swallow the bitter pill, what more with the tainted PM-in-waiting, Najib Razak, smiling from ear to ear appearing twice at the palace and ultimately “convinced” the Ruler to declare him the “winner”. It was like the people were being betrayed and slapped in the face. Instantly the memory of former premier Mahathir came into picture.

Mahathir single-handedly stripped the country’s sultans of immunity from prosecution for any breaches of the law 16 years ago. It was a period of chaos whereby the rulers of nine of Malaysia’s 13 states gained spotlight for the wrong reasons. Sultan Ismail Petra of Kelantan refused to pay more than $800,000 in import tax to the federal government for a Lamborghini Diablo sports car that he had imported. Douglas Gomez, a Johore hockey coach, had been summoned to the palace and beaten up by Sultan of Johore, Sultan Mahmood. Even Shahidan Kassim (rice cartels warlord) claimed that the Sultan of Johore and his elder son had been implicated in 23 criminal acts in the last two decades, including rape, assault and manslaughter.

So thanks to Mahathir the sultans now do not enjoy absolute legal immunity. Sultans can be sued over both civil and criminal matters relating to their personal conduct. Nevertheless that didn’t affect the rulers’ business empire. Instead the business transactions flourished and at one time the Negeri Sembilan ruler was leading the race. The $1 million suit by Standard Chartered bank over Negeri Sembilan ruler recently somehow tainted and brought shame to the status of the monarchy. Mahathir was indeed the finest architect so far – but it was laughable when the former prime minister said while the law allows for a Sultan to be brought to court, ethically it is not good. Heck you meant it was ethically good to do so16 years ago but not now, after you’ve left the office?

Back to Perak the local kopitiams (coffee shops) suddenly became alive and not so boring anymore. People have found new topics for their discussions. The joke of the town was that there was actually reason why Najib Razak won Perak Sultan’s heart while people’s Menteri Besar Nizar Jamaluddin lost. Najib left (the palace) and return the second time because he forgot to bring the check-book *grin*. Anyway now that there’re two pending by-elections around the corner the pressure has abruptly shifted from Anwar to Najib’s shoulder. Well, Anwar has lost a state and all the fingers were pointed at him. But the palace and Najib may have under-estimated the reactions from average-Joes. And these two by-elections may be the litmus test to measure the anger of people on the street. Between both it appears Najib will have more to lose than the Sultan of Perak. Due to the status of Sultan people might find the convenience of making Najib the next most hated leader next to President Bush *where’s the shoe?*.

Really, what can Najib do to regain at least some support from the people? His approval rating is going down the toilet bowl so he better do the right thing, fast. Frankly he should stop thinking about capturing the next state but instead assemble the finest intellectual possible to turnaround or provide the best method to cushion the economy recession that is expected to make a hard landing. When President Obama is fighting an economic battle that could cost his seat if not succeed, PM-in-waiting Najib should know the consequences if he is still busy and obsessed with his little toy of bribing opposition assemblymen to defect. Najib has to drive the nation to the next economy’s paradigm-shift and his buddy Mahathir Mohamad may have provided the clue today.

“The main thing is to increase income so that the economy will rise through higher consumption of local products … Malaysia needs to conduct a careful study on ways to turn the country into a high-cost, high-wage one to ensure the sustainability of its economy in the years to come”, says Mahathir Mohamad in an interview with Business Times. He cited Singapore as a country that not only found its niche in financial services, but had managed to increase both its gross domestic product and per capita, disposal income of its people, to reach a developed nation status. Although it’s amazing he didn’t realize such a model when he was the PM before at least he admitted (indirectly) his mistake of adopting (forever) cheap-labour concept. One wonders where he was all this while. Hasn’t he heard of a city called Hong Kong?

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• UMNO is big Bully but that’s because PKR-DAP are Babies
• Perak, PR, BN and Gamuda – It’s all about Business, Stupid
• Yippee! State Governments for Sale – Any Top Bidders?
• Boycott US-made products? No Thanks, it won’t work
• Leave IJN alone you Greedy Sime and Corrupt Politician
• Take your pick – Yoga, Beer, Jobless or Corruption
• Out of Subsidy Mentality but into the Crocodile’s Mouth
• Stimulus Plans, to be spent Wisely or ended up Elsewhere?
• The New Great Depression is a Different Animal, Stupid

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February 10th, 2009 by financetwitter

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