He ain’t grateful, he’s my…..

March 23rd, 2008 Posted in Uncategorized

The East Malaysians are very upset, wherever you go, you hear people say KL has cheated us once again.

Before the announcement of the new cabinet, I met an ex-colleague who was very upbeat of having a stronger Sabah representation at the federal level.

I told him not to be too confident.

So, despite contributing 55 seats (Sabah 24, Sarawak 30, Labuan 1) or 40% of the parliamentary seats Badawi only threw crumbs at us in terms of ministerial posts, to the extent one Sabahan minister has declined to serve in his cabinet.

That’s Badawi’s way of saying “Thank You” to us.

He has taken us for granted again, his misplaced arrogance is still there ,despite losing 5 states and the two thirds control of parliament. He thinks the mandate he has just received is still considered strong.He’s definitely in denial.

Is he yet to wake up from his sleep or what?

At the last count , Johore has the most senior posts in the cabinet despite contributing only 25 seats.

Of course some people are more equal than others.

If the coffee shop talk is to be believed, we will have a new Prime Minister soon as many East Malaysian MPs are willing to jump ship.

Boy, are the people upset!

I can’t even have a decent debate on this as people I talk to are just too emotional and angry about the whole thing.

Why is Mohd Mohd Taib “Mike Tyson” brought back into the cabinet despite being caught carrying millions of dollars in Australia? Where did he get the money from when he was only earning a few thousand ringgits per month as the Mentri Besar of Selangor then?

Shouldn’t someone from Sabah or Sarawak be given the ministerial post instead of being made deputies? The hard core poor are plentiful in the two Borneo states, isn’t Selangor a developed state already , so why is he made the Minister for Rural Development? He didn’t even win a seat!

Sabahans have been screaming about the illegals in their state for so long, why didn’t Badawi appoint somebody from the state to be the deputy minister of Home Affairs to look into the matter?

There are too many unanswered questions.

This guy Badawi is either a genius or a big time fool for forming a cabinet that tailors for his own political survival instead of the nation’s as seen from here.

You can’t blame him for trying, can you?

After decades of political predictability, this is the first time the country is entering into unchartered waters.This is good in terms of a maturing nation. A two-party system is something we all can look forward to.

Can we live with so much uncertainty, though?

The Malaysian political scenario is hard to read at the moment, anything can happen.

Within UMNO, there is so much unhapiness, Tengku Razaleigh has offered himself to stand against Badawi in the coming UMNO elections. But, UMNO feudal culture is such nobody will say anything loudly or openly. It’s still the “Yes Datuk “syndrome, but behind your back the kerises are out.

The Wanita UMNO is also going bonkers because their head has not been re-appointed as minister . The newly appointed Minister of Tourism is not considered a member of the movement. You talk about bitchiness!

There is also the big problem in Trengganu over the appointment of the Mentri Besar.

Then, you read Anwar Ibrahim was quoted as saying that his coalition is a government- in- waiting.

Is his coalition up to it?

What keeps them together is Anwar, as both PAS and DAP have nothing in common. PKR itself is very much a one man show. Maybe, they should thrash out things first. Come up with a common platform. Many sober people also argue not to rush where angels fear to tread. Let the opposition states prove that they know how to rule first.Then, we can decide later.

Many people also worry because America is currently going through some difficult times with her economy, which means we are going to be hit too.

Indeed,things are very uncertain for us.

We need a steady ship at this juncture,otherwise, everybody will hurt big.

Many of the bigwigs are not sleeping well these days, not even Badawi I am sure. Maybe,he doesn’t care as long as his position is safe. It looks that way, doesn’t it?

Will the country be more stable when he steps down? Many also argue he is simply not capable, too slow and all that.

Is there going to be a happy ending to all this?

Only Madam Zorra can tell us.