Prime ministers-in-waiting - the syok way

CHARM OF FISHING: Pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope.

LAST week, PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang offered himself to be the ‘other’ prime minister-in-waiting.

Who would have thought he preferred to be the master rather than the “servant” of the people – and this after having said he didn’t really mind going back to be a fisherman.

Apparently, he changed his mind following a popular demand at his party’s recent annual conference or muktamar for him to be the prime minister of a nation with 28 million people – that is if the opposition won the next election -- although he appeared (outwardly at least) to be playing down the strong call from his supporters to take up the challenge.

However, after sleeping on it for a night, Hadi welcomed the call, saying unabashedly that “sometimes, it can be syok (a fleeting thrill) to be proposed for the PM post.”

As for his intention to return to the life of a fisherman – presumably after quitting politics or getting a big knock at the polls -- the PAS strongman said: “At least, I can teach the people.”

While he didn’t say how he would go about doing this – and setting aside our difference in religion-- his statement sounds very biblical to me. Perhaps he aspires to be a fisher of men.

Pakatan Rakyat (PR) advisor and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was quick to respond, and trying to sound as civil as he could, said the proposal by PAS could be discussed despite his ambition to secure the PM post being an open secret.

DAP secretary general Lim Guan Eng attempted to douse the fire by maintaining that Anwar would be the prime minister if PR won the next general election.

“This is the consensus of the three parties (PAS, DAP and PKR). If PR wins, it’s Anwar who will be prime minister,” he declared.

When pressed to comment on the proposal that the PR component party with the most seats would get the PM post, Lim skirted the issue by maintaining that the consensus among the component parties was more important.

“But we think the one who can represent the whole of PR, the whole of Malaysia, is Anwar,” Lim said, fully aware that his party could win the most seats.

The opposition tripartite looks very much like a perfect pact – a lot of understanding and tolerance with the leaders ever so humble and ready to serve!

Is that where my vote should go?

However, if it is PR’s consensus that Anwar should be prime minister, then the resounding support of PAS delegates for Hadi to assume the nation’s top post -- coupled with Hadi’s own consent to accede to the popular demand from his party -- contradict the stand taken by the PR leadership.

And compounding the rather thorny issue of PR’s conflicting stand on the PM post is public perception (disillusionment if you like) that the opposition alliance is dithering and waffling when it comes to the question of hudud.

Problems surrounding the issue have not been ironed out yet. There is no common stand and it’s highly unlikely the stalemate will be resolved anytime soon if the overwhelming support shown by PAS grassroots for implementation of the contentious Islamic law at the muktamar is anything to go by.

While PR is plagued by the premiership and hudud controversies,  former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad noted in his usual point-blank style: “Even before forming the government, they are already squabbling. Later (if) they form the government, not only Hadi and Anwar but Karpal Singh too would want to be PM.”

A political observer was quick to enlighten me that even the consensus on the choice of PM will not count for PR.

Based on his calculations, Hadi has a higher chance to be prime minister if PR were to form the next government.

“According to Article 43(2a) of the Constitution, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall appoint the Prime Minister to preside over the Cabinet a member of the House of the Representatives who in his judgment is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the members of that House,” he explained.

Does this mean if there were more than one who aspire to be the PM, there will be a voting for the PM post?

The observer said it is no secret the Barisan Nasional (BN) MPs will never for a day allow Anwar to be prime minister, adding that if BN MPs voted in favour of PAS, then it is possible the post will go to Hadi -- not Anwar.

The aspiring fisher of men, in addressing the annual assembly where he was urged to take up the PM post, had stressed PAS would uphold its Islamic principles in pursuit of Putrajaya together with its PR partners.

He also declared PR had agreed to hudud’s implementation which again contradicts the promise DAP and PKR made to the people.

Indeed, consistency in PR’s principles, policies and spirit is important and may well determine the outcome of its much-touted match to Putrajaya.

The grapevine has it that Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Azizan

Abdul Razak invited Hadi for a fishing trip when the PAS president visited Kedah.

Before they headed out to sea, Azizan asked his family to prepare spices for his favourite fish dish. But as it turned out, the catch was dismal and all those fantasies of a sumptuous fish feast came to nought.

It is said the incident prompted Hadi to call on PAS supporters to concentrate on winning the election and put aside the issue of prime minister-in-waiting.

 “What’s important is that we must first win the general election,”

he said.

But for voters like me, I think it’s important to know who will be leading the nation if the opposition wins the election -- Hadi, Anwar or Karpal Singh? And just as important, whether the PR component parties will be consistent in the execution of major policies in steering the nation?

But then, I only have one vote -- it probably does not matter.

Finding the missing pieces

 

A DAY after his 60th birthday, he told the president of his extra-marital affair and subsequently tendered his resignation as the country’s most powerful man in the CIA.

Her husband, meanwhile, cancelled her 40th birthday party after she was identified as the mistress.

Events leading to the shocking end of the admirable career of CIA director David Petraeus all seemed so simple. Not unlike the script from the Desperate Housewives, a woman received a series of harassing and threatening emails from anonymous accounts, accusing her of flirting with “him.”

She complained to an FBI agent. The Bureau caught out the top spy in the country by linking the emails to his autobiographer, Paula Broadwell .

It could well have been summed up that Petraeus offered to resign simply because he felt he had violated his personal code of honour by entering into an affair with Broadwell.

If you are a die-hard CSI fan, you will not accept such a theory and just conclude: Ah, how true, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

You will instead snap your fingers and swear there must be more to the whole regrettable affair than meets the eye. There are still too many pieces of the puzzle that just don’t seem to fit!

So, the search for the missing pieces continues.

I am quite thrilled, actually, with how the FBI opens up the secret compartments -- like how I do with my set of nesting wooden dolls. First, with the outer layer, then as I open, dolls of either gender of decreasing sizes appear!

The FBI has been fast in finding the missing pieces if we are to draw a comparison with what’s happening here at home.

The timeline of the event, as provided by the American news-papers, showed Broadwell only started sending harassing emails to the other woman -- 37-year-old Tampa socialite Jill Kelly, said to be having a liaison with four-star General John Allen, US commander in Afghanistan -- in May this year and by September, the FBI had nailed Petraeus and Broadwell.

Now back at home, the missing pieces that the men in blue have found in the three open shooting cases in the major cities – or are still trying to find, to be precise – appear to be in connection with crimes allegedly linked to one common theme – Internet gambling.

But the cops have said otherwise. The state police chief was re-ported as having brushed aside talks that the recent fatal daylight shooting in Sibu could have been linked to Internet gambling.

On the surface, Internet gambling is not the main cause of the murder because the victim’s scope of business covered mainly entertainment, logging and oil palm, according to Police Com-missioner Datuk Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani.

He said the killing could be due to a personal grudge and possibly business rivalry. He also ruled out the possibility of the three murder cases in question having any link to each other.

But the CP’s top man in Sibu said he believed the husband of the woman, gunned down in the most recent coffeeshop shooting incident, was involved in illegal computer gambling but added, with reservation, that it was too early to link the underground activity with the killing.

I am just trying to make sense out of the whole messy episode but have no clue whatsoever as to where I can find the missing pieces. But maybe – just maybe -- I might have one missing piece in hand. Ah Kang, the husband of the murdered woman, had frequented his favourite café where the shooting occurred. The killers must have trailed him to keep tabs of his movements and struck him when they thought the timing was right.

Even as police investigations are on-going, I remain apprehensive and for good reason too because the venue (of the shooting) is also my favourite café for kampua and liver soup!

Which reminds me of the grand adventure of a wedge-shaped animal searching for the “perfect (missing) piece to perfect itself” while singing and enjoying the scenery as it travels along its journey.

But after the animal has finally found the perfect piece that fits the purpose of its search, it begins to realise it can no longer do the things it used to enjoy doing -- like singing or rolling slowly to enjoy a conversation with a worm or a butterfly.

There and then, it decides it was happier when searching for the missing piece than actually having it. So it gently puts the piece down and continues searching … happily.

I like how Anne Roiphe explained this fable in a book review. The fable can also be interpreted to mean that no one should try to find all the answers or hope to fill all the holes in themselves or achieve total transcendental harmony (psychic order) because a person without a search or loose ends or internal conflicts and external goals becomes too smooth to enjoy or know what’s going on. Too much satisfaction blocks any exchange with the outside world.

The FBI is probably close to finding its missing pieces. Will the truth hurt?

By the same token, are our men in blue also close to finding the perfect pieces to fill the gaps that caused the three shooting incidents to remain unsolved thus far?

BE NOT DISMAYED: There should be another piece coming that will put the whole story together.

Lego-lised Johor

 MY Legoland journey actually began with a walk around the old part of Johor where distinctive red buildings, and unique windows of old buildings stood out.

There was this breathtaking Red House which literally painted its location at Jalan Tan Hiok Nee red. This scarlet building -- with white and elaborated linings and unique windows – was actually one of the old structures turned into a heritage house for cultural purposes. The window design reflected Chinese culture and history.

There was also a Chinese museum, known as Tiong Hua museum, showcasing the early Chinese settlement here -- with history, cultures, traditions and occupation of the various Chinese communities that had made Johor their home.

Further down the street was Mui Hwa Restaurant, in existence since 1946, making it one of the oldest kopitiams around the state. This two-storey corner building served Hainanese cuisines, including the famous Hainanese chicken chops.

It exuded an ancient charm with its tiled flooring and staircase banisters leading to the first floor where the windows served as gateways to the past and the soul of the place. I took a peek and was ushered into the heart of the place.

Venturing on, I came across shops, owned by the Malays, Indians and Chinese alongside of each other -- or even on the groundfloor and the first floor.

The same distinctive windows of the shops amazed me just as I was by an eating place call Gluttons Corners with signs, indicating it served delicious bakuteh and wonton mee. A gathering for gluttons? I would be coming along if one were organised!

It was windows, windows and more windows -- some wide open, some with laced curtains but all having one thing in common -- signs and symbols of the presiding deites affixed on them.

I had little time to explore more but the impression these places left on me is enough to remember Johor for a long time.

Lasting impression

Next was a trip down to Legoland, further reinforcing my desire to make it a memorable experience.

I was in awe of the Miniland, showcasing 17 Asian countries with their famous landmarks.

What I had not explored in old Johor town came alive right before my eyes in the Miniland. Here, the famous landmarks of Johor Bahru, the capital city of the host state, were depicted down to the minutest detail.

The classical and stately High Court buildings, constructed by the British colonials, stood tall among the other landmarks such as Dataran Bandaraya, Masjid Negeri Sultan Abu Bakar, Johor Tourism Information Centre, Bangunan Lembaga Tabung Haji, Sultan Ibrahim Building, Stesen Johor Bahru, Bangunan Datuk Jaafar and more buildings of the old town.

A Catholic church was also impressively recreated with Lego blocks, blending comfortably into the tidy conglomeration of the surrounding buildings.

Amazingly, the unique windows of these buildings were all Lego-bricked together in great detail and they connected my mind beautifully with the unique windows I saw at the old town!

At Legoland, more than 30 million Lego bricks were used to meticulously create miniature landmarks from 17 cities in the region, including India’s Taj Mahal; Myanmar’s gigantic barge on the shore of Yangon; the Great Wall of China; Singapore’s Merlion; Malaysia’s iconic Petronas Twin Towers in Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur International Airport. With the touch of a button, these models were brought to life.

Proud achievement

It really did Malaysia proud to have hosted this largest ever Lego Park. More than 100 people the world over were involved in the photography, design, production and actual construction.

A lot of the models were built by our own builders working at Legoland Model Shop in Nusa Cemerlang, Johor Bahru, which is another source of national pride, while others were built in the US, Denmark, England, Czeh Republic and Germany.

At the opening ceremony last month, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, acknowledging “the special place Lego bricks hold in our hearts,” said the building blocks are just like how we build ourselves.

How do these building blocks lego-lise our nation and people?  

I am trying to fathom the Prime Minister’s thoughts on this. What he implied (I think) in his remarks at the opening ceremony was that if Lego building blocks could be used to create miniature cities, parks and iconic landmarks of the world, then their quality in this regard should also inspire people to build a better future for themselves and their country – hence, the building blocks are just like how we build ourselves.

The first version of the Lego bricks was invented in 1949 but with limited value though the invention was considered great.

Four years later, the first Lego mat, referred to as the base for building, was invented, serving as the foundation for the Lego bricks.

By 1955, Lego launched the Lego system of play, and armed with the mat, Lego bricks could build just about anything you can imagine. It’s the foundation and with it follows connectivity.

If you or your children grew up building Lego blocks, you’d certainly know the blocks’ ability to connect varies. Some bricks can connect to many while others may connect to only one.

By understanding the nature of each Lego block, we are able to interact and connect well. The magic is to effectively uncover the relationships and connections between people and their worlds. The bricks make it easy to see, and more importantly, understand perceptions and realities.

Lego-lised Johor is the window to bring Malaysia to the eyes of the world -- a window where the world is connected to us.

IMPRESSIVE: The centre-piece of Legoland is the Miniland with recreated famous Asian landmarks.

Singing peace stories

THE story began at Wattay Airport (Vientiane, Laos) where I met Johann Veronica, the third secretary in the Embassy of the Republic of Philippines in Kuala Lumpur on October 2.

Johann told me her Ambassador would be visiting Kuching later in the month and I requested for an exclusive press interview.

Johann came back with the email bearing good news of the gracious acceptance by the Ambassador, and added that His Excellency would like to drop by our office. What an honour! And such humility on the part of the Ambassador.

“Am I the first Ambassador to visit your news room?” he enquired.

Certainly he is -- with the American Ambassador Datuk Paul Jones unable to make it because of a last-minute change in his schedule when he was here in July for the Peace Corps Exhibition which the US Embassy in Malaysia collaborated with The Borneo Post.

Eduardo Malaya, the Philippine Ambassador to Malaysia, remarked with good humour: “Now I can tell Paul Jones I have done something ahead of him here in Sarawak.”

Next, he said he is destined to serve in Malaysia given that his surname is Malaya which means “freedom” in filipino (national language of the Philippines).

He certainly takes great pride in what he has achieved. Within a year of his service in Malaysia, the Framework Agreement between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front was signed in the quest of peace -- with Malaysia playing a pivotal role -- to end more than four decades of violence.

“For an Ambassador, it’s like a crowning glory in one’s career,” he said.

So, the Ambassador brought the University of the Philippines Concert Chorus (UPCC) to Malaysia for a Celebration of Peace with three performances -- two in Kuala Lumpur and one in Kuching in collaboration with the Rotary Club of Kuching.

“It’s a tribute to the Philippines’ warm friendship and abiding partnership with Malaysia as well as all others who have been our partners in the peace-making process,” he added.

To put the concert to order in UPCC’s third performance in Kuching, the chior made every Sarawakian heart and soul skip a beat and swell with national pride with their opening piece – our very own national anthem – Negaraku. Then, Filipino patriotism resonated in the air when the choir sang their own national anthem -- Lupang Hinirang, translated as Land Of The Morning.

What followed from De Profundis (Out of the depths) to the finale of the first part of the choir’s performance, the Metropop medley of various songs from Metro Manila popular music festival and the music and dances of UPCC, transcended physical, cultural and language boundaries.

Indeed, UPCC shows how the gift of music heals divisions, promotes peace and unites peoples.

From the intense invocation to God by a priest for the safety of his people to strength of the people to withstand destructive forces that bring chaos and destroy the unity of the people and ultimately, the restoration of peace, it was expressed through the rhythm of music, voices and movements of the choir members in Gabaqan.

In another of their moving repertoire, Ilay Gandangan, UPCC members transported the au-dience to a dark period with a god in wrath of the sins, committed by a tribe in Mindanao, followed by a period of repentance with the performance of rituals for forgiveness, and finally, renewal with the return of the god to shine on the land again.

The ethos of these soul-searching presentations was profoundly expressed through the music, songs and dances, and felt by most of the audience even though they did not understand the language in which they were presented.

As the Ambassador himself has aptly said, when it comes to singing, leave it to the Filipinos.

The singers have sung their songs, and the Ambassador, instrumental in bringing the dawn of peace to Mindanao, has played beautiful scores on the piano keyboard but much work remains to be done to turn the Framework Agreement into a final and enduring peace pact.

Pulling at my heartstrings is this one particular song -- Sing me to heaven -- commissioned by a community chamber choir in a northern Virginia suburb of Washington.

The director wanted something that “speaks to the way that we, as singers, feel about music in our lives.”

The composer Daniel Gawthrop approached a poet, Jane Garnier, who noted that there are times in our lives when only music can comfort us as portrayed so appropriately by the lines that follow: When I need comfort, sing me a lullaby. When I am in love, sing me a love song. When I lose someone, sing me a requiem, sing me to heaven.

So Jane Garnier wrote this piece: In my heart’s sequestered chambers lie truths stripped of poets’ gloss. Words alone are vain and vacant, and my heart is mute. In response to aching silence, memory summons half-heard voices. And my soul finds primal eloquence, and wraps me in song. If you would comfort me, sing me a lullaby. If you would win my heart, sing me a love song. If you would mourn for me and bring me to God, sing me a requiem, sing me to Heaven. Touch in me all love and passion, pain and pleasure. Touch in me grief and comfort, love and passion, pain and pleasure. Sing me a lullaby, a love song, a requiem. Love me, comfort me, bring me to God. Sing me a love song, sing me to Heaven.

And may I add, when there is a celebration of peace and goodwill, sing in one voice and one song.

Pray all parties will translate the one voice, one song into lasting peace, inclusive growth, security and prosperity for the people.

BLESSINGS: Bless the hands that played a love song on the piano at the concert and the man who is instrumental to the Celebration of Peace.