Two Bugis - one down, one left

Good article by Aspan Alias in FMT today. It's titled Muhyiddin became both the bait and the victim.

Moody, did you feel something sharp & painful in your back?
Yes Tun but no one's behind us except Jibby

In it Aspan tells us that Muhyiddin has brought all his woes upon himself when he played (stupidly twice) to Mahathir's tune, first in bringing down AAB in which he had a leading role. The article stated that Aspan reminds us, not because Abdullah had done wrong, but because Dr Mahathir Mohamed did not wish to see him run the country any longer.

And Muhyiddin played ball, I suppose, imagining (foolishly) he would be the successor to AAB.

Recently, Muhyiddin was once again more than a willing captive to Mahathir's wish to get rid of a further PM, but this second time around he failed.

Aspan claimed that Mahathir, feeling lonely in retirement, still wants to be involved in the country’s administration. I think Aspan has been polite and kind to Mahathir when it's more likely that the Old Man still wants to RUN the country, and not just get involved.

We have witnessed him, as just one example, chewing up firstly AAB and then Najib over the crooked bridge.

It's known Mahathir has a few pet hates and to his immense ire both AAB and Najib failed to observe those hates. But that's because to do so would have mean they individually and respectively were not running the country as PM, and Mahathir was. No one wants to be a puppet.

Regarding his pet hates, from reading the news I could speculate on a few, namely, Singapore, Chinese ascendancy over Malays, and anyone who f* around with his kids. The last has been why he has been angry with KJ and now Najib. But Najib has been guilty of all three.

But Mahathir has been right at least on one score, that Najib was wasting his time and resources on Chinese as they won't vote for his BN.

Ironical, hasn't it been? I have spoken to quite a few elderly relatives who praised Najib as caring for giving them financial subsidies through BR1M, yet the Chinese in general have refused to support Najib as PM, but have been prepared to support Mahathir to depose Ah Jib Gor.

Mahathir had demanded that Najib stop BR1M. Somehow I suspect that if BR1M has been exclusively for Malays (like the NEP), perhaps Mahathir might not have raised any objection.

So, when Najib said no to his demand to stop BR1M and to recommence work on the crooked bridge, that was the beginning of a Mahathirian raft of anti Najib issues, for example, to re-open the Altantuyaa's murder case, etc.

Why wait until so late to raise that murder case when two murderers have already been convicted? Why not raise this issue earlier, during the court case? Would he have raised these issues if Najib had cancelled BR1M, recommenced work on the crooked bridge and supported Mukhriz become one of UMNO VPs?

Back to Muhyiddin - after Mahathir used him to force Abdullah’s resignation, instead of rewarding Muhyiddin as the poor bloke had expected/hoped, the emperor of Malaysian politics anointed Najib instead, wakakaka.

I suspect that Mahathir had then trusted Najib over Muhyiddin to mentor and nurture his Mukhriz into the highest echelon of UMNO hierarchy, probably because he believed he and Najib have 'family kamcheng' (hutang budi), whereas Muhyiddin was probably seen as treacherous in his willingness to sabo AAB.

Karma for Muhyiddin! And indeed for Mahathir too!

Initially as PM, Najib did make some (perhaps half-hearted) efforts towards appeasing Mahathir, making Mukhriz a deputy minister when he wasn't even the UMNO Youth boss as KJ had then been, and not appointing KJ the UMNO Youth as a minister. Another of Mahathir's pet hates is KJ.

Yes, KJ indirectly created history of sorts, wakakaka, when he as UMNO Youth Chief was NOT appointed a minister while one of his Youth juniors/subordinates became a deputy minister. I'm not sure what Najib said to KJ to placate that disappointed Youth Chief, wakakaka, but I bet Mahathir's name would have been mentioned.

In the end no ruling PM could have tolerated the interfering intrusions into his policies, programs and rule by a nonagenarian who is supposedly retired but who still believes he is the emperor of Malaysia. I suppose that's when Najib avoided him for months, which Mahathir complained about.

And really, was a PM supposed to report to him at regular intervals?

Sometimes I wonder whether Najib regrets granting financial subsidies to some Chinese through his BR1M which had been one of the reasons why Mahathir became very angry with him.

That M-anger must have been compounded humongously when Najib agreed to jointly develop the KTM land in Singapore with the Lee government without any evidence of giving Mahathir what he has always wanted from those pesky Sing Chinese, to wit, a bridge to replace the causeway, new rates for Malaysian water, etc.

Aspan finally informs us that Muhyiddin has been discarded (like a used tissue paper?) by his user after having failed. Sadly for the former DPM, I also suspect Mahathir doesn't think too highly of his capability to be PM.

In Muhyiddin offering himself as a willing captive (yet stupidly again) to another Mahathirian scheme to remove a sitting PM, he made himself into both the bait and eventually the victim, and thus deserves no sympathy from us. Live by the sword, well, die by it.

Incidentally he's also a Bugis, a kakinang (teochew for clansman) to Ah Jib Gor, wakakaka. I wonder whether he would now say, "I'm a Bugis first, a Malay second and a Malaysian last!"

Now, our sweet boy Mukhriz is really who the emperor wants as PM but alas, there's still a big gap between Mukhriz and the highest echelon of UMNO hierarchy. And who's to be blamed for introducing poor Mukhriz to UMNO politics late? Hmmm, perhaps he had somehow imagined Najib would be by then the PM which gnam gnam would fit into his grand design? 

You know what? If Mahathir doesn't act soon to sponsor someone who is willing to mentor, nurture and nurse his boy, it's highly probable that Mukhriz may become another casualty of UMNO politics as Muhyiddin has become. And time's running out too.

I wouldn't be surprised if the next 'conversion attempt' may well be of Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, wakakaka, who's afterall just a heart-beat from becoming PM, a gnam gnam candidate to look after his nice young lad.

But will Ahmad Zahid be tempted and as foolish as Muhyiddin had been, indeed, twice over?

dei I'm Javanese you know, not so tai-siao lah