The outcome of our recently concluded six State elections provides a perfect impetus for the ruling unity government to drum in serious reforms before every effort to make better our country wilts under the sun, if that is the ultimate will of our Prime Minister (PMX) to sacrifice his good intentions for the sake of our country in the name of peace, stability, progress and harmony, and hopefully to be re-elected back into power after the cessation of his term.

With PN drumming in support from all corners during the ceramahs using race as their call card and PAS with religion, PMX has only one tool left in his disposal, which is the privilege access to the royals, which is a very powerful entity considering both the Agong’s and our Sultans’ profound wisdom and their over-riding constitutional power.

To induce the public, PMX needs a formidable team of ministers whom could swiftly formulate the changes needed in line with his vision~ not necessarily as promised, and if need be, a cabinet reshuffle. With due respect, this literally means culling leaders from his own coop besides the coop of his coalition partners who doesn’t possess the qualities and clout to implement wonders except for managing internal party matters~ and to be willingly replaced with compatriots whom are more able, capable and reliable.

The reason why disheartened Malays switched camps, shifting their votes from UMNO to PN and PAS instead of PH, is by and large, a racial and religiously motivated move which is perfectly reasonable because when voters are caught in the frenzy of things, one tends to side their own race first, before others. And that’s how the opposition design their strategy- by conditioning gullible voters into submission, firstly by projecting UMNO as a party tarnished by corruption, and then promoting religion as the alternative to corruption, besides alarming the Malays with imaginary threats from the infidels~ whilst portraying DAP as the ‘infidel’ that puppets the unity government, to win votes for themselves.

Coalition partner UMNO must also come to terms with their dwindling support and revamp their image tarnished by allegations of corrupt practices and succumb to seat sacrifices, at least tentatively, instead of insisting on candidacy in areas easily captured if PH especially through the DAP, were given a wider representation.

But beit a racially or religiously motivated move, the underlying concerns of the general public is one and the same. We all want a clean and efficient government lead by far-sighted leaders whom could deliver a stable progressive economy within the shortest possible time with laws which must be seen to be exercised, adhered to and acted upon, without fear or favour by an impartial Prime Minister.

As of now, there are many glaring issues which sticks out like a sore thumb, some for decades on end, all because ministers by and large, are the by-products of party loyalty and coalition quota but not selected based on their ability to lead, which resulted in some MPs infamous habit to draw attention to themselves by spewing nonsense in Parliament. Which is why parliamentary conduct, if possible, should also be reviewed.

Outline here are some inherent suggestions which may help revitalise the enthusiasm our citizens had towards the unity government currently in limbo due to unprecedented power play.

Reform 1-

Free Up the Judiciary

1. No matter how or what, our courts must be seen to be independent and impartial and thus, it should be protected from improper influences coming from other branches of the government or from private or partisan interests.

3. If not, the powers vested upon one individual alone who decides the outcome of high profile cases will always reflect badly on the Prime Minister made worse by the systemic financial dependence of the judiciary on the executives.

4. On the contrary, there must also be a series of checks and balances since co-dependency abounds between both the executives and the judiciary to deter the abuse of power and the possibility of corruption, if the courts are rendered too free and untouchable.

Reform 2-

Arrest Truancy & Impropriety in Parliament

1. Due to the impropriety of some MPs to mock each other not only in parliament but outside as well, the parliamentary privileges extended to them as expressed in the Federal Constitution should be repealed to make them accountable for every word said. Freedom of speech does not equal freedom to mock.

2. Besides, the PA system inside parliament should be muted at all times, with the main control concentrated on the Dewan Speaker’s rostrum, who gets to decide who gets to speak and who doesn’t by the press of a button. No need to contain their outburst anymore. If this cannot work, introduce straight jackets, mufflers and ejection seats.

3. The absenteeism clause found inside the constitution is frequently exploited over and over again by truant MPs as if there is no meeting quorum to fulfil, citing outside engagements as the main reason for their non-attendance when parliament is in session. To groom them to be more responsible MPs which is what they were elected for, naturally to sit in parliament and be the voice of the citizens, their yearly minimum attendance quota should increase to 80% (eighty percent) failure of which MPs seats should automatically be declared vacant to make way for by-elections.

Reform 3-

Make our Laws Accessible

1. Laws form the regulatory framework which cogs the wheel of daily iving. It affects everyone. Therefore, laws must be made accessible to the public so that every citizen is informed of their rights and limitations and no one including foreigners infringes upon its rules.

3. Besides blasting in the main media, access to our laws should be made through an official government ‘website’ initiative ‘free of charge’ together with an equally portable version eg. ‘mobile app’ translated into as many languages as possible.

5. The more user-friendly it is, the more it increases efficiency not forgetting the standard operating procedures when dealing with government departments eg. applying for licenses and contracts or when crime happens.

7. It is in turn a useful tool for the MPs, State Excos, councillors, and especially judges and lawyers if it is consistently updated to include all regulations and omissions besides repeals.

8. It should also include links to government authorities, legal firms and their representatives because one may never know when they need assistance or help when called for.

9. The general public should not be coerced back to rely on hard copies printed by some elusive institution each time life’s situations warrants accurate and immediate information. We want to know instantly our rights. We want to be guided, not hurdled through a series of AI generated answering machines and phone operators, neither do we like to be deflected to the chats that never got replied.

Reform 4-

Outlaw Race and Religion from Parliament

1. From the current developments, outlawing religion and race and the pure mentioning of it in Parliament and at the same time, outlawing political speeches inside places of worship seems ideal. Outlaw as well, if possible, race base and religious political parties.

3. For years, we have seen that whoever helms the federal government have that dainty task of appeasing the sensitivities of a multitude of races and religious beliefs and naturally, the religion that has the most taboos will gain the most in the name of harmony.

5. Outlawing both ‘race and religion’ once and for all, away from Parliament would mean the closure of regulatory ministries and bodies tied to them and redirecting of funds for purposes other than the celestial kind.

7. Let the disgruntled and fanatics seek audiences with their respective Sultans~ their divine head of religion of each state if they are unhappy. If you don’t starve them off now, they will become more radical, coercing believers to submit to their wishes citing verses in their religious books in vain.

8. Moreover, acquiescing to their demands will never win you praises. For whatever aid is giventh them is considered ‘divine intervention’ Irregardless of efforts from the unity government. To be blunt, they will give thanks and praises to their own God instead thus, you will never be able to appease the beneficiaries no matter how hard you try.

Reform 5-

Revamp our Education System

If there is one issue every citizen is concern about is our failing standard of education. Beginning with the setting up of schools by the missionary brothers, the downgrade of standards, teachers and the introduction of irrelevant subjects and policies had every parent scrambling to send their children to private schools if they could afford one. Either that or national type schools that has better records of students passing. Therefore, outlawing race and religion in Parliament and starving religious bodies from access to aids would also mean the automatic abolishment of religious curriculum away from schools better equipped with funds diverted for urgent transformation purposes.

a) Diet

Beginning with primary schools nationwide, studies have shown that diet plays an important role in brain development and one’s attentiveness thus, it should be the primary undertaking for our education ministry in collaboration with other ministries to work out and implement a standard diet for all national primary and secondary schools. It will involve:

1. The setting up of a nationwide school catering production service much like the catering system used by airlines, with prepacked meals equipped with desserts, drinks and cutleries with;

2. Dietitians and nutritionist helming the food program to ensure its nutritionistic value.

3. Daily meals should also cater to the different races but allowing students or teachers to interchange their meals at free will and;

4. The absorption of all school canteen operators into the system so that the current operators and helpers are ensured a means of income and;

5. A national school logistic system whereby meals reaches students on time. If possible, set up five catering facilities, one up north, one central and another at the south of our peninsular with one each for the states of Sabah and Sarawak. But if funds are available, by all means a catering facility for each and every state;

6. Close every village schools that has less than 100 students intake each year. It is not resource friendly to have a team of teachers sent to these remote areas when the enrolment is small. Instead, set up a village feeder bus service that could pick students up from their homes to the nearest better equipped schools and back. These national feeder bus service in certain countries is an open air hop-on hop-off minibus service that routes inside the village path to the nearest bus station and back. This is crucial as it overcomes difficulties in getting these meals across the many remote schools which is an unnecessary waste of manpower and delay. The education ministry have uses for all these teachers spilling out to fill in the lack created by teachers who goes on consecutive maternity leave which leaves certain schools without the benefit of replacement teachers. Maybe, there should be a regulation to curb consecutive pregnancies for teachers also.

b) Fair & Equal Equipments & Facilities

7. In some countries, each and every national school have ‘equal facilities’ and equally capable teachers. That means, if one school have two master degree holders, two photocopy machines, two air conditioners, five drinking fountains and a gymnasium, so must all other schools be equipped with the same.

8. This will in turn eliminate fussy parents from choosing and opting out of schools nearest to their home to better schools which would automatically free up roads from unnecessary traffic jams coming from all directions during peak hours;

c) Attendance, Attentiveness & Exams

To ensure high attendance and attentiveness in classes;

9. Have in place 10-15 objective tests questions ready after every topic of every subject. Reveal the answers instantly. That would make up for easier learning. Tests such as this should constitute 70% of overall marks and the remaining 30% are garnered through final exams. This would mean 70% is already the passing mark before the final exam arrives.

10. To be eligible to sit in exams, each student must reach a compulsory 80% school attendance.

11. In certain progressive countries, all it takes is Four (4) passes to be awarded a GCE O Level certificate and students who did not have the four required passes can;

12. Retake the exams in subsequent years concentrating only in subjects they did not do well in the previous sitting. That means, students do not need to repeat subjects they have passed. Furthermore, these marks as had been done in neighbouring countries, can be added to their previous certificate, of course with a new certificate issued.

d) Curriculum

There are four types of curriculum in schools namely sports, uniformed bodies, clubs and societies and performing arts beit musical instruments, acting or dancing.

13. Thus, each student is required to take up at least two out of the four types of curriculum offered.

e) University placement

Before we begin, be enlightened that it is poor excuse not to have enough seats in universities because it is the responsibility of every good government to ensure that every citizen has the right to education, not after class tuitions irrespective of age, race, religion or creed. It is not right to deny students whom have achieved the minimum possible scores in a field they wish to pursue because one only does best in a field of their own choosing. It is neither the government’s prerogative to decide who does what. Otherwise we should do away with quota for foreign students eating up spaces in the classrooms meant for citizens. As at now, it is shocking to learn that under-qualifiers gets placings. The outcome, compromised courses for those with lower brain cells to decipher at the expense of smarter ones. Otherwise how are they going to pass? Don’t we all want better informed citizens instead of relying on foreign expertise? This in turn eliminates the ‘brain drain’ effect whereby exceptional students were all pilfered by neighbouring countries simply because our education system cannot cope. Also, be aware that in this age of the internet, universities, even top ones had been reduced to become venues for administrative purposes, exams, and access to labs and curriculums.

14. That said, many universities nowadays have extended their reach to students registered with them FULL access to lessons within the comforts of their own home, much like home schooling and full certificates awarded to all whom have passed which in practice means;

15. Students are brought to the classroom’s online and teachers keeping a watchful eye of the attendees virtually, not available in a conventional classroom setting because of limited space;

16. Full time online teaching is different from external students or those who studies at their own pace and time.

17. In fact, even exams can also be conducted online whereby students are require to appoint a qualified lecturer of their choosing, submit their names and contact to these universities, date, venue and time the exams can be taken will be decided by the university, and the universities in turn will privately contact these facilitators who will invigilate these exams on behalf of the universities.

18. Because of the advent of AI (Artificial Intelligence), lessons in schools both for lower or upper secondary students as well as vocational and technical schools can use the same format; many of these lessons are akin to videos we see on YouTube which is both entertaining yet informative, all the more crucial in boring subjects like History and Geography. It might be surprising though not new, that competent teachers are now few and far in between and quite often, we hear of students correcting teachers in tenses. All these could be solved with the use of AI and videos.

f) School Uniforms

19. Replace our outdated and boring pinafores with Batik nationwide. Considering our warm climate, short sleeve Batik shirts should be the choice for the boys worn with colored shorts. Do away with long pants. As for girls, knee length Batik skirts over coloured polo t-shirts tops is best unless their religion calls for ankle length Batik skirts.

20. Let each school decide and adopt their own Batik pattern as their identity since there are many types in the market. The use of Batik will be a boon for our handicraft industries at the same time revive its cultural significance.

g) Encourage Co-Ed Primary Schools

21. Life is a coed. So it makes perfect sense for students to spend their innocent formative years learning how to grow up together and respect each other’s boundaries.

23. It instills a feeling of comradeship without elements of discrimination,

24. it breaks down gender misconceptions, and provides an excellent foundation for the development of realistic, respectful, meaningful and lasting relationships.

25. In later years, boys and girls grounded in co-Ed schools gain fresh perspectives from each other beit intellectually or socially, and helps them become more confident in expressing their views in the presence of members of the opposite sex.

h) Encourage meritocracy

25. In every nation, we needed both doctors as well as nurses, and inspectors as well as privates. We should not have top students studying to become nurses and lower grade students in turn, become doctors. We should not have top grade students holding secondary positions answering to their lower grade but higher ranking officers.

27. The reason why technical and vocational schools exist is to train support staffs to assist the studious. Therefore the difference between diplomas, degrees and PhDs.

29. If our quota system stays, we can’t instill competitiveness. We become a setback nation instilled with laziness where certain individuals will take for granted their studies simply because they know for the fact that even if they don’t do well in exams, seats in universities are offered to them with avenues for advancement in their studies and career, many a time hindered by racial quotas and cable pulling.

30. It is a national embarrassment which could be rectified if sacrificing for the nation is what governing is all about. Not tuition. Because tuition reflects poorly on the teachings students get from schools. Tuition only puts teachers ability in doubt.

Reform 6-

Standard Tax Rates for All

1. Implement a standard 10% (ten percent) tax rate for all categories of taxes nationwide beit import or export duties, (especially cars) individual or corporate tax, sales tax, custom and excise duties and all other taxes.

3. Low rates attract more investors into our country as was last seen in the glory days of Malacca during the reign of the first five Sultans.

5. If this could be done, the unity government will win the next general elections hands down because it will provide every rightful citizen the relieve much needed against our rising cost of living.

7. All of us are aware that our government debts has reached its peak but we are confident that the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and other creditors will relax their rules and welcome the changes spelt out since it is for the betterment of our economy.

8. All it takes is a win win negotiation by our PMXs. An affordable easy to calculate tax rate will also in turn jeopardise corruption at all levels as well.

Reform 7-

Electoral Remedies

1. Our government has to decide on a fair and equitable election spread throughout the country. As it is, the demarcation of electoral boundaries and fluctuations in voter populations poses doubts on equitable distribution.

3. Decide once and for all if a checkerboard boundary demarcation works better for the whole country whereby the whole country is equally chopped up into regular blocks having the same area irregardless of the number of voters residing in that area or should they be demarcated according to more or less an equal distribution of voter population.

4. After this exercise, we can expect lesser topographical gerrymandering and lesser voter volatility.

5. It has also always been a mystery to the general public why the army and police votes and their distribution has never been revealed and added into the vote tally beforehand despite voting earlier? This ambiguity when made known promotes transparency.

Formulating and implementing policy changes requires boldness, assertiveness and the personal believe that you are doing the right thing. It requires a lot of convincing and the support of coalition partners. Besides all the qualities aforementioned, the underlying concerns of the general public as repeated here is one and the same. We all want a clean and efficient government lead by far-sighted leaders whom could deliver a stable progressive economy within the shortest possible time with laws which must be seen to be exercised, adhered to and acted upon, without fear or favour by an impartial Prime Minister.

Thus, for as long as the reforms proposed is beneficial to the citizens and our country, it wouldn’t be an uphill task to redirect the misguided to see things your way.

Apart from the reforms stated, there are many more policies ingrained into our system which is far from right, therefore the loss in confidence towards our leaders, the result of sixty over years of leaders whom are more concerned with self interest than fixing what is not right. A lot of policies requires common sense than deep thought. There are reforms that require overlapping tasks between ministries. Cutting off red tapes is good. Using AI to cut off red tapes is good. But if our heads of department does not see things your way, nothing gets done.

Our unity government still has 49 months to implement these reforms before the next general election 16 arrives. Uncertainties may arise created by those who are always disruptive in the power game. But our PMXs must be reminded that our national security forces are at his disposal, to be put on alert before drastic measures are implemented. But do not sideline the need for our Sultans and Agong’s cooperation and consent.

Wish you good luck.

Kris Lee 2023.

#DSAI #DSAIPM10 #AnwarIbrahim #AnwarIbrahimPM10 #PrimeMinisterofMalaysia #financeministermalaysia

#deputyprimeministerofmalaysia

#AhmadZahidHamidi #FadillahYusof #AnthonyLoke

#MohamadSabu #tengkuzafrul #NGAKORMING #ZalihaMustafa #MohamadHasan #MohamedKhaled #FadhlinaSidek #RafiziRamli #fahmifadzil #azalinaothman #changlih #saifuddinnasution #NancyShukri #tiongkingsing #AaronAgoDagang #HannahYeoh #VSivakumar

(Please give our State government a break)

It is ironical that certain parties thought that the rm900 per month stall rental is unjustifiable and unreasonable. Have they forgotten the cost of tearing and replacing the once poorly maintained open-air hawker centre with the current handsome crown jewel smacked right in the heart of Tanjung Bungah? Rm900 per month equals rm30 a day, hardly matching up with the current market worth. And it is crucial to balance the rental disparity between the privately owned coffeeshops and food courts with State owned astakas. If these protestors thought it high, still expecting the rates to be a flat pittance of rm36 monthly or rm1.20 per day, I would encourage our State Government to retract back their licences and award them to others whom are wiling to pay, not like the existing tenants could not afford it. Otherwise, convert these under-utilised astakas statewide into ‘Durian Hubs’ or fruit market. The agriculture and tourism industry will thank you for it.

And to the under-informed band of people who never stop hallucinating back to the crown colony era, please understand, there is no such thing as a free lunch anymore in this world. What more, subsidies paid with our taxpayer’s money should only benefit the needy, not the able competing for welfare. Worse, blokes who feel that they are entitled to milk the cow because they thought they owned the cow. When the State lends a hand, it does not mean that after they have given you the airplane, must they also provide you with the fuel and the pilot. Which is why the monthly licensing fee is totally outdated and exploited by the disgraceful and thick skinned.

To practically pay zero rental but profits from an entire plate of char koay teow or mee goreng which if you cost it with one drink works out to an average of rm8 to rm15 per person is a TOTAL ripoff! Simply because the nett profits extracted from one single plate already overrides the overheads and daily rm1.20 rental. And how long already has this been going on? If one were to recce the stalls at these Astakas, one will realise that these food operators are laughing their way to the bank not counting the famous ones patronised by tourists. So, stop pampering them if we want to see progress. The way to move forward is not to soften your stance. After the airplane had been given, these operators must be made to realise that they need to pay for the fuel themselves and hire their own pilot if they can’t discipline and train themselves to be one. Otherwise, give up.

And the problem doesn’t end there. Because of the puny rental, some tenants took it easy opening and close their stalls as and when they feel like. And some close for months on end. Why? Simple. Because it is too cheap and holding the license makes them the towkay. As a result, pockets of unopened stalls are littered everywhere. Besides this, there are the smarter (but apparently could not afford the higher rental) tenants who became landlords by subletting their stalls out. Some uses them as personal storerooms. So, honestly speaking, do we need to succumb to all these hullabaloo?

Is it unreasonable to request that these tenants abide by set operating rules, procedures and working hours and install auto alert signals if stalls did not open on time so that fines could be dispensed with? How are the State to deal with undeserving blokes who successfully obtain licenses through backdoor favours?

If we desire tenants to work hard so that our famed street food would not be seen as mediocre, let them pay for the full rental of rm900. No two ways about it. And up all the rest of food operators at the wet markets as well. Statewide.

At the private coffee shops and food courts, tenants are currently forking out rm40-rm160 daily for each stall depending on location, variety and parking availability. These coffee shops compete amongst themselves for full tenancy and crowd by offering other add-ons eg. class in-house washing of plates, free entertainment, cheaper drinks. Yet, there is hardly any inconsistencies felt in the food pricing statewide eg. a plate of char koay teow, or even laksa , which means those who set up stalls at these private food courts and coffee shops would need to work harder to cover their overheads against those that are set up in astakas which is practically ‘zero’.

And so, that gets all of us curious. Who are these protestors who could not afford a rm30 per day of rental? And why are they protesting? I felt the state government should just take the bull by the horns and address this issue once and for all. Stop the handouts. Softening your stance again only benefits these opportunists. Not the taxpayers. Why the rm2k startup cost when furniture, fittings and furnishings had been provided for not forgetting the signage and beautiful landscaping? Be aware where your votes comes from.

We want strong creative leaders. Not weak ones.

It appears that every government agency, instead of imposing upon their own tardiness, now has their own incriminating guidelines on proper dress codes meant for the public to adhere to, which at best incriminates upon the MADANI concept the Prime Minister is inculcating. So where may we know is the MADANI essence when the smell of puke aligns it’s vision which is
“To build a sustainable and prosperous Malaysia based on care and compassion, mutual respect, innovation, and trust, where inclusiveness and equality are embraced by the whole nation – ultimately a just Malaysian society”?

I believe no one needs to be taught the concept of properness in restrained behaviour and dressing if we are summoned by relevant departments to facilitate important appeals, applications, and approvals and no one at their level best given their circumstance they are in, would try to infringe upon the dress codes which would translate into unfavourable decisions and delays in awarding licenses and government contracts besides encountering difficulties in clearing up government matters, bills etc. But already, there have been mindless cases of discrimination being videotaped, to show us what it is like in dealing with emergencies~ where the police and hospitals shows no remorse nor mercy trying to insist that ‘distressed victims of robbery, accidents, rapes and kins of patients should adhere to guidelines if not nothing would be done for them? Is it really that a rape victim must go back home, groom themselves as if they had not been raped before a police report can be made? And next of kins telling a stroke patient to wait till they get a bath, dressed up properly, find themselves a decent pair of shoes or chances are the hospital wouldn’t admit them? What kind of mindless society have we entrap ourselves into?

In reality, it is in our society’s opinion nothing but lame excuses to deflect responsibilities and workload suspiciously mechanised by invisible hands to infuriate and inconvenience the general public into believing that the Anwar government is not the best government one could have. So when may I ask is the government going to descend upon these little little minute Napoleons whom are trying their level best to hijack his MADANI relevance with their own version of law and order? Where then is the Madani spirit of care, compassion, mutual respect, inclusiveness and equality going to? And when will this silliness end?

Uniforms and dress codes is important for those of us who works in government departments and agencies, schools, uniformed bodies, hospitals, jails, factories and service industries to distinguish themselves from the public. They are worn also to differentiate between the blue and white collar workers, to divide the ranks and files according to hierarchy, statuses and responsibilities of each working individual. It also helps to assists the public in identifying one authority from the other. But targeting dress codes for the general public instead?

For as long as decency does not infringe upon indecent exposure, where is that thin line that clearly distinguishes between what is considered decent and what is not? And whose uncouth libido do we use as yardage? Do these little Napoleons ever realise that comparing the length of skirts, slits and tops to their misaligned imagination is offensive against women-hood whose rights to be covered is now infringed upon by those who thoughts are even more murky than a smelly drain?

This issue which was a non issue then , should now be urgently addressed by our esteemed and capable Prime Minister in all fairness to be complied by all relevant bodies and ministries. Decide once and for all, who wears a tie and who doesn’t Decide a penalty for all front-liners who cultivate such indifferences. Get rid of the bed bugs now lining your mattress. These are the littlest we ask of you.

For those not in the know, ministers positions in our cabinet are not spelt out inside our Federal Constitution. And so is the DPMs position. In our Societies Act, a deputy’s position has always been a position ‘without’ portfolio. Specifically, it is not a key position, and the job function is mainly to assist the busy head of a club or society or PM in executing his duties. At best he becomes the acting PM until the tenure is over just in case the PM for some reason or another, cannot complete his term eg. due to death. At worst, the DPM is being given nothing to do.

Inside Anwar’s cabinet, all his DPMs including him holds two positions. Since they are taking a salary cut, holding two job functions means they are executing two duties side by side for the price of one. It is a very smart move to ensure his DPMs still earn their full pay and since it is a unity government, PHs election manifestos will also take a setback, because Anwar now has to share the government with other component parties whom may not hold the same ideology as PHs, thus Anwar also needed to sacrifice the many seats which could very well be distributed to his own deserving loyalists, if not for the hung Parliament.

(I believe that his component parties have also all agreed to have it pro-rated acccording to the number of seats each party garner, therefore the one seat Muda earns is hardly significant to deserve one full ministerial position inside the cabinet.)

As the Prime Minister, we can all agree to disagree that Anwar doesn’t need any other portfolios. But Anwar did, hang on to Finance, because someone needs to police the illicit cash outflow streaming out of our country causing severe monetary loss. And he took it upon himself a job that could risk offending many parties. For those not in the know, Anwar is one ‘Mr Clean’ seldom encountered in the history of Malaysian politics. And because of his nature, no robbers would want him in the way and thus, many prefer to work with PN. History has proven that Tun M needed to pin Anwar down with fabricated sodomy charges because they found nothing on Anwar that they could use to boot him from his position. Anwar also went against Tun M’s idea of giving ICs to refugees just to win the Sabah elections, which made Tun M suspect him as a traitor to Umno, a liability to his cabinet, and a threat to Tun’s position since a loss could mean Tun can be replaced. During his first stint as Deputy Prime Minister to Tun M long Ago, Anwar made a public appeal to the rakyat to report any known corruption to him personally, by promising them safety in return for being whistleblowers. This action of his nevertheless infuriate Tun M who then instructed Megan Junid Megat Ayub to plot his downfall.

Finance, is a far better alternative than the all powerful Home Ministry considering all the dramas acting out recently in our political arena. If Anwar is power crazy and fear others would topple him, he could have given himself the Home Ministry instead, since the Police, Immigration, MACC, the judiciary, are all within this portfolio. But he did not. As the PM, I suspect Anwar knows he should not be seen as the PM who could puppet the outcome of the court clusters or to press charges against financial discrepancies happening during Mahiaddin’s or Sabri’s tenure, if there are any. The judiciary, the MACC and the police force, has to be seen to be independent therefore he cannot afford the accusation in case any of them are brought to court, albeit they win or lose. As a step towards the independence of our judiciary, the Majlis Raja Raja has proposed to relief Anwar, as PM, from appointing the remaining five federal court judges.

Yes, all of us secretly wanted to see the all familiar faces in this new cabinet. And we are also concern with two names that sticks out like a sore thumb. Zahid and Zafrul. But for those who favours Zulkefly Ahmad, Yeo Bee Yin, Gobind Singh, KJ, etc. or even Syed Saddiq for that matter, I’m sure they are not left out as deputies except KJ who I believe would have accepted Anwar’s offer if not for Tok Mat in the cabinet.

Only that when the quota for cabinet positions is small for every party, compromises needed to be made, and in such cases, it is very usual that party presidents, deputy presidents and their Secretary General will get first priority as full ministers in the formation of the cabinet. Anwar too needed to ensure a fair distribution of woman inside his cabinet as well as the representation of the various ethnic races and states. And that is exactly what’s happening now. It is not an easy job sorting out the list of potentials, and naming the wrong person could very well break Anwar’s integrity but in the end, we should all be happy that 12 key full minister positions fairly went to PH party members since they earn the largest mandate, followed by BN and GPS.

No one, not even their own party members could imagine that PH and BN would one day become odd sleep mates. Zahid needs to consolidate his position after BNs bad showing and his party’s call for his immediate resignation, and Zahid knew only a stronger UMNO can regain back the spillover of votes to PN and PAS whom benefitted substantially from their failure. With this, he now finds solace with his new found partner, and hopefully work wisely and repent from his misdeeds, until fate would eventually decide his worthiness. A strong UMNO will be the downfall of PN and PAS. PH on the other hand, right now needed the numbers to form a solid government.

And all else, is yet to see. We should not be too hasty to judge this time around. We should learn to discard our ‘once an opposition, always an opposition’ mentality and go with the flow. Since it is a blue ocean cabinet, our Agong and Raja Raja’s also made some surprisingly wise blue ocean decisions, and we should be grateful that no untoward scene happen in the aftermath of GE15 through their intervention. Cos none of us initially thought that Anwar will be PM10 with all the resistance he face from PN.