Tuesday, May 22, 2018

Post-Election Relief — Malaysia (Some Light)

  

The wash-up of the election over the Causeway has carried much of interest. So much so indeed that a subscription to Malaysiakini had been needed as the Straits Times, ABC online and the other coverage had been so thin. A wonderful result of course that brought much relief. The great Fiend, possible murderer, thief and imposter defeated; great hopes he would duly be brought to justice, put away for the remainder of his years. The witch wife Rosmah with him and numbers of the chief hangers-on and toadies. You couldn’t get them all, where would be the end of it? where would you house the legions? In the commentary the case of South Africa was mentioned, their Truth and Reconciliation compromise. A certain number of miscreants could be used as examples; otherwise the populace needed to be settled and some sense of normality restored. Hopefully a fair portion of the loot could be recovered, the State coffers were certainly in need. One of the inside stories from the final days of the campaign was particularly interesting. Out on the stump in the last stretch of rallies the Opposition strategists had realised that in fact not only could they come close, but against all odds actually win the contest outright. The indications were all one way. In the outer realms no-one was crediting the possibility, including jailed Anwar, PM-in-waiting, among them. Central Command seemed to have twigged however and the decision was made to keep mum on the matter, not let on, to play along with expectations. If Najib and his cronies were to be apprised of likelihoods what might be their recourse? Security Service and military intervention? provocations staged, marshal law proclaimed for public safety and see what might be swung over days and weeks? Clearly, as Anwar came to reveal following phone calls from Najib on the night of the count, the latter had not seen the revolt coming and had been utterly shattered. As the days have elapsed this has been borne out by the lack of preparation for the possible eventuality: docs, loot, incriminating evidence all left in nooks and crannies across the various properties associated with Najib and his clan. When the trends began to clearly emerge in the count directives had been issued to telecos to take down live results on the pretext of securing public order. Three hours later the directive was rescinded. Some of the Comments on the news items were as interesting as the reportage itself. As the Birkin Hermes bags in the various colours were gathered, the high-end watches, jewelry and the dosh, one commentator suggested that a travelling roadshow was in order; the public needed to be educated, made to see with their own eyes and comprehend the truth. Despite the so-called tsunami against the government, despite all the abundant evidence of gross maladministration and corruption, 36% of the electorate had given the criminals their vote; that in itself needed to be addressed. Didn’t they display Imelda’s shoes and take them around the slums to show the rakyat? (Possibly not enough done in that regard judging by the political resurgence of the Marcos family and Imelda herself.) The ROS  (Registrar Of Societies), which had used some kind of pretext to prevent the registration of Mahathir’s party and the display of his picture on posters and advertising material, suddenly a couple of days after the outcome, Hey presto! unasked and off their own bat, advice all was in order, fine and dandy—the new PM and his party duly acknowledged and all shipshape. The point was the powers did not need to run to every bureaucratic head issuing one directive after another: venal toadies, suckholes and worms were always ready to anticipate every whim of rulers. It would be impossible to bring all to account. Through the course one Singaporean cosmetic surgeon was quick to insert a canny defense of his profession. Seems the man had undertaken some work for the Witch Rosmah. Possibly it had been remedial work, follow-up correction after earlier defective surgery over the years. The man’s point was that Rosmah had become a poster girl for what not to do in cosmetic surgery. Too much botox, too much filler and sculpting here and there, something else and something else again. The woman had become a fright; a figure of ridicule for the profession. Chap professed he could not understand the course that had been taken by the amateur medicos involved. The end result now was terrible botching, a grievous hatchet job; the former beauty ruined irredeemably. Poor Ros. had no control over her facial muscles — her dour frozen owl visage was inadvertent and unintentional; smiles were painful and caused migraines that led to tummy upsets; Rosmah’s forehead was in danger of collapse, her chin crumbling, the stiffened pouches beneath her eyes made blinking an ordeal and might eventually prevent closing of the eyes entirely. In prison where access to proper attention would be limited serious repercussions were expected. With best practice in Singapore, nothing of this sort could occur; only experienced, accredited professionals could be trusted with such procedures. Business as usual on the Little Red Dot for discerning customers who could have full confidence. The politics and fear over public order? Forget all that for this healer. Most recently rearguard PR from the lawyers in the Fiend’s den: pics of Najib breaking fast with his aged mum; revelations of the grandchildren’s baby clothes being taken with the designer bags and then chocolates filched from the fridge. Cause for outrage.

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