Mahathir
Will he lose big this time?
After vanquishing all rivals from Tunku Abdul Rahman to Anwar Ibrahim, a lady may 'trample him in the dusk". says prominent Malaysian commentator.
June 18, 2009

Raja Petra Kamarudin,
Malaysia Today
One day, a couple of years back, all the Johor Wakil Rakyat (Parliamentarians and State Assemblypersons) were invited to the Johor palace for an audience with the Johor Sultan.

They all lined up and one-by-one had to sembah and kiss the Sultan’s hand (the normal protocol when one is having an audience with a Ruler).

Syed Hamid Albar, who was then the Minister of Home Affairs, was of course also in the group since he was one of the Johor Wakil Rakyat.

But when it came to Syed Hamid’s turn to sembah the Sultan and kiss his hand, Tuanku pulled back his hand and placed it behind his back.

Syed Hamid was quite taken aback and did not know how to respond. The Sultan then told Syed Hamid to remove his songkok, which he did. The Sultan then quipped that there is a lot of sand in Syed Hamid’s songkok, after which Tuanku turned his back on Syed Hamid.

Now, to those not familiar with the issue, they would either not have noticed this, or, if they did, would probably have found this incident most puzzling. But it is not really that puzzling.

The Sultan was sending Syed Hamid a message that he is aware that Syed Hamid’s family is involved in selling sand to Singapore and that the sale of sand to Singapore is attached to the bridge deal.

This means Singapore gets the sand it needs to do their land reclamation and they would in turn agree to the building of the new bridge to Singapore.

And the reclaimed land, which will be done on the Malaysian side of Singapore, will not only substantially increase the land area of Singapore, it will also reduce the sea area and push back the common boundary closer to Malaysia.

This means part of Malaysia’s sea zone (or whatever you call it) will now become Singapore territory.

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was bitterly opposed to this. And this, plus a host of other reasons, was why he wanted to bring Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi down.

But at the top of Mahathir’s list of pet hates was the selling of sand to Singapore and linking the sale of land to the approval Singapore would give to the building of the bridge.

In other words: no sand, no bridge.

Mahathir viewed this as Singapore putting a gun to Malaysia’s head. And worse than that was the fact that Malaysia kowtowed to Singapore and agreed that we would sell Singapore the sand it wants in exchange for their approval to the building of the bridge.

That was why Mahathir told Singapore to go to hell. If they did not agree to the bridge within their territory then Malaysia would build the bridge within our territory and link it to Singapore’s half of the Causeway.

This was how the half-bridge or Crooked Bridge idea came about. It had to be crooked because a half-bridge, if built straight, would be too short.

Malaysia wanted the bridge high enough so that coastal ships could pass below it and this would mean the bridge would be too steep if it was short.

The only way the gradient could be made gradual would be if the bridge is lengthened and this can only be done if the bridge meanders rather than be built straight.

Thus the Crooked Bridge idea came about to give it more length and therefore it could be built high without the gradient being too steep.

It may sound like a crazy plan but that would have been the only way Malaysia could have built the bridge without having to sell sand to Singapore in exchange for Singapore’s blessing or approval.

Build half a bridge, on Malaysia’s side only, and forget about building it on Singapore’s side as well. Then link that bridge to the Causeway. But the bridge would have to be long to be able to be high and the only way it can be long would be not to build it straight but to build it crooked.

Then, when Abdullah took over as Prime Minister, he cancelled the Crooked Bridge and Mahathir went on the warpath.

He went on the warpath not so much because the Crooked Bridge was cancelled but more because it was cancelled to make Singapore happy. This was the height of no-no as far as Mahathir was concerned.

Well, Abdullah is no longer Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is now Najib Tun Razak. But Najib is doing exactly what Abdullah did. He is pandering to the wishes of Singapore. And that makes Najib no different from Abdullah.

Last week, when the ‘third bridge’ was announced, Mahathir hinted his disapproval by commenting that if Malaysia sells sand to Singapore then certainly that Island State would agree to anything. That was already the first signal of Mahathir’s displeasure.

Now, the Johor Sultan says he is not agreeable to this third bridge and Najib quickly clarified that it is merely a proposal and that nothing has been confirmed yet. It appears like the Sultan is not happy and therefore Najib may have to rethink the plan.

Actually it is not the Sultan who is not happy. It is Mahathir who is not happy. The Sultan is just giving Najib a fallback plan.

If Najib announces that the third bridge is to be aborted after all, then everyone would say that Mahathir pressured him into cancelling it.

Now they can cancel it and say that they did so because of the Sultan and not because of Mahathir. It is a face-saving exit plan for Najib.

But the damage has been done. Mahathir now sees that Najib is no different from Abdullah. In fact, many had warned Mahathir that if he ousts Abdullah and Najib takes over there is no guarantee he can control Najib.

He thought he could control Abdullah but this was proven wrong. Najib may prove equally beyond control just like Abdullah was.

Someone went to meet Rosmah Mansor, the so-called ‘First Lady’, to tell her that Mahathir is not happy. She responded by saying that they owe Mahathir nothing. Najib made it as Prime Minister on his own accord, she replied, not through Mahathir’s help.

She also whacked Mahathir for appointing Abdullah as Prime Minister instead of Najib who should have been Prime Minister back in 1 November 2003.

Najib was ‘robbed’ of six years. He should have been Prime Minister six years earlier instead of wasting his time as Deputy Prime Minister.

This is Rosmah’s way of telling Mahathir to go to hell.

Rosmah knows that Mahathir is out to get her. Najib can remain the Prime Minister but Rosmah can’t remain the First Lady.

Najib has to choose between being Prime Minister or stay married to Rosmah. Rosmah responded by saying that there is no way Najib can divorce her without splitting half of everything he owns with her.

Yes, Rosmah is out to get Mahathir before he gets her. Who is going to kill whom first? At this point of time I would not dare say. If it were anyone else I would put my money on Mahathir.

But if it involves Rosmah then I would not be too hasty as to give Mahathir a clear win.

Mahathir may have finally met his match. He defeated so many people in the past starting from Tunku Abdul Rahman right up to Anwar Ibrahim.

But this time he may yet hit the dust. And the one who will be trampling him in the dust would probably be that woman who goes by the name of Rosmah Mansor.

Comments (excerpts)

by longjaafar,
Sorry to digress.
I can't help but compare Rosmah with Dr Siti Hasamah (Mahathir's wife). Tun Mahathir was not the most popular person and he had his fair share of criticisms and disaparaging remarks. But his wife, Tun Hasmah, has been unblemished, and until today is as popular as ever.
She carries herself with so much grace and dignity. The difference between her and Rosmah is that she never gets involved with her husband's work.
On the other hand, Rosmah at one time even had her own office in the ministry of defence. Even LKY says that Rosmah and Najib 'work as a team'.
Coming from a very kampung background, Rosmah is out to be on par with all the rest. But then sometimes, class cannot be aquired, and respect cannot be demanded. Rosmah will be the PM's wife, but she'll never be up to the level of Tun Dr Siti Hasmah.

sydput,
Mahathir a/l mohamed has a soft spot for malay ladies. Even Rafidah can stand up to him.
Why spend money on third bridge when it is better spent on public transport, like improving the ktm commuter services between Kulai to tanjung pagar in singapore and between tg pelepas and pasir gudang. The rail tracks are already built, It only needs more commuter trains.

http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/23380/84/