Author Archives: wcw

It’s time to adapt to the changes

Sign of the times: Shelves in Petaling Jaya’s hypermarkets are being cleared of essential items such as cooking oil, canned goods and instant noodles (pic above) and (pic below) KL Sentral is busy as usual in its role as a transportation hub with commuters wearing face masks.

With the sudden spike in the number of Covid-19 cases and two deaths, everyone must now wake up to the fact that the fight involves all of us, and not just the experts, doctors and nurses.

FOR the first time, the Sunday service at the Emmanuel Methodist Church where I attended was called off, but the sermon continued online.

The message from the pastor aptly focused on confusion and anxiety but a reminder to the congregation to step up and to continue placing their trust and hope in God.

I checked the number of viewers and was surprised to find that it was bigger than the average church attendance.

Welcome to modern technology, and certainly, the New Normal in our daily lives as we learn to protect ourselves from the scourge of the killer virus.

It feels different, in the absence of meeting church members, with the loss of fellowship and warmth but as the saying goes, God helps those who help themselves.

If any Malaysian still thinks that we should gather by the thousands or hundreds for religious reasons, as it happened in Iran, then we are not going to fight Covid-19 effectively and intelligently.

On Monday night, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin declared that the entire country will be on a movement control order starting from March 18 to 31 to deal with the rise in Covid-19 cases.

He said the prohibition of movement and mass assembly nationwide would include all religious, sports, social and cultural activities.

“To enforce this prohibition, all places of worship and business premises must be closed except for supermarkets, public markets, grocery stores, and stores selling basic necessities, ” he said in a televised address.

Muhyiddin said that all religious activities in mosques and surau will be suspended in line with the Special Muzakarah Council’s decision on Sunday. He said that this includes Friday prayers.

He called the decision as restricted movement. Certainly, it is not a total lockdown but it was necessary as the number of confirmed cases continue to spike.

No one in Malaysia wants to ban huge religious activities because it is deemed sensitive and the action is eventually handed over to the respective religious authorities – and not the Health Ministry.

Whether it is a religious event, concert or sports event involving a huge number of people, the reality is that such socially irresponsible behaviour poses a risk to all of us as such activities rendered the country’s coronavirus-prevention measures futile.

So, from a double-digit figure, Malaysia has now found itself with 673 confirmed cases as well as two deaths.

If previously Malaysia was worried about the nationalities of our visitors, it looks like we may end up in the opposite – Malaysians being placed under compulsory 14-day quarantine or even banned outside the country because we are from a high risk country.

We now have the dubious record of having the highest number of cases in Southeast Asia.

The Health Ministry has been doing an incredibly good job until last week, when it found itself unable to reach out to religious groups nor able to impose a ban.

The increase has been attributed to the participants at a tabligh event at Masjid Jamek Sri Petaling, where over 14,500 people attended including those from Brunei, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia. The event was held between Feb 27 and March 1.

Then, there was a Hindu religious event at Teluk Bahang, which attracted a reported 30,000 people to the 123-year-old Sri Singamuga Kaliamman Temple on March 8 but luckily there has been no reported case of Covid-19.

But the virus has also hit churches as well, especially in Singapore and South Korea.

The disease does not pick the status, ethnicity and religion of its victims.

The PM has rightly ordered that Malaysians will be barred from leaving the country and restrictions placed on the entry of all tourists and foreign visitors into Malaysia.

“Malaysians who have returned from overseas have to go for a health check-up and undergo self-quarantine for 14 days, ” he said.

Muhyiddin added that all nurseries, government and private schools, including boarding schools, international schools, tahfiz centres as well as primary, secondary and pre-university education institutions will be closed.

This also includes all public and private universities as well as vocational training centres. Muhyiddin added that government and private premises would be closed except those providing essential services.

These include water, electricity, energy, telecommunications, post, transportation, water services, oil, gas, fuel, broadcasting, financial, banking, health, pharmacy, the Fire and Rescue Department, prisons, ports, airports, security, defence, cleaning, retail and food supplies.

But we have to be ready for the next course of action as two weeks may not be enough. It will be naive to believe the virus will go away within a fortnight.

Malaysians need to learn how to take care of themselves. Let’s brace ourselves for the long haul as the pandemic is not going to go off in weeks.

The Severe Acute Respiratory syndrome, which hit Hong Kong and China the hardest, in 2003 lasted eight months.

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has told Singaporeans that the outbreak could be in his country for at least a year.

In these early stages, as in some countries, where the draconian lockdown has been imposed to prevent the spread of it, it would probably work.

But Singapore, which was the earliest hit, has decided to strike a balance between caution and continuing their daily routines, with Singaporeans trying to shift activities outdoors while avoiding crowds, but still going to work and meeting friends and family as before, just with extra precautions such as regularly washing hands.

We can’t close our schools, colleges, factories, malls and our airline flights forever, and Singaporeans, who were also in a frenzy stage after its first case on Jan 23, have grown to accept the fact that life must go on, but accept the end of huge gatherings as the “new normal” in their daily lives.

Malaysia, likewise, cannot be at a standstill.

“Singaporeans did panic when the Disease Outbreak Response System Condition was raised to the ‘Orange’ level on Feb 7, sweeping daily necessities off supermarket shelves. And for a few weeks, the worry seemed justified because Singapore had some of the highest infection numbers outside China

“But as the weeks bore on, with South Korea and Italy seeing sudden spikes – Italy went from one case on Feb 20 to more than 15,000 in three weeks – and the disease spreading to more than 100 countries, Singapore’s situation started to look tame by comparison, ” the South China Morning Post reported.

It reported that life returned to normal, at even nightspots, with crowds dancing until the wee hours of the morning with “the only difference between now and before Covid-19 hit the city state: the hand soap in the washroom runs out twice as fast”.

The island republic’s latest cluster reportedly sprang from a private dinner at the recreational club SAFRA Jurong, where one infected person spread the disease to 18 others, with the cluster eventually growing to 40 cases. A separate cluster traced to the Wizlearn Technologies offices in Science Park also started from staff who went to work sick.

The SCMP reported that Singapore rolled out social distancing measures such as telling organisers to cancel or postpone ticketed events with more than 250 people and are prepared to close schools if the number of cases surge while companies were encouraged to allow employees to work from home or stagger work hours.

“The strategy follows a similar tack implemented in Hong Kong, where the authorities have closed schools since the Lunar New Year break began in late January and advised citizens to keep a safe distance from one another in public spaces.”

The coming weeks will be extremely crucial for Malaysia as we track down the over 14,000 people who attended the tabligh gathering with the numbers of confirmed almost certain to climb.

The Health Ministry did a superb job in tackling the numbers but as the numbers jumped suddenly, everyone must now wake up to the fact that the fight involves all of us, and not just the experts, doctors and nurses.

It will be a long two weeks but let’s get ourselves psyched that the fight may just continue until the end of the year.

A cure for all

IT could hardly be business as usual for the new Cabinet members. These are extraordinary times and Malaysians aren’t a chirpy lot currently.

Unlike with the previous administration, where green horns and their flip flop decisions dominated, many in the present batch have served in government.

So, it’s only fair Malaysians expect more, given how the incumbent government was cobbled together controversially.

Seeing how the country’s economy is backsliding, these ministers are accorded little time to learn the ropes of their trade.

If the market was already in the doldrums before the Pakatan Harapan government collapsed, the economy is now perched on a slippery slope because of external factors and unforeseen circumstances.

The worsening Covid-19 situation, poor oil sales and political uncertainties have all not helped as the ringgit continues to depreciate while most businesses continue to take a beating.

When the Budget 2020 was presented, it was based on an average oil price of US$62 (RM265)per barrel for the year, but it has slid down to an average of US$30 (RM128) a barrel.

Malaysia will lose billions of ringgit in oil revenue, which translates to less money for us to spend on development. In fact, the government will now have to re-examine its Budget.

The government’s income compared with its spending will be found wanting, a situation of disparity called fiscal deficit. A fiscal deficit is calculated as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP), or simply, as total dollars spent in excess of income.

Apparently, when the price of oil was at US$48 (RM205) per barrel, Malaysia lost RM4.5bil from its oil revenue. And should the prices plummet to the range of US$20 to US$25 (RM85 to RM106) per barrel, the additional losses would be between RM11.1bil and RM12.6bil. Brent crude oil hovered at the US$36 (RM154) per barrel price range last week.

The global demand for oil has dipped because of severe restrictions on trade and travel since the Covid-19 outbreak.

Global benchmark oil prices took the biggest single day plunge in 30 years after Saudi Arabia decided to increase oil production and slash prices, retaliating against Russia’s move not to join the call to decrease oil production.

The problem with Malaysia is that we are wholly dependent on palm oil and crude oil, but the prices of these commodities are in free fall.

Crude oil prices have been volatile for a while now, but that hasn’t stopped our government leaders from looking at Petronas as a cash cow. Meanwhile, the states have continued requesting a greater percentage for oil royalty, although fossil fuel’s days are clearly numbered.

China might be trying its best to contain the Covid-19 calamity, but the Q1 takings for most companies certainly looks grim. Industries ravaged by the virus include aviation, tourism and hospitality, retail, food and beverage, and events. Venue operators have also registered losses in the millions because of event cancellations.

The media, which has been struggling to stay afloat, hasn’t been spared this scourge either, with advertisements withdrawn and events called off.

It has been a disastrous first half of the year, so the bottom line for most companies for Q1 of 2020 isn’t likely to look rosy.

Malaysian airline operators such as Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia, Firefly and Malindo have all resorted to a variety of drastic measures to save jobs, including instructing senior management staff to take pay cuts, enforcing no pay leave and banning unnecessary out-of-base meetings.

The cash registers are far from ringing in neighbouring countries, too, what with profitable routes cancelled and planes grounded, amounting to a bleak future.

It’s certainly a turbulent ride for airlines, but the multiplying effects are just as bad. Where our country is concerned, Visit Malaysia Year 2020 has crashed and burned.

When East Asia was hit, the plan was to look to European and American tourists as alternatives, even though their numbers are small compared to China and Asean, but now, everything has gone bust because the virus is pandemic.

Last week, the KL stock exchange received a rude shock with brand stocks turning into penny stocks. Many of the big brands in Malaysia saw their stocks going down to less than a ringgit. In fact, many counters closed at less than 50 sen.

Against this depressing backdrop, Malaysians find themselves in a precarious position as the political drama shows no sign of abating, even though a new prime minister has been sworn in and a new government installed.

The Perikatan Nasional government’s parliamentary seat count remains a mystery, but the new ruling party will surely aspire to increase its numbers by the Parliament session which will now only be in May.

The simple majority is 112 from the 222 Dewan Rakyat seats, but the new government must go beyond 114 to be on safe ground.

The Opposition bloc can be expected to be the strongest in the nation’s parliamentary history, and since many of its leaders have been Cabinet members for the last two years, they would have learned a fair bit about the status of the ministries. We hope to see better debates and greater scrutiny this time around.

Despite the larger size Cabinet, from the previous 55 under the Pakatan government to the present 70 minister and deputy minister posts, it has not satisfied the demands of the government partners.

Last Thursday, Umno voiced its frustrations clearly at the number of posts allocated and the portfolios the party deems lacking in importance.

Even before Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced the names, there were already grumblings as it became clear that Umno’s top brass could be left out.

Meanwhile, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad continues to blame everybody else except himself for the Pakatan government’s collapse. Muhyiddin, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, and now Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, have all been singled out by him.

Finally, the truth prevailed that Dr Mahathir has never wanted Anwar to take over, as he divulged in an interview.

Never mind the numerous pledges made publicly and the signed agreement between the four Pakatan parties, Anwar was ultimately deemed a liberal who adopted a multiracial approach. There were also complaints of him merely being good at rhetoric, and likely not being a good administrator.

Summing it up, Dr Mahathir had no intention to hand the reins to Anwar and neither was he pleased to pass the baton to Muhyiddin, although he seemed to endorse the idea at one point.

So, as we hear the politicians sulk, cry, celebrate and continue with their shenanigans, last week, the KLCI landed the title of being one of the worst performers in the Asia Pacific region, which is no longer news.

Last Tuesday, palm oil prices also dropped 8.9% to RM2,232. On a year-to-date basis, palm oil prices are now down some 27%.

We hope our ministers, and not just the Finance Minister, would diligently read the business news daily so they understand what corporate Malaysia – which pays the biggest amount of taxes and wages in the Malaysian labour force – is going through. There isn’t a whisper of good news for employers as they struggle to handle staff wages and operating costs.

Your favourite winter destinations are getting warmer thanks to climate change

A file photo from August 2019 of a boat navigating at night next to an iceberg in Greenland. Rising temperatures and diminished snow and ice cover in the Arctic are imperilling ecosystems, fisheries and local cultures, according to reports by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. — Photos: AP

A little news item probably went unnoticed just weeks ago as the world was preoccupied with the rising number of Covid-19 casualties and of course, the gripping political drama in Malaysia.

Two uninhabited islands in Indonesia’s South Sumatra have been submerged by rising sea levels.

The Betet and Gundul islands now sit between 1m and 3m below sea level, and Indonesia has warned that other low-lying islands in the archipelago state may follow suit. That’s certainly too close to home, or for comfort.

Let’s just say that climate change, or even the erratic weather, isn’t the greatest priority for most Malaysians.

After all, it’s either the blazing sunshine or torrential rain for us. Unlike in the upper and lower hemispheres, which experience four seasons, we aren’t exposed to more extreme temperatures which could dictate our dressing.

Perhaps the weather reports in Malaysia are only relevant to fishermen and those out at sea, and not to most of us.

Last December, a group of Malaysian tourists travelled to Hokkaido, Japan, to experience snow for the first time, but got nothing for their troubles.

One of snow sculptures featured at the Sapporo Snow Festival in Hokkaido, Japan, in early February. This year, organisers were forced to import snow from other towns in order to keep the festival going.One of snow sculptures featured at the Sapporo Snow Festival in Hokkaido, Japan, in early February. This year, organisers were forced to import snow from other towns in order to keep the festival going.

The Malaysian tour operator, which has been organising winter tours to Hokkaido, was blind-sided and left with egg on their face. It was certainly not amusing to the tourists who had paid a lot of money to see and feel snow.

They resigned to posing on static snow mobiles for photographs on terrains with no snow, because naturally, they couldn’t ride them.

Snow arrived late in Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost prefecture, with the first flakes falling only in December.

This year’s Sapporo Snow Festival saw organisers resorting to importing snow from nearby Niseko district, about 90km away. According to reports, Japan saw record-low levels of snow, and in Sapporo, it was less than half the annual average last year.

The report said that this past December, snowfall was the lowest along the Sea of Japan coast since 1961, when the Meteorological Agency began recording data.

“This lack of snow, combined with unusually warm weather, threw a wrench into the plans of the snow festival organisers. This year, they had to source and tow snow from other towns to create 200-plus signature snow sculptures, ” CNN Travel reported.

In Moscow, it’s normally frozen by December, but last year, that was far from the case.

The Russian capital had to send in trucks filled with artificial snow to decorate the New Year display in the city centre. It was unheard of and surely, unthinkable even. The temperature, in fact, rose to 5.4°C on Dec 18 – the highest recorded in that month in 133 years, depriving Muscovites of their customary snowy scenery.

Last October, I went to Finland with the idea of experiencing the last lap of autumn and the beginning of winter, to see the early fall of snow.

The writer at Urho Kekkonen National Park in Finland in October 2019. Locals note that snowfall in the area had become more difficult to predict, unlike in previous years. — FLORENCE TEHThe writer at Urho Kekkonen National Park in Finland in October 2019. Locals note that snowfall in the area had become more difficult to predict, unlike in previous years. — FLORENCE TEH

I asked the resort operator if I could book a room for early November, and whether there would be snow by then.

But the operator declined, saying, unlike previously, snow fall has been difficult to predict, and is coming much later now. The hotel simply didn’t want foreign guests signing up for disappointment, especially those travelling from afar to see snow.

Adding to the grim prognosis, a report last week said that the temperature in the northern Antarctic peninsula hit an all-time high of 18.3°C (64.9°F) on Feb 6.

In a nutshell, the world has become warmer. So, melting ice will raise sea levels and flood previously dry land, while islands sink. Winter images, in some areas, will be consigned to memory.

Without doubt, changes in weather will impact our crops and affect our food output.

According to a South China Morning Post report, climate scientists’ projections for Malaysia in 2030 are a source for concern.

“Selangor, Malaysia’s richest state and home to almost six million people, is expected to experience more frequent water shortages, ” said Dr Renard Siew, Malaysian head of the Climate Reality Project, an education and advocacy group established by former US vice president Al Gore.

The report said Malaysia is seeing a 10% to 15% drop in farm yields annually because of unpredictable weather, and Dr Siew said that the trend could see more farmers deserting their fields, harming families and Malaysia’s food security.

“Mitigation is doing our part to prevent temperatures from rising. Adaptation is to assume that temperatures are rising, and to prepare for it, ” Dr Siew said.

He said as sea levels and temperatures rise, the situation could only get worse.

For every degree Celsius increase in temperature, Dr Siew says, the Earth’s atmosphere will absorb 7% more moisture – resulting in more extreme weather.

Climate change is a main concern among the young and has even become an elections issue in Singapore. It still hasn’t gained momentum here, but it will.

There’s no escaping from it because climate change will also lead to the proliferation of diseases.

It’s time to stand up and do something about it now, in whatever way we can. After all, we only have one planet to call home.

Mission: Totally Possible

Mission is a go: Production for the upcoming Mission: Impossible movie has been put on hold due to the worldwide coronavirus outbreak but in Malaysia, it’s all systems go for the new PM while Malaysians await further developments in a political scene that could rival any big screen production. — Filepic

When a nonagenarian made headlines by becoming a returning prime minister, it seemed like we had seen it all in the political sphere… until the last couple of weeks.

FOR a fortnight, I’ve had to carry two power banks to keep recharging my mobile phone because it has been ringing incessantly, with calls and text messages streaming in from my contacts and friends.

The calls came from my media brethren from various parts of the world who thirsted for the latest political updates.

Having been in the news business for more than 35 years, I thought I’d learnt a fair bit about Malaysian politics, but the unprecedented events of the past week have completely baffled me.

A German journalist was first to call and ask if it was true that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had quit as prime minister and if political chaos beckoned.

I confirmed Dr Mahathir’s resignation, but explained he would also be the new leader. By then, he sounded lost, and when I explained further that he had also toppled his own government, I could sense that he was completely lost, or thought I had gone bonkers.

Next, he pressed me if Malaysians were upset. At that point, I said “no” because events that were unfolding, and the changing political tides, had not played out in full yet.

“I am really lost, Chun Wai. Let me absorb all this, I will call you again, ” he said.

By then, Malaysians were aware that those pressing for a deadline for Dr Mahathir to step down had miraculously now done the opposite – they were pleading with him to stay on as PM. Apparently, they were “begging” him to continue because they anticipated being caught on the wrong side of the fence.

And of course, on the other side, those who had wanted the PM to serve the full term – until he was 96 years old – plotted to take over his position. In fact, they even told him so.

The German guy called me in the next 24 hours, and I updated him about how the old PM, who had become the new PM, could now be the new Opposition leader.

I didn’t hear a word from the other end, so I thought the line had gone dead. I imagined how he’d be thinking of me as an out-of-touch-journalist desperately trying to get back in the saddle having left for the corporate end of things.

“I really don’t understand what you have said. This is hard to follow, are you getting it right?” he asked, amounting to exactly what it sounds like – he was finding it difficult to trust my integrity.

Dr Mahathir had, by Feb 27, said that Bersatu could field its president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as the party’s candidate for the position of prime minister.

“… we discussed, including the possibility that Muhyiddin might become a (PM) candidate, ” he told reporters.

He was quoted saying “Muhyiddin might become a candidate. If everyone chooses him, I am OK.”

Dr Mahathir revealed Muhyiddin being more receptive to Opposition members.

“My position is I will not accept Umno, but I will accept those who leave Umno. But Muhyiddin is ready to accept them. Whoever wins, I will accept him to be the prime minister, ” he said.

This was a real breakthrough, I thought, and was likely to be the tipping point.

Bersatu leaders approached Dr Mahathir and felt the impasse could end with Muhyiddin offering himself as a possible PM candidate.

Without mincing words, Dr Mahathir was also told that Muhyiddin would be working with Umno en bloc. So our former PM not only knew about the new development, he endorsed it too, by the looks of things.

Then, I called Germany instead. I woke my friend up and told him it looked like the stalemate had ended.

“My friend, sorry if I woke you up. I don’t know what time it is over there, but it looks like Dr Mahathir is OK with Muhyiddin as the new PM candidate. It sounds like an endorsement.”

But of course, more drama took place as Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Lim Guan Eng and Mohamad Sabu were left horrified at the thought of a new political alliance taking shape. And it looked like they had ended up Opposition Members of Parliament again, which was unthinkable.

It was a desperate time, so they needed to persuade Dr Mahathir to change his mind and take on Muhyiddin and offer himself as a PM candidate instead. So from a PM who quit to an interim one and to contending to be PM again, he has done the circuit. That’s as succinct and precise as it could possibly be described.

The pressure had intensified by then because what’s termed a backdoor government seemed imminent reality, which naturally sparked fears of an overwhelmingly Malay-dominated government. Worse, the hard-line PAS guys would be in the government.

Overnight, Dr Mahathir’s purported blessings deserted him, with Muhyiddin now being portrayed a traitor, not unlike Shakespeare’s Brutus, the Roman senator who conspired to kill Julius Caesar.

It was “Eh tu, Brutus, ” the Malay version of Et tu, Brute, the Latin phrase meaning “also you, Brutus?”

The annoyed German called me up again, this time to reconfirm what he had read online. He sounded distinctly agitated.

“You misled me. You told me that Dr Mahathir seemed to have accepted Muhyiddin, but now he has started to blame Anwar and Muhyiddin for all this. He is calling Muhyiddin a traitor now. I am sorry, you are not very good, please stop all your analyses, ” he said tersely.

But as the hours passed, the shift in political alliances was taking place fast and furiously. It was Feb 29, a leap year, and the political frogs were at their best.

Some, like Dr Jeffrey Kitingan, the head of the Sabah Reform Party, who had joined eight other parties previously, lived up to his reputation by switching his pledge to Muhyiddin.

PKR MP Baru Bian, who had earlier backed Datuk Seri Azmin Ali and left PKR, was back with Dr Mahathir by midnight. And since then, no one is quite sure where he stands as he can’t be reached, with one unconfirmed report claiming he has developed a heart problem. Sarawak MP Richard Riot denied that he supported Dr Mahathir and clarified that he was still with Gabungan Parti Sarawak and remains one of 18 MPs who endorsed Muhyiddin.

By then, numbers kept dropping. It was 114 at midnight. In a Facebook Live broadcast on Feb 29, PKR communications director Fahmi Fadzil said the 114th vote came from Selangau MP Baru Bian.

But by the next day, it was reduced to 112, based on Pakatan Harapan’s official statement. No one was sure what was going on anymore.

The Yang di-Pertuan Agong, who was caught between a rock and a hard place, has accepted Muhyiddin as PM and the Federal Constitution stipulates the PM is the leader who commands the majority support of the MPs.

It’s natural to assume there had to be a cut-off point, and that when Muhyiddin presented his list of supporters to the King indicating he had the majority, our ruler made a call in wanting to end the impasse.

Basically, he can’t be expected to wait for sides to rally their troops or hang around for a midnight call. It would be unfair to His Majesty to keep meeting MPs with the ever-changing stands of the lawmakers.

The competing factions will just have to take their fight to the Parliament for a fresh round. The King’s job is done and any face off from this point on must unfold in the political arena of the Parliament.

While there has been strong resentment of the new government on the ground, especially among urban constituents, Malaysians must be commended for handling the anguish of uncertainty calmly and sensibly.

No major protests were staged, and those who are unhappy are looking forward to the next Parliament meeting.

Margins are going to be very fine between the warring packs. The new PM would surely want to strengthen his simple majority, and the Opposition could well be the largest in the history of Malaysia’s Parliament.

If Malaysians are tired of endless politicking, with lawmakers accused of neglecting the state of the economy, be warned that it’s only going to be downhill from here.

My friend called more recently to ask how Malaysians are handling the new political set up.

“It’s safe to say Malaysians are angry. Especially those from the urban areas. Maybe the conservative Malays in the heartland are happy. I don’t know, but all is peaceful.”

The German then retorted, “You say that the people are unhappy and angry, but just a few months ago, you said the people are angry with the old government and that Dr Mahathir’s popularity was plunging, with some ministers seeming incompetent and arrogant.

“But now they are popular again, and people want them back. I don’t understand you Malaysians. I think I need a beer.”

By then, I was already tired after a tumultuous week and no longer in the mood to entertain this short-fused German man, who was also beginning to take me for granted.

His final question was simple: What are Malaysians going to do next?

I didn’t have the heart to tell him that angry Malaysians had now flooded my WhatsApp – asking, not about politics anymore, but whether there would be a public holiday to mark the new government, and if the airlines’ promotions were real because they wanted to grab the offer to travel – Covid-19 or not.

I love Malaysians (not the politicians) for their amazing attitude, tolerance and most of all, their wicked sense of humour.

Note: Creative liberties were taken in the exchanges with the German journalist. After all, every political soap needs its spice.

Facing a political storm

Man of the people: In the midst of the high pressure situation, Sultan Abdullah made sure to speak to the reporters camped outside the place gates awaiting developments and even distributed food on several days. — AZHAR MAHFOF/The Star

The King has kept his cool amidst the endless shifting allegiance of the MPs.

HE probably had the hardest job the past week. As the nation faced political turmoil, he was the man the country counted on to find closure for the upheaval.

Yesterday, Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah declared that Tan Sri Muyhiddin Yassin was the man most likely to command the majority of support.

It has been said that he garnered 114 votes – two more than a simple majority. That will probably be disputed: As of late Saturday, Pakatan Harapan also claimed that they had 114 MPs and said it will appeal.

There is speculation that the 18 votes which made the vital difference to Muyhiddin came from Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), which has a longstanding difference with DAP. One hint of this is that GPS’s Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof was present at Muhyiddin’s house.

His Majesty’s decision would probably not go down well with everyone but it cannot be denied that Tuanku has been a calming presence all along. Tuanku has done what he is entrusted to do, which is to look at the numbers. That’s all. It is not his job to choose who he prefers.

He is probably fed up listening to the feuding politicians.

The past week, most Malaysians have felt helpless and hopeless, even angry, as the political drama unfolded and held the country in a vice-like grip. The situation was in such flux that no one knew what to believe or who to trust.

One day, the Members of Parliament were pledging their unwavering support for Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, and the next, their undying love evaporated into the ether. And this wasn’t across days, but hours.

On Friday, the interim Prime Minister found out the hard way that his party no longer backed him. By then, they already had Muhyiddin in mind as the next PM.

Just days earlier, his Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia had requested he return to lead the party he had just quit.

Pakatan leaders rushed to his house to beg him to stay, urging him to continue leading the country. They had pressed for a date from him to quit as PM but when the tide went against them, they backtracked. When their conditions weren’t met, with things having not gone to plan, Dr Mahathir was berated.

Statutory declarations were treated like worthless scraps of toilet paper instead of legal documents.

But in a time of shifting political alliances, where MPs can’t seem to decide which leader they truly support, Sultan Abdullah showed his maturity by handling the crisis in a composed manner.

When politicians were busy jostling for support from their peers, the conduct of the King certainly reassured his subjects. He continued to urge his people to be patient and to allow him time to carry out his duties.

With the calming presence of the king, the rakyat feels assured that he has handled the situation well.

He displayed fairness, professionalism, patience and, as one journalist wrote, “conducted himself par excellence, demonstrating his late father’s touch” and “played his role in the political crisis with a new spirit of transparency and professionalism”.

His Majesty certainly displayed his sense of fairness and accountability right from the start. He was patient and didn’t rush into making a stand, demanding details and documented proof so he could evaluate everything before forming a conclusion.

His handling of the delicate situation was in stark contrast to the plotting, backstabbing and scheming of the politicians.

His Majesty called up the MPs, listened to every one of them patiently, and asked them to make their pledge.

Apparently, some MPs signed two statutory declarations to please their masters. No surprises if that’s true.

Barely a year has passed since his installation as King last July, and suddenly, he’s been handed this massive political puzzle to solve.

A couple of his senior brother Rulers spoke to this writer and jokingly remarked that they were spared from handling this mess, but all spoke highly of the King’s professionalism.

Certainly, he has steered through the choppy waters well. The current scenario is unprecedented because the nation has never had to face such a predicament where a Prime Minister toppled his own government, installed himself as an interim leader, with his ministers all sacked, while the nation waited for him to drag us out of this quagmire.

Some would say he’s the architect of this downfall, though.

Against these uncertainties, His Majesty did the right thing.

First, he had the leaders of the major political parties – as the situation became clearer on Friday – provide the name list of MPs and their preferred leader.

By then, Muhyiddin had emerged as a front runner for the top job, although Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim hasn’t thrown in the towel yet.

The King also didn’t rush into swearing in claimants of the majority, as he demanded clear evidence.

Neither was he bowled over by the idea of a “minority government” of 96 MPs, because he knew it would be too risky, unless there was the minimum 112 MPs for a simple majority.

A minority government could collapse anytime if MPs were to defect, and certainly, the King isn’t in the mood to swear in another PM in a matter of months, or worse, weeks.

Tuanku didn’t only rely on the advice of the politicians (most have vested interests, after all) but also sought the wisdom of others, including his brother Rulers.

Dr Mahathir obviously jumped the gun and pre-empted the Rulers by announcing the special Parliament sitting, which didn’t go down well with them.

His move to convene a sitting to elect a PM was criticised as he was questioned on the feasibility of an interim PM without an interim Cabinet.

In the end, the Rulers rejected the plan and announced the sitting’s cancellation, and within a few hours, Bersatu announced their backing for Muhyiddin as PM.

The wheels have come off for Dr Mahathir, and it has all unravelled explosively.

However, even against mounting pressure, with Malaysians expecting the King to swiftly end the impasse, His Majesty remained the calm in the chaos, even making time to step out of the palace to distribute burgers to the press.

Those who have covered him as reporters will know that this is no PR stunt. It’s just the way he is.

In all this, Malaysians must be given credit for being a rational lot. Many other nations would have plunged into chaos by now.

The Malay Rulers have more than proven themselves because in a time of political crisis, they have managed the country, and states, well. Regardless of whether they are lauded or criticised, they have served their roles as custodians of the country, which is a far cry from what many of our politicians have done for us.

None of us are sure if this is the end or the beginning but Malaysia needs closure, sooner rather than later.

The good, the bad and the ugly

This photo taken on February 20, 2020 shows doctors looking at a lung CT image at a hospital in Yunmeng county, Xiaogan city, in China’s central Hubei province. -AFP

It takes all kinds to dominate in a world obsessed with economic might and political power.

AS a young boy growing up in the 1960s, I watched many Western movies and TV shows about cowboys and Red Indians, and as expected of a naïve and ignorant kid, I cheered for the “good” guys – the cowboys.

And because they were portrayed as such, the Red Indians were the “bad” guys to me. They were the savage lot, while the Caucasian men were the civilised group trying to help them. And routinely, the Red Indians would be defeated.

As I reached my teenage years and read more about the West, I realised that my supposed heroes were the ones who robbed these natives of their land, violated treaties and consigned the Red Indians to living on reservations.

The most famous Red Indian, Geronimo, the head of the Chiricahua Apaches, and his men were arrested and despatched to Florida as prisoners of war. Some of them were even discarded at crocodile-infested swamps.

Fast forward to contemporary Hollywood movies – the modern-day bad guys are always the Russians, Albanians and Arabs.

They are usually portrayed as one of brutal spies, criminals, human traffickers, drug dealers and terrorists, and in more lurid plots, all the above.

In The Equalizer, Denzel Washington, who plays a former intelligence agency man latterly driving a cab, goes after sadistic Russian gangsters and predictably, decides to kill all of them – in equally brutal ways.

In the John Wick movie series, Keanu Reeves also goes ballistic going after some Russians.

For some reason, all these ex-operatives are reclusive, divorced or widowed, still connected to their agencies, and as always, their loved ones get harmed (mostly killed) by the Russians, which invariably leads them to needing to settle the score.

Albanians hit the big time after the 2008 movie, Taken, which starred Liam Neeson, who plays Bryan Mills, another retired CIA operative whose teenage daughter and friend get kidnapped by human traffickers (Albanians) while holidaying in France.

In Taken 2, the 2012 sequel, the film follows the family to Istanbul, only to be kidnapped yet again, along with his former wife, by the father of one of the men he killed while saving his daughter two years previously.

It wasn’t just the Albanians who suffered from bad press as until today, my wife still refuses to go to Istanbul – as a result of the movie.

Fortunately for me, I have been to Albania. It’s a beautiful country with good people, and nothing like what the movies depict.

In the case of Arabs, we are accustomed to seeing them portrayed in poor light. They were womanising oil sheikhs at one time and are now mostly barbaric terrorists. Scenes with them are stereotypically sound tracked to the call of the Azan.

Mexicans, typically, are drug dealers. Likewise, Colombians, Cubans and Venezuelans. Well, in the movies, at least.

The hip hop loving African Americans in the United States, with their bling and bad attitude, are a dangerous lot. And thanks to their racist slurs, smaller Asians like us avoid antagonising them.

The latest bad guys are the Chinese. However, Hollywood isn’t quite ready to cast them as the standard stereotype because they are explicitly aware of mainlanders having plenty of clout.

Experts predict that by 2020, China will be the world’s largest cinema market, with box office revenue expected to leap from US$9.9 billion (RM41bil) in 2018 to US$15.5 billion (RM65bil) by 2023, according to a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). In the first quarter of 2018, China surpassed the US in box office revenue for the first time.

It has been reported that China is presently Hollywood’s biggest foreign market, and according to projections by PwC, this year, the Chinese box office will likely rake in US$11.05 billion (RM46bil) compared to ticket sales in the US, which is expected to amount to US$2.11 billion (RM8.8bil).

So, unlike with other nationalities, Hollywood won’t mess around with the Chinese anytime soon.

Failed Hollywood movies, like The Terminator: Dark Fate, which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger, were rescued by the box offices in China.

Hollywood understands the power of money well. In fact, Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight wasn’t even submitted for Chinese approval because of a dubious Chinese businessman character in the 2008 Batman movie. But in the Western media, whether in the US, Europe or Australia, China is being painted negatively, in a blatantly concerted way.

Everything from Huawei, to face recognition and to Xinjiang, and now Coronavirus, China has been the bogeyman.

The elephant-in-the-room theory is that the US wants a “freed Tibet” because it’s angling to build an air base that can send jets into China within minutes.

Adding to the spin doctoring, rioters and vandals in Hong Kong are relentlessly referred to as pro-democracy protestors to burn in the minds of the audience that they are the good guys.

HK policemen are painted as brutal when, ironically, tougher tactics are applied elsewhere, including by the American police.

The US is disturbed by the South China Sea, although it’s thousands of miles away and isn’t even a claimant. It’s strange when you think it has military bases in the Philippines and the vicinity.

The disdain for China even turned comical at some point. When a group of Vietnamese were found dead in a UK truck last year, newsfeeds initially revealed they were Chinese.

As the media scrambled for answers, one reporter, who was pressed for an answer, told his live audience that they could possibly be Chinese who fled to the UK because of their protests over the Xinjiang issue.

The underlining reason is simple – the Western media no longer wants to report about China in a balanced way, resenting its growth to become an economic power in just 30 years as it sits behind the US as the second largest economy in the world.

The narrative is the same: China should be feared and doubted, while Chinese scholars in the US ought to be treated as spies. And advanced technology better than that in American products be branded spying devices.

Hostility towards China has intensified and with the outbreak of Covid-19, there is no silver lining, what with spins of resenting Chinese president Xi Jinping, concealing figures of casualties, cover up, poor food preparation and filthy eating habits. And there’s also the racist perception that Chinese people are to be avoided and cooked up stories of uprising against Xi Jinping.

Of course, there’s also the twisted religious angle – that the Chinese are being punished, either for their eating habits, or again, the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang.

The war against China is being waged in various fronts because it is deemed to have threatened the international order dominated by the US and its allies.

It doesn’t matter if the US is led by Donald Trump or a Democrat president, which could be worse, because the end game against China will simply be the same.

The Coronavirus epidemic has damaged the image of the Chinese. Their invincibility and ascent have taken a knock, so Xi Jinping must prove that China can beat this killer virus soon.

It’s a bad time for China nationals still travelling, but then again, even ethnic Chinese elsewhere are affected.

The average American believes everything they watch on CNN or Fox TV. No one should be surprised since only 45% of Americans – or 41.8 million – have been overseas. That’s an improvement, being 9% more than in 2018.

There is a far bigger picture here, one rooted in the concept of master and servant.

Not too long ago, China was a far-away mysterious country where cheap toys, low grade garments and fireworks came from. In the last couple of decades, the most populous country learnt technology well from the west, like how Japan did in the 1980s.

Today, the republic is on the cusp of achieving world domination. And that’s not a point lost on any superior or inferior nation.

Bigger fish to fry

New moves: With the Covid-19 outbreak, Malaysia should work harder to draw tourists. — AZHAR MAHFOF/The Star

Even when our livelihood is threatened, our MPs are still more concerned about the game of political musical chairs within the corridors of power.

SOMETHING is very wrong with some of our Members of Parliament. Our economy has been heading south since the outbreak of the Covid-19, which spread – like a virus does – from China to the rest of the world, not sparing Malaysia, yet some politicians seem oblivious to the sense of urgency.

In fact, we are expected to post the worst results this year since the financial crisis a decade ago.

Our politicians seem to be living on another planet because they give the impression they are detached from reality and the people.

That’s only because they are caught up in relentless politicking and deal-making. The next general election is three years away but we are all tuned in to talk of the next government, the “backdoor, side door and revolving side-door” government.

There has been so much intrigue and intense speculation about the formation of a new government-in-the-making.

PAS is initiating a vote of confidence for Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to remain as Prime Minister amid talk that this is the first step to more dramatic political movements.

But on the ground, ordinary Malaysians are anguishing over daily living. Unless one is selling face masks and sanitisers, almost every business has taken a beating since the year’s start.

The worst hit include the airlines and travel businesses, but hoteliers, restaurants, shops, malls and, even bird’s nest and durian sellers have also reported huge losses.

Last week, an outspoken celebrity chef texted me to share his woes. His restaurant business has dropped by 40% because major clients have pulled the plug at the 11th hour.

And his customers are almost all Malaysians – not Chinese tourists – as he serves only Malay food. He never imagined this scenario since his restaurant has been jam-packed since its opening last year.

Tour agencies handling inland tours, especially those who rely on Chinese tourists, have already run into cash flow problems.

The cancellations run up to six months, and while it’s easy for the government to say that this is a temporary setback, the reality is that wages, Employees Provident Fund deductions, rentals and other operational expenses still need to be paid on time.

A local airline sent out a circular last week to inform its staff that the management was taking drastic cost-cutting measures to stay afloat as the company was facing “a state of financial downside”, saying these actions were pertinent “to limit the risk of closing down”.

The carrier took the unusual decision of limiting employees from travelling unless it’s with personal transportation and sans mileage claims. Overtime claims have also been stopped unless justified.

This is just the first two months of 2020 and things have certainly begun on a bad note for most of us. The first quarter of the year is as good as over, and it’s looking nothing less than disastrous.

I don’t know what some of our ministers were thinking when they said that Covid-19 will have minimal impact on us.

Don’t forget, this is Visit Malaysia 2020.

Malaysia is eyeing a GDP growth of 4.5% this year, with tourism alone expected to generate an income of RM100bil under the Visit Malaysia 2020 campaign.

Our ministers have a habit of painting a rosy picture, unlike their Singaporean counterparts who realistically tell their citizens to gear up to face the difficulties ahead.

What the rakyat wants to hear at the new Parliament session next month is what kind of economic stimulus would be provided to mitigate the impact on the economy.

Don’t tell us that the plan is being considered or underway. No more of this “sedang di kaji” (is being studied) or “akan di pertimbangkan” (will be considered) drivel. We no longer have the patience for such shenanigans.

We also want to know what’s being done to draw tourists to Malaysia now that China tourists are likely to cancel their trips here.

What are our alternate markets to draw tourists and assure them that Malaysia is safe, and convince them they shouldn’t emulate the knee-jerk reaction of the South Korea government in advising their people not to visit Malaysia?

And if the Covid-19 epidemic continues, what are the contingency plans of the Malaysian government and the affected ministries? We want to hear from the Prime Minister and the relevant ministers.

Update us on current and projected losses over the next few months.

Malaysians would also want to know what has been done to ease the India debacle. It’s a double whammy for our palm oil producers, especially small holders.

India and China, the world’s most populous nations, are the two biggest importers of palm oil. While we have persuaded Pakistan and other economies to buy palm oil from us, we simply can’t compensate for the loss of the huge Indian market.

Malaysia needs to stop antagonising big nations. We can’t win, so let’s be realistic.

And with two months having slipped by, we assumed our politicians would have been preparing for the next Parliament meeting with these issues in mind.

However, these guys are in dreamland, plotting an intriguing political coup and repeatedly counting the number of MPs on their side from the pool of 222. So much so, they probably count in their sleep, too.

And as is becoming routine, some sections of the media have been blamed for propagating fake news about this conspiracy, although almost all major media have reported the same. And some senior politicians should take note that MPs from their own party have been talking about it, too.

Politicians should stop accusing the media of creating fake news without justification, when they are making fake electoral promises to the people, and be warned that we can all see and remember.

It will get tougher over the coming months, and the performance of the first half of 2020 will be full of uncertainties.

So let’s brace ourselves for the rocky road ahead.

Sultan of Johor pays fond tribute to the Flintstones cartoon at Istana Mersing

Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Sultan Iskandar of Johor at the Flintstone House in Mersing. — THOMAS YONG/The Star

Busloads of tourists, foreign and local, stop by the perimeter walls of Istana Mersing, or Istana Flintstones, as it’s popularly known, daily.

They are mesmerised by the multi colours and unique shape of the building, which instantly brings to life, for them, the home of the Flintstones, a family immortalised in the popular Hanna-Barbera cartoon.

The journey from Johor Baru to Mersing is almost a two-hour ride via a 130km trunk road, but the initiated knows it’s worth it because such a palace is the only one of its kind in the world.

The Flintstones was an American animated series framed against a romanticised Stone Age backdrop and was hugely popular during its run from the early to mid-1960s. In 1994, it was also made into a movie featuring big name actors like John Goodman, Rick Moranis, Halle Berry and even Elizabeth Taylor.

The two-storey palace was built to look like a giant cave from The Flintstones.

The Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar, a huge fan of this cartoon family, has kept the legacy of the Flintstones alive through his palace.

It’s located on a sprawling 24ha site overlooking the sea, with a nine-storey lighthouse, which is still under construction. It apparently has 17 rooms, including two presidential suites.

The two-storey palace, built to resemble a giant cave from the cartoon series, also has a museum and private library, which houses 60,000 original Marvel comics sourced from Australia.

His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim said that he has been a fan of the cartoon since young.

“I can remember coming home from school and waiting for the cartoon to be on television. Fred Flintstone, the main character, remains my favourite.

“I could never get bored watching the series because it brings back many good memories of my childhood.”A life-sized replica of Fred Flintstone’s car from the show sits prominently near the palace entrance.

The two-storey palace, built to resemble a giant cave from the cartoon series, also has a museum and private library, which houses 60,000 original Marvel comics sourced from Australia.The two-storey palace, built to resemble a giant cave from the cartoon series, also has a museum and private library, which houses 60,000 original Marvel comics sourced from Australia.

It has specially designed wooden panelling on the car body and faux-stone finish on the wheels and chair, which was a gift from the King, Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah, when he was a Crown Prince.

It’s a relief to know that the car isn’t feet-powered like in the series!

It was a privilege when the Sultan personally conducted a tour of his palace for this writer and his colleague, Nelson Benjamin, the bureau chief of The Star office in Johor.

A man gifted with the ability to remember even the finest details, Tuanku provided every bit of information on how the structure was put up, and where the materials were sourced.

“Every little thing was built from scratch and it was all properly done, ” he said as he showed me a letter from the Hanna-Barbera company granting Tuanku permission to construct the Flintstones-themed palace.

Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Sultan Iskandar of Johor has a vast private library at the palace, which includes a collection of 60,000 original Marvel comics! — THOMAS YONG/The Star

Tuanku revealed he is under pressure to open the palace doors to visitors. “I will discuss with my son (the Crown Prince) about which sections of the house can be opened to the public, ” he said, adding that it took five years to transform the once-swampland area.

Sultan Ibrahim also added that a lot of recycled materials, including broken marble pieces and KTM’s old wooden railway sleepers, have been repurposed and made into furniture to give the place a rustic look.

He added that they have an on-site sawmill and some 350 people, including professional carvers, working on the project.

The quirky building, which houses everything from swinging chairs to a huge aquarium, is a bona fide private theme park, which can match anything in Disneyland or elsewhere.

My favourite part of the palace is the dinner table, where projectors placed on the ceiling beam down moving animations of Fred Flintstone cooking.

There are also kitchens in various parts of the palace. Unknown to many, His Majesty is an excellent cook, and has restaurant-standard kitchens.

In the dining room, projectors on the ceiling beam down animations of Fred Flinstone cooking.In the dining room, projectors on the ceiling beam down animations of Fred Flinstone cooking.

Sharing his vision of Mersing, His Majesty said he hopes to transform the coastal town and put it on the world map. He added that people always travel to Mersing – which is located on the east coast of Johor – en route to nearby island paradises such as Pulau Rawa and Pulau Tioman.

Rawa Island was referenced in the 2018 blockbuster Crazy Rich Asians, although the parts depicting Rawa were, in fact, filmed in Pulau Langkawi in Kedah.

“We want people to stay on the mainland.

“To achieve this, we need good hotels and restaurants to cater to tourists, especially day trippers, ” said Sultan Ibrahim, adding that effort is needed to improve the jetty and clean up the Mersing river, which is congested with ferries and cargo vessels.

With eco-tourism a key revenue stream down south, Sultan Ibrahim added that there is now better control of the number of divers in the area with the establishment of the Sultan Iskandar Marine Park.

Recycled materials like broken marble pieces were repurposed and used to make a lot of the furniture and decorations at the palace.Recycled materials like broken marble pieces were repurposed and used to make a lot of the furniture and decorations at the palace.

“Now we have park rangers and an office to monitor all the activities around the marine park.

“The permits are issued by the local council and we can now better protect the marine life around the area and prevent people from just anchoring their boats indiscriminately or carting away the marine life, ” he said.

He added that the RM200 charge for divers was used for conservation efforts, but it will cost more for boats and rangers.

“We want to emulate Sabah in their efforts to protect their marine parks, ” he said.

Conservation efforts aside, it’s the palace which takes centre stage as the Sultan’s jewel in the crown.

And if there were a catchphrase to encapsulate the glee one experiences when seeing his abode, Fred Flintstone’s iconic “Yabba Dabba Doo!” should do just nicely.

Wu Lien-Teh: Malaysia’s little-known plague virus fighter

Dr Wu Lien-Teh Society chairman Datuk Dr Anwar Fazal (second from left) looking at Dr Wu’s bust which is located in front of the Penang Institute on Brown Road. – ASRI ABDUL GHANI/The Star

HIS name does not exist in our school history books and he has never been accorded the recognition that he truly deserves – and what’s more, he was a Malaysian.

In the fall of 1910, a pneumonic plague which originated in Russian Siberia, broke out in Harbin, the north eastern region of China. The epidemic spread so quickly that within four months, it claimed 60,000 lives.

Dr Wu Lien Teh (pic), a Penangite, was given the job to find a vaccine to curtail the virus, which broke out in October 1910 and lasted till March the following year.

This is perhaps a good time to talk about Dr Wu as China and the world race against time to find a cure for the deadly novel coronavirus.

It is an appropriate time to honour a Malaysian who fought a plague that killed even more people in China then.

Dr Wu was born in Penang on March 10,1879 and, at 17, went to England to study at Emmanuel College, at the University of Cambridge.

He became the first ethnic Chinese to study medicine in the prestigious university.

According to an article in the Penang Monthly by Koh King Kee, the Penang Free School boy completed his medical degree two years ahead of requirement and won all possible prizes and scholarships in a class of 135 students.

”He pursued a postgraduate study of malaria at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, and bacteriology at the Hygiene Institute of Halle in Germany and Institute Pasteur in Paris. He was the first student of Chinese decent to graduate with an MD from Cambridge University,” Koh wrote.

”After his arrival at Harbin, Dr Wu performed the first-ever post mortem exam in China on a Japanese woman who died from the epidemic. He discovered Yersinia Pestis in the body tissues and further concluded that the epidemic was pneumonic plague, which could be transmitted by human breath or sputum.

”This was contrary to the general idea that plague could only be transmitted by rats or fleas and could not be transmitted from person to person. His idea surprised all of his scientific peers and was met with widespread disbelief,” according to an article, published by US National Institute of Health, National Library of Medicine.

The article further notes that Dr Gerald Mesny, a prominent French doctor, was one of those who doubted Dr Wu’s views. Dr Mesny himself died of pneumonic plague several days later, after refusing to wear a mask, succumbing to the epidemic infection. His death shocked the international community then.

At the same time, Dr Wu convinced the Russian and Japanese railway authorities to cease the operation of all trains in 1911. These efforts cut off all transportation and contained further transmission of the disease in Northern-East China. Nonetheless, the death toll in Harbin continued to rise as the corpses of those who died of the epidemic served as a perfect “incubator” for the infection to spread.

Dr Wu sent a petition for the bodies of the deceased to be cremated and some 3,000 corpses and coffins were gathered and cremated.

No further infection was reported as of March 31,1911. The deadly disease had vanished by the time the Chinese New Year arrived, the article said.

”On the advice of Dr Wu, the International Plague Conference was held in Mukden from April 3 to 28,1911.

Renowned epidemiologists and scientists from 11 countries, including the US, UK, Japan, Russia, and France attended.

Dr Wu was elected as president of the conference and his work on plague prevention was highly praised by all.

In fact, modern medical science was established in China soon after this conference ended.

Dr Wu, always the fighter at the forefront of the battle to prevent plague, successfully stamped out the recurring epidemic by 1921.

According to writers Zhongliang Ma and Yanli Li, Dr Wu, in later years, devoted much his efforts setting up hospitals and medical colleges and founded the Chinese Medical Society.

In 1931, after the Japanese invaded the north-eastern provinces of China, he left for Shanghai, where he set up the National Quarantine System.

He returned to Malaya with his family in 1937, following the commencement of the anti-Japanese war in China.

In his later years, after coming home, he wrote and published a 1959 autobiography in English, Plague Fighter: The Autobiography of a Modern Chinese Physician.

The book was reprinted in 2014 by Areca Books.

According to the writers, Dr Wu died at the age of 81 on Jan 20,1960. He was deeply mourned by the scientific and medical communities, as well as the world as a whole.

The Times of London commented on Jan 27,1960:

”By his death, the world of medicine has lost a heroic and almost legendary figure and the world at large, one of whom it is far more indebted to than it knows.”

He is recognised as the Father of Modern Chinese Medicine and an institute in named after him in Harbin.

”He is regarded as the first person to modernise China’s medical services and medical education. He is also the first Malaysian to be nominated for a Nobel Prize in Medicine.

”To honour him and to remember his contributions, bronze statues of Dr Wu Lien Teh, were erected at Harbin Medical University. He remains unforgotten and his work continues to serve us, such as occurred when SARS suddenly broke out in 2003.

”We owe much to Dr Wu, who saved many lives and whose contributions to modern medicine in China allow us to continue to do so today.

Thanks to Dr Wu’s great contribution, the Wu Lien-Teh Institute was opened on Dec 24,2015, with the objective of researching infectious diseases and sharing the resulting knowledge to everyone.

Dr Wu was accorded no less than 20 honorary doctorates from renowned institutions including the John Hopkins University, the Hong Kong University and the Imperial University of Japan.

At the Beijing University Hospital, his bronze statue is also up.

According to Koh, Dr Wu returned to Penang after his graduation but ended up fighting against the colonial system.

”There was a two-tier medical system in the British colonies, where only British nationals could hold the highest position of fully qualified medical officers or specialists, according to reports.

”But that did not deter him as he went on to become a scientist and an anti-opium advocate. He spent the first four years of his medical career at the Institute of Medical Research, researching beri-beri, which causes the body system to break down as a result of deficiency in Vitamin B.”

Koh wrote that Dr Wu was also very vocal on social issues and founded the Anti-Opium Association in Penang, which pitted him against powerful forces – the British colonists who approved the distribution of opium and triad-linked Chinese tycoons.

”He was soon framed by these connections, leading to a search and subsequent discovery of a mere one ounce of tincture of opium in his clinic, according to a posting in Wikipedia.

”It was quickly regarded as illegal, although he was a fully qualified medical doctor who had used the drug to treat opium patients.”

Dr Wu’s prosecution and appeal rejection attracted worldwide publicity, including an invitation from the Chinese government in Peking to take up the post of vice-director of the Imperial Army medical College in Tianjin.

Left with little options, Dr Wu travelled to Harbin, on the instruction of the foreign office in Beijing, to investigate an unknown disease, which turned out to be the deadly bubonic plague.

”But his career as a scientist was cut short by the war in 1937 when the Japanese attacked China.

In fact, his villa in Shanghai was bombed by the Japanese.

”He returned to Malaya where he opened a clinic in Ipoh at Brewster Road – which has been renamed Jalan Sultan Idris Shah.

”His social work continued where he collected donations for the setting up of the Perak Library, now the Tun Razak Library, in Ipoh.”

Koh wrote that despite keeping “a low-profile civilian life”, there were moments of drama in his life.

During the Japanese occupation, Dr Wu was kidnapped by Communist guerrillas and released only after a big ransom was paid.

”Two months later, it was the Japanese’s turn to arrest him on suspicion of supporting anti-Japanese forces. He was eventually cleared of the charge after a Japanese officer, who was his patient, testified to his innocence.”

He practised medicine until the age of 80 and like all Penangites, the state was his forever home.

He bought a house in Chor Sin Kheng Road in Air Itam, Penang, for his retirement and died on Jan 20,1960, aged 81, after suffering a stroke.

A road in Ipoh Garden South has been named after him while in Penang, a private road named Taman Wu Lien Teh is located near the PFS.

But the road in Ipoh remains wrongly spelled although the mistake has been highlighted to the Ipoh City Council. It remains spelled as Wu Lean Teh Road.

More importantly, it is a great injustice for his name to be omitted from our history textbooks.

He deserves to be forever remembered.

The Dr Wu Lien-Teh Society, headed by Datuk Anwar Fazal, was set up in 2013 to research, promote and support the legacy of this Malaysian legend.

More changes ahead?

Prime Minister Tun Mahathir Mohamad speaks during a press conference at Parliament with him Minister of Economic Affair Datuk Seri Azmin Ali – Filepic

A sea change happened two years ago, and now, rumblings of another revamp to the country’s administrative landscape is expected to keep eyeballs peeled on newsfeeds.

WITHOUT doubt, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is the master politician! Like or loathe him, he has set a few records which no one in the world can match.

At 95 years old, he is the oldest Prime Minister in the world and his supporters, including the Opposition now, want him to remain in office. That’s unimaginable, though.

He is also the only PM in Malaysia to have been reappointed to the position for a second time, and still holds the record for being the longest serving PM in the two decades of his first tenure.

And now, he is set for another record – PAS is said to be ready to initiate a motion at the Dewan Rakyat next month to express support for Dr Mahathir.

The Islamist party, an Opposition party, is defying logic. Instead of making moves to dispose of a serving PM from the ruling party, it, in fact, wants to keep Dr Mahathir on.

There are two ways of looking at this – PAS wants to elevate Dr Mahathir to strike a deal, which could involve being in government, or, the party views the nonagenarian as such a liability to Pakatan Harapan that he could be the ultimate self-saboteur in the ruling coalition.

After all, surveys have showed that Dr Mahathir’s popularity has taken a plunge, with one study showing that Pakatan’s 87% popularity in GE14 had dropped significantly to 35% by the first half of 2019. Pakatan has also lost in four consecutive by-elections.

Since last year, PAS leaders have openly declared that its 18 MPs will back Dr Mahathir if a no confidence motion is placed on him.

This time, when the Dewan Rakyat sits from March 11, PAS wants to turn the tables and submit a vote of confidence.

For a vote of confidence to succeed in the Dewan Rakyat, it must have the support of at least 112 out of 222 MPs.

There’s another peculiarity – many PKR MPs, headed by deputy president Datuk Seri Azmin Ali, want to retain Dr Mahathir at the helm instead of his own party chief Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. Now, that’s also unprecedented.

Last week, Dr Mahathir said he welcomed support for him, including from Umno and PAS, saying, “Anybody supporting me, I feel like floating.”

Kuala Lumpur has been abuzz with speculation that moves are being made to create a new alignment, supposedly called Pakatan Nasional, comprising Dr Mahathir’s Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, and some MPs from PKR, PAS and Umno – leaving DAP and Anwar’s loyalists out in the cold.

DAP has struggled for acceptance in Malay politics, with Malay Pakatan politicians admitting that the DAP has been a burden for them, saying that party’s leaders suffer from image problems and the inability to be embraced by the Malay community.

It has also failed to win over the hearts and minds of senior civil servants at Putrajaya, and the lack of endearment has caused a debilitating fallout, with senior officials perceiving that they’ve been shut out.

Ironically, the DAP is also losing the support of the Chinese community (whose disdain for the party has increasingly grown), plotting a downfall of hero to zero in a little over a year. It having a sizeable 42 MPs isn’t a lost point, either.

PAS has openly said that a written agreement was drafted to show its commitment to Dr Mahathir until the 15th General Election, in the interest of religion, race and country.

Its secretary-general Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan has also reportedly said that they had met Dr Mahathir to discuss issues relating to oil royalties, as well as representation for the economic action council in PAS-led states Terengganu and Kelantan.

It appears that besides political appointments, PAS wants more money from the federal government for the two states under its control, particularly for cash-strapped Kelantan. It has one of the worst logging abuse records in Malaysia, where even Orang Asli land has been encroached on.

Playing with a toxic concoction of race and religion, and Malay dominance, it’s clear the message to Anwar and DAP is that they shouldn’t even think of asking Dr Mahathir to retire soon.

While there is an agreement that Anwar will succeed Dr Mahathir, as stated clearly in the signed document, there is no mention of when that will take place. It doesn’t say two years or three years.

And there’s another catch – the Federal Constitution also stipulates that the PM must have the majority support of the members of Parliament.

Basically, the agreement isn’t good enough if Anwar doesn’t have the numbers.

Regardless of it being either a vote of confidence or no confidence, the numbers are needed.

It looks like the former is easier, and if fellow Pakatan MPs, especially those from PKR, DAP or Amanah, decline to throw their support behind Dr Mahathir, it would look odd. It will be as good as a no faith call, without the need for a formal motion even.

The common assumption, among political players and analysts, is that the players seem to have issues with gaining committed numbers.

With PAS in the picture, splinter party Amanah will find it weird to get back with PAS. PAS has 18 MPs against Amanah’s 11.

The overtures have been made to Umno’s Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hussein, and even its president Datuk Seri Dr Zahid Hamidi, who has over 50 corruption charges staring at him.

His critics have said he seems prepared to work with Dr Mahathir to save his skin.

Controversial Umno supreme council member Datuk Lokman Noor Adam has declared the two and other Umno leaders – in a series of videos – infected with Kerala Virus, referencing Dr Mahathir’s ancestral home in India’s southern west coast.

Lokman also sensationally released an audio recording claiming that Zahid had tried to convince party leaders during a meeting that Umno needs to work with Dr Mahathir.

On Friday, the Umno supreme council announced that Lokman has been given the boot.

If the forming of Pakatan Nasional is to be believed, it can’t be legitimate for it to brand itself a Malay and Muslim platform. PAS, with its unwavering commitment to setting up an Islamic state, may want it that way, but that’s not Dr Mahathir’s thinking.

He is cunning enough to realise that without Sabah and Sarawak, it won’t be possible to form a federal government – whether via the front door, back door or any door. In fact, Pakatan Nasional will be shown the exit door if it’s all about Malays and Muslims.

Malaysia is a multiracial country and any ruling government needs multiracial representation in the Cabinet.

The Sarawak political alliance of Gabungan Parti Sarawak has no love for PAS, and for that matter, it has no interest in backing any peninsula politicians who have failed them.

GPS comprises Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP), Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) and Progressive Democratic Party (PDP).

Their sole priority now is to win the Sarawak state elections this year, and it can only do so on its own – not with Barisan Nasional, Pakatan Nasional or Pakatan Harapan. This is also the best time for Chinese-based parties in GPS to wrest back seats from PKR and DAP, which have three and seven seats respectively.

GPS has announced that it will remain independent and look after the state’s interests, as it dismissed talk of joining any coalition.

However, the real winner from the outcome of the manoeuvring seems to be PAS – which is being courted by Barisan via Mufakat Nasional, and now, the so-called Pakatan Nasional.

PAS is extracting the highest price on its part, and it knows that all the Malay-based parties need its solid votes. The six by-elections have proven that an election can only be won with PAS’ votes. That is the political reality.

Despite pledging its support for Dr Mahathir, that still didn’t stop PAS from campaigning for Barisan in the Tanjung Piai by-election to ensure the defeat of Dr Mahathir’s Bersatu.

Succession planning has always been Dr Mahathir’s biggest flaw, intentional or otherwise, and if he succeeds in staying on, then he has created two other records.

Anwar will be the world’s longest PM in waiting, and, unbelievably, may not even get to it. And the best part is, he has wreaked havoc with disunity in PKR, and now Umno.

Without doubt, he is at his best or worst when he reveals his Machiavellian streak, and it would be naïve to think that he has changed, or mellowed, after all these years.