I am amused and at the same time sad that the supposedly intelligent discussions have beed reduced to name calling. Cant we do better than that. No need to insult. Just criticize.

With regards to comment by Karpal on the jurisdiction of Sultan of Perak, I personnally believe that it is rather coarse. Karpal as we all know has a penchant of mocking politicians from the other divide in the august Parliament.

There is a certain decorum that expected to be maintained in the presence of a Sultan. Here lies the blunder by Karpal Singh. He, from the views of vast section of Malays , insulted the Sultan of Perak by implying that the Ruler made a mistake that no former Lord President should ever make.

Different people took it differently. Malays who are fond of monarch system are upset. There is nothing racial about it. And it is wrong to imply that UMNO intentionally whip the sentiment. The sentiment is real. From what I notice, non Malays do not seem to understand the fuss about Karpal said.

They do not understand why such a statement can be construed as seditious. Malays interpret the issue from a different angle. Malays hold royalty with high regards. They are as what Dr Mahathir said in Malay Dillema as the “last vestige of Old Malaya”.

That does not mean that that royalty cant be criticized. Even Prophet Muhammad was criticized no less by Allah and clearly written in Kuran.

My point is that Karpal is seen as insulting the Sultan and the revered institution by Malays. This incident also put PKR and PAS into a delicate situation. Call it immature or childish, but Malay community finds that thir silence as disturbing. Hence, come the remark I overheard ” Macam ni ke jadi Kerajaan. Belum apa-apa lagi dah biarkan Karpal hina Raja-raja”.

As for appointment of Menteri Besar of Trengganu, initially UMNO insisted on Idris as the candidate for the post. And I believe PM is right in this matter. But UMNO was in a difficult position. its insistence on Idris Jusoh was construed as an afront to the Sultan of Trengganu. No Malay politician would want to be seen as rude to the Sultan. That explain why UMNo relented and agreed to the Sultan’s choice.

They are determined to give him the opportunity. It will not be in the court of public opinion though.

He will have to do that in court and in front of a judge who is likely to be prosecution oriented as all trial judges are. It will then go on appeal and is likely to be reversed by court of appeal judges who are more neutral. Hopefully it will not go to the federal court likely to be headed then by the country’s number one skirt chaser aka sugar daddy.

Since he cannot hope to be sugar daddy to Karpal, my prediction is that Karpal may well end up enjoying His Majesty’s hospitality for two years!

I still believe citizen Karpal Singh deserves a right to be heard his understanding of the law, as he sees it. Let him argue it out; perhaps you and I, and the many young lawyers will learn from him and/or his mistake?

Exactly! That’s why I said earlier, the right person to come in to help smoothen things to clear whatever misunderstanding there is, is the Prime Minister but unfortunately he politicised it, turned “instigator” rather than “mediator”! That’s awfully vindictive of PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. We have enough of him and time he steps down, resign!

Knowing the Lion and how he likes to roar, I doubt if he meant to kick the ball passed his own goal keeper. He expected his goal keeper to catch the ball!

But then to seek the audience of the Sultan presumably to apologize – as opposed to clarifying and explaining – if indeed he had uttered those seditious remarks, would that not weaken his case? One does not seek the audience of the Sultan just to explain.

A catch-22 situation here, don’t you think?

“In this country, the constitutional monarchy is an institution to be respected and we have to mind the Rulers’ position and sovereignty,” Anwar added.

Would seeking what appears to be a royal pardon stop the AG from later prosecuting him?

Today at 18: 56.44 (2 hours ago)
“Some here had speculated that AAB is playing the racial card. I think that is certainly possible.” Killer

When you say so and so is playing the race card, you are here implying that playing the race card is not the norm. But in Malaysia playing the race card is the norm!

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undergrad2 : I certainly can’t disgree you on this….

Today at 18: 51.03 (2 hours ago)
“…perhaps he has lost the plot. ”

Not if he is the plot.

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Well, whether he is the plot or has lost it matters little as he, DAP and PR has lost the battle of the public opinion. Obvious the people here would argue very forcefully that it is not the case. But then the battle is for the hearts and minds of the Muslims and sadly not the die-hard DAP supporters who throng this blog.

As much as I had tried to analyse the objectives of Karpal for his recent bizarre verbal bhangra, the only driver that is obvious is hubris, due to the unprecedented electoral endorsement in 12GE and an over confidence of his own decades-long political experience and legal knowledge.

A complete silence from the PR leaders and half-hearted support from DAP only betrays the fact that the Lion of Jeluntong has scored an own goal.

When you say so and so is playing the race card, you are here implying that playing the race card is not the norm. But in Malaysia playing the race card is the norm!

Not if he is the plot.

What I don’t understand is why Karpal has been making one controversial statement after another. His “Animal Planet” antics in the Parliment was disgraceful too. I am having difficulties to understand his motives or objectives, perhaps he has lost the plot.

In this particular case, there is no reason for Karpal to make a statement as this is a matter for the Perak MB or perhaps someone like Wan Azizah (can someone please tell why PR poted for the worse possible candidate there is for the leader of the Opposition ?) or Anwar Ibrahim should have spoken out. In fact now even the Perak MB refuses to be drawn into the issue and the support for Karpal is very thin even from DAP.

I am puzzled why both the Perak MB and the Penang DCM1 are trying remove the heads of religion on their states when the PR, LGE and LKS had been saying that they want to work with the current civil servants and have no problems with BN leaders serving in their states. Most likely reason is that PKR and PAS is trying to bring their own people to propagate a wahabbis style Islam among the states’ Muslims. This was the tactic that PAS adopted in Kelantan and Terengganu.

Some here had speculated that AAB is playing the racial card. I think that is certainly possible. Before the 12GE, DAP and its partners had been using the same tactics by seizing on racially and religiously sensitive issues to attack BN, so my guess is that BN feels it is payback time. If that is the case, then I suggest PR brace itself for a very bumpy and rough ride for the next few years.

Imagine what it could mean to you and me if he is a judge, jury and prosecutor all at the same time.

Dunno about that! But I do know that “wine, women and songs” are inseparable.

But then when we watch the Lingam tape, where are the women and the songs?

Well wine has its age limit, will easily turn vinegar. It’s said “Life’s too short to drink bad wine”, heard that before?