Chameleon politics


— Tan Teck Huat
The Malaysian Insider
Dec 12, 2011

DEC 12 — If anyone wants to know the chameleon nature of the Najib government or perhaps even the prime minister, you just have to look at the government’s attitude towards Singapore.

On one hand, Najib talks about closer ties with Singapore and his upcoming retreat with Lee Hsien Loong, where some great announcement is going to be made about a joint announcement in Iskandar.

We are supposed to be good pals after years of difficult ties. But before anyone starts celebrating, there is Najib’s good friend, Senator Ezam Noor, warning undergraduates that the DAP is bent on turning Malaysia into Singapore!

Let there be no illusion about Ezam’s close connection to the establishment. A political maverick like Ezam can only be accepted back into the system and be appointed as a senator only with the blessings of the prime minister.

His job designation is clear, attack Anwar Ibrahim and the Pakatan Rakyat and in that order, and do and say anything which will make the electorate frightened of the opposition.

That is why a few days ago he was allowed to speak to undergraduates and took up the Umno message of demonising the DAP. The only difference was that he dragged in another bogeyman: Singapore.

Singapore equates to Chinese equates to bad.

Don’t expect Hsien Loong to do or say anything to defend Singapore. He and his wife don’t have the gumption or the fight of Lee Kuan Yew and will roll over and play dead for a few deals. In that regard, Najib is smarter than Hsien Loong.

He knows that Hsien Loong treasures cordial relations with Malaysia with a few deals like the railway land issue thrown in and will not kick up a fuss even though the government’s attack dogs are making Singapore a bogeyman. As such, Najib will continue with his chameleon-like strategy, of talking up bilateral ties and allowing his soldiers to paint Singapore in less than desirable light.

A bit like praising the Chinese for their diligence and then allowing Perkasa to hammer the Chinese. Or like visiting the Vatican but allowing Umno to belittle Christianity.

  1. #1 by jus legitimum on Monday, 12 December 2011 - 5:28 pm

    Umno/Bn always behaves like a forked tongue snake.They say Pas is being made use of by DAP to take away the power and rights of the Malays.On the other hand,they say DAP is ever ready to sacrifice the chinese by supporting Pas.This evil power of 54 years will do anything just to retain power.

  2. #2 by artemisios on Monday, 12 December 2011 - 5:29 pm

    That’s right. Two-faced politics.

    Just like sending mca to tell chinese voters
    “DAP is a stooge of PAS”,
    at the same time sending umno to tell malay voters “PAS is a stooge of DAP”

  3. #3 by Loh on Monday, 12 December 2011 - 5:44 pm

    ///A bit like praising the Chinese for their diligence and then allowing Perkasa to hammer the Chinese. Or like visiting the Vatican but allowing Umno to belittle Christianity.///–Tan Teck Huat

    In the days of the Three Kingdoms where people are in the dark about plans behind others’ back, these flip-flops might be said as clever strategy. But nowadays with Wikileaks and online, the flip-flops are not what people look up too. Najib’s flip-flops show that he is fighting for survival, and that Najib did not know that the person whose political career his late father saved is not repaying his gratitude. But from the tired look he showed at Langkawi, the worrying days for Najib on this particular torn might soon be over.

  4. #4 by isahbiazhar on Monday, 12 December 2011 - 7:33 pm

    Iskandar will be ruled by Singaporeans in the future so both PMs will just pretend that everything is all right though the barking dogs will bark.Najib will be booted out in the coming election by his own people so the next PM will have good ties with Singapore because he will be a real Malaysian Malaysia PM.

  5. #5 by ENDANGERED HORNBILL on Monday, 12 December 2011 - 9:08 pm

    Hello adik Ezam, lebih baik Malaysia gunakan singapore sebagai model perkembangan daripada dijadikan Zimbabwe!

    Ezam, go have your brains checked in any of the advanced singapore hospitals such as the Kandang kerbau hospital-lah.

  6. #6 by ENDANGERED HORNBILL on Monday, 12 December 2011 - 9:43 pm

    Adik Ezam, nak jadi hero pun jangan sekali-kali menggadaikan OTAK YA?

  7. #7 by yhsiew on Monday, 12 December 2011 - 10:50 pm

    If one talked good about Singapore and the other talked bad about Singapore then one of them, if not both, must be lying.

  8. #8 by cemerlang on Monday, 12 December 2011 - 11:48 pm

    Chameleons are everywhere. Yes, boss. No, boss. But will you know if he works for you as well as for him ? Like at times you all sit down and have tea together. People will not know if you are genuinely kind hearted or just a devil in disguise. Everything is so contradictory. On one hand it is like this. On another hand it is like that.

  9. #9 by pwcheng on Monday, 12 December 2011 - 11:49 pm

    Singapore got a good deal for getting back the railway land in Tanjong Pagar for exchange of a block of condominium in the nearby area. That is just the icing on the cake. The real cake is actually the railway line that span almost from the north to the south of Singapore, effectively constraining the Island Republic of any development of areas around the railway line. A fool will be able to tell that Najib is no fool to be easily fooled by Singapore. There must be something that holds his balls. Maybe the Oxford guy can tell us the story.

  10. #10 by boh-liao on Tuesday, 13 December 2011 - 2:57 am

    Now they r happily watching d Bollywood wayang starring KS n R of DAP
    Enjoy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82zt5Fk5YTc

  11. #11 by ENDANGERED HORNBILL on Tuesday, 13 December 2011 - 7:08 am

    UMNO is like a pack of vultures preying on what they think are “carcasses” (the RAKYAT).

    Malaysians – awake, arise & rally together for ABU (anything but UMNO)!

  12. #12 by ENDANGERED HORNBILL on Tuesday, 13 December 2011 - 7:12 am

    WE urge MCA, MIC, PPP, PBS and other BN component parties to join ABU before it is too late.

    Malaysians speak to yr BN representatives and ask them to join ABU – the party of de facto President, Rosmah Mansor and figurehead President Najib Tun Razak, the not-very-educated Deputy President, also Minsiter of not-very-high Education, Muhyiddin——all the more reasons to join ABU.

  13. #13 by k1980 on Tuesday, 13 December 2011 - 8:07 am

    Obama and his blak metallik wife will need to apply for police permits if they were to do this in malaysia

    http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/attachement/jpg/site1/20111212/0013729c0495104fa0df01.jpg

  14. #14 by undertaker888 on Tuesday, 13 December 2011 - 8:27 am

    These umno goons are playing dr Jekyll and mr Hyde. Their modus operandi is to create chaos at home to rule indefinitely while painting a rosy pictures abroad to gain international support.

    It’s like painting dead dried leafs with green paint. That’s umno led bn.

  15. #15 by Jeffrey on Tuesday, 13 December 2011 - 9:23 am

    It’s not exactly “Singapore equates to Chinese equates to bad.” Ezam can concede that S’pore is progressive and good and yet says the system practised there – Meritocracy- is bad for Malays here (though it may be good for Malaysia but what’s the point if it’s not good for the people whom UMNO supposedly fights for their communal interest… S’pore epitomizes level playing field which is diametrically opposed to UMNO’s platform of Ketuanan and racial dominance and hegemony (Malay Malaysia) and that’s why S’pore model (expressed by LKY’s “Malaysian Malaysia” (when S’pore part of Malaysia and which led to Tanah Melayu losing the island asset in 1965) is rejected. Ezam plays on his constituents’ insecurities. He links DAP to S’pore PAP saying that DAP is similarly inspired. To the extent that PR’s coalition partners – the more Malay content PKR & PAS- play ball with DAP, therefore PR itself is very inimical to the “womb to tomb” taking care platform of UMNO!

  16. #16 by ENDANGERED HORNBILL on Tuesday, 13 December 2011 - 9:57 am

    Maybe, to borrow some of Karpal Singh’s famous words: “Who is Ezam?”.

    How can an uneducated rabble-rouser, street-fighter, spoilt brat, politicartoon have so much say in Malaysian politics in mainstream papers, eh?

  17. #17 by boh-liao on Tuesday, 13 December 2011 - 11:32 am

    Who is Ez? A senator leh, don’t play play 1

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