It is depressing to catch up on developments back home in the past nine days after being abroad.

The country seems to be stuck in time, dominated by petty issues with the obsession of navel-gazing instead of being inspired by great dreams and aspirations for the people and country.

The speech by the UMNO Deputy President, Mohamad Hasan that the 15th general election will be called by next year is the typical example of such narcissistic preoccupation

Mohamad Hassan said when officiating the Sepang UMNO division meeting: “Don’t worry, this is a half-term government, not a one-term government. It will not last.

“I am confident Pakatan Harapan won’t last long. I expect the election would be called between May to December next year.”

It is a triple irony that Hassan has unfurled the banner of Pakatan Harapan as a half-term instead merely a one-term government hours after Ahmad Zahid Hamidi unilaterally announced his return from garden leave to resume the mantle of UMNO President, which was itself hours after former UMNO President Najib Abdul Razak had prepared the ground for Zahid’s return from garden leave by declaring that Zahid does not require consent from the party’s supreme council to make his return as held by other UMNO leaders, like Khairy Jamaluddin. Read the rest of this entry »