Has the Johor sultan overstepped his authority again?
So, a sultan has threatened to dissolve his state’s legislative assembly if there was another power struggle there, and has come under criticism as he doesn’t really have the power to decide that. No prizes for guessing which sultan this is, but let’s just say it’s not the first time he or some member of his royal family have overstepped their authority.
Meanwhile, Umno is being accused (now why does that sound familiar?) of wanting to put former PM Najib Razak back in power; our Covid-19 numbers are back in the high double digits; and, the prosecution in Najib’s SRC International trial is now taking its turn at oral submissions.
Raya visiting fears proven right
A new cluster of Covid-19 infections has confirmed what we all feared: that the government allowing Hari Raya visits would lead to more people testing positive for that pesky little virus. Thankfully, we’re still in the double-digit realm, though whether more people have been infected by the Raya visits remains to be seen.
In other news, the mess that is Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia seems to be getting worse; lawyers for a certain former PM’s continue to slam prosecutors at his SRC International corruption trial; the federal government has pulled the plug on funding for a project in Penang, much to the delight of environmentalists; and, the debate over drink driving continues.
We need serious drink driving laws … not stupid ass remarks
Make no mistake. Drink driving is a serious issue that requires a serious solution. The question is though: are the fellas in power really serious about solving the problem or is the production, sale and consumption of alcohol once more, being used to score racial and religious brownie points?
Elsewhere in today’s newsletter, the Muhyiddin-Mahathir fallout continues, a beauty queen makes a pretty ugly racist boo-boo on social media, and Malaysians look forward to the current movement curbs being relaxed further.
Who’s Pakatan Harapan’s candidate for PM?
It’s hard to know if the rumours are true that Pakatan Harapan indeed has the numbers to wrest power from Perikatan Nasional. What is certain though is that, once more, it looks like the main event is Mahathir vs. Anwar.
In other news, experts say Malaysia could be facing a recession in four to six months, and despite the discovery of new Covid-19 clusters and yo-yoing daily infection numbers, we’ve now gone nine days without a single coronavirus-related death.
Oh, and belated Hari Gawai dan Pesta Kaamatan greetings to all of you!
State of denial
The controversy over the government’s handling of Covid-19 infections among undocumented migrants continued yesterday, even as a senior minister defended it by saying those infected were brought to a “beautiful place” to be treated.
In other news, our daily Covid-19 infections have hit a new low; politicians from across the divide are in rare solidarity in condemning online harassment against two DAP Selangor reps; and, Pakatan is keeping mum about their choice of PM candidate, despite the fact everybody knows who it is.
Bad moon on the rise
We’ve gone back to triple-digit daily increases in new Covid-19 cases thanks in large part to new clusters at three Immigration detention depots. However, the government is insistent that we should be grateful for raids on undocumented foreigners.
In other news, Covid-19 patients will now be discharged from hospital after 14 days following new guidelines from the World Health Organization; there are no more restrictions to the number of people allowed in a vehicle, so long as they’re from the same family; doctors are calling a new standard operating procedure for childcare centres discriminatory against frontliners; and, a political party has come up with a brilliant (sarcasm mode: on) solution to the problem of drink driving.
New Covid-19 cluster emerges
There’s good news and bad news as far as Covid-19 is concerned. While 13 clusters have ended, another has made an appearance, this time among undocumented foreigners.
Meanwhile, the pregnant woman who traveled from the Ampang red zone to “green” Kelantan before testing positive for Covid-19 was allowed to do so for reasons that beggar belief.
In other news, the rift in Bersatu is getting bigger, with the party’s Youth wing now siding with its chairman and calling for party polls to happen soon; and, we learnt what “Project PITA” in 1MDB stood for (and it ain’t polite, shall we say).
And finally, folks – it’s gonna be a long weekend, with the Aidilfitri holidays falling on Monday and Tuesday. It’ll be a weird one this year, with us not being able to visit our Muslim friends and gorge on rendang and lemang. We hope you take care, social distance and stay safe. Between The Lines will be back in your mailbox on Wednesday.
Selamat Hari Raya, maaf zahir dan batin!
The Covid-19 Hari Raya litmus test
The country is maintaining its impressive Covid-19 recovery rate, which is among the best in the world right now. But with Hari Raya just around the corner, will there be an increase in infections, especially among those who may try to break the interstate travel ban and balik kampung, or even those who stay within state boundaries but don’t keep to social distancing norms?
Meanwhile, the Perikatan government claims the Agong’s opening address in Parliament vindicates them and is evidence it’s a legitimate government; former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad still seems to think he’s Pakatan leader; and, a lawyer wants the courts to review the decision to discharge Najib Razak’s stepboy Riza Aziz from money laundering charges.
Riza does (in) his stepdad
We were served up quite a bit of a surprise yesterday when we learned that a certain Malaysian Hollywood film producer may testify against his (in)famous stepfather. Could this be part of the deal which saw money laundering charges against said producer dropped?
In other news, the Jibster’s 1MDB corruption trial finally resumes after a long break; our dear old Bapa Pemodenan Malaysia, it seems, is not officially the chairman of Bersatu; and yet more audio clips regarding Bersatu and its decision to leave Pakatan Harapan have surfaced.
Last but not least, abang police or tentera may come knocking on your door during the upcoming Raya holidays if you have many vehicles parked outside your home.
PM Moo’s support is so damn slim!
Parliament may have only been convened for a couple of hours on Monday, but even that short sitting was enough to show everybody just how wafer-thin PM Muhyiddin Yassin’s majority support is.
In other news, Anwar Ibrahim goes missing from a press conference, Tommy Thomas sets the record straight one more time, and superheroes appear on business registers.