Kit Siang couldn’t tell shit from shinola

Raggie Jessy

Months of opposition fuelled vendetta has finally borne fruit. Najib is reeling from heaped derision by sceptics who dressed him down last Wednesday over precedency. Yup. That’s English for ‘what should come first, and what comes later’…the order of stuff. Major online portals made no concessions in jumping onto a runaway bandwagon, with chunks of editorials depicting Najib’s Hawaiian escapade.

That Najib obliged Obama with several rounds of golf while basking in Hawaiian sun sparked outrage among antagonists, ticked off and somewhat disgusted with his apparent lack of compassion, or should I say, knack for golf. That’s right; Najib putted the ball all the way from Hawaii to Kelantan, through a trajectory that ruffled some gawky feathers along the way. Kelantanese were pissed, because Najib was out playing golf in the Hawaiian sun while they waded their way through torrential streams. Now that sure as hell sounded drumheads, as netizens engaged in a one for all.

But never was there mention of PAS, or its lack of political will to cut the Gordian knot. You see, PAS never did have the zeal to put in place long term plans of its own. When questioned, they were quick to pass the buck to Putrajaya and back to Mother Nature in a roundabout manner. According to them, Mother Nature simply did God’s bidding. But they sure as hell wagered their flagging currency in Pengkalan Kubor last September, playing down a Federal initiative they claimed had failed them.

I find it difficult to fathom how PAS couldn’t afford a viable initiative of its own in decades, particularly since they govern a state crowned as the mother of torrential calamities. That’s right; year in year out, Kelantan is transformed into something reminiscent of an excavation site, with mud water gushing from all ends into alleys, rendering geological elevations as virtual islands. And apparently, the Federal’s RM3 million Tumpat mitigation project is to blame.

So when the Federal does something, it’s a no-go. It is judged, because the PAS government found the money a little less than well spent, given to their propensity to pick the UMNO run Federal apart at the slightest clasp of thunder. When the Federal does nothing, it is judged, because it did not spend the people’s money for the people. You see, you can run a state for donkey years and fail at harmonizing the orchestra, but when UMNO comes in rendering a rhapsody, they’re screwed. And that’s how it works with Pakatan Rakyat. Not just with PAS, but with Pakatan Rakyat.

That’s right; and while daddy dearest zeroed in on Najib, Kit Siang junior was nowhere to be found. In Malaysia, that is. But ironically, Kit Siang felt the need to remind Najib of his responsibilities. And while Najib took the cue and came home, Kit Siang’s offspring didn’t. If it were my son, I’d call him the son of a sea biscuit. But it isn’t my son. And thank goodness for that.

Withal, the ‘Guan Eng getaway’ is one hell of a cock up even Anwar couldn’t possibly have managed. It’s bad enough that PAS was sidelined since Kajang, but it’s even worse when a friend in need isn’t really worth the ‘price’.

To have a Pakatan run state looking like a scene right out from an apocalypse movie is one thing, but to have one of its stalwarts evaporate under torrential circumstances is another. It appears to me that both father and son have the knack for disappearing when circumstances get tacky.

Don’t believe me? Ask Ahmad Habib, 64. He’ll tell you how Kit Siang went missing during the May 13, 1969 riots. And if you do not know who Ahmad Habib is, go ask Kit Siang. He’ll tell you. Now And don’t get me started on Kit Siang’s gaffe over ministers failing to ‘turun padang’. As it is, he couldn’t tell shit from Shinola, what with the shit hitting the fan and all.