GE14: From Zeroes to Superheroes

Malaysia’s tale of GE14 seems to have discovered an expedited route to generating superheroes.

Michael Yeo

Numerous movies were released over the last decade exploring every single character in Marvel Studios record breaking Infinity War. Needless to say, it took Marvel Studios 10 years before the release of their latest smashing hit.

Malaysia’s tale of GE14 seems to have discovered an expedited route to generating superheroes. There is no need for a 2 & ½ hour financially burdening production. The secrecy of superheroes in Malaysia seems far superior to Black Panther’s hidden Wakanda.

It’s pretty simple. Join Pakatan Harapan, make a short film, shed some tears, and you have a mega hit. No matter how much dirt you have in your closet, you would be an instant national hero. I am sure leaders of the ruling coalition is aware of this Plan B, just in case one loses favour in Barisan Nasional.

First it was Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad. Then came Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz. Rafidah is well known as the Approved Permits (AP) queen of Malaysia, which is required to import cars. In Lim Kit Siang’s blog post in 2005, he insisted that Rafidah should apologise to Malaysia for her alleged involvement in regulating APs during her 18-year reign as the Minister for International Trade and Industry.

Lim also called for re-investigations involving Rafidah in connection to the allocation of millions of Bumiputra-reserved shares to her son-in-law in her capacity as Chairperson of MITI Bumiputra Shares Allocation Committee. Suddenly, all is forgotten and forgiven again, because Rafidah is against the current Government.

The latest induction in the superheroes team is Tun Daim Zainuddin. Lim constantly attacked Daim when he was the Finance Minister with various allegations. Daim was alleged to be part of many national crises, including the BMF scandal, but his name was never smudged, thanks to his close camaraderie with Mahathir.

In a book published in 2001, “The Political Economy of International Financial Crisis”, it was alleged that Peremba and Kumpulan Fima were 2 corporations set up to acquire assets on behalf of the Bumiputra. Daim and Mahathir respectively ran these companies. When these two companies were privatized in 1990, the bulk of the shares went to their proxies.

Mahathir and Daim go way back, prior to them taking up political posts. In 2014, the then PKR’s youth chief who is also the current vice-president of PKR, Shamsul Iskandar lodged a report to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) regarding Daim’s unimaginable wealth. Daim allegedly has stakes in bank operations in countries such as Indonesia, Albania, Hungary, Ghana, Tanzania, Mozambique, and Sierra Leone.

During the famous “Kajang Move” by-election, Anwar claimed that Daim was involved in transactions worth billions of ringgit in African and eastern European Banks. With the close proximity between Mahathir and Daim, it comes as no surprise Mahathir has called for the aid of his once upon a time bankable horse. Overnight, Daim has become one of the saviours of the nation. If Daim is sincerely worried about the alleged economic situation of the country, he could easily donate some of his acquired wealth, which is probably from public funds anyway.

Rumours are making the rounds that the once ridiculed Tun Ling Liong Sik may be making a cameo in the scheduled release of HAH (Harapan’s Alliance of Hypocrites) on May 9, to wash his sins too. I wonder if Tun Samy Vellu is also considering this option, which could immediately hail him to a prophet’s stature.

There was a ‘ROTFL’ moment in Harapan’s recent episode, when Datuk Seri Dr. Wan Azizah urged people to vote for the PKR logo, which signifies her husband’s black eye occurred during police custody, to make a stand against BN. Maybe Kak Wan has forgotten that the person responsible for the ‘black-eye’ in the flag is their current prime minister designate. Harapan’s parody in GE14 could easily make its way to the Nickelodeon channel.

It is ironic that the retired, once ridiculed, and rejected political veterans are coming back while the youth from the opposition coalition are quitting, the latest being the resignation of Penang’s PKR youth chief along with 70 others. Malaysia presently has two teams, one with Barisan Nasional favourites, and the other comprising of Barisan Nasional rejects. The rest are reduced to being the support cast and stuntmen.

There is no free meal for anybody. Everything happens for a reason, especially so in politics. I wonder what carrots have Mahathir dangled to lure the old team back for him. All the hopes for accountability are down the drain. Harapan has become an instant route to Nirvana.