Beware Misplaced Trust In Pseudo-Intellectuals
The outfit which supplied the NRC key metrics had a Researcher from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as their key researcher. Not surprisingly PRC was among the first 3 countries to recognise Muhyddin’s premiership.
Mohammad Natsir
Former prime minister Muhyddin Yassin undoubtedly a charismatic & popular Malay Leader got toppled from the Apex, thanks to his bosom buddies from the State of Johor. Muhyiddin the scion of a religious leader, educated in English and groomed by Tun Dr Mahathir himself, held many crucial cabinet posts.
Intelligent, hardworking and humble, Muhyiddin is loved by many. All Malaysian United Indigenous Party (Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia) and Malaysian Islamic Party (Parti Islam Se-Malaysia) members should be upset. Both parties form the National Alliance (Perikatan Nasional).
Muhyddin made the strategic blunder of entrusting cerebral matters to his inner circle. An inner sanctum consisting of a privileged few including the Alma mater poster boy – Suleiman Mahboob. Tragically, Suleiman was to dispense crappy advice.
While steering the National Recovery Council (NRC), Suleiman imputed dodgy indices into their strategy formulation. The Enterprise performance Index had a meagre 300-plus respondents in their mailing list while the Consumption indicator Index had approximately three times more. Aside from not doing rigorous mathematical modelling and not producing any reports. It is not clearly known what the NRC did, aside from the fact that both Muhyddin and Suleiman enjoyed generous remuneration packages.
But at the same time, the outfit which supplied the NRC key metrics had a Researcher from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as their key researcher. Not surprisingly PRC was among the first 3 countries to recognise Muhyddin’s premiership.
In fact the researcher from PRC was nominated by the outfit as a keynote speaker at the World Chinese Economic Forum (WCEF). Notwithstanding, Suleiman strategically hid the PRC researcher’s presence from the public domain, downplaying her involvement. Now one begins to wonder whether Muhyddin’s advisors are affiliated to the PRC government in Beijing, without Muhyiddin himself actually realising it!
A closer look will reveal that the outfit has deviated from its original mandate by being involved in everything from bidding for the Third (3rd) National Car Project to the use of hydrogen buses!
In fact it even hosts a certification system initiative and in the past tried to form a strategic alliance with a mysterious Indonesian outfit. Both of which maybe potentially used to launder money.
More recently, one particular sausage seller that used to operate a pizza and spaghetti parlour in Bangsar became associated with a policy initiative outfit. So there is such thing as a free lunch after all!
The outfit also have persons who may be persona non grata in Johor in its ranks.
Suleiman’s partner also from Johor also comes into the picture. She is reportedly a public health expert. If you recall, Lee Kuan Yew’s wife, a lawyer herself made sure her husband’s English was easily understood by all. Despite this Mrs Lee was not to be seen in the public domain (in line with Asian Values of the era).
Poor Muhyiddin ought to be careful of his inner circle. What if there were an infiltration of a “Trojan horse”? We cannot dismiss lightly the ever-present threat of betrayal and subversion. What is required is constant vigilance and robust security measures to safeguard against potential breaches.
Originating from the ancient tale of the Greeks’ deceptive ploy to breach the walls of Troy, the metaphor of the Trojan horse serves as a potent symbol of clandestine infiltration and betrayal. In contemporary parlance, the imperative of thwarting the machinations of would-be infiltrators and protecting the sanctity of trusted domains.
I feel sorry for Muhyiddin as his bosom buddies have abandoned him, today they are busy trying to jump in the Malaysia Madani Bandwagon!
Not having any clear insight, while constantly shifting alliances, Muhyiddin’s friends have left him high and dry. Marooned and having to face the music alone, this is how unfortunate Muhyiddin is today.
*Mohammad Natsir is an observer of Southeast Asian affairs and political commentator.*
Originally published in INS 15th May 1014
