Abang Jo’s luck is running out – Part 1

Putrajaya will be foolish to help strengthen Sarawak, when a stronger Sarawak will only result in a weaker Putrajaya. 

the writer wishes to remain anonymous

Earlier this year in February, Abang Jo had declared to all and sundry that he was going to buy a bank. In early July, he even boldly declared that his plan to take over Affin bank was going to be sealed on July 19. Come July 19 however, nothing happened. Instead of getting a bank, all that Abang Jo had was an excuse and a cheap promise.

The excuse was the purchase of the bank was delayed over some minor technical issues, and the cheap promise was that all the minor technical issues will be resolved and the buyover of the bank will be complete within a month. The promise was cheap because both July and August has passed with nothing happening. Now that we are in the middle of September, I think it is safe to say that Abang Jo’s plan to take over Affin Bank is likely never going to see daylight.

Other than not getting a bank, it doesn’t look like Sarawak is going to get more oil and gas rights either. Petronas, predictably, doesn’t want to give it to Sarawak and I doubt that Abang Jo has the muscles to make Petronas give it to Sarawak. Knowing him, I reckon that the the only thing that Abang Jo is capable of doing is complain about it or take  Petronas to court; but when the dust settles, my bet that is that even if Abang Jo is still the premier at the time and he manages to get something from Petronas, what Sarawak will get is likely going to be just a tiny fraction of what it believes it deserves.

I might not know exactly what carbon trading is, but all I need to understand about it is that it is something lucrative that Sarawak wants Putrajaya to give it. Putrajaya however, doesn’t look like it is going to let Sarawak have it, because 1) Putrajaya gains nothing out if it 2) Putrajaya itself might want it and 3) why should Putrajaya give it to Abang Jo when it doesn’t have to and Abang Jo is closer to an enemy than a friend to Putrajaya? Putrajaya will be foolish to help strengthen Sarawak, when a stronger Sarawak will only result in a weaker Putrajaya.

A little more than 2 years ago, the then PM Ismail Sabri had literally guaranteed that Sabah and Sarawak would get 35 percent of the parliament seat in accordance with MA63 and when Anwar came to power, one of the first things he promised was the fulfilment of MA63. Despite that, until today Sabah and Sarawak are still nowhere close to getting the 35 percent that they were promised. Since the matter has already been agreed upon, it really shouldn’t have taken this long for Sarawak and Sabah to get the 35 percent. The fact that 2 years has passed and Sabah and Sarawak have next to nothing to show for it, tells me that Sarawak is likely never going to get the 35 percent deal for as long as Abang Jo and GPS leads Sarawak either.

Why do I think that?

Well, to answer that question I will have to revert to an over 2000-year-old Buddhist story about the conversation between an old king and a monk.

In the story, the king would be so old that he would be complaining that his entire body hurts and that he is so weak and feeble, that when he tells his left foot to go right it goes left, and when he tells his right foot to go left, it goes right.

Hearing the king complain, the monk will ask the king something to the tune of “You are so old and weak that you are probably going to be dead soon. But if you hear that there is an adjacent kingdom that is ripe for conquest, will you still try to conquer it?”

“In a heartbeat,” the old king will answer without a doubt, despite the fact that he already had one foot in the coffin.

My point here is that whether it was 2000 years ago or today, the nature of those who rule are basically the same. They are warriors, fighters, winners and conquerors, who by their nature are people who are perpetually looking for something worthy to fight, defeat and conquer.

Anwar Ibrahim is definitely and without a shred of doubt one such warrior, fighter, winner and conqueror. If you study his life, you will see that his entire life is basically nothing more than a series of fights, victories, defeats and conquest. He fought the government when he was a university student, he fought with other ministers when he was a minister, he fought the prime minister when he was the deputy prime minister and today, after all his fights, he has risen to become the undisputed fighter and winner of Malaysia, who conquered Putrajaya, by defeating all of his opponents, which includes even the legendary Mahathir Muhammad, who was in his time was such a powerful warrior himself, that he is probably the only person that was able to stand toe-to-toe with the ultimate legend Lee Kuan Yew and force Lee Kuan Yew to a draw.

Seeing what a great winner and conqueror Anwar is, it is almost certain that he is planning to conquer Sarawak as soon as Sarawak is ripe for conquest.

Is Sarawak ripe for conquest?

Yes it is.

As a matter of fact, the fact that Putrajaya is likely not going to give Abang Jo a bank, the oil and gas rights or 35 percent of seats in the dewan rakyat, are signs that the plan to conquer Sarawak has already been put into motion.

Why do I say so?

Well, stay tuned for part 2 for more.