MV Agusta: RM500 million down the drain
Raja Petra KamarudinMy wife and I visited the Daimler Benz factory in Stuttgart, Germany, soon after we took up the Mercedes Benz franchise for the State of Terengganu in the early 1980s. Heading the…
Georgetown, we have a problem
Raja Petra KamarudinAnwar Ibrahim was released from jail 18 months ago and since then has been based at Georgetown University in Washington DC. In May, Anwar, now a professor, will be coming home for…
Taking the Malay out of the kampong
Raja Petra KamarudinYou can take the Malay out of the kampong, but you can’t take the kampong out of the Malay, at least not that easily. Malays are very attached to their roots. Even if they were…
I love him, I love him not
Raja Petra KamarudinWhen Tun Razak died in England and Hussein Onn replaced him as Malaysia’s Third Prime Minister in 1976, one-time PAS Menteri Besar of Terengganu Daud Samad and I debated as to who…
Do you believe in miracles?
Raja Petra KamarudinThe Chairman of the Election Commission (EC) has proposed that the practice of putting up election posters during general and by-elections be done away with. According to his…
Civil disobedience, not demos, the way to go
Raja Petra KamarudinI did not participate in the demonstration in front of the KLCC last Friday. In fact, I did not go to the demonstration in front of Wisma Denmark to protest the caricatures…
How clean are Pak Lah’s hands?
Raja Petra KamarudinMalaysia's former Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, admits that 'somebody' paid a lobby fee -- purportedly US$1.2mil (RM4.56mil) -- to arrange his 2002 meeting with United…
Didn’t I tell you so?
Raja Petra KamarudinIt is quite understandable many would harbour reservations about some of the articles and reports in Malaysia Today. However, if one was to flashback or review, say the earlier…
Does the world really need politicians?
Raja Petra KamarudinThis was what I wrote on 26 November 2001 in the Free Anwar Campaign website.KeADILan’s true colours revealed - which is a shade of UMNOThe media had predicted fireworks in…
Keep your enemies close
Raja Petra KamarudinAround five years ago, while holidaying in Japan, Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad gave an interview that revealed much about his relationship with Anwar Ibrahim. Dr…
Anwar dug his own grave
Raja Petra KamarudinThey say one goes through many changes or transformations throughout one’s life. In your teen years you would invariably only be concerned with having a good time. For me, other…
It’s not always the fault of the Malays
Raja Petra KamarudinMotorcycles have always been in my blood. I got my first taste of a motorcycle at a very tender age; in fact, before I was even circumcised yet. My grandfather was then the…
10 reasons why I do not support the opposition
Raja Petra KamarudinThese are my top ten reasons for not supporting the opposition:I do not support the opposition because....the opposition has not proven itself capable of running this country. No…
Do we really know what we are fighting for?
Raja Petra KamarudinWhat has Malaysia Today achieved in its 16 months of existence? Well, apart from introducing a culture of freedom of expression -- which many still think means criticising the…
The pen is mightier than the sword
Raja Petra KamarudinThis is what The Star reported on 28 December 2005:Some four million eligible voters, which forms almost a third of the country’s voters, have not registered themselves with the…
PAS’ days may be numbered
Raja Petra KamarudinThe outcome of the Pengkalan Pasir by-election is by no means an indication that Barisan Nasional is poised to recapture Kelantan. In fact, state Umno liaison committee chairman…
Let’s play the race card
Raja Petra KamaruddinPhew! What a relief! The Commission of Inquiry set up to investigate the alleged incident of the Chinese woman made to do ear squats in the nude in the police station has proven…
The opposition is still in slumber
Raja Petra KamarudinThe last couple of days there have been many analyses done on the Pengkalan Pasir by-election. Well, writing an after-the-fact analysis is child’s-play so I am not going to do…
Pengkalan Pasir: the turning point
Raja Petra KamarudinTomorrow, 6 December 2005, the Pengkalan Pasir voters will be going to the polls to decide who they want as their new State Assemblymen. There are three contenders, one each from…
It’s all about the money
Raja Petra KamarudinWell, money talks, bullshit walks; and Islam is bullshit, so it too walks. Yes, Islam Hadhari, now we know what it means don’t we? Bullshit! Let me say that again: Islam Hadhari…
Did I not tell you so?
Raja Petra KamarudinIt is always nice to be able to say to sceptics, “I told you so!” Sometimes though, one wishes one is wrong, as being right is no consolation if being so is to the detriment of the…
Umno’s ‘Malay Agenda’
Raja Petra Kamarudin‘Malay Agenda will not be achieved if Kelantan is under PAS, says Khairy’. That was what Bernama, Malaysia’s official news agency, reported on 9 November 2005.Efforts to dignify…
The stuff politicians are made of
Raja Petra KamarudinOf late, I have been receiving a lot of junk e-mails about this, that and the other. Apart from the ‘normal’ sexual performance enhancement, teen sex, Paris Hilton, etc.…
A taste of one’s own medicine
Raja Petra KamarudinIt touched my heart when Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, when asked how he feels one day after he buried his wife, said he felt very lonely.I can understand how he…
Satu kerbau membawa lumpur
Raja Petra KamarudinLast week, I published a news item (Brazilian couple's wedding ends in brawl with Malaysian royalty) about some members of the Johore Royal Family who were involved in fisticuffs…
British Malaya and the Malayan Emergency
Raja Petra KamarudinRonnie Liu’s ‘dispute’ with Professor Khoo Kay Kim (British Colonial Days began in 1947 and ended in 1948?) reminds me of some interesting stories of British Malaya during the days…
Who appointed you PM anyway?
Raja Petra KamarudinAbdullah Ahmad Badawi is Malaysia’s Prime Minister, paramount leader to 25 million or so Malaysians. And just how paramount is a Malaysian Prime Minister? Well, this can be better…
Islam the religion vs. Islam the way of life
Raja Petra KamarudinLast Thursday, Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister, Najib Tun Razak, said that moderate Muslims must speak out against the extremists. (Najib also ruled that Muslims of the opposite…
Article 153 of Malaysia’s Federal Constitution
Raja Petra KamarudinUmno Youth, in its recent Annual General Assembly, has asked the government to continue with the New Economic Policy (NEP) until such a time that the aspirations of this policy are…
Who, pray tell, first started the fight for Merdeka?
Raja Petra KamarudinUmno is hot and bothered about Ronnie Liu’s claim that Umno is not the real ‘fighters’ for Malaya’s independence that saw the end of British Colonial rule. Actually, Ronnie is…
