What is 'Ketuanan Melayu'?

Lately, a lot has been said about Ketuanan Melayu (Malay Supremacy). Albeit all these 'discussions' on the subject, I have yet to comprehend the concept. Are Malays born Superior? Are there different statuses of human beings? Who was the first to coin this concept? Right now 1001 questions linger in my mind and none of them has what I would call an appropriate answer.

Therefore I invite all of you, whether you are the proponent or the opponent of this controversial concept, to share your opinions at the comment section. Any facts or opinion regarding the issue are welcomed. Hopefully, with the input that you gave me, I will arrive at an informed conclusion and will be able to blog my stand on the matter.

Meanwhile, I'll be going overseas in an attempt to stimulate the world economy for 10 days :)

Keep it coming, I will post my reply when I reach home.

The Humiliation of America

By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS

“Early Friday morning the secretary of state was considering bringing the
cease-fire resolution to a UNSC vote and we didn’t want her to vote for it,”
Olmert said. “I said ‘get President Bush on the phone.’ They tried and told me
he was in the middle of a lecture in Philadelphia. I said ‘I’m not interested, I
need to speak to him now.’ He got down from the podium, went out and took the
phone call.”

"Let me see if I understand this,” wrote a friend in response to news reports that Israeli Prime Minister Olmert ordered President Bush from the podium where he was giving a speech to receive Israel’s instructions about how the United States had to vote on the UN resolution. “On September 11th, President Bush is interrupted while reading a story to school children and told the World Trade Center had been hit--and he went on reading. Now, Olmert calls about a UN resolution when Bush is giving a speech and Bush leaves the stage to take the call. There exists no greater example of a master-servant relationship.”

Olmert gloated as he told Israelis how he had shamed US Secretary of State Condi Rice by preventing the American Secretary of State from supporting a resolution that she had helped to craft. Olmert proudly related how he had interrupted President Bush’s speech in order to give Bush his marching orders on the UN vote.

Israeli politicians have been bragging for decades about the control they exercise over the US government. In his final press conference, President Bush, deluded to the very end, said that the whole world respects America. In fact, when the world looks at America, what it sees is an Israeli colony.

Responding to mounting reports from the Red Cross and human rights organizations of Israel’s massive war crimes in Gaza, the United Nations Human Rights Council voted 33-1 on January 12 to condemn Israel for grave offenses against human rights.

On January 13, the London Times reported that Israelis have gathered on a hillside overlooking Gaza to enjoy the slaughter of Palestinians in what the Times calls “the ultimate spectator sport.”

It is American supplied F-16 fighter jets, helicopter gunships, missiles, and bombs that are destroying the civilian infrastructure of Gaza and murdering the Palestinians who have been packed into the tiny strip of land. What is happening to the Palestinians herded into the Gaza Ghetto is happening because of American money and weapons. It is just as much an attack by the United States as an attack by Israel. The US government is complicit in the war crimes.

Yet in his farewell press conference on January 12, Bush said that the world respects America for its compassion.

The compassion of bombing a UN school for girls?
The compassion of herding 100 Palestinians into one house and then shelling it?
The compassion of bombing hospitals and mosques?
The compassion of depriving 1.5 million Palestinians of food, medicine, and energy?
The compassion of violently overthrowing the democratically elected Hamas government?
The compassion of blowing up the infrastructure of one of the poorest and most deprived people on earth?
The compassion of abstaining from a Security Council vote condemning these actions?

And this is a repeat of what the Israelis and Americans did to Lebanon in 2006, what the Americans did to Iraqis for six years and are continuing to do to Afghans after seven years. And still hope to do to the Iranians and Syrians.

In 2002 I designated George W. Bush “the White House Moron.” If there ever was any doubt about this designation, Bush’s final press conference dispelled it.

Bush talked about connecting the dots, but Bush has failed to connect any dots for eight solid years. “Our” president was a puppet for a cabal led by Dick Cheney and a handful of Jewish neoconservatives, who took control of the Pentagon, the State Department, the National Security Council, the CIA, and “Homeland Security.” From these power positions, the neocon cabal used lies and deception to invade Afghanistan and Iraq, pointless wars that have cost Americans $3 trillion, while millions of Americans lose their jobs, their pensions, and their access to health care.

“These obviously very difficult economic times,” Bush said in his press conference, “started before my presidency.”

Bush has plenty of liberal company in failing to connect a $3 trillion dollar war with hard times. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities blames Bush’s tax cut, not the wars, for “the fiscal deterioration.”

Bush told the White House Press Corps, a useless collection of non-journalists, that the two mistakes of his invasion of Iraq were: (1) Putting up the “mission accomplished” banner on the aircraft carrier, which, he said, “sent the wrong message,” and (2) the absence of the alleged weapons of mass destruction that he used to justify the invasion.

Although Bush now admits that there were not any such weapons in Iraq, Bush said that the invasion was still the right thing to do.

The deaths of 1.25 million Iraqis, the displacement of 4 million Iraqis, and the destruction of a country’s infrastructure and economy are merely the collateral damage associated with “bringing freedom and democracy” to the Middle East.

Unless George W. Bush is the best actor in human history, he truly believes what he told the White House Press Corps.What Bush did not explain is how America is respected when its people put a moron in charge for eight years.

Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration. He is coauthor of The Tyranny of Good Intentions.He can be reached at: PaulCraigRoberts@yahoo.com

What You Don’t Know About Gaza

It came to a surprise to me that my earlier post didn't get the positive response that I hoped for. Well I guess we all look at things differently. You from one angle and I, from another. Maybe we don't see eye to eye on certain issues but let us argue on the basis of facts. Let me clarify that I am not anti-Semitic, I am only an ordinary person who advocates the notion that every human should be treated with respect especially if they are mere civillians.

1st comment:

"Where was this cartoonist's outrage when for years the Israelis were being
bombed by Hamas?Palestinians have been known to never miss an opportunity to
miss an opportunity. Looks like they've missed yet another. If they're
serious
about wanting peace, they should sack Hamas and their terrorist ways
and begin
real negotiations."

2nd comment:

"You can't reason with idiots. Israel has gained nothing by allowing the wild
asses to have their own land. Hamas won't rest until Israel is gone. What would
a reasonable person do if he is constantly under bombardment by meat heads that
want nothing but his destruction The only peaceful Hamas is a dead Hamas. The
person who allows innocents into a place where he is firing rockets from, is the
killer of the innocent. Wake up stupid Americans. BTW I'm not Jewish."

3rd comment:

"The State of Israel was created by the United Nations in 1948. It is a
legitimate sovereign state. And as a state it has the right to defend itself.
Hamas was firing rockets at innocent Israeli civilians, so after plenty of
warning that Hamas had to stop the attacks, Israel was finally forced into this
defensive action.And to those who maintain that diplomacy had failed so Hamas
had no choice but to carry out these unprovoked attacks, you are dead wrong.
Israel has been in negotiations for years, and has made peace with both Egypt
and Jordan. But Hamas in it's charter calls for the utter destruction of Israel.
If Hamas had it's way it would murder each and every Israeli. So how can Israel
negotiate with a terrorist organization that wants to destroy it?If Hamas would
only stop the rocket attacks and acknowledge Israel's right to exist, then there
could be peace.The blood from the civilian casualties in Gaza is on the hands of
Hamas, not Israel."

Here are a few facts taken from the New York Times itself. I think it's quite a legitimate source to support my stand in the previous post.

What You Don’t Know About Gaza

By RASHID KHALIDI
Published: January 7, 2009

NEARLY everything you’ve been led to believe about Gaza is wrong. Below are a few essential points that seem to be missing from the conversation, much of which has taken place in the press, about Israel’s attack on the Gaza Strip.

THE GAZANS Most of the people living in Gaza are not there by choice. The majority of the 1.5 million people crammed into the roughly 140 square miles of the Gaza Strip belong to families that came from towns and villages outside Gaza like Ashkelon and Beersheba. They were driven to Gaza by the Israeli Army in 1948.

THE OCCUPATION The Gazans have lived under Israeli occupation since the Six-Day War in 1967. Israel is still widely considered to be an occupying power, even though it removed its troops and settlers from the strip in 2005. Israel still controls access to the area, imports and exports, and the movement of people in and out. Israel has control over Gaza’s air space and sea coast, and its forces enter the area at will. As the occupying power, Israel has the responsibility under the Fourth Geneva Convention to see to the welfare of the civilian population of the Gaza Strip.

THE BLOCKADE Israel’s blockade of the strip, with the support of the United States and the European Union, has grown increasingly stringent since Hamas won the Palestinian Legislative Council elections in January 2006. Fuel, electricity, imports, exports and the movement of people in and out of the Strip have been slowly choked off, leading to life-threatening problems of sanitation, health, water supply and transportation.

The blockade has subjected many to unemployment, penury and malnutrition. This amounts to the collective punishment — with the tacit support of the United States — of a civilian population for exercising its democratic rights.

THE CEASE-FIRE Lifting the blockade, along with a cessation of rocket fire, was one of the key terms of the June cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. This accord led to a reduction in rockets fired from Gaza from hundreds in May and June to a total of less than 20 in the subsequent four months (according to Israeli government figures). The cease-fire broke down when Israeli forces launched major air and ground attacks in early November; six Hamas operatives were reported killed.

WAR CRIMES The targeting of civilians, whether by Hamas or by Israel, is potentially a war crime. Every human life is precious. But the numbers speak for themselves: Nearly 700 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed since the conflict broke out at the end of last year. In contrast, there have been around a dozen Israelis killed, many of them soldiers. Negotiation is a much more effective way to deal with rockets and other forms of violence. This might have been able to happen had Israel fulfilled the terms of the June cease-fire and lifted its blockade of the Gaza Strip.

This war on the people of Gaza isn’t really about rockets. Nor is it about “restoring Israel’s deterrence,” as the Israeli press might have you believe. Far more revealing are the words of Moshe Yaalon, then the Israeli Defense Forces chief of staff, in 2002: “The Palestinians must be made to understand in the deepest recesses of their consciousness that they are a defeated people.”

Rashid Khalidi, a professor of Arab studies at Columbia, is the author of the forthcoming “Sowing Crisis: The Cold War and American Dominance in the Middle East."

The real situation....

Brazilian cartoonist Carlos Latuff creates artworks that call on the world to condemn Israeli holocaust of Gaza Nepos Libertas's blog

Carlos Latuff's statement: I'd like to beg all viewers to spread this image anywhere, as a way to expose Israeli war crimes against Palestinians. Use it on t-shirts, posters, banners. Reproduce it in zines, papers, magazines, and make it visible everywhere. Here is the high-resolution version for printing purposes: [ link ] Thank you in the name of every suffering Palestinian.

Road to 16 Sept

Expressing as such only strengthens the notion and giving the perception that even the government doesn’t have faith in our legal system.

Some dismiss it as a baseless rumour 'to create uncertainty in this country' while some affirmed that everything is going according to plan and the plan will materialise as the right time comes (may not be exactly 16 Sept after all). As we get closer to the D-day itself, Malaysians are watching from the sidelines as the politicians from both sides show off their theatrics. First, the cat and mouse chase to Taiwan. Now, the crackdown on activists.

For one 'baseless rumour', the government sure are going to great lengths to thwart it. Even though this motive was denied, who are they to kid us? The desperation of the BN government is as vivid as an ink stain on a white shirt. It just can't be washed off with the water of denial. With the anticipated day looming, the BN should start to admit that that the threats are real and seriously begin their much talked about reform.

Yes, reform. The word that has been frequently used since BN suffered their most embarrassing defeat in the 8th March general election. Ironically, all their proposed efforts of reforming be it through more freedom of expression or transparency and rule of law have gone down the drain with the recent ISA blitz of prominent blogger-Raja Petra Kamarudin, MP-Teresa Kok and a reporter- Tan Hoon Cheng (which was released 20hrs after her arrest due to immense public pressure).

The excuse of using this draconian law in favour of our national security is preposterous. Expressing as such only strengthens the notion and giving the perception that even the government doesn’t have faith in our legal system. And in politics, perception is everything. If the government has no confidence in the judicial process, how could we, the less significant, place our confidence in the similar process?

Perhaps it is true; things will get a whole lot worse before it can get any better. To borrow a quote from the movie The Dark Night, “The night is darkest just before the dawn. And I promise you, the dawn is coming.” Whether the dawn is on the 16th or any other date is another matter. It’s coming.

P.S. My friends ask me if I support the crossovers. I can only answer, "Let them (politicians) do whatever they want. When they are really ready to govern, then you tell me." -NHF

Related posts:

Roadblocks Anyone?
Of Murder and Sodomy
Malaysian Politicians Say the Darndest Things

Roadblocks Anyone?

The area that was cordoned off was so big that if there were any mamak stalls nearby, they could even have their meals there complete with tables and umbrellas.

Forget about blogs for now. Roadblocks are the new 'in' thing. If we used to ask why blog? Now we would be asking why roadblock? When we're done with that question, a few other passes our mind. Do we have excessive roads that we need a few of them blocked? By blocking a few roads, will it reduce costs in line with the current cost cutting stance of the government? Why build the road in the first place if you want to block it?

After asking these questions, one thing is for sure. If the government thinks that blogs are a nuisance then it is fair to say that the people, however, think that roadblocks are a bigger nuisance. The people blogs to irritate the government. The government block roads to irritate the people. Fair enough. Why compare these two things; blogs and (road)blocks? Well, because they sound almost the same. That's all.

Now that we have established that roadblocks are indeed undesirable, why is it still here? They are occasionally put along the roads heading towards the city centre on certain days and once in a while could even span to the whole country. It's like the authorities talking among themselves "Hey, I just got a raise. Let's have mass roadblocks to commemorate this lucky day". Maybe we could also include this in our 'Tahun Melawat Malaysia' campaign, "Experience traffic jam like never before, only in Malaysia".

Obviously they are not smart enough to do that. They usually justify this ineffective and inefficient exercise of channelling resources which is most of them are taxpayers' money as a necessary evil. No matter how inconvenient it may be, it is done for the sake of this glorious nation's security and prosperity and......... (a few other reasons to make us feel good). The most recent excuse is 'to avoid any untoward incidents'. Let me tell you something, the roadblocks are the untoward incidents.

Fine, if our security and the peace of the country is their argument, lets examine the effectiveness of this method. Roadblocks, as we frequently watch on television might have its advantages if we are searching for a suspect of crime or terrorist like osama laden, mas selamat, corrupted officials trying to leave the country and people smuggling oil to the neighbouring countries. However, in any case of a demonstration, is it logical to construct a roadblock(other than the venue of the demo) especially on the stretch of an already busy highway?

Do they expect that they could identify every protester and stop them by the roadside? Based on my few experiences of participating in this every-other-day event, the police would just make the otherwise 3 lane highway into just one lane or two. Next they would stand there until their time is up and then pack up to resume their real jobs which is preventing crime. The area that was cordoned off was so big that if there were any mamak stalls nearby, they could even have their meals there complete with tables and umbrellas.

Just imagine, while we are stuck in the barely crawling traffic jam caused by the roadblock, we heard a policeman shouting from a distance "Mamak, roti telur satu.", "Siaaap"-NHF

Of Murder and Sodomy

If the accusation is in line with the government then it's fact. If it's not then it's just slander.

The recent developments of Malaysian politics just do not augur well for Najib and Anwar. Believe me, they won't hesitate to use any dirt that have acquired to their own benefits. Prior to this, The PM, Abdullah Badawi and the former PM, Dr. Mahathir Mohamed had brought their feud to the public. It started a few years after Abdullah succession, and is still ongoing reaching its climax when Dr. M decided to quit UMNO (baru).

With round 1 ending up in a draw, as neither is yet to quit, the nation's attention is now fixed on round round 2. The Deputy PM, Najb Abd Razak vs the former Deputy PM, Anwar Ibrahim. If this turns out to be another draw, then there better be a round 3 or how on earth are we going to determine whether the winner would be from team current or team former.

To those who are keeping scores, lets do a recap. The first strike was from Anwar's side as Raja Petra made a Statutory Declaration (SD) implicating Najib's wife, Rosmah Mansor at the crime scene with 2 other individuals. Then Najib countered it with allegations of sodomy against Anwar. While he denied in having any part in this, the subsequent revelation which reveals that he met the accuser before is enough proof that he is playing with the strings and calling the shots. Anwar strikes again with another SD but now it is from Razak Baginda's private investigator, P. Balasubramaniam which infers that Najib might have know Altantuya after all and more than in a friendly manner. The next point goes to Najib as Bala 'conveniently' retracted his SD made about Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s alleged involvement with Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu.

However, the last point might not go to Najib because Bar Council president Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan. said that the statutory declaration made by private investigator P. Balasubramaniam linking Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak with Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu, cannot be withdrawn. It is also significant to note that some interested party had 'interfered' with the case causing Bala to come up with a second SD. He said he compelled to affirm the said(first) statutory declaration under duress. Nevertheless, it may be logical to say that his retraction was made under duress.

In response to this whole saga Najib confidently stated that Malaysian politics was degenerating to a level of being dirty with the opposition using slander and statutory declaration to achieve their political objectives. By saying this on the other hand affirms he is also playing dirty. Why wouldn't he? Did he not resort to slander to achieve his political objectives? In this case eliminating Anwar from the equation.

Before we go further in discussing whether did he or did he not let's define slander. Slander: Oral communication of false statements injurious to a person's reputation. The key word here is false. And how do we determine whether it is false or not? By conducting a fair trial of course. And then and only then would we really know if it's slander or just a fact. Until proven otherwise an accusation should be treated as that, there should be no instances of the Attorney General charging a accuser for false accusation just to cover the behind of someone. Unfortunately, our understanding about rumours and slander are different. If the accusation is in line with the government then it's fact. If it's not then it's just slander.

As before, Najib denied that he ever known or met Altantuya. In retrospect, guess what the 'wise' and 'sage'-like PM said when Anwar denied the sodomy allegation. "The accused will normally deny the allegation,". So it would be normal for Najib and Anwar to deny the allegations as they are the accused. Denials=Accused. Give two thumbs up for the sage for coming up with such remarkable concept.

It will be long before we see the end of this and it's not for us decide on their verdict. It incumbent on our judicial system to heave the burden of proving itself worthy. In the mean time, it would be a delight for the politicians to stop politicking and focus on us instead. A word of advice to politicians regarding statements "whatever you say, can and will be used against you in the court of public opinion". -NHF

Life is now more intersting than any soap opera.

Royal Pain

There are so many things happening in Malaysia's political scene presently that if I were to choose a few simple words to describe it, I would say that "it is anything but dull".

With these circumstances, it's no surprise that political analysts or commentators are most likely to be employed and post 8th of March election, we saw quite a few more blossoming unofficially, including me I guess. Discussions in Kopitiams and Mamaks are as heated as ever. Speculations after speculations have been made but nothing is really certain, yet. Like I said, even a layman could now become a political analyst and speculate Malaysia’s political course albeit with his own unique interpretation.

Saving this matter for later let us move on to another issue. One of the most contentious news this week is regarding Karpal Sigh’s statement which is considered insulting to the Rulers and Islam. This issue comes about when Karpal allegedly questioned the power of the Sultan of Perak over a transfer of a civil servant. Now, let me make things clear by saying that I will not be analysing the legality of his actions and to those who seek just that, pardon me for disappointing you .What I am trying to analyse here is the reaction of the people (political analyst) towards his statement.

In about a few days, 19 police reports was made alleging Karpal to be seditious. Some go to the extent labelling Karpal’s action as tantamount to being disrespectful to Islam. Is it just me or all this seems a tad too dramatic. We never really did bother to lodge any police report when our neighbors’ house got robbed. We never bothered to report the corruption and the abuse of power occurring right in front of our eyes. And yet a meagre statement could somehow attract 19 different police reports against it. In retaliation someone from Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lodgeed a report (only one) against Pak Lah under the Sedition act due to his comment towards YDP Agong’s action of appointing his own choice of MB, - “the appointment of anyone other than Idris (as Terengganu’s MB) is unconstitutional and invalid”.

It is clear that both parties here are playing the same game and we as the spectators only hope that justice will prevail. Charge Karpal for Sedition and you just have to subject the PM under the same charges. Isn’t that how justice should work? No one is above the law as Pak Lah always says. If that is the case, then we have to look a little further back into our history books. Recently it was the appointment of MB’s of Perlis and Terengganu. Before that there was Muhd Taib’s ‘conflict’ with the Selangor’s Sultan, the government reducing the power of the Rulers and most importantly the Constitutional Crisis. If we were to dig all this and scrutinise bit by bit, a lot of UMNO members would inevitably be charged with sedition. Even Dr. M would have to worry about a new case in his hands. This would then come under the Sedition Act that categorised “bring into hatred or contempt or to excite disaffection against any Ruler or against any Government” as having seditious tendency.

On the other hand, I’m no lawyer. You can do a little research yourselves or seek legal advice to confirm that one. Revisiting the first matter on speculations and the likes, it seems that Malaysians, and I do mean ordinary Malaysians like you and I, have a knack for them. When something new surfaces we examine it thoroughly and base on the information available, we arrive at a particular speculation. Until it is definite, it will merely remain as one. While speculations are sometimes harmful to the economy, i.e. 1997 currency crisis, it can also do a great deal of damage to the political stability, either for a certain party or the country as a whole. This is regularly so when political advisors give counsel to the MP’s based on a knee jerk reaction towards sheer speculations.

One clear example is the ongoing news about the crossovers of MP’s from BN to PR. We can see that BN MP’s are now dancing with PR’s tunes by giving unnecessary remarks and comments about the crossovers. It is more disappointing when an entire parliamentary session was focused on the same issue. It seems that they are too engrossed in this speculation and forgot about other important things to discuss about. It does not do to dwell on speculation and forget to live. As a so-called ‘political analyst’ I would say that BN could act proactive by starting to treat their MP’s fairly without discriminating them. Try to win their hearts instead of condemning the act of crossing over because that will not deter anyone from executing their initial intention. To PR, I hope that whatever your next move is, it will be for the sake of the greater good. The earlier the speculation ends (read: confirmed) the earlier our MP’s could get back to work.

To top it up, I reiterate that in Malaysia, there is no such thing as too many political analysts. There is, however, such thing as too many political advisors. In which case one of them might get entangled in a high profile murder involving a foreign model. - NHF

Blogger Opts For Jail Over Bail

This month will surely not be the ever popular merry month of May, but it is a month that will be remembered nevertheless.

Just a week into May, following World Press Freedom Day, we witness the first blogger, Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK), to be charged under the Sedition Act, after he allegedly posted a 'seditious' article titled "Let’s send the Altantutya murderers to hell" on his website Malaysia Today. The article implicated Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor in the 2006 murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu.

This and all other information are certainly available in the Mainstream Media or the Alternative Media. Therefore, I would not waste my time narrating each sequence of the events but would only offer you my critical take on it. By saying critical I mean the-one-who-does-not-take-the-government-seriously kind of take.

Before we go any further, it would be crucial for us to get to know the accused a little more. He started writing since his blog started its operation in August 2004. His writing style is often very witty, humorous and straight to the point. In addition, in his most recent post he admitted that if his articles were to be scrutinised, most article could fall under the government's category of seditious.

Hence, arise the question of why now? After almost four years of operation and god knows how many articles posted, why does this particular article that brought Raja Petra to court under the charge of sedition instead of the ones before. Why only after the Barisan Nasional suffer it's biggest defeat in history do the authorities launch their crackdown on 'seditious' bloggers.

Consequently, this merely strengthens my conviction that this entire saga is orchestrated by the powers that be to intimidate free speaking individuals and serve as a lesson to others that fall in the same league. I have to agree 100% with Lim Kit Siang's (DAP) take on this event.

"They (Najib and Rosmah) reserve the right to clear their names through the laws. So why have they used the government facilities to take action against Raja Petra Kamaruddin? This is the abuse of powers. There are other channels for the deputy prime minister and his family to take action against Raja Petra - to use civil action and litigation," he said.

Yes, this is a blatant abuse of powers and if anyone says otherwise, it's time for you to get your eyes, ears and everything checked. On the other hand, this is a perfect time to test the two most important institutions with regards to justice; the Judiciary and the police institution. Are they really independent as professed by the government time and again?

Officially keeping the score, I have to say that the police has been compromised, based on the whole "I take orders from above" incident of course. The Judiciary has yet to be evaluated and I'll be waiting eagerly for the moment to come in October. As for the implications and motives for this saga, I would say that there is more to it than meets the eye.

From the government's point of view, if we take on this maverick, we will make him pay for making us look like losers in the eyes of the people. If he goes down, Malaysia Today will go down with him(how wrong were they). An added bonus, bloggers will be more careful (read: scared) in posting comments critical to the establishment. Finally we will have order.

From RPK's point of view, this the most appropriate time to engage the government and bring down the scumbags in them. It is an opportunity to direct the public and government's back towards the dragging and bound to be forgotten Altantuya murder trial. Additionally, attracting local and foreign media attention towards atrocities done by the establishment.

As we can see, both sides have their own plans but as always man proposes God disposes. For now let us be patient and let fate take its own due course, the truth shall unravel inevitably. Either this will be a beginning of another form of Operation Lalang or the significant beginning of a war against the unjust.-NHF