A little tête-à-tête between the two top PKR leaders and sworn rivals, Anwar Ibrahim and Azmin Ali, albeit with secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution along for the ride, has set tongues a-wagging.

Is reconciliation on the cards for the two would-be (or at least rumoured) suitors for the "crown" of PM? Or is this just a "normal meeting"?

Anwar, Azmin and Saifuddin were seen discussing things over a cup of coffee (or maybe teh tarik) in Parliament yesterday in what one observer said was an amicable meeting. The two have reportedly been at loggerheads for a while now so the sight of them chatting raised many eyebrows.

See, while Anwar has publicly been touted as the country's eighth PM, with the succession plan already announced even before the 14th general election, it has been rumoured for a long time that Maddey doesn't really want to hand over the reins to the "PM-forever-in-waiting". Instead, as scuttlebutt has it, Azmin is actually Maddey's choice as successor.

That, "they" say, is why Mahathir created what is now considered a senior ministerial post - the economic affairs minister - and tapped Azmin for it. Azmin, if you remember, had already been named Selangor Menteri Besar following his success in retaining the state for Pakatan, when he switched to the federal-level position.

After months of apparent discord between Anwar and Azmin, many called for reconciliation between the two, for the party's sake. So was yesterday's meet-up an attempt at patching the relationship?

No lah, says Anwar. Just a normal meeting. It was to discuss the nation's economic issues to which Azmin later concurred. Later, Azmin's head cheerleader Zuraida Kamaruddin said she was happy that the two had met, but added that el presidente must meet with party supreme council members as well.

Azmin also said he was committed to the PKR cause and wouldn't quit the party. This follows claims by his predecessor as PKR No. 2, Syed Hussin Ali that Azmin was planning to quit to either join another party or start his own.

Oh, and the plot seemingly thickened when Anwar traded barbs with BN Parliamentarians over the issue of succession. Malaysiakini suggested that the veiled references by the lawmakers were indications of a behind-the-scenes effort to rally support for and against the succession plan. How thrilling!

Stay tuned for the next episode of The Apprentice: Putrajaya!

That old issue of oil royalty payments to Kelantan has come up again, and this time the state's Menteri Besar is calling Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng a liar.

Lim had told the Dewan Rakyat royalty payments had been made to Kelantan, but MB Ahmad Yakob disputed that yesterday. Lim's statement, he said, was "untrue" and "confuses the rakyat", which we're sorry to say is just a nice way of saying the "money minister" was lying to the august House and the people. 

Ahmad said the RM15.75 million handed over to the state government was merely wang ehsan (compassionate or goodwill payment) and not oil royalty payments, and that Lim should look up the meaning of oil royalty in the dictionary. 

Lim, however, refused to get into a public debate with Ahmad, and insisted what he had said was entirely true. He also said the oil royalty payments had been made in advance and that this and the fact the federal government had given Kelantan what it had requested (apparently a RM100 million loan which had been recently approved) showed it cared.

Lim also said he didn't want to argue over the terms used and that the issue should be discussed rationally, without "losing control" of emotions. You know, for someone who said he didn't want to get into a debate, LGE sure did say a lot.

Anway, Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali backed Lim up later, saying the oil royalty payment had followed the "old method". What this means is the payment is channelled to the federal government by Petronas and the government, in turn, channels the money to the state government.

However, perhaps in an attempt to play mediator, Azmin said the government would have to check whether the 20% royalty rate promised by Pakatan in its election manifesto was "still in discussion".

Yes, folks, the increased oil royalty payment (the current rate is set at 5%) is yet another manifesto pledge yet to be fulfilled despite the fact that Maddey and Co have been in office for nearly a year and a half. At this rate, a durian tree planted on May 9, 2018, would likely fruit before even half the pledges are fulfilled.

Universiti Malaya (UM) has lodged a police report against student Wong Yan Ke over his solo protest in which, after receiving his graduation scroll, displayed a placard asking the university's vice-chancellor to step down.

Wong had carried out the non-violent protest following the VC's involvement in the recent Malay Dignity Congress, as he claimed the speech Abdul Rahim Hashim had made was racist in nature. Many have come out in support of Wong, including students represented by at least one organisation.

UM said Wong had been rude and disrespectful to the graduation ceremony. Ironically, it also said it respected students' right to free speech but this should be done at appropriate times and venues.

"Rude", "disrespectful" and the other words the university used to describe Wong's actions hardly seem reason enough for a police report to be lodged against the boy now is it? And what exactly is an "appropriate time" for free speech? One can argue that any time which is optimal for your message to be heard is the "appropriate" time.

Let's digest that for a minute. Instead of chastising their VC for his racist and intolerant (allegedly, allegedly) views, Universiti Malaya got their nose put out of joint by the fact that one of their students called him out on it. And despite claiming to respect free speech (or perhaps they only respect their VC's right to free speech), their reaction to a lone student waving a placard and shouting was the equivalent to using a bazooka to kill a mosquito. 

Wong has found a high-profile champion of sorts, in any case, in the form of former Johor MB and current Umno VP Khaled Nordin. The UM alumnus actually doesn't condone what Wong did ... he, too, thinks it was inappropriate.

But Khaled believes the varsity had brought the protest on themselves by organising the congress. He said UM's actions in co-organising the congress had brought "protest, objection and ridicule" that had tarnished its good name and would "continue to haunt" the university for as long as nothing is done to clear its name.

Khaled said he had predicted problems even before the congress was held, adding that the public varsities had brought their "authority" to a level difficult to defend.

We hate to say it, but we have to agree with Khaled. 

Will Pakatan, specifically Bersatu, aim for sympathy votes in the upcoming Tanjung Piai by-election?

A report has it that one of the people seriously being considered as the coalition's candidate for the by-election is Norma Mohamed, the mother of the constituency's late MP, Md Farik Md Rafik. Yup. You read that right.

The 67-year-old is a political veteran, having been an Umno member for three decades, including stints as Wanita Umno division chief. She then joined Bersatu.

In fact, on Sunday, Pakatan Wanita chief Zuraida Kamaruddin had said Norma was a key force in the by-election because of her influence and knowledge. So, was this an indication that she could indeed be "the one" for Pakatan?

With all due respect to Norma, this just smacks of Pakatan trying to earn sympathy votes. Yeah, she has experience, but choosing the mother of the previous MP who has just died is a move that will always be seen as a ploy for sympathy. Every. Single. Time.

As is almost customary, here are some bits of news we thought needed mentioning, at least in brief:
 

• Defence Minister and Amanah president Mat Sabu says SOSMA should be amended and not repealed, going against one of the pledges made by Pakatan in its election manifesto. When will they learn not to mess with pledges?
• Teresa Kok wants the Palm Oil Experience Centre to be included as an official destination in Visit Malaysia Year 2020. Really, Teresa, there's such a thing as trying too hard to sell something. 
• Streaming may soon go the way of the dodo. Education Minister Maszlee Malik suggested yesterday that all Form 4 and 5 students should be able to mix and match subjects as they like. Parents, what do you think? Hit reply and let us know what you think! By the way, this isn't the first time Maszlee is saying this.
• Malaysia has ranked fifth-worst in a study of privacy and surveillance on 47 countries around the world. The only countries worse were Thailand, India, Russia and China.