🎶 Fire away, fire away 🎶

All-powerful for 22 and some years, PM4/7 Dr Mahathir Mohamad once seemed to be able to say and do anything he pleased.

Yet more and more (see here and here), his shield seems to be getting thinner and a lil' less impenetrable. And this time, the po-po's confirmed the nonagenarian ex-inglorious leader is being investigated under Section 124B of the Penal Code for allegedly insulting the royal institution and his Malay Proclamation campaign.

FYI, Sec 124B concerns "activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy" and carries a punishment of up to 20 years in the slammer. And apparently, purportedly, the current police probe was triggered by a vid in which Maddey alleged that Malays couldn't rely on Malaysia's Malay rulers to protect them.

Now, unsurprisingly, folks in Mads' corner, like his lawyer and this guy, think it's "intimidation" and "hypocritical" for the powers-that-be to use such an "oppressive" provision to investigate the ex-PM. Yet you've really gotta wonder what they and the rest of the Dr M support crew think about the old man having previously presided over stuff like Ops Lalang and the seemingly willy-nilly questioning and jailing of critics under the now-repealed Internal Security Act. 

In any case, our coppers sayeth that they've wrapped up investigations and referred the case to the Attorney-General to decide what comes next. 

But the more important story, perhaps, is that Dr M appears to be unfazed by all of it. In fact, he's reached out to Muhyiddin "Traitor" Yassin, saying that he's ready to work with the Perikatan Nasional (PN) bossman if they can reach an agreement on mutual goals, i.e. the championing of the "Malay cause". Hey, the enemy of my enemy and all that.

MooMoo's response? 

Well, only that he's not averse to the idea at all. Indeed, sayeth Tan Sri "I'm Malay first", as a Muslim, he's willing to work with any Malay-Muslim leader, including the man he once went against, all for the greater good of "race, religion and country". 

To be clear, analysts appear to be split on whether or not a potential power team-up of these 2 D̶e̶c̶e̶p̶t̶i̶c̶o̶n̶s̶ former PMs will prove successful in appealing to Malay-Muslim voters in the run-up to the upcoming 6 state elections. Yet there's no denying that it'll certainly be interesting.

Ready, steady, (almost) go

Speaking of the upcoming state elections, here's some of what's been going down in the run-up to those polls that oughta be taking place soon-ish…

Take a seat

It's not done. Not yet, in any case. But up in Penang, chief minister and state Pakatan Harapan (PH) boss Chow Kon Yeow claimeth that negotiations between PH and Barisan Nasional (BN) are going smoothly, with the distribution of contestable seats about 95% resolved. That's kinda sorta the same story in neighbouring Kedah, where about 89% (or 32 out of 36 seats) have been sorted, and in Selangor, where PH and BN have seemingly reached a deal on 49 out of 56 state seats. 

BTW, although he's no longer in the state gomen, PN froggo Azmin Ali's "declared" during a campaign speech that Selangor will dissolve its state legislature on June 19. How is he so sure? Beats us. But Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari said previously that he'd meet the state ruler in the 3rd week of June to request a dissolution. Also, note that the state assembly dissolves automatically on June 25. Penang assembly is expected to dissolve at the end of June, too.

The curious case of the missing politicos

On the opposition side of the fence, it seems that < half of PN's supreme council members attended a meeting that was supposed to have finalised seat allocations. What's odd about that is that PN's election director Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor had said the coalition would finalise seat allocations yesterday. Plus, according to PAS sec-gen Takiyuddin Hassan last month, allocations were already 95% done.

But mayhaps things are not quite so cut and dried, what with a potential Maddey Mohamad-Moo Yassin tie-up on the cards (see above) and claims of 10 Umno warlords apparently, purportedly waiting in the wings to join up with the coalition before the state polls. 

🎶 You're in then you're out, you're up then you're down 🎶

Meanwhile, while lotsa folks gear up for battle, it seems some folks are most definitely sitting out. Apparently. These include Bersatu deputy prez Ahmad Faizal Azumu a.k.a. Peja, who's just been appointed the party's Negeri Sembilan chief, and a recently returned big name to the Umno fold i.e. ex-Negeri MB Isa Samad. 

🎶 Guess who's back? Back again 🎶

And finally, this is not election-related exactly, but PM Anwar Ibrahim's return to Umno is sure to have an impact. OK, so PKR chieftain Nuar, who was kicked out of Umno-BN in 1998, isn't gonna be handing in his membership papers. But he and 19 other leaders, including PKR and DAP, from the buddy-buddy unity gomen have been invited to Umno's 2023 assembly, happening from June 7-10. 

Whether or not DAP leaders are set to attend the big red shindig, too, is 1 question but seems the rival party ain't invited to Umno Youth's AGM.

In any case, Umno's Ahmad Maslan sayeth the party's grassroots must be open to the presence of other parties' reps from the unity gomen. Why? 'Cos the focus must be on preparing for the upcoming state polls.

Double, double toilet trouble...

** ⚠️ 🧻We interrupt this programme to issue a "toilet puns" alert. Sorry, not sorry. 🚽  ⚠️**
 

So it seems that Putrajaya Big Cheese Anwar Ibs has a cunning plan, and he's made us all privy (eh? eh? 😉) to it.

See, PMX dearest is calling for school kiddos to take turns washing toilets to "learn humility and good values". 

The man sayeth, and we quoteth: "Education is about respecting people, even those cleaning toilets ... And for those kids who don't want to comply with the rules, so be it; they will be barred from using the school toilets." 

This, BTW, came after he also ordered the Education Ministry (MOE) to conduct inspections to ensure the fruits of our loins have comfortable facilities.

See, as it turns out, some school toilets are poorly designed/have been damaged and gone unrepaired for years, so much so that apparently some students refrain from conducting any porcelain business at school.

Answering the call, MOE promiseth has said it'll look into the PM's "hygiene education" suggestion, a plan that, according to Minister Fadhlina Sidek, smells as glorious as a capful of Ajax Lavender (our words!).

The National Parent-Teacher Association, meanwhile, has suggested that toilet duty be 1st used to discipline naughty girls and boys. Kinda like picking-up-trash duty.

Now, to be clear, this toilet cleaning talk ain't exactly new. Anwar himself had proposed the idea way back when he was Edu Big Boss (oldie-goldies like us folks at BTL may remember this). Problem is, though, not every parent appears happy at the thought of junior picking up a toilet brush, and would rather flush the idea down the crapper.

That being said, FYI, toilet cleaning isn't a novel Malaysia Truly Asia idea. Take Japan. Aside from learning to cook and serve school lunch, it seems that cleaning up the classroom and toilets helps Japanese school kids learn to integrate with the rest of Japanese society. Likewise, St John's College at Cambridge University has said loo-cleaning is a more even-handed punishment method than just levying fines which might impact poorer students.  

Yet while we're sure folks will make much a doo-doo over the toilet cleaning debate, the fact remains that crappy school toilets have been the norm for a long time. And if Anwar remembers that bad school toilets were a thing even during his term as minister, almost 4 decades ago, maybe it's time someone got off the toilet bowl and got working on this problem.

Flotsam and jetsam

• He may've been the perennial bogeyman. But former Parliamentary opposition leader and retired DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang is now a "Tan Sri", having been conferred the award by the YDP Agong in conjunction with His Majesty's birthday. PAS' late spiritual advisor Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, Dewan Rakyat Speaker Johari Abdul and ex-ministers Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar and Anifah Aman were also honoured.
  
  BTW, you don't have to refer to LKS by his shiny, new title, he's said. Just call him "Kit". We prefer Uncle Kit.
   
• A deputy minister in Sarawak's state cabinet was assaulted near his home after allegedly confronting a group for loitering in an alleyway. 4 suspects have been remanded, all of whom, it seems, had previous criminal convictions and tested positive for narcotics. 
   
• Macau's security office isn't happy about the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) saying that financial fraudster Low Taek Jho a.k.a. Jho Low a.k.a Mochi in Glasses is in the city-state. In fact, the suggestion is that our graftbusters' statement violates international policing norms.
  
  Remember, 'twas Low's former aide, who died last week, that had apparently informed the MACC that his ex-boss was in Macau. But others, including 1MDB whistleblower Xavier Justo and an author, think Low's in China and that Beijing's unlikely to release him on security grounds.
   
• Initially, the story was that Japanese consumer electronics manufacturer Panasonic would be winding down manufacturing operations in Malaysia, affecting hundreds of jobs. It seemed the closure was (allegedly, allegedly) linked to 2 lawsuits the company lost in 2022, in which it claimed that former suppliers and even an executive director had defrauded it of millions.
  
  Turns out now, however, that "only 2 plants" in Shah Alam will be affected. 
   
• The gomen, through the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), is considering action against Telegram due to a bunch of cybercrime cases (read: scams, porn and narcotics) associated with the platform. Comms Minister Fahmi Fadzil has pinky promised, though, that any action taken against the app won't affect users "too much".
   
• Putrajaya will be exempting the fees of some 10,000 students from the B40 group, who are the 1st in their families to enrol in tertiary education in public unis. Huzzah!
   
• The gomen have vowed to go after any and all Malaysians who are found to have provided material support to those pesky Sulu claimants and their associates in the ongoing arbitration involving Malaysia. BT-Dubs, a French court's set to deliver its verdict today regarding a partial award demanded by the claimants against Malaysia.