Hikayat Khairy: Putera Oxford ke Putrajaya

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The Khairy Chronicles

MALAYSIA TODAY SPECIAL REPORT

By Raja Petra Kamarudin

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PART 1: SYNOPSIS: The most powerful man in Malaysia

Political journalist Yahaya Ismail recently wrote a book called Khairy Jamaluddin: Bakal PM?.
While the book contains many facts and educated guesses on the future of Khairy, the title itself is in
gross error. Khairy Jamaluddin is not a future Prime Minister. He is already the de facto Prime
Minister.

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is legally the fifth Prime Minister of Malaysia, having taken office in
November 2003. However, even before he assumed office, it was quite clear that Abdullah Badawi
was not his own man – that all his thoughts, actions and deeds were heavily influenced, if not
directed by his then 28-year old son-in-law, Khairy Jamaluddin, and his coterie of friends. While
some talked of the three Ks being the power behind Pak Lah, namely Khairy, Kalimullah (the Group
Chief Editor of the New Straits Times) and Kak Endon (Datin Paduka Seri Endon Mahmood
Ambak, wife of the Prime Minister), there is no doubt that the first K is the most powerful, having
appointed the second K to his post and having married the third K’s daughter at a time when the
third K was and is fighting breast cancer, an illness that has already claimed the third K’s twin sister.

Many say that this is not unusual. After all Nixon had his Kissinger and the Tsar of Russia had
Rasputin. There are similarities between these figures and Khairy. For one thing, all seem to act as
puppet-masters, pulling the strings of the wooden characters who are the rulers of the country in
name. All came from rather obscure backgrounds to emerge suddenly upon the national scene in a
blaze of glory. Yet all had the fatal flaw of a congenital defect which led them to believe that they
were immortal, invincible and all-knowing. In the end, all succumbed to the temptations of power.
Will this also happen to Khairy?

The signs of discontent are quite clear. The person who perhaps is most wary of Khairy is former
Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad. While Dr Mahathir himself at first warmed to Khairy and his
friends, appointing for example Khairy’s bosom buddy from Oxford, Dr Vincent Lim Kian Teck, as
his second Chinese political secretary, he eventually found Khairy an overbearing presence upon
Abdullah. But at that time it was already too late. Mahathir had announced his retirement and
Abdullah Badawi was the heir-designate. For whatever bad that Mahathir had done, he knew he
could not afford to change his mind on the succession after the crippling failure of the removal of
Anwar Ibrahim.

So Khairy was kept on in the Deputy Prime Minister’s office in spite of Mahathir’s misgivings.
Mahathir turned red when Khairy Jamaluddin asked him in a Pemuda UMNO gathering whether he
was really serious about stepping down. He thought it discourteous that Khairy insisted Mahathir
send Abdullah for an overseas tete-a-tete meeting with the US President, even when Mahathir had
dismissed the idea as “premature” and “unnecessary”. Mahathir rankled when his former political
secretary, Matthias Chang, reported to him that Khairy had mentioned in an informal student
gathering in London that both Mahathir and Daim deserved to go to jail after Abdullah Badawi takes
over.

But like all of Khairy’s enemies, Mahathir underestimated “the boy”. He thought that as leader of the
country for 22 years, and the most powerful man in the country, Khairy could be pushed off the
scene as and when Mahathir likes even when he was no longer in charge. Mahathir trusted that his
immensely strong iron grip on UMNO could be utilised behind the scenes to bend Khairy to the
Mahathir whim. But it was not to be. Mahathir’s son, Mukhriz found himself humiliated when he
tried to challenge Khairy for the deputy leadership of UMNO youth. In spite of Mahathir’s monetary
support, several large gatherings to pep up the Youth voters and the far-reaching tentacles of
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ANSARA (the former Mara students alumni group headed and funded by Mukhriz as a closet
political tool), Mukhriz found that the rising son-in-law was more powerful than the fading son. He
humiliatingly lost the UMNO Youth Head position in his father’s own constituency and got pitiful
support for his national ambitions.

Mahathir at last realised that he had stepped down in November 2003, the most powerful man in the
country, only to be replaced by a 28-year-old. Khairy is now and for the near future the most
powerful man in the country. Even more so than Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Najib Tun Razak or
anyone in the UMNO Supreme Council who are mere tadpoles in Khairy’s big pond.

Here is how he influences decisions that affect you and me.

First, Khairy is the main gatekeeper in Abdullah Badawi’s office. No letter, fax, proposal, document,
appeal, communication, correspondence or presentation lands onto Abdullah’s desk without first
going through the screening of aides Datuk Wan Farid and Zaki Zahid. Both Wan Farid and Zaki
Zahid act as Khairy’s eyes and ears. When any proposal comes through to them, they immediately
make copies for Khairy Jamaluddin. Copies are necessary because Khairy is no longer officially
with Abdullah’s office. Yet, official or not, he is still the gatekeeper and needs to see all that comes
to Abdullah’s office.

Wan Farid and Zaki Zahid together with Khairy also vets the appointment list to see Abdullah. In
spite of the existence of the post of Chief Private Secretary held by Dato’ Thajudeen Abd Wahab (a
long-time Abdullah Badawi loyalist and civil servant), those appointments made through Dato’
Thajudeen’s office inevitably get copied to Khairy and get vetted by him. Make no mistakes.
Though Dato’ Thajudeen is annoyed by this unorthodox arrangement, his long-time friendship with
Abdullah is not strong enough to overrule his boss’ son-in-law.

Of course it is not cheap to get an appointment to see Abdullah. The gatekeepers also act as toll-
collectors. And UMNO is rife with mutterings of dissatisfaction, due to the high price (some say up
to RM50,000) exacted by people close to Abdullah merely to secure an appointment with the Prime
Minister. While this “custom” has always existed in varying degrees throughout the rule of all five
Prime Ministers of Malaysia, it has never been so thorough and blatant as it is now. This is because
payment of RM50,000 alone is not sufficient to secure an audience. There must also be promises of
involving some of Khairy’s companies in eventual projects if such audiences are to be successful.

Some may argue why this happens in spite of Abdullah Badawi’s image as Mr Clean. But that image
is merely a perception. Compared to other ministers Abdullah is relatively clean, but this was not
because of want of trying. Abdullah was in charge of ministries with little “opportunity” to exact
“tributes” such as the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and for
many years he was out of the government. His political position as a former Tengku Razaleigh–
Musa Hitam supporter was always very precarious and Abdullah Badawi was too fearful to drink
from the poisoned chalice of corruption.

However the situation has now changed. Abdullah Badawi is all-powerful as Prime Minister and
relies on Khairy to prop up that position. Khairy Jamaluddin knows that it is not long before Pak Lah
will be challenged by Najib or anyone else backed by Dr Mahathir. Thus he must make hay while
the sun shines.

The second method by which Abdullah is controlled by Khairy is through Khairy’s insistence on
appointing key personnel at the decision-forming level within Abdullah’s office and also in other
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powerful ministries. No less than ten of Khairy’s friends from his university days who are all in their
late twenties or early thirties currently occupy posts equivalent to chief executive in many of the
ministries (more will be detailed in later parts of this report). Abdullah Badawi cannot function if
these figures do not function. In other words, he is completely reliant on their actions.

For example, let us say that Abdullah goes for a foreign trip to Venezuela for a trade mission. The
person who prepares the itinerary is a Khairy appointee (a fellow ex-student from the UK). He
submits the paper to Khazanah’s Director of Investments (another Khairy appointee) for discussion.
It is discussed with people from Ethos Consulting (a Khairy-related company) and finally gets
approved by a meeting of Foreign Ministry civil servants which willy-nilly is often attended by
Khairy himself in spite of him having no official position in government. When Abdullah comes
back from Venezuela, discussions with President Hugo Chavez is discussed with the private office
of the Prime Minister (headed and made up completely of Khairy’s appointees) and decisions are
made by Abdullah Badawi after a night’s discussion at home with Khairy himself. Little wonder that
Khairy Jamaluddin has such an extensive control on Abdullah – and this was exactly how the
Venezuelan trip of the Prime Minister took place!

Thirdly, Khairy Jamaluddin controls Abdullah Badawi through his insistence on exerting his
unofficial role as the Prime Minister’s closest advisor. An incident that took place in the foreign
ministry shows it all. A meeting was called by Minister Syed Hamid Albar. It was a top-level
meeting, a briefing to the Prime Minister in a closed session. In attendance were the Prime Minister,
the Minister, the Deputy Ministers, the Secretary General of the ministry and his deputies – and
Khairy Jamaluddin, at that time neither in the Prime Minister’s office nor holding any official post.
Syed Hamid insisted that the meeting be closed to Khairy. Abdullah demurred, partly out of fear that
if Khairy was not in the room he would be ill-advised. So Khairy stayed. Such a situation shows not
only how strong Khairy is, but how weak Abdullah can be.

Therein lies the danger of Khairy Jamaluddin. He is an unelected person within the government, yet
his influence outweighs that of the whole cabinet; even that of the Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun
Razak. As long as Abdullah is in power and Khairy is married to his daughter, Khairy Jamaluddin
will continue to be the actual ruler of Malaysia. Whether knowingly or not, democracy in Malaysia
has been reduced considerably since Khairy Jamaluddin came to the fore and there is no longer any
check and balance within the government.

Surely the people of Malaysia should know about the phenomenon of Khairy Jamaluddin since their
lives now so much depend on it. Malaysia Today will chronicle the rise of Khairy, how he influences
UMNO and the government, name his allies and enemies and how he interacts with them. More
importantly, Malaysia Today will try to lay bare the mystery of Khairy and identify the tentacles he
uses to reach for power…

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PART 2: Out of the wormhole

Before we delve into the heavy stuff, let us start with the basics. Where did this guy KJ
come from?

Today, Khairy Jamaluddin has become the most powerful man in the country. Unlike most
politicians whose origins can be easily traced and whose records are in the realm of public
knowledge, Khairy is like a “dewa kayangan” (fairy godfather) who appeared from
nowhere into the mainstream of Malaysian politics. Many began to wonder whether he
was planted by certain sinister forces, such as the CIA or maybe the Singapore intelligence
services. After all, no one can attain power so easily and so quickly unless they had some
help, could they?

Certainly this is what Yahaya Ismail tried to hint at in his book. Dr. Mahathir was so
worried about this that, at the end of his premiership, he commissioned the Special Branch
to prepare a file on Khairy, which was also copied to Najib (another report was also
prepared on Khairy’s bosom buddy, NST Group Managing Editor Kalimullah Masheerul
Hassan – but that is another story for another time). But for all its promise to be “Mesra,
Cepat dan Betul”, the officers in charge of the report did not want to risk rousing the anger
of Khairy’s father-in-law and Prime Minister-designate Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. After all,
at that time, he was only a few months away from power. So the report reported that there
was nothing to report.

Though it is not unusual for members of the administration to be recruited as foreign spies
(remember Mahathir’s former secretary, Siddiq Ghouse, who turned out to be a mole for
the KGB), the truth about Khairy and his relationship to foreign intelligence services will
not be publicly known for the simple fact that he is already too close to the seat of power.
Unlike Siddiq Ghouse, Khairy is a member of the Badawi family and you cannot really say
a member of the Prime Minister’s family is a spy, can you? But people still wonder: could
he have gone so far without some “extra” help?

The truth is that Khairy did get “extra” help, though probably not from foreign agents. The
time was quite ripe for the appearance of an eloquent, well qualified UMNO leader such as
Khairy because twenty two years of Mahathir rule had made UMNO a party of dead
zombies. There was simply no one else, as few had the courage to say anything remotely
critical of the current (i.e. Mahathir’s) system. In the party of the yes-men and the corrupt,
the slightly more intelligent fellow who can speak well is king.

So Khairy became the biggest worm in the giant wormhole that is UMNO.

Let’s start from the beginning. Khairy Jamaluddin was born 29 years ago to career
diplomat Datuk Jamaluddin Abu Bakar (now deceased). Datuk Jamaluddin came from a
little kampung in Rembau and is politically connected enough to be a relation of several
Negeri Sembilan politicians. One of Datuk Jamaluddin’s nephews is Datuk Shahziman Abu
Mansor, currently a deputy minister in Abdullah Badawi’s administration and MP for
Tampin.
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The late Datuk Jamaluddin served in various diplomatic overseas posts but died during
one of his postings there. It was this nomadic lifestyle which resulted in Khairy receiving
an overseas education, including in Singapore and the United Kingdom. Suffice to say,
Khairy never went to a local school and, for a very long time in his life, could hardly speak
a word of his native language, being ill at ease with Malay and unable to converse with his
own relatives.

While he spent most of his time overseas, Datuk Jamaluddin did have one important
posting locally. This was at the Ministry of Youth and Sports, during the time the late Tan
Sri Samad Idris was Minister. It so happens that at that time the Director of Youth and later
Deputy Secretary-General of the Ministry was a certain Abdullah Badawi. Fellow civil
servants, the two shared some common interests including being part of the so-called
“Malay ultra” group and when Abdullah left the civil service in 1974 to become MP for
Kepala Batas (a seat previously held by his father, former PAS Youth Chief Ahmad Badawi
Sheikh Abdullah Fahim), Jamaluddin kept in touch.

When Jamaluddin died, Abdullah and his wife, Endon Mahmood Ambak, continued to
keep in touch with Jamaluddin’s widow, a lady from Kedah. Frankly speaking, Datuk
Jamaluddin’s reputation as a civil servant was lackluster. He was seen as aloof, pompous
and arrogant. Often despised by his subordinates, he was a stickler for form rather than
substance. A former subordinate of Datuk Jamaluddin once remarked that he valued a
person more for “his ability to do a proper knot in his tie rather than the quality of his
reports”.

As a student Khairy was a fast learner, though a bit of a rebel. He was critical of
government policies. In spite of his later pronouncements of admiration for Mahathir, he
was not a Mahathir worshipper. Indeed, he was opposed to many of Mahathir’s actions –
though only on the sly and never publicly.

As a student at Oxford, expressing his doubts about Mahathir to fellow Malaysians
overseas, he came to the attention of a certain Omar Ong.

Omar Ong, as can be seen from his rather peculiar name, is an ethnic Chinese. He is the son
of Mustapha Ong, former Private Secretary to longtime Minister of Information Mohamad
Rahmat and for some time in the diplomatic service in New York and Brazil. Currently
living in New Zealand, Mustapha Ong became infamous during the Anwar Ibrahim trials
when it was revealed he had tried to bribe a New York ethnic-Arab taxi driver called Jamal
Amro to “confess” that he had procured boys and women for Anwar. Jamal Amro refused
and instead made police reports accusing Mustapha Ong of trying to bribe him. Of course
Mustapha Ong was shielded by Mahathir, even though his over-enthusiasm in trying to
“fix” Anwar caused some embarrassment to the government, especially amongst the
diplomatic community overseas.

Anyway, Omar Ong was a bit of a social climber and very ambitious. He tried to hitch his
star to rising politicians as a means of fast-tracking his own ascent to power. He knocked
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on the door of Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim through the good graces of some of
his political secretaries.

This was partially successful, as Anwar was persuaded to receive Omar Ong and his group
in a private audience. Several more meetings followed and Omar Ong was hopeful that
Anwar would be his ticket to heaven. In spite of that, there was still some opposition from
Anwaristas such as Suhaimi Ibrahim, Fuad Hassan and Zahid Hamidi, who really wanted
to keep Anwar all to themselves.

But a chance meeting with Daim Zainuddin made Omar Ong soon realise that something
was brewing in the very highest circles and Anwar was going to be hit by a runaway bus,
so to speak. Quickly, while thanking his lucky stars, Omar Ong dropped “the Anwar
project” like a hot potato and tried to go for Najib Tun Razak instead. This was around
three months before Anwar was sacked by Mahathir.

Najib, however, was a hard nut to crack. Omar Ong realised that Najib was surrounded by
long time loyalists from his earlier days in government who screen newcomers to his circle
with a parent’s protective eye. So it was decided that the next best thing would be
Hishamuddin Hussein.

Hishamuddin Hussein was then just a junior UMNO politician. But he had a very big name
behind him. There was no doubt that, after Hussein Onn died, Dr Mahathir felt that he
owed a debt of gratitude to the former third Prime Minister and his family. Dr Mahathir
began to put Hishamuddin on the fast track of politics, even over and above
Hishamuddin’s superiors in the UMNO Youth movement such as Nazri Aziz and Zahid
Hamidi. Hishamuddin got promoted several times within a year.

These fast promotions took its toll on Hisham. He was never a bright student or a sharp
intellectual. Neither was he a good speaker nor a great orator. He had an unfriendly face
and almost permanent crooked smile which reminded a fellow Minister of “the dead pope
– after he had died”. Omar Ong set about helping Hishamuddin and his fellow student
from Oxford, Khairy, came along as well. Soon, Hishamuddin began to rely more on
Khairy than on Omar Ong.

To pay his debt, Hishamuddin introduced Omar Ong and his group to people close to Dr
Mahathir such as his Political Secretary, Datuk Johari Baharom, and ISIS Director-General,
Dr Noordin Sopiee.

A coincidence at the time was that Abdullah Badawi’s daughter had joined ISIS as a
research assistant. And it was Noordin who introduced the two. Abdullah Badawi was
then a Vice-President of UMNO and next inline should, for example, Anwar Ibrahim’s
helicopter fall suddenly from the air.

Anwar’s helicopter did fall (though he was not on it at that time) but Anwar himself was
booted out in September 1998. Like most other Malaysians, Khairy did not believe some of
the more bizarre accusations hurled against Anwar by Mahathir. But it was the best of
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times, and the worst of times. There was opportunity and both Khairy and Omar took it.

A myth developed after Anwar’s fall from grace that Khairy had always been sympathetic
to Anwar’s “Reformasi” struggle. Rumours grew that a student who had publicly asked
Mahathir to resign in a gathering in London was really Khairy. Another story was that
Khairy was the then boyfriend of Anwar’s daughter, Nurul Izzah, but they broke up when
Anwar’s wife, Dr Wan Azizah, refused to make Khairy her political secretary but instead
appointed another young man by the name of Nik Affendi Jaafar (now Senior Public
Relations Manager of the EPF).

It seems all these rumours were created later by some hallucinating Anwar supporters who
wanted so much for the young and powerful Khairy to be on their side, at least on the sly.
But, in reality, Khairy saw a vacuum created by Anwar’s sudden “fall from paradise” (as
Anwar himself described it) and he took the chance to catapult himself to the highest
reaches of political power in the country.

At this time, Khairy tried to get close to the man in trouble at that time, Dr Mahathir.
Khairy used Noordin Sopiee to try and get a job in the Prime Minister’s office. In this he
was backed by Hishamuddin. But when Mahathir rebuffed the offer, seeing through
Khairy’s ambitious moves, Khairy went for the next best person. No, not Abdullah - he
went to Najib again.

Najib was then seen as the most likely candidate to succeed Anwar as Deputy Prime
Minister. In fact, Asiaweek went so far as to say that Najib was the man to watch when it
came to that post. But Najib was careful not to include new people who may arouse the
jealousy of his already tightly knit inner circle. Indeed, he had no reason to take on Khairy
as he had strong confidence that Mahathir would choose him and no one else. This was a
decision Najib was to regret bitterly.

What Najib dreamed of was not to be. Mahathir thought he could better control the country
by having Abdullah as his deputy. To Mahathir, Abdullah was a non-entity due to his
onetime support for the Team B faction in UMNO (or more correctly to Tan Sri Musa
Hitam). These types of people make better puppets.

When Abdullah’s name was announced, Najib and his wife Rosmah wept outside the
meeting room, desolate and disbelieving. At this stage, as the new Deputy Prime Minister,
Abdullah began to pack new people to fill in posts of which he had many to fill. For
example, as Deputy Prime Minister, Abdullah would have two political secretaries instead
of one, and eight Special Officers instead of two. One of these Special Officer positions
went to Khairy.

How did he clinch it? It was a scratch-your-back-scratch-my-back situation. Abdullah had
asked Noordin Sopiee in his capacity as the Prime Minister’s brain to suggest a few names
of bright chaps who could fill posts in his office. Two names came out – Khairy’s and
another ISIS researcher (now also ensconced in government). But the ISIS researcher failed
the security check (his mother was a Reformasi supporter). And Abdullah’s lovesick
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daughter Nori warmly and enthusiastically endorsed the first name.

So far, so good. The climb of Khairy Jamaluddin had begun. And he quickly paid his dues
by ensuring that the person who put him on track to these successes got his rewards as
well. Omar Ong was swiftly installed in Najib’s office as Special Officer in order to ensure
that all went smoothly in the deep, dark wormhole that is UMNO politics….
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PART 3: The enemies within

Most of Khairy Jamaluddin’s enemies within UMNO are made up of younger leaders who
believe that he is an upstart. They do not acknowledge that he has substantial knowledge
in government though having served in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s office for the last four
years. They think that he is put there merely because he married the daughter of the Prime
Minister. At the same time, they are disgusted by the way Khairy puts his cronies in charge
of various branches of government ministries, ranging from the Communications Office of
the Prime Minister’s Department to Khazanah Nasional.

This is not of course simply a matter of puerile jealousy. They believe that Khairy is a real
threat and quite a significant one at that too, given his meteoric rise to power. They too
have ambitions of their own to become Prime Minister. Indeed, some of them even feel the
Prime Minister’s seat is their God-given right. So they try their best to parry Khairy’s every
move and block it by hook or by crook. The normal UMNO method of poison pen letters,
backstabbing SMSes, and secret alliances grafted in smoke-filled rooms are some of the
normal methods employed to keep Khairy at bay. But Khairy is not the usual UMNO
political enemy by far….

Many of Khairy’s enemies are content to bide their time and wait for the day when
Abdullah Badawi is kicked out of the office of UMNO president. They believe that, then,
Khairy will lose his godfather and protector, laying himself bare and exposed to attacks
from the grassroots. Khairy’s enemies hope that the seething anger at Khairy so openly
displayed at the last UMNO General Assembly will reach boiling point and explode once
Abdullah is removed from office. Then Khairy will be led to the altar of sacrifice and his
throat slit from ear to ear.

Yet, Khairy understands this plus that he has to strike first. And the last two years since
Abdullah became UMNO President has been spent precisely doing that.

Khairy utilises two methods: neutralising what enemies that can be neutralised, and
extinguishing the dangerous ones who cannot be mollified by titles and positions. There
are many of the first category, such as Azimi Daim, Norza Zakaria and Aziz Sheikh Fadzir.
All three used to be seen as potential challengers to Khairy’s position, especially in UMNO
Youth.

However, they could be easily bought as they are in politics merely to gain positions and
make money. They fear ‘going the whole way’ and doing things that may risk their
comfortable current positions. So Azimi was given the UMNO Youth Information Chief
title as well as an EXCO position. Aziz was given a seat in the last general election. Norza
not only got a post in the UMNO Supreme Council, but a license to ‘print money’ through
the powerful ‘toll-keeper’ position he was awarded in the Second Finance Ministry. UMNO
politicians such as these are not a real threat to Khairy because, whenever they rear their
ugly horns, they could be led to the trough of patronage and fed to their fat stomach’s
content.

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The more dangerous threats come from the second category made up of established
politicians who are scions of UMNO leadership even before Khairy appeared on the scene.
One such personality is Khairy’s own boss, Hishamuddin Hussein, who was instrumental,
prior to 1999, in bringing Khairy to the attention of then Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir
Mohamad. Hishamuddin believes that it is his birthright to be a future Prime Minister of
Malaysia given that, like Najib (his cousin – his mother Tun Suhailah being Najib’s mother
Tun Rahah’s elder sister), his father had held that august office before being deposed by
Dr. Mahathir.

At first Hishamuddin thought that Khairy would do like what he is doing - play the
‘patience game’. Hishamuddin started out a strong supporter of Mahathir and his then
heir-apparent Anwar Ibrahim. Through his constant brown-nosing of Anwar,
Hishamuddin quickly found himself Deputy Minister of Finance and Minister of Youth
and Sports, jumping over the head of his own boss, UMNO Youth Chief Mohd Zahid
Hamidi. But Hishamuddin did this in his late thirties after years of legal practice and with
at least the perception of patient unobtrusive building of his political career.

But Khairy does not believe in such things. He wants what he wants fast and he wants
them now. So he has become the youngest Vice Youth Chief of UMNO since Nazri Aziz.
Though this was suggested by Hishamuddin himself to save his own position,
Hishamuddin now realises Khairy is a bigger threat than Aziz Sheikh Fadzir or anyone else
could be.

In addition, Hishamuddin is unhappy that Khairy set up his own network within the
UMNO Youth machinery, e.g. nominating Norza to the Supreme Council over and above
Hishamuddin’s own choice. Khairy also set up an informal network of UMNO Vice Youth
Division Chiefs throughout the country, a phenomenon unheard of when Hishamuddin
himself held that post. Hishamuddin realises that he now holds office by the grace and
favour of Khairy. When the latter is ready for the post of Youth Chief, the former must go.

If the situation continues, Hishamuddin might find it is time to go to the only place where
he can go, which is the position of UMNO Vice President. But the stage is already filled to
the brim with aspirants to the leadership. Hishamuddin may well find that, in the next
UMNO election, Khairy will win the post of UMNO Youth chief with ease while he will
lose the battle for the UMNO Vice-Presidency.

Hishamuddin is stuck because Khairy has already laid a trap for him. He makes
pronouncements that forces Hishamuddin to accept his view of national politics.
Hishamuddin cannot play the Malay racial card because Khairy has played that first,
especially in areas such as education, which comes under his own ministerial purview.
More importantly, Khairy is opting in several of Hishamuddin’s ex-allies such as Dr.
Adham Baba and Razali Ibrahim (the MP for Muar) to slowly begin accepting the duality
of UMNO Youth, where Hishamuddin is just the nominal official chief, but Khairy runs the
daily show.

This is how Khairy is ‘fixing’ Hishamuddin. He has already planted key allies within
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Hishamuddin’s ministry. Some of Hishamuddin’s former loyalists have been given
ministerial responsibilities and parliamentary seats, not to strengthen Hishamuddin
himself but to distance his advisors from him and make them preoccupied with their own
careers. This has created vacancies in Hishamuddin’s office and Khairy has filled them
with his own allies, notably from the YPCS (Young Professionals Consultative Society),
people of Khairy’s own batch, nominally loyal to Hishamuddin but in reality stooges of
Khairy himself. Nothing goes by Hishamuddin's office that is not reported to Khairy.
Indeed, Hishamuddin’s own Special Officers are the eyes and ears of Khairy.

Removing Hishamuddin will be easy because Hishamuddin is not a ‘fighter’ – unlike, for
example, another potential Youth Chief, Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo, the Menteri Besar of
Selangor. Khir comes from a different background than Khairy though they share the first
syllable of their names. While Khairy comes from a diplomat’s family with a high ranking
in the civil service, Khir’s father, known locally as “Wak Joyo”, is of peasant stock and a
former PAS member to boot. Khir built himself into national politics by his good-natured
bonhomie with Mahathir’s children, notably Mokhzani and Mukhriz. It was Mokhzani, who
was then UMNO Youth Treasurer, who recommended that Khir, then a one-term
assemblyman and not even a division leader, succeed Abu Hassan Omar as Menteri Besar
of Selangor after the shameful revelation of Abu Hassan’s incestuous sexual scandals.

UMNO Selangor was of course not happy that this young upstart was suddenly propelled
to the leadership. And Khir had more ambitions to fulfil. At only 37, Khir is by far the most
visible Youth leader in the country after Hishamuddin and Khairy. He would not want to
stop merely at being an UMNO Supreme Council member. Indeed, if Hishamuddin had
decided to leave the post of UMNO Youth Chief last time, Khir would have been the
frontrunner to succeed him. With money in his pocket due to the extensive giving away of
land to the Lebar Daun group and other key business allies, Khir is well suited to assume
the leadership of the UMNO Youth Wing - except he has to contend with Khairy…

Khairy had tried fixing Khir by exposing some mistakes he had made as Menteri Besar.
Khairy is in luck because Khir has been greedy and rapacious in making money out of his
position as Menteri Besar. Khairy merely needed to exploit some of these corrupt practices.
One of the methods he used was to expose Khir’s wrongdoings in the award of
development land within the Bukit Cahaya Seri Alam nature reserve. Khir had granted
substantial pieces of land to companies related to his family and the family of his wife. The
head of news at TV3, Datuk Kamarul Zaman Zainal (an ex-officer of Abdullah Badawi’s
office) had a meeting with Khairy in which the latter gave the go-ahead for TV3 to air these
misdeeds. Datuk Kamarul Zaman had no love for Khir as he is an Abdullah loyalist and
believes that, in doing so, he is helping Abdullah strengthen his position against residues of
the Mahathir era.

But Khir fought back and he had some powerful help. It was not only his related
companies that had been given land in Bukit Cahaya Seri Alam but also companies
associated with members of the Selangor royal family and other key political and business
personalities close to Abdullah. When TV3 began airing the problems, they panicked and
asked for help from Dato’ Thajudeen Abdul Wahab, Chief Private Secretary to the Prime
- 13 -
Minister. Dato’ Thajudeen used his authority to ask Datuk Kamarul Zaman to back off and
stop the attacks. So it gradually subsided.

Then Khairy used another tack. He tried to show that Khir was an incompetent
administrator. At a Selangor UMNO Liaison committee meeting in May 2005, through a
whisper from Khairy, Abdullah Badawi questioned the logic of declaring Selangor as a
‘developed’ state. His plan - which was hatched way back before Abdullah became PM -
was to emphasise Selangor’s unique position as an economic powerhouse by declaring it a
developed state on the 31st of August 2005. Admittedly, Khir had massaged the statistics
and figures in order to make such a proclamation. However it is nothing unusual in the
scheme of UMNO politics where even the former Prime Minister Mahathir had made
unilateral declarations such as that Malaysia was an ‘Islamic state’.

Abdullah blasted Khir for making such a declaration during the closed-session meeting. In
order to soften the blow, he emphasised that he had earlier criticised Kedah Menteri Besar
Syed Razak Syed Zain for the impossible promise he made to make Kedah a ‘developed
state’ by 2010. The real target of attack however was Khir. In Abdullah’s simple uncluttered
mind, he was making a genuine criticism based on the lack of reasons for the declaration of
a developed state. But, to Khairy, this carried a more valuable message, which was to show
that Khir was a liar, incompetent and bumbling. After all, the aim to declare Selangor as a
‘developed state’ was something that Khir had been working on since 2001, and he had
announced it far and wide to everyone.

This is just the beginning of the attack on Khir. Of course Khir will go ahead and make the
declaration in August. But he is wounded by the collective attack on all fronts, especially in
the mass media against his administration. Nor is he supported (at least in the public eye)
by the Prime Minister. The most Khir could gather was lukewarm support at a Selangor
UMNO meeting by Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.

By the time Khir announces that he is ready to go for the UMNO Youth leadership, many
of his mistakes would have already been exposed by Khairy for public consumption. That
is not to say that Khir is a less competent man than Khairy, but Khir does not control the
media, whereas Khairy does. Either through his own plants such as Kalimullah Masheerul
Hassan (the Group Chief Editor of the New Straits Times) and his breed of Singapore
trained hired hacks such as Brendan Pereira, or the Heavenly Kings of The Star, or Datuk
Kamarul Zaman in TV3, these will be the methods by which Khir is eventually destroyed.
And Khir can scarcely fight back given his own past misdeeds and the fact that his press
officer is a university dropout with not even an SPM credit in languages.

Hishamuddin and Khir are Khairy’s seniors, as far as ranking in UMNO is concerned. But
Khairy also faces challenges from his peers in UMNO who are almost as close to Abdullah
as he himself. He has not neglected these threats and, like the fratricides of the Middle
Ages, Khairy has plans to strangle his own brothers…
- 14 -
PART 4: Strangling your own brothers

It was one thing for Khairy Jamaluddin to dispatch his challengers who openly stood in his
way, but what was he to do with those young politicians who have Abdullah Ahmad
Badawi’s confidence? Before Khairy came along, Abdullah did have some other young
protégés who he had groomed. These were the dark horses who might challenge Khairy for
the throne in a few years time. One who has already declared this intent in private
gatherings is UMNO Perlis Deputy Liaison Chief, Datuk Zahidi Zainol Abidin, 41.

Back when Hishamuddin Hussein contested the UMNO Youth Vice-Chief post, Zahidi was
one of the few who dared challenge him -- even though Hishamuddin was the son of a
former Prime Minister and Zahidi was a ‘nobody’. The former Air Force pilot with a UiTM
mature student degree stood against Hishamuddin knowing full well he would lose, given
Hishamuddin’s popularity and backing from Dr Mahathir. Yet he still went head on
against Hishamuddin. Why?

Zahidi is one of those strange people in UMNO. One cannot call him a man of principles,
yet he did have over-riding beliefs. He has an unshakeable confidence in his own abilities
and he has always been proud of calling himself the underdog candidate. Zahidi does not
think that UMNO should always be led by the scions of established political families such
as Hishamuddin Hussein. He believes in going against this bangsawan mentality.

So Zahidi took up the cudgels against Hishamuddin. Though he lost heavily, he could
always rely on a fallback ‘tilam’ as he had been a loyalist of Abdullah Badawi since his
Team B days. Abdullah counted on Zahidi’s support throughout his wilderness years and
even considered Zahidi an anak angkat. When Khairy appeared on Abdullah’s radars
screen, Zahidi was annoyed. He felt that Abdullah was being led up the garden path by
this young Oxford graduate with a smooth tongue. Zahidi wanted Abdullah to be more
true to his Malay nationalistic background and not be swayed by Khairy’s new-age politics.

Zahidi tried his best to keep Abdullah on the straight and narrow. But of course he was no
match for Khairy and his friends. Try as he might, he could not shake ‘the boy’ off -- and
neither did Khairy succeed in turning Abdullah completely against Zahidi. Between the
two, Abdullah struck an uneasy balance. Khairy stayed Abdullah’s closest and most
influential advisor, but Abdullah still relied on Zahidi to give him an alternative view,
though most times it did not matter as much as the opinion of his son-in-law. To soothe
Zahidi’s wounded heart, Abdullah planned to make him the Perlis Menteri Besar during
the last election if Shahidan Kassim failed to dent the PAS onslaught. To Zahidi’s chagrin,
Shahidan pulled off a coup by defusing the PAS ‘green wave’ with the help of a few
members of the Perlis royal family, thereby guaranteeing his stay in office. Nevertheless,
Zahidi got promoted to Senior State EXCO Member.

Since then, he has openly announced his intention to challenge Khairy, ostensibly to teach
these bangsawans a lesson. So Khairy planted a mole within Zahidi’s midst, in the form of
a young and ambitious leader called Ben. Ben, or Rozabil Abdul Rahman, as his full name
goes, is one of Khairy’s strongest supporters. In fact, since 1999, he has been a shareholder
- 15 -
of Khairy’s mother’s company based in Penang and Kedah that supplies goods to schools
in that area. Ben has ambitions to make it big in national politics, but Khairy told him to
first prove himself by ‘fixing’ Zahidi in Perlis.

Ben is not even from Perlis. His father, Abdul Rahman Kader, an ex-trade union leader, is
an Anwar loyalist, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) national chairman, and one-time PKR
Chief for Penang. From 1999 to 2004 Pak Rahman was the PKR State Assemblyman in the
Permatang Pauh Parliamentary constituency. Pak Rahman hails from Perak while Ben
himself is based mostly in Kuala Lumpur. But anything can happen in Khairy’s weird and
wonderful world of politics. So Ben suddenly became a Perlis ‘native’ and winged his way
there to serve Khairy’s wishes. One of these wishes is to make sure that Zahidi gets
politically tarnished.

In the last general election, Ben created a ruse on Khairy’s behalf. He arranged to meet with
Zahidi on the pretext of seeking his support to win the post of UMNO Youth Chief in the
Kangar Division. He promised Zahidi substantial ‘campaign funds’ to facilitate this task.
Zahidi readily agreed, accepting RM300,000 as a first payment.

In fact, Ben was not doing this out of the goodness of his heart but to manufacture evidence
that Zahidi was involved in money politics and therefore liable to be hauled before the
UMNO Disciplinary Committee. That was what happened next. Zahidi found himself the
object of an investigation by Tengku Ahmad Rithaudeen’s committee. Letters accusing him
of paying bribes appeared on the Tengku’s desk and an anonymous tape-recording of a
telephone conversation in which Zahidi had asked Ben to make prompt payment of the
campaign funds to his bank account found its way to the committee’s hands.

Zahidi was duly convicted of the crime of money politics and given a warning. The public
was told his offence was of blocking certain people from being elected UMNO delegates by
bad-mouthing them. Secretly though, Tengku Ahmad Rithaudeen had warned Zahidi not
to ‘rock the UMNO boat’ if he did not want them to announce his other offences, which
included payments of up to RM1,000 each to members in the Kangar division. Zahidi was
informed during the hearings that he was not to repeat to the press what the committee
had said to him.

He was told that he was lucky to get off with a warning because he was one of Abdullah’s
blue-eyed boys. But if he dared challenge the ‘status quo’ of the bangsawan leadership
again, the committee would find a way to ‘sembelih’ him.

Of course, no one expects Zahidi to take this lying down. But he has no doubt been made
aware that challenging Khairy would not be a ‘clean’ and friendly battle like the
Hishamuddin Hussein challenge some years back.

There is another fellow like Zahidi, also a long time Abdullah loyalist and not a
bangsawan. Reezal Merican Naina Merican is an Indian Muslim from Penang who had
managed to bring himself to the attention of Abdullah Badawi three years before Khairy
ever showed his face in the Jalan Bellamy house.
- 16 -

Reezal Merican (often called ‘Ustaz Reezal’) is an IIUM graduate with a penchant for high
politics and beautiful women artistes. He was aghast when the years of relationship he had
built with Abdullah prior to his being appointed Deputy Prime Minister was suddenly
interrupted by the appearance of Khairy. When Abdullah ascended that high office, Reezal
Merican thought that his time had come. His years of being the ‘lightning rod’ in IIUM --
attracting the ire of his fellow students who were mostly supporters of Anwar Ibrahim --
would finally pay off when Abdullah recognises his loyalty and perseverance in defending
his image. Reezal had hoped that Abdullah would reward him with a suitably high post in
government.

But when the call finally came and the appointment letter landed on his desk, Reezal found
himself in the much less exalted office of Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, in charge of issues such as
making sure that people hugged each other in the name of national unity. Khairy had
blocked his way up by writing a memorandum to Abdullah Badawi containing the list of
people who deserved to be promoted to the office of advisors to the new Deputy Prime
Minister and Reezal Merican’s name was not one of them.

Reezal persevered. He tried to make himself out to be a more important part of Abdullah’s
future government by showing that he had good ties with the student community in local
universities. He promptly got himself elected head of the IIUM alumni and therefore a
nominal head of quite a substantial group of the local student support base. Perhaps it was
in view of this that Abdullah finally relented and, in November 2003, Reezal was made
Political Secretary to the First Finance Minister. It was not as important as being Political
Secretary to the Prime Minister himself, but as the two posts were conjoined in the same
person, Reezal did not complain too much.

Khairy did not take this lying down though. He shot off another official memo to
Abdullah, informing him that the IIUM graduate did not deserve the post as he added no
value to the effort to show Abdullah’s administration as being a professional team of bright
young things. Khairy also accused Reezal of involvement with several young recording
artists and newsreaders. The letter found itself on Abdullah’s desk, but not before chief
private secretary Dato’ Thajudeen Abdul Wahab (no friend of Khairy’s) had made a copy
and given it to Reezal. Seething with anger, Reezal swore to eliminate Khairy from the
Abdullah circle.

That promise was made in the white heat of anger. Eventually, Reezal realised that it was
better to be seen to support Khairy, at least for the time being. He took a step back and
allowed Khairy to go for the UMNO Youth Vice-Chief post while he himself contested as
an ordinary EXCO member, though he had a longer relationship with the UMNO Youth
delegates. In the meantime, he gathered his forces. While Khairy is largely supported by
foreign graduates, non-Malays and the liberal Malay faction in UMNO, Reezal Merican is
more popular with the under-30s from local universities.

A head-on clash was about to happen if not for one stroke of Khairy’s genius.

- 17 -
What could Khairy do to counter Ustaz Reezal’s influence? Khairy looked at it from a
hierarchical point of view. If Khairy, as an Oxford graduate, was the highest chimp in the
tree, Reezal, as an IIUM graduate, was the lower monkey. So, to topple the guy, Khairy
needed an even lower ranking primate –- more aggressive, perhaps, but definitely a
follower rather than a leader. This he found in the form of Datuk Abdul Azeez Rahim.

Abdul Azeez shared many of Reezal Merican’s attributes. A fellow mamak like Reezal, he
had a weakness for beautiful women and both had married twice. More importantly,
Abdul Azeez was a self-made businessman of a rather thuggish outlook and could counter
Reezal’s influence among the locally educated UMNO Youth politicians. Khairy pushed
through a new wing called Putera UMNO under Abdul Azeez’s stewardship that spread
its tentacles to local universities and institutions of higher learning. Khairy understood that
he himself lacked support from this political base and badly needed it. Abdul Azeez was
tasked in getting this support while at the same time weakening Reezal’s influence.

So Reezal became a neutered tomcat, surrounded by the well-oiled and well-financed
Putera UMNO. If at any time in the future Reezal tries to shake Khairy’s throne, the trap
would be set for him and he would find himself on the receiving end of Putera UMNO’s
whack. Khairy no longer needs to fear that he would be seen as an arty-farty Oxford
graduate without support from the lower middle classes. Abdul Azeez would now take
care of that for him.

The juggernaut rolls on. But Khairy cannot afford to confine himself only to dealing with
potential threats from UMNO Youth. There was a bigger and more immediate threat to his
plans to become PM of Malaysia by the age of 40. The most important fish for Khairy to fry
is one called Najib…
- 18 -
PART 5: The heir and the pretender

Some time ago, a young UMNO politician began his meteoric rise to power. He was, to be
very honest, young and inexperienced. But he had the distinction of coming from a
powerful political family and it was on the back of this that he managed to secure positions
in UMNO Youth at a very tender age.

Eventually, he rose to the highest rank of that wing. He became a minister and was always
spoken of as a ‘sure bet’ for the exalted post of Prime Minister. With little political
experience prior to joining UMNO, he built his reputation by playing off one group against
another, even showing off the racial card, pronouncing his strong public support for
‘Malay rights’, ‘Malay dominance’ and ‘Malay supremacy’, in spite of having quite
opposite beliefs in the practice of his private life. An almost wholly overseas education had
left him tongue-tied in his own native language. And a rather prominent spouse, with
(lesser) political ambitions of her own, helped spur his climb to power.

One may be forgiven for thinking that this is a description of Khairy Jamaluddin. In actual
fact it is only what Khairy wants to be. It’s Khairy’s ‘wannabe’ dream - drawn on the back
of an envelope as his plans for reaching the top political office in the country. But that trail
had already been blazed by another man before Khairy – and his name is Najib Tun Razak.

Khairy and Najib share many similarities in their rise to power. Yet there is no love lost
between them. Khairy knows that Najib will ‘kill him off’ as soon as Abdullah Ahmad
Badawi leaves the political stage. Likewise, Najib is uneasy about Khairy’s influence on
Abdullah and is conscious that his chances of becoming Prime Minister would dramatically
improve with Khairy out of the way.

The enmity between Khairy and Najib stems from Khairy’s impatient and open ambition to
reach the highest office in UMNO before he reaches the age of 40. Najib is the opposite in
his outlook. He is patient, almost to the point of being seen as slow and lethargic. But Najib
has played a ‘careful’ game whereas Khairy is more ‘in your face’.

Both understand that UMNO is too small a party for the two of them. At only 52, Najib is
easily able to block Khairy for twenty-five years or more. If a week is a long time in politics,
then twenty-five years would seem like an eternity. Even worse, Khairy thinks Najib will
turn back the clock, abolish Abdullah’s (and therefore Khairy’s) reforms and return UMNO
to the ‘bad old days’ of Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.

Najib is the most prominent protégé of former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad
of his generation. His appointment as Deputy Prime Minister was part of a package
arranged by Dr Mahathir prior to his abdication and was pre-conditional upon Abdullah
prior to him assuming the office of UMNO President. Even after Dr Mahathir had received
the tacit but private consent of Abdullah Badawi for Najib to be appointed as Deputy
Prime Minister, Mahathir tried to reinforce the future succession plans by putting very
broad hints in the media that Najib was the most capable person to become Abdullah’s
deputy.
- 19 -

Mahathir went so far as to instruct certain members of the cabinet to push hard and often
for Najib to be appointed Deputy Prime Minister as soon as possible. Khalil Yaakob, then
Information Minister, pushed Abdullah so often that Khairy became incensed. By the 2004
election, Khalil found himself packed off to his wife’s state of Melaka as governor.

At one point, Dr Mahathir even hinted that the Deputy Prime Minister should be
appointed at the same time as Abdullah takes the oath of office as the fifth Prime Minister
of Malaysia. Abdullah bit his lips and said nothing. The prize was too close for him to rock
the boat now.

Abdullah did, however, try to play ‘chicken’ with Mahathir. He wanted the Deputy Prime
Minister to owe him that appointment and not be indebted to his predecessor. So he kept
the nation waiting for awhile and gave an indication to people such as Muhyiddin Yassin
that they were also potential candidates. Abdullah’s then political secretary, Ramzi Abdul
Rahman (now Chairman of KESEDAR), was asked to inform Dr Shaharuddin Mohd Salleh
that “Najib is in only as long as Mahathir is in”. On the back of this promise, Shaharuddin
went to Muhyiddin telling him that they would soon be moving to new offices in
Putrajaya.

But the hints were never serious because Abdullah Badawi knew that if he did not appoint
Najib as Deputy Prime Minister, Mahathir would ensure that Abdullah became the shortest
ever serving Prime Minister of Malaysia…

Knowing full well that his father-in-law had no choice but to appoint Najib, Khairy tried to
place himself in Najib’s good books. First, he tried to convince Najib that, as the most
powerful advisor to Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, he would be instrumental in influencing the
decision to appoint the new Deputy Prime Minister.

Khairy reassured Najib several times that Abdullah was really in favour of Najib, rather
than Muhyiddin or any other candidate. He just needed a ‘little push’ – a sign to show that
Najib would be absolutely loyal to Abdullah. Khairy even told Najib that he himself had
dissuaded Abdullah from considering Muhyiddin because the latter was seen as being too
close to Anwar. On the other hand, Najib was a ‘loyal party leader’ who gave his best to
anyone who holds the office of UMNO President. Khairy told Najib that he had reassured
Abdullah of Najib’s loyalty and competence.

At that point, when Najib was most apprehensive about his political future, Khairy took
advantage of Najib’s weakness by putting several of his people in Najib’s office. Khairy
knew that many of Najib’s officers were 110% loyal to Najib and served him selflessly.
Amongst them was Najib’s key point-man and trusted advisor, Datuk Alies Anor. But
Khairy was very wary of Alies Anor. Alies was close to ABIM (his wife is a famous ABIM
activist) and therefore close to Anwar Ibrahim. Indeed, many of Najib’s junior officers were
drawn from the pro-Anwar camp as Najib had served Anwar as his Vice Youth Chief in the
1990s. As Anwar’s star rose, Najib wanted to please him so he sheltered several Anwar
supporters in his office.
- 20 -

Other than Alies Anor, Najib had other advisors who were more cosmopolitan and
therefore opposed to Alies’ worldview. Chief amongst them was Abdul Razak Baginda and
a shadowy business figure called Rohana who controls Najib’s and his family’s estates
overseas -- such as their flats in London and houses in Australia’s Melbourne and Gold
Coast. Khairy approached these two figures and convinced them that the best person to
advice Najib was a certain Omar Ong (see part 2 of the Khairy Chronicles).

Omar Ong became Khairy’s point-man in Najib’s office. He installed himself in an office a
few doors away from Najib’s own and was given a chauffeur-driven car as well as ranking
in the civil service just one step below the Deputy Secretary-General of the ministry.

But even that was insufficient. Khairy was worried that Najib might stray from the narrow
road set before him by Omar Ong. After all, Omar Ong was hardly the most charismatic of
individuals and as a Chinese convert to Islam he could be deemed an ‘outsider’ by Najib
supporters.

Khairy then used another close friend called Dr Liew, his partner in his proxy company,
Ethos Sdn Bhd, set up to dabble in government contracts. Khairy introduced Ethos to Najib
and quickly hired personnel on large monthly retainers to advice Najib on several key
Ministry of Defence jobs. Through their joint participation, Najib’s advisors and civil
servants found their roles reduced and instead Liew and his officers began to take charge
of sensitive decisions made in the Ministry of Defence. Closed tender contracts began to be
awarded to companies associated to Omar Ong and Dr Liew.

Najib’s old advisors, in particular Alies Anor, found this situation extremely stifling. They
realised they no longer had the undivided attention of Najib. Instead, Najib began to listen
more to Khairy’s people who would also furnish Khairy reports on Najib’s daily
movements. Further to that, they used their position to block several key Najib allies from
seeing the Minister -- to such an extent that these people began to angrily distant
themselves from Najib.

They disrupted daily briefings made by Alies Anor and the old officers, causing severe rifts
in Najib’s office. But Najib himself felt that this was a price worth paying. He knew Alies
was absolute loyal to him, even if he was removed from office. Najib wanted the post of
Deputy Prime Minister and he was willing to pay any price, even kowtowing to Khairy’s
boys if necessary.

Eventually, Abdullah could not hold back the decision any longer and Najib found himself
Deputy Prime Minister as Dr Mahathir had planned. Khairy tried to take full credit with
Najib, even arranging huge media coverage through Kalimullah Hassan Masheerul Hassan
(Group Chief Editor of NST and a Khairy stooge). However, once safely in office, Najib
began to wise up. He no longer felt he needed to pay as much attention to Khairy or his
boys as he did before. In short, Najib began to fight back and loosen the chains that Khairy
and Omar Ong had placed around him.

- 21 -
Najib began to develop parallel young talents in his office, in direct competition to Khairy’s
boys. He chose Khairil Annas Yusof, an IIUM and Oxford law graduate with an ABIM
background (and therefore diametrically opposed to Khairy’s worldview) as an additional
Special Officer. Najib also began to reduce Omar Ong’s role in writing his speeches and
relied more and more on Khairil Annas. Khairil Annas also began to train Najib and help
him improve his Malay speaking talents, including the use of rhetoric and gestures,
something out of sync with Najib’s previous character.

Although Omar Ong is the son-in-law of Fatwa Council chairman Ismail Ibrahim, his
talents in the religious department were severely lacking. Khairil Annas made up for these
deficiencies and quickly became Najib’s most trusted blue-eyed boy. Khairy’s boys in Ethos
also began to find that, since he became Deputy Prime Minister, Najib was listening less
and less to them. Dr Liew, who was previously tasked with finding a solution to the Felda
problem, found himself muscled out by a new appointee in charge of Felda affairs, a
certain Ahmad Maslan, a Johor UMNO stalwart of Anwar Ibrahim and former political
secretary to Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Mustapa Mohamad.

Khairy instructed Dr Liew to propose that Felda dispose of its shares in several First Board
publicly-listed companies, such as Maybank, to parties close to ECM Libra, a boutique
investment bank owned by Kalimullah Masheerul Hassan that employed Khairy as its
director of Corporate Advisory. Dr Liew thought he could easily push this matter through
as it was more or less an ‘instruction’ from Khairy. Instead, Najib used Ahmad Maslan to
block the deal while ordering a reassessment of the proposal based on its merits.

Khairy’s most formidable opponent in the old Najib camp, Alies Anor, although now no
longer in Najib’s office, began to be seen more and more in Najib’s unofficial inner circle.
Instead of meeting at his office in Putrajaya, they often gathered together either in Najib’s
private home in Taman Duta or at the Tun Rahah Foundation office in Pekan during
Najib’s weekly constituency visits there. Decisions were now being made away from the
official Deputy Prime Minister’s office and Khairy began to get less and less detailed
reports of Najib’s movements.

Najib also cultivated an alternative to Khairy’s loyalists within UMNO Youth in Pahang.
Najib created a group called the Pekan Youth Society that began to be seen as the rival to
UMNO Youth there. Najib paid these people permanent salaries and the Pekan Youth
Society began to realise that they were more influential in getting Najib’s attention than the
official UMNO Youth channel. UMNO Youth in Pekan soon became aware they were no
longer trusted by Najib as they were seen as an extension of Khairy’s political
arrangements.

With all these goings-on, Khairy found that his meticulous plan to control Najib was
beginning to unravel. The final straw was when Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah received the
nomination from the Gua Musang UMNO division for the post of UMNO President. But
the same division also nominated Najib for UMNO Deputy. In other words, Abdullah
received one less nomination than his own deputy. Gua Musang was giving a signal that
they liked Najib, but hated Abdullah.
- 22 -

In several private meetings, Tengku Razaleigh said he wanted to contest the presidency to
ensure that Najib eventually succeeds Abdullah Badawi as UMNO President and to ensure
that Abdullah Badawi or his people would not play Najib for a fool. Tengku Razaleigh
went so far as to have meetings with several key Mahathir allies such as Daim Zainuddin
and Sanusi Junid to make known his reasons for challenging Abdullah. One week before
Tengku Razaleigh announced his ‘stalking horse’ challenge for the presidency, both Daim
and Sanusi were seen lunching with him.

Khairy now realised that Najib is a dangerous foe who could not be easily pushed around.
It was natural that Najib believed Khairy to be an upstart who did not deserve his position
and who lacked the political experience. Though both Khairy and Najib rose in politics at a
young age, Najib had previously served in various apprenticeships in UMNO and
government including as a Deputy Minister in the federal government and Menteri Besar
of Pahang. Khairy, on the other hand, chose another route to power -– one deemed ‘more
suspect’ by Najib’s supporters.

So Khairy is currently laying down plans on how to embarrass Najib and ensure that Najib
falls, or at the very least to convince Najib that his long-term political survival depends on
Khairy’s grace and favour. In Khairy’s mind, there are three weapons he could use. One
would be the ultimate weapon of using Abdullah to ‘chop Najib’s head off’. But that would
be a far too risky move. While Najib is no Anwar Ibrahim who would fight kicking and
screaming against the dying of the light, he would probably mount a challenge if Dr
Mahathir announces his tacit support for a ‘change in leadership’. As such, removing Najib
like how Dr Mahathir removed Anwar is out of the question.

The second way would be to use his extensive tentacles in the media. And here’s how he
plans to do it...
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PART 6: Khairy’s media playgrounds

History has laid testimony to that fact that there are as many ways to exterminate an
UMNO politician as there are to skin a cat. Even powerful warlords can be easily sent into
retirement; given the right combination of manufactured scandals and by using the correct
medium to ‘spread the message’. Political assassinations can be easily achieved by use of
the media. All one needs to do is to buy off a few hacks, journalists and political
commentators. Nowadays, one need not even buy a proper journalist; an internet reporter
will do.

The first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, was destroyed by the medium of poison-
pen letters that accused him of bias against the Malays, giving in to the Chinese,
womanising, hard drinking and gambling. The second prime minister, Tun Razak, was
‘saved’ by a premature death; or else he too would have been embarrassed by the same
tactics engineered by then UMNO Youth Chief, Harun Idris, who accused the former of
allowing Communist sympathisers to infiltrate his office. And, of course, everyone knows
how Anwar Ibrahim was brought down. A combination of ‘revelations’ and ‘exposes’
through the official media as well as the infamous ‘50 Dalil’ by Khalid Jafri – only recently
convicted of libel and slander – portrayed Anwar as a corrupt sodomist masquerading
behind a mask of Muslim piety.

But these are ‘old’ tactics and Khairy Jamaluddin knows better than to rely merely on these
outdated methods. Times have changed. If anything, the Reformasi movement has proven
the effectiveness of the cyber-media as well as the foreign press in disseminating
information to the increasingly sceptical Malaysian masses who no longer have faith in the
mainstream media.

It is no wonder, therefore, that the first attack initiated by Khairy against Deputy Prime
Minister Najib Tun Razak was made through the internet and through the use of the
foreign media.

To be sure, Najib has never been perceived as a ‘clean’ politician. He has been implicated in
all sorts of scandals ranging from the award of forest land to close relatives during his
tenure as Pahang Menteri Besar in the early 1980s to being caught in flagrante delicto with a
well-known artist in a motel bed in Port Dickson. Yet, none of these scandals stuck – partly
because the public now accepts that UMNO politicians will be, to a greater or lesser extent,
corrupt and indiscreet. And almost everyone acknowledges, to a ‘T’, that women are
Najib’s particular weakness – and that he is not alone among UMNO leaders in having this
fault.

So, like in Anwar Ibrahim’s case, Najib’s ‘scandals’ had to be exaggerated, or even invented
from scratch.

There have been at least two occasions when Khairy boasted that this would not be a
difficult job to do. First was a few months ago, during a dinner attended by several
business associates of UMNO Supreme Council member Datuk Norza Zakaria, when
- 24 -
Khairy declared to a certain 35 year old businessman that creating a scandal to topple Najib
would be “like eating peanuts”. The said businessman, who wanted to curry favours with
and impress his friends with ‘inside knowledge’ that Najib would in time be kicked off his
perch, promptly repeated this information to them.

The second occasion was in June 2004. Khairy was then in the running for the position of
Chief Operating Officer of Khazanah Nasional and was confident he would be thus
appointed by incoming Managing Director, Azman Mokhtar. Khairy had gathered a few
friends from his old university days and was proclaiming his plans to “reform Khazanah”.
A friend then asked what Najib felt about his new (and very powerful) anticipated
appointment. Khairy retorted that if Najib did not like it, he would “put Najib in jail”. To
the incredulous gathering, Khairy further explained that Najib would fall “like a deck a
cards” if he ever chose to boot out the deputy prime minister.

Such arrogant and egotistical boasts are not without foundation. While they could easily be
dismissed as the bravado of an overconfident Young Turk, Najib is a much easier opponent
than many previous occupants of the post he currently holds. For one thing, Najib was not
elected to the post in a free and open election but by voters cowed into nominating him; the
sole candidate nominated for the post of UMNO Deputy President. Najib has never,
throughout his political career, contested any post in which there was a real danger of
anyone defeating him; nor has he ever been defeated in any contest he has entered. An
indecisive man with a distinctly chicken-hearted political view, Najib will never risk a real
contest nor face a real opponent. He has always secured high office by the whims of a
higher power.

Given the right conditions, to defeat such a person is not difficult. Khairy knows this full
well and it is with this in mind that he welcomed Najib’s appointment as DPM. In spite of
the UMNO members’ outward show of support for Najib, he is not a tried and tested
leader. So, he is only the equal, if not the lesser, of Khairy himself. But, unlike Khairy,
Najib’s deepest scandals are well-known to a public that for thirty years have become used
to seeing his face. Najib’s blood runs thick with scandals and corruption, whereas, even if
Khairy was equally corrupt, the public at large knows very little about it.

Another reason for Khairy’s tremendous confidence in his strength as opposed to Najib is
because of a ‘test’ he carried out soon after the conclusion of the Eleventh General Election
where Najib ended up a victim of a scandal of Khairy’s own making.

In this episode, a certain independent news portal was used to help Khairy carry out his
crafty scheme. A story about Barisan Nasional owing several small-time Malay printers
and poster suppliers millions of Ringgit was leaked to this news portal. According to the
suppliers, the purchase order to print hundreds of thousands of campaign material was
issued by the Barisan Nasional headquarters with instructions to distribute them directly to
the candidates. Unbeknownst to even the reporters of the scandal, the trail led to Najib’s
people that included a certain Chinese-Muslim businessman Datuk who is closely
associated to Najib and a known substantial donor to causes championed by Najib’s
mother, Toh Puan Rahah, and wife, Rosmah Mansor.
- 25 -

What happened was simple yet cunning. Khairy had arranged for the BN Executive
Secretary, Yaacob Muhammad, to ask the Chinese-Muslim businessman Datuk to issue
several orders for election campaign material through a certain company (formed
especially for this purpose). The company awarded the contract to small-time Malay
printing shops. However, instead of delivering the items to the BN headquarters, they were
delivered directly to the BN candidates using letters of instruction emanating from the
Chinese-Muslim Datuk and using the letterhead of a certain foundation associated with
Najib.

When the printers submitted claims for payments due to them, they were discreetly
informed by Khairy’s people in the UMNO headquarters that these purchase orders had
actually been issued by Najib through his Chinese-Muslim Datuk friend. It was Najib’s
name that was besmirched and, to save his patron’s skin, the Chinese-Muslim Datuk
businessman had to pay off much of the monies owed. He could not, of course, pay off
everything, but at least for the moment the scandal was kept under control.

This was how Khairy sharpened his teeth. He used this ‘manufactured’ scandal as his first
‘strength test’ against Najib. Khairy learnt a few valuable lessons from this episode – one
which was that Najib had the (albeit limited) ability, given his wide range of businessmen
friends, to nip the scandal in the bud by paying off the aggrieved parties. However, the
problem was only a test and is a small-scale attempt to shake the Najib tree to see what falls
out from it. And it was purposely ‘floated’ through an internet news portal rather than via
the official or mainstream press where it might backfire and instead cause embarrassment
to Abdullah himself.

The second test was to try and embarrass Najib through the foreign media. This
opportunity cropped up when Malaysia and Indonesia fell into a tiff over the disputed oil
fields between the coast of Sabah and Sulawesi. As Defence Minister, Najib was called
upon to explain Malaysia’s stance. An Indonesia newsmagazine promptly published a
report that Najib had ‘apologised’ for the behaviour of the Royal Malaysian Navy ships
patrolling the disputed area.

Najib, of course, was embarrassed and quickly denied that he had ever done such a thing.
But the Indonesian newspaper tarried awhile before printing a retraction. And the reason:
the source of the story was a certain Nahdatul Ulama Youth leader closely associated with
Khairy - who informed the reporter that it was Khairy who told him about the ‘apology’. It
is not clear whether that NU leader was just a ‘patsy’ in this whole thing. But why should
he doubt Khairy? Wasn’t Khairy the Malaysian prime minister’s trusted aide and son-in-
law who had been sent, even when he was without a government or political party
position, as a personal envoy to meet Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono?
Whatever the intention of the newspaper, Najib could hardly fault them when the source
was Khairy himself – nor could Najib take legal action against the publisher for fear of
exposing Khairy and thereby angering Abdullah.

Khairy’s ‘mini tests’ were designed to just test the waters without pushing too far. He
- 26 -
understands that the effort to remove Najib must be done slowly, building up to a
crescendo over a period of time. And the traps are being laid all over through Khairy’s
connections with the media.

When Abdullah Badawi was named future Prime Minister, one of the first things he asked
for from Dr Mahathir was control over the media. Abdullah had understood from the time
Anwar Ibrahim was in power that the media in the hands of an heir-apparent would be the
most effective insurance against removal from office. After all, Anwar had put in his own
people in charge of the news section of various newspapers and TV stations in order to
promote his future accession to the office of PM. It was the removal of these Anwar
stalwarts which paved the way for his September 1998 sacking.

Abdullah had to ensure that the same ‘tragedy’ would not befall him and Mahathir also
knew that surrendering media control to Abdullah was the only way he could convince the
latter he was serious about choosing Abdullah as his latest anointed successor. Mahathir
reluctantly relented and, swiftly, Abdullah looked to Khairy for names to fill into the
powerful media positions.

Khairy’s most prominent appointment was that of Kalimullah Hassan Masheerul Hassan, a
former Singaporean journalist closely associated with certain Chinese businessmen with
whom he had built a successful business based on the Chinese doing the thinking and
Kalimullah himself pulling the cables. ‘Kali’, as he calls himself, has visions of grandeur.
Although a bad writer and an even worse editor, Kali knew that he could buy talent. It is
an open secret that NST editorials published as Kali’s piece were ghost-written by both
internal and outsourced hacks. Such was a man after Khairy’s own heart – who knew that
being a figurehead was no bad thing, as one could always pick and choose one’s lackeys to
finish the job.

However, Kalimullah had a stain on his character. He is known to be exceptionally close to
the Singapore government, in particular to Home Minister Wong Kan Seng, who is in
charge of intelligence operations. Another close associate of Kalimullah had once blabbed
to Dr Mahathir’s then political secretary, Matthias Chang, that the man was a ‘Singapore
spy’, either deliberately or by inadvertently giving information to the Republic through his
‘big mouth’. A few months before conceding power, Dr Mahathir commissioned the then
Director of Military Intelligence to compile a report on Kali. The report, copied to Najib,
concluded that Kali was not a proven spy - nor did the report absolve him completely
either. The report concluded that enough doubts existed to question his appointment to the
NST Group Chief Editorship.

But the appointment was pushed through nevertheless - simply because the only other
candidate for the position, close Abdullah associate Anuar Zaini, was already slated for
Bernama, as a replacement to Mahathir ally, Kadir Jasin. Kalimullah, ensconced in office,
quickly created a cabal of Singapore-trained hacks that would do Abdullah’s (and Khairy’s)
biddings.

One such scion is Brendan Pereira. Brendan was a former journalist of the Singapore Straits
- 27 -
Times and a long-time friend of Khairy; having been introduced to him by Khairy’s former
classmates in the United World College in Singapore. Brendan wrote long odes and paeans
to Khairy in the Singapore Straits Times, to such an extent that he was known in
journalistic circles as ‘Khairy’s Press Secretary’. Every piece Brendan wrote would quote
Khairy and Khairy’s key ally, Norza Zakaria, even when both were only minor Youth
EXCO members and relatively unknown to the Malaysian public. In fact, Khairy’s name
‘exploded’ on the Singapore scene way before he even appeared big time in any Malaysian
newspaper.

Of course, Brendan’s only intention was to hitch a ride on Khairy’s rising star and
eventually transplant himself to a higher position in the New Straits Times. Together with
Brendan and several former Singapore Straits Times hacks, Khairy is assured of the
subservience of the New Straits Times.

Yet, it is not the NST that Khairy will be using against Najib – as that would indeed be too
obvious. It is Kali and Brendan’s contacts across the Causeway that will instead be used to
publish the first stories about Najib’s ‘scandals’. The plan is not yet ripe though – but don’t
forget, when the time comes, you will read it here first!

And, of course, let’s not forget Khairy’s connections with the internet media, in particular
the Malay language internet newspaper, AgendaDaily, currently edited by Rosli Ismail,
which Khairy and Norza Zakaria helped fund.

Originally, AgendaDaily was set up by a certain Rozaid Abdul Rahman, the elder brother
of Rozabil Abdul Rahman (Khairy’s mother’s business partner mentioned in Part 4 of this
series). Rozaid was a journalist-for-hire who started out in September 1998 writing books
about Anwar Ibrahim and the Reformasi movement, which he then coerced Reformasi
activists into buying in bulk to sell at their functions and ceramahs. When that source of
funds began to dry up, Rozaid looked to former UMNO Vice President Muhammad
Muhammad Taib to help fund AgendaDaily, intended as the Malay vernacular alternative
to Malaysiakini. Muhammad came up with the first RM200,000 for the venture, which
dried up in a few months in the face of the failure of AgendaDaily to attract paying readers.

To recoup his losses, Rozaid began to ‘sell’ pieces to UMNO politicians – basically writing
‘favourable news’ about them for a fee. In this capacity, his brother Rozabil, already a
business associate of Khairy’s family, introduced Rozaid to both Khairy and Norza
Zakaria. As Muhammad refused to further fund the failed venture, Norza stepped in. A
week after Norza transferred RM100,000 to AgendaDaily’s bank account, a prominent
piece on Khairy appeared – extolling the praises of this new ‘bright young thing’.

The relationship continued even after Rozaid ‘officially’ left AgendaDaily to take up the
position of Press Secretary to Entrepreneurial Development Minister, Khaled Nordin. The
new editor, Rosli Ismail, continued to present favourable reports on Khairy that almost
always comprised of unexplained denials by Khairy of the various rumours associated
with him.

- 28 -
No one can deny that Khairy has adopted the right approach towards influencing the
minds of the younger generation, media-savvy, better-educated Malaysians. In using the
foreign media and the internet as his playground for publicity, Khairy has outdistanced
himself from the older politicians such as Hishammuddin Hussein (who once chickened
out of a column in Malaysiakini) and even Najib himself.

But the media can only assist to a certain extent. The real onslaught against Najib needs a
special and more powerful secret weapon. And Khairy has that. And this weapon is called
Anwar...
- 29 -
PART 7: The beginning of a beautiful friendship

Hundreds of people thronged the double-storey suburban bungalow in Jalan Setiamurni.
Word of Anwar Ibrahim’s unanticipated release from jail had spread far and wide,
shocking the nation to the very core. As well as the hundreds of foreign pundits unsure of
what to make of this sudden development, many of Anwar’s supporters had gathered in
triumph to rejoice the return of the man who for six years had been kept hidden from
public view by the government of Mahathir Mohamad and, for a short while, by the
administration of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. There was no denying that the crowd was in a
jubilant mood, savouring their victory and yet, almost to a man, unsure of what was to
happen next.

Suddenly, a black Mercedes appeared at the crossroads, stopping a few metres away from
Anwar’s house. Out stepped a man whom the crowd immediately recognised as an Umno
member of minor prominence. The crowd immediately turned hostile, mocking and jeering
the man with the vehemence reserved for a common criminal. Some spitted on the ground.
Others threw empty mineral water bottles, one hitting the man on the shoulder. A few
shouted, cautioning the man not to take another step forward for the sake of his own
safety. He was told in no uncertain terms that he was not welcome at the house. When the
man protested that he merely wanted to bestow good wishes to Anwar Ibrahim, the
heckling became so loud it alarmed the people inside the house. One, who was beginning
to go berserk, even rolled up his sleeves, intending to bash the man in his face if he took
one step further.

While all of this brouhaha was going on and that Umno man, Ruslan Kassim, was suffering
verbal abuse at the hands of the Reformasi supporters, another car quietly pulled up almost
unnoticed at the end of the road and the occupant stepped out into the welcoming arms of
Anwar’s former political secretary, Ezam Mohd Nor. Khairy Jamaluddin was swiftly
sneaked in through the back of Anwar Ibrahim’s house via the kitchen door, straight up to
the second floor bedroom to meet the man so recently reviled by Umno and its leaders as a
traitor.

In the bedroom, the two men who would be Prime Ministers eyeballed each other at first
warily, then warmly. Anwar extended his hand which was taken by Khairy and they
swiftly got down to business. It was later publicly announced to the nation that Khairy was
there only to extend the warm wishes of his father-in-law, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, and
also to personally assure Anwar that all efforts to provide him an international passport for
his medical trip to Munich would be done with utmost haste. Anwar remarked later that he
had jibed Khairy about his sudden climb in Umno Youth and warned the younger man
that it was a difficult task indeed which might end up in Khairy having to shed much tears.
Both Anwar and Khairy later stated publicly that ‘nothing happened’ between the two of
them and that no ‘serious discussion’ took place.

But the nation found that explanation strangely irreconcilable. One or both of the men must
have been lying. After all, Anwar was until very recently persona non grata in Umno circles.
Even his name could be mentioned only in tones of disgust. Whereas Khairy was the young
- 30 -
up-and-coming leader anointed by his father-in-law as his closest advisor and most trusted
confidante. Surely there must have been more to it than meets the eye.

Indeed there was.

Both Anwar and Khairy would eventually deny that there was any deal struck between
Abdullah Badawi and Anwar Ibrahim for the former to withhold any process should the
judiciary decide to finally do the right thing and release the latter from his six-year
incarceration. The deal was actually hammered out many months before the last General
Election and definitely after Abdullah had officially assumed office as the nation’s fifth
Prime Minister. Yet, few, including the upper echelons of both ruling and opposition
parties, understood that the end game was being played out in its final moves.

The meeting that took place in Jalan Setiamurni was the sealing of a pact. Abdullah was of
the opinion that the Anwar issue was left over baggage from the Mahathir days which he
definitely had to unravel. Anwar was reaching the most critical period of his incarceration
where he could no longer endure the excruciating pain afflicting his back and which was
turning him into a semi-invalid. Khairy was the instrument that made it clear to Anwar
that Abdullah gave his implicit approval to the deal, without himself appearing in public to
endorse it and thereby provoking the ire of his predecessor, Dr Mahathir.

Once safely in Munich, Anwar told several close allies that included former Berita Harian
Editor Nazri Abdullah, former MRCB Managing Director Khalid Ahmad and former
Guthrie CEO Khalid Ibrahim that Khairy had come to his house to deliver a letter from
Abdullah. Khairy himself later told Norza Zakaria, a fellow member of the Umno Youth
Council, that such a letter had been delivered into Anwar’s hands. More importantly, the
letter was said by both parties to contain explicit instructions as to how the next few
months would be played out.

Immediately after the meeting with Anwar, Khairy became the target of several ministers
closely allied to former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. Spearheaded by Samy Vellu,
ministers such as Rafidah Aziz, Azmi Khalid and Aziz Shamsuddin openly questioned
Abdullah about his motives in sending Khairy to see Anwar. When Abdullah explained
that it was merely to facilitate his immigration needs, Samy Vellu laughed it off and told
Abdullah in no uncertain terms, “Next time I need a passport you can send your son-in-law
to see me.”

Rafidah Aziz accused Khairy of embarrassing the Prime Minister, using the old Malay
tactic of hitting the target indirectly. Aziz Shamsuddin, accused by Anwar Ibrahim as a
conspirator responsible for his sudden downfall, angrily remarked that Anwar could have
been met by a junior official of the immigration department instead of the son-in-law of the
Prime Minister himself. Azmi Khalid felt that, if at all, Anwar should have gone to meet
Khairy and not the other way around. Almost to a man the cabinet felt that Khairy was
reckless and his move idiotic. Secretly, they all knew that Abdullah had agreed to it, but
since Abdullah himself did not acknowledge that the move was under his specific
instructions, the ministers took the line of attacking Khairy as a stupid young man, wet
- 31 -
behind the ears and untutored in the art of fine politics.

The disbelief of the ministers was compounded by the seething silence of Najib who knew
that an Anwar unleashed is an Anwar unbound, and an Anwar unbound is a Najib
insecure. His hold on power and his chances of becoming the future Prime Minister not
only depended on the longevity of Abdullah Badawi’s rule, but was now further
complicated by the presence of Anwar who was adding a new dimension to the established
political scheme set by Mahathir in his legacy.

Ministers allied to Mahathir were bitterly unhappy about Khairy’s visit. They felt
something was afoot. They openly consulted Mahathir and reported to him the goings-on
in the few cabinet meetings held after the release. Mahathir’s office in the Petronas Twin
Towers suddenly became the site of a ‘shadow’ cabinet meeting, an extension of the regular
cabinet meeting in Putrajaya. Ministers began to congregate at Mahathir’s office on
Thursdays to voice out their displeasure at the threats posed by Anwar’s release and
Khairy’s backroom deals with the once heir-apparent.

One visit was particularly damaging to Khairy. A certain Malay minister (whose name is
not mentioned above) was so incensed by Khairy’s visit to Anwar that he initiated a list of
all Umno Youth leaders in the various divisions, segmented into two columns labelled
‘pro-Khairy’ and ‘anti-Khairy’. He showed the list to Dr Mahathir and encouraged the
former Prime Minister to allow one of his sons to be put forward as a challenger to Khairy.
The minister remarked that this was the time to do it as Khairy had yet to gather strength
in the divisions and was still seen by most ordinary members as an elite outsider. The
minister further reinforced the suggestion by saying that a challenge to Khairy would
either result in a victory that removes him from the future leadership of Umno or a loss,
but one that will finally shatter the myth of Khairy’s invincibility. Dr Mahathir demurred,
no commitment was made, but plans are being laid for Khairy to be the target of a
concerted attack.

It was then that Mahathir began to realise that the young man he so dismissively
discounted had now become the key instrument of a threat against his legacy. Mahathir
remarked to his secretary, Datuk Badriah, that Abdullah was digging his own grave by
letting Anwar go. Mahathir remarked that he himself found Anwar difficult to handle and
he had no confidence that Abdullah could do any better. In Mahathir’s eyes, Abdullah was
an inept fool who miscalculated by releasing Anwar.

What Mahathir did not know was that Abdullah did not really fully comprehend the
ramifications of Anwar’s release. In fact, it was Khairy who reckoned that Anwar’s release
would be beneficial to his own political career. Firstly, Khairy felt that Anwar would
always be a useful tool against other Umno politicians who might threaten Abdullah’s
throne; people such as Tengku Razaleigh and Najib. Secondly, Khairy felt releasing Anwar
and meeting him openly would increase his popularity (and Abdullah’s).

In the first instance, Khairy proved to be right. In fact, Anwar became the best
advertisement for Abdullah’s government and which helped enhance his reputation for
- 32 -
fair play. In the second instance, Khairy severely miscalculated the first damaging attack on
his career.

Khairy’s decision to meet Anwar was met with a severe backlash. In Khairy’s mind, Umno
leaders would be glad to finally resolve the Anwar albatross. Instead, they felt that Khairy
and Abdullah had threatened Umno’s position by releasing its most feared critic. Khairy’s
former strong supporters such as Hishamuddin Hussein began to doubt the sincerity of
this brash young man. For the first time, Hishamuddin tried to reach out to his bitter rival
in family and in politics, Najib Tun Razak. The cousins became closer as a result of Khairy’s
doings and they started to strengthen their collective resolve to ensure that Khairy would
no longer take them for a ride.

Indeed, some Umno Youth leaders allied to Mahathir’s son and former Umno Youth
Treasurer Mokhzani began to orchestrate attacks on Khairy, ranging from the release of
poison-pen letters to SMSes accusing him of accommodating Anwar and of threatening the
established succession of Najib. Meetings were held by core groups of Umno Youth
members allied to the Mukhriz camp, notably in the Gopeng division, led by Aziz
Shamsuddin. Meetings were also held under the umbrella of the Ex-MARA Students
Association (ANSARA) led by Mukhriz.

Khairy was roundly booed by elements organised by Mokhzani and Mukhriz Mahathir
and for a time the situation was worrying enough for Abdullah to send his wife to
personally attend Umno Youth sessions so as to embarrass the jeerers into toning down
their attacks.

For the first time in his political career, Khairy felt the brunt of open displeasure. Always
sheltered by Abdullah, Khairy was not used to being at the receiving end of brickbats. He
immediately changed tack and, while only a few weeks before he had praised Anwar’s
release as the realisation of a free and fair democracy, he now roundly criticised Anwar as a
traitor to Umno’s cause and further stated that the doors to Umno are forever closed to
him. He even went so far as to say that Anwar was finished, perhaps forgetting that
however much he tried to convince the Umno delegates, few believed him as he had
already done the unthinkable by visiting Anwar’s house and paying his respects to the
former Deputy Prime Minister. As a party of interests, Umno was not willing to suddenly
throw open its doors to a man who had for six whole years roundly denounced Umno as
corrupt and incapable of self-reform. Most importantly, Hishamuddin did not believe him
and Mukhriz did not believe him.

Khairy’s about-turn became the laughingstock of the Umno delegates. In the words of
former Umno Deputy Youth Chief Nazri Aziz, “Those who sought to change Umno
instead often find that it is Umno which changes them.” Khairy felt the wrath of an Umno
whose anger had been roused and it dawned upon him that the party would only give him
support if he toed the line -- and that it may even go so far as to punish him for acting
independently and out of Umno’s character.

Khairy had become a prisoner of Umno’s whims.
- 33 -

Anwar’s release could not have been achieved by the mere fiat of the judiciary. It was clear
that the cowed Malaysian judiciary was a mere tool of the powers-that-be, and it was the
tacit admission by Abdullah that he would not interfere in the due process of the law
which allowed justice to finally prevail. But it is tainted justice that only presumes to act
fairly when it is told to do so in no uncertain terms. And there is no doubt that Khairy
played a very important role in influencing the court’s decision.

In a sense, Khairy lost some significant support from Umno circles. But it was a small price
to pay for gaining the reputation as the person who finally managed to pull off the
unthinkable, that is the release of Anwar Ibrahim from jail. Of course, the public at large,
not being members of Umno, would identify Khairy as the sensible leader of that party
who could be relied upon to ‘do the right thing’.

In Munich, Anwar’s officers kept in constant touch with Khairy. Khairy received almost
daily updates of the goings-on at the Alpha Klinik, including the number of Umno Division
Heads who visited Anwar in hospital. Anwar’s secretaries proudly showed visitors
Khairy’s SMSes, thereby proclaiming that Khairy’s sympathies lay with their cause. The
clear implication of these happenings was that, firstly, there was a deal between Anwar
and Abdullah which was heavily influenced by input by Khairy. Secondly, that Anwar was
an equation in a political plan concocted by Khairy to secure Abdullah’s rule, plus for his
own ascendancy to the highest office in the land. Thirdly, Anwar would not be an
irrelevance in the great political scheme that is Malaysian politics, at least under the rule of
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

The big question is, what are the steps being planned?
- 34 -
PART 8: Sunset, sunrise

Several weeks ago, one of Anwar Ibrahim’s closest confidante and former Political
Secretary, Azmin Ali, gave a rather revealing interview. In that interview he remarked
quite casually, as if it was a matter of course, that since his release in September 2004,
Anwar Ibrahim had spent quite a bit of time on telephone conversations with Prime
Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Azmin was coy about the subjects of discussion
though, referring to them as “general conversations” about current issues and government
policies.

In a sense, Azmin was hinting that Anwar was giving Abdullah advice on how to make his
government perform better. Presumptuous though it may sound - considering the lofty
nature of the office of the Malaysian Prime Minister – Azmin’s statement nevertheless
reveals that while Anwar was persona non grata for six long years, he is now back in the
thick of Malaysian politics.

Sceptics may be forgiven for thinking that what Azmin said was mere boast to counter the
frustrations of many opposition supporters who feel that Anwar is currently spending too
much time overseas. Perhaps Azmin was reflecting on the days when he played a role as
the key ‘insider of insiders’ within the Anwar office to shape and mould the daily strategies
for the powers-that-be. Yet, such open and casual remarks belie at least a glimmer of the
truth.

The fact is, within Anwar’s inner circle, where the walls are more porous than a sponge
cake, such juicy titbits are rarely kept confidential. In fact, while Abdullah’s conversations
may take place out of sight of other government leaders, on Anwar’s side, phone calls are
often made through a mobile in front of visitors and other courtiers. Nowadays, Anwar’s
telephone conversations are often witnessed by sundry others such as visiting Islamic
scholars, fellow opposition leaders, and certainly close aides who are never far from
Anwar’s person. No doubt, quite justifiably, Anwar’s aides take a certain pride in the fact
that their leader is in frequent communication with the Prime Minister of the country.

Immediately upon his release, Anwar stated that he wanted to formally meet up with
Abdullah, a request repeated from his hospital bed in Germany. However, his request for
an appointment, submitted by Azmin, went unheeded. In the midst of immense fear by the
UMNO leadership that Abdullah was about to re-accommodate a ‘traitor’ to the UMNO
cause, Anwar took the initiative of meeting Abdullah in a public function during Hari Raya.

The gesture was meant to be an open signal to Abdullah that Anwar poses no danger to
him, at least as far as threats to Abdullah’s tenure is concerned. In spite of UMNO’s fear
that Anwar’s ghost will return to haunt those who reviled him during those six years, it
appears that Anwar is no threat to the Prime Minister and President of UMNO himself.
Indeed, Anwar has become a useful icon to project Abdullah’s image internationally as a
fair leader who backed genuine reforms, while at home amongst the common people, the
testimony of Abdullah giving tacit acknowledgement that judges should be free and
independent to decide Anwar’s case would forever remain a mark of his integrity. In spite
- 35 -
of the view by UMNO leaders that Anwar should never be readmitted to the party,
Abdullah evidently holds a different personal view.

Of course, this view may not appear obvious at this stage. Anwar’s release had provoked
UMNO leaders into a frenzy of irrational attacks where they criticised ‘groups’ (read:
Abdullah and his inner circle) who might intend for Anwar to come back into UMNO. The
fear by UMNO leaders such as Hishammuddin Hussein and Mahathir’s sons, Mukhriz and
Mokhzani, was real. Few of the leadership can match Anwar’s charisma and, in a fair
contest where Anwar is allowed to be on equal footing with other contenders, he might just
win. Nevertheless, the brickbats against Abdullah and his son-in-law (who had
presumptuously visited Anwar on the night of his release) was sufficient to make both
back down from their apparent support of Anwar’s case in the early days of September
2004.

However, behind the scenes, both Abdullah and Khairy have continued to at least maintain
some form of relationship with Anwar. Abdullah himself has said nothing about any
telephone calls to or from Anwar. Khairy, on the other hand, has been very open to his
inner circle about his constant communication and, indeed, about meetings with Anwar’s
stalwarts such as PKR Youth Leader Ezam Mohd Nor. Those in the know include Khairy’s
men who are obvious Anwar supporters; such as Zambry Abdul Kader as well as the usual
suspects such as Norza Zakaria.

The reason for these different attitudes between Abdullah and Khairy is quite evident.
Abdullah is already Prime Minister and has little real and immediate needs for Anwar
unless, for example, he is challenged by forces aligned to his predecessor, Mahathir, and
perhaps led by his own deputy Najib Tun Razak. On the other hand, Khairy wants to be
Prime Minister but is not yet there, so he needs as many allies as possible given the great
big battles that would most certainly come in future.

The relationship between Khairy and Anwar’s inner circle started in the early days of
Abdullah’s appointment as the Deputy Prime Minister. At that time, both Anwar and
Ezam were in jail - the former in Sungai Buloh Prison, the latter in the Kamunting
Detention Centre followed by Kajang Prison. In an effort to pressure the government, Ezam
had communicated with Abdullah’s son, Kamaluddin, through an intermediary within
UMNO Youth, to solicit Abdullah’s help in exerting some influence in their particular
cases. But Kamaluddin was a businessman with little interest in politics, and although
several notes passed between Ezam and Kamaluddin, nothing happened until Kamaluddin
one day remarked to his sister, Nori, that he had been in communication with Ezam.

Nori took some interest in the correspondence. She referred the matter to Abdullah and,
according to Ezam, asked Abdullah to see what he can do about releasing the ISA
detainees. Nori also informed Khairy who immediately realised that there might be some
value in making some small concessions to Ezam, with a future view of assessing the
situation once Abdullah finally becomes Prime Minister.

At first the trail went cold. Then, through former Keadilan Vice Youth Chief Hamdan Taha
- 36 -
who had left the party to rejoin UMNO, a message was passed to Khairy that the Anwar
camp was open to negotiations.

Hamdan Taha had spent many years as Ezam’s right-hand man. His re-entry into UMNO
was never made officially, but quietly. Nevertheless, he found himself advising several key
members of the UMNO Youth Exco, notably former Anwar supporter Zambry Abdul
Kader. Zambry often invited Hamdan to attend some sessions of UMNO Youth meetings
where he was introduced to the rising star Khairy Jamaluddin. After several meetings,
Khairy realised that Hamdan was a useful source of info regarding happenings in the
opposition parties, as Hamdan still maintained relationships with several key opposition
leaders, including Ezam himself. Though he was now in UMNO, Hamdan often spoke to
Ezam either by phones smuggled into the prison or through personal meetings during
Ezam’s many court hearings. Indeed, Hamdan was Ezam’s closest friend.

After a certain UMNO Youth Exco meeting, Hamdan took Khairy aside and told him of his
‘solution’. According to Hamdan, Khairy could play off Anwar against anyone threatening
Abdullah’s position. Hamdan remarked that Mahathir’s deputies had an unfortunate trait
of falling by the wayside before becoming Prime Minister. While Keadilan had originally
attacked Abdullah’s appointment as Deputy Prime Minister, they could be easily
persuaded to change tack and instead focus their vitriol only on Mahathir, but not
Abdullah. In return, the cases of Anwar and the ISA detainees should be viewed
favourably by Abdullah (then Home Minister) even if he could not openly interfere.

The idea intrigued Khairy enough to cause him to begin sending Ezam feelers through
Hamdan.

These feelers did not result in any immediate relief for either Anwar or Ezam. Khairy was
being very cautious, as he was being intensely watched by both the Mahathir camp and his
enemies within Abdullah’s office. Some of Abdullah’s supporters such as the late Fawzi
Basri and Dr. Nordin Kardi were intense enemies of Anwar since the 1970s when they took
up the ultra-nationalist position against Anwar’s liberal Islamic view. Indeed, Abdullah’s
inner circle included such personalities as Aziz Shamsuddin who had openly celebrated
Anwar’s sacking in September 1998 with a kenduri. If Khairy was to play the role of
communicating with the Anwar camp, he had to do it in a way so as not to rock the boat
that was very fragile indeed.

At this point, Ezam stepped up his moves. He instructed Keadilan supporters to attack
Khairy through the Internet. He also made sure that Khairy was criticised, especially in
student gatherings which at that time were heavily infiltrated by both PAS and Keadilan
supporters. The message eventually got to Khairy that he should accommodate Ezam or
face enemies not only within UMNO but amongst the opposition as well. While a battle on
two fronts is not unusual, it would make Khairy’s life simpler by only facing the enemy
within who can be easily controlled by the power of the name of his father-in-law.

Khairy sent Ezam a message that he was open to negotiations.

- 37 -
From then on, things went smoothly. Khairy began to acquire knowledge of what Ezam
wanted, namely that Anwar should be released by whatever means, even if it did not fully
clear his name. The most important thing was that Anwar should no longer be in jail - even
exile was preferable. All sorts of permutations were discussed. These included the idea of
sending Anwar overseas for medical treatment and remaining there for at least some time.
Khairy even sent a note during a meeting in the United States to Ezam confidante Adlan
Benan, a fellow Oxbridge graduate, on whether it was possible for Anwar to consider
rejoining UMNO. The message was duly passed through the lines to Ezam and the answer
given back to Khairy. Ezam’s contacts in Selangor UMNO communicated with his
strongman, SD Johari, that Khairy was very positive about cooperating with Ezam.

At all times, Anwar was kept informed of the negotiations.

The situation became clearer once Ezam was released by the Shah Alam High Court.
Khairy now held open meetings with Ezam who came accompanied by one or two of his
supporters. At this point of time, the Keadilan leadership was frantic because Anwar was
getting seriously ill and all efforts were geared towards his release. Khairy was one of
many UMNO leaders believed close to Abdullah who was approached by Anwar’s inner
circle. Other UMNO leaders such as Aziz Shamsuddin and Mahathir’s political secretary
(but really an Abdullah man) Johari Baharom were also approached. Yet none were as
receptive as Khairy. The others felt that Anwar was historical baggage. Khairy had a
different view. Anwar had a place in his future universe, where Khairy was the brightest
sun.

It was at this time that Khairy began to think of future threats to Abdullah’s rule. When it
was clear that Abdullah was indeed going to succeed Mahathir and that his appointment as
successor was not a mere ruse, Khairy began to think of how to secure his long-term
political future. It had been an easy rise as son-in-law of the leader of the country, but what
if your father-in-law was no longer the leader? What if Abdullah’s tenure was shortened?
Relying on Najib Tun Razak would be useless as he saw Abdullah as a rival and would
never entertain putting Khairy in a prominent position within his own government. Setting
up a rival to Najib within UMNO was also impossible given Najib’s seniority and apparent
support from forces aligned to the Mahathir camp. The only alternative was to put a
constant threat to Najib in the form of a man more likely to beat him in an open and fair
contest. Such a man was Anwar Ibrahim, and Khairy understood that for at least the first
term, if not throughout Abdullah’s tenure, Anwar could play this role.

It was a role that Anwar and his inner circle were willing to play. After Anwar’s release,
Ezam continued to meet up with Khairy. While Khairy was secretive about the subject of
discussion, it was a one-sided secret. Ezam told many of his followers about his meetings.
Indeed, he often remarked that Khairy gave him information regarding the goings-on in
UMNO far before such information became public.

Recently, Ezam had a meeting with both Khairy and Reezal Merican Naina Merican -
where Khairy apparently told Ezam that UMNO Vice-President Isa Samad would be
handed down a six-year suspension for money politics and other corruption offences.
- 38 -
Ezam told the same to some of his closest friends, including allies of Isa himself. The
information itself was not unusual but for the fact that the meeting allegedly happened six
days before Isa was called up to face the judgement of the UMNO Disciplinary Committee.

The trust shared between the two is more likely the trust of political allies rather than
friends. While both share the traits of rising young to the inner circles of power in
Malaysia, both are also very ambitious men, skilled in the art of political deception. It
remains to be seen whether the friendship between Khairy and Ezam is a genuine one, or
merely a marriage of convenience.

In the meantime, Anwar Ibrahim continues to make his long-distance calls to Abdullah. As
Anwar himself has said, he should not be written off. No one has done that, definitely not
Abdullah and Khairy. Should the scenario change and the attacks by Mahathir upon
Abdullah’s administration grow stronger, there will be no doubt that the setting sun may
rise again to illuminate Abdullah’s rule. Together with Anwar, Khairy believes he can
defeat any UMNO leader who tries to challenge him, including the people who are backed
by Mahathir himself. While waiting for the time to come, Khairy prepares another
important weapon always necessary for any big battle within UMNO – the weapon called
money…
- 39 -
PART 9: Birth of a salesman

It is a sad but true fact that in Malaysia money is the lifeblood of politics. Corruption is
endemic within political parties and money is the grease that smoothens one’s climb up the
slippery pole of power. It is useful not only to reward the voters and supporters but also to
make other people fear challenging your position. The more money you have, the more
able you are to defend your position simply for the fact that other people who look at your
immense wealth get cold feet from being a potential challenger. A person who is not
capable yet but backed by hundreds of millions would triumph over a much more capable
person who has nothing to show in terms of wealth except his own intelligence, track
record and hard work.

Khairy Jamaluddin fully realises this. The history of UMNO Youth is laden with such
examples and it is clear that, at least since the 1990s, UMNO Youth has chosen money
instead of ability. This is a reflection of the main party, but UMNO Youth’s preoccupation
with wealth was emphasised by the rule of Zahid Hamidi who used the immense millions
he gathered as Bank Simpanan Nasional chairman to steamroll his way into politics while a
still relatively unknown in terms of political quality. All other challengers such as Rahim
Thamby Chik and Isa Samad then realised that a person like Zahid could only be matched
with an equal if not better power at patronage. Money politics was born in the heady days
of the 1990s when UMNO lost its conscience and went headlong to worship at the feet of
Mammon.

Khairy Jamaludin did not start out immensely rich, although his family was well off due to
the position of his father as a prominent member of the diplomatic community. The family
could not equal other notable scions of UMNO Youth such as Hishamuddin Hussein -
Najib Tun Razak clan who are descended from the first Malay billionaire, Tan Sri Noah, or
the Sheikh Fadzir family, comprising of Kadir, Aziz, Musa and Haidar whose palatial
Kulim mansion dwarfed even the National Palace in Kuala Lumpur. So Khairy realised he
had to build up his wealth fairly quickly especially since, by Malaysian standards,
Abdullah Badawi was a rather poor fellow.

Khairy laid the ground for his political treasury by setting a base from which his
supporters could spread their tentacles. Unlike other UMNO politicians who relied almost
entirely on government contracts to enrich themselves, this was but a small part of Khairy’s
own tactics. That is not to say that Khairy doesn’t engage himself in getting government
contracts for some of his political cronies. Rozabil Abdul Rahman is one of the major
recipients of government largesse and in many countries through which he has gained
government contracts, indirect shareholdings are gained by members of Khairy’s family.
Contracts which have been awarded to Rozabil (and therefore Khairy) include such diverse
projects as the provision of clean drinking water to the hundreds of schools in East
Malaysia to the provision of pipes in government offices in Kedah. As time grew by,
UMNO politicians trying to curry favour with Khairy gave contracts to people who they
thought were aligned to him. For this reason, Kedah Menteri Besar Syed Razak Syed Zain
appointed Khairy’s mother, Datin Rahmah, to 'advisory positions' within the state
economic and financial structure.
- 40 -

Of course, many already know by now that the AP King, Haniff Aziz, is a first cousin to
Khairy. Fingers point towards Khairy’s family relationship as the reason for Haniff, a
former MITI official, being given tens of thousands of APs without any proper
qualification. The APs are being granted in spite of the lack of showrooms and are
immediately sold off to other car importers who are not able to exert the same influence on
the minister in charge. But herein lies the real reason for Haniff’s success. Being a cousin to
Khairy is of course useful but not key to him succeeding to the throne of AP King. It was
his ability to woo the Queen, Rafidah Aziz, since at least for some five years Haniff Aziz
has been an important part of Rafidah’s life. His intimate relationship with Rafidah was the
door opener to his hundreds of millions.

But while these contracts are certainly significant, they are peanuts compared to the
stripping of national assets that happened, for example, at the hands of people such as
Daim Zainuddin, Rafidah Aziz and Zahid Hamidi. Indeed, it does not gather for Khairy
more than a few million dollars, which pale in comparison to the amount of money needed
to pay your way to the top of the UMNO hierarchy. They also are blatantly illegal and
therefore a political minefield for the future of any politicians in an era where the Prime
Minister has openly announced his so-called war on corruption. So Khairy had to think of
bigger plans by which money could be obtained, firstly in large quantities, and secondly in
ways which do not appear too illegal.

The first vehicle which Khairy exploited to lay a base for acquiring his wealth is, again,
through Ethos Consulting. There are two main reasons for Khairy wanting to plant Ethos
Consulting in Najib’s office. The key reason of politics has already been explained in the
earlier series of these chronicles. And the second reason, of course, is economic. Najib Tun
Razak is a cash cow because of his control over large amounts of defence spending. Further
to that, his connection with Mahathir and the support he receives from the former Prime
Minister allows him a greater access to opportunities in the national asset system. Ethos
Consulting was placed there to provide a stepping stone for Khairy to tap into some of
these resources. The head of Ethos Consulting, Dr Liew, was officially given the task of
providing ideas to revamp defence spending and procurement procedures (in spite of him
having extremely close ties to politically sensitive Singaporeans). In actual fact, Dr Liew
provided Khairy with information on the many avenues where his cronies could be
brought in to secure important contracts at jacked-up prices, as is the norm in the Defence
Ministry for many decades.

The other source of money within Najib’s purview is Felda. Mahathir had previously given
the task of looking into Felda to Second Finance Minister Jamaludin Jarjis, a known Najib
supporter. Abdullah had demoted Jamaludin, but because much of the work done by
Jamaludin to implement 'changes' in Felda had reached penultimate stages of planning, as
a compromise it was then put under the overlordship of Najib. By putting Felda under
Najib, Abdullah hoped that Jamaludin would not be too disappointed and Najib would be
placated that this huge cash cow would not be totally out of his grasp.

However, though Felda may be under Najib, key decisions regarding the agency are being
- 41 -
heavily influenced by Khairy and Ethos Consulting. Initially, the task of restructuring
FELDA and managing the sale of its assets was given to Jamaludin’s favorite vehicle,
Avenue Assets. Avenue was supposed to identify areas where Felda could be privatised,
whereby plump assets would then be sold off to key Jamaludin cronies. Jamaludin, the
second Finance Minister who acted as if he was first Finance Minister, had placed people
loyal to him and (therefore loyal to Najib) in key positions in the restructuring project.
When Abdullah became Prime Minister and Jamaludin was removed from this
responsibility, Ethos Consulting was brought in to replace Avenue. Jamaludin’s people
were booted out and Khairy’s came in. One of the first recommendations by Ethos
Consulting was the divestment of non-core assets, for example, in the banking and service
industry. Ethos immediately suggested that people associated to Khairy be appointed as
advisors to the deal, therefore making a huge percentage on the sell off. This nets Khairy
commissions in terms of millions which are ostensibly perfectly legal.

While Felda continues to be a 'non-decision', Ethos Consulting, on behalf of Khairy, is
slowly trawling through the assets list. The so-called revamp of government, economic and
asset interests heavily disguises the more sophisticated ways in which Khairy makes his
money. The common voters believe that politicians get rich by getting government
contracts, patronage and other perks. In reality, this has long been discarded by the
Abdullah government in favour of providing commissions through financial advisory roles
to people associated with the Prime Minister and his son-in-law’s team.

It is in this capacity that Khairy serves as Director of Corporate Advisory in ECM Libra. It
was not his first choice, quite obviously. When the rumours flew that Abdullah had no
brain and Khairy ran the show in almost everything in the Prime Minister’s office, Khairy
started looking for a new way out that would put him in an equally powerful position as
being inside the PM’s office. In fact, he wanted a position powerful enough to build a
treasure trove that would scare his enemies from the 'old guard' within Abdullah's office
and shut their mouths once and for all. So he used the restructuring of GLCs as the avenue
to success.

The restructuring of Khazanah was the first opportunity. It was based on the usage of Key
Performance Indices (KPIs), an idea mooted to the government of Malaysia by Ethos
Consulting as a so-called original idea, where in actual fact, copied almost whole from the
government of Singapore’s policy on Temasek Holdings, a well-known government
investment vehicle. In restructuring Khazanah, Khairy hoped that he would be appointed
to the most important position there, namely the position of Chief Executive Officer. But
the people within Khazanah were mainly civil servants of long tenure and career
experience who were hostile to the idea of a 28-year old CEO. In addition, Khairy had
absolutely no business or economic background, having never worked for any such entity
in his entire life. The only position Khairy had ever held outside of government was that of
a part-time journalist in a foreign newspaper - and even that only for a few short months.

So the pressure within Khazanah to refuse Khairy’s demands grew. High-ranking civil
servants got on their side several top accountants and corporate leaders who told Abdullah
in quiet whispers that such a move would be fatal to his political career so early on in his
- 42 -
premiership. They argued that if Abdullah really wanted a young, vibrant heading
Khazanah, they could instead be chosen from the many consultants and restructuring
experts that grew out of the 1997 crisis. So Azman Mokhtar was chosen instead.

But Khairy did not give up. Azman’s appointment carried an implicit condition that while
Azman was the CEO with the responsibility of deciding Khazanah policies, a Chief
Operating Officer (COO) would be appointed to run Khazanah's day-to-day affairs. Azman
was called in by Second Finance Minister, Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yackop, to officially
announce the offer and it was hinted to him that Khairy should be appointed the COO.
Indeed, Nor told Azman that Abdullah had already given instructions to prepare a letter
appointing Khairy to that position.

Azman said nothing. After settling in, he summoned Khairy to his office. Khairy thought
Azman wanted to tell him when he could start work as the COO. Khairy confidently
strutted into Azman’s office and plonked himself in the seat opposite Azman. Azman
casually started by saying that there was a position in Khazanah which he was supposed to
fill. Khairy replied that he knew. Azman then said that Khairy’s name had been mentioned
for that office. Khairy then again smugly replied that he knew that too. Azman said that
Khairy seemed eminently suited for that position and to confirm his initial finding, he
would appreciate Khairy sending him a CV so that he could check Khairy’s credentials.
Khairy was crestfallen and left the interview in a huff.

Subsequently, Khairy realised that Azman was politely saying to him that he was not
suited for that position and that he was being too greedy. It was clear that Azman was
hinting at Khairy’s lack of economic and financial experience. While Khairy was initially
angry at Azman, he also realised that Azman had saved him from a potential political
minefield. So he set about aiming to be a future CEO of Khazanah instead of a current
COO. To do that he needed to gain at least some perception of experience.

Khairy went to see his old stooge Kalimullah Hassan Masheerul Hassan. Kali was the
'relationship partner' of the troika of two Chinese and one Indian who had successfully
built ECM Libra into a powerful financial group from scratch. Kali, from his own
experience, realised that Khairy would be at sea and lost in a real financial job. As a young
go-getter and impatient politician, Khairy was not suited to make discounted cash-flows
and read spreadsheets. So Kali suggested instead that Khairy join the corporate advisory
team of ECM Libra as a relationship person. In other words, Khairy would use his contacts
rather than his brains to make ECM Libra richer. The common people who are not well-
versed in finance matters would be forgiven to think that Khairy’s position as director of
corporate advisory means that he is responsible for financial decisions. Despite having the
title of 'Director of Corporate Advisory', Khairy is not a real director in the sense of being a
company director. A director of ECM Libra simply means that he is a bigshot but does not
entail that he is an actual management board member. Corporate Advisory is a cover-all
term which looks financial but in reality only means that the people in this position are
glorified salesmen that bring business in for the company.

The poor, innocent, common and ordinary UMNO Youth member would not know that in
- 43 -
actual fact their Vice Youth Chief is a mere salesman, albeit with a grander title. And yet
that grand title is not mere glory. Khairy, unlike other salesman, has access to some
powerful money-making opportunities. Khazanah is the first of many government
institutions he would sink his teeth into...
- 44 -
PART 10 : The National Auctioneer

Azman Mokhtar’s rejection of Khairy Jamaluddin’s demands to be the Chief Operating
Officer (COO) of Khazanah was a massive blow to his ego. Khairy had hoped his
appointment to Khazanah would be a mere formality. Instead, he found himself politely
turned away and in no uncertain terms labelled as young and inexperienced. It was the
same reason that saw him catapulted out of the Prime Minister’s Office after successfully
planning Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s historical victory in the 11th General Election.

As the main campaign officer of the General Election, Khairy not only devised the image
which projected Abdullah as a kinder, gentler man than Mahathir, but he was also
instrumental in selecting the Barisan Nasional candidates. A three-man committee
comprised of Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, Barisan Nasional Executive
Secretary Yaacob Muhammad and Khairy himself were given an almost completely
freehand in picking and choosing the ‘lucky ones’ who would be given the watikah
(authority letter) to become candidates. But the other two members of the committee were
left without doubts that it was Khairy who was the eyes and ears of the Prime Minister and
had the most sway in making decisions.

In the aftermath of the General Election, Khairy could not help but preen and boast about
his role in masterminding the glorious victory that was secured by the BN. This angered
not only Najib but other officers in Abdullah’s circle who had been in service longer. Led
by Chief Private Secretary Thajudeen Abdul Wahab, they mounted enough pressure to call
upon Abdullah to cease the unnecessary brickbats that he attracted through Khairy. By
removing the young man from his immediate official circle, Thajudeen told Abdullah that
he could still rely on Khairy as a family member, but it would be wrong to continue having
him as an official advisor. Fawzi Basri, another Abdullah confidante, suggested that Khairy
be given a role in another ministry. It was then that Khairy ally, Ahmad Zaki Zahid, who
was also an officer in the PM’s Department, suggested that Khairy be made Chief Executive
Officer of Khazanah.

Abdullah discussed the matter with second Minister of Finance Nor Mohamed Yakcop.
Both agreed that the then CEO, Anuwar Aji, was incompetent and bumbling. Nevertheless,
Nor Mohamed thought that a 28-year old CEO was ridiculous given Khairy’s absolute lack
of experience in running a business. In fact, other than being a Special Officer to the Prime
Minister, Khairy had absolutely no other working experience except as a trainee journalist
in the print and electronic media. Nor suggested instead that Khairy be made the Chief
Operating Officer, only one step below the hierachy. In that capacity, Khairy would be
responsible for the day-to-day running of Khazanah, while the CEO concentrated on major
policy decisions. It was in fact very much the job that Khairy had been doing in Abdullah’s
office.

Nor Mohamed Yakcop came to power on the back of advising former Prime Minister
Mahathir Mohamad in imposing capital controls and a Ringgit peg as a cure to the Asian
financial crisis of 1997. Previously allied to Anwar Ibrahim protégé Wan Hasni as advisor
to the Abrar group of companies, Nor Mohamed had also worked as a Bank Negara officer,
- 45 -
a role where he lost RM15 billion on bad foreign currency trading bets. It was said that Nor
Mohamed made so much money from the foreign exchange foray that he bought a
racehorse for the Melbourne Cup race and named it after Bank Negara.

In his stint as Special Advisor to the PM, Nor Mohamed had brought in some bright young
things, mostly graduates from Oxford and Cambridge (but not all). These thirty-
somethings were either accountants or lawyers who had worked in various capacities as
restructuring experts. It was one of them, Azman Mokhtar of Binafikir, who Nor Mohamed
chose as CEO of Khazanah. Nor Mohamed had thought that being from this group, Azman
would be amenable to having fellow Oxford graduate Khairy as his effective deputy.

But Azman was never enthusiastic about Khairy. In the first place, he did not like someone
watching his every move. He could have made much more money as a Binafikir Managing
Partner than doing ‘national service’ in Khazanah. In order to perform his Khazanah
duties, he wanted a free rein. Having assets of over RM60 billion through 11 subsidiaries,
16 associate companies and hundreds of other minority investments, both in Malaysia and
overseas, Khazanah was also too rich a plum for one like Khairy who would be so easily
tempted. But the most important reason for Azman rejecting Khairy’s immediate move to
Khazanah was that Azman had his own bunch of bright young things who were in no way
sympathetic to Khairy. Equally educated with first class degrees from the top universities
of the world, these young man in their late 20s and early 30s were swiftly put in various
positions in Khazanah, ranging from Personal Assistants to Directors of Investments,
Equities and Corporate Finance, where they were expected to concentrate on the job.

These young men did not like Khairy because Khairy represented the scheming face of
politics. They knew that Khairy’s presence would force them to compromise business
principles in favour of political expediencies. Khairy would bring in cronies and involve
them in Khazanah deals. More importantly, Khairy would be a negative influence on the
professionals as he would demand every bit of information to be directed to him. It was
this group of Azman’s boys who sighed the loudest when they heard that Khairy was
going to be made COO, and it was the same group who felt greatly relieved when Azman
tore up the appointment letter which had been prepared by Nor Mohamed Yackop’s
Political Secretary, Norza Zakaria, waiting only to be signed by Khazanah Chairman and
Khairy’s father-in-law, Abdullah Badawi.

Khairy knew that the young things in Khazanah were not in the same boat as his own
Oxbridge supporters in Ethos Consulting and other commercial arms used by him as
political vehicles. Whereas the latter could be expected to bend and bow to Khairy’s every
wish, the former often made fun of Khairy, even if only behind his back. They laughed at
his inability to understand basic business procedures, including the reading of
spreadsheets and business plans. Khairy was not a complete idiot in such matters, but the
six months he spent as a compere for a TV show was hardly the experience needed to
understand corporate finance. In spite of that, Kalimullah Hassan had appointed Khairy to
a Corporate Finance position in ECM Libra on the basis that he himself (Kalimullah) had
no such experience but could just rely on his networking to get deals for his partnership.

- 46 -
Khairy realised he could not leave Khazanah totally in the hands of these young people
who were so indifferent to his political ambitions. When Azman rebuffed him, he used
another tactic to put his tentacles within the Khazanah system. The swift appointment of
Azman meant that many of the old brooms within Khazanah also had to be replaced.
Abdullah was persuaded by Khairy to get rid of long-time civil servants and replace them
with so-called professionals. Azman nominated the majority of these, but there were some
who managed to squeak through by the grace and favour of Khairy. Khairy wanted to use
them in the same way that Omar Ong was being used in Najib’s office. They were his spies
and they were also responsible for giving him the inside details of the most juicy of
Khazanah’s pick of business deals.

Foremost amongst these was a friend of Khairy’s from the Ethos Consulting circle called
Gianendra Sarvananthan. Sarvananthan had studied with Khairy in England and had been
an active participant in his study circles. When Khairy ascended to Abdullah’s office,
Sarvananthan was his main advisor on business and economic matters. At that time,
Sarvananthan worked as a corporate advisor to a Singapore-based bank. In this capacity,
he introduced Khairy to various Singapore business interests, including the key investment
officers of Singapore government-owned Temasek Holdings and DBS Bank (more about
this later). When Khairy failed to get appointed to Khazanah, he decided that the next best
thing was to have Sarvananthan there in his place.

So Sarvananthan was quickly made Director of Investments in Khazanah. At the age of 29,
Sarvananthan, who had no business experience at all in Malaysia, was put in charge of
restructuring Khazanah’s businesses and most importantly its equity investments. In spite
of his apparent qualifications, Sarvananthan knew nothing about Khazanah’s agenda, nor
was he knowledgeable about the Malaysian financial and business environments. This
seemed no obstacle though as he was made the most important decision-maker in the so-
called Khazanah revamp.

Through Sarvananthan, Khairy put in many of his proposals to Khazanah. The modus
operandi is simple. Khairy would identify business deals where he or ECM Libra could
have a role. He would then inform Sarvananthan who would go to Azman with the same
proposal as if it had been his (Sarvananthan’s) own suggestion. When Khazanah made a
decision to execute the deal, Khairy (or his people) would be chosen by the counter-party
as their advisors. A percentage of commission would be given to Khairy for managing the
deal. While commissions are fairly small in other business circles, Khairy’s was massive
due to the huge size of Khazanah’s deal.

One example was Temasek’s entry into TM (previously known as Telekom Malaysia).
Temasek had bought 5% of TM for a price of RM1.6 billion in the early days of Abdullah’s
administration. It was supposed to be a signal of the major cross-strait thaw in the
relationship. As everyone knows, Temasek is also a substantial shareholder of SingTel, run
by Lee Hsien Yang, the youngest son of Singapore founder Lee Kuan Yew. It was a
massively important political and business deal. What the public did not know was that
Temasek had made payments to Khairy through a Singapore based company closely
associated to Khairy proxy and UMNO Supreme Council member, Norza Zakaria. The
- 47 -
company had its registered address in the Singapore Land Tower at 50 Raffles Place.
Seemingly, payments were made to the company for ‘consultancy services’, but in effect it
was nothing more than kickbacks.

The deal was made known to the highest levels of the UMNO leadership. Mustapa
Mohamad told former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad at his office in the Petronas
Twin Towers. Mahathir was outraged. While Mahathir himself was never free from blame
in his political and business deals, he always ‘kept it in the family’, i.e. within Malaysian
business circles. Never would he countenance selling anything to arch-enemy Singapore.

Mustapa was entrusted to gather a number of ministers to express through them that the
Temasek sale was not a wise move. In almost every country, telecommunications is
considered a strategic industry which is jealously guarded due to potential internal security
implications. Abdullah was informed that many of the engineers at SingTel (a Temasek
company) were experts trained by countries such as Israel, which had also provided input
for SingTel’s sophisticated satellite system. Gilat, an Israeli-owned satellite equipment
specialist, were technical advisors not only to SingTel but to the Singapore government.
Ministers such as Aziz Samsudin and Azmi Khalid said to Abdullah that opening up
strategic industries to Singapore could be dangerous especially since Singapore had
already been given footholds in other strategic concerns such as banking, insurance,
construction materials and the print media. Singapore’s agents such as Kalimullah Hassan
were installed in major positions and there was always the problem that the investments
made by Singapore could hardly be reciprocated by the poorer Malaysians.

The troika of Mustapa, Azmi and Aziz were powerful ministers because they were
remnants from Mahathir’s era and were known to be honest with Abdullah. Abdullah had
no choice but to agree to listen to their objections. However, Khairy persisted in his
attempts to get more money out of the Singapore-made deals. Almost all his business
connections were with Singapore. Norza Zakaria, his proxy, had Singapore-based interests.
ECM Libra, his employer, had a Singapore sister company whose main task was to marry
Singapore money to Malaysian assets. Kalimullah Hassan, his stooge, was a Singapore
apologist who built his career on delivering good press reports in Malaysia on behalf of
Singapore. Sarvananthan, his economic advisor, was Singapore trained and beholden to the
interest of Temasek. It was no wonder that Khairy is known in Singapore press circles as
‘The Quiet Singaporean’.

No major foreign investor would ever want to be in a minority position for too long. So
Temasek pushed hard to increase their holdings in TM by another 5%. Given current
market capitalisation, this would mean a purchase of almost RM1.7 billion. Khairy would
normally attract a commission of 1% to 2% to be shared amongst his associates – that
would come to approximately RM17 million to RM34 million Ringgit. In addition to the 16
million Ringgit received for the previous transaction, it was a lucrative business by any
means, as the only exertion on Khairy’s behalf would be to persuade Abdullah to agree to
the deal.

Since March this year, Abdullah has been persuading the cabinet to accept an increase in
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Temasek’s share of TM. But each time he has faced opposition from some of the ministers
who have been prepared and briefed by allies of Mahathir. In addition, Najib Tun Razak
has kept studiously silent on the move. In post-cabinet meetings, Najib has been consulting
with Mahathir and even former Finance Minister Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah on what to do
next. The advice has been the same, i.e., to delay it for as long as possible, if not, to outright
block the deal. If Temasek was allowed to gain further shares, Malaysia’s interests might be
compromised.

To break this scenario, Khairy had a discussion with Sarvananthan. They came up with the
idea of emphasising Malaysia’s increasing prominence in Singapore. Both hoped that if
Malaysian companies were seen to be buying bigger shares of Singapore entities, the
opposition to Singapore’s purchase of TM would be significantly compromised.
Sarvananthan suggested to Khazanah and TM CEO Abdul Wahid Omar that they increase
their shares in M1, the third major telecommunications provider in Singapore. However,
the deal came at a much higher price than it was really worth. Singapore would not sell
their assets cheap and Malaysia had to pay a massive premium for it. The effect of this is
that TM shares dived on the back of investor concerns that the move was unwise and
expensive. An immediate result of TM’s dip is that a purchase by Temasek of a new block
of shares would of course then be much cheaper. Such is the intelligence of Khairy’s boys
in Khazanah. Singapore: 2; Malaysia: 0.

At the current moment, Khairy is still hopeful that the deal will go through. But even if it
doesn’t, there are many more deals he could broker for Singapore. One such deal is the
restructuring of Felda’s assets. Felda is mainly concerned with plantations. But unknown to
many, it also has minority investments in major Malaysian banks such as Maybank. These
minority investments come to billions in real terms and are ripe picking for a foreign
investor if Felda were ever to decide that it would concentrate only on its core business of
plantations and divest its non-core holdings. Using ECM Libra, Khairy made a presentation
to Felda and Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak for these non-core assets to be sold to
Singapore interests. Khairy lined up both Temasek and DBS Bank to prepare for the sale of
these assets. Commission to Khairy? Somewhere in the range of RM30 million to RM50
million.

The problem with Felda is that the restructuring was not planned by Khairy. It was in fact
the idea of former Second Finance Minister Jamaludin Jarjis. Jamaludin had appointed his
nephew to prepare a plan through the Avenue Capital group. But when Abdullah took
office, the plan was shelved in favour of another proposed by Ethos Consulting, the Khairy
business arm. Abdullah thought that it would be easy to get Najib to agree to Ethos’ plan.
But Najib countermanded Ethos by placing Felda under a new officer, an ex-Mustapa
Mohamad ally named Ahmad Maslan. So the situation is at a deadlock. But both parties are
lobbying hard to get their hands on the juicy bits of Felda. What started out as Tun Razak’s
NEP initiative to help rural Malays has now become the pot of gold at the end of the
proverbial rainbow.

So far, Khairy has only taken commissions from these major deals. However, there is one
major government asset worth around RM1.7 billion which is about to become Khairy’s
- 49 -
road to the Forbes’ Billionaires List. The planning has taken some time due to the
complexity of the transactions. But Khariy and Norza Zakaria have now managed a
breakthrough. In the next few months, the plan will come to fruition...
- 50 -
PART 11: Khairy and his Money Factory

It’s not that difficult to be a millionaire in Malaysia. In fact, it’s not difficult even to be a
multi-millionaire - if you have the right connections. Almost always, having the right
connections means having a patron in UMNO, whether you are Malay, Indian or Chinese.
A godfather in UMNO will give you access to various money-making opportunities for
which you may not even need to lift a finger. Take, for example, Haniff Aziz, Khairy
Jamaluddin’s first cousin and one of the three ‘Heavenly Kings’ of APs.

As a former civil servant, Haniff would have made no more than RM100,000 per year.
Minus all his debts and living expenses, that would give him a saving of around RM30,000
per year, if he is frugal. Definitely, the amount is not enough to build a showroom for
imported cars. And yet, today, merely by having APs for two years, Haniff Aziz is worth
more than RM300 million. This obscene amount he obtained is not only a reflection of
Rafidah Aziz’s increasing disregard for honesty in government, but also a symbol of how
people close to Khairy are now becoming the New Untouchables of Malaysian business.

Khairy, like other UMNO warlords of the past, protects his friends even when they are
involved in blatant corruption. In Haniff’s case, he has so far escaped any action because
Khairy does not want a person who shared the same grandfather as him to be tarnished by
scandal, which will of course reflect badly on Khairy himself. So the distributors of Wald
automobiles have been first to take the brunt of the government’s reaction to Dr Mahathir’s
outburst over the misuse of APs. Wald was deemed responsible for rousing the anger of Dr
Mahathir because they were importing the same cars as Dr Mahathir’s son but under-
declared them by RM50,000-100,000 below the prices that were sold by Dr Mahathir’s
family business. Khairy hopes that by taking action on Wald, at least for the time being,
Haniff will escape being the target of public anger.

Perhaps, to politicians, loyalty is the most prized of values. Certainly, Khairy is loyal to his
circle of friends who now help him to amass great wealth. One of his Oxford
contemporaries managed to use Khairy’s name to escape paying a RM5 million overdue
loan to asset restructuring company Danaharta. The man’s father, a failed property
developer from Negeri Sembilan, went strutting up to see Danaharta’s officers and merely
proclaimed that they could not go after him ‘as his son is a friend of Khairy’s’. The end
result was that Danaharta grew scared and the man was allowed more time to repay his
loan. The mere use of Khairy’s name is now as useful as getting a passage straight to the
inner reaches of the gardens of wealth.

Khairy cannot be accused of being the only person in Abdullah’s administration who is
corrupt. Far from it, there are other figures in Abdullah’s circle who are also involved in
giving contracts, licenses, permits and commissions to selected supporters. No big fish has
ever found himself in trouble with Abdullah unless he is seen by Abdullah and his circle as
a Mahathir loyalist. That is the only criteria for being hauled up to face the judges.

The last billionaires in Malaysia created by government corruption were the allies of
former Finance Ministers Daim Zainuddin and Anwar Ibrahim. Khairy intends to regain
- 51 -
that title for himself. However, unlike them, he shuns the glamour of being a tycoon.
Instead, his long-term view is to make money through proxies, while he himself plays the
role of budding politician, perceived free from the taint of business. The reality of the
situation is that the group making money for Khairy acts almost always under his tutelage
and moves only when he says so.

The biggest coup that is being planned is a potential sale of residual assets of Danaharta,
currently being brokered by Khairy proxy Norza Zakaria through his allies in Singapore.
Norza’s company in Singapore is a joint venture with a certain Mr S who is a Singaporean
ex-classmate of Khairy in the United World College (UWC). Mr S, ostensibly, is a corporate
finance specialist with interests in real-estate and multimedia. He meets up with Khairy
and his Khazanah cronies to discuss various ways in which to strip the assets of Malaysian
GLCs and make a percentage commission on them. One of the advisors to Khairy is a
shareholder of Ethos Consulting who currently works with Deutsche Bank in Kuala
Lumpur.

Why Danaharta? The reason is quite simple. Danaharta was set up as a reaction to the
Asian financial crisis. It acquired, with the help of government funds, non-performing
loans from various Malaysian banks. In other words, it was a purchaser of debt at a
discount. Since its inception, Danaharta has successfully paid of RM11 billion in monies
borrowed from the government. However, it still has some RM1.7 billion in assets yet to be
sold. Danaharta, however, has a finite life. By the end of the year, it will close down and all
the assets must be sold.

Khairy, Norza, Mr S and the Deutsche Bank friend are planning to buy up all the assets
from Danaharta at massive discounts. Each will play his role. The Deutsche Bank friend has
been preparing a proposal to Danaharta Managing Director Zukri Abdul Samad to
purchase all of the assets. In this role, Deutsche Bank would act as a fronting bank, whereas
the monies to purchase the assets will come from a fund created by Khairy and Norza.
Currently, the proposal is being considered. Deutsche Bank is asking for a discount of
around 70% to the market price of the remaining assets, thus making a profit of around
RM1.2 billion. Danaharta is reluctant to lose so much to Deutsche Bank, given that many of
the assets have the potential of at least 80% recovery value.

But Danaharta is faced with a dilemma. Firstly, the decision to sell is not theirs to make.
Instead, it really is up to the Ministry of Finance, a ministry answerable directly to Khairy’s
father-in-law, Abdullah Badawi. Even though Abdullah is not personally involved in
making such decisions, relying instead on 2nd Finance Minister Nor Mohamed Yakcop, the
decision will be heavily influenced by three allies of Khairy in the ministry. In making such
decisions, Nor Mohamed will refer to two Special Officers to the Minister of Finance, who
are both Oxbridge cronies of Khairy and in fact appointed to their post by Khairy’s own
recommendations. The third ‘advisor’ is Norza himself, who is Political Secretary to Nor
Mohamed. No prizes for guessing what they would recommend…

As corporate advisory director in ECM Libra, Khairy will lobby for the plan to be accepted.
Deutsche Bank will come in as the apparent buyer. In actual fact, the main beneficiary will
- 52 -
be the Khairy and Norza fund, which needs only around RM500 million to acquire the
billion Ringgit profit. Of course, neither Khairy nor Norza has enough cash at the moment
to fulfil this plan. But if they cannot come up with the cash, a bank guarantee will suffice
until they successfully sell off the assets at a higher price than what they paid during the
purchase. The key point here is that anyone can make quick bucks as a middleman, but
only one middleman, Khairy, has the clout to influence such important decisions without
having to face the prospect of a rival offer.

No one believes that the assets will be valued properly. Khairy has planted many people in
the Ministry of Finance, Bank Negara and other such financial institutions who answer
directly to him. Most of them were his contemporaries in Singapore and the United
Kingdom. While they do not aspire to get half as rich as Khairy, in performing their
services to Khairy, they are rewarded by a fast-track career and side perks of being
involved in lucrative insider dealing projects.

Khairy gets a copy of the minutes of Ministry of Finance, Bank Negara, Khazanah and
Danaharta’s meetings as soon they are printed. Norza and the other Special Assistants to
the Ministers of Finance make sure that Khairy gets to see the choicest deals. The other
young Khairy allies in these institutions report to Khairy on any potential rivals. They also
use various tactics to thwart other businessmen from securing deals which have been
identified by Khairy as his to take. When a purchaser, for example, of a Khazanah asset
gives a proposal to that organisation, the information goes through two channels – the
official Azman Mokhtar route and the unofficial Khairy route. If Khairy objects to the deal,
it will be blocked. Usually no reply is given to the proposal except that it is ‘being
considered’. But it never reaches execution because not long afterwards a ‘more acceptable’
proposal from one of Khairy’s contacts appears.

In such a way are the national assets stripped.
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PART 12: Ringing in the cash till

There is certainly an element of dishonesty in the government-owned economic and
financial institutions. Norza Zakaria has openly admitted to fellow UMNO Youth Exco
Members that he reads important minutes even before it reaches the table of Second
Finance Minister Nor Mohamed Yakcop. Of course, there are a few honest souls in these
organisations who are disgusted by what Khairy Jamaluddin is doing. But they are a very
small minority. As young men in their 30s who are just starting out in life, they are hopeful
that one day they can reach the heights of their contemporaries who are close to Khairy and
therefore now leading the management of the many GLCs under Khazanah. So, most of
them grumble only in private. None dare take up the issue with the top, knowing full well
that their bosses are also on Khairy’s payroll. One recent employee of a government
financial institution who reported a case to the Anti-Corruption Agency found, instead,
himself the subject of an internal investigation. The ACA dropped the case like a hot potato
when they discovered that the real purchaser of the asset was a Special Purpose Vehicle
(SPV) owned by Mr S, Khairy’s and Norza’s proxy. It was the honest employee who found
himself transferred to a desk job in Bank Negara.

Khairy’s ‘consultants’ far outnumber these honest souls. Many were brought in during the
heady days of 1998 and 1999 when Malaysia fawned on the young Oxbridge graduates
who were seen as saviours of the country. Take, for example, the case of Azman Yahaya,
the bright young administrator from the London School of Economics who was a deft and
able steward in the days immediately following the 1997 Asian Economic Crisis. Azman
was rewarded by being given business interests in Scomi as well as awarded a contract to
his own company, Symphony, which did nothing more than take over the job of
distributing shareholder circulars previously carried out by a government department. In a
sense, Azman was being rewarded for doing a good job. But it was a way of removing him
from being in the thick of what was to happen next. Many of the boys in the CDRC
(Corporate Debt Restructuring Committee), Ministry of Finance and Danaharta that he
trained are now Khairy loyalists who do his bidding in the hope of being another Azman
Yahaya.

Khairy knows that all this is happening and yet he does nothing to stop it. The natural
presumption is that Khairy is building his own empire. But since most of his cronies are
relative unknowns to the general public, the goings-on behind closed doors never attract
the public condemnation it deserves. The opposition parties in Malaysia are so out of touch
that they still focus their attacks on the corruption of Mahathir’s days instead of dealing
with current reality. They do not know that far from getting better, the power of patronage
in Malaysian political life has been greatly enhanced by the new circle of Abdullah
Badawi’s Young Turks.

The only murmurings against Khairy’s stripping of national assets have come from some
dissenting voices in UMNO allied to former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad. In
June this year, some BN Members of Parliament tried to ask questions related to the abuse
of GLC, Khazanah and Danaharta funds. One of them actually posed a question to Second
Finance Minister Nor Mohamed Yakcop, questioning the logic of giving away such
- 54 -
important assignments on a commission basis to untrained and inexperienced companies
such as ECM Libra, Ethos Consulting and Binafikir. The hidden agenda of the question was
supposed to be an attack on Khairy’s malignant role in the government’s economic
activities. When that Member of Parliament put his question on paper, the message was
swiftly relayed to Khairy by a woman senator. Khairy promptly called Abdullah’s office,
who arranged a private session with that Member of Parliament. In no uncertain terms, he
was told that such questions were ‘unhelpful’. No more was heard of the question and
probably in the next few years no more will be heard of that Member of Parliament either.

Not forgetting that Khairy is one of the three who make the penultimate decision on who
becomes a Barisan Nasional election candidate, the government backbenchers are muted
and dare only raise questions on issues that are connected to the former administration of
Mahathir Mohamad. No smell except that of mountain roses comes out whenever they
speak of the administration of Abdullah Badawi.

There is, of course, the seething discontent. But as long as Abdullah Badawi is Prime
Minister, Khairy and his cronies would be free to enrich themselves. The examples of the
previous administration are not lost on these bright young things from Oxford and
Cambridge, who have found a legal way to make corruption and patronage work for them.

Khairy is free to propose his money-making deals to the government’s many agencies
because there are people who would be left free to cream some other deals in return for
cooperation and silence. For example, in Khanzah, Azman Mokhtar himself is seen as
relatively clean. However, his former company, Binafikir, now headed by his ally Mohd
Rashdan Yusof, another Cambridge graduate, is desperately bidding for a multi-million
dollar deal that can catapult itself to the highest reaches of Malaysian financial life. To that
end, Mohd Rashdan has been lobbying Khairy to allow him to take over Aseambankers on
the back of Binafikir’s alleged successes in restructuring government companies.

In reality, Binafikir is no more than a collection of fresh Cambridge graduates led by
several accountants who got lucky in 1998 by being tapped by Nor Mohamed Yakcop to
split MAS into an asset holding as well as operations companies. Since then, Binafikir has
done little business worthy of mention. But Mohd Rashdan feels that by acquiring
Aseambankers the deal-flow will be automatic. Aseambankers has a reservoir of ready-
made clients, whereas Mohd Rashdan considers Binafikir a reservoir of talent. This view is
not shared by veteran bankers and other industry players who deem Binafikir a company
with no tangible assets and definitely without the track record it boasts of.

Nevertheless, the deal will go through on the back of Rashdan’s relationship with the
Oxbridge mafia led by Khairy. The recent failure of MAS to emerge with flying colours
from the crisis of 1997 has served to show that many of the so-called successes of the
Khairy allies are no more than hot air. Yet, no one stops the rolling juggernaut because few
amongst the people understand what goes on behind the Malaysian government’s very
tightly closed doors.

Khairy makes his money not only through the Khazanah deals, but also by making other
- 55 -
side deals through his connections in the Finance Ministry headed by his father-in-law.
Two such examples are the award of Bumiputra shares in public-listed companies which
have foreign majority ownership. Again, Khairy relies on Norza to give him information on
such deals. In these particular cases, Khairy promised to allocate the shares to two potential
allies. The first company will see its shares allocated to members of a certain royal family
closely allied to Khairy. The other, which is also being targeted by one of Najib Tun Razak’s
brothers, will see around 19% of its shares given away to a Bumiputra nominee of an
existing Chinese billionaire who has often been seen accompanying Abdullah during his
many trips to the United States to visit ailing First Lady, Endon Mahmood.

What is the net income for Khairy in these two deals? The first transaction will involve
shares worth RM526 million. Commission to Khairy would be around RM15 million. On
the second transaction, the sum involved is much bigger, i.e. RM883 million. Khairy is
expected to make at least RM20 million on this transaction alone.

So, since March, a rough calculation of Khairy’s received and potential income would be as
follows:
1. Commission from sale of 5% of TM to Temasek Holdings, Singapore – RM16 million.
2. Commission from the purchase of M1 shares by Khazanah and TM – RM6 million.
3. Expected commission from further sale of 5% of TM to Temasek Holdings, Singapore –
RM17 million.
4. Expected commission from sale of Danaharta assets – RM85 million.
5. Expected commission from sale of Felda non-core assets to Temasek Holdings and DBS
Bank – RM30 million.
6. Expected commission from allocation of Bumiputra shares in foreign-owned company 1
– RM15 million.
7. Expected commission from allocation of Bumiputra shares in foreign-owned company 2
– RM20 million.

The total amount? A cool RM189 million. And that’s only the ones that have been in the
public eye.

Why is Khairy able to engineer these deals with very little opposition? Firstly, the
opposition in Malaysia is extremely fragmented and unable to bring itself together against
the hugely popular government of Abdullah Badawi. DAP couches its objections in an
academic language that is not easily understood by the majority of the voters. PAS has no
economist worth its salt. And PKR is more interested in attacking Mahathir than criticizing
Abdullah, the man they credit for releasing Anwar Ibrahim.

Secondly, potential opponents of Khairy within UMNO are tainted by their own cases
stemming from the long administration of Mahathir Mohamad. Mahathir’s children, for
example, can hardly criticize Khairy for getting the economic benefits of being an insider
when they themselves benefited from national assets such as Petronas to the tune of
hundreds of millions.

- 56 -
Thirdly, the young professionals who were brought in over the last few years are too
worried about their long-term careers to raise objections. They consider Khairy one of their
own and hope to share in his achievements on the way to the top.

Fourthly, many of the administrators of the affected organisations have been bought by
Khairy, Norza and their allies to the extent that they are themselves involved in the
deception of the public.

So Khairy is well on the way to becoming a billionaire by the end of this year. Who knows,
like Thai Prime Minister Thaksin, Khairy may yet be the first billionaire to be appointed
prime minister of Malaysia.

Of course, the most important reason is that Khairy is a member of the First Family of
Malaysia. His marriage to Nori Abdullah gave him the same opportunities that were taken
by other Asian luminaries such as General Prabowo (the son-in-law of Suharto), Taufik
Kiemas (husband of Megawati Sukarnoputri) and Mike Arroyo (husband of Gloria
Macapagal Arroyo).
- 57 -
PART 13: He loves me, he loves me not

After the rumblings of 1998, many Malaysians began to care less about the personal lives of
politicians. It was deemed that politicians should be judged by the merits of their work,
integrity and ability rather than by the goings-on in their bedrooms. When former Prime
Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad used Anwar Ibrahim’s alleged homosexuality as an excuse
for the latter’s sacking, the reaction was more sympathy towards Anwar. Maybe the tide
has turned and, in Malaysia’s new political culture, the private lives of politicians should
not be of concern unless it also encroaches on their public work.

But the tide has not completely turned. Accusations of sexual misdeeds continue to dog
many politicians. Some of these accusations do have elements of truth in them, but they are
often exaggerated to create lustful ogres out of the targeted individuals. For example, while
it is true some ministers have dalliances with artistes, models and other such ilk, hardly
any had ever been caught in flagrante delicto, except in the minds of their enemies. The
accusations of sexual misconduct are used mainly by opponents within the same party, as
well as by opposition figures.

It is ludicrous that, after 1998, the opposition parties in Malaysia, while criticising the
behaviour of UMNO politicians who described Anwar Ibrahim’s alleged trysts in graphic
detail, also conjured up many other fictitious accusations such as naming them as
mistresses to Mahathir and saying that they knew a person who knew a person who had
allegedly caught Najib Tun Razak in bed with a famous singer in a Port Dickson hotel
room. Perhaps the most unbelievable account yet was one related by a PKR Youth
Information Chief who accused Abdullah Ahmad Badawi of carrying out an affair with an
alleged (non-existent) female police escort.

Khairy Jamaluddin too has not escaped these accusations. In 2002, a high-ranking civil
servant made a remark to Dr Mahathir’s then Political Secretary, Aziz Samsudin, that
Khairy, then Special Officer to Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, had been an
active homosexual during his university days. Khairy had apparently been involved with
several members of the gay community of Oxford University, including a certain
Malaysian-Chinese undergraduate. Such juicy stories were too good to be kept silent and it
wound its way up to the very top.

Some of Mahathir’s aides made some enquiries to ascertain the truth of these allegations.
They concluded that the stories were indeed true and they reported it to their boss.
However, Mahathir did not take it up as he felt that Khairy was a non-entity and would
remain so at least for the foreseeable future. Mahathir was right about Khairy not being
gay, but he was obviously wrong about the rapid propulsion of this Young Turk.

Unknown to Aziz Samsudin as well as to Mahathir’s other aides, the story about Khairy’s
alleged homosexuality was planted by Anwar Ibrahim’s men. A certain former deputy
minister who had been a close Anwar supporter (and therefore dropped by Mahathir in the
1999 General Election) had been used to bring the rumour to Aziz’s attention through his
civil service friend. The rumour itself was created by then PKR Youth Leader Ezam Mohd
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Nor who had allegedly ‘heard about the rumour’ from a senior civil servant who was a
reformasi sympathiser and who had a child in the same school as Khairy. It was completely
untrue. The idea that Khairy is gay is a figment of the imagination of the PKR leaders who
desperately wanted to tar Abdullah Badawi whom they felt, at that time, was less
sympathetic to the plight of their boss; having been his mortal enemy in UMNO for more
than one and a half decades.

But the rumour took on a life of its own. From merely being gay, Khairy was now said to
have even served as a rent-boy to the wives of ministers visiting London during his
university days. At one time, the rumours became so flagrant that it even reached the ears
of Anwar Ibrahim, then serving his prison sentence. Anwar enthusiastically asked his
lawyers to verify the details of Khairy’s alleged homosexuality. It was a tool that would
have been useful to the opposition, if only it had been true.

On the contrary, Khairy is not attracted to men. He had once been propositioned by a
certain homosexual Malaysian newspaper columnist during a party at his house in Jalan U
Thant. The columnist fell head over heels with Khairy. This is not unusual. After all, Greg
Sheridan, one of the most worthless and sycophantic political hacks ever produced from
Down Under, had once started a whole chapter on Malaysian politics by describing how
enamoured he was with Khairy’s Hindustani movie-star looks. It was no wonder that the
columnist fell for the then TV compere.

This columnist usually invited sets of young men to his house, which he shared with his
life partner. These soirees were occasions where the columnist promised the world to the
young men in return for being their ‘special friend’. While many fell for it and found
themselves propelled to the inner circle of politics through this highly influential
columnist’s efforts, Khairy himself rebuffed the columnist’s advances. While they remained
friends, it was soon made clear to the columnist that Khairy would have his own way of
reaching the pinnacles of power and it would be he who would be called Master and the
columnist who would be the Servant.

That is not to say that Khairy did not use his looks to achieve his ambitions. Amongst the
circle of young Oxford and Cambridge men who circulated around UMNO Youth in the
years following the outbreak of reformasi, Khairy was deemed the most likely person to be
able to use his marriage bed as a catapult to success.

It was one of his friends, Vincent Lim Kian Teck, now Chinese Political Secretary to the
Prime Minister, who introduced Khairy to Nori Abdullah, then a part-time researcher at
the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS). Khairy did not need to try so
hard. Nori fell almost instantly for the young and articulate Oxford graduate who was at
least her intellectual equal.

Many do not know that Nori Abdullah is perhaps the most intelligent of all the children of
Malaysian Prime Ministers. A precocious child, Nori often asked for books from
Abdullah’s many foreign trips when he was Minister for Foreign Affairs. While the
children of other ministers clamoured for jewellery and expensive high-tech gadgets, Nori
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always settled for the more intellectual gifts that her father could provide. She is one of the
most well-read persons of her age group and is no shrinking violet when it comes to
arguing intellectually with other prominent thinkers.

So it is odd indeed that Nori chose to be the wind beneath Khairy’s wings. She could have
been more upfront in herself making a political name. But as the couple’s aim is to reach
the highest peak of politics, it was unlikely that both could reach there. So, by all means, let
Khairy be there as Prime Minister and Nori will exercise the function of a thinking First
Lady. Indeed, were the couple able to achieve their aims, they would be the most learned
First Couple in Malaysia’s history, even surpassing Dr Mahathir and his wife Dr Siti
Hasmah.

But we are thinking too much of the future. Khairy definitely realised full well that being
married to Nori was like getting an express ticket to his targeted destination. He might not
have felt as strongly as Nori who has Khairy’s picture in her handbag, as her computer
wallpaper at the office, and even on the coffee mug from which she drank. But he played
the game well and though there may not be love, there is certainly affection. Khairy’s
collection of international girlfriends which he had amassed in Singapore, Oxford and
London were now chucked aside for the Japanese doll that is Nori.

What about the rumours of Khairy’s alleged infidelities? Again, these are often exaggerated
by Khairy’s enemies. Take, for example, the so-called khalwat incident. In that story, widely
circulated in the opposition press, Khairy was said to have been caught in the act with a
Burmese girl (some say Filipino). According to the story, Nori and one of her other fellow
Puteri UMNO Exco Members suspected Khairy of two-timing and had arranged for JAWI
officers to spy on and catch the lovebirds. When they did so at Khairy and Nori’s
apartment in Pantai, Khairy and Nori were allegedly summoned by Abdullah Badawi who
gave the couple a dressing-down. Abdullah had been so angry -- so the story goes -- that he
even slapped Khairy in the face. The couple were told in no uncertain terms that for
political reasons they must stay together and be seen to still be totally in love.

Some say that the slapping incident took place at Putrajaya, in the Prime Minister’s Office.
Others allege that this happened in Abdullah’s family home in Kepala Batas -- and they
even pointed out that Abdullah suddenly re-routed his return from a Kedah UMNO
meeting to make a short and unexplained private visit to his Kepala Batas home. Still
others insist that Khairy and Nori were hauled up not only in front of Abdullah but also in
attendance were Abdullah’s brother, Ibrahim, and Nori’s elder brother, Kamaluddin.

The truth of this story is far less juicy. In Khairy’s office at the Prime Minister’s Department
is a former female colleague. The story was made up after the lady was seen in Khairy’s
company during a certain official function. But it was nothing so sinister. Khairy had
offered to chaperone the lady when her other boss, Special Officer to the Prime Minister,
Ahmad Zaki Zahid, was not able to accompany her to the meeting. So, as a gentleman,
Khairy had stepped in as he was also due to attend the same meeting.

What is interesting is who made up this story. Several chains of narration, including
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amongst them Wanita UMNO Chief Rafidah Aziz, newly-married Minister for Home
Affairs Azmi Khalid, and even Deputy Internal Security Minister Noh Omar, eventually
were traced to Najib Tun Razak’s circle. The story was concocted by several of Najib’s inner
circle of advisors in the hope that it would shake the image of Khairy’s loyalty to Abdullah.
Of course, leaks were planted to the opposition through the intermediary of a senior
journalist who worked freelance and often writes for international newspapers. In reality,
there was not a shred of truth in the story.

Funny enough, the idea of the so-called JAWI raid stems from Najib’s own brush with the
religious police. While many say that he was caught in a hotel room in Port Dickson by the
JAWI counterpart in Negeri Sembilan, JAINS, Najib eventually countered the allegation by
producing the report book of JAINS’ raids. Nowhere in the book is Najib mentioned, nor of
any raid in the alleged hotel in Port Dickson around the date alleged by his enemies. In
fact, the JAINS rumour was a smokescreen. Najib had indeed been caught with that actress,
but not in Port Dickson but in a hotel in Kuala Lumpur. Najib’s special Branch officers had
inserted the story of it being in Port Dickson in order to lay the ground for his alibi.

Contrary to the views of opposition leaders, Khairy is neither a homosexual nor an
adulterer. But he is not an angel either. His closeness to Islamic norms is only the result of
his being married into Abdullah’s family, but he is not the debauched, narrow that is
painted by his enemies.

Khairy realises that his fortune, at least while Abdullah is in power, is the result of Nori’s
unbending love for him. The devotion that Nori showers upon Khairy is the backbone of
his strength in Abdullah’s circle. In spite of many Abdullah’s close friends and even
relatives accusing Khairy of using his marital bed as security for keeping power, Abdullah
will do nothing to hurt Nori -- and he knows the way to hurt Nori is to accept that the
criticism levelled against her husband is true.

The American ambassador to Malaysia, when attending the reception for Khairy's and
Nori’s wedding, gave the Freudian comment that Khairy ‘is a very lucky man’. It was
funny that the same was not said for Nori. But all is fair in love and politics, and it is that
love that makes Khairy invincible.
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PART 14: Crowning the king

Malaysia’s first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, once joked that he was too happy
doing his job as Prime Minister he did not wish to let go too soon. In fact, he remarked
lightheartedly, his deputy, Tun Razak, was ‘too young’ to succeed him. Of course, the
Tunku meant it all in the jocular mood for which he is famous. But that incident remained
long in the mind of Tun Razak to such an extent that he began to seethe with anger. It was
not many years later that the Tunku found himself on the receiving end of Tun Razak’s
discontentment and swiftly found his throne seized from him in the aftermath of the May
13 melee.

Such is the way with crown princes. Though near to the throne, they are often very much
aware of the instability of their position. Unless and until they ascend the throne and
become kings in their own right, their position continues to be insecure for they are always
the egg at the end of the buffalo’s horn. The king holds powers of life and death over their
crown princes and woe betide any man who faces either a strong king or one who is made
mad by his years in power.

At the present moment, though the premiership of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is but a
couple of years old, it is already showing the signs of a weary and tired reign. The king is
weak and uninspiring. The crown princes, on the other hand, are eager to get their chance
at playing that role. Let there be no mistake about it, although Najib Tun Razak is the heir
and Anwar Ibrahim the pretender, the real successor to Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s
leadership is his son-in-law, Khairy Jamaluddin. At the young age of 30, Khairy has
become the undisputed Man of the Future.

Khairy fully realises his position is precarious. Though ensured through his marriage, he
cannot rely on being long in a safe position due to the inability of Abdullah Badawi to
steward a steady ship of state. Khairy must quickly become king himself or replace his own
father-in-law with a new ruler indebted to him. Since the last few days, this need has
become more urgent. Instability has come creeping into Abdullah’s government as
Malaysians wake up to the realisation that the man they overwhelmingly backed in the last
General Election has been unable to deliver on his promises.

In November 2003, when Abdullah first became Prime Minister, Khairy was cocky enough
to remark to his friends that he would soon put former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir in jail,
together with his bosom buddy Daim Zainuddin and other luminaries of that bygone era.
Two years on, it is Mahathir who has proven himself still king of Malaysian politics by his
deft remote control tactics exercised in the style that is so uniquely his. Mahathir quite
openly challenged Abdullah’s authority by bringing up the AP issue and making
Abdullah’s government look more corrupt than his own. In other matters too, Mahathir has
shown he is no pushover. Abdullah is fully aware that he cannot make any move, even
within UMNO, without considering the opinion of Dr Mahathir.

Take, for example, the appointment of Mahadzir Khalid as Acting Menteri Besar of Kedah.
Everyone is aware that the current Menteri Besar, Syed Razak, is an invalid and has been so
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for several months. Yet, Abdullah took his time in appointing a surrogate Menteri Besar,
not for lack of candidates, but as he himself admitted to a delegation of Kedah UMNO
deputy ministers and Exco members, Syed Razak cannot be removed because he is
‘Mahathir’s man’. Such is the weakness of Abdullah Badawi -- he has been thwarted in
appointing his own man as Menteri Besar in Perlis, Kedah, Selangor, Johor and Sabah.
Only in Negeri Sembilan has Abdullah been able to put his nominee as the local boss.

The fear that Abdullah has of Mahathir’s power is very real. Abdullah knows Mahathir will
not tolerate any attack on his legacies. Even worse, Mahathir is now fully awake to the
potential disaster on his legacy that can be wrought by Khairy and his friends. So Abdullah
lies in his Putrajaya office, half-dozing, half-shaking, unaware of Mahathir’s moves yet
fully conscious of the threats they may bring.

Najib Tun Razak has been nothing but a disappointment. While paying lip-service to
Abdullah’s call for reform, Najib has been tepid in his support for Abdullah’s policies.
Even in the AP issue, Najib, who is no friend of Rafidah, played the role of spokesman, as if
he was in a second-rate school play. Najib plays the careful game, not willing to put his
neck out for the boss, because he knows once that neck is slit, it will be him who becomes
king.

So Khairy lies awake at night, seeing his plans, conjured two years ago, come only partly to
fruition. Threats remain to his ascension to the ultimate prize of being Malaysia’s youngest
ever Prime Minister. He hopes that Anwar’s popularity may help him once he finds a way
for Abdullah to readmit Anwar into UMNO. But Anwar is also fast losing his lustre.
Spending too much time overseas, Anwar has distanced his closest supporters by playing
favourites that was his hallmark when previously in power. More importantly, Anwar has
failed to fulfil his promise of leading the opposition or deliver the much-needed funds as a
result of his sojourn in distant lands which he had promised. His failure to win over DAP
to accommodate PAS, which was his main contribution to the 1999 General Election, is a
taint on his abilities.

The PAS leadership is increasingly distrustful of Anwar and his lieutenants, fully aware
that Anwar is toying with Khairy in the hope of again being a part of UMNO’s leadership.
While the two leaders at the very top, that is PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang and
Kelantan Chief Minister Nik Aziz Nik Mat, continue to honour Anwar whenever he deigns
to visit their territories, other senior PAS leaders including the so-called ‘professional’
group have been holding secret strategy meetings to discuss their response in the event
that Anwar pulls a surprise and leaves the opposition for UMNO’s greener shores.

One PAS Vice President has even gone so far as to discuss the issue with Khairy himself,
meeting him two months ago in a room in the Crown Princess Hotel in Kuala Lumpur. The
meeting was casual but two messages were exchanged. The PAS leader told Khairy that
Anwar would not be able to bring PAS back into the Barisan Nasional fold -- a move in
which Abdullah Badawi was a key player during the early days of Tun Razak’s
government. Secondly, Khairy told the PAS leader that Anwar is acceptable to UMNO but
not his party, PKR, which must be dissolved before Anwar would be allowed in.
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Though he denies this in public, Anwar could not resist telling the crowds that UMNO has
begun sending messages for him to consider rejoining the party. A few days ago in Kota
Bharu, Anwar remarked that a former Menteri Besar and division leaders of UMNO had
invited him to return to reform their party. The audience would have been less impressed
if Anwar had been more candid and named those people.

The former Menteri Besar is Osman Aroff, a Kedah politician synonymous with the most
extreme degrees of corruption and is currently almost a complete non-entity within the
UMNO leadership. Osman Aroff was Anwar’s bag-boy in Kedah, playing the role of
Anwar’s proxy in the battle to subdue Mahathir’s inept, bumbling and almost insane
nominee, Sanusi Junid. But Osman Aroff had lost big time and is no longer a force to be
reckoned with. The division leaders whom Anwar coyly did not name include Afifudin
Omar, another Anwar loyalist who tried to play the same role with Abdullah but got
fooled into accepting a mere State Assembly seat in exchange for the cabinet post he
ardently begged for.

All these people came to see Anwar because no one else would see them.

Since Khairy’s departure from the Prime Minister’s office, Abdullah has begun receiving
Special Branch briefings in the comfort of his home rather than at the office. The reason? So
that in the middle of these briefings, Khairy can casually enter the room as if by
coincidence and plonk himself in the nearest chair to also absorb the information being
dispensed.

In the matter of Anwar Ibrahim’s goings on, it is Khairy that is entrusted in gauging their
value and to produce the next strategy for Abdullah. Abdullah knows that Anwar is more
valuable to Khairy than to himself. After all, bringing Anwar back into UMNO’s fold
would help Khairy’s credentials as a young but fair politician of the future. Also, Anwar
would help prop Khairy up in the face of a Najib onslaught. But as for Abdullah himself,
bringing Anwar back can only mean pitting himself for a head-to-head confrontation with
the pincer movements of both Mahathir Mohamad and Najib Tun Razak. So, bringing
Anwar in is Khairy’s way of transforming himself in the long term from a mere crown
prince to a king with real powers.

Strangely enough, Anwar never mentions the dealings he has with Khairy in his public
addresses. Yet, in private, Anwar admires Khairy almost to the point of envy. Regardless of
whatever faults Khairy may have, in Anwar’s eyes, he is the key to him returning to power.
Khairy is also Anwar’s key to retribution for Mahathir Mohamad. Ludicrous though it may
sound, the very closest of Anwar’s circle has been instructed not only to treat Khairy with
respect and to try to establish a relationship with him, but also to begin cozying up to
Khairy’s trusted advisors such as Omar Ong and Ahmad Zaki Zahid.

But the tide of politics is a strange phenomenon. Its ebb and flow cannot be determined
with exact accuracy. In the next few weeks, the game will be played out to its climax.
Moves are being made on Khairy’s side as well as that of all the other dramatis personae to
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an endgame that will change the face of Malaysian politics. Khairy is about to face the
biggest test of his short but meteoric career...
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PART 15: The game of high stakes

Politics is a game of high risk. The ebb and tide cannot be estimated and often those who
ride the surf, even after many years, find that the great big ocean swallows them up the
moment they make the smallest slip. It is not a game for the faint-hearted, as a fall often
breaks or even completely kills off one’s career. When a politician falls, he is often shamed
as well. The price of such a collapse is much too high for the majority of us and yet people
line up for their fifteen minutes of power in order to taste what is so often described as the
headiest thing a person can experience – the power to lord over your fellow human beings.
The gamble of politics produces an adrenalin rush which, as Henry Kissinger said, is the
most powerful aphrodisiac.

For Khairy Jamaluddin, power has come quick and fast. He has risen far in a short period
of time at an age when most people would only be thinking of where to find their next rent
or car instalment. More powerful than most politicians thirty years his senior, Khairy has
had a taste of power which the majority of us will never experience, even up to our dying
days. He sits within the ranks of those whose actions can, if they so wish, determine the
confluence of our own lives.

Yet Khairy has reached there by playing a game of low risk. He is not much of a gambler
and his rise to power has been relatively easy. Instead of relying on the roll of the dice and
the decisions of Fate, Khairy has instead opportunistically weaved his way to the top on
the back of others. His accession, for example, to the second topmost post in UMNO Youth
was more an anointment rather than an election. Acclaimed by the cowed and
dumbfounded UMNO Youth Members, Khairy would not have got where he is today if not
for the grace of his father-in-law. Admittedly, he is far more intelligent than most UMNO
leaders, even those who have been in this game for a few decades. However, there have
been many UMNO leaders with more promising intelligence, abilities and charisma who
have fallen by the wayside, simply because the majority of UMNO leaders are not selected
for their talents but for their connections and, nowadays, their ability to dispense
patronage.

Khairy’s politics has never been tested. While the sycophantic journalists of foreign
newspapers and Brenda Pereira’s coterie of spin-stringers in Jalan Riong constantly
attribute Khairy to many of the so-called successes of present-day UMNO, the claims are
largely hollow. For example, Khairy cannot be credited for diffusing the Suqiu affair for the
simple reason that Suqiu had already backed down under pressure from the UMNO thugs
led by Aziz Sheikh Fadzir. Khairy’s contribution to the stunning success of the Barisan
Nasional in the last General Election was limited to selecting the motto ‘Cemerlang,
Gemilang, Terbilang’ (together with the quote-machine Kalimullah Masheerul Hassan),
selecting candidates (who would have been selected anyway on the Barisan Nasional
onslaught if they had been cows instead of humans) and promoting a more presidential
image for the lacklustre and uninspiring Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. For Khairy to be
credited with actually snatching victory from the jaws of defeat is to give a lie to the signs
that were shown many months before the election. Malaysians, tired of the Anwar affair
and pushed to the brink by the hard fist of Mahathir Mohamad, simply welcomed the
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kinder, gentler government that Abdullah promised, including the soon-to-be-broken
pledges of eradicating the choking corruption of the last 22 years.

Brendan Pereira, Phar Kim Beng, Reme Ahmad, Zainuddin Affendi, Leslie Lau, Rosli
Ismail and other journalists of that ilk knew full well when they praised Khairy that they
were exaggerating the circumstances. Yet those news reports allowed them access to the
inner circle of Khairy’s politics and, more importantly, direct access to the man himself. To
a certain extent, it is advance payment for services rendered in the future. They know that
Khairy is the current ‘rent-a-quote’ and they needed to have good relations with a man so
eager to show the world how markedly different and superbly intelligent he is compared to
the previous generation of doddering UMNO fools.

Can Khairy play this game endlessly? Already there are rumours of the impending
instability of Abdullah’s government caused by intense pressure from all sides. Abdullah is
facing political enemies within UMNO from amongst the allies of his predecessor as well as
his potential successor, Najib Tun Razak. The economy is extremely bad and the
government presented a hopeless budget which in its detail shows that there is no way the
Malaysian deficit problem can be addressed anytime before the end of the next parliament
to be elected sometime in 2008. Inflation is rife, running at 9 to 10% and only slightly lower
elsewhere. The crushing inability of the GLCs to produce quick solutions to Malaysia’s
cashflow problems is compounded by the extreme reliance on the Oxbridge circle,
regardless of their moral and corporate governance issues. UMNO resists almost to a man
efforts to transform it from a corrupt, scandal-ridden and patronage-infested clan of self-
interested individuals to a more responsible political party in the real sense of the word.

Khairy’s solution is to use the spirit of the time to bring in reforms that will benefit
Abdullah’s image as well as his future. Yet these reforms are increasingly seen by the
public to be obviously catered towards Khairy’s own survival. He brushes aside these
concerns at his peril, because together with openness comes open criticism and Khairy is
sorely untested when it comes to that. Khairy has never faced anything but praise from
within his party. Nor has he been challenged by an effective opposition leader of his
stature. The best PAS can produce is Husam Musa who early on had compromised his
principles by making a deal with Khairy on the court challenges that each party had
initiated regarding seats in Kelantan and Terengganu. Charismatic politicians in PKR have
been killed off by the implicit instructions of Anwar Ibrahim not to criticise Abdullah and
other members of the current government such as Khairy. Ezam Mohd Nor is a leader lost
in his own dreams, not realising that he is treated as a joke in Khairy’s circle due to his
incessant demands to be given a Deputy Minister’s post when he returns to UMNO. The
DAP is still in transition, Lim Guan Eng being the future yet in many ways already a man
of the past, too closely tied to his father’s politics to make a major impact against the
charisma of Khairy Jamaluddin.

And so Khairy plots his imminent rise, almost unchallenged. The only dangers are if his
gambles become bigger and riskier, later failing to deliver. For example, Khairy had
recently arranged a meeting in London between Anwar and Abdullah. Ostensibly,
Abdullah was on a roadshow to showcase the potential of Malaysian investment. It was a
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disaster as far as the economy was concerned for the simple reason that Abdullah has not
shown any innovative approaches to the Malaysian economy. The two questions he could
not answer were why his policies were borrowed almost wholesale from the guidelines of
Temasek Holdings in Singapore and, secondly, why he was harping on sectors such as
agriculture and biotechnology which, worldwide, contribute to a miniscule proportion of
the world economic engine.

Of course, Abdullah could not answer those questions for the simple reason that his mind
was on other things. The RM2.3 million visit was important, yet not as important as the
visitor he received in an anteroom of the hotel where the meetings were held. Too bad for
Abdullah, he was unable to keep it secret as a certain Menteri Besar accidentally walked
into the room during the four-eyes meeting. But that did not matter. Anwar and his boys
would have leaked news about the meeting anyway….

According to Zunar, former cartoonist and current editor of Suara Rakyat, the exchanges
between Anwar and Abdullah were mainly concerned with Abdullah expressing his
frustrations with the counter-reactionary forces of Mahathir and Najib. Zunar may have
exaggerated the whining of Abdullah, yet the message he wanted to put across was
obvious. Abdullah is a man under strain and he needed an ally in the form of Anwar.
Secretly, Khairy tells his friends that Anwar’s popularity amongst the common people, if
combined with Abdullah’s, would make his own future politics much more assured and
less risky.

Of course, Zunar is merely a propagandist. He is paid to make Anwar seem like a god. His
livelihood depends on Anwar believing that he has done a good job in making Anwar
seem like the infallible political genius that any thinking person knows he is not. Zunar,
therefore, plants stories that any spin-doctor worth his salt knows in his heart of hearts is
only 10% accurate.

People like Zunar want the world to think that, without Anwar Ibrahim, Khairy would die
the moment Abdullah leaves office. Of course, as a cartoonist, Zunar’s politics is based on
satire and parody which is almost always an exaggeration of the truth. Yet, there is no
denying that several key Khairy allies have made implied comments receptive to Anwar’s
return to UMNO. Khairy wants to gamble on this but he is slowly playing to the gallery,
trying to feel out the reactions of the public before he rolls the dice. According to Zunar, the
entry of Anwar into UMNO has often been discussed in his meeting, telephone
conversations and discussions with Abdullah. However, to preserve the dignity of both top
players, it is Khairy and Anwar’s protégé, Ezam Mohd Nor, who are planning the actual
details. More meetings over the coming months are being arranged between Abdullah and
Anwar.

In spite of Anwar’s public pronouncements against rejoining UMNO, the truth is both
Anwar and Khairy are testing the waters before the actual gamble is made. Khairy needs to
test UMNO members’ reaction to the re-entry of Anwar by denying the ease with which
Anwar hopes he could re-enter UMNO. Anwar, on the other hand, needs to test his
followers’ perception of his leadership before actually telling them that that choice has been
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opened up for him. He could not afford to alienate too many of his former Reformasi
supporters. Though Anwar knows some will fall away in disgust at his opportunism, yet
many others will remain simply for the fact that seven years is too long for most of them to
be without any political power at all.

But Anwar’s risks are lesser than Khairy’s. Anwar has had the biggest fall of all the UMNO
politicians, being beaten almost to death on the instructions of a man who until the very
last moment was still described by Anwar as a father figure. There is nothing more in the
world that can be used to test his mettle for he and his family have gone through it all. On
the other hand, Khairy has always been cushioned by his proximity to Abdullah Badawi. If
he were to fail in this gamble, not only he but Abdullah would be swept away by the
UMNO members and raged by the machinations that would destroy their comfortable
world of ill-gotten gains and wealth by patronage. Khairy is testing the waters because this
gamble is of much too high a stake. It may secure his position in the long term, yet it may
also fail and plunge both he and Abdullah into the abyss in which Anwar was thrown not
so many years ago...
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PART 16: The walls that talk

The plan hatched by Khairy Jamaluddin to bring back Anwar Ibrahim into UMNO as a
counterbalance to the powers of the designated heir to the UMNO Presidency, Najib Tun
Razak, and to shore up his own long-term political future within the party, has reached a
defining point through the meeting held between Anwar and Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Although both sides are coy about the details discussed at that rendezvous, there have
been many reports that indicate the main items as being laying the ground for Anwar’s
eventual return to UMNO. The stumbling blocks remain: Anwar refuses to apply for a
pardon (though he would not be able to turn down one if it was ‘offered’) and prefers
merely to be readmitted on the basis that the Federal Court has proven his innocence. On
the other hand, both Abdullah and Khairy want Anwar readmitted only if it is clearly seen
to be a prerogative of the UMNO President -- thereby making Anwar indebted to
Abdullah’s signal efforts in bringing him back.

However, these stumbling blocks become less a hindrance as the day passes. Anwar
realises that his own party, PKR, is bogged down by factional strife and unable to rouse the
interest of the majority of the voters, at least in the very near future. Any effort to
strengthen PKR would only be successful in the long run, and Anwar does not want to
wait too long. His other partners in the opposition coalition are unable to drive a cross-
ethnic force of sufficient strength to place him in a position of power. There remains,
therefore, only UMNO.

For Khairy, the screws are tightening too. Day by day, Abdullah seems less able to fulfill
the promises he had so stridently made prior to the last General Election. Mahathir’s forces
have created reactionary ripples which Abdullah is unable to effectively counter. The ‘feel-
good factor’ is gone and the early successes in convincing the people of the seriousness of
the anti-corruption drive have dissipated. More importantly, Najib is fast aligning forces to
ensure that his team wins the groundwork of the next UMNO party election.

Bearing in mind that most current UMNO Division leaders had served under Najib during
his tenure as UMNO Youth Leader in the 1980s, he has a ground support which Abdullah
does not and which Khairy is yet to build. At the same time, Najib can rely on his cousin to
ensure that UMNO Youth does not stray too much in the direction of Khairy. He is also
helped by Mahathir’s children who are active in creating a fifth column within UMNO
Youth to act as a vanguard against Khairy’s ambitions. These are the guardians of
Mahathir’s legacy and their success is measured by the fact that, in recent months, Khairy
has been foolish enough to think that Najib and his officers have made serious efforts to
align themselves to Abdullah’s agenda. It took nothing more than a few SMSes in praise of
Khairy’s speech at the UMNO Youth Assembly to create the impression he is finally getting
Najib’s pat on his back. Yet Najib is the consummate politician of years of training whereas
Khairy is the young politician trying to brush off the disappointing catcalls made by
UMNO Youth members just last year.

But Khairy’s effort in imposing this coup-de-grace is hampered by the walls that talk. For
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their own peculiar reasons, Khairy’s friends and enemies both find it necessary to leak
information about Khairy’s impending deal with Anwar. It creates a problem for Khairy
because, unlike other efforts in the past, he has little control over the leaks. Khairy cannot
shut them up for the simple reason that most of the leaks would not or could not be
controlled by either Khairy or his father-in-law. These continuous information breaches
have made Khairy’s life one almost completely occupied with fire-fighting. Khairy has to
fend off the suspicions of his fellow UMNO politicians. Najib does not trust him and, to a
lesser extent, even his own boss in UMNO Youth, Hishamuddin Hussein, finds it difficult
to rely completely on Khairy’s protestations of loyalty.

More importantly, UMNO leaders are not sure of Khairy’s future leanings. Isa Samad’s
present predicament, due to Khairy’s machinations, has caused both Ali Rustam and
Muhyiddin Yassin to fall into cautious silence. Yet, they and other important UMNO
luminaries such as Khir Toyo are fully aware that should Anwar be brought back into
UMNO, only Khairy will benefit whereas most of the others will have to fend off the
knowing glances of Anwar supporters who have been blackballed in the last seven years.
They would no doubt look at Anwar’s re-entry as the opportunity to avenge themselves at
the expense of the leaders who had risen in the wilderness years to fill the vacuum.

And, of course, Khairy would support them. Removing Khir Toyo means strengthening his
position in UMNO Youth. Ali Rustam’s ouster would lead to the creation of two new
vacant high positions which can be filled by Khairy’s allies. Already Ali Rustam’s deputy
in the 4B movement, Noh Omar, is eyeing the seat in an effort to consolidate his own long-
term ascension to power.

The allies of former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad have long awakened to the fact that this
‘budak hinguih’ (as Mahathir once called him) spells trouble for their long-term political
success. More importantly, Mahathir’s children realise that the rise of Khairy means the
wiping out of their father’s 22-year old legacy.

The Anwar camp of course talks like chattering sparrows. They need to show that Anwar is
still relevant. To that end, every single meeting held between Khairy and Anwar confidante
Ezam Mohd Nor is immediately broadcast to the Keadilan leadership -- partly to make
Ezam feel important and partly to portray Anwar’s continued political value. The fact that
Ezam and another Anwar confidante, PKR Vice-President Azmin Ali, are currently in a
catfight and competing against each other for their boss’ favour means that they also
compete in showing of their closeness to Khairy and their discussions regarding Anwar’s
future political career.

Whether Khairy realises it or not, most of the stories circulating around town regarding his
efforts to allow Anwar an easy passage back into UMNO come from sources that are in
direct communication with him. While officially denying that Anwar will rejoin UMNO, in
private, nothing else is as important. Ezam and Azmin have for some time been dropping
Khairy’s name as their source of inside information within UMNO. They have gone so far
as to even suggest that Khairy is the main conduit for discussions between Abdullah and
Anwar. They say that Khairy is helpful where other officers such as Thajudeen Abdul
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Wahab are not.

Lackeys such as PKR party organ editor and propagandist Zunar have gone a step further
by repeating these leaks not only to Keadilan leaders but also to PAS figures to whom he
claims to be close -- having been a former staff of the PAS organ, Harakah. In turn, these
stories create an atmosphere of distrust amongst some of the top leadership of PAS
regarding Anwar’s future intentions. PAS has its own way of checking these stories -- some
of their younger leaders have direct ties with Khairy and converse with him by telephone
on a regular basis. Khairy could not deny for too long his discussions with the PKR
leadership because, sooner or later, the truth would come out and he cannot afford, at this
stage, to be seen too much as a lying schemer.

There is no denying that for people like Zunar there is a bittersweet feeling in leaking these
information. He revels in getting in the good books of senior PAS and PKR politicians by
being an important source of information to them. On the other hand, as head honcho of
the official party propaganda machinery, he cannot be seen as being too favourable to
Anwar’s eventual re-entry to UMNO. As such, his pronouncements on this matter have
been chaotic to the extent that PKR’s political bureau recently met to discuss Zunar’s leaks.
The bureau felt that he had given too much prominence to the so-called discussion between
Abdullah and Anwar that the PKR leaders became confused and the UMNO leaders, on
the other hand, became angry at the so-called revelations, some of which Zunar had
intended to publish in the party newspaper.

Indeed, these leaks are often deliberate efforts in which some individuals believe that they
are world-class experts. In fact, they are not so and have often blundered, giving the wrong
information to their supporters and enemies alike. The party information machinery is out
of control and relies more on unofficial sources whispered via the grapevine than the
official media nominally responsible for distributing the correct information to the public.

But not all the leaks come from Anwar’s side. There are also people close to Khairy who
have been doing the same. These are mostly his closest confidantes in the Ethos Consulting
circle who move within the more Western-educated liberal young professional network. To
them, Anwar’s sacking and humiliation by Dr Mahathir Mohamad was a travesty of justice
and, in spite of their lack of open opposition to that cruel episode, they continue to
pronounce that it was a black period in Malaysian politics. Khairy’s friends defend his
record by openly espousing that, in his personal capacity, Khairy is sympathetic to
Anwar’s plight. In fact, time and time again, these groups are reminded of Khairy’s
magnanimous visit to Anwar’s house the night of the latter’s release from incarceration.

Khairy’s circle of friends comprise some young lawyers, bankers and political aspirants
who believe that Anwar’s rehabilitation is a giant step in the effort to rid UMNO of the
dregs of the Mahathir years. They tell themselves that Anwar would bring back UMNO’s
lost popularity amongst the Malay heartland and revive Abdullah’s credentials as a liberal
reformer. Therefore, in their discussions, they often leak Khairy’s efforts to reinstate Anwar
within UMNO in order to portray Khairy as the voice of the future. In other words, to the
more liberal groups who comprise the backbone of Khairy’s support, the discussions with
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Anwar is no bad thing. On the other hand, it is the undisputed proof that Khairy is serious
about reforms and is not a politician shaped by UMNO’s older mould.

Leaks from Khairy’s circle usually comprise of two groups. The first group, those who are
in immediate contact with Khairy such as Omar Ong, Ahmad Zaki Zahid, Norza Zakaria,
Lim Kian Teck, Rozabil Abdul Rahman and others of that calibre, do not usually discuss
these issues in public. However, some are forced to do so. For example, Omar Ong is
nominally responsible to Najib Tun Razak as his Special Officer. He is often provoked by
Najib’s other officers into giving them bits of information about Khairy’s movements and
political planning. In other words, information is often squeezed out of Omar Ong as if he
was a tube of toothpaste. Of course, in the end, the news gets back to Najib and in separate
meetings with his more trusted advisors this information is sifted, analysed and examined
more thoroughly.

The second group of Khairy leaks comprises those who were brought in by the first group
as their support technocrats. These include the younger members of Ethos Consulting,
YPCS and other such groups associated with Khairy. While they are known to Khairy, they
are definitely not his bosom buddies. Nevertheless, whatever information they heard about
Khairy’s movements is quickly disseminated for the simple fact that each and every one of
these young and eager aspirants want to be seen by others as Khairy’s trusted lieutenants.
Often, their unguarded and exaggerated claims are passed on to other friends who in turn
make their own conclusions to the detriment of Khairy.

So, not all the leaks come from Khairy’s enemies. In fact, the majority of the sources of
information about Khairy’s movements are collected from those who are his so-called
friends and allies. The problem about being so young in politics is that Khairy’s circle of
friends are also young and inexperienced. They do not have the political kicks of the older
and more experienced group of politicians who can twist and turn every word to their
favour. This lack of experience in Khairy’s circle also creates a lack of probity. Too much
ambition causes them to want too much for themselves. As a result, they also talk too much
and Khairy often finds that people’s negative perceptions about him originate from his
own circle of friends. Such is the unfortunate result of Khairy surrounding himself with the
young and ambitious. There is no escaping that, amongst these, there will be at least some
who are also greedy and foolish.

And then, of course, there are those who are high enough to get the information and use it
for their own purposes to destroy Khairy...
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PART 17: The comforting branch breaks

In spite of the reassurances that accompanied the return of Datin Paduka Seri Endon
Mahmood from the United States recently, the very closest of political circles had known
for quite a while that her passing would just be a matter of time. Newspaper editors and
those in charge of the electronic media have been put on standby since the first day of her
return. Senior writers were put to work writing Endon’s obituary about ten days ago. It
was expected that her situation had reached a point of no return when even the highest
ranking ministers of the Abdullah Ahmad Badawi government were not allowed to visit
her at the Putrajaya hospital.

Two days prior to her death, Abdullah’s closest friends had congregated for daily Yaasin
readings at the official residence of the Prime Minister. The public was given an implicit
signal of the worsening condition of the Prime Minister’s wife through a statement which
urged them not to impose on Abdullah as he had to spend “quality time” with Endon. A
further indication of the increasing concern of Abdullah’s family regarding Endon’s health
was evident by several sudden cancellations of public functions to be attended by Khairy
Jamaluddin and Nori Abdullah in the days preceding Endon’s demise.

There is no doubt that Endon Mahmood is a far more popular politician’s wife than many
others of that ilk. Certainly, she is comparable to Tun Siti Hasmah in her ability to play a
soothing influence on those who have been wounded by her husband’s actions. Both come
from similar backgrounds, being career women who abandoned their individual ambitions
to support their husbands’ foray into politics. Both Hasmah and Endon are Selangor-born
children of high level civil servants whose families have either produced or been related to
many of the Malay ruling and administrative elite of the first half of the 20th century. No
one mistakes Hasmah’s and Endon’s mannerism for those of the shrew-like behaviour of
many other political wives. They carry themselves with the grace that complements their
husbands’ necessary more abrupt style.

No one, for example, criticised Endon for being an unduly bad influence on Abdullah in
the way that Rosmah Mansor is often deemed to be for her husband, Najib Tun Razak.
More importantly, either by choice or because of her long debilitating illness, Endon did
not play the role of gatekeeper to Abdullah like Rosmah does for Najib. It is a well-known
fact that Najib could easily be influenced through Rosmah’s appeals on behalf of various
interested politicians and hopeful businessmen. But Endon did not really play that role --
although in the short period following Abdullah’s ascension to the premiership, her sisters,
nephews and nieces (the Mahmood Ambak family) received many favours. Mahmood
Ambak’s children and grandchildren quickly found themselves in control of various
government projects ranging from the supply of software to schools under the Ministry of
Education’s RM100 million programme to the brokerage of products between OIC member
countries engineered by the Malaysian presidency of that organisation.

Yet it is doubtful Endon herself played a role in securing these contracts for her family. She
was, after all, far from the maddening hive of activity that surrounded the early days of
Abdullah’s tenure in office. Instead, she spent her time largely in overseas hospitals and
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local recuperating clinics. If the awards to Mahmood Ambak’s family were at all influenced
by anyone, it was through the good graces of Khairy Jamaluddin on behalf of his wife,
Nori. In addition, one cannot forget that many of the awards were given by sycophantic
ministers eager to curry favour and brown-nose the new government of Abdullah Badawi.
Within the high ranks of politics, it is known that Abdullah Badawi’s own family had little
favours given to them by Abdullah himself. On the other hand, they received their largesse
from Mahathir in the dying days of his premiership. It was Mahmood Ambak’s family that
eagerly sought after government contracts and were generously rewarded for their
persistence.

Endon’s role was therefore not dissimilar to that of Dr Siti Hasmah whose relatives too
benefited at the expense of Mahathir’s own kin. Yet, with the passing of Endon Mahmood
from the scene, it is unlikely that her siblings and relatives of similar age would continue to
get the favourable treatment they received in the last one and a half years. More likely,
attention will now shift to those who are of the same generation as Endon’s own two
children.

Endon’s role in Khairy Jamaluddin’s life was relatively benign. She did not object to Nori’s
head-over-heels and sometimes irrational obsession with Khairy during their courtship.
She had remarked with bemusement when Nori used one of Khairy’s portraits as the
wallpaper to her computer at ISIS. However, one of the main reasons for Endon’s reception
of Khairy was the close ties she had with Khairy’s mother, Datin Rahmah Abdul Hamid.
Their friendship went back to the old days, even prior to their respective marriages to two
men who ended up working as senior civil servants in the same ministry some time in the
middle of the 1970s.

When Khairy was a budding politician and only recently ensconced to the role of
chaperone extraordinary to Nori Abdullah, Endon placed Rahmah in a key position within
a newly-favoured setup called the Muslim Women’s Action Association (PERTIWI). In that
capacity, PERTIWI played a role of generating ground support for Khairy from amongst
the ‘Mak Datins’ and other similar middle-aged women who are wives or widows of
former high-ranking civil servants. When Khairy came under criticism for his lack of
experience in what seemed to some an obscene meteoric rise to power, it was PERTIWI
which led letter campaigns in the New Straits Times, The Star and Utusan Malaysia to
describe Khairy as an ‘able, competent and highly-educated’ young man.

PERTIWI and others of that ilk were used by Khairy in order to generate debate in his
favour. This was often started off by a planted piece written by Khairy’s unofficial Press
Secretary Kalimullah Hassan Masheerul Hassan and other paid journalist of that
persuasion. PERTIWI would then be free to write letters in support of these articles,
painting a favourable picture for Khairy. Of course, letters to the contrary were also
received but they were never published. This concerted effort seems hardly necessary now
that Khairy is so high up the political hierarchy of the nation. But in the early days, when
his hold on office was tenuous and shaky, it assisted him to give the public a perception of
grassroots support. In actual fact, the old aunties who wrote these letters were bored and
desperate housewives who hoped to gain favour with Endon and Datin Rahmah.
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Endon herself looked upon Khairy as a genuine pillar of support for Abdullah. She was, in
fact, quite grateful that Khairy was able to assist Abdullah and did not demand too much
attention from Nori, who herself had to carry the role her mother was unable to play.
Endon was not someone who put pressure on Khairy’s marriage, even when she
sometimes expressed her disappointment of the slowness of the Khairy-Nori couple in
starting a family. But she was comforted by the fact that she already had grandchildren
from her other child, Kamaluddin, and resigned herself to the fact that Khairy had a far
more important role to play in assisting the political life of her husband.

Instead, Endon reserved her opprobrium for those whom she felt were encroaching on
Abdullah and her own status as the senior-most woman in public life. One such person
was Najib’s wife, Rosmah Mansor, for whom Endon often gave the coolest of receptions.
According to a close advisor of Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, Rosmah was often
reduced to a nervous wreck whenever she had to confront Endon. Usually, Rosmah can
just push her way through with people. She was in the Mahani Daim league; a pushy,
contemptuous and temperamental woman with an exaggerated sense of dignity. She often
made disparaging remarks about Najib in front of other people, lacking the good sense to
reserve such comments to the confines of the bedroom.

Yet, with Endon, Rosmah couldn’t get her own way. Endon was a gentle lady with a soft
approach to conversation. But, when challenged, she could be fiery and whenever Rosmah
raised her voice, Endon would swiftly put it down with a cutting ‘sindiran’ or ‘perli’. This,
Rosmah could not stand. Rosmah felt, as a far more educated woman, she should be given
more prominence than Endon. Yet Endon is a far more politically experienced consort
compared to Rosmah and won public plaudits where Rosmah had none.

Rosmah expects, now that Endon is gone from the scene, she could play a more important
role, being the senior-most wife of a minister. On the morning of Endon’s funeral, the
atmosphere in Najib’s house in Taman Duta was like a Ramadhan bazaar. Hundreds paid
court to Rosmah -- something which she no doubt enjoyed.

But this will not be the case.

With the passing of Endon, another lady called Nori will now play a more important
political advisory role to Abdullah. While Abdullah’s daughter-in-law, Azrene, will
probably play host to social functions on behalf of her father-in-law, Nori, who shares
many of her mother’s populist traits, will become the main solace for Abdullah. In that
sense, Khairy’s position will strengthen and as long as he keeps on the straight and narrow,
not straying too far from his marital bed and giving due deference to his role as only half a
member of Abdullah’s family, he should be protected from the attacks of those eager to
influence Abdullah against him.

A few days before Endon’s death, some very close friends of Abdullah, who had been with
him through thick and thin from the early days of his foray into the realm of politics,
remarked that things weren’t going the way they had predicted. Previously, they thought
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that with Endon gone from the scene, Abdullah would go back to the old circle of friends
who have been the most tried and tested of his most loyal of followers. Instead, they found
that, in the dying days of Endons’ life, Abdullah had begun to cling more tightly to Nori
and Khairy’s younger set of advisors.

Their position looks unassailable.

No woman can replace Endon in Abdullah’s life. Their partnership was far closer than that
of politician and wife. That is often the case in Malaysian politics. Malaysian Prime
Ministers are often fiercely devoted to their spouses, such as proven in the case of the
strictly monogamous Razak-Rahah and Mahathir-Hasmah duopoly. Abdullah is unlucky
in having that relationship terminated so early on in his tenure. But he has comfort that
unlike, for example, the Najib-Rosmah relationship, his was one of genuine affection and
not merely a mutual alliance of ambition and interest. Such a partnership would be difficult
to replicate even if someone else comes along to reduce Abdullah’s loneliness. For the time
being, the passing of Endon Mahmood creates a vacuum in Abdullah’s life that is filled by
Nori and her husband. They are the shoots that have replaced the comforting branch that
was broken off by death last Thursday morning...

Part 17 is a special analysis on the passing of the late Datin Paduka Seri Endon
Mahmood. Part 18 will now be the article “Cannons to the right and left” as announced
before.
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PART 18: Cannons behind his back

Does Khairy Jamaludin really know who his friends are? Sure, he surrounds himself with
the young and bright, but have they become a liability to him? Is Khairy so naïve, thinking
that these people could be trusted to not leak details about his plans and activities to his
enemies?

One of the privileges of being young is that one can afford the luxury of a carefree and
devil-may-care life. Being young also means one can afford to be naïve and can be allowed
to make mistakes in one’s long journey to maturity. But Khairy cannot enjoy such luxury.
His fast rise in politics has resulted in him being caught in the middle of a situation where
every one of his actions are closely scrutinised by his political enemies as well as the public
at large.

Khairy lives life under a microscope and the fascination people have about him means he is
unable to make the slightest move without somebody, somewhere, reading into it and
making an interpretation about it. Often these interpretations are helpful but sometimes
they could be very detrimental and negative to his image. Even the most innocent praise
heaped upon him by his admirers could be seen to have ulterior motives, which in turn
generate nausea among the general public.

Khairy cannot pretend to be innocent in the roller coaster world of Umno politics. That is a
poor excuse few will tolerate. They believe that given his Oxbridge background he should
have the ability, acumen and intelligence to anticipate the consequences that his actions
will bring. Sometimes, however, people forget that Khairy is merely a naïve 30-year old
who rose in politics much faster than many of his peers.

He has been cushioned from major attacks by Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and has so far had
a smooth ride. So have his friends who have been given the fast track to the higher reaches
of government, politics and the corporate world. When they stumble, they stumble hard
and they pick themselves up very slowly for the simple reason they do not know what to
do. They are leaders of an opportunistic band which tolerates little mistakes but are
extremely critical of big ones. They are vicious when assessing their leader and one who
doesn’t perform will be devoured quickly and thrown aside.

Some of Khairy’s friends have been useful in giving him advice on how to spin an image,
yet they themselves have had little experience in addressing the problem of how to
maintain their image in the face of evidence to the contrary. Take, for example, Kalimullah
Hassan Masheerul Hassan, the Singapore Special Branch-trained NST group editor.
Kalimullah fancies himself as Khairy’s mentor. He often tries to 'sell' Khairy even when it is
not necessary to do so. Almost inevitably, in every meeting with foreign journalists and
government leaders, he mentions Khairy before mentioning the actual boss, Abdullah
Badawi. Kalimullah is prouder of his association with Khairy than Abdullah.

As a result, people believe, rightly or wrongly, that Khairy, and not Abdullah, runs the
government. Kalimullah does not help by putting more Singapore Special Branch-trained
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sycophants in charge of NST and Berita Harian. In their previous incarnation of PAP hacks,
their job was to build up the image of Lee Hsein Loong as the undoubtedly superior heir
apparent for Singapore and perhaps the most intelligent man ever to walk the face of this
earth.

And this is what they are now doing to Khairy.

But they forgot that in Lee Hsien Loong’s case there was no other heir apparent other than
Lee Jr. However, in Malaysian politics, there are many others who count themselves as heir
to Abdullah or even to Dr Mahathir Mohamad. By overselling their 'product', Kalimullah
and his bunch of Singapore-trained journalists are hurting Khairy’s image far more than it
is helping him.

Khairy’s friends in Umno Youth have not been very helpful either. Take, for example,
Norza Zakaria. This non-entity from Negeri Sembilan somehow made his way up the
ladder to become the Youth Chief of Wangsa Maju. Norza would not have gone anywhere
if he had not been plucked by Khairy as his right-hand man. But, in being that, Norza has
become intoxicated. Firstly, he uses his position in order to portray himself as the most
likely candidate to lead Umno Youth if Khairy, by a stroke of luck, falls by the wayside. He
has even gone so far as to have discussions with webmasters where he denies that Khairy
was instrumental in putting him where he is today.

Norza denies that he is ‘Khairy’s man’ and instead credits his success to his own
intelligence and abilities. He tries to out-boss the boss and be seen as the mature alternative
to Khairy. When confronted with the notion that he is nothing more than a Khairy front
man, he ferociously denies this and claims that he is just putting on a charade and playing
along to ensure that Khairy does not target him for assassination in the event the truth was
to surface.

Secondly, Norza talks too much. He will talk about Khairy to any banker, businessman,
journalist, contractor or civil servant who walks into his Treasury office in Putrajaya. Norza
tells them that Khairy wants this done or Khairy wants that project to happen, at times
without any reference to Khairy. As a result, people get the impression that Tan Sri Nor
Mohamed Yakcop and the officials who run the Ministry of Finance are powerless puppets
and that Norza is the one running the show on behalf of Khairy. Maybe this is only half
true, because for all the intelligence Khairy may have, Nor Mohamed Yakcop is still a
hands-on man. But the image that it gives to the public is that the Minister of Finance II is a
puppet of Norza who in turn is the puppet of Khairy.

Thirdly, Norza has business interests, which gets its way by dropping Khairy’s name.
Norza’s boys play up the fact that their chief is a close Khairy confidante in order to get
their way from the smallest of contracts from the Federal Territory Ministry to the biggest
banking jobs in KL. This can only hurt Khairy’s image; but does Norza care?

Even Khairy’s friends whom he has slotted in key government and political positions have
been a major source of leaks. Take, for example, Khairy’s boys in the Deputy Prime
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Minister’s office. In front of Khairy they give the impression that they are providing him
with valuable information regarding Najib’s movements. On the other hand, being the
young, naïve, ambitious people that they are, they are actually playing a double game.
While they keep Khairy informed, they also leak information about Khairy to Najib.

As a consummate politician, Najib knows how to handle them and uses them to find out
about the latest moves Khairy is making against him. Khairy does not realise this, but the
boys he has placed in Najib’s office are his biggest critics. Whenever they speak to Najib’s
people they give the impression that they do not agree with Khairy’s moves. At first this
starts out as a lie, but slowly, as the lie becomes bigger, they have to insert a few home
truths in it. These are quickly seized upon as Khairy’s evil plans to dethrone their heir
apparent.

Some of Khairy’s allies have quite obviously turned against him. In the last Umno party
election, Hishammuddin Hussein pushed very hard for Khairy to be installed as his
Deputy. Hishammuddin personally called other challengers to Khairy’s position and even
telephoned Muhkriz Mahathir to ensure that Khairy’s ascension was given a smooth ride.
But just mention Khairy’s name in front of Hishammuddin now and one can feel the
burning vitriol. Hishammuddin is angry with Khairy and he is angry enough to say it in
public to other members of Umno Youth.

Khairy is being used by Hishammuddin’s opponents to get their way. Whenever
Hishammuddin refuses to do something they want him to do, they quote Khairy’s name in
his face. Hishammuddin just hates that, and quite rightly so. He is angered by Khairy’s
blatant moves to meet up with Umno Youth members behind his back. He believes that
Khairy is committing a ‘derhaka’ and should be put in his place. Slowly, Hishammuddin
drifts away from Khairy’s circle.

Those who work for Hishammuddin have noticed how paranoid their boss has become of
late. Hishammuddin is always looking over his shoulders, fearing the knife that Khairy
wants to plant in his back. Hishammuddin knows that some of his officers are loyal to
Khairy and he has been extremely careful to exclude them from his discussions. He does
not do so blatantly, but they are being phased out. Preparations are being made for the
great showdown where Hishammuddin will take sides against Khairy with the people who
want to secure the post-Abdullah succession.

Sycophantic letters to the press written by Mustapha Ong, PERTIWI, Sisters in Islam and
Phar Kim Beng have also not been helpful to Khairy. People can immediately see through
them and Khairy has been foolish enough to think that the connection is not visible. The
world has become much more porous and transparent. These connections are there for all
to see. Even in groups that are ostensibly seen by the unknowing public as being
supportive of Khairy, subtle distinctions can be made which show them to actually be
agents for Khairy’s enemies.

One example is the many so-called youth and professional groups that exist today. Many
are badly-run self-serving fronts for ambitious Young Turks who imagine themselves too
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good for direct involvement in Umno. Some create this façade of supporting Khairy and his
ideals but in reality pressure him to do what he cannot afford at this stage of his political
life. They try and give the lie to his promises to eradicate corruption and money politics.
Instead of supporting Khairy, they are trying to kill him softly.

Some of Khairy’s trusted lieutenants have been important sources of information. For
example, Khairy’s movements during the last days of Endon Mahmood were reported to
this website by no other than those within the Seri Perdana residential complex. Ostensibly,
they should be Khairy supporters, but given the choice between Abdullah and Khairy, they
would not plump for the young pretender. Instead, their loyalty lies with the big boss who
faced up and down with them.

When Khairy went missing for long periods of time during Endon’s last days, it was the
Seri Perdana sources who talked. Soon, top Umno leaders who came to read Yaasin were
made fully aware that Khairy’s whereabouts had become a major source of concern. It was
the talk of the Umno circles, especially those who are of Abdullah’s age and immediately
below. They felt that this had become too much and that Khairy should be more respectful
to the man who made him into what he is today.

One of Khairy’s traits is to favour foreign journalists against Malaysian ones. Khairy is
more comfortable in addressing the Singaporean, American and Australian journalists who
in the past have been full of praise for him. To them, Khairy spills more beans. Malaysian
journalists have bosses who report directly to Khairy and can therefore be controlled by
him. Foreign journalists, on the other hand, do not have such problems. They are free
agents, even mercenaries, and what they say about Khairy to other Umno politicians and
opposition figures in Malaysia have made Khairy’s life difficult.

A favourite of foreign journalists is the former Finance Minister, Tengku Razaleigh
Hamzah, who is probably the most well-informed Umno politician today. Almost every
move Khairy makes is reported by these foreign journalists to those who can best exploit
the information. In Khairy’s naïve world where foreigners should respect him for his
Oxford background, Khairy often finds himself the most important source for all the leaks
about his life, plans, plots and movements.

What Khairy does not understand is that he surrounds himself with loose cannons. But
those loose canons do not aim at random figures. Instead, they swivel towards him and,
sooner or later, the cannonballs will begin hitting him hard. Khairy’s worst enemies are
actually the people closest to his circle. He has reached the stage often felt by a politician in
high power; loneliness at the top. Even his friends cannot be trusted anymore...
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PART 19: A republic of fear

Some leaders command respect from their followers. Others are loved and cherished,
maybe even revered or idolised. However, according to that great political theorist
Machiavelli, the mark of a successful leader is one who rules by fear. Fear prompts a
person to do more than he usually would, to go that extra mile for the sake of self-
preservation. Fear is an effective weapon by which following and loyalty can be procured.
A person who manages to make others fear him can very quickly rise from being the school
bully to the leader of a huge nation.

Those close to Khairy Jamaluddin say that he is a studious aspirant of the Machiavellian
mould. Though at this stage of his political career Khairy needs to nurture popularity, he
believes that in the long run, in order to remain the most potent political force in Malaysia,
he has to make people fear him. Slowly, that is beginning to take shape. Khairy has
elevated himself above his peers to the extent they now have to acknowledge that they live
and die by his will. Their future advancement, be it in the field of politics, industry, or even
the media, is dependent on their ability to toe Khairy’s line of thinking. Those who
overstep the boundary and believe themselves equal to Khairy (or even worse, better than
him) quickly find themselves out in the cold.

Even the most senior of UMNO leaders have to pay their respects to the son-in-law of the
Prime Minister. Menteris Besar such as Abdul Ghani Othman of Johor and Adnan Yaakob
of Pahang even go so far as to make sure that they are present at the tarmac when Khairy’s
plane touches the ground during his visits to their home states. Those such as Taib
Mahmud of Sarawak and Khir Toyo of Selangor who refuse to give Khairy the due respect
find themselves quickly out of favour. Khairy whispers into the ears of Abdullah Badawi
that people such as these should be next on the list of traitors to be hauled to the chopping
block. No doubt, Taib and Khir are two of the most corrupt state leaders currently in
power. But are they any more corrupt than, for example, Ali Rustam of Melaka? Yet, Ali
Rustam escapes assassination for the simple reason he pays his dues to Khairy and
kowtows to the hand he cannot bite.

In actual fact, Abdullah Badawi’s so-called war against corruption is but a selective and
self-interest vendetta. Hardly any within Khairy’s favoured circle get hauled up to face the
wrath of the enforcers, even if they are more blatant and open about their corrupt acts. In
politics, UMNO Youth Heads who bow to Khairy rarely get punished for paying for votes.
In the GLCs, corrupt CEOs get away with tens of millions through countless scams and
scandals because they pay court to Khairy. A good example is the recent losses in MAS,
where those who were installed to clean up Tajudin Ramli’s mess have been proven
incapable of doing the job in spite of their Oxbridge qualifications. Yet they are promoted,
not punished, for the simple reason they are Khairy’s poster boys.

Khairy’s main role in Abdullah Badawi’s administration is as a spin-doctor. He builds up
Abdullah’s image. But there is no substance in that image. Now the cracks are beginning to
show but it is a little too late for the damage to be repaired. Khairy persuades analysts in
the foreign banks (many who swoon over the opportunity to have tea with him) to write
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‘analyses’ saying that Abdullah’s reforms have to be given time to bear fruit. This is mere
hogwash. Many of Khairy’s apologists such as Kalimullah Hassan Masheerul Hassan,
Brenda Pereira and Phar Kim Beng are masters of spin who owe their lives and careers to
Khairy. One can scarcely hope for them to be genuinely critical in their assessments. They
are servants of the master propagandist – no more, no less.

One of the most recent victims of Khairy’s republic of fear is the Federal Territory UMNO
Youth Chief, Datuk Norza Zakaria. Norza started out in UMNO Youth before Khairy
appeared on the scene. It could therefore be said that Norza is Khairy’s senior in politics.
But Norza’s promotion as the Federal Territory UMNO Youth Chief and his sudden
elevation to the UMNO Supreme Council, coupled with his lucrative position as Political
Secretary to Second Finance Minister Nor Mohamed Yakcop, were all the result of Khairy’s
grace and favour. Norza has only average intelligence, which of course puts him way
ahead of ordinary UMNO Youth Exco Members. Nevertheless, without Khairy, Norza’s
name would have been quickly forgotten.

When the Khairy Chronicles first hit the Internet, Norza was one of those who panicked
upon the revelation of the millions he has thus far gained through his friendship with
Khairy. Several attempts were made to contact this website in order to persuade Malaysia
Today to reduce its expose on Norza’s activities. When this proved unsuccessful, Norza
went to see a certain ‘Reformasi’ activist who conveyed the message to this website that
Norza wanted to tell his side of the story. According to Norza, he was never close to
Khairy. In fact, Norza openly remarked, his rise in UMNO Youth had all to do with his
own abilities and not because of favourable treatment from Khairy.

Norza’s big mistake was to repeat this same line of argument to several of Khairy’s boys in
the Finance Ministry. Word quickly got back to Khairy that the dog was trying to disown
its master. Khairy promptly gave Norza the silent treatment and for awhile Norza went
into a state of depression. All he wanted to do was cover up the scandals he had been
cooking in the Finance Ministry by distancing himself from Khairy and denying his role as
Khairy’s bag-carrier. Instead, Norza found himself at the receiving end of Khairy’s anger
and even as you read this article he is still frantically trying to repair the damage done.

Of course, we already know what is going to happen. Norza will crawl to Khairy with his
tail between his legs and, like Amon Goeth in Schindler’s List, Khairy will ‘forgive’ Norza.
That is his prerogative as the boss. Hands will be kissed and all will be honky dory again.
Norza will now forever remember never to cross Khairy’s path again.

The self-preservation attitude of most UMNO Youth members is what makes Khairy
unassailable in the ranks of that organisation. To be honest, Hishammuddin Hussein is
only the temporary head of UMNO Youth, the seat-warmer for when Khairy feels he is in
the best position and ready to take over. Any loyalty given to Hishammuddin is transient
and at least two of Hishammuddin’s nominees as ‘Yang Berhormats’ in his home state of
Johor have now switched sides to Khairy’s camp. After Khairy’s visit to the Batu Pahat
division a few months ago, these two, whose seats had been the personal gifts of
Hishammuddin, met with Khairy in a hotel room in Johor Baru and spilled the beans. They
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told Khairy in minute detail how Hishammuddin reports Khairy’s every move to his
cousin and Deputy Prime Minister, Najib Tun Razak, while at the same time pretending to
agree with his deputy’s actions.

In actual fact, Hishammuddin is disgusted with Khairy’s self-seeking pronouncements, in
particular his unilateral decision to form a club comprised solely of UMNO Division Youth
Vice-Chiefs throughout the country and his unbalanced speeches during the UMNO
General Assembly, supporting Hishammuddin’s stance on the NEP in one speech only to
refute them in another speech a mere two days later.

Hishammuddin knows that time is running out for him and the journey to the top (i.e. the
UMNO Vice-Presidency) is a road fraught with difficulties. But he has little choice in the
matter. He is trapped by his own misguided belief that Khairy was a raw and untalented
young man in a hurry who could be easily checked by Hishammuddin’s vast experience in
UMNO Youth over the last decade.

The Permatang Pauh UMNO Youth Head, Mohd Zaidi Said, says that Khairy has now
become the most feared UMNO politician. His wealth accumulated over the short space of
two-and-a-half years has allowed him to be transformed into one of the most successful
patrons of young UMNO politicians. According to Mohd Zaidi, UMNO Youth leaders are
falling over each other to swear their loyalty to Khairy and enjoy a piece of the pie. They
are making hay while the sun shines and they believe that hitching a ride on the Khairy
bandwagon will at the very least give them some money to live well. And if things go
smoothly, when Khairy finally ascends the highest position within UMNO, he will drag
some of them along on his coat-tails.

Take, for example, the current situation in Pengkalan Pasir. All the potential candidates
from UMNO only pay lip-service to the Kelantan State Liaison Chief, Annuar Musa. When
it comes to getting blessings for their efforts to be named the official candidate of Barisan
Nasional, the names of Annuar Musa, Mustapa Mohamad, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah,
Zaid Ibrahim, Awang Adek, or any of the Kelantan UMNO stalwarts do not matter a jot.
Nor do they make a beeline to see the UMNO Management Committee Chairman, Najib
Tun Razak. It is Khairy’s blessing that they seek.

The very day after the death of PAS assemblyman Wan Aziz, both Hanafi Mamat and Che
Johan Che Pa, the Deputy and Vice-Heads of UMNO’s Pasir Mas Division, sent at least
three messages each to Khairy asking for an appointment. Not only that, they also trawled
through their phone books to search for the names of Khairy’s friends who could put in a
good word for them with the Boss of Bosses. One of the potential candidates tried to butter
up UMNO Information Chief Muhammad Muhammad Taib only to find that
Muhammad’s advice to him was to “talk to Khairy”. Another potential candidate, after
finding out that Khairy was attending the Executive Committee meeting of the Football
Association of Malaysia (FAM) last week, even tried to get himself appointed as Kelantan
representative to the meeting in order to “get closer” to the man.

When UMNO finally announces its candidate, there will be no doubt that that person will
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be Khairy’s choice. The charade that Annuar Musa is playing, saying that he has the
authority to decide on the candidate subject to the final blessing of Abdullah Badawi, is the
perfect example of the master ‘dalang’ playing his ‘wayang kulit’. Annuar Musa is adept at
playing that role and the ‘dalang’ always plays the story he is paid to play.

The fatal miscalculation for any UMNO politician now would be to cross Khairy’s path.
That is the kiss of death. From Perlis to Sabah, every UMNO politician knows, though
Khairy may not be the king, he is definitely the kingmaker. But fear can sometimes trigger
a revolution that sweeps out the dictator...
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PART 20: Does UMNO really want to win?

A Special Report on Khairy Jamaluddin’s role before and during the Pengkalan Pasir by-
election

It is 8.00 am. Khairy Jamaluddin is stuck in the usual Monday morning traffic jam
synonymous with Kuala Lumpur. He is running 15 minutes late for a meeting with some
UMNO Youth leaders who had insisted on an early morning breakfast to discuss the latest
power struggle in their division. Khairy had taken the precaution of sitting in the shotgun
seat of his car. He often does that to avoid the impression of arrogance. The chauffeur
swerves sharply along the meandering route to the Crown Princess Hotel where the
meeting is to take place. Khairy quickly checks his wallet. He does not know what the boys
want to discuss, but he is sure of one thing: whatever it is they had to say, he would be the
one paying the bill that morning.

The special shirt that Khairy wore had extra pockets for the three handphones that he
carries around. The First Handphone is the Maxis 012 that is his public number. Everyone
knows what it is because Khairy puts it on all his name cards as well as the Pemuda
UMNO website. Khairy uses it to send SMSes and the phone is always kept on silent mode
because it rings every other minute. Everyone feels that Khairy owes them an audience and
they range from the lowest member of UMNO Youth and part-time Internet buff who had
come across the number in the old UMNO Youth website, to a Chinese towkay trying his
luck with the man Singapore businessmen are already dubbing ‘Mr 20%’.

Khairy’s Second Phone carries a 019 number that he gives out only to important contacts.
The editors of the mainstream newspapers both in Malaysia and Singapore have this
number, as do two of the most prominent young opposition politicians in the country,
Husam Musa and Ezam Mohd Nor. The number is also available to ministers who
nowadays feel it necessary to call Khairy once in a while just to touch base and shoot the
breeze. He never uses this phone except for the closest of acquaintances and he knows that
when it rings he should not pick it up in full view of the general public.

It was this handphone that suddenly beeped. An SMS had come through. The time was
8.05 am. The news was brief and necessarily succinct. It read: “Wan Aziz, ADUN
Pengkalan Pasir, dies at 6.05 am this morning”. Khairy knew immediately what this meant.
For three months, both UMNO and PAS had been on a bedside vigil, waiting for Wan Aziz
to pass away. The state assembly member for Pengkalan Pasir, a small but significant state
seat in the Parliamentary constituency of Pasir Mas, had been suffering from liver cancer
and his condition had been deteriorating rapidly. So all knew that it was a matter of time
before UMNO and PAS would have a real fight on their hands. Khairy also knew that the
giant of Pasir Mas, Dato’ Ibrahim Ali, would be a factor in this race and had to be
extinguished once and for all.

Khairy instinctively picked up the Third Handphone. This is an iPAQ, the number which is
pre-programmed with his codename and known only to the Prime Minister, his immediate
family, and their security detail. This is also the number that Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
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would use to speak to his son-in-law. Abdullah Badawi himself has only one phone which
is almost always carried by the Private Secretary following him at any given function.
Abdullah’s number is on a secure line, unlisted and cannot appear in any phone because it
has been pre-programmed as such by a security expert. It even has the ability to send out
SMSes and other messages through an anonymous router so that the number does not
appear at all. Khairy thought that he should call Abdullah’s number and inform him of
Wan Aziz’s death. But then Abdullah would probably have known about it first and it was
no use telling him something he already knew. In any case, Khairy remembered that an
incident in March 2004 had turned Abdullah off Kelantan politics.

Back then, Abdullah was heavily dependent on Khairy to devise his election victory.
Though the image-building and spin-doctoring had been a success, Abdullah still felt that
Kelantan was out of reach for UMNO. If Abdullah was now being sold as an ulama, then
Kelantan Menteri Besar Nik Aziz is the father of all ulamas. His leadership of the state
looked unassailable because of the high respect accorded his straight attitude by the local
Malays. Admittedly, he was prone to gaffes, but then so was Abdullah.

Abdullah had sent an emissary to see Nik Aziz to offer a compromise where UMNO would
give PAS an easy passage in certain seats. Of course, UMNO would not shirk from fielding
a candidate there as well, but it would conduct a half-hearted campaign in these selected
seats where it had no chance of winning. Nik Aziz was agreeable to the idea but the plan
was shot down by other PAS leaders, in particular the Young Turks in Kelantan. So
Abdullah had to go back to the drawing board and together with Khairy devise a new
strategy of putting professional faces as candidates in Kelantan.

Khairy presented the candidates' list to Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak who was
chairing the committee tasked with the job of selecting BN candidates for the General
Election. Najib was highly disturbed. The Kelantan list excluded almost every man who
had previously been an ally of Najib. Instead, these figures who had served with Najib in
UMNO Youth had been replaced by ‘outsiders’ – i.e. fresh blood from Kuala Lumpur.
These new lawyers, accountants, businessmen and former civil servants were Khairy’s
choice to change the face of Kelantan UMNO. It also matched the new image of the
leadership of Kelantan UMNO Liaison Chief, Mustapa Mohamad, who is seen as
uncharismatic, wooden and boring, though a genius at economics.

Najib did not say a word to Khairy. But he immediately asked his Political Secretary, Datuk
Fatmi (the former UMNO Youth Head of Kota Baru), to fax a copy of the list to Najib’s
allies in Kelantan. They were understandably upset, angry and demoralised. To them,
Khairy’s list represented the end of their political careers. Though they knew they could
not say anything now, they would devise a plan to humiliate Khairy later on. The young
man went to sleep unaware that at least 20 UMNO leaders in Kelantan were sharpening
their knives and had now suddenly become his sworn enemies.

A few days before Nomination Day, the list drawn up by Khairy and approved by
Abdullah was sent by messenger to Kota Baru. UMNO Kelantan was supposed to keep the
list in a safe so that the surat watikahs can be prepared for Nomination Day. At least that
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was the plan. Unfortunately, Khairy did not count for the wily behaviour of his Kelantan
party colleagues. When flight MH1388 touched down at the Sultan Ismail Petra airport in
Pengkalan Chepa, the UMNO messenger was immediately met by 10 burly figures in
UMNO Youth uniforms. Thinking that they were his minders, he quickly got into one of
the cars on standby for him. However, instead of heading for the UMNO headquarters, the
car made a detour and the bag carrying the list was quickly snatched away. The messenger
was detained in a safe-house in Jalan Long Yunus and ‘advised’ to stay there until the
‘bosses’ had done their work. What happened next was like a bedroom farce. All those
UMNO leaders whom Khairy had dropped; some whom were qualified lawyers and many
of them former members of the state government of the 1980s; were put back into the list to
replace the names of all those whom Khairy had picked. This new list was then deposited
as the proper list to be used for the 2004 General Election. It was just a matter of hours
before the press conference by the Kelantan UMNO State Liaison Committee to announce
their line-up for the coming polls.

Of course, the messenger’s silence was procured through a suitable bribe. Nevertheless, the
secret could not be kept for long. People like Dato’ Nordin Razak, who had been tipped to
contest the Kota Baru parliamentary seat and had told his friends accordingly, suddenly
found themselves dropped from the list. Others like Dato’ Mustapa Taib saw their names
appearing elsewhere. Parliamentary and state candidates were switched around, including
Hanafi Mamat who had been slated for a parliamentary seat rather than the state
constituency of Pengkalan Pasir which he ended up contesting. Those who were dropped
or switched around swiftly called up Abdullah’s office to complain. But it was too late in
the day. Abdullah was too busy to entertain them as he had to face other problems such as
the appearance of a so-called ‘Mahathir list’ and the Sultan of Johor’s rejection of
Abdullah’s candidate for Menteri Besar. Instead of finding a firm offer from Abdullah to
reinstate his son-in-law’s list, the decision was made that the doctored list would now
become the official one. Abdullah did not want a scandal so early in his premiership, so he
shrugged it off as irrelevant because UMNO probably had little chance of winning
Kelantan anyway.

Surprisingly, things turned out very differently. PAS managed to hold onto the Kelantan
State Assembly by the narrowest of margin and quickly found themselves under pressure
to hang onto their last bastion. It was then that Khairy committed his second Kelantan
blunder. He received a call from Husam Musa to explore the idea of both parties holding a
ceasefire in their election petitions against each other. Khairy began negotiations and
concluded them with Husam without even referring to the state leadership. He of course
called up Mustapa Mohamad but neglected to discuss it with other top UMNO leaders in
Kelantan, many of whom would not be told of the decision because they were not on
speaking terms with Mustapa.

The decision to ‘make a deal’ with Husam resulted in Khairy losing the support of some of
the Kelantan UMNO Young Turks eager to seize the day and depose PAS from Kelantan
once and for all. They did not want PAS to have even an inch of opportunity in recovering
from the setback they had suffered at the General Election. Many of them also felt they had
good cause to challenge some of the narrow PAS victories, especially in seats where votes
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had been counted twice or where ballot papers had disappeared or had been wrongly
distributed between candidates. Even some of the older UMNO leaders like Hashim Safin
openly opposed Khairy’s decision to make a deal with Husam on their behalf. One thing
the Kelantanese UMNO leaders hate more than PAS is any UMNO leader from outside
Kelantan who makes decisions on their behalf. Fiercely independent, they resented the
brash, young Oxford graduate whom they felt had been easily tricked by Husam; who is at
least ten years Khairy’s senior and much more experienced in local politics and therefore
seen as wilier in local politics.

So, in spite of the mass media saying that Khairy is a popular leader with Kelantan UMNO,
he had a fair share of enemies from the state. He may not realise it, but even if he had
meant well in making a deal with PAS, it would have been better if someone else rather
than he make that decision. The resentment he caused seethed down to the divisions and
seriously affected Kelantan UMNO, which will now have a major impact on the Pengkalan
Pasir by-election.

A few hours after Wan Aziz’s death, Khairy received a phone call from Dato’ Rahim, the
Pasir Mas UMNO division head. Dato’ Rahim told Khairy what he already knew, namely
that Wan Aziz was dead. Dato’ Rahim said nothing else other than whoever was chosen to
contest the by-election would get his full support. Of course, this was not what Dato’
Rahim really wanted. He had been eyeing the seat for several months. Though he was a
Parliamentary candidate in the last general election, Dato’ Rahim was desperate to prove
that the weakness of Pasir Mas UMNO was not a result of his ineffective handling of the
antics of his sacked predecessor, Dato’ Ibrahim Ali, but a result of ‘other people’s
incompetence’. More importantly, Dato’ Rahim had the money to pump into the by-
election and would more willingly spend it on his own candidacy rather than someone
else’s.

Khairy did not see it that way though. To him, Dato’ Rahim is a big name who had failed to
deliver. In any case, he was too old, and Dato’ Rahim must have realised from the tone of
his voice that Khairy did not want him to fill in Wan Aziz’s shoes.

Instead, Khairy was more amenable to a younger candidate. There were two: Hanafi
Mamat, who as a 51-year old businessman was not overly old yet nor too young to be
described as a Khairy puppet. Then there was Che Johan Che Pa, an Arts graduate from the
University of Malaya who had made good as a lawyer with his second degree from the UK.
Both called up Khairy and told him that, like Dato’ Rahim, they too would give their
support to whoever was chosen as the candidate.

At first, Che Johan had the upper hand. Khairy felt that Che Johan was more presentable
than Hanafi. Che Johan also had an impeccable student activism record, something which
Khairy himself sorely lacks. Khairy was persuaded by Che Johan’s friends who sent him
countless SMSes to extol the lawyer’s candidacy. More importantly, the Special Branch had
reported that Che Johan had successfully infiltrated PAS circles by putting ‘pretend’ PAS
Youth members in their midst. Some had even been chosen as members of the Pasir Mas
PAS election strategy team. The sneakiness of Che Johan’s work commended himself to
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Khairy.

Khairy’s mistake, however, was in revealing his preference too soon. Amongst others,
Khairy ‘checked’ Che Johan’s name with other local UMNO leaders including Dato’ Rahim.
Though they tried their best to bite their lips and fake their agreement, secretly they
planned to bring Che Johan down. Dato’ Rahim’s strategy was simple. He would lull Che
Johan into thinking that his candidacy was assured because he had the blessing of Khairy.
Dato’ Rahim planned for Che Johan to accompany visiting UMNO dignitaries such as
Secretary-General Dato’ Radzi Sheikh Ahmad and Information Chief Tan Sri Muhammad
Muhammad Taib in their visits to the constituency. Che Johan believed the nomination was
his for the taking.

Dato’ Rahim then started a whispering campaign to oust Khairy from running the election.
In the beginning, Khairy had been nominated as the man responsible for the UMNO
campaign in Pengkalan Pasir. In preparation for this, Khairy began appearing in
newspapers in the act of greeting villagers and shaking hands with elderly folk. At first, the
strategy worked. Newspapers showed Khairy in the guise of a pious mendicant, sporting a
watch bearing signs of the kiblat and wearing something on his wrist which even Jeff Ooi
was fooled into saying in his blog were ‘prayer beads’ or tasbih. Khairy was portrayed as a
man for all seasons, someone who was equally comfortable with kings as well as paupers.

Then Dato’ Rahim struck. Early on in the pre-campaign period, Khairy had briefed all the
major newspaper editors not to carry any news regarding Dato’ Ibrahim Ali, the
independent candidate who was a would-be spoiler in the race. A vote for Ibrahim Ali
would probably have come from UMNO partisans, and therefore an advantage to PAS.
Khairy’s idea was to shut out Ibrahim Ali completely and make him ‘disappear’ from the
radar screens.

The plan backfired badly. Word soon leaked to Dato’ Ibrahim Ali that Khairy had given the
gagging instruction. Ibrahim Ali however had a trump card up his sleeve. In the run-up to
Nomination Day, UMNO began to panic. Efforts were made to coax Ibrahim Ali into
changing his plan. A meeting was held between UMNO Secretary-General Radzi Sheikh
Ahmad and Ibrahim Ali to ‘negotiate’ his withdrawal from the race. Unknown to Khairy
though, Ibrahim Ali had agreed to withdraw only if he was given back his UMNO Pasir
Mas division head post and replaced Annuar Musa as the Kelantan UMNO Liaison Chief.

But that in itself was not the trump card. There was another person in that meeting who
was representing the UMNO President. Strangely enough, this was none other than SPR
Chairman Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman. The purpose of his attendance was to
convince Ibrahim Ali that he could garner no more than 700 votes whereas he had achieved
double that in the election before this. Tan Sri Rashid showed Ibrahim Ali the calculations
regarding the ten voting channels or UPU of which, according to Tan Sri Rashid, UMNO
had a clear majority in at least seven of them, including several previously considered
Ibrahim Ali ‘possibles’. Only Kubang Bemban, Jalan Pasir Pekan and central Pengkalan
Pasir seemed to be slightly favourable to PAS. It was all a bluff of course. Tan Sri Rashid
had culled his report from a certain Major entailed to make preliminary enquiries – in any
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case highly inaccurate. But Ibrahim Ali now threatened to make public the fact that Tan Sri
Rashid, a supposedly neutral election commissioner, had really been quite openly acting
for UMNO and indifferent to public opinion if not for the coverage by the local media.

Ibrahim Ali’s intention is not to win the by-election but to garner enough votes and stay
relevant in Kelantan politics. If Ibrahim Ali can get more than 1,500 votes, this in itself
would be a tight slap on the face of the UMNO leaders, Khairy included, who had
sidelined him from the state leadership years ago. Ibrahim Ali knows the state assembly
seat means nothing to either party if he wins it. But it matters both to UMNO and PAS that
they themselves get it.

Dato’ Rahim is blaming Ibrahim Ali’s move on Khairy. So Khairy was ‘persuaded’ to lay
off Pasir Mas for awhile and leave things to the locals to handle. Instead, Khairy was given
the task of coordinating efforts in KL and to mobilise campaigners from outside Kelantan
to get Pengkalan Pasir voters in Kuala Lumpur to go back to vote on 6th December. In the
meantime, in Khairy’s absence, Dato’ Rahim outmanoeuvred Che Johan. He arranged for
Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to ‘receive’ a poison-pen letter with certain
documents proving that Che Johan had been involved in forging the cheques of an UMNO
foundation called Yayasan Pasir Mas to the tune of RM200,000.

Najib panicked and immediately summoned Che Johan who stammered and explained
that he signed the cheques on the instructions of the then foundation chairman, namely
Dato’ Ibrahim Ali. Najib refused to listen and swiftly deleted Che Johan’s name as the
candidate for the Pengkalan Pasir by-election.

It was too late for Khairy to do anything about it. By that time Dato’ Rahim had played his
second card. He immediately announced that he himself did not want to be the candidate
and left the door open to Hanafi Mamat, who of course is now not expected to challenge
Dato’ Rahim in the next UMNO divisional election. Che Johan had no choice but to give
grudging support to Hanafi. But he did not lie still, bemoaning his bad luck. Instead, Che
Johan began to block his supporters from attending campaign meetings conducted by
UMNO. Their numbers began to dwindle and became starkly evident whenever top
UMNO leaders including Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and UMNO Youth
Leader Hishamuddin Hussein came to visit.

Che Johan now knew he had no chance against the united alliance of Dato’ Rahim and
Hanafi Mamat. The only way he could remain relevant in future Kelantan politics is to
have a godfather bigger than the two of them combined. His immediate thoughts went to
getting Khairy on his side. Though he might have lost his chance now, backing Khairy
would ensure that, at least in the long term, he would be carried as baggage on Khairy’s
coattails.

So it was important that Khairy came back to Pengkalan Pasir. The UMNO leadership was
now crippled by the Pasir Mas civil war and the incompetence of the top state leaders. It
was also noted that, whereas other UMNO leaders came only to give grand speeches in
orchestrated public ceremonies, Khairy had a knack for going down to dirty his hands with
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the common people. The arrival of Anwar Ibrahim on the evening of Nomination Day
convinced UMNO that they too needed a hard-hitter who could not be so easily dismissed
as another UMNO stereotype.

But Khairy’s return to Pengkalan Pasir is not universally welcomed. Many top UMNO
leaders are unhappy that he is drawing too much attention to himself and drawing away
publicity from their own appearances. Wanita UMNO Head, Rafidah Aziz, seethed with
anger when she discovered that only RTM followed her around during her brief sojourn in
Pengkalan Pasir, while all the other news stations and print media went tailing Khairy to a
surau-painting exercise. According to an RTM reporter, Rafidah sarcastically remarked that
she was merely an old ‘makcik’ and ‘they should follow that young man around instead of
her’. In addition, several UMNO leaders from outside Kelantan now began to carry some
unsavoury material to share with their friends. This included a 25-page poison pen letter
detailing Khairy’s financial scandals which had previously been circulated in Kedah during
the tussle between Menteri Besar Syed Razak and his heir-apparent Mahadzir Khalid.
Because other states had not received such letters, some of the Kedah boys made it a point
to make several copies and share them with their fellow party members from outside. One
copy found its way into the hands of Adnan Yaakob and a certain Menteri Besar from the
south asked his secretary to make a copy for each division head in his state – of course,
‘only for information purposes’.

More importantly, Khairy’s re-emergence in Pengkalan Pasir has made UMNO Youth
leader Hishamuddin Hussein even more suspicious of Khairy’s future plans. Already
angry that Khairy divided Pengkalan Pasir into east and west between the two of them, as
if they are equals, Hishamuddin lacks the ‘star quality’ that Khairy exudes. Hishamuddin
knows that a victory in Pengkalan Pasir would not be attributed to him as he is scarcely
there, even in the five voting channels he is slated to be in charge of. Hishamuddin’s
runner, Akhbar Khan, had to beg a reporter from The Star to cover Hishamuddin’s badly
attended functions rather than cover Khairy’s more popular ceramah. All the newspapers
have dubbed the Pengkalan Pasir by-election as ‘Khairy’s election’ and it will be Khairy
who gets the kudos if BN wins.

So a PAS victory in Pengkalan Pasir will be a disappointment to only certain UMNO
leaders. Abdullah Badawi himself could not care less what happens because with a sizeable
four-fifths majority in Parliament he is nominally the most powerful Prime Minister ever.
But to Najib and Hishamuddin, a BN victory is Khairy’s victory and a sure sign that their
days are numbered.

On the other hand, a PAS victory in Pengkalan Pasir will only further dent Khairy’s
invincible image. He cannot afford to be seen by his fellow UMNO members as having
failed to deliver. If he plays his cards wrong, Pengkalan Pasir may be Khairy’s Pearl
Harbour, the beginning of when people start to realise that Khairy is not the giant that the
NST and TV3 paints him out to be.

Khairy is trying hard to make sure that BN wins in Pengkalan Pasir. All out efforts are
being made to bring back nearly three thousand voters who live outside the constituency,
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either in other areas in Kelantan, in Kuala Lumpur, or even as far away as Singapore. The
SPR has been told to hold off efforts by PAS and Dato’ Ibrahim Ali to get information
regarding the 'immigrant' voters. At the same time, money is pouring into Pengkalan Pasir
as if this was an election for the whole state of Kelantan. While the newspapers have been
downplaying BN’s inroads in the constituency, this is merely to stave off PAS voters from
turning out in large numbers on Polling Day.

For all intents and purposes, Pengkalan Pasir is no longer just a by-election in a small town
that no one knew existed until a couple of weeks ago. Pengkalan Pasir is a proxy war. It is
also a war being fought on many fronts. It is a war between the Ibrahim Ali faction, that
wishes to prove he is still relevant to Kelantan politics, and the current Kelantan UMNO
leadership, that wishes to retire him for good. It is a war between UMNO and PAS to
determine who would probably form the state government come the next general election
in 2007 or 2008. It is a war between Khairy, who wants to prove his prowess, and those
who would like to bring him down and deny him the Prime Ministership in 2015 or so.

Never before has so many political futures rested on a mere by-election.

Khairy knows that in the current situation, where the ratings are 50:50, UMNO will still
squeak through with a majority of around 500 votes. A small ‘skewing’ of votes will not be
that suspicious. But if PAS ever finds an issue that swings the voters on the ground to more
than 60% support for the Islamic party, then Khairy might have to kiss Pengkalan Pasir
goodbye. And PAS seems to have found such an issue; the issue being the Kelantan UMNO
state chief himself.

Khairy realises that the infighting in Kelantan UMNO is even fiercer than that between it
and PAS. The greatest liability to UMNO is its state chief, Annuar Musa. The Chinese
despise him for his ‘China baruah’ retort in the Kelantan State Assembly that has been
reproduced into a VCD and is being circulated amongst the Chinese voters. The other
Kelantan UMNO leaders despise him and want Pengkalan Pasir to fall to PAS just so that
Annuar Musa can be brought down. With Annuar Musa heading the by-election, UMNO
might as well pack its bags and allow PAS a walkover.

Then the uphill battle would begin, not for Kelantan UMNO, but for Khairy Jamaluddin as
the UMNO politician.

Khairy is now playing his last card. He has just sacked Annuar Musa and replaced him
with Muhammad Muhammad Taib. Mat Taib is supposed to be the saviour, the man who
will turn UMNO’s fortunes in Pengkalan Pasir around. But Kelantan politics, just like its
land laws, is unique. Even Malays cannot buy land in Kelantan unless they were born there
or, in the event they are a ‘foreigner’ Malay from another state in Malaysia, have lived there
for three generations. Putting Mat Taib, a non-Kelantanese, as the election chief is only
slightly better than asking the MCA President, Ong Kah Ting, to manage the by-election.

Is this eleventh hour move by Khairy his biggest blunder yet in Kelantan? In three days'
time we will know. Khairy will either emerge from the aftermath of Pengkalan Pasir as the
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undisputed political guru, or he will be seen as a bumbling fool. This is going to be the
turning point for Khairy’s political career, one way or another...
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PART 21: The Aftermath: Whose little victory?

The morning of the Pengkalan Pasir by-election, the Barisan Nasional election machinery
was confident of an 800-vote majority win. Hanafi Mamat, the candidate for Barsian
Nasional, predicted that he would capture around 8,000 votes, giving a comfortable lead
over his rival from PAS. On the other side of the fence, the PAS operations room was still
hopeful for a victory but predicted that the numbers, whatever they may be, would be
wafer-thin. In the end, both camps got it right. BN got their victory, and PAS correctly
predicted that the victor would obtain a minute majority, almost a blip amongst the 83%
turnout.

No doubt BN secured their predicted victory, but tongues were soon a wagging about
whether Khairy Jamaluddin had delivered what he promised. Early on in the campaign,
Khairy had gone into Pengkalan Pasir in a blaze of glory. He had muscled in a massive
publicity trail on the back of his down-to-earth approach, where he made personal appeals
directly to the voters by attending to their individual needs. Khairy was seen painting
houses, repairing toilets and cleaning up the streets as if that was the natural thing for a
director of financial giant ECM Libra to do.

Somehow or other, Khairy had confidently announced he would be able to capture almost
all the 2,000 young voters of Pengkalan Pasir. Given that in the last General Election PAS
had won by only a 53-vote majority, this would translate into a 1,600-vote jump in the BN
vote and a very comfortable 1,000-vote majority. Khairy had also promised that UMNO
would be able to shake PAS to the core by obtaining the whole-hearted support of the
1,000-strong non-Malay community of the area.

Nevertheless, this promise did not come true. The victory Barisan Nasional ‘bought’ was
derisory and difficult to justify in the face of the millions that had been poured into the area
by both Barisan Nasional and the government. Based on the allocation given to Hanafi
Mamat alone, each vote he garnered was worth at least RM11,500. It was a costly and
ridiculously extravagant affair by Barisan Nasional for a seat that only produced a whisper
instead of the storm of change they had expected in Kelantan politics.

Why did Khairy fail to deliver on his promise this time around? What happened to the
genius that managed to score Barisan Nasional’s massive four-fifths landslide victory in the
11th General Election? Did Khairy’s magic turn out to be no more than a conjuring trick, a
flash in the pan unable to sustain itself when it came down to real politics, instead of the
spin doctoring that marked his earlier phase in politics?

Khairy’s failure was predicated on several reasons, some of which were his own doing. The
first failure was the result of his ‘in-your-face’ style of campaigning which would have
worked if he himself had been the candidate, but unfortunately distracted the UMNO
machinery into an internal dispute. Khairy hogged the limelight and ruffled the feathers of
the senior UMNO leadership in Kelantan. He had thought that the power of his superstar
status would have made him a magnet to the voters.

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Khairy was half-right. Many had come to observe out of curiosity the little ‘wunderkind’
from Kuala Lumpur who had been described by many as ‘the next Prime Minister but one’.
But the voters of Pengkalan Pasir, the ones who really counted, did not flock to Khairy like
the many groupies from other parts of the country that did so. To them, Khairy, like Anwar
Ibrahim, was a curiosity – a freak that entertained them while the circus was in town.
Anwar Ibrahim, too, had drawn many onlookers during his brief sojourn in Pengkalan
Pasir. Tens of thousands had flocked to see him speak. But the majority of these did not
have a vote in Pengkalan Pasir. Pengkalan Pasir was merely the circus and the spectators
all came from outside. So, like Anwar, Khairy drew the crowds who in the end mattered
least.

The voters of Pengkalan Pasir realised that, in the end, Khairy would go back to Kuala
Lumpur and their hovels would still be rundown, their toilets dirty and their roads
blotched. It was of no consequence to them that Khairy, for a few brief days, became the
centre of attention in their tiny town.

So the media-hungry attitude of Khairy actually caused little effect on the voting pattern of
Kelantan. It was a hard sell that did not work. On the other hand, it managed to rouse the
anger of other UMNO leaders, notably Hishammuddin Hussein, Khairy’s ostensible boss,
who was heard to grumble that his events were badly-attended due to the Pemuda
machinery being commandeered by Khairy to follow in his tow, rather than serve the
needs of Hishamuddin. The distrust between Hishammuddin’s camp in Pemuda UMNO
and Khairy’s bunch of Young Turks has now reached boiling point. Hishamuddin took no
credit for the victory or otherwise of BN in Pengkalan Pasir, knowing that it was Khairy’s
intention to rub the shine on himself. For the time being, Hisham grits his teeth but the
water is coming to a boil and will soon result in one of the two killing off the other.

But Hishammuddin is only a tentacle of the man who has now become Khairy’s real
political rival. This man is heir-apparent Najib Tun Razak. In the past, Khairy’s friends who
were close to Najib tried to build a consensus between the two camps. Najib also went to
great pains to pander to Khairy’s whims and fancies -- such as bowing to his choice of
officers in the Deputy Prime Minister’s Department. However, Pengkalan Pasir was the
turning point in that relationship. It is now obvious to Najib that Khairy intends to rush
headlong into UMNO politics instead of patiently awaiting his turn. At risk is Najib’s own
tenure as the future Prime Minister and the position of his allies, including that of his
cousin Hishammuddin. The self-seeking publicity Khairy sought in Pengkalan Pasir made
it patently obvious to Najib’s camp that this young man was too much in a hurry and was
willing to bulldoze his way through.

Khairy’s insistence, for example, that his preferred choice of Che Johan Che Pa as the
candidate for Pengkalan Pasir was a challenge to Najib’s power. It is known in UMNO
circles that Hanafi Mamat, having served as a former Youth Chief of Pasir Mas division
during Najib’s tenure as UMNO Youth Head, was closer to and more trusted by the
Deputy Prime Minister. Khairy’s dogged attempt to sell Che Johan as the more
professional, youthful and forward-looking candidate irked Najib to no end. Finally, Najib
exercised his prerogative by shooting down Che Johan over a corruption scandal involving
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a few hundred thousand ringgit. In actual fact, Najib was shooting down Khairy.

Of course, the Najib camp also did its best to discredit Khairy in Pengkalan Pasir.
Accusations of Khairy’s misdeeds as the son-in-law of the Prime Minister were circulated
not only by the PAS camp, but more by Najib supporters who used Pengkalan Pasir as an
excuse to trade poison-pen letters about Khairy. Originally, supporters of outgoing Kedah
Menteri Besar Syed Razak Syed Zain (no fan of Khairy) distributed details of Khairy’s
devilish behaviour to visiting UMNO division leaders, and they were soon joined by
people who were doing the same on behalf of potential UMNO Youth Head and Selangor
Menteri Besar Khir Toyo.

Details that emerged showed quite clearly that forces within the government and UMNO
were out to expose Khairy by using the opposition as a front. It was a proxy war which saw
Khairy being attacked on a scale so personal and unprecedented since the time Anwar
Ibrahim used the Reformasi movement to bash Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Khairy, of course, could contain the damage due to his control of the media. But the media
has also become a Pandora’s Box. Khairy’s people in the media sniffed the air of freedom in
the early days of Abdullah’s ascent to power and now felt that they had a little more guts
than during Mahathir’s time. So, while they still toed the line, they have not been
completely obedient to Khairy’s instruction to kill off all stories touching his personality. It
became an issue in Pengkalan Pasir and voters were gleefully regaled with attacks on
Khairy, as if he was the Prime Minister himself. No one bothered about deadpan,
uninspiring, lethargic and tired Abdullah Badawi. Instead, they attacked what certain
bloggers described as the Czar’s Rasputin.

All this made Khairy’s attempt to turn Pengkalan Pasir into a personal triumph a complete
disaster. For the first time, UMNO members realised that Khairy was not a demigod but
flesh and blood. They also knew for the first time that he could become a liability to the
long-term survival of UMNO. Khairy’s unpopular attempts to replace the rank of UMNO
leadership with his own cabal struck fear into the hearts of the veterans who are now
beginning to realise to their chagrin that Abdullah Badawi could not be trusted to protect
their careers against his rising son-in-law.

More importantly, Khairy’s narrow power-base within Pemuda UMNO are now waking
up to the reality that there will be times when Khairy cannot deliver his promises. He failed
to put in their preferred candidate. He did not manage to secure the support of the young
men and women of Pengkalan Pasir. He is a potential source of rift between the leaders of
Pemuda UMNO. And, most glaringly, Khairy was unable to shirk off the image that he is
an opportunist who exploits the fact he is married to the Prime Minister’s daughter to
make his way in the world. The most disappointed of all the UMNO machinery was the
Pemuda ranks from whom Khairy hoped to launch his groundswell of support.

When a demigod becomes mere human, he also becomes prone to mortality. Pengkalan
Pasir was the first salvo of a concerted attempt by forces opposed to Khairy to gather their
collective strength and finish the boy wonder off. Let there be no mistake, even in the
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opposition there are people who are allied to Khairy’s cause, for example PAS Vice-
President Husam Musa. Husam had built his reputation after the last General Election
upon good relations with Khairy. His deal with Khairy to mutually withdraw both parties’
election petitions against each other and his reliance on Khairy to deliver monetary support
to the ailing Kelantan government backfired badly. It looks like Husam is finished as the
future Menteri Besar of Kelantan. He is no longer a trusted man amongst the members of
the elite of PAS. Though he may still be the right-hand man of Menteri Besar Nik Aziz Nik
Mat, he pulled his punches too often and will face an uphill struggle to regain credibility.
In any case, Nik Aziz is living out his last days as Kelantan Menteri Besar. As Khairy’s star
dims, Husam’s too will fade away.

Khairy’s enemies both within UMNO and the opposition will find common cause in
defeating him. It would be easier for the senior UMNO leaders to openly back Najib Tun
Razak against Khairy, as it will be Najib who is credited with the BN victory in Pengkalan
Pasir. Najib’s choice of candidate, his personal attention to the ground machinery, his use
of the established network in the Special Branch as well as the Election Commission, and
his knack for building a consensus amongst the UMNO leadership was far more successful
than Khairy’s abrasive steam-rolling.

Najib made friends in Pengkalan Pasir, whereas Khairy only created more enemies. The
situation now is not an easy one for Abdullah Badawi. He is placed in a similar position as
Dr Mahathir Mohamad was in 1998 where the heir-apparent had become a threatening
figure to his legacy. Uneasy days lie ahead for both Najib and Khairy. But it is a turning
point for both men. Najib has salvaged his reputation as the sitting duck, waiting for
Khairy’s rifle to shoot him down. On the other hand, Khairy faces the first of his many
internal challenges within UMNO. Whereas Khairy has risen effortlessly through the ranks
thus far, the next steps in his climb up the pole of UMNO politics will be met with the
bristle of thorns.

Armageddon comes soon for many in Malaysian politics. Within UMNO and within PAS,
the post-mortem of Pengkalan Pasir will be followed by the drawing of daggers. Some will
stab and some will be stabbed. The dirty rush of Malaysian politics will again lead to an
interesting time for the people and other observers alike.
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PART 22: A fatal miscalculation

All politicians are concerned with their legacy. How they are remembered matters more to
them than anything else. To start with, a politician usually has an ego that moves him to
look at the world in a very narrow form. In the mind of a politician, every event that
happens revolves around himself. They have what some have described as a ‘genetic
disorder’ of extreme belief in the ability of oneself to do almost anything in the world. Only
very rarely do we come across politicians who are able to transcend that vicious trait and
think more of others than they do of themselves. For most, the legacy they leave behind is
the end-all and be-all of everything that they do.

As a young man in a hurry, Khairy Jamaluddin has gone beyond the norm in trying to
secure his legacy. A few days ago, Khairy participated in a forum organized by UMNO
Youth in collaboration with their sympathisers in the Universiti Sains Malaysia campus in
Penang. Perhaps unusual for a university, the forum was openly in support of UMNO, and
Khairy made no qualms to hide the fact that UMNO drove the event in order to inculcate
its dogma in the minds of the participants. Khairy likes to start them young and it therefore
comes as no surprise that the participants were all young people. What may be surprising,
though, is that all the participants are still in Forms One and Two of the secondary schools
and therefore, strictly speaking, still children.

Therein lies the fatal flaw of Khairy. He started out and still professes that he is in favour of
reform. In fact, he presents himself as the candidate of change against the lethargy of past
regimes. Khairy is the Renaissance Man who would like to teach Malaysians how to
appreciate Shakespeare and drag them kicking and screaming into the 21st Century. But
like all UMNO politicians (and yes, even many in the opposition too), Khairy has missed
the woods for the trees.

Even when he fights to proclaim his image as a morally superior reformer, Khairy goes on
and on to break the rules. He sees nothing wrong about dragging politics into campuses in
contravention of Malaysian law, especially the Universities and University Colleges Act
which was introduced with the help of his father-in-law (then a ranking senior civil
servant). Khairy sees nothing wrong with influencing children with UMNO propaganda,
while at the same time criticising PAS for building their own nurseries and schools. Khairy,
in fact, sees nothing wrong with whatever he does in the face of the unarguable fact that, as
one of the most brilliant young men in the country, he is more than qualified to exercise
exceptions to the rule. The law that applies to the common people, or even other
politicians, do not apply to him. They are dumb, stupid and backward, and unable to
match his Oxbridge intellect. Because he is far cleverer than the rest, the rules do not apply
to him.

What Khairy enjoys from such events is the ability to show off to people far less intellectual
than him that he is a man to look up to. Yet, slowly, some are beginning to notice that
Khairy never dares to be with others who are equally intelligent, or perhaps even cleverer
than him. He plays to the galleries only when the galleries are made up of people who are
either too scared to speak up or unable to do so; because they are bewildered by the jargon
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that Khairy uses. Khairy’s ability to sustain himself in politics is purely based on the fact
that he has not allowed himself to be made a fool by another who is equally able as him.
Abdullah Badawi in his closeted life thinks that Khairy is the best thing since sliced bread
because he has never met anyone else equal to Khairy. But Khairy is responsible from
preventing these people from having access to Abdullah.

Unlike Mahathir, Abdullah Badawi does not have a wide circle of intellectuals that he can
rely upon. Most in his circle is made up of people who have shared his BTN background.
Other than that, there are a few academics who have made their living by instilling an
ultra-Malay culture in their outlook. Abdullah has no intellectual friends. If you exclude
the few journalists who write toadying articles about his so-called political tribulations,
even within the circle of civil servants that he likes to surround himself with, Abdullah is
never considered the brightest of the lot. It was, in fact, Abdullah’s lack of intelligence that
commended him to Mahathir, because the latter thought that a man with so little intellect
would be more likely to follow the policies set before him and not question them.

The flaw that Khairy has developed since his ascension as Vice Youth Chief of UMNO is
that he no longer tolerates criticism. In the first place, he has never had a valid circle of
friends. His closest companions are foreigners, mainly Singaporeans or Malaysians who
have never been schooled in Malaysia. Like him, they are the elite who rarely touch ground
with the common people. Khairy tried to transcend this disability by acquiring new friends
within UMNO Youth whom he felt was more in touch with the grassroots. Unfortunately,
most UMNO Youth leaders turn out to be people who use their alliance with Khairy either
to threaten other political rivals or enrich themselves at the expense of genuine
businessmen. Khairy, in fact, has no real friends within UMNO, and the few that he has
outside it have been rewarded with high posts that they are now afraid to lose. So they
have all stopped speaking the truth to Khairy.

All leaders face this problem: it is lonely at the top. But Khairy has reached this stage far
too soon. Even before he could assume his unabashed objective of becoming Malaysia’s
Prime Minister before the age of forty, he has already reached this groupie mentality. Yes,
Khairy’s circle is now only made up of groupies. Anyone who dares to say anything
against him soon finds himself being boycotted by the other groupies. Slowly they fade
away as the others tighten the circle around Khairy.

Mahathir Mohamad realised too late that this was the case with him in 1998. He no longer
had people who could speak up without fear or favour. In that sense, he comes only as the
latest in a long run of UMNO leaders. Tunku Abdul Rahman had the same problem in 1969
when he refused to listen to the Young Turks (which included Mahathir and Musa Hitam)
and relied only on his closest advisors like Khir Johari, Sardon Jubir and Senu Abdul
Rahman. Tun Razak would have been destroyed by the insipid influence of Abdullah
Ahmad had he not died before his time. Hussein Onn, too, failed to read the writings on
the wall and by the time he ceased to rely on Ghazali Shafie, it was too late for him to
salvage his leadership. Abdullah Badawi too will fall in the exact same way. He is already
beginning his slow tumble downwards from the heights of power. Abdullah’s inability to
judge people correctly and his obsessive reliance on Khairy will cause him to anger those
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very UMNO leaders upon whom he should rely on for support. Abdullah will be kicked
out of office for the same reason that others before him have found themselves flat on their
face. It is always the advisors that kill off their own leader.

Khairy’s fatal flaw of being unable to judge between enemies and genuine critics has been
exacerbated by his rolling-stone-like ability to gather powerful enemies. Khairy’s enemies
can be classified into several key groups. The most powerful group is made up of
supporters of former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. These people feel that Khairy is
an overrated brat who is a theorist out of touch with reality. They think that Khairy will
lead the nation up the garden path and fool the people into a long and intolerable
dictatorship led by himself and fuelled by his cronies of young Oxbridge graduates. Time
and time again, members of this group, including serving and former cabinet ministers,
have tried to bridge an alliance of UMNO veterans and current leadership to check
Khairy’s rise to power. Their most hopeful scenario is for Abdullah Badawi to be removed
from office either by force or subtle pressure and have a new leader, probably Najib Tun
Razak, who will then decapitate Khairy.

Does Mahathir Mohamad himself support this group? In a sense, Mahathir is already
giving them the best support anyone can give by undermining many of Abdullah’s new
policies. As a conservative Malay politician, Mahathir is a genius at causing people to
question Abdullah’s ability merely by uttering a few indirect comments which seem an
attack on others, but in reality is a veiled stab at Abdullah himself. No one expects
Mahathir to go further than that, but by doing so, Mahathir provides an avenue where
those dissatisfied with Abdullah and Khairy can gather and plot.

Khairy’s other enemies are those young leaders of UMNO who are afraid of his
connections with Anwar Ibrahim. Khairy does have some sympathy for Anwar, but it is
fair to say that Anwar loves Khairy more than Khairy loves Anwar. In fact, Anwar is
besotted with Khairy, seeing in him a mirror image of his own fabled meteoric rise to
power. Anwar thinks that Khairy models himself after him and tries to play the father
figure by giving Khairy unsolicited advice on how to manoeuvre within UMNO Youth.
Anwar thinks that Khairy is a genuine article, in the mould of a charismatic leader, the only
type that Anwar respects.

By being close to Anwar, Khairy has formed an alliance seen by many in UMNO as a pact
with the devil himself. Certainly the old guard is fearful of Anwar, but the young leaders
too are worried that Anwar will come back in and bring along his own cadres, thereby
displacing them, especially those who made their careers after 1998 by brown-nosing
Mahathir. In reality, Khairy’s attempt to use Anwar for his own popularity has back-fired.
The visit to Anwar’s house on 2 September 2004 is the one thing UMNO leaders remember
about Khairy and it will mark him with the brand of Brutus for many years to come.

Khairy’s enemies are not all politicians. Some of them are businessmen who feel that they
have been cut out by ECM Libra and other Khairy ‘investment vehicles’. A certain Tan Sri
from Penang recently remarked to his friend that it is almost impossible for him to have
any business with the Penang government because all the contracts have been taken up
- 101 -
young Chinese cronies of Khairy Jamaluddin. He pointed to several key construction
projects which involve Khairy’s nominees. The allegations are not all true of course. Some
of the nominees are not Khairy’s but those of the late Endon Mahmood’s family and of
Kamaluddin Abdullah Badawi. But since Khairy is the most visible member of the Prime
Minister’s family, he is automatically seen as the deal-maker.

No matter that the accusations are only partly true. Even those that are makes Khairy seem
like a greedy young man out to earn hundreds of millions at the expense of far more
established businessmen. The perception is that Khairy influences business decisions made
by the government. For example, those involved in the DRB shares sale think that Khairy
had instructed Kalimullah Hassan Masheerul Hassan, his Singapore Special Branch buddy,
to jump the gun and tie the government’s hands by announcing that Tan Sri S.M.
Nasimuddin had won the bid for the late Yahaya Ahmad’s shares. News spread that
Khairy had leaked the information to the NST, knowing full well that others in the
government were in favour of Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar’s bid. But Khairy wanted to push the
decision in his favour so he took the unprecedented step of using the press as a method to
influence the decision.

Those who dislike Khairy comprise some of the richest Malay and Chinese businessmen.
The Malays hate him for creating a new circle of young Malay businessmen allied to
himself; those such as Rozabil Abdul Rahman, the Perlis Youth Chief, and others of that
persuasion. The Chinese businessmen hate him for selling major business opportunities to
his Singaporean friends. The fact that Khazanah now deals only with the big players from
Singapore and Indonesia means that many locals are excluded. All this is deemed to be
Khairy’s fault and all lead to the same conclusion: that business is bad because of Khairy.

Perception is everything in politics, therefore whether the accusations levelled against
Khairy are true or not, people in politics and business who each have their own interest
will always take the side of the story that favours their own line of thinking. Therein lies
Khairy’s own problems. Because of his eager (some say too eager) efforts to aggrandise and
self-publicise, he has become the main target for the elites’ dissatisfaction. The people know
too little about Khairy at the moment for them to have a negative opinion on him. But those
who move and shake the country, who make a living by wheeling and dealing, who thirst
at the opportunity of power-broking, who feel that it is their birthright to secure politics’
highest offices, and who spend their days thinking of what’s the best alliances to make,
these people have all formed their opinions about Khairy and it is too late for him to
change them. It is time for the battle to begin.

During Khairy’s monologue at USM, he was at his most self-indulgent best. He gave a
press conference which extolled all the efforts he is doing to create a morally upright group
of young citizens. But away in a corner where the press conference was held, a group of
UMNO Youth leaders were gathering. All shared the same feeling: they were sick of
Khairy. One suggested that the time was now right for them to push forward an equally
potent rival within UMNO Youth, someone who can match Khairy’s intellect. A state
Youth leader proposed several names and the small gathering broke off after agreeing to
shortlist the names mentioned. Khairy will not have an easy year ahead...
- 102 -
PART 23: Faster, Higher, Stronger

Khairy Jamaluddin is involved in only one sports organisation, the Football Association of
Malaysia (FAM). The Sultan of Pahang, who in his infinite wisdom wanted to be close to
the boy who would be Prime Minister, offered him a seat on the Exco; even though Khairy
never played a day of soccer in his entire life. Another proponent of his entry into FAM is
Raduan Sheikh Ahmad, brother of UMNO Secretary-General Radzi Sheikh Ahmad, who is
more interested in Khairy’s money and how he could allocate that to causes related to
Malaysian football. Khairy doesn’t mind this. In a ‘scratch your back, scratch my back’
world, any alliance is an advantage; especially since public support for Abdullah Ahmad
Badawi is getting thinner and the patience of UMNO members with the Abdullah family’s
greedy ways has grown into seething discontent.

The only game that matters to Khairy is the 100 metre dash. Early on in his political career,
Khairy decided not to be a marathon man, pacing himself with the older generation and
waiting patiently for his turn. Khairy wants to kick the opposition to pieces and shatter the
glass ceiling, making himself the youngest ever Prime Minister. He is well on his way to
that. But a few obstacles remain, and Khairy wants to wish them away. In the coming year,
he will try his best to remove these obstacles and smoothen his path to power.

Already he has had to move quicker than planned. The intense attacks through poison-pen
letters by his rivals in UMNO, such as Khir Toyo and Hishammuddin Hussein, have
caused Khairy to lose the goodwill of many of the rank-and-file. The Pengkalan Pasir by-
election showed UMNO Youth members that Khairy was not the magic elixir that could
produce massive support. Khairy’s claim that he was the leading light of a new generation
which had the support of the majority of young people in the country proved to be a
hollow boast. The 2,000 young voters he promised to deliver in Pengkalan Pasir failed to
materialise and the ones that actually gave him support were attracted to his money rather
than his charisma.

In his dream of dreams, Khairy wants 2006 to be the year he becomes a mainstream player.
To that end, he has laid the ground for several changes. Khairy’s wish list for 2006 is as
follows:
1. Influence the Cabinet reshuffle
A cabinet reshuffle is long overdue. The Abdullah Badawi XXL cabinet created after the
last general election has proven to be weak and uninspiring. Abdullah’s choice of ministers
at that time was dictated by the ghost of Mahathir and the need to reward several
unsavoury characters who had helped him sustain his slow ascent to the Premiership.
However, he failed to deliver on the promises made and it has regressed into a Third
World Cabinet with Third World mentalities.

Khairy is eager to stamp his mark. He wants to kick out or at least reduce the power of
several senior ministers who have been disrespectful of his powers -- Samy Vellu, Lim
Keng Yaik and Rafidah Aziz have been too long in the teeth and do not kowtow to Khairy
- 103 -
as he thinks they should. These ministers will be running their last laps in irrelevant
ministries or find themselves with understudies eager to play the top billing.

Khairy also wants to promote his cronies. He wants to secure higher positions for Noh
Omar, Shaziman Abu Mansor, Adham Baba and promote to the cabinet people such as
Ahmad Shabery Cheek. To do so, some older leaders must be kicked out and these Young
Turks rewarded with positions of responsibility.

The cabinet reshuffle, which is due anytime between now and the Sarawak state election, is
also a useful tool to scare some potential rivals. Khairy has been telling people that
Hishammuddin Hussein, for example, has not ‘performed’ as Minister of Education.
Khairy has planted the seed of doubt by accusing Hishammuddin of being mired in
appointing too many Special Officers in his ministry. Indeed, Hishammuddin has 15 such
officers, double the number that of the Prime Minister himself. Khairy wants
Hishammuddin to know that if he were to be allowed to continue holding powerful
portfolios, it would only be by the grace and favour of the all-powerful son-in-law.

2. Remove Khir Toyo
Khir Toyo continues to be the most apparent challenger to Khairy’s throne. Whether as a
future UMNO Youth Head or even as a stalking-horse to the post of Vice Youth Head, Khir
Toyo commands the support of rank-and-file UMNO members even though he inspires
mostly disgust amongst non-UMNO citizens. The magic of Khir Toyo comes from the fact
that, unlike Khairy, the fruits of his corruption are shared with other leaders. For example,
Khir Toyo never forgets to give cash payments in the hundreds of thousands to all the
divisions of Selangor UMNO for them to trickle down the largesse to ordinary members.
Khairy does not do that and he only rewards his closest friends and those within his circle.
As a result, though both are intrinsically corrupt, Khir is an immensely popular politician.

Khairy’s deal with TV3 News and Current Affairs Director, Dato’ Kamarulzaman Zainal,
boils down to attacking Khir Toyo on almost all the wrongs happening in Selangor. To
some extent this has been successful. But Khir is not as stupid as he looks. He hides behind
Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and uses his links to Mahathir’s son, Mokhzani, to
maintain his position. He has very cleverly deflected threats from Abdullah loyalists in
Selangor by giving them tasks they could not possibly perform and allocating them
problematic portfolios.

2006 will show Khairy trying very hard through the media to tar Khir Toyo and bring him
crashing to the ground. At the moment, Khairy is planning an expose through an English
newspaper about Khir’s role in personally approving projects in certain areas to relatives of
his wife, Zaharah Kecik, and other such cronies. The stories will begin as an environmental
scandal and end up questioning the probity of the Menteri Besar himself. By such means,
and with the aid of TV3, Khairy hopes that Khir will finally leave the scene blemished and
unelectable.

3. Promote Wan Farid to a higher position
- 104 -
Wan Mohd Farid Wan Salleh is Khairy’s new ally in the PM’s office. As Political Secretary
to the Prime Minister, Wan Farid has taken on the role of Khairy’s unofficial gatekeeper in
that office. Whereas Khairy himself used to play this role, he is now too busy to do so and
trusts Wan Farid, the 42-year old politician from Terengganu, to be the toll-collector from
businessmen who seek the Prime Minister’s stamp of authority for their projects. Wan
Farid has been so successful at this that he is soon to be made a Senator, and if word on the
ground is correct, he will soon ascend to the office of Minister, where he is then expected to
be totally indebted to Khairy.

Already Wan Farid has been instrumental in securing a large chunk of Terengganu oil
royalties for a pet project of one of Khairy’s businessmen friends, Patrick Lim. The
businessman, who flies Khairy around in his private jet, recently obtained RM89 million
from the Terengganu Special Fund, without having to refer to the Menteri Besar, Idris
Jusoh, or the State Exco. It was Wan Farid who did the deal and ensured that Khairy got his
appropriate cut. The money was supposed to be allocated towards development projects
for the poor, but has instead gone towards building a tourist complex, shopping mall and
condominiums. Inflated by over 40%, the Chinese businessman has allocated a sizeable
portion of the profit to Wan Farid and Khairy.

One of the major movers and shakers of 2006 will be Wan Farid. Khairy is now
contemplating whether he should be more prominent and be made a minister, or continue
to play a background role, thereby ensuring lack of public knowledge over the secret
goings-on in Abdullah’s office. Either way, both men will become richer by the millions in
this New Year.

4. Crush Reezal Merican
There are some who are stupid enough to think that because Reezal Merican and Khairy
used to work in the same office and are both UMNO Youth Exco members, they should
then be bosom buddies. In fact, the reverse is true. Reezal Merican hated Khairy the
moment that young upstart walked into the corridors of power. The feeling was mutual --
Khairy too felt that Reezal Merican was an IIUM graduate who was decidedly stupid,
backward and good for nothing more than reciting a few doas. As Khairy became more and
more powerful, Reezal had tried to be more accommodative, but Khairy continues to
regard Reezal with contempt.

The blunder caused by Reezal’s over-enthusiastic challenge to Anwar ally Suhaimi Ibrahim
in GPMS is the perfect opportunity for Khairy to tarnish Reezal further. Already Khairy has
circulated copies of Reezal’s irregular claims upon the Finance Ministry coffers. As Political
Secretary to the First Minister of Finance, Reezal gets certain out-of-pocket expenses for his
official duties. But Reezal has also charged many other expenses to this account, including
political lunches, IIUM Alumni Association Dinners and GPMS meetings. Another source
of Khairy’s anger with Reezal is that the latter has openly canvassed support for him
challenging Khairy in the UMNO Youth leadership elections to come. Reezal uses a
network of IIUM alumni who are now working as Special Officers to certain ministers to
canvass their support. So Khairy has decided that 2006 will be the year that Reezal Merican
- 105 -
gets his just desserts.

5. Clip Najib’s wings
Khairy has been counting on Najib Tun Razak’s timidity to ensure that no challenges
would be forthcoming from that scion of ‘wait-and-see’. After all, Najib has all the time in
the world to wait and the Khairy camp has lulled Najib into thinking that Khairy is
warming up to him. Khairy has even gone so far as to say that Najib has proven himself
time and time again as the most loyal and genuine of all the ministers in the current
cabinet.

Famous last words! Khairy has never ceased planning Najib’s downfall. The only reason
why Khairy has not acted thus far is because he is not strong enough to override the
support given to Najib by Mahathir’s former supporters and other UMNO leaders fearful
that Khairy is trying to bring back that old bugbear, Anwar Ibrahim, into UMNO. Another
reason why Khairy has so far failed to act is because Najib is able to rally far more support
from rank-and-file leaders than Abdullah and Khairy can. Dissatisfaction amongst
ordinary UMNO members against weak, tepid and irresolute Abdullah who is seen to be
totally under the control of a greedy, conniving Khairy cannot be underestimated. Since the
last UMNO elections, the focus of discontent have settled on Khairy’s shoulders and, in a
showdown between Abdullah and Najib, Abdullah will lose hands down. So Khairy
cannot act now without devising a foolproof plan on how to remove Najib.

So Najib’s wings will be clipped. Khairy intends to:
I. Remove Najib’s supporters from the Cabinet
II. Defeat Najib’s candidates in the Divisional and Youth elections
III. Destroy Najib’s credibility through the media
In addition to that, Najib’s economic strength is to be severely compromised. The rise and
rise of CIMB, led by Najib’s sibling, Nazir Razak, is less the target, given that there is less
opportunity to create a scandal in such a public company. Furthermore, Nazir is a
scrupulously straightforward businessman. However, Najib’s other brothers have been
involved in behind-the-scene deals with potential Khairy enemies in the business world,
including a few top Malay and Chinese businessmen. These siblings, notably Nizam and
Johari Razak, are the main targets for Khairy. In the next year, some of their more secret
deals will be made public by Khairy’s friends in the media to try and paint Najib as a
politician mired in cronyism, much in the mould of Mahathir Mohamad.

6. Destroy Mahathir’s legacy
Khairy’s biggest enemy is not the up-and-coming politicians of UMNO, but that great has-
been, Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Mahathir continues to be the main critic of the government
of Abdullah Badawi. The public knows that Mahathir is not happy with many of the moves
initiated by Abdullah, not because he thinks these policies run contrary to his legacy, but
because Mahathir sincerely believes that many of these policies were concocted by Khairy
and his cronies in Ethos Consulting and ECM Libra in order to enrich themselves.
- 106 -

Although some may say that Mahathir had done the same thing for his own cronies,
Mahathir believes that his plan also produced many successful Malay tycoons whom he
had hoped would be able to engineer a wealthier Malay business class. In Mahathir’s eyes,
what Khairy is doing is just for the sake of his own pocket. Mahathir also believes that
Abdullah is immensely stupid and totally out-of-touch with the purposes of national
development. Mahathir thinks that the Abdullah government has now become too
dangerous to be allowed to survive much longer.

Mahathir’s intention for 2006 is to further expose what he feels are mistakes made by
Abdullah and also use these criticisms to level a veiled attack on Khairy. While Khairy can
quickly answer the attacks of other UMNO leaders, Mahathir is a different kettle of fish.
Khairy cannot be brash and disrespectful towards Mahathir as he is with Najib, Ali
Rustam, Muhyiddin, Khir Toyo and others of that persuasion. Mahathir is indeed Khairy’s
biggest PR problem.

But perhaps 2006 may yet see Khairy winning over Mahathir. After all, Mahathir is now 81
years old and has just recently survived a minor heart attack, disguised as a ‘routine check-
up’. It cannot be expected that Mahathir is healthy enough to launch a strong challenge
against Khairy. When Mahathir backs down due to ill-health, won’t Najib also do the same
-- knowing that his biggest supporter will not be around him to weather the whole attack?

7. Make another RM300 million
Khairy understands the first rule of UMNO politics is to make enough money to buy the
votes. So far, Khairy has done very well from selling government-linked stocks to certain
parties, including foreign government investment companies. Khairy has built up a
treasure chest far bigger than that of Hishammuddin Hussein and has been lucky that the
opposition does not attack him as much as they do other UMNO leaders. PAS does not
understand Khairy’s complex ways of raising secret funds through corporate exercises for
the simple reason that the best economists in PAS such as Dr Rosli Yaakob, Husam Musa
and Dr Dzulkifli Ahmad are second-rate businessmen, more in tune with the inner
workings of goat’s milk pills rather than high finance. DAP, too, is too far removed from
the world of GLCs to understand the intricacies of Khairy’s deals. Anwar Ibrahim’s group
does not know very much about what is going on as well; other than the few things which
should be kept hidden in case Khairy proves a valuable ally in the efforts to bring Anwar
back into UMNO’s fold.

Meanwhile, while the political opposition continues to sleep soundly, Khairy has been
making more deals. The recent purchase of 3% of ECM Libra is in preparation towards the
company acquiring more and more deals to sell off other government ‘non-core assets’. It
would be difficult to explain payments made to Khairy (which are enormous) if he was
merely an employee rather than a shareholder of ECM Libra.

One thing for sure, 2006 will see the beginning of the process to remove some financial
tools that Khairy needed before to give a perception of reform but are now only obstacles
- 107 -
to his future success. The end of 2006 will see Binafikir founder and Khazanah Managing
Director Azman Mokhtar’s final contract year. Soon he will not be needed anymore and
Khairy would either assume that role himself or appoint one of his chosen boys currently
on the second level of the Khazanah management to be the seat warmer while he strips that
institution of its crown jewels.

Likewise, Second Finance Minister Nor Mohamed Yakcop has gone past his sell-by date.
The smooth-talking castrati, with an appetite for tear-jerking poetry has served his purpose
in securing the image of transparency and good corporate governance in major
government-owned businesses. Now Khairy feels the country is more prepared to let a
younger man take that role -- obviously a younger man who is pliant to Khairy. Nor
Mohamed will be removed as Second Finance Minister no later than the end of 2006.
Whatever happens in 2006, it will be Khairy’s year to make sure that his dream becomes a
reality. The short-term objectives as stated above are the prelude to Khairy securing a
parliamentary seat, probably in a by-election sometime in 2007, and entering the cabinet
almost immediately after the 12th General Election. The countdown to Khairy assuming
the Prime Ministership of the country, which began only around four years ago, has now
less than a decade to run. Khairy is not wasting any time and neither should his enemies.
At the moment, the odds are on Khairy making the cut while his opponents seem headed
towards having themselves sacrificed upon his political altar...
- 108 -
PART 24: Khairy Chronicles in review

Raja Petra Kamarudin

You may have noticed that the last episode of The Khairy Chronicles, part 23, came out about
three weeks ago on 2 January 2006. Well, the long gap is unavoidable and due to a cat-and-
mouse game I am playing with certain parties. You see, about 10 days or so ago, these
‘certain parties’ met to discuss how to close down Malaysia Today and end The Khairy
Chronicles once and for all.

It seems Khairy Jamaluddin is not happy with The Khairy Chronicles. And when Khairy is
not happy, he must be made happy. These ‘certain parties’ do not work for Khairy. They, in
fact, answer to the government. Indirectly, they are responsible to the people. Their job is to
uphold the law and punish the law-breakers, not to serve certain political interests. Their
function is to defend our constitutional rights, including freedom of expression and the
independence of the media. But that is only a pipedream. In reality, they bow to the will of
the powers-that-be. In this case, they bow to Khairy.

Khairy has no position in the government of the day. He is officially only a ‘corporate
advisor’. No doubt he is deputy head of UMNO Youth, but that role too is not one that
allows him to run the country as he wishes. Nevertheless, he does. For some time now,
these ‘certain parties’ have been feeding him reports (as well as to his father-in-law),
including the results of their snooping on opposition politicians and functions. Khairy has
no right to these reports, but he receives them anyway -- because the ministers and deputy
ministers in charge are too afraid to raise their objections.

What makes Khairy uncomfortable with The Khairy Chronicles is the fact that it has pre-
empted many of his moves since the middle of last year -- and now that he is beginning to
make these moves we can turn round and say, “I told you so.”

The problem faced by these ‘certain parties’ is how to directly link The Khairy Chronicles to
me. No doubt my name does appear in Malaysia Today, but if they charge me in court, they
have to prove I wrote The Khairy Chronicles (the ‘maker of the document’ in legal jargon).
And the way they were going to do this was to wait for the next episode to come out, part
24, then, on that day, they would raid my house, confiscate my computer, and arrest me.
From my computer they would then be able to prove I wrote part 24. The evidence could
then be used to press charges against me.

The thing is, what they do not seem to realise, one can always write online. In that case,
how would the evidence be in your PC? And have they not heard of these software
programmes which cost a couple of hundred Ringgit, exceeds US military and intelligence
agency specifications, and can wipe off all your tracks without a trace? No doubt, the Bukit
Aman and Mimos boys may have been trained six months at Langley some years back, but
technology changes very fast and every day there are new things on the market. (Of course,
there is more than this that I am doing, but I am not telling all).

- 109 -
In light of the present developments -- the death of Dr Liew Boon Horng, the managing
consultant of Ethos Consulting, Khairy buying into ECM Libra, the merger between ECM
Libra and Avenue Capital Resources, the impending cabinet reshuffle, the rumoured arrest
of the Putera Umno Chief in a vice raid, and so on -- there is certainly much more that The
Khairy Chronicles will reveal in the weeks to come, if we are given the chance to do so...

Anyway, let us review the first 23 episodes of The Khairy Chronicles and recap what we said
then:

Part 1 - SYNOPSIS: The most powerful man in Malaysia

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is legally the fifth Prime Minister of Malaysia, having taken
office in November 2003. However, even before he assumed office, it was quite clear that
Abdullah Badawi was not his own man -- that all his thoughts, actions and deeds were
heavily influenced, if not directed, by his then 28-year old son-in-law, Khairy Jamaluddin
and his coterie of friends. While some talked of the three Ks being the power behind Pak
Lah; namely Khairy, Kalimullah (the Group Chief Editor of the New Straits Times) and Kak
Endon (Datin Paduka Seri Endon Mahmood Ambak, wife of the Prime Minister); there is
no doubt that the first K is the most powerful, having appointed the second K to his post
and having married the third K’s daughter at a time when the third K was and is fighting
breast cancer, an illness that has already claimed the third K’s twin sister.

Part 2 - Out of the wormhole

Today, Khairy Jamaluddin has become the most powerful man in the country. Unlike most
politicians whose origins can be easily traced and whose records are in the realm of public
knowledge, Khairy is like a ‘dewa kayangan’ (fairy godfather) who appeared from nowhere
into the mainstream of Malaysian politics. Many began to wonder whether he was planted
by certain sinister forces, such as the CIA or maybe the Singapore intelligence services.
After all, no one can attain power so easily and so quickly unless they had some help, could
they?

Part 3 - The enemies within

In addition, Hishammuddin is unhappy that Khairy set up his own network within the
UMNO Youth machinery, e.g. nominating Norza Zakaria to the Supreme Council over and
above Hishammuddin’s own choice. Khairy also set up an informal network of UMNO
Vice Youth Division Chiefs throughout the country, a phenomenon unheard of when
Hishammuddin himself held that post. Hishammuddin realises that he now holds office by
the grace and favour of Khairy. When the latter is ready for the post of Youth Chief, the
former must go.

Part 4 - Strangling your own brothers

Abdul Azeez shared many of Reezal Merican’s attributes. A fellow Mamak like Reezal, he
had a weakness for beautiful women and both had married twice. More importantly,
- 110 -
Abdul Azeez was a self-made businessman of a rather thuggish outlook and could counter
Reezal’s influence among the locally educated UMNO Youth politicians. Khairy pushed
through a new wing called Putera UMNO under Abdul Azeez’s stewardship that spread
its tentacles to local universities and institutions of higher learning. Khairy understood that
he himself lacked support from this political base and badly needed it. Abdul Azeez was
tasked in getting this support while at the same time weakening Reezal’s influence.

Part 5 - The heir and the pretender

Khairy and Najib share many similarities in their rise to power. Yet there is no love lost
between them. Khairy knows that Najib will ‘kill him off’ as soon as Abdullah Ahmad
Badawi leaves the political stage. Likewise, Najib is uneasy about Khairy’s influence on
Abdullah and is conscious that his chances of becoming Prime Minister would dramatically
improve with Khairy out of the way.

The enmity between Khairy and Najib stems from Khairy’s impatience and open ambition
to reach the highest office in UMNO before he reaches the age of 40. Najib is the opposite in
his outlook. He is patient, almost to the point of being seen as slow and lethargic. But Najib
has played a ‘careful’ game whereas Khairy is more ‘in your face’.

Both understand that UMNO is too small a party for the two of them. At only 52, Najib is
easily able to block Khairy for twenty-five years or more. If a week is a long time in politics,
then twenty-five years would seem like an eternity. Even worse, Khairy thinks Najib will
turn back the clock, abolish Abdullah’s (and therefore Khairy’s) reforms and return UMNO
to the ‘bad old days’ of Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.

Part 6 - Khairy’s media playgrounds

Khairy’s most prominent appointment was that of Kalimullah Hassan Masheerul Hassan, a
former Singaporean journalist closely associated with certain Chinese businessmen with
whom he had built a successful business based on the Chinese doing the thinking and
Kalimullah himself pulling the cables. ‘Kali’, as he calls himself, has visions of grandeur.
Although a bad writer and an even worse editor, Kali knew that he could buy talent. It is
an open secret that NST editorials published as Kali’s piece were ghost-written by both
internal and outsourced hacks. Such was a man after Khairy’s own heart -- who knew that
being a figurehead was no bad thing, as one could always pick and choose one’s lackeys to
finish the job.

Part 7 - The beginning of a beautiful friendship

It was then that Mahathir began to realise that the young man he so dismissively
discounted had now become the key instrument of a threat against his legacy. Mahathir
remarked to his secretary, Datuk Badriah, that Abdullah was digging his own grave by
letting Anwar go. Mahathir remarked that he himself found Anwar difficult to handle and
he had no confidence that Abdullah could do any better. In Mahathir’s eyes, Abdullah was
an inept fool who miscalculated by releasing Anwar.
- 111 -

What Mahathir did not know was that Abdullah did not really fully comprehend the
ramifications of Anwar’s release. In fact, it was Khairy who reckoned that Anwar’s release
would be beneficial to his own political career. Firstly, Khairy felt that Anwar would
always be a useful tool against other Umno politicians who might threaten Abdullah’s
throne; people such as Tengku Razaleigh and Najib. Secondly, Khairy felt releasing Anwar
and meeting him openly would increase his popularity (and Abdullah’s).

Part 8 - Sunset, sunrise

However, behind the scenes, both Abdullah and Khairy have continued to at least maintain
some form of relationship with Anwar. Abdullah himself has said nothing about any
telephone calls to or from Anwar. Khairy, on the other hand, has been very open to his
inner circle about his constant communication and, indeed, about meetings with Anwar’s
stalwarts such as PKR Youth Leader Ezam Mohd Nor. Those in the know include Khairy’s
men who are obvious Anwar supporters; such as Zambry Abdul Kader as well as the usual
suspects such as Norza Zakaria.

Part 9 - Birth of a salesman

Khairy Jamaludin did not start out immensely rich, although his family was well off due to
the position of his father as a prominent member of the diplomatic community. The family
could not equal other notable scions of UMNO Youth such as the Hishammuddin Hussein-
Najib Tun Razak clan who are descended from the first Malay billionaire, Tan Sri Noah, or
the Sheikh Fadzir family, comprising of Kadir, Aziz, Musa and Haidar, whose palatial
Kulim mansion dwarfed even the National Palace in Kuala Lumpur. So Khairy realised he
had to build up his wealth fairly quickly especially since, by Malaysian standards,
Abdullah Badawi was a rather poor fellow.

Part 10 - The National Auctioneer

One example was Temasek’s entry into TM (previously known as Telekom Malaysia).
Temasek had bought 5% of TM for a price of RM1.6 billion in the early days of Abdullah’s
administration. It was supposed to be a signal of the major cross-strait thaw in the
relationship. As everyone knows, Temasek is also a substantial shareholder of SingTel, run
by Lee Hsien Yang, the youngest son of Singapore founder Lee Kuan Yew. It was a
massively important political and business deal. What the public did not know was that
Temasek had made payments to Khairy through a Singapore-based company closely
associated to Khairy proxy and UMNO Supreme Council member, Norza Zakaria. The
company had its registered address in the Singapore Land Tower at 50 Raffles Place.
Seemingly, payments were made to the company for ‘consultancy services’, but in effect it
was nothing more than kickbacks.

Part 11 - Khairy and his Money Factory

The biggest coup that is being planned is a potential sale of residual assets of Danaharta,
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currently being brokered by Khairy proxy Norza Zakaria through his allies in Singapore.
Norza’s company in Singapore is a joint venture with a certain Mr S who is a Singaporean
ex-classmate of Khairy in the United World College (UWC). Mr S, ostensibly, is a corporate
finance specialist with interests in real-estate and multimedia. He meets up with Khairy
and his Khazanah cronies to discuss various ways in which to strip the assets of Malaysian
GLCs and make a percentage commission on them. One of the advisors to Khairy is a
shareholder of Ethos Consulting who currently works with Deutsche Bank in Kuala
Lumpur.

Part 12 - Ringing in the cash till

So, since March, a rough calculation of Khairy’s received and potential income would be as
follows:
1. Commission from sale of 5% of TM to Temasek Holdings, Singapore – RM16 million.
2. Commission from the purchase of M1 shares by Khazanah and TM – RM6 million.
3. Expected commission from further sale of 5% of TM to Temasek Holdings, Singapore –
RM17 million.
4. Expected commission from sale of Danaharta assets – RM85 million.
5. Expected commission from sale of Felda non-core assets to Temasek Holdings and DBS
Bank – RM30 million.
6. Expected commission from allocation of Bumiputra shares in foreign-owned company 1
– RM15 million.
7. Expected commission from allocation of Bumiputra shares in foreign-owned company 2
– RM20 million.
The total amount? A cool RM189 million. And that’s only the ones that have been in the
public eye.

Part 13 - He loves me, he loves me not

Unknown to Aziz Samsudin as well as to Mahathir’s other aides, the story about Khairy’s
alleged homosexuality was planted by Anwar Ibrahim’s men. A certain former deputy
minister who had been a close Anwar supporter (and therefore dropped by Mahathir in the
1999 General Election) had been used to bring the rumour to Aziz’s attention through his
civil service friend. The rumour itself was created by then PKR Youth Leader Ezam Mohd
Nor who had allegedly ‘heard about the rumour’ from a senior civil servant who was a
reformasi sympathiser and who had a child in the same school as Khairy. It was completely
untrue. The idea that Khairy is gay is a figment of the imagination of the PKR leaders who
desperately wanted to tar Abdullah Badawi whom they felt, at that time, was less
sympathetic to the plight of their boss; having been his mortal enemy in UMNO for more
than one and a half decades.

Part 14 - Crowning the king

In the matter of Anwar Ibrahim’s goings on, it is Khairy that is entrusted in gauging their
value and to produce the next strategy for Abdullah. Abdullah knows that Anwar is more
valuable to Khairy than to himself. After all, bringing Anwar back into UMNO’s fold
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would help Khairy’s credentials as a young but fair politician of the future. Also, Anwar
would help prop Khairy up in the face of a Najib onslaught. But as for Abdullah himself,
bringing Anwar back can only mean pitting himself for a head-to-head confrontation with
the pincer movements of both Mahathir Mohamad and Najib Tun Razak. So, bringing
Anwar in is Khairy’s way of transforming himself in the long term from a mere crown
prince to a king with real powers.

Part 15 - The game of high stakes

In spite of Anwar’s public pronouncements against rejoining UMNO, the truth is both
Anwar and Khairy are testing the waters before the actual gamble is made. Khairy needs to
test UMNO members’ reaction to the re-entry of Anwar by denying the ease with which
Anwar hopes he could re-enter UMNO. Anwar, on the other hand, needs to test his
followers’ perception of his leadership before actually telling them that that choice has been
opened up for him. He could not afford to alienate too many of his former reformasi
supporters. Though Anwar knows some will fall away in disgust at his opportunism, yet
many others will remain simply for the fact that seven years is too long for most of them to
be without any political power at all.

Part 16 - The walls that talk

Whether Khairy realises it or not, most of the stories circulating around town regarding his
efforts to allow Anwar an easy passage back into UMNO come from sources that are in
direct communication with him. While officially denying that Anwar will rejoin UMNO, in
private, nothing else is as important. Ezam and Azmin have for some time been dropping
Khairy’s name as their source of inside information within UMNO. They have gone so far
as to even suggest that Khairy is the main conduit for discussions between Abdullah and
Anwar. They say that Khairy is helpful where other officers such as Thajudeen Abdul
Wahab are not.

Part 17 - The comforting branch breaks

A few days before Endon’s death, some very close friends of Abdullah, who had been with
him through thick and thin from the early days of his foray into the realm of politics,
remarked that things weren’t going the way they had predicted. Previously, they thought
that with Endon gone from the scene, Abdullah would go back to the old circle of friends
who have been the most tried and tested of his most loyal of followers. Instead, they found
that, in the dying days of Endons’ life, Abdullah had begun to cling more tightly to Nori
and Khairy’s younger set of advisors.

Part 18 - Cannons behind his back

What Khairy does not understand is that he surrounds himself with loose cannons. But
those loose canons do not aim at random figures. Instead, they swivel towards him and,
sooner or later, the cannonballs will begin hitting him hard. Khairy’s worst enemies are
actually the people closest to his circle. He has reached the stage often felt by a politician in
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high power; loneliness at the top. Even his friends cannot be trusted anymore.

Part 19 - A republic of fear

Khairy’s main role in Abdullah Badawi’s administration is as a spin-doctor. He builds up
Abdullah’s image. But there is no substance in that image. Now the cracks are beginning to
show but it is a little too late for the damage to be repaired. Khairy persuades analysts in
the foreign banks (many who swoon over the opportunity to have tea with him) to write
‘analyses’ saying that Abdullah’s reforms have to be given time to bear fruit. This is mere
hogwash. Many of Khairy’s apologists such as Kalimullah Hassan Masheerul Hassan,
Brenda Pereira and Phar Kim Beng are masters of spin who owe their lives and careers to
Khairy. One can scarcely hope for them to be genuinely critical in their assessments. They
are servants of the master propagandist -- no more, no less.

Part 20 - Does UMNO really want to win?

The special shirt that Khairy wore had extra pockets for the three handphones that he
carries around. The First Handphone is the Maxis 012 that is his public number. Everyone
knows what it is because Khairy puts it on all his name cards as well as the Pemuda
UMNO website. Khairy uses it to send SMSes and the phone is always kept on silent mode
because it rings every other minute. Everyone feels that Khairy owes them an audience and
they range from the lowest member of UMNO Youth and part-time Internet buff who had
come across the number in the old UMNO Youth website, to a Chinese towkay trying his
luck with the man Singapore businessmen are already dubbing ‘Mr 20%’.

Part 21: The Aftermath: Whose little victory?

In the past, Khairy’s friends who were close to Najib tried to build a consensus between the
two camps. Najib also went to great pains to pander to Khairy’s whims and fancies -- such
as bowing to his choice of officers in the Deputy Prime Minister’s Department. However,
Pengkalan Pasir was the turning point in that relationship. It is now obvious to Najib that
Khairy intends to rush headlong into UMNO politics instead of patiently awaiting his turn.
At risk is Najib’s own tenure as the future Prime Minister and the position of his allies,
including that of his cousin Hishammuddin. The self-seeking publicity Khairy sought in
Pengkalan Pasir made it patently obvious to Najib’s camp that this young man was too
much in a hurry and was willing to bulldoze his way through.

Part 22: A fatal miscalculation

The flaw that Khairy has developed since his ascension as Vice Youth Chief of UMNO is
that he no longer tolerates criticism. In the first place, he has never had a valid circle of
friends. His closest companions are foreigners, mainly Singaporeans or Malaysians who
have never been schooled in Malaysia. Like him, they are the elite who rarely touch ground
with the common people. Khairy tried to transcend this disability by acquiring new friends
within UMNO Youth whom he felt was more in touch with the grassroots. Unfortunately,
most UMNO Youth leaders turn out to be people who use their alliance with Khairy either
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to threaten other political rivals or enrich themselves at the expense of genuine
businessmen. Khairy, in fact, has no real friends within UMNO, and the few that he has
outside it have been rewarded with high posts that they are now afraid to lose. So they
have all stopped speaking the truth to Khairy.

Part 23: Faster, Higher, Stronger

Whatever happens in 2006, it will be Khairy’s year to make sure that his dream becomes a
reality. The short-term objectives as stated above are the prelude to Khairy securing a
parliamentary seat, probably in a by-election sometime in 2007, and entering the cabinet
almost immediately after the 12th General Election. The countdown to Khairy assuming
the Prime Ministership of the country, which began only around four years ago, has now
less than a decade to run. Khairy is not wasting any time and neither should his enemies.
At the moment, the odds are on Khairy making the cut while his opponents seem headed
towards having themselves sacrificed upon his political altar.
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PART 25: A New Deal: Running Out of Time

One of Khairy’s closest allies is a London-trained Malaysian-Indian lawyer who currently
works for an international bank. Several years Khairy’s senior, he deliberately stays hidden
from Khairy’s direct political and business links. This is not without reason. Although
proud of Khairy’s achievements, he confides to his friends his innermost thoughts that
Khairy is about to make the greatest mistake of his life. In fact, this person believes that
Khairy stands at perhaps the shakiest moment in his entire career and that he is caught
between the devil and the deep-blue sea -- and that the moves Khairy makes may well lead
to his downfall from which he will never recover.

Several months ago, the lawyer had gone to see Khairy to offer some friendly advice. He
told Khairy in no uncertain terms that while he understands Khairy is intelligent enough to
have his own reasons for doing things as he has done, Khairy should also be more cautious
and wary. The lawyer advised Khairy that the latter was beginning to look like a ‘young
man in a hurry’.

The advice was well meaning. In the past, Khairy had quietly listened to this lawyer friend
and kept his own counsel. Often, he would be able to accept the criticism and act
accordingly. But the Khairy of today is a very different man. Nowadays, such advice is
dismissed as ‘unsolicited’. Khairy feels that his friends are getting too clever for their own
good. He no longer feels obligated to listen to them, nor follow their advice. After all, if his
friends knew better than him, surely they would be where he is today. Instead, it is he, the
youngest of the clique, who managed to secure the highest position in the fastest time.

This attitude of Khairy bewilders many of his friends. The lawyer somehow feels that the
reason Khairy is acting so poorly is because he has lost sight of reality. Power and wealth is
a heady combination that has made Khairy very, very drunk and completely deaf to the
voices of dissent that are beginning to gather around him. Even the closest of Khairy’s
admirers feel that the recent months have shown that Khairy too can make false steps. He
has replaced the friends who could give him sound advice and dispassionate views with
Umno Youth lackeys who carry bags of money for him. Often, Khairy is accompanied by
twenty-somethings with RM10,000 or more in brown paper envelopes, from which they
dole out payments to loyal supporters at branch and division-level meetings. These
sycophants are what remain of Khairy’s circle of friends.

Khairy’s actions over the last few months demonstrate immense immaturity and stupidity.
The obvious corrupt and insider dealing involved in the purchase of ECM Libra and the
use of government-owned Avenue Capital to bail out Khairy’s business cronies and make
them multi-millionaires overnight are actions that could have been better handled and with
greater finesse. Instead, its execution bears all the hallmarks of a rushed job, the handiwork
of an amateur in politics and business. The image that Khairy portrays has transformed
from an intelligent, confident young man to a greedy and corrupt opportunist. The ‘smooth
operator’ has gone, to be replaced by the ‘grab-and-run’ conman.

Perhaps there is pattern in this madness. Maybe the fast-paced actions were not a headlong
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rush created out of chaos but a calculated attempt to salvage whatever remains of the
teetering administration of Abdullah Badawi. The administration that started out
promising Malaysians the sun and the moon, and that enjoyed the biggest majority since
the General Election of 1955, has begun to be seen as the most inept and bumbling
government ever. Abdullah Badawi is lurching from crisis to crisis; unable to deal with
issues with the decisiveness that Malaysians have become so accustomed to over the last
two decades or so. Swaying from right to left, Abdullah Badawi leads a government rife
with internal conflict and unable to grapple with the simplest of ordinary issues.

Khairy knows that his future -- political, business or otherwise -- depends on Abdullah
Badawi’s longevity in office. That now seems increasingly shaky. Unlike his predecessor,
Abdullah Badawi is unable to capitalise on his strength in Parliament. Led astray by the
silly ideas of people such as Nazri Aziz and Backbencher Club President Shahrir Abdul
Samad, Abdullah Badawi lost control of his own Parliament and saw senators and
backbenchers attacking his government with a ferocity unseen since the days of Tunku
Abdul Rahman. While thinking that Parliament should be allowed more say, Abdullah
failed to realise that many of the backbenchers could think and speak better than him or his
menagerie of hapless ministers. As a result, when Parliament began to take up the mantle
of criticising ridiculous government policies, Abdullah finds it difficult to respond in a
convincing manner. Slowly, the rickety sinews that bind his fragile government begin to
appear for all to see.

Abdullah’s ministers too have become a very serious liability. Many of them were
promoted in spite of their complete uselessness. A good example is Shafie Salleh, who in
any other administration would not have been worth more than a Parliamentary Secretary.
Abdullah does not seem to realise that Shafie Salleh is completely dependent on a bunch of
political secretaries and special officers who have the finesse of a bulldozer in running the
most sensitive of ministries. Yet Abdullah cannot do anything about it because of own
weakness and inability to judge good ministers. He is caught in a world of mediocrity and
completely reliant on the Young Turks who were brought in by Khairy rather than his own
ministers.

It is common knowledge that many cabinet ministers do not respect Abdullah. The recent
episode of the nine non-Muslim ministers presenting a memorandum to Abdullah is a farce
that would have been unthinkable in any other administration. The public is told that the
ministers have withdrawn their memorandum and decided to present their case through
the ‘proper channel’ of a cabinet meeting. However, in reality, this announcement was a lie
and a desperate attempt by Abdullah’s spin-doctors to salvage the reputation of the
bumbling prime minister.

What the public does not know is that the memorandum was presented by the ministers
during a cabinet meeting and not outside as reported by the official press. Abdullah was so
stunned by the presentation of the memorandum that he was speechless and did not know
how to respond to it. At a loss for words, he tried to brush off the presentation by saying
that he would ‘think about it’. By the time the news leaked to the press, Abdullah’s
reputation had already suffered. Never in Malaysian history had a Prime Minister faced so
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bold a revolt from within his own cabinet, including from several of the presidents of key
component parties in the Barisan Nasional.

So the decision was taken to use the media to lie to the public. Bernama and the usual
bunch of brown-nosers at the NST were told to report that the memorandum was
‘improper’ as it had not been presented in a cabinet meeting. This gave Abdullah the
chance to portray the ministers as being out of line. Najib Tun Razak was then immediately
instructed to blast the ministers for acting ‘out of norms’ and ‘not in keeping with the BN
spirit’. In actual fact, every one of the ministers in the XXL cabinet knew that the
memorandum was duly presented in the most proper way and Abdullah had simply failed
to respond correctly in the face of the biggest revolt since his assumption of the
premiership.

It was one thing for the ministers to demonstrate blatant disrespect to Abdullah by
submitting the memorandum, following that episode, several other ministers, including
those from UMNO, gleefully leaked confidential cabinet papers proving that the nine
ministers had indeed done the correct thing; and that it was Abdullah who had reacted
improperly. During the UMNO Supreme Council meeting of 24 January 2006, two
particular ministers closely allied to former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad even photocopied
Cabinet minutes outlining the episode and circulated them to other UMNO leaders after
the meeting ended.

During that meeting, while Abdullah was explaining the ‘misconduct’ of the nine non-
Muslim ministers, one of the UMNO Supreme Council members received an SMS that said,
“PM SILAP. MENTERI2 IKUT PROSEDUR”. The SMS had come from 019-331XXX2, the
mobile phone number of a minister who sat directly across the said Supreme Council
member. The same SMS was then circulated to several other Supreme Council members
present in the meeting.

Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak looks at all this with great excitement. He tells
friends that the situation is drastic, but he must play his cards carefully lest what befalls
Anwar Ibrahim afflicts him too. He is of course acting with the utmost secrecy. Najib has
been trying to find out if Abdullah is planning any moves that may become potential
obstacles to his rise in power. Aware that Abdullah is communicating with Anwar Ibrahim
through Khairy, Najib himself has tried to cushion the impact by making conciliatory
moves to several members of Anwar Ibrahim’s camp. At the same time, Najib is laying the
ground for trapping Khairy because, in the end, he knows that the last hope for Abdullah is
to draw upon Khairy’s genius to save the day. Removing Khairy, therefore, would mean
destroying Abdullah’s strategic base. Najib knows the old group around Abdullah Badawi
is no longer 100% in support of the Prime Minister.

Some key supporters such as Nordin Kardi and Mahadzir Khalid are now estranged from
their former ally, Thajudeen Abdul Wahab, Abdullah’s Chief Private Secretary. While all
may be Khairy’s enemies, they have been rendered impotent by their own quarrel with
each other. Thajudeen Abdul Wahab’s greediness in granting contracts to selected
businessmen allied to him, over and above the recommendation of other long-time
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Abdullah supporters, has caused the old group to break up.

All of this is a cause for concern to Khairy. Time is fast running out and another big crisis
will deal a body blow to the government of Abdullah Badawi. History teaches us that
weak, insecure Prime Ministers last scarcely a term in office. Hussein Onn for example,
although lauded upon his ascension as the anointed heir of Tun Razak, and a strict
disciplinarian deemed able to keep Umno in check, fell unceremoniously after being
challenged by that non-entity Sulaiman Palestin in the 1978 Umno elections.

Abdullah may not face such a challenge due to his own manipulation of Umno election
rules, but he faces many other attacks from inside Umno. Umno division leaders openly
laugh at his incapacity to control the government and seethe with anger at the sudden
enrichment of his son-in-law. Sooner or later, the last fall will fall and the camel’s back will
be broken and the Bedouin will be thrown off to hit the dust.

Khairy understands that Abdullah Badawi is fast becoming the biggest joke in Malaysian
politics. Whether he likes to or not, Khairy must face the fact that he too will fall with
Abdullah unless he acts fast with ruthlessness and decisiveness. His enemies are rapidly
closing in on him and he must engage them now before it’s too late....
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PART 26: A New Deal: The bag-carriers

The attendance was wafer thin -- only about 50 or 60 Umno Youth members milled around
the village hall when Khairy Jamaluddin arrived. It was another event organised by Umno
Youth’s newest wing, Putera Umno, and Khairy was there to grace its function. This time it
was the launching of an English tuition programme for junior secondary school students.
The irony was that the activity had been a long-standing of Umno Youth. In fact, it was
started back in the days when Aziz Sheikh Fadzir helmed the Vice Head position, but
Khairy wanted the programme to be seen as his own idea; in keeping with his declared
intention of bringing English, especially Shakespeare, to rural Malay kids.

So, in this balmy Kedah kampung, Khairy arrived in his Volvo with an entourage of two
Mercedes and several Wajas in tow. Khairy wore his trademark Umno short-sleeved white
shirt with the many pockets which some call ‘Khairy’s magical pockets’, as sometimes
RM50 and RM100 notes emerge from them as if by magic. Not today, it seems.

Khairy was greeted by a Kedah Youth leader, Mohd Zulfekri Awang. He tapped Zulfekri
on his shoulders; Khairy’s usual style of charming his followers. His questions are always
the same: “How’s things? How’s the movement? How are the local folks?” Khairy’s droopy
eyes did not change when the answers were given, as they were always the same:
“Everything OK, Boss!”

The two of them went up to the stage. As the function kicked off with a dreary comment
from the local Umno Youth Chairman, Khairy glanced at his bag-carrier who sat in the
third row of the village hall. Let’s call him Wan Gemuk (not his real name, but close
enough for people in the know). Wan Gemuk instantly knew what Khairy meant. It was
time to do the groundwork. Such has been the case since around six months ago when
Khairy began to change his tactics in cornering Umno Youth.

Prior to this, Khairy thought that the charm offensive was sufficient in getting him support
from the ground. This was no longer the case. Khairy changed his mind when he realised
all other Umno Youth leaders used money to buy support. Hishammuddin Hussein and to
a greater extent Khir Toyo has been doing the same for many years. They are the biggest
paymasters; basically because they can afford to do so. Other well-known Umno Youth
paymasters include Mahathir’s sons, Mokhzani and Mukhriz, who have been known to
build groundwork not only in Umno Youth but also in other organisations such as
ANSARA (MARA Science College Alumni Association) through their largesse.

Wan stood up and went to the back of the hall. He picked up his phone, a Nokia 9300
Communicator, to send an SMS to a certain Kedah Umno Youth leader. In fact, he could
have just tapped the person on the shoulder as they were both in the same room. But the
SMS had a special purpose. Wan wanted to inform that particular Umno Youth leader (let’s
call him Razak -- actually they call him Razak Kuda, but let’s just call him Razak for short)
to come and ‘collect his dues’, as Khairy had instructed.

Razak received the SMS almost immediately. It read simply ‘JOM SAT’. He noted that the
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number was Wan Gemuk’s. He looked up and saw Wan leaving the hall. Razak
immediately stood up and followed Wan out of the hall. Once outside, they summoned
Khairy’s driver who in a flash drove up with the Volvo and both got into the back.

Razak asked, “So how’s things?”

“OK,” answered Wan Gemuk. “Boss wanted me to give you what you requested last
week.”

“That’s good,” said Razak. “I am running dry. It’s not easy keeping these Putera Umno
people on our side. Mukhriz is doing his best to get them to support him. He has been very
generous.”

Wan keyed in the combination 010, which was the number of Khairy’s favourite car, and
took out a brown envelope from the black leather case. “Even if Mukhriz is generous, he
will run out of money. Khairy is the man to watch and he is piling up money fast. He will
have money for years to come, whereas Mukhriz will dry up.”

“I hope so,” said Razak. “Last week, at Titi Gajah, he gave RM100 to each of the Putera
Umno boys. That’s a lot of money to the kampung people.”

“Well, we can give more,” countered Wan Gemuk.

“How much more?”

“RM5,000.”

“RM5,000?” said Razak. “But Khairy gave more than that to Balik Pulau last week. Shah
Headan said Khairy distributed RM10,000 at the Balik Pulau function.”

“What does Shah Headan know? I am the bag-carrier. I know how much I gave them. It’s
RM5,000, no more no less.”

“Not enough. Kedah is different from Penang. In Penang, Khairy can count on Salim Bari
and Shah Headan. In Kedah there is stiff competition. Aziz Sheikh Fadzir, Azimi Daim and
Mukhriz are all big guns and Khairy has to compete with them. Kedah is not Penang.
Kedah is Mahathir territory. Penang is Pak Lah territory. Penang will support Pak Lah even
if Pak Lah does the stupidest of mistakes. Kedah can fall to Mahathir anytime. And the new
MB Mahadzir Khalid does not like Khairy.”

“OK-lah,” said Wan Gemuk. “RM8,000 OK?”

“RM15,000 lagi baik.”

“RM15,000 is impossible. That's too much. That's how much Hishammuddin gave the
whole of Pemuda Umno Kedah last year for the Tsunami disaster. If he gave RM15,000 for
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the Tsunami, it’s impossible for Khairy to give that much just for your bahagian.”

“How much do you have in the envelope?”

“I have RM12,000, but Boss asked me to reserve RM4,000,” smiled Wan.

Razak knew what Wan Gemuk was saying was a lie. Khairy meant to give the whole
RM12,000, which is the bribe he had to pay to keep his machinery well-oiled and in check.
But Wan Gemuk is not a dumb bag-carrier. While loyal to Khairy, he also understands that
his role is a fleeting one. Khairy could choose to terminate his services anytime. Why not
make hay while the sun shines? Wan often keeps some of the money for himself, and this is
what he is doing today.

Razak knew this too. He realised that Wan Gemuk wanted to have his ‘cut’ but he was not
going to get away that easy.

“OK,” said Razak. “But spare me a few hundred of your ‘reserve’.”

“No problem,” said Wan Gemuk as he counted out RM8,000 in fifty and hundred ringgit
notes and handed them to Razak. It was just in time. The car which had driven off in a
circle around the kampung had now returned to the front of the village hall. Khairy had just
finished his speech. He had told the Putera Umno audience how he loves Shakespeare’s
history plays which taught him the rudiments of politics -- though they were far less
ruthless than Umno. Khairy had enthralled the audience by telling of his fascination with
football and his work with the FAM. The speech had been brief but enough to convince the
crowd that the rumours of the Oxford graduate not being able to speak Malay were simply
not true.

Khairy left the hall and entered his Volvo to move on to the next function. At the same time
his bag-carrier stepped out of the Volvo and into one of the Wajas trailing behind. This
scene will be repeated all over Kedah that day as Khairy makes his rounds. The Umno
Youth members call it Hari Salam Khairy -- the day to shake hands with Khairy. And
shaking hands with Khairy means they will have a little to spend afterwards.

The above is an actual event which repeats itself across the whole of Malaysia wherever
Umno holds sway, except in Sarawak. Money politics is well and alive in Umno and many
have now forgotten that Abdullah Ahmad Badawi rode into power on the backdrop of a
promise that he will clean up Umno of this affliction, which he has often described as ‘a
cancer that kills’. Abdullah Badawi is proven no less a liar by his own son-in-law who now
realises that his father-in-law’s tenuous hold on Umno can be perpetuated only if it is
compounded by a show of generosity to the ordinary members. The pile of cash that
Khairy is building up is not only a nest egg for himself and his family, but a necessity in the
face of rivals who have much deeper pockets.

Khairy channels the money to the members by planting a person in each division who acts
as the ‘umbrella’ or ‘payung’. The payung’s function is to distribute cash to people who are
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deemed Khairy supporters. These people must turn up at functions graced by Khairy and
will then be able to receive their dues. From the money that Khairy circulates, each payung
keeps something like RM1,000 to RM2,000 per month for himself for rainy days -- i.e. times
when rivals come to compete for the favours of the Umno members.

The payungs are often Vice-Heads of Umno Youth divisions or branches. Sometimes they
are members of Khairy’s informal ‘Vice Heads of Umno Youth Club’. Often, they are also
people who have served with Khairy in his previous incarnation as an appointed Umno
Youth Exco member with responsibility for education affairs. Each and every time, they are
invariably also people who spy on other Youth leaders who appear to be paying too much
attention to Khairy’s potential rivals for the headship of Umno Youth in the party elections
of 2007.

The bag-carriers are people one step up from the payung. These are Umno Youth members
who have been especially entrusted by Khairy to become distributors of funds. Some, such
as Wan Gemuk, handle sums to the tens of thousands of ringgit. Others such as Rozabil
Abdul Rahman of Perlis deal in the hundreds of thousands. Even higher up are the bags
themselves, creatures such as Wan Farid Wan Salleh of Terengganu who are actually
responsible for collecting ‘tolls’ on behalf of Khairy and for directing the funds to special
accounts from which the bag-carriers can draw their allocations. At the very top is Khairy
himself, safely insulated from the dirty business, but nevertheless casting a watchful eye on
all proceedings. Only when Khairy winks do the bag-carriers approach the payung. They
dare not act otherwise.

Like royalty, Khairy does not handle any cash himself. He lets others do that work for him
while he keeps his hands clean. This is actually nothing new in Umno politics. Since the
time of Tun Razak it has been customary for Umno Youth leaders ranging from Syed Jaafar
Albar to Harun Idris to Suhaimi Kamaruddin to Anwar Ibrahim to Najib Tun Razak and
Zahid Hamidi to have bag-carriers and payungs. What has changed is the sum. In the past,
where Umno members used to be satisfied with orange RM10 notes once every few
months, they are now only happy if the money comes monthly and in the blue and purple
denominations of fifties and hundreds.

Politics is alive and well in Malaysia and money continues to be its lifeblood. All the
nonsense that Abdullah Badawi spouted at the damning of Isa Samad and others of the
same character is belied by the fact that his own trusted advisors do exactly the same and
in far more blatant fashion. The Umno disciplinary committee led by the aging and literally
toothless Tengku Ahmad Rithuaddeen is nothing but a sham. In the face of the Young
Turks who are bold enough to hand out these payments, the committee does little. After
all, if Khairy’s best friend, Putrajaya UMNO Youth Head Ahmad Zaki Zahid, can get away
with it with a mere limp slap on the wrist, even for the bold act of dishing out cash in broad
daylight, why shouldn’t the others do the same?

It’s another day in Umno politics and the money keeps rolling on, oiling the Khairy
bandwagon as it transforms into a juggernaut, swallowing support in its wake....
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PART 27: A New Deal: Crash and Burn

The government of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi started with much promise and on the
backdrop of many pledges, resolutions, manifestoes and assurances. For a brief moment,
the gullible Malaysian public was led to believe that the dark ages of Dr Mahathir
Mohamad had come to an abrupt end and changes were about to hit the country like a
Tsunami to sweep away the disasters of the past and bury Mahathir's legacy into the
history books.

Yes, happy days are here again, or so we visualised, which some would rather label as
fantasise. Being the unsophisticated lot that we are, we gave the benefit of the doubt to a
man whom many had described as ‘Mr Clean’ -- even though there was hardly any reason
for that epithet to be bestowed on someone who had never been exposed to the temptation
of being crooked. The fact is Abdullah has never been able to use any of his past
government positions to gain riches basically because they were never strategic positions in
which money could easily be made. Therefore, he remained relatively poor compared to
other ministers not out of choice -- and it was due to this that he got the ‘clean’ image. It
was not due to lack of trying, mind you, but lack of opportunities that made Abdullah by
‘accident’ a cleaner man than others of his ilk.

More than two years into his premiership, the spin that Abdullah’s aides, headed by
Khairy Jamaluddin, gave to the public is rapidly unravelling. Previously, the bumbling
incompetence of a man unfit to hold the highest office of the land could be hidden behind
the razzmatazz of so-called new initiatives and differentiation of style. Unfortunately for
Abdullah however, even the simplest of crises had become a problem for him to tackle. He
is simply ill-equipped to manage government, whether it is the routine cabinet meetings in
which he often falls asleep midway through discussions, or at international forums where
he sometimes forgets which country’s president he is meeting. To a certain extent,
Abdullah is the Ronald Reagan of Malaysia -- prone to gaffes, but charming, yet deeply
flawed when it comes to policies; and definitely one of the shallowest intellects ever to
grace the corridors of power.

The most pressing problem for Abdullah has been the problem of timing. While his
administration aims to lengthen his life by doing everything slowly and with the utmost
caution, the closest around him -- including his immediate family -- have been hasty,
reckless and greedy in their attempt to enrich themselves. Abdullah closes his eyes to the
rampant misuse of government position by Khairy’s cronies like an ostrich with its head
buried in the sand. The sudden wealth of Scomi, ECM Libra, Ethos Consulting, Binafikir
and Dewina can all be ignored because Abdullah continuously spins the white lie that he
has nothing to do with their movements or activities.

To a certain extent this is true -- Abdullah does not directly involve himself with the efforts
of his brother, sister-in-law, son, son-in-law and daughter-in-law in acquiring millions
within the short space of the last two years. But neither does he stop them from doing so,
and neither does he concern himself with telling them to slow down. Abdullah is an
indulgent fellow who sees nothing wrong with what his family does. Unfortunately, with
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the death of Endon Mahmood, the brakes are no longer there. The circle around Abdullah,
made up of the younger and greedier members of his family, blatantly use their position as
Malaysia's ‘First Family’ to force government departments to give them contracts -- and, in
the case of Khairy, to use a Ministry of Finance-owned company to bail out a business
directly linked to him.

The frustration felt by the public does not match the frustration of Abdullah’s close friends
from the old BTN and GPMS days. They had hoped that Abdullah would begin to reward
them by dishing out some of the patronage that he is now empowered to dispense. In fact,
Abdullah pointed out several close friends from his days at BTN and GPMS to his private
secretaries to indicate that ‘these people should be given contracts’. However, whenever
they pay homage to Thajudeen Abdul Wahab to enquire about their apportioned largesse,
they are often blocked by Khairy’s cronies in the PM’s Department, especially ‘Mr Twenty
Percent’, Ahmad Zaki Zahid -- the very man whom Abdullah trusts almost completely on
all economic and financial affairs, yet the same man the UMNO Disciplinary Committee
convicted of corruption.

This is the paradox of Abdullah Badawi. He sees nothing wrong with corruption in his
own family, but opposes it vehemently when others do it. He considers Tan Sri Isa Samad a
traitor to UMNO for giving out money to win political positions within UMNO. But when
Zaki Zahid does the same, Abdullah treats it as an innocent mistake. When Kasitah
Gaddam uses government funds to help out companies associated with his family,
Abdullah goes after him like a charging lion. But when Kalimullah and Khairy pressure
Nor Mohamed Yakcop to instruct Avenue Capital to buy out ECM Libra, Abdullah says ‘he
knows nothing’ about the deal. Either the man is an incorrigible liar or he is simply the
most stupid Prime Minister we have ever had.

Let’s assume that it is the latter, that Abdullah is innocent of corruption in spite of the fact
that his family is deeply mired in it. Even so, Abdullah becomes a dangerous liability to the
country. Nothing is worse than a man who goes about his work unaware that his very
closest and dearest are rapidly getting fat at the public’s expense. Stories about Abdullah’s
incompetence and stupidity are too many to recount. Former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir
Mohamad complains to his friends that Abdullah often sleeps away, even during times
when he is supposed to keep important appointments with foreign dignitaries and
corporate leaders.

Ministers such as Syed Hamid Albar find to their chagrin that Abdullah had given Khairy
top-secret documents regarding negotiations between Malaysia and Singapore for his
‘bedtime reading’. Already uncomfortable with the in-depth knowledge of Malaysian
foreign policy decisions that is known to his Singaporean counterparts, Syed Hamid Albar
has become so suspicious of Khairy that he brings his briefing papers to the Prime Minister
in person instead of forwarding them in advance to the Prime Minister’s desk.

Recently, Second Finance Minister Nor Mohamed Yakcop discovered to his horror that a
list of contracts to be awarded under the Ninth Malaysia Plan had been scribbled with
names of companies to be awarded such projects, even before the tenders have been
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drafted and called. The scribbling was in the longhand of Khairy.

After a recent Cabinet meeting, Rural Development Minister Aziz Shamsudin met with a
certain UMNO Youth leader from Pahang who came asking for contracts. Aziz was
surprised to find that the young Dato’ was requesting for a project that had been approved
by the Cabinet only two days before that. When he probed further, Aziz was astonished to
find that the contract-seeker had a copy of the last Cabinet meeting which he claimed
Khairy had given him. While privately angry at the breach of secrecy and protocol, there
was nothing Aziz could do except to grant the request. Though a long-time friend of
Abdullah, Aziz had realised many months ago that he no longer had any clout with the
Prime Minister who now listens only to his son-in-law and to no one else.

The problem even goes down to the level of the state administration. A certain Chinese
businessman recently told Penang Chief Minister Koh Tsu Koon that Khairy had granted
him the rights to develop the extension of the Bayan Lepas airport through land
reclamation -- in spite of the fact that the state government had not even discussed the
project outside of its policy circle. At least two Gerakan Exco members have said that when
Koh Tsu Koon is eventually transferred to a Federal ministry, they would become the new
Chief Minister -- after all, Khairy had ‘promised this’ to them.

Perak Menteri Besar Tajol Rosli Ghazali received a letter from a small RM2 construction
company based in Lumut saying that Khairy had given them permission to quarry sand
from the Lumut shores for sale outside Perak. This is in spite of the ban currently in place
for the sale of sand between states and even though it contravenes Perak’s efforts to
preserve its shoreline for purposes of environmental protection. But it did not matter to the
owner of the said construction company. He is the Vice Youth Chief of an UMNO Division
and therefore a member of Khairy’s ‘Vice Youth Chief Club’. When Tajol Rosli protested,
the Vice Youth Chief threatened to inform Khairy and bring it up ‘to the very top’.

Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman has been trying very hard for some time to get
Danaharta to sell the Sutera Harbour project to a Kadazan business associate of his named
Melvin. Previously, the effort met with little success until Musa instructed a certain Sabah
UMNO Youth leader, Hasnul Ayub Aman, son of the Sabah Times Chairman, to approach
Khairy with the deal and offer him a certain percentage. With Khairy’s hands now in the
pie, the Ministry of Finance is about to approve the sale of Sutera at a much lower price
than that previously set by Danaharta, and the sale is being done on a negotiate-without-
tender basis.

These are but some of the many events which have happened over the last two years
involving Khairy and the maladministration of Abdullah’s government -- which are but a
scratch on the surface. Previously, ministers and politicians were too scared to talk about
them. But now they are so angry with Abdullah they are becoming quite open and vocal
about Khairy’s misdeeds. Slowly, the stories are filtering through and while the official
media -- controlled by Khairy’s lackeys like Kalimullah Hassan Masheerul Hassan,
Brendan Pereira, Wong Sulong and Wong Chun Wai -- keep an ominous silence about the
son-in-law’s movements, the UMNO grassroots have been getting information by word of
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mouth and through the ‘underground’ media. Only the very stupid of UMNO members do
not now realise that Khairy is king and puppet-master whose control over Abdullah is
almost absolute.

A danger for Khairy is that people are no longer afraid to talk about the corruption
perpetuated by Abdullah’s family. After all, they have had enough of the same happenings
under Mahathir. But Mahathir never promised them reforms. So, while people always
thought it was ‘natural’ for Mahathir’s family to be corrupt, they are more disappointed
that Abdullah, with his so-called Islamic and intellectual background, can allow the same
to happen at even greater speed, more blatantly, and with visible disregard for public
decency. Many are saying that Abdullah is dangerous to UMNO and should be removed as
soon as the opportunity arises. Still, none want to make the first move and be the one to
bell the cat. But there are many who are being cajoled into leading such a charge. Former
Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad is the most obvious choice for the many disgruntled
UMNO members who are looking for a sympathetic ear, as are other veteran leaders such
as Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah.

The only saving grace for Khairy is that Malaysians have become too immune to official
corruption, having been so long under the rule of Mahathir Mohamad. While they are still
cautious, Khairy has time to increase his wealth and consolidate his power of patronage
over those UMNO leaders who can still be bought. Khairy can also rely on Mahathir’s
greatest fear, the return of Anwar Ibrahim into UMNO politics, which no doubt Abdullah
will support. If any of Mahathir’s followers -- for example, Najib Tun Razak -- dare openly
criticise Abdullah, Anwar is the pawn that Khairy will use in the battle against Mahathir.
As long as Anwar can distract the public by continuing his vengeful pursuit of Mahathir
and others involved in the 1998 conspiracy that brought about his downfall, then Khairy is
still safe.

But Anwar is rapidly losing popularity and Khairy too faces this same problem. Both are at
the losing end of the perception battle and there are many within UMNO who would love
to see both Khairy and Anwar destroyed once and for all. It is tempting for many of the
older UMNO leaders to imagine a situation where they can remove Khairy, topple
Abdullah and thereby make sure Anwar remains an obsolete and powerless leader of a
rump and limp opposition.

Those who describe Khairy as high-flying may have now seen that the engines are on fire.
Given the right ingredients, Khairy’s plane might yet crash and burn...
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PART 28: A New Deal: Losing the Plot?

It was billed as a minor reshuffle, but within hours of the announcement of the new cabinet
line-up, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was already thrown into serious damage-control mode.
The backlash was almost instantaneous. Reporters who covered the event scarcely knew
what to ask the Prime Minister because the expectations built up for a proper reform of the
XXL dinosaur cabinet that Abdullah and Khairy Jamaluddin had stitched up after the last
General Election had been badly dashed. While some foreign journalists expressed cynical
comments regarding the retention of scandal-ridden, bumbling and corrupt ministers, the
local newsmen, who had only a few days earlier been chastised for being too ‘foreign’ in
their outlook, were left asking the silliest questions, such as the so-called ‘expectations’ of
the prime minister of his new line-up. Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak could
scarcely hide his glee at the obvious discomfort Abdullah was feeling at the disappointing
announcement. No Malaysian watching the broadcast on TV missed noticing the body
language of the two top leaders, which said it all.

Has Abdullah lost the plot? Over the last few months, some of Khairy’s closest associates
had been told to spread the rumour that Abdullah was seriously changing the face of the
cabinet to reflect more of his own avowed policy against corruption. Khairy had leaked
information to foreign journalists including to his favourite stringers at the Singapore Straits
Times that certain ministers such as the highly unpopular Rafidah Aziz would be removed,
if not transferred to a less important ministry. But in the end the decision to retain her and
other similar relics of the Mahathir era, plus the addition of a former minister, Tengku
Adnan Mansor, who is facing bankruptcy charges in court, seem to show that Abdullah no
longer listens to the whims of his favourite advisor and son-in-law.

Only hours before Abdullah made the announcement, Khairy had called up Reme Ahmad
of The Straits Times to tell him of his ‘frustration’ at the line-up. The spin was working
fulltime. Kalimullah Hassan Masheerul Hassan was told to inform his friends from the
foreign media that Khairy was ‘disappointed’ with Abdullah’s appointments and that he
had no hand in the new structure. Brendan Pereira and Hishamuddin Aun went the whole
way by actually using the New Straits Times and Utusan Malaysia to mildly criticise
Abdullah’s choices. So did The Star’s Wong Chun Wai who received an instruction from
Khairy to ‘slap the new line-up with a silken blouse’. It was all a lie -- a big ruse to cover-up
what is perhaps Khairy’s most devious action to date.

The laymen amongst us could be forgiven for thinking that Abdullah was finally his own
man. Lacklustre though it may seem, Abdullah had appointed a cabinet without consulting
Khairy and basically deciding with little regard to the thoughts of the increasingly
unpopular UMNO Youth Vice Chief. Certainly Khairy would like it to appear as if
Abdullah was finally his own man. Over the last six months or so, one of Khairy’s main
problems is the perception by both UMNO members and the public at large that he has
become too powerful and influential and was the hand behind Abdullah. Khairy was seen
as a meddler, an immensely powerful Svengali who plays puppet-master to the tired and
sleepy puppet Prime Minister. It was becoming increasingly dangerous for Khairy because
most of Abdullah’s gaffes and failures were being blamed on his ill advice and greediness.
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Khairy’s PR problem resulted from these perceptions -- be it true or not. Abdullah’s
administration started out with the razzmatazz of an American imperial presidency but is
now ending up looking like the silly farce that it really is. The civil servant turned politician
is proving unable to shake off his flaccid image and he is beginning to inspire little
confidence amongst the voters who had just recently put him in charge of the biggest
majority ever enjoyed since the time of Tunku Abdul Rahman. For his own selfish long-
term future, Khairy wants to seem as if he is no longer the Rasputin behind the Czar.

But a closer look at the cabinet line-up shows that Khairy’s fingers are still very much in the
pie. Firstly, the retention of the so-called ‘dinosaurs’ such as Rafidah Aziz, Azmi Khalid,
Aziz Samsudin, Rais Yatim, Samy Vellu, Lim Keng Yaik and the like. While seen by many
as the failure of Khairy to reform the cabinet, it is actually Khairy’s very clever camouflage
tactic. For the long term of his political career, Khairy does not need to drop these ministers
now and make enemies of them more than two years before the next UMNO elections,
when he is expected to challenge Hishammuddin for the post of UMNO Youth Chief.
Dropping them now would not be a good move, as it would create animosity and
strengthen the hand of Khairy’s enemies, especially Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his protégé
Najib Tun Razak.

With this in mind, Khairy chose to retain these ministers and he persuaded Abdullah to do
such. After all, if it becomes necessary, he can always take his time to drop them in the next
few years. In any case, by retaining them, Khairy builds up the already steaming public
anger towards these incompetent public individuals who are seen as enemies of the people
by virtue of their propensity to enrich themselves at public expense. Khairy knows, not
removing them would allow the devil to play in their idleness. Futhermore, if slighted,
these people have sizeable treasure chests which they would readily spend to score their
revenge on Khairy. So the tactic is to retain them, increase the public anger towards their
misdeeds, and push for their removal only after the next General Election when some of
them would have already reached the threshold age of 70 years or beyond.

Instead of disturbing or disrupting the top leadership, Khairy has instead strengthened his
hand at the second echelon level. He has rescued a key loyalist, Noh Omar, from the frying
pan of the Ministry of Internal Security and put him in the safer and relatively powerful (as
far as UMNO eyes are concerned) post of Deputy Education Minister. Noh Omar is one of
those people whom Khairy can rely on to secure a good stream of information about the
activities of his current boss and potential rival, Hishammuddin Hussein. The truth of the
matter is Noh Omar has been placed in that position for only two purposes.

Firstly, Khairy wants Noh to spy on Hishammuddin and sabotage any attempts he may
make to strengthen his position ahead of the next UMNO elections. Secondly, Noh is a
prominent member of the UMNO Club Alumni Organisation of overseas student
graduates and, in the position of Deputy Education Minister, Noh would be able to
enhance efforts of creating a powerful support base for Khairy among overseas Malay
graduates. In the one year left leading to the next General Election, Noh would be in a
powerful position to supply Khairy crucial tactical and strategic information.
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Simultaneously, Noh has been placed in the most senior federal position for a Selangor
politician. By dropping Shafie Salleh from the Ministry of Higher Education, Noh is now
the most senior Selangor candidate who Khairy can use as a potential menteri besar to
replace the dangerous Khir Toyo, a man who is a potent obstacle to Khairy.

Another Khairy loyalist who got rewarded was Johari Baharom, the former Political
Secretary of Dr Mahathir who turned traitor when he realised his boss' days were
numbered. Abdullah and Khairy had been using Johari as their eyes and ears in Mahathir’s
office when the latter was in the dying days of his premiership. When Mahathir’s son,
Mukhriz, tried to challenge Khairy for the post of UMNO Youth Vice Chief, Khairy had
instructed Johari to destroy Mukhriz’s attempt by sabotaging his election in the Kubang
Pasu UMNO Youth division. Johari’s success at tarnishing Mukhriz resulted in Khairy
winning unopposed and Mukhriz was left licking his wounds in order to possibly stake his
claim only in the next UMNO elections. By making Johari the Deputy Internal Security
Minister, Khairy was making sure that the independent-minded minister of that
department, UMNO Secretary-General Radzi Sheikh Ahmad, would be kept in check.
Johari wanted to be promoted to a full minister like his fellow Political Secretary, Aziz
Samsudin, but Khairy felt he needed Johari to continue being his agent and saboteur.

While Abdullah had explained, unconvincingly, that popularity in the UMNO elections
means nothing in his decision to appoint cabinet ministers, the demotion of Ahmad Zahid
Hamidi to one of only two positions in the Information Ministry was another of Khairy’s
key tactics. Zahid was a popular UMNO Youth Head (popular to his own members, but
scarcely so to the outside world). In fact, his strong showing in the UMNO Supreme
Council elections a few years ago made Khairy quake. Like former UMNO Youth Head
Syed Jaafar Albar, Zahid could quite easily make a comeback should Hishammuddin go
for the higher post of Vice President. In such a situation, if Khir Toyo chickens out, Zahid
could easily mount a challenge and defeat Khairy, knowing full well that he has the
support of both the Najib faction (he was Najib’s former political secretary) and also the
supporters of former Deputy President Anwar Ibrahim (who admire Zahid for having been
detained under the ISA during the early days of Reformasi). In such a contest that would
easily score him 60% of the votes.

Khairy cannot take the risk of facing such a challenger, especially if he is a minister. By the
next UMNO elections, Khairy could not expect to be a minister, as it would appear too
obvious that nepotism had become the policy of this tottering administration. The most
Khairy could expect to become was a parliamentarian with perhaps a minor Deputy
Minister’s post. That would scarcely be enough, given Zahid’s position as a highly popular
former UMNO Youth Chief, Supreme Council member, his previous experience as BSN
Chairman, and a huge treasure chest built up over two and a half decades from selling
himself to the highest bidding businessman.

So Zahid loses his chance at a cabinet position yet again. He can scarcely be expected to
fight back as he is still retained as a Deputy Minister, which is better than anything ever
given to him by Dr Mahathir during the latter’s premiership. Dangling a carrot before
Zahid is enough to keep the donkey in check and prevent him from becoming a stallion
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that might challenge Khairy’s throne.

Another key Khairy strategy is bringing back Tengku Adnan Mansor, the Melaka-born
thug with royal pretensions. Khairy had earlier committed a blunder by removing Tengku
Adnan after he had convincingly won the Putrajaya parliamentary seat. In an act of
desperation and revenge, Tengku Adnan tried to kill off Khairy’s key ally, Ahmad Zaki
Zahid, as Putrajaya Youth Chief. While he failed in that attempt through his nominee, the
son of Home Ministry Secretary-General Aseh Che Mat, he had not kept quiet at his
demotion. To placate him in spite of having promised the position of Federal Territory
Minister to Tengku Adnan’s erstwhile deputy in the UMNO Liaison committee, Zulhasnan
Rafique, Khairy placed him back in the cabinet. The position of Tourism Minister is one
very suited to the womanising and fun-loving Tengku Adnan whose other key interests
include shares in gambling companies and escort agencies. Khairy knows that, by the next
election, he can always put Ahmad Zaki Zahid as the new Putrajaya MP and remove
Tengku Adnan once and for all. But now is not yet the time. He can still accommodate
Tengku Adnan for awhile. At the same time, appointing Zulhasnan as cabinet minister
removes the possibility of him going to Najib’s side and instead make him forever grateful
to the son-in-law.

The line-up of Abdullah’s cabinet seems lacklustre because the public focuses on only the
first level of headline grabbers. However, everything falls into place when we look at the
second tier of future leaders -- those expected to provide fuel and fodder to Khairy’s
attempt to seize the premiership of the country before the age of 40. The cold ruthless
machinations of the young pretender can be seen at every nook and cranny of the new
cabinet. Those who think that Abdullah has lost the plot may well be correct in thinking so,
but Khairy has certainly not lost his. In fact, his position is strengthened. The scorecard for
the new cabinet is that Abdullah is seen as placating the Mahathir-Najib faction and
therefore could not be expected to be challenged by them anytime soon -- while Najib
himself could not propel forward, as many ministers equally if not more senior to him
remain in the cabinet and could scarcely be expected to kowtow to their more junior
colleague in spite of his role as nominal Deputy Prime Minister.

However, it is Khairy who benefits in the long term. The cabinet now may be made up of
dinosaurs, but even as you read this Khairy is nurturing a new pit of vipers that will help
him hiss his way onto the main stage of UMNO politics....
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PART 29: A New Deal: Rosebud – a new person in Abdullah’s life

Other than being fellow Penangites, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and former
Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim share a common trait -- both are fans of fellow
Penang native P. Ramlee. If Anwar Ibrahim loves to croon the tune of Azizah, obviously
referring to his own wife, Abdullah instead prefers the less well-known composition Anak
Dara Rindu. Abdullah’s contemporaries at university used to relate how he would hum the
tune and its longing lyrics, calling for a childhood sweetheart left in the home village by the
river that runs eternally into the sea -- though Abdullah’s rendition would be more akin to
A.R. Tompel’s voice rather than P. Ramlee’s. When Abdullah served with Khairy
Jamaluddin’s father in the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, both were often called to
sing P. Ramlee songs to entertain their colleagues from neighbouring countries and, more
often than not, Abdullah would opt for this same song.

This was more than a mere coincidence. Early on in his career in the civil service, Abdullah
had met and married a junior civil servant hailing from a distinguished Selangor Civil
Service family by the name of Endon Mahmood Ambak. It was a love match packaged with
the obvious benefit of having a senior civil servant father-in-law at a time when Abdullah
himself was a young, junior officer climbing the slow and slippery ladder of higher ranks
in the PTD. Abdullah and Endon were always seen as the perfect couple. But those who
know Abdullah since childhood, who grew up in the shadow of the ‘pondok’ that is the
legacy of Abdullah’s great scholar grandfather, Sheikh Abdullah Fahim, knew that
Abdullah’s heart was first stolen by someone local, and it was only later when situations
had changed that he fell for Endon.

Of course, no one doubts that Abdullah’s marriage to Endon was a very happy one indeed
and unusual in its strength. Endon was a crutch which Abdullah relied on almost too
heavily and, in the old days before Khairy Jamaluddin appeared onto the scene, the twin
towers of Endon and Abdullah’s late Political Secretary, Fatah, held Abdullah together like
the sky-bridge astride KLCC Park. Fatah’s death just a few months after Abdullah’s
ascension to the office of Deputy Prime Minister, followed by Endon’s debilitating cancer
which led to her untimely death, makes Abdullah reliant on a circle of people whose
loyalty to him is coloured more by the rewards and benefits they could obtain rather than
the devotion to his person. This situation makes Abdullah vulnerable.

Abdullah is a man who does not know how to rely on his own counsel. Indeed, he
probably has none. He therefore has to build up a circle of close advisors from whom he
can formulate ideas and strategies. Often he does not even understand them but instead
becomes a mouthpiece for their thoughts. Such is the way that this country is run under
Abdullah.

Of course, these advisors act not for the good of the country, but often because they could
gain some benefits. Even in Abdullah’s family, while he acknowledges that he is often
reliant on the views of son Kamal and daughter Nori, these views have recently been
skewed by the ever-present insatiable demands of Kamal’s business partners in Scomi, and
Nori’s incessant request to shore up the political ambitions of her notoriously cunning
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husband. So, in the end, Abdullah’s advisors are more vultures than viziers, pecking at the
meat until they reach the driest of bones.

A few months ago, after the final tahlil of Endon’s hundred days, Abdullah began to see
some old friends from Kepala Batas. One of them, a man who had been a constant
companion in the last days of Endon and who was responsible for organising the almost
nightly Yasin reading in the ten days prior to her demise, suggested that Abdullah receive a
delegation from his hometown of Kepala Batas. “Just some old friends,” said the man.
What Abdullah did not know was that his friend was up to his old tricks again, acting as a
chaperone, hoping to reintroduce ‘Rosebud’, the demure little lady from Kepala Batas who
had stolen Abdullah’s heart fifty years ago when he was still a teenager, unsure of his place
in the future.

Yes, Rosebud is still around. She is now in her fifties and a widow with children and young
grandchildren whom she dotes upon. She spends her time amongst the local community,
doing what most ladies of that age and background do -- mainly social work and getting
closer to God. But she has retained her lively nature and often asks about the well-being of
the person who used to sit by the roadside in front of his two-storey wooden bungalow,
waiting for her to pass by. She is at the moment fully occupied with her job as a full-time
grandmother but who, according to Abdullah’s old friends, is more suitable to give
support to the soft-spoken, gentle Abdullah. This lady has absolutely no political ambitions
and is much less likely to use her station in life as the wife of a Prime Minister to demand
things which other gold-diggers would no doubt want to pursue.

And there are many such women. Actresses, singers, former wives of ministers, owners of
unsold high-rise buildings and other such projects, single mothers with ambitious twenty-
something children, even discarded pretty young things of some of the more senior
members of Malaysian royalty, who would offer themselves for that vacant position. Some
have even gone so far as to publicise their ‘interest’ in tabloids by depicting themselves as
the ideal mother-figure for the nation. These women all hope that, like Azmi and Effendi,
Abdullah too would fall for one of these doe-eyed young creatures who could twist him
around their tiny little fingers. But Abdullah is no Datuk K and, in spite of rumours to the
contrary, had been a rather timid husband who never strayed more than a metre from the
bedroom that he shared with Endon, except to go to the bathroom. Unfortunately, or
fortunately, all the promoters, events managers, introducers, and go-betweens, who
include amongst them several members of the current cabinet, have all failed to make
Abdullah fall the Normala-Tiara way.

How serious is Abdullah and Rosebud? Well, remember, you read it here first. Several
months ago, a delegation visited Putrajaya, and amongst the seventeen ladies who went in
that green and yellow bus from the Butterworth Padang Merdeka station was Mrs
Rosebud. Abdullah recognised her almost instantly and was pleased that she had come
with a packet of homemade bahulus which he used to remember her making those many
Hari Rayas ago. No more than a few words were exchanged between them. Abdullah then
instructed a trusted member of his security team to run a security check on Mrs Rosebud,
just in case. Nothing untoward came up and a return visit by several womenfolk married
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to Abdullah’s uncles and cousins was quickly made to the lady’s dour house in Kepala
Batas.

It was only after a certain ex-BTN Dato’ (a close friend of Abdullah and currently a Yang
Berhormat) inadvertently mentioned the lady’s name at a lunch in the Prime Minister’s
official residence that the children got wind of it. Surprisingly, no one recognised the
significance of Mrs Rosebud, except Khairy. Khairy realised that of all the types of women
in the world whom he did not want Abdullah to marry, this was the one -- someone more
likely to push Abdullah on the side of the straight and narrow and make him feel guilty of
letting too many opportunities fall into the hands of his son-in-law and his business cronies
rather than to more deserving people. It was fine if Abdullah had fallen for a young model
who could be easily persuaded to shut her eyes to goings-on behind his back. Khairy could
easily split the spoils with her. Nor would Khairy be threatened by someone in the form of
Rosmah Mansor who could easily be persuaded to keep quiet by giving her the official
respect and excessive protocol her ego demanded. Such women are no threat to Khairy
who knows that he can put his ‘Hindustani good looks’ (as Greg Sheridan described them)
to persuade the weaker sex to toe the line.

But against a god-fearing creature, the warlock that Khairy is, has no magic. He could not
fight such purity by the cunning taught to him by his Oxford dons.

So Khairy persuaded Nori that it was a bad idea for Abdullah to dishonour the living
memory of the unforgettable and irreplaceable Endon by marrying another wife, however
much Abdullah needs a soul-mate at the moment. Nori’s argument was simple -- that we
four are enough, meaning Kamal, Azrene his wife, Nori and Khairy himself. That sufficed
for Abdullah and they were all the crutches he needed. No more would be necessary, nor
should anyone else enter the lonely halls of the Putrajaya official residence.

To a certain extent, Abdullah has given way to Nori’s persuasion, egged on by Khairy’s
fear of a bahu (Hindustani for mother-in-law). But Abdullah’s friends have not given up so
easily. Khairy was shocked to discover that just before the last cabinet reshuffle, during his
brainstorming session with Kamal in Perth, Abdullah had chanced upon Mrs Rosebud and
her grandchildren at a strudel shop in Perth. It was not a chance encounter. Indeed, several
members of Abdullah’s secretarial team had arranged for Mrs Rosebud to go on a short
holiday to Perth at the same time that Abdullah was there. Of course, Nori and Khairy
were furious. But there would come a time when they will not be able to control Abdullah’s
movements and, who knows, that 'chance' meeting might reoccur several more times in the
future.

Gentle readers, you would love for me to tell you the name of Mrs Rosebud. In fact, the
name is very well known. To those who remember P. Ramlee's songs, if Anwar has his
‘Azizah’, the real name of Mrs Rosebud can be found in another of that great crooner’s
litany of chansons. But it is enough for now to say that if Abdullah was caught in front of a
window in his office in Putrajaya softly whispering the lyrics of Anak Dara Rindu, it would
not be for boredom, but more out of loneliness, for what had been lost and could now be
found again.
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Sama sekampung, sedangkan dirindu
Inikan lagi hai jauh di mata

What God has put together, even the combined might of Kamal, Azrene, Nori and Khairy
could not rent asunder....
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PART 30: The Battle Begins: Pekan Boy Strikes Back

It was a dark and stormy night. The Visitor made his way in an unpretentious car along
Taman Duta, past the Indian High Commission, and into the private home of Deputy
Premier Najib Tun Razak. The car was one of those Wajas you see on almost any road in
Malaysia, but the occupant in the shotgun seat was shielded by dark tinted screens which
are not regulation windows approved by the JPJ. This was a necessary precaution, given
the sensitivity of the meeting. Both men held high offices within UMNO and in the current
administration of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and neither wanted the world to know,
especially Khairy Jamaluddin, what they were planning.

The initiator of the meeting is the occupant of the Taman Duta house. Najib Tun Razak
emerged from the main hall of the house which had been converted into a temporary surau
for the guests he had invited earlier that evening for an informal dinner. By now all 40 of
them had left and those who tried to linger (including former editor of New Straits Times
Abdullah Ahmad and several former ministers) were persuaded by Najib’s Special Officers
to make an early exit. Najib was expecting an important visitor soon, giving the impression
as if Najib was going to meet his boss the Prime Minister. But in reality it was someone
totally unrelated, except for the fact that both he and Najib were out to discuss how to
overthrow Khairy at the next UMNO General Assembly.

The Visitor is a titled person, not yet middle-aged, who has nursed a long grievance against
Khairy. Up until recently Najib has refused to see him in private for fear of tipping Khairy
off that he is out to remove the young man from UMNO politics. But the time has come for
Najib to act. The Rembau boy is about to be slapped politically by the patrician from Pekan.
The first blow of the battle for UMNO and the leadership of the government post-Abdullah
Badawi has begun.

The Visitor did not step out of his car until it reached the very steps of Najib’s house. He
very quickly clambered up the hall, Najib greeting him only when he was inside. The
Visitor would have been recognised due to his prominence in Malaysian politics as a
serving member of Abdullah’s Supreme Council in UMNO. Any whisper of him meeting
Najib would have rocked the capital and made their subject of discussion the speculative
frenzy of UMNO.

It was no surprise that Najib was to expose his plans first to his Visitor. For one, the Visitor,
like Najib, knew if Khairy continued to be the power behind Abdullah’s throne, both their
days were numbered. Najib and the Visitor realised their longevity in politics was highly
dependent on the political death of Khairy. There can be no accommodation or feigning of
loyalty to the boy whose sole purpose is to become Prime Minister of the country at the age
of 40. The only way Khairy could achieve this was to kill off Najib and the Visitor, and both
were not going to commit seppuku just to curry favour with Khairy.

Almost everyone in UMNO knows Khairy has only contempt for Najib. According to
former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, Khairy has gone so far as to threaten Najib that
he holds many of Najib’s secrets, most supplied to him by the Singapore Secret Service.
- 137 -
Amongst these are the corrupt dealings of the Deputy Prime Minister during his tenure as
Minister of Defence and even after Abdullah had become Prime Minister. Singapore was
keen to ensure that Najib stayed away from the office of Prime Minister until they at least
had gained all the benefits of Abdullah’s weaker and ‘more friendly’ attitude to Lee Hsien
Loong and his government. Also, in the dossier held closely by Khairy, are details of
Najib’s scandals. True, after the Anwar Ibrahim episode, many could not care less if Najib
buggered a goat, but it was still fodder for the conservative Malay heartland that wanted
their leaders to be as pious as saints.

The most damaging attack on Najib would have been the usage of close personal contact
Razak Baginda and other personalities to skim off the budget of the Ministry of Defence
used in procuring certain machineries. These go into the double digit millions and could
easily be proved as Najib’s account holder and nominee in Singapore is someone who
sniffs money and follows its scent rather than maintain loyalty to his political master.

Khairy had once remarked to Kalimullah Hassan Masheerul Hassan that removing Najib
would be ‘peanuts’. This is the absolute truth. With the control of the media that Khairy has
in which even Mahathir Mohamad could scarcely whisper a discouraging word, Najib has
no chance to present his own case against accusations by Abdullah and Khairy. A
trumped-up levelling of fingers pointing to Najib’s shenanigans would be easier to prove
than anything Mahathir had attempted on Anwar Ibrahim. Najib could only weakly
defend his record as no one believes what he says. With the po-faced visage that he has
been increasingly trying to reduce but failed to achieve, Najib is as convincing a liar as Umi
Hafilda when she said she was still a virgin. In other words, no one believes the Pekan Boy
even when he is telling the truth.

Mahathir Mohamad learnt through his own contacts that Khairy has worked very hard to
gain these documents from Singapore. Much has been offered to obtain them and most of
the cost has been borne by the GLCs that now answer to new masters. This is one reason
why Mahathir is so seething. When statements were made recently implying some leaders
were selling the nation, Mahathir made that accusation in the future tense. He should have
made it in the past. The sale has already been made, the price already paid by Singapore,
and Khairy has got what he wants: enough to remove Najib from the scene.

Najib’s closest circles, including those who often call Malaysia Today, have often remarked
that Najib has no backbone to fight anyone, even a two-legged mangy cat. But this time
things have gone too far. Najib knows he would not survive sixty days in prison if he had
to face the same fate as Anwar. It has not been easy for Najib to come to this conclusion as
he has always been a cautious player. Previously he could count on the support of
Mahathir Mohamad as his godfather and his most ardent supporter, however, AND THIS
IS OFFICIAL, Mahathir Mohamad no longer supports Najib as the alternative to Abdullah
Badawi. Najib has lost so much credibility with Mahathir that the Grand Old Man is now
thinking of anointing a new challenger to Abdullah. As far as Mahathir is concerned, Najib
is a cowardly politician, unlike his late father who he regards as a mentor. While Mahathir
has tried to play the same role to Najib, he has reached his own conclusion that his efforts
have failed miserably and Najib does not share the characteristics of his late father.
- 138 -
Mahathir has realised after many, many years that Najib is not fit to carry the mantle of
successor-in-chief to the legacy of Mahathir.

Currently, Mahathir is still looking for somebody to replace Najib as his blue-eyed boy. He
has yet to find one though. Whatever it may be, he is giving Najib one last chance to rise up
and defend the old guards’ legacy. Any protestations of loyalty to Abdullah would no
longer be tolerated by Mahathir and he is ready to unceremoniously dump Najib as he did
Anwar.

In his latest remark upon his return from visiting ailing former Indonesian President
Suharto, Mahathir said it would have been better if Najib claimed his place in Ghafar
Baba’s grave. He has not been able to defend any of Mahathir’s legacies and is as useful as
all the other residents of Makam Pahlawan. While cutting, the remark - made to a former
Deputy Chief Minister of Sabah - was the complete truth as Mahathir saw it.

Najib and the Visitor are now laying plans on how to sabotage Khairy’s meteoric rise to the
UMNO Vice-Presidency. Yes, you heard it right! Khairy is not going for UMNO Youth
Chief. He is targeting the vacant post of UMNO Vice President, so quickly emptied by Isa
Samad. Plans are being laid out that all potential challengers such as Mukhriz, Mokhzani
and Zahidi Zainul Abidin will concentrate their limited resources on getting support from
Pemuda. But it will all come to nought because it will not be the young ones who will give
their support to Khairy, but the old ones, paid off handsomely and cowed by threats from
Khairy’s supporters. They will announce their undivided support for the youngest Vice
President of UMNO since the time of Ghafar or Anwar.

What glory is there of Khairy becoming Youth Chief? Why become a big fish in a small
pond when you can become a shark in the ocean? In fact, Khairy has already selected the
person who will become his proxy as the UMNO Youth Chief and, again, you read it first,
he is not in the current UMNO Youth Exco line-up. But there is a strong agreement that this
person will go for the Youth Chief post and get it as Khairy’s proxy, while the boy himself
goes for the more exalted rank of Vice President.

Najib’s plan is for the Visitor to be the spoiler. He will play the role of stalking-horse and
emerge as the most logical challenger as UMNO Youth Chief. But Najib already knows
Khairy is not planning to go for the post of UMNO Youth Chief. All protestations to the
contrary have been swallowed up by people such as Joceline Tan and other political
commentators. Najib knows that this is all a façade. At the very last moment, the Visitor
will announce that he is challenging Khairy for the Vice Presidency or any other post which
he might decide to go for. He has made this a personal crusade to block Khairy and tail him
wherever he goes and become the biggest stumbling block to the boy’s rise to power. By
now, readers would want to know who the Visitor, the former deputy chief minister and
Khairy’s proxy for UMNO Youth Chief are.

This is the beginning of a new series of The Khairy Chronicles which will chart the battle
between the Old Guard and the Young Turks in UMNO as it happens. Over the next few
weeks, these names will be revealed to you. But it is still too early to spoil the fun. UMNO
- 139 -
is about to tear itself apart, just like PKR did before this. Revealing the names now would
allow Khairy to react and remove his rivals. He will have to wait, just like any other reader
of The Khairy Chronicles, for the identity of his bete-noir to be revealed when the time
comes.

But one thing that we would like to reveal now is that in this battle between Najib and
Khairy, Najib would be the loser. In fact, in the current state of play of the game, Najib has
kissed away his last chance of becoming Prime Minister. But this is only one aspect of the
battle. There is still the Battle Royale between the Grand Old M
- 140 -
PART 31: Khairy Chronicles in review continued

Episode 31 of The Khairy Chronicles is supposed to be called The Battle Begins: Mahathir’s
secret weapon, where we were going to tell you about Mahathir’s White Knight who will
emerge to fight the Khairy Dragon. However, since the last episode of The Khairy Chronicles
on 5 May, there have been many and fast-changing developments in the Malaysian
political scene that what we write seems to become obsolete even before we can publish it.

You must note that it takes days, sometimes a week to research and write each episode of
The Khairy Chronicles. The intimate details that we reveal means we need to meet many
contacts and enter into long discussions on what is going on behind the scenes. Sometimes
the source is willing to sing like a canary and at times is not really prepared to open up and
remains tight-lipped. It therefore requires some very delicate probing and beating around
the bush to slowly extract what we are looking for. Then there are those who delight in
telling us half stories with the punch line, “I have told you what happened, now you go
figure out the rest yourself.” Or they would say, “That is what happened, but I can’t
mention names.” We then have to continue investigating and talk to others to put in the
missing pieces to that story and plug the many gaps and holes that our source left us with.

In the latest episode of The Corridors of Power (Politics is about the attainment of power), we
concluded by saying:
In the meantime, watch the ongoing power struggle in Malaysia. Much conniving and
money changing hands will be seen over the next year or so. And the man left standing will
be he who plays the game best. And all’s fair in love, war and politics. There will be no
dirty politics, only real-politics. And the next prime minister, whoever it may be, will be he
who outwits the others and outbids everyone with the best price. And the next prime
minister will have to be the dirtiest player in the game; there are no two ways about it.

The impression created is that Malaysia’s political scene is calm and calculated. That is
certainly the appearance given. But Malaysia’s politics is like a deep river. Deep rivers
appear calm but the turbulence beneath the surface would drag you down if you were to
suffer the misfortune of falling into it. Then there would be the many crocodiles lurking
below waiting to pounce on you if you are spared drowning. The calmer the river, the
more you should stay out of it for not many have been able to defy nature and walk away
to tell their tale.

Yes, nature, mankind’s folly in thinking that he can shape this earth in his own image and
not suffer the consequences. Whether it be the Highland Towers collapse (due to the
shifting of the underground stream), the Tsunami tragedy (due to the destruction of
mangroves along the shoreline), landslides (due to development on hill slopes), and much
more, have all proven that nature has power over mankind.

And what is the nature of politicians? Politicians are animals that scheme, plot, connive,
engage, survive, and kill. A politician is a modern-day gladiator. Politicians must kill or be
- 141 -
killed. Politicians must make alliances and break alliances. In politics, the ends justify the
means.

In the latest episode of The Corridors of Power (Politics is about the attainment of power), we
said:
Enemies become friends and friends become enemies. An enemy of your enemy becomes
your friend, even if the former is also your enemy, but as long as the latter is a bigger
enemy. An enemy of your friend also becomes your enemy, even if the former is also your
friend, but as long the latter can serve your political interests. That is the political game.
And you must learn to treat all political friends as potential enemies and keep them close
where you can watch over them -- plus keep your political enemies even closer so that you
can monitor them and neutralise their every move.

Well, this is exactly what is happening in Malaysian politics today and, over the last couple
of weeks while we were putting together episode 31 of The Khairy Chronicles, the behind the
scenes goings-on has forced us to go back to the drawing board lest what we publish
becomes obsolete as you read it or the rapid changing events make what we write highly in
error.

For example, since the last episode of The Khairy Chronicles, the recently removed Umno
Perlis Youth Leader has decided to take on Khairy Jamaluddin and give him a run for his
money. He is now making his moves and laying the groundwork to launch this challenge.

The Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS) is attempting to bring together Ex-Prime Minister Dr
Mahathir Mohamad, his one-time deputy Anwar Ibrahim, and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah
to team up for the good of the ‘Malay cause’. Is the hidden agenda really to challenge the
Prime Minister?

Dr Mahathir has categorically stated in his Malaysiakini interview last week that there is no
possibility of any reconciliation with Anwar. Then there are certain forces who are
attempting to open a channel for Anwar to meet Dr Mahathir so that the former can
apologise to the latter. It is hoped that once Anwar does this, then the old man would give
his blessing in the event that Umno would like to take Anwar back.

Last Friday, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi met Dr Mahathir in Tokyo. Dr
Mahathir returned to Malaysia the following day while Abdullah the day after that. It has
been reported that Abdullah is trying to mend fences with the old man but the terms and
conditions for reconciliation may be too much for Abdullah to endure. Other than the
reinstatement of the cancelled ‘Crooked Bridge’, Dr Mahathir wants Abdullah’s son-in-law,
Khairy, removed from the corridors of power.

Yes, there is much going on behind the scenes and it appears like all roads lead to Khairy,
even the cancellation of the ‘Crooked Bridge’. Will Abdullah sacrifice his son-in-law to
pacify him who still has the power to hire and fire and can shape the political environment
of this country? Will Najib strike now while Khairy is teetering on the verge and about to
- 142 -
be pushed over the edge by the many enemies he has made in such a short space of time,
Dr Mahathir included? Will Anwar become the powerbroker and kingmaker in the
redrawing of political boundaries, realignment of political loyalties, and new political
alliances? Will the Dr Mahathir-Anwar-Tengku Razaleigh team become a reality or will the
PAS effort fizzle just like the Dinar idea which it mooted recently?

There is so much to look into and the events swing from one extreme to the other within
mere days. Anyway, while we are getting our hands on the latest and juiciest of the
backroom political manoeuvres, let us continue with our Khairy Chonicles in review before
we go to the next episode of our story on the young upstart who would be Prime Minister
by the age of 40 and what he would have to do to eliminate the competition. Parts 1 to 24 of
this review can be viewed here.

Part 24 - Khairy Chronicles in review

It seems Khairy Jamaluddin is not happy with The Khairy Chronicles. And when Khairy is
not happy, he must be made happy. These ‘certain parties’ do not work for Khairy. They, in
fact, answer to the government. Indirectly, they are responsible to the people. Their job is to
uphold the law and punish the law-breakers, not to serve certain political interests. Their
function is to defend our constitutional rights, including freedom of expression and the
independence of the media. But that is only a pipedream. In reality, they bow to the will of
the powers-that-be. In this case, they bow to Khairy.

Khairy has no position in the government of the day. He is officially only a ‘corporate
advisor’. No doubt he is deputy head of UMNO Youth, but that role too is not one that
allows him to run the country as he wishes. Nevertheless, he does. For some time now,
these ‘certain parties’ have been feeding him reports (as well as to his father-in-law),
including the results of their snooping on opposition politicians and functions. Khairy has
no right to these reports, but he receives them anyway -- because the ministers and deputy
ministers in charge are too afraid to raise their objections.

What makes Khairy uncomfortable with The Khairy Chronicles is the fact that it has pre-
empted many of his moves since the middle of last year -- and now that he is beginning to
make these moves we can turn round and say, “I told you so.”

Part 25 - A New Deal: Running Out of Time

Khairy’s actions over the last few months demonstrate immense immaturity and stupidity.
The obvious corrupt and insider dealing involved in the purchase of ECM Libra and the
use of government-owned Avenue Capital to bail out Khairy’s business cronies and make
them multi-millionaires overnight are actions that could have been better handled and with
greater finesse. Instead, its execution bears all the hallmarks of a rushed job, the handiwork
of an amateur in politics and business. The image that Khairy portrays has transformed
from an intelligent, confident young man to a greedy and corrupt opportunist. The ‘smooth
operator’ has gone, to be replaced by the ‘grab-and-run’ conman.

- 143 -
Perhaps there is pattern in this madness. Maybe the fast-paced actions were not a headlong
rush created out of chaos but a calculated attempt to salvage whatever remains of the
teetering administration of Abdullah Badawi. The administration that started out
promising Malaysians the sun and the moon, and that enjoyed the biggest majority since
the General Election of 1955, has begun to be seen as the most inept and bumbling
government ever. Abdullah Badawi is lurching from crisis to crisis; unable to deal with
issues with the decisiveness that Malaysians have become so accustomed to over the last
two decades or so. Swaying from right to left, Abdullah Badawi leads a government rife
with internal conflict and unable to grapple with the simplest of ordinary issues.

Khairy knows that his future -- political, business or otherwise -- depends on Abdullah
Badawi’s longevity in office. That now seems increasingly shaky. Unlike his predecessor,
Abdullah Badawi is unable to capitalise on his strength in Parliament. Led astray by the
silly ideas of people such as Nazri Aziz and Backbencher Club President Shahrir Abdul
Samad, Abdullah Badawi lost control of his own Parliament and saw senators and
backbenchers attacking his government with a ferocity unseen since the days of Tunku
Abdul Rahman. While thinking that Parliament should be allowed more say, Abdullah
failed to realise that many of the backbenchers could think and speak better than him or his
menagerie of hapless ministers. As a result, when Parliament began to take up the mantle
of criticising ridiculous government policies, Abdullah finds it difficult to respond in a
convincing manner. Slowly, the rickety sinews that bind his fragile government begin to
appear for all to see.

Part 26 - A New Deal: The bag-carriers

Money politics is well and alive in Umno and many have now forgotten that Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi rode into power on the backdrop of a promise that he will clean up Umno
of this affliction, which he has often described as ‘a cancer that kills’. Abdullah Badawi is
proven no less a liar by his own son-in-law who now realises that his father-in-law’s
tenuous hold on Umno can be perpetuated only if it is compounded by a show of
generosity to the ordinary members. The pile of cash that Khairy is building up is not only
a nest egg for himself and his family, but a necessity in the face of rivals who have much
deeper pockets.

Khairy channels the money to the members by planting a person in each division who acts
as the ‘umbrella’ or ‘payung’. The payung’s function is to distribute cash to people who are
deemed Khairy supporters. These people must turn up at functions graced by Khairy and
will then be able to receive their dues. From the money that Khairy circulates, each payung
keeps something like RM1,000 to RM2,000 per month for himself for rainy days -- i.e. times
when rivals come to compete for the favours of the Umno members.

The payungs are often Vice-Heads of Umno Youth divisions or branches. Sometimes they
are members of Khairy’s informal ‘Vice Heads of Umno Youth Club’. Often, they are also
people who have served with Khairy in his previous incarnation as an appointed Umno
Youth Exco member with responsibility for education affairs. Each and every time, they are
invariably also people who spy on other Youth leaders who appear to be paying too much
- 144 -
attention to Khairy’s potential rivals for the headship of Umno Youth in the party elections
of 2007.

Like royalty, Khairy does not handle any cash himself. He lets others do that work for him
while he keeps his hands clean. This is actually nothing new in Umno politics. Since the
time of Tun Razak it has been customary for Umno Youth leaders ranging from Syed Jaafar
Albar to Harun Idris to Suhaimi Kamaruddin to Anwar Ibrahim to Najib Tun Razak and
Zahid Hamidi to have bag-carriers and payungs. What has changed is the sum. In the past,
where Umno members used to be satisfied with orange RM10 notes once every few
months, they are now only happy if the money comes monthly and in the blue and purple
denominations of fifties and hundreds.

Part 27 - A New Deal: Crash and Burn

These are but some of the many events which have happened over the last two years
involving Khairy and the maladministration of Abdullah’s government -- which are but a
scratch on the surface. Previously, ministers and politicians were too scared to talk about
them. But now they are so angry with Abdullah they are becoming quite open and vocal
about Khairy’s misdeeds. Slowly, the stories are filtering through and while the official
media -- controlled by Khairy’s lackeys like Kalimullah Hassan Masheerul Hassan,
Brendan Pereira, Wong Sulong and Wong Chun Wai -- keep an ominous silence about the
son-in-law’s movements, the UMNO grassroots have been getting information by word of
mouth and through the ‘underground’ media. Only the very stupid of UMNO members do
not now realise that Khairy is king and puppet-master whose control over Abdullah is
almost absolute.

A danger for Khairy is that people are no longer afraid to talk about the corruption
perpetuated by Abdullah’s family. After all, they have had enough of the same happenings
under Mahathir. But Mahathir never promised them reforms. So, while people always
thought it was ‘natural’ for Mahathir’s family to be corrupt, they are more disappointed
that Abdullah, with his so-called Islamic and intellectual background, can allow the same
to happen at even greater speed, more blatantly, and with visible disregard for public
decency. Many are saying that Abdullah is dangerous to UMNO and should be removed as
soon as the opportunity arises. Still, none want to make the first move and be the one to
bell the cat. But there are many who are being cajoled into leading such a charge. Former
Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad is the most obvious choice for the many disgruntled
UMNO members who are looking for a sympathetic ear, as are other veteran leaders such
as Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah.

The only saving grace for Khairy is that Malaysians have become too immune to official
corruption, having been so long under the rule of Mahathir Mohamad. While they are still
cautious, Khairy has time to increase his wealth and consolidate his power of patronage
over those UMNO leaders who can still be bought. Khairy can also rely on Mahathir’s
greatest fear, the return of Anwar Ibrahim into UMNO politics, which no doubt Abdullah
will support. If any of Mahathir’s followers -- for example, Najib Tun Razak -- dare openly
criticise Abdullah, Anwar is the pawn that Khairy will use in the battle against Mahathir.
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As long as Anwar can distract the public by continuing his vengeful pursuit of Mahathir
and others involved in the 1998 conspiracy that brought about his downfall, then Khairy is
still safe.

Part 28 - A New Deal: Losing the Plot?

Instead of disturbing or disrupting the top leadership, Khairy has instead strengthened his
hand at the second echelon level. He has rescued a key loyalist, Noh Omar, from the frying
pan of the Ministry of Internal Security and put him in the safer and relatively powerful (as
far as UMNO eyes are concerned) post of Deputy Education Minister. Noh Omar is one of
those people whom Khairy can rely on to secure a good stream of information about the
activities of his current boss and potential rival, Hishammuddin Hussein. The truth of the
matter is Noh Omar has been placed in that position for only two purposes.

Firstly, Khairy wants Noh to spy on Hishammuddin and sabotage any attempts he may
make to strengthen his position ahead of the next UMNO elections. Secondly, Noh is a
prominent member of the UMNO Club Alumni Organisation of overseas student
graduates and, in the position of Deputy Education Minister, Noh would be able to
enhance efforts of creating a powerful support base for Khairy among overseas Malay
graduates. In the one year left leading to the next General Election, Noh would be in a
powerful position to supply Khairy crucial tactical and strategic information.
Simultaneously, Noh has been placed in the most senior federal position for a Selangor
politician. By dropping Shafie Salleh from the Ministry of Higher Education, Noh is now
the most senior Selangor candidate who Khairy can use as a potential menteri besar to
replace the dangerous Khir Toyo, a man who is a potent obstacle to Khairy.

Part 29 - A New Deal: Rosebud – a new person in Abdullah’s life

Abdullah is a man who does not know how to rely on his own counsel. Indeed, he
probably has none. He therefore has to build up a circle of close advisors from whom he
can formulate ideas and strategies. Often he does not even understand them but instead
becomes a mouthpiece for their thoughts. Such is the way that this country is run under
Abdullah.

Of course, these advisors act not for the good of the country, but often because they could
gain some benefits. Even in Abdullah’s family, while he acknowledges that he is often
reliant on the views of son Kamal and daughter Nori, these views have recently been
skewed by the ever-present insatiable demands of Kamal’s business partners in Scomi, and
Nori’s incessant request to shore up the political ambitions of her notoriously cunning
husband. So, in the end, Abdullah’s advisors are more vultures than viziers, pecking at the
meat until they reach the driest of bones.

Part 30 - The Battle Begins: Pekan Boy Strikes Back

Almost everyone in UMNO knows Khairy has only contempt for Najib. According to
former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, Khairy has gone so far as to threaten Najib that
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he holds many of Najib’s secrets, most supplied to him by the Singapore Secret Service.
Amongst these are the corrupt dealings of the Deputy Prime Minister during his tenure as
Minister of Defence and even after Abdullah had become Prime Minister. Singapore was
keen to ensure that Najib stayed away from the office of Prime Minister until they at least
had gained all the benefits of Abdullah’s weaker and ‘more friendly’ attitude to Lee Hsien
Loong and his government. Also, in the dossier held closely by Khairy, are details of
Najib’s scandals. True, after the Anwar Ibrahim episode, many could not care less if Najib
buggered a goat, but it was still fodder for the conservative Malay heartland that wanted
their leaders to be as pious as saints.

Khairy had once remarked to Kalimullah Hassan Masheerul Hassan that removing Najib
would be ‘peanuts’. This is the absolute truth. With the control of the media that Khairy has
in which even Mahathir Mohamad could scarcely whisper a discouraging word, Najib has
no chance to present his own case against accusations by Abdullah and Khairy. A
trumped-up levelling of fingers pointing to Najib’s shenanigans would be easier to prove
than anything Mahathir had attempted on Anwar Ibrahim. Najib could only weakly
defend his record as no one believes what he says. With the po-faced visage that he has
been increasingly trying to reduce but failed to achieve, Najib is as convincing a liar as Umi
Hafilda when she said she was still a virgin. In other words, no one believes the Pekan Boy
even when he is telling the truth.

Mahathir Mohamad learnt through his own contacts that Khairy has worked very hard to
gain these documents from Singapore. Much has been offered to obtain them and most of
the cost has been borne by the GLCs that now answer to new masters. This is one reason
why Mahathir is so seething. When statements were made recently implying some leaders
were selling the nation, Mahathir made that accusation in the future tense. He should have
made it in the past. The sale has already been made, the price already paid by Singapore,
and Khairy has got what he wants: enough to remove Najib from the scene.
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PART 32: The Battle Begins: Mahathir chooses his weapon

In December 1990, as he lay on his deathbed, First Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman
received the unwelcome news that the then Prime Minister was about to come pay him a
visit. According to Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s staff, it was a ‘courtesy call’ upon the dying
Bapa Malaysia who was spending his last few hours on this earth, generally at peace with
himself after having delivered his final message to the people at a gathering in Kuching
several days earlier. The Tunku wanted to let the world slip away without any rancour.

But Mahathir had come to disturb that idyll. He wanted to make his peace with the dying
Father of Independence. Nevertheless, the Tunku was no hypocrite. He was not about to
pretend he had suddenly changed his 25-year old feelings of contempt for the man who
once called him ‘traitor to the Malays’. The Tunku did not want to pretend that he could so
easily forgive Mahathir for all that he had done -- including what the Tunku believed was
the dismantling of the Malaysian democracy which he had so painfully established.

So the Tunku, in his usual puckish humour, decided to ‘fall asleep’. Mahathir came into the
hospital room and addressed the Tunku respectfully, rambling on and on about how he
really respected the man, all the while the Tunku ‘snored’ as if he was in a deep slumber.
By doing so, he did not need to address Mahathir nor even acknowledge the presence of
the Prime Minister. He faked a snooze in order to escape having to give a false impression
that all was forgiven and forgotten.

16 years later, it was Mahathir’s turn to do the same to his own successor as Prime
Minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. True, Mahathir is nowhere close to dying, nor is he
even sick, but he too did not want to pretend that ‘all is forgiven’ nor that ‘all is well’
between him and Abdullah.

When Abdullah used a common friend (one of the doctors in his entourage) to arrange a
meeting with Mahathir in Tokyo during the recent Nikkei conference in late May, Mahathir
was of course reluctant to accept. But he could not refuse to meet the Prime Minister as he
was told that Abdullah was already on his way to his hotel suite and could hardly turn
back. Nevertheless, this did stop Mahathir from ‘doing a Tunku’. He pretended to be in a
hurry and, after dismissing Abdullah with some hellos, grunts and umphs, the ‘courtesy
call’ was all over in less than ten minutes. In spite of Kalimullah Hassan Masheerul
Hassan’s and Brendan Pereira’s attempt to portray a reconciliation with the great giant of
UMNO politics, the meeting had all the excitement of a hospital morgue.

As far as Mahathir was concerned, meeting Abdullah was an exercise in futility.
Reconciliation with Abdullah was certainly something farthest from his mind. Mahathir
had already decided to cross the bridge from which there is no turning back -- in fact, he
was burning the bridge as far as Abdullah is concerned. Mahathir is no longer thinking of
how to depose Abdullah as UMNO President and Prime Minister but has instead devised a
plan to unseat what he considers a most unworthy successor. Mahathir is no longer a critic
of the government but a potent opponent who is dedicated to its overthrow. The former
Prime Minister is now officially the Leader of the Opposition to Abdullah’s rule.
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There are those who still believe that Mahathir’s hopes lie with Najib. This is no longer so.
Najib has been well and truly discounted in spite of several last-minute attempts to prove
himself a worthy inheritor of the Mahathir legacy. For example, knowing that he has been
accused by the Mahathir faction of not being able to take advantage of Abdullah’s many
wrong turns and strategic blunders, Najib recently consolidated his support among the
anti-Khairy faction. He gave the opportunity for Reezal Merican Naina Merican to lead
GPMS in spite of the fact that Reezal is now the most virulent anti-Khairy force in
Abdullah’s office. Najib also managed to secure the acquiescence of that wishy-washy
Suhaimi Ibrahim by promising him the kiss of life when he is already politically dead.
Najib hoped that by doing so, he shows his mettle and ability to solve a problem in a
society where the traditional leader has been Abdullah himself.

But Mahathir knows that Najib is a lame horse whose legs have been crippled by the piles
of incriminating evidence Khairy has gathered from the Singapore secret service which will
eventually be used to slay Najib and end his career in a shower of scandals. So Mahathir,
while willing to accept that the fall of Abdullah may lead to a temporary succession of
Najib, no longer relies on Najib to spearhead the movement to unseat Abdullah.

Mahathir’s secret weapon lies in three particular areas. The first, strangely enough, is in
UMNO Youth, though not through Mukhriz. Many feel that Mahathir will launch his
attack on Khairy, his most hated target, through either one of his politically active sons,
Mukhriz or Mokhzani. While these two may stand for key positions in the next UMNO
elections, Mahathir has actually groomed someone else with the calibre to match Khairy
and displace him in a swift blitzkrieg of surprise. Mahathir’s choice has fallen on a young
Oxbridge graduate, the son of a former cabinet minister who is meticulously building up
his war kitty and is rapidly accumulating millions to finance his expenses at the UMNO
elections. Coming from a long established political family, Mahathir’s stalking-horse is
young, able and rich. The element of surprise is the most vital component for this weapon
as the figure chosen by Mahathir is yet to appear on the national scene.

Khairy thinks that Mahathir’s choice is a dud. Of course, it is natural he should think so,
given that he himself was in the early years considered unable to gather the support he
currently enjoys. Mahathir’s choice, however, has the advantage of being relatively
unknown with hardly any ‘surplus baggage’ bogging him down. In the UMNO elections to
come, should Khairy choose to stay in the ranks of UMNO Youth, he will find himself
facing a new personality who has all of his good traits but none of the bad publicity which
he has thus far accumulated resulting from his many business and political misbehaviours.

The way Mahathir’s choice builds his support is not only through UMNO Youth but also
through those other organisations inching their way into Mahathir’s camp. Amongst these
are many professional organisations whose members are frankly too sick of Abdullah’s
inabilities or too jealous of Khairy’s pre-eminence. They feel that they are the equals, if not
Khairy’s betters, and are eager to offer themselves to Mahathir in the hope that when the
change comes, they will exchange their low stations for Khairy’s lofty clouds.

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Mahathir has been secretly meeting many of Khairy’s contemporaries, collecting data about
Khairy’s personal life plus on his every move. In spite of the many opportunities to do so
while he was Prime Minister, Mahathir had made the tactical error of not pursuing those
leads when he had the chance then. Now he is actively picking them up and meeting with
those young people who count Khairy as one of their current or former circles. They are
quite happy to trade information for a pat on the back from the Grand Old Man of
Malaysian politics.

Another of Mahathir’s weapon is the civil servants who are staffed at Abdullah’s office and
other relevant ministries such as the Ministry of Finance. It is an open secret that many
senior civil servants are disgusted with what they regard as Khairy’s direct interference in
government policies and his constant pestering for projects through his stooges like Ahmad
Zaki Zahid and others of that ilk. These civil servants continue to report to Mahathir almost
all the scandals and misbehaviour associated with Khairy -- including one recent case
where Khairy influenced the sale of Malaysian government assets to a consortium of
Singaporeans scouting for a company operating from the sensitive nation of Israel. Such
information could not have surfaced if not for the connivance of insiders, just like most of
the information in these Khairy Chronicles is obtained from disgruntled officers of many
government agencies.

These scandals are indeed complex and difficult for the common public to understand. But
if there is one knack which Mahathir has not lost, it is his ability to convey to the common
people in the simplest of terms what is often a murky and intellectually challenging issue.
Therein rests the biggest problem for Abdullah. Except when he is parroting Khairy’s
words, Abdullah is not a great communicator like Mahathir. Faced with Abdullah, UMNO
members quickly fall into la-la land whereas Mahathir can enthral an audience from start
to finish. If Mahathir openly challenges Abdullah, there is no doubt that the latter would
seem the weaker blunderer, stuttering from word to word, unable to form a coherent
sentence or convince the audience.

In the meantime, anyone who has studied Mahathir in the last 25 years will know that he is
the master of double-speak. Mahathir’s recent interviews should not be read at face value
but instead examined for its hidden meaning. Mahathir is on a crusade, believing that only
he can save the country from certain ruin. In such a crusade, all and every alliance should
be considered. And even those whom Mahathir feel are spawns of the devil will eventually
find themselves being considered in the great big fight against Abdullah. Readers may well
think that we are suggesting some form of reconciliation between the battling figures
which in the last eight years have coloured Malay politics. That may or may not be the case.
What is true is that feelers are being sent by all parties and dogs may well marry cats before
the next year is up.....
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PART 33: The Battle Begins: The Mahathir attack - Caesar becomes Brutus

The time on the clock showed four in the morning. Former Deputy Prime Minister Musa
Hitam just couldn’t close his eyes and fall asleep. The heat of the day was still bugging him
in spite of the full blast of the air conditioner hanging over his bed. At 72, Musa had long
left the world of politics, shying away from the dangers that he courted when he dared
challenge the might of his boss, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, nearly 20 years ago. Since failing
to wrest power from Mahathir, Musa has slipped quietly into oblivion, reaping scraps from
corporate tables and pretending to be a diplomat. There were many nights before this
when Musa could not sleep, but none were like this particular one. Cold sweat dripped
from his forehead. It was as if some nightmare was haunting him and preventing him from
falling into slumber-land. Alarm bells kept ringing in his head, harking back to the days
when not only his political career but the fate of the nation hung in balance.

Earlier that day, Musa had attended the great fete celebrating UMNO’s 50th Anniversary.
As a former top leader of the party, he had been placed on the dais together with other
veterans lined up like ancient Chinese ancestral portraits. They looked down from the
heights of the stage onto the current actors singing the sacrifices of leaders past and
drawing all the credit they could for their own future benefits. Musa had been placed like a
precious avatar next to the grandest UMNO deity, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the only living
former UMNO President, a man with an almost god-like status amongst the ranks of the
former leaders. But it was not the celebration that day that kept Musa from sleeping. It was
what Mahathir had whispered to him throughout the day that was nagging him and
prevented him from sleeping.

Actually, you could not really call it a whisper. It was obvious that Mahathir was unhappy,
maybe even angry. And the brunt of his anger was the man who stood on the steps of the
grand palace of Johor Bahru, his anointed successor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Mahathir
could scarcely hide his contempt for the man; cursing Abdullah’s recent actions which he
felt undermined not only his legacy but the future of the nation itself. Mahathir hissed.
Finally, apparently quite perturbed with the constant needling of the man standing beside
him, Musa asked Mahathir what he was going to do about it. And it was Mahathir’s reply
that shocked Musa so much that now he could not fall asleep. Mahathir told Musa his
plans for deposing Abdullah.

Musa knew what Mahathir had told him was a decision that the UMNO giant had no
intention of reversing. Like Caesar crossing the Rubicon, Mahathir had cast all his doubts
aside and was determined to pursue a final battle that would either mark him as the
saviour of the nation or stamp his skin with the scarlet word ‘Traitor’. Mahathir had
decided he would take up the role of chief conspirator in the great plot to kill the political
career of Abdullah Badawi, once and for all. Only thus can he be assured that he will not be
dying with his eyes wide open.

Musa reached for his phone and dialled a number, reaching a certain Member of
Parliament from Johor who could be counted on to deliver a certain message to Abdullah.
While he did not completely agree with what Abdullah was doing -- in fact, Musa was one
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of the first to voice his concern to Abdullah that his son-in-law, Khairy Jamaluddin, was
becoming too powerful and too rich an advisor -- Musa did not want Malaysian politics to
again be embroiled in the cutthroat savageness that he witnessed in 1987 and again in 1998.
As a Johore Malay of the old school, Musa’s mantra, rightly or wrongly, has always been to
yield to the lesser of two evils -- the other alternative being a full-blown war where both
parties suffer casualties and every top leader gets killed. It was better, Musa felt, to be
called timid and cautious rather than die fighting a battle that everyone will come out of
fatally wounded.

So Musa decided to tip off the Member of Parliament and, in no uncertain terms, convey
this most crucial message to Abdullah. The message was simple and came in three parts.
First, Mahathir was about to strike and his aim was to remove Abdullah from power.
Second, it was a decision that Mahathir had fully considered and any effort to mitigate the
situation by trying to mediate would be fruitless. Third, he (Musa) had chosen his side, and
his side is with Abdullah against the might of Mahathir from which he once shirked in
terror.

Abdullah Badawi got the message later the next morning. He did not understand why
Musa felt the attack was imminent. After all, he had gone out of his way to try and assuage
Mahathir’s anger with the most subtle moves that would usually soothe the anger of the
Grand Old Man. But Abdullah had long played a double game. While he tried portraying
what Musa was later to call ‘ an elegant silence’, his underlings from the most sycophantic
cabinet minister to the littlest of UMNO branch leader have been constantly told that many
of Mahathir’s policies were no longer working and Abdullah was in repair mode, trying to
make things better for everyone before it was too late.

The press under the control of Kalimullah Hassan Masheerul Hassan had been dressed up
to appear more open in preparation for the day when they could, like a self-fulfilling
prophecy, declare that they were freer and more critical now than they ever had been
under Mahathir. Even so, when the attack finally came, the Khairy-controlled press
scrambled to vilify Dr Mahathir. Some of the attempts were actually quite comical. For
example, Datuk Kamarulzaman of TV3 went so far as to interview ketua kampungs and
penghulus to voice their support for Abdullah. Even the often-erudite Rehman Rashid could
do no more than write a so-called open letter to Dr Mahathir, nauseatingly praising
Abdullah’s so-called ‘open press policy’ without declaring of course that this policy gave
him back the job from which Abdullah Ahmad had dismissed him before. In other words,
the small bit players came out with their little pen-knives to scratch Mahathir’s skin and
laugh gleefully as it bled a little. The truth was that the efforts to undermine Mahathir
began from day one of Abdullah’s administration. It was a deliberate and cohesive strategy
devised by Khairy, presented many months before the handover to the team he had formed
to play the role of Abdullah’s crutches.

In the first Khairy Chronicles, we had outlined how Khairy was going to demolish
Mahathir’s legacy piece by piece. It has taken two years, but the plans that were hatched
those many months before have now come to a boil. Mahathir’s engineered downfall will
be disguised as a reform movement spearheaded by Abdullah, or at least tacitly endorsed
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by his administration.

The first fruits have already ripened. Mahathir’s blatant misuse of the judiciary, his
favouring of certain business interests, the usage of government funds for grand projects,
and other perceived abuses, have now been brought to the surface and laid bare for all and
sundry to feast their eyes on. The next stage would be as Khairy himself remarked earlier
to his close friends (and what these Chronicles had stated before): that certain figures from
the Mahathir administration would now be hauled in front of show trials where their ‘sins’
would be exposed and ‘appropriate’ punishment meted out. The verdict would be a direct
indictment of the middle leadership under Mahathir, but the actual target would be the
Grand Architect himself. Mahathir’s name will be dragged through courts all over the land
and he will be described as the evil genius who directed the corrupt and abusive actions of
his underlings in his 22 years as Malaysia’s Prime Minister.

Eventually, Khairy’s target would be to put at least one or two former and key Mahathir
underlings in jail. Prominent amongst these targets are the group of people who served as
poster boys of Mahathir’s corporate agenda -- in other words, those who are closest to
former Finance Minister Daim Zainuddin. Daim has always been Khairy’s most obvious
target. Although many credit him as being the planner of Malaysia’s economic growth in
the 1980s and 1990s, because Daim had always attributed the credit to Mahathir, it is easy
to tar Daim as the bad boy without feeling too guilty about it. Obviously, Daim’s record is
not clean if compared to other Finance Ministers, with the possible exception of Anwar
Ibrahim, Daim was known to have a circle of trusted lieutenants whom he fed with money,
positions and contracts.

But surely Mahathir knows all this. Indeed he does. One of the factors that triggered
Mahathir’s outburst was a recent discovery brought to his attention by one of his former
political secretaries. It seems Khairy had had a meeting with several former judges who
were planning an attack upon their more corrupt ‘brothers’ who had been promoted by
Mahathir mainly for their subservience. Of course, some of Khairy’s new ‘friends’ were
sincere in wanting to reform the judiciary. But let there be no doubt about it -- most of the
others are as corrupt as their future victims and they only want to support Khairy in order
to save their own skins. There is no black and white in the Malaysian judiciary, only shades
of grey. All the clean judges have already been kicked out along with Salleh Abbas while
many others had either died, depressed and broken, or have slipped into obscurity.

Can anyone say that Abdullah’s reforms are supported only by clean hands? It doesn’t take
a genius to realise that the many voices speaking out in support of the Prime Minister
against Mahathir are those whose life and career have been built on ill-gotten gains. These
include almost all the current cabinet ministers, mere residue (saki-baki) from the Mahathir
days. These people are not clean. Some like Nazri Aziz are so obviously corrupt you can
smell the corruption like a dog that can smell a bitch in heat as he saunters into the room.
Others, notably Muhyiddin Yassin, are as guilty of money politics as the deposed Isa
Samad -- and who was spared execution only because he is perceived as a puerile nobody
and not deemed dangerous to Khairy’s political career. It is laughable that these people
now support Abdullah’s ‘reforms’. They would support any Prime Minister in office for
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that matter. If Hadi Awang was the Prime Minister, they would be clapping like seals,
yelping his name.

What worries all these people is that they can no longer pretend to be the loyal sons of
Mahathir while serving as Abdullah’s men. Now that the battle has begun, they must be
seen to be the undivided loyal soldiers of the current commander-in-chief. That is expected
of them and has always been the UMNO culture. Nevertheless, at least three of them have
given secret support to Mahathir. Let’s call a spade a spade so that life can be more
interesting. The three who have called Mahathir to give their support are Tengku Adnan
Tengku Mansor, Azmi Khalid and Mustapa Mohamad.

But this of course comes as no surprise. The surprise instead lies in Mahathir’s reaction and
counter moves. Surely no one is stupid enough to think that Mahathir is having an off day,
having swallowed too much Panadol when he gave that watershed comment. Like the
Anwar episode, Mahathir had thought long and hard about it. And this is the next move
Mahathir will make. Mahathir toppled Anwar by having other people bell the cat. This
time, however, he will do it himself. He himself has told everyone as much. Even his son
Mukhriz admitted to the press that his father was now so angry he is making his own
moves and is not delegating that responsibility to others.

First of all though, a no-confidence movement within UMNO needs to emerge. Like in the
past, Mahathir will rely on the state UMNO machineries to do this. Of the many Menteris
Besar, only two remain in Abdullah’s camp. These are Mahadzir Khalid of Kedah and
Mohamad Hassan of Negeri Sembilan. Mahadzir Khalid is a non-entity in Kedah. He is too
new to have any strong grassroots support and has ready-made enemies such as Ahmad
Lebai Sudin, Aziz Sheikh Fadzir and even former Menteri Besar Syed Razak Syed Zain to
contend with. In addition, his extravagance over these last few months where he has
become the only Menteri Besar to use a private jet for overseas visits has further riled up
the UMNO leaders in Kedah. He also openly scolds them as if they were children --
perhaps reminiscent of the days when he used to scold his wife’s pupils during his time in
the political wilderness. He is scarcely someone who could be relied upon to deliver the
important state of Kedah.

Mohamad Hassan, the Menteri Besar of Negeri Sembilan who resembles a baddie from a
bad 1970s Tamil movie, is another non-entity placed as a puppet by Khairy to warm the
seat until he is ready to assume the political leadership of Negeri Sembilan. Mohamad has
ready-made enemies in Isa Samad, the Menteri Besar he displaced, and other Exco
Members with many more years experience compared to his. He knows as much about
running the state as the next car mechanic you see in Seremban -- and throwing his support
behind Abdullah is the only way he can keep his job.

Of course, there are those like Idris Jusoh of Terengganu and Musa Aman of Sabah who
will support anyone they think will win -- and if they think Mahathir is going to win they
will abandon Abdullah like a hot potato and jump on Mahathir’s bandwagon. Of the rest,
two have already given veiled support to Mahathir -- Shahidan Kassim, the arch-
opportunist, who believes himself to be God’s gift to arbitration, and Adnan Yaakob, who
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is still sore at Khairy for not backing his efforts to stand as a Vice President during the last
UMNO elections. But these two are clowns. Mahathir is relying on someone else to be his
campaign manager for the states. That man is someone who already has a long-standing
grudge, not only against Abdullah, but against Khairy. During the last General Election he
had been on the list of those to be removed. Furthermore, Khairy had belittled him in his
efforts during the last UMNO elections. More importantly, Khairy has gone over his head
in allocating projects in his state. There were times he had been told by businessmen that
Khairy had personally given them certain concessions -- for which he is forbidden from
protesting. His anger at Khairy has good reasons and the removal of Abdullah and his son-
in-law would be the culmination of the ideal dream.

Mahathir will rely on this person to move UMNO slowly but surely towards removing
Abdullah. By whatever means, UMNO will be made ready for a contest that will see either
Abdullah in triumph over Mahathir or Mahathir’s new man in place at the leadership of
Barisan Nasional before the 12th General Election. Since Mahathir is so ardent in his efforts
to remove Abdullah and Khairy, Malaysia Today will not spoil it by revealing his plans just
yet. Suffice that we call Mahathir’s weapon ‘MB X’. And MB X will make himself known to
the public soon enough....