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Australia coach Nielsen steps down Posted: 20 Sep 2011 07:15 AM PDT Australia's ODI captain Michael Clarke (L) talks with team coach Tim Nielsen during a practice session ahead of their One Day International (ODI) cricket match against Sri Lanka in Kandy in this file photo of August 9, 2011. Nielsen stepped down on Sept 20, 2011 after his side clinched a test series victory over Sri Lanka. – Reuters pic COLOMBO, Sept 20 – Australia coach Tim Nielsen stepped down today after his side clinched a test series victory over Sri Lanka, Cricket Australia said. "Tim has been national coach during a period in which we have had a long list of great champions leave the game and has been a strong support for new players coming into the side over that period," Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland said in a statement on the Cricket Australia website (http://www.cricket.com.au). "I was delighted when he agreed to renew his contract last year and had encouraged him to apply for the new, expanded and redesigned Head Coach role that the CA Board approved last month after the tabling of the Australian Team Performance Review. "However, I have spoken to Tim and understand and respect his decision to now begin a new chapter in his professional life." – Reuters

Ainslie heads first athletes selected for Britain Posted: 20 Sep 2011 03:44 AM PDT LONDON, Sept 20 – Britain's most successful Olympic sailor Ben Ainslie was among the first athletes officially selected today to compete for the home nation at next year's London Games. Ainslie, 34 (picture), will bid for a fourth successive Olympic gold medal when he competes in the Finn class in Weymouth and Portland. "This qualification process was definitely the hardest compared to the previous four I've been through," Ainslie, who also has a Laser silver medal from 1996, said in a Royal Yachting Association statement after being selected for Team GB. "The previous experiences helped, but at the same time having the Olympics in the UK puts that added bit of pressure on, we all want to compete on home waters, it's a once in a lifetime opportunity." Ten other sailors were also selected to compete in next year's regatta, including Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson, who bid for a second consecutive gold medal in the Star class, and Paul Goodison who defends his Laser dinghy title. Britain has topped the medals table at the last three Olympic regattas. – Reuters

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Scientists serve up ‘super spaghetti’ Posted: 20 Sep 2011 06:31 AM PDT Researchers have developed a high-fibre, heart-healthy barley pasta dubbed 'super spaghetti'. – Photo by Ugorenkov Aleksandr/shutterstock.com BOLOGNA, Sept 20 – Scientists in Italy and Spain have developed a new type of pasta dubbed "super spaghetti" made with nutritious barley flour that may reduce the risk of heart disease. Barley, the latest addition to the functional food craze, is an excellent source of fibre, antioxidants and vitamin E. Researchers Vito Verardo of the University of Bologna in Italy and Ana Maria Gomez-Caravaca of the University of Granada in Spain say that consumers may soon see packages of barley pasta labeled with the phrases "may reduce the risk of heart disease" and "good source of dietary fibre." The new report was announced last week and published in the American Chemical Society's Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. The functional foods craze has caught on around the world with health-conscious consumers, creating an industry that is expected to reach over US$176 billion (RM549 billion) by 2013. Barley, which has already been added to some bakery products, has slowly been encroaching on the dairy-dominated industry to take up a quarter of the market. Other functional pastas of the future? Researchers in Mexico claim that using unripe banana flour can be a healthful alternative to wheat flour since banana flour contains antioxidants and fibre, according to a study published in the Journal of Food Science. Meanwhile, until these products hit the market, you can rely on whole wheat or other high-fibre pastas to fit the bill. But for traditional pasta lovers, the chewier, denser texture may take some getting used to. WebMD suggests making whole wheat pastas more appealing by serving with rich, flavourful sauces or layered (like lasagna) with sauce, cheese and vegetables. – AFP

Growing concern over drugs fed to animals Posted: 20 Sep 2011 04:33 AM PDT The practice of administering large quantities of antimicrobial drugs 'favours the emergence of drug resistant bacteria that can spread to humans through the consumption of contaminated food, from direct contact with animals or by environmental spread,' said the World Health Organisation. – Photo by Joe Gough/shutterstock.com CHICAGO, Sept 20 – Drugs fed to animals to promote growth and prevent diseases may play a key role in the emergence of antibiotic resistant bacteria, microbiologists said recently. The practice of administering large quantities of antimicrobial drugs "favours the emergence of drug resistant bacteria that can spread to humans through the consumption of contaminated food, from direct contact with animals or by environmental spread," said Awa Aidara-Kane of the World Health Organisation. "In addition, genes encoding for resistance can be transmitted from zoonotic bacteria to human pathogens," added Aidara-Kane, who leads the WHO Advisory Group on Integrated Surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance. She was speaking during the 51st annual Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy meeting this weekend in Chicago. In order to reduce the risk of the emergence and spread of resistant bacteria via the consumption of animal food products, the WHO suggests restricting and even eliminating the use of antibiotics to boost animal growth. The world health body recommends limiting administering to animals the types of antibiotics considered essential to human health, such as fluoroquinolones and the most recent generations of cephalosporins. "We are seeing a significant increase in resistance to third and fourth generation cephalosporins in Salmonella Heidelberg infections in humans," noted Beth Karp, a senior veterinary epidemiologist with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Between 2008 and 2010 resistance increased from 8 per cent to 24 per cent. In retail chickens isolates, resistance in Salmonella Heidelberg increase from 17 per cent in 2008 to 31 per cent in 2009." The strain is resistant to nearly all antibiotics. Karp also expressed concern about the risk of resistance to cephalosporin antibiotics in other Salmonella serotypes. Nontyphoidal Salmonella is the main cause of food poisoning in the United States and affects about 1.2 million people each year, including 23,000 who are hospitalised and 450 who are killed, according to the CDC. In late May, consumer groups lodged complaints with the Food and Drug Administration denouncing the widespread use of antibiotics in animal feed and urging the agency to do more to halt the practice. The FDA had encouraged breeders last year to administer less antibiotics in order to reduce the risk of anti microbial resistance. J. Glenn Songer, a research professor at Iowa State University's College of Veterinary Medicine, noted certain strains of the Clostridium Difficile bacteria that cause diseases in farm animals such as young pigs play a growing role in human infection. C. Difficile resists most treatments and is a serious threat in hospital environments. – AFP

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Bollywood to make first zombie comedies Posted: 20 Sep 2011 08:41 AM PDT MUMBAI, Sept 20 — Bollywood is lurching with arms outstretched into new territory with its first zombie comedies, hoping to replicate the success of a host of light-hearted Hollywood movies about the living dead. "Shaadi of the Dead" (Wedding of the Dead), starring Abhay Deol and up-and-coming female lead Genelia D'Souza, is due for release next year and centres around a zombie invasion at a Punjabi marriage ceremony. The film will be vying for audiences with the Saif Ali Khan vehicle "Go Goa Gone", about a group of youngsters who fight an army of the undead in the Indian resort state of Goa. Abhay Deol will star in "Shaadi of the Dead" (Wedding of the Dead). — AFP/Relaxnews pic Popular Western examples of the "rom-zom-com" (romantic zombie comedy) genre include "Shaun of the Dead" (2004), starring British comic Simon Pegg, and "Zombieland" (2009), with Woody Harrelson. "Shaadi of the Dead" director Navdeep Singh is banking on the novelty value of the genre to suit the changing tastes of younger Indian film audiences now exposed to wider outside influences. "We feel this idea of a zombie film is very fresh," he told AFP. "It will be India's first zombie film. It is something that has never been tried in the Hindi film industry and so we feel it will work." Bollywood may be famous for its stories of idealised love set to song and dance but belief in the supernatural is widespread in India and moviemakers have previously flirted with horror. In the 1970s and 1980s, the Ramsay family directed a string of schlock horror monster films, like "Hotel", "Purana Mandir" (The Old Temple), "Veerana" (Wilderness) and "Purani Haveli" (The Old Mansion). The movies are cult viewing among many Indian film fans. But after the Ramsay brothers' "Bandh Darwaza" (Closed Door) in 1990, the genre all but disappeared, as filmmakers returned to well-worn themes of love and romance. The last decade, however, saw a partial horror revival, as directors began to experiment with different themes, introducing better production values and special effects to the shaky sets and flimsy plots of old. Ram Gopal Verma brought out "Bhoot" (Ghost) and "Darna Mana Hai" (Being Scared Forbidden) in 2003, using more mainstream actors such as Ajay Devgn, Saif Ali Khan and Shilpa Shetty. Saurab Narang's "Vaastu Shastra" (Possession, 2004), and "Raaz" (Secret, 2002) director Vikram Bhatt's "1920", released in 2008, were well-received. Bhatt also released a 3-D horror film "Haunted" this year. Navdeep Singh admits that in previous years, making a zom-com would be a risk, with most Indian filmmakers pandering to conservative audiences in providing a bread-and-butter diet of strong-jawed heroes and doe-eyed heroines. But he added: "Things have changed a lot now and producers want to take a risk with films on different subjects. And 'Shaadi of the Dead' is one of them because the script of the film has come to me from Siddharth Jain." Jain, widely known as Sid, is an emerging Bollywood filmmaker and entrepreneur who is head of Mumbai-based iRock Films. Earlier this year, he co-produced the paranormal thriller "Ragini MMS", with Ekta Kapoor, whose "Love, Sex Aur Dhokha" (Love, Sex and Betrayal, 2010) was hailed as groundbreaking for of its use of hand-held and security cameras. In preparation for the release of "Shaadi of the Dead", Jain is to publish a graphic novel about zombies in Bollywood. He said in an interview published earlier this year that he was proud to produce India's first zom-com and was already planning a follow-up, "Honeymoon of the Dead", a zombie-based television reality show and website. "It ('Shaadi of the Dead') is going to be an iconic youth film as far as I am concerned and will redefine youth entertainment for this decade in India," he told entertainment.oneindia.in. "It's mad, crazy, romantic, funny, violent and super cool. It's like a two-hour theme park ride." — AFP/Relaxnews

Head of Arab broadcaster Al Jazeera resigns Posted: 20 Sep 2011 08:11 AM PDT DUBAI, Sept 20 — The head of Arab TV channel Al Jazeera said today he was leaving the network, but gave no reason for his departure at a time when the station's coverage has played an important role in unprecedented protest movements rocking the Arab world. "I have decided to move on," the network's director-general Waddah Khanfar said in a resignation note emailed to Al Jazeera staff and also publicised on social media site Twitter. "For some time I have been discussing my desire to step down with the chairman of the board. He has kindly expressed understanding and has accepted my decision." Since it was launched in 1996, Al Jazeera has become the highest-profile satellite news broadcaster in the Middle East. It has frequently had difficulties with Western and Arab governments in a region where governments have traditionally kept tight control over state media. Al Jazeera, owned by the Qatari government, aired round-the-clock coverage of uprisings that brought down veteran rulers in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya this year, and the station promotes itself as a democratic voice in the region. Critics say it is more timid in covering events closer to its Gulf home, and the cameras of its main Arabic channel were notably absent during a month of similar protests in the Gulf Arab state of Bahrain which the government crushed in mid-March. Al Jazeera's bureau chief in Lebanon, Ghassan Bin Jiddo, resigned in April, apparently in disagreement over its coverage of the revolts, which have also engulfed Syria and Yemen. Leaked US diplomatic cables described the channel as a tool in Qatari diplomacy. The channel has played an important role in raising the prestige of the small, wealthy Gulf Arab state. — Reuters

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Umno: Pemimpin PAS tak mampu jadi MB Kedah Posted: 20 Sep 2011 02:20 AM PDT ALOR SETAR, 20 Sept – Siapa saja daripada kalangan pemimpin PAS yang dipilih menjadi Menteri Besar Kedah tidak penting kerana calon tersebut tidak mampu menyumbang untuk pembangunan dan melaksanakan projek kesejahteraan rakyat. Pengerusi Majlis Tindakan Persekutuan Negeri Kedah, Datuk Wira Mohd Johari Baharom berkata, PAS hendaklah buktikan dahulu ia telah melaksanakan projek pembangunan untuk rakyat dan bukan mengambil kredit daripada usaha kerajaan pusat. "Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak yang juga Pesuruhjaya PAS Kedah sendiri tidak mampu melaksanakan apa-apa projek, apakah calon lain boleh," katanya dipetik Bernama Online pada Majlis Rumah Terbuka Aidilfitri Jabatan-jabatan Persekutuan Beliau berkata demikian ketika diminta mengulas cadangan timbalan pengerusi Badan Perhubungan Umno Kedah Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir semalam supaya anggota Exco Datuk Amiruddin Hamzah menggantikan Azizan yang tidak sihat. Mohd Johari berkata Kedah pasti lumpuh tanpa bantuan kerajaan pusat seperti bantuan kepada mangsa banjir, pertanian, nelayan dan golongan miskin di negeri ini. "Duit yang diperuntukkan bagi menyelenggara jalan pun tak tau ke mana perginya. Sebab itu banyak peruntukan tahun ini disalurkan terus kepada agensi-agensi kerajaan pusat untuk elak daripada disalah guna," katanya. Beliau yang juga Timbalan Menteri Pertanian dan Industri Asas Tani berkata Azizan juga gagal menyatakan dengan terperinchi dakwaannya bahawa PAS telah menunaikan 80 peratus daripada janji-janji manifesto pilihan raya umum 2008 parti itu.

Najib: Kerajaan BN tak pandai nak tipu rakyat Posted: 20 Sep 2011 02:14 AM PDT PUTRAJAYA, 20 Sept – Datuk Seri Najib Razak berkata kerajaan tidak tahu bagaimana hendak menipu rakyat apatah lagi menyeleweng fakta sejarah sepertimana yang dilakukan pembangkang. Perdana Menteri berkata perjuangan kerajaan Barisan Nasional (BN) adalah berada pada landasan yang benar dan jelas serta sentiasa menunaikan janji dan tanggungjawab untuk kesejahteraan rakyat serta negara. Beliau berkata apa yang dilaungkan oleh pembangkang, antaranya janji semasa pilihan raya umum 2008 yang tidak ditunaikan sehingga sekarang, hanya untuk kepentingan dan agenda politik mereka semata-mata. "Perjuangan kita (BN) ialah untuk menentukan negara kita semakin maju dan rakyat semakin makmur. Dari dulu lagi kita memperjuangkan perkara ini... bukan perkara baru," kata beliau dipetik Bernama Online. "Kita ada agenda yang amat jelas... pihak lain (pembangkang) tidak ada sesuatu yang boleh kita pegang, kepada cakap-cakap dan janjinya," katanya pada majlis Ramah Mesra Aidilfitri  Persatuan Bekas Anggota Jabatan Kemajuan Masyarakat di kediaman rasmi Perdana Menteri di Seri Perdana hari ini. Najib berkata kesejahteraan dan kebahagiaan rakyat telah lama diperjuangkan kerajaan BN, namun ada pihak yang mengambil kesempatan untuk memutarbelitkan fakta. "Apa yang penting, kita bekerja kuat memberi penjelasan sehingga ke peringkat akar umbi. Kita mesti membetulkan fitnah yang ditabur atau fakta yang diseleweang "Selain menjelaskan perkara ini (fitnah dan fakta yang diseleweng), kita juga perlu jelaskan Umno dan BN sebagai parti yang mendahului kelok pembaharuan. Jangan mereka (rakyat) anggap (Umno dan BN) sebagai parti lama, parti yang tiada idea baru... tiada kesegaran dalam perjuangan," katanya. Najib, yang juga penaung persatuan itu berkata, sekiranya pembangkang diberi kuasa memerintah Malaysia, ia boleh membawa sejarah hitam kepada negara ini. "Nauzubillah, kalau dia (pembangkang) dapat kuasa, saya fikir dia nak rombak segala-galanya apa yang kita pertahankan, kita warisi. Nak tafsir sejarah (ikut mereka), nak tukar bendera... banyak lagi perkara karut yang mereka akan buat," katanya.

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Goals and politics? Posted: 19 Sep 2011 04:26 PM PDT SEPT 20 — All these goals, what fun! This weekend's 10 Premier League fixtures produced an entertaining total of 38 goals, including four apiece for Blackburn, Tottenham and Sunderland, and three-goal hauls for Arsenal, Swansea, QPR, Everton and Manchester United. It's all part of a wider trend because attacking football certainly seems to be en vogue at the moment. Leading teams from practically whichever country you may choose to name are achieving their successes by going for goal rather than focussing on defence. Evidence? There's plenty. One level below the Premier League, Southampton are currently topping the Championship with 19 goals from their opening seven games. Bayern Munich and FC Twente have both scored 18 in six games to top the German Bundesliga and the Dutch Eredivisie respectively, and in normally conservative Russia the top two — Zenit St Petersburg and Dinamo Moscow — are averaging two goals a game. Even Italy, the archetypal defensive mastermind's place of paradise in years gone by, is showing signs of succumbing to the attack-minded bug: Napoli are early Serie A leaders with six goals from their opening two games, and they also showed a refreshingly attack-minded approach to their Champions League fixture at Manchester City last week. Talking of Manchester City, there's another surprising Italian connection with the new goal fever: City boss Roberto Mancini, regularly pilloried last season for an excessively defensive mindset, has suddenly gone attack crazy, seeing his team register 18 goals in their opening six competitive games of the season. There are exceptions, of course. But not that many and, pretty much anywhere you look, the story is one of goals, goals, goals. The old-school approach of "keeping it tight" and "trying to nick a goal on the break" seems to be a thing of the past. And that can only be a good thing for us humble fans. So where has it come from? Why the sudden outpouring of positive, attacking, chance-creating, goal-scoring intentions? The most obvious answer is one word: Barcelona. The Catalan giants are dominating European football to such an extent at the moment — with three Champions League titles in the last five years — that there's a natural desire amongst admiring coaches to seek to emulate them. And as Barcelona play with such attacking verve, it's easy to see why their emergence as the greatest team on the planet — perhaps even the greatest team in the history of the game — has led to a sharp increase in attacking play all over the world. These things do tend to go in cycles, after all. France's back-to-back World Cup and European Championships triumphs in 1998 and 2000 definitely sparked a trend towards big, strong and powerful athletic performers. Now it's the turn of the little quick men — Xavi, Iniesta and Messi — and everyone else wants to follow suit. However, I'm tempted to believe there's more to it than just a straightforward desire to copy the best because the same philosophy seems to be transferring across into other sports as well. In the United States, for example, lauded New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has just started the new American Football NFL season by throwing for 940 yards in two games, a league record and approximately double the yardage total that would normally be expected. Another code, another continent, but the same free-scoring mentality predominates. Turn to cricket and the pattern re-emerges, with attacking, attractive, stroke-making batting very much the in-thing. In contrast to the grinding, patient, sure and steady innings-building approach that predominated in the Eighties and Nineties, the imperative for nearly every team nowadays is to possess batsmen who can take on the bowling, hit big shots and score fast centuries. And although I'm by no means a rugby aficionado, there seems to be an increasing tendency towards expansive play in the opening stages of the ongoing rugby union World Cup. Certainly, England's two opening performances were widely criticised for their lack of attacking flair — never mind the fact that they ground out two hard-fought victories against competitive opponents. So perhaps, on that limited evidence, the thirst for points, goals and runs is something that transcends sporting codes and nationalities. Why? Well, perhaps it's symptomatic of a wider philosophy, a wider desire for liberty, innovation and creativity that runs across the full range of life's activities. Perhaps — and now I'm really pushing it — you could even link sport's new obsession with winning in style and attacking flair to the multiple popular political uprisings against oppression that have characterised the last couple of years. A bit too far-fetched? Maybe, but it's pretty clear that we are no longer prepared to see our leaders or our politicians — or our sports teams — building big walls and hiding behind them, digging themselves in and grinding out an ugly victory through a vulgar display of power. Those days are gone; now we demand transparency, openness, accountability and freedom. Protestors in Tripoli and midfielders in Barcelona; on a philosophical level, are they the same thing? * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

Time for Malaysia to move forward Posted: 19 Sep 2011 04:17 PM PDT SEPT 20 — You would think that politics does not figure very highly during the Hari Raya celebrations. But this is Malaysia, and politics, for better or for worse, permeates every bit of our life.  PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu's statement on the Bukit Kepong incident and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's speech on the eve of Malaysia Day dominated this year's Syawal. Regarding Mat Sabu's comments, it has to be said that historiography aside, it is only just to argue that all those who fought for our independence should be acknowledged. This ought to be so regardless if they stood on the right or left, and whether they were from Umno or Putera, AMCJA or the MCA.  It is historical fact that the left first envisioned an independent Malaya through the People's Constitution put forward by the Putera-AMCJA coalition.  It is also historical fact that Putera-AMCJA was suppressed by the British. What was lost in the controversy was that the left chose various means to respond to the suppression. Take the case of three AWAS leaders (which was part of Putera) — Aishah Ghani, Khatijah Sidek and Shamsiah Fakeh after 1948. Aishah joined Umno, becoming a Cabinet minister and head of Wanita Umno. Khatijah also joined Umno and became head of Pergerakan Kaum Ibu Umno (the forerunner to Wanita Umno). She was outspoken and passionate about women's issues and was hence sacked from the party. She joined PAS, led Kaum Ibu PAS (the forerunner to Muslimat PAS) and became MP for Dungun — an amazing feat in the '50s when a woman MP was still a controversial idea in Umno.  Shamsiah Fakeh chose to join the Malay regiment of the Communist Party of Malaya. After the regiment was forced to retreat to the Malaya-Thai border, she went to China to work with the communist propaganda machinery. What people may not know is that she broke from Chin Peng due to factional struggles within CPM. Unable to return to Malaysia, Shamsiah and her family settled down as ordinary workers in China until they were allowed to return to Malaysia in 1994.  Who are we to judge these courageous Ibu-Ibu Kemerdekaan who chose different paths after their stint with AWAS? Without the convenient benefit of hindsight, how would they have known which party would lead Malaya after Merdeka and who would remain true to their ideals and aspirations? We must understand their decisions from the context of their times, not ours.  At the same time, we cannot belittle those in the right wing either. This was after all the original Umno, not today's Umno Baru. Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra al-Haj, a prince and the country's Bapa Kemerdekaan, died without much wealth to his name. He sacrificed his property for the struggle and did not enrich himself like some people in power today. Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman, the deputy prime minister to Tun Razak Hussein, was home minister during May 13, 1969, but his principled handling of the incident earned him the respect of both the Malays and the non-Malays.  When the country was about to embark on the NEP, he spoke passionately in its favour yet insisted that it was to be but a temporary measure. Indeed, he feared that regarding the policy as permanent would be disastrous for the Malays.  My grandfather Nik Hassan Nik Mat was an ustaz attached to the police, then under British control. Surely, my grandfather was not a British stooge but a creature of his time and circumstance? Of course, a broader reading of our country's history is needed as our younger generation may fall prey to biased accounts in schools, universities, Biro Tata Negara camps and the mainstream media. Historical revisionism is natural and we should welcome it.   But that should be left to the historians. Politicians should focus on the present and the future. Malaysia is facing enormous challenges in an uncertain time. Surely we ought to be working on how we are to face these challenges instead of debating historical technicalities?  Najib's Malaysia Day eve announcement is a case in point. It is refreshing that after more than 50 years of independence, the PM acknowledged that the rakyat's quest to abolish detention without trial and liberalise media laws is actually right.   We would like to think that the PM is being sincere in his proposals. Unfortunately ordinary Malaysians have had their hearts broken too many times by half-hearted or aborted reforms. One of the first acts that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad did when he became PM in 1981 was to release 21 ISA detainees. Mahathir would later however be remembered for arresting hundreds under the ISA during Operasi Lalang in 1987 and Reformasi beginning in 1998. He also essentially strangled Malaysia's media.  Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi also won a resounding victory in 2004 by promising reform and ironically, distancing himself from Mahathir. While Abdullah clearly had good intentions and overcame some of Mahathir's excesses, most of the reforms did not get anywhere. This contributed to the major reversal of BN's fortunes four years later.  It is quite likely that the PM will have a tough time justifying the changes to his party's right wing. Umno-BN is basically addicted to the draconian laws, arguing against reason that they were necessary for the security of the country. Some have even argued that these laws are necessary to ensure Malay domination continues unchallenged.    Hence many genuine initiatives or reforms were squelched because they infringed upon the party's vested interests.  Malaysia cannot move forward on doublespeak and chicanery. Instead, it requires leadership that is governed by a courageous heart and a clear mind. Policy ought not to be dictated by fluctuating poll numbers. Can Najib be that leader? * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

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