KUALA LUMPUR, June 1 — The bread — served warm — with the spicy tomato salsa served at the start of lunch was simply irresistible. Then came the nachos, spicy chicken wings and battered fish fingers.In ... Read More
KUALA LUMPUR, May 31 — We put on our aprons, and our chef's hats, and went on a tour of the Starhill Culinary Studio. My group headed for the pastry kitchen and it was here in the sleek, state-of-the-art ... Read More
KUALA LUMPUR, June 1 — The bread — served warm — with the spicy tomato salsa served at the start of lunch was simply irresistible. Then came the nachos, spicy chicken wings and battered fish fingers.In ... Read More
KUALA LUMPUR, May 31 — We put on our aprons, and our chef's hats, and went on a tour of the Starhill Culinary Studio. My group headed for the pastry kitchen and it was here in the sleek, state-of-the-art ... Read More
Mourinho grinned broadly as he spoke of his delight at returning to Stamford Bridge. - Reuters pic
LONDON, June 6 — Chelsea excitedly welcomed back fan favourite Jose Mourinho, their 'Special One', as manager for the second time on a four-year contract today.
The Portuguese, who left Real Madrid last weekend, won the 2005 and 2006 Premier League titles in his first spell with the west London club but departed in 2007 after falling out with billionaire owner Roman Abramovich.
"I am delighted to welcome Jose back to Chelsea. His continued success, drive and ambition made him the outstanding candidate," said chief executive Ron Gourlay in a club statement.
"It is our aim to keep the club moving forward to achieve greater success in the future and Jose is our number one choice as we believe he is the right manager to do just that.
"He was and remains a hugely popular figure at the club and everyone here looks forward to working with him again."
Mourinho grinned broadly as he spoke of his delight at returning to Stamford Bridge.
"Now I can say I am one of you," he told Chelsea TV as he gave a message to the fans. "I never hide that in football I have two great passions - Inter Milan and Chelsea - and Chelsea is more than important for me.
"It was very, very hard to play against Chelsea and I did it only twice," he said referring to the time he led Inter to victory in a 2010 Champions League first knockout round tie.
"Now I promise the same things I promised in 2004 with this difference to add - that I am one of you."
The news of his return was an open secret long before Mourinho told a Spanish TV football show on Sunday that he hoped to take charge at Chelsea by the end of the week.
"I feel the people there love me and in life you have to look for that," said the 50-year-old, who first joined Chelsea in 2004 and ended their 50-year wait for a top flight title as well as winning the FA Cup in 2007 and the League Cup twice.
"Life is beautiful and short and you must look for what you think is best for you," added Mourinho, who has also enjoyed successful spells as coach of Porto and Inter, winning the Champions League with both.
Mourinho ended his three-year reign at Real Madrid with a 4-2 home La Liga victory over Osasuna at the weekend. He won the Spanish title in 2012 but left after a difficult season with no major trophies.
FANS HAPPY
Mourinho will be accompanied by three staff - Rui Faria, Silvino Louro and Jose Morais - as assistant first team coaches working alongside current first team staff Steve Holland, Christophe Lollichon and Chris Jones.
Chelsea said he will be officially presented at a news conference at Stamford Bridge today, June 10.
The news was welcomed by Chelsea fans, pining for his return ever since 2007 despite the club's success in winning the Champions League under Italian Roberto Di Matteo in 2012.
The November appointment of unpopular former Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez as interim coach, in place of the sacked Di Matteo, only increased the clamour for Mourinho.
"I think 95 per cent of the Chelsea supporters are pleased that Jose's come back," the club's former defender Ron 'Chopper' Harris told Sky Sports television.
"I think it's a pat on the back for Roman Abramovich for bringing him back."
Mourinho inherits a side that again qualified for the Champions League, after finishing third in the Premier League last season.
They also won the Europa League but are in need of some restructuring if they are to overhaul northern giants Manchester United and City.
The futures of Spain striker Fernando Torres, already linked in the media to Serie A team Napoli where Benitez is now in charge, and former England captain John Terry will be under closer scrutiny than ever.
The confrontational Portuguese set the bar high the first time around, becoming the club's most successful manager with a team that never lost any of their 60 home league matches under his guidance.
Whether Mourinho can make the magic work a second time - something that has defeated many other managers returning for a second bite of the cherry - remains to be seen.
New Monaco defender Ricardo Carvalho, who played under his compatriot at Chelsea and Real, had no doubt that he could.
"I'm sure in two, three years they can but even in his first year he can win it again," he said at the weekend. "When we arrived together in 2004 Chelsea had not won the league for 50 years so I hope now they can win it again."
It will be a case of 'managerial all-change' in the Premier League next season with Mourinho installed at Chelsea, Everton's David Moyes taking over from the retired Alex Ferguson at champions Manchester United and Manuel Pellegrini likely to replace the sacked Roberto Mancini at Manchester City. – Reuters
MADRID, June 3 — Real Madrid made the first addition to their squad of the close season today when they exercised an option to buy defender Daniel Carvajal back from Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen.
The 21-year-old right back, a product of Real's academy and a Spain Under-21 international, has agreed a six-year contract, Real said in a statement on their website (realmadrid.com).
Carvajal was voted the best right back in the Bundesliga by German daily newspaper Bild last season, when he scored one goal and made seven assists for Leverkusen. He will compete with Spain international Alvaro Arbeloa for the right back slot.
"He (Carvajal) has made the definitive jump in quality in the Bundesliga and has established himself as one of the most promising defenders in Spanish football," Real said. — Reuters
Nice guy or narcissist? A new study finds that young women may find narcissistic men more attractive, at least from the get-go. - AFP pic
BERLIN, June 6 — A new German study finds that narcissistic men may have an easier time attracting the opposite sex.
In research led by Michael Dufner of Humboldt University of Berlin, a group of 61 young heterosexual men were paid €35 (RM140) to approach 25 women they would "genuinely like to know" and ask for their phone number, email, or Facebook contact.
The researchers obtained narcissism scores using two types of measures and then tracked the subjects while they hit up women. "We focused on narcissism as a personality trait, not the personality disorder," he told HealthDay.
"This means that everybody has a certain narcissism level—for some it is higher, for others lower.
"The men approached, on average, about 23 women each.
While the narcissists were no more or less selective on the type of woman they approached, they did manage to get the girl more often than the men with low levels of narcissism, the findings showed.
Why?
Narcissists may be more physically attractive, which may be a partial cause of narcissism, Dufner said.
Narcissists may also be appealing, at least in the short term, because of their social boldness, exuding an air of assurance that many people find attractive.
"People who are convinced of their own greatness often, at least at first, convince us," writes Psychology Today.
However, while narcissists may make a great first date, over time, their charms tend to wear thin, the researchers said, due to their inability to form close intimate bonds.
The research, published online, will appear in the July issue of the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.
In a separate study published last year, researchers found a direct link between the number of friends you have on Facebook and the degree to which you are a "socially disruptive" narcissist.
People who scored highly on the Narcissistic Personality Inventory questionnaire had more friends on Facebook, changed their profile pictures more often, and updated their feeds more regularly.
This study is published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences. – Reuters
Roasted coffee beans are processed at Blue Bottle Coffee in Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York. - Reuters pix
NEW YORK, June 3 — For exotic coffee connoisseurs like Geoff Watts, the search for the perfect bean isn't the solitary quest it once was.
On a recent visit to Ethiopia's southern Yirgacheffe region eight hours from Addis Ababa, the buyer for Intelligentsia Coffee bumped into a familiar face.
"I saw a random white guy walking around in a field, and it turned out he was a friend and competitor," said Watts.
US craft coffee purveyors are getting less lonely.
The segment is a small but growing slice of the US$27.9 billion (RM86 billion) US coffee market, which has increased in recent years at an annual average rate of 5.6 per cent and is expected to reach US$33.7 billion by 2018, according to research firm IBISWorld, though it does not yet separate revenues for high-end purveyors.
Small bi-coastal chains Intelligentsia, Blue Bottle Coffee and Stumptown Coffee Roasters lead the so-called "third wave" or "slow coffee" movement, while industry behemoth Starbucks Corp shows off its craft roots selling limited-supply "reserve" coffees for up to US$50 for a half-pound bag.
The new generation of upscale coffee shops and roasters includes dozens of operators around the country. They are in a race to find rare and distinctive beans and hope to elevate one of the world's oldest and most popular drinks in the same way that craft beer brewers, boutique wineries and olive oil makers won fans by focusing on high-quality ingredients and production.
During the last two years, private equity firms, venture capitalists and wealthy individuals such as former professional skateboarder Tony Hawk, and tech luminaries Instagram Chief Executive Kevin Systrom and Jack Dorsey, a co-founder of Twitter and Square, have poured in well over US$55 million - including a large cash jolt for San Francisco-based Philz Coffee in May.
Not your typical retirement investors, they are often coffee connoisseurs themselves and are eager to capitalize on the new breed of enthusiasts who were raised on espressos and lattes popularized by Starbucks.
Customers are willing to pay dearly for their java habit - US$80 for a half-pound of rare, roasted beans and US$3 and up for a cup of individually prepared "pour over," high-tech "siphon" coffee, or old school espresso. Those prices are as much as triple the cost for an average cup of coffee and bean prices are at least 10 times more.
Sales are expected to climb as the US job market improves and more Americans treat coffee as an experience rather than a utilitarian pick-me-up, said IBISWorld analyst Andrew Krabeepetcharat.
But experts also wonder if there will be enough demand beyond wealthy, urban enclaves to support meaningful growth and whether getting bigger would hurt the mystique that fueled the craft operators in the first place.
"I don't think the (exotic) market is that big," said Bonnie Riggs, restaurant analyst for the NPD Group's foodservice unit. While many people may try such coffees as a treat, winning the loyal, frequent users needed to support significant growth will be a challenge, she said.
Blue Bottle founder James Freeman and his peers say they do not aspire to Wall Street-style expansions, nor the pricey exclusivity of high-end wine.
For around US$5, "you can have an incredible experience at a high-end coffee bar and get something impeccably sourced and roasted and made," said Freeman.
"It's the democratisation of luxury."
Blue Bottle Coffee founder James Freeman (R) tests the day's brews at Blue Bottle Coffee in Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York.EXOTIC, EXCLUSIVE
The new movement is built on the success of Starbucks, whose founder and CEO Howard Schultz often speaks of the "romance" and "theater" of coffee and is credited with pioneering coffee's "second wave" by shifting the masses from cheap, hours-old brew to fresh-made drinks from premium beans.
With some 12,900 cafes in its US-dominated Americas region, Starbucks holds the biggest share of the country's coffee market with 18.7 per cent of revenue, according to IBISWorld.
That figure shows how competitive and fragmented the business is in the United States, where local cafes, fast-food chains and even gas stations peddle coffee and lattes.
"We are all focused on that highest quality cup of coffee and there is room for everyone to grow," said Craig Russell, senior vice president of Global Coffee for Starbucks.
Seattle-based Starbucks is a major buyer of artisan beans, going up against rivals like Chicago-based Intelligentsia, which sells 8-ounce bags of its Santuario Geisha roast from Colombia for US$80.50 and expects to grow to 12 stores this year from nine.
"The third wave of coffee really is about understanding the craft and the lifestyle of coffee," said Instagram CEO Systrom, a self-described coffee addict and one of a group of investors led by True Ventures and Index Ventures that poured US$20 million into San Francisco-based Blue Bottle late last year.
He and fellow investor Hawk, who said he kicked in US$100,000, also advise Blue Bottle on its growth plans.
Investment opportunities appear limited to the very wealthy - but it is not for a lack of effort from fans of the cafes.
"We get all sorts of weird inquiries all the time," said Sightglass co-founder Jerad Morrison, who did accept startup capital from Dorsey, a personal friend.
Baristas at the new coffee shops often sport handlebar mustaches, bow ties or suspenders. They spend long moments lovingly tamping espresso, coaxing clever designs from frothy cappuccino milk, or coaching customers as they select beans.
It is a time-consuming process that bears little resemblance to the button-operated speed and efficiency of Starbucks' current generation of espresso machines.
The third wave caters to fanatics like Northern California author Bill Tancer, 47, who said a "coffee concierge" opened his eyes to a new world of coffee during a visit to Philz, which received an "eight figure" investment from Summit Partners, a private equity firm. TechCrunch reported that the infusion was in the US$15 million to US$25 million range.
Summit and Philz declined to comment.
"We had this back and forth about what I was looking for in a cup of coffee - did I want rich, light, more acid, flowery?" said Tancer, who since has become a home roaster.
"There are so many coffees out there to discover. It's a bit of an adventure," he said.
A barista prepares a coffee drink at Sightglass, a coffee bar and roastery, in San Francisco, California.HAND UP OR SELL-OUT?
In 2011, Portland, Oregon-based Stumptown, which has nine coffee bars, took a large investment from TSG Consumer Partners, a private equity firm. The parties declined to quantify it, but two sources familiar with the deal said it was in the area of US$20 million to US$25 million and constituted a controlling stake.
The sources declined to be identified because the information is not public.
Some die-hard fans fretted that the craft coffee trend-setter had sold out, considering that TSG has a strong track record of investing in small brands, helping them grow, and selling them to large corporations. Indeed, one of its most notable investments was a stake in vitaminwater maker Glaceau, which was ultimately sold to Coca-Cola Co for US$4 billion.
TSG declined to comment, but Stumptown's new president, Joth Ricci, said maintaining the brand's identity would be a major factor in any future deal.
"You figure out the right fit for a brand. Some work really well and some don't," Ricci said.
Customers said Stumptown's quality remains high, even if it now seems a little more corporate.
"I've definitely seen them go from their scrappy roots to almost acting like a franchise. ... It feels a little less genuine but, I don't think the quality has gone down at all," said videogame maker Lindsay Gupton, 47, who lives in Seattle.
While he is still loyal to Stumptown, Gupton is on the lookout for coffee's "fourth wave."
"I'm such a coffee purist. I'm always going to seek out the latest, greatest," said Gupton. – Reuters
Karen Gillian made her breakthrough portraying Amy Pond for three seasons in the BBC science fiction series "Doctor Who." ― AFP-Relaxnews picLOS ANGELES, June 3 ― Actress Karen Gillian is going to play the super-villain in the super-hero outer-space flick "Guardians of the Galaxy," reveals The Hollywood Reporter.
Karen Gillian, a 25-year-old Scottish redhead, made her breakthrough portraying Amy Pond for three seasons in the BBC science fiction series "Doctor Who." She is now going to play one of the most formidable foes in this film by James Gunn ("Super"), though the exact role remains under wraps.
The "Guardians of the Galaxy" are Avengers, of sorts, from all four corners of the universe. Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana and Dave Bautista will be tasked with popularizing Star-Lord, Gamora and Drax the Destroyer, heroes drawn from the Marvel Comics catalog, though less famous than, say, Iron Man, Captain America or Thor, who've already been beamed onto the silver screen.
Glenn Close, John C. Reilly and Lee Pace will also be cast in this feature film, which is slated to start shooting in late June. "Guardians of the Galaxy" is scheduled for worldwide theatrical release from August 1, 2014. ― AFP-Relaxnews
Still from "Fast and Furious 6". ― AFP-Relaxnews picLOS ANGELES, June 3 ― "Fast & Furious 6" retained the top spot at the North America box office at the weekend, estimates showed Sunday, ahead of "Now You See Me," a crime caper starring Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine.
The action franchise sequel featuring Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez took US$34.5 million (RM103.5 million) at theatres, with Freeman and Caine's latest outing earning US$28 million on its debut, industry tracker Exhibitor Relations said.
In third place was science fiction epic "After Earth," starring Will Smith, which grossed US$27 million.
"Star Trek: Into Darkness," another sequel, shared fourth spot with "Epic," a computer animated fantasy-adventure. Both movies took US$16.4 million at the weekend, according to the estimates.
Slipping down to sixth from second spot last week was "The Hangover Part III," starring Bradley Cooper and Zach Galifianakis. The final film in the series, given a thumbs down by many critics, earned US$15.9 million during its second weekend in theatres.
Robert Downey Jr's return in "Iron Man 3," meanwhile, took seventh place with US$8 million, while "The Great Gatsby," Baz Luhrmann's adaptation of the literary classic, slipped two places, earning US$6.3 million in eighth place.
Rounding out the top 10 were a new entry from Bollywood, "Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani," a coming of age drama, which earned US$1.6 million, and "Mud," with Matthew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon, which took US$1.2 million in sales. ― AFP-Relaxnews
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KUALA LUMPUR, 3 Jun ― Tan Sri Hasmy Agam dilantik semula sebagai pengerusi Suruhanjaya Hak Asasi Manusia Malaysia (Suhakam) bagi tempoh tiga tahun akan datang.
Dalam satu kenyataan hari ini, Pejabat Perdana Menteri mengatakan pelantikan Hasmy berkuatkuasa pada 26 April lepas dan telah diperkenan oleh Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah mengikut subseksyen 5(2) Akta Suruhanjaya Hak Asasi Manusia Malaysia 1999 (Akta 597).
"Selaras dengan subseksyen 6(1) Akta 597, Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong juga telah memperkenankan Tan Sri Hasmy Agam dilantik sebagai Pengerusi Suhakam," menurut kenyataan itu.
Prof Datuk Dr Khaw Lake Tee, Prof Datuk Dr Mahmood Zuhdi A. Majid dan James Deva Nayagam pula dilantik semula sebagai anggota suruhanjaya itu untuk tempoh sama.
Sementara Prof Datuk Dr Aishah Bidin, Francis Johen anak Adam dan Sylvester Madating @ Nordin Kasim merupakan anggota baru.
PETALING JAYA, 3 Jun ― Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim hari ini memberi jaminan akan menasihati Timbalan Presiden PKR Mohamed Azmin Ali yang mempertikaikan pelantikan Setiausaha Agung PKR Datuk Saifuddin Nasution Ismail sebagai pegawai perhubungan politik di pejabat menteri besar Selangor.
Ketua Pembangkang itu memberi jaminan berkenaan ketika disoal pemberita di Ibu Pejabat PKR si sini, berhubung kenyataan Azmin yang berkata anggota parti kurang senang dengan pelantikan Saifuddin tersebut.
"Saya akan nasihati beliau," kata Anwar ringkas kepada pemberita.
Laporan Sinar Harian Online hari ini memetik kenyataan Azmin yang menyebut bahawa anggota parti berkenaan juga merasakan bahawa keputusan tersebut seolah-olah melupakan pemimpin Selangor yang lain.
"Kalangan ahli melahirkan rasa kurang senang dengan keputusan tanpa perbincangan parti malah seolah-olah melupakan pemimpin Selangor yang berjaya memenangi hati rakyat serta menang dalam pilihan raya umum ke-13 lalu," kata Azmin dipetik Sinar Harian Online.
Akhbar berkenaan juga turut memetik kenyataan Ketua Penerangan PKR Selangor Shuhaimi Shaifei yang menuntut agar menteri besar menjelaskan peranan Saifuddin di jawatan tersebut.
"MPN (Majlis Pimpinan Negeri PKR) Selangor akan meminta penjelasan lanjut dari Tan Sri Abdul Khalid (Ibrahim) kerana timbul pertanyaan mengapa pula setiausaha agung PKR selaku ahli politik boleh dilantik ke dalam pentadbiran kerajaan negeri Selangor," katanya.
Sementara itu, Saifuddin sendiri dalam satu lagi laporan di halaman sama berkata beliau hanya akan mengetahui bidang tugas berkenaan apabila bertemu Khalid pada hari Jumaat.
Bagaimanapun, beliau berkata tugas berkenaan antara lainnya melibatkan usaha memperkukuh kerajaan negeri dan membina kekuatan pengaruh lebih luas di kawasan yang tidak dikuasai Pakatan Rakyat.
Azmin, yang juga ahli Parlimen Gombak dan Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri (ADUN) Bukit Antrabangsa sebelum ini dilaporkan mempunyai krisis dengan Abdul Khalid berhubung pelantikan menteri besar di Selangor.
Perkara itu bagaimanapun berjaya diselesaikan dan Abdul Khalid kekal sebagai menteri besar mengetuai negeri terkaya di Malaysia itu bagi penggal kedua.
A geology graduate turned writer, Khairie Hisyam Aliman enjoys stating the obvious... occasionally in writing. He is still figuring out how to write a proper bio of himself.
JUNE 3 — "Competence, like truth, beauty, and contact lenses, is in the eye of the beholder." — Laurence J. Peter
Remember when you and I were part of the "fresh grad" generation? Walking through the university gates and into the working world was tough.
We got our first jobs and we had to learn everything from zero. Paper qualifications only barely got us through that office door. Everything that came our way felt so challenging because we were blank slates. Sometimes things felt impossible, because we constantly needed to meet quality expectations despite feeling our way in the dark most of the time.
We also had to learn a whole new lifestyle — the working lifestyle. There are the hours, the responsibilities, the bills, even the consequences when you screw up. Life got more complicated. People say our student years are the honeymoon years. We understood that, finally.
Then time passed, a few years went by. Things got better.
The work that we used to struggle with became easier to manage, even if still time-consuming. What used to give us headaches became routine. Our bosses no longer had to hold our hands through everything. We even started feeling competent at what we do. It was like we finally figured it out and finally had that feeling of control over our work and tasks.
That feeling of competency probably came about the same time that we realised — with a mix of horror and amusement — that our newest colleagues are three, four or even five years younger than we are. From being the rookie of the office, you found yourself maybe helping them out, giving pointers, dishing out tips you yourself received just a few years ago.
This stage of our career is dangerous. We are no longer the "fresh grad." Instead we feel competent and indeed maybe are to some degree at what we do. Sometimes that glare of competency blinds us into thinking that we're more than that — we think we're good. Really good.
And therein lies the danger. We're not totally clueless anymore, but we're not experts yet. We're somewhere in between, but thinking we're actually good. Once we think we're good, it's hard for us to ask ourselves honestly: how good am I, really?
Maybe we are competent, but at what level? If being able to kick a ball in any one of the major wind directions qualifies as competent, then anyone who can swing their foot and connect with a static ball is a competent ball kicker. Can that compare with Paul Scholes' level of competency who reportedly is able to accurately hit a man with a ball kicked as far as 36 metres away?
It's about context. At this stage we sometimes forget that we're still measuring ourselves based on the same standards we set when we just started working. That gives us the illusion of excellence when in fact we're still mediocre. We don't realise we're mediocre because we're comparing ourselves to the beginners of our industry when we should instead be looking at the leaders.
It's an easy trap to fall into, because we all want to feel like we've reached the promised land at some point. Like we made it. Maybe some of us don't even care — just having a job IS the "promised land" to some. But for the rest of us who want to excel truly, it's important to stay in the right context whenever we evaluate how far we have progressed.
So challenge ourselves. If work becomes easy, find that extra level of excellence to strive for. Look to our bosses and industry experts and really understand how good they are. The realisation of how far behind we really are compared to the best of the best in our industries is both humbling and invaluable.
At the end of the day, personal growth is a lifelong process. How good we are at what we do is always relative to who we are comparing ourselves to — whether the newbies or the greats.
Rushdi believes that a change agent must tell the truth to a benevolent dictator, religious hardliner, and compassionately connect with youth and have nots.
JUNE 3 — "If more politicians in this country were thinking about the next generation instead of the next election, it might be better for the United States and the world." — Claude Pepper.
The closely-contested general election is over in Malaysia, but the charismatic Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim continues to hold court with the media, lead rallies and press the cause of a stolen election as his party won the popular vote.
The RM64,000 question
Should Anwar accept the election results, with the understanding that in the court of public opinion in Malaysia and with his large following overseas, he is the "winner" as he single-handedly almost willed a victory against insurmountable odds — a better-funded party with control of the media?
Thus, he has a strong foundation to build upon for future generations in GE14 with the carry-over momentum from GE13.
It may well be reasonable to expect Malaysia to have a new party leading the country since the country's independence!
Or should he continue the post-election reform fight for justice and possibly lose some/much of the goodwill he built for himself and his coalition party?
Has the Malaysian (wo)man on the street moved on to expect the trickle-down deliverables Datuk Seri Najib Razak promised on crime, corruption, education, etc.? Yet Anwar is stuck in the political quicksand of a personalised fight.
Put differently, is the continued contesting of elections in the best interest of the country and its people?
Elections and divorces
Are there some parallels between contested elections and bad divorces? Should not the focus be on the children of feuding parents and populace of feuding politicians?
Let's assume Anwar (PKR) is the father, Najib (BN) is the mother and the country/populace are the children,
The contested GE13 results are like a bad divorce: in-your-face, heated, ugly, mud-slinging with personal attacks, statistics out of context and so on.
There was the usual negative campaigning, unfit to raise the children or unfit to (continue) to lead the country, rather than positive campaigning of "my mission and vision" on the future of the children and increasing employment, gross national income, etc.
The standard test for parents or politicians is or should be "best interest of the children or populace/country," respectively, in divorces or elections.
The unilateral post-decision "fighting" may cause more harm than good as the children/populace/country are in a state of suspended animation and cannot move on.
Do the advisers of the runner-up and family/friends of the losing parent have the responsibility to tell them it's time to "move on" so that they can prepare to fight another day or start a new life?
Refutable assumption
It's an almost irrefutable assumption that in the best interest of a child, he/she should be with the mother. However, it is a refutable assumption that the incumbent party's re-election is in the best interest of the populace/country.
Thus, the divorce proceedings, much like the election campaigning, allow each side to present (hopefully) hard evidence to a judge or the electorate of being fit to raise the children or run the country.
But the reality of the situation is there is much airing of dirty laundry involving digging up of dirt, infidelity and integrity attacks, drama, "smoking gun" and so on.
Yes, there will be mistakes made along the way, be it interpretations or voting irregularities. However, one hopes they are not outcome determinative. Obviously, an appeals process and an "independent" Election Commission can act as safety nets to undo grave mistakes.
The decision
When the judge's decision is finally made and the votes are counted, there must be a winner and a runner-up, and, theoretically, the "healing and helping" process commences as the best interest of the children/country is paramount.
The best interest of the child/country implies (1) the winner extends his hand to the counter-party to work together, and (2) the runner-up (bitterness aside) "promises" to support and work together for a brighter future.
The irony of the situation is the dignity and character of the "runner-up" is more scrutinised than the humility of the winner, as the former can undermine and/or hijack the outcome when "de facto campaigning" takes place.
For example, if post-election opposition rallies become smaller and fewer, it implies people have generally moved on and are willing to work with the newly-elected government (which is on probation).
Furthermore, the garnered goodwill may be slowly eroding to the point where some of the runner-up party voters may either switch parties or not vote at all during the next election.
Post-decision
In the case of the divorce, the spouses have an opportunity to marry again (not always), but, more importantly, are better informed about what they want and do not want in a future partner. Furthermore, the children have hopefully transitioned and adjusted to new expectations from the (once) feuding parents.
In the case of an election, the runner-up undertakes a post-mortem analysis of what worked and did not work; hence, preparation for the next (Malaysian) election starts after accepting the results.
Five years is a long slog, hence, time enough to convince voters to switch parties, make an impression on newly-registered voters (youth), etc., based upon positive campaigning.
After the election, the court of public opinion will soon make the distinction of whether the runner-up wants to undo election results (interest of the politician) or prepare for the next elections (interest of country).
(It is not reasonable for the runner-up in the post-election period to try to plant seeds of an Arab Spring moment. The Arab Spring was an overthrow of "democratically elected dictators", followed by chaos, and now controlled chaos in places like Egypt and Libya. Malaysia is a democratically mature country vis-Ã -vis Arab Spring countries, hence, no need for an ASEAN Spring.)
Conclusion
The comment, possibly somewhat out of context, of former US President Gerald Ford summarises the philosophy of looking ahead based upon "togetherness" as the best interest of the populace (and children).
"Even though this is late in an election year, there is no way we can go forward except together and no way anybody can win except by serving the people's urgent needs. We cannot stand still or slip backwards. We must go forward now together."
Anwar and Najib, GE14 is more about the next generation and less about the next election!
The Malaysian Insider :: Food
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