Is Mahathir pushing China to the edge?

Whether he is pushing China and some other countries and even people to the edge is in my opinion quite straightforward to answer. There is no mystery there. The more important question is WHY. If you can get the motivation in the palm of your hands. Then not only can you predict what he is likely to do or not under a given set of conditions, but most critically, you can plan to met him under your own terms and not his. Because if it is the latter, it will be uphill as he has surprise on his side.

So to me the WHY is very important. As for whether he is or not, that is all within the circle of questions and answers within the why.

Sailing with Chet Baker

Its so hot in the nights….i only ever dream of sailing in the cool seas. In the dream, its always just around dawn or dusk. The sky is indigo and the sea before me an eriee purplish pulse. The prowl ploughs the sea crisply, it leaves an opalescent wake that resembles a white line of chalk on a black board. I feel cool by the sea breeze and from time to time I catch sight of a meteorite scaring across the inky blue of the skies. In this dream i am always chewing Qad. I reckon it must be the coast just off east Africa. Maybe off the coast of etiophia or Mozambique. I look starboard, but the light makes it impossible to confirm the paraffin blue of the seas. But i can feel the mistral as it curls around my body, its a clove scented wind pirates call Sintaramala, its mildly lashed with the scent of Qad leaves and if one gulps it down real fast. One can even get a buzz…a high. I try and fail. Try again and maybe its the trying that makes feel high….yes I am flying sailing in this dream boat with Chet Baker.

The Doormat

If you keep turning the other cheek and you never bother to learn how to take risk and hit back. Then those who take advantage of you will ALWAYS treat you like a doormat.

‘Today I stayed in. It was simply too bloody hot to work. Instead i made myself a creamy Morrocan mint leaf sweet tumeric chicken and curry chickpeas. I am playing with the idea of buying a Philips air fryer. I dont know how useful it is and the last thing I want to do is invest in stuff that doesnt give good kitchen mileage. i would greatly appreciate first hand POV’s from some of my readers who have experience. Pls write in comment section. I never ever publish them. TQ.’

There’s no shame in saying.. you fear

None whatsoever. As you, I and everyone lives in fear…to some extent…it is ultimately a matter of degree. That is all. As for those who claim they do not live in fear. They are actually the most fearful that is why they have to indulge their insecurities by whistling in the dark. In truth to be fearful is very natural and even part and parcel of the human condition…we all fear not being able to make ends meet, letting down those who we love and cherish. Fear that we catch an incurable disease that will bankrupt us and leave us facing a slow lingering death. Fear that we will lose our jobs, youth and vigor. Fear that we have to spend the rest of life alone. Fear that no one loves us.

We fear, fear and fear. I fear, fear and fear. They fear, fear and fear…yet we are all happy to be part of this fearful thing called life.

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‘Not very long ago. A man asked of me – you live all alone in the middle of the wild…your closest neighbor is a good fifteen minutes drive away…do you not fear?

I replied, ‘Of course I am afraid.’

The man was at first confused by my answer. He responded by grimacing his face into a question mark. Then very slowly he smiled mischeviously and suddenly as if seized by some rare epiphany, he exclaimed, ‘You’re using reverse psychology on me!’ And again I said to him, ‘I am afraid.’

He did not believe me.

My point is just because one is fearful doesnt mean that fear by itself has the power to disable. No! It is possible to be fearful and still function at 100%. Let me tell you something even stranger. Fear can even be a valued advisor. If you know how to listen to fear that is. That is because the mechanism of fearing has taken millions of years to evolve in the human species. If the capacity to fear was not crucial and pertinent to the whole equation of adding value to life, it would have been rendered obselete like the tails we used to have.

So understand this, fear is useful…it can be channeled towards a positive end.

Anyone who claims that it is a good idea to deny it, can be turned off by positive thinking is simply very dangerous.

When I use the term, fear. It simply means. To me at least. We are tuning inwards to listen to our inner being. Our inner being is continuously giving us hints; it is a still, small voice. It does not shout at you. And if you still yourself, you will start feeling your way around this voice. Never try to suppress your fear. You will just end up frustrated, exhausted and more confused.

Instead observe the sum of your fears quietly like a witness. Do not be clingy. Just let them go by and thru and away from you. From time to time like ghost they will appear and disapppear. That is OK….that is the nature of fear. Once you understand a thing from the inside out. Even a dangerous thing like a cobra or for that matter fear itself…it is easy to look at it with wisdom. By doing just this and this alone, one accepts responsibility of being oneself.’

Yes…its possible even with a palm

To fashion the fronds into tent poles,stands or to even shape a spear….it is possible. It is not always necessary to look only for hardwood.

So this is proof it can be done.

World’s most noisy puppies

Dogs belonging to the Doberman lineage generally only bark after one year six months to two years. But these six month old pups are barking non stop every night. The rest of the dogs have to dig a hole and bury their heads just to sleep. So I suspect these are not really Doberman pups, they are monkeys pretending to be dogs.

When will all Malaysia’s woes be cured by Pakatan Harapan?

Q: There is not a day that goes by when the public is not informed of this or that scandal perpetrated by the previous BN government. Given what seems like the pandemic state of what is wrong with the apparatus of government. When do you see all this resolving itself?

A: Tell me what is there to be gained by speedily resolving the multitude of problems created by the last government? Isn’t it better to allow the whole sad story to unravel slowly. The slower the better I suspect. As this can only strenghten PH and especially Mahathir & Co.

Having said all that, there is definitely an expiry date to this strategy as at some point they would have to take ownership and assume responsibility for all the problems facing Malaysia instead of just dumping it on BN.

Q: Many people have been asking when will Anwar be the next PM of Malaysia? What is your take on this burning question?

A: Mahathir is very popular and he and his advisors know it. For the time being. No one can touch him. Not even Anwar Ibrahim. That accounts for why despite bersatu securing only 13 seats. Mahathir is able nominate key cabinet positions without even consulting the largest party in the coalition PKR. Another issue

On the balance of power Mahathir is able to use 42 seats of DAP to overwhelm the 49 seats of PKR.

But Anwar is no push over either. If for any reason Mahathir derogates from his promise and Anwar doesnt get to wear the PM hat. There is a real possibility of PKR forming an alliance with BN and possibly PAS which in total accounts for 147 seats and that can allow Anwar to form a government.

In summary what we have right now is something akin to a Mexican standoff with everyone pointing guns at everyone. And that is basically another way of saying – anything can happen. The situation is very fluid. Everything that we know or dont can change in one blink of the eye into something very different and unexpected. So hang on tight.

Q: Do you see a wild card in the mix given that BN is already a dead duck. Is there any factor that you consider to be relevant in undertaking calculations as to what will happen politically in Malaysia in the next five years.

A: BN may well be a dead duck. As you said. But you must understand UMNO is still very much alive. In the elections they garnered the highest number of votes of all individual and component parties. The reason why they couldnt swing the elections was because the rest of the component parties comprising of MIC, MCA and Gerakan failed big time. As for PAS, they failed to deliver. So it is not entirely true to say UMNO is deader than dead. Because what you have to understand is UMNO has been the creche of Malay politics and power for the last sixty years and in that period they have accumulated a largesse that is estimated to be in the billions. So this is a warchest that can be used by any aspiring politician. Instead of starting from zero. It is my considered opinion that it is a great omission to dismiss UMNO as a spent force. Because it has not only the financial muscle to prosecute on goals, but also the organizational framework in the form of an oligrachy and hegemony that makes command and control possible. So when we talk about who will win. Will it be either Anwar and Mahathir, it is silly not to factor in a juggernaut like UMNO. At some point UMNO will morph into the role of the kingmaker. If there is a wild card or joker, i think this is it simply because everyone seems content to dismiss UMNO as a has been. But their assesment is fatally incorrect.

War is inevitable!

Today someone asked of me, why is it wherever you go…there is war? I told this person. That is the best indication in the whole wide world that you are dedicating all your efforts to something very significant in this lifetime.

Because if it is going to be anything less than this – you are just someone who is like everyone else and no one even bothers to back stab, try to kill or character assasinate you…..the chances are you are just using up precious space, oxygen and opportunity cost to get by in life.

One day you will end up old, poor, fat and not long after that you will die.

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‘Many ignorant people place a hand on their heart and say proudly.

I am against war.

Hello! I want to be clear. I am against war as well, but at the same time I accept reality as well.

These people are not only ignorant, but incredibly shallow and uninitiated in the art of deep reading. This is the only reason that can possibly explain why they don’t seem to know the truth.

WAR is why we as the human species are still alive! It is the only reason why our brain continues to grow bigger.

Mankind’s first invention is not plough, wheel or even the discovery of fire, it is a weapon fashioned from a big dinosaur femur to bang the head of another human…so that he can have more food, space or diversity in mating partners.

The reason war is inevitable in your, mine and probably most people’s lives is because resources are finite and in some cases even scarce. And since every human on this planet wants what he considers to be his ‘fair’ share in life…we all have to fight to get it!

Dont take it personally. I never take war personally. To me it is an occupational liability like having to accept that so long as the human species continues to travel by cars, trains, planes and ships…man will simply have to run the gauntlet of risking life and limb. Even should you decide to walk to minimize your risk…you may walk right into a sinkhole and die! Even if you say to yourself – i will sit in this room and not move! You may also die as well. As the ceiling fan may come down and chop off your head like a guillotine!

Once you realize war is as natural and normal to men like maternity is to women.

You will not longer fret…suddenly the affairs of the world will become very clear and transparent to you. Suddenly you will realize anyone who argues or insist that war isn’t inevitable and there can be such a thing as an enduring peace can only be unhinged from all notions of reality.

Man will always be destructive….he is just very clever at disguising this.’

The greatest fear in this world….

Today a rival landowner visited me as I was worked alongside my farm hands. When he saw me, this chap boomed out. ‘I do not agree with you!’ I told him, ‘you have every right to your point of view…just as I do.’ He was quite surprised by the curtness of my reply. Sensing the finality of my indifference he asked as I walked away, ‘aren’t you going to try to change my mind.’

I just walked away and cont working.

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‘This is something that you have to absolutely strive to understand in your twenties and early thirties. Because it is conceivable even your parents who love you dearly might not even be aware of its importance and how powerful it is in shaping you as a person. By your late thirties to mid forties you should strive to do it. I say ‘strive’ only because it will take you that long to actually do it….it is not easy. Many have tried. Many have failed.

The greatest fear in the world is the opinions of others.

This is how you and me and everyone had been programmed. It is like wearing clothes when we go out in the world. Anyone who denies this reality is simply out of touch with who they really are…..just accept this reality.

What you must strive for is to be unafraid of the crowd….once you are no longer looking at the crowd for approval, validation and respect that is the moment when you become your own man and woman.

Before that. You belong to the crowd and the world…Yes you do. But once you understand the why you need to strive to be unafraid of the crowd and work towards freedom, that is when you can live under your own terms.

Many people do not know this that is why they suffer.’

How to make a batch of figs in olive oil

I attended a bertunang luncheon of one of my harvesters today. Bertunang means the man and woman are officially betrothed and engaged and shortly thereafter this is followed by a proper marriage.

This is how I consume dried figs and olive. The formula is very simple – buy dried figs. Usually I buy it two or three weeks after Hari Raya that is when i can get it at a massive discount. At times 80%. That’s because dried figs are highly perishable in our hot humid weather.

Fill dried figs into a wide mouth big jar. Add virgin olive oil. That’s it.

Early in the morning I eat about four figs and gulp down two big table spoons of olive oil. Sometimes I mix it with bread and eggs or cereals.

I take it only once a day. During breakfast. That’s all you really need to stay healthy and cool in this heat.

I stopped smoking last December and since then I have been eating non stop. As a result I now look like a fat uncle. I am use this formulation primarily for weight management and to keep my tummy and gut in good health. This is especially important during the hot weather.

I hope to slim down soon.

How to eat figs and olives

This is my morning breakfast. I dont eat anything till around half twelve during noon.

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‘I dont eat as much fruits or veggies as I should. So this is one way for me to supplement my fibre. Roughage is vital not only for our bowel health and function. It is also vital to nourish friendly gut bacteria.

Dietary fibre has been demonstrated to have a protective role against various diseases; from constipation to cancer, as well as cardiovascular diseases.

I find this daily side dish also protects against heat related complications….it is very hot in the field these days and this seems to do a great job of relieving and making life than much bearable. This formulation is widely used by land and seafarers in the middle east and north africa.

I will show you all how to make a large batch of dried figs and olives.’

Dried figs and Olive oil – Bedouin cure for heat

Throughout the middle east and into North Africa, caravaners will drink this concoction of dried figs and extra virgin olive oil. That is because when one is on the go for twelve hours on a camel under the hot sun day in and day out, it can take a toll on the mind, body and spirit.

The desert is a place where to suffer from mere constipation, one can even perish.

This is a very ancient medicinal concoction. It even predates islam. Infact it is mentioned in the Quran. Way before that the ancient Sumerians and Egyptians would drink it before every meal (In the olden days people only eat twice unlike modern man who eats non stop).

For men this ‘pick me up’ is excellent for stress control. As it is very effective in lowering high blood pressure, cools the head, removes heat from deep within the eye sockets and ear canals. Rids bones and joints of gas and prevents muscle aches. Lowers anxiety, nervousness and light headedness by controlling your insulin production. Oil can also be used to moisturize eyebrows, moustache and hair to strenghten cuticle and promote hair growth.

For women over thirty. This magic potion has a calming effect on nerves by stabilizing the alimentary canal by rendering it less acidic. Prevents excessive production of saliva. Make their eyes brighter and the eye white whiter. Whitens skin. Eliminates purple nails and white hair. Lessens the pain of menstrual cramps. Purifies the blood. Improves bone density and eliminates gas between joints of bones. Reverses the aging process. Improves the overall mood by promoting a feeling of well being and prevents sun related nervous dispostions and madness of all kinds.

Method:

(1) Take four dried figs and soak in a four table spoons of extra virgin olive oil overnight.

(2) In the morning consume two figs and two tablespoons of olive oil in empty stomach. Meal should only be taken fifteen minutes after.

(3) One hour before bedtime, do the same as above. After consuming, put your hands over your ears and cup them. Chant Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh as long as you can. You dont have to be loud. The goal is to create a pleasant resonance that will reveberate thru out your body and align all the meridians. This is optional, but highly recommended if walking outfield, ridding bicycle, horse or camel.

China friend or predator in Africa

Talking to yourself aloud…

In my opinion, its OK to talk to yourself….just don’t pose questions to yourself that is all…that to me is a bit dangerous. As isnt that a conversation?

Report card on the 100 days of Mahathir 2018 – Part 2

Q: This is a question from Jeremy 179 – In Part 1 of this series you mentioned that China will accomodate Mahathir if he decides to pull out of agreed mega projects. According to you. This is because the Chinese do not want to commit public relations hara kiri before the world. But how does this policy of appeasement square off with the need for signatory countries to honor agreements. How would OBOR be realized without a legal framework that ensures that all parties will undertake what they agreed?

A: Concerns real or imagined of hidden agendas associated with mega projects which draw on soft loans are not new. Not at all. These concerns are just dressed up as new. Even the IMF and to a certain degree the ADB had to live with the ignominious appeallation of proxies that furthered the foreign policies of America and their reliable allies. And to understand why there is so much anxiety it would seem it is simply because getting third world countries hooked on low interest loans to build dams, highways, airports etc etc is perhaps the most efficient way for another country to exert influence over a regime.

To some extent these fears are indeed valid. As there is no shortage of white elephant and dictator ego stroking projects financed and built by the Chinese. If you go to Sri Lanka you will see the world’s most empty airport. If you are driving in Montenegro to Serbia on the new highway suddenly it will end right in the middle of nowhere and you will see a cow and green fields. Even in certain parts of Africa, you can take a train and suddenly it will stop somewhere smack in the desert and you will have to continue the rest of the journey by camel or bullocart. Such horror stories are plentiful and they are realer than real. And of course most people would automatically buy into the belief the primary motivation has to do with China’s rapacity. To some extent I don’t deny that may well have been the case, especially in Africa specifically Etiophia and when it came to the Chinese militarizing Djibioti.

But the primary reason why any superpower would consider funding expensive infrastructural projects in the third world has more to do with the theory of how best they may hope to perpetuate their sphere of influence. My point it is all about empowering agency and nothing whatsoever to do with rapacity. And to understand the nexus of this train of logic, one needs to go back to the early intellectuals just around the period when the Marshall plan was rolled out. I think it was during the period of the Berlin airlift when many Western intellectuals in the field of social political science began to ask – why did WW2 happen? Now many believed it had more to do with WW1, that is to say WW2 was simply a conflagaration that arose directly from that epic conflict. But there was one notable thinker who differed from the rest. His name was Charles Kindleberger. Who formulated the theory that the reason why WW2 came about was because America failed to supply public good when it took over the role of Great Britian as the pre-eminent super power of the period. Now the term public goods doesnt refer to park benches or street lamps. Rather it is a technical jargon that refers to peace, law and order, equal opportunities, access to rule of law, right not to be asked only yes or no questions in a Parliamentary committee hearing etc etc. What spawned the cold war was not so much what the militaries did or did not do in the West. Rather it was the sublimely clever way in which thinkers like Kindleberger had planned to rebuild a ruined Europe with the Marshall plan. This spooked Stalin to such a degree. He responded with what we refer to the cold war today. This was how it started.

Now if you ask why was the soviets so enamored by the Marshall plan it had everything to do with lateral thinking. This is where intelligence acquires an edge and even has the power to be scary. As unlike the Treat of Versailles that sowed the seeds to WW2. What the Marshall plan attempted to do was to revive western Europe by allowing Germany’s industrial region to get back on its feet. This was a bold step, but it is in line with the very idea formulated by Kindleberger, notably the creation of critical mass in the form of public goods.

Its hard to say to what extent soviet planners were influenced by Kindlebergers thinking, but if we look at the innards of the Molotov plan and even the structure of how the Comninform was organized. It would not be wrong to say the soviets were very much influenced by Kindlebergers thesis regarding public good.

In 1965 when China ventured into the African continent. It was Kindlebergers thesis that Chao Enlai used as the basis of Sino African cooperation. Why is this long wind bag history lesson so important? And what does it have to do with answering your question Jeremy 179?

It is important because when we look at how China is investing in its capacity to influence, much of it has to do with the throughput of its public goods quotient in the form of infrastructural projects. While the US continues to do the direct opposite by raising tariffs and levies that only serves to erode overall global economic growth and development potential.

Having said all that. I do agree some of China’s infrastructural projects are just no brainer lemons. But to say all or most of them are lemons is very far fetched. As many of them. Do have the capacity to generate public good.

(To be cont)

Smiley’s People

Fortunately. I happen to believe it is possible to find oneself in books…

“He looked across the river into the darkness again, and an unholy vertigo seized him as the very evil he had fought against seemed to reach out and possess him and claim him despite his striving, calling him a traitor also; mocking him, yet at the same time applauding his betrayal. On Karla has descended the curse of Smiley’s compassion; on Smiley the curse of Karla’s fanaticism. I have destroyed him with the weapons I abhorred, and they are his. We have crossed each other’s frontiers, we are the no-men, of this no-man’s land.” Quote from Smiley’s People John Le Carre

I need a back massage lah

Manipulators

It is not entirely true to say that those who are malevolent and seldom ever work for your best interest bring out the worse in you. Or even exploit your weaknesses.

The truth can only be to awlful that I suspect may well be why this subject is rarely ever discussed.

In reality, manipulators dont ever exploit one’s weaknesses. After all why should they settle for the rump when they can take a royal bite out of the choicest cuts.

Rather when we speak about what is actually manipulated by manipulators.

They milk their victims kindness, their decency, and the best aspects of what makes them worthwhile human beings.

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‘Today one of my business colleagues mentioned, he trust no one. At first I just ignored him and continued eating. After everyone had left the table. I summoned him to come closer to impress upon him what I was about to share can only be highly confidential and valuable – ‘dont take it personally. As I dont even trust myself. So how reasonable is it to expect me to trust you?’

Report card on the 100 days of Mahathir 2018

Q: Mahathir plans to cancel many mega projects such as the ECRL, LRT3 and HSR that links Kuala Lumpur to Jurong East Singapore. How do you see this strategy panning out given that many of these mega projects have already been penned by the defeated BN government?

A: If you look at it only from a legal standpoint. Then its cut and dried. That’s to say Mahathir & Co is locked by agreements that the previous BN government entered into. Even if it happens to be a one sided lousy agreement. The new PH government is locked solid. That is the legal vantage prognosis.

But you and I both know the PH win is no ordinary win. It is perhaps one of the epic political stories that is comparable to the Ramayana and Mahabrata and possibly even the romance of the three kingdoms put together. This at least is how most people and the political elite in Asia see this historical development.

My point is Mahathir is not a run of the mill politician. He is widely perceived to be a symbol against repression and graft etc etc.

If you look at the Mahathir narrative is it the story of a retired swordsman who is forced to pick up his old sword and right the many wrongs and inequities despite the overwhelming odds. The Chinese are not stupid. They are not going to commit public relations hara kiri before the whole wide world by insisting on black letter law. Besides they happen to be great story tellers as well. So they are very sensitive of the propaganda value of Mahathir in relation to how their soft power policy might work in the rest of Asia.

In my assessment the Chinese will be very understanding and accomodating to Mahathir. In short they will give him what he wants, even if it means cancelling many of the keystone OBOR projects in Malaysia. Only understand why the Chinese are doing this. They are not doing all this because they believe for one moment the fairytsle that Mahathir is the savior of a ruined Malaysia. No. The only reason why they would consider a policy of appeasement is simply because in the long term, going with and not against Mahathir will supply China with the much needed moral and ethical currency to push ahead with bigger agendas thru out Asia. If they resist Mahathir & Co and insist on pure black letter law. The Chinese know only too well they would win the battles, but end up losing the war. So they are not stupid. So long as Mahathir is the blued eyed boy cum ambassador of the downtrodden, oppressed and cheated, he is likely to get what he wants.

Q: How do you think Singapore will respond to the cancellation of the HSR?

A: I am not so sure that its to Malaysia interest to cancel the HSR project. From my assessment the main beneficiaries of this project is Malaysia. Because the HSR will revivify many half dead zombie towns along the southern corridor leading to negeri sembilan and Kuala Lumpur. There are actually significantly more pluses for Malaysia than Singapore.

I think the primary bone of contention with the HSR is the price. And to understand why that might be the case one has to understand the PH mindset – they all believe BN are crooks. A corrolary of that requires them to buy into the believe the price for the HSR has been inflated beyond its actual cost, so that BN cronies can cream off the top or use it as a backdoor way of refinancing. To some degree PH is correct. Because if you look at the equivalent of the Kuala lumpur MRT. It is the general consensus that the whole project could have been done for far less and this would naturally lead one to ask – where did the rest of the money go?

So at one perspective. I believe PH has a valid point that deserves the courtesy of a second hearing.

As for how Singapore will respond. I have no comment.

Q: I would like to go back to a very interesting point that you highlighted that is the issue of moral and ethical currency. Why is this suddenly so important now to China? And how does this new metric feature in the geo political stance of China towards the rest of Asia?

A: Moral and ethical currency or authority has to be increasingly important to China as that is part and parcel of social evolution. As people become more educated and have more discreationary income to be classified as middle class. They are not just interested in bread and butter issues. This 101 Maslow. Eventually society will gravitate towards good governance, rule of law, transparency and accountability. I believe in the case of Malaysia this tipping point has already been breached. I would not go as far as to describe it in terms of an Arab spring or solidarity movement like what once transpired in soviet era Poland under lech Walesa. But what cannot be denied is China’s tried and tested geo economic policy of no strings attached soft loans which was such a successful formula in transforming the African continent must be adjusted to take stock of the new stream of consciousness that is sweeping thru the new Asia social landscape, where the guarantee of mere economic growth is simply not good enough any longer. In the past providing people had three square meals they dont mind shutting up. These days they also want the right to speak their mind along with have their elemental right to stand up in the public square and tell the world that if they dont hunch and stand up straight, they stand two inches taller.

Against this chastening backdrop of social and political change China cannot be seen to be a co-conspirator or collaborator of corrupt regimes and power crazy politicians. Neither can China use their old geo economic template that they once used to good effect in Africa which is now facing criticism from Western and African civil society over its controversial business practices, as well as China’s militant refusal to take equity in good governance and human rights. It is conceivable in the new Asia where the masses have attained a level of prosperity that makes it possible to sustain a vibrant intelligentsia along with active civil society, China would have to make adjustments to its soft power policy if she wants to be an effective influencer. Either that or she would have to consider bowing out from a prima inter pares role. Because this is what thinking people expect from leadership. They are not only tasked with creating ideal conditions where we can all bring back the bacon. But increasingly the voting public expects them to be moral and ethical and congruent to perserving their rights and freedoms.

Q: Mahathir seems to be leaning towards Japan. How do you see the Chinese responding to this shift in power?

A: I think this is an interesting question. When you use the term leaning. I assume what you really mean to say is he looks to Japan for financing and perhaps product, innovation and market opportunities. To some extent you are correct as Mahathir was the proponent of the look east policy. This was really how Proton came about. The general philosophy during the eighties was the Japanese would be able to infuse Malaysians with the requisite thoughtware. You know work ethic etc etc to be more industrious. Though how this alchemy would actually occur was never ever discussed. Could be brain transplant or cloning. But what was even less discussed is how much of an epic failure Proton turned out to be.

Besides the Japan of the eighties and present day is really the sad tale of two very distant and unrecognizabke cities. In my opinion all roads now lead to Beijing. Sooner or later Mahathir too will have to come to that realization. Whether he likes it or not, China is the pre-eminent superpower in the region. As for Japan it is in decline.

So even if he wants Japan to play a meaningful role in jump starting the Malaysian economy. I think he is likely to face strong domestic head winds. As many Malaysians despite their admiration and fondness for Mahathir do not regard his forays into heavy industry such as car making with the same happy memories. The name Proton has become a caricature for kampung hero. That is to say in local parlance of the vernacular it is used to describe a person who only thinks he is good, but that is because he has never been out of his frog in the well village.

Preferring to be alone

Being alone has been successfully sold as a character flaw to such an extent. That today it is often perceived to be a leading social problem. There are even words to ostracise people who choose to be alone….loner etc etc.

Hence society has programmed many to believe loneliness is an urgent problem that requires treatment. And so people respond to this ‘problem’ by connecting.

Only understand this! The desire to connect is a symptom not a cure.

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‘I am negotiating for land. Today an emissary sent by the otherside exlaimed – you told us…you will buy the land. I asked of him, where did you here this from?

He said. He heard it, but he cannot recall where….that was when I said. You must be hearing voices….

Being alone allows us to audit our thoughts, actions along with setting our priorities according to what we consider necessary, rather than the needs of others.’