1. Rafizi and Nik Nazmi resigned
The big news last week is that a species that has long been believed to have become extinct in Malaysia has once again been sighted in Malaysia.
Two members of the species, known as the “principled politician”, were discovered in Putrajaya on 28 of May, when Rafizi Ramli and Nik Nazmi both resigned as cabinet ministers within hours of each other, because they lost the party position in the recently concluded PKR elections.
Rafizi had said from the very beginning that he would resign if he lost his deputy president seat but Nik Nazmi, although never saying anything to the point previously, would follow Rafizi’s example by also resigning his cabinet position, a few hours after Rafizi had submitted his resignation.
The reason they gave was simple – they became cabinet ministers due to their party position so now that they have lost their party position, the right thing to do was to give up their cabinet position.
The simplicity of their explanation, consistency of their action and their ability to put their principle above their self-interest, is still astounding Malaysians until today.
In a country that is used to hearing geriatric half past six politicians saying that they have no interest in power, wealth or position, but only desire to serve the people and the nation, before they are found to have millions or billions of ringgit stashed in their bank account, in the hands of their Benamis or in the name of the family members, the conduct of these two forty something politicians, who gave up their power and position in the prime of their career, have hit Malaysian like a breath of fresh air, and given us a much needed respite from the stench that we are used to.
2. A prestigious and forgettable ASEAN Summit occurred in KL
The world is in trouble and ASEAN is amongst the entities that will likely have a seat at the table that will discuss the trouble.
ASEAN might not want to be a part of the trouble, but it doesn’t matter what we want, because when the trouble occurs, we are going to be dragged into it anyhow.
Of all the countries in ASEAN, Malaysia is actually looking quite prominent.
When Trump announced that he was going to confront China in a Trade War, Malaysia was amongst the first countries that Chinese President Xi Jinping visited, as if to signal to America that China is not without friends and allies.
The first three countries that President Xi visited were all members of ASEAN.
Recently, PMX Anwar had also visited Russia and shared a great rapport with President Putin.
That last week, we also hosted the 46th ASEAN summit in KL, which brought together the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and China, was thus a prestigious occasion for us.
It is making us look like a rather important country in the affairs of the world today.
Optics wise, we might be looking prominent, for doing things like hosting the ASEAN summit, but effectively speaking, the ASEAN summit likely achieved nothing significant.
Roads were closed. Leaders of many countries were here in KL. Some declaration was made. The trouble between China and America was mentioned. The Sultan of Brunei got sick and was admitted to IJN. But otherwise, it was all mostly just sound and fury sort of event, signifying nothing. Regardless of whether the summit had happened or not, nothing would have changed.
3. RON 95 subsidies is going to be introduced very soon
According to reports, somewhere in the second half of the year, which should be coming soon with the coming of June, most of us will likely have to show our IC at the petrol pump to get RON 95 at a discount.
I say most of us, because other than the top 5 percent in the country, who will likely have to buy RON 95 at market rate, the remaining 95 percent of us will still be able to get the RON 95 at the subsidised rate.
Is there a cap to how much petrol each of us can get petrol at subsidised rate? What happens if we lose our IC – will we have to pay the market rate? All these are questions that will likely be answered in the coming days.
Petros and Petronas’s frenemy relationship continues
Petros says that all the oil and gas in Sarawak belongs to Sarawak. Petronas says that all the oil and gas in Malaysia belongs to Malaysia.
They have been having a tiff as to who is right and wrong for a long time, and going by the events that unfolded last week, it looks like their tiff is likely going to continue on for the foreseeable future.
On the face of it though, Petronas and Petros seem to have a great relationship.
They keep telling each other that they wish each other well and only want good things to happen to each other, but their actions don't seem to correspond with their expressions.
Last year in December, Petros and Petronas had declared that they have already settled their differences, but later on, it turns out that actually, they haven’t.
A couple of weeks ago on the 13th of May, Abang Jo, the premier of Sarawak, again claimed that he had settled the differences between Petronas and Petros with Anwar, and Anwar will announce the terms of the settlement in two days, but Anwar will only announce the terms of the settlement more than a week later, and the terms of the settlement that he announced, looks like it is pretty much the same as the terms that was agreed upon last December, which had failed to resolved the tiff between Petros and Petronas.
If the key failed to unlock the door on the first try, will it succeed on the second try?
Well, if you ask Petros and Petronas, I suppose their answer will be yes, it will.
Anyway, right after the Petros- Petronas deal was announced last week, the signs that Petronas and Petros are still at odds continue.
First, a Sarawak politician claimed that Petronas’s days in Sarawak are numbered.
Then the Sarawak government then also announced that moving forward, Petronas will of course be allowed to continue its business in Sarawak as usual, but now, it will need to ask for permission from the Sarawak government to do so. If it asks for permission, it will be granted, but it will have to ask.
By the looks of it, it doesn’t look like Petros and Petronas have settled the question as to whether the oil found in a state or a region in Malaysia belongs to the state or region, or the federation?
Going by that, I for one, expect more fireworks to come from these two oil companies in the coming days.
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