Foul!

As published in Malay Mail today. ROBERT Mugabe — hailed as a hero to some, labelled a “racist dictator” by others. Having won the hearts of the locals,  mainly for fighting against the whites in the Rhodesian Bush War, Mugabe and his political party Zimbabwe African National Union — Patriotic Front secured a landslide victory in the 1980 elections as the nation gained independence. Mugabe was named prime minister in 1980 before he became president in 1987 — a post he holds till today.  But it has been a challenging time for Africa’s oldest leader throughout his more than three decades in power. Zimbabwe’s economy has not been rosy. Six years ago, the African nation adopted the multi-currency monetary system, referred to as dollarisation. It was in response to the country’s chaotic economy, riddled with inflation, throughout the 2000s.  The World Bank recorded the most recent poverty headcount for Zimbabwe (in 2011) was 72.3 per cent, wit...

Being Frank by Frankie D’Cruz, as published in Malay Mail today. IF you’re looking to understand a political leader so out of touch with his party, I’ve got one for you: G. Palanivel.  For one who started the crisis in the MIC and seems unable to stop it from reeling out of control, the party president has indulged in trigger-happy behaviour. This “quiet” man has gone ballistic. Step by insidious step, he’s on a sacking spree of dissenting members and on Monday kicked his gaffe machine into high gear by going on a collision course with Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak. Palanivel does not want a non-Indian BN secretariat to steer the administration of the MIC until fresh party polls. He said it was a grave act of injustice to let third parties (BN) “to run our beloved party”.  “The deputy president (Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam) may be willing to allow third parties to run MIC and lose our self dignity ...