Some opinions on the good Dr's comments

A few opinion pieces today 9^th June 2006 from Rehman Rashid at NSTP as well as Wong Chun Wai and Joceline Tai at the Star sums up quite neatly what is happening.

I find this statement from Joceline intriguing:

'What he said on Wednesday was perhaps the deepest cut. It amounted to disowning his choice of successor and was as good as a severing of ties. But can one disown one's own decision without casting some aspersions on oneself?'

The good doctor has not come clean on why he chose Abdullah over Najib. Is Abdullah in his eyes a pushover, to be manipulated behind the scenes? That would be ideal for the circle around the doctor as they would benefit the most from any decisions that are in their favour.

But so far, Abdullah has been his own man. The business community might argue that the economic pace has slowed down compared to the halcyon days of the doctor. But has everyone forgotten the high price we paid and still are paying for those projects. The consequent social problems.

For example, the construction industry had a heyday with so many government spearheaded projects. The labour force comes from abroad with their own attendant problems. The local work force are set aside since the industry argues that the imported labour is cheaper. At what price. The hallmark of the doctor's schemes have always been 'implement the plan at whatever cost to the nation'. Whereas his successor tries to take a more holistic approach. An overall view of the opportunity costs that will accrue if this or that project is carried out. Of course he is not perfect. A different style entirely and that bugs the good doctor to the core.