Sunday, January 06, 2008

Oh dear, Radzi....

It's no secret that Umno secretary-general Radzi Sheikh Ahmad wants Shahidan Kassim to be replaced as Perlis MB as he is no longer effective in bringing progress to the state. He has overstayed. Besides, Radzi says that Shahidan is the cause of serious factionalism in Perlis Umno.

Radzi who is also Home Minister, is himself a son of Perlis. So he can talk. But he holds no post in the State Umno.

Shahidan who has been MB since 1995, is a little hurt by Radzi's remarks and criticisms but is not bothered (by them). He thinks Radzi should take care of the Umno headquarters and all that, and let him take care of the state. Shahidan has got a lot of things to say about Radzi too.

That's politics. And in teeny weeny state of Perlis.

But all that aside, NST journalist Farrah Naz Karim, had a brief Q&A with Radzi about his very public feud with his fellow state-mate (in the New Sunday Times today).
Radzi has no intention of becoming the next Perlis MB. Of course.
In the interview, he names (Natural Resources and Environment Minister) Azmi Khalid as the (right) man for the job.

Why?
Now, this is what irks me -- his remarks as to why he thinks Azmi is so.

Here's an excerpt of Farrah's interview:

F: It is obvious that you feel that Shahidan should be out. Who would you want to be the replacement?

R:
(Datuk Seri) Azmi Khalid. He's got a young wife.

F: What has that got to do with anything?

R:
She can promote Perlis well.

Hmmm. What can I, or do I, make of that statement?
Is he serious? If he was, he should have explained further.
Yeah, I wish he'd explain why he thinks so.
I am tempted to take the statement at face value which means that it is an inane statement.
Or, am I supposed to read deeper into that? More inane, maybe.

"She can promote Perlis well" because she is.... young?
So, pray tell us -- how being a young wife -- and in this case, Azmi's "young" wife* -- can help in promoting the state well.

Because I'd like to know. I'd like to learn.

That statement is as fatuous and tired as any sexist remark.

(The "young" wife is 43 year-old former TV3 personality Normala Shamsuddin. Azmi, 66, married her in August 2005. His first wife, Yasmin Abdullah died that same year in March after a two year battle with cancer.)

31 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wonder what Radzi's presumably older wife make of his statement.Tentu tersinggung perasan nya. Kan?

And can somebody pray tell if Radzi has a young second wife?

Stupid minister !
Really half-past six one!!

Anonymous said...

Are there statistics available as to how many of our UMNO ministers and party leaders have young second or third wives? I am sure it will make most interesting reading!

Anonymous said...

I wonder if our poster-makers will be inspired to have Normala as a poster-girl adorning a Visit Perlis Year billboard. Should be fun to see how creative they can be.

Anonymous said...

43 is not young la... (excuse me kak ena) .No more puteri not even if there is pemudi (pemuda is up to 40).
Young wives making a minister more eligible? wakakakkaka...biggest joke of the year..

jangan mareh!!!!

shar101 said...

Unbelievable....

Is this a case of a demanding, not so young wife (I agree with Wak Segen).

Heck, open up the floodgates, fellas. UMNOputras will now 'declare' their younger 2nd, 3rd wives or have quickie marriages in order to stay in tune with the trend. Anything to get forward but actually work their butts off to serve.

Wonder if they still have 'bets' on who's gonna get who and star ratings too.

Shanghai Fish said...

My dear,
These so-called reps. are only there to compare notes of their wives, mistresses and concubines !Not serve the rakyat ! Who cares who's screwing who as long as it is not screwing the rakyat blind !Morons all of them...shame shame shame on this Radzi....sexist remarks as usual !That is Pak Lah's Islam Hadari disciples ?
Cheers to MB's and MP's with young "chicks" !

Old Fart said...

Obviously Radzi has taken notice of Azmi's "yonger" wife! Let me get straight to the point, Does Azmi covet her?>

Rockybru said...

Wow, you're as sharp as ever! Thanks for bringing this bit to blogosphere, Ena. Juicy, juicy. So what is Radzi saying about Jean Danker? The PM's new wife too old to do promo kah?

What a bozo of a minister.

Anonymous said...

Bodoh nak mampus si Radzi ni rupanya!!!! Aku ingatkan boleh pakai, rupa-rupanya tak guna langsung!

Enam setengah betoi!

Anonymous said...

Nuraina, I thought Radzi was one of the sane Umno guys. I think I gave him too much credit. I think he needs psychiatric help.

Anonymous said...

Yo rocky,

Jean Danker at 53, is younger than Rosmah, Najib's wife who celebrated her 55th b'thday last month.

So if Radzi is saying Jean tak boleh pakai, I can imagine Rosmah seething & gritting her teeth. How dare he!

BTW, Radzi married his present wife after divorcing his 1st wife, a Brit, I believe, in the late 70s.

His two young sons from his first marriage were found drowned in a pool of a club in Klang.

His ex first wife died in a car accident later.

The Ancient Mariner said...

If I'm not mistaken Radzi's first wife was English who died in a car crash in Jln Ampang. They were divorced after their 2 children tragically drowned in the Klang Club swimming pool some years ago. I believe he has since remarried.

But all this of course does not excuse his inane remarks..

zaitgha said...

sheesssh...now i wonder which head that he used before he came out with that reply....

Greenbottle said...

lucky it's not NIK AZIZ who uttered this stupidity.if not all hell will break loose and kelantan will surely goes to the dogs in the next GE...i mean goes to umno (god forbids)...

Anonymous said...

Kalau tak bodoh, si radzi ni memang bangang. since when having a young wife qualify you for any position? kalau untuk beli viagra boleh lah.
Well, for all we know, mungkin Pak Lah pun suka dgn comment yang dibuat oleh Radzi bengong tu.

Rockybru said...

HAPPY FIRST ANNIVERSARY 3540 JALAN SUDIN!

Wow Ena, your blog completes its first year today! If you don't blog about it (and thank everyone, including the likes of Azmi and Radzi) and tell everyone that you are 1 year old today, I will!

Congratulations!

holytounge said...

...ha ha ha,what on earth was he thinking when he said that......

holytounge said...

...young wife only or.......can personal friend be included(mean for promotion purpose)

Rox said...

Yeah, he thought he's witty but nobody's laughing with him but AT him. What a weird way of making a pass at his best friend's wife but then again what do we expect from a moron?

Anonymous said...

Radzi's remarks are flavoured with sarcasm, targeted at Shahidan, as well as a certain leader you-know-who. Shahidan is rumoured to be an active womaniser and to have impregnate some woman. That kind of image is not good for the state and UMNO.

I remember Shahidan during his early days as the MB had this vision of turning Perlis into a Tourism State. He said the rakyat of Perlis have to be more "hemoi" ("friendly" - according to the man). So by being "hemoi" social problems among youths (and older) are on the rise. I also remember in Perlis one doesn't need the consent of the first wife to marry another one.

Not having the luxury of natural resources, Perlis must establish herself to be a Tourism state. Hence the MB and his wife must play the lead role in the promotion of tourism in Perlis. Well, Azmi Khalid is legally married to a fine lady who was dubbed as "the Most Beautiful Woman in Malaysia."

I don't think Radzi is an idiot. In fact he is one of the few good people in UMNO today.

Anonymous said...

I wish to add a little bit more...

State leaders and their wives must also play the role of ambassadors, must be presentable in every official functions and other occasions. I give Azmi and Normala two thumbs up.

The other thing, do anyone remember what sort of person Shahidan was prior to becoming the MB? He was the leader of BN Backbenchers. He was exactly like the two goons that we have in Parliament today. The MB post was a gift to him by the previous PM for his "instrumental" contribution in the Parliament. The backbenchers were like a chorus group or drummers in a band to intimidate the oppositions each time they stand to debate.

Being more level headed as they are today, Radzi and Azmi were nothing like him.

Anonymous said...

Now there's another thing. Radzi had once criticized Azmi for the "silly" MyCard "Jom Tukar dan Menang" campaign. Could this be a payback by Radzi?

NURAINA A SAMAD said...

rocky,

thanks for the birthday wish. and for reminding me.

it's been one year--- tak sedar pun.

NURAINA A SAMAD said...

dear all,

thank you for commenting.

why i had to post on Radzi's statement?

well, like NST man said...he seemed to be among the few sane ones in Umno.
In fact, I like him, having known him since the 80s when I was a rookie and he was a younger man, a younger politician.
We lost touch after the Umno split in 1987/88.
when he returned to politics under Pak Lah, I got an interview with him. We reminisced about those days...

SO...when he said what he said about Azmi being good for the state because he has a "young" wife, I was stumped. not a clever thing to say.
but why did he say that? was he serious or joking. either, it was so silly. and it was on record.

I am still wondering. of course, radzi doesnt owe us any explanation.

Anonymous said...

I won't know whether ministers have more than one wife. Probably minbisters hailed from east Malaysia could be! What about Shafie Afdal? Could be ministers are scared of thei wives and dared not venture into polygamy!!But among the young politician especially Pemuda Umno, most of the leaders practice polygamy. Ask Norza, or Reza Naina Merican how many wives they have? It is being contagious , probably to KJ!!! So in order to maintain more than one wives, one have to get steady and plentiful income,from whatever resources. At least they must have a fleet of cars. In other words the younger politician are more courageous than the older ones.... tak takut bini punya!!!!

Anonymous said...

Puan , could all these facts being lost in translations ?

Example young wife = bini muda.
Bini muda which also could mean second wife .

What he said could be totally acceptable .

And 43 or 53 or 63 is not old ,as long as u are able to take care of yourself and not letting GO!

MarinaM said...

Happy 1st Anniversary Ena!!! Now don't run out to buy more donuts to celebrate ;-)

Hmmmm....politicians should really count up to 100 before they say anything, shouldn't they?

Da Real Deal said...

How can 43 be young for a woman? That's equivalent to 65 in man age.
A woman at 43 begins to have cold sweats and mood changes.

Anonymous said...

Darn! Whatever slim chance I had of ever standing behind a successful man has now evaporated with this profound utterance. In a stroke of brilliance, someone has rewritten the age-old saying to read “Behind every successful man is a YOUNG woman”. At this age, “young” I certainly am not!

Anonymous said...

why not? if it works!

IBU said...

Kak Ena,

A little too late to comment. Ditto most of what other people have said above.

Now let's see... some hasty conclusions:
1. Who else in office have got a young wife?
- PM ?: Cannotlah, dah jadi PM, cannot downgrade to MB
- Najib?: Young one?!! Nak kena sembelih cuba lah...
Megat Junid, Effendi Nawawi and the rest ... can be talent spotted for the job. Tukar hometown dulu nooo...

2. Current MB of Perlis and/or Minister of Tourism need to get themselves young(er) wives

3. Perlis is a sure state to get easy & no further query approval for young(er) wife

4. Perlis, in the eyes of the world ( sapa la punya mata ni...), should be synonymous to 'the land of the young & beautiful'. Sure attract more investment. No need to penat2 & heboh2 pasal Northern Corridor.

5. The age of the wife is a critical success factor for an effective state administration, especially in improving state revenue via tourism. Who the MB is, no matter how 'tak boleh pakai' no need to worry.

6. Heh..Ibu is younger than Normala. So Ayah can now run for MB of Rawang? Muahahaha....

And they (some politicians) have the cheek to call bloggers monkeys?! Basket.