TR EMERITUS

Danwei.org, 30 December 2009 The tomb of Cao Cao, one of the three competing warlords for control of China after the downfall of the mighty Han empire, was excavated recently in Anyang, Henan Province. Cao's life was popularized in The Legend of Three Kingdoms, a novelized history which has been revered as one of the four Chinese literature classics. Thanks to the book's excellent albeit biased depiction, Cao's fame is perpetuated as a Machiavellian villain, a usurper who took a weak emperor hostage, a sneaky, paranoid ruler whose ruthlessness knew no bounds. Nevertheless there has been no shortage of revisionists who would otherwise praise Cao as a man among the greatest. Among them, arguably the most famous one, is Chairman Mao, who praised Cao as "a real man" and "on the side of justice". The kinship between them is unmistakable: both rose to power from the lower classes, both reached considerable acclaim for their poetry aside from their political careers, and both men's legacies are very controversial. According to the Zhengzhou Evening News, a newspaper based in Zhengzhou, capital city of Henan Province: in addition to the artifacts recovered from the site, archeologists also discovered human bones which are believed to belong to three persons. Among them, one is believed to be a male who was in his sixties, which is consistent with the historical chronicle of Cao's death at 66. This assumption is also confirmed by multiple inscriptions found in the grave with Cao's temple name The Invincible King of Wei (魏武王). Wang Liqun, a historian who attended yesterday's media conference held in Beijing about the excavation, said that he was hopeful that by examining the recovered skull, the scientists would pinpoint the cause of Cao's headache which supposedly propelled him to kill his doctors and eventually led to his own death. - Danwei.org  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent Former transport minister Mr Yeo Cheow Tong will not be taking part in the next general election due by February 2012 and will retire from politics for good. Mr Yeo, who have been a MP since 1984, felt "it's time to call it a day and let a younger person take over." He left the Cabinet in 2006 but stay on as a MP at the request of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. However, according to some unverified rumors circulating in cyberspace, Mr Yeo was "removed" from his cabinet position because of some "problems" in his personal life. A website bearing Mr Yeo's full name set up two years ago by an anonymous blogger claimed that Mr Yeo was in "financial distress" from his wife's "investments" in property. It also alleged that Mr Yeo is now working for Indonesian conglomerate Lippo Group and drawing a salary of around $18,000 a month. Mr Yeo has not refuted the allegations publicly or taken any action against the blog so far. Another minister who has retired is Dr Lee Boon Yang who was appointed as a non-executive Chairman on the board of Keppel Corporation, a gigantic state-owned company. Dr Lee is a vet by training. With the announcement of Mr Yeo's retirement, it appears that the next election is around the corner. As in the past, the ruling party will first announce the retirement of its ministers followed by introduction of its new candidates in the media. The electoral boundaries and polling date are usually revealed only in the last minute to catch the opposition off guard. With the mainstream media firmly in its control, the ruling party has managed to keep scandals of its leaders under wraps and allowed only good news to be released to the public. This explains why over 90 per cent of Singaporeans had expressed confidence in their leaders and public institutions in a survey done by the United Nations Development Programme, the highest in the world. The opposition is also disadvantaged by the short campaign period of only nine days which hampers their efforts to get their message across to the electorate. With the ruling party giving out Singapore citizenships like freebies to foreigners, it will be an uphill task for the opposition to mount a credible challenge against it in future elections to come.  Read More →

Bernama, 30 December 2009 Prime Minister Najib Razak said there was no need for a royal commission of inquiry to look into allegations hurled at former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad in the book 'Malaysian Maverick: Mahathir Mohamad in Turbulent Times' authored by Barry Wain. "There is always this call for a royal commission, everything you want royal commission, but (this) is not appropriate to call for a royal commission just because somebody has written a book. "What is important for us is to look forward to the future. Each prime minister has made a lot of contribution, otherwise we wouldn't be what we are today, Malaysia will not be a successful nation and regarded as a role model if all the PMs in the past had not made their contribution," he said. On Dec 21, DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang in his blog had urged Najib to set up a royal commission to probe the allegations contained in the book, which among others had claimed that Mahathir had squandered up to RM100 billion during his 22 years as prime minister. In an immediate response, Mahathir in his 'Chedet' blog welcomed the call for a royal inquiry and said he would cooperate fully with the commission. Wain, who is the former managing editor of Asian Wall Street Journal, has estimated that Mahathir had squandered up to RM100 billion in his years as PM. Gentle introduction of GST Najib also that there was still time to see the full implications of the Goods and Services (GST) tax in 2011 but nevertheless, believed it would have a neutral impact overall. "Obviously we have to look at the details of the impact of the GST, but the policy is that basically it will be a gentle introduction and it should have a neutral effect in terms of prices. "We still have time because it's not going to be implemented until 2011 if we decide to go ahead with it... “I'm not saying it is for sure but what we have decided to do is to introduce the bill (on it), it is not the second reading yet so we still have the time to look at the full implications of the GST," he said when asked what is impact would be on gap in prices of goods sold in the peninsula and East Malaysia. ] BN to mull direct membership He also said that BN needs to study the suggestion of direct membership into the ruling coalition before making a decision on the matter. Commenting on the call made by Information Communication and Culture Minister Dr Rais Yatim, Najib, who is also BN chairman, Najib said he would raise the matter with the leaders of BN component parties. "This is not something new, we (component parties) have talked about it but have not made an official decision. "Let me discuss this with the BN component parties at the (BN) supreme council first... we will have to study the pros and cons and the methodology to be employed if we were to go ahead with the direct membership idea. "All these must be tackled first because we do not want problems to arise later," he told reporters after opening Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah's (PBRS) 14th annual congress in Kota Kinabalu today. - Bernama  Read More →