Question for Zaid Ibrahim, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department

This post is in response to YB Lim Kit Siang's Good Team, Bad Captain post.

Abdullah's commitment to combat corruption is made hollow by his bringing Muhammad Taib into the cabinet. He was the former Mentri Besar of Selangor who was caught at an Australian airport with literally millions in cash on his person. He was acquitted from the criminal charge of not declaring the currency, but he has yet to explain how he secured the loot in the first place.

My response:

Wasn't this the former MB who No Speak English? What a No Speak English Malaysian in a global world where the current lingual currency is English? Where is Malaysia headed?

I applaud Zaid Ibrahim's appointment. He is one of the few independent minded and unafraid to challenge the leader, a rare quality especially among Malays. We are still feudalistic, blindly loyal to leaders regardless of circumstances. I also applaud him for his commitment to the rule of law. Also rare among Asian leaders and newly rich, Zaid is well known for his philanthropic works. Forbes magazine recently listed him as one of Asia's top philanthropists.

I too have great respect for Zaid Ibrahim for his willingness to voice out opinions that are not so pleasantly received by the more meek former BN MPs (Barisan Nasional's Member of Parliaments and UMNO (United Malay National Organization). However.....

How can one contact Zaid? Does he have a blog which allows comments? If I am not wrong, I heard him speak at Blog House. From memory (not too reliable) Zaid was an MP in the previous Parliament. If that is correct (readers, please help) I would like to ask Zaid what he did when the bill to amend the retirement age of the Chairman of the "Independent" Election Commission was hurriedly passed through the Parliament recently before the previous Parliament was dissolved.

And a former longkang MP, when asked how a BN MP can represent his or her Constituency when they are bound by the whip ALL THE TIME, and support anything from the BN and oppose anything from the opposition IRRESPECTIVE OF MERITS. Answer? Anything that gets tabled in the Parliament must go through a LOOOOONG process of consultations before they are tabled in the Parliament. I would want to ask Zaid if that was true. Now I understand many things like ISA act, law, can be passed with just a simple majority. It is only amendment to the Constitution which needs a two-third majority. Since important laws and acts can be passed, discarded or amended by a simple majority which the BN has, I would like to ask Zaid if bills, proposals, whatever (I have stepped foot into the Malaysian Parliament only once, so no expert) would still "go through a LOOOOOONG process of consultations" before they are tabled in the new Parliament.

I would also like to draw readers' attention to a previous post

Reject all Barisan Nasional Members of Parliament as long as the whip is applied ALL THE TIME.