With updates on the somewhat even more bizarre move to have the book launched by Anwar Ibrahim's ...
ORIGINAL POSTING:
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To all my Dear Readers:
Selamat Hari Raya,
Maaf Zahir & Batin
A blessed Ramadan, nearly spoilt only by cute doggies said to be insulting Islam, not-so-cute Alvivi actually insulting Islam, and a series of previews of a book supposedly written by Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and foolishly entitled Awakening!
Frankly, I wish the former Prime Minister had not awakened from his slumber to rewrite history but there you are: these days everybody from Chin Peng to the producers of The New Village to Abdullah Badawi wants to "set the record straight".
Some say Abdullah's faithfools have timed the book nicely with the Umno general assembly, but really I don't see what good it will bring to anyone. Like I said on twitter earlier today, Abdullah's greatest contribution as PM was to unite Malaysians from both sides of the political divide - plus many fence-sitters - to unite against ... him! Now his book, not even in bookstores yet, is promising to bring back that rare phenomenon!
My favorite review of the book is the Malay Mail's teaser,
Pak Lah: Pro-Mahathir bloggers were out to get me where Abdullah writes that "many bloggers were "richly"rewarded with money and titles and that "a lot of money was spent" in the campaign against him". The former PM cited one blogger from Kelantan who was paid RM4 million by PAS "to write articles to topple my administration". Lol, how still detached the man is.
This book will be eaten alive by the critics partly because the editors Bridget Welsh and James Chin were not part of that exciting period and movement, and partly because the author has yet to come to terms with how he'd gone from hero to zero in the blink of a term. If it's any consolation, though, I look forward to getting a copy of Awakening. Perhaps even a signed one, if I'm lucky!
Till then, Salam Lebaran and safe journey. Make sure your driver doesn't doze off behind the wheels.
Updated:
Nurul Izzah to launch Pak Lah’s book in Singapore
Dorothy Cheng
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
PETALING JAYA (Aug 7, 2013): Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar will launch former prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's book "Awakening, the Abdullah Badawi years in Malaysia" in Singapore later this month.
She said she has accepted an invitation to launch the book on Aug 30.
"I believe the Malaysian launch will be presided over by Abdullah himself and (former deputy prime minister) Tun Musa Hitam," she told theSun.
In Abdullah's tell-all book, which will contain more than 35 essays, he defends his tenure as prime minister and accusations that he slept on the job by revealing that he had been suffering from sleep apnea.
During that time, photos were circulated ridiculing him, and even his predecessor Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had criticised him.
However, in an excerpt from the book, Abdullah claimed Mahathir had known about his condition all along.
"I did tell Mahathir of my condition so for him to say I doze off because I am not interested in the job is most unkind.
"He knew the problem and yet he chose to say all these things," he said.
He has since undergone surgery and no longer suffers from the condition.
Abdullah, 73, was prime minister from 2003 to 2009. He resigned from his post as Umno president and as prime minister after the BN's lacklustre performance in the 2008 election.
