Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has appealed to the public, especially youths, to not waste their time talking about decisions made by the government, even if those decisions were wrong. He then adds that the government should continue implementing its development plans, citing Langkawi and Proton as examples.

When I read the article, two things came to mind: First, he is sensing a growing defiance from within Umno. Unexpected criticism has been levelled against his policies as allegiance shifts to the next PM. For example, the decision to grant a casino licence in Bukit Tinggi would put many Umno leaders in a spot when they meet their followers.

The second issue is the survival of his pet projects. The twin towers, the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, the Sepang track and Putrajaya are all completed and would not need any more infusion of public funds.

Even though all these projects have lost billions, the saving grace is that they would not need any more funds. Proton and Langkawi are altogether different animals as they would still need protection and coddling.

When Mahathir looks back, he might wish that he had not been so impulsive when he decided o­n these two money draining giants. The PM fears that his successors will ultimately put the blame o­n him when selling off Proton and scaling back o­n Langkawi.

My guess is that this will happen in a year's time, after the elections, when a new team runs the government.