I refer to the news report headlined Umno... never again, says Anwar .

I'm sure most Malaysians do remember the 'undertaking' provided by Anwar Ibrahim a long time ago when he unreservedly stated that he (as a vice-president of Umno then) would never challenge Abdul Ghafar Baba (then the deputy president of Umno) under any circumstances - only to conspicuously and very publicly do so soon after in deference to the '... wishes and urging of Umno members'.

As such, I, for one, would not be surprised if he springs a similar surprise in accepting Umno's invitation to join the party for same reasons.

Oh, and, of course, he'll also throw in the '... for the sake of the unity of the Malays'- much like what Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah did when abandoning Semangat 46.

My advice to Anwar is this - 'tis better for you to remain outside the Malaysian political scene totally and let the fresh generation take the mantle. You were given your chance and had recklessly squandered it away by believing that you could 'change Umno from within'. That took over 16 years before failure was admitted.

Be an elder statesman and fulfill your responsibilities as such - 'tis a far, far better undertaking that you could do for the sake of this country than all that you had ever done before.