I think it is safe to conclude that our former prime minister now regrets handing over the country to Pak Lah. His pet projects have been shelved and past decisions attacked publicly. True to form, he is not going quietly and he has come up with salvoes of his own on the present administration.

After over 20-odd years of living under Mahathir's thumb, the rakyat are now enjoying the novelty of someone finally ignoring him. Many are singing praises of Pak Lah's style of leadership and his 'elegant silence' has been attributed to the class of the man in not dignifying Mahathir's accusations with any personal response.

Whilst we should rejoice to see the good doctor being given a taste of his own medicine, we, however, must not let the euphoria of the occasion cloud our judgment of Pak Lah's performance. It is one thing to stand up to Mahathir, but however, so far, he has not addressed the issues raised by Mahathir and I am not convinced that it has anything to do with the class of the man.

Rather it is symptomatic of someone who is not on top of the issues and is now leaving it to the respective ministries to reply for him. He is not facing up to challenges and deflecting the buck to others.

Lest we forget, Pak Lah has not dealt with many other issues with any great distinction. For one, we are being given lip service on his promises to stamp out corruption and reining in the police force. It shouldn't take him more than two-and-a-half years to act and yet all we hear is that he be given more time to prove himself. Obviously, the credo of striking while the iron is hot is alien to this man.

Whatever Mahathir's shortcomings were, he cannot be accused of being a half-past six leader. The problem with Pak Lah, on the other hand, is that all the kings' horses and all the kings' men cannot prove that he is not one. That, he has to do it himself.