A joke going round goes as follows: ‘The good news is the price of oil is falling and petrol prices will go down. The bad news is that my car is going to be repossessed!’

It would have been funny if it were not so close to reality for many Malaysians. The drastic reduction of petrol subsidies is another example of a selfish, poorly thought-out government move to cushion itself from world oil price increases, with hardly a thought for the people that would be affected by other price increases.

It is bad enough that we have to pay more for petrol but the corresponding price increases in other goods is the proverbial straw that can break the Malaysian back.

Pak Lah advises us now to leverage our spending power and make prices go down. And yes, elephants can fly.

Hindsight may be 20/20 but if a modicum of common sense and realism had prevailed, a persuasive and gentler approach could have been mooted, resulting in more acceptable circumstances for the average Malaysian.

It should be obvious now that the leaders of our country are hopelessly out of touch with the people in so many ways. They must be living an elitist lifestyle with lavish spending habits for them not to fathom what the fuss is all about. Do we need more of the same from Najib Abdul Razak and company?

To date, I have yet to hear Najib articulate his vision of Malaysia - will it be any different from Pak Lah’s or even Mahathir’s.

And yet the votes are piling up for his nomination for the top post in Umno.

Umno's selection of leaders is dysfunctional, its system is tainted with money politics and the extended campaigning period will further weaken and divide them.

Pak Lah's wish to stay on a little while longer is a most selfish, self-serving act for which the motives no one really believes in. It will in the end be more damaging for the country. And they call Anwar power-crazy!

To Anwar's credit, he has demonstrated in his speeches a greater grasp of what concerns the average Malaysian than any other politician of the ruling parties.

He exhibits intellectual superiority and curiosity of thought critical to a successful approach to our country's skewed politics.

In short he can change the country's course and unite the country towards a common goal while also helping to heal the wounds of the careless Pak Lah years.