YOURSAY | 'Even if he can't apologise, showing up at a DAP event speaks volumes.'

Dr M makes surprise appearance at DAP convention

CucuMalaysia: This is the way to go. When leaders realise their mistakes and are able to close ranks with former rivals to work for the good of the country, the rakyat will still have hope.

We all look forward to the day when Malaysians can stand tall among fellow citizens of the world. Bring back the glory years.

Rubystar_4037: Dear former PM, may you live another 100 more years. Today, you are crawling to DAP, which you hit hard for most of your years as prime minister, and also after you stepped down.

A lot of us would love to see you crawl to the lowest of the low as penance for all your sins, damage and corrupt practices you have done to Malaysia.

May the present PM pursue you and your family to disgorge some of the ill-gotten wealth you accumulated for your family. Your boi-boi is just riding on your coat tails, amassing wealth at the expense of the rakyat.

May you live long enough to suffer the agony of seeing the fortunes of your family disappear into thin air.

Long live Mahathir!

Robbed!!: I believe he has realised the mistakes he made and he cannot apologise directly because of pride. But his actions clearly shows his true feelings.

Ferdtan: The Umno general assembly was held in the same week as the DAP 50th national convention. See the difference between both parties. Umno is made up of single race while DAP is a mutiracial party.

Umno members rant and spew seditious, religious and racist speeches against DAP (read: Chinese) while the DAP meeting went on harmoniously, without any racial or religious bigotry.

The leaders from PKR, Amanah and surprise guest Dr Mahathir Mohamad attended the meet. This is a slap in the face of the Utusan Malaysia editors who taunted Mahathir and DAP by calling the latter a "traitor".

Now who is having the last laugh? Like it or not, Mahathir is important to the opposition, especially DAP, which is finding it difficult to shed its image of being anti-Malay, mainly due to blatant lies spread by Umno to spread fear.

Mahathir and DAP now have a symbiotic relationship. What Mahathir says make news and it has effects on Malay politics.

The power of the dream: The opposition coalition discarded one party but is now bolstered by two new worthy partners. It is becoming more interesting by the day, and more promising for the future.

Drngsc: Kit Siang, is this wise? It is a risky strategy. This can backfire. I hope that you know what you are doing.

James_3392: Dr M is not an ordinary political leader. He was once prime minister for 22 years. He is known as Bapa Pemodenan (Father of Modern Malaysia) and possesses extraordinary intelligence, leadership and excellent understanding of global politics.

Other than Lee Kuan Yew, he is probably the only leader from emerging nations where his views and opinions were taken seriously by the developed world. Foregoing the Umno general assembly for the DAP convention is a giant step. Conventional wisdom dictates that this can't be an impulsive action.

It must have been a difficult decision for a statesman of his stature to make. The state of affairs in Umno and our country must be so serious that it warranted such a drastic step. We trust your judgment. God bless Malaysia.

Kim Quek: What a historic day for Malaysia! Mahathir, founder of Umno Baru and long-time nemesis of DAP, appeared on the stage of DAP’s 50th national convention, while PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Umno president Najib Abdul Razak during the rally against the Myanmar government.

The Malaysian political mosaic is indeed in a state of flux, with players criss-crossing the great divide. On one side is the incumbent power (Umno), weighed down by calamitous corruption scandals, desperately reaching out to its traditional adversary (PAS) to forge solidarity on parochial religious and racial grounds to capture the Malay vote bank.

On the other, the reformist opposition (Pakatan Harapan), now being bolstered by Umno's splinter party (Bersatu), which left Umno in disgust of its degradation.

So, while PAS is bringing its Malay supporters to Umno, thus depleting Harapan's Malay vote bank, Bersatu is also bringing Umno's Malay voters to Harapan, which is also depleting Umno’s Malay bank.

Who will win at the end? That depends, to large extent, on who will achieve a net gain of Malay voters, as the non-Malay voters are expected to maintain status quo in their voting pattern.

There is a last dice to be cast in this game: PAS has not officially decided to join either camp, so it may finally jump on the Harapan wagon.

Najib, Hadi join hands to protest Rohingya plight

Cocomomo: Abdul Hadi Awang, why did you not speak out when the Islamic State slaughtered so many, including many Muslims? Hypocrite!

FairMind: This only shows how weak the government is. They are demonstrating rather than taking concrete action like a proper government should. I think this is the world's first demonstration featuring a reigning PM.

Do we see Barack Obama, Theresa May or Angela Merkel demonstrating against a puny Third World country?

He doesn't even dare to stand up to Myanmar. He can only demonstrate. That is how weak the PM is. Even Myanmar has the guts to issue a harsh rebuke. What else can we expect from our PM who can't even protect our very own Orang Asli and minority Indians.

Oscar Kilo: Looks more like an Umno-PAS solidarity event.

Roar For Truth: Perhaps Myanmar will hold a demonstration in Yangon to support the Orang Asli who are marginalised and oppressed in Kelantan.

Tajuddin Al-Tadacock: This sandiwara is purely for political expediency. Both these proven hypocrites know that Muslim Malaysians generally sympathise with the Muslim Rohingyas. Therefore, these hypocrites are using this opportunity to gain sympathy from Muslim Malaysians in the hope that these sympathetic Malaysians will vote for BN and PAS in GE14.

PAS, too, hopes to gain votes from Muslims by empathising with Muslim refugees. It is disgraceful that the PM of a sovereign nation can stoop so low, just to gain a few votes. I bet that BN and PAS will definitely be working hand-in-hand during the forthcoming general election.

Charles Hector: Well, what is happening in Myanmar with regard to the Rohingya people certainly demands our attention and action. Here, what Najib and Umno-BN did was good, but shockingly low turnout on a non-working day at a very safe rally from Umno's millions of members.

Is this a clear sign from Umno members that they are no longer with number one and two? Or is it simply a problem with Umno's own membership culture? A non-caring attitude, save for matters that will be self-profiting? Maybe no payment?

Abdul Hadi should be worried too, for his support in PAS may be declining.

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