COMMENT | The omens heralding the ascension of Ismail Sabri Yaakob are not good. The worst-ever floods hit Yan, Kedah while a woman was reportedly crushed by an LRT train after she fell on the tracks.

Call me superstitious, but Ismail Sabri was sworn in as our ninth prime minister (PM9) on the worst possible day of the Chinese calendar - the 14th day of the Hungry Ghost month, when offerings are burnt for restless souls roaming on earth, some straying possibly even into Putrajaya.

His majority of MPs was also an unlucky number - 114. In Cantonese, this sounds like “yat yat sei” or “die everyday”. Another “lucky number” accompanied PM9’s installation - 23,564, our highest number of daily Covid-19 cases.

I had noticed earlier that Muhyiddin Yassin lost power on the same day as the fall of Kabul, Afghanistan. All this led me to wonder if the backdoor government (version 1.0 or version 2.0) has been, and will be, dogged by suay or bad luck?

Where did the money go?

Many Malaysians groaned when it was announced Ismail Sabri had been picked for the top job. How could...