COMMENT | Desperate times call for desperate measures - even if you happen to be the prime minister.

For acute problems, extreme measures are required and attest to the adage that “desperate diseases must have desperate remedies”. Sometimes, one’s actions that may seem extreme under normal circumstances may seem appropriate during adversity.

Against this backdrop, how does one get the monkey off his back? In desperation, some see praising and offering some kind of incentive could appease the offended party.

Cash is king would certainly come to mind but how do you deal with the US – the most powerful country in the world? You can’t flaunt money and offer it like candy to children but someone did try and paid heavily for it.

Five years ago, this month – Sept 12 to be exact, former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak and his entourage landed in Washington with a proposal...