We expect the handing over of power from Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to his deputy Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, otherwise known as Pak Lah, to begin in October.

However, for some, it has already started. I read about a charity dinner in which a watch, engraved with the signature of Endon, Pak Lah's wife, was auctioned for RM70,000!

The person who paid for it is a very young Datuk, ie Robin Tan, son of Berjaya tycoon Vincent Tan who is said to be in Mahathir's 'inner circle' of friends and confidante. In pictures splashed across newspapers and read by the whole nation, the young Datuk can be seen huddled at the back of Datin Seri's seat, all ears, listening to what she had to say to him.

The picture itself is very very important - as many businessmen have come to realise and as many civil servants would now have to acknowledge - that this is one special Datuk.

Very soon, he will start getting invitations to attend official functions, and even be a Tan Sri, like his father in a few years' time. So the wheel grinds, and the new replaces the old. Life goes on as normal, the same game is played except with different players. We will never learn, and we will never change, for to change is to make sacrifices and take risks.