comment I was quite the recalcitrant child and a terror to my parents. However, I spared them 'sins' like smuggled porn, alcohol consumption, drug abuse and smoking, having been slightly insulated from my more 'normal' peers.

For me and my band of compatriots, the 'sins' were of a different kind.

azlan I still remember the Ninja shurikens (throwing stars) we made in wooden moulds from smelted tin we had scavenged from discarded bike rims. The edges were lovingly honed to a keen sharpness.

And the Katanas (Samurai swords) we carved out of wood and edged with broken-off razor blades.

I also made a rudimentary nail-and-elastic powered pipe gun (saw it in a movie once) and begged a friend, whose father owned a small-calibre hunting rifle, for some live rounds. Luckily, we never did actualise that part of our plan.

Whenever caught out by my parents. I cited the peer-pressure line of defence.

“But everyone else was doing it," I would mutter out of stubbornly pouted lips.

My parents' reply, just before the usual thrashing, was standard: “If everyone else jumps off a cliff, would you, too?”

That would leave me bereft of speech and a defence. One of the things I found out as a kid was the effect of a high-speed fall onto a living body (don't ask), so I didn’t fancy joining the ranks of those leaping to their death.

All humour aside, the very question that my parents asked me (many times) is what I would like to seriously ask of Pakatan Rakyat and, more specifically, Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim and his cohorts who are campaigning in the Hulu Selangor by-election.

pkr supreme council meeting 0404010 fuziah salleh Despite the pronouncement of PKR election director Fuziah Salleh that the party would not misuse its position as the state government to appropriate state machinery for the campaign, the direct opposite has been going on.

Fuziah, also the Kuantan MP, said there is clear separation of powers when it comes to party and government administration.

“We are not like BN ... (to) ask the government staff to help us campaign. We have our own party machinery for that,” she told reporters after the party's supreme council meeting on April 4.

In doing so, Fuziah said the party wanted to send a strong message to the Election Commission in the hope that the BN campaign would be monitored for use of public halls and other state facilities.

Cheap clone

It panned out as something else. On April 5, Lau Weng San, the DAP state assemblyperson for Kampung Tunku, confirmed to Malaysiakini that the state government would play an important role in the campaign before nomination day.

This lent weight to claims that the state had mobilised extensive resources to ensure pole position in the by-election even before the race could start officially on April 17.

Several officials from Khalid’s office were reported to be camping in the constituency.

NONE It was later verified that Khalid had relocated his entire office to the Hulu Selangor district office in Kuala Kubu Bharu, and that the state executive councillors had held meetings there.

This was followed by the petty denial of hall and toilet facilities to those organising a federal government function.

While all this is similar to what BN-influenced local authorities have been doing to Pakatan politicians, the tit-for-tat move makes me think of a child throwing a revenge-induced tantrum.

Most disturbing was what Khalid said to justify the temporary relocation of his office. He denied any misuse of the state machinery by setting up his administration at the district office.

But on April 12,  he brushed off questions, telling journalists: "This is how BN has been doing things.”

azlan My question to the right honourable MB is this: ‘If BN jumps off a cliff, will Pakatan follow suit?’

Pakatan has been a breath of fresh air after more than 50 years of BN rule.

Indeed it would be nice to see the ruling coalition overthrown just to see another coalition on the throne, if not for other more vaunted principles.

Pakatan is beginning to be seen by many, yours truly included, as a viable alternative to the conniving ways of BN.

It is sad to see that Pakatan - probably the last best hope for Malaysia - turn out to be nothing more than a cheap clone of BN.

Que va , Khalid?

HAZLAN ZAKARIA is a member of the Malaysiakini team.