In his obligatory Christmas day message, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi called on all Malaysians to transcend their “narrowly defined demands” by putting their country’s interests first.

And in his effort to look an effectual leader - a term that belies his entire political career, and certainly since taking over power from Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 2003 - he labeled the regime’s critics as ‘narrow-minded’ and ‘intolerant’.