Dr M apologizing?

This is what I read in one of the messages in a forum I frequent:

April 18, 2007 21:03 PM Dr M Apologises To PM Over Allegation Of Mansion Ownership In Australia PUTRAJAYA, April 18 (Bernama) -- Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Wednesday apologised to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for having alleged that the latter owned a mansion in Australia. Neither Abdullah nor his son, Kamaluddin, owned the mansion, estimated to cost RM60 million, located near the Swan River in Perth, as alleged by Dr Mahathir. It belongs to a Malaysian businessman, Datuk Patrick Lim...." [Bernama newsitem]

I was surprised to say the least seeing such a headline as I don't ever recall Dr M apologizing for anything in public. In fact, he never admits he was wrong in anything. About the only thing he was ever regretful for were the strings of people who, at one point or another, was his deputy.

Nevertheless, I read through the entire news item and came out chuckling. Dr M has not lost his trademark sarcasm. Without even reading between the lines it is obvious Dr M has managed to
- gain media space in a medium which he is increasingly being shunned
- bring into question the infamous son-in-law's statement not too long ago that the mansion belongs to the son
- force the mainstream press into, albeit indirectly, reporting as fact (the real owner of the mansion) something which a blog managed to dig up. This when the Info Minister has just warned the mainstream press not to quote or report on anything written on the blogs and the internet.
- surface the allegation of the cozy relationship between the first family and a "Patrick Badawi" (go read www.malaysia-today.net)

I guess in the mad rush to paint a nice and dandy picture of our PM in all cases, they fail to see that a spin such as this would just enforce the belief among bolehland-folks that
- the mainstream media is increasingly becoming untrustworthy
- there is more than meets the eye on what is supposed to be just a normal, albeit very powerful and rich, family

The "reasonable" bolehland folk would perhaps dismiss this as just reading too much into a supposedly simple event. But it is precisely that "reasonableness" which makes people either ignore or just play dumb so that they could supposedly continue making hay. No wonder the BN administration has been able to get away with practically anything under the sun, and "reasonable" Malaysians seem oblivious to the fact that the sun is fast stopping to shine.

...and that is my inaugural post for my blog. I, like many other, need to work to put food on the table. So, to be honest, I am not sure how regular I will be able to update this blog. Apologies, therefore, if you amazingly find this blog somehow interests you, and I can't keep up with the postings to satisfy that interest.