I chose to wear a Nehru-Sun Yat Sen (中山装) style costume on the first day of Chinese New Year marking a bullish year of reform. Nehru and Sun Yat Sen were all reformists of their respective country. I predict many changes will take place in this year. Whether the changes will be for the better or worse, one thing for sure: All Oxen will let loose!

As we can see on the eve of CNY, Datuk Nasaruddin Hashim crossed over to PKR. Also we are seeing tussle between Pakatan Rakyat and Barisan Nasional over the state of Perak now. No doubt, it is a tumulous time. The year of Ox will see more of these tussles, all of the political undercurrents will surface.

The main reason is because of the main political players in this country can no longer wait.

Najib Tun Razak is impatient to take over the top job to stablized his position. He wanted mandate and restore his legitimacy of his reign, especially he just failed badly over Permatang Pauh, KT and Bota. Therefore he needs to deliver Perak to legitimize his accedency. With the slow but sure demise of UMNO, time is not at his side. He needs a prime-priming plan for UMNO.

However, Pakatan Rakyat  would not sit still. Pakatan do not want to see this happen because of the huge liability Najib will bring to this country. Dato Seri Anwar can not sit still and wait for Najib to come after him. He has to play his cards well. Therefore, he is stepping up the pressure.

The tussle is expected to continue, this is just the begining of a bigger game plan. The stake is high. We, as the people would have to bear the uncertainty for a while. I know it is difficult especially when the country is going to face huge economic challenge in year 2009. This is the price to pay for the country to emerge from an authoritarian regime into a democratic country. The Taiwanese and Indonesian are still undergoing this process. It is not perfect, but it is a process we need to undergo.

 Sim Tze Tzin