ON his return to the United Nations General Assembly after an absence of 15 years as “elder statesman of the planet” last week, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s core message was the need to overhaul the world body.

SOMETIME in 1993, I was in the meeting hall of the Air Keroh Village Resort in Melaka, listening to Malaysia’s rising political star.

OVER the past week, much has been said and written about Pakatan Harapan’s first 100 days in power, what it has achieved and where it has failed.

MY WAY, Frank Sinatra’s iconic anthem of defiant pride, is often associated with Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, perhaps because the ly­rics fit his tenacious personality.

The new Melaka government faces the tough challenge of resolving the state’s financial woes, largely due to the previous administration’s many costly and unprofitable projects.

Strong and inspired leadership is needed to set up an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission to clean up the police force once and for all.

It’s been a month since the rebirth of Malaysia as an exemplary democracy.

The nation’s 7th Prime Minister has too little time to do too many things but to help the nation rise again he must fix the fundamental flaws.

THE campaigning for GE14 has reached fever pitch. A week from today, we will vote to decide which coalition will govern the country over the next five years.

“Where the law is subject to some other authority and has none of its own, the collapse of the state is not far off. But if law is the master of the government and the government is its slave, then the situation is full of promise and men will enjoy all the blessings that the gods shower on a state.”

OVER the past week, the news about Malaysia has been running the range from the outrageous to the absurd.

Instead of scrutinising the fitness of senior citizens as drivers, better enforcement is needed against rash road users.