The recently held assembly by the Malay Action Front may just be another sandiwara by Umno. Since the Anwar Ibrahim saga, there is no denying that the Malays have become disillusioned with Umno. However, Dr Mahathir Mohamad is so politically-savvy that he is able to make the party leaders become his yes-men.

In order to show that the Umno leadership or particularly Mahathir, can still accept open criticisms by the party's very own members, something needs to be done. This is where MAF comes into the picture. In my opinion, the MAF or the gathering was just to show that there is still hope in Umno for the Malays to voice out their dissatisfaction.

It's funny that a deputy cabinet minister attended the gathering. I don't think he would dare risk his post by attending, unless he had been briefed that it was just another sandiwara? It's funnier still that the former Malacca chief minister Rahim Thamby Chik was one of the key personnel in the organising commitee. Rahim, against Mahathir? I don't think so.