theSun | THURSDAY APRIL 30 2009 15

INTERVIEWS VIEWS

Umno’s growing
ease in opposition
JOURNALISTS still relished the sensa- In particular, one saw
recall a prophetic tion of being on the Umno blossom in its
incident in the Pen- cosy government unfamiliar role as the
ang State Assembly chairs.
some time before What aggravated state’s opposition.
the general election the situation was To a large extent, the
of March 8 last year. that both sides reps, some of whom
It was when appeared to regard had previously served
the sole opposition each other with
assemblyman, Phee
in the state executive
Boon Poh (DAP-Sun-
TheNutmeg what can only be
described as utter council, became
gai Puyu), was facing Verses contempt. Neither more logic-oriented
a phalanx of BN reps by Himanshu Bhatt tried to hide its in their arguments,
in the house. The derision towards and even inclined to
veteran opposition the other as the
man had on that day raised a assemblymen kept fuming background research
motion but, as expected, no and lashing out over the most and preparation in
one seconded him. The speaker trivial matter. It was hard then appealing to reason.
dropped the idea at once. to gauge how well the Umno
It is said that seated across reps would play their roles in
Phee’s opposition chair, on a opposition, and the Pakatan in observe how this trend of the
section reserved for state ex- the government. Umno boys, slowly but surely,
ecutive councillors, Umno state But when the assembly re- becoming more at ease in their
secretary Datuk Seri Azhar cently held its second term, the roles in the Opposition over
Ibrahim (Penaga) laughed. sediments of battle had largely the next few years. It was after
Those who witnessed that settled, and one noticed a more all a scenario that was hardly
moment still recall how Phee constructive and smooth flow imaginable as being possible
jumped up in a rage, and in a in the proceedings. One saw just two years ago.
dramatic proclamation that Umno blossom in its unfamiliar There was, in spite of this
sent tremors around the august role as the state’s opposition. transformation that Umno
hall, told Azhar to await the To a large extent, the reps, had undergone, one brooding
day when their roles would be some of whom had previously image that will endure from
reversed. There may not have served in the state executive the assembly’s recent term.
been any thunder or lightning council, became more logic- When Phee made a surprise
flashing across the sky when oriented in their arguments, announcement that smoking
Phee warned Azhar that he and even inclined to research would be banned in the state
would find himself sitting on and preparation in appealing assembly premises, the one
the very opposition chair Phee to reason. person it most affected was
was occupying while Phee There was now much less Azhar, a smoker for more than
himself would sit in the section preoccupation on racial senti- 30 years.
meant for the government. ments, specifically on the issue And so everyday during
But the weight of prophecy of Malay dominance, and the assembly breaks, the man
is not lost today among those scorn that had been directed who had once laughed at Phee
who had been witnesses to towards the Pakatan for its found himself standing outside
Phee’s outburst. Indeed, when supposed inexperience had by the gates to get his puffs, his
the first term of the 12th state and large abated. gaze occasionally directed
assembly convened, Azhar did Azhar, now official state at the Pakatan-controlled
find himself in the very seat opposition chief, became more assembly like a sulking school-
Phee had occupied. formidable, cornering and coun- boy.
And when the new govern- tering the state government’s It may not necessarily be
ment of the Pakatan Rakyat new policies and actions with a fitting turn of events, but it
coalition took over last year, the a variety of impressive and certainly made for dramatic
state assembly had convened intelligently expressed angles; scene in the thrilling, ever-
with as much drama with tem- while firebrands like Roslan changing script of the Penang
pers flaring in the house. Saidin (Pinang Tunggal) and State Assembly.
The 11 Umno reps were Muhamad Farid Saad (Pulau
feeling for the first time ever Betong), though still prone to
how it was like to be on the op- occasional bouts of temper, Himanshu is Penang bureau
position side; the mostly DAP had markedly toned down. chief. Comments: letters@
and PKR brass, meanwhile, It will be interesting to thesundaily.com

deadlier threat
be more easily transmitted
between people, as well as
into forms that become more
dangerous over time.
“Many of the infections,
particularly in the US and
elsewhere have not been due
to exposure to pigs and many
of the infections in Mexico
have not been associated
with contact with pigs, it is
quickly clearly spreading in
the human population.”
Scientists fear that as
the H1N1 strain of the virus
circulates within the human
population it could undergo
further mutations that could
make it more virulent, and
deadly, over time. This could
lead to second or third waves
of the pandemic that cause
high death rates.
“The rationale has been
that in the past there has been
examples of this, especially
when the disease is spread-
ing at a time of the year when
flu is not normally circulating
so effectively, which would
be the case of the northern
hemisphere at the moment,”
Hay added.
Angus Nichol, head of the slippery creatures. You don’t
Influenza Programme at the know how they are going to
European Centre for Disease behave and their behaviour
Control in Stockholm, said: can change over time.” – The
“Influenza viruses are very Independent
New cell-based vaccine production could replace traditional production
in chicken eggs to save millions of lives in the event of a deadly
pandemic. Cell-based production can more easily meet emergency needs
because cells can be frozen and stored in advance of an epidemic
TRADITIONAL EGG-BASED METHOD
Clean, fertilised hen’s Multiplying virus
eggs injected with fills egg – contents
influenza seed removed, purifed,
chemically
deactivated and
New strain:
broken down
before packing
Influenza
as vaccine.
virus strain
Identification
identified
to production:
six months
CELL-BASED VACCINE PRODUCTION Cells’ outer walls
Laboratory-grown cell lines – removed, viruses
mammalian kidney cells – harvested, purified,
used to host growing virus and deactivated
Vaccine
produced
within
weeks
Virus
injected
into cells,
where it
replicates
Cells and viruses grow in
large stainless-steel fermenters
Source: GlaxoSmithKline © GRAPHIC NEWS