THE ripples from DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke’s open endorsement of rising star Steven Sim for the Penang chairman post have yet to subside.

From socks to food, there are simply too many incidents involving 2R or race and religious issues that are causing flashpoints for racial tensions in the country.

IT is never easy to step away from the pinnacle of power but Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow took that difficult step when he decided not to defend his post as state chairman in the DAP election.

The future still looks bleak for this once powerful party but several personalities captured the attention of those at the recent Umno general assembly.

WHO would have thought that a much repeated story about how he ought to have been prime minister a second time could have landed Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in such hot water.

Tears flowed among grown men in Nenggiri where the convincing Umno win meant that the party’s second echelon is able to deliver what more senior figures could not.

POLITICS is a strange game. Politicians, who are friends in Putrajaya are not necessarily friends outside the corridors of power.

A political succession plan aimed at bringing rival camps in Bersatu into the same team will unfold at the party congress in October.

Too much bad blood has been spilled and it is no secret that PAS sees its partner Gerakan as a liability that has failed to deliver non-Malay support.

ANYTHING about the two powerful family dynasties of DAP is news even if it is something as casual as going on medical leave.

Despite the political advances made by PAS, Malays are still in a flux about who has what it takes to take them forward in a changing world yet is able to safeguard their priorities as a community.

THE only person wearing a smile when the Selangor state assembly Speaker dismissed the need for the Selat Klang seat to be vacant was its assemblyman Datuk Abdul Rashid Asari.