Hidden message: Old Hooligan is a NOBODY outside of Peesai!
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Coffeeshop Chit Chat - MM is now known as "Encik Lee"</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right>
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</NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate width="30%" noWrap align=right>9:00 pm </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT height=20 width="1%" noWrap align=right>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname width="68%" noWrap>ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 4) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft rowSpan=4 width="1%"> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>15208.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD>Historic meeting for MM Lee and PAS leader Nik Aziz
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- headline one : end --></TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- Author --></TD></TR><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Reme Ahmad, Assistant Foreign Editor </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
KOTA BARU (KELANTAN): Two veteran politicians met for the first time yesterday in the capital of the Malaysian state of Kelantan.
Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew met with Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat for an hour at Kota Darul Naim, Kelantan's government complex that houses the office of the chief minister and the state assembly hall.
Datuk Nik Aziz is the state's Menteri Besar as well as the spiritual leader of the opposition Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS), which won control of Kelantan state in 1990.
MM Lee and Mr Nik Aziz posed for pictures before settling down to converse.
They exchanged a few pleasantries in Malay before a translator took his place between the two leaders.
Mr Lee, who is turning 86, arrived from Penang on Saturday evening, and is in Kuantan, the capital of Pahang state, today for the last leg of his eight-day visit to Malaysia.
Mr Nik Aziz, 76, told reporters later that he had asked Mr Lee how he should address his guest, since it was their first meeting.
'In Malaysia, we call people Your Excellency, Datuk or something. He said (in Singapore) we are all the same, so I called him 'Encik Lee'.'
In turn, he said Mr Lee called him 'Nik Aziz'.
Mr Lee's press secretary Yeong Yoon Ying said that the Minister Mentor and Mr Nik Aziz spoke about strengthening ties between Kelantan and Singapore.
Mr Lee also 'shared Singapore's experience in implementing the English language policy and the importance of English in global affairs', said Madam Yeong.
Yesterday, the Minister Mentor also toured Kota Baru by car, and met with Datuk Husam Musa, Kelantan's Executive Councillor in Charge of Finance and a former PAS vice-president.
Mr Nik Aziz, Kelantan's chief minister since 1990, is revered in the state and respected in Malaysia for living a simple life and running a clean government.
The Menteri Besar said that he would like to thank Mr Lee, 'a leader who is respected internationally', for coming to Kelantan and for inviting him to Singapore. He said he declined due to health reasons.
The opposition party PAS, with nearly a million members, is the biggest party in Malaysia after Umno, which is part of the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition.
PAS is a member of the three-party Pakatan Rakyat alliance which controls four of Malaysia's 13 states and more than a third of the seats in the federal Parliament.
The Menteri Besar said Mr Lee told him he had come to Kelantan 'to see for himself' developments there, 'whether it is the same as what has been written by the newspapers'.
Mr Lee had asked how PAS would view Singapore if it comes to power, said Mr Nik Aziz. His reply was that he would treat everyone 'the same, as can be seen in Kelantan'.
With MM Lee in Kelantan were Minister for Finance Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Minister for Education Ng Eng Hen as well as Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Education and Home Affairs Masagos Zulkifli.
Acting Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts Lui Tuck Yew flew back to Singapore from Penang earlier for some ministry engagements.
In a short speech, Mr Nik Aziz said Singapore is known for its anti-corruption stance and 'a champion of democracy'.
'Singapore is also very strict in keeping the city clean, and these aspects are good things that we can emulate,' he said.
Mr Tharman in his speech yesterday said that he hoped Singapore and Kelantan could build on their relations. 'Whatever happens in Malaysia politically, we would like to maintain the best of relationships between Singapore and all the respective parties in Malaysia,' he said.
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</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- headline one : end --></TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- Author --></TD></TR><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Reme Ahmad, Assistant Foreign Editor </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
KOTA BARU (KELANTAN): Two veteran politicians met for the first time yesterday in the capital of the Malaysian state of Kelantan.
Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew met with Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat for an hour at Kota Darul Naim, Kelantan's government complex that houses the office of the chief minister and the state assembly hall.
Datuk Nik Aziz is the state's Menteri Besar as well as the spiritual leader of the opposition Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS), which won control of Kelantan state in 1990.
MM Lee and Mr Nik Aziz posed for pictures before settling down to converse.
They exchanged a few pleasantries in Malay before a translator took his place between the two leaders.
Mr Lee, who is turning 86, arrived from Penang on Saturday evening, and is in Kuantan, the capital of Pahang state, today for the last leg of his eight-day visit to Malaysia.
Mr Nik Aziz, 76, told reporters later that he had asked Mr Lee how he should address his guest, since it was their first meeting.
'In Malaysia, we call people Your Excellency, Datuk or something. He said (in Singapore) we are all the same, so I called him 'Encik Lee'.'
In turn, he said Mr Lee called him 'Nik Aziz'.
Mr Lee's press secretary Yeong Yoon Ying said that the Minister Mentor and Mr Nik Aziz spoke about strengthening ties between Kelantan and Singapore.
Mr Lee also 'shared Singapore's experience in implementing the English language policy and the importance of English in global affairs', said Madam Yeong.
Yesterday, the Minister Mentor also toured Kota Baru by car, and met with Datuk Husam Musa, Kelantan's Executive Councillor in Charge of Finance and a former PAS vice-president.
Mr Nik Aziz, Kelantan's chief minister since 1990, is revered in the state and respected in Malaysia for living a simple life and running a clean government.
The Menteri Besar said that he would like to thank Mr Lee, 'a leader who is respected internationally', for coming to Kelantan and for inviting him to Singapore. He said he declined due to health reasons.
The opposition party PAS, with nearly a million members, is the biggest party in Malaysia after Umno, which is part of the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition.
PAS is a member of the three-party Pakatan Rakyat alliance which controls four of Malaysia's 13 states and more than a third of the seats in the federal Parliament.
The Menteri Besar said Mr Lee told him he had come to Kelantan 'to see for himself' developments there, 'whether it is the same as what has been written by the newspapers'.
Mr Lee had asked how PAS would view Singapore if it comes to power, said Mr Nik Aziz. His reply was that he would treat everyone 'the same, as can be seen in Kelantan'.
With MM Lee in Kelantan were Minister for Finance Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Minister for Education Ng Eng Hen as well as Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Education and Home Affairs Masagos Zulkifli.
Acting Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts Lui Tuck Yew flew back to Singapore from Penang earlier for some ministry engagements.
In a short speech, Mr Nik Aziz said Singapore is known for its anti-corruption stance and 'a champion of democracy'.
'Singapore is also very strict in keeping the city clean, and these aspects are good things that we can emulate,' he said.
Mr Tharman in his speech yesterday said that he hoped Singapore and Kelantan could build on their relations. 'Whatever happens in Malaysia politically, we would like to maintain the best of relationships between Singapore and all the respective parties in Malaysia,' he said.
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