Who is the real Prime Minister? I was disturbed by the Prime Minister's utterances to a foreign news publications, which was given wide coverage in the local media yesterday and today. In the Bangkok Post, he lamented that his predecessor was undermining his beloved son-in-law Khairy Jamaludin. This ranting was delivered to an editor of a neighbouring country. Last I checked, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is the Prime Minister of Malaysia, a preeminent position which should not be stained by petty remarks such as those uttered by this country's current leader. "The old man has destroyed Khairy's pot of rice" - that was the words the Prime Minister said. If there were any doubts about the weight of Khairy on the Prime Minister's back and ultimately how his decisions are being shaped, this article should be a good indication of how truly influential this young man is in shaping the "new" Malaysia. The man has already created another schism in the country's already brittle race relations. Nowhere in corporate Malaysia is his name not being uttered. The name Khairy Jamaludin is on the lips of property developers and equity analysts I have spoken to. This man is powerful, make no mistake about it. I have heard that he, an outsider in Government, even sits in on Cabinet meetings, something that only banana republic states do. If this is true, where are we heading? Malaysia is not a banana republic. Truly not, many would say! But some signs are already there, don't you think?  ¶ 11:18 AM