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A reader posted elsewhere in this blog an excerpt from Singapore Straits Times, an eulogy of the late S. Rajaratnam by foreign editor Warren Fernandez .

"In Malaysia, a row has erupted between the New Straits Times and their detractors, who have hit out at the paper for publishing a cartoon - a separate one from the original 12 depicting the prophet - which they say upset some Muslims. The newspaper has since apologised. Yet, underlying the dispute is a bitter power struggle, with racial overtones, that has been raging in Kuala Lumpur's media and political circles.

As one Malaysian editor put it:'The showdown is only 10% about the cartoon, and 90% about everything else."

Has anyone ever tried to fathom Pak Lah's wisdom in strategically placing two clashing maestros to helm the information machineries at the government and partisan political party sides, respectively, both with Pak Lah as the Commander-in-Chief?

On the surface, the appointments were sequential. Pak Lah placed Kalimullah Masheerul Hassan at The NSTP in 2004, and Zainuddin Maidin at MOI in 2006. Barely one week after the new Cabinet line-up was announced and the two senior pressmen clashed in public eyes, shamelessly.

We can feel the intense animosity, to the extent that one party was being accused of exposing Umno's internal secrets, and the other taking a jibe at "si dubuk tua dan singa sarkas pencen".

There must be a Pak Lah wisdom behind this, but it's certainly beyond most of us.

Famous last words: Let's stay off politics and leave it to the political animals.