BRING BACK G.S.T!

KEE@FSWMAG.COM

FIRST WE HAD COUNCIL OF ELDERS COMPRISING TUN DAIM ZAINUDDIN, TAN SRI ROBERT KUOK, TAN SRI ZETI AZIZ, TAN SRI HASSAN MARICAN AND PROFESSOR JOMO.

THEY ARE ALL RICH, SUCCESSFUL, BRILLIANT, KIND-HEARTED AND AHEM, OLD THOUGH MAYBE NOT AS OLD AS TUN M. STILL ALL THE MEN HAVE WHITE HAIR EXCEPT TAN SRI ROBERT KUOK WHOSE BLACK HAIR, LIKE ALL THE MEN IN CHINA'S ASSEMBLY, MUST HAVE COME FROM A BOTTLE AT THEIR AGE AND IN THEIR CONDITION. I AM DECADES YOUNGER AT 38 AND ALREADY I HAVE A FEW WHITE HAIR!

ANYWAY I DIGRESS.

I WAS A KID WHEN I HEARD OF THE COUNCIL OF ELDER FOR THE FIRST TIME. THEY WERE THE GEROUSIA OF SPARTA WHICH CONSISTED OF 28 MEN WHO HAD TO BE OLDER THAN 60 YEARS. THE COUNCIL OF ATHENS OR BOULE CONSISTED OF 500 OVER 30 YEARS AND WAS ARISTOCRATIC IN NATURE AS THE POOREST COULD NOT TAKE PART IN THIS FORM OF DIRECT DEMOCRACY.

NEARER TO OUR TIME, THE COUNCIL OF 5 ELDERS OF JAPAN IN 1595 CONSISTED OF 5 MOST POWERFUL DAIMYOS OR WARLORDS TO ACT AS REGENT UNTIL THE CHILD EMPEROR HIDEYORI CAME OF AGE.

SINCE THE FUTURE BELONGS TO THE YOUNG, THE NAME 'COUNCIL OF ELDERS' DID NOT RESONATE WITH MALAYSIAN VOTERS OF UNDER 40 AS IMAGES OF THE 5 'ELDERLY', OCTOGENARIAN-LOOKING MEN AND WOMAN WERE BROADCAST.

YES, FOR SURE EACH OF THE 5 ELDERS IS A BRILLIANT CHOICE AND ONLY WITH AGE CAN COME EXPERIENCE BUT DURING THEIR HEYDAY SMARTPHONES AND LAPTOPS WERE YET TO BE INVENTED. 

SO THE NAME WAS HASTILY CHANGED TO 'TEAM OF EMINENT PERSONS' WHICH IS LIKE SHOOTING THE LEFT LEG TO SPITE THE RIGHT.

'EMINENT' MEANS 'FAMOUS AND RESPECTED WITHIN A PARTICULAR SPHERE'. OR IN OUR MODERN WORLD, JUST FAMOUS LAH. OR DISTINGUISHED, OUTSTANDING, PRESTIGIOUS, GREAT, IMPORTANT, NOTABLE, INFLUENTIAL, SIGNIFICANT, YOU GET MY DRIFT.

SO IF YOU ARE NOT ONE OF THE 5 EMINENT PERSONS, THEN YOU ARE NOT FAMOUS, DISTINGUISHED, OUTSTANDING, PRESTIGIOUS, GREAT, IMPORTANT, NOTABLE, INFLUENTIAL, SIGNIFICANT ETC!

I AM ALL OF THESE BUT I AM NOT A MEMBER OF TEAM OF EMINENT PERSONS! WORSE, SO MANY MALAYSIANS QUALIFY AS 'EMINENT PERSONS' AND THEY ARE NOT A MEMBER EITHER!

SO THE BEST WAY IS TO CHANGE THE NAME AGAIN!

THIS TIME TO G.S.T AS IN 'GOVERNMENT SPECIAL TASK' OR 'GENERAL SPEED TEAM' OR SOMETHING NEUTRAL WHICH DOES NOT PRAISE THE MEMBERS SKY HIGH. 

SO G.S.T IS A GOOD REPLACEMENT NAME FOR TEAM OF EMINENT PERSONS AS YOU REMOVE ONE HATED G.S.T ONLY TO REPLACE IT WITH ANOTHER BELOVED ONE! VERY GOOD SUPRA TACTIC (G.S.T)?