*Sniff*

Brown-noses never fail to smell an opportunity.

In June 2002, when Muhammad Muhammad Taib was still an Umno vice-pres and Mahathir had just announced his pension plans, the No-Unnerstan-English one crooned this classic accolade:

“Even in 100 years, or even 1,000 years, it would be difficult to find another like him.”

In other words, Mat Taib declared Mahathir was one in a bizillion lives.

But as we discover often enough, when it comes to Umno, the magnitude of millions, billions surely bizillions is one that is easily accommodated. They tend to disappear into thin air.

And so a thousand years is capitulated in less than five, when Mat Taib declares we have a knight. Our satria came early. And he has “succeeded in bringing a new climate... much openness and transparency to his administration, while on the international stage he had established greater rapport with world leaders”, the Star reports Mat Taib as saying.

In a seminar curiously angled towards balls-carrying - Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s Three Years in Putrajaya: Trailblazing a Brighter Future for Malaysia - the country’s newest senator made sure his hands had the largest and warmest mitts.

“I notice Abdullah is very firm in determining the direction of the country. If some people say he has lost direction, I disagree. Abdullah is very clear in where he wants to go,” said Mat Taib.

Many would know that Mat Taib, an Umno shining star back in the 90s, got singed and fell from grace as Selangor MB in 1997. And many would also know how he was dramatically appointed a senator in the Dewan Rakyat right after the recent Umno General Assembly. The man’s back and he’s grateful.

But gratefulness is really quite different from shamelessness, is it not?