My Father's Son

One day Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was visiting Singapore.

He was having a golf match with Lee Kwan Yew, and while playing, they were discussing the reliability of their staff. Abdullah told him about his cabinet, just recently branded a half-past-six kitchen cabinet by the masses.

"You know Abdullah," says Lee. "I have a great way of telling how intelligent my Cabinet ministers are. I ask them a simple logic question, and if they get it wrong then I demote them in my next reshuffle."

"I'm interested," replies Abdullah. "I have a few staff at home who I'm not too sure about."

Lee Kwan Yew calls in Goh Chok Tong, then the prime minister of Singapore, and just like that, he came. "Allow me to demonstrate. Goh, I've got a question for you. If your father's son is not your brother, then who is he?"

"Why," replies Goh Chok Tong, "It's me of course!"

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was very impressed with this, and decided to try it out. When he got back home to Malaysia he called Najib Razak into his office.

"Najib, I've got a question for you. If you get it wrong then I'm going to fire you."

"Shoot," replies Najib confidently.

"If your father's son is not your brother then who is he?"

Oh dear. Unfortunately Najib could not manage to get his head around the problem. He stands there in silence for a few seconds, worried about his job. "Mr. Abdullah, may I please have 24 hours to think about it?"

"Okay then Najib," says Abdullah, "but if you don't get the answer by tomorrow you're out of a job."

That evening Najib was having dinner with Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, by secret of course as he doesn't want to be seen involved with his former boss, for some reason. "Tun, I've got a problem. I've got to answer a question, and if I don't get it right I'll be fired."

"What's the question?" asks Tun Dr. Mahathir.

"If your father's son is not your brother then who is he?"

Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad laughs. "It's me of course!"

Therefore the next morning, Najib went to see Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

"Well Najib, have you got the answer to the question yet?"

"Yes I have Mr. Abdullah! It's Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad!"

"No!" says Abdullah. "That's completely wrong. I'm afraid that you're just too stupid to be in government. I'm going to have to let you go. Instead I'll make my son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin as my advisor, he's far more intelligent than you are!"

Najib was devistated by this. However, one thing still bugged him. He wanted to know the answer to the riddle which had been the cause of his demise. "Okay then Mr. Abdullah, I'll resign. However, I have one favour to ask. Please tell me, if your father's son is not your brother, who is he?"

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi replies: "IT'S Goh Chok Tong, you IDIOT!!"