There was panic in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur last night when it was revealed that the country's newly-elected leader, the 92-year-old Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, had a cold.
Dr. Mohamad is the oldest Prime Minister in the world, after his party, the Pakatan Harapan (Alliance of Hope), broke the 60-year stranglehold on politics of the Barison Nasional (BN), which had been in power since 1957.
However, old people like Prime Minister Mohamad are particularly vulnerable to coughs and colds, and, after officials heard him sniffing as he was being sworn-in last night, the nonagenarian was seen by another doctor, and confined to bed after a mug of cocoa and a Lemsip.
An aide commented:
"It's a historic moment for Malaysia. A time of great opportunity, and we want to protect our leader, and keep him as healthy as we can, so that he might combat the corruption prevalent in Malaysian society. We have to be vigilant. We don't know whether he was sniffing back tears in an emotional response to winning the election, or if it's something more serious."
