Gold sold in Malaysia carries the mark "916". Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim is also benchmarking his political comeback as 916 – Sept 16. This is the date he has set for enough lawmakers from the ruling bench to cross over to the Pakatan Rakyat to enable the opposition to take over the reins of govenrment from the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition under Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

In the gold trade 916, of course, means a metal has been assayed as 91.9% pure gold or 22 carat. The purest is 24 carat, 99.9% or 99.0%, otherwise known as three nines and two nines respectively.

So how much gold has Anwar got? For 40 or even 50 ruling lawmakers to crossover, they must be worth their weight in gold. If you ask the guys in Umno, the dominant Malay party in the BN coalition, they will say, "Nah! It's just gold plating, nothing real."

Some say Anwar is just bragging while yet others say 916 is a fool's gold. This refers to pyrite because the mineral's flashy yellow colour is very similar to gold. Although it looks like gold, its other physical properties are very different. Pyrite is a common sulphide mineral and sulphur when mixed with water smells like bad fart.

However, if one can stand the odour, pyrite is often associated with the presence of gold and copper, and locating fool's gold may mean the real thing isn't far off. So pinch your nose and wait for 916.

If 916 is Anwar's golden date, then the Umno guys, especially those who are hanging on to all their gold for dear life can be trusted to fight tooth and nail over 916 to make sue it does not happen.

So will Sept 16 happen? "No way," said political activist Hishamuddin Rais, who spoke at a forum Wednesday night (Sept 10) in Kuala Lumpur on Anwar's Sept 16 crossover agenda. "You will wake up as usual on 916 and go to work, assuming you still have a job."

But it looks like 916 is not a date but an event or even a process, according to another panellist, R. Siva Rasiah, an MP from Anwar's party. He insisted the impending crosssvoer will take place but maybe not on 916.

Why? "Because the BN has sent 49 of their lawmakers to Taiwan for a study tour until Sept 17 and we have to wait fro them to come back," he quipped.

But jokes aside, even former premeir Dr Mahathir Mohamad seriously believes in Anwar's 916 threat. His has even "agreed "to return to Umno which he resigned in a huff recently to help get rid of the PM to make sure 916 does not happen.

Come Sept 16, will Anwar deliver his 91.6% pure gold or will we get fool's gold? (By BOB TEOH/ MySinchew)