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While Dr M sips kopi susu in his rocking chair...

When Dr Mahathir Mohamad said that, “Umno needs to be reformed so that it can criticise its leaders more”, I wonder if it was his guilty conscience speaking  upon realisation of the Machiavellian manner in which he stamped out any form of criticism when he called the shots as PM of Malaysia for 22 years.

When Mahathir said Umno’s “culture is to support its leaders without question”, I wonder if he was reminiscing about how many fell subserviently at his feet when he was PM and shuddered in silence, trembling for fear that any form of criticism could mean the end of their days in Umno or whatever position they held, seemingly ‘because of Mahathirism’.

When Mahathir said that “the leader must be told about other views” and cannot just do whatever he likes”, I wonder if it was because a moment of awakening that brought upon the grim realisation the mass destruction he has brought upon this country.

Deep behind the façade of the many towering office blocks in Kuala Lumpur that are beautifully decorated at night with glittering coloured lights, far beyond the motorways and LRT systems or highways and byways of this country, there are so many flaws in this country that exist hand-designed, sealed and delivered by Mahathir.

And this same leader has the cheek to criticise our current prime minister whose many accomplishments have directly benefited the rakyat in sharp contrast to the trail of destruction Dr Mahathir has left behind.

Even his dearly beloved A Kadir Jasin, former group editor of the New Strait Times, wrote in the New Sunday Times on July 8, 2001 “that Kuala Lumpur hosted the world’s tallest buildings and had the appearance of a First World city, the people responsible for its upkeep had a Third World mentality. He asked, “What good does it do to have the world’s tallest building when from its windows we see slums and ghettos?”

Dr Mahathir thinks he has every reason to be proud of the growth he achieved in ‘unforgettable’ projects such as Proton Saga and its subsequent variations, a steel industry - which channeled funds and energy into subsidised products that signified one man’s nationalist aspirations rather than making real contributions to the nation’s wealth. A firm practitioner of selective retention, he forgets many things but chooses to remember only what delights his heart.

A few pertinent issues

Every morning, when he sips his kopi susu in his retirement rocking chair, perhaps he should consider a few pertinent issues:

1. Which prime minister of Malaysia has seen two racial clashes happening during his reign?

Dr Mahathir, of course.  In his pursuit of glitzy projects, his gross neglect of the slums in the capital contributed to an outbreak of racial conflict in Kampung Rawa in March 1998 and in Kampung Medan, in March 2001, which was the first serious violence between races since 1969.

2. Which prime minister in Malaysia spent billions of dollars on a mega project for a new administrative centre in Putrajaya - money that could have been used to tackle urban and racial problems, which could have helped citizens and avoided racial clashes?

Dr Mahathir, of course.

3. Which former prime minister has this illusion that he is far above any before and after him and has the divine right to dictate the way in which his successors should take and even when they start or finish their term of service?

Dr Mahathir, of course. He is different from all other prime ministers because he is the only prime minister who has criticised two of his successors - Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Najib Abdul Razak.

4. During which Malaysian prime minister’s reign was the most number of notable leaders arrested and then detained during a crackdown, which also banned some media for a period?

Dr Mahathir, of course.

5. Which Malaysian prime minister could not get along with ALL his deputy prime ministers?

Dr Mahathir, of course.

He could not get along with:

a. Musa Hitam, deputy PM from July 18, 1981 to March 16,1986.

b. Abdul Ghafar Baba, deputy PM from May 10, 1986 to Oct 15, 1993.

c. Anwar Ibrahim, deputy PM from Dec 1, 1993 to Sept 2, 1998.

d. Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, deputy PM from Jan 8, 1999 to Oct 31, 2003.

I wonder what were the real reasons for the disconnect between Dr Mahathir and his deputies. Abdul Ghafar Baba served him for the longest period - seven years and five months. The rest did not last more than five years.

In sharp contrast, PM Najib has had a good working relationship with Deputy Prime Minister Muhyddin Yassin who has served him since April 10, 2009. From then until now, I believe PM Najib has not criticised nor condemned any of his team members, not even his deputy.

I wonder if Dr Mahathir really sees his true self when he looks in the mirror each morning.

Perhaps he should look a bit harder, think a little deeper, and let go completely and forgive wholeheartedly - remembering he is human after all, just like all of us – full of imperfections...

If he can do all that, then... in the words of Rudyard Kipling:  

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,  

And - which is more - you’ll be a Man, my son!


ISKANDAR MOHAMAD blogs at http://iskandarunspokentruth. blogspot.com/

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