Newsroom legend has it that when Dr Mahathir Mohamad went under the knife following a heart attack in 1989, media organisations had scrambled to compile his obit.

                                   

It is said some of the editors who ordered their reporters to work on the special issue then have themselves graced the obituary pages in the 26 years since Mahathir's bypass surgery.

 

A few more trips to the hospital and another heart bypass later, Mahathir continues to tick and has now crossed the peripheries that separate octogenarians from nonagenarians. He turns 90 today.

              

Notwithstanding, the political juggernaut remains a source of intense chest discomfort for those who succeeded him.

 

Mahathir is no stranger to making political careers skip a beat or even come to a complete flat-line.

 

At present, he is attempting to clog Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's arteries and the latter's reputation is now on life support.

Cut from the same cloth

While he did not intend it, the former premier unwittingly played an instrumental role in opening up democratic space, and even helped to usher the rise of Malaysiakini .

 

The results of the 2008 and 2013 general elections, which shook the foundation of the ruling coalition, were the result of Mahathir's two mistakes - appointing Anwar Ibrahim as his number two and then sacking him.

 

Some claim that Mahathir had no choice because his heir-apparent sought to topple him.

 

Whatever the reason, it was the Reformasi movement born in the aftermath of Anwar's expulsion that fertilised the Malaysian soil for the voices of dissent to grow louder and stronger.

 

The conditions were ripe for the emergence of a news portal that provided an alternative view of the political climate for Malaysians who were fed a staple diet of government propaganda for years.

 

Furthermore, Mahathir had promised zero censorship for the Internet. But this did not stop him from attempting to discredit Malaysiakini which had to operate under the constant fear of arrest.

 

Love or loathe them, both Mahathir and Anwar are cut from the same cloth - obstinate politicians with a trenchant stamina.

 

However, it is Anwar who paid the heavier price on a personal note and what he did for the nation - irrespective of his motives - can never be forgotten.

 

It is because of Anwar that Malaysians put their foot down, the tremors rattling the corridors of power continue to this day.

 

Dark episodes

 

With his relentless bombardment of Najib, Mahathir is once again basking in the limelight despite the many dark episodes which characterised his 22 years in power.

 

To most Umno politicians, he was their mentor and it was the same for the current prime minister.

 

His successors are not only forced to shoulder their respective baggage but also the back-breaking legacy of Mahathir, during whose tenure institutions and agencies tasked with safeguarding the people and upholding the rule of law were neutered and muzzled.

 

Mahathir's time was when corruption and abuse of power rose to unprecedented levels, a blight that continues to haunt us today.

 

However, Mahathir seems to slip into occasional bouts of amnesia about all that.

 

This is evident in his remarks regarding, among others, the mass arrests under the Internal Security Act, codenamed Operasi Lalang, and the sacking of lord president Salleh Abas.

 

Mahathir is a wizard in the art of statecraft, and even his rivals would attest to this albeit with a burning grudge.

 

For the nation's sake, one only wished that he had been more of a statesman who thought of the next generation as opposed to being a politician, who is concerned about the next election.

 

Happy birthday, and Godspeed, Tun.

The life and times of Dr M

 

 

RK ANAND is a member of the Malaysiakini team.

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