Dr Mahathir Mohamad's recent announcement of his resignation should have been a class act. After all the man is 76 years old and has been prime minister for over two decades. That the event was reduced to a chaotic and pathetic spectacle is very revealing.

I believe that Mahathir is genuine in his desire to quit. But what should have been a triumphant moment for him and his party quickly degenerated. He was made to look like a third-rate Malaysian politician who bravely 'resigned' only to be 'reluctantly' coaxed back into retracting his statement.

More despicable was the reaction of the Umno members. They behaved like a brood of helpless chicks whose mother had been suddenly snatched from them. And to think that some of them are ministers and senior government officials!

Earlier in the Umno general assembly, Mahathir had expressed his severe disappointment in not being able to change the Malays after all these years. He apologised profusely for his failings. It was a remarkable display of introspection and self-awareness.

He also saw fit to once again chastise and castigate Malays for not measuring up. He used some unusually tough and very demeaning language this time. Malays outside of Umno are deeply offended by Mahathir's constant denigration, his latest outburst being particularly distasteful.

But his fawning ministers and minister wannabes duly praised him for being 'frank', 'daring', and other adoring adjectives nothing unusual there.

To the greater Malay masses however, Mahathir's latest diatribe elicited only a massive collective yawn. Even Umno's newsletter, otherwise known as New Straits Times , hardly carried any letter to the editor on the issue. Malaysians have heard the same stale sermon once too many.

Feudal mentality

What is especially galling is that while Mahathir and other leaders continually badger Malays to change, these leaders are stuck in their own feudal mentality and kampung ways.

With nauseating frequency they exhort us to be thrifty and frugal, while they indulge in extravagant lifestyles and other vulgar displays of wealth. The recent obscenely ostentatious wedding of Abdullah Badawi's daughter was one loathsome example, yet this man has no qualms of endlessly exhorting Malays not to be spendthrifts!

These Malay leaders constantly lecture the young to opt for science, but they cannot even convince their own to do likewise.

They hector us to be berdikari (self reliant), but they and their kin are the first to hog the public trough. Mahathir's children and Badawi's son all received scholarships and subsidised study loans.

Indeed I challenge anyone to name any member of Mahathir's cabinet and Umno supreme council who has not benefited from the public largesse.

Mahathir decries 'money politics'. Alas, Umno degenerated into its present graft-ridden and patronage-laden culture while under his watch.

Mahathir would have better luck had he chosen a more modest goal. That is, instead of trying to change the entire Malay race, he should have concentrated on changing himself and those close to him, such as members of his cabinet and the Umno supreme council.

Malays have an apt saying. A mother crab can never hope to teach her young to walk straight while she herself is crawling sideways. Once Malay leaders start walking straight, the masses would surely follow.

That notwithstanding, Mahathir has had a remarkable 21 years, but in the end the legacy of a leader is in his successor. It is highly significant that he resigned without first formally endorsing his anointed deputy, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Mahathir often declared that he did not want to be a lame duck leader by announcing his retirement in advance. Perversely by bungling his retirement announcement, he effectively turned himself into one. He also threw the nation into an unnecessary political mess, the very situation he desperately wanted to avoid

Malaysia is now effectively paralysed. We can expect no meaningful work from these Umno functionaries and ministers until the next leadership conference, a year later at the very least. Until then they will be preoccupied with political manoeuvring. With critical issues in education and the economy, this is one distraction Malaysia does not need.

Greatest blunder

Mahathir's greatest blunder was relying too heavily on one individual, Anwar Ibrahim.

When Anwar's flawed character was ultimately exposed, Mahathir was left stranded. To his credit, he acted decisively to rectify his errors, despite the heavy political and emotional price.

History may well regard this to be Mahathir's greatest contribution. Anwar is an Islamic fundamentalist masquerading as a secular liberal. He would have been a disaster for plural Malaysia.

After he fired Anwar, Mahathir stuck to tradition in selecting one of the Umno vice-presidents to be his deputy. He did not have the courage to cast his net far and deep. Thus while he constantly nags Malays to break from the bonds of our customs and traditions and to bravely venture beyond, he is unable to free himself from those constraints.

Finding the next cadre of leaders will not be easy. While previous generations were inspired by the struggle for freedom, no such inspirations exist now. Today's young Mahathirs, if they have not already succumbed to the lures of the First World, are busy pitting their talent in the highly lucrative private sector.

Fortunately, thanks to the successes of Mahathir's policies, there are many capable Malaysians. Finding them would not be difficult, but enticing them into public service would be the problem. But there will be a few who, having reached the peak of their career and put aside a comfortable nest egg, would consider public service a noble calling. Grab them! Under the tutelage of the master himself, these fast learners would grasp political skills soon enough.

Were Mahathir to restrict himself to his party, there would be slim pickings. Sadly, his track record at talent picking is abysmal. Anwar is only the most dramatic example. Another of Mahathir's recent appointees was a man who had been caught with millions of cash in his back pocket. And when he ventured beyond the party, his luck was no better, as exemplified by his new education minister, Musa Mohamed, who fumbles from one crisis to another.

His recent choice of a new chief justice in Dzaiddin Abdullah was a remarkable exception. That one wise pick did more to enhance the judiciary than all of Mahathir's speeches. This should remind him of the importance of personnel.

Mahathir has contributed immensely. Malaysians should therefore not let those small characters in Umno deprive the man of his triumphant moment and the dignity he so richly deserves in quitting at the time of his own choosing.

Portions of this essay are from the writer's recently released book, Malaysia in the era of globalization .

M BAKRI MUSA is a surgeon in Silicon Valley, California and the author of The Malay Dilemma Revisited: Race Dynamics in Modern Malaysia . His views on Malaysia can be stated thus: Ours is a diverse nation; we can accept and celebrate this reality or by default, it becomes a liability.