During a question-and-answer session at the Malaysian Harvard Club dinner last Monday (July 29), Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said he was in a dilemma on what he should do about Malay privileges before his retirement next October.

Minutes earlier, he had concluded his speech entitled 'The New Malay Dilemma' to an attentive crowd of about 600. His speech re-visited the thoughts that he first penned in the much controversial 'The Malay Dilemma' book in the 1960s.

Then came the question if he would make dramatic changes before he steps down, to which Mahathir said he was pondering if he should make changes to the Malay privileges which the New Economic Policy (NEP) implemented in 1970 had borne.

"Well, that is my dilemma. 16 months is not a long time. If we do things without thinking of the consequences, it will be retrogressive," said the 76-year-old premier.

Fair enough. It is a known fact that Mahathir had in the past castigated the Malays for their continued economic dependence on the government.

The premier had tried various methods from hectoring to crying and pleading to awaken the Malays to discard the 'crutches' provided by the government.

An interesting anecdote to the tale of Malay privileges is that most of the affirmative actions and positive discriminations that were implemented through the NEP were modeled after what Mahathir had written in his book.

As such, Mahathir can claim to be the right person to decide if the time has come to remove these privileges. It is a huge task, no doubt, but one that the premier will have to give much thought to and seek counsel from many before making a decision.

Lesser matters

However, before the premier is bogged down with this, he must be reminded of few other lesser matters that await his decisions as well. These lesser dilemmas might not have the same magnitude of importance as the question of Malay privileges, but they are important nevertheless.

So what are these lesser matters? If one starts a list, it could be never-ending.

There are questions of human rights, press freedom, draconian laws, silenced students, muffled majority and stifled opposition. There are questions over the declining standard of sports and the quality of our education system under Mahathir.

Then there are also the other issues of corrupt practices, cronyism and economic plundering. Towards the end of the list, one could even add the circumstances under which former finance minister Daim Zainuddin quit the government.

However, it is understandable if Mahathir is not able to decide on how to address or solve these issues before he retires.

The least, then, the premier, the longest serving in Asia, can do is to give some answers to some of the even smaller dilemmas which the people who voted his government in would like to know.

Like what, one may ask.

DTC fire

Well, for starters, what caused the pre-dawn fire at the Dewan Tunku Canselor in Universiti Malaya on June 29 last year.

Mahathir and his government seem to have forgotten about this incident totally. But in the aftermath, almost all national leaders opined that it was a sabotage by students against Mahathir.

This claim led to an alarming string of events and even saw the arrest of two students under the Internal Security Act for alleged militancy in campuses. This eventually led to the signing of a loyalty pledge to the government, first by students, then by all civil servants.

And as for the fire that caused an estimated damage of RM12 million, it had five different government agencies investigating the cause. Subsequently, the fire department said faulty wiring was the culprit, only to be disputed by the police department later.

Ministers too were at a loss on what actually happened and finally, everyone concerned said the reports were with the prime minister and only he can any statements.

The 33-page fire department report was submitted to Mahathir at a Cabinet meeting on July 11 last year. Similarly other reports too were handed to him.

By the time the premier retires, a new hall would have been erected in the ruins of the old one. So what caused the fire, Dr Mahathir?

The other burning issue is what happened to the RM19 billion Perbadanan Usahawan Nasional Bhd (PUNB) bonds scandal.

The last anyone heard of the scandal was when Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Douglas Unggah Embas told Parliament in July 2001 that investigation into a bond scandal was a state secret unless the matter was brought before a court of law.

The Anti-Corruption Agency started probing into the scandal last January after receiving a tip off that the company had issued bonds worth RM19 billion without the approval of the finance ministry.

The fraudulent bonds, dated Oct 13, 2000, have a 10-year maturity date and carries the signatures of the chief executive officer and secretary of PUNB. PUNB is a company set up in 1991 by the government to encourage Malay entrepreneurs.

Well maybe the premier will be gracious enough to reveal before his retirement as to who was actually behind this scam.

The arms theft

If the premier is in the mood to reveal secrets, one more mystery he could shed some light on is how a bunch of 'untrained' Al-Maunah members managed to steal a cache of weapons right under some 'trained' soldiers' noses in July 2000.

The government was swift in dismissing claims that the incident was 'staged' even going to the extent of re-enacting the heist.

However questions remain unanswered. How the army allowed a group of 20 men to drive into a high-security camp and drive away with the weapons is beyond comprehension?

Subsequent events revealed that the soldiers had even assisted the Al-Ma'unah members to load the weapons into the vehicles.

The Malaysian public is told that reports have been prepared by the Defence ministry as well as the army and one could understand that since the case of the Al-Ma'unah members is still in court (at the Federal Court stage), it would be subjudice to talk about the matter.

But the government can reveal what steps have been taken to increase security at army bases and what actions have been taken against the incompetent soldiers who should be held responsible for the whole fiasco.

Now, revealing this would not be subjudice and perhaps Mahathir can either give an answer or at least instruct his defence minister to do so.

The above are only a few of the questions contained in a long list that requires some explanation, preferably from Mahathir.

However, hope is faint, that with his dilemma in deciding what to do about Malay privileges, Mahathir will also consider these 'humbler' issues.

K Kabilan is malaysiakini 's news editor.