The doubting Thomases thought his incarceration sealed the demise of Anwar Ibrahim's politics of reform but the unexpected turn of events in the country makes it highly possible for an Anwar resurgence and prove the sceptics wrong. And yes, Dr Mahathir Mohamad needs to say, "I'm sorry, I was wrong."

Anwar's filial daughter Nurul Nuha, who is leading the 'Free Anwar' effort, wants Mahathir to “make a public apology” and admit his “past transgressions against his father”. This is yet another of ‘Mahathir's dilemmas’. But Nurul Nuha is right.

If Mahathir apologises it would certainly clean his 'slate of sins' against Anwar. If not, what business has he in making overtures to Anwar in the hope of working with the one he cruelly condemned as “morally unfit” to govern?

That's classic Mahathir, the paradigm of self-contradictions. The one who many opine destroyed the nation and is now trying to save it. The paradoxical Mahathir is alive and well. But time is not on his side and this is not 1981. His credibility stocks are low. He is a novice democrat and has yet to earn his wings as a reformer.

No matter how this will pan out, one cannot ignore the realpolitik in the country - there is a political stalemate and Anwar working with Mahathir makes the pivotal difference, even if people doubt they can do anything about the new National Security Council (NSC) Act. But tackling Najib is a different matter.

The fallout from 1MDB, the money-laundering scandals, the Anwar Ibrahim sodomy jailing, the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder scandal, the Teoh Beng Hock death in custody, Kevin Morais murder, and a long list of negatives, has tarnished the country's good name and the leader's popularity. Without personal credibility, no one can lead. Abroad it may be worse. That is Najib's dilemma.

But will a politician of Mahathir's ilk understand dignity and humility? Does Mahathir empathise with the innocent, some of whom I knew personally who suffered at his hands during Operasi Lalang? Has he apologised to his victims and their families?

Bersih 5's Big Day Out

If errant politicians get away with their misdemeanours even with murder it is because we - the people - let them. Don't just blame the politicians, blame ourselves for our failing to act. But here is opportunity for redemption, for us to walk the talk, literally.

News of Bersih 5 happening is what the proverbial doctor would prescribe for a ‘sick nation’. It is the most patriotic act of a citizen to walk with those who demand free and fair elections and support calls to save their country. No citizen deserves to criticise the sorry state of their country if they don't put grievance to action and take to the streets with countless other concerned citizens on Bersih 5's Big Day Out. But do it the proper way and the police ought not try to stop it and be accused of playing politics.

The Bersih 5 rally ought to be seen as non-political and non-sectarian. After all, it is in every citizen's interest to promote free and fair elections and good governance. It has nothing to do with politics but governance. Some people, including politicians, still don't know the difference. Citizens want clean elections to put good leaders in power. Those who are against fair elections will obstruct it. If one is not corrupt, why should one be afraid of something like Bersih 5?

Someone sent me a photo of a lady with a shopping bag that read, "The PM of my country embarrasses me". A picture paints a thousand words indeed. So when people talk of 'saving' the country, are they echoing the concerns of many of their co-citizens? The country faces a credibility deficit exacerbated by the 1MDB embezzlement - the 'world's biggest kleptocracy case' that dwarfs the Great Train Robbery - and the longer 1MDB drags on unresolved, it will hurt the country.

Indeed, Mahathir has to go beyond platitudes and exonerate Anwar. Slander is a grievous moral sin, against God and society and condemned by both. That Anwar has survived so far is a credit to the man's fortitude. For as long as Mahathir keeps his silence, his own moral integrity suffers because the public opinion is that Anwar is innocent and is Mahathir's political scalp.

Never has the possibility of change of regime seemed more heightened than in the coming GE14. But there must be a critical paradigm shift in mindsets in the rural heartlands of the country. And a Mahathir-Anwar alliance provides the psychological edge.

When more rural folks vote for change, the anomalies in the electoral system - gerrymandering and malapportionment become irrelevant. In fact, it may be a double-edged sword against those who designed it and 'sabotaged' the nation's democracy.

Politicians are victims as much as the perpetrators of hypocrisy and in the case of 1MDB - it is downright dishonesty. They didn't tell you the truth which still emerges nevertheless to their detriment. In the 1MDB scandal, the crooks also are still playing 'let's pretend'. And what's tragic is the complicity of those who should know better, who ought to nab the crooks, but appear to defend them.

The police, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), the Inland Revenue Board, the corporate regulators, Bank Negara, among others, have the clues, leads and hard evidence on a platter - compliments of the American Department of Justice (DOJ), The Wall Street Journal, Sarawak Report, among others - but why are they not producing fruit? Are they being obstructed? Why have they toiled and not caught a single fish when foreign authorities trawling through the same irrefutable facts and shady deals are hauling them in?

Is Dr M for real?

Mahathir needs to come clean with Anwar. He needs to redeem himself by eating his own words - cruel, hurtful and careless words he had used to demean Anwar. He cannot play politics with the truth. All he needs to do is simply say, "I was wrong on Anwar. I am sorry." And produce fruit in keeping with the apology by working hard to get Anwar out of jail. He needs to revisit a royal pardon and help get Anwar freed. Then we might believe Mahathir is for real.

Mahathir needs Anwar to bolster his fledgling political party. He wants it to replace Umno. Mahathir is desperate to win at all costs and the one who told the voters to 'vote for the devil we know' will do deals with anyone who he needs to help his cause. It is all part of Mahathir's selective and skewed sense of politics. A single-race party is doomed to failure in a multi-racial nation so where is the credibility for the new political kid on the block?

Malaysia may often be thought of as a 'lucky nation' but one definitely cursed with corruption and corrupt leaders. Those who want to 'save the nation' must reform the way of governance and commit to changing the political culture and infrastructure. I hope Bersih 5 will be “the largest ever peaceful public display of the people's concerns” that awakens the nation. It is up to every conscientious citizen to make it happen and succeed. Be there.

The tragedy of the times is the inability of the present system to bring the culprits, some in high office, to justice and deliver good governance. Only the political misfits are sacrificed to produce the rare and unconvincing conviction for corruption.

Mahathir can redeem himself if he avoids acting like a politician but an altruistic citizen. He needs to overcome his compulsion to control.

In my book of 'Good News for Modern Man' there is a saying that one can control others to one's detriment. It is timely advice for a nation of many control freaks. Our society while having all the trappings of a contemporary cosmopolitan country (and therefore presumably advanced in civilisation, social etiquette, adaptation and civil liberty) still practise old feudalistic rituals and habits. Hence, the people's obsession with titles and rank and the power to dominate and control, but not the altruism to serve society.

If Mahathir & Co think that their fledgling political party can replace Umno because the 'old lady' is no longer true to the mission of promoting 'race and religion' and 'Bersatu' can do better and be the neo-Umno. They are repeating the nearly 60-year-old mistake Umno made.

Malaysia the nation - a moral and political commitment to integrate four different countries into one in the original plan - was never meant to be anyone's neo-colony. A true nation has no hideous ideology of race or religious superiority. The failure of Mahathir when in power to build a 'nation of equals' where 'equal opportunity' not 'ketuanan bangsa' was to be the fountainhead of the country's advancement is another lost opportunity.

Najib had all in his favour to transform the nation but appears to have lost the way in his maze of slogans, hype and spin. He should not have emulated his mentor in trying to achieve political immortality by governing through mega visions where billions of much-needed public funds can be lost.

1MDB sticks out like a sore thumb and is the millstone around his neck. And the idea that the buck does not stop at his desk in the debacle is hard for anyone to swallow. The defence that he did not know the thieves were stealing from 1MDB under his nose as the allegations and evidence piled at his desk is indeed confounding.

Corrupt system corrupts indefinitely

Regime change is more than changing the guard. Najib is inconsequential in the final analysis. Leaders come and go but a corrupted system corrupts indefinitely until there is regime change followed by radical structural change. New wine must be kept in new wineskins. New leaders need a new way, a new ethos of governance, an ethos that is not shameless hype and hypocrisy.

In short, the 'Malaysian way' of governing needs a huge overhaul. For example, making policy on the run, the willy-nilly giving away of public money to Olympic medallists raises questions, spending hundreds of millions on a park - they evoke questions of priority and propriety. Don't they have a sports policy in place to motivate and award medallists? Is material reward more important than pride in winning for country?

Until Malaysia is a nation of equals, it has no business gloating over nationhood. It would be falsehood. The African American 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick refused to stand up for the American national anthem. “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of colour,” Kaepernick told NFL Media in a post-game interview.

For Malaysia to be an advanced 'nation of equals' requires Mahathir and Anwar to speak the same and sane language of national togetherness, not racial bigotry, in whatever perverted form, so that every citizen can feel inspired and want to stand up for their national anthem, like what we did in school after Merdeka premier, Tunku Abdul Rahman, delivered our school's speech.

Otherwise 'Negara-ku' may sound hollow when sung with empty hearts, even on Malaysia Day. People may be singing, but in their minds they are still sitting down. As long as the system promotes 'they' and 'us' - the nation - we - will continue to flounder and be weighed down by the shame of more and more scandals like the present 'mother of scandals' - 1MDB, which to some means ‘1Makan Duit Banyak’.

That is why every citizen walking in Bersih 5 on Nov 19 will be the best birthday present all Malaysians can give their beloved but ransomed nation. Happy birthday Malaysia, especially to those who are happy.

STEVE OH is the author of the novel ‘Tiger King of the Golden Jungle’ and composer of the musical of the same title. He believes in good governance and morally upright leaders.