The trend in most parts of the world is that when a political leader leaves office, he or she will not return to politics. They are known to spend time doing social work, teach or write their about experiences.

Noted among them are the past US presidents went into complete retirement from politics. Many wrote books, some even became goodwill ambassadors to poor, war-torn and problem-mired parts of the world.

They are usually well-accepted by most of the affected countries in those regions. They live like true statesmen despite the hatred some people may have had against them when they were in power. The last British governor of Hong Kong wrote a very inspiring book after his retirement. Many others have spent their retirement writing books and their memoirs.

Most leaders in the First World are wise enough to stay away from politics after their retirement. Many have become very popular after their hectic political life.

In the case of Dr Mahathir Mohamad (no malice intended), he was referred to as ‘a pop-star' by a political leader when he decided to go to the ground to campaign for Barisan Nasional candidates in the just concluded by-elections at Bukit Gantang and Bukit Selambau.

The anticipation was that Mahathir would cause a big, last minute swing to enable BN to wrest the two seats. Unfortunately, that did not happen. Unfortunately, the so-called ‘pop star' could not make much impact there to cause a vote swing in favour of BN.

In other words, with or without Mahathir, the people had already decided whom to vote for on April 7. The ‘pop-star' could have helped a few fence-sitters to vote for BN but it was not effective enough to cause a big stir or a wave of change.

Let this be a lesson to other ‘pop stars' in politics. Another case in point is Samy Vellu (no malice intended). His presence at these constituencies also did not make much impact to draw back Indian votes for BN.

Many Indians who were at one time very loyal supporters of BN have now practically deserted BN. His presence in Bukit Selambau, for that matter, was just dismal. The people did not want to listen to him.

It is no surprise that the infamous term ‘surat khabar lama' was used widely in the campaigns by Pakatan Rakyat supporters to smear the presence of these senior leaders who once did contribute a lot to the nation during their prime political days. The talk among critics about long-serving politicians is that ‘they just fail to understand that the people have long rejected them, but they have the false impression that they are still liked by many'.

These two ‘pop stars' should retire from politics and do some better things in life that could benefit the people. Their experiences could be well used in furthering diplomacy with other countries. They can become ‘ambassadors' of sorts to promote Malaysia in the international arena.

They would be more welll-liked and accepted this way. Bill Clinton spent his time in Africa to help the poor, so did many other past political leaders. Mahathir and Samy should emulate them rather then returning to politics.

Pak Lah can take a leaf from this ‘surat khabar lama' incident. My sincere advice to Pak Lah is to completely stay away from active politics. Pak Lah did mention that he wanted to plant fruit tress and catch up with ‘lost sleep' after retiring. He can even play more golf now, write, do charity work or give non-political speeches to the people.

He can become our ‘ambassador' to foreign countries to help promote goodwill with these countries. He could also help some countries that need advice on the many social and political problems they face.

Pak does not have to become another ‘pop star' or ‘surat khabar lama' in Malaysian politics. He will only tarnish his name if he does so.