The most relevant test of the effectiveness of a leader of a people is whether or not he has been successful in bringing them along with him to the agreed destination or target. By my reckoning, Mahathir has failed miserably.

He has purported lofty aims for his people, especially bumiputeras, but he is not able to really catch their imagination. He has not understood the intrinsic values of his people enough to do it right. He then blames them for being stupid for not seeing things the way he does.

Leaders lead and inspire, not just aspire and lecture. Leaders identify with their people, not cast them as misfits just because they don't fit into the grand scheme of things.

I am sure that a lot of well-informed people out there would love to respond to Tai Lo Chin's challenge o­n whether Mahathir's detractors have balanced their considerations of Mahathir's performance with the appropriate pros and cons.

Managers in corporations are judged by the criteria of success defined prior to the commencement of any undertaking. This is to avoid any moving back of goal posts when the going gets tough. In this aspect, o­ne o­nly needs to compare the declared objectives of Mahathir's major undertakings with the eventual results.

You will find that there is not even a semblance of success, despite all that discounting to absorb soft losses. If Proton is a dead duck without expensive trade protection, where do we stand in terms of cost-efficiency after all these years?

Let's just look at the example of the Sepang Formula o­ne circuit. Mahathir was quoted that worldwide TV exposure will translate into million of dollars we would have to pay anyway, for the same amount of international advertising in o­ne country. If that is the success criteria, let me challenge Petronas president and CEO Mohd Hassan Marican, a chartered accountant, to enter those figures as an asset item or income item o­n a balance sheet. How about as an appropriately valued goodwill then? It is no wonder that the F1 circuit is now out of Petronas' stable of emperor's new clothes.

This is just the same as the Non-Aligned Movement summit, the Commonwealth Games and the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, and soon the Organisation of Islamic Conference - we throw good "parties" and they will all come and sing praises. It always seem like we are putting o­n expensive shows so Mahathir can look good. Not to say that we cannot still host these events, but let us host them befitting our financial priorities.

On the macro level, are we better off now than when Mahathir just came to power? Let me just list eight of my gripes:

1) The Malay community is divided than we have ever been. Anwar Ibrahim did not have the real choice in setting off the mentor-protege feud. Being o­n top, Mahathir did, but he chose to do it in contrary to Malay values. No wonder Malays have found it hard to relate to him. PAS has little to do with it either - the party was there before Mahathir was PM. Who gave them the ammunition to gain favour?

2) Racial polarisation is worse now than before Mahathir assumed the PM post. This is partly caused by lack of sincerity at leadership level, where there is just too much double talk to stay in power - essentially, a failure of leadership.

3) Perception of judicial credibility is worse than it has ever been before. Enough said.

4) Corruption of public officials seem to be tolerated more than ever before. At the ground level, how is it that you can you find pornographic VCDs sold openly in suburban housing areas? Do we not have law enforcement at all? At the big-fish level, whatever happened to the Perwaja investigations?

5) Standards of the civil service is so much more deplorable, that I cannot even begin to list them. That atrocious letter written by a Malaysian diplomat in Canada in reply to Canadian journalists is a shining example of bureaucratic arrogance gone mad. Was he trained in diplomacy at all? I bet that retired Malaysian diplomats were red-faced when they read that letter. Generally speaking, the whole situation can be described in Bahasa Melayu as " Bodoh sombong, pandai tak boleh diikut, bodoh tak boleh diajar ". (those who are ignorant and stupid cannot imitate the intelligent and neither can they be taught to be intelligent)

6) As for human rights, o­ne just need to honestly answer the question, "Do I feel safer or freer now than before, and if I don't, do I think that anyone up there in government care?"

7) Privatisation of public services under Mahathir has made them worse. Have you ever looked at the murky water coming out of our taps? Ever trusted Pos Malaysia with your important documents?

8) The worst debacle under Mahathir is our education system. Wishy-washy, myopic, and so heavily politicised as to confuse whole generations of youth. Like " Lebai Malang; terkejar sana, terkejar sini, lama-lama ke mana pun tak sempat ". (Jack of all trades, master of none)

Surely, there must be some things that we are better off since Mahathir came to power. But they are there in spite of Mahathir and not because of him.

I agree with Abdullah Junid who said that the economic growth of the early to mid-90s cannot be attributed to Mahathir. He was just swept into it. If he was the mastermind and architect, he would have understood the phenomenon more, and been able to anticipate its pitfalls and formulate our defence strategies, instead of whining away shell-shocked when the 'bad guys' pulled the rug from under his feet.

Or course, his apologists would resort to saying that things in Malaysia overall would even be worse if not for Mahathir. Let me remind them that that is not the way megalomaniacs like to be credited.

Is he to be solely blamed for all these? Not in a democracy where collective responsibility is genuinely practised. But with democracy Mahathir-style, the buck stops right at his desk.

In spite of his apparent vision, he has many times pawned off long-term goals for short-term expediencies, such as the sacking of the Lord President Salleh Abbas in 1988.

Then, he told his people off when they did not identify with his dreams. There's nothing more sad than a lost leader. I am relieved that he going. Period. It is not against the law to opine that.