COMMENT Dr Mahathir Mohamad had come out with what appears to be a tacit admission of responsibility for the exponential growth in Sabah's population that occurred largely on his prime ministerial watch (1981-2003).

Sabah's population grew from 929,299 to 2.46 million in two decades from 1980. By 2010, it stood at 3.12 million, a truly Malthusian rate of increase.

In arguments that typify his amoral approach to politics especially when his hands are in the fire, Mahathir - after having earlier disclaimed responsibility for ‘Project IC', the scheme that expedited citizenship for thousands of foreigners in Sabah during his premiership - now retrospectively justifies the decision on grounds that the newly minted citizens had been staying for a long time in Sabah and were conversant with the national language...