COMMENT | I was getting ready to take the family to Penang when news broke out about former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad apologising to the nation for the wrongs he had done in the past.

I never expected Dr Mahathir to apologise to the whole nation after over two decades of misdeeds when he was in Umno. Singlehandedly, he had swerved Umno beyond centre right, along with the help of the extremists in the organisation.

He had to drum up their support because he needed their support to fight off former challenger, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah; they needed him in order to achieve their own personal agenda, not forgetting that Mahathir was also one of the three who have been linked to the forced removal of Tunku Abdul Rahman.

Umno had become too embroiled with its own internal struggles and in my opinion, lost its political direction after Merdeka. Umno’s keris has always represented the shedding of blood.

I am not surprised that some Umno members are propping themselves up as warriors just to gain recognition. But to the general population, these are only seen as fighting cocks within a small arena. If Umno wants to keep up with time, that kind of image has to be shed.

Although the keris still remains its symbol, it is no longer relevant in the context of post-2008 Malaysia. Many already were already looking at Umno Youth leaders in the 1990s kissing the keris with disgust.

Mahathir took advantage of that kind of culture in Umno, and rebuilt what is now known as Umno Baru after the deregistration of the old Umno. If you ask me, this is Mahathir’s greatest disservice to the nation.

But since this is a blanket apology for whatever wrong he did, I will forgive him.

After all, I have already forgiven him when he first made the turnaround. I never expected the old fox to make such a public apology; at the most that I thought he would do in this lifetime is to say that he is now no longer with the organisation that has today become a four letter word in most urban households since 2008.

Most urbanites that I speak to will be quick to point the finger at Umno for any form of political intimidation that they read in the daily news. It is just a different group and a different individual, but the same pattern of political intimidation.

Time to move on

The fact that Mahathir has made what I consider to be a blanket apology – although qualified, “however you wish to interpret it” – is an acknowledgement of his humanness and it takes a lot of humility for the man himself to say sorry to the whole nation.

For those who are maintaining an unforgiving stance, my word of advice is: “Don’t expect the man himself to apologise for every single deed that he did wrong.”

We can expect justice to be meted out when there is sufficient evidence of corruption, but if we continue to live in the past, it will not do any good for the nation.

On Mahathir’s position once outside of Umno, de facto opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim understands it better than most other Malaysians; therefore, his daughter Nurul Izzah’s willingness to let go decades of suffering under Mahathir regime is simply heart-warming.

When Anwar was with Umno, he was also known for his extremist views too. After spending nearly two decades out of Umno, and most part of it in prison himself, you can agree with me that even Anwar has changed for the better.

He is the only one with the charisma to bring the nation together; so, Malays who are easily intimidated by Umno’s propaganda that DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang would become Malaysia’s next prime minister can rest assured that not even Lim or his son Guan Eng are after that much coveted position.

They have given Anwar their handshake, and if I may say so, to Mahathir as well, so long as he is doing all he can to turn this nation around.

My question to the whole nation is: if Anwar is able to forgive the man who destroyed his own political future, there is no reason why most Malaysians should not give this old fox a chance to rectify the country’s situation.

I can accept that politicians from the other end of the political divide would of course continue to sing a different tune. Most Harapan supporters, as far as I now, do not think that even if Mahathir were made interim prime minister it would be a betrayal of the Reformasi movement.

Most of us would want him to serve the rest of his life in office to bring this nation back on track, with Anwar and his team spearheading all the reforms that are necessary.

If we can move on this track, together we will make Malaysia great again.

STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.