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Defacing Mahathir: A move to take unity out of the picture

COMMENT | I must admit, something moved me when I read about Pakatan Harapan chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s picture being cut out of billboards in Johor.

It wasn’t outrage or anger. I suppose it was what I felt it symbolised.

The recent ruling by the Election Commission that allows only the images of the candidate and the president and deputy president of the party he or she represents to be published on campaign materials is, of course, extremely arbitrary and biased. It is an obvious move to stymie the personal popularity of Mahathir.

I think the move goes deeper, however. I feel it is part of a decades-long effort to continuously divide Malaysians and perpetuate disunity.

The BN model is essentially a colonial one. On the peninsula particularly, keep the Malays in one box, the Chinese in one box, and the Indians in one box, and you maintain your precious grip on power.

I feel that the powers-that-be have gone through so much energy and effort to retain this balkanised version of Malaysia, and that the greatest threats to BN hegemony have occurred when this model was closest to being shattered...

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