‘He should end his career to unite the people whom he was partly responsible in dividing. He could be the catalyst of integration. It is time for him to give back to the non-Muslims whom he has hurt so much in his career.’
The Two Sides of Mahathir Mohamad
Multi Racial: I believe Dr Mahathir Mohamad wanted to develop Malaysia. But not necessary what he did was right. I believe he genuinely want to help the Malays. Again, not necessary what he did was right. If you look back on his journey. There were good things done and there were bad ones too. I suppose the bad ones left a big wound in the nation’s soul that will takes years to heal. I understand he championed the Malays when he was a young politician. A lot of it got to do with the UMNO style of politics where one needs to be racist to go up the leader.
Look at Najib Razak when he was a youth leader. The same applies to Hishammuddin Hussein, who did equally racist things. But this got to stop especially for a former prime minister. He (Mahathir) should end his career to unite the people whom he was partly responsible in dividing. He could be the catalyst of integration. It is time for him to give back to the non-Muslims whom he has hurt so much in his career.
Barry Wain has done an admirable job with his book on Mahathir. But I differ with him when he states that Mahathir was only pretending to believe 9/11 was staged. I think Mahathir has researched the subject sufficiently to realise it was just another sandiwara, but on a mind-boggingly colossal scale.
Chuentick: “He taught his children right from wrong, how to work hard, no short cuts to success, good manners and respect for authority” – are you sure about this? Look at the instant millionaires in his family!
By their fruits, you will know them. And what are Mahathir’s fruits in the years that he ruled? I don’t need to second guess Mahathir and his motives. What he is fighting for today has a lot to do with the possibility that there is a genuine chance of Pakatan Rakyat taking over Putrajaya one day.
Mahathir isn’t stupid to know what happens to dictators – and their family members – when there is a change in government. He remembers well Suharto, Marcos, the Shah of Iran, etc. Thirty years of Umno rule from the time Mahathir stepped into the PM’s post and his foundations for nation-building have us now staring at the possibility of a failed nation, if we haven’t become one yet.
The present generation – have to now undertake to clean up the mess that he and Umno have made of this country so that perhaps our children can get a decent chance in this country.
Perhaps if Barry Wain were to read up on the personality traits of the Myer-Briggs ESTJ (Extroverted thinking with sensing) psychological archetype, he will come across a more plausible personality analysis for this politician, who without batting an eyelash, executed an unimaginably cruel and unIslamic political hatchet job on his own chosen deputy, fellow UMNO member and pedigree Malay “prince of the soil”.
As he now desperately wants to prevent Anwar Ibrahim from becoming the next PM, I’d take a wild guess that this is really why he now appears to fight tooth and nail “for the Malays” who if you recall, he so conveniently abandoned in favour of the elitist Umnoputras for all those 22 long years while he held power.
He destroyed the Malays who challenged him, using all the apparatus of government shamelessly. He robbed and conned the rakyat in every elections and stole the people’s money through his negotiated tender system, which was actually a robbers’ system. He messed up education, the judiciary, the transport system, the constitution, the police, security of the people and screwed Malaysia up with his hare-brained ideas.
I doubt whether Dr M ever had/has any conscience. To me, he is a man who would stop at nothing to get to the top, regardless of whose heads he steps on. I can never forget his Operation Lallang swoop on the rakyat. He literally killed freedom from then on…
All said and done, his era has ended. It is time we take stock and move ahead. It is easy to destroy, but it takes real courage and determination to build. The independent institutions that were undermined would need years to rebuilt, and getting rid of BN would be the first step.
I read Barry Wain’s book from cover to cover and congratulate him for a task well done. Dr. Mahathir fired the imagination of our country when he took over from Tun Hussein Onn. He introduced the Malaysia Inc. idea and transformed our economy. His taglines “Bersih, Cakap Amanah” dan “Leadership by Example” (Kepimpinan Melalui Teladan) were catchy and genuine I felt at that time (1981). But he changed after 1987 after he formed UMNO Baru. Money Politics, cronyism and corruption started under his 22 year rule. He also destroyed our institutions of governance.
How can we explain this change in the man who you (Mr Din Merican) admired so much? I can only say that it is due to absolute power. Lord Action is right when he said, ” power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely”. Dr Mahathir was a man with alsolute power after he eliminated his political opponents (Tengku Razaleigh, Musa Hitam) and his anointed successor, Anwar Ibrahim.
Today, he is tragic figure, trying hard to defend his legacy. He relied on people like Daim and his boys and they let him down. That is the price of leadership. Choose the wrong people and you are in deep trouble. His biggest mistake by his own admission was to appoint Abdullah Badawi as his successor. Now our Prime Minister No. 6 Najib will be have hard time to reform his UMNO party and implement his New Economic Model and 1Malaysia concept.
29/06/10
The Two Sides of Mahathir Mohamad
Multi Racial: I believe Dr Mahathir Mohamad wanted to develop Malaysia. But not necessary what he did was right. I believe he genuinely want to help the Malays. Again, not necessary what he did was right. If you look back on his journey. There were good things done and there were bad ones too. I suppose the bad ones left a big wound in the nation’s soul that will takes years to heal. I understand he championed the Malays when he was a young politician. A lot of it got to do with the UMNO style of politics where one needs to be racist to go up the leader.
Look at Najib Razak when he was a youth leader. The same applies to Hishammuddin Hussein, who did equally racist things. But this got to stop especially for a former prime minister. He (Mahathir) should end his career to unite the people whom he was partly responsible in dividing. He could be the catalyst of integration. It is time for him to give back to the non-Muslims whom he has hurt so much in his career.
Barry Wain has done an admirable job with his book on Mahathir. But I differ with him when he states that Mahathir was only pretending to believe 9/11 was staged. I think Mahathir has researched the subject sufficiently to realise it was just another sandiwara, but on a mind-boggingly colossal scale.
Chuentick: “He taught his children right from wrong, how to work hard, no short cuts to success, good manners and respect for authority” – are you sure about this? Look at the instant millionaires in his family!
By their fruits, you will know them. And what are Mahathir’s fruits in the years that he ruled? I don’t need to second guess Mahathir and his motives. What he is fighting for today has a lot to do with the possibility that there is a genuine chance of Pakatan Rakyat taking over Putrajaya one day.
Mahathir isn’t stupid to know what happens to dictators – and their family members – when there is a change in government. He remembers well Suharto, Marcos, the Shah of Iran, etc. Thirty years of Umno rule from the time Mahathir stepped into the PM’s post and his foundations for nation-building have us now staring at the possibility of a failed nation, if we haven’t become one yet.
The present generation – have to now undertake to clean up the mess that he and Umno have made of this country so that perhaps our children can get a decent chance in this country.
Perhaps if Barry Wain were to read up on the personality traits of the Myer-Briggs ESTJ (Extroverted thinking with sensing) psychological archetype, he will come across a more plausible personality analysis for this politician, who without batting an eyelash, executed an unimaginably cruel and unIslamic political hatchet job on his own chosen deputy, fellow UMNO member and pedigree Malay “prince of the soil”.
As he now desperately wants to prevent Anwar Ibrahim from becoming the next PM, I’d take a wild guess that this is really why he now appears to fight tooth and nail “for the Malays” who if you recall, he so conveniently abandoned in favour of the elitist Umnoputras for all those 22 long years while he held power.
He destroyed the Malays who challenged him, using all the apparatus of government shamelessly. He robbed and conned the rakyat in every elections and stole the people’s money through his negotiated tender system, which was actually a robbers’ system. He messed up education, the judiciary, the transport system, the constitution, the police, security of the people and screwed Malaysia up with his hare-brained ideas.
I doubt whether Dr M ever had/has any conscience. To me, he is a man who would stop at nothing to get to the top, regardless of whose heads he steps on. I can never forget his Operation Lallang swoop on the rakyat. He literally killed freedom from then on…
All said and done, his era has ended. It is time we take stock and move ahead. It is easy to destroy, but it takes real courage and determination to build. The independent institutions that were undermined would need years to rebuilt, and getting rid of BN would be the first step.
I read Barry Wain’s book from cover to cover and congratulate him for a task well done. Dr. Mahathir fired the imagination of our country when he took over from Tun Hussein Onn. He introduced the Malaysia Inc. idea and transformed our economy. His taglines “Bersih, Cakap Amanah” dan “Leadership by Example” (Kepimpinan Melalui Teladan) were catchy and genuine I felt at that time (1981). But he changed after 1987 after he formed UMNO Baru. Money Politics, cronyism and corruption started under his 22 year rule. He also destroyed our institutions of governance.
How can we explain this change in the man who you (Mr Din Merican) admired so much? I can only say that it is due to absolute power. Lord Action is right when he said, ” power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely”. Dr Mahathir was a man with alsolute power after he eliminated his political opponents (Tengku Razaleigh, Musa Hitam) and his anointed successor, Anwar Ibrahim.
Today, he is tragic figure, trying hard to defend his legacy. He relied on people like Daim and his boys and they let him down. That is the price of leadership. Choose the wrong people and you are in deep trouble. His biggest mistake by his own admission was to appoint Abdullah Badawi as his successor. Now our Prime Minister No. 6 Najib will be have hard time to reform his UMNO party and implement his New Economic Model and 1Malaysia concept.
29/06/10
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