Mahathir – A man who lost the plot

By Johan Brendon

Of late, Dr. Mahathir has upped the ante on a number of issues to provoke incredulity. His recent outburst comparing the Guantanamo Bay internees with Anwar Ibrahim just goes to show his desperation in getting noticed. At best, his rhetoric lacked logic and at worst, was idiotic. It seems he has adopted the maxim that any publicity is good publicity. But to understand Dr. Mahathir’s compulsion to say things deliberately to incite strong passions, a foray into his psyche is useful.

Dr. Mahathir's undiluted power bestowed upon him as the longest serving Prime Minister remains in his consciousness. But, in reality his power is merely an illusion. Having lost power since stepping down as Prime Minister is hard for him to accept. The jealousy and envy of seeing current rulers with real power is eating him away. Hence, his attention seeking behaviour via his outrageous comments and remarks. Dr. Mahathir indeed has lost sight of what is real and what is not real. The power that corrupted him has made him delusional. Therefore he is invincible, infallible and omniscient. That is why his predecessor, Abdullah Badawi, never stood a chance. And so far, the incumbent Prime Minister is not doing too badly - early days.

Dr. Mahathir thought having stepped down from his premiership there would be a clamour for a banquet tour around the world to profess his wisdom as an elder Statesman. Instead, he is shunned bar some tin-pot countries. The fact that he is persona non grata in the West is particularly painful. The metaphoric slapped on the face by Hilary Clinton who contacted Anwar Ibrahim, a ‘corrupt sodomite’ rather than an elder Statesman like him, was the final insult. Rejected by the outside world, Viola!, he hitched onto Perkasa, the very vehicle to carry him back to the lime light - The Ego has landed! So back to his forte, fomenting fear and discords amongst the races.

Dr. Mahathir’s hypocrisy and lack of irony is astounding. Rightly or wrongly, he is considered to be one of the richest men in Asia - allegedly due to corruption and yet, he had the audacity to accuse Anwar Ibrahim, of all things, of corruption! And what takes the biscuit were his rants against Badawi, for depriving him of his freedom of speech! Thus these two examples clearly conclude that Dr. Mahathir is no longer living on planet earth - in other words, he has lost the plot.