‘Faultless’ Mahathir’s memoir is vindictive

It is easy to rebut former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's take on incidents related by him in his memoir.

PETALING JAYA: Former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad reminds me of the late British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

“We are all worms, but I am a glow worm. Everything else pales in comparison to him.”

This could be the mystery sentence of the decade. It’s spoken by the doctor in the house. Mahathir has just come out with his memoir after an eight year wait.

Unfortunately it appears to be extraordinary expression of the author’s vindictiveness on his political rivals.

As they say, history is written by the victor. Thus far, Mahathir is the victor and he intends to tell the story as he sees it.

A memoir is what it is – a very personalized and heavily nuanced version of history.

In the case of a memoir or autobiography – a personalized and heavily nuanced version of HIS legacy and a selective recollection of aspects of history.

It’s easy to rebut what Mahathir says. In diplomatic language, we can always politely say, what Mahathir says do not seem to tally with the records we have.

For example, during that crucial Friday Prayer break (in 1987 following the fight between Mahathir and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah at the Umno general assembly), it was Mahathir’s storm troopers who went on a spending spree paying delegates.

Mahathir just couldn’t believe how his larger number of nominations didn’t translate into votes.

But Mahathir said it was done by Razaleigh’s people.

So to rebut Mahathir is to say that what you say does not seem to match the notes we have.

Congenitally intractable

That is the only form of counter argument one can adduce against a personalized and nuanced version of history.

Mahathir began money politics but in his book he says others did it.

He began the politics of internal discord, but says others started it.

The question is – can you trust a person who is congenitally intractable?

Mahathir wants Malaysians to accept history as it is written by him. He is pig-headed in his version of history.

Can you hold on to anything he says if he doesn’t see anything wrong in “I have Indian blood but I am Malay”? My Indian Muslim friends were rolling on the floor laughing out loud.

Rather than using this memoir as an opportunity to set the record straight, Mahathir has used the memoir to bolster his one track views on many things.

Mahathir is more eager to leave behind, a cleaned-up operation but mostly it were the trails he left behind.

No defence

In his book he says he was disappointed that (former Economic Advisor) Tun Daim Zainuddin did not defend himself against accusations of graft.

But how could Daim defend himself if his defense will have to reveal how Mahathir – who was once not a wealthy person travelling frequently from Alor Star to KL – has now become fabulously rich?

Daim cannot possibly defend himself perhaps because Mahathir was also linked to the accusations? So Daim has to keep mum.

To speak will only mean Daim will have to bring down Mahathir’s house of cards.

Mahathir is eager to leave a sanitized legacy perhaps because he is actually scared some people may piss on his grave. So he must give the world a sterilized version of his-story.

This is an excerpt of a review which first appeared in the writer’s sakmongkolak47 blogsite. - FMT