The misunderstood Mahathir

EDITOR'S PICK Tun’s latest article has caused an uproar in this country. But this is not his intention, is it? I took the liberty to re-read it, and what Tun meant was merely to give his view on Malay-nization. It is not written to provoke the people, but merely to seek understanding for his point of view.

His article is well written with many arguable points, historical and philosophical. But most of us just skimmed through in 30 seconds what took him hours to write. Then we started on the tirade of abuses like clockwork.

If we begin to look back through his former writings, you’d be surprised to find that he does not really have ill intentions. He just wants to air his views on issues, however radical they may be, and encouraging readers to understand the big picture. He is not a professional writer and sometimes unable to articulate the message he wishes to put forward.

But then he does not need to be. He is more than all of us put together. A CEO of this country for 22 years, he has done things we could only dream of. Not all his decisions were accepted by the people, and like any mortal, he is entitled to make mistakes. Regrettably, some of these mistakes have changed the political landscape of this nation.

The achievements he made for this country is well documented, and so are his failures. Remember, although he may be the Captain of the Ship at that time, not all his generals are under control, with some having their own agendas, while others are waiting to dethrone him. He was not in total control. Not only the Malays, but Malaysians too forget all the good that he has done, yet remember all the mistakes he made.

During his tenure, many did not dare to rebut him and it was up to the Opposition to oppose his Government. Since 2003 after his resignation, one could see that his legacy has been discontinued. His futile protests against the government on the continuation of his policies were met with hostility. They even muted his Voice. This led to his resignation from Umno in protest and he has tried other means to regain his Voice without much success. At that time, even the mainstream media did not dare go against Umno to lend him a voice.

CheDet.com blog was started to allow him a platform to air his views to anyone who would listen. If anyone cared to read that blog, one will agree that his blog is quite a successful venture.

Without government protection, everyone was free to criticize him and everyone joined in the bandwagon to sling mud at him. Until today, the mudslinging has not receded much, amazingly. Losing the support of the people, even after he left Umno, has left him disillusioned. With coaxing from friends and supporters, he later returned to Umno on the condition that he be given a platform to voice his piece.

If you think I am his staunch supporter, you are wrong. You may not agree, but to me, he is just trying to air his views but without professional scriptwriters to edit his articles and speeches, his bluntness may be misconstrued.

The Opposition too has lost no time misinterpreting his words to suit their needs. Certain parts of his speeches are highlighted, while the rest are left out. A good example is Tok Guru Nik Aziz, ostracised by BN, and everything he said was twisted and turned until Malaysians thought he was a Monster. Today, everyone knows his true colours, and their respect for him has not wavered despite the latest onslaughts.

In his latest article, Mahathir even affirmed his Mamak roots. We Malays have accepted him as Malay, so why must we continue to rub it in? If God gave us a chance to be Prime Minister, would we have done any better than what he did? Perhaps, we would have exceeded him by far and Malaysia would be a much nicer and better place to live than it is now. I don't know, it is for each of us to decide.

Coming back to his article, his writing is interpreted differently by different people. As for me, I think his article on Malay-nization is not very appropriate for this moment in time. He should try to write one on Malaysia-nization which is more relevant to current times.

And just before turning in my own article to Malaysia Chronicle, I chanced upon the latest news that Tun Mahathir has declared that Malays still needed crutches in his speech to the Malay Contractors Association in Kedah.

I have written in the past that in all probability, Kedah will return to BN in the next general election. This is because the grassroots are really starved by the lack of development projects. Contracts are hard to come by since the Pakatan Rakyat government took over. This has led many to welcome the BN back and hopefully with more wooden crutches.

It seems that everyone can be bought, and money is still the deciding factor. But his speech was for Malay consumption and not intended for the ears of the NON-MALAYS. So, will the opposition try to spin it, as another Racial scoop?

At 85, he is still contributing to the good of this nation in his own way. His views which may seem radical may also carry a dark agenda.

At this crucial moment so near to the General Elections, we would have expected that BN, in their right minds, would be trying desperately to court the Non-Malays. They know for a fact even with full Malay support they will not be able to scrape through this election.

If the intention was to discourage Non-Malays from being pro BN, he and Perkasa have done a very good job. Should Pakatan Rakyat make it to Putrajaya, it would be thanks to both of them. Is that too farfetched?

Not surprising then that Pakatan is smart enough to give both Tun and Ibrahim Ali rope to holler away? - Malaysia Chronicle