Where Anwar failed to shut Mahathir up

Last week, outspoken former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad complained that he was not allowed to be outspoken enough, blaming this state of affairs on his former deputy Anwar Ibrahim. Mahathir said the latter had been busy filing lawsuits to silence him.

"He sued me, as you know, and for four years I could not open my mouth," said Mahathir.

We let readers to conclude whether Mahathir had indeed been mum about the man he once sacked and jailed.

Is this why he has been commenting on other subjects, ranging from tolls to the Arab Spring? The following statements by Mahathir were uttered very recently.

On why prime minister Najib Razak is struggling

The old leader was replaced with a new leader who is trying hard but it is not easy. He (Najib) is being pressured from all sides. If he concedes to one group, other groups are unhappy. In the end the minority prevails.

On his children, Marina and Mukhriz

I do hope she (Marina) will realise what she is doing is not good for herself, not good for the government party at least. She should also be sensitive about her brother (Mukhriz) who is contesting in the election.

On next GE

But there’s a possibility, if the government allows a longer time to lapse (before calling for the next general election), they may face all kinds of demands, and threats of no support if the demands are not met.

On abolishing tolls and cash aid

If highway tolls are abolished, the poor people won't benefit as they don't travel much and if pet­rol is (heavily) subsidised, the rich will benefit. Direct cash aid, like BR1M, goes directly to those in need... In rural areas, you give RM500, they appreciate it but in urban areas, the RM500 may be spent on a night's dinner

On racism

In this country, we are very racist, even more than before. The next election is going to be about race. Who gives what, who gets what based on race. When the government is weak, it caters to demands which are not going to be good for the country in the long run.

On Malays

They never dreamt that they would be split as they are today. The majority has split itself into three and become the minority. These three small Malay parties need the support of the Chinese in order to win the elections. Whichever party gets the support of the Chinese will win the elections.

On non-Malays

If Malays are split into three... for your own sake, the non-Malays must support a party that can deliver, and of course the party that can deliver is BN.

On privileged non-Malays

Non-Malays are still privileged. Only in this country do people who still identify themselves in their country of origin... and are allowed to have their language, their culture, their school system

On democracy

We (Malaysia) have not reached that stage yet. We are false but we are a little bit less false than they (the US) are.

On Arab Spring

Is our government autocratic? Is it not giving attention to the people, not developing and advancing the country?

On vernacular school

We have accepted from the very beginning that vernacular schools could be set up by the different communities, which has resulted in our young people not being together. If we recognise Chinese education and their certificates, etc, we will have three different people, each talking in a different language. I think we will not be able to even live together if we don't understand each other.

On Felda listing

Do not sell it immediately to make a quick profit....The next thing is to manage it well...if management is efficient, we will see Felda settlers enjoying satisfactory returns.

-Harakahdaily