Mahathir, Rosmah and her biography

When Rosmah refused to help the Penan girls who were being raped by timber loggers, did it anger Mahathir or was he uninterested with the Penan people’s issues?

COMMENT

It’s apt that Malaysia is dubbed ‘Bolehland’ for it is here that all things wrong can happen and the ‘perpetrator’ walks away free.

For 22 years, the country was dictated to by prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad. And nine years after his ‘retirement’, he is still dictating.

Perhaps the fault lies with the media for their unrelented moves to put Mahathir under the spotlight, allowing him to speak gibberish, most of the time.

One such recent incident was when Mahathir said that the soon-to-be-released biography of premier Najib Tun Razak’s wife Rosmah Mansor was a good move for it gave Rosmah the platform to rebut accusations that constantly come her way.

Not just that, Mahathir said Rosmah had the right to correct the negative perception about her made by irresponsible quarters.

A wonder how Mahathir has out of the blue turned out to be an admirer of Rosmah, a woman whom the rakyat have little affection for owing to her cold and flamboyant personality.

Just what ‘accusations’ have tarnished Rosmah’s image? Was it the controversy that she continues to bedeck herself with the most expensive jewellery money can buy, never mind that it is RM73 million for a diamond ring or that she is a spendthrift, having squandered away RM24 million during the inaugural First Ladies Summit that was held in Kuala Lumpur two years ago or that she used up the nation’s funds to sponsor Hollywood’s Robert de Niro’s stay in Malaysia in 2010?

There is more, the latest being the ‘clear my conscience’ claim by a carpet trader Deepak Jaikishan who claimed he shared a sibling-like relationship with Rosmah and that he was responsible for getting private investigator P Balasubramaniam to retract his first statutory declaration (SD) concerning murdered Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu.

Balasubramaniam’s first SD had linked Najib to the murder while the second one reversed it.

The scandals involving Rosmah are far too many and to hide or deny this fact is not helping Mahathir live up to his ‘statesman’ image.

Do not embarrass the nation

These days whenever he shares his thoughts, Mahathir comes out embarrassing the country and her people. His out-of-touch with reality remarks makes one wonder why he even bothers to comment.

Maybe being ‘sought after’ has become a way of life for him, hence the obsession to be quoted by the press.

But his words of ‘wisdom’ on the Rosmah-biography should be his last effort at speaking his mind for it only makes the rakyat repel leaders who never seem to get their acts in order and continue to play politics even in their twilight years.

When Rosmah refused to help the Penan girls and a wife who were being raped by timber loggers, did it anger Mahathir or was he uninterested with the Penan people’s issues?

When Rosmah defended the National Service programme all because it was conceived by husband Najib, never mind that the programme was doing more harm than good to the trainees, did it rankle Mahathir?

When this self-proclaimed ‘first lady’ blamed the homosexuals for spreading the HIV virus that causes AIDS, did her ignorance trouble Mahathir as it did the Cambodian Center for Human Rights?

The problem is that in Malaysia the so-called leaders are busy politicking and amassing unimaginable wealth, all at the expense of the rakyat.

And wanting to stay in the good books of top leaders has become the politicians’ agenda, instead of their mission of looking after the people of this country.

And for obvious reason, Mahathir is no different.

Did Rosmah ‘commission’ her biography?

After the 2010 incident where the Malaysian government forked out thousands of US dollars to feature Rosmah in a two-page spread in the New York Times, the now wary rakyat cannot be blamed for asking if she once again had a hand in ‘commissioning’ her biography.

Otherwise, there is little point in having a biography dedicated to Najib’s wife, who as the rakyat knows ‘wears the pants’.

There are many unsung heroes out there whose stories can inspire the people. One such personality is Rasammah Bhupalan, a former school principal, freedom fighter and social activist.

Bhupalan was one of the earliest women involved in the fight for Malaysian independence and joined the Rani of Jhansi Regiment, the women’s wing of the Indian National Army to fight the British.

Bhupalan was also the founder president of the Women Teacher’s Union and fought for equal pay for women teachers and was the first Asian representative of the World Confederation of Organisations of the Teaching Profession.

Are Bhupalan’s struggles and achievements not deserving of mention in our school history books?

Likewise, chronicles concerning the late Punch Gunalan, the badminton ace who made the country proud during his heydays and squash queen Nicole David too are worthy as subjects of discussion.

At the end of the day, it is not about who the person is but what she or he has done that warrants a place in history.

In Rosmah’s case, there is hardly anything she has done for the nation that makes her a deserving candidate for a biography apart from the fact that she is prime minister Najib’s wife.

In spite of her scandals, if Rosmah’s 164-page biography excites you, it will be launched and made available next month at RM150.

Jeswan Kaur is a freelance writer and a FMT columnist.