It looks like former premier Mahathir Mohamad is all out to hog the media limelight. A slew of controversial comments from the 87-year-old with distinctly racist and discriminatory overtones have already annoyed many in the country including members of the political Opposition.
One of these was Mahathir's call to Prime Minister Najib Razak to no longer be soft towards the Pakatan Rakyat coalition led by Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, as they continued "to insult the nation’s democratic system... we need to be a bit tough, and not give them face”.
"The time has come for the Prime Ministe to be tough and to stop 'giving face' to racists like Mahathir and Utusan Malaysia who have been seeking to destroy the message of peace and moderation with their ceaseless and reckless racist lies and falsehoods," retorted DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang.
Being 'Mr Big Mouth'? Even the Internet is not spared!
But far from being cowed, Mahathir appears to be enjoying himself. A day ago, he urged for the top 2 posts in Umo not to be contested as Malaysians were "not that clear on democracy and, if they lose, members will form another party which will lead to more cracks in Umno. That is why I am against the contest for the top posts. During my time, I won with only a few votes, but those who lost took the case to court and then formed their own party."
It was an obvious swipe at Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah who had challenged him for the Umno presidency in the 1980s but lost after a controversial vote count that till today many Umno members say was manipulated by those close to Mahathir to ensure that he won.
Today, Mahathir was at it again. Firstly he admitted he might have made a mistake in giving guarantees for internet freedom, which has been blamed for empowering and enabling the Pakatan Rakyat to win more seats in the recent 13th general election.
"When I headed the MSC, I was asked by an American woman whether we would block the internet. I told her no, we will be very free... but now I will think twice about it," Dr Mahathir said at the closing of the CEO Forum 2013 at the Berjaya Times Square.
'Twisted' viewpoints
However, his latest comments on Malaysian history, the Arab Spring and vernacular schools take the cake and are likely to stir up a fresh storm of indignant counter-attacks against him.
According to national news agency Bernama, Mahathir said there was a need to rewrite Malaysian history books to include problems faced in the past and steps taken by the government to solve such issues, so as to offer a better understanding of the country's history to the younger generation.
According to Mahathir, this move would also help Malaysia to establish a more educated society, and "thus create more vocal leaders."
It will also help unite Malaysians, create a rounded education for the young, he said in his keynote address titled "Better Times Ahead for Malaysian Politics, Post General Elecetion-13" at the Perdana Leadership Foundation CEO Forum, here, today.
"We need to do a lot of things. We should also learn from the history of other countries such as why the Arab Spring occurred. Then we ask ourselves, do we want this to happen in this country?
"There are some people who literally say they want to see an Arab Spring in Malaysia. They prefer to ignore stability, peace and overthrow the leaders. Therefore, we need to settle down and understand what is democracy and tell them to trust the government," he added.
National school for all races
Touching on education, Dr Mahathir suggested that having a national school under one roof for all races, can keep Malaysia peaceful, united and will help build a better future for its citizens.
"The problem we face today is that we do not come together, and barely speak or use the national language. We should use it more (national language). We should have less segregation in schools for example, and make it compulsory to use and learn the national language," he suggested.
"Going to the same school increases the chances of togetherness. I’m the product of this kind of school," he said.
On learning the national language, Dr Mahathir was curious as some foreign diplomats who worked in other countries like Indonesia could master the language of that particular country, but not in Malaysia.
He said it was because Malaysians themselves communicated in English and not in their national language, and thus forgetting that language was one of the factor that unifies society.
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