Dear Dr M, Umno has truly become a 4-LETTER WORD thanks to your hate policies

Dr Mahathir Mohamad lacks the ability to listen to the grassroots, instead, he has a big curved mouth that speaks despicable things about others.

In Malaysia, the moderates have spoken up. It is only that Mahathir has not listened enough; instead, blamed it on the Opposition for being the 'extremist' groups.

The Government is weak today for two reasons: (a) It is a government which the old man himself has carved and left behind as his legacy (b) the leader himself is tainted, and unable to garner the kind of support that was enjoyed by someone like Pak Lah.

Most middle ground Malaysians or the moderates like me would prefer having someone like Pak Lah to rule the country so that the nation can continue to progress and compete globally. As fellow Malaysians, irrespective of whether Indians, Malays or Chinese, or even the orang Asals, we should be working hand-in-hand to build the nation to become a developed nation.

Najib's failure

Dr Mahathir has forgotten that the moderates like me have spoken up against the extremist groups like Perkasa, of which he is the patron, and the reason why we have preferred Pakatan than Barisan Nasional is because Najib Abdul Razak as the prime minister of the country and his men have failed to act against the troublemakers.

Look at the issue over the Kalimah Allah. For a few centuries the Christian community has been using the word Allah in the Alkitab. Even the Sikh holy book has the name Allah in it, but in 1986, during Mahathir's time, in order to appease the extremist groups, his government has issued out a directive that prohibited the non-Muslims from using words like Allah, Kaabah, and so on.

This, as we learn recently, was not even based on any theological grounds on the part of the Muslim world. In fact, the Muslim scholars in almost every country have laughed at Malaysia's latest court ruling.

Over the years, we have seen the Indonesian Alkitab being banned from entering both Peninsular and East Malaysia. The Customs on its own accord or at the instruction of the Minister of Home Affairs had stamped serial numbers of the Alkitab before releasing them. Imagine if you had done this to the Koran in any version, all hell would break free. This is why I am saying a lack of mutual respect has caused the support of the moderates towards the BN Government has dropped over the years.

Umno a 4-letter word

There are many other reasons why the people's support continued to be channelled from BN to Pakatan, and Dr Mahathir Mohamad should realise that he is the major cause of it. In 2004, the rakyat gave their full mandate to a new prime minister, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. It was a sign of the people's return to BN after 22 years under the Mahathir regime.

Instead of giving Abdullah the thumbs-up, when Mahathir started whacking Pak Lah, many of us who are otherwise the silent majority or the moderates began to see through the wickedness in Mahathir and subsequently more gutter politics played up by Umno Baru against people like Anwar Ibrahim and Tian Chua, and recently P Uthayakumar, and of course, Kit Siang, Guan Eng and Karpal, we started telling ourselves, "Umno today is a four-letter word."

Thank God not all Malays are Umno Malays!

Meanwhile, we realised that not all Malays are UMNO type. We have people like Nik Aziz the Tok Guru, who is now well-respected even amongst the educated Chinese and Indian community. The big difference between Nik Aziz and Mahathir, despite both leading their respective governments for almost the same length of time, is that today, Nik Aziz is a statesman, while Mahathir continues to make himself a despicable person.

When will Mahathir stop being recalcitrant, I just wonder! When will he start being a 'kayu api'? Enough is enough, Mamak, it is time that you have to acknowledge that you are a Mamak and not play down on your race.

MAILBAG