‘Rich backstabbers’ trying to curry favour with Dr M

They once treated Mahathir like a deity but spurned him during Najib's time, only to come flocking back after "kowtowing to dedak-eating Najib henchmen", writes A Kadir Jasin.

PETALING JAYA: The “hypocrites and backstabbers” and the billionaires and Tan Sris who shunned Dr Mahathir Mohamad during the Najib Razak years were given warning today that there was a price to pay for their “shenanigans” and their multi-billion-ringgit projects, contracts and concessions.

Influential former editor A Kadir Jasin, in a scathing blog posting today, said while the government may need to continue working with these people, it must also be fair to the many struggling businessmen and women who fearlessly supported Pakatan Harapan.

“They should never be sidelined in favour of the fat cats and top dogs of the central business district,” he said. Their sacrifices and bravery must not be forgotten and the new federal government must endeavour to help genuine businessman to flourish.

Writing disdainfully of those who turned their backs on Mahathir during the Najib Razak years, he said: “Cari makan is important but dignity is a virtue not to be ignored. I cannot imagine millionaire Datuks and billionaire Tan Sris kowtowing to dedak eating konco (henchmen) of Mohd Najib.”

Kadir, a former newspaper editor, is seen as being close to former finance minister Daim Zainuddin, chief adviser to the prime minister, Mahathir, and is a spokesman for the Council of Elders.

His article today in his personal blog was about people who attended a berbuka puasa (breaking of fast) reception last night at Perdana Leadership Foundation, where Mahathir has an office. He noticed that among those who attended were people who owed their success in life to Mahathir, but had shunned him in his years out of power.

“I felt no sense of remorse when I greeted them with disdain,” Kadir wrote. “It’s hard for me to believe what they did to him. It was during the 22 years that Dr Mahathir was Prime Minster (1981 – 2003), that they rose to become millionaires and billionaires.

“When Dr Mahathir was in power they celebrated him as if he was a ‘Tua Pek Kong’ and man of miracles. He was lavishly praised and even more lavishly feasted. But when he left office many of these people abandoned him.”

It became worse when he joined and finally led the opposition coalition to oust Najib. “The mere mention of Dr Mahathir caused them to cringe.”

Kadir also took a swipe at the purported use of shaman and bomoh by Najib’s wife Rosmah Mansor. “It appears as if the puja of the ‘pawang buaya’ and the priest from Sri Lanka had been put on them,” he said.

On a personal note, he singled out Westports chairman G. Gnanalingam “for reminding me that I have not lost a single election that I got involved in, on behalf of Barisan Nasional then and Pakatan Harapan now”. - FMT