Is Dr. Mahathir a Corrupt Evil Racist or a Misunderstood Great Leader?

The only mistake that Dr. Mahathir has ever done, as openly acknowledged by the Tun himself, is to repeatedly appoint "wrong" Deputy Prime Ministers for the country (Musa, Ghafar Baba, Anwar and Badawi, and Najib).

By Ken

Tun Dr. Mahathir has, of late, become even more vocal in pitting the Malays against the non-Malays, in particular the Chinese.

The consequences are that blogs and Internet sites are full of slander and insults targeted at Dr. Mahathir. The insults and name-calling range from "corrupt evil dictator" and "pariah" to "Mahafiruan", "Hitler" and worse [too horrible to be quoted here].

What these bloggers seem to overlook is that Dr. Mahathir was elected by the voters in Kubang Pasu in at least 6 general elections, elected by UMNO delegates to be their president for more than 2 decades and was Malaysia's Prime Minister for 22 years, strongly supported by the majority of the non-Malays. During his tenure, Mahathir was more popular with the Chinese than the Malays and was even saved by them in the 1999 General Elections when the Malays abandoned him because of how he had treated (sodomized?) Anwar, contrary to "adat-adat orang Melayu".

Mahathir was then admired by many of the same people who are now insulting and criticizing him. They had noted Mahathir's many accomplishments and felt proud about these Malaysia Boleh records - Petronas Twin Towers, KL Tower, KLIA, North-South Highway, Putrajaya, Cyberjaya, MSC, Penang Bridge, Proton, Sepang F1, Bakun Dam, world class golf courses and resorts, etc.

They were proud at having found a leader who had changed Malaysia from an agricultural country into an industrial nation which was doing so well that it needed to bring in foreign labour from Indonesia, Bangladesh, etc. to man the factories, service industries and remaining plantations.

During his tenure as PM, Dr. Mahathir was highly regarded and there were few who would dare to throw even minor insults at him. Not even Karpal would dare to utter a harsh word against the great Dr. Mahathir.

Today, we are witnessing this same great Dr. Mahathir being called the most evil thing that has happened to Malaysia. However, while the slander and insults continue to increase on the Internet, they are not backed by solid evidence.

Has anyone ever come out in the open with evidence and said "Dr. Mahathir did this and that ...."? Even Anwar, who was Mahathir's deputy for many years and would have been privy to many things, has revealed nothing to expose Mahathir. There are people who claim that Mahathir is corrupt and has amassed wealth. OK, where is the evidence? If you have the evidence, why haven't you reported Mahathir to the police? "Mahathir is a racist", some proclaim loudly, pointing out incidences such as Dr. Mahathir's recent call to Malays to go on the offensive in response to grouses and complaints by non-Malays about their rights. Why has there been no police report and follow-up action against Dr. Mahathir for uttering the racist statements?

If Mahathir is so evil and corrupt, as the bloggers and others claim, why has there been no police or MACC investigation? Surely, Tun Dr. Mahathir is not above the law, as the Tun himself will be ready to openly announce. Some might argue that the police, MACC and AG will not investigate Mahathir because of allegiance or loyalty. But Dr. Mahathir is not the current PM and does not wield power and influence over them. The police, MACC and AG report to Najib, who has also been criticized by Mahathir on various matters, and who would, if he could, surely mobilize the police/MACC/AG to investigate the ex-PM to counter his severe insults and criticisms.

This has not happened possibly because there is no evidence to charge Dr. Mahathir. The only mistake that Dr. Mahathir has ever done, as openly acknowledged by the Tun himself, is to repeatedly appoint "wrong" Deputy Prime Ministers for the country (Musa, Ghafar Baba, Anwar and Badawi, and Najib).

Some might argue that little can be done if the authorities (police, MACC and AG) do not want to act against Dr. Mahathir. The point is that the authorities can act only if there are reports against Dr. Mahathir. Some may point to the rare police reports against Mahathir, such as the one by Karpal Singh, and that nothing has happened. Perhaps there is no evidence for the authorities to proceed further. Or maybe Karpal does not have the necessary evidence to pursue it further (or maybe Karpal is too scared to face Dr. Mahathir or his formidable counsel Mathias Chang in court, and has conveniently forgotten his report against Mahathir).

OK, the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam video clip provides evidence to incriminate Mahathir (together with Lingam and the others) in the manipulation of the judiciary. Najib (and the AG) has decided to ignore the findings and recommendations of the RCI for reasons which are known to all but the naive. But the critics of Mahathir can surely do something on the basis of the RCI recommendations. Have a massive signature campaign to request His Majesty to direct Najib to act on the findings of His Majesty's RCI's findings. There can be a mass demo to call for action on the basis of the RCI recommendations. Or, at least, why not make police reports on the basis of the RCI findings for action to be taken against Mahathir and his Lingam gang.

Mahathir has made some totally outlandish racist statements of late. Make a thousand police reports against Mahathir. Make it a million - there must be more than a million Mahathir critics out there. Surely the authorities can't ignore a million police reports against Mahathir, and, even if they ignore, that itself would be a world record (another Malaysia Boleh world record we can be proud of) which will hit headlines internationally and force Najib to do something. The fact is that there are few police reports against Dr. Mahathir, though one would think otherwise when reading the many slanderous and abusive postings on blogs and web sites.

Some people might contend that it would be futile to go to the police or the MACC, arguing that it would be a waste of time and that nothing would happen. Looking at the track record of the police and MACC, one would be justified to conclude that this route would be futile, but there are other routes such as a civil suit. If one has a legitimate case against another, one can bring a civil suit against the other. But there has hardly been any civil suits against Dr. Mahathir. Even Anwar withdrew his civil suit against Dr. Mahathir for his 'Black Eye' though Mahathir was the Home Minister then and claimed that Anwar could have punched himself to get the black eye.

To conclude, if Dr. Mahathir is really as corrupt, racist and evil as he is made out to be, the critics and bloggers should (collectively, or individually) file a police report against the ex-PM with solid evidence. If this route does not look viable, they could file a civil suit against Dr. Mahathir and seek damages for all Malaysians - according to Barry Wain, at least Ringgit 100 billion have been misappropriated or lost due to Dr. Mahathir.

If Dr. Mahathir is really the terrible corrupt evil racist he is made out to be, it is ok to be a "coward" to sue him. Given that there is a large number of bloggers who are critical of Dr. Mahathir, they should have no difficulty raising the necessary funds for the civil suit and engaging top lawyers (Karpal - pro-bono?) to handle the case.

File the suit in Malaysia, UK or anwhere feasible (except, of course, Singapore). If both these efforts fail, the bloggers should compile a book, in English and Malay, on Dr. Mahathir to expose his "corruption, racism, and evilness" by providing full details and evidence.

Barry Wain has already made a sterling start in this direction with his must-read "Malaysian Maverick". Why not get someone to translate the book into Malay so that the kampong folks and other Malays can read Barry's work and judge for themselves whether Dr. Mahathir is really the great clean incorruptible champion of the Malays as he now potrays himself?

If Mahathir's opponents and critics are not ready to act in legitimate ways to expose and punish Mahathir for his purported corruption, racism and evilness, the bloggers and other critics of Mahathir should cease from slandering and insulting the Tun and accept him as Allah's blessing rather than a perennial curse on Malaysia.