The Mahathir absurdity

He easily forgets his own failings; yet, the shortcomings of others are magnified in his eyes.

COMMENT

By Sabrina Lee

Once upon a time in Malaysia, a leader ruled with an iron hand and clung on to power at all costs. He rammed his views down the people’s throats until they choked and despaired.

At the opening of the Umno annual general assembly in 2001, he delivered a stinging critique of Malays – a banshee’s song which none wanted to hear.

Then, delegates dreamt he would inspire them by announcing his plans for retirement while endorsing his successor. They had hoped for restoration of public faith in the party and direction for the nation but as always, he brutally voiced his intense disappointment with them for having failed to meet his expectations to be the kind of people he wanted them to be.

Never happy, he alienated the very ones who put him in the seat of power, some of whom left the party because they hated him and could no longer tolerate his caustic and hurtful remarks.

When reporters inquired about his retirement plans, he acknowledged that some people would like to see him “disappear or disintegrate”, but said there were others who insisted that he should stay on. Hence, he rationalized, he had to “find the right time to step down”.

Decades later, the tables have turned and he now unceasingly demands the resignation of the person he hand picked as Prime Minister of Malaysia. Clearly, this man’s dogged determination to oust the Prime Minister from his seat of power at all costs shows a determination to continue exercising power and proves that he is stubborn in his belief that he has never been wrong in anything. Regardless, the nation has to bow to his whims and fancies.

When he was in the seat of power, he was determined to remain in office as long as he could to guarantee the success of his projects. Today, he is determined to put his son in power so that he his projects can continue.

Then and now, he expects Malaysians to bow to his demands because he thinks he is the best, the smartest and most innovative, forgetting his failure to stem corruption during his reign, especially in the 1990s. This is the same man who shed tears at the 1994 and 1995 Umno assemblies as he denounced corruption, but took only limited disciplinary action at the 1996 assembly, when Umno elected its officials.

Obviously, he forgets easily, especially his own failings. Yet, the shortcomings of others are magnified in his eyes. At one point, while denying corruption was rampant in Malaysia, he asked, “How can we achieve an 8.8% growth rate over the last seven years if we are as corrupt as is made out by the Western newspapers?”

Today, he hammers the current PM for BR1M, 1MDB and a host of other issues, forgetting how his own cauldron of ideas and plans gift-wrapped with catchy titles, such as “Look East”. His affinity for glamour projects and grandiose buildings reminds us of Sukarno. When he set his mind on any project such as Bakun Dam, his actions indicated his disregard for cost-benefit considerations.

Nevertheless, today, he accuses the current regime of the very same things he was guilty of when he was in the seat of power. Amnesia sets in. All was golden during his time. Ops Lallang is a figment of the imagination. Only amendments to the Sedition Act exist.

He was a saint and still is a saint. All must bow to him.

Sabrina Lee is an FMT reader.