Remember Dr M's past for a better future, says Salleh

Malaysians must not forget Dr Mahathir Mohamad's misdeeds as prime minister in order to learn from the past, said Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak.

Among others, Salleh cited the Bumiputera Malaysia Finance (BMF) affair in 1983, the Memali Incident in 1985, the privatisation of Malaysia Airlines, the 1997 financial crisis, Anwar Ibrahim's first sodomy trial, the sacking of Lord President Salleh Abas and the "undermining" of democracy.

"Can we just forget all of these?" asked Salleh in the latest post on his blog today.

He was responding to an interview published on Friday, in which Mahathir said he did not wish to dwell on the past - especially on his actions against Anwar.

"If you keep on bringing up the past, you can never work with everybody.

"You will always be fighting with your enemies forever and that is bad," the nonagenarian had said.

Mahathir and Anwar have since mended ties and are now Pakatan Harapan chairperson and de facto leader respectively.

Salleh said these past incidents were important to remember, as lessons for the future.

He then cited 19th-century Spanish philosopher George Santayana's famous quote "those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it". -Mkini