“Mahathir will end it by destroying the son of Razak” – Tunku Abdul Rahman, 1979

The late Tunku Abdul Rahman predicted that Mahathir would live up to the age of 86 and retain his premiership until the year 2001. 

He added that the son of Master Iskandar would plant the seeds of destruction in UMNO to ensure that the party would not survive beyond his lifespan.

According to the Tunku, Mahathir did not believe that the culture of aristocracy could be eradicated from UMNO and confided in his friends that the party needed to die with him.

“He will end it (UMNO) by destroying the son of Razak. He knows (that), like his father, he (the son of Razak) will work with China and antagonise the west. Mahathir will (then) work with the west to destroy the son of Razak”

THE THIRD FORCE

There is a general misconception among the people that it was Dr Mahathir Mohamad who first put Malaysia on the world map. Far from it, the man who projected our country across Malaysian shores was none other than the late Tun Abdul Razak, father of former premier Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak. Razak was the first ASEAN leader with the guts to normalise relations between Malaysia and China.

Back then, Southeast Asian countries were sceptical of China’s emergence as a regional trade powerhouse and took a guarded approach when dealing with the republic. But Razak saw things differently. He had the foresight and wisdom to see that China would one day emerge a world economic superpower and a trade partner we couldn’t do without. He knew that the republic would sooner or later turn Malaysia into its energy gateway to the east given that our country was nested within waterways pivotal to its trade proliferation.

That bothered the United States (US) a lot.

The world bank, in particular, was concerned that a Sino-Malaysian accord would jeopardise plans by the US to have its own presence felt in the South China Sea. Back then, China was still a crude oil exporter and had just begun offshore exploration. The west knew that the republic would turn into an oil importer by the mid-nineties and venture towards the Malaysian side of the Pacific to meet its domestic demands.

The visit triggered alarm in the west and caused the CIA to put Razak under its radars. It bothered the agency that the Chinese had then just developed and perfected deep water technology for drilling in the South China Sea. The US was keen to discover if Razak had discussed with his Chinese counterpart the deployment of that technology across the Malaysian side of the Pacific.

A CIA report that surfaced in July 1974 suggested that Razak was then in the midst of finalising some terms related to the establishment of an oil and gas company. The US was concerned that the Malaysian premier planned to work with China in deep sea exploration off the coasts of Kelantan and Terengganu. The late Tunku Abdul Rahman seemed to know about the report and made mention of it to a former historian. In his memoirs (unpublished), the Tunku stressed that Razak’s visit caused such anxiety, it prompted the then US Ambassador to Malaysia, Francis T. Underhill, to call on him and discuss a “Chinese threat.”

The CIA would likely have triggered a global conspiracy to oust Razak had he not breathed his last. The US was determined to control China’s trade proliferation with the east and saw the late Malaysian premier to be a thorn in its side. Dr Mahathir Mohamad knew of western sensitivities related to China and decided to look towards the east instead. When Najib took over as Prime Minister and reopened our doors to China, Mahathir knew that the west would want to work with him to bring the son of Razak down.

“This fellow (Mahathir) told his friends that he needed 18 – 20 years to transform the country. He wants to be Prime Minister. I think he will make it by 1982,” said the Tunku.

The Tunku predicted that Mahathir would live up to the age of 86 and retain his premiership until the year 2001. He added that the son of Master Iskandar would plant the seeds of destruction in UMNO to ensure that the party would not survive beyond his lifespan. According to the Tunku, Mahathir did not believe that the culture of aristocracy could be eradicated from UMNO and confided in his friends that the party needed to die with him.

“He will end it (UMNO) by destroying the son of Razak. He knows (that), like his father, he (the son of Razak) will work with China and antagonise the west. Mahathir will (then) work with the west to destroy the son of Razak” (Tunku Abdul Rahman, 1979)

The Tunku predicted that a new force would rise and seek the return of “aristocratic leadership” in the country. The historian who spoke to the Tunku anticipated this to happen sometime towards GE15 and emphasised the need for there to be a “transitional authoritarian rule.” The Tunku was specific with the need for this force to bring back the culture of aristocracy into mainstream politics, as, according to him, without such a culture, the Monarchical Institution would forever be bedevilled by those seeking to turn the country permanently into a republic.