Time for tired old boxers to leave the ring

 

From Clement Stanley

Here we go again. The never-ending love-hate story of two feuding larger than life politicians who should actually be spending their sunset years educating Malaysians on how to become better citizens.

Instead of sharing their years of experience as elder statesmen, for the benefit of our country and the future generations, both have decided once again to enter the boxing ring.

Dr Mahathir Mohamad vs Lim Kit Siang. This repetitive dance between the two is too tiring to watch, not to mention boring.

We have lived through the 1970s, 80s, 90s and into the new millennium. The two of them have done more than their fair share for the nation. Why not just retire?

There is no need for them to take the nation down with them in their squabbles. The nation is already down, largely due to the antics of our longest-serving prime minister.

Now the blame game starts again just because former attorney-general Tommy Thomas spoke from his heart in his tell-all book “My Story: Justice in the Wilderness”.

Yet it was not so long ago when these gentlemen heaped praises on each other like there was no tomorrow. It was a charade and a show like no other from the very beginning.

The Pakatan Harapan marriage of convenience has come to a bitter end. And that is just as well because there has never been a greater show of hypocrisy displayed by the main characters.

The audience was fooled. Make no mistake about that. And now that Thomas has the courage and guts to expose what needs to be exposed, suddenly fingers are being pointed in all directions.

The mistrust was there for all to see. One cannot help but wonder what really transpired on Feb 23, 2020, when Mahathir, then prime minister and head of the PH coalition, gathered all the Malay political leaders at his home.

Among them were Muhyiddin Yassin, Azmin Ali, Abdul Hadi Awang, Shafie Apdal, Fadillah Yusof, Abang Johari Openg and Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

Conspicuously absent was Anwar Ibrahim. If there was an agreement reached between them on that fateful morning, it has never come out in the open. If there were plans afoot for the things to come, it stayed behind closed doors.

That being the case, the days of DAP and PKR were already numbered. Just five days later, Mahathir, the country’s seventh prime minister, shockingly resigned. And with it, his credibility and the respect of those who held Mahathir in high esteem went down the drain.

What he has to say these days amounts to nothing more than the sound of a broken gramophone record stuck in its groove. It is humbug and meaningless. Besides, the people have bigger concerns at the moment.

There is no need to recap what we already know. But as Malaysians, we must be resilient and believe in ourselves. There will be better days ahead.

And it will be better once we have seen the backs of dinosaur politicians. It will be better when politicians stop thinking of themselves and their lust and greed for power, and focus instead on the needs of the rakyat.

And it will be a lot better without the likes of two squabbling elderly politicians.

Clement Stanley is an FMT reader.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.