Let me say upfront that I am not being an alarmist or fear-mongering. The rantings of former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad over the past few days got me reminiscing about my student days in England in the late 90s.
I met and befriended Surinderpal Garcha (God bless his soul) who arrived on the shores of Southampton in southern England in 1972 at the age of 18 with what he had described as “two shillings in my pocket”.
Like thousands of other Asians, he and his family had been expelled from Uganda by Idi Amin Dada and fortunately found refuge in England.
With his wit and wry sense of humour plus his skills as a hockey player, he built a career, starting off as a printer’s apprentice and ending up as a foreman just before he retired.
Mahathir’s latest and inexplicable take - promoting a multiracial Malaysia runs foul of the Federal Constitution - is reminiscent of Amin’s argument justifying his actions.
“The current government claims Malaysia is a democratic nation. There is apparently freedom of expression... Is it against the law to defend the Federal Constitution?”
“On the contrary, it is against the constitution to promote a multiracial nation. Is the government rejecting the rule of law, including the constitution, which does not mention Malaysia as a multiracial country but instead emphasises the ‘Malayness’ of Malaysia?” Mahathir said on a social media posting.
As bizarre as it sounds, they are the thoughts and voice of a man who was our prime minister twice - for 22 years and later 22 months.
Is Mahathir suggesting that we, in Malaysia, could anticipate suffering the same fate as the Asian Ugandans?
It is not just his torrent but judging from the words and actions of a few who seem bent on pushing the racial and religious agenda without accounting for various other considerations.
Such a thought would have been unthinkable a few months ago but with the “we shall overthrow the unity government” rhetoric, the ante has been upped with all kinds of claims (read: threats).
It is said that religion and politics are a deadly mix and if there is a dash of good fortune promised in the hereafter, the equation changes further.
Mahathir has taken the race and religion line to the extremes when without any basis, he wrote: “Therefore, Anwar (Ibrahim) has to adhere to DAP’s manifesto, especially on making Tanah Melayu a multiracial country and replacing the official religion of Islam with a secular country... (turning) Malaysia into a nation with no official religion.
And the “killer” blows to win and hearts and minds of Muslims, he declared: “With this, Malaysia will lose its membership in the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC).”
Picking things from thin air
Previously, he had gone on another series of rants against non-Malays claiming that they want to “change the name and ownership” of Malaysia.
The former prime minister repeatedly alleged there was an attempt by people “from other countries” to shift Malaysia from being a tanah Melayu (land of the Malays) into a multiracial country.
He also claimed that these people refused to recognise the Malays as the founders, locals and builders of the country.
“How arrogant are those who come here, whom we have made into citizens, to demand that the name of our country be changed, turned into a multiracial country?” he was quoted as saying.
Did anyone make such a suggestion let alone a demand? Mahathir seems to be picking things from thin air and creating news to drive fear into us.
The aim of Mahathir and his bedfellows is to return to occupy the seats of power.
Their brand of politics is not promoted on philosophies and principles but on hatred and fear. In such circumstances, they become recipes for disaster.
There have been similar claims and threats made by others who are on the same page as Mahathir. And more of our personal liberties are at risk.
Now, the million-dollar question: How do we arrest such nonsensical utterances and approaches and how do we stop a Malaysian Idi Amin in the making? - Mkini
R NADESWARAN is a veteran journalist who writes on bread-and-butter issues. Comments: citizen.nades22@gmail.com
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
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