by Mariam Mokhtar
Sep 27, 2010
MalaysiaKini
Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s warning that “Malays would lose power if Pakatan Rakyat were to come to power”, is not his first racist rant since his retirement.
He delights in taking pot-shots at Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s administration and excels at instigating unrest. Why would the Malays lose power under Pakatan? The Malays lost whatever power they had under 22 years of Mahathir’s rule.
Mahathir is racist, but Najib would not dare charge him with sedition. Mahathir certainly acts like he is the ‘co-premier’ and his flirtation with extremist NGOs like Perkasa, must embarrass the current administration.
At times, we can be forgiven for thinking that he must be the second most powerful person in the government. His ruthless desire to cling onto the reins of power and pretend to speak out for ordinary Malays must create chaos in government circles. He is great at divide-and-rule.
If he is the ‘Father of Modernisation’, then he is out of touch with the people of 21st century Malaysia. Most Malaysians would be open-minded and accepting of one another, but for the politicians. I would accept a non-Malay prime minister of either sex and sexual preference, provided that person is a strong and capable leader.
Malaysia’s riches lie not its mineral wealth or its agricultural produce; its most important resource is its people. Why can’t we set aside racism and simply move forward?
We are a hardworking nation but Mahathir’s policies, perpetuated by his successors, have degraded us. With 10 years left until 2020, by when he hopes Malaysia becomes a developed nation, we still bicker over which race does what, where and when. Instead of emulating our neighbours, we behave like children squabbling in the playground.
Isn’t it a bit rich for Mahathir to suggest that Pakatan leaders might be a bunch of self-serving and racist politicians?
Mahathir and the other politicians in the BN coalition have already proven themselves to be self-serving and racist.
Research has shown that politicians are the least trusted group of people. The history of politics is the history of lies, and Mahathir could be considered the most professional in this group.
Once people like him have tasted power and climbed the ladder of authority, the lies, deceit and cover-ups have a cumulative effect.
He hates ordinary Malays to get on with their non-Malay counterparts and yet his chums are powerful Chinese tycoons.
Absurd claim
Mahathir is vehemently against the west and accuses it of undermining countries. However, he was happy to offer George W Bush his full support and cooperation in the aftermath of the Sept 11, attacks. He used this tacit approval to tighten his grip on political dissenters at home, using the ISA.
He has a problem with western values and their concept of ‘absolute freedom’ and told the US Congress in Washington: “The west is very impatient. You want overnight change.”
And yet, for 22 years, he altered the Malaysian landscape with his policies which polarised us, increased corruption, worsened nepotism and created the systematic destruction of our institutions.
His argument is that the Malays would lose power under Pakatan. That is absurd. He leaves the non-Malays with a persecution complex or the Malays feeling victimised.
This man is prepared to sacrifice the ordinary person to protect his, and his cronies’ domination of wealth and power. Malaysians from all walks of life are left frightened, angry and worried.
Similarly, the Umno cohorts are also fearful of what will become of them when Pakatan gains power. We, the taxpayers of Malaysia, want them jailed and our money returned.
Mahathir and other extremist leaders imagine we’re living in a Malaysia where the Malay reigns supreme for life.
Ideas like these will cripple the nation. This is the power that Mahathir has over easily-influenced and unprincipled Malays.
Malaysia is financially insecure. Our civil service is shored up with injections of cash even though large swathes of it are overstaffed and inefficient.
Mahathir has turned the Malays into a work-shy part of the Malay community. The country is suffering economically and our most gifted people seek jobs abroad. Talk of Malay rights just distracts Malays from valuing hard work and rewards.
The anomaly is that Bangladeshi fishermen are invited to take up 6,000 jobs in our fishing industry. Why? What happened to our once thriving fishing economy? Where are the government policies to modernise our fishing fleet and lift our fishermen out of poverty?
Taxpayers’ money is indiscriminately spent on divisive projects like the Biro Tata Negara (BTN, National Civics Bureau) or the unpopular National Service (NS). A few months of NS are insufficient for promoting unity. The BTN indoctrination traps Malays in a dependency culture.
Power-mad talk
Racial harmony and unity is an ongoing process, best started as early as possible in life. Mahathir’s racist policies are myopic. They have neither made Malaysia better nor improved the lives of the Malays, or any other poor Malaysians.
Let us not kid ourselves. Mahathir is not making the Malays ‘gain power’ or ‘have power’. He is merely referring to Umno’s (and BN component partners) hold onto power, over us. It is for their own ends – and certainly not ours.
What happens if people did not vote Pakatan? By Mahathir’s reckoning, the Malays will still have power.
‘Power’ is meaningless if people still don’t qualify to tender for contracts, have to pay a higher road-toll, are at the mercy of trigger-happy policemen or racist school principals, don’t trust the judiciary, cannot afford cars or houses, and face escalating prices for petrol, electricity and basic foodstuffs?
Who will the Malaysians blame then? It won’t be Pakatan. It will be Mahathir, his cronies and Umno.
Mahathir’s power-mad talk has only managed to cause tensions to rise. As a retiree who has caused irreparable damage to race relations, why doesn’t he just stick to making the bread rise in his bakery business, ‘The Loaf’?
Alas, the talent of the Malay youth to loaf or lepak, is well-known.
MARIAM MOKHTAR is a non-conformist traditionalist from Perak, a bucket chemist and an armchair eco-warrior. In ‘real–speak’, this translates into that she comes from Ipoh, values change but respects culture, is a petroleum chemist and also an environmental pollution-control scientist.
Najib is in a quandary. He can’t get rid of Mamakthir and the likes of Ibrahim Katak simply because he can’t take the risk of UMNO losing the support of this “fringe” group. Assuming that 20 pct of UMNO agrees with Mamakthir and Perkasa, Najib can’t alienate this 20 pct simply because he isn’t sure that he can recoup this 20 pct support from moderate Malays even if he walks his talk.
For the time being, Najib will tell the whole world that extremism is bad, we must fight extremism, we must take the middle ground, we must do this, we must do that, blah, blah, blah. Then, in the company of extremists, he will say that their voices will be heard and their interests will be protected, blah, blah, blah.
We can attribute this to his wishy-washy attitude and to his track record of always running away from a fight. So what’s next ? The country will drift, there will be no political will, the political rhetoric will continue unabated, the extremists will get bolder, more civil servants will come out of the woodwork to belittle pendatangs because they know that no action will be taken against them, FDI will continue to fall, money will continue to flow out, more Malaysians will hedge their bets overseas….and by 2019, there’ll be plenty of excuses why Bolehland will not meet its high income targets, but don’t worry, we will reach our first world status in 2050. That’s why you need to continue to vote in the corrupt UMNO – they can guarantee first world status by 2050.
In 2008, I was firmly of the opinion that we should let bygones be bygones, and not bother to investigate the excesses of Mamakthir. Given that this old fox continues to destabilise the country for his own selfish ends, I have now changed my mind. We need a RCI on the abuse of power by Mamakthir, and the systemic corruption of the judiciary and the investigative organs like PDRM and MACC.
Are you hearing us, Mamakthir ? Even after you meet your Maker, we will still want to conduct a RCI into your actions for 22 years so that history will record what you have done to this country of ours.
The Mamak Dilemma—- “I will end up in Kamunting when PR comes to power in Putrajaya”
The Saifool Dilemma—- “Lots of other peoples’ dna will end up inside my rectooom when PR comes to power in Putrajaya”
The CSL Dilemma—- “My Muar hotel room DVD will be circulated freely when PR comes to power in Putrajaya”
One man’s insecurity. That is all there is to it. Dr mamak is feeling insecure for two reasons. First, all the mega scale faark-ups, abuses and corrupt practices during his 22 yrs. Second, the colour of his skin. The call to “balik” to wherever one’s ancestors are from applies to him too. How can he feel easy or comfortable with such constant calls?
In 20 yrs (according to some prediction) china will overtake US and become the largest economy in the world. Malaysia (I am not saying malays) jolly well take a ride to prosperity on the back of 6million mandarin speaking malaysian chinese – a unique advantage malaysia enjoys.
Perkasa, umno and dr mamak are bent on destroying that important advantage. It’s worthless to them, quite obviously. The decision to suffer is for umno to make. We wont stop them. So let umnoputras suffer. Those malays who feed on competition and success on their own merit needless to say would just leave them behind. And meanwhile thailand has begun its build-up of a similar advantage by requiring young thais to learn mandarin. Already thailand has overtaken us in attracting foreign investors.
It is not the Malays would lose power if Pakatan Rakyat were to come to power, it is the Kerala Indain mamak will loose all his power! It is also very clear this wily old fart is trying to build a protective wall around him by makinh bfull use of Perkasa and using the idiotic “Pig Face” to be his spokesman.
This blood sucking Mamakkutty has damaged the judiciary and tainted all the Institutions into disgraceful marbles players to their political masters UMNO. It is obvious, this SOB mamak have a lot to answer for…his blooming conscience is pricking him?… if he has any!!
Rosmah asks Malaysians abroad to be colour-blind.
Wow! Wow! Wow! Rosmah speaking glorious sense.
Hello Mah, how about malaysians in Malaysia, ah?
You know how some devilish children behave like little devils @ home but are such perfect angels outside their homes.
Oh, I noticed Najib is also colour-blind @ the UN. Hmmm… all the right soundbites outside the home country. I wonder…….
Be patient, very soon the Batu Api / King of Instigation / Father of Corruption will be history … and free from sickness.
Mahathir is definitely not the “father of modernisation.”
Mahathir is “father of all corruptions” in this country.
Mahathir is “KEPALA BAPA PENYAMUN & PEROMPAK MALAYSIA.” Under his watch, MAS is robbed in the broad day light.
Mahathir is “KEPALA BAPA RACIST MALAYSIA.”
Mahathir is “KEPALA BAPA RASUAH MALAYSIA.”
I hope Anwar Ibrahim will lock Mahathir with Bubba in jail once he became the next PM of Malaysia. Let Mahathir rot in prison for all the misfortunes & suffering he had brought to this beautiful country Malaysia.
Hey cintanegara, spare ibrahim bin perkasa two of your precious rambutans pls so that he would be appropriately equipped to take on nazri’s challenge to reveal all of nazri’s darksecrets.
cintanegara has only 2 rambutans from his precious rambutan tree. After giving both of them to ibrahim bin atang, he would be left like chengho.
Mariam talks straight. Mahathir talks with hidden agenda. That is the difference between them.
If only there were more UMNOB leaders like Mariam; if Mahathir was not so power-crazy and corrupt, Malaysia would have been a developed nation by now. But what we see today is a disunited and ailing country moving closer to becoming another Banana Republic.
I am pleading to all peace-loving, right-minded and forward-thinking Malaysians from all races to wave the olive branch so that we can start again to moving forward to make Malaysia truely Indah dan Terpesona.
The mess created by Mahathir and his clique over the last three decades will take us more time to clear up. But let us not be deterred but instead, face the difficulty with hard work and a strong determination.
The Rakyat have given UMNOB/BN leaders ample time and opportunities to change; to stop their corrupt practises and check the rampant corruption which is stifling the country’s developement. Having stayed too long in power, they have become arrogant and turn a deaf ear to our calls.
UMNOB/BN cannot change, will not change and never will. Everyone of their leaders is mirred in corruption. The only change the rakyat see is the change in the Judiciary, MACC, PDRM and in every government institution to become ‘tools’ to be used to stay in power.
UMNOB/BN is Sodom and Gomorrah-rotten beyond redemption. God rained down sulphur and fire upon them. Come this 13th GE, Let us all with our God-given wisdom, rain our votes against the Sodom and Gomorrah in our midst.
UMNOB/BN must be told Rakyat is their boss. Any new government in future must take note of this: RAKYAT IS BOSS. WE ARE HAMBA TO THE RAKYAT.
do you see the katak ali, budak-budak kecil mentality? It is like, if you not friend me, i talk bad about you. if you not friend me, i reveal your secrets. what kind of moronic mentality is this? no wonder this country cannot progress. we have 5 year-old mentality as MPs and ministers and even the tuns.
if the dark secrets are discriminating to the country, the PDRM should arrest this katak ali for witholding crucial information.
or the dark secrets are nazri likes to wear lipsticks? or wear woman’s underwear? this jabba the hutt-ali is really something.
The Mother’s Dilemma— This is what happened when the NEP is applied to birds
http://www.emmitsburg.net/humor/pictures/2008/mom_likes_me_best.jpg
///Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s warning that “Malays would lose power if Pakatan Rakyat were to come to power”, is not his first racist rant since his retirement.///–MM
In a democracy, the persons elected to form government have to observe rule of law, or rather the government is bound to administer in accordance with the law of the country. The constitution provides that everybody is equal before the law; so Malays do not lose power in terms of equality before the law when Pakatan comes into power. So Mamakthir implies that under BN Malays have more power. So BN governs against the provision of the constitution. By his warning Mamakthir divides the population by race and calling for Malays to be hostile to non-Malays. That is extremism. Strangely, Najib chose to warn the world about extremism but does not distance himself from the extremist Mamakthir and the racist organization Perkasa. Well, Najib’s father Razak was himself a racist based on the fact that he reserved FELDA schemes for Malays only. Like father like son, what can we expect him to do?
Even in retirement our beloved statesman, Tun Dr Mahathir remains an influential political voice in this country. Yes, TDM is a great leader whom Malaysians and the rest of the world admire the most. He has millions supporters locally and abroad.
TDM is absolutely right when he says that majority would lose power if Pakatan Rakyat were to come to power. Let’s do a benchmarking with another country ruled by a political party which shares the same ideology and goals with DAP. Who was the first head of state? Everyone knows what had happened after 45years? Likewise, Anwar might be the first PM but what will happen after that? By the way, the support the Government is getting from the majority has increased tremendously nowadays.. They have learned from past mistakes.
Statesman is an experienced and respected political leader. Mamakthir is experienced, in creating institutionalized corruption, but respected he is not. That makes him a political opportunist.
cheata – I believe there are typo errors here.
“millions supporters” should read “billions squirreled”
Just because Mamakthir gave cintanegara free fertilisers and created a monopoly to artificially inflate the price of rambutans, he is now kissing Mamakthir’s a$$. Sure smells good when the going is good.
Hey, hv U watched d best musical in town, abt dat maha racist?
Great leaders do not cause the dissapearance of US100b, hicom, perwaja, sarawak primary forest, drop in uni ranking, etc etc.
Great leaders do not need BTN and all sorts of oppressive laws.
Great leaders let others eat their rambutans.
Malaysia is just cleaning up all the poop of the Mahatir era. So please put that Jack-in-the-Box back in, please, please?
Dr Mahathir is sowing the seeds of racial discord daily. He claims to defend the legitimate rights of the Malays but he is actually defending his own rights and the rights of UMNOPUTRAS and their cronies. Only muddle-headed people would believe his rhetorics. If he is so concerned about the welfare of the Malays, he should surrender part of his wealth for this cause. Many poor rural Malays will benefit from this. The sooner this old man disappears from the political scene, the better it is for the well being of Malaysia.
cintanegara, Lau Lee’s itinerary is filled with invitations from all over the world for him to give speeches. Media stations are queueing to interview him. His visionary, intelligent, candid and honest views on world issues are much sought after.
cintanegara, you need not have to search for reasons why world leaders look-up to Lau Lee for guidance. Looking at the little Red Dot and comparing it with other countries will tell you why. But please do not compare it with Malaysia for, if you do, you will feel very disappointed with your statesman or even start to hate him. I do not wish for this to happen because he is a senile old man.
Little wonder that Singaporeans from all ethnic groups return Lau Lee’s PAP ruling party with very strong mandate in every General Election. And, according to statistics, Singaporeans of Malay origin are the staunchest supporters of PAP. Do you know that?
As for Lau Beh, he loves to be in the limelight. Most crooks do because being in the news can help distract public attention from one’s wrong doings as in the case of Lau Beh.But eversince he retired ( pressured to step down? ) as PM, very few people care to remember him. To salvage his pride he joins Perkasa to be in the news again.
People pay Lau Lee to give speeches. Lau Beh pays people to hear ( not listen ) to his talks. Recently, he paid a few bus loads of poor and unemployed Malays to go to Kelantan and hear ( not listen ) his talk. BTW cintanegara, do you still recall Lau Beh paid a hefty sum of money to someone to make arrangement for him to meet the US President then-George W W Bush?
Lau Lee and Lau Beh cannot be put in the same category. The former is respected the world over. The latter likes people like you, cintanegara, to tickle his ears and sing him praises.
FYI Lau Beh means old horse. Do you know what they do to old horses that cannot race anymore and are a financial burden to their owners?
MMK pushed 4 Bakun Dam 2 b built, wanted 2 b world #1 dis n dat
Several years later now, Federal 2 sell d dam 2 Sarawak, lelong
So, in d last several years, who siphoned off big $$$$?
///“Malays would lose power if Pakatan Rakyat were to come to power”/// – Mahathir
And so what? Is that the end of the world? Have not the non-Malays lost power for the past 53 years?
Just Look In the Mirror, Umnoists among themselves…..
How to be COLOR BLIND … when all these Putra 0Puteri Barbaric preaches Malay RACISMsia at home here in BOLEHLan….
Resort to undemcratic ISA lawlessness to detent Innocent Oppostion Party Rakyat Lawmakers in the past and present>>>it can Only help to promote and deepening trememdous hatred among Interfaith and culture , society disunity and disparity>look at Hari Raya Open house gatherings >these MCA MIC exhibited superficial relationship as what they acted at ministerial level….Lets see the consequences of the Reality of their Umno BN Racist Harvests .
PR ought to learn lesson draw from rFatty Rosieand Jibby non sensical Hypocritic UN speech on Color race issues.
“”Learn to respect others before you can gain repect.””All Human beings have values …Treasure and cherish them. If you promote these values there will be Properity and peace in the civic society.This Is my personal life experience
daily.
PR Have a Good day!
The Malays will lose power under PR’s rule
TDM is obviously not in his right mind
Who is the old doctor trying to fool?
Only the dumb and the truth-blind
No matter which government we select
The Malays will still be in power
No one can deny this fact
Only the opposition coalition is the power loser
TDM is scared to face up to the reality
Is he concerned about the Malays fate
Or more worried about his own destiny
If BN/UMNO is not given the mandate
The failure of the present government
Is because its leaders are corrupt to the core
We have to change the ruling management
In order to bring back the rule of law
Whilst Mamak is crossing his fingers to make his WAWASAN 2020 come true, his machais are all talking the opposite! Remember the one who said MALAYSIA WILL BE BANKRUPT IN 2019, just 1 year short of his mirage!