Day: June 8, 2013

Former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad is trying to be King Canute a thousand years ago to stop the rise of the tide in the way he is trying to stem the new tide in Malaysian politics after the 13th General Elections – growing support from Malaysians regardless of race for an end to the politics of race, corruption and abuses of power and their replacement by the politics of the Malaysian Dream rising above race, corruption and cronyism.

It is most shocking and outrageous that after 22 years as Prime Minister and after fathering Vision 2020 and Bangsa Malaysia, Mahathir should return to his racist roots during and after the 13th General Elections to foment racial conflict and tensions.

His latest racist fulmination that the 13th General Election is proof that the Chinese in Malaysia are out to oust the political power of the Malays and to dominate Malaysian politics is totally outrageous, reckless and irresponsible, and most unbecoming and unworthy of a person who had been Prime Minister for 22 years – and worst of all, a person who fathered Vision 2020 and Bangsa Malaysia.

Mahathir was already at his racist worst during the 13th General Elections when he made the preposterous and baseless allegation that I was contesting in Gelang Patah to create a “racial confrontation” and that I was inciting the Chinese to hate the Malays. Continue reading “Mahathir trying to be King Canute a thousand years ago to stop the rise of the tide in the way he is trying to foment racial conflict and tensions when the tide is for the end of race politics”

— Douglas Teoh
The Malaysian Insider
June 07, 2013

JUNE 7 — I have little difficulty in confessing that I am a Pakatan Rakyat supporter.

After weighing the pros and cons of either coalition, the answer that emerges seems rather intuitive in nature. The current Barisan Nasional (BN) is corrupt, greedy and tyrannical — the worst kind of democratic government possible. Compare that to Pakatan — freedom fighters, typical wage-earning leaders, who also happen to be the electoral underdog.

In this battle, Pakatan occupies the moral high-ground, strengthening their discourse with populism and calls for social justice. Consequentially, any attack on Pakatan’s “character” by BN supporters seems ludicrous and invalid.

So what’s the issue here? Some might say that this is after all a classic good-versus-evil political narrative. Our sentiments (as with any good story) often lie with the struggling underdog who champions a good cause.

But there’s a catch. The trouble with this kind of dichotomous division of political parties is that we over-sympathise with and to some extent even victimise our party of choice. Continue reading “Accepting criticism with an open mind”