Category: Mahathir

— Ronald Benjamin
The Malaysian Insider
Aug 20, 2011

AUG 20 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s speech that the Malay community has been split into three groups and that this could create a scenario for foreign intervention is another type of opinion that does not understand the nature of politics and what makes a nation vulnerable to foreign intervention.

This type of view has been used by authoritarian leaders around the world on the pretext of safeguarding national sovereignty but who contradict themselves by building political barriers for their own people with laws and economic systems that infringe on human dignity.

This in turn gives opportunities to foreign powers to manipulate shortcomings in these nations with larger agendas in mind.

The question is how could a nation call itself sovereign when it denies its own people the right to express themselves? Continue reading “Dr M and sovereignty”

Written by Hussein Hamid
Friday, 29 July 2011
CPI

Since the early 1980s, the ‘indiscretions’ of elected officials and those in the civil service have become the hallmark of all things Malaysian. This is to the extent that the people now accept corruption, greed and furthering vested interests as colouring all government transactions.

How did this scheme of things come about?

The turning point was 1981. After Mahathir Mohamad became prime minister, compassion for the people and respect for their rights was extinguished. With Mahathir too came the decline of political morality and a corresponding decline in the moral fibre of the civil service. Continue reading “Mahathir’s grand contribution to decline in political morality”

By Finance twitter

As much as I would like to stop writing about PM Najib administration, the plot just got interesting and I think he may just hit the bull’s eye as far as my prediction that his downfall may be faster than his predecessor, Abdullah Badawi, is concerned. Compared with Najib, Badawi now seems like a cute adorable little kitten, who merely likes to sleep (on the job). Malaysians tend to be more forgiving on lazy prime minister but not a prime minister who lies, cheats, brutal, dirty (allegation on Mongolian Altantuya’s murder), hypocrite but above all stupid yet arrogant.

One cannot help but fell off the chair laughing after read that Najib said he cancels a family vacation because he wants to spend more time with Malaysians. This was perhaps the best joke ever by premier Najib since he took over from Abdullah Badawi. This joke actually worth a thousand “Like” on his facebook page. Forget about Bersih 2.0 because this guy may quit under pressure – not from opposition parties or Bersih 2.0 but from his internal UMNO party. Boy, if it was true that the US$24 million controversial diamond ring indeed belongs to his wife Rosmah Mansor, that ring is cursed.
Continue reading “Resign Or Snap Election For Najib, Here’re The Reasons”

By Stanley Koh | July 27, 2011
Free Malaysia Today

Is Mahathirism back with a vengeance?

Recent events do make it seem like the Najib regime has decided to adopt the former prime minister’s authoritarian style in saving its flagging political fortunes. It has resorted to using draconian laws and shameless propaganda in the face of an awakening electorate and increasing exposures of its misdeeds.

The government seems to have ignored the strong signal given by the 2008 election result that Malaysians want more democratic space. And what was Bersih 2.0’s July 9 rally if not a reaffirmation of that demand?

But instead of using the occasion to promote his much-vaunted liberalist image, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak seemed to have done what Dr Mahathir Mohamad would have done—crush them and damn what the world says.
Continue reading “The ghosts of Mahathirism”

By Shannon Teoh | June 23, 2011
The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, June 23 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad blamed press freedom today for poor race relations which, he claimed, had worsened since he stepped down as prime minister in 2003.

He said that this was because press freedom has allowed racial and religious tension to ferment in Malaysia.

“Those days we didn’t talk so much about race, showing disrespect to others. Today we talk about race and religion, putting a wedge between the different races.

“Race relations today are not as good as when ‘a dictator of 22 years’ was leading the country,” the former prime minister told a forum of chief executives today.
Continue reading “Dr M blames press for worsening race relations”

The Malaysian Insider

9 JUN — Dr Mahathir Mohamad masih lagi hendak bercakap terlalu banyak dalam mempertahankan Umno. Niat beliau mungkin ikhlas untuk mempertahankan Umno kerana beliau adalah ahli Umno. Tetapi kata-kata beliau mungkin membantutkan usaha Umno untuk kembali mendapat penghormatan rakyat. Beliau sudah agak pelupa orangnya dan banyak kali apa yang beliau kata terhadap musuh politiknya, itulah yang beliau lazim lakukan.

Dalam isu PAS dengan pembaharuannya selepas muktamar parti itu hujung minggu lepas Dr Mahathir telah mengatakan yang Karpal Singh-lah yang berjaya mempengaruhi PAS supaya menolak perjuangan Islam parti itu sedangkan parti itu hanya hendak memberikan tumpuan yang lebih kepada negara kebajikan jika diberi mandat untuk memerintah. Itu adalah sebahagain besar dari pimpinan ciri Islam.
Continue reading “Menolak pentadbiran Islam, Dr M lebih berjaya dari Karpal — Aspan Alias”

– Lucius Goon
The Malaysian Insider
Jun 02, 2011

JUNE 2 — This is a serious question. Will we vote for Ibrahim Ali?

I believe this is a relevant question for Malaysians to ponder because with each passing day this Perkasa mouthpiece seems to have pushed Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and other Cabinet ministers from the mainstage of decision-making and politics.

After watching the local political scene for a few months, we can conclude a few things: Ibrahim is Umno and Umno loves Ibrahim.

Najib is scared of upsetting Ibrahim and Perkasa, probably out of some fear that the right-wing group can influence the outcome of how Malays vote and/or concern that not bowing to Ibrahim’s wishes will upset Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, supporter and patron of Perkasa. Continue reading “Will we vote for Ibrahim Ali?”

— Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
May 29, 2011

29 MEI — Ramai juga yang tidak selesa dengan komen saya dalam banyak isu yang berkaitan dengan ‘intution’ saya yang tidak begitu sedap dalam menghadapi pilihanraya yang akan datang. Kadangkala saya berfikir juga kenapa saya perlu sibuk untuk menulis tentang isu-isu itu kerana ianya hanya memungkinkan saya di rembat dengan hebatnya oleh pihak yang tidak gemar dengan pandangan saya.

Kadangkala ada juga penyesalan kerana saya terlibat mengambil tahu tentang politik ini. Walaupun tidak bergiat secara fisikal lagi benak saya tetap berfikir tentang politik ini. Saya tetap juga memberikan pandangan secara terbuka kerana saya tidak pernah berusaha untuk menaiki tangga kejayaan politik dan saya tidak pernah menyesal dengan keadaan itu.

Oleh itu saya tetap dengan pendirian untuk bercakap dan menulis ketika ada ruang untuk berbuat demikian kerana saya tidak dapat mengelak dari melihat dan mendengar apa yang berlaku di sekeliling saya. Saya bukan seorang ‘social climber’ dan apa yang saya perkatakan itu adalah pemikiran yang sejati tanpa dikotori oleh kepentingan peribadi. Justru saya tidak ada perasaan gentar dan takut untuk memberikan buah fikiran dan pandangan saya secara terbuka. Continue reading “Kalau ada ‘fulus’ apa pun boleh lulus”

Sakmongkol AK47
The Malaysian Insider
May 30, 2011

MAY 30 — I have written so many essays critical of Umno in the past.

Friends asked me why am I still in Umno? How can I write many nasty things about Umno and seemed to get away with it — why haven’t I been hauled up by the Umno disciplinary committee or something and not ticked off? Isn’t there anything good that Umno has done.

Let’s clear one thing first. This is the source of many of Umno’s problems. Some people assigned to themselves the right to determine who should or shouldn’t be in Umno. They then judge others in terms of their thinking and criteria. Pak Lah or any others can’t measure up to Mahathir in many aspects. But they are not necessarily inferior to Mahathir. They are different. They must be judged on objective terms, not the subjective standards of one Mahathir.

Najib doesn’t seem to do things anything right according to Mahathir. The old man is so stressed up and suffers physical debilitations. Continue reading “Umno — self-induced rigor mortis”

By M. Bakri Musa

Q& A (Cont’d): Pakatan, UMNO, and Mahathir

Q4: Pakatan declared that it will take away Malay special privileges. Why should I vote for that coalition?

A4: Your greatest fear, and reason for not voting Pakatan, is the possible loss of your special privileges. Thanks to the agitations of leaders from the increasingly shrill Mahathir down to the ever-frothing Perkasa’s Ibrahim Ali, affirmative action is now an existential issue for Malays.
Continue reading “Longing For A Free Mind (Part 12 of 14)”

by John Inbaraj
The Malaysian Insider
May 21, 2011

MAY 21 — Great Men talk of Ideas, Average Men talk of Things, and Small Men talk of other Men. If I choose to be kind, I can best rate the Malaysian government as average.

In the days of old, our leaders were visionaries, people who talked of great plans and ideas for the country. They had quality — the likes of Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Hussein Onn.

Whether or not their visions and policies achieved their desired goals, they were genuine Malaysians with a heart for the nation. There were others on the sidelines who stood strong to ideals and contributed unselfishly to nation building.

However, the prime minister after that, the great Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed, began the systematic dismantling of the principles of democracy and the downward slide of an entire nation. He is widely seen as the man who almost single-handedly destroyed the basic instruments of parliamentary democracy. Continue reading “BN must respect next GE result”

Shamsuddin Ghani
The Malaysian Insider
May 15, 2011

MAY 15 — I think it is time we stop this charade. Ibrahim Ali says he is an Independent MP and that Perkasa has nothing to do with Umno.

But we know better than to accept this nonsense from the King of Nonsense.

He is allowed by the Najib administration to plant seditious ideas everywhere, to brandish his thuggish behaviour on the national stage and insult everything decent about being Malaysian.

The police give him a free pass even though everytime he speaks he breaks a slew of laws. How can an intellectually-disadvantaged politician with supposedly no affialiation be so privileged?

Because he has the support of Najib Razak and Umno and the protection of Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Perkasa is Umno’s alter ego and was set up to give Umno the luxury of playing the chauvinist and right wing card and yet have the luxury of deniability. So Umno could assure its BN component party members that it was middle of the road while twin Perkasa targetted the vote of the Malays. Continue reading “Ibrahim Ali is Umno”

Mariam Mokhtar | May 13, 2011
Free Malaysia Today

Umno is bereft of conviction and hampered by weak leaders and their only course of action is to remind us of the possibility of another May 13.

COMMENT

Utusan Malaysia’s headline, ‘Malaysia Negara Kristian?’ (Malaysia a Christian state?), was a subtle Umno plot to warn us, that the consequences of voting for the Opposition might trigger another ‘May 13’.

The Utusan article bears all the tell-tale signs– sowing the seeds of discord and exaggerating our fears. Ever since the May 13 riots of 1969, Umno has relied on scaremongering and threats, to make Malaysians prisoners of irrational fear.

It is in Umno’s character to employ cynical tactics because it faces defeat in the 13th General Election. The opposition has captivated the electorate as seen by its successes in Sarawak and to make matters worse, PAS has rejected Umno’s overtures. Umno has run out of ideas and vision. It lacks momentum and motivation. It has reached the end of the road. Continue reading “Are we Umno’s prisoners of irrational fear”

by Ronald Benjamin
The Malaysian Insider
April 25, 2011

APRIL 25 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s comments that the racist politics of DAP has been exported to Sarawak clearly reveal his ethnic prejudice and insecurity.

His simplistic comments fail to consider the current political and cultural trends among the urban population whose political sense and approach to issues is increasingly rooted in universal justice, equality and pragmatism.

Ethnic issues are minimal in this paradigm of thinking.

The Barisan National coalition of ethnic-based parties is still finding it difficult to come to terms with this new political paradigm that goes beyond mere ethnic accommodation. The urban middle-class is basically connected to a global world, where a sense of equality, meritocracy and democratic expression is the norm in any enlightened civil society. Continue reading “New urban thinking led to BN losses in Sarawak towns”

Yesterday, despite denials by DAP National Chairman and MP for Bukit Gelugor Karpal Singh (who was one of the seven DAP MPs detained by Tun Mahathir’s Ministerial order in 1987) and I that there had been such a meeting or assurance before the Operation Lalang crackdown, the former Prime Minister stuck to his version, saying:

“This happened 20 years ago. I remember distinctly having the meeting. I don’t really remember the faces of those who were there, but I am quite certain that Karpal Singh was not there and that Lim Kit Siang was there.”

This is most untypical of Mahathir, who is credited with elephantine memory except when for political reasons he chose to be a victim of amnesia – as during his 90-minute testimony before the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam Videotape Scandal in January 2008 where he said “I cannot remember” or its equivalent 14 times!

Could it be possible that he had “met all of the opposition members and assured them that they would not be arrested” and he could not remember their faces except mine – or when, where or who else from his side who were present or party to the meeting?

Mahathir should make a greater effort to remember this astounding meeting before Operation Lalang mass arrests where he allegedly “met all of the opposition members and assured them that they would not be arrested” – not only the who, but all other details as to the where, when and how the meeting came about, together with eye-witness accounts. Continue reading “Mahathir should make a greater effort to remember his astounding meeting before Operation Lalang giving assurance of no ISA arrests”

Former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad has maintained what he said in Tom Plate’s new book “Doctor M: Operation Malaysia – Conversations with Mahathir Mohamad” that he had “actually met all of the opposition members (beforehand) and assured them that they would not be arrested”.

Following my rebuttal that I had never met Mahathir and that he never gave me any assurance that I would not be arrested before the launch of Operation Lalang on Oct. 27, 1987, Mahathir repeated yesterday: “I met Kit Siang and his friends as a group”.

He said he felt some of the political figures did not need to serve detention at that time.

“It was the police who took action against them and I accepted their decision.”

I had challenged Mahathir to name the Opposition leaders he had met and given assurance that they would not be arrested – now reduced to “Kit Siang and his friends as a group” –but subsequently overruled by the police in the Operation Lalang crackdown, but Mahathir has not been able to name anyone of the others.
Continue reading “Would Opposition leaders have let off Mahathir for two decades if he had broken his assurance before Operation Lalang that they would not be arrested under the ISA?”

By Kee Thuan Chye | FMT

OPERATION Lalang was a black day in Malaysian history. On Oct 27, 1987, 106 people were detained under the ISA in one fell swoop. Most of them were from opposition parties and NGOs. A few newspapers were suspended. It traumatised Malaysians and made them submit to the culture of fear. Some have yet to recover from it.

Whoever initiated Operation Lalang did a strong disservice to the nation. It was a shameful exercise of power. Whatever the reason or reasons may be for invoking the ISA on that occasion on so many individuals, there is no fair justification for doing so.

Perhaps that is why Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who was the prime minister then, has recently come out to say he was not responsible for it. In typical Mahathir fashion – for he is accustomed to blaming others for things he might have done – he blamed it on the police.

In his interview with Tom Plate for the recently published book Doctor M: Operation Malaysia – Conversations with Mahathir Mohamad, he said:
Continue reading “A blackly comic whodunit”

Former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad is rewriting history when he blamed the police for the 1987 Operation Lalang mass Internal Security Act (ISA) arrests, claiming that he was furious over the mass crackdown.

In the new book, “Doctor M: Operation Malaysia – Conversations with Mahathir Mohamad” by Tom Plate, Mahathir said:

“Well, I would have handled it differently, except that the police wanted to do these things because they say it is necessary…

“I actually met all of the opposition members (beforehand) and assured them that they would not be arrested. And you know what the police did? They arrested them. My credibility is gone.”

Mahathir is not only suffering from selective memory and faulty memory but is spinning untruths about his misdeeds in his 22 years as Prime Minister.

I never met Mahathir and he never gave me any assurance that I would not be arrested before the launch of Operation Lalang on Oct. 27, 1987, although a day earlier I had spoken in Parliament in the 1988 budget debate warning of escalation of racial tensions and calling on all political parties “to agree to a one-year moratorium where no racial, language, cultural or religious issues will be created or raised for every Malaysian to concentrate on the national priority of achieving economic recovery and growth”.

Let Mahathir name the Opposition leaders had had met and given assurance that they would not be arrested but subsequently overruled by the police in the Operation Lalang crackdown! Continue reading “Mahathir rewriting history on Ops Lalang”

Regina Lee | Feb 9, 11
Malaysiakini

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had pointed at the direction of the police over Ops Lalang, which saw 106 people arrested including top political dissidents under the Internal Security Act in 1987.

In the most recent book on Mahathir, ‘Doctor M: Operation Malaysia – Conversations with Mahathir Mohamad’, the former premier of 22 years revealed that he was furious over the mass crackdown.

“Well, I would have handled it differently, except that the police wanted to do these things because they say it is necessary…

“I actually met all of the opposition members (beforehand) and assured them that they would not be arrested. And you know what the police did? They arrested them. My credibility is gone,” he said.

“You must have been furious!” retorted Tom Plate, the interviewer and author of the book.

“Yeah, but what can I do? You see, I have to accept that they are the people on the ground that makes a decision. I give general authority to them,” continued Mahathir, who was known as a strongman who brook little dissent. Continue reading “Mahathir blames police over Ops Lalang”

By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 4 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lawmakers have demanded that Datuk Seri Najib Razak respond to Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s latest remarks that Malaysia belongs to the Malays and other races are expected to respect Malay sovereignity.

They want the prime minister to state his stand and views on the matter, and whether he subscribes to Dr Mahathir’s views or feels otherwise.

Opposition leaders said Dr Mahathir’s statement was a direct contradiction to Najib’s 1 Malaysia concept of equality. Continue reading “Pakatan wants Najib’s reply to Dr M’s Tanah Melayu remarks”