Dr Mahathir spent half his lifetime devoted to bringing up the welfare of the Malays and the Malays `repaid' him by going the opposite way with loss of moral and integrity the biggest issue amongst the Malays now.
Throughout his 24 cumulative years in office, he implemented significant affirmative action policies under the New Economic Policy (NEP) to bridge the economic gap between the Malays and other ethnic groups.
He acknowledged publicly that his greatest regret was his failure to permanently transform the culture and mindset of the Malays.
Seeing parts of the Malay community lost its sense of shame, a society that tak tahu malu is probably is other greatest regret.
He famously observed a shift in public attitudes toward corruption and criminality, noting that historically, individuals faced with prison sentences hung their heads in shame, whereas modern offenders sometimes walked publicly with their heads held high, smiling.
He viewed the community's willingness to tolerate corrupt leaders as a profound betrayal of the moral values and sense of shame (sifat malu) he tried to instill.
Is the systemic moral crises seen today the direct byproduct of the political system Dr Mahathir built over the 24 years that he was leading the country?
It is widely known and acknowledged that patronage politics—where political loyalty is rewarded with government contracts, positions, and financial favors—became deeply institutionalized during DR Mahathir’s first 22-year tenure.
The patronage politics practised then naturally eroded integrity by teaching generations of politicians and citizens that wealth and power matter more than ethical conduct.
Recently, only in April 2026, Dr Mahathir publicly said Malays themselves are to blame for their own disunity as no single Malay party, within the proliferation of parties that has fragmented the community, can prevail, setting them against one another.
His recent exhortations urging Malays to vote strictly along racial lines to protect "Tanah Melayu" further distracted the public from holding politicians accountable for corruption and ethical failures.
Ultimately, Dr Mahathir’s legacy is a paradox.
To one side, he is the visionary statesman who gave the Malays the tools, education, and infrastructure to modernise and succeed.
To the other, he is the leader whose political system compromised the community's institutional integrity, leaving behind a culture heavily reliant on state patronage.
To compound this imbroglio, instead of seeing the Malays progress, probably not at the pace or measure he was hoping to achieve, seeing parts of the Malay community lost its sense of shame.
How history judges him will depend entirely on whether one places greater weight on the tangible material progress he built, or the cultural and institutional fractures left in its wake.
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