By Niza Shimi
I don’t listen to Tun Dr Mahathir (Tun M as he is often referred to) anymore. Mostly because at 97 years of age, there’s a yawning generation gap between his world view and the shape the world is in today. Life is more complicated and Tun M doesn’t have all the answers.
The world is a mess and there’s nothing Tun Mahathir can do to make it right. Malaysia is in a political mess, thanks to him. That’s my honest opinion. One does not live this long and been given such immense power to not be held accountable for the wrongs.
My introduction to Tun M was when I read the pivotal publication, “Malay Dilemma”. Yes, I read it when the book was banned in Malaysia. I had surreptitiously obtained the contraband item in my university library in America. I remember that shock of discovery.
Those days there was no internet. A student had to go to the library to look things up. As I was browsing through a section on Malaysia, there it was sitting on the shelf. I immediately pounced on it, read it within a day, devouring every word.
Tun M’s book inspired me to finish my studies and return to Malaysia to serve the nation. I knew him as a nationalist back then. In the course of work, I was able to attend several events when he was the keynote speaker. He goes straight to the point. People listened.
But that was a long time ago. Then he was the most powerful man in the country. His word was a command. If he wanted something done, the minions and sycophants around him would see that it was done. He was untouchable.
A lot of water has flowed under the bridge since he was in power. He was given a farewell fit for a hero in 2003. Malaysians wanted to remember him fondly. But he refused to go. Instead, he came back and ruined his legacy, at least for me.
After what he put the nation through in 1998 with the sacking of his then deputy Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and the subsequent events, Tun M lost his halo. When he decided to join Pakatan Harapan (PH) and teamed up with Anwar, he lost all credibility in my eyes.
He introduced the word sodomy into the vocabulary of my very young children. It was all over the media, repeated on TV and you couldn’t avoid it. Then he helped Anwar get a royal pardon. What was all that sodomy drama about?
Since then, I don’t listen to Tun M anymore. His tears leave me unmoved. He is just an old man trying too hard to hold on to power. He played too many political games. Once I believed him and was inspired by him. Now I just feel sad.
His catchword for GE14 was kleptocracy. It means nothing to me. It’s just another word he is using to indoctrinate. What word will he use this time? I no longer listen.
Author and academician Murray Hunter wrote an interesting commentary on “The psychology of the Malay heartland” that might shed some light. I don’t live in the Malay heartland and don’t agree with all that Hunter writes.
But one statement stands out; “To win the Malay heartland, one has to be Islamic. This is the prime battlefield for hearts and minds. Mahathir has played this card for decades.”
Mahathir may have overplayed his hand.
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