A Malaysian answers Dr. Mahathir


December 31, 2012

A Malaysian answers Dr. Mahathir

by  Koon Yew Yin@www.malaysia-chronicle.com

Dr MI was reminded of the witticism on politicians that “we hang the petty thieves but elect the great ones to office” when I read Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s claim in his blog that the Chinese (and Indians) are the real masters of the country.

Specifically, he wrote that “[b]ecause they (the Malays) are willing to share their country with other races, the race from the older civilisation of more than 4,000 years and who are more successful, as such today whatever they have now is also being taken away from them”.

As election day approaches, this line of argument is being rehashed. We can expect more of this race baiting by Dr Mahathir and his kind in UMNO and UMNO Youth when they are addressing Malay voters.

Of course, this rehashing will take on new permutations such as “the PKR and PAS are selling out the rights of the Malays” or “the DAP is really the dayang master pulling the strings of the Pakatan coalition”.

What is important is not to get angry or remain silent but to refute it with facts, figures and arguments.

Political idiocy

For Dr Mahathir to accuse the Chinese of being the real masters of the country is really the height of political idiocy. If we want to go by racial perception, it would appear to everyone that Malays dominate in every sphere of life in the country. They form the majority in Parliament, Judiciary, the Army,  the Police, the MACC and all other important agencies. In the socio-economic and educational sphere, they control all the major banks except for Public Bank, the GLCs, PETRONAS, public universities, civil service, etc.

Any Chinese or orang putih wanting to do business has to kowtow to the Malays for licences and permits. Moreover, Malay businesses control some of the monopolies such as water, electricity, toll roads, etc. where it is so easy for them to make more profits by just increasing the price.

Even the richest and most powerful Chinese and Indians such as Robert Kuok, Ananda Krishna, Tony Fernandez, Vincent Tan and others are completely at the mercy of the Malays if they want to do business in Malaysia.

It’s UMNO-BN that has called all the shots

But let’s not go by simplistic perception. The indisputable fact is that the real masters of the country are the UMNO-led Barisan Nasional, which has ruled Malays and Malaysia for over 55 years.

During that period, Dr Mahathir as Prime Minister was the undisputed  numero uno. He changed the country’s constitution and laws; sent his political opponents into prison or oblivion; singlehandedly undermined the judiciary; and put the clock and our time back to ensure that we would all wake up an hour earlier.

He even took on the most sacrosanct of Malay institutions ― the Sultanate ― by reducing the authority of Malay rulers.Dr Mahathir also controlled and manipulated the country’s purse strings. His financial leadership of the country have left an indelible black mark on the country’s economic and financial fortunes.

First, he made the key decisions on economic white elephants and scandals such as Proton, Bakun Dam, Putrajaya, and Perwaja. The last resulted in a loss of RM2.6 billion. Dr Mahathir himself has admitted publicly in 2002 in a dialogue with Malaysians in London that the loss could have been as much as RM10 billion due to possible misappropriation of funds.

Mother of all scandals

The mother of all financial scandals took place during Dr Mahathir’s time. This was the forex losses incurred by Bank Negara’s speculative currency trading which cost us over RM30 billion.

The second outcome was the plague of privatization he inflicted on the country. A devoted fan of Margaret Thatcher, Dr Mahathir pursued privatization of telecommunications, utilities, airlines and other public sector services with a vengeance. But he lacked the British Premier’s caution and acumen and closed both eyes to the leakages and abuses that accompanied the privatization programme.

Dr Mahathir can be considered to be the godfather of the class of capitalist cronies who have cornered much of the country’s wealth and who, together with UMNO-Barisan, are the undisputed masters of the wealth of Malaysia. These big time tycoons comprise many Chinese but they are a multiracial cast and include an increasing number of Malay businessmen.

Today, Dr Mahathir blames the Chinese for working hard and enjoying the fruits of their labour. He is envious of the Chinese middle and upper classes living in high end housing estates and owning the lion’s share of urban property.

He himself lives in a gated community and is reputed to own numerous properties but he laments for the many Malays living in squatter houses.But who has been responsible for this situation?

No escape for you, Dr Mahathir

Dr Mahathir needs to look at himself in the mirror. He has squandered our petro-dollars on his projects of superficial grandeur and his love of cronies, many of whom he has helped with expensive bailouts. He could have solved the plight of hundreds of thousands of squatters by using treasury funds on them instead of his pet projects.

If he had invested the money wisely in skill acquisition for the young Malays and in public housing and urban infrastructure for all Malaysians, especially needy and deserving Malays, the racial economic divide will surely not be so conspicuous.

Dr Mahathir still does not want to go away from the centre stage. He wants to remain in it because he knows that the BN has to maintain power if he is not to be made answerable for the racial, political and economic mess that he was responsible for and left behind as his main legacy.

The extent of his desperation can be seen in his speeches aimed at shoring up Malay support by claiming that the Chinese are the real masters of Malaysia.But as the Malaysian saying goes, his talk has no walk!

32 thoughts on “A Malaysian answers Dr. Mahathir

  1. Tun Dr. Mahathir always has his own versions of Malaysian politics and socio-economic matters. His own memiors, A Doctor in The House, is full of them. What this Malaysian says is nothing new. They are all in the public domain.

    The Tun believes in whatever he says and writes and there is no way you can convince him that his take is inaccurate, self serving, or revisionist. But let us admit it that Malaysia’s 4th Prime Minister is a formidable politician who is still alert and very combative. His business is not yet done. His influence should neither be discounted nor brushed aside. That is why Najib is counting on his support and sway over UMNO and the Malays for GE-13.–Din Merican

  2. 1. We live in the Internet Age and the age of citizen activism today :

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-20765530

    Only political dinosaurs continue to believe that public opinion can be
    continued to be manipulated by official propaganda and the mainstream
    media.

    2. I thought Dr M said that it is Jews who “rule the world by proxy”?
    So, it is the Chinese now? All Malaysians of goodwill should bury
    Mahathirism and UMNO Baru for good at the next General Election !

  3. Najib, as PM and president of UMNO, has been marked for termination by none other than the retired doc, and the time is getting nearer with each tick of the clock.

  4. This is so very typical of “back door bumis”. They make them more Malay than they are. What you Dato said is true the Kuti is still a force with significant powers. Accepting this we the non Malays must do all in our power to bring in a change at the GE13, PKR 4 PJ

  5. Din. It is tthe rakyat that gives him the recognition. he is but a low down skunk of an racial impostor, cunning and twisted by his orgin. What does this Tun title carry. He is a political Mafia.

  6. If indeed this Doctor Who Can Do No Wrong has amassed US $44 billion as briefly listed in Wikipedia recently until the entry was not-so-mysteriously taken down, his war chest will continue to work 24/7 and do not expect him to disappear any time soon. His modus operandi as Bean pointed is to keep throwing bones to the dogs not only for them to go after but also to bite at each other so as to crowd out both msm and am of any reference to his real skin-saving agenda.

  7. If you blame the Old Goat for getting it wrong on the facts and figures then you are missing the point. You are grossly underestimating the politician in him. He of course knows where the truth lies. The dichotomy between Malay political control and Chinese economic domination is no longer true today as it was in the ’60s. The lines have been blurred. We see today the emergence of a new Malay capitalist and middle class where none existed in the ’60s.

    But in tandem with that, there is also the begining of a class struggle, one that transcends racial divisions and barriers which should be a cause for concern for policy makers. Hegel’s dialectical materialism is valid today as it was when it was first introduced in the 1800s. Where that will lead us is anybody’s guess.

  8. Najib is toast. Dr M & old guard has dumped the sitting PM. We will watch whether Rosmah throw Curveballs and turn the tables over gerontocrats. Happy New Year.
    _______________
    Horse,
    Happy New Year to you. Rosie cannot outsmart Dr. Mahathir and his men who are champions at political chess.–Din Merican.

  9. It is Interesting that the accusations that Mahathir accumulated billions during his tenure as PM had quietly died down probably due to lack of documentary proof but let it be known that his friend the late Nigerian President Abacha and family and collaborators embezzled between US $2.3 and 5 billion over a FOUR YEAR RULE, with the assistance of at least 23 banks many from switzerland and the UK. About US$1.2 billion was later recovered by the Nigerian Government.

    Isn’t it Ironical that Mahathir’s nemesis George Soros and British NGO Global Witness launched an anticorruption advocacy campaign demanding that Oil Companies “Published What they Pay”. Is PETRONAS whose adviser is Mahathir adhering to this campaign or is PETRONAS’s Adviser Still vilifying the man calling for greater transparency?

    Former British PM TonyBlair who is also The Target by Mahathir launched in 2002 the Extractive Industries Transparecy Initiative (EITI), a voluntary process whereby governments agree to minimal criteria of revenue transparency in order to participate and gain compliance status. Is this why Mahathir is also villifying Tony Blair?

    Mahathir is a master tactician at camouflaging the true nature of things! He is the Ultimate AntiBuddha!

  10. Its useless to have a conversation with the malicious. What you do is rebut him to his audience – to act to put him where his malice deserved – thrown away, unimport. We can’t export him elsewhere, so we need to find someway to incinerate him as a Malaysian political landfill is still too good for him and his kind…

  11. INEPTOCRACY
    “A system of government where the least capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a diminishing numbers of producers”.
    Unknown

  12. The Indian kutty outsmarts all the Malays but the Malay still think lowly of other Indians. He is influential and formidable because he made the Malays looked stupid and helpless. In this way, the Malay were indebted to him because he resembles the only hope for their liberation.

  13. The old goat seems to be an expert in his own way and no amount of criticism can change his way. He downgraded the education standard that more Malays could graduate and put them into the government service. As a result, more local graduates are unemployed. Other community took their efforts to spend more time to improve their English after school at private classes. There is no denying that English as a global language and without it, the scope of advancemnet and research work will go down to ground level.

  14. Well said, Bean @ 12.15pm.

    I also agree with the writer, but all this isn’t going to change anything until the heart-land folks wake up from their drug-induced slumber. The UMNO nexus is riddled with petty war-lordism and their only rallying point is Octo.

    The problem with blogs like these is that the information ain’t being transmitted to those who need to know, but to those who already know. Whether the readers are discretionary and conscionable, is a different matter.

    What needs to be done, are continuous exposure of scandals that hit the petty-insulated-insular soft underbelly of the Felda, Felcra settlers and other folk who are so dependent on the microeconomic largesse/handouts of the Establishment. Macroeconomic factors, education, human-rights, justice and other blooming ‘democratic’ issues/values are of little import to those who eke out a living from an unforgiving land and sea.

    It can only be a class war, if the disadvantaged and disenfranchised deem it so.
    And yes, A happy New Year to all. May 2013 be an ‘interesting’ time for all.

  15. The Old Goat is many things to many different people. He was my doctor in the .60s. I still owe him RM10 for the house call he made in 1967.. For a very long while my intention was to find him and give him the money. Today I think I will go and treat myself to a hard earned meal of roti canai and curry kepala ikan now that the new year is upon us. Don’t know if that will be enough to buy me some curry without the kepala.

  16. we are talking about a thief , a master butcher , a third world politician who has outlived most of his counterparts ex: Marcos , Suharto etc. Most of the other third world sovereign nations have move on…Imagine… , with him still calling the shots , what HAS God in store for mother Malaysia?…… Anarchy? , Racial Riots? , Reduced to A Pauper State? Pick your choice……

  17. No man are perfect ,he might do some wrong but he had gone good as well ,so you all hear .

    I am sure this type of comment is not to your liking ,but I believe in freedom of opinion which was never entertain by any PR supporter blogs.

  18. yes, he is right to a certain extent.
    malays are willing to share with indians from kerala. and the kerala family ended up with billions and malays except for the elite few in UMNO ended with short end of the stick.
    yes, malaysia needs an Aquino, PERIOD.

  19. Dato Din.
    Salama Tun Mahathir menjadi PM sejak tahun 1981 sahingga 2003,Ia telah mengujudkan ramai billionair dari bangsa China dan India dan membunoh Billionair Melayu saperti Halim Saad dan Tajuddin dan ramai lagi perniaga bumiputra.Sunggoh pun ia tahu yang orang Cina lebih kaya dari orang orang Melayu.
    Tan Sri Vincent Tan asal berniaga Insurance Menjadi kaya raya kerana pertolongan Mahathir. YTL family yang tak mampu untok membayar hutang Public Bank hanya sabanyak $34 juta tahun 1994,menjadi kaya raya apabila di beri projek IPP di Paka dengan kadar tariff yang tinggi dan membeli gas dari Petronas dengan harga subsidy.

    Ananda Krisnan yang hanya merupakan oil trader dan broker pada tahun 90han,menjadi billionair apabila di beri lesen telekomikasi unok operate Meesat,Maxis dan Astro.

    Tan Sri Lim Kim Yew,Tan Sri Quek,Tan Sri Arimugam,dan ramai lagi untok sebut.

    Tun Mahathir merupaka idola saya sabelum ini dan sekarang ini dengar namanya pun dah meloya.Orang Melayu merupakan bangsa yang bersopan dan beradab tetapi Melayu sekarang sudah berubah.
    ___________
    Nora,

    Kurang aja sedikit tak apa asalkan apa yang kita tulis, komen, atau kata itu atas fakta2 yang jelas. Melayu generasi sekarang bukan bodoh. Mereka berpelajaran dan cekap dalam bidang IT and juga berani mencabar pemimpin.

    Tun Mahathir gunakan kroni beliau, kebanyakannya orang cina kerana mereka tutup mulut. Kita geliga jika kita bagi se-ringgit dan ambil sepulih ringgit untuk diri kita. Itulah Tun Dr.Mahathir. Lagi pun, beliau suka berpolitik 24 jam. Tak boleh duduk diam saja. Salam tahun baru

  20. As usual he is talking cock again, and that’s to those who can’t read between the lines,he’s a strategist,ruthless,cunning and due to his hidden inferiority complex ( the I’m always right, and you’re all forking wrong ) egoistical maniac mannerism,I’m not surprise at all that najib is kaput, period..Oouch!!

  21. Mahathir is the bane of Malaysia’s politics. From the cradle of the country’s independence, he poisoned the present PM’s father to plot against Tunku; and now, he is working hand-in-glove with conspirators within the party trying to get rid of the son altogether.

    Malaysia is cursed with the the virus from Kerala, India which morphed itself from an Indian tamby into a “more Malay than a Malay” uber-manipulator. Until this virus is extirpated from the system, the Malays are doomed to repeat history’s mistakes.

  22. Oh Nora, saya faham saperti yang anda perso’al kan, rupa-rupa nya, Dr Mahathir main dua-muka terhadap orang Melayu ? Ya, betul dia sekongkol dengan 10 Billionaire sebagai Chief Cronies, menjadi kan mereka sebagi ” Conduit ” meneyenang kan Beliau keluar kan banyak ” duit ” secara gelap. Hahaaa…sandiwara betul…

    Di bawah 10 Billionaire cronies, berlaps=lapis lah cronies di bawahan hanya untuk segelintir mereka senang-lenang dalam hidup. ….

    So its now a Class Struggle ?

  23. Yup. It’s a ‘Class Struggle’ – in the sense that we’ve all these basikal, becha, bullock carts, kerbaus, kapchais, teksi protons and peroduas etc, struggling to catch up to Classy RR, Bentleys, Mercs, Beemers, Hummers and what have you.

    And, that’s only from the transportation angle. I’m still eating last year’s durian kampung (which didn’t runtuh), maggie mee and ‘chased’ with Indah Water. Heard about the Roti1Malaysia? I’m gonna get some from FLOM.

  24. No surprise,as Dr M is an expert who knows how best to play racial card with very extensive hands-on experiene,but the rest test rests with Malaysian voters,whether they know to tell the diffenerce,my calculation shows that they do,as the delay by a frightened PM Najib works in the favour of PKR,watch out for more funny details to come out,in this new age of awakening.

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