Tuesday, January 6, 2009

The Irascible Tun Mahathir Mohammad

Hantu Laut

Is former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad sounding like a sour grape?It seems he has not given up throwing stones at Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.He said "The choice of the candidate is really very bad because people see him as a proxy to be used if Najib becomes prime minister".

Sure, he is entitled to his opinion but for 'goodness sake' the man is leaving does he need to be insulted and admonished more than he already had.

I am not a great fan of Abdullah but I believe there must be a limit to this kind of political posturing and grandstanding, more so from a man who have had an exemplary leadership and respected for his contributions to the nation's progress.

It is also hard to understand what does he mean by referring to Wan Ahmad Farid as a proxy to be used if Najib becomes prime minister. If ? I thought it was very clear that Najib would be prime minister come this March.Does Mahathir still harbour any doubt that he wouldn't be and Abdullah would renege on the deal ?

When he was prime minister didn't he choose people he can trust and loyal to him? When he chose Abdullah over Najib as his successor wasn't it because he wrongly read Abdullah's character and credentials, because he thought
Abdullah would be easier to wrap around the fingers and more likely to carry on his agenda and unfinished works.

It appears that the man who love UMNO very much is also out to destroy it over personal grudge.He knew very well that UMNO is walking the tightrope in the Kuala Trengganu parliamentary by-election.The thin majority obtained by
UMNO candidates in 2004 Elections and in March 2008 speaks for itself how dangerously close they have been to losing the seat to PAS.

Mahathir's mounting campaign against Abdullah might just as well be sending message to the voters in Kuala Trengganu not to vote for the UMNO candidate Wan Farid and if he loses, which is very likely that he would, than he would say, just to prove his point, that it was rejection of Abdullah's
leadership, not UMNO.

I am sure the people of Trengganu would still remember what he did when PAS took the state in the 1999 Elections.He withheld the 'Wang Ehsan' and peter out development projects.The American did the same to Hamas when they won and become the government in Gaza, the American feared that with the aid money they would buy guns and other weapons.

I have great admiration for our former Prime Minister for the progress he brought to this nation but he's what the young people would say "chill out, baby" give Abdullah a little bit of space to breath before he makes his exit.

It's best that UMNO leaders and members ignore this kind of political posturing and concentrate on winning the by-election.Can they ?

MalaysianInsider:

Three confirmed in race

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

yessssssssssss! listen to HantuLaut and do a little bit more, let Abdullah stay on for another term so he could complete the TOTAL DESTRUCTION of this country called MALAYSIA.

HantuLaut, hang mai la cuba kwempen kat KT nie... Wan Farid is so unpopular la brader. Letih we people trying to promote BN.

Anonymous said...

yeah, in complete agreement with Wan Farid losing in KT. He doesn't need Tun M to lose....
The choice of Wan Farid clearly shows that Pak Lah Administration is not serious about winning, it's more about leaving behind moles and keeping influence in Najib's administration later on....and as usual arrogance and over-confidence. Even Najib is already dodging by saying KT election is not a referrendum on his leadership...Dia dah tahu akan kalah.....
Tun M was completely right and he showed his guts in calling a spade, a spade! Bravo Tun!

Quantum Metal Consultant said...

Sour Grape atau anggur masam ke bukan sangat penting, kenyataan Tun adalah satu kenyataan umum, nothing personal, cuma bila ia dilontarkan oleh Tun, ia menjadi cuka apple plus honey yang enak dimakan setelah telinga dan hati kita 'pedih' dengan hal kerajaan mahu menswastakan IJN.

UMNO perlu ditewaskan kerana di sana terkumpul majoriti pemimpin yang mengkhianati bangsa dan ugama.

gram.kong said...

Anonymous,
Read with care,I am not supporting Abdullah to stay on, I am only saying Mahathir should tone down his attack as the man is leaving.It tough time for UMNO to win KT unless miracle happened.

I think Mahathir had become too personal.

gram.kong said...

Anonymous,
Tun M is a very angry man.

gram.kong said...

kluangman,

Memang benar.Bukan baru, UMNO memang dari dahulu macam itu.Abdullah bukan kawan saya dan saya bukan ahli UMNO, itu hanya pendapat saya.

Anonymous said...

wan farid is the proxy of kj. why he is selected by Pak Lah is beyond me... his reputation is bad. now, his BN has to defend unnecessarily his past associations with patrick badawi etc..

KJ is doing the numbers game whereby if he loses this umno youth contest, he still have about 20 mp in his pocket to sway any attack towards him later on.. he even can blackmail the leadership that he will join pakatan rakyat and influence those proxies of him as well to quit Umno...

but this is just a backup plan of KJ... pak lah doesnt give a damn about this by election.. if wan farid wins, it will ensure his legacy in the form of wan farid in the govt.. if he loses, will backfire on najib..

JMD-

Anonymous said...

abdullah shlould be destroyed once and for all together with all his minnions.

tis 3 months he is doing everything possible to reap the rinngit..with privatisation of IJN and the green light to open up anothet airport at Labu....what the hell man u want another airport when the present one is underutilised.

even when abdullah left UMNO eventually he and his gangs of crony must be brought to justice.

drputera

Donplaypuks® said...

Farid, Sil and Patrick Badawai & Co cornered the Wang Ehsan to the tune of billions, while Trengganu remains the poorest State.

So, you cannot get angry at Dr.M if he's right, can you?

Pak Lah's poor choice is telling!!
http://donplaypuks.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

The truth is that Umno has ruled supreme for the last 50 years. It always got its way because the dominant ethnic majority of the country always supported its policies.

The state of the nation is corrupt, discriminatory, inefficient, racist, unjust, and backward. If Malaysia stinks then it is because Umno stinks.

If the "morals of the country" stinks, then it is because the morals of Umno politicians stinks.

I won't even discuss the morality of explosives and murder of foreign nationals as most people seem to be able to tell the difference between right and wrong in this instance.

Instead, I shall talk about Umno corruption and Umno racism as the former will occasion the disastrous downfall of this nation, and the latter will be the downfall of the malays.

Umno teaches that it is just to discriminate against all non-malays and non-Muslims: business, colleges universities, education opportunities, government contracts, jobs, schools, taxes, and even finding a cemetery to bury the dead.

Umno teaches that it is right to discriminate on the basis of a person culture, language, race or religious belief.

In front of non-malays, it speaks of tolerance and unity in diversity, and in front of malays, it speaks of the race and religious, cultural and language supremacy, glorification of ethnic and power subjugation.

To the vernacular schools it gives a pittance for support, and to malay language schools, there is no need to be diplomatic and call them "national language" schools, it gives 100% support.

As for English medium schools, the type that made Malaysia education the best in South East Asia, and our school leavers the most sought after anywhere in the civilised world, they were made extinct, courtesy of Umno cultural fantasies and language supremacist.

So we are left with unemployable graduates with deplorable job skills and prospects.

Umno language supremacist policies caused the extinction of the best high quality education that Malaysia and the malays would ever know.

Umno perversion of the very idea of meritocracy in favour of racist discrimination has ensured the lack of meritocractic competition for all Malaysians.

Later or sooner, the malays will realise that denying meritocracy to non-malays guarantees that there can be no meritocracy for malays even within their own community.

Umno policies caused a brain drain to Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK, and the US.

The fact that there is no entitlement complex nor inferiority complex or notable NEP dependence amongst the non-malays is no accident.

If the non-malays were the dominant ethnic majority, and they had an Umno-like racist party to lead them with promises of ethnic privileges, ethnic supremacy and racial discrimination, then I believe they would have lost their self-confidence, self-respect, and self-belief too.

Farish Noor once said "Umno ternak melayu untuk disembelih".

I agree, and if the dominant ethnic majority fails to see past Umno false gods of ethnic aggrandizement and seductive promises of ethnic supremacy, then we are all finished.

Anonymous said...

History has shown that the most "biadap" and "kurang ajar" people in Malaysia are from Umno Youth. If other people dare to be more vocal, Umno Youth would brand them as terrorists and detain them under ISA.

Anonymous said...

"Racial polarisation in the country is not caused by the country's vernacular school system but more by the government political, education and economic discriminative policies" - an educationist said today.

The prime minister and all the Umno ministers will never admit that polarisation arises more out of the race-based policies and privileges one race gets over another.

Similarly, there are other areas of our daily lives where terminologies used have made us view certain practices as privileges rather than sacrifices. For instance, the bumi discount for houses.

The total sale value to the developer is still the same. It is just that the non-malay buyer is likely to be required to pay for some of the discount given to the malays.

But the longer the NEP policies continue and the greater the vehemence with which Umno politicians issue threats, terminologies will change and more people will talk about these practices or policies in words that may not sound as pleasing to the ears of the beneficiaries.

Obviously, at that point we shall probably see a new round of discriminations and disagreements. Unfortunately, as long as only weak people take on leadership roles within Umno, threats will continue, NEP policies will be sustained and corruption will prevail.

That unfortunately is the legacy we have as Malaysians.

The basic building blocks of unity, whether you are uniting different ethnic groups in a country or trying to re-engineer a corporation of differing cultural values, are the same.

The principal parties have to be treated as equals - nor special privileges no favours that would favour one group over another.

Any privilege that is given should be given to all on the same basis - for example, special privilege given to the financially poor regardless of race or ethnic origin.

It is only on this equitable footing that you can foster true nationalism and build lasting unity, since each component group will have the same stake in the nation and has equal likelihood in reaping the rewards or suffering the consequences.

My recommendation to the government, not simply as a businessman but also based on pragmatism, is not to waste any more taxpayer ringgit on nationalism programmes until it has established the pre-conditions for its success.

What is sad is that, after almost five decades of independence, we have been unable in Malaysia, to bring globally-vision leaders to the forefront - leaders who can see beyond racial boundaries to recognise the immense sociological and economic potential that can benefit all Malaysians.

Anonymous said...

A non-malay even though he is more capable and more qualified but cannot:

Be - the prime minister of the country
Be - the deputy prime minister of the country
Be - the head of any branch of the armed forces in the country
Be - the head of department in a ministry
Be - the head of state of the states with no rulers
Be - the head prefect of a national school
Be - the IGP of the country
Be - the nominated as the best of the best in the school
Be - the secretary-general or deputy secretary-general of a ministry

What is worse is that the PM goes around telling people, repeating a crazy lie, by saying that - "We do not practice racial discrimination in our country".

Did the MCA and MIC leaders agree to this in 1957?

Did the people in Sabah and Sarawak also agree to this in 1963?

I think malays will keep on to give rubbish answer!

Anonymous said...

Lee Kuan Yew said the relationship between Malaysia and Singapore has not always been smooth sailing, and so investing in the Iskandar Development Region (IDR) may not always be smooth sailing for Singaporean companies.

This is simply a statement of fact that nevertheless appears to have gotten local Umno leaders into a tizzy.

Every local Umno politician hopes to be in a position to be approving investment flows into the country because to stand as gatekeeper is a very lucrative position, and when public squabbles erupt between Umno politicians about who is the better "protector of malay privileges and rights", it usually means someone just wants a bigger cut of the investment action for himself.

Go figure that one.

Of course, the relationship between Malaysia and Singapore is special because of the race relations issue.

Singapore has been the favourite whipping boy of the Umno-controlled malay vernacular press for the last 50 years, and if anything are seen as even bigger devils than the local Chinese and Indian citizens of Malaysia in the eyes of Malaysia's malay Muslims.

The fact is Singapore development model has meant that Singapore malays are far better educated, far better equipped, far better paid, far more self-confident, and self-reliant to deal with globalisation than malay Muslims in Malaysia.

This makes Ketuanan Melayu, malay Agenda, and the NEP look like failed racist apartheid policies that have impoverished everyone except Umno cronies. Of course, Umno must demonise Singapore to maintain the illusion that Umno politicians are nationalists and not parasites, and more so if Singapore happens to be better educated, meritocratic, richer, and safer than Malaysia.

Malay Muslims in Malaysia have been brainwashed by Umno for the last 50 years into thinking that the Chinese and Indians both Malaysians and Singaporeans have gotten rich at their expense, and this perception probably won't change anytime soon because Umno does not have another elections winning formula if it dumps the present demonisation formulas.

Every time Singapore first world achievements are compared with the sluggish competitiveness, economic, educational, professional, scientific, technological, and social standard in apartheid Malaysia, there is the predictable keris waving, baying for blood, and frothing at the mouth in every Umno up and down the country in Malaysia.

Although Chinese and Indian Malaysians have simply accepted the gross racial discrimination in business, education, and job as a fact of life in Malaysia, the non-apartheid non-NEP meritocratic Singaporean mindset may not have the stomach for this particular type of nonsense in the IDR.

I think Lee Kuan Yew is way too smart to think the demonisation process of the Chinese and Indians in the Umno-controlled malay vernacular press is going to stop anytime soon. How else is Umno going to win elections except by continuing to perpetrate the lie that the orang asing minorities in Malaysia are a threat to the malays?

Nevertheless Lee Kuan Yew may be hoping Chinese and Indian Singaporean investors will not be discriminated against in the IDR in comparison with investors from countries like China, Europe, Hong Kong, India, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and United States.

In the meantime, I am sure it will simply be business as usual for the rest of us in racial and religious apartheid Malaysia.

Anonymous said...

Hantu,

you read him wrong this time. this is Mahatir at his best. He is killing two birds with one stone. farid loses, blame is pin on Badawi. and there is one less badawi's followers which means one more space for Najib's man.
if farid wins, he can proudly say UMNO's revival is on and he can roundly condemn Anwar again.

Anonymous said...

The header very aptly describe TDM.Irascible.While not trying to discredit his positive contributions to the nation, the bigger question is actually "at what cost?" In my mind, more than 90% of the problems/issues that this once beautiful nation is faced with is directly attributed to him.For 22 long years he has run this nation as if it is his personal kingdom and now we are paying 90% of the price for it.All the ills need no further elaboration for they have been articulated by all and sundry enough times.This nation will continue to pay, and at a high price for years to come, and that will be his most memorable legacy.
Mycuntree

Anonymous said...

I just hope this retired PM will behave like one, and allow this nation to start healing itself the wounds that he has inflicted upon it.Perhaps only then may he be able to keep whatever dignity that he still has left.

mycuntree