LKY looks into Malaysia’s future
When former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was asked what he thought about Lee Kuan Yew's many meetings with party leaders during his visit here, he answered sarcastically: "Malaysian politicians don't know much, that’s why we have to learn from him.”
Classic Mahathir comment but it may not be far from the truth. But the one doing the learning seems to be the former Singapore prime minister himself.
Lee exhausted himself yesterday trying to find an answer to that most pressing question: just who is his People's Action Party (PAP) going to be dealing with in four years?
Yesterday he had at least six different meetings after lunch. He met with Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin, delegates from the Kuala Lumpur Business Club, former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Badawi, Dr Mahathir's son Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir who is now a deputy minister, and Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim and quizzed each one for clues as to how the next Malaysian general election would pan out.
So spent was Lee that the 45-minute meeting with Khalid and two of his executive councillors was cut short and reporters in Ipoh — his next stop — were told to stay out of sight when Lee flew in just short of midnight.
On Wednesday, he had talks with PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang about his party's foreign policy which showed that he took the possibility of Pakatan Rakyat (PR) forming the federal government seriously.
At this point, the sole reason may be the advances that PR made in last year's general election. But he was gently warned not to underestimate the desire for change and the influence of new media that has shaken the political landscape all over the world.
Sources say that Lee was focused on young and urban voters, especially the Malays among them.
As Malays form the majority of the electorate and the population is set to become younger and more urbanised, quite clearly the statesman was gauging the flow of ballots in future polls.
He also asked Khalid and company how confident they were of lasting for more than a term, both as Selangor government and as a stable coalition.
Of the younger BN leaders such as Khairy and Mukhriz, he asked about their strategies to reverse the damage done and whether the ruling coalition had the will to implement the changes required.
In his discussions Lee had studiously avoided predicting the political future but did say that he wished Umno well since Singapore knows the ruling party well.
He offered some ideas in flushing out and sidelining Umno warlords and suggested the party put forward a fresh slate of candidates for the next polls.
It is understood that the minister mentor was also having meetings with Umno's rivals because he did not want to offend them. Those who attended the meetings with him got the sense that he believed PAS to be a rising power.
Singapore is watching with great interest whether Pakatan Rakyat is able to stay together and govern effectively.
Malaysia's southern neighbour is worried about the political equation here. And while it is secretly rooting for Umno/BN to get its act together and regain ground, it knows it cannot offend Pakatan Rakyat.
Today Lee begins his tour of northern Malaysia with a visit to the Perak palace followed by a call on Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Zambry Abd Kadir before going to Penang, Kelantan and then Pahang over the weekend.
By Monday, he would have visited two PR and two BN states each and will fly home with an idea of two different future Malaysias.
Which one he thinks is more likely is anybody's guess.
