The lesson from Japan
Dr Mahathir Mohamad
The Liberal Democratic Party of Japan which had ruled the country since World War II has been trounced by the Democratic Party of Japan in the recent election.
2. This follows the trend which many political parties which had struggled and achieved independence had undergone. The Mashumi Party of Indonesia, the Muslim League of Pakistan, the parties which wrested independence for numerous African countries have all but disappeared.
3. It seems as if the people no longer cared for the struggles and the sacrifices that had been made by those parties and their leaders. It seems as if the beneficiaries of these struggles do not know how to be grateful.
4. But is it true that they are ungrateful? There is some truth but if we care to examine we will find that the independence fighters, and their successors, the builders of the countries after independence have changed almost completely.
5. They have almost all become greedy and arrogant. They no longer care for the country or the people.They are almost invariably preoccupied with their status and their selfish needs. They have lost touch with their followers or the descendants of their followers. The spirit which had moved their founders seem no longer to be there.
6. Will UMNO and the BN – the successors of the Alliance which had wrested independence for Malaysia escape the fate that had befallen all these pioneer parties? From present showing it is likely that they would share the same fate.
