Mahathir, Nik Aziz, Hadi Awang, Kit Siang, Karpal, etc… and Old Malaysia

 

No one can doubt that most of the most severe critics and nemeses of Umno and Barisan Nasional that we have today are those who were originally from the party and coalition; so they were all the creation of Umno and Barisan, nay, of Mahathir personally.  

Mansor Puteh 

Mahathir, Nik Aziz, Hadi Awang, Kit Siang, Karpal etc. overstaying in their respective parties as Presidents and also as Prime Minister may be the root cause of confusion and dissent in Malaysia Today … creating the unlikely adversaries and nemeses for UMNO/Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat … and turning the country upside down, all for nothing.

An interesting aspect concerning Mahathir Mohammad’s refusal to relinquish his post as Prime Minister earlier can be seen in how he had not allowed his own children and the many others from succeeding more than they are able to do today. Pity them!

They cannot excel more than what they have done, simply because they did not want to be seen to be too successful that can cause many in the country and elsewhere to think they are what and who they are simply because of the influence of their father. This is not true! 

Better still if all the senior leaders of DAP, PAS, Gerakan, MC, MIC and the other parties had resigned, so their children could become more successful than they are, too, on their own, without anyone charging them for practicing cronyism and nepotism.

It could also allow the political parties to function more like political parties instead of private limited companies, with the politicians staying put and become professional politicians and also media clowns and media pigs, too, whose skin has become so thick that threats of hundred million-ringgit law suits, as much as exposés of videos showing them in incriminating situations do not threaten them anymore.

This is also the main reason why the senior leaders in the opposition are hogging traffic because their children could overshadow them, standing on their own merit, without them being too emboldened to their elders and if they finally succeed, their parents could claim credit for putting them where they are.

These political leaders do not seem to agree with the adage that the children should excel in education and their chosen profession, like the rubber tappers who are happy to see at least one of their children go to university in the country or better still abroad.

In Malaysian politics, this may not be the case, as the politicians do not want any of their children to overshadow them, thus obliterating the legacy they want to promote.

Look what is happening to Samy Vellu after he left MIC, and imagine what will happen to Kit Siang, Karpal, Nik Aziz, Hadi Awang and the others in DAP and PAS, if they had resigned few years ago.

For one, DAP and PAS would be a faint reflection of themselves today; and this is what the old guards fear most. They do not fear Umno or Barisan, but their own parties and their own children whom they did not think could allow their parties to be as they are today, if not ‘worse’. 

And PKR too would be in total disarray once Anwar and family leave it. Who could take it away from them? This party is basically a PKR Sdn Bhd which can only survive as long as it has a ‘memorandum of misunderstanding’ with DAP and PAS.

It is also not helpful if some people in Umno or Barisan who have problems with their party, who were forced to leave it and join the opposition so their life in politics is unnecessarily lengthened or prolonged, and with each of them, they carry the feeling of intense hatred of the very party that had brought them to the fore in national politics, and in the process also create some new and unusual intrigues which could not have been created if they were not forced out of their party in the first place. 

If Mahathir had resigned as Prime Minister ten or even fifteen years after his first appointment in 1981, surely, things would not be as it is today in Malaysia.

For one, Malaysia could achieve twenty percent economic growth instead of a mere five percent that the government is proud to say today and more Malaysians could have become international personalities and leaders in many industries who can enhance the image of the country without there having any need for the country to have the so-called ministry of tourism which costs a lot to keep and sustain yet Malaysia is still relatively unknown in the world.  

Malaysians have a lot more to agree than to disagree. Those who now disagree with the government are those who could be allowed to agree simply because their voices and views were not taken seriously as Malaysia was then under the control of just one person, who had overstayed, and who could not move on as there was nowhere else that he could go.

Better qualified Malaysians have no access to public space in the media and the streets, so much so that those who think they are better educated and trained could seize the opportunity to trust themselves by creating their own NGOs and other organizations and associations and claiming the right to be heard and to also hurt.

Meanwhile, the best scholars in all fields that we have in the country were cowed into silence simply because they would not dare to speak too loud as they were all trained to be polite and to present their views in a proper manner.

Those who did not have proper academic experience and education didn’t care about manners especially when they are in public or before the media; they think the more they can scream diatribes, the more enhanced their stature is in the eyes of the public and the media, too, who prefer these men and women over the better educated ones.

In the end, Mahathir ended up having to hog on the political traffic and caused many behind him to fall onto each other, with some almost touching his feet and pulling him down with them.

No one can doubt that most of the most severe critics and nemeses of Umno and Barisan Nasional that we have today are those who were originally from the party and coalition; so they were all the creation of Umno and Barisan, nay, of Mahathir personally. 

They were pushed to go to the other side, as there was no where else that they could go to, including being forced to embrace the very persons whom they had earlier on severely criticized and demonized, especially those in the DAP and PAS.

And maybe if all the senior leaders of DAP, PAS, Gerakan, MCA and MIC, and the others in Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat had resigned together with Mahathir, their children too might become more important to their parties today, so much so that Parti KeAdilan Rakyat (PKR) did not have to be created to bind the two major opposition coalition known as Pakatan Rakyat that we know today.

It could also be due to Mahathir’s mistake for trusting Anwar Ibrahim by taking him from Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (Abim), where he could do much other than to make noise.

Abim today is almost dead; it’s only noticeable achievement is the election of Anwar as one of its presidents.

So if Mahathir had left Anwar as president of Abim, chances are over the years he would have grown tired and whither with the association to be what it is today.

So, one can say Mahathir created a ‘monster’ for himself, his party and coalition to have to deal with which have all created unnecessary dissent.

‘Reformasi’ was established in 1998 with more Umno and Barisan officers or leaders joining Anwar, which ultimately caused the formation of Parti KeAdilan Rakyat or PKR and later Pakatan Rakyat, the loose coalition of opposition parties.  

The founders of ‘Reformasi’ got the idea from the other Umno members and officers who had left the party when it was disbanded by the courts to form ‘Parti Semangat 46’ which later ran against Umno Baru.

So it is not wrong for anyone to say it was Mahathir who had helped to create PKR and also Pakatan Rakyat, and the new generation of nemeses of Umno and Barisan that we have now. 

Because Mahathir had stayed on too long, the others in the Umno and Barisan Nasional hierarchy became confused and disillusioned; and they too thought they ought to follow in his steps by overstaying their welcome.

His deputy then, Musa Hitam, should have been allowed to take over from him so that the history of Umno and Barisan would be different with the flow of new blood into the party and coalition and dissent within Umno especially would also have been thwarted.

Maybe Mahathir feared if Musa had succeeded him as prime minister, Musa would become a better prime minister than he had been, and Mahathir would be treated the same way he had treated his predecessor, Hussein Onn and also Tunku Abdul Rahman who both left Umno to join or support Parti Semangat 46.

Worse, those who were expelled from Umno and also Barisan still harbor intentions of staying on in politics in Malaysia, even if they do it on the other side.

So no one can blame those who are now in Parti KeAdikan Rakyat (PKR) and Pakatan Rakyat for doing what they are doing; they are those who do not have principles of attacking the very party and coalition which had given them everything they had, which they had benefited very much from, including getting their pensions and other fiduciary interests, including their spouses and children who are now vociferous critics of Umno and Barisan.

They knew they had not had enough, so they insist on staying on and test their luck with each general elections.

Some of them were lucky in 2008 when they won their seats in parliament and the state assemblies.

And most, if not all of them were once in Umno and Barisan, who would have all gone up the Umno and Barisan hierarchy if not for Mahathir blocking their way there.

Anwar Ibrahim would have succeeded Mahathir after becoming his deputy and chances are Anwar would be as critical of the Chinese and Chinese or vernacular education as he was before.

His favorite punching bag or bags today would be Parti Islam SeMalaysia (Pas) and the Democratic Action Party (Dap), who now form the two of the three major components in Pakatan Rakyat.

And surely, those who are in the Najib Tun Razak cabinet today would not be where they are now, with Najib and his deputy Muhyuddin Yassin and also Najib’s cousin, Hishamuddin Hussein Onn becoming chairmen of some GLCs or retired politicians.

And for that matter, all of Lim Kit Siang’s, Karpal Singh’s, Nik Aziz’s and Hadi Awang’s and the other old-timers in DAP, PAS or even Gerakan, MCA, MIC and the others in Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat today, would be more successful than they are now and they could even be more important than their own fathers were, if they had resigned along with Mahathir.

And Malaysia would be a much peaceful country today, with PAS, DAP and the Chinese, Indian and also the Malay chauvinist groups not being able to do much.

Most likely Anwar too would have resigned by now having been prime minister for more than ten years, leaving behind an image of him which is positive and his reputation intact internationally. One can see him playing the roles like what Musa Hitam is doing now.

Ten years is long enough for Mahathir and Anwar to leave an imprint in the history and development of the country. What more would they want to do?

And the two of them would not be sitting on the opposite sides of the fence, but at the same place, serving Islam, Melayu and the Federation of Malaysia or the Melayu and Islamic Kingdom of Malaysia.

In the end, we can also say Malaysia has been hijacked by two persons, who used to be together in the same party and coalition – Mahathir and Anwar, but who now find themselves in opposite positions.

The ‘Mahathir and Anwar Episode’ of the country has dragged on for too long now; when will it end?