“I am Disgusted with Mahathir” – The Late Tunku Abdul Rahman
It took Mahathir a lifetime to build his empire and it is in this very same life Mahathir will witness his legacy falling apart.
Tajuddin Rosli
”They set up a dictatorship. To be a complete dictator, you’ve got to take control of everything. But the judiciary is still independent. There’s only one thing blocking his way, the independent judiciary. Now he wants to compromise that independence.”
–Tunku Abdul Rahman on Mahathir’s administration–
The late Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia’s father of independence who once claimed to be the happiest Prime Minister in the world rattled the word “Disgusted” at Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad in an interview with The New York Times which was published in the year 1988.
Tunku was never shy of hiding his opinion on Mahathir’s unruly administration. He continuously shared his views in a column in The Star newspaper that was ultimately banned by Mahathir and Co. Upon resuming publication, The Star was allegedly warned on publishing articles by Tunku. In his own words, Tunku once said that press freedom in Malaysia under the Mahathir regime is suffering “serious disruption”.
When Tunku was asked what could possibly be the reason Mahathir went on a disarrayed tangent, he responded by saying “You see, the whole trouble today is, when he took over, he was trying to make sure he would stay on in power”. The desire to be in power was so overwhelming that Mahathir imposed his rule of tyranny in Malaysia, at the expense of law and order.
Transcripts from Tunku’s recordings have been published and many statements from Malaysia’s Prince best summarizes Mahathir’s ruling regime:
· “There is no law, no justice, no freedom of speech. Anybody who speaks out goes to prison. So he has got all the members of the opposition in prison… This is what worries me and all the responsible citizens of this country, no matter what race they come from. We are all worried. The country is drained, dry, no more capital. People are saying in this country today, there are three big robbers – UMNO robs the bank, MCA robs the co-operative societies and MIC robs the highway…”
· “…There is no more democracy. You say anything, you are put in (jail) and you are not allowed to reply nor allowed to hold rallies to defend yourself. Only Mahathir can go from place to place to attack us…”
We witness Mahathir today being critical over the current government at the age of 89 years old. Interestingly, at the age of 85 years old, Tunku Abdul Rahman kept voicing his concern over Mahathir’s despotism in foreign media. I really wonder if Karma has come to bite Mahathir where it hurts most.
I personally believe the Almighty has a reason for keeping Mahathir strong even at the age of 90 years old. It took Mahathir a lifetime to build his empire and it is in this very same life Mahathir will witness his legacy falling apart.
As Tunku Abdul Rahman has once put it, “The time will come. We will have to find a way to put this man in his place. We cannot at the moment because he controls the law – what do you do with a man like that? But the time will come…”
The time has indeed arrived, Sir …..
