Money was king in Mahathir’s era too
Lavish lifestyles funded by ill-gotten wealth is not a uniquely Najib problem.
Scott Ng, Free Malaysia Today
Mahathir Mohamad has reinvented himself to be a champion of the people, a voice for the voiceless. This is a far cry from the authoritarian figure most Malaysians remember him to be during his time as Prime Minister. This new persona of “Mahathir, the lone voice in the wilderness” has garnered support and even adulation. However, his newfound popularity has prompted his critics to burst out of the woodwork to accuse him of opening the way to our current government’s excesses.
And it is a fair claim. After all, it was during Mahathir’s reign that our public institutions were defanged and the powers of the Malay rulers were drastically reduced. It was during his reign that dissenters disappeared from their homes in the middle of the night under the auspices of the Internal Security Act. That’s not too different from the current practice of arresting Prime Minister Najib’s critics under Sosma or similar societal control laws.
Mahathir’s recent assertion that a lavish lifestyle is proof of corruption is a fact Malaysians have known for a long time. After all, how much an elected official is paid is a matter of public knowledge, and every Malaysian knows that luxurious bungalows and sports car fleets are somewhat out of the reach of an MP’s budget, never mind private jets and diamond rings so big that there would be wars over them.
But Mahathir must know that the situation under his administration was no different. Certain individuals in his government accumulated assets and wealth far beyond what they could afford with their salaries. The oversized houses and Ferraris were around in Mahathir’s time too, and recently the former MB of Selangor, Khir Toyo, was imprisoned over corruption charges. Khir was the Menteri Besar of Selangor for years under the Mahathir regime.
