Mahathir, not Razak, is Najib’s mentor
Mariam Mokhtar, The Heat Malaysia
A teary-eyed Datuk Seri Najib Razak spoke about his father, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein’s achievements on the 40th anniversary of the second Malaysian Prime Minister’s death.
Najib wept and the nation wept with him. Malaysians over 40 years of age onwards, felt sorry that under Najib, the unique Malaysian multicultural way of life, which was prevalent during his father’s tenure, has been lost.
Tolerance has been replaced by intolerance. The different races are pitted against one another. Muslims demand respect, and yet their religious officials snatch the bodies of non-Muslims, kidnap non-Muslim children, and send the moral police to snoop on Malays. Whilst Abdul Razak was prudent, Najib and his spouse are not.
In truth, Najib learnt nothing from his father. Najib had the perfect teacher; former PM, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Mahathir is Najib’s mentor. Najib learnt more from Mahathir than he did from his own father. Najib just perfected Mahathir’s racist and religious, divisive tactics.
Last week, at a commemorative seminar for his father, Najib said, “Abdul Razak gave his life for this country. Today, 40 years after his passing, I stand before you and say that I am proud to be his son, and that every day I work to live up to that lineage.”
We are all proud to be Malaysian. Many non-Malay Malaysians gave their lives to free Malaya from Japanese rule, in the run-up to Merdeka, during the Emergency and the Confrontation, but Umno-Baru’s racist policies ignored their heroic efforts. One minister had the audacity to ask why there were so few non-Malays in the armed forces. The Malaysia that Tunku Abdul Rahman left us, is but a distant memory.
Najib also said, “What I am sure we can all agree on, and we do not need to be reminded of, is why Tun Razak truly deserves to be known as our Bapa Pembangunan (Father of Development).”
Agencies such as the Federal Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority (Felcra), the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda), Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara), the National Corporation, Bumiputra Bank, Tabung Haji, Petronas and the Agricultural Bank were set up during Abdul Razak’s time.
Younger Malaysians may not know that Bank Bumiputra closed shop, after it was hit by scandal after scandal during Mahathir’s tenure, Petronas is treated like the PM’s personal piggy bank.
