Mahathir is a hands-on PM

Mahathir says the allegation against Azmin Ali is a lie and is a political conspiracy. Considering Mahathir’s track record, and based on my experience in dealing with Mahathir, he would not come to this conclusion unless he personally investigated the matter. That can only mean it was not Azmin in that gay sex video and there are people trying to block Azmin from becoming the next prime minister.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Having interacted with Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad for more than 35 years, let me assure you he is a hands-on Prime Minister. For example, when Mahathir first took over as Prime Minister in 1981, he took his ministers and the Datuk Bandar for a bus ride around Kuala Lumpur one Sunday and pointed out how the landscaping should be done. Where the new trees should be planted, which old trees should be cut down, where the flowers should be placed, where he wanted the fountains, etc.

Many Kelang Valley residents may (or may not) have noticed that not long after Mahathir became PM Kuala Lumpur suddenly had a “facelift”. Yes, that was Mahathir’s job and he personally oversaw the “rebranding” of KL.

But then Mahathir had an “ulterior motive”, of course. Singapore was being marketed as the Garden City. Singapore Airport and Shangri-La Hotel had “hanging gardens” and people went there just to see the gardens. And there was no way Kuala Lumpur was going to lose out to Singapore.

Malaysia must always be better than Singapore

So, to make sure it was done properly, and to make sure that Kuala Lumpur Garden City will be better than Singapore Garden City, Mahathir took over as “Head Gardener” of Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur and drove around the city to instruct what must be done in great detail.

Singapore Airport was also better than Subang Airport (so not just Singapore’s gardens were better). So, Mahathir wanted Subang Airport to be improved as well and he personally oversaw the upgrading work. He wanted the check-in counters to be just like Singapore Airport’s so the architect had to find out where they were made (it seems they were from Sweden and very expensive).

As Subang Airport was about to be completed, Mahathir visited Singapore Airport and found out they had walkalators. Subang Airport did not. So he instructed they also install walkalators in Subang Airport and they had to tear up the already completed floor to install walkalators.

Later Mahathir built the KLIA and demolished the Subang Airport.

Mahathir wanted Satay Ria to become another KFC and franchised globally

Then Mahathir wanted MARA to franchise and market Satay Ria all over the world just like KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken). Mahathir called for a series of meetings, which he personally chaired, and asked for a feasibility study to be done (I was involved in this feasibility study). The feasibility study showed Satay Ria could not be marketed internationally due to food and safety laws so the idea was dropped.

The French proposed that instead of the Bakun Dam, Malaysia should consider gas turbines, so we brought the French to meet Mahathir. The French were prepared to do it on a BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) basis, just like YTL’s Paka Power Station.

The French argument was that Malaysia (Sarawak) had an abundance of gas, gas turbines are cheaper to build, and you would not need to destroy valuable forests that are millions or billions of years old.

Mahathir’s argument was that hydro may be more expensive to build, but in the long run is cheaper to operate, say over 50 years. Sarawak will always have water but its gas reserves will one day run dry (maybe in 50-100 years — unless they discover new reserves later).

The French proposed gas but Mahathir insisted on hydro

Hence Mahathir had personally looked into the hydro versus gas solution and decided on hydro — which is why we have the Bakun Dam today, because Mahathir personally did the study.

Those are just some examples and there are, of course, many more. However, the point is when Mahathir says or does something it is because he has personally investigated the matter and knows what he is doing or talking about.

In 1998, when the Anwar Ibrahim sodomy issued exploded, Mahathir confirmed that he personally investigated the allegation and does not need a police investigation to convince him that Anwar is guilty. Mahathir had met and interviewed Anwar’s many sex partners (boys, men and prostitutes) and even knows what they did in bed in great detail (Mahathir demonstrated with hand gestures on primetime TV how Anwar masturbated his gay partners).

So, when Mahathir said Anwar has committed sexual misconduct and is not qualified to become Malaysia’s Prime Minister it was based on a detailed investigation that Mahathir personally conducted.

Now Mahathir says the allegation against Azmin Ali is a lie and is a political conspiracy. Considering Mahathir’s track record, and based on my experience in dealing with Mahathir, he would not come to this conclusion unless he personally investigated the matter. That can only mean it was not Azmin in that gay sex video and there are people trying to block Azmin from becoming the next prime minister.

Anyway, Mahathir has confirmed he is retiring within the next three years, which means within four years from May 2018. This can only mean one of these two scenarios.

Mahathir will call for GE15 in 2022, then retire AFTER the election (like he did in the 1999 general election, which was held four years after the 1995 general election). Or Mahathir will retire a few months or one year BEFORE GE15 and let someone else worry about GE15 (like he did in 2003 just before the general election in 2004).