Tun Mahathir’s slip of tonque may be revealing his true character !

Walau eh.. Tun M..Slip of the tonque or is it in one unguarded moment , He actually revealed to all, the side HE would much rather not be seen.

In yet another Tirade against PM Najib.He launches into the same old regurgitated points that he has been using as weapons ever since he began this crusade to topple PM Najib.

Although His opening remark was really a “killer of a remark!”

We (Malays) may be in the marjority but with  leader like Najib ! 

We will lose the marjority, People will not support Us.!”

I do believe that – This is the Fate that awaits Us- As long as Najib is in power !

Then came the familiar tirade about —

The financial scandals of the IPP over-valuation purchase and the TRX land bank shady deal of 1MDB.

Losing support from voters.- dropping his personal support/backing for Najib as PM

Cynical reference to BR1M

The Beholden to Tun Razak and repay his gratitutde to Tun Razak by backing Najib as PM

That UMNO will certainly lose the coming GE and Malays will lose political power and  UMNO as the champion and protector of the Malays.

Najib will doom  the Malay race and country and the Malays will not be able to recover if He stays as PM now.

Najib is destroyer of the Malay race , Religion and the country..

A new point Tun M made is that -Najib is worried that He may be arrested and face a Criminal charge for his mis-conduct.

No 2 ways about it-  Tun M is openly accusing PM Najib of being a criminal and have commited an illegal act.

Its totally understandable He is worried about UMNO losing the next GE and the fall-out that may ensue.

When He stated that PM Najib’s stubborn resistance to hang-on to  power maybe due to the fact that,Najib  may be worried of being arrested and held accountable for the “crimes”-

It may be a hint as to his own personal mis-givings as well.

Tun M was not exactly without controversy during his 22 year tenure.as PM.

If UMNO really falls  and  is really booted out come next GE- what skeletons may be discovered or un-covered if there is an effort to really investigate.all past administrations mis-deeds ?

Although,in all probability,out of deference to TDM’s age and service, there may not be aggressive pursuing for accountability.

But , it doesn;t mean that ,un-covered skeletons will not be shown for all to see.

And that may be what is haunting  TDM,

If UMNO should lose it’s strangle hold on Putra Jaya with a new infusion of of completely new administration .

It is not hard to imagine that there will be cries for justice and retribution..and efforts to recover lost national wealth .

There are scores of worthy candidates from 3 administrations from Tun M to Najib’s ranks to choose from.

There must be  scapegoats to appease the ones baying for justice .!

Marginalized Malays? 

The only uncalled for remark ,was the reference made to the Singaporean Malays.

It doesn’t seem fair to the Singaporean Malay community for Mahathir to knock- in one sweeping statement

comparing Southern Thailand Malays to Singaporean Malays and others ? Where and Who?

Its common knowledge that he has issues with Singapore- esp with the late LKY but still,it

does not warrant a generalization on Singaporean Malays in such a patronizing way.

Surely the Singaporean Malays can speak for themselves without TDM painting  such a bleak

picture of them as a marginalized group,as if they are so oppressed and

denied equal rights as citizens of the Lion city.

Disrespectful to the whole SIngaporean Malay community ? But of course ,he is entitled to his opinion,

and there are SIngaporeans from the Malay community who concur but also dissenting opinions

from the same community who will like nothing more than to shoot down his “exalted” opinion.

Lest Tun M forgets , their revered former PM is Lee Kuan Yew not TDM.

It will be interesting to see if there will be a reaction from down South on His generalisation of Singaporean Malays as a marginalized community ..

Wondering how it will sit in minds and any will come forth to rebutt his statement to defend their status.

And doesn’t Malaysia have an open door policy for SIngaporeans of Malay descent..if they are as

oppressed and treated so unfairly,it would make sense that there will be a mass exodus to Malaysia.

,which is hardly the case!
Meaning-the SIngaporean Malays rather stay put and enjoy all the benefits of a SIngaporean ID/Passport

and 1st world standard of living ,top notch education for their kids -freedom of religious expression

where faith is a  personal relationship with their creator- without Goverment interference or intimidation –

and price to pay for all that – stay put as Singaporean and be marginalized or oppressed ??

As Tun M puts it succintly !

Starting from 2.20

Of Lee Kuan Yew and Dr Mahathir respective styles of premiership.

Despite both PMs having strong authoritarian tendencies in governing but  TDM’s  administration  basically institutionalised a system that entrenched rampant political corruption as the norm –  whilst LKY demonstrated what can be achieved by a goverment with a zero tolerance of corruption.That’s the underlying difference between the 2 PMs and their respective ideals of Governing a nation with a multi cultural identity.
For LKY it was all or nothing,and particularly  stern against money politics that drags many Goverments down.Self-less interests style of LKY ,everything was for the best interests of his nation state vs Selfish interests of TDM’s goverment, ,inverted priorities .!
And results today in SIngapore and Malaysia ,esp of the goverment machinery is a testimony to that.

If TDM had the foresight to recognize the rot of corruption and wanted to or chosed to confront and address corruption firmly and sternly when he was at the height of his powerful premiership,Malaysia may very well have been better off  ,and who knows ,perhaps even match or surpass the efficiency and success story Singapore is today.

Point being ,both PMs and their governing style is a reflection of their own mentalities/attitudes /convictions of what and how their perspectives of the immediate world around them are , and how they view their own societies and perhaps allows a sneak peek into a window of what their personal personalities may be  like -by  the paths they chose to thread in Governing their own nation and the collective society they think they understand .

Pragmatism vs Materialism in Game of Power and  Influence

LKY’s pragmatism and foresight in recognising the formula to efficient governing above all ,  is a clean goverment with no nonsense approach to corruption- whereby TDM opted to leverage corrupt practices to his advantage and hence a barely functional goverment machinery ,prioritized by greed and personal interests in accumulating wealth , as among the driving force formulas – was put into momentum, where practices  such as  “commisions ,percentages ,third party or under table etc etc”  are the standard – without which  things may not get done efficiently.

And that momentum has been sliding downhill ever since – casting aside Govermental Transparency/ Accountability .

Dubious questionable financial practices are allowed to slide because of influence or political connections ,as long as there is a “greasing of palms” , that almost every Malaysian or non Malaysian business entities or even the man on the street has acknowledged that it is the standard on how things are done – in many Malaysian business environments,particularly in dealings with Federal/National  entities.

 

Can “Kow Tim” perhaps in Malaysia but don’t even consider the notion in Singapore !

Just mull on what the word ” Kow Tim” means to Malaysians.Essentially in most Malaysian psyches,most will just good naturedly shrugged it off as how things “are” and always “have been” .  And nothing objectionable to the term.

Yet in SIngaporean mindsets,even a whiff of something similar can land one in hot soup and is an abhorrent thing to even suggest as an option to gain any advantage in commercial enterprises or extricate one from a bind with the authorities..
That is the stark difference in the societal mindsets of the 2 nations.

Malaysians visiting or working in Singapore will never dare to even hint at “Kow Tim” when dealing with Singaporean Authorities/Civil service/Ministries , knowing for a fact that its un-acceptable and not tolerated and definitely worsen things if they are already in trouble with the authorities.

But on the other hand , almost instinctively, “Kow Tim”  or “selesai ” or ” settle”  will be  amongst the open options , considered in the mindsets , if they are in a “situation” in Malaysia, in dealing with authority. Fact is that , the thought of perhaps  they can buy themselves out of a “tight spot” in whatever trouble they are in – does come to mind.

But in Singapore,that thought is banished and dare not be entertained as a reflex and rule. That’s the difference of the environment and societal psyches in Singapore and Malaysia.,where ,in the former ,- regardless of ethnicity /nationality or country of origin – All  in residence in the city state – acknowledge and respect and take the rule of law and clean governance very seriously .

Essence of LKY’s  non-corruptible governance

And that is the essence of LKY’s premiership that to his credit ,managed to inculcate into non-Singaporean residents ,a healthy respect for the laws of the city state  , forged a level of self-discipline into not only the average Singaporeans but also those who do public service for  their own Singaporean people – always having the collective best interests of the nation and sense of well being of the people  as the priority..

And in-place is a Govermental structure that is efficient and by and large  non-corruptible.The anchor formula or foundation pillar that supports all the policies and strategies which resulted in the Singaporean goverment’s economic success and prosperity..

The very formula that TDM chosed to ignore but instead selected govermental  patronage , by selectively enriching hand picked cronies , who through their collective accumulated wealth , can be translated into power and influence that can be leveraged to political advantage. And be used to stay the hold on power.  .

And transparency and accountability in Governance need to take a back seat in order to consolidate his power, through the purchasing of influence by keeping his stable of wealthy, powerful and hence influential circle of  supporters – well fed.

Inadvertently ,the wealth of the nation was unevenly distributed, and even those supposed to be  beneficiaries of  the Govermental affirmative action policies was invariably sidelined..

Simple equation of -Financial Clout equates to Political Power !

Perhaps Mahathir subscribed to the view that to be a powerful effective leader, first priority is to accumulate as much wealth as possible, wealth equals power – to buy influence – to have the financial  clout or resources to ward off challenges to his leadership and to fund his own political battles.

Perhaps TDM was convinced that everything/everyone  has a price..and thus,he wants to ensure He can afford it all ,whatever the price tag..

Bryanbb

Also read : country-comparison-malaysia-versus-republic-of-singapore/