— John Inbaraj
The Malaysian Insider
Jan 28, 2012

JAN 28 — Bersih, Cekap dan Amanah. When Dr Mahathir Mohamad became prime minister, he walked in with this slogan. However, in the 22 years he held power, he systematically destroyed every legacy the British and our founding fathers (excluding Abdul Razak) had stood for and built steadfastly.

In fact, Dr Mahathir even destroyed Umno, and history will forever record that the Umno of Onn Jaffar was declared illegal during the Mahathir administration!

When Abdullah Badawi took over he saw the need to introduce Gemilang, Terbilang dan Cemerlang. Many saw Abdullah as a good man but that did not last long.

From out of nowhere, Khairy Jamaluddin arrived on the scene.

Scomi, a company linked to Abdullah’s son, was born and gained many contracts.

Then a Patrick Lim suddenly became a big player in the business world. A huge plot of prime land in Penang was almost acquired by an associate company of Equine Sdn Bhd under the guise of setting up the Penang Global City Centre (PGCC).

Thankfully Penang fell to the opposition. Alas, not long after, Abdullah was booted out tactically — perhaps by those close to Dr Mahathir’s manipulative hand.

Then came the wizard of acronyms, Najib Razak (indeed Dr Mahathir had a massive hand in having him nominated as the DPM and eventually PM) with the power-packed slogan, “People First, Performance Now”.

The 1 Malaysia buzz-word emerged everywhere. It was seen and heard so often at every nook and corner. But sadly someone had to pour cold water by declaring that this propaganda was the work of a controversial public relations firm, APCO Worldwide, with alleged links to Israel.

Crony establishments like RTM were quick to emphasise the 1 Malaysia theme unabashedly despite carrying, on air and on screen, the extreme and racially polarised views of Perkasa that tear at the heart of racial harmony.

In the meantime, Anwar Ibrahim was suspended from Parliament improperly.

Interestingly enough, Dr Mahathir appears to have had strategic or direct influence in his own appointment as DPM and later PM, in the appointment of four deputy PM’s during his premiership, in the unceremonious sacking of Anwar (whose presence and clout is still haunting him) and in the departure of Abdullah and the elevation of Najib.

Then there is Mukhriz Mahathir, the elected deputy to Umno Youth leader Khairy. But it was Mukhriz who upstaged Khairy into the Cabinet as a deputy Minister. Was Dr Mahathir involved?

Is Dr Mahathir’s manipulative hand now at work to outwit Najib and propel Muhyiddin Yassin into the hot seat with Mukhriz as deputy as rumours seem to suggest? Such a scenario is not far-fetched considering that if Anwar and the opposition come to power a massive spring-cleaning exercise may land hundreds, maybe thousands of people (don’t know how to describe them) in serious trouble.

As the Gregorian New Year of 2012 dawned, I prayed that Armageddon (the end of the world) would actually happen this year for there really seems to be no hope for humankind!

The Year of the Dragon has now arrived. The Dragon is a mystical creature or maybe something that existed before, and maybe this year it could be brought back to life by yet another “Big Bang”.

Countries are being led by evil people. Millions, billions and trillions are being manipulated, embezzled and stolen. The righteous are being thrown into prisons, shot and killed. Why, why, why?

When someone takes on a leadership position is it not for him or her to offer something good to lesser mortals? Why does one suddenly desire to cling on and adopt evil ways to stay in power?

Is it necessary to treat those who do not agree with you as misled or misguided fools? Dr Mahathir threw quite a few top opposition politicians into prison just to stay in power. What right did he have to incarcerate the likes of Lim Kit Siang and Karpal Singh? Likewise with scores of other good people like Syed Husin Ali just because of political differences.

These people who cling on to power against the rules of conscience, fair-play and the will of the people are cowards.

I dream that somewhere in the world a leader will emerge who will call on his people to “Wake up (at 6.00 every morning and join me) and pray to your own God(s) for the health of our country and our people!”

Wishful thinking? What an idiot I am! — aliran.com