Archive for category Mahathir
Mahathir should make a greater effort to remember his astounding meeting before Operation Lalang giving assurance of no ISA arrests
Yesterday, despite denials by DAP National Chairman and MP for Bukit Gelugor Karpal Singh (who was one of the seven DAP MPs detained by Tun Mahathir’s Ministerial order in 1987) and I that there had been such a meeting or assurance before the Operation Lalang crackdown, the former Prime Minister stuck to his version, saying:
“This happened 20 years ago. I remember distinctly having the meeting. I don’t really remember the faces of those who were there, but I am quite certain that Karpal Singh was not there and that Lim Kit Siang was there.”
This is most untypical of Mahathir, who is credited with elephantine memory except when for political reasons he chose to be a victim of amnesia – as during his 90-minute testimony before the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam Videotape Scandal in January 2008 where he said “I cannot remember” or its equivalent 14 times!
Could it be possible that he had “met all of the opposition members and assured them that they would not be arrested” and he could not remember their faces except mine – or when, where or who else from his side who were present or party to the meeting?
Mahathir should make a greater effort to remember this astounding meeting before Operation Lalang mass arrests where he allegedly “met all of the opposition members and assured them that they would not be arrested” – not only the who, but all other details as to the where, when and how the meeting came about, together with eye-witness accounts. Read the rest of this entry »
Would Opposition leaders have let off Mahathir for two decades if he had broken his assurance before Operation Lalang that they would not be arrested under the ISA?
Former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad has maintained what he said in Tom Plate’s new book “Doctor M: Operation Malaysia – Conversations with Mahathir Mohamad” that he had “actually met all of the opposition members (beforehand) and assured them that they would not be arrested”.
Following my rebuttal that I had never met Mahathir and that he never gave me any assurance that I would not be arrested before the launch of Operation Lalang on Oct. 27, 1987, Mahathir repeated yesterday: “I met Kit Siang and his friends as a group”.
He said he felt some of the political figures did not need to serve detention at that time.
“It was the police who took action against them and I accepted their decision.”
I had challenged Mahathir to name the Opposition leaders he had met and given assurance that they would not be arrested – now reduced to “Kit Siang and his friends as a group” –but subsequently overruled by the police in the Operation Lalang crackdown, but Mahathir has not been able to name anyone of the others.
Read the rest of this entry »
A blackly comic whodunit
By Kee Thuan Chye | FMT
OPERATION Lalang was a black day in Malaysian history. On Oct 27, 1987, 106 people were detained under the ISA in one fell swoop. Most of them were from opposition parties and NGOs. A few newspapers were suspended. It traumatised Malaysians and made them submit to the culture of fear. Some have yet to recover from it.
Whoever initiated Operation Lalang did a strong disservice to the nation. It was a shameful exercise of power. Whatever the reason or reasons may be for invoking the ISA on that occasion on so many individuals, there is no fair justification for doing so.
Perhaps that is why Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who was the prime minister then, has recently come out to say he was not responsible for it. In typical Mahathir fashion – for he is accustomed to blaming others for things he might have done – he blamed it on the police.
In his interview with Tom Plate for the recently published book Doctor M: Operation Malaysia – Conversations with Mahathir Mohamad, he said:
Read the rest of this entry »
Mahathir rewriting history on Ops Lalang
Posted by Kit in DAP, ISA, Mahathir, Najib Razak on Wednesday, 9 February 2011
Former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad is rewriting history when he blamed the police for the 1987 Operation Lalang mass Internal Security Act (ISA) arrests, claiming that he was furious over the mass crackdown.
In the new book, “Doctor M: Operation Malaysia – Conversations with Mahathir Mohamad” by Tom Plate, Mahathir said:
“Well, I would have handled it differently, except that the police wanted to do these things because they say it is necessary…
“I actually met all of the opposition members (beforehand) and assured them that they would not be arrested. And you know what the police did? They arrested them. My credibility is gone.”
Mahathir is not only suffering from selective memory and faulty memory but is spinning untruths about his misdeeds in his 22 years as Prime Minister.
I never met Mahathir and he never gave me any assurance that I would not be arrested before the launch of Operation Lalang on Oct. 27, 1987, although a day earlier I had spoken in Parliament in the 1988 budget debate warning of escalation of racial tensions and calling on all political parties “to agree to a one-year moratorium where no racial, language, cultural or religious issues will be created or raised for every Malaysian to concentrate on the national priority of achieving economic recovery and growth”.
Let Mahathir name the Opposition leaders had had met and given assurance that they would not be arrested but subsequently overruled by the police in the Operation Lalang crackdown! Read the rest of this entry »
Mahathir blames police over Ops Lalang
Regina Lee | Feb 9, 11
Malaysiakini
Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had pointed at the direction of the police over Ops Lalang, which saw 106 people arrested including top political dissidents under the Internal Security Act in 1987.
In the most recent book on Mahathir, ‘Doctor M: Operation Malaysia – Conversations with Mahathir Mohamad’, the former premier of 22 years revealed that he was furious over the mass crackdown.
“Well, I would have handled it differently, except that the police wanted to do these things because they say it is necessary…
“I actually met all of the opposition members (beforehand) and assured them that they would not be arrested. And you know what the police did? They arrested them. My credibility is gone,” he said.
“You must have been furious!” retorted Tom Plate, the interviewer and author of the book.
“Yeah, but what can I do? You see, I have to accept that they are the people on the ground that makes a decision. I give general authority to them,” continued Mahathir, who was known as a strongman who brook little dissent. Read the rest of this entry »
Pakatan wants Najib’s reply to Dr M’s Tanah Melayu remarks
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Mahathir, Najib Razak, nation building on Friday, 4 February 2011
By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 4 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lawmakers have demanded that Datuk Seri Najib Razak respond to Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s latest remarks that Malaysia belongs to the Malays and other races are expected to respect Malay sovereignity.
They want the prime minister to state his stand and views on the matter, and whether he subscribes to Dr Mahathir’s views or feels otherwise.
Opposition leaders said Dr Mahathir’s statement was a direct contradiction to Najib’s 1 Malaysia concept of equality. Read the rest of this entry »
Mukhriz’ “bizarre” dismissal of GFI report Malaysia lost RM888 billion in 9 years in illicit capital outflows – a pre-emptive Mahathir strike to forestall full inquiry into corruption and financial scandals under his premiership?
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Finance, Mahathir, Najib Razak on Wednesday, 26 January 2011
International Trade and Industry Deputy Minister Datuk Mukriz Mahathir said today that the government will not look into claims by international financial watchdog Global Financial Integrity (GFI) that Malaysia had suffered illicit financial outflows in excess of RM888 billion or US$291 billion due to corruption and mismanagement between 2000 and 2008.
He categorically dismissed the GFI report listing Malaysia as the world’s top-fifth country with illicit financial outlays in the past decade due to corruption and bad governance as bizarre.
Mukhriz told a press conference after launching Google Malaysia’s new office in Kuala Lumpur:
“We do not see the need to look into it. If you go through the report, they have made quite a few bizarre claims against several countries.
“Going by Bank Negara’s figures, we know how much exactly is going out so you can hardly consider those figures (from GFI) as factual.”
Who is this “we” – Mukhriz and Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak or Mukhriz and his father, former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohhamad? Read the rest of this entry »
Two fatal political assumptions – one for BN and the other for PR
Posted by Kit in Elections, Mahathir, Pakatan Rakyat on Saturday, 20 November 2010
Another sign of the closeness of the 13th general elections is the RM3 billion 2011 election budget presented by the Sabah Chief Minister, Datuk Seri Musa Hassan to the Sabah State Assembly yesterday, with RM1.1 million allocation for every Barisan Nasional state assembly constituency to enable the BN Sabah State Assembly members to woo voters in their constituency with public funds.
This is political corruption at its most blatant and, although political or “grand corruption” has been identified by the Government Transformation Programme RoadMap and selected as one of the primary focus of the National Key Results Areas (NKRAs) to combat corruption, who believes that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) would seriously check let alone wipe out such political corruption?
In his Sabah state 2011 budget presentation, Musa cited the Barisan Nasional by-election victories in Batu Sapi and Galas as signs that the people had continued confidence in the Barisan Nasional to remain in power.
The Galas by-election is in Kelantan and was a state assembly by-election. What has it got to do with the Sabah 2011 Budget presentation if it is not an election budget to sound the gong for full preparations for the 13th general elections expected to be held early next year?
In his interview with Bloomberg, former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir said Barisan Nasional is capable of wresting one or two states from Pakatan Rakyat on the ground that the opposition is in disarray.
Mahathir was however of the view that although BN would be returned to power in Putrajaya, it would likely fail to regain its two-thirds parliamentary majority. Read the rest of this entry »
2011 Budget – Eulogy for NEM and relaunch of Mahathir economic model (Part 4 of 4)
Posted by Kit in Economics, Mahathir, Najib Razak, NEM on Monday, 18 October 2010
Human Capital Issues
The allocations announced in the Budget for human capital development are indeed impressive. However, the question arises if the nation will get value for its money. There can be no denial of the fact that the Malaysian educational system is in disarray.
Standards have fallen dramatically. Our universities turn out graduates who lack rudimentary skills demanded by employers thus contributing to low productivity and loss of competitiveness. Our secondary school system is in disastrous shape.
Those who are charged with educating the next generation of Malaysians to be responsible citizens are more interested in promoting race hate as recent episodes of misbehavior by teachers highlight.
The lack of an adequate reaction from the top echelons of the Government has sent a strong signal to others in the educational system to project the message of hate that BTN promotes with impunity. These despicable acts and patterns of behavior give credence to the notion that the 1Malaysia slogan is nothing more than a catchy slogan devoid of meaning or sincerity.
Read the rest of this entry »
2011 Budget – Eulogy for NEM and relaunch of Mahathir economic model (Part 3 of 4)
Posted by Kit in Economics, Mahathir, Najib Razak, NEM on Monday, 18 October 2010
The Pivotal Role of the Private Sector
Much was made in the ETP presentation about reinvigorating private investment, with 92% of the total projected investment of US$444 being investment by the private sector. These expressions are repeated in the Budget Speech. However no details have been provided as to how this target is to be achieved.
The speech tantalizingly offers the suggestion that the Government will intensify the Public-Private Partnership to “… enhance private sector involvement in economic activities” To this end the Government proposes to invest RM 1 billion from the Facilitation Fund in support of several infrastructure projects.
On the one hand the formulation is built upon the notion that the private sector will be unleashed; and yet the ETP is in reality a top down creation. PEMANDU is seemingly picking “winners” and it would imply that Malaysia is about to embark upon a new form of central planning to get to highly untenable targets.
Read the rest of this entry »
2011 Budget – Eulogy for NEM and relaunch of Mahathir economic model (Part 2 of 4)
Posted by Kit in Economics, Mahathir, Najib Razak, NEM on Monday, 18 October 2010
Recent Economic Performance & Prospects
In the formulation of the Budget for 2011, the Prime Minister made the claim that the Malaysian economy had recovered from the global economic recession.
In an act of self congratulation, he attributed this to the proactive measures taken by the Government through the RM 67 billion stimulus package. He however failed to acknowledge that other countries in the region had performed equally well or even exceeded Malaysian performance.
The statistics he cited refer to the short term and are soothing. However, he made no mention of the challenging issues that will determine the medium term performance of the nation’s economy.
He appears to be suffering from a bout of amnesia about the need to address the issue of subsidies and to achieve fiscal balance.
Read the rest of this entry »
2011 Budget – Eulogy for NEM and relaunch of Mahathir economic model (Part 1 of 4)
Posted by Kit in Economics, Mahathir, Najib Razak, NEM on Monday, 18 October 2010
The Budget presented by the Prime Minister was a eulogy for the death of the New Economic Model. It provides a clear confirmation that this Government is incapable of living up to the rhetoric of reform that it had vigorously promoted over the past year.
The slogans and feel good speeches crafted by highly paid spin doctors have not been translated into clear action programs. The divided and weak BN Government remains mired and has now demonstrated its inability to deliver upon its promises of change.
The Budget marks the return to failed economic policies of the past. The Mahathir Economic Model built around mega projects, crony capitalists as key players, bailouts and handouts is once again alive and returns to haunt the nation.
The Budget yet again demonstrates that this administration is incorrigibly incapable of drawing lessons from the past and persists with policies that have entrapped Malaysia in the middle income trap.
The Budget for 2011 has all of the attributes of a blunt tool for distributing public funds to UMNOputras, BN cronies, and vested groups that constitute the vote bank of the Barisan.
Read the rest of this entry »
Najib’s 2011 Budget is not a child of New Economic Model but bears all the marks of old discredited policies
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Budget Debate, Mahathir, Najib Razak, public service on Sunday, 17 October 2010
Despite all its bombast and pyrotechnics, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 2011 budget is not a child of the New Economic Model but bears all the marks of old discredited policies which have landed Malaysia in the middle-income trap for more than a decade, setting the country towards a failed and bankrupt nation come 2019.
Former Prime Minister Tun Mahathir’s obsession with mega projects like the proposed RM5 billion 100-storey Warisan Merdeka tower is back with a vengeance.
If Najib is seriously committed to a New Economic Model, based on economic, social and government transformation, wouldn’t it be more appropriate for Malaysia to achieve targets as being ranked among the first twenty if not first ten of the least corrupt nations in the annual Transparency International Corruption Perception Index or having at least 10 universities which are ranked among the Top 100 Universities in the world?
In fact, it must be asked whether Najib is secretly trying to out-Mahathir Mahathir not only to build a tower higher than Mahathir’s Petronas Twin Towers, but which could be acclaimed as the tallest in the world – however brief the claim? Read the rest of this entry »
Kit Siang calls Dr M ‘No 1 racist in Malaysia’
Posted by Kit in Mahathir, Pakatan Rakyat, UMNO on Saturday, 25 September 2010
By Clara Chooi
The Malaysian Insider
September 35, 2010
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 25 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s latest play at racial politics has earned him the wrath of his parliamentary foe Lim Kit Siang, who has now christened the former premier with a new nickname — “the number one racist in Malaysia”.
The DAP advisor slammed Dr Mahathir for playing the race card yet again when he claimed the Malays would lose power if Pakatan Rakyat (PR) defeats the Barisan Nasional (BN) in the next general election.
“Our beloved former Prime Ministrer Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said that in the next general election, the Malays would lose power if the PR forms the government.
“Imagine, a former Prime Minister, who ruled us for 22 long years, returning to politics as the number one racist in Malaysia,” he boomed to a crowd of over 1,000 people at a fundraising dinner in Bandar Menjalara here last night, organised by the Segambut DAP division. Lim’s rhetoric earned him thunderous applause from the crowd, who yelled in disagreement at Dr Mahathir’s latest assertion.
He also accused Dr Mahathir of appearing on the stump for Umno by trying to frighten off the Malay voters from voting PR.
“He is trying to instil fear in the Malays by playing the race card on them. This is the height of Dr Mahathir’s irresponsibility. He is becoming an ultra again,” Lim said. Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia stumbling
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Economics, Finance, Mahathir, Najib Razak on Friday, 24 September 2010
Eric Ellis
TheAge
Australia
September 23, 2010
ONE of Australia’s key partners in Asia is struggling. Given the way its leaders have taunted Australia over the years, schadenfreude at its plight would be understandable. But this should be resisted, for if Malaysia stumbles, the effects may ripple across the region.
Erstwhile sponsor of the Carlton Football Club, a cash cow for the Australian education sector, Australia’s 10th largest trading partner and a champion of ”Asian values” – whatever they are – Malaysia seems to be brimming with sky-is-falling Chicken Littles. And their analyses are alarmist; ”failed state”, ”deep pit”, ”national decay”, ”ocean-going corruption”, ”useless mega-projects”.
While some of these could be used to describe the Delhi Commonwealth Games – a massive undertaking Malaysia successfully pulled off 12 years ago by the way – it is about a country oft-regarded as an Asian success, whose rampant economy inspired a cockiness among its leaders to take racially tinged potshots at the ”decadent and immoral” West, and at Australia in particular.
And then there was the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to demonise, indeed anyone its mercurial then prime minister Mahathir Mohamad didn’t like on any given day. And there was 23 years of it, the Mahathir monopoly on Malaysian power.
So what’s prompted such painful hand-wringing from a tigerish economy that likes to boast how it ditched traditional models to virtually promise endless riches? The answer is some of the nastiest foreign direct investment (FDI) statistics an Asian economy has served up in a generation. Read the rest of this entry »
‘1Malaysia’ – the enemy within
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Mahathir, Muhyiddin Yassin, Najib Razak, nation building on Tuesday, 21 September 2010
Christopher Barnabas | Sep 20, 10
Malaysiakini
As the nation celebrated the 47th anniversary of the formation of Malaysia, it is crucial to note that we are a nation divided at unprecedented levels in the history of the country. While political ideologies may differ from both sides of the divide, it is the treacherous levels of racism and extremism that are most disturbing to the common people today.
It was timely that during his Malaysia Day message entitled ‘Our Fight against Extremism’, Najib Abdul Razak took upon himself to warn against the rise of extremism in the country, articulating his sadness that by rejecting the diverse way of life, they are rejecting his ‘1Malaysia’ vision.
Going through some government websites, I came across the ‘1Malaysia’ concept paper, with one key point that stood out particularly clearly: ‘Malaysians, regardless of race or religion need to think and act as one race, that is the Malaysian race, that thinks and acts towards a common goal to build a world that is prosperous, progressive, peaceful, and safe thus enabling it to compete with the other communities in the world’.
Now having read that, let us examine several unsettling incidences since its inception which have resulted to an absolute failure of this vision thus far:
1. The Mahathir factor: The longest-serving former Umno president/PM of Malaysia has been labeled the ‘father of all racism’ by an Umno cabinet minister last year. Not surprising therefore that he appears unconvinced publicly about the ‘1Malaysia’ vision. Recently, he went as far as to conclude that even the newly proposed NEM which supports ‘merit-based’ policies are clouded with a racist agenda, prompting Zaid Ibrahim to diagnose him as having a psychological disorder. Read the rest of this entry »
A nation of failed economic development plans
Malaysiakini
AB Sulaiman
Sep 20, 10
COMMENT
The world can be a nasty place especially in terms of planning, where your best and well intentioned plans can produce the worst unintended results. The country’s numerous development plans is a perfect example of this.
Since Independence we have always strived to be a country with strong social, economic and political credentials: a strong healthy and united people, public safety and security, great infrastructure, mature democracy, clean human rights record, good education system, governed under rule of law, and of course, a justice-minded judiciary.
To top them all off we are to enjoy a per capita income equal to the peoples in advanced economies. We wish to be an advanced country in our own right.
The current realities are anything but. The people are fragmented while some are migrating to friendlier lands, our infrastructure while adequate is wasteful, our democracy is an ugly disguise for authoritarianism, our education system produces non-thinking graduates, the rule of law has become the rule by law, and the judiciary is an international laughing stock. Read the rest of this entry »
1Malaysia not “work in progress” but “work in regress” if Najib proves to be new Mr. Flip-Flop as PM overshadowing his predecessor Abdullah
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Mahathir, Muhyiddin Yassin, Najib Razak on Saturday, 18 September 2010
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak yesterday defended his 1Malaysia concept, claiming that it had not failed but merely a “work in progress”.
He admitted that the concept could not become a “full realization” today but would do so eventually with the help of all segments of society.
Najib’s 1Malaysia concept is not “work in progress” but “work in regress”, especially if he proves to be a new Mr. Flip-Flop as Prime Minister, putting the former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to shame.
In back-pedalling from Umno’s recent decision to disentangle and distance itself from Perkasa as announced by Umno Secretary-General Datuk Sri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor only a week ago, Najib has exuded negative vibrations and sent out the negative message that he is not prepared to be the leader for all groups and component parties in Barisan Nasional let alone be the Prime Minister for all Malaysians.
Nobody is expecting the impossible of “a full realization today” of the 1Malaysia concept but it is disingenuous and even dishonest to claim that his 1Malaysia concept is “work in progress” when he himself lamented in his Malaysia Day message at the rising tide of extremism in his 18 months of premiership with unprecedented outpouring of the rhetoric of race and religion unseen in the first 18 months of all the first Prime Ministers of Malaysia – Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak, Tun Hussein, Tun Mahathir and Tun Abdullah!
And what has made this “rising tide of extremism” in the first 18 months of Najib’s premiership even more unhealthy and undesirable is that they emanate primarily from the ranks of Umno and allied or outsourced groups! Read the rest of this entry »
Do we fear Perkasa? — Art Harun
by Art Harun
Breaking Views
Malaysian Insider
September 17, 2010
SEPT 17 — I refer to a post at Rocky’s Bru titled “The irrational fear of Perkasa”.
Perkasa.
What does that name evoke? Fear? Unlikely.
To me and many others, that name is almost comical and tragic at the same time, quite in the same mould as Roberto Benigni’s “Life is beautiful,” only that the later was poignant and sorrowful, rather than tragic.
Perkasa is comical in the way it — through its leader, Datuk Ibrahim Ali, and its various extras whose names I do not even care to remember — went around calling people who do not agree with its views names. YB Khairy Jamaluddin knows about this well. Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz also knows about this very well.
Whenever Perkasa’s views are opposed or criticised, Perkasa has been unable to counter such opposition or criticism. When Perkasa cannot rebut another’s opinion, what would it do? Yes, it will attack the person who expresses the opinion rather than the opinion itself. Read the rest of this entry »
Mahathir is the major obstacle to Najib’s 1Malaysia and National Transformation Agenda
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Mahathir, Najib Razak, nation building, NEM, NEP on Wednesday, 1 September 2010
Former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad blogged on the 53rd National Day eve that “today the races are more divided than ever”.
The implications of Mahathir’s statement merits attention.
Here we have the country’s longest-serving Prime Minister in fact telling the current Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak that despite this year’s Merdeka Month theme: “1Malaysia: Transforming the Nation” and the latter’s 1Malaysia policy and National Transformation Programme for 18 months since assuming the highest office in the land in April last year, national unity and inter-racial relations had never been so bad at present as compared to any time in the 22 years Mahathir had been Prime Minister from 1981 – 2003.
Would Najib agree to this Mahathir assessment as the present Prime Minister was during those 22 years of Mahathir premiership either Pahang Mentri Besar or a Cabinet Minister, starting as Minister for Youth and Sports before being appointed to Education and later Defence portfolios – while in Umno, occupying the posts of Umno Youth Leader (especially during the Operation Lalang years) and Umno National Vice President from 1995-2003?
Read the rest of this entry »
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